Brian_Kerhin's Blog

It happens in the middle of every baseball season: The trading deadline approaches and rumors fly about pitching aces and All-Star sluggers getting sent to contending teams for a playoff run.

Deals are made - and others fall through - as the final hours of July tick away. Then that's it. No more trades until the season's over.

Except that, it turns out, there can be a LOT more trades before the season's over.

A reader's curiosity about how baseball trades can happen after the trading deadline inspired one of three questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

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About three years ago I read about a new type of atomic energy plant that produced not only electric power but also, as a byproduct, large quantities of hydrogen that could be used to fuel autos. I thought that would be an excellent answer to much of the energy problem.

I assumed there would be a lot in the news about this innovation, but I have heard nothing. Is there something to it?

Robert Van Antwerp
Beaverton, Ore.
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A 2005 energy bill signed by President Bush gave the OK for building a new type of nuclear reactor that, in theory, will reach temperatures high enough to make hydrogen production more efficient.

Hydrogen is the most abundant substance on earth, but it's never found alone and likes to bind with other substances. Right now it can be isolated using hydrolysis or several other methods, such as mixing natural gas with steam, and a nuclear reactor isn't essential to make that happen.

But most of the processes use giant amounts of heat, and since nuclear plants happen to have lots of heat on hand, producing hydrogen nearby - and in a relatively environmentally friendly way - is a logical choice.

The current problem is that today's reactors can reach temperatures of only about 572 F. That's more than enough to cook your steak, but can be grossly inefficient for producing hydrogen.

The next-generation nuclear plant should be able to reach temperatures of 1,292 F to 1,652 F.

Scientists at the Idaho National Laboratory are working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy on the new reactor's development. They've set a 2021 deadline.

Paradoxically, much of the hydrogen produced in the U.S. is used to sweeten heavy crude oil for the transportation sector, or for other chemical uses. Less than 1 percent of the produced hydrogen is used for fuel.

Ernest Scheyder
AP Energy Writer
New York

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Why do you hear of so many baseball trades being made after the so-called "trading deadline"?

Adam Broida
Teaneck, N.J.
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There are, in fact, two trading deadlines.

First up is July 31 - that's when to look for blockbuster deals. Until then, teams can make whatever trades they want - Manny Ramirez from Boston to the Dodgers, for example.

After that, it becomes tricky. To be traded, a player must pass through waivers - baseball's system that gives almost every team a chance to get the player being traded. Many potential deals between Team A and Team B get blocked when Team C files a claim. When that happens, the player being traded typically is pulled off waivers and rejoins his old team.

The other trade deadline is Aug. 31. Teams must acquire players by then for them to be eligible in the postseason.

Ben Walker
AP Baseball Writer
New York

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What ever happened to Betty Currie, President Clinton's former personal secretary?

Michael Logan
Milwaukee
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Betty Currie is retired and living in Hollywood, Md.

Currie is remembered for picking up from Monica Lewinsky gifts that the former president had given the White House intern in 1997. Currie later testified during investigations into Clinton's affair.

These days, the 68-year-old Currie is involved with area nonprofit organizations and the county Democratic group, and serves on the Alcohol Beverage Board of St. Mary's County.

Socks, the Clintons' cat during the White House years, still lives with the Currie family, according to her husband, Bob. The cat is nearly two decades old.

"He's slowed down a lot," he said. "The squirrels catch up with him; he doesn't catch up with the squirrels."

Betty Currie also stays busy with family, travel and visits with old Democratic Party friends in Washington. Bob Currie says once the party convention is over his wife will help with the campaign locally.

Nafeesa Syeed
Associated Press Writer
Mid-Atlantic Bureau, Washington

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Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.

They work on farms, at construction sites and in office buildings. They attend public schools, get treated at hospitals and receive help from police officers and firefighters. In some cases, they pay taxes; in others, they don't.

Illegal immigrants are deeply entrenched in the U.S. economy. But what's greater: the amount they contribute or the amount they cost?

A reader's curiosity about illegal immigrants and the economy inspired one of three questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

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A recent AP article said that "an average of 24 percent of hip fracture patients age 50 and over die within a year of the fracture." What do they die of?

Don Sweet
Oregon
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It's not the broken hip itself that kills patients. It's the cascade of events that follows the fracture, stressing and weakening bodies that sometimes are frail to begin with.

