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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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

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…