Losing Afghanistan

National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell:

"More than six years after the U.S. invaded to establish a stable central regime in Afghanistan, the Kabul government under President Hamid Karzai controls just 30 percent of the country, the top U.S. intelligence official said Wednesday."

This must be tempered by the fact that there is a great deal of territory in the country that has never been effectively controlled by any non-local authority. Never. Not by the Persians, not by Alexander, not by the British, not by the Russians, not even by the Taliban.

Forget Energy Independence

It's a bad idea in oh so many ways.

Science Fiction Barely Keeps Up

We seem to be well on the road to the world of John Connor.

And the future envisioned by Aldous Huxley may not be that far away either.

Nader?

One can only hope that this is Nader's nadir. Remember, he's the guy who helped Bush (hswib) win on 2000. Surely the people who voted for him the first time are wise now to the potential disaster his candidacy represents.

In Israel earthquakes are caused by gays

I think this may open up a whole new branch of geology.

"“Why do earthquakes happen? One of the reasons is the things to which the Knesset (parliament) gives legitimacy, to sodomy,'' Mr Benizri said."

We've been wasting our time with all those silly seismometers.

Amazing Stuff

Someone has invented rubber that mends itself. How many cool uses can you find for this stuff?

The cod is gone

Soon the tuna will be gone, too. When are we going to learn?

It's been shown that if we could simply restrain ourselves fisheries can recover. It's also been shown that when fish are taken at a moderate level a fishery can be sustainable.

By the way, the sharks are going, too. Predator loss spells ecosystem disaster.

Pakistan Wins

The forces of democracy fail to buckle to Musharraf's threats. But will the center hold for the long run?

Can Sunshine Provide All U.S. Electricity?

The Ausra company thinks it can. Parabolic mirrors, molten salts, and DC transmission lines and away you go.

Coal is not the Answer

In its own documents The Department of Energy makes it clear that clean coal is still a long way down the road.

A Dose of Reality

In the war of spending mythologies you can count on Paul Krugman to breathe a breath of clarity into the debate. Regardless of how much we want to saddle Bush (hswib) with a spendthrift reputation, the fact is most of the growth in spending would have happened anyway.

However, it is completely appropriate to blame the administration for defense spending that is completely out of whack. But there isn't much they could have done about Medicare and Medicaid.

It just points out that in order to get serious government spending we need to get our medical system in order.