Most patients who break their hips are elderly people who have other health problems before the fracture. The injury and the treatment - including surgery and rehabilitation - are added hardships.

Up to one in four older adults who lived independently before a hip fracture have to stay in a nursing home for at least a year after their injury, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some never recover their balance and strength to walk. "They may have been borderline (able to walk) before the fracture. Then this really sets them back," said Dr. Greg Erens, an orthopedic surgeon on faculty with the Emory University School of Medicine.

Life becomes more difficult, both physically and psychologically. Depression, dementia or other psychiatric problems can contribute to a fatal, downward spiral, some studies suggest.

But what actually kills hip-fracture patients? A variety of causes.

Some die from pneumonia and postoperative infections. Some are killed by congestive heart failure, heart attack or stroke. Other deaths stem from blood clots that form in veins in the leg, break off and then go the lungs to cause a fatal blockage known as a pulmonary embolism.

Mike Stobbe
AP Medical Writer
Atlanta

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I hear so many conflicting stories on illegal immigration. Please tell me if you can how much the illegal immigrants contribute to the economy and how much they use in free services. If they all got deported, how would it affect our economy?

Cindy Garcia
Vista, Calif.
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It's tough to say how many people are in the U.S. illegally, let alone how many are working or using public resources. Every study uses rough estimates. Still, we do have some clues.

Illegal immigrants contribute to the economy whenever they pay sales tax and, indirectly through rent payments, real estate taxes.

Also, those who use false Social Security numbers pay taxes into the system they don't get back, since people here illegally aren't eligible to receive Social Security payments. In 2003 alone, the government received Social Security taxes on $57.8 billion from wage reports that couldn't be matched to the person filing.

Illegal immigrants are excluded from most federal and state entitlements like subsidized housing or food stamps, and a 2007 congressional report found they appear to contribute more than they use in services. But the money they contribute often goes to federal and state coffers, while many services they benefit from, such as health and law enforcement, come out of local government budgets.

Several studies show more than half of the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants are uninsured (out of a total of 47 million uninsured people in the U.S.) and thus likely to use public emergency rooms that treat everyone regardless of ability to pay. It's difficult to calculate the amount of free health care - or, for that matter, free public-school education - they benefit from, since it simply isn't known what proportion of these services go to people who are in the country illegally.

Another cost of illegal immigrants: Their willingness to accept low wages drives down wages in some industries. Then again, if immigrants didn't take these jobs, some of them might get outsourced overseas.

Using Pew Hispanic Center and U.S. Census statistics, the independent economic research firm the Perryman Group concluded that if all illegal immigrants were deported, agriculture would lose nearly a quarter of its workers, the building maintenance industry would lose 17 percent and the construction industry would lose almost 15 percent.

Laura Wides-Munoz, Miami
Jacques Billeaud, Phoenix
Suzanne Gamboa, Washington
Associated Press Writers

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I have noticed that the figures for "weekend" box office totals are publicized on Sundays in the early afternoon. These are the same totals that are listed on Monday mornings. Sometimes when two movies are very close in dollars there will be a revised figure, but it is most often the same amount.

How do the actual Sunday afternoon and evening showings get figured in?

Ed Leboeuf
Enterprise, Kan.
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Hollywood studios report three-day estimates for their weekend box-office grosses on Sunday morning. These include actual revenues provided by theaters for Friday and Saturday and estimates for how the movies will perform on Sunday.

Studios take many factors into account to estimate Sunday figures, including the genre of a film, how similar movies did in the past, how well the grosses held up from Friday to Saturday and how audiences earlier in the weekend rated the film in exit polls.

On Monday, studios revise their numbers with actual grosses for all three days. While Sunday estimates generally are rounded off, Monday final figures are quite precise, down to the last dollar.

The numbers usually are very close to the Sunday estimates, though the final figures sometimes can vary by as much as a few million dollars for top-earning movies.

David Germain
AP Movie Writer
Los Angeles

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Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.

It's one of the central issues in the debate over U.S. energy policy - and, recently, in the presidential campaign: where oil companies should be allowed to drill.

But as oil producers seek the right to expand their operations to huge new swaths of Alaska and areas off the nation's coasts, are they sitting on millions of untapped acres that they're not bothering to explore for oil?

