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Saturday, January 31, 2009
Obama's Plan For Failure
Here is Obama's plan for failure. For instance he has promised to lower the debt. I think that promise has expired. And he will be friendlier to the working class by destroying the companies they work for. The man is a genius. Obamanomics: How Bottom-Up Economic Prosperity Will Replace Trickle-Down Economics (Economics in the Obama Presidency) And here is another book that Obama needs to read. How to appoint people to government without embarrassing yourself. He seems to have missed reading it. The Obama Political Appointee Primer We now have a couple of benchmarks. We can look back in a year or three and see how he has been doing. Why hasn't Polywell Fusion been funded by the Obama administration? Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 02:19 PM | Comments (1)
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First The Spending Then The Plan
President Present is about to unveil his new spending plan. His old plan was spend first and plan later. Could it mean the old way has passed its expiration date? President Barack Obama said Saturday his administration will outline a new strategy in the coming days for spending billions of federal dollars to pull the nation out of an economic crisis he described as "devastating."Of course there is something he could do to give a boost to companies that were making money: lower taxes on them. "And we will insist on unprecedented transparency, rigorous oversight and clear accountability so taxpayers know how their money is being spent and whether it is achieving results."Two things here are worth remarking on. The first: When a Chicago politician promises a new era of transparency what that means is, "We have found a new way to siphon off the vigorish that we hope no one will notice." Second off this economy will get worse for a while no matter what. Passing a new theft, bail out, and raise taxes bill is guaranteed to make them worse longer. But don't worry. Just to sweeten the stimulus deal Our Congress Critters have promised to start a trade war. Less than two weeks into office, President Barack Obama faces a dilemma over protectionist provisions in a massive economic stimulus bill: Backing the measures could set off a trade war, while opposing them could trigger a backlash from his supporters.Shades of Smoot-Hawley. So let me see. In less than two weeks Obama has annoyed Hamas and pissed off Canada, The European Union, and Brazil. All to gouge the American taxpayer and support his union and Arab friends. I think he is off to an excellent start. Only Three Years 11 months 2 weeks and 5 days to go. Well I hear that "Hot Rod" Blagojevich is currently unemployed. Perhaps Mr. Obama could hire him for some executive advice and at least do something about one man's unemployment problem. == IEC Fusion Technology (Polywell Fusion) Explained Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 01:37 PM | Comments (0)
| TrackBacks (0) Friday, January 30, 2009
Rushing To Get A BiPartisan Stimulus
Rush Limbaugh seems to be on a roll. At least he has rolled Obama (and by the end of his term I think you will have a hard time finding some one who hasn't rolled Obama. 3 years 11 months 2 weeks and 6 days to go.) You can read the whole thing here. But let me quote this choice excerpt. Fifty-three percent of American voters voted for Barack Obama; 46% voted for John McCain, and 1% voted for wackos. Give that 1% to President Obama. Let's say the vote was 54% to 46%. As a way to bring the country together and at the same time determine the most effective way to deal with recessions, under the Obama-Limbaugh Stimulus Plan of 2009: 54% of the $900 billion -- $486 billion -- will be spent on infrastructure and pork as defined by Mr. Obama and the Democrats; 46% -- $414 billion -- will be directed toward tax cuts, as determined by me.If you lower taxes on business the greatest amount of money goes to those with the most profits. Rewarding those who are doing well. Funding directed by Congress rewards the politically connected. I can see why President Present might want to back away from this one as much as he can. Why does this seem so much like Chicago politics? H/T Instapundit who sent me to Roger Kimball who has some interesting thoughts. Why hasn't Polywell Fusion been funded by the Obama administration? IEC Fusion Technology blog Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 03:23 PM | Comments (14)
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Polywell Fusion - Keeping It Alive
Another short term contract [pdf] for wiffle ball fusion is out for bid by the US Navy. Here is the interesting part. 3.1.1 Contractor shall review the results from Contracts N00014-93-C-0224, N00014-96-C-0039, contract N68936-03-C-0031, and any other publically available current documentation regarding the technical research and development in the field of energy production using a fusion reaction.This doesn't look like it amounts to any more than a few weeks of work. I'm going to look into the contracts mentioned and see if I can figure out the intention here. Update: Contracts H/T KitemanSA at Talk Polywell Why hasn't Polywell Fusion been funded by the Obama administration? IEC Fusion Technology blog. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 12:49 PM | Comments (0)
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What Next For Polywell Fusion?
Dr. Bussard thought that a full scale net energy Polywell Fusion program could be done for $200 million. What could be done to advance the knowledge base that wouldn't require that kind of commitment? I have been giving some thought to what the next step in the Polywell Fusion experiments might be. Here is what I have so far: I think a continuous operation experiment (liquid nitrogen cooled copper magnet coils described at WB-7x Design) could reach .45 Tesla magnetic field strength for about $20 million. Most of that going into power supplies. That is a rough estimate: +/- $5 million is probably 1 sigma. If I was begging that is one place to start. Or maybe forget the big power supplies and go for a pulsed small superconducting model. If a lot of neutrons (1E12/sq cm Second) were not generated (or only generated in pulses) MgB would be a good candidate for the coil material if the coils were totally custom. Heck it might be good just to buy an MRI machine for the coils. An MRI can be had for about $1 million. If you can get just the coils they might only be $200K. A WB machine built like that could be done for probably $5 to $7 million. If it shows good pulsed results pony up for the power supplies. And start thinking about a 100 MW machine. Why hasn't Polywell Fusion been funded by the Obama administration? IEC Fusion Technology Explained Cross Posted at Power and Control Thanks to Instapundit for the link. I have written a few other Polywell Fusion articles in the last two days: Polywell Fusion - Keeping It Alive and Polywell Fusion and Obama. posted by Simon at 11:30 AM | Comments (2)
| TrackBacks (0) Thursday, January 29, 2009
Strange Attractors
I was reading Hendrik Tennekes on climate models and learned some very interesting mathematics. Let me walk you through it. It isn't hard and it turns out to be very beautiful. First off let me give you the flavor of the man. Here is something he says that I really like: "Physicists dream of Nobel prizes, engineers dream of mishaps." So true. When ever an aircraft goes down I want to know if it was something I worked on. If the answer is yes I say to myself: "Pray to God it wasn't something I did." OK. Climate models. "The constraints imposed by the planetary ecosystem require continuous adjustment and permanent adaptation. Predictive skills are of secondary importance."Next up we start getting into ideas from the mathematics of chaos. The math was first found by by Edward N. Lorenz a meteorologist who founded chaos theory and found the Lorenz attractor. A bit on chaos theory is in order. In mathematics, chaos theory describes the behaviour of certain dynamical systems - that is, systems whose states evolve with time - that may exhibit dynamics that are highly sensitive to initial conditions (popularly referred to as the butterfly effect). As a result of this sensitivity, which manifests itself as an exponential growth of perturbations in the initial conditions, the behavior of chaotic systems appears to be random. This happens even though these systems are deterministic, meaning that their future dynamics are fully defined by their initial conditions, with no random elements involved. This behavior is known as deterministic chaos, or simply chaos.Here is a look at one version of a Lorenz Attractor: Lorenz wrote a book on the subject that will be helpful to those that want to get deeper in the subject: The Essence of Chaos. Ok. Now that you have some background lets continue on with weather and climate models. Back to Lorenz. Complex deterministic systems suffer not only from sensitive dependence on initial conditions but also from possible sensitive dependence on the differences between Nature and the models employed in representing it. The apparent linear response of the current generation of climate models to radiative forcing is likely caused by inadvertent shortcomings in the parameterization schemes employed. Karl Popper wrote (see my essay on his views):The short version: climate models can't predict anything as they currently stand because they are to coarse to properly model the phenomenon in question. When they get fine enough they won't be able to predict anything because chaos of the climate system and the models will take over. I agree with Hendrick on the solution to the climate problem: preparation for adaptation to what ever happens is effort well spent. Trying to hold back the tides is a waste of time, effort, and accumulated capital. H/T icarus at Talk Polywell Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 11:58 PM | Comments (1)
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Polywell Fusion
It seems to me that funding for the Polywell Fusion Project being run by EMC2 Fusion has stalled. So I want to do something about that. When ever you post a comment on a blog use this tagline: If the blog allows embeded urls you can post this: Why hasn't Polywell Fusion been funded? or this: Why hasn't Polywell Fusion been funded? Contact your Congress Critters and President too. House of Representatives Easy Low Cost No Radiation Fusion Rick Nebel Updates The Latest News Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 04:33 PM | Comments (2)
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A Violation Of Principles
It seems like the net is all abuzz about how climate science violates the principles of forecasting. Excellent. Except I blogged the very same report in June of 2007 at Principles Of Forecasting. Nice to see the folks on the net keeping up to date. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 03:21 PM | Comments (1)
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Holocaust Survivors Say: Legalize Marijuana
It is about a minute with English subtitles. The Jerusalem Post explains how this came to be. The Green Leaf Graduates, which split from the political party Aleh Yarok, best known for its advocacy of the legalization of cannabis, is making waves with its most recent announcement: a plan to incorporate the Holocaust Survivors Party.It looks like they have done that. At least as far as the video is concerned. Yaakov Kfir, the party's leader, said he joined forces with the Green Leaf Graduates to attract more attention to the survivors' cause.Politics makes strage bedfellows as a spokeswoman for the Green Leaf party explains. Michelle Levine, a spokeswoman for the Green Leaf Graduates, voiced strong support for Kfir's cause. She described the government's failure to address the concerns of Holocaust survivors as a "national disgrace" and hoped that younger voters drawn to the party would be given additional incentive to vote in order to support the survivors' cause.You know. I think the boomer generation is going to give a big push to the legalization efforts in America. When the infirmities of old age start setting in making relaxation a puff away is going to sound pretty darned good. And how about a few good books on the subject: Marihuana: The Forbidden Medicine Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 02:17 PM | Comments (0)
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Sign of hope?
While a lot of people predicted that Barack Obama would try to revise the unconstitutional "Fairness Doctrine" (requiring broadcasters to present "both sides" of "controversial issues"), I've long been skeptical that he would dare. Not only would he have little to gain politically, but I cannot think of anything more calculated to activate and unite the conservative base. Via an email, I see a warning from FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell that reinstating the doctrine could wreak havoc with everything from children's TV regulations to public radio. McDowell also reminded the Media Institute of Barack Obama's apparent position against such a move: FCC commissioner Robert McDowell had a message for Democrats, or anyone else contemplating trying to reimpose the fairness doctrine: The move could undermine the justification for existing localism and children's TV regulations, and could be used against public radio.Great. Local boards consisting of ideologues with agendas. A return to the Fairness Doctrine has something to hurt almost everyone -- including Internet users: McDowell also said that efforts to reimpose the doctrine could stretch to cable, satellite, and even the Internet. "Certain legal commentators have suggested that a new corollary of the Doctrine should be fashioned for the Internet, on the theory that web surfers should be exposed to topics and views that they have not chosen for themselves," adding: "I am not making this up."It's nice to have something to hope for, and I'm hopeful too! posted by Eric at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
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A Side Effect
The Dallas Morning News says Obama is going to have trouble to his south. President Barack Obama's agenda is already packed to the brim with urgent domestic and international issues. Another item - Mexico - deserves a place high on his list, though it's rarely been apparent from Obama's campaign and post-election public statements that he shares our sense of concern.Except terror in Mexico is not fueled by gun smugglers. It is fueled by drug prohibition. The gun smuggling is just a side effect. You know, if you misdiagnose the cause you are going to have trouble curing the disease. Of course that may be exactly the intention of the new administration. To add a gun war to the drug war. Why cure the disease when it can be used as an excuse to bring in more "doctors"? H/T Suzanne Wills from the Drug Policy Forum of Texas Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)
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Cease Fire?
Evidently Hamas was not really interested in a long cease fire with Israel. Ten days and the war is back on. The Israeli military says one soldier has been killed and three wounded in a bomb attack on the Gaza-Israel border.Swell. Just swell. Evidently Hamas has not yet had enough war. Here are some more details: An Israeli jet broke the sound barrier and set off a loud sonic boom over Gaza City not long afterward, possibly as a warning, but there were no further reports of Israeli retaliation. Since ending a punishing three-week offensive against Hamas on Jan. 17, Israel has said it will respond in force to any attack from Gaza.Naturally the Israelis are responding. Eight Palestinians were reportedly wounded in the southern Gaza Strip Thursday when the IAF struck a vehicle in the town of Khan Yunis. Among the wounded were several children, according to Palestinian sources.As far as I can see the purpose of these attacks is to keep the border crossings between Israel and Gaza closed and to see if Hamas can get some more of their human shields killed. Dead human shields make for great headlines. And of course it is an embarrassment for Obama who just sent George Mitchell to Israel to help foster peace. Evidently Obama the peacemaker hasn't devoted enough effort to the Israel/Hamas conflict yet. This may just be the Hamas response to Obama's attempts to make peace between Hamas and Israel a priority. It was a fools errand to begin with. And Hamas is illustrating with action that they will do to Obama what Palestinians have done to every other President who made Israeli/Palestinian peace a priority. Make a fool of him. George Bush had a better idea. Let the parties involved come to their own resolution in their own way. You know, maybe that Bush guy understood the dynamics of the Hamas/Israel conflict better than the new guy. What next? I think Iran will be further testing Obama. I think I made a point during the election that electing a guy who had zero military experience and was predisposed to a kumbayah approach to foreign policy was a bad idea. I guess we are stuck with that bad idea for another three years, eleven months, and three weeks. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)
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The Pentagon's LEDs
The Pentagon is switching to LEDs. Cree, Inc. announced that more than 4,200 LR24 recessed LEDluminaires are planned for installation in Wedge 5 of the Pentagon as partof a major renovation currently underway. In a signing ceremony today at the Pentagon, John J. Kubricky, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Advanced Systems and Concepts, and Albert C. Ellet, acting director of the Washington Headquarters Service responsible for overseeing the renovation, signed an intra-departmental Memorandum of Agreement kicking-off the initiative to install LED lighting in the Pentagon.Now that is a valuable study. What it says is that LEDs are viable if you have to pay people to change lamps and since the lamps are rated for 50,000 hours (over 5 1/2 years) in continuous use it is like getting the last year and a half free if break even is 4 years. Ultimately their value will be in being able to tune the colors as well as the brightness. Red, green, blue. In any mixture (the LR24 is only red and green). And there is only one way their price can go from here. Down. Making the business case even better. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 08:31 AM | Comments (2)
| TrackBacks (0) Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Death Of A Religion
It seems like the climate consensus is dying. "Vice President Gore and the other promoters of man-made climate fears endless claims that the "debate is over" appear to be ignoring scientific reality," Senator James Inhofe, Ranking Member of the Environment & Public Works Committee.Deceptive practices in science? I'm shocked. Now I do admit that science is self correcting over time because doubt rules science. But from time to time so does the Madness of Crowds. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 01:49 PM | Comments (3)
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A New Kind Of Transistor
There is some very promising research that promises the development of a new kind of transistor. A team of Duke University chemists has modified a method for growing long, straight, numerous and well-aligned carbon cylinders only a few atoms thick that paves the way for manufacturing reliable electronic nanocircuits.What does this portend? Well quite a few things actually. Carbon Nano Tubes (CNTs) are five times as conductive as copper, electron mobility is about 70 times that of silicon and it should be able to withstand much higher temperatures than silicon without losing its semiconducting properties. Not only that, the material is abundant. So once the manufacturing process is worked out it will mean high power, low loss, extremely high speed transistors. How soon you ask? First off not all the bugs have been worked out in the laboratory models. That earlier JACS report described how the researchers coaxed nanotubes to form in long, parallel paths that will not cross each other to impede potential electronic performance. Their method grows the nanotubes on a template made of a continuous and unbroken kind of single quartz crystal used in electronic applications. Copper is also used as a growth promoter.Now that is probably good enough for first generation transistors in some applications if those kind of numbers can be achieved in production. However what you want for general use is 99.9% or 99.99% semiconducting CNTs. The more nines the better. So how soon? I'd say pilot production in five years, and full scale production (10s of millions of devices) in about eight years. Fortunately it builds on the base of silicon semiconductor production so the equipment needed is likely to be very similar to what is already in use. The best power conversion equipment we have using silicon has efficiencies topping out at around 95% with the more typical units running at 85% to 90% efficiency. With these new devices we could reach 99% or better. They could also mean 20 times faster computers that use 1/10th as much power as current devices. Considering that we already have chips on the market that deliver 25,000 MIPS for 360 milliwatts that would be something. It would be roughly equivalent to 1,000 Cray 1s in your pocket that could be powered from an AA cell for a month. Cell phones could run for weeks on a charge. Laptops that could run for many days. Faster please. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)
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Meanwhile in Ann Arbor....
The things I miss, being here in Berkeley! Back in Ann Arbor, terrorism has been redefined -- by two experts on the subject. I refer to Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn -- who were promoting their new book to a standing room only crowd at the University of Michigan: ...when their talk at the University of Michigan on Monday evening was opened up to questions, the audience wasted no time in asking it.I was told that the place was completely packed, with long lines and no way to get in. Obviously, they're very popular. Certainly they're good with words, and the eager college kids no doubt look up to them. As a former rhetoric major, I must say I enjoy the false dichotomy between terrorism and nonviolence. Such conflation! And the line "how people like us could be put in a place like that" (as if other people were responsible for their actions) is also very, um, clever. But where were the clever student Republicans? I mean, you'd think someone in the crowd could have asked Bill whether he wrote Obama's book.... posted by Eric at 11:07 AM | Comments (4)
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Your Typical Palestinian Wants War
Eric posted a bit entitled Your typical Jew wants war? in which he discusses Obama's statement: There are Israelis who recognize that it is important to achieve peace.The best answer to that is something I read yesterday by Professor Barry Rubin. I'm posting it in its entirety because it explains the Palestinian politics behind the recent Israeli punitive expedition in Gaza. == By Barry Rubin There was an election on Hamas's mind when it cancelled the ceasefire with Israel, leading to the Gaza war. But it wasn't the February Israeli election but rather the January Palestinian non-election. Four years ago, Mahmoud Abbas was elected leader of the Palestinian Authority (PA) for a two-year term. Two years ago, Hamas won a majority in the Palestinian parliamentary election. Hamas then made a coalition agreement with its rival Fatah, which previously controlled the PA. Shortly thereafter, Hamas staged a bloody coup and threw Fatah out of the Gaza Strip. But Fatah, and Abbas, still controls the internationally recognized PA and the West Bank. While Hamas and Israel went to war, Israel and the PA remained at peace. The war had nothing to do with Israel-Palestinian relations as such but as a response to Hamas's extremism, rejecting not only any comprehensive peace agreement with Israel but even a real truce. How, then, does this triangular relationship figure in Palestinian politics? Analysts have generally ignored the proximity of Hamas's decision for war to its impending January 2009 showdown with Abbas, Fatah, and the PA. It was widely predicted that Abbas was going to announce that, given the impossibility of holding new elections, he would simply extend his term for another year. The event was expected to mark a major widening of the rift between the two groups. Hamas, it was thought, would declare Abbas a usurper, name its own candidate for "president," and the establishment of two rival Palestinian governments would be complete. Even before that date, the PA had apparently enjoyed some real success--with Israeli help--in reducing Hamas's organization on the West Bank, ensuring any takeover bid there would be impossible, and making progress toward restoring order and even improving the economy. Hamas no doubt saw choosing war as a way of upstaging Abbas, showing that it was the real fighter for Palestinian rights (principally the right to wipe Israel off the map), and even attracting support from some Fatah men who concluded that Hamas was macho and their own organization was too meek. In effect, it was a reiteration of traditional Palestinian politics in which those who take the most extreme action, evidence the greatest intransigence, and kill the most Israelis prove their credentials for leadership. In practice, though, Hamas played into Abbas's hands. Now he has the perfect rationale to insist that elections cannot be held--which is, of course quite true--and he must remain as leader for the indefinite future. Despite this, the relationship between Hamas and Fatah remain quite complex. It seems bizarre that Hamas set off a civil war, murdered Fatah men in cold blood, and kicked the group out of Gaza yet still most of Fatah is ready to forgive it. There is a strong likelihood that if given the choice, Fatah leaders--though not necessarily Abbas himself--would prefer conciliation with Hamas, which would make any peace with Israel impossible--to making a diplomatic deal with Israel and getting a Palestinian state. From Israel's standpoint, of course, how can it negotiate any comprehensive solution with the PA when it cannot deliver half of the territory, people, and armed men who are supposed to be bound by such an agreement? Moreover, the possibility that either Hamas will overthrow Fatah at some future point or even that the two will join together in a new war against Israel rather puts a damper on Israeli willingness to make concessions. The paradox of a simultaneous blood feud and brotherly love relationship between the two Palestinian organizations is explained by the supposed sanctity of being fellow Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians, coupled with a deep and abiding loathing of Israel. Yet this also coexists with such deep Fatah anger at Hamas that interviewed Fatah cadre told reporters that they were glad Israel was trouncing Hamas in Gaza Strip. The solution of this paradox was for the official PA line to be: it's all Hamas's fault but there should be an immediate ceasefire and Israel is behaving in a beastly way. This approach is strengthened by the fact that most Arab states and a surprising amount of the media (albeit in many cases the two are identical) are taking a similar line. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the smaller Gulf states and more--pretty much all the leaders except for Syria--hate Hamas. They see it as an agent of Iran, meaning a friend of their Islamist opponents. If Fatah were more adept politically, it could benefit from this situation. A clever and active policy would combine an energetic campaign to unite the Arab states behind the PA, while persuading the UN and West that they should ensure its restoration to power in the Gaza Strip as the "legitimate government." The Fatah underground in the Gaza Strip would be reinforced and figure out some way (even with a little secret coordination with Israel) to oust Hamas and seize power at least in sections of the territory. Yet both the PA and Fatah lack the will power and political skill to take advantage of such a promising situation. They are sitting back and hoping that someone--though not Israel--will give them back the Gaza Strip on a silver platter. The problem also includes their lack of charismatic leadership and failure to deal seriously with the problems that led them to being kicked out by the election: corruption, incompetence, and the failure to articulate a moderate vision of achievable peace with Israel. No outside power, including Israel, and no amount of money can make up for the shortcomings of the PA and Fatah. Thus, it is much easier for Hamas to lose the war than for the nationalist forces to win. Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His books include: Revolution Until Victory?: The Politics and History of the PLO, Yasir Arafat: A Political Biography. The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict The Tragedy of the Middle East The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:58 AM | Comments (0)
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Big Shipping Decline
Trucking tonnage declined by a seasonally adjusted 11.1% in December. Which puts us back to the level of December 2000. Very serious to be sure. The end of the world? I doubt it. However we still may have further to fall. As the Obama administration is fervently working on an economic stimulus package the get the U.S. economy on track, it is clear the freight transportation market is still feeling the pain, based on the most recent truck tonnage index release from the American Trucking Associations (ATA).How about a little explanation of what this means for the economy? Coming right up. "Motor carrier freight is a reflection of the tangible-goods economy, and December's numbers leave no doubt that the United States is in the worst recession in decades," said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello in a statement. "It is likely truck tonnage will not improve much before the third quarter of this year. The economy is expected to contract through the first half of 2009 and then only grow slightly through the end of the year."Now if we could just get the government to stop fooling with the economy maybe things would have a chance to reach an equilibrium on their own. All the government is doing is adding uncertainty and dead weight to the economy. It seems that the geniuses in government don't understand that the purpose of recessions is to shed dead weight. Once enough dead weight is shed uncertainty declines and we are prepared for the next advance. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:51 AM | Comments (0)
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Your typical Jew wants war?
