News Brief, My Sundown Edition
Joshua Foust on May 18 2007 at 12:18 am | Filed under: Developmental economics, Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Military Matters, Notes on the war, social science
Cross-posted on The Conjecturer
Defense
- Are we losing the info war? I think we are, and attacks on al-Hurra for not being propagandistic enough when the channel already faces criticism for exactly that certainly don’t help. We could maybe start by renouncing torture, given that we lecture other countries on their use of it.
- The constant back-and-forth over whether Iraq is an insurgency or civil war are a bit academic at this point: many civil wars are fought as insurgencies, and that is the dynamic I see at play here (I also dislike the over-simplification of the nature of the parties in the conflict). It is a struggle for the control of Iraq, and insurgency is one side’s strategy. That being said, it hasn’t been a traditional insurgency, but has rather been highly adaptive in tactics, technology, and even ideology—leading to a fractured network of competing factions, all vying for their various spheres of control. That makes me think that, despite General Petraeus’ many skills in handling traditional insurgencies, he still might not be what’s needed to properly address the conflict.
- This UK report on the fighting seems to confirm that we need a radical departure in tactics and strategy (or, more simply and cheaply, a withdrawal) to have any kind of positive impact.
- Hey, whaddya know, paying contractors to run acquisition programs isn’t a very good idea. At last, some constraints on the unbelievable amounts of waste in Defense contracting.
Around the World
- How cell phones affect the price of fish, or how cell phones solve global poverty (a recurring meme here, in case you haven’t noticed). Other great poverty news is the $30 stove/refrigerator/generator, which has tremendous potential in improving the condition of the BoP crowd.
- Maybe it really is a state-to-state guerilla war? Estonia has faced a weeks-long wave of cyber attacks on its information infrastructure, primarily from Russia. Estonia gained a lot of praise from the IT world for its Tiger Leap program, which essentially declared Internet access a human right and has since worked aggressively to wire all parts and population segments of the country. Interesting to see how that is now being used against them. Also, stupid Russia.
- Is the train a sign of thawing relations? Or further evidence of Pyongyang’s penchant for empty, meaningless gestures in pursuit of a larger goal? I vote for the latter, especially if it turns out North Korea really did test its “new” missile in Iran.
- Benazir Bhutto, of course, is clearly a selfless democrat clearly uninterested in wresting the reins of power away from Musharraf and ruling over her rightful fiefdom.
- Meanwhile, Pakistan and Iran are preparing to deport thousands of Afghan refugees back to Afghanistan. If millions of homeless Afghans suddenly flood into the south, as these expulsions portend, the result will be disaster, even if marginally mitigated by SAARC membership (the most recent meeting of which yielded no appreciably gainful policies).
- Russia is not just arming Burma’s horridly violent military dictatorship; it is now helping them build nuclear power plants. There’s been a spate of Burma stuff lately, from letters by 59 heads of state to a pair—here, and here—of travel posts by the venerable James Fallows (must be nice to tour Asia like that), to the recently-Flickr’d Smithsonian archive, to (tangentially) former Myanmar Times and Business Review reporter and current Reason editor Kerry Howley’s oddly-compelling campaign for organ markets.
Back at Home
- I don’t see the sovereignty concerns with the UN Sea treaty, especially as they are no more onerous or expansive than the concessions we demand other countries make through the IMF, World Bank, and sometimes UNSC. We should ratify it.
- Want to help Hillarity Clinton choose her campaign theme song? They allow write-ins! I vote for “Stupid Girl” by Garbage; it seems appropriate on several levels.
- A depressing look at what kind of house you can get in this area for $300,000. Now, of course, if you work out in the suburbs somewhere (say, Reston, or McLean, or Rockville, and so on) it’s not always a smart move to eat an hour-long commute for a cheap townhouse in NE. Ugh. I think I’ve consigned myself to living in hovels until I become a millionaire. Oh yeah, and also whoever designed 66 in the Gainesville area was retarded.
- “Lesson: Dick Cheney looks 90% like Dick Cheney.” God I love Wonkette.
- Here’s a sad but also uplifting story about the plight of homeless gay youth, a group far larger than most people realize (yes, we still do face sometimes violent discimination in society). I dated a guy in Denver who used to work at one of these shelters; he said many of the children are forced by their parents to the streets, which then forces the children into hustling (i.e. prostitution), which then almost always results in getting HIV. A depressingly large number of these kids come from Christian homes, too.
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4 Responses to “News Brief, My Sundown Edition”
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Uh, what. What do you vote for?
Argh! I’m seriously sleep deprived. “Stupid Girl” by Garbage. Thanks for snagging that.
Hey, this is my turf!
I noticed you have been a little slow lately. When you have your priorities straight and your head in the game get back on the horse. I have faith in you.