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Neil Cavuto finally asked the question I’ve wanted to see asked for months. Watching the repeat of Cavuto’s program tonight, he interviewed Sen. Dick Durbin, who of course was whining about gas prices. Cavuto asked why he isn’t pushing to repeal some of the taxes on gas instead of simply attacking the oil companies (oil companies earn a nine cent profit from each gallon of gasoline sold, versus fifty cents the government takes in). Durbin seemed offended by the question, and refused to address it fully, only making some vague statement about fighting congestion on our nation’s highways, before going back into attack mode. Cavuto didn’t give up though, and asked again, this time only to hear Durbin whine about how, according to Cavuto, everything is the government’s fault (not always true, just usually). I doubt Durbin will be back on Cavuto’s show anytime soon, but it’s good to hear someone finally ask the question. Now, maybe someone in the White House press corp can ask it as well. Don’t count on it.

It has been twenty years since the meltdown of reactor number 4 in Chernobyl, Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union) that killed anywhere from 9,000 to 100,000 people (depending on what statistics you believe, though either way, the death toll is very high).

Today, the town of Chernobyl still exists, barely. A handfull of people, mostly elderly, chose to return to the radioactive town. Yet most of Chernobyl remains a ghost town. A concrete sarcophagus has been built over the destroyed reactor, but it’s showing signs of wear and will have to soon be rebuilt. The deadly radiation levels will last for more than a thousand years, so numerous containers will have to be built in the future.

Today, tourists come to visit the deserted town that stands as sort of a time capsule from the Soviet era, virtually unchanged over the past two decades. If you want to see what Chernobyl looks like today, look at this site, which features photos and videos from the “Ghost Town.”

UPDATE: Actually, I should have linked to this – a slideshow from the Chernobyl area.

Tony Snow will become President Bush’s new press secretary, reports ABC News. This is certainly good news for the administration, as Tony Snow is unquestionably an effective communicator who isn’t afraid to take on the media. Hopefully, Snow can help turn the tide for the White House.

Glen Dean:

The five year average that oil companies make per gallon of gas is around 6 cents. With the surge in prices over the last year, they are now making about 9 cents per gallon. Government takes about 45.9 cents per gallon. The federal government alone takes 18.4 cents per gallon. So you claim you are being gouged, you are right. You are being gouged, but not by the oil companies, by the government.

Passport, a blog by the editors of Foreign Policy, has a nice roundup of reaction by Nepalese bloggers to the recent unrest in their country.

Do you snore? If so, you may have some problems joining the Chinese Army.

My condolences to the Iraq the Model family, who recently lost a family member is a terrorist attack. It is impossible to read this entry without getting a strong sense of this family’s resolve:

What a difference between those who work to preserve life and those who work to end it…it’s terrorism and crime and there are no other words to describe these acts.

They will keep trying to steal life from us and we will keep fighting back and we will keep exposing them but not with bullets and swords, we never carried arms and we will never do because we are not afraid and because we are not weak unlike those cowards who know no language but that of treason.

If only more Americans could keep this level of resolve.