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.

Over a period of seven years of planned operation, the DSPP will restore the Dead Sea to the desired level, and thereby reverse the erosion and subsistence that is presently destroying the area. In addition, the placement of a deep layer of Med Sea water on top of the Dead Sea will stop the overturn of water in the Dead Sea that brings noxious gases to the surface.

The planned annual supply of Med Sea water through the DSPP will be five billion cubic meters, which, after desalination (using distillation to remove ninety percent as potable water) can provide five hundred cubic meters per person per annum for eight million people. Maximum capacity of the project is for twelve billion cubic meters annual flow, which would provide enough water for twenty million people if suitable desalination capacity should be developed. Desalination plants can be placed on the Jordanian and Israeli sides of the Dead Sea and can be powered by electricity from (i) DSPP, (ii) gas fired co-generation units and (iii) wind turbines on top of the mountains in Jordan. Such sources of electricity can also be used to pump seawater into reservoirs on top of the mountains, which in turn can be utilized, on demand, for desalination and electric power generation as needed.

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.

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 Gonce

Rgonce
at
aol
dot
com

Cross Posted at Power and Control

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.

Squad-sized units of the police and Army have been tortured, murdered, and their decapitated bodies publicly left on display. The malignancy of drug criminality now contaminates not only the 2000 miles of cross-border US communities but stretches throughout the United States in more than 295 US cities.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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

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, 1995

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.

The kidnapping was a dismal story of cruelty and heartbreak, familiar all across Mexico, but with a new twist: the daughter of this victim lived in the United States and was able to wire money to help assemble his ransom, the farmer, who insisted that he not be identified by name, said in an interview.

A string of similar kidnappings, singling out people with children or spouses in the United States, so panicked this village in the state of Zacatecas that many people boarded up their homes and headed north, some legally and some not, seeking havens with relatives in California and other American states.

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

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.

Hezbollah expert Amal Saad-Ghorayeb told AFP over the weekend that she believes Hezbollah is trying not to upset the opposition in Lebanon. "On the domestic level, Hezbollah does not want to antagonize its domestic foes. They don't want to ruin the dialogue that allows them to keep the issue of their weapons indefinitely unsolved; it is a way of postponing the issue," she said.

"Hezbollah is not in a position that allows it to carry the burden of a second war," Paul Salem of the Carnegie Middle East Center told the agency.

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

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."

This is remarkable, unprecedented candor from a politician, especially today in the U.S. where politicians race to promote a stimulus package to jump-start our lagging economy. Before you break into applause, however, I must sadly report that Clinton went on to say, ""But if we did that, you know as well as I do, China and India and Indonesia and Vietnam and Mexico and Brazil and the Ukraine, and all the other countries will never agree to stay poor to save the planet for our grandchildren. The only way we can do this is if we get back in the world's fight against global warming and prove it is good economics that we will create more jobs to build a sustainable economy that saves the planet for our children and grandchildren. It is the only way it will work."

Our current economic retraction is actually a perfect opportunity to ratchet down our carbon emissions and ecological footprint. Any stimulus should go exclusively toward replacing lost carbon-intensive jobs with clean energy jobs. And we should be applauding (and adjusting to) lower rates of consumption. So Clinton wasn't too far off, other than leaving us with the impression we can GROW our way out of a climate crisis.

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

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.

Two Democratic officials told CNN the investigation involves a California company that won municipal bond business in New Mexico after contributing money to various Richardson causes.

In a statement Sunday, Richardson said he asked Obama "not to move forward" with his nomination now.

Cross Posted at Power and Control

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.

"The organization [Hamas] took a serious blow, we killed hundreds of terrorists and damaged their ability to build weaponry," Yadlin said.

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.

According to a Military Intelligence assessment released Tuesday, Israel's air offensive on Gaza has thus far destroyed one-third of the Hamas' rocket arsenal.

Hamas "has been hit like it has never been hit before," Diskin said.
Diskin said the Islamic group's ability to govern the Strip has been seriously damaged, and that senior Hamas officials are hiding out in Gaza's hospitals, where they have "disguised themselves as doctors and nurses."

