Pulling Out: Debating Middle East Disengagement (Neg. Rebuttal)

Since this is my last entry in the debate, I'd like to thank Bernard Finel for what I think has been an excellent, interesting, and informative debate. I've accomplished what I set out to do when I was moved to propose this debate: I've established that complete disengagement with the Middle East (the resolution of the debate) would ...

Pulling Out: Debating Middle East Disengagement (Aff. Cross)

Question 1 (Finel): You write: “I believe the evidence speaks clearly: the increased U. S. engagement in the region has overall been a stabilizing force.” What is the precise benefit to the United States of this increased stability? Are American interests in the region more or less secure today as a result? Or is this purely ...

Pulling Out: Debating Middle East Disengagement (Neg. Cross)

Question 1: What evidence do you have that reducing our “footprint” and “fingerprint” will result in a reduction of radicalism in the Middle East? BERNARD FINEL: Obviously, it is impossible to prove a hypothetical, so there is no direct evidence to support my contention that reducing our visibility will reduce radicalism. Indeed, I don't think it is likely ...

Pulling Out: Debating Middle East Disengagement (Affirmative)

On January 23, 1980 President Jimmy Carter enunciated what became known as the Carter Doctrine. He stated, "An attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including ...

Creating Fuel Cells With Solar Power?

MIT chemists have developed a means to electrolyze water at room temperature with photovoltaic cells.A new catalyst makes it feasible to split water with solar power. MIT chemists say the catalyst, used in conjunction with cheap photovoltaic solar panels, could lead to inexpensive, simple systems that use water to store the energy from sunlight. In the process, the scientists may have cleared ...

OTB Radio – Tonight at 7 Eastern

The next episode of OTB Radio, our BlogTalkRadio program, will record and air live tonight from 7-8 Eastern. Dave Schuler will be joining me tonight to talk about recent events in the news.  Possible topics include: The New Yorker cover flap McCain and Obama's evolving Iraq and Afghanistan plans Freddie and Fannie bailout Alternative energy solutions just around the corner? Please join us. We'll ...

More Good News For Solar

This morning, Glenn Reynolds linked to this bit of news from Popular Science regarding a discovery that could lead to greater efficiencies in solar cells: MIT engineers have recently helped up the feasibility of widespread solar power by developing a new “solar concentrator.” The concentrator, which is a flat glass panel spread across a large area, gathers light at the edges ...

Is it Worth Drilling For More Domestic Oil?

Newt Gingrich's American Solutions group has mounted an online petition designed to persuade Congress to open up domestic sites that are currently closed to oil and natural gas exploration. That's certainly an understandable sentiment, given the skyrocketing increases in the price of oil over the past couple of years. But opening up for exploration is not going to ...

New American Arsenal

I attended a briefing today at the National Press Club featuring some board members of the American Security Project promoting what they have dubbed "A New American Arsenal." The bipartisan group, headed by Gary Hart and featuring the likes of John Kerry, Ken Duberstein, Richard Armitage, and several retired flag officers urges a return of a bipartisan foreign ...

Huckabee’s Sunday School Foreign Policy

Mike Huckabee and Bill Richardson get their turn at having essays, ostensibly written by them, outlining their foreign policy vision in the pages of Foreign Affairs. I've addressed Bill Richardson's vision, which he's already outlined in similar essays elsewhere, extensively here and here. Huckabee's piece, entitled "America's Priorities in the War on Terror -- Islamists, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan," ...

Caption Contest Winners

The Brakeman Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over. (AFP/Tengku Bahar) The Winners: First: yetanotherjohn - Your carbon offset dollars at work. Second: Paul Barnes - Chris "Mindfreak" Angel thought he could be run over by a train. He was. Third: Anderson - Finally, General Petraeus saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Honorable Mention: Hoosier Daddy - Raja ensured himself ...

Prof. William Gray: Global Warming Real, Not Caused by Man

For those of you who don't know Prof. William Gray is one of the top scientists when it comes to hurricanes and tropical weather. Now he has offered what will undoubtedly be a controversial view of global warming/climate change. Global warming is happening, but humans are not the cause, one of the nation’s top experts on hurricanes said Monday morning. Bill ...

Gasoline Could Drop to $1.15/Gallon

Probably not as that is the lower end of the estimate, but a well-respected oil industry analyst says expect gas prices to plunge. Oil prices are more than the basic supply and demand curves, including future expectations such as unrest in oil producing regions and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. The recent sharp drop in the global price of ...

California and Global Warming

In an a new attempt to show that he really isn't a Republican, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorses a bill that will "combat global warming", Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders endorsed landmark legislation Wednesday that could serve as a national model for combating global warming and, according to Silicon Valley business leaders, spur a wave of cleaner-burning energy technologies. "This is ...

The Fed, Inflation, Interest Rates and Oil

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Congress that the higher oil prices could make inflation worse. This in turn could lead to higher interest rates. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that although economic activity is moderating, record-high oil prices have the potential to make inflation worse. It's a development that bears close watching, he said. Delivering his ...