That's one of three questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

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There are occasional news stories about the mysterious reduction in the honeybee population. The articles always warn of dire consequences to fruit and vegetable production if the honeybees were not to survive. What are the predicted consequences? Will there be no more apples, oranges, grapes, etc.? Or just a reduced output?

Gary Wagner
Morton, Ill.
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A mysterious die-off of U.S. honeybees killed off between 30 and 90 percent of some beekeepers' hives in the winter of 2006. Scientists are still trying to figure out what caused this to happen.

The high fatality rate is bad news for U.S. farmers who grow fruit and nuts and depend on bees to pollinate their flowering crops. Modern honeybee keepers travel from state to state with their portable hives, releasing bees to pollinate vast orchards at each stop.

Luckily, the problem has not yet been significant enough to interrupt U.S. food production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA says honeybee populations remained sufficient throughout 2007 and into this year.

But if the problem persists, it could add to food costs by raising the rates on honeybee rentals.

The USDA estimates honeybees contribute about $15 billion in value to the production of about 130 crops.

Christopher Leonard
AP Business Writer
St. Louis

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I keep hearing from politicians, mostly Democrats, about how oil companies are sitting on 68 million acres of federally approved and leased lands and they're not doing much drilling on these lands, while at the same time asking the government for more offshore drilling and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Is this really true? Why would anyone want to spend the extra money to go out hundreds of miles offshore and under thousands feet of water if they could get as much oil underground on land?

Kevin Nguyen
Houston
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The 68 million acres cited by many congressional Democrats is part of nearly 2 billion acres overseen by federal agencies that have potential for oil and gas exploration. The bulk of the 2 billion acres is strictly off-limits to drilling.

The 68 million acres - both onshore and off - are under lease to oil companies, and some members of Congress claim they have potential reserves to nearly double U.S. oil production and increase natural gas output by 75 percent.

So why the lack of activity? That depends on your definition of "activity."

Even after it has a lease, an oil company can spend several years securing the permits and other approvals it needs to begin exploration and production. While that takes place, tens of thousands of acres can sit idle.

Leases also can get tied up in court, often over environmental concerns. Again, while court proceedings take place, leases sit idle.

An oil company also can determine that developing a particular tract doesn't make economic sense. Those acres, even though they're under lease to a particular company, would be listed on the government's books as "non-producing."

John Porretto
AP Business Writer
Houston

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Why aren't the candidates and commentators pushing the idea of a nationwide 55 mph speed limit? It would save gas, and perhaps lives! Who knows ... it might even get people to "slow down and smell the flowers"!!!

Jeri Johnson
Pawleys Island, S.C.
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Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama has suggested returning to the national 55 mph speed limit that was imposed in 1974 in response to an oil shortage, and repealed in 1995. The simple fact is that most people didn't like it then, and it hasn't shown any sign of political appeal today.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., recently suggested that Congress look at the idea again, saying it would save both gasoline and lives. He hasn't had much response.

John Townsend, a spokesman for AAA, said motorists are slowing down to conserve fuel because of high gas prices, but they don't want to be saddled by a 55 mph limit everywhere - especially on long, rural interstate highways.

"There's no clamor for it," Townsend said. "Drivers remember what it was like."

H. Josef Hebert
AP Energy Writer
Washington

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Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.

If you print more money, each dollar is worth less, right? Does that mean a country can fight inflation by simply easing back on the cash printing presses?

Curiosity about this possibility inspired one of three questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

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What is the status of immigrants from Iraq who have come to the United States during the Iraq war? Are they becoming citizens or have they been granted full or temporary asylum - and if so, how long can they stay and does granting them asylum put them on the road to citizenship?

Lou Doll
Green Valley, Ariz.
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Iraqi immigrants have come to the United States under two separate programs that address effects of the war. Both offer a path to citizenship.

This year, the State Department granted 500 special visas for Iraqi and Afghan nationals who had worked directly for the U.S. government - people like translators or interpreters - whose work put them at risk of reprisal. They are on a fast track to a green card and likely citizenship after five years.

The U.S. also expanded its refugee program to admit Iraqis, with a goal of resettling 12,000 by Sept. 30. Those who choose to stay permanently will be free to do so, as legal U.S. residents. They will also be free to apply for citizenship, though they will be under no obligation to do so.

Anne Gearan
AP Diplomatic Writer
Washington

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I think there are a couple of ways to reduce inflation. One is increasing interest rates, but in the past I have heard of countries printing too much money and increasing inflation. Is it possible to decrease the amount of money printed and therefore reduce inflation?