There are Israelis who recognize that it is important to achieve peace.So said Barack Obama, in a statement that strikes me as a tad condescending. I realize that everyone is obsessed with the economy right now, but when coupled with the fact that Obama's first presidential interview is with an Arab network, might the above indicate that a rather major change in foreign policy be in the offing? MORE: In other news, (doubtless because January 27 is international Holocaust memorial day), the Iranian government has branded the Holocaust a "Big Lie": "The Holocaust is a concept coming from a big lie in order to settle a rootless regime in the heart of the Islamic world," Gholam Hossein Elham told a conference on Gaza in central Iran's religious city of Qom.Unless I'm misreading him, President Obama seems to think it's just fine to do business with the author of these monstrous, ongoing remarks: Obama also emphasized the importance of engaging with Iran, a country the Bush administration often singled out as the most dangerous in the region.What's that supposed to mean? Constructive Engagement? (It didn't work out terribly well for Reagan...) posted by Eric at 01:30 AM | Comments (0)
| TrackBacks (0) Tuesday, January 27, 2009
A single nuclear free day can ruin your nice junkyard!
Beautiful sunset today, right in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge, which only happens twice a year. Of course, the indoor sun never sets. Earlier today I met a charming pit bull named Willis, who was employed as a classic junkyard dog, shown here chained to his cylinder head: I like the "Have A Nice Day" slogan on the mat. Speaking of slogans, Berkeley still has those ridiculous "NUCLEAR FREE ZONE" signs at every entrance to the city (their replacement costing the city lots of money every time they're stolen by sign collectors, of course): The sun never sets on idiocy. posted by Eric at 10:41 PM | Comments (2)
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Azam Ali - Niyaz
More YouTube Azam Ali. Azam Ali at Amazon. The Azam Ali wiki. H/T Dani Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)
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At The Movies
Catherine Austin Fitts has a blog post that says we can learn a lot about how the real world works by going to the movies. Michael Corleone: "My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator."Read the whole thing. Especially check out the comments. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 08:03 PM | Comments (5)
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Banks Still Getting Illegal Cash
It looks like illegal cash may be the only thing keeping some banks afloat. The United Nations' crime and drug watchdog has indications that money made in illicit drug trade has been used to keep banks afloat in the global financial crisis, its head was quoted as saying on Sunday.Of course if drugs were legal that cash flow would stop. Which is a very good reason for bankers to be against legalization. After all the drug money allows them to live in a better neighborhood. And there is no war going on in such neighborhoods. A win-win. Except for the poor suckers stuck in the war zone. You know. THOSE people. If you want to read deeper into the subject may I suggest: Narco Dollars 1 By Catherine Austin Fitts, Assistant Secretary of the Federal Housing Commission under Bush 1, and a former managing director and member of the board of directors of Dillon Read & Co, Inc. She says that it will help your understanding to read the novel Black Money by Michael Thomas. You can also visit her blog Catherine Austin Fitts blog for the latest in financial news. You can also read Narco Dollars in a black on white format at Narco Dollars. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 06:42 PM | Comments (1)
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Hussein Chooses The Arabs
In an effort to appear even handed in his dealings with the world Barack Hussein Obama has chosen Al-Arabiya for his first interview. President Barack Obama on Tuesday chose an Arabic satellite TV network for his first formal television interview as president, delivering a message to the Muslim world that "Americans are not your enemy."I think it is always good to know who owns your president. Bought and paid for by the Muslim world. So that brings us to the second question. Iran or Saudi Arabia? Al-Arabiya has scored interviews with top U.S. officials in the past, including Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.It looks like Saudi Arabia today. But with Hussein you never know. Every promise Hussein makes comes with an expiration date. He is pretty much the definition of a dishonest politician. He doesn't stay bought. Well no matter. However, you would think as a symbolic gesture Obama could have at least pretended to be an American for his first TV interview. It is going to be a very long three years and three hundred and fifty-eight days. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:01 AM | Comments (0)
| TrackBacks (0) Monday, January 26, 2009
Obama Trying To Sink Auto Industry
Making things is magic and changing the way things are made doesn't cost much. At least according to Mr. Obama who wants states to be in the Federal regulation business when it comes to automobiles. President Obama will direct federal regulators on Monday to move swiftly on an application by California and 13 other states to set strict automobile emission and fuel efficiency standards, two administration officials said Sunday.The auto companies are already reeling from the bad economy and now they will be forced to re-tool their whole business. Quickly. And why does he think American auto companies are in trouble? Not enough cars of tomorrow. Seriously. It is not the unions. It is not the management. It is not quality problems. It is a lack of futuristic thinking. The first memorandum ordered the Transportation Department to work out rules for automakers to improve fuel economy. It calls for the department to notify automakers by March 2009 to increase their fuel efficiency for 2011 model year cars and trucks.The design cycle for a modified production vehicle is three to four years depending on the extent of the modifications. These would be vehicles that could be built on current production lines with existing tooling and includes a shakedown period to test the new designs and get the bugs out. Now consider that the 2011 model year goes on sale in late 2010. So by government fiat he is going to get a 3 to 4 year process compressed into 18 months. The man is a miracle worker. Ah. But that is not the worst of it. If the mandates require a major redesign it can take about 5 to 6 years to get the logistics in place. Here are the general steps: New design And he can reduce a process that takes from 3 to 6 years into 18 months by fiat? The man is a genius. Let us consider WW2 production. The rule was that in the first year (if the design was ready to go) 1 to 10 units. In the second year hundreds. In the third year - as many as you want. And that was in a simpler time when government hadn't saddled industry with a morass of regulations. Mr Obama is simply ignorant of logistics. He is operating under the rubric of "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." And of course since Mr. Obama is not a maker he has gone one step further and assumed that making things is magic and the normal rules of the universe do not apply. Time, space, energy, and the necessity to create the requsite ideas are instantly erased. You just think of what you want, wave the magic wand and presto. A million copies of your fantastic idea magically appear. Obama said the fix will help the auto industry produce a viable product.Is he really serious about not being held hostage to dwindling resources? So where is his proposal for increasing American oil production? Not in evidence. And letting states determine what can be sold in their individual markets? That means the rules of the game will be changing frequently. Which is very bad for logistics planning. Every new rule or addition delays the production process. Mr. Obama needs to read a book. I suggest this one to start: Fundamentals of Production Planning and Control. This whole deal can only end badly. Very badly. What ever happened to the administration that was supposed to be guided by science? By understanding of the fundamentals of engineering and technology? I guess we are fortunate that we have not elected a manager. We have instead elected a magician. God help us. Because it is obvious Mr. Obama will not. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 12:42 PM | Comments (8)
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Cosmic Rays Measure Stratosphere
Muons are measuring the heating up of the stratosphere. Published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters and led by scientists from the UK's National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), this remarkable study shows how the number of high-energy cosmic-rays reaching a detector deep underground, closely matches temperature measurements in the upper atmosphere (known as the stratosphere). For the first time, scientists have shown how this relationship can be used to identify weather events that occur very suddenly in the stratosphere during the Northern Hemisphere winter. These events can have a significant effect on the severity of winters we experience, and also on the amount of ozone over the poles - being able to identify them and understand their frequency is crucial for informing our current climate and weather-forecasting models to improve predictions.Of course if you can measure the events in real time you have a better chance of finding out what causes them. And that means we might learn some things about climate that are not yet in the climate models. Which because they include all the known data can predict what the climate will be like in a century. Except for the fact that there are a lot of known unknowns that the models leave out. Like the effect of Ultraviolet Radiation on the atmosphere. And then there are the unknown unknowns. Oh well. I think I can confidently predict what will be found. Man made CO2 is definitely causing global warming because that is the consensus. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 01:51 AM | Comments (2)
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Crackdown Crackup
The crackdown on drug gangs in Mexico is leading to a crackup. CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- In this carnage-racked border city of 1.3 million, more than 80 murders have been clocked in the past three weeks, and kidnappings, extortions, robberies and rapes further bedevil an already rattled population.That is pretty bad and predicted to get worse. In the mean time Guatemala has a better idea. Guatemala is so overrun by drug traffickers that in 2005 its top anti-drug minister was arrested in the U.S. for smuggling cocaine. U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officials describe the country as "the biggest conduit of Colombian cocaine to Mexico," where only 2% of murders are prosecuted.So let me see if I have this straight. Let the drug gangs control the drug trade without interference and violence goes down. Interfere with their business and violence goes up. In other words de facto legalization works. I wonder what de jure legalization would look like? Maybe we could get the violence down without corruption. Then you have to ask yourself what would politicians do for a living? Simple. There is always infrastructure. Say isn't that new guy from Chicago big on infrastructure? Hmmmm. I think he has a plan. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 01:00 AM | Comments (0)
| TrackBacks (0) Sunday, January 25, 2009
A Marijuana Culture
About 36 minutes into the video is a report on Garberville, California. I used to live in a small town near there called Briceland. This was in the late 60s well before Garberville became known as a center for marijuana growing. My favorite recollection is a party at some people's house (near Whitethorn as I recollect) where there was an electric violinist. I had a lot of fun jamming with him. I played a Marine Band harmonica. The interplay of the sounds of the violin and harmonica harmonics was just amazing. I'm surprised that no band features that combination of instruments. BTW near the end of the video a DEA agent says that given the increases from year to year and over the decades of marijuana cultivation that they are losing the war on pot. There are more gardens than they can deal with. Supply and demand. Works every time. In fact things have gotten so bad that we are importing Mexican gangsters to make up for the shortage of American gangsters. Supply and demand. Works every time. Evidently the Mexicans are willing to do work that Americans are not interested in. You know, there was a time (Alcohol Prohibition) when we didn't have to import gangsters. You have to wonder what has gone wrong with the American work ethic. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 04:09 PM | Comments (2)
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Hamas Wants More War
Mr. Obama the great peace maker whose policy in the Middle East is peace, peace, and more peace, because there is nothing like a peaceful peace to make you feel at peace said: "It will be the policy of my administration to actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as between Israel and its Arab neighbors," he said.Lovely sentiment. However it appears he is going to have a spot of bother with some of the peace loving people of the Middle East. Like the fellows who control Gaza, Hamas. One of them, Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan, had some words about peace. He maintained that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had ended.I wonder if that means that Hamas is temporarily out of rockets? Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 12:18 PM | Comments (1)
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White Males Need Not Apply
Evidently there are going to be racial quotas for construction workers. Or As Mr. Reich might put it somewhat more artfully: "Some of my best friends are white people, but we should do our best to see that their job opportunities are limited." I'm starting to get Rev. Lowery's Inauguration benediction. Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, and when white will embrace what is right.White people are now going to be working for people of color. Nothing wrong with that. If it is voluntary. I thought Obama and his administration were supposed to be post racialist. You know what Martin Luther King Jr. said. I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions.I guess the government has a plan to separate us according to skin color. Reverse Jim Crow. You know, I'm thinking more and more that Mr. Obama has a great future. As an ex-President. I didn't march, and demonstrate, and petition in the 60s for this crap. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 11:03 AM | Comments (6)
| TrackBacks (0) Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sgt. Mom Says I Should Flog Her Books
Sgt. Mom says I should flog her books. They do get good reviews. An outstanding set of historical novels, December 12, 2008That review was specifically for: Adelsverein the Gathering - Book One of The Adelsverein Trilogy. The other two books in the trilogy are: Adelsverein: The Sowing - Book Two of the Adelsverein Trilogy Adelsverein: The Harvesting - Book Three of the Adelsverein Trilogy So if you need a little reading material for these cold (what ever happened to global warming?) winter days, buy the books. Note: Sgt. Mom also has her own blog at Salon. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 08:20 PM | Comments (1)
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An Insufficiency Of Troops
When he was campaigning for President Mr. Obama thought that bombing people was bad. Tuesday, August 14, 2007Evidently he has changed his mind. Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:11 pm ETGood to see Mr. Obama decisively putting into action the policies that he really believes in. Those of George Bush. Happy days are here again. I wonder if he has any plans to bomb Iran after Pakistan? H/T Pal2Pal Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 02:32 PM | Comments (4)
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Underground Racism
I knew this because my Quaker GGGrandfather's farm was a stop on the Underground Railway and he suffered for it. When we traveled back and forth across the Mason-Dixon line when I was growing up, my Dad would give me a nickel for every lawn jockey I spotted and then use my interest as a time to teach the history of the struggle to protect the slaves, who had escaped North with the help of my Quaker ancestors and their friends..The wiki attributes the creation of the Black Lawn Jockeys to George Washington who created the first one to honor a hero of the Revolutionary War. So I guess honoring a Black hero is now proof of racism. Well OK. We can fix that. I hope everyone is satisfied. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 02:00 PM | Comments (3)
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How do you spell relief?
A friend emailed me a link to a Smoking Gun article titled "The Audacity Of Dope -- Cops: New York dealers sold heroin branded with president's name": JANUARY 23--Add heroin to the scores of products that have been branded with President Barack Obama's name. Cops in upstate New York this week broke up a drug ring that allegedly sold heroin under several brand names, including "Obama." As seen in Sullivan County Sheriff's Office photos, the president's surname was stamped in red ink on small glassine wrappers that were peddled by street dealers.Wow. The man's only been president for four days, and already there are distinct signs of economic growth! Who would have expected to see such progress so soon? I'm thinking maybe the dealers have taken to heart that pledge Glenn linked the other day: I pledge to be a servant to our president and all mankind.Every little bit counts. If only we could all, um, do our part! One thing, though. Isn't it obvious from the picture that there's too much government interference with the economy? posted by Eric at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)
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DeFacto Legalization
It seems that America (at least in El Paso, Texas) has given up on the drug war. Why? Because they know that what is happening in Juarez, Mexico is just a crackdown away. Yet what is happening on the other side of the border -- a vicious turf battle prompted by Mexican government efforts to crack down on the cartels -- is taking its toll here in myriad ways. Americans have cut back on visiting their relatives in Mexico, and Mexicans, too, venture to the American side in smaller numbers, either because they are afraid to leave their homes at night or because they lack money.So there you have it the long and the short. War in the streets or leave the drug vendors alone. It looks to me like the choice has been made. In my town there was a huge drug raid 20 years ago (I had Federal agents swarming around the apt. bldg. where I lived. One of the drug kingpins lived next door to me. And he was a rather pleasant fellow. Very friendly. Not scary at all) and the murder rate shot up just as the FBI predicted it would. We haven't had a big crackdown since. I guess some one told the powers that we are not interested in having a war here. At least not one raging day and night. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:40 AM | Comments (2)
| TrackBacks (0) Friday, January 23, 2009
Science Toys - 3
Want to make your own invisible ink at home? Lemon juice is good as is milk and both develop with heat. Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writingshould have even more examples. So on to more codes and cyphers. Codes, Ciphers and Other Cryptic and Clandestine Communication: 400 Ways to Send Secret Messages from Hieroglyphs to the Internet is a beginners guide to all kinds of codes, cyphers and signaling methods. It covers everything from flag codes to World War Two code breakers. It is not very detailed, but it does give an excellent overview. United States Diplomatic Codes and Ciphers: 1775-1938 should be of interest to those who like American History. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson, our smartest President ever, invented a cipher system that used code wheels? Well you know it now. American Black Chamber by Yardley details American code breaking efforts in World War One. It caused quite a scandal when it came out because it gave away a lot of secrets that our government would have preferred to remain secret, including how breaking the codes of other nations gave Americans a serious advantage in post war diplomacy. You can read more about Yardley in the book The Reader of Gentlemen's Mail: Herbert O. Yardley and the Birth of American Codebreaking by David Kahn. Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda is as up to date as the headlines in your newspaper. Stealing Secrets, Telling Lies: How Spies & Codebreakers Helped Shape the Twentieth Century. Yes they did, frequently. Did you know that the breaking of a diplomatic code by the British helped get the USA into WW1? The Zimmermann Telegram is a classic telling of the tale by Barbra Tuchman. And it is just one example of how spying shaped the history of the world. The Spycraft Manual: The Insider's Guide to Espionage Techniques covers how to do it for your budding spy. International Spy Museum's Handbook of Practical Spying Has practical tips on how to apply spying in your daly life. Such as: Learn how to apply spy knowledge to situations in your own life, from how to hide valuables in your home, to how to shake a tail if you are being followed on a dark street. Learn how to avoid carjacking, pickpockets, and how to protect yourself from identity theft. The same tactics used by CIA and KGB agents can also be used in less serious situations-and these techniques can work in surprising ways. Planning a surprise birthday party for someone special? Learn how to create a cover story. Real spies know the tricks and what can give your cover away. A spy must master many skills, and is only as good as what he or she sees and understands. Observe and Analyze, Avoid Capture, Use Disguises, and Analyze Threats. These are all things that can help you in daily applications.The book is presented by International Spy Museum director and ex-CIA operative Peter Earnest, and filled with useful information gathered by the Spy Museum's team of experts.I can think of uses for this information that would eventually lead to divorce court. So be careful out there. So you want to break codes and ciphers? Here is a set of three books that will help: And if you want to try your hand at deciphering here are a few puzzle books: And to kind of wrap this all up I want to cover the breaking of the German and Japanese Machine codes in WW2. Let me start with a book I am currently reading The American Magic which deals with the breaking of the Japanese codes and how that information was used to defeat Japan and had an influence on the decision to atomic bomb Japan. There are lots more books on the subject of WW2 code breaking. Here is a list: And for those of you who mouse around your computer: Lorenz Cipher Machine Mouse Pad If you want to watch a DVD about spying may I suggest: Secrets of War - Intelligence (The Ultra Enigma, Women Spies in World War II) narrated by Charlton Heston. That should be enough to keep your junior spy and the rest of you into the clandestine arts busy for a while. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:23 AM | Comments (6)
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Delusions Spring Eternal
While George Bush basically figured out that Middle East Peace is an illusion, Mr. Obama promises to go at it full bore. Mr. Obama says: "It will be the policy of my administration to actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as between Israel and its Arab neighbors," he said.Every President who has tried to settle the Israeli-Arab conflict has failed. The only success story so far has been Israel-Egypt and Israel-Jordan and it had nothing to do with American diplomacy (although America did grease the deal). It had to do with the fact that the parties involved wanted to settle. So unless Obama is going to use his magic soft power on Hamas and get them in a deal making mood he is setting himself up for epic fail. Obama doesn't understand that real diplomacy is about carrots and sticks. He is big on carrots and disdainful of sticks. Which is why he will fail. What Obama doesn't get is that Middle East Peace is nothing at all like making a deal for an Congressional Senate Seat for one of his cronies. Plan for war - because Obama knows nothing about keeping the peace. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 07:24 AM | Comments (6)
| TrackBacks (0) Thursday, January 22, 2009
There is nothing more tragic than an unwanted rat
As someone who has struggled with unwanted rodents on numerous occasions, I was quite fascinated by the apparent legal precedent being set here: WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) - A Providence man is in trouble after he abandoned nearly 300 rats on the side of the road.Hmmm.... Because I live on two coasts, I'm afraid that I might be found guilty of rat or mouse "abandonment" every time I close up a place and leave the poor critters without any sustenance! Can I dare resort to pre-emptive Seriously, in light of this fascinating precedent, can arrests for cruelly trapping or slowly poisoning rats be far behind? What is a responsible rodent steward to do?
