tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195040862012-02-04T17:36:17.074+03:00Security means energy and bordersDanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.comBlogger451100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1142328009389853942006-03-14T12:07:00.000+03:002006-03-14T12:20:09.403+03:00

Here's a UAE-based column from Greg Dobbs, in the Rocky Mountain News. It's an indicator of what is possible when a country knows they actually have to compete for business.It's a very interesting article, but for this piece of faulty logic:With far more skyscrapers on the skyline than mosques, these people seem more into income than ideology. This is not your father's Arabia. The ports deal was

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1142156066438414302006-03-12T12:32:00.000+03:002006-03-13T15:56:58.940+03:00

We Republicans correctly have mixed feelings about the outcome of the UAE ports debacle. On the one hand, the outcome was what it should have been, given the circumstances. A very questionable “ally” in the GWOT was treated differently, in their efforts to assume management of a sensitive U.S. assets, than they would have been, had they been a reliable ally such as Britain or Australia. On the

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1138975823792291622006-02-03T17:07:00.000+03:002006-02-03T17:10:23.806+03:00

The president is right again.President Bush rejected criticism of U.S. oil companies over their record profits due to high oil prices: NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - President Bush defended the huge profits of Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) Wednesday, saying they are simply the result of the marketplace and that consumers socked with soaring energy costs should not expect price breaks.In an interview with The

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1138763583828688602006-02-01T06:06:00.000+03:002006-02-01T06:13:03.843+03:00

Here's the President's SOTU excerpt on energy: Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. Here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology. Since 2001, we have spent nearly 10 billion dollars to develop cleaner, cheaper, more reliable alternative energy

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1138241960013726872006-01-26T05:09:00.000+03:002006-01-26T05:19:20.026+03:00

Radioblogger has coverage of Joel Stein's piece ("I don't support the troops") in the Los Angeles Times, as well as Hugh Hewitt's interview with him. You get the feeling he vocalized lot of things that other people on the left feel, but don't have the courage to say.This column has been greeted with crickets at Daily Kos; I'd be interested to see their take on it.

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1138241238392191912006-01-26T05:02:00.000+03:002006-01-26T05:07:18.420+03:00

Michelle Malkin has a great post about the Mexican Military crossing the border in support of the drug trade. Mexican soldiers and civilian smugglers had an armed standoff with nearly 30 U.S. law enforcement officials on the Rio Grande in Texas Monday afternoon, according to Texas police and the FBI.Mexican military Humvees were towing what appeared to be thousands of pounds of marijuana across

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1138155440915048122006-01-25T05:13:00.000+03:002006-01-25T05:17:20.926+03:00

The L.A. Times occasionaly runs a thoughtful article, and this one from Ron Brownstein makes some good points: America already bars oil imports from Iran; but if Iran withheld some of the 2.7 million barrels of oil it exports daily, the U.S. would suffer from the rise in international oil prices. (Oil prices are already rising just because of Iran's threats to close the spigot.) And for that we

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1138017709736260312006-01-23T14:54:00.000+03:002006-01-23T15:01:49.766+03:00

The Washington Post has an article predicting three broad themes for Pres. Bush's upcoming SOTU address on Jan 31. One of the themes, according to the Post, will be energy prices. To help address rising energy costs, Bush said the administration will push development of new technologies and alternative and renewable fuels to make the nation less dependent on foreign sources of energy.Depending on

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1137748740296427702006-01-20T12:14:00.000+03:002006-01-20T12:33:23.783+03:00

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/19/D8F7RAL81.htmlIs she a principled opponent of the idea of a nuclear Iran? Maybe, but I doubt it. Sanctions against Iran would cause the price of oil to go through the roof, and Democrats know that expensive oil would result in a pretty strong anti-incumbent election. If Hillary gets her sanctions, a disastrous oil shock happens on the Republicans’ watch,

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1137725810678765372006-01-20T05:50:00.000+03:002006-01-20T05:56:50.680+03:00

Tony Blankley has this column discussing borders incursions by the Mexican military in support of drug runners.Given the competition between various smuggling factions over different smuggling routes, they are probably purchasing the military's protection against their peers. In any case, though, this really highlights the pretense in Vicente Fox's "outrage" over our plans to build a border

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1137725320440045462006-01-20T05:45:00.000+03:002006-01-20T05:50:49.913+03:00

Tom Bevan of RealClearPolitics.com has posted an editorial about the reasons for radical Islam's success. Quote: The greatest irony of all, however, is that the West continues to fuel the terror machine by remaining dependent on Middle Eastern oil. Though obscured from view for years, the connection between oil-rich states and the funding and export of radical Islam became quite obvious after

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1137514877488954522006-01-17T19:18:00.000+03:002006-01-17T19:21:17.503+03:00