Tracy Ultican
Blue Springs, Mo.
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Decisions about how much money is in circulation do indeed affect inflation. And adjustments in the supply of money coursing through the banking system are closely tied to the interest rate changes imposed by the Federal Reserve.

Say the Fed wants to fight inflation. It can reduce the amount of money available to commercial banks to make loans - which is somewhat like printing less money. Draining money from the system makes it more expensive to borrow money - in other words, interest rates go up. Higher interest rates make consumers and businesses less likely to borrow money, which slows the economy and puts a brake on inflation.

When commentators talk about the Fed "printing" too much money, they mean the Fed is taking the opposite step - infusing money into the banking system. The Fed does this by buying Treasury securities, a type of bond, from banks. Banks then have more cash and make loans more easily available to consumers and businesses, which encourages economic growth. But if the Fed overdoes it, inflation can rise and weaken the dollar.

Martin Crutsinger
AP Economics Writer
Washington

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Exactly what is meant when a weatherman says that there is, for example, a 30 percent chance of rain? I've been told everything from:

1. On this exact date over the past 10 years it has rained 3 times, hence a 30% chance, to

2. That 30 percent of the TV station viewing area will receive rain.

Please explain what they mean when they give a percentage for the chance of rain, and how the figure is determined.

Judy Hardy
Donna, Texas
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Forecasts are done locally from 122 National Weather Service forecast offices and are provided to local news outlets along with the computer guidance that led to the forecast. Many broadcasters use the weather service forecast directly, others study the computer information and adjust it based on their local knowledge and still others incorporate information from private forecasting services.

When the forecast says there is, say, a 30 percent chance of rain, it means that in any given place within the forecast area there is a 30 percent chance of rain falling and a 70 percent chance of no rain.

It does not mean it has rained three times in the last 10 years on this date, though historical data is included in computer programs used to forecast weather.

It may or may not mean that 30 percent of the area will receive rain.

What we call the "chance of rain" in any given location is known as the Probability of Precipitation, or PoP, in weather talk. According to the National Weather Service, you calculate PoP by multiplying the confidence that precipitation will fall somewhere in the forecast area by the percentage of the area that will get a measurable amount, if it falls anywhere.

An example: The forecaster knows precipitation is going to fall - so confidence is 100 percent - and has concluded that 40 percent of the area will get measurable rain. That works out to a 40 percent chance of rain in any given spot in the forecast area.

Or, let's say the forecaster is 50 percent sure precipitation will occur, and expects measurable rain over 80 percent of the area if it does fall. In this case, you end up with - once again - a 40 percent chance of rain.

Randolph E. Schmid
AP Science Writer
Washington

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Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.

An awful lot of the oil produced in the United States comes from the nation's northernmost state. So why are gas prices at Alaska's filling stations among the highest in the country?

That's one of three questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions

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Are sitting senators - i.e. John McCain, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton - paid their full salaries when they are campaigning for office and spending so little time on their senatorial duties?

Brenda Esslinger
Springfield, Ill.
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No senator has ever given back any of his, or her, Senate salary - currently $169,300 a year - while running for president, according to Senate historian Donal Ritchie. He said senators still run their offices and carry out many of their duties to constituents even when they are off on the presidential campaign trail.

The 1996 Republican nominee took a different approach. Former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., resigned as majority leader and gave up his Senate seat when he ran against Bill Clinton. Dole said he couldn't carry out the daily responsibilities of running the Senate and campaign effectively at the same time.

In the early days of the nation, members of Congress were paid by the day. After it was found that they stayed in session longer in order to paid more, their compensation was changed to an annual salary.

Jim Abrams
Associated Press Writer
Washington

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Given the large amount of oil drilled in Alaska, why is the price of gas at the pump in Anchorage so much higher than the national average?

Steve Nelson
Anchorage, Alaska
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According to Matthew Berman, an economist at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage's higher-than-average gas prices ($4.39 for regular unleaded at most stations in July) can be traced to a variety of factors, including the small size of the two refineries that supply nearly all of Alaska's gas stations and the high cost of shipping goods to the state.

Flint Hills outside Fairbanks and Tesoro in Nikiski refine crude oil, most of it from Alaska's North Slope and Cook Inlet, into gasoline and other products. Both are relatively small, meaning operating costs are higher in relation to output than at larger refineries in the lower 48.