If someone threw it away, would that constitute obstructing justice? AND MORE: Here's a closeup view of what rats did to a dishwasher drain hose: Note that it is dripping. Would it be cruel to repair the hose and deprive the rats of their water source? posted by Eric at 03:33 PM | Comments (4)
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The Great Emancipator
What people really thought of Lincoln: "We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free." - Lincoln's Secretary of State, William Sewardand: "The principle (of the Proclamation) is not that a human being cannot justly own another, but that he cannot own him unless he is loyal to the United States." - The London SpectatorYou see, even in Lincoln's day they had spin doctors advising the President. The above quotes are from a column by Walter Williams who likes this book on the Lincoln Presidency: The Real Lincoln. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:14 AM | Comments (3)
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Make Them Love Us
Mr. Obama has given the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, a new mandate. Make the world love us. Hillary Rodham Clinton is taking control of the State Department with a mandate from President Barack Obama to step up diplomatic efforts and restore the nation's tattered image abroad.The Middle East has confounded every President since Jefferson. Although I must admit Jefferson did get some results by sending in the Marines. Too bad there were no pollsters back then to determine the effect the Marines had on our image in the Muslim world. So what can Hillary do to buff up our image abroad? I'm sure she will think of something. I can't wait to find out what it is. I keep getting the impression that the Obama Presidency is going to end badly. And here we are only into the second day. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 07:27 AM | Comments (22)
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Obama Countdown Clock
For those of you who would like to keep track. If you want to make your own clock here is the page And here is another way of looking at it: posted by Simon at 07:20 AM | Comments (5)
| TrackBacks (0) Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Vitamin C Works As Antibiotic
The US Government has done some research (1998) on Vitamin C as an antibiotic and found that it works. This study has shown that 4 weeks daily high dose vitamin C treatment in H. pylori infected patients with chronic gastritis resulted in apparent H. pylori eradication in 30% of those treated. In those patients there was also a highly significant rise in gastric juice total vitamin C concentration which persisted for at least 4 weeks after the treatment ceased. A significant, though less marked, gastric juice total vitamin C concentration increase was observed during vitamin C treatment even in subjects with persistent H. pylori infection, though this was not maintained after treatment ended. The mechanism whereby vitamin C treatment appeared to result in H. pylori eradication is unclear. Further confirmatory studies are indicated.The studies used a dose of 5 grams a day. I'd like to see a much higher dose used (20 grams a day) and see if that didn't work for a larger percentage of the population. Of course this study says nothing about Vitamin C and the common cold. Because the common cold is caused by a virus. Still, because of its low toxicity it couldn't hurt. H/T alexjrgreen at Talk Polywell Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 12:31 PM | Comments (9)
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Getting Stimulated
You can read and discuss the rape the taxpayer bill (aka the stimulus bill) at readthestimulus.org. Here is a bit from the site. One of the additional features we want to add to ReadTheStimulus.org is more detail on the actual dollar amounts being appropriated in the bill text. But to do that, we need to extract out all the individual appropriations and put them in a spreadsheet. Unfortunately, there's just no way to do that automagically, and so that means we have to brute force it: have real live humans manually read each page of the document and enter in the dollar appropriations into a collaborative spreadsheet.You know, Congress could be right. America might need a big stimulus package to get the wheels of industry turning again. So why not pass a big tax cut and let people and businesses spend the money as they see fit? Congress could exercise its power, but it would mean giving up control. Well Democrats are against giving up control as a philosophical proposition - let alone in reality. So what are the odds? None and less than none. And what will we get for all this debt addition? Stagflation. The Democrats will lose seats in 2010 and Obama is likely to be a one termer. Especially if a war flares up in the world and he handles it badly. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 12:23 PM | Comments (4)
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Hamas Returns To Governing Gaza
Hamas has returned to governing Gaza by their usual methods. Murder and theft. The liaison office for civilian territories said Hamas is intentionally harming humanitarian aid transferred from Israel by firing mortars at the Karni, Kissufim and Kerem Shalom crossings. The liaison office and Shin Bet security service both accused Hamas of looting trucks bringing supplies into Gaza.And people wonder why Egypt has no interest in taking Gaza back or even opening its border crossings to Gaza. Best to keep the disease penned in. Speaking of disease it seems like an old one is on the loose among terrorist cadres. The Black Death. At least 40 al-Qaeda fanatics died horribly after being struck down with the disease that devastated Europe in the Middle Ages.When I was in the Navy a long time ago ('63 to '67) I got an anti-Plague shot aboard ship while patrolling off the coast of Viet Nam with the Enterprise task force. Evidently Al Queda is not that interested in the health of its fighters. Keep an eye on Afghanistan. If the Black Death breaks out there the Taliban Spring offensive may be derailed or attenuated. What is ironic is that Al Queda wanted to return to the days when Islam controlled part or all of Spain. From 711 to 1492. And those years include Plague Years. Funny that they are getting their wish to return to those thrilling days of yester year where medicine was relatively ignorant. I don't think dying of the Black Plague was what they had in mind when decrying the corruption of the West. I think if I have a choice of corruption I'd pick Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll over disease and death. But I was never much of a fanatic about religion in any case. H/T Israpundit who links to this article about Syrian biowarfare. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)
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Even The Israelis Get It
Nehemia Shtrasler in a Haaretz article called The Alchemist tells what lies ahead for the US economy under Mr. Obama. The United States faces a huge crisis because it has lived beyond its means and has done so quite irresponsibly. Obama seeks to continue on the exact same path, though on a much larger scale.And I was saying this before the election. Jimmy Carter's second term. Stagflation. Ruinous spending for no economic result. His second problem is that geopolitics could intrude and cause him further misery. I must admit that I have already developed mild ODS. I just can't stand watching him or listening to him on the tube. YouTube or the other one. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 01:07 AM | Comments (0)
| TrackBacks (0) Tuesday, January 20, 2009
my blurry inaugural reception ball
I took valuable time out from work to turn on a dilapidated TV that still receives local programming, and watched this morning's events. Sure enough (and despite the joint flubbing of the Oath of Office), we have a new president. I normally wouldn't have paid too much attention to a flub like that, except that it came right on the heels of (and thus aggravated) a previous flub by Dianne Feinstein, who I was not alone in hearing announce "the Oaf of Office." Anyway, and FWIW, I thought Obama's speech was well crafted, and rhetorically brilliant. Also, despite my opposition status, I found myself reassured by the sincere display of warmth and friendship by George W. Bush. It is obvious to me that Bush likes Barack Obama, and it served as a much-needed reminder that we have a new president, and he's the president of the entire country. Painful as it might be for cynical worrywarts like yours truly, I think we should all wish him and his administration well. MORE: I did not like Reverend Lowery's prayer. Here's the Drudge version: 'Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen. Say Amen'...Not quite what I heard, as I remembered something about mellow yellow. CNN offers this unexpurgated yet different snippet from the "prayer": "We ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right,"I think Drudge got it right, minus the mellow yellow. Yet all versions agree that "white" has not yet embraced "what is right." Sounds more like simple anti-white bigotry to me than a "benediction." At the very least, it constitutes a racial scolding in the name of God. A pity, because racial scoldings (especially religious-based ones) ought to have no place in a unity-based inaugural theme. Can anyone imagine the outcry had the Reverend prayed for gays to embrace what is right? posted by Eric at 01:16 PM | Comments (9)
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The Same America
Israeli President Shimon Peres (what a nice name - Shimon) says that Obama's desire to talk to Hamas and Iran will make no difference. President Shimon Peres said Tuesday that he wasn't worried about US-President elect Barack Obama's intention to talk to Iran and perhaps Hamas. "I don't believe they will get what they want by talking to him," Peres told Army Radio. "Their goals are different from Obama's goals. He wants to build, but they want to destroy. He wants peace, they want war."That is true. America is the same. Italy is, however, different. Just look at the picture below. We didn't expect what you see now in the picture. This is the square of the Italian Parliament in Rome, Piazza Montecitorio: you can see the Palace on top of the square, and in front a lot of Israeli flags.That was yesterday night from 6:30 to 9:30 P.M. What you cannot see here, is the extraordinary number and variety of members of the Parliament, about 100 from all political sides, that took the stage during our marathon: for about three hours we have been speaking about the role of Israel, its right to self defense, its moral height, its fight in name of all of us, of our civilization and values, against the wild hate of the Islamic jihad represented by Hamas. It seems to me that for the first time in the too-long history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, apart from a minority of crazy leftists and fascists that took the street on anti-Semitic slogans, we have obtained a huge consensus about one critical point: this is not an episode of a local conflict, there is nothing in it that reminds the land for peace theme that has characterized the Palestinian issue. This is an episode of the attack against the Western world, and Iran has a lot to do with it.Now that is a different Europe even from as little as two and a half years ago in the summer of 2006. Iran was behind Hizballah then. I wonder why the change in sentiment? Maybe it has something to do with an Israeli Army of Davids. It could be. Consider this article from the January 5th Jerusalem Post: Many supporters of Israel have grown frustrated with hostile feedback posted to Web articles and on blogs since the start of Operation Cast Lead nine days ago. A group of Israeli students has decided to fight back.It seems to be working. "This truly is Israel's first new media war," said Michael Dickson, director of Stand With Us International. "We've seen demonstrations and rallies around the world, and they have been really militant and extreme.In a January 19th update on the story the Jerusalem Post gives more details about the results of the information campaign. Israel's newest weapon on the public relations front is "an army of bloggers," according to a statement issued by the Absorption Ministry Sunday afternoon.The Israelis have had two and a half years to prepare for this war. It seems their time has not been wasted. Have a look at the video below in Arabic with English subtitles. The Video is called "Hamas Profanes Islam". So it is not just college students, and the Absorption Ministry. It is also the Israeli Defense forces that are waging the information battle. They even have their own YouTube Channel called idfnadesk which was started on December 29th. A couple of days after the opening of the war. I think the Israelis have learned the lessons of Lebanon 2006 and the lessons that the Americans on the right have learned about their media and the world media. You can't depend on the main stream media to get your message out. What you need is An Army of Davids. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:19 AM | Comments (0)
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Spain Is Depressed
Europe is hurting from the economic slow down but Spain is looking at a depression. Falling exports will hit Germany hard. Europe's largest economy is also the world's biggest exporter and will likely shrink 2.3 percent this year, it said. German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said this chimed with Berlin's own figures.Twenty percent unemployment is at depression levels. Spain is one of the Euro Group hardest hit by the housing bubble. So what does the future hold? Some economists are predicting a bottom around the second quarter of 2009. Others say that the pick up will not start until well into 2010. And how will that effect the American scene? It depends. If the American Congress tries to spend the US economy out of the recession the economy will stagnate. Alyssa A. Lappen agrees with me. ...cheap credit does not spur new investment or economic growth. In his 1993 study of more than 5,000 U.S. manufacturing companies from 1971 to 1990, economics professor Steven Fazari found that business invest based on overall economic health and the growth in their own sales and profits. "Weakness in the economy is more likely to reduce investment than lower interest rates are to stimulate it." But low rates can and will spring like a jack knife if and when investors find other outlets for their "easy" liquidity-induced cash.Note that businesses invest based on sales and profits. And what is the fastest way to increase business profits? Lower business taxes. This allows business to decide the proper balance between lower prices and increased profits. So how have countries fared that tried to spend their way out of financial difficulties? We have Japan as a sub prime example. U.S. taxpayers still face the extraordinary deficit burden already heaped upon them---and only likely to grow under the Obama administration. As Melloan noted, in the 1990s, "Japan tried to spend its way out of its post bubble malaise," but merely accumulated "a mountain of debt" and lost a decade to "little or no economic growth."So are the Republicans starting to get it? If the economy needs stimulating what is the best way? Government direct spending or lowering government income while increasing business income? The Republicans have some ideas. Rep. David Dreier (R), of the San Gabriel Valley in California is one of those idea men. Dreier outlined his priorities Thursday in an interview with the Tribune on Capital Hill for what, under Obama's plan, has ballooned to nearly a trillion-dollar economic stimulus package that Obama.Now I don't agree with all the proposals, but you do have to get bills passed and a few stupid ideas help to insure passage. The essential thing is this: if the government is going to put a lot of money in the economy it has to do something that will increase production in order to keep inflation in check otherwise consumers will just bid up the price of goods and there will be a new bubble to deal with. Prices have to come down to what consumers are willing to spend. That means lowering the cost of doing business or increasing production. Lower taxes on business will give businesses the opportunity to decide in each case what the best policy is. So will the new President and Congress do something totally stupid? Well Mark Twain had a handle on it: "Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself." My expectations are limited so that gives me an advantage right there. Any move in a useful direction will seem miraculous to me. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 07:22 AM | Comments (14)
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The Small Business And Thrift Store Destruction Act
Congress has recently passed a law that will destroy a lot of small businesses and will prevent thrift stores from selling products for children. If someone you know volunteers at a thrift store or crochets baby hats for the crafts site Etsy or favors handmade wooden toys as a baby shower gift, you've probably been hearing the alarms about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA).Pretty simple really. Congress never looks at the unintended consequences of the laws it passes. Congress passed CPSIA in a frenzy of self-congratulation following last year's overblown panic over Chinese toys with lead paint. Washington's consumer and environmentalist lobbies used the occasion to tack on some other long-sought legislative goals, including a ban on phthalates used to soften plastic.Ah yes. The "we must do something in order to keep our phony baloney jobs" mentality that seems to affect legislators at every level of government. The first thing to note is that we're not just talking about toys here. With few exceptions, the law covers all products intended primarily for children under 12. That includes clothing, fabric and textile goods of all kinds: hats, shoes, diapers, hair bands, sports pennants, Scouting patches, local school-logo gear and so on.So a disabled kid has goods made special for them by a third party and the testing can run $100,000 for an item depending on the number of components. We really have a lot of geniuses in our Federal government. And what about R&D? A computer board I once made was put into a wheel chair for a young lady to help her operate the wheel chair by blowing puffs of air. I sold the board for $50. How in the heck could I afford $100,000 of testing for a production run that amounted to about 1,000 pieces if even one of those boards was incorporated in a device for a handicapped child? And horror of horrors, the device used lead based solder. Again with relatively few exceptions, makers of these goods can't rely only on materials known to be unproblematic (natural dyed yarn, local wood) or that come from reputable local suppliers, or even ones that are certified organic.I guess this might be a good thing in the long run though. Poor people will not be able to easily afford children. Eugenics through environmental laws. And you know eugenics was a favorite of the left. So maybe our Democrat Congress and its Republican allies knew what they were doing after all. And who was the only guy to vote against it? Libertarian-Republican Ron Paul who is a baby doctor. H/T Instapundit Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 07:16 AM | Comments (0)
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Let's Get The Dog To Cook
There's already a huge ongoing government intervention in the economy. Bringing the government in to run Wall Street is like saying, "Dad burned dinner, let's get the dog to cook."From a pre-mortem on the failed Obama Presidency by P.J. O'Rourke. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 07:14 AM | Comments (0)
| TrackBacks (0) Monday, January 19, 2009
Danica Patrick's Beaver
I'm so out of it that I missed Danica Patrick's beaver last year. Danica is a local girl from Roscoe, Illinois, about 10 miles from where I live as the crow flies. A little longer if the beaver swims the Rock River. And you know what else I missed? Danica was in the Sports Illustrated swim suit edition looking very demurely athletic. As you can see from the photo below. I hope this warms you up this cold winter day. And please share some of that warmth with your significant other. And if you can't share it with you're significant other share it with the one you're with. H/T Instapundit who likes pictures of pretty women, and who says "sex sells". I wonder if that is true? OK. I've got an idea. There is a lot of sex in the Bible. So what could be better than an Orgasm Bible? An orgasm maybe? Now there is a service, if it could be delivered online, that could make a lot of money. Before our lawmakers got into the act. And what would that act be called? The Hookers and Prostitutes Price Support Act. Them damn socialists in Congress are always trying to screw everything up. And you know what else? I'll bet they only take testimony in private due to the sensitive nature of the subject. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 01:34 PM | Comments (3)
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Privatize
Government fiat can no more create moral health than it can create economic health. Smaller more restricted government is the only way forward. We should look to the "success" of the California Republican Party and work to solve moral issues in the same place that economic issues need to be solved. The private sector. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
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The No Truce Truce
It seems that both Hamas and Israel have declared unilateral truces independent of each other. However Hamas keeps firing rockets at Israel. Gaza terrorists continued to attack southern Israeli civilian areas on Sunday afternoon, despite the fact that the Israeli unilateral cease-fire had already been in effect since early that morning.Naturally the Israelis have responded. The IAF struck back, hitting a terror cell and a launching pad.So how is Hamas doing? They are doing their usual pretending to be the victors except when they are pretending to be the victims. Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal announced on Syrian television on Sunday afternoon that the Islamic group would implement a cease-fire in which they would halt all military activity and give IDF troops one week to pull out of the Gaza Strip.That is the ticket guys. Promise to end all military activity while still shelling Israel. And if Israel doesn't pull out in a week Hamas can always declare a new truce. According to the statement, Israel must end the blockade and open the border crossings.The Israelis have a different idea about what the truce entails. Shortly after it announced a unilateral cease-fire in Gaza, Israel said on Sunday it will not consider a timetable for withdrawing all of its forces from the Gaza Strip until Hamas and other militant groups halt their attacks.Of course time tables are for trains and I think that is one train the Jews are not getting on. "If there is a danger Hamas is going to deliberately torpedo the cease-fire, and we will have to reinitiate offensive actions against Hamas, for that reason we have to be reticent about withdrawing our forces."Evidently the Israelis consider Hamas' behavior an open invitation to stay in Gaza. I think I said a few years ago that if giving Gaza to the Philistines didn't work out the Israelis could always take it back without too much difficulty. It will be interesting to see if Hamas wants Gaza back badly enough to cease the rocket attacks. "Israeli forces inside the Gaza Strip and many more encircling the Gaza Strip are...prepared to act in any area in accordance with their commanders' orders if and when the cease-fire violations, such as those that occurred this morning, continue," Olmert added at the cabinet meeting.Olmert is actually acting like a leader these days. He says if Hamas wants more he is more than willing to see that they get some. "If our enemies decide the blows they've been dealt have not been sufficient and they are interested in continuing the fight, Israel will be prepared for such and feel free to continue to react with force," the premier added.Molon labe indeed. And there is a carrot to go with the stick. Israel said on Sunday it will be prepared to sharply increase the flow of food and medicine to Gaza if the unilateral cease-fire holds, but it ruled out fully lifting a blockade until captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit is freed.It will be interesting to see in the coming days how much Hamas is willing to give up to get what it wants. So you may ask why was Israel interested in a cease fire without an agreement with Hamas? The answer is from a report from over two weeks ago that said Israel was running out of targets. And that is not all. My guess is that Israel had no intention of taking Gaza city. No doubt Hamas in its usual efficient style had booby trapped a number of buildings in Gaza City just waiting for the Israelis to come in. Now the Hamas engineers will be responsible for removing the booby traps. Saving Israeli lives and costing Hamas some of its engineers as the inevitable mistakes happen. Despite Israelis "loss" in the 2006 Lebanon War things have been quiet (mostly) on that border. I think the same thing will happen to Gaza. In time. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 11:14 AM | Comments (1)
| TrackBacks (0) Sunday, January 18, 2009
history uncovered
Sorry to be such a poop lately, but not being near a computer when I work as well as too busy to get online makes blogging difficult. Needless to say, I have not watched television, and other than glancing at newspaper headlines I have not had time to keep up with current events. Yes, I do know that Barack Obama will soon be sworn in as president. A friend told me that a huge deal is being made of it on TV, and he can't believe I'm not watching. (History being made, etc.) Excuse me, but since when is history made by the TV? I did watch Bush being sworn in, and if I remember correctly, the ceremony took an hour or so. According to my friend, though, this particular ceremony is taking days (yes, it somehow is, with a prolonged inaugural railroad ride), and I am supposed to be glued to the TV watching it. Am I missing out on history? I don't doubt that there's a train ride and stuff, but am I supposed to get all emotional and weepy? What gives? Why the need for such apparently drawn-out, overwrought drama? What could be more dull than watching a train on TV? (Answer: covering it via liveblogging!) On an artistic note, I thought I should put in a plug for a marvelous product I've discovered called "KRUD KUTTER." I've had an old lithograph (purportedly by Dalí) hanging on the wall of this house for nearly twenty years which was so covered with krud that it was getting tough to see the image. An artist friend decided to clean it using KRUD KUTTER and I couldn't believe the result. Such a versatile product deserves a plug. I know a lot more about Dalí now than I did when I acquired the print, and the first thing I noticed was that while the style unmistakably resembled Dalí's, there were significant differences. Dalí would not have painted a smooth rock with stripes, so I thought it might be an Yves Tanguy (Dalí and Tanguy were peers and did influence each other.) Thanks to the miracle of KRUD KUTTER, surprise! A close inspection of the lower right hand corner revealed the signature. Proof that if you kut through enough krud, you can find the history. Tanguy said, "I found that if I planned a picture beforehand, it never surprised me, and surprises are my pleasure in painting." It was a pleasure to discover it. posted by Eric at 12:31 PM | Comments (7)