"Many Hamas officials are hiding in mosques throughout Gaza, out of the assumption that Israel will avoid attacking Muslim houses of worship," Diskin said. Dozens of the mosques have been turned into weapons stockpiles and command centers, he added.

And mosques off limits? I don't think so. Especially if they are full of weapons.

Cross Posted at Power and Control

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.

Fatah officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas militiamen had been assaulting many Fatah activists since the beginning of the operation last Saturday. They said at least 75 activists were shot in the legs while others had their hands broken.

Wisam Abu Jalhoum, a Fatah activist from the Jabalya refugee camp, was shot in the legs by Hamas militiamen for allegedly expressing joy over the IDF air strikes on Hamas targets.

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.

The sources quoted Hamas officials as saying that the decision to kill the suspected collaborators was taken out of fear that Israel might try to rescue them during a ground offensive. The officials claimed that at least half of the victims were killed by relatives of Palestinian militiamen who were killed as a result of information passed on to Israel by the "collaborators."

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

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.

Thousands of soldiers in three brigade-size formations pushed into Gaza after nightfall Saturday, beginning a long-awaited ground offensive after a week of intense aerial bombardment. Black smoke billowed over Gaza City at first light and bursts of machine gun fire rang out.

TV footage showed Israeli troops with night-vision goggles and camouflage face paint marching in single file. Artillery barrages preceded their advance, and they moved through fields and orchards following bomb-sniffing dogs ensuring their routes had not been booby-trapped.

The military said troops killed or wounded dozens of militant fighters, but Palestinian medical teams in Gaza, unable to move because of the fighting, could not provide accurate casualty figures.

Cross Posted at Power and Control

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.

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

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.

A real journalist, someone with a smell for revealing anomalies, would have immediately recognized this as an important story to follow up on. After all, Dobbie had not hesitated to interrupt and challenge Israeli spokesmen on precisely the issues at stake: the disproportion between Israeli-caused fatalities and Israeli-suffered fatalities, the inevitable suffering of innocent civilians when such a bombing campaign takes place in so densely populated an area. "The math doesn't work," said Dobbie, implying what commentators emphasized elsewhere -- the "disproportionate use of force" the Israelis were employing.

So here was a perfect issue with which to challenge Hamas spokesmen: If they were so distraught at the loss of life of their own people, why didn't they take care of them? What on earth would possess Hamas not to avail themselves of what they pleadingly told the world they so desperately needed? As the honest and courageous Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey put it, "My head hurts."

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.

Then Israeli pundits say that while the air strike is successful, they might need to do a ground incursion, thus proving that Israel is a nation suffering from an Alzheimer epidemic and doesn't remember anything about the last war with Lebanon.

And then the Palestinians in Ghaza break through the Rafah crossing, and kill an egyptian officer in the process, and nobody minds, of course..

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.

The bomber rode his bicycle into the demonstration of about 1,300 people in the center of the northern city of Mosul, said a police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with news media.

The demonstration was organized by the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party. The party's Mosul spokesman, Yahiya Abid Mahjoub, complained that police and the Iraqi army had not taken security precautions for the demonstration.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack, the officer said.

"The ones who targeted our brothers in Gaza are the same who targeted us in Mosul today. They are agents of Israel," Mahjoub said.

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.

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.

Cross Posted at Power and Control

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.

Rather, Reid called Blagojevich to argue he appoint either state Veterans Affairs chief Tammy Duckworth or Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, sources told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Sources say the Senate majority leader pushed against Jackson and Davis -- both Democratic congressmen from Illinois -- and against Jones -- the Illinois Senate president who is the political godfather of President-elect Barack Obama -- because he did not believe the three men were electable. He feared losing the seat to a Republican in a future election.

Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero confirmed that Reid (D-Nev.) and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) -- the new chief of the Senate Democratic political operation -- each called Blagojevich's campaign office separately Dec. 3. Sources believe that at least portions of the phone conversations are on tape.

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.