Berman says the lack of competition allows the two refineries to charge gas stations at the rate it might cost to import gasoline. So, prices in Anchorage are above average because they correspond with the generally high cost of shipping goods to Alaska, even though the gas, for the most part, is not actually being brought in from outside.

Jeannette J. Lee
AP Business Writer
Anchorage, Alaska

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Remember the entertainer "Tiny Tim," who frequented the talk shows back in the late '60s and early '70s? What ever happened to him?

Michael Logan
Milwaukee
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Herbert Khaury, a native New Yorker who tried out a variety of stage names before settling on "Tiny Tim," died in 1996 of a heart attack in Minneapolis, where he was buried. He was 64.

Khaury's legacy will always be his falsetto, tongue-in-cheek "Tiptoe Through the Tulips," accompanied by his trusty ukulele. Truth is, Khaury was more than a novelty act - he was an amateur musicologist whose repertoire included everything from send-ups of Top 40 hits to deep Americana, and his natural singing voice was baritone, which gave him an uncanny range.

He survived his first heart attack in September 1996 and was told not to perform any longer, but he carried on until he was fatally stricken that November. Appropriately enough, the song he was performing when he fell ill: "Tiptoe Through the Tulips."

Josh Dickey
AP Deputy Entertainment Editor
Los Angeles

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Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions

For weeks - months - the price of a barrel of oil marches skyward, and gas prices at the pump soar to frustrating heights.

And then, all of a sudden, oil prices plummet - down, say, $15 in just a few days.

So, naturally, prices at your corner gas station ... pretty much stay the same.

Does this make sense?

Curiosity about stubbornly high pump prices inspired one of three questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions

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I've heard that Barack Obama doesn't qualify as a natural-born U.S. citizen - and can't serve as president - because his one parent who was a citizen (his mother) hadn't lived in the U.S. for five years past her 16th birthday when Obama was born. Is this true?

Arnold Cate

North Carolina

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This is one of the many myths about Obama that have been circulating on the Internet, and it's entirely untrue.

You do indeed need to be a natural-born citizen to serve as president - and Obama, who was born in Hawaii, qualifies. The age and citizenship status of Obama's parents have nothing to do with his citizenship status; under the law, he's a natural-born citizen because he was born in the United States.

Some bloggers have raised similar questions about whether Sen. John McCain is eligible to run, since he was born in the Panama Canal Zone. He too is considered a natural-born citizen, since he was born on an U.S. military base in a place that was, at the time, a U.S. territory.

Just to put any concerns to rest, the Senate passed a resolution declaring that McCain is a natural-born citizen. The resolution - submitted to the Senate by Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, among others - passed by unanimous consent in April.

Donna Cassata

AP Political Editor

Washington

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I understand, to some degree, the raising of gasoline prices when the price of a barrel of oil increases. What I can't understand is why we never see a significant drop in prices at the pump when the price of oil drops. Oh, there may be a penny less here or there, but nothing like the increases you see when oil prices go up. Why is that?

Joseph Patterson

St. Louis

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The cost of oil does indeed affect what we pay at the pump, but the process of getting it from the well to your gas tank takes time. Prices take a while to catch up.

Oil future contracts being traded now - the ones that hit new records last week but have since seen big drops - are for oil that won't be delivered until next month. That oil still has to travel to a refinery, be broken down into gasoline and other products, and then get shipped again before it reaches your local filling station.

Another factor: Because of high oil prices, fuel refiners and retailers are making far less on a gallon of gasoline than they used to, and some are even losing money.

As much as gasoline prices have climbed, the refiners and retailers would like to have raised them even more to cover their costs - but falling U.S. demand has made that impossible. And so, with an eye on their bottom line, they're not likely to lower their prices all that quickly - even with oil prices declining sharply.

Adam Schreck

AP Energy Writer

New York

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I was wondering: What backs our currency? I know it used to be the gold standard, but what about since that was done away with?

Elizabeth Frost

Oceanside, Calif.

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No physical or concrete asset, such as gold or silver, backs modern-day U.S. currency.

Instead, it is backed by confidence that the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government will do their part to keep the economy, financial markets and inflation on an even keel.