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Israel Gets The Gas
A huge reservoir of natural gas has been found 80 km (50 mi) off the Israeli coast. Three massive gas reservoirs have been discovered 80 kilometers off the Haifa coast, at the Tamar prospect, Noble Energy Inc. announced on Sunday.There are plans underway to sell some of the gas to other countries. Now wouldn't it be something if Europe became dependent on Israeli natural gas? Especially since Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Europe. Schools closed, heating shut down and nearly a dozen European nations reported a cutoff of natural-gas supplies in one of the coldest winters in recent memory.Them Russians is not nice people. It will be fun to see if Europe's attitude towards Israel changes should they decide to buy Israeli gas. I think, however, it is more likely that Lebanon or Egypt will become Israel's first customer. With Turkey also in the running. Israel as a major energy power. That should have interesting repercussions. Update: 18 Jan 2009 1520z I have been informed that Israel currently buys its natural gas supplies from Egypt. So I guess Egypt is off the list. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 11:09 AM | Comments (1)
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Hamas Is Iran's Bitch
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert says: "All the world agrees that Hamas's arming must be stopped," he continued, stressing that now, after the operation, the entire world understands "that Hamas is Iran's Gaza branch."It seems I misread the Prime Minister's words. I promise to do better next time. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:35 AM | Comments (0)
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Politics Doesn't Stop
Mr. Obama's big problems so far have been his relations with corrupt politicians. I think it will be a continuing problem with his new administration. However, his biggest problem is that the Democrat Party is prone to strangling the economy. A case in point his his nominee for energy czar, Carol Browner. She is also referred to as the climate czar. And what is with is with this czar business? A drug czar, a car czar, and now a climate/energy czar. I suppose the purpose of the czar if to oversee the 10,000 Federal efforts in a given area and make them all pull in the same direction. Of course a czar is a petty dictator. And you know where that leads. Such a policy has been tried before only it was called by another name Fuehrerprinzip. You know it doesn't sound nearly as appealing in the original German. So where were we? Oh yeah the new climate fuhrer has an interesting past. However, she was no National Socialist. She was an international socialist (bigger ambitions?). A member of the Socialist International which was founded in 1951. And what is their fundamental policy on energy/climate and other ecological matters? The best and cheapest solutions to the crisis are those that change the basic framework of production and consumption so that environmental damage does not occur in the first place.Let me repeat the critical part change the basic framework of production and consumption. What would that mean in practice? Appointing really smart fuhrers who would tell us what to do. No more of that try things out and see who profits capitalist crap. Nope. This will all be very scientific. The smartest people (with the right political connections) will be giving orders. Friedrich Hayek in his book The Road to Serfdom explained why that is impossible. No one person actually knows enough to give the right orders for millions of people. No one can know the correct trade offs in all cases. There is a Hayek I might be willing to take orders from. But it would have to be up close and personal. And even then it would probably lead to Mi Vida Loca as it does in economics. So back to Browner and her economic ideas. According to its own principles, Socialist International favors the nationalization of industry, is skeptical of the benefits of economic growth and wants to establish a more "equitable international economic order." In true Marxist form, it asserts that, "The concentration of economic power in few private hands must be replaced by a different order in which each person is entitled -- as citizen, consumer or wage-earner -- to influence the direction and distribution of production, the shaping of the means of production, and the conditions of working life."Of course to carry out that sort of economics you can't just have people going off on their own deciding what is just. You need a dictatorship of the proletariat. In other words the fuhrer decides what is good for you and what you will get. And you will be getting it good and hard. So how does she intend to reduce carbon emissions? She has a plan. It is called decoupling. Profits will be decoupled from production. In late-December, Carbon Control News reported that Browner was a "strong backer" of utility "decoupling," which had emerged as a "key climate policy priority for Obama."Obama did promise in his election campaign to bankrupt the coal industry and it looks like he has found just the woman to do it. The British are well into such a scheme and it looks like they are losing their power. Their electrical power. It was in July of this year that the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee - prop. Tim Yeo - told the government that it must set a deadline for coal-fired power stations to install technology massively to cut their emissions, or they must be shut down.Ah yes the social in socialism brings disastrous consequences. When was it ever otherwise? The electric utilities will make out and the consumer will do without electricity. Corporate socialism at its finest. For the people. With political connections. So is the Obama team proud of Ms. Browner's socialist connections? I don't think so. Then there's Carol Browner, Obama's pick as energy czar and Clinton's Environmental Protection Agency director. She's a member of Socialist International, the world's leading home for socialism and SI's Commission for a Sustainable World Society, which calls for "global governance" and says rich countries must shrink their economies to address man-caused climate change.It is almost as if they had something to hide. And there is another reason why socialist Browner is kind of a funny choice for Obama. When she headed the EPA it was a hotbed of racism. According to a February 2001 report in TIME magazine, the EPA was plagued with "festering racial problems" during Browner's time in charge. One African-American EPA employee, Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, told TIME that she'd been passed over for promotions for being "too uppity," adding, "We [African-American employees] were treated like Negroes, to use a polite term. We were put in our place."There are a lot of good things about the Obama administration. Understanding the scientific arguments about global warming isn't one of them. Fortunately, although the scientific arguments about global warming aren't settled the politics is. Green on the outside, red on the inside. Socialism all the way. Because they believe, despite over a hundred years of recent evidence, that government can run your life better than you can. Our only hope is that Mr. Obama is kept busy with corruption scandals and foreign wars so that he does not have much time or political capital to do serious damage here at home. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 08:42 AM | Comments (7)
| TrackBacks (0) Saturday, January 17, 2009
We Can Work It Out
An interview with Mira Awad and Achinoam Nini about the state of Israeli/Palistinian relations with interludes of them singing together the Beatles' We Can Work It Out. The two young ladies will be appearing together in the Eurovision song contest whose purpose is to promote dialog through cultural exchanges. The choice of the ladies to represent Israel has created quite a fire storm among those who think the Israelis and Palestinians can't work it out. Several local artists and intellectuals are calling on the Israeli Arab singer and actress chosen to represent Israel at the Eurovision song contest to step down, saying her participation in the "Israeli propaganda machine" would convey a false impression of national coexistence used to cover up the deaths of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.And there is the usual inflamed rhetoric to go along with the denunciation of the duo. "Israel would not be able to continue with its war crimes without the support of the international community, especially the United States and the European Union," the signatories, both Jewish and Arab, wrote in an open letter to Awad.Of course there is no mention of the Palestinian war crimes of intentionally attacking civilian areas with rockets in order to terrorize the residents. Or the previous wave of suicide bombers. No response was available from Awad or Nini by press time, but their manager, Ofer Pesenzon, charged the signatories - who include filmmaker Nizar Hassan and publisher Yael Lerer - with extremism.I thought the part of the interview where Mira thinks there could be a solution if everyone wanted one was quite to the point. Achinoam thinks that another of the keys is mutual recognition. The problem with that approach is that Hamas refuses to recognize Israel. They are sure taking a beating from some people they don't recognize. Ah well. Irreconcilable differences. All that is left is concluding the divorce settlement with the division of the property. And they don't seem to be able to even work that one out. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 01:47 PM | Comments (2)
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A Crack Down On Guns Is Coming
And how will it be sold? "The violence in Mexico is caused by the guns flowing South." I have often said to gun owners that the biggest threat to them is drug prohibition. They were never much interested. I think their interest is going to rise. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)
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A Conversation About Ending Prohibition
El Paso City Council member Beto O'Rourke says ending prohibition is looking like one of the more attractive solutions to the violence along the Mexican border. His representative in Congress DemocratSilvestre Reyes said in effect: we don't want no stinkin debate. the El Paso city council voted 8-0 to express solidarity with its sister city in Mexico, Juarez, which has seen its murder rate double this year alone as the Mexican government has waged war on powerful drug cartels. To slow that violence, the resolution called for "an honest, open national debate on ending the prohibition of narcotics."Here is how it works first your Representative brings home the bacon, but after a while you find you are owned by the butcher. City Rep. Beto O'Rourke, the sponsor of the legalization amendment, said that "the threat from Congressman Reyes, then articulated again by our House delegation at the state level is unfortunate, but it's having its desired affect, which is to chill discussion."You know there may be a reason that even discussion of legalization is off the table: "The Latin American drug cartels have stretched their tentacles much deeper into our lives than most people believe. It's possible they are calling the shots at all levels of government." - William Colby, former CIA Director, 1995 It is quite possible that the drug cartels own the US Congress. After all it is obvious that they own Mexico. What is to stop their money from crossing the border? Or just never leaving the USA? On Tuesday night, after hours of debate, O'Rourke argued -- unsuccessfully -- that bowing to federal pressure would set a precedent they should avoid. "All we're asking for is a conversation, and no important issue in the history of the United States -- social, criminal, legal or otherwise -- has ever been harmed by having an open discussion. That's all we're asking for today," he said.Yep. He questions the timing. It should not be today or tomorrow that is for sure. I think the only acceptable timing for the Feds is never. However, events in Mexico may make the preferred timing impossible for too much longer. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 11:14 AM | Comments (1)
| TrackBacks (0) Friday, January 16, 2009
The Road To Serfdom
Have you ever wondered if the German National Socialists were really right wing? Well now you can find out by reading the Readers Digest Condensed Version of The Road to Serfdom which is downloadable at no cost from a link at the page. You should use the Save As function and title the file The Road To Serfdom.pdf. The Institute of Economic Affairs which hosts "The Road..." has other interesting economic publications and videos at its site. You might also like The Illustrated Version which you can open in a browser window or tab. It is hosted by The Ludwig von Mises Institute. You can get an actual book by following this link The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents--The Definitive Edition (The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek). So were the Nazis right wing? Only compared to the communists. H/T alexjrgreen At Talk Polywell. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 10:24 AM | Comments (6)
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Defeating The War On Terror
Misha Glenny author of McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld has this to say about the drug war: In the past two years, the drug war has become the Taliban's most effective recruiter in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's Muslim extremists have reinvigorated themselves by supporting and taxing the countless peasants who are dependent one way or another on the opium trade, their only reliable source of income. The Taliban is becoming richer and stronger by the day, especially in the east and south of the country. The "War on Drugs" is defeating the "war on terror."Because of the problems in Mexico and Afghanistan we are rapidly coming to a fork in the road. Do we opt for legalization of drugs or support of criminals and terrorists? H/T commenter flicka47 at They Kidnap Americans Don't They? Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 02:38 AM | Comments (3)
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Good Journalism
Richard Cowan says "bad journalism" is responsible for marijuana prohibition. Actually I will go farther. It is responsible for the whole drug prohibition mess. However, we are starting to get some examples of good journalism. Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune is one of them. "Man found dead with hands severed."The General has not caught up with events. Mexico is a narco State. These facts are well known to the readers of this blog. So where is the good journalim? It is in three words bolded below. Something drastic needed to be done, O'Rourke, a fourth-generation El Paso resident, decided. A proposed City Council resolution called for more federal action on both sides of the border to reduce the flow of guns and drugs.Yes it is. It took seven murders on Chicago's North side in February of 1929 to get legalization of alcohol seriously on the table. In this war it has taken about 700 times as many murders and the help of a unanimous vote of the El Paso City Council to get the subject the attention it deserves. Because it was just not the murders (the bodies have been piling up for years) it is the politicians taking notice. And now newspaper columnists like Clarence Page who has more to say: ...Calderon faces mounting pressures on his 2-year-old campaign against drug and gun smuggling. The campaign actually touched off much of the fighting between the drug cartels. It has also exposed corruption that touched the highest levels of his government. Even a member of his security team was arrested for allegedly feeding information to the cartels in exchange for money.Let me repeat another bit of very good journalism: Mexico's drug problem is not the drugs. It is the illegality of the drugs. That is something I have been saying for years and it only took 5,000 dead Mexicans and the efforts of the El Paso City Council to make my point. H/T Suzanne Wills of the DPFT list. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 02:00 AM | Comments (3)
| TrackBacks (0) Thursday, January 15, 2009
A Certain Lack Of Solidarity
A protest against Israeli operations in Gaza was called off because not enough Palestinians showed up. RAMALLAH - It's quiet in Ramallah. At the northern entrance to the city, not far from the mall, a new fountain spouts water. Next to it lies a sign in English: "Gaza under fire." But it seems the Gaza Strip has never been so far away. Tel Aviv, meanwhile, feels closer than ever. Almost every day at 1 P.M., a demonstration leaves Manara Square in the city center, expressing support for the residents of the Gaza Strip. The number of participants has declined, however, on a daily basis, and on Wednesday the demonstration was called off for a lack of protesters.What explains this lack of solidarity? Walid Omari, the Al-Jazeera bureau chief for the Palestinian Authority and Israel, thinks he knows. Omari explains that the quiet all over the West Bank in the face of the events in Gaza stems mainly from disappointment and frustration with the leadership of Hamas and Fatah.In other words " I'm not having any of what they are having." A wise move. Perhaps Israel has sufficiently demoralized the Palestinians to the point that they are becoming willing to deal. And speaking of deal how is the truce deal that Egypt is negotiating coming along? After 19 days of fighting and more than 1,000 Palestinian fatalities, the first significant signs that Hamas is breaking could be seen Wednesday night. Hamas representatives to talks with Egypt announced an agreement in principle on Wednesday to the Egyptian cease-fire proposal. They also demanded several clarifications, primarily from Israel.So Walid seems to have it right. A lot of blood and destruction for no gain. And as I have said before Israel has some surprising allies in this war. Arab League officials announced Wednesday night that they still did not have the necessary legal quorum to convene an emergency Arab League summit in Doha on Friday to discuss Israel's offensive in Gaza.So the Arabs don't seem to have a sense of urgency about the discussions. Advantage Israel. So what are the Saudis and Egyptians up to? Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday called for its own emergency meeting of Gulf Countries in Riyadh to discuss the IDF operation in Gaza on Thursday.So not only are the Saudis and others dragging their feet, but the meeting on Gaza will be a side show to more pressing business - an economic summit. What we are seeing is a realignment of Middle East interests. One other place the alignment is changing is Turkey, and in this case it is moving away from Israel. A decade ago, Western and Israeli leaders could count on Turkey as an ally. A solid NATO member, Ankara took decisions based on pragmatic calculations of interest - and erred on the side of caution if at all. But under the rule of the Islamic conservative AKP, this has changed.Turkey has land borders on its Middle East Side with Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, and Georgia. And on the Black sea it borders a number of countries including Russia with whom it seems to have formed an understanding if not an alignment. Ankara's position on Iran has been similarly equivocal. When in Washington recently, Erdogan observed that "those who ask Iran not to produce nuclear weapons should give up their own nuclear weapons first" - a position that fits neither with Turkey's membership in the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NATO.So what does the future hold for the Middle East? The only certainty is that the countries of the region will find new and exciting ways to damage their own interests. The only exception to this rule seems to be Israel. At least for as long as George Bush has been in office. Bush's policy has been to isolate Syria and Iran. Obama is interested in making overtures to Syria and Iran. U.S. president-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday said that he is going to work toward a comprehensive peace in the Middle East "on day one" of presidency on January 20, and that would include Iran and Syria.In other words he intends to sell out the Israelis. He won't be the first US President to pull that trick. What I would like to know is what kind of campaign donations Obama got from the Syria/Iran axis? I'd guess that some one knows the answer and is holding the information until it can do Obama the most damage. We shall see. But I can say one thing. I don't think Obama has ever played politics at this level. If Blagojevich can roll him he doesn't stand a chance in the Middle East. They have had thousands of years practice in perfecting the art of the double cross. Cross Posted at Power and Control Welcome Instapundit readers. For something a little different how about: Good Journalism which discusses the coming collapse of Mexico. Or a free copy of the Readers Digest version of The Road To Serfdom or why the Nazis are left wing. posted by Simon at 09:25 AM | Comments (14)
| TrackBacks (0) Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Hamas Is Breaking
Iran's ally Syria has called for a cease fire in Gaza that accepts at least part of what the Israelis wanted. Syrian President Bashar Assad called on Israel to cease its military operation in Gaza immediately, while simultaneously demanding that Hamas cease its fire towards Israel.Aside from the usual anti-Israel rhetoric this is a big development. Both Syria and Hamas are supported by Iran. As to making extremism in the Middle East worse. I believe the war with Hamas is doing the opposite. It is showing that extremism doesn't pay. As for Israel refusing to honor the cease fire? I believe the cease fire never existed - the rockets never stopped. In addition Hamas called off the cease fire anyway. Just the normal cease fire deal in the Middle East. Israel must cease firing and for its enemies ceasing fire is optional. In theory negotiations are going on in Egypt for a cease fire which Hamas claims to have accepted and also claims to have rejected. Hamas has accepted the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, the group said Wednesday evening, after talks in Cairo.It will be interesting to see what is in the Egyptian proposal. I think it can be reliably assumed that stopping the rockets is a central element. And those French. What dreamers. Hamas is dedicated to killing all the Jews in the world. Renouncing violence and recognizing Israel is not in the cards for Hamas. I wonder how long it will take to complete the cease fire negotiations? The fact that Syria - who in effect speaks for Iran - has caved is significant. A cease fire by Friday is not out of the question. Of course this being the Middle East, negotiations could drag on for another week or more. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 01:15 PM | Comments (6)
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A Big Motor For The Electric Navy
Last week I did a post on the the science of electric motors that featured a learning kit for kids that provided the parts required for a kid (of any age) interested in the science and technology of electric motors to build a small one. I'd estimate that the motor, which you could hold in the palm of your hand, produced less than 1/1,000th of a horsepower. Here is a motor whose power is about ten orders of magnitude bigger. And that is a whole lot bigger. The Next Big Future reports on the really big motor that uses high temperature superconductors. American Superconductor Corporation, a leading energy technologies company, and Northrop Grumman Corporation announced today at the Surface Navy Association's 21st National Symposium the successful completion of full-power testing of the world's first 36.5 megawatt (49,000 horsepower) high temperature superconductor (HTS) ship propulsion motor at the U.S. Navy's Integrated Power System Land-Based Test Site in Philadelphia. This is the first successful full-power test of an electric propulsion motor sized for a large Navy combatant and, at 36.5 megawatts, doubled the Navy's power rating test record.The Business Wire tells a little more of the story. This system was designed and built under a contract from the Office of Naval Research to demonstrate the efficacy of HTS motors as the primary propulsion technology for future Navy all-electric ships and submarines. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) funded and led the successful testing of the motor.A different branch of the Navy, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, is funding work that may lead to a shipborne fusion power reactor. Which would be kinda handy to have to power two or four of those electric motors turning the screws of an aircraft carrier. You can read about the latest contract for development of the Bussard Naval Fusion Reactor at IEC Fusion Technology. And that is not the only electric propulsion system that future aircraft carriers will use. There is also the electric catapult being developed by General Atomics (GA). GA and its Team have completed the Program Definition and Risk Reduction (PDRR) phase of the Navy's electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) program and have been selected to perform the System Development and Demonstration phase. The goal of the EMALS SDD phase is to develop the existing design chosen during PDRR into an integrated shipboard system that is both operationally suitable and effective, thus replacing steam catapults with an electric system that will reduce maintenance and provide flexibility and growth potential for carrier aviation throughout the 21st century.The GA Team EMALS design is a robust, highly reliable launch system that will meet or exceed all Navy performance goals. This design will provide significant reductions in installed weight, volume, and workload compared to the existing steam catapult. The design uses state-of-the-art technologies that we believe will demonstrate our system is affordable and producible.There are more details at the link. And guess what else the US Navy is working on? A real honest to God beam weapon. The Free Electron Laser The Navy is pushing ahead with a five-year, $163 million dollar plan to bring the "Holy Grail" of energy weapons up to battlefield strength.And lest we leave out projectile weapons how about an offshoot of the electric aircraft catapult. The rail gun which fires projectiles with electricity at a muzzle velocity of better than 8,000 ft per second. The Navy is researching rail guns because they would weigh less than conventional ones, and since they rely on electromagnetics to fire rounds, you wouldn't need a big, dangerous pile of explosives stored in a magazine. All of that means a lighter ship, and a much more deadly ship: a combat-ready rail gun would be able to fire Mach 5 projectiles over 200 miles with pinpoint accuracy, hitting 5 meter targets.If you follow the link you can watch some really cool videos. It looks like the US Navy has a plan. And you know? I just love it when a plan comes together. H/T just_an_observer at Talk Polywell Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 12:07 PM | Comments (8)
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Equal holes for all?