Who among us could not wince at the prospect of Tombstone standing before news cameras, his head bobbing, smiling amiably, chattering nonsensically as is his way, insisting he feels no shame. All he wants is to become a United States senator, and he kissed a tainted hand to get there.

His fellow Democrats may be ready to bar his entrance to the Senate chambers, and politicians will be ready, even eager, to play the race card again. If this happens, the man who sent Tombstone to Washington, Gov. Rod Blagojevich will glory in his opportunity to speak directly to his future jury pool.

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.

Let me say that there only three kinds of politicians in Chicago:

1. Those who have not been caught
2. Those doing time
3. Ex-cons

So far the Smartest President Elect Ever™ falls in the first category. For how long no one knows.

Cross Posted at Power and Control

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.

"Obviously, ground forces have capability that air forces don't have," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told CNN.

"We want to create a situation where the civilian population in southern Israel is no longer on the receiving end of those deadly Hamas rockets. When quiet can be achieved, this operation can be finished."

PRAGUE, Jan 3 (Reuters) - European Union president, the Czech Republic, said on Saturday an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza was "defensive, not offensive" action.

"At the moment, from the perspective of the last days, we understand this step as a defensive, not offensive, action," Czech EU presidency spokesman Jiri Potuznik said.

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.

Hamas vowed that Gaza would be a "graveyard" for Israelis forces.

"This will not be easy and it will not be short," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said soon after the ground invasion began.

The incursion was preceded by several hours of heavy artillery fire after dark, igniting flames in the night sky. Machine gun fire rattled as bright tracer rounds flashed through the darkness and the crash of hundreds of shells sent up streaks of fire.

Artillery fired illuminating rounds, sending streaks of bright light drifting down over Gaza's densely packed neighborhoods. Gunbattles could be heard, as troops crossed the border into Gaza, marching single file. They were backed by helicopter gunships and tanks.

Israeli security officials said the objective is not to reoccupy Gaza. The depth and intensity of the ground operation will depend on parallel diplomatic efforts, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

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.

Artillery fire from the ground and from Naval boats rained on terrorist targets before tanks roared in, and at least 30 terrorists were killed. Soldiers did not meet any massive resistance. Hamas claimed that it killed several Israeli soldiers, but there has been no other report of IDF casualties.

The soldiers, from Givati, tank, Golani and engineer units, are back by intelligence, Air Force, artillery and Naval forces. The Navy has enforced a blockade of 20 nautical miles from the Gaza Coast because of the presence of terrorists in the area.

Israeli Air Force planes dropped thousands of leaflets warning Gaza residents not to cooperate with terrorists by using phones to report on IDF operations.

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.

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.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement that, in accordance with a secret cabinet discussion Friday, the government ordered the armed forces "to draft the necessary reservists, on a scale of tens of thousands of troops."

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.

Gazans have been asking Haaretz why Israel is hitting Hamas foot soldiers, empty buildings and innocent civilians rather than the leadership. They see this as proof of Israel's inability to really deal with Hamas. Ghayan's killing shows that Israel is no longer hesitating. The Hamas leader in Gaza, Sheikh Ismail Haniyeh, his government and certainly Hamas military leaders such as Ahmed Jabri know they have good reason to stay in hiding.

The assassination in the spring of 2004 of Abdel Aziz Rantisi and Ahmed Yassin was the main factor behind the Hamas decision to suspend suicide bombings and limit friction with Israel.

But these killings also increased sympathy for Hamas in Gaza and led to its electoral win two years later. In the same way, Hamas television quickly made use of Thursday's incident, repeatedly showing footage of Ghayan's headless body.

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.

An Egyptian border guard and a Palestinian youth were killed during border clashes between Hamas and Egyptian security forces.

An Egyptian security source said Hamas forces had also shot an Egyptian policeman in the leg.

The incidents took place near the main border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, where Egyptian riot police fired in the air to try to drive back Palestinians who had managed to penetrate the border wall.

The Palestinians were trying to flee Gaza in the midst of Israeli air strikes which have killed nearly 300 people so far.

