Obama: Gitmo Likely Won't Close in His First 100 Days  —  Closing Guantanamo Bay More Difficult Than People Realize, President-Elect Says  —  President-elect Barack Obama said this weekend that he does not expect to close Guantanamo Bay in his first 100 days in office.

Revealed: the environmental impact of Google searches  —  Physicist Alex Wissner-Gross says that performing two Google searches uses up as much energy as boiling the kettle for a cup of tea  —  Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount …

Notes From the Chairman  —  Once upon a couple of weeks ago ...  I'm in a crush in a Dublin pub around New Year's.  Glasses clinking clicking, clashing crashing in Gaelic revelry: swinging doors, sweethearts falling in and out of the season's blessings, family feuds subsumed or resumed.

An Early Drubbing For Obama  —  It was not lost on anyone that the president-elect of the United States, riding the crest of his popularity, and the Democratic leadership of the U.S. Senate were outsmarted last week by a state politician who won his last election almost 20 years ago.

A Gaza War Full of Traps and Trickery  —  JERUSALEM — The grinding urban battle unfolding in the densely populated Gaza Strip is a war of new tactics, quick adaptation and lethal tricks.  —  Hamas, with training from Iran and Hezbollah, has used the last two years to turn Gaza into a deadly maze …

Public Servant's Private Stint at Issue  —  WASHINGTON — Chiquita was facing the prospect of federal charges for paying protection money to Colombian terrorists to safeguard its banana crops, and the company needed help.  It turned to Eric H. Holder Jr., an elite Washington lawyer well versed in the ways of the Justice Department.

Vandals deface three local synagogues  —  Vandals spray-painted the words “Death to Israel” on two synagogues and a Jewish school early Saturday in three separate incidents police say could be linked and are being investigated as hate crimes.  —  In each case, the vandals — at times donning masks …

IDF likely to expand Gaza op before cease-fire is imposed  —  The IDF will likely expand its operations in the Gaza Strip in the coming days in an effort to press Egypt to declare its readiness to stop the weapons smuggling from the Sinai Peninsula into Gaza, defense officials said Saturday.

President Gulliver's Lawyer  —  A nominee who wants to tie down the executive branch.  —  Barack Obama's cabinet choices are understandably getting most media attention, but everyone knows policy is also made by the sub-cabinet.  So we think more public scrutiny should be drawn …

DATE OF PUBLICATION: … SYNOPSIS:  —  The Israeli-Hamas War, and there is little else that it can be called, has now lasted two weeks.  Israeli jets have flown some 800 strike sorties, and the IDF has pushed deep into Gaza.  Israel also continues to report tactical gains.

Is Government Spending Too Easy an Answer?  —  WHEN the Obama administration finally unveils its proposal to get the economy on the road to recovery, the centerpiece is likely to be a huge increase in government spending.  But there are ample reasons to doubt whether this is what the economy needs.