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.

Perhaps some of you noticed Bill Clinton's $15,000-a-head confab at a Midtown Manhattan Sheraton hotel last week to raise funds and awareness to tackle global poverty and climate change. Hillary, Colin Powell and even Laura Bush were all on hand. (NYT, Sept. 23) We can't help but feel that this elite exploitation does more harm than good. Sarah Ferguson wrote for the Village Voice Sept. 18 that Clinton's ex-veep Al Gore is also on the stump to promote supposed green solutions—with none other than ex-CIA chief James Woolsey:

Yeah, but they'll probably have their own website. From BBC, Sept. 24, emphasis added:

Internet's future in 2020 debated
The internet will be a thriving, low-cost network of billions of devices by 2020, says a major survey of leading technology thinkers. The Pew report on the future internet surveyed 742 experts in the fields of computing, politics and business. More than half of respondents had a positive vision of the net's future but 46% had serious reservations. Almost 60% said that a counter culture of Luddites would emerge, some resorting to violence.

Under the happy headline "Space Probe Slams Into Moon," the shameless techno-boosters at Space.com note Sept. 4:

A European lunar orbiter was purposely slammed into the Moon today.

From Scripps Howard, Aug. 12:

The vast ice cap that covers Greenland nearly three miles thick is melting faster than ever before on record, and the pace is speeding year by year, according to global climate watchers gathering data from twin satellites that probe the effects of warming on the huge northern island.

More insidious lies from the liberal media. We all know that global warming is just a myth. So what if people make money by stating this truth? Why does the liberal media hate capitalism?* From ABC News, July 27:

Making Money by Feeding Confusion Over Global Warming
WASHINGTON - Ever wonder why so many people still seem confused about global warming? The answer appears to be that confusion leads to profit -- especially if you're in some parts of the energy business.

Talk about your great moments in bad timing. Will we hit the much-feared $100 per barrel before the year is out? From Bloomberg, Aug. 8 (links and emphasis added):

Oil traded near a three-week high in New York on concern BP Plc's pipeline closure in Alaska will cut off supplies from the largest oil field in the U.S. for months.

Brian Tokar of Vermont's Institute for Social Ecology writes:

Murray Bookchin, the visionary social theorist and activist, died during the early morning of Sunday, July 30 in his home in Burlington, Vermont. During a prolific career of writing, teaching and political activism that spanned half a century, Bookchin forged a new anti-authoritarian outlook rooted in ecology, dialectical philosophy and left libertarianism.