Here's an article Glenn Reynolds referenced; it deals with Wal-Mart in Maryland.http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=011606AQuote: Although the motivation of the liberals was to raise the well-being of Wal-Mart workers, it is far from clear that this will be the consequence. Low-skilled workers cannot receive more in compensation than the value of their labor. If Wal-Mart is forced to increase

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1137091077045423312006-01-12T21:27:00.000+03:002006-01-12T21:38:39.256+03:00

The New York Times has a story with interviews with Iraqi insurgents who have turned against Al Qaeda fighters in Iraq. Here's a telling segment (italics added): An Attack's RepercussionsSamarra, north of Baghdad, had been infiltrated by Al Qaeda's fighters. In desperation, a local sheik, Hekmat Mumtaz al-Baz, traveled to Baghdad in September to meet with Iraq's defense minister and ask for help,

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1137036853448560122006-01-12T05:45:00.000+03:002006-01-12T06:35:03.553+03:00

The Financial Times is reporting that our oil consumption is resulting in record revenues to terror-sponsoring countries. When OPEC countries have increased revenues, here are the ways they spend our money:Al Jazeera (read the columns in "opinion", and have a glance at their war coverage...)Wahabbi literature in American mosquesImproved IEDs for killing American soldiers, resulting in a poor

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1136902816866602752006-01-10T16:57:00.000+03:002006-01-10T17:27:56.930+03:00

The Deseret News (Utah) has an article on state budget surpluses; this constitutes a pretty severe indictment of the recent $250 billion transportation bill.Quote: Around the country, revenue surpluses are the norm, with many states seeing a boost in revenues thanks to increased jobs, a recovering stock market and booming real estate sales, according to a report released by the National

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1136892832310698302006-01-10T14:24:00.000+03:002006-01-10T14:35:58.733+03:00

The latest from Mexico on border issues.Quote:Diplomats from Mexico and Central America on Monday demanded guest worker programs and the legalization of undocumented migrants in the United States, while criticizing a U.S. proposal for tougher border enforcement.Meeting in Mexico's capital, the regional officials pledged to do more to fight migrant trafficking, but indirectly condemned a U.S. bill

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1136860093671690392006-01-10T05:09:00.000+03:002006-01-10T17:33:28.906+03:00

Here is a great read on the Democratic Party's unseriousness on matters of national security. You cannot expect to win elections if you are mentally living in August 2001. More specifically, you cannot expect to win elections if you think border security is "anti-immigrant." You cannot expect to win elections if you think presidentially-authorized wiretaps of terrorists are a bad thing. And you

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1136594606666327042006-01-07T03:38:00.000+03:002006-01-07T03:43:26.666+03:00

Here's a fun editorial from Newsday: Iran Must Hear A Resounding "No!"It takes a remarkable position, arguing that if we get together with other countries and draft a stern letter to Iran in the Security Council, ruling out force as a possibility, Iran will come around and stop their nuke program. The pen truly is mightier than the sword (!)...

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1136594099237640292006-01-07T03:28:00.000+03:002006-01-07T03:34:59.253+03:00

Here's an interesting article from the International Herald Tribune, regarding Vladimir Putin's use of gas supplies as a tool of intimidation with neighboring countries (hat tip: RCP). I like their definition of energy security: "Energy security" is cited by many but defined by few: if it has any real meaning for the United States and Europe, it means diversification in the sources and types of

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1136220725064797892006-01-02T19:39:00.000+03:002006-01-07T03:51:56.680+03:00

From the Telegraph.Quote:With a quarter of its gas supplied by Russia, Europe is facing serious disruption and price rises for as long as the dispute rumbles on.Moscow turned off the tap at 10am after Ukraine refused to sign a new contract with the Russian state monopoly Gazprom quadrupling prices.Critics of the Kremlin say the rise was punishment for the Orange Revolution in 2004 which brought

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1135967712181682162005-12-30T21:17:00.000+03:002005-12-30T21:35:12.190+03:00

At the New York Times today, Paul Krugman has a new column. Here is the title and subheading:PAUL KRUGMANHeck of a Job, BushieHow things have changed in a year.From a reader's perspective, the title and subheading indicate to you 1) Krugman's level of maturity and objectivity, and, with a little more thought, 2) the entire content of the column.As a writer or commentator, wouldn't you be

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1135859986644333742005-12-29T15:35:00.000+03:002005-12-30T21:39:14.450+03:00

Here's an answer for those who say the Kyoto Protocol somehow harms economic activity:Kyoto Pact a Boon For Some U.S. FirmsAnd here are a couple of articles that illustrate the business opportunity in the Chinese RE market:Hydrogen Busses to Fuel China ModernizationChina Commits USD$2.5 to Renewable Energy