The so-called "potty parity" movement is something I've had fun ridiculing in the past, but never took seriously. However, laughing at politically correct nonsense does not make it go away, because I've learned that over time, ridiculous things tend to become deadly serious. Via an email from a friend, I've learned that his time, "potty parity" has emerged as a national inaugural issue: A George Washington University law professor says the 5,000 port-o-potties planned for Inauguration Day will be "grossly inadequate."If women taking longer amounts to "discrimination," then men are "discriminating" every time they urinate standing up! This means that not only are urinals discriminatory by their very nature, but men should be forced to sit on toilets just like women. Either that or make everyone stand to do everything, by means of a hole in the floor the way they do in much of Asia. Unfortunately, I can't find any statement anywhere from Barack Obama addressing the "potty parity" issue. Does he believe in equal, non-discriminatory holes? Will anyone in our fearless media ask? posted by Eric at 10:55 AM | Comments (12)
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Cooling The Planet
posted by Simon at 01:34 AM | Comments (3)
| TrackBacks (0) Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Holocaust Denier Added To List
That would be impending climate holocaust denier Physics professor William Happer. He is rather incendiary in his denial too. Physics professor William Happer GS '64 has some tough words for scientists who believe that carbon dioxide is causing global warming.Mr. Happer is a reasonable man. And being a reasonable man he gives his reasons for doubting man made CO2 caused climate change. In a statement sent to the Senate as part of his request, Happer explained his reasoning for challenging the climate change movement, citing his research and scientific knowledge.And there is some troubling news that clouds the veracity of some climate change scientists. They are funded by oil companies. Happer said that he is alarmed by the funding that climate change scientists, such as Pacala and Socolow, receive from the private sector.BP is British Petroleum. Now why would they be interested in promoting global warming theories? Not to hard to figure out. Petroleum is a HYDROcarbon. Natural gas is a HYDROcarbon. As such it is at a competitive advantage to coal which is just plain CARBON. However, since water vapor is the most significant variable greenhouse gas, and since HYDROcarbons when burned make both CO2 and water vapor, then HYDROcarbons should actually be taxed more. And that hot steaming cup of coffee you have in the morning makes you an environmental criminal. You despoiler of the earth. Starbucks is ruining the Earth with all its hot beverages. The criminals. Oh. Yeah. Where were we? Happer explained that his beliefs about climate change come from his experience at the Department of Energy, at which Happer said he supervised all non-weapons energy research, including climate change research. Managing a budget of more than $3 billion, Happer said he felt compelled to make sure it was being spent properly. "I would have [researchers] come in, and they would brief me on their topics," Happer explained. "They would show up. Shiny faces, presentation ready to go. I would ask them questions, and they would be just delighted when you asked. That was true of almost every group that came in."That last statement is not exactly true. The models predict that politicians will have to take more control over our lives. And that is a prediction that is hardly ever wrong. Happer does get into the prediction business himself though. "[Climate change theory has] been extremely bad for science. It's going to give science a really bad name in the future," he said. "I think science is one of the great triumphs of humankind, and I hate to see it dragged through the mud in an episode like this."And that is a the real shame of politicized science. It is no longer the search for truth (or as close as we can approximate it) it is a search for money. Which is why of all the scientific disciplines, I like engineering the best. If your bridges don't hold up people notice and the mistakes are researched and corrected rather quickly. On the other hand mistakes in "pure" science can get carried along for decades or longer. So my attitude is that it is not real science until it can be converted into engineering i.e. you can do something useful with it. That does not mean pure research is without value. It is just that the truth or value may not be known for a long time. A very good recent example of that is the "butter is bad, margarine is good" consensus. We are now 180 out from that consensus. It is now "butter is good, margarine is bad". Until some new research enters the field. So how should one look at any scientific claims? If you are a true scientist you should be a sceptic. Because the ways of being fooled are uncountable. Myself? I'm a believer in doubt. "I slept with faith and found a corpse in my arms on awakening; I drank and danced all night with doubt and found her a virgin in the morning." - Aleister Crowley H/T IceCap Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 05:08 PM | Comments (5)
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They Kidnap Americans Don't They?
It seems there is a little trouble down Mexico way. Touted as one of the safest cities of its size in the nation, El Paso is awakening to its southern neighbor's bloody nightmare.Just in case you are unaware of it the General was formerly Bill Clinton's Drug Czar. The report helped ignite what has already been a sense of urgency among city leaders. Last week, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution that called for solidarity with Juárez. The resolution ignited local and national controversy after City Councilman Beto O'Rourke added a line calling for a once unthinkable strategy to neutralize Mexico's powerful cartels: legalizing drugs.To reach that level of crisis with alcohol prohibition it took the St. Valentines Day Massacre. So what is it taking wit drug prohibition? A whole border in flames. One U.S. law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that each year "dozens" of El Pasoans are kidnapped by gangs working for Mexican cartels in Juárez.Why would those who had friends or relatives kidnapped report it? The gangs would come after them next. El Paso is the first. It won't be the last. As the violence and kidnappings escalate more and more people will begin doing openly what they have normally been doing in private. Questioning drug prohibition. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 03:03 PM | Comments (3)
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The disappearance of the real world
Yesterday it was 72 degrees and sunny. T-shirt weather. As I worked outside, I remembered a reader's recent charge that I am enjoying a vacation of sorts, and while that was not true, I must admit that yesterday's balmy weather (in contrast to the coldness and dampness which characterized most of this trip) generated something akin to a vacation-like feeling which was wholly inappropriate, and downright disruptive of the Puritan work ethic which has haunted me all my life with its constant lurking. This disruptive sensation was aggravated by the fact that I am in Berkeley, California, a place arguably not even in the real world. (And where John McCain received 3-4% of the vote.) On top of that, I hear that back at home in Ann Arbor, the temperatures are now in the single digits or lower! What's a transplanted Californian to do? More and more of them seem to be retransplanting themselves: The number of people leaving California for another state outstripped the number moving in from another state during the year ending on July 1, 2008. California lost a net total of 144,000 people during that period -- more than any other state, according to census estimates. That is about equal to the population of Syracuse, N.Y.It doesn't help much that the statist busybodies who run things are regulating normal life out of existence; just last week a plumbing supplier told me that hot water heater prices are going way up in a couple of months because of new "green" anti-nitrogen technology (although I see that the new rules are spreading eastward.) I've kvetched about the mandatory pet neutering movement, mandatory CFL lightbulbs, and more, but I wonder whether moving to flee statist regulation is a workable long-term solution. Pretty soon no one will be living in the real world. posted by Eric at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
| TrackBacks (0) Monday, January 12, 2009
EEStor Not Meeting Its Goals
It looks like EEStor is not meeting its goals for a testable prototype. It's looking pretty official that EEStor won't be able to reach two important milestones for its automaker partner ZENN Motors by the end of 2008: delivering a prototype energy storage device and a having a third-party verify the high level of permittivity of the powders it's using in its technology. Tyler Hamilton of Clean Break quotes a letter that Ian Clifford, the CEO of ZENN Motors, sent out this week to ZENN investors that states EEStor isn't likely to meet either of those goals in the remaining days of 2008.That is pretty serious. It means that the super energy density capacitor for energy storage EEStor was promising may just be a mirage or possibly even a high tech hoax. I have written previously about EEStor at Ceramic Batteries. According to the wiki there are more than a few sceptics although they are not named in the text. Three technology experts hired by potential investors to investigate EEStor's technology have stated "it's not possible", "extremely unlikely that it's possible", "there's extreme skepticism", "there's nothing there", "it's ridiculous thinking", "it's beyond science fiction", and "I'm surprised that Kleiner has put money into it".However links are provided to some of the people that make the quoted statements: John Miller It remains to be seen if this is a real breakthrough. At this point I'd have to rate it as not very likely. As one sceptic puts it: they are rating the devices they are making at their ultimate voltage. In the real world you have to rate such devices at 1/10th their ultimate voltage for long term reliability. Since power storage is related to the square of the voltage, actual real power storage in a real world application will be 1/100th the touted number. Which is not very exciting. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 05:36 PM | Comments (1)
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Room Temperature Superconductors?
We normally think of carbon as a high resistance material. The first practical electric light bulbs produced by Edison had carbon filaments. However, there is a new kid on the block based on carbon and it is not a superconductor, but it is close. Some recent research in nanotube properties shows very high current carrying capacities. Relatively early in the research of nanotubes, Thess et al. calculated the resistivity of ropes of metallic SWNTs to be in the order of 1E-4 ohm-cm at 300 K. They did this by measuring the resistivity directly with a four-point technique. One of their values they measured was 0.34E-4 ohm-cm, which they noted would indicate that the ropes were the most highly conductive carbon fibers known, even factoring in their error in measurement. In the same study his measurements of the conductivity, Frank et al. was able to have reach a current density in the tube greater than 1E7 A/sq cm. Later, Phaedon Avouris suggested that stable current densities of nanotubes could be pushed as high as 1E13 A/cm2.A SWNT is a Single Walled Nano Tubes. So how does that compare to copper? For household wiring typical current density is 500A/sq cm and ultimate current density is maybe 10X that with the wires near the melting point or beyond. In round numbers 1E4 A/sq cm vs 1E7 A/sq cm for carbon nanotubes. In other words 1,000 times the current density. At a weight per unit volume of about 1/4 that of copper. Copper resistivity at room temperature is about 1.7E-4 ohm-cm. So carbon nanotubes can carry about 5X as much current as an equivalent volume of copper for the same losses. If we can get this stuff into mass production - which is likely to take twenty or thirty years - we can rewire the grid we have for 5X times as much power as it handles now or the same power with 1/5th the losses. Not room temperature superconductors, but a definite improvement. H/T IntLibber at Talk Polywell Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 04:36 PM | Comments (1)
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War Profiteers
Hamas has found a way to profit from its war with Israel. Hamas on Monday raided some 100 aid trucks that Israel had allowed into Gaza, stole their contents and sold them to the highest bidders.Evidently Iranian cash is no longer enough to keep Hamas running. After bringing death and destruction to the Palestinians by keeping their war with Israel going, they have to steal food out of the mouth's of their own people to keep themselves going. I don't think that Hamas is going to be in charge of Gaza for too long after the fighting stops. And to make the change happen Egypt is training Fatah fighters who will no doubt be escorted to Gaza through the Egyptian border once the fighting stops. "The Iranians and Syrians are using Hamas to undermine the Palestinian Authority and other moderate Arab governments," the Fatah official told the Post. "Victory for Hamas in this war would mean victory for Iran, Syria and Hizbullah. This is something we need to prevent."Evidently not every one involved in the war sees what is going on as a Hamas victory. Maybe the Arabs are not totally delusional after all. Just some of them. The light of reality may be finally shining on the Middle East. There has been a sea change among the Arabs. Their rhetoric is unchanged, but their policy is different. They are now in fear for their future. They can see the end of oil. Not soon. Maybe in fifty years, maybe a hundred, but the sands of time are running out of the hour glass and the oil is running out of the sands of the Middle East. If they are to survive on other than charity they have to make things the world wants. The first thing they intend to make to reach that goal is a Palestinian State. The Palestinians are relatively well educated. Arafat after all was an engineer. The Palestinians under good government will unite to reform the Middle East. There is nothing the Israelis want more than to see its neighbors prosper. The reasons are two fold. One is that such a stance is part of their culture. The other is that well off nations need no longer use Israel as a scape goat for their failures. They were so close in 2000 to the irreversible integration of the Palestinian and Israeli economies. So close. It may take a couple of decades, but I think the reintegration of the Israeli and Palestinian economies is now on the table. Followed closely by a change in the Arab culture and economy. I'm sure the hope is that the Israeli work ethic will rub off on the people of the Middle East. It will be difficult. In that regard America is very fortunate. It is one of the few places in the world where aristocracy never took root. There is no monarch in America to confer titles. No Kings, no Queens, no Dukes, no Duchesses. The children of our wealthy have no special place in our society. If they want a place they have to earn it. It can't be earned by their ancestors. This is a huge change in culture for the Middle East. If they want it to take hold by the time the oil runs out they will have to get cracking. I think they finally know that. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 03:29 PM | Comments (7)
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Victory Is Near
Victory is near in Gaza for Hamas. Yep. You heard that right. For Hamas. For the second time since Israel launched its offensive in the Gaza Strip, Hamas television aired a taped message delivered by group leader Ismail Haniyeh on Monday. In the message, Haniyeh declared that Hamas was determined to continue fighting despite Israel's military offensive in the Strip.These people are delusional. In other news somewhat closer to reality, Bush says that Hamas must stop the rockets. U.S. President George W. Bush gave his last press conference at the White House on Monday, 8 days before the inauguration of incoming president Barack Obama, calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, but emphasizing Israel's right to defend itself.I think if we put two and two together we can come to some kind of reasonable conclusion. Hamas is very near the breaking point. So why the announcement of defeat by calling it a victory? It is due to a rule in the Middle East: Arabs never lose wars. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 02:26 PM | Comments (3)
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Halting The Cartels
Former anti-narcotics officer Terry Nelson says - the only way to halt the drug cartels is to legalize drugs. As a retired federal officer with over three decades of service, many of those years spent fighting America's "war on drugs," I was pleased to read that the El Paso City Council unanimously called for a long overdue discussion on the effectiveness of our nation's drug policies.Nice to hear it from an expert in the field. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 02:06 PM | Comments (4)
| TrackBacks (0) Sunday, January 11, 2009
Hamas Is Weakening
Hamas is getting heavy pressure from Iran to keep on fighting. Iran is exerting heavy pressure on Hamas not to accept the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, an Egyptian government official said on Sunday.This can only mean that Hamas is seriously hurting. It also means Iran is expecting full price for what it has paid for. It probably also means that they can't afford to pay for much rebuilding and would like to put off for a few more days at least the tendering of the bill. However, every day they put off payment causes the price to go up. Perhaps they are expecting the price of oil to spike. If so they are out of luck. After going up to the $50 a bbl. range oil has fallen back to around $40 a bbl. With Hizballah quiet and Hamas taking a very serious beating Iran has lost a lot of prestige with the current war. Perhaps Iran is hoping that in only eight more days the new administration in Washington will save them. With respect to that I think it will be a question of who gave Obama more funds for his election campaign the Saudis or the Iranians, and/or who he intends to Meanwhile the Syrians are putting in a token appearance. The fighting in Gaza appeared to reach the Golan Heights on Sunday when gunshots were fired at an IDF vehicle along the border with Syria. It was the second attack along Israel's northern border since Operation Cast lead began in late December.If a serious attack by Syria was planned they would not fire a few token shots to announce their intentions. I think the urban renewal that Lebanon got in 2006 has decided the question for the Syrians. I don't think they want a piece of that action given that their patron Iran is in serious internal financial difficulties with inflation in Iran running well above the CIA estimate of around 18%. It also appears that Egypt is considering digging a moat across southern Gaza to deter future smuggling tunnels. Egypt is considering a range of proposals on how to stop weapons smuggling through tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor into Gaza, including the construction of a moat along the border that separates the Sinai desert from the Gaza Strip, The Jerusalem Post has learned.The ring is tightening around Hamas and Iran. Iran's last hope is getting atomic weapons. And even they they are not out of the woods. The weapons are defensive in nature, because if they use them offensively they will get wiped out. However, they are still trying. The Iranian businessman was looking for high-quality American electronics, but he had to act stealthily: The special parts he coveted were denied to Iranians, especially those seeking to make roadside bombs to kill U.S. troops in Iraq.Inclinometers are gravity based attitude sensors. They would most likely be used in rocket guidance systems. I'm sure that is not all the Iranians are looking for. What all this means is that Iran has not given up its atomic ambitions. There is a book out, Human Security in East Asia: Challenges for Collaborative Action, dealing with atomic weapons in the Near East. The Daily Times is of the opinion that the weapons are defensive in nature. Nuclear deterrence is also not what it used to be, that is, the US deterring another superpower. Today it is challenged to deal with asymmetric nuclear threats which could come from a terrorist organization. Medium and small sized states acquiring weapons through proliferation seek to deter in a variety of patterns: to stave off conventional invasion, to shake off coercion and blackmail, etc. North Korea's weapons deter coercive action in the region by the US; Iran wants to avoid 'regime change' compulsions; and Pakistan wants to deter perceived military aggression from India. On the other hand, India wishes to ensure security for its posture of a global power.It is possible that with Iran in such a precarious financial situation it fears internal problems more than external ones. Of course thinking you know the other guy's intentions while being severely mistaken is how wars start. Or at least start badly. One only need look up the history of December 7th, 1941 (At Dawn We Slept is a good one) to see the folly of not preparing for capabilities rather than relying on perceived intentions to see the folly of the method of intentions. So where will all this lead? In the near term Iran is going to have trouble buying new friends and keeping old ones. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 08:10 PM | Comments (2)
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15 Seconds
This short video explains why there is a war between Hamas and Israel. You can see other videos in this series at sderotmedia23. How is it going for the Philistine rocketeers? The Israeli military reports that Hamas is getting tired. They also seem to be losing their enthusiasm for a fight. A senior Israeli military commander involved in Operation Cast Lead said on Saturday that Hamas militants are suffering from exhaustion and are deserting battle.Hamas is supposed to have 20,000 trained fighters in Gaza. The Israeli Army estimates they have killed 300. An estimate of wounded would be around 3 to 10 times the number of killed. Say we are moderately conservative and account it at 4 times the number of killed. That would tell us that 1,500 fighters are out of action. About 7 1/2%. When a military organization loses 10% of its forces it is considered to have lost almost all its combat power. If the tooth to tail ratio in the Philistine forces is double that of a typical Army the organization might have to be reduced by 20% to lose its combat power. At the rate of 30 killed a day (150 out of action including wounded) it will take Israel about 17 more days to fully reduce the Philistines combat power to a negligible value. That may not be quick enough given the international political realities. Thus the Israeli Army will intensify the fight in order to up the rate of Philistine casualties. So how are ordinary Palestinian taking the fighting? Some of them miss the Jews. Back in Gush Katif, Itai's father, Yossi, owned a cement factory, where he employed Palestinians from Khan Yunis and the Muwassi area.And how was it? The Israelis provided security and jobs. What has Hamas provided? A civil war with Fatah and oppression of the people of Gaza by attempting to impose strict Islamic fundamentalism on them. Hamas was supposed to give them a fundamentalist moral purity that was intended to get them right with Allah so Allah would give them victory. Given the rain of bombs it appears Allah has something else in mind. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 02:24 AM | Comments (2)
