This is one solution that the perennially annoying Thomas Friedman didn't advocate in his recent rant against the "petro-authoritiarians" who have got the USA by the balls. But we certainly do. From the web page of California's Buddhist Deer Park Monastery, Sept. 29:

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.

From the Iraq Freedom Congress Weekly Update, Sept. 27:

Formation of IFC Doctors
Iraq Freedom Congress announces the formation of IFC Doctors, an organization of doctors and nurses who will provide free health services from the IFC headquarters in Baghdad. IFC Doctors is also forming traveling squads of health care teams to provide treatment off-site for people who cannot reach the office. Read more.

From the Iraq Freedom Congress, Sept. 17:

Al-Sanna Satellite TV Channel
Invites passionate volunteers to join its production team

Al-Sanna will start broadcasting its programmes in autumn 2006 to amplify the voice of freedom, peace and the equal rights of all people in Iraq and the Middle East.

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.