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1135134166273453252005-12-21T05:43:00.000+03:002005-12-21T06:02:46.283+03:00

From Drudge:http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/12/20/D8EK9N0G6.htmlCould this be the reason Mexico is throwing a fit over the closing of our border?The idea of a secure border is not at all in need of explanation or apology. It is the very most basic characteristic of a functioning state. If the Republicans were smart (is that a futile wish on my part?), they would challenge anyone who makes

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1135067923408975962005-12-20T11:36:00.000+03:002005-12-20T11:38:43.420+03:00

Drudge is accepting submissions for captions for the latest picture of drama queen Joe Wilson and his wife Valerie.Link:http://www.drudgereport.com/plame.htm

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1134960898756778992005-12-19T05:41:00.000+03:002005-12-20T23:06:49.906+03:00

So it looks like the brouhaha over Bush's wiretap authorizations has disappeared within approximately 48 hours. You get the sense that the Democrats get so excited over these earth-shattering revelations, until they realize that a majority of Americans really appreciate the fact that President Bush is willing to authorize wiretaps of Al-Qaeda members.My dare for the Democrats: in the next

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1134615950081600972005-12-15T05:46:00.000+03:002005-12-15T21:48:39.796+03:00

This post was linked by Glenn Reynolds; after the discussion of McCain comes a very interesting discussion of Romney and his faith. I chimed in a little; essentially what I'll say on that issue is, here is some advice to anyone that might be running against Romney in the Republican primary:If you run against Mitt Romney in the Republican Primary and you or one of your campaign staffers insults my

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1134403031616393352005-12-12T18:51:00.000+03:002005-12-12T18:57:11.633+03:00

Here's a good article at TCS on telecommuting. It goes some good places on both productivity and quality of life issues.I addressed the implementation of it in this post.

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1134383196002065652005-12-12T13:02:00.000+03:002005-12-12T19:36:02.436+03:00

Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland is making alternative-energy-as-engine-of-job-creation into a centerpiece of his campaign. His plan makes it easier for companies in this industry to raise money to fund their operations. LinkCritics may wonder whether it is the government's business to incentivize investment in a particular industry like Strickland is proposing, and my

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1134368892514750582005-12-12T09:25:00.000+03:002005-12-15T06:24:32.226+03:00

This makes me happy, because it's from my sort-of home state:http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=138299Here's an interesting quote:Steven Bishop/ Solar Electrical Contractor: "Two years ago this type of work was five percent of my volume. Right now it's 90 percent."Just more evidence that renewables could turn out to be the largest engine of job creation in history. And political parties and

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1134357230918358162005-12-12T06:10:00.000+03:002005-12-12T06:13:50.920+03:00

Here's a great article from the Contra Costa Times.I like this quote:"But long-shot bets sometimes pay off big especially in a hot growth market. And that's what alternative energy has been in recent years. During this decade, solar photovoltaic electricity generation has grown at an annual rate of 60 percent, while wind power capacity grew at a rate of 28 percent, according to the Renewables

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1134356972244213712005-12-12T06:04:00.000+03:002005-12-12T06:09:32.246+03:00

This article is old, but hilarious:http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/content/11200051391539785/index.phpMy favorite quote:After accusing hybrid supporters of Stalinist tendencies, the writer reveals that “insiders at GM… admit to not appreciating the emotional appeal of the segment” and “GM expects to become a major player in the model years 2007 and 2008.” Translation: GM didn’t make hybrids

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1134356637344002982005-12-12T05:41:00.000+03:002005-12-12T06:09:57.876+03:00

Real Clear Politics has an article by Dan Gainor on the Movie Syriana. The article is titled, "‘Syriana’: ‘Realism’ or a Left-Wing Assault on Oil?" The gist of the article is that Syriana is a movie that is not necessarily based in reality, but a lot of left-wingers have embraced it because it depicts the oil industry in an unfavorable light. Here is a quote I find problematic:In a discussion

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1134244248128084912005-12-10T22:44:00.000+03:002005-12-11T19:16:20.186+03:00

It's late Saturday night, and there is a huge amount of noise in the city of Baghdad right now. There are cars honking in the streets, people yelling, and all kinds of gunfire. The base intercom just went on and informed us that this is celebratory gunfire, and the base is not under attack. From all the celebrating, you'd think they caught Zarqawi or something. I'm hoping we'll see some good news

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1134099752276703802005-12-09T06:23:00.000+03:002005-12-09T06:42:32.283+03:00

This is dated, but good. It's an article about dotcom multimillionaire Bill Gross's solar startup. I especially like this excerpt:Gross talks the way the sun spews photons. During a 7 am breakfast in an empty local eatery that seems to be open early mainly for him, Radio Free Bill is broadcasting on all channels. The infomercial is pure energy - the kilowatt kind - and the pitch includes

