That is an old saying about the people from Afghanistan, who have sort of made a habit of switching sides during long conflicts within their country. And with this in mind, and remembering the most successful part of the surge in Iraq, it seems President Obama might just be willing to rent some Afghans who are currently sided with the Taliban. All we have to do is pay more than the Taliban, and presto, we have a much quieter but only slightly less dangerous conflict.

In the fifties, Ed McBain wrote a rather nondescript book, a crime thriller which had all the cliches and ingredients of a potboiler " wooden, flat characters mouthing banalities, the stereotype business tycoon, the tough cop etc. etc. There was, however, a distinct complexity to the plot, which though the author could barely leverage, but which the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa recognized and transformed into a far more potent and profound film. King's Ransom, the book, became High and Low, the film.

The financiers and uber-capitalists have long used for self-serving agenda the arguments of Schumpeter, while "Teh Left" has considered them heartless and obnoxious. But is it time greens, even radical greens, took up Schumpeter's most famous catchcry, "creative destruction", so often a philosophical pretext for business attacks on working conditions, to argue against the obscene coddling of Big Carbon by capitalist governments in the name of economic stability?

While many of us take fast Internet connections for granted, there are many locations in the world where cables have yet to be run. Residents in these areas often find themselves stuck with dial-up connections. (Remember those days when you clicked on a page and had time to make sandwich before it loaded?) Whether you have a cabin on a mountainside or a rural farmhouse, satellite Internet service can have you surfing web sites at blink-of-an-eye speeds, up to 50 times faster than a dial-up connection.

Canada's broadband Internet access ranking slipped from second place to ninth place amongst 30 developed nations in the last 10 years, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD compares policies of its member countries with respect to environment, economics and social issues. The findings of the organization's surveys are widely accepted by its members to be benchmark data. The Internet access ranking was measured considering broadband availability, pricing, speed, and data caps.

On Monday, we began to hear reports that a large number of Microsoft Windows Live / Hotmail Web E-mail accounts had been compromised. This was subsequently confirmed by Microsoft: Over the weekend Microsoft learned that several thousand Windows Live Hotmail customers' credentials were exposed on a third-party site due to a likely phishing scheme. Upon learning of the issue, we immediately requested that the credentials be removed and launched an investigation to determine the impact to customers.

This week, with the help of Joshua To and Brute Labs, we launched MCHOPA.com. The site features the iconic Masai paintings of Gregory Mchopa, an artist whom Josh and I met in 2007 while consulting for Google.org. Dispatched as Business Development Consultants and lecturers in TechnoServe's "Believe, Begin, Become" national business plan competition, we read scores of business plans and advised entrepreneurs on framing problems, solutions, and market needs. It wasn't until our break, however, that we met Greg, dusty Nokia in hand, pitching deals in mile-a-minute Swahili. We offered web services; he agreed to inventory supply; we promised to return him 100% of the profits.

Death Ray and Filmstar magazines have closed, as Blackfish Publishing splits from their parent company Rebellion. According to a press release issued by managing director Matt Bielby, the current issues of both magazines (Death Ray issue 21, and Filmstar issue 5) will be their last.

I'm actually very optimistic about U.S. economic prospects in an unfettered market. Here are some reasons for optimism ... The average American worker is better educated and more capable than the average worker worldwide. There are, of course, many excellent workers in countries such as China and Mexico, but on average a U.S. worker is more useful to a business. We have a better-than-average infrastructure of transportation, communications, electric power, and legal system. We have a lot of natural resources, including the basics of land and fresh water.

What do online
poker and health care have in common? If an amendment offered by Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon,
makes its way into law the profitable business of online gambling could generate revenue to aid health care by funding subsidies provided through the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009. The dollars would be aimed at helping low-income Americans.

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