Author: Dave

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

I have been thinking lately about the abysmal state of science in America and have decided to do something about it. So I’m going to put up a post every week or so about science toys and the science books that go with them. The first one I’m going to look at is a Volcano…

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…

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…

A study I just found, Behind Bars, has this to say about the connection between drug use and violence: Contrary to conventional wisdom and popular myth, alcohol is more tightly linked with more violent crimes than crack, cocaine, heroin or any other illegal drug. In state prisons, 21 percent of inmates in prison for violent…

I was reading a bit in The Weekly Standard about Detroit. As the night wears on, Charlie grows defensive, and almost defiant, about Detroit. He recounts everything it’s done for the country, insists the city still matters and won’t disappear, speculates about the potential for it to become a major port since “water is the…

The operation has so far led to the indictment of 59 people and the arrest so far of 39 of them, some in this country legally and others who were not. Phoenix Police Lt. Vince Piano said the operation was very sophisticated, complete with specially designed heavy-duty trucks to actually let vehicles drive over the…

The Right fears fun. The Left fears money. Between them, when they get done with us, we will be miserable and broke. Cross Posted at Power and Control

I’m using Spybot – Search & Destroy 1.6 which seems to do a very good job. It was suggested by a friend. It is free, however you can make a donation. As per usual may I suggest you install it before you need it. Cross Posted at Power and Control

H/T Megan McArdle Cross Posted at Power and Control