Month: January 2009

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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. “We can secure a truce within 48…

In the second of my series on scientific toys I want to look at one of the foundations of modern civilization. The electric motor. Here is a nice Electric Motor Kit that sells for a very reasonable $10.75. Here is another science kit that includes an electric motor and other experiments, ScienceWiz Inventions Experiment Kit…

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…

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…

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…

Details of the story at The Volokh Conspiracy which has the poem Richard Cory. And of course that reminded me of Simon and Garfunkel.

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…

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…

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…

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. Using more “buy money” than Arizona had ever seen before, we…

Purchasing.com Cross Posted at Power and Control

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…

From The Jerusalem Post Cross Posted at Power and Control

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…

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…

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…