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1134044636245989832005-12-08T14:37:00.000+03:002005-12-12T09:18:44.516+03:00

This article demonstrates the opportunity we as Americans have to create a sustained economic boom that would also constitute dramatic forward progress in the GWOT by reducing our dependence on oil. I have worried, along with Thomas Friedman, that America will fall behind in developing this technology due to the engineering talent and low cost of R&D in China and India. But these numbers are very

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1133925482660384602005-12-07T05:58:00.000+03:002005-12-12T18:38:27.210+03:00

Be wary of "good news" such as this: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2005-12-05-gas-price-lundberg_x.htm Gas prices at any level nowadays do not reflect the actual price of the commodity. We pay a certain price at the pump, and then our government borrows hundreds of billions of dollars from Asian central banks in order to defend our country against threats around the world that

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1133924191021386482005-12-07T05:39:00.000+03:002005-12-09T05:38:40.326+03:00

Here's the latest from Howard Dean.http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=C36A87B9-63A0-4CDE-AA91-B41571AFD3AFThere are some relevant questions here. Like, how many times has Dean visited Iraq? Has Howard Dean ever been here and spoken with the people actually conducting operations? Where is he getting his information, and how reliable is it?Truth is, Mr. Dean, we already won this

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1133850625832714092005-12-06T09:13:00.000+03:002005-12-06T10:13:05.173+03:00

Take a look at this new article about Romney and the GOP.It's an angle I hadn't though about before; what he did in turning around the corruption and scandal-ridden Salt Lake Olympics was really incredible. And right now, the GOP is absolutely dripping with corruption. I realize the Democrats in Congress are no better, but the Democrats aren't the ones who claim to want to spend taxpayer dollars

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1133848748680559482005-12-06T08:41:00.000+03:002005-12-06T10:22:03.553+03:00

I love John Tierney's take on the space program.His latest column in the NYT has some great ideas; he believes that funding for the space program should be structured more competitively, which is something I definitely agree with.The new Virgin Galactic spaceship will be a larger eight-person version of the ship that last year won the $10 million Ansari X Prize for a reusable spacecraft. Its

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1133847672204217692005-12-06T08:35:00.000+03:002005-12-06T10:14:43.943+03:00

Awesome.Developments like these are significant victories in the GWOT.

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1133676691927935342005-12-04T07:41:00.001+03:002005-12-06T10:15:12.886+03:00

A friend of mine asked me to write a few thoughts about Neil Labute, the LDS director of Nurse Betty and writer of several controversial plays. I went to see Fat Pig when I was in New York early this year, and that was my first exposure to Neil's work.Fat Pig is a story about an attractive, health conscious, salad-eating, aspiring corporate executive guy who meets an obese girl in a diner at

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1133583696439089502005-12-03T05:49:00.000+03:002005-12-06T10:15:51.376+03:00

In my opinion, the single most important result of Hugh Hewitt's Thanksgiving Straw Poll was Mitt Romney's showing. Some things to think about:If Mitt runs for president, it is going to be a very, very edgy primary. He is very sharp and has by far the most credibility on fiscal issues. Just look at his track record in business, with the Olympics, and with the budget in Massachussetts. The guy is

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1133578170556695692005-12-03T05:05:00.000+03:002005-12-06T10:16:40.300+03:00

Hugh Hewitt did a straw poll over Thanksgiving weekend in which you see Giuliani, McCain, and even Gingrich polling strongly.Giuliani has the twin albatrosses of Donna Hanover and Bernard Kerik to deal with, and he doesn't look or sound presidential. I know that sounds superficial, but it's true. And it's a shame, because I think he's an outstanding person and would make a great president. The

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1133493223342770282005-12-02T06:07:00.000+03:002005-12-06T10:17:23.226+03:00

Here’s a meta-debate for you.Have you ever noticed how when a political partisan doesn’t have an answer to a particular argument, they usually flee intellectually to the realm of abstraction?For example, when you present some people with a picture of a fetus with developing toes, eyes, a heartbeat, etc., rather than honestly acknowledging the profound implications of that developing humanity,

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19504086.post-1133492850657918592005-12-02T06:00:00.000+03:002005-12-06T10:18:20.683+03:00

A couple of days ago I was back in the Green Zone; I drove between offices with a colleague of mine, and as we were nearing a traffic circle, an Iraqi Police car jumped in front of us and slowed us down. In the traffic circle, several Iraqi soldiers jumped out to secure the area for a convoy passing through. The Iraqi police and army units looked very well trained and well equipped, and I was

Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11882056543064217425noreply@blogger.com1