Which country has the lowest gas prices in the world? Here’s a hint…it’s not in the Middle East. More here.

Cicero pens a great essay about his recent move across the country, the new energy considerations he’s facing in Massachusetts and the looming conflict with Iran. A taste… Each passing day has me more convinced that our lives are carefully constructed fantasies, scripted in the last 60 years or so. Our fantastic expectations on how to live well are built upon the assumption that energy will be abundant, and cheap. But we are fragile and exposed. Many people don’t know it. They...

First, the mission of the Centrist Coalition: “To Unite the Middle and Give Power to Their Voice.” Alan Stewart Carl, the newly appointed Executive Director, explains why… This nation absolutely must move back toward the center—and I’m not just talking about finding compromises. I’m talking about reviving a spirit of civility and open debate that avoids petty divisiveness and pandering while promoting competent solutions and consensus building. I’m talking...

The Taliban claimed yet another Indian on Sunday (April 30, 2006) killing and beheading Indian telecom engineer K Suryanarayana, less than 48 hours after abducting him from Zabul province on the main highway linking Kabul and Kandahar. Suryanarayana’s killing, as also M Raman Kutty’s murder last November, is an unambiguous message from the Taliban which India can ill-afford to ignore: The Taliban, as also Pakistan, want India out of Afghanistan, says Shobori Ganguly in The Pioneer....

No, it’s not a joke. That’s what the costs are looking like for the NYC tribute. Is this irresponsible? Or should price not be a barrier? Sean Aqui shares his thoughts.

It certainly isn’t the food. Perhaps it’s the easily accessible health care? Alan Stewart Carl has more.

Well, it’s been revealed that everybody’s favorite not-so-covert CIA agent was also working on the Iran problem when she was outed three years ago. Should this mean jail time for Rove? And has this damaged our intelligence capabilities? I have some thoughts here.

Is the “American Dreamâ„¢” a sham? No. But a new study demonstrates that, if you’re poor and black, it certainly seems like it is. More here.

Michael Reynolds attended and wasn’t impressed… The strange thing, listening to the speeches, and in reading the infrequent signs, was how little idea anyone had about what precisely should be done about Darfur. One speaker would exclude any sense that we should actually do anything other than perhaps pray and beam love rays at people. Then would come someone who’d talk about expeditionary forces. I even heard the word “Marinesâ€? spoken favorably from the podium. [...] If...

Tip # 1: Remove the junk from your trunk. Check out the other 9 here.

In fact, Dennis Sanders likes his a lot… I know what you are thinking. You are probably remembering the diesels, General Motors introduced in the 70s when they basically put modified gasoline engines that supposedly took diesel fuel into their cars and the result was disasterous. My diesel runs great even in the harsh winter climate of Minnesota. (My car starts even when it’s 20 below.) I got this car for two reasons: first, it has great mileage. It’s about the high 30s in the...

Let’s face it. Voter turnout is still abysmal in this country. Ridiculously so. Given that, how can we make it in the voter’s interest to turn out on election day? Sean Aqui has a few ideas, and I like them all.

Not as much as we may have feared. But what it’s being used for, though, still doesn’t seem very American. Sean Aqui has more.

Yesterday’s NYT column “On this day” (April 28)took me down the memory lane. In the mid-1970s I was introduced to the legendary Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl by Norman Cousins, famous American editor and a versatile genius, at New Delhi. As a young Indian journalist, I was fascinated by their crusading spirit to ensure world peace, justice and human freedom. In these present turbulent times, the two visionaries life and work, and their musings, come to mind. And now nearly three decades...

“Institutionally, the presidency is walking all over Congress at the moment. If we are to maintain our institutional prerogative, that may be the only way we can do it.” - Senator Arlen Specter, R-Pa. He’s talking about proposing legislation to cut off funding for the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program if Congress doesn’t get some answers soon. More here.

What are the gas tax-cut proposals from both sides really trying to solve? Sean Aqui has a few ideas.

Why? Because something similar didn’t work in the 80s. Ya know, like supply side economics…oh…wait… More here.

No, seriously. His sect of Sunnism, Salafism, is extreme even in militant Islam circles. So why does he enjoy such support in the Middle East? Sean Aqui has a few ideas.

No, I’m not talking about the recent staff shakeup. I’m talking about the White House’s gawd awful website. Check out a new design here.

It’s a good one. Possibly even brilliant…not something we usually see from the Dems. More here.

Newt Gingrich has laid out five points he feels are vital to America’s future. Number two is “Defending God in the public square.” Alan Stewart Carl explores this idea.

Sean Aqui runs the numbers: So let’s review the math. After four years of holding prisoners without charge, and without affording them the protections of either our legal system or the Geneva Convention, we have: 390 prisoners released without charge; 34 or so charged with various crimes; 300 or so continuing to be held without charge or any effective way to challenge their imprisonment. Then there are the prisoners, such as the pair of Chinese Muslims I’ve written about before, that...

Are you? I’m tired of people who find principles when their pensions are secured and people who are all for free trade (except for the trade restrictions that benefit them, personally). I’m tired of Fortune 1000 CEO’s who make 100’s of millions of dollars when there’s not a doubt in my mind that an Indian CEO every bit as competent could be hired for a fraction of the cost. I’m tired of companies like United and Ford where the employees hate their jobs while...

Glad to see the legislators in South Carolina are tackling the “hard” issues: COLUMBIA — Lucy’s Love Shop employee Wanda Gillespie said she was flabbergasted that South Carolina’s Legislature is considering outlawing sex toys. But banning the sale of sex toys is actually quite common in some Southern states. The South Carolina bill, proposed by Republican Rep. Ralph Davenport, would make it a felony to sell devices used primarily for sexual stimulation and allow law...

This is one of those stories where I just shake my head in disbelief. I just don’t understand why somebody, who now knows that the troop level was not adequate, would say that he’d do the same thing given a second chance. From the Washington Post: President Bush today said mistakes were made in planning for the Iraq invasion, but he defended the troop level he ordered in the initial strike, saying he would have committed the same number if given a second chance. Recalling his pre-war...