We almost wet our pants laughing a few years back when Exxon took out an ad on the New York Times op-ed page praising the despotism of Kazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev as a "democracy." But these days Bush is writing much better material. So is Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, who recently got hot under the collar about "petro-authoritarians" taking Uncle Sam for a ride. He singled out Chavez and Ahmadinejad (of course), but Nazarbayev seems to have escaped his ire. Why is that, we wonder? From the New York Times, Sept. 29 (emphasis added):

The New York Times Sept. 30 takes note of widespread conspiracy theories that the White House is manipualting oil prices:

A gallon of regular gas now averages $2.33, after rising above $3 in August. But given that even the current lower prices are higher than was common just a couple of years ago, the question of who will benefit politically from the drop is still hotly disputed.

From BBC, Sept. 20:

Israelis 'train Kurdish forces'

The BBC has obtained evidence that Israelis have been giving military training to Kurds in northern Iraq.

It looks like Nicaragua may be poised to once again become strategic to US interests in the western hemisphere—just as the Sandinistas seem poised to take the presidential elections. Can you say deja vu? From BBC, Oct. 4:

Nicaragua has announced plans to build a waterway linking the Pacific and Atlantic that would carry bigger ships than the existing Panama Canal.

From Newsday, Oct. 3:

Man run over on Queens Blvd. dies

A Queens man run over by a hit-and-run driver Monday night while walking home from religious services died today, as police recovered the vehicle they believe was involved.

Maybe we should thank al-Qaeda for prompting the authorities to carry out this survey. From AP, Sept. 22:

WASHINGTON - Anti-terrorism officials conducted a helicopter survey of New York City's radiation sources in preparation for a so-called “dirty bomb” attack - and discovered a Staten Island park with dangerously high levels of radium, a new report found.

Subcommander Marcos and other delegates from the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) returned to Mexico City from Chiapas Sept. 29 to continue their national tour. In October and November they are scheduled to meet with suporters in the states of Nayarit, Sinaloa, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Sonora, Zacatecas, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi and Tamaulipas. (El Universal, Oct. 2) Immediately upon their return to the Mexico City area, they held a rally in the conflicted village of San Salvador Atenco with supporters of the Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra to demand the release of the group's members being held as "political prisoners." (Milenio, Oct. 1)

Secondary school teachers in Mexico's conflicted southern state of Chiapas carried out a 72-hr strike in solidarity with the struggle in neighboring Oaxaca, and to support Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's challenge to the supposed fraud in the presidential election and to oppose the "imposition" of right-wing candidate Felipe Calderon. (El Universal, Oct. 2)