The events are likely to aggravate tense relations between Hamas and the Egyptian Government, which says that Hamas is largely to blame for the Israeli onslaught.

Cairo orders a security cordon at the Rafah border crossing to open fire at the Palestinians fleeing to Egypt from Israeli raids on Gaza.

The task force has been deployed to take a stance against the Gazans seeking refuge in Sinai amid continues Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, Debka reported on Friday.

This is while an increased number of Palestinians are on their way to the border crossing following reports that Tel Aviv is scheduling artillery bombardment.

One Palestinian was killed and 24 Egyptians were injured in clashes between Palestinian stone throwers and Egyptian border police Monday.

In a statement published Tuesday, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza demanded an investigation into the death and said the incident proved an arrangement must be found 'quickly' for the formal reopening of the border.

But al-Hayat quoted Egyptian officials as saying Egypt would not accept an arrangement whereby Hamas security forces would guard the Rafah border passage, as Cairo recognizes the Ramallah-based 'caretaker' government of President Mahmoud Abbas as the only legitimate Palestinian regime.

Hamas demands a role in running the passage, bypassing an international agreement from November 2005, which stipulated Abbas' Presidential Guard, Egyptian authorities and European observers would man the border passage, while Israel would observe security procedures at Rafah via video monitoring.

Hamas militants blew holes in the border on January 23, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to circumvent a tight Israeli blockade and stock up on supplies in Egypt.

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.

The supply of basic commodities has dropped significantly since Sunday, when the Israel Defense Forces bombed dozens of smuggling tunnels at the Philadelphi Route.

Residents in the Strip reported that a sack of flour was sold on Tuesday for more than NIS 200 (about $53), compared to less than NIS 100 ($26.5) before the IDF operation which began Saturday. Many Gazans say they have been left without flour, as the vast majority of sales points have not been opened.

Sources in the Strip claim that the big merchants have basic commodities in stock, but some are afraid to bring out the goods and market them these days, while others are taking advantage of the distress in order to increase their profits.

The prices of fuel, which had been smuggled from Egypt until Sunday, have seen a significant rise since the military operation began. On Tuesday 1 liter of petrol was sold in Gaza for more than NIS 10 ($2.65), compared to only NIS 2.8 (74 cents) last week. This price rise is the reason why many private cars and public transportation vehicles are paralyzed.

Meanwhile, merchants and industrialists from the West Bank are attempting to maximize their profits by taking advantage of the waves of hostility against Israel in light of the events in Gaza.

"The Popular Campaign for Palestinian Products" in Bethlehem issued a statement Tuesday calling on local consumers to boycott Israeli products due to the "aggression" in the Gaza Strip.

If you need more here are some useful links:

The Jerusalem Post
Haaretz
Israel Insider
Israel National News
MEMRI
Y-net News
Iran Press News
Asia Times
FOX News
The Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Sun Times

H/T a friend via e-mail.

Cross Posted at Power and Control

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

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.

The first commandment of the Earth is: enough. Just so much and no more. Just so much soil. Just so much water. Just so much sunshine. Everything born of the Earth grows to its appropriate size and then stops." - Donella Meadows Co-Author, Limits to Growth

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

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.

In 1993, Saudi Arabia suffered financial strains, so its cereal-growing program of the previous twelve years was scaled down drastically. Then, in early 2008, as the quality and quantity of non-renewable aquifers reached perilous levels, the government declared that purchases of wheat from local farmers would be reduced by 12.5 percent annually, with the aim of relying entirely on imports by 2016.

Farming is alien to desert habitat and the culture of its peoples. As Saudi Arabia became rich following the quadrupling of oil prices in 1973, however, Saudi investors were induced by huge government subsidies to import the equipment and the farm workers to implement a heavily propagated strategy of food self-sufficiency. Within 12 years, between 1980 and 1992, wheat production grew 29-fold--to 4.1 million tons--making the Saudi desert the world's sixth-largest wheat exporting country. To achieve this enormous growth, the wheat-producing areas were increased by 14-fold, to 924,000 hectares. To put 924,000 hectares in perspective, Egypt, with five times as many people, has an irrigated surface for all crops evolved over the centuries of 3 million hectares.