| TrackBacks (0) Saturday, January 10, 2009
Last Chance For No Chance
Israel is warning the Philistines of a wider war in order to reach its objectives of stopping rocket attacks on its territory and preventing rearmament of the Philistines of Gaza. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel dropped bombs and leaflets on Gaza Saturday, pounding suspected rocket sites and tunnels used by Hamas militants and warning of a wider offensive despite frantic diplomacy to end the bloodshed.So far Hamas (or should I say Harm Us?) has declared that they will not agree to Israel's terms. A top Hamas leader said the Gaza war has killed the last chance for settlement and negotiations with Israel.Yeah. The Israelis are always blowing their last chances. Except if you read the Hamas Charter. "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."They are getting their jihad. They are getting their martyrs. And they are getting creamed. I guess it is the last part they object to. In any case, given the Hamas Charter what chance was there of an equitable negotiated solution with Hamas? None. So the Israelis have lost their last chance for no solution. I believe, however, the Hamas guy is lying. The Israelis will have future chances at no solution. After all since 1948 Israel has had numerous chances at no solution. But neither strength nor magnanimity nor the combination of the two has solved Israel's basic problem. For all its brilliant victories on the battlefield, its gains in regional diplomacy remain modest. The Six-Day War of 1967, one of the most decisive military triumphs in history, led not to acceptance but to the famous "Three No's" of the Khartoum conference ("no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it").The wars with Israel will go on until the Arabs find something better to do with their lives. Some times these things take centuries to work out. Israel should be in no hurry. After all their enemies are in no rush for a settlement of differences. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)
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Total War
Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)
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American Conservatism
American conservatism is different. What are the core beliefs of American Conservatives? Government has certain limited functions (keeping the peace, enforcing contracts, limiting fraud, defending the nation, enhancing commerce by reducing impediments) that should be strictly limited in order to minimize the damage that government operatives operating under the power of the state can do. By that definition there are very few conservatives in America. There were proportionately a lot more when the nation was founded. America has devolved into two main camps - the moral socialists and the economic socialists. The "leave us alone" camp - the true American Conservatives - are not well represented. Even the moral socialists are not well represented in the media which consists mainly of economic socialists. So who are the American Conservatives in the media? John Stossel, and Penn and Teller. Limbaugh, Hannity, etc. are in the moral socialist faction. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 05:09 PM | Comments (4)
| TrackBacks (0) Friday, January 9, 2009
SIGINT
I just happened across an interesting page on signals intelligence. Signals intelligence is about finding out what the enemy is doing by intercepting radio and other electromagnetic signals. There is a lot of information at the link but let me focus on one small part to give you a flavor of the page. Monitoring friendly communicationsI'm just going to give a couple of the BREADWINDOW codes and an example of how they can lead to an adverse impact during war time. 5. Friendly or enemy key personnel: "Movement or identity of friendly or enemy officers, visitors, commanders; movement of key maintenance personnel indicating equipment limitations."and 7. Wrong circuit: "Inappropriate transmission. Information requested, transmitted or about to be transmitted which should not be passed on the subject circuit because it either requires greater security protection or it is not appropriate to the purpose for which the circuit is provided."Leading to: In WWII, for example, the Japanese Navy made possible the interception and death of the Combined Fleet commander, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, by BEADWINDOW 5 and 7 violations. They identified a key person's movement over a low-security cryptosystem.The study of crypto and communications intelligence is one of my hobbies. If it interests you the link is provided. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 10:45 AM | Comments (2)
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Democrats Against Tax Cuts
It seems that the Democrats are unhappy about Mr. Obama's proposed tax cuts. WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts ran into opposition Thursday from senators in his own party who said they wouldn't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs. Senators from both parties agreed that Congress should do something to stimulate the economy. But Democratic senators emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee criticized business and individual tax cuts in Obama's stimulus plan.And what kind of energy conversion mosts interests the Democrats? The conversion of your energy into theirs. I looked at the question of tax cuts a few days ago and came to the conclusion that they give a bigger economic boost than straight spending increases. One of those studies was done by Obama's new chief economic advisor, Christina Romer of UC Berkeley, who found $3 in increased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for every $1 in tax cuts. Increased spending generates at best a mere 40 cents of GDP growth on the dollar. Third, that 40 cents actually goes to special interests like labor unions, politically influential contractors in favored industries and state and local political allies of the party in power.So tax cuts promote the general welfare and spending increases amount to political payoffs. The rhetoric of the Democrats is lofty. The intent is corrupt. I see a theme here. The most effective tax cuts would be on businesses. That means that profitable businesses could expand faster. Which in a rational world is exactly what you want. But then the politics of envy kicks in and the politicians want to punish winners and reward losers. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this mess. Nothing good I'd wager. If I had any money to bet. Christina Roemer has edited a book about motivation and inflation. Reducing Inflation: Motivation and Strategy. It is a collection of essays by various economists discussing the problems of inflation and how to set up incentives to keep it under control. I sure hope Mr. Obama reads it. It was published by the University of Chicago Press which would tend to indicate that Christina was influenced by the Chicago Boyz. That would be Milton Friedman of Free to Choose fame and others of the monetarist school of national finance. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 07:12 AM | Comments (0)
| TrackBacks (0) Thursday, January 8, 2009
Israel Has Clout At UN
Now there is a headline I bet you thought you would never see. And I bet you can't guess who is supporting them at the UN. It is not just the USA. The United Nations Security Council met overnight Thursday on a resolution designed to bring a speedy halt to Israel's 13-day-old offensive against Hamas in Gaza. The vote over a resolution was apparently postponed due to Israeli pressure.That is diplo speak by the Ababs for "Thump Hamas as hard as you want. We don't mind. In fact we encourage it." The "deal" starts out with the usual boilerplate. The latest draft "stresses the urgency of and calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire, leading to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza." It "condemns all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism."And then it gets to the good stuff. The draft also calls on UN member states "to intensify efforts to provide arrangements and guarantees in Gaza in order to sustain a durable cease-fire and calm, including to prevent illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition and to ensure the sustained re-opening" of border crossings.It is well known that the border crossings will not be permanently re-opened until the Philistines stop their attacks through the crossings. Which means Gaza needs a new government because Hamas is committed irrevocably to the destruction of Israel. This is a sea change in Middle East politics. One that actually happened in 2006. And why are the Arabs so inclined? Rather simple really. They fear Iran more than they fear Israel. This fact has been obvious since the Hizballah war of 2006 when Saudi Arabia came out at the beginning of the war supporting Israel at the expense of Hizballah/Iran. At least at first until hastily retracted in solidarity with their Philistine "brothers". That would be the brothers Saudi Arabia kicked out of its territory when they started getting all militant and such. Bunch of trouble makers those Philistines. And what about the strategic defeat Israel suffered in 2006 against Hizballah? It looks like Hizballah is in no hurry to defeat Israel again. "Lebanon denounces and condemns the firing of rockets and the retaliatory action and believes that such action is in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701," Siniora said in a statement, according to Lebanese press reports.Of course the government of Lebanon wants no part of a repeat of 2006. But what about the "real winners" Hizballah? Lebanese Information Minister Tarek Mitri told AFP that Hizbullah had assured the cabinet that it "remains committed to stability and Resolution 1701," which brought an end to the Second Lebanon War.Followed by the usual Hizballah chest thumping. A Damascus-based leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, Ahmed Jibril, threatened Saturday to open up new military fronts against Israel if the conflict in Gaza were to escalate.What exactly does if the conflict in Gaza were to escalate mean? I'd say it was already fairly well escalated. I think it may fairly well be assumed that the players in the Middle East think that Hamas deserved a thumping. And that includes their main supporter Iran. Now why the sea change? The oil is running out. Not soon. Maybe not for fifty or a hundred years. But the end is in sight. And if not the actual supply of oil then the demand. The world has gotten serious about getting off the oil standard. How serious? So serious that even China is producing a plug in hybrid. BYD Auto's plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, the F3DM, is now on sale in China, the company announced this week at a press conference in Shenzhen, China.And who is behind BYD? Now there is an interesting story. but I will give you a hint. Who would guess that the center of the automotive world is no longer Detroit (well that is obvious) but in Omaha, Nebraska? Omaha, Nebraska? That is not so obvious. In September, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet announced that MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, had bought $230 million worth of stock in BYD, giving it a 10 percent interest in the company.The plans for an American roll out in 2010 have been delayed to at least 2011. In any case the hand writing is on the wall. The dominance of oil will come to an end. Not soon. But the end is in sight. And how about those geniuses in Detroit? GM has put the Chevy Volt factory on hold. General Motors is suspending work on the $370 million factory slated to build engines for the Chevrolet Volt, but says the plug-in hybrid will appear in showrooms by the end of 2010 as promised.Idiots. In any case new car companies will step into the breech. And some old companies like Toyota are hustling their butts to get a plug in hybrid on the market. And if you can't wait there are plug in hybrid conversion kits. Not content to be a potential supplier of lithium ion batteries for GM's plug-in hybrid programs, A123 Systems will start selling battery packs that conversion companies can use to transform current hybrid vehicles to plug-in capability. The company has already been working with Hymotion on plug-in kits and they have a contract to convert ten Prius for the California South Coast Air Quality Management District.And if not 2008 then soon. The lithium ion batteries are the stumbling block as evidenced by comments #30, #34, and others at the link. However, the problems will get solved. There is a lot of money at stake. Well we are kind of far afield from the Gaza 2009 war. Which just goes to show you that everything in this world is interconnected. Some obscure guy in a lab is even now working on something that will change the world for the better in a big way. Hamas should have been paying attention. Fools. Peace in the Middle East through better battery technology. So now you know why Israel has clout among the Arabs at the UN. Batteries. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:01 PM | Comments (2)
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Hamas Is Winning
The leaders of Hamas say they are winning the war in Gaza. They also say they hope to get a truce in 48 hours. A senior Hamas source in Gaza says the group is optimistic about the prospect of securing a ceasefire with Israel in the near future.Meanwhile the Israelis who Hamas says are losing the battle say they would prefer the fighting to go on a while longer as they have some objectives hey would still like to meet. Senior Israel Defense Forces officers expressed doubt over whether military efforts alone could bring regime change in the Gaza Strip, and said the army is far from achieving optimal conditions in the Strip to implement an exit strategy. There is more news along those lines. Israel has yet to exhaust all of its military options in the Gaza Strip and could step up its actions against Hamas if the government decides to press forward with Operation cast Lead, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday during a tour of the South.Translation: the Army still has some tricks up its sleeve and may need more time to accomplish its goals. It sure sounds to me like the Israelis are losing. They want the war to go on longer. And of course Hamas who is winning wants it to end ASAP. It sure sounds like Lebanon 2006 where the Arabs never lose and the Israelis never win. Another great victory for the mighty Palestinians. Meanwhile, the bankrollers of Hamas and Hizballah Iran is pulling in its claws. They are advising their jihadists that suicide bombings and other militant activity against Israel is not the way to go. Iran's top leader has banned hard-line Iranian volunteers from leaving the country to carry out suicide bombings against Israel.Maybe like getting them to surrender ASAP? This is definitely a new direction for the Iranian regime. I wonder why they have had a change of heart. Did some one tell them that although they may not be interested in war that war is interested in them? Some one certainly whispered something in their ear. Perhaps low oil prices are keeping them on a short leash. The correlation of forces does not appear to be to their advantage. Did I mention oil prices? After a recent spike up to near $50 a bbl prices have fallen back to around $42 a bbl. Some analyst estimate that Iran needs prices near $90 a bbl. To keep its economy afloat. Obviously prices are around 1/2 that. And Iran is having trouble buying diesel fuel. Iran has reportedly bought three million barrels of gas oil from a Singapore trader to compensate for a loss of supplies from India.Ah yes. A price dispute. I think that means Iran is not paying its bills. Another sign of Iran's money troubles is that it is proposing an to end gasoline subsidies. Faced with falling oil prices and a weakening economy, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presented a plan to Parliament on Tuesday that would scrap energy subsidies, a significant change in a major oil-producing country where gasoline is sold for 36 cents a gallon.Gasoline prices on the world market are now running about $1.10 a gallon. That would mean a factor of three increase in price. And yes - until the economy adjusts that would represent a rather severe hit to the Iranian economy. And it is not just gasoline. Electricity is now sold at just 6 cents per 10 kilowatt-hours. The plan would abolish all government subsidies for things like heating gas, gasoline, electricity and water within the next three years and allow prices to reach international levels.I think what the economic geniuses of Iran are finally figuring out is that oil socialism is not a viable long term economic strategy. And of course all that impacts their ability to fight proxy wars. Even proxies want to get paid. After the war in Lebanon in 2006, Iran opened its checkbook in an effort to mollify the Hizballh supporters who had taken a severe financial beating from the war. Israel did some serious urban renewal and the Iranians had to pay to keep their clients. Facing severe economic strains at home such a move, very unpopular in Iran in 2006, may be impossible for them in Gaza. Such difficulties may explain why Hizballah has refrained from joining in the current war in any more than a token way. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 10:13 AM | Comments (1)
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Science Toys - 2
The history of the electric motor is a long one and starts with the discovery of electromagnetism by Michael Faraday. He built his first motor in 1821. You can read more about Michael Faraday by getting the book: Michael Faraday and the Discovery of Electromagnetism. That brings us to a very interesting point. The invention of the first electric car. And then there is Thomas Davenport, The Brandon Blacksmith: Inventor Of The Electric Motor who was the first to use the electric motor commercially. He used it to power a printing press. Due to the high cost of batteries (tell me about it) his invention was a commercial failure. The great American inventor Edison who was the first to electrify a few city blocks is probably the most interesting inventor in America given what he accomplished with the materials and understanding available in his time. Here are a few books on Edison, his life and his times. I'd like to start with Working at Inventing: Thomas A. Edison and the Menlo Park Experience because I actually visited Edison's Menlo Park lab in the summer of 1954 when I was a kid of 10. It was a fascinating experience. The lab was untouched for a number of years and was quite dusty. If you live on the East Coast be sure to visit. Here are some more biographies of Edison you might like. Which brings us to Nikola Tesla who once worked for Edison. In the 1940 movie Edison the Man with Spencer Tracy as Edison, Tesla was called Michael Simon probably to avoid distracting from the focus on Edison. Well it certainly distracts me. Here is a Tesla book I read a while back and really enjoyed. It covers some of Tesla's inventions in his own words. It gives a feel for how much Tesla understood about electrical theory and how much he was ignorant of. Any second year student in electrical theory would be familiar with this material, but when Tesla wrote it up it was state of the art. We have come a long way. The Fantastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla (The Lost Science Series). In any case, Tesla invented the three phase AC motor which made long distance (over a few miles) electrical power transmission feasible. Here are some Tesla biographies: Enough of history. How about some practical books on electric motors. Here is a good book that goes deep into the subject: Electric Motors and Control Techniques for $16.47 which is a very nice price for a deep look into the subject. A number of reviewers suggest that this is not a good book for a beginner. A better book for beginners might be Audel - Electric Motors. Audel's handbooks are oriented to practical use and installation of technology so this might be a good place to start for the technology beginner. Here is one designed to assist in the training of electricians. It covers every thing from fundamental concepts including electrical distribution to installation and maintenance. Transformers and Motors This is another deep book that covers stepper motors which are very easy to control with computers. Electric Motors and their Controls: An Introduction Some more motor books for engineers. OK. I think that is more than enough to get your junior scientists and engineers educated. From the simplest beginning to advanced engineering. Of course it only scratches the surface. But what a scratch. And here is a link to Science Toys -1 which covers volcanoes and geology. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 04:59 AM | Comments (6)
| TrackBacks (0) Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Optimistic About Obama
Palin's remarks about her optimism with respect to the incoming administration starts at about 3 minutes into the video. I do agree with her. The Obama emphasis on lowering business taxes is a good thing. Because of Obama's immersion in Marxist philosophy as a youth I was not optimistic about his economic policies. We will see how he actually does in office, but so far I'm not displeased with his direction. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 11:27 PM | Comments (3)
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Hamas: We Want Permanent War
Hamas says it will not accept a permanent cease fire with Israel. According to the Deputy head of Hamas's political bureau, Moussa Abou Marzouk, the group would not talk about a permanent cease-fire so long as Israel continued its "occupation," and would instead continue the "resistance." He said that Hamas stands by its demand that Israel immediately halts its offensive, withdraws from the Gaza Strip, and opens all of the border crossings.So the Philistines of Gaza, who voted overwhelmingly for Hamas, are now pawns of Hamas in their permanent war with the Jews. There are signs Hamas may be weakening. GAZA CITY, Gaza - Israel ordered a three-hour pause in its Gaza offensive Wednesday to allow food and fuel to reach besieged Palestinians, and said it welcomed a cease-fire proposal as long as Hamas halts rockets and weapons smuggling.It seems reasonable. Stop the rockets and prevent future attacks and the war is over. Despite making war on Gaza, Israel is allowing food and water into Gaza. A very strange kind of war. More than 500 aid trucks have been shipped into Gaza since operations began. But even when aid crosses into Gaza military operations have prevented officials from distributing it, leading to food shortages in some areas.There is one minor difficulty. Hamas will not engage in direct talks with Israel because it refuses to recognize Israel. Tuesday, 14 November 2006, 13:58 GMTOf course Israel is within its rights to refuse to recognize Hamas. With Gaza falling apart it will be interesting to see how much longer Hamas can hold on to its crumbling position. The Philistines and their muslim enablers seem to go from one nakba (catastrophe) to another. Every war they fight leaves them worse off. Let me offer them the advice Gerd von Rundstedt once offered some German Generals who asked him what to do after the Allies had established themselves in Normandy, "Make peace you fools". Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 06:44 PM | Comments (1)
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Where's my "pc-free vacation"?
