Free Republic

Byron King of Agora Financial is a geologist by trade, and he has actually been to the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR). Contrary to popular belief, the ANWR is a desolate place because very few tourists ever make it up there. So the price America is currently paying for NOT developing this extremely valuable resource is amazingly high. Without the added production from ANWR, the Alaska Pipeline may be close to closing, which would be an extreme loss to the nation and our energy security. While energy exploration and production always involves risks, they have been greatly reduced by better...

How the Greek Agora Changed the WorldBy Heather Whipps, LiveScience's History Columnist posted: 17 March 2008 08:15 am ET It was the heart of the city – where ordinary citizens bought and sold goods, politics were discussed and ideas were passed among great minds like Aristotle and Plato. Who knows where we'd be without the "agoras" of ancient Greece. Lacking the concept of democracy, perhaps, or the formula for the length of the sides of a triangle (young math students, rejoice!). Modern doctors might not have anything to mutter as an oath. What went on at the agora went beyond...

Having been brought up in the US, I am quite aware of various idiomatic expressions regarding pennies and other small denominations of pocket change. Everyone remembers "Oh, he/she is always puttin’ her two cents in", or the every popular, "penny for your thoughts." Not much value in a penny these days. It was, however, much to my chagrin that I had a shopping "incident" that disturbed me, while simultaneously broadening my analytical horizon. I purchased a bottle of mouthwash at a local pharmacy (can't go to a meeting without smelling "minty fresh"). The bottle of colored liquid was marked “25.99...