People, consumers and businesses in the United States and beyond must have faith in the Fed's ability to keep prices stable. If prices remain stable and a low rate of inflation is maintained, people will feel confident that the dollar they use to buy goods and services today will buy a similar amount in the future. Similarly, people and investors need to believe that the U.S. economic, financial and political systems will remain stable because problems in those areas can erode confidence in the greenback.

U.S. citizens haven't been able to exchange their dollars for U.S. bullion since the 1930s, when the government went off the gold standard as far as domestic exchange was concerned. International convertibility of dollars into U.S. gold was stopped in 1971.

Jeannine Aversa

AP Economics Writer

Washington

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Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions

U.S. policy toward Cuba hasn't played a major role in this year's campaign for the White House.

But many voters may be wondering: Will the end of President Bush's tenure bring changes in the trade embargo? Will travel restrictions be lifted? Will the next president meet with the leader of the communist nation that lies within 90 miles of U.S. shores?

Curiosity about the issue inspired one of three questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org.

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I have wondered, with the high percentage of fuel-efficient diesel cars in Europe, and the push for hybrids, why hasn't there been a push for diesel-electric hybrids? Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds? You would think that by combining the two technologies, you could reach upwards of 60 mpg.

Erik Bjarling
Greenwood Lake, N.Y.
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Cost is the primary reason. Small diesel engines cost several thousand dollars more than gasoline motors, and U.S. buyers have been reluctant to pay the premium in the past. Also, diesel fuel in the U.S. costs about 60 cents more per gallon than gasoline. Plus, in the U.S., people still perceive diesel cars to be smoky and noisy, even though that's no longer true.

Diesels, however, are 15 to 20 percent more efficient than gasoline engines. So yes, a diesel-electric hybrid might be an efficient option. It just may not be the most cost-effective one. As gas prices rise, though, that could change.

Many automakers have diesels and diesel-electric hybrids on their drawing boards along with gas-electric hybrids.

Tom Krisher
AP Auto Writer
Detroit

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Where do the presidential hopefuls stand on U.S. policies toward Cuba, after a half-century of enforcing a trade embargo and otherwise trying to isolate the country?

Jack Kroehnke
Albuquerque, N.M.
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On Cuba, what you see with President Bush is what you get with John McCain.

The Republican candidate says Cuba must be in transition to a free and open democracy before he'd negotiate an easing of the trade embargo. He's not interested in meeting Raul Castro absent marked progress beforehand. So there's not much question where he stands on Cuba.

The same can't be said about his Democratic rival. Barack Obama is ready to relax restrictions on family travel and on money that Cuban-Americans can send to their families back on the island. Otherwise, he's been harder to pin down.

Earlier in the campaign, he said he'd be open to meeting hostile leaders, including Cuba's, without setting preconditions. He took a lot of heat for that, and you don't hear the same from him these days.

Now he says he'd engage Cuba in diplomacy "at a time and place of my choosing, but only when we have an opportunity to advance the interests of the United States, and to advance the cause of freedom for the Cuban people."

Parse those words carefully and you can still see a willingness to get to the negotiating table somewhat faster than McCain.

Calvin Woodward
Associated Press Writer
Washington

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What has become of the Tom DeLay matter? When will he stand trial?

Burton Kaplan
Branford, Conn.
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Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and two associates are still awaiting trial on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money for election spending in 2002 state legislative races. No trial date has been set.

Judge Pat Priest has said he is waiting for appeals courts to rule on various legal issues in the case.

Last year, the state's highest criminal appeals court upheld the dismissal of one charge against Delay, an allegation of conspiracy to violate the election code. DeLay's lawyers successfully argued the law did not take effect until 2003, after the election in question.

Kelley Shannon
Associated Press Correspondent
Austin, Texas
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Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

What happens to all the oil that flows hundreds of miles through the trans-Alaska pipeline? Is it true that it all gets sold to Japan?

A reader's curiosity about where that oil ends up - and who profits from its sale - inspired one of three questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

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I live in Arizona, and my impression is that the power brokers in the international drug trade have shifted from Colombia to Mexico. Is this true? If so, how has this affected Colombia? Is the country a safer place to visit?

Wallace Vincent Rose
Tucson, Ariz.
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Most of the cocaine in the United States is produced in Colombia and smuggled through Mexico. It has been that way for about two decades. But there has indeed been an important shift of mafia power to Mexico, which is now home to extremely violent and powerful cartels of the type that disappeared from Colombia in the mid-1990s.

