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Monthly Archives: March 2008
A Generational Split
Young Tibetans, seeing the fruits of decades of non-violent protest against Chinese occupation, are giving that whole pacifism thing a second thought. This is bad news, though it does highlight the inability of non-violent civil disobedience to tackle unsympathetic autocracies. … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web, Foreign affairs
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Iran Saves the Surge
Iran was integral in persuading Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to halt attacks by his militia on Iraqi security forces, an Iraqi lawmaker said Monday. Afghanistan hyper-expert Barnett Rubin says: “en Iran Revolutionary Guards helped the U.S. destroy al-Qaida’s bases in … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web, Notes on the war
2 Comments
Indiana Republicans for Obama??
Temporarily for Obama… Maybe. So far as I can gather Obama is a big question mark, who’s been ‘present’ for the voting of many important issues, but who refuses to take a stand on them. But I can think of … Continue reading
Posted in Election 2008, Keith's Page
Tagged 2008 elections, Hillary Clinton, Indiana, Obama, switch voting
1 Comment
Stop-Loss
“People don’t like these movies because they are like a Jack Chick tract on how George Bush sucks.” Best comment yet.
Posted in Around the Web
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What’s wrong with Iraq War Movies?
I’m often guilty of seeing connections between things that others seem to think make no sense at all. So bear with me and then tell me what you think. The New York Times review of “Stop-Loss” explains the failure of … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Military Matters, Society, Synova's Page
Tagged Hollywood, Iraq, John Kerry, Rovian Plots, war movies
8 Comments
The Question on Everyone’s Mind Is…
… why are we backing an Iran-friendly movement in Basra against Iraqi nationalists? Lest I be accused of a selective reading, this is the sort of question being posed by a huge range of people, from the usual suspects (like … Continue reading
Posted in Notes on the war
17 Comments
Mark Cuban Opens Locker Room to All Bloggers
So Dallas Mavericks owner close the locker room to bloggers earlier this month. He says it was because they didn’t have enough time for everyone though some think it was because he didn’t like what The Dallas Morning News’ Tim … Continue reading
Posted in Blogs, Chris' Page, Sports
Tagged blogging, dallas mavericks, dallas morning news, mark cuban, new media, newspapers, old media, tim macmahon
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Nice work if you can get it
A 22-year old kid and his 25-year old ex-masseuse brother run a company called AEY, Inc. They won a rather sizable contract to supply the Afghan National Army with ammunition for their fight against the Taliban. Along the way they … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web, Firearms, Notes on the war
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Arnold Schwarzenegger Is…
Hamlet!
FEC Complaint Filed Against McCain
Some people are hoping to hoist John McCain on his own campaign finance petard. As satisfying as it would be to see the Senator receive a healthy dose of his bitter medicine, however, the complaints filed against him with the … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Law, MichaelW's Page, regulation
Tagged campaign finance, collateral, complaint, DNC, Election 2008, FEC, federal matching funds, Jane Hamsher, Jihn McCain, loan, security, spending caps
6 Comments
Measuring Stability
Posted first on Registan.net According to Jane’s, Iraq is more stable than Afghanistan. While normally I’m all about anything to draw attention to the place, this just feels wrong: while Afghanistan very well might be in the academic sense more … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs
4 Comments
AQI’s Last Stand?
Al Qaeda’s efforts in Iraq have been less than successful over the past year, due in large part to the Anbar Awakening and the related Councils of Concerned Citizens/Sons of Iraq movements, and the support offered those movements by Petraeus’ … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Notes on the war
Tagged "Darkhorse", al Qaeda, AQI, Blackhawks of 4-6, Iraq, Kurds, Michael Yon, Nineveh Province, Yezidi
4 Comments
The Lie of Hybrid Cars
I’ve never understood the hype behind hybrid cars: sure, they look funky, and they have slightly higher mileage numbers than their conventionally-fueled counterparts, but they just never made any sense. An extra $5k for a car that saves a few … Continue reading
Posted in Technology
14 Comments
Why grow poppy?