I'm trying to do too many things at the same time, as I'm not really at home but in a place I have to completely renovate in an impossibly short period of time, following which I have to drive back to Ann Arbor. To call it aggravating is an understatement. I barely have time to check email, much less write blog posts -- especially the long essays which tend to be my style. Here's why. I and my temporary computer setup are surrounded by people, noise, loud work sounds, and constant pressures and questions, which make even checking email very difficult. Seriously, I try answering an email and someone will say, "Hey, Eric, what about the hookup for _____?" If my style consisted of short posts with links, this might not pose a huge problem, but unfortunately, when I blog, I need to have the ability to concentrate 100%, and I am hence completely unable to blog when other people are nearby or when there are noises. (A reason why I'm no good at "live-blogging.") Under normal conditions at home, the mere ringing of the telephone has ruined many a would-be blog post, as has a knock on the door -- and current circumstances multiply such an annoyance factor by at least ten. The bottom line is that I can only write when I am alone and uninterrupted. I realize that sounds like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, but it's the absolute truth. Heeeere's Eric! Fortunately, co-blogger M. Simon has been writing posts in my absence, or else this blog would be temporarily dead, and if that happened, all I could do would be to apologize. Not everyone likes this situation. Here's anonymous commenter Jason: Gradually returning to the internet after a lengthy pc-free vacation, I was dismayed to find that the 72 new items on my RSS feed for this blog translated to only three (light) posts from the host.Reading that, I was jealous, as I'm not getting a pc-free vacation, but I am being prevented from blogging because of work. Jason sees a pattern in this: It is the pattern most of my favorite sites have undergone over the years, where 1, 2, 3 weeks of "too busy to blog" turns into 4, 5, 6, 7 weeks of "you know what, I don't actually hate having the extra time in my life that has been freed up by not blogging".There's a big mistake in that analysis. For starters, the quotes around "too busy to blog" imply I'm lying when I say that. Actually, "too busy" is an understatement, because it's not a question of being busy (which everyone is); it's being overwhelmed. Taking the reading into my mind a step further, an amazing conclusion is reached that "I don't actually hate having the extra time in my life that has been freed up by not blogging." Little do you know how I so hate it. I loathe it. I wish more than anything that someone could take my place and do this for me. I'd rather be undergoing major surgery. Seriously, I am jealous of the time I was once accustomed to having each morning, and wish more than anything that I could get it back. Whoever the mindreader is, I understand why a frustrated reader might jump to conclusions about how lazy Eric enjoying his "time off" or whatever you might think this misery is, but I wish he'd have left it at that. Instead, he lashes out at someone who has been helping me out -- M. Simon: I sure won't blame you, Mr. Scheie, if that's that's the way you end up heading....but I will damn well miss your well-crafted prose style and (even more) your singular insights. I sincerely appreciate the amount of time you have spent working on this site, and I feel like I learned a lot about myself just from pondering the points you've raised (on sexuality, and society's treatment of such, in particular).While I suspect that he does not find the "interloper" quite as monotonous as he claims (as I think his objection is probably based more on disagreement than boredom with Simon), I'm not a mindreader. As to the characterization of Simon as an "interloper," I'm n ot sure what that means, as there are people who would call me an "anti-family interloper." Besides, he's been blogging here for years. But no matter how infrequent the updates? How reassuring! Now I really want my pc-free vacation! I'm thinking that when the work is done, maybe I ought to visit the Sea of Cortez, then maybe the French Riviera! In any case, I've thought it over, and I think my situation is more complicated than that of Jack Nicholson in the Shining. (Clearly, a situation like this calls for a more personal demonstration of my inner angst....) posted by Eric at 12:08 PM | Comments (9)
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Adolf Merckle Committed Suicide
Details of the story at The Volokh Conspiracy which has the poem Richard Cory. And of course that reminded me of Simon and Garfunkel. posted by Simon at 07:42 AM | Comments (0)
| TrackBacks (0) Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Hamas The Cause Of All Wars
The video is less than a minute and it is one of the most heartbreaking minutes I have ever watched. I just want to hug her. This video first aired on Palestinian TV. Some of the folks at Hot Air think it is Fatah propaganda to discredit Hamas. I still want to give the girl a hug and have a good cry with her. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 02:08 PM | Comments (7)
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The Circus Is In Town
Roland Burris, Bent Rod Blagojevich's nominee to take Barack Obama's old Senate Seat was turned away today because his papers were not in order. Just another distraction for the Democrats to deal with. I think if they get enough practice with distractions they will get good at dealing with them. Perhaps Mr. Obama needs a Distraction, Destruction, and Corruption Events Office to keep on top of all the interesting happenings in the Democrat party. One good thing so far is that they are turning on each other. We are in for the Years Of The Long Knives. Stock up on popcorn. This is going to be way better than Days of Our Lives. And it will be just as hard to keep score unless you watch every day. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 01:34 PM | Comments (0)
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Betrayal
Mr. President Elect Obama is having some very strange ideas about getting the economy moving again. He is proposing tax cuts on business. WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are crafting a plan to offer about $300 billion of tax cuts to individuals and businesses, a move aimed at attracting Republican support for an economic-stimulus package and prodding companies to create jobs.Well that is starting to sound good - until you get to the fine print. The largest piece of tax relief in the new plan would involve cuts for people who pay income taxes or who claim the earned-income credit, a refund designed to lessen the impact of payroll taxes on low- and moderate-income workers. This component would serve as a down payment on the "Making Work Pay" proposal Mr. Obama outlined during his election campaign, giving a credit of $500 per individual or $1,000 per family.The trouble with that kind of tax cut is that it doesn't stimulate much. Economists of all political stripes widely agree the checks sent out last spring were ineffective in stemming the economic slide, partly because many strapped consumers paid bills or saved the cash rather than spend it. But Obama aides wanted a provision that could get money into consumers' hands fast, and hope they will be persuaded to spend money this time if the credit is made a permanent feature of the tax code.OK. So stimulating personal expenditures doesn't help much. In fact the DC Examiner (and some one needs to keep examining the DC folks) which has been studying the matter says that stimulating the consumer is not very effective. One of those studies was done by Obama's new chief economic advisor, Christina Romer of UC Berkeley, who found $3 in increased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for every $1 in tax cuts. Increased spending generates at best a mere 40 cents of GDP growth on the dollar. Third, that 40 cents actually goes to special interests like labor unions, politically influential contractors in favored industries and state and local political allies of the party in power.In other words a stimulus plan based on pork spending creates corruption and shrinks the economy if the pork is paid for out of taxes or increases the debt load if it is paid for by floating T bills. Heaven knows Mr. Obama has enough trouble with corruption. But maybe he is one of those fearless guys like his former friend Blago, or Richardson his former Secretary of Commerce designate, or Hillary who may be tied up with the Norman Hsu corruption. Well there is plenty to go around. And there is also the little matter that voters hate Detroit and auto unions. So what is the tax plan for business? As for the business tax package, a key provision would allow companies to write off huge losses incurred last year, as well as any losses from 2009, to retroactively reduce tax bills dating back five years. Obama aides note that businesses would have been able to claim most of the tax write-offs on future tax returns, and the proposal simply accelerates those write-offs to make them available in the current tax season, when a lack of available credit is leaving many companies short of cash.Not only does it get more money into the economy quicker, it allocates the money most efficiently - to firms that are profitable. I'm beginning to wonder if I didn't vote for the wrong Republican. No matter. Evidently the right one won in the end. But I got to tell you - my head is spinning. What happened to all that Marxist stuff he studied as a kid? Or all the lefty rhetoric he fobbed off on his south side constituents? His latest stance is a betrayal of their hopes and their votes. Maybe he is working on the principle of: "if the economy is going good there will be more to steal". It could be worse. H/T Jules Crittenden via Instapundit Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 01:09 PM | Comments (1)
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Replacement Therapy
Here is an interesting story about our War On Drugs as related by Former Prosecutor Volney V. Brown Jr. We decided to test the effectiveness of simultaneously arresting every drug seller on the streets of an isolated city, and picked Phoenix for the exercise.So after huge expense the best law enforcement could do was to stop drug sales for 8 days and reduce them for 30. And that is not all. After it was over law enforcement had no idea who was selling drugs. Meaning long investigations to start the process all over again. So what was accomplished? The drug dealers were replaced. Because when there is a market supply will meet demand at a price. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 12:11 PM | Comments (6)
| TrackBacks (0) posted by Simon at 12:46 AM | Comments (0)
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Hamas Can't Phone Home
The Israelis have gone and done it now. They have destroyed phone service in Gaza. (IsraelNN.com) The "Cast Lead" counterterrorist campaign has spread to cyberspace and cell phones, leaving Hamas's terrorist army in confusion, unable to issue and receive orders efficiently. Almost of all of Gaza's cell phone system is out of order, television stations have been hit and the Hamas website is down.It is worse than not being able to broadcast. The Israelis are broadcasting on Philistine frequencies. GAZA CITY (AFP) -- Hamas on Saturday accused Israel of interrupting its radio and television broadcasts in Gaza as the Jewish state's deadly offensive on the Islamists entered its second week.So not only is Hamas having trouble phoning home. If they can get a line no one is answering. And what is the purpose of all this? The Israelis have said repeatedly they do not want to topple Hamas. That can leave only one thing. They want the residents of Gaza to topple Hamas. In a bid to improve the popularity of Hamas, senior Hamas officials are exhorting the Philistines to carry on. Senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud A-Zahar called on Hamas to continue the fight against Israel in a speech delivered to his fellow Gazans earlier in the day from the safety of his bunker.Well of course. Arabs are never defeated. Only the Israelis suffer defeat. We have proof of this. After every war with the Israelis the Arabs are poorer and after a time the Israelis get richer. How many more victories can the Arabs stand? Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 12:14 AM | Comments (16)
| TrackBacks (0) Monday, January 5, 2009 posted by Simon at 11:24 PM | Comments (3)
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The Ezekiel Project - Update
A few days ago I was having a look at water issues in the Middle East at my post Running On Hungry. A discussion of the book When the Rivers Run Dry came up and there was a mention of the Dead Sea shrinking. That reminded me of a post I did in 2004 called The Ezekiel Project which dealt with proposed efforts to rejuvenate the Dead Sea. I think it is time to revisit that issue. Before we do that however I think it would be good to go to the home page of The Ezekiel Project and have a look at their panoramic photo of the Dead Sea (the above photo is an excerpt), it is breathtaking. OK. What is this all about other than refilling the Dead Sea? It is about Dead Sea Power. The Dead Sea Power Project (DSPP) is a tunnel and hydropower project that can produce 1500 to 2500 megawatts of clean and renewable electric energy. The value of such electric energy will be maximized by power generation during peak demand times. Planned operation of the project can fill the Dead Sea to the desired level within seven years of operation; after that, the continued operation of the hydropower plant will be enabled by the development of additional desalination capacity to supply the water needs of the region.That should be enough water to supply all of Israel and a lot of Jordan. Or some other mix for the two. Note that with a large drop available and a good supply of wind the problems of intermittent wind can be solved for this locality. So what will the project cost? The Dead Sea Power Project (DSPP, www.deadseapower.com) proposes a $3.5 billion hydroelectric project to transport water from the Med Sea to the Dead Sea via a ten meter diameter tunnel by gravity flow, pictured in Ezekiel's vision by the one in one thousand factor for the depth of the river flow going down from Jerusalem into the Dead Sea.And what is the current status of the project?Ezek 47:3-5-- When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins. Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded. Presently I am exploring the requirements for license of this project as an Independent Power Producer project with the government of Israel. Anyone interested in helping with this process should contact me.Randolph gives more complete details at the Ezekiel Project site linked above including a proposed route. If it could be done it would be quite beneficial to the region and would be one of the engineering wonders of the world. And at $3.5 billion the project costs seem rather modest given the projected outcome of replenishing the Dead Sea, generating electricity, and providing desalinated water. Not to mention realizing a Biblical vision, which though having no monetary value does have an aesthetic value for quite a few people. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 04:41 AM | Comments (2)
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Colonels Look At The Mexican Collapse
General Barry McCaffrey has called for an evaluation of his failed policies from a couple of Colonels who have visited Mexico. Michael Yon runs down the details in this [pdf]. Let me excerpt a few highlights: Thousands are being murdered each year. Drug production, addiction, and smuggling are rampant. The struggle for power among drug cartels has resulted in chaos in the Mexican states and cities along the US-Mexico border. Drug-related assassinations and kidnappings are now common-place occurrences throughout the country.I really like the part about the drug criminality contaminating more that 295 US cities. However, I'd say they Colonels need to improve their observation and estimation techniques. It is every city, town, and hamlet in the US of A. Well let us look at some more of the report and see if the Army geniuses in charge can figure out what is causing the problem. Senior government officials are taking enormous personal risk; the drug cartels have demonstrated their willingness to murder political leaders and law enforcement officers who threaten their well being. The commitment of these senior Mexican Government officials to reestablish the rule of law will become a matter of historical pride to their nation if they succeed.Well yes. The report fails to mention that if they fail they can get rich. Which seems to be sufficient inducement for quite a lot of them. However, success not only brings pride, it also brings death. Not an inconsiderable incentive on its own. A failure by the Mexican political system to curtail lawlessness and violence could result of a surge of millions of refugees crossing the US border to escape the domestic misery of violence, failed economic policy, poverty, hunger, joblessness, and the mindless cruelty and injustice of a criminal state.As opposed to the millions crossing the border now to escape violence, poverty, hunger, joblessness, cruelty and injustice. And you know it is even worse than people think. Mexico is not faced with ordinary corrupt corruption. No siree. They are faced with something more evil than that. Narco corruption and terrorism. Mexico is not confronting dangerous criminality--- it is fighting for survival against narco-terrorism.Which is way different than religious terrorism and narco corruption like we see in Afghanistan. What can we do General? What can we do to prevent this horrible narco tragedy from befalling us? Please. Please I beg you. Tell me before it is too late. What should I do? A terrible tragedy is going to take place in the coming decade if we don't closely ally ourselves with the courageous Mexican leadership of the Calderon Administration---- and develop a resourced strategy appropriate for the dangers we face.Ah. A resourced strategy. That means money. Why didn't you just say so? How much? Where do you want it delivered? Unmarked small denomination bills? Yeah. That is doable. Then the Colonels go on for a few more bullet points about the wonderful goodness of Mexico concluding with: In sum, Mexico and its people are a joy to visit--- and a trusted partner in business cooperation. Mexican and Central American labor is a central pillar of US economic strength. However, Mexico is fundamentally at risk from drug-fueled crime which is so powerful that it could threaten the viability of the state.Well yeah, provided you don't get killed or kidnapped by the various gangs or extorted by the police who are just attempting to make their positions pay. So how much should you pay? Well that depends on how much you have got and what you or your relatives can raise up. Well enough of local color. What is the problem? The real problem? (watch for the magic trick - here comes the slight of hand, the palming of the card). Why sure it is. It couldn't possibly be the laws making drugs illegal transmuting a pile of vegetables into a pile of gold. Oh. No. Don't think of laws and government and supply and demand and smuggling and black markets. That would be wrong and complicated. Can't have that. Just think of DRUGS. And remember the most important thing of all. DRUGS ARE VERY BAD. So if you see any DRUGS it would be wise to beat them about the head and shoulders with a stick. BAD DRUGS. BAD. Mexico is on the edge of the abyss---it could become a narco-state in the coming decade. Chronic drug consumption has doubled since 2002 to 500,000 addicts. Possibly 5% or 3.5 million people consume illegal drugs. (the US figure is 8.3% or 20.4 million). Since 2002--- past month Mexican national drug consumption has increased by 30% and cocaine use has doubled. The fastest growing addiction rates are among the 12 to 17 year old population -- and the consumption rates among women have doubled.My god. America has a 14 trillion dollar economy and about 8 1/2% take drugs. While the Mexican economy is at $1 trillion and only 5 % take illegal drugs. How do they expect to catch up with us economically when there is a severe shortage of drug takers in their society. We must help them to catch up Barry. We must. Drug criminal behavior is the central threat to the state. Mexico probably produces 8 metric tons of heroin a year and 10,000 metric tons of marijuana. 90% of all US cocaine transits Mexico. Mexico is also the dominant source of methamphetamine production for the US market. The drug cartels have criminal earnings in excess of $25 billion per year ---and physically repatriate more than $10 billion a year in bulk cash back into Mexico from the US.Central threat to the state? It looks more like it is central to Mexican prosperity. The crime rate is staggering. The US State Department notes that crime in Mexico continues at high levels particularly in Mexico City. Criminal assaults occur on highways throughout Mexico. Armed street crime is a serious problem in all the major cities. Robbery and assault on passengers in taxis are frequent and violent. Mexican authorities have failed to prosecute numerous crimes committed against US citizens, including murder and kidnapping. 44% of all murders through November of this year were of unidentified victims--- primarily because of fear of becoming involved by family and acquaintances of the deceased.But you know other than that it is a really lovely place to visit. If none of those heads without bodies or bodies without heads shows up on the plaza while you are taking a stroll. Corruption is pervasive and ruins the trust among Mexican law enforcement institutions at local, state, and Federal level. Corruption reaches into the US Embassy with a DEA Mexican national employee recently arrested for being an agent of the Sinaloa Cartel. He was corrupted by a $450,000.00 bribe. Six high-ranking law enforcement officials have recently been arrested and the current and former Director of the Interpol Office in Mexico indicted. (This is a painful personal reminder of the 1997 arrest of the Mexican Drug Czar, General Gutierrez Rebollo, discovered to be working as an agent of the Juarez cartel.)Say wasn't General McCaffrey an American Drug Czar? Yes he was. I wonder which cartel he is working for? The pay is good and you can legally put on holier than thou airs and the visage of a scold. What is not to like? The Mexican people believe the justice system is corrupt and ineffective. Mexican police regularly obtain information through torture and prosecutors use this evidence in courts. The suspect is deemed guilty until proven innocent. Most ominously--- the Mexican people are losing faith in the system. At the start of the Calderon Campaign more than 87% supported the President. Now only 67% are in favor. There is increasing discussion of legalization of drugs--or acquiescence in the drug trade, which used to be presumed to be a US not Mexican problem.Ah yes. The bane of the cartels - legalization. It would put them out of business. Can't have that. The big bribes will stop before my mortgage is paid off. A disaster. So down with legalization. Death to legalizers. We must never give up. We can win this fight. I see great progress being made. Why just yesterday after a twenty year long investigation my forces found and destroyed two kilos of the most potent pot known to man. Billions of times more powerful than anything your parents smoked. Pot like that is worth thousands of trillions of dollars. And we destroyed it all saving our kids from death, destruction, perdition, and the munchies. Can I have my money now? The bottom line--- the drug cartels cannot defeat the government through direct violent confrontation. The Armed Forces in particular can at any point on the ground or at sea confront and dismantle a direct threat to the security forces. The most effective tool of the criminal cartels is narco-terrorism -- and corruption and intimidation of the populace to convince the political authorities to remain passive in the face of criminal behavior.Whew it is cheaper to buy than to fight. How much are you costing them General? What is the Colonel's cut? If you don't mind my asking. Well since you put it that way I withdraw my question. Just forget I ever asked it. I want to live long and prosper. How much is in it for me? President Calderon has charted a bold and heroic path for the state. His senior law enforcement officer - Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna - has placed his life on the line. The Federal police motto is "Ni un paso atras" (not one step back). Hundreds of law enforcement officers have been murdered. They have seized massive quantities of contraband from these criminal threat forces. (70,000 kilograms of cocaine, 3,700 tons of marijuana, $304 million dollars, 28,000 weapons, 2000 hand grenades, 3 million rounds of ammo.) President Calderon has for the first time in Mexican history boldly used the tool of extradition to the US. (83 major drug criminals sent north.)Yep. 500,000 drug criminals in Mexico and they sent north a whole 83 of them. Not to worry. They were from a rival gang and we got their business. Profits all around. Except for the evil drug runners from that other gang who deserved it for muscling in on our territory. That'll teach them to mess with us. We bought the government first and an honest government it is. They stay bought. Or else. The strategy articulated by Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora is to break up the four major drug cartels into 50 smaller entities and take away their firepower and huge financial resources. The senior Mexican leadership have tried to organize the ten US and Mexican Border States to form active cross-border partnerships for law enforcement and drug prevention cooperation. The Mexicans know a central piece of their strategy has to be the modernization of the Mexican justice system and the modernization of the economy.Ah yes. Drug prevention. If we prevent drugs the drugs will no longer be a menace. And besides even (especially) if we are only partially effective prices will go up. And you know the competition is killing us. We must put a stop to it. For the children. And our profits. My wife (the bitch) wants a new car and a diamond bracelet. So it is critical to destroy those other gangs or my wife will be bitching for months. I hate that. And she knows it. Now is the time during the opening months of a new US Administration to jointly commit to a fully resourced major partnership as political equals of the Mexican government. We must jointly and respectfully cooperate to address the broad challenges our two nations face. Specifically, we must support the Government of Mexico's efforts to confront the ultra violent drug cartels. We must do so in ways that are acceptable to the Mexican polity and that take into account Mexican sensitivities to sovereignty. The United States Government cannot impose a solution. The political will is present in Mexico to make the tough decisions that are required to confront a severe menace to the rule of law and the authority of the Mexican state. Where our assistance can be helpful, we must provide it. The challenge is so complex that it will require sustained commitment and attention at the highest levels of our two governments. We cannot afford to fail.We will decimate the rival gangs and bring profits back in line with my wife's demands. Peace at home requires it. Or we could just legalize and put an end to this whole sordid farce. BTW Barry McCaffrey is no fool. He has to know that drug prohibition is supporting these gangs and yet his prescription is to fight the drug war harder. Do you suppose he is on the take? Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 04:04 AM | Comments (6)
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The American Peole Must Make a Wise Choice
Particularly interesting in the video was a point from about 3 minutes 20 seconds on in the video where the sheriff was saying that the decision on legalization can not be left up to the lawmakers implying that they had been corrupted. Watch how he twists when he makes his statement. Which brings up something I have been repeating for a while: "The Latin American drug cartels have stretched their tentacles much deeper into our lives than most people believe. It's possible they are calling the shots at all levels of government." - William Colby, former CIA Director, 1995Coming soon to a neighborhood near you. And this is rather close. Mexican gangs are extorting money from Americans by kidnapping their relatives in Mexico. FELIPE ANGELES, Mexico -- Four hooded men smashed in the door to the adobe home of an 80-year-old farmer here in November, handcuffing his frail wrists and driving him to a makeshift jail. They released him after relatives and friends paid a $9,000 ransom, which included his life savings.You know. We are going to have to do two things to fix this problem. Legalize drugs and conquer Mexico. In my opinion all this could have been avoided by legalizing drugs a decade or three ago. It has now metastasized. The measures required to fix it will be heroic. Oh well. If you are interested in what a confirmed drug warrior (who in my opinion is in the pay of the drug cartels) has to say about the trouble in Mexico read Colonels Look At Mexican Collapse. Or you might like this book: Bad Neighbor Policy: Washington's Futile War on Drugs in Latin America Here is a link from the video you might like to visit endprohibition.org Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 04:00 AM | Comments (1)