Beginning in 1993, under pressure from declining oil prices since the mid 1980s, the government had to scale down its wheat-growing subsidies. The budget deficits between 1984 and 1992 added up to $130 billion. Liquidity became so tight that the government had to delay (default) for a few years in honoring more than $70 billion in obligations to thousands of suppliers, contractors, and farmers. Between 1981 and 1993, spending on security added up to $225 billion, out of $420 billion in total oil revenues. In addition, the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War cost $25.7 billion, the 1991 Gulf War cost $80 billion, and maintaining the profligate lifestyle of some 4,000 immediate members during that period of the al-Saud ruling family's patriarch may be estimated to have cost $4 billion per annum.

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.

However, importing foodstuffs gives rise to three challenges. The first is national security. Importing foodstuffs runs contrary to the popular notion in Arab countries that food self-sufficiency protects national security from the dangers of a boycott. Government propagandists succeeded in incorporating this fallacy into the national discourse. They made it into a sacrosanct belief without regard to their severe water shortage or the fact that they import many items, the boycott of any of which would be as detrimental to national security as the boycott of foodstuffs, if not more; such as, to name only a few, desalination plants, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, spare parts, etc.

Failure to address critical issues like water scarcity openly and truthfully is not surprising under non-representative non-participatory governance. Such type of rule bans free press, egalitarian non-governmental organizations, and environmental groups--thus, making it impossible to have effective dissent against the mendacity of food independence in a mainly arid region or introduce a balancing perspective into water policy.

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.

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

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.

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.

" 'When Blagojevich beat me, I told Barack to get on board with him,' Burris said. 'It was kind of like swallowing his pride a little bit, because he didn't really see that they had anything in common.'"

Obama also attended when Burris announced his candidacy for governor in 2001.

The Chicago Tribune, Sept. 24, 2001: "Burris finished a strong second in the four-way gubernatorial primary in 1998, and his base of support among African-Americans may be even more significant in a race likely to feature half-dozen candidates. Later in the day, Burris announced his candidacy on the porch of his South Side Chicago home, where about 250 supporters crowded underneath tents in his yard under a gray sky and steady rain.

"His campaign co-chairmen, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) cheered Burris. State Sens. Barak Obama, Donne Trotter and Ricky Hendon, and state Rep. Calvin Giles--all Democrats from Chicago--also attended."

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

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
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

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

Since I keep GMT at Power and Control, I note that it is past the start of the New Year for those in the same time zone. Americans have a little over 4 hours to wait for midnight to come to the New York time zone.

So I'm a tad early. But let me wish you all:

This will probably be my last post of the year, and I've been so busy that I barely found time to get online and write it. The house is so torn up that I've been basically camping out while working, although I only have about ten days of this to go.

The house has needed major redoing, inside and out. Cracks everywhere!

As well as the usual problems that come from deferred maintenance.

And putting nearly everything away in boxes...

Work or not, pretty soon it'll be party time.

Meanwhile, in the real world, the Obama Birth Certificate Truthers have taken to the tabloids!

I shudder to imagine the important news I'm missing, but at least it's the end of the year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

The first one I'm going to look at is a Volcano Making Kit The price is right at about $10 and it is powered by baking soda and vinegar. Read the comments at the link before going ahead with this project. It is not easy. It requires thinking about what you are doing and some advance planning. A lot is covered in the reviews. However, the reviews for the most part are good. And besides kids (and adults) love to see volcanoes blow their tops. And no toxic chemicals are required which is always a consideration for young kids.

A good book to go with the kit is Volcanoes (The Wonders of Our World). If you want a nice picture book on volcanoes the National Geographic is always a good choice: National Geographic - Volcano!.

A poster helps to remind kids of a subject. The Chemistry of Geology - 27.5 x 18.75

And lastly for now a little deeper look into the subject, a textbook. Earth Science: Geology, the Environment, and the Universe.