Posted first on Registan.net, this is the latest in a series I’ve been writing there for the past two years on the many problems with our counternarcotics operations in Afghanistan, and how bad policy has fueled the insurgency to record … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Foreign affairs, Notes on the war
1 Comment
Henke on Greenwald
If this blog is about one thing, it’s fisking Glenn Greenwald, and a libertarian examination of the world. Two things, if this blog is about two things, it’s fisking Glenn Greenwald, and a libertarian examination of the world, and a … Continue reading
Benchmarks
U.S. deaths in Iraq reach the 4,000 mark as rockets and mortar rain down on the Green Zone and the Sons of Iraq grow restless. On the flip side of things, Totten tells us of the liberation of another pile … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web, Notes on the war
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A Retrospective of Retrospectives
Five years past the invasion of Iraq, every body has been posting their own recollections—with a surprisingly small number of mea culpas. Over at Cynic’s Party, “Blogenfreude” summarized the roundup on Slate quite ably: “How Did I Get Iraq Wrong? … Continue reading
Posted in Notes on the war
3 Comments
There is no perfect option
Posted first on Registan.net. While I cringe at the idea of missile strikes in Pakistan—no matter the attention or care paid, there will be innocent people killed in the process (especially when a target is missed and vows increased attacks)—it … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Military Matters
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Path to a Depression
Some interesting parallels with our current situation and the period before the Great Depression. Interestingly, it seems the Democrats are intent on not learning from history, at least not about what led us to the Depression. Or maybe they want … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic Politics, Economics, Election 2008, Keith's Page
Tagged Bush, Democrats, depression, free trade, Hoover, Roosevelt, schumer
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“Tiny Fan Blows a Mighty Wind”
No, it’s not about a farting midget at a basketball game. So I guess in that sense the headline is sort of false advertising.
Guys Are Clueless
What most men already know, confirmed through scientific study… “More often than not, guys interpret even friendly cues, such as a subtle smile from a gal, as a sexual come-on, and a new study discovers why: Guys are clueless. More … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web
5 Comments
How Protectionism is Undermining A Key Defensive Alliance
Stewart Koehl writes about how a clever lobbying campaign on the part of Lockheed Martin is undermining a decades-long arms alliance with Sweden. Yes, Sweden, card credit hsbc philippinebusiness card credit find smallbank card credit login orchardcard consolidation credit debt … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web, Foreign affairs, Military Matters
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Why the Distinction?
John McCain, whose foreign policy genius is his only real selling point this election (given his self-stated discomfort with domestic policy), confused al-Qaeda in Iraq and the Shiite militias Iran has backed at a press conference the other day. While … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs
11 Comments
Arthur C. Clarke, RIP
At the ripe old age of 90, the inventor of the communications satellite and my favorite movie of all time, has died. At a very early age—9 or 10—I fell in love with his books. Not just the 2001 series, … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web
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The Left, McCain And The War
The inestimable Oliver Kamm provides a glimpse at the value our British friends find in a potential John McCain presidency: Two points about McCain stand out. He’s not a conservative and he’s been right all along about Iraq. These are … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic Politics, Election 2008, Foreign affairs, MichaelW's Page, Notes on the war
Tagged America, Britain, Election 2008, GWOT, Iraq war, John McCain, political left, support, UK
10 Comments
The Problem With Assassination
Posted first on Registan.net. Yesterday, I expressed skepticism about the “decapitation” strikes the U.S. military carries out in Pakistan (and also Somalia, Yemen, and so on). One issue I skirted around was the messy problem of sovereignty: in a very … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Military Matters
20 Comments
Headline of the Day
“Cheney cites ‘phenomenal’ Iraqi security progress as bombing kills 40” This comes courtesy McClatchy Middle East correspondent Hannah Allam, whose blog is actually a good source about Iraq from a non-military perspective. But she is clearly working in the wrong … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web
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How the Internet Exposes Tyranny
Wired has posted news, images, and video of the rioting in Tibet. This despite a renewed attempt at censoring information entering and leaving the country.