| TrackBacks (0) Sunday, January 4, 2009
A Lack Of Solidarity
The most amazing thing about the current war against Hamas is the silence of Hizballah. They aren't firing rockets this time. As they did in support of Gaza (or vice versa) in 2006. Leading Lebanese political commentators believe Hezbollah will not open a military front with Israel on its shared border, even with a Gaza ground invasion. The commentators say that Hezbollah is not interested in a destructive round of violence months before the Lebanese elections.They certainly have rockets and they would certainly be a help to their brothers in Hamas by dividing Israel's efforts. And most importantly they are both backed by Iran. What is different? It is not just the political situation in Lebanon. While Israel has recovered from the 2006 war Hizballah has not. Which kind of gives you a very good indication of who won that war. A total defeat for Hizballah? Of course not. But enough of a defeat so that they have no interest in fighting. So you have to ask - what is Iran's purpose in starting a proxy war with Israel now? My guess is that it is two fold. With oil prices in the tank it may be their last chance for a while and it may help prop up oil prices - for a while. The difficulty is that after shooting their wad they will not have the resources to rebuild Gaza. So in essence the current dust up is an admission of defeat by Iran. The object of all warfare is to put your enemy in a position where there are no good choices. Israel seems to have done a good job in that respect. Perhaps the Arabs are starting to wise up. They could have a really good life if they worked with Israel instead of against it. Something that was well known among the Philistine leadership before the start of the Stupidfada in 2000/2001. So why did they choose war then? Political power pure and simple. War gives a government or a gang more political power than peace. However, you have to win the war to maintain that power. A draw or a loss will not maintain population cohesion or popular support. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 05:10 PM | Comments (2)
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Now We Know Who To Blame
Bill Clinton was reported to have said in the beginning of 2008 that the economy was growing too much. It's the economy, stupid! Former President Bill Clinton stunned Fox News commentators January 30 when he said, "We just have to slow down our economy and cut back our greenhouse gas emissions 'cause we have to save the planet for our grandchildren."Well those folks our absolutely brilliant. We can't GROW our way out of the current economic crisis. What they claim will work is shrinking our way out of it. With the new administration coming in I believe we are about to give that idea a fair test. So what do you get from a smaller economy and a bigger money supply? Inflation. My prediction? It will not be pretty. Stagflation and WIN buttons are going to make a comeback. We are already at about 6% inflation. Can 12% be far away? We shall see. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 04:30 PM | Comments (3)
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The First Crook Resigns
The Obama administration has received the resignation of Bill Richardson even before he has had a chance to be sworn in. (CNN) -- New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is withdrawing his nomination to be commerce secretary, citing the distraction of a federal investigation into ties to a company that has done business with his state.One crook down. How many more "distractions" to go? Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 04:27 PM | Comments (6)
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Operation Cast Lead
I have been wondering for a while what the meaning of the Israeli's Operation Cast Lead was. I think I have an answer. Head of IDF Military Intelligence General Amos Yadlin also addressed the meeting and gave an assessment of the Gaza operation's progress.Casting lead is an old term for making bullets. In other words weapons. So Operation Cast Lead means that the central focus is the destruction of the Philistine's weapon's factories and stockpiles. And there is further confirmation of that in the linked article. Diskin also said the weapons factories used by Hamas have been wiped out in the offensive and dozens of tunnels used to smuggle arms into the coastal territory have been destroyed.And what of the brave Hamas leaders? Evidently their love of death is not near so great as they might have us believe. Hamas "has been hit like it has never been hit before," Diskin said.Dressing as women? What are they? A bunch of girly men? Evidently. And mosques off limits? I don't think so. Especially if they are full of weapons. You can see more IDF videos at IDFNA Desk. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:36 AM | Comments (3)
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A Broken Hands Policy
Hamas is breaking hands and shooting feet of Fatah supporters in Gaza. The Hamas government has placed dozens of Fatah members under house arrest out of fear that they might exploit the current IDF operation to regain control of the Gaza Strip.It looks like Hamas has a two front war on its hands. Or maybe three or four. And what ever happened to that national unity government between Fatah and Hamas we used to hear so much about? Haven't they heard that a house divided will not stand? In addition having to guard their own people reduces their fighting strength. Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas revealed over the weekend that the movement had "executed" more than 35 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel and were being held in various Hamas security installations.Civilization has at last come to Gaza in the form of more blood feuds. This has got to end badly. For all concerned. It appears to me that the real dynamic is "last man left standing". If Fatah stays out of the fight it will gain strength. If Hamas does not fight they will lose face. If they do fight they will lose fighters. A win-win for Fatah. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:03 AM | Comments (3)
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A Geometry Problem
Interesting developments in Gaza today. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli ground troops and tanks cut swaths through the Gaza Strip early Sunday, bisecting the coastal territory and surrounding its biggest city as the new phase of a devastating offensive against Hamas gained momentum.I wonder what the Israelis are up to? The first attacks in Northern Gaza may have been a feint to attract Hamas fighters. Now the Israelis have disrupted communications between the two halves of Gaza. The question then is: will they push north to squeeze the Hamas fighters or will they head south to disrupt the smuggling tunnels? Hamas is definitely on the horns of a dilemma. Which is just where B. H. L. Hart says they should be. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 08:22 AM | Comments (0)
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Reclassification
The AMA 2008 Interim Meeting of the House of Delegates has proposed research on the reclassification of marijuana [pdf] to get it out of the "no medical use" category and into a less restrictive category. After hearing mixed testimony on a pair of resolutions concerning marijuana medical use and research and marijuana reclassification, the AMA voted to refer both for further study. One resolution asked that the AMA support reclassification of marijuana's status as a Schedule I controlled substance into a more appropriate schedule. Another asked the AMA to support the reclassification of marijuana's status from a Schedule I controlled substance to a more appropriate schedule and to cease criminal prosecution and other enforcement actions against physicians and patients acting in accordance with states' medical marijuana laws.And not only the AMA. The American College of Physicians [pdf] also supports research into the therapeutic effects of marijuana. This is definitely a promising development. And only 12 years after the passage of Proposition_215 in California. When doctors start coming around on a contentious issue like this it is a very good sign that our drug war may be in its terminal phase. Hopefully in another ten or twenty years we can put it behind us. Maybe White House drug czar Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey was wrong when he called marijuana "Cheech & Chong" medicine. It may one day be AMA medicine. Wouldn't that be a rebuke to ignorant Generals and czars everywhere? H/T Jerry Epstein of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 06:34 AM | Comments (0)
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Not Waiting For The Ambulances
It seems the Philistines of Gaza are not waiting for Egyptian ambulances to evacuate their wounded from Gaza. At about 1:10 on Sunday, December 28, 2008, the BBC anchor Peter Dobbie found out, along with his audience, that there were 40 Egyptian ambulances ready to evacuate wounded, and lorries full of medical goods sent by Qatar to restock Gazan hospitals, waiting at the border crossing in Egypt. (According to another source there were also 50 Egyptian doctors ready to go into the Strip to help.) Since Dobbie and his audience had heard the repeated complaint from the people in Gaza that the hospitals were overwhelmed by the injured and desperately lacking in supplies, one would have expected the border to be full of purposeful activity. Instead, nothing was happening. The Gazan side lay silent.Lets have a look at what else Sandmonkey has to say. First Hamas refuses to let Egypt receive the wounded through the Rafah crossing, saying that Egypt has to open the entire crossing for the million and a half Ghazan, or else they won't get to treat their wounded.. Think about this one for a minute. Let it simmer. When it makes sense to you, let me know.The Sandmonkey has more including a link to this interesting tidbit. BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up Sunday amid a crowd of demonstrators in northern Iraq who were protesting Israel's airstrikes on Gaza, killing one demonstrator and wounding 16 others, Iraqi police said.Israel induced an Arab to become a suicide bomber against other Arabs? Those Israelis are either controlling more of the world than anyone could possibly imagine or there is some very powerful crazy going on in the Arab mind. Getting back to the story at hand re: the ambulances. Dead Philistines are not a tragedy for Hamas. They are a weapon of war. Which is why the help offered has been refused. Saving Philistine lives serves no useful purpose for Hamas. And Hamas is definitely a purpose driven organization. Well, what is their purpose? Hamas Parliament Member Fathi Hammad tells Al-Aqsa TV, the television station of the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, that Allah hates the Jews more than anyone and that the 15 million Jews in the world are worse than the 4.5 billion infidels in the world. Hammad adds that killing one Jew is like killing 30 million Jews in the eyes of Allah.That would mean that if they killed 30 million Jews it would be like killing 900,000,000,000,000 which is 900 trillion Jews. Except there are only about 15 million Jews in the world. You know, the last time there was this much Jew hatred in the world some very ugly things happened. The Muslim fanatics explain their position with the words "We love death." It is unfortunate that the fanatics can't all be rounded up and accommodated in short order. I guess we will just have to deal with them in penny packets. I think this all can be encapsulated in a very short phrase.
posted by Simon at 04:27 AM | Comments (0)
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Harry Reid Puts In A Bid
If Harry Reid had a voice in picking Illinois' next junior Senator it would not have been Roland Burris. Days before Gov. Blagojevich was charged with trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, top Senate Democrat Harry Reid made it clear who he didn't want in the post: Jesse Jackson, Jr., Danny Davis or Emil Jones.Ah. The tale of the tape. We will have so much to look forward to in the coming year. It should keep Obama and the Democrats busy with distractions for quite a while. John Kass of the Chicago Tribune has a really funny column up. He starts a little slow with this opening but it gets much better as it goes on. Roland "Tombstone" Burris goes to Washington this week as part of the Illinois political freak show, and many of us back home will watch it and feel like cringing, at least at the beginning.So why is Kass calling Burris "Tombstone"? Glad you asked. Tombstone wants to carve "U.S. Senator" into the side of his granite mausoleum, where he's carved his other accomplishments and minor offices so that his fame will endure forever and ever, the decorated crypt providing a worrisome glimpse into the man who would make federal law.Well there is way more and the comments are most excellent. Especially from the ones who believe that the Smartest President Elect Ever™ never was involved in any of the shady dealings in Chicago. Let me say that there only three kinds of politicians in Chicago: 1. Those who have not been caught So far the Smartest President Elect Ever™ falls in the first category. For how long no one knows. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 03:16 AM | Comments (1)
| TrackBacks (0) Saturday, January 3, 2009
On The Defensive
Israeli ground troops have entered Gaza in an attempt to put an end to the Philistine's shelling of Israel. JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli tanks rolled into Gaza on Saturday night as the military launched the second phase of its assault on the Hamas-ruled territory after a week of airstrikes.And here is a big surprise. The EU says the Israeli response is defensive. PRAGUE, Jan 3 (Reuters) - European Union president, the Czech Republic, said on Saturday an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza was "defensive, not offensive" action.The Associated Press has more news. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli tanks and troops launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip Saturday night with officials saying they expected a lengthy fight with Hamas militants in the densely populated territory after eight days of punishing airstrikes failed to halt rocket attacks on Israel.So far the military objectives are not clear to me. Perhaps they will become clearer as the offensive proceeds. Israel National News gives more details on where the advances are taking place. (IsraelNN.com) Ground troops moved into Gaza Saturday night for the first time since last February and returned to the sites of former Jewish homes in northern Gaza for the first time since the government abandoned the area with the promise that the western Negev would be freed of rocket and morat attacks.So Northern Gaza is the focus of at least one segment of the operation. Will they flatten the area making it easier to target the rocket shooters? Time will tell. Israeli Air Force planes dropped thousands of leaflets warning Gaza residents not to cooperate with terrorists by using phones to report on IDF operations.I don't expect the Philistines to pay any attention to the warnings. Of course that will make Gaza communications infrastructure a target. Cell phone towers and central offices. You can watch the Israeli Defense Forces YouTube Channel for video updates on the fighting. Here is one I particularly liked about the Philistines using mosques as weapons depots. The text that goes with it says: Major Avital Leibovich, the head of the International Press Branch in the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, explains how Hamas uses Mosques in the Gaza Strip for the storage of weapons. This is yet another example of how Hamas uses the civilian population as a human shield, risking innocent lives in order to carry out acts of terrorism.Haaretz reports a call up of tens of thousands of Israeli troops. Israel's government has approved the call-up of tens of thousands of reservist soldiers, it was annnounced Saturday, almost simultaneously with the launch of a Gaza ground incursion aimed at halting rocket fire on Israel's southern communities.Since it takes about three days to bring Israeli reservists into action this move says that the war on the ground is likely to last ten days or more. Which would make it a very significant punitive raid. Amos Harel gives his analysis of what is going on. The killing of senior Hamas official Nizar Ghayan Thursday in an Israel Air Force strike in Jabalya is a significant development at this stage of the war in the Gaza Strip, due not only to his high position in the Gaza leadership but also because of the message his assassination sends to the Palestinians.The message I got was that mindless violence leads to headless leaders. Pity the Philistines can't see the obvious. Unlike the Second Lebanon War, the ground war in the Gaza Strip will be waged in densely populated urban areas. The civilian population in Lebanon fled during the fighting. In the Gaza Strip, however, there is nowhere to run but the beach and the Egyptian border, and many civilian casualties can be expected.So what is the Egyptian attitude? Well, it is very interesting to say the least given this report fron the 29th of December. An Egyptian border guard and a Palestinian youth were killed during border clashes between Hamas and Egyptian security forces.An Iranian news agency says the Egyptian border guards are authorized to shoot at Philistines trying to flee Gaza. Cairo orders a security cordon at the Rafah border crossing to open fire at the Palestinians fleeing to Egypt from Israeli raids on Gaza.Jeeze the Iranians are quoting the Debka rumor mill. Is that the best they can do? Still it is likely to be true. After Palestinians attacked Egypt in February of 2008 I wouldn't imagine the Egyptians would be welcoming the Philistines with open arms any time soon. One Palestinian was killed and 24 Egyptians were injured in clashes between Palestinian stone throwers and Egyptian border police Monday.And speaking of supplies, as you would expect in a war zone prices are rising for basic commodities. According to reports from the Strip, ever since the start of Operation Cast Lead there has been a shortage in basic commodities, and those who manage to get their hands on them discover that their prices have been doubled.I think that is more than enough to digest for now. If you need more here are some useful links: The Jerusalem Post Cross Posted at Power and Control
posted by Simon at 07:21 PM | Comments (23)
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Sex And Self Help
In an e-mail to me Amy Alkon, The Advice Goddess suggested this book: What You Can Change . . . and What You Can't*: The Complete Guide to Successful Self-Improvement. If Amy suggests it, it is definitely worth a read. You might also like her recent column Sex Sells about sex in long term relationships. The short version: more is better. Advice that is generally more useful for the female of the couple. But read the whole thing and especially the comments. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 04:47 PM | Comments (3)
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Growthbusters
I just came across a particularly dumb site called Growthbusters. They claim that a growing economy is a bad thing and that if we can just get our situation static or reduced even, the general situation of humans will improve. "The first commandment of economics is: Grow. Grow forever. Companies get bigger. National economies need to swell by a certain percent each year. People should want more, make more, earn more, spend more - ever more.Of course Donna isn't too smart. Are there really enough computers in the world? Wouldn't it be good to increase those numbers? Do we really have enough accessible bandwidth? Or would it be good to increase the amount of bandwidth? Is everyone on the planet well fed? Or would it be a good idea to continue to increase the food supply? Is everyone on earth well housed or would it be a good idea to deploy more housing? Does every one in the world have access to enough energy supplies? Or would it be good to improve it? What we know empirically is that population increases fastest in places that are the most economically deprived. That very fact was brought up in the comments to this Democratic Underground post. One thing not brought up by the Enough! folks is that we can make more by making things smaller. Nanotechnology to the rescue. We can also make more with what we have by translating ideas into technology. For instance we can get more out of a pound of iron by making it stronger with various alloys. We can make plastics stronger by strengthening them with carbon nanotubes instead of glass. Concrete can be strengthened by reinforcing it with steel. We can make more food with the land we have by improving the productivity of our crops. Biotechnology to the rescue. So what commodity are we really shortest of? What is our most glaring lack? Knowledge. We need to be doing more to grow our knowledge base. There is a place where growth can continue unhindered for centuries if not millennia. The results should support humans quite nicely. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 03:33 PM | Comments (7)
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Running On Hungry
Making the Desert Bloom has cost the oil rich Arabs a blooming fortune. It hasn't been very profitable either. Saudi Arabia's desert agriculture confirms that money and water can make even a desert bloom until either the money runs out or the water is depleted. Saudi Arabia's experience is noteworthy because within 15 years, the country experienced shortages of both money and later, water. These shortages impacted negatively on the country's heralded commitment to desert agriculture.So what do the Saudis have to show for all that effort? Empty bank accounts, empty aquifers, and an abundance of sand. The difficulty is that sand is not a scarce resource. They also seem to have an abundance of jihadis and those are also currently a glut on the market. And now with oil income this year expected to be less than half what it was last year they seem to be headed for some troubled waters. Or lack of waters actually. Under the arid and semi-arid conditions of the Arab world an economist would argue that it would be beneficial to import foodstuffs instead of investing in financially and environmentally non-viable local farming schemes. An economist would also argue that farming in arid or semi-arid areas should be left to rain fed lands. Given that drinking and household water use in every country is typically one tenth the volume of the water needed to become food self-sufficient, it would be necessary to stop further depletion of non-renewable water reserves by abandoning irrigation schemes so that the remaining water may be preserved for drinking and household purposes. International "trade" in virtual water allows water-scarce countries to import high water using foodstuffs and export low water using manufactured products.It looks as if oil socialism doesn't work any better than industrial socialism and in fact it may be worse. In allocating scarce national resources, an economist would argue against investing in any project unless justified on a purely rate of return on investment basis. Irrigation and land reclamation projects are no exception. These must be evaluated according to their rate of return on investment with full costing of water that ensures maintaining the quantity and quality of the aquifers and accounting for the negative and positive externalities of production and consumption. A rate of return approach diverts the foreign currencies that would otherwise be allocated to irrigation and land reclamation to higher return investments. In the export and/or import-substitution industries, such diversion would increase foreign currency earnings, which would then be used to import food. A rate of return on investment criterion would diversify GDP sources. The diversification would enhance employment opportunities in rural areas and mitigate the negative effects of food imports on rural employment. A rate of return approach invests taxpayers' money in more rewarding projects for the country as a whole, not to one segment of the population at the expense of the others. A rate of return on investment criterion can help steer GDP on a path of optimal growth.The difficulty is that the revenues from oil would need to be more widely distributed into private hands. However, that goes against the grain in the Arab world. What can Arabs produce that the world wants? Not much evidently. And there in lies a problem. Oil has led to a population explosion all living off oil. When the oil is gone starvation is sure to follow. I think the Arabs have another three to five decades to work out a cultural change. Right now they are hurting but have some breathing room. But not much because cultures don't change quickly. Fifty years to make the required changes is the blink of an eye. It will be interesting to see how they manage and a tragedy if they don't. Commenter Fritz suggest a look at When the Rivers Run Dry for a broader look at the problem of water in the 21st Century. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:00 AM | Comments (10)
| TrackBacks (0) Friday, January 2, 2009
Hsu Obama
It looks like Norman Hsu not only backed Hillary he also backed the Most Corrupt President Elect Ever™. Gateway Pundit quotes from The Smoking Gun: Before becoming a key fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, Hsu co-hosted a 2005 California fundraiser for Obama's political action committee and introduced the Illinois Democrat to Marc Gorenberg, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who later joined the Obama campaign's national finance committee. Prosecutors allege that Hsu directed his investors to donate money to specific candidates, and then reimbursed them in violation of federal campaign laws.No wonder Hillary and Barry are thick as thieves. It appears that they have at least one thief in common. I wonder how friendly Obama was with Roland Burris? It seems that Most Corrupt President Elect Ever™ was a Burris supporter at least while he had a chance to win the election for Illinois Governor in 2002. The Washington Post, Dec. 12, 2008: "Obama and Blagojevich rarely interacted until Blagojevich ran for governor. Obama told his friends in Springfield that he was unimpressed by Blagojevich's resume, and he tried to lobby his friend Durbin to enter the race before deciding to support Roland Burris in the Democratic primary.And what does Burris have to do with Hsu? Nothing so far. But I'm keeping my eyes peeled. Given the way politics works in the Democrat party a connection is likely to turn up sooner or later. The American people thought they were electing the first Black American President. And they were. Unfortunately no one told them he was a circus clown. And what is the purpose of a circus clown? Distraction. In other words: hold on to your wallet. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 02:18 AM | Comments (11)
| TrackBacks (0) Thursday, January 1, 2009
A Crypto Problem
My #3 Son was reading Poe's The Gold Bug and so he and I were discussing solving crypto puzzles. My son mentioned the letter frequencies Poe gave and I said Poe was wrong. So I asked him if he was sure he remembered it correctly. My son said he was sure he remembered it correctly and got the book out to prove it. Of course I had read Poe many years ago, but I didn't remember the letter frequencies Poe gave. Here are the letter frequencies Poe gave in order from most common to least as: e a o i d h n r s t u y c f g l m w b k p q x z In Linotype usage the frequencies are: e t a o i n s h r d l u c m f w y p v b g k q j x z and like any good crypto puzzle solver let me put them one on top of the other: e a o i d h n r s t u y c f g l m w b k p q x z Do any of you have an explanation for the differences at least among the most common letters? Was he trying to make it harder for his readers to solve the crypto puzzles he often published? Should you care to read or re-read the story here is an on line version of The Gold Bug from Project Gutenberg. And here is a paperback version: The Gold-Bug and Other Tales. Cross Posted at Power and Control posted by Simon at 09:02 PM | Comments (16)
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