Cross Posted at Power and Control

Terry Nelson was a Federal agent for 30 years with the U.S. Border Patrol, the Customs Service and the Department of Homeland Security. Here is what he says about drug prohibition.

Busting top traffickers doesn't work, since others just do battle to replace them. Despite the obvious failure of our drug control strategy, the public discourse surrounding this issue has focused primarily on continuing to wage the "drug war."

Mandatory prison sentences and interdiction efforts have very little effect on drug use. This year the World Health Organization found that the U.S. has the highest marijuana and cocaine use rates on the planet, despite having some of the harshest sentences.

We won't be able to expand treatment and prevention efforts until we stop spending so much money enforcing ineffective penalties, building new prisons and buying fancy cars and helicopters for law enforcement agencies. As we begin to treat problematic drug use as a public health issue, it will become much easier to prevent the death, disease and addiction that have expanded under the criminal justice mentality of prohibition.

But even with the best public health efforts, there will always be some who want to use drugs, and, as long as drugs are illegal, many willing to risk imprisonment or death to make huge profits supplying them. My years of experience as a federal agent tell me that legalizing and effectively regulating drugs will stop drug market crime and violence by putting major cartels and gangs out of business.

The Department of Justice reported [this month] that Mexican cartels are America's "greatest organized crime threat" because they "control drug distribution in most U.S. cities." If what we've been doing worked at all, we wouldn't be battling Mexican drug dealers in our own cities or anywhere else. There's one surefire way to bankrupt them, but when will our leaders talk about it?

"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

"President-elect Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana."

I think the murder rate from the presence of the Mexican gangs in our cities will have to go a lot higher before even discussion of legalization by our elected officials is on the table. One of the things that will help is a wave of kidnapings that the Mexican gangs are also famous for. Coming soon to a city or town near you. I can hardly wait.

Cross Posted at Power and Control

Bent Rod Blagojevich plans to name Roland Burris to the US Senate seat vacated by Mr. Obama who plans to carry on as the Most Corrupt President Elect Ever™ although I might hasten to add that there is no proof, so far, that Mr. Obama who came up through Chicago politics and who was heavily involved with convicted Chicago fixer Tony Rezko has done anything for which he can be indicted. There are hints though. Like the deal Mr. Rezko was involved with for the purchase of Mr. Obama's house. And a very nice house it is.

Ignoring threats from the U.S. Senate Democratic leadership to block his pick, Gov. Blagojevich this afternoon said he's appointing Roland Burris to President-elect Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat.

"The people of Illinois are entitled to have two U.S. Senators," said Blagojevich, whose arrest on corruption charges earlier this month places Burris' appointment under a cloud. "If I don't make this appointment then the people of Illinois will be deprived."

During a downtown news conference, Blagojevich called Burris, 71, an individual with "unquestioned integrity" and a "senior statesman of Illinois."

"I have faith in the record I have accomplished in the past four decades," Burris said. "I am humbled to have this opportunity. I will uphold the integrity of this office."

Burris and his lobbying/consulting firm have donated about $15,000 to the governor's campaign fund. His firm has done work for the Illinois Department of Transportation under Blagojevich, and a law-firm to which he is "of counsel" has been a recipient of state bond business.

Burris, however, ridiculed reporters who asked questions about whether his relationship with the Blagojevich administration might have played a role in the governor appointing him. Burris said the two talked about the appointment Sunday night.

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) made a surprise appearance at the press conference to give Burris a vote of confidence and urge the U.S. Senate not to stand in Burris' way.

It is imperative the Senate have an African-American replace Obama, Rush said.

And note the rather small campaign donation Mr. Burris gave Blago in the past. I told you he was getting the seat at a discount.

Well the Democrats in the US Senate are not happy. If Burris takes his seat it makes them look more corrupt than usual. And you know, that would not be good for their chances to hold on to power and pass out the goodies to their favored friends for more than the next two years.

Before the Blagojevich and Burris news conference, which was aired live on multiple national news channels, Democratic leaders in the