VBVW for May 23, 2008: Eat or Get Gas

• The Very Best

An 11 year old won the National Geographic Bee by correctly identifying locations around the world that most people couldn’t find even with a map. Congratulations to Akshay Rajagopal for a perfect performance. Anybody who knows the correct answer to “Cochabamba is the third-largest conurbation in what country?” is aces in our (geography) book.

Syria and Israel have begun peace talks mediated by Turkey. Guess they didn’t know that peacenik George Bush was just in the region and could’ve helped out.

Astronomers have released the first photos ever of a supernova as it exploded (well, it happened 88 million years ago but just became visible here). Regular readers know of VBVW know the very best stuff happens 88 million light years from Earth.

• The Very Worst

Pummeled by skyrocketing oil prices, American Airlines has announced it will start charging passengers $15 to check a bag on a domestic flight. And that’s the first bag. The third bag you check will cost $100. Soon the only way to afford a flight will be to travel inside the luggage.

Some farmers in Tennessee have converted their tractors so that they can pulled by mules. Farmer Robert Raymond claims that it’s cheaper to feed mules than to buy gas, saying, “it’s the way of the future.” Close. Back to the future is more like it.

Gas prices across the U.S. are averaging $4 per gallon. The real shock is that buying gas has finally become almost as expensive as buying bottled water.