While Colombian police, backed by billions of dollars in U.S. aid, have become more professional and less corrupt, Mexico has seen increasing cartel-related violence. Since President Felipe Calderon took office 18 months ago and began a crackdown, nearly 4,200 people have been killed in mafia-related violence, according to Mexico's attorney general.

It's difficult to say whether Colombia is safer for tourists than Mexico. First, the type of crime that befalls tourists is rarely drug-related in either country. Second, Colombia is safer today mostly because its government has succeeded in moving the armed conflict chiefly to remote areas where tourists rarely venture.

Frank Bajak
AP Chief of Andean News
Bogota, Colombia

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With all the pressure on Congress to lift sanctions against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, I'm wondering what happens to all the oil that flows through the trans-Alaska pipeline. How much flows through it every day? I believe I heard on a news program that all that oil is being sold to Japan. Is that really true? Didn't taxpayer dollars pay for the pipeline's construction? And who is reaping the rewards of all that oil?

Wes Hubbart
Albuquerque, N.M.
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Despite the opening of new fields, oil production in Alaska has steadily declined in recent years. The amount flowing through the trans-Alaska pipeline has fallen from a high of more than 2 million barrels a day in 1988 to 740,000 barrels a day in 2007, according to the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.

After-tax profits go to the oil companies and royalties go to resource owners - mainly the state of Alaska, whose budget relies heavily on the money from oil production. About $2 billion in oil royalties went into the state's general fund last year.

Other resource owners include the federal government and private landowners - parties that generally support drilling in ANWR because it would add to the dwindling supplies of the state's existing oil fields.

The crude oil that flows down the 800-mile pipeline is picked up by tankers in the port of Valdez. According to state officials, the bulk of the crude is transported to West Coast refineries, with a small percentage remaining in Alaska and an unknown amount going overseas.

According to the CIA's World Factbook, the U.S. exported 1.048 million barrels of crude per day in 2004 - which amounts to about 12 percent of domestic production - and imported 13.15 million barrels a day that same year. It's unclear how much of the exported oil originated in Alaska.

A group of oil companies paid for the pipeline to be built in the late 1970s at a cost of $8 billion. Interest holdings in the pipeline have changed hands several times and today three companies own much of the pipeline and most of Alaska's oil leases: BP PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips.

Jeannette J. Lee
AP Business Writer
Anchorage, Alaska

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Can you provide a dollar cost, from start to present, of the war in Iraq?

Mario Garcia
Las Vegas, Nev.
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On Monday, President Bush signed legislation that will bring to more than $650 billion the amount Congress has provided for the Iraq war since 2003. The latest appropriations cover anticipated expenses for the rest of fiscal year 2008 and some of the expected costs in fiscal year 2009.

Economic analysts, however, point out that these appropriations do not cover some costs that have been incurred but haven't yet come due for payment - particularly the future costs of caring for soldiers already wounded.

Charles J. Hanley
AP Special Correspondent
New York

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Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.

We got some feedback for some of the music we played with the list of Independence Day parade and fireworks.

Specifically, a handful of viewers complained about playing Jimi Hendrix's version of the "Star Spangled Banner", saying it was disrespectful to the country.

Hendrix performed the song on Aug. 17, 1969 at the Woodstock music festival. Hendrix, who died the next year, was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

His version remains controversial - some view it as an artistic expression of free speech and a great interpretation of the song. And, on a holiday celebrating freedom, maybe it's the most appropriate time to play it. Others, including a few viewers, still find it offensive nearly 40 years later - even if they aren't aware of the history of this version of the song, or maybe it simply sounds "wrong" to them when it's played.

So, what does that mean in this case? We plays lots of music, especially in the morning show. Country, pop, rock, classics and Packers-themed songs all make in on air at one time or another. Over this holiday weekend, we played lots of "patriotic" music, including works by John Philip Sousa - usually considered the most traditional music for Independence Day.

I guess music is like art - people know what they like and don't like. For example, some people complain when we play country, yet a country music station is usually the top-rated one in Green Bay.

We certainly did not mean to offend anyone. I guess my best advice is that if a song comes on you don't like - whether that's Lee Greenwood, Madonna, the Beatles or Hendrix - is perhaps turn down the volume and wait until next time - and hopefully it's a song you like.

And we certainly appreciate the feedback - we do discuss and followup on such comments.