information related to that company's bid for an inspection contract under the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program.

Growing global fuel demand and political tensions between some oil producing nations and the United States are expected to keep energy prices high. According to some analysts, pump prices should begin to level off within the next week or two.

If the United States was zero-dependent on Middle Eastern oil, but the rest of our allies among consuming nations were just as dependent, then a disruption anywhere is a price increase everywhere.

There is no such thing as the United Nations.

Middle East nations are getting more petro-dollars as (oil) prices rise, and they're not putting it back into paper assets. They're trying to protect the value of their profits -- just like in the 1970s -- so they're buying gold.

It's disappointing ... there's a reticence on the part of many member states to provide the United Nations with adequate information