Posted in Around the Web
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Potential Offenders
Caught this over at Instapundit.“Pugh’s call for the government to consider options such as placing primary school children who have not been arrested on the database is supported by elements of criminological theory.”That would be the Scotland Yard DNA database.
This is the sort of thing I hate
Posted first on Registan.net. There is a fine line between sympathetic reporting and outright propaganda. I would say this post at Long War Journal crosses that line: At 9:40 PM local time, US officials declared the group posed an imminent … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Military Matters
11 Comments
Missing the Point
In a recent interview, Republican presidential candidate John McCain blamed Afghanistan’s faltering on the British and NATO. I’m all for questioning questionable decisions by the British, but McCain isn’t doing that: he’s saying that because poppy production in Helmand is … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web, Foreign affairs
6 Comments
Teaching violence…
Last night I was wiping blood off my 15 year old daughter’s face. It ran from her nose down over her mouth and chin and I hoped that I wasn’t too rough and hurting her while I did it, but … Continue reading
Tibet Simmers
Tibet seems to be ill at ease with the Chinese again. With good reason—the last five decades can be called nothing short of cultural rape. Some of this was partially sparked by an ill-timed outburst from Björk, of all people, … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign affairs, Race, social science
3 Comments
British Deny Asylum for Persecuted Iranian
A gay Iranian teenager, whose lover was executed for being gay in Tehran, was initially denied asylum by the British and faced deportation back to Iran, where he faced near-certain execution. He fled to the Netherlands, which denied him refugee … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web
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Cuba Lifts Ban on Computers, Other Electronics
The Cuban government has lifted the ban on computers, dvd players, television sets, which were already on sale, electric pressure cookers and rice cookers, electric bicycles, car alarms and microwave ovens. It seems the move was allowed because of improving … Continue reading
Success Strategies
The former commander of inifini-detention center Guantanamo Bay—a man who has sown tremendous mistrust and hatred of the U.S. in the Muslim world—is now being made chief Defense Representative… in Pakistan.
Posted in Around the Web, Military Matters
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Best Lollipops Ever
To go with my previous post on manterns, I bring you, bacon flavored lollipops! What a wondrous time we live in.
Howlers on Fallon
There are many reasons to speculate about Fallon’s resignation at CENTCOM: a probable policy dispute over how best to handle Iran (despite the self-serving claims by military officials there was none, it was clear Fallon is at odds with the … Continue reading
Posted in Military Matters
1 Comment
Spitzer Resigns
But there’s no plea deal regarding the potential federal charges. Is it possible that the feds are going to do to Spitzer what Spitzer paid to do to “Kristen”? (HT: JOM): Eliot Spitzer’s tumultuous tumble from the zenith of a … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic Politics, Law, MichaelW's Page
Tagged David Paterson, Eliot Spitzer, Governor, Michael Garcia, New York, plea deal, prostitution ring, resigns, scandal
1 Comment
Vaclav Havel Urges EU To Take A Stand Against Cuba
The New Centrist posts a letter from the former Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel, and other signatories, highlighting Cuba’s systematic violations of individual rights, and encouraging the EU to aggressively address the communist nation: Five years ago, the European Union … Continue reading
Hopefully, this lie will die
An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein’s regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaida terrorist network. The study was … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web
32 Comments
Glenn Beck Pwns Media Matters, Et Al.
Copious Dissent has the goods. And they are pretty good. (Video at link).
Posted in Around the Web
Tagged anti-christ, Glenn Beck, interview, John Hagee, media bias, Media Matters, New York Times, Obama
3 Comments
Did Barnett Inadvertantly Force Adm. Fallon Out of CENTCOM?
Now that Admiral Fallon is retiring as CENTCOM Commander, the rumors are flying fast and furiously… namely, that Thomas Barnett’s hyping of Fallon’s alleged resistance to bombing Iