A US government task force released its interim report Tueday that confirmed what I wrote last week; that speculators are not driving up oil prices significantly. Hopefully this will pour some cold water on Congressional efforts to pass laws against speculation instead of dealing with the real issues causing the spike in energy prices. A good first start would be eliminating or reducing the import tax on ethanol made from Brazilian cane sugar, as Fed Chairman Bernanke suggested the other day. This import tax is pure protectionism, an attempt to protect both the US sugar and corn ethanol industries, but actually has the effect of making fuel more costly for the American consumer.

In an interview the other day with Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Katie Couric, in Israel to cover Obama’s trip, had this to say about the state of the tv news business in the US and the sexism that she has apparently been victimized by:

"The glory days of TV news are over, and the media landscape has been dramatically changed. News is available now for everyone, everywhere, all the time, and everybody fights for the last pieces of the shrinking pie. The corporate pressure and the ratings terror are intensifying all the time, and the situation is not simple. I find myself in the last bastion of male dominance, and realizing what Hillary Clinton might have realized not long ago: that sexism in the American society is more common than racism, and certainly more acceptable or forgivable. In any case, I think my post and Hillary's race are important steps in the right direction."

Last Thursday, Rep. Linda Sanchez called for Karl Rove to be arrested for failing to comply with a Congressional subpoena and appear before her Committee. While I applaud Congresswoman Sanchez's sentiments, I seriously doubt Karl Rove will face such action and I blame Sanchez and her ilk in Congress. Sanchez wrote:

"After my ruling that Mr. Rove's claims of immunity are not legally valid, Congressman Conyers and I gave him one last chance to comply with the law. He ignored us. As he let yet another deadline slip by this week, Mr. Rove's disregard for Congress has become intolerable..."

Translation: "I subpoenaed Mr. Rove and he didn't show up. Then I warned him and gave him one last chance, and he still didn't show up. Then I double warned him and he still didn't comply. If he refuses to comply any longer, I may have to super-duper double-secret warn him and see if he complies then..."

House Republicans yesterday blocked a move by Democrats that would have spurred exploration for oil in areas in which the oil companies already hold leases. The measure would have also barred oil companies from obtaining new leases if they were not actively exploring for oil in places where they already hold leases. The measure was a ploy by the Democrats, but highlighted the serious flaws in the agenda of the oil companies and their enablers in the US government.

Yesterday, in an event most of you probably did not even notice, the United States took another step down the path to extremism and authoritarianism.  Does that sound hyperbolic?  Read on and let me know if you still think so when you reach the end.

In a 5-4 ruling, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the President of the United States has the power to order the detention in a military prison of anyone in the United States -- citizen or not-- and hold them indefinitely without charging them with a crime and without affording them the most basic Constitutional rights, such as the right to stand trial and attempt to prove their innocence.  Read that again and understand the implications.  All it takes is an assertion by the President that the individual arrested is an "enemy combatant."  The President does not have to  prove the person is an enemy combatant, at least in any conventional sense, just merely assert that he or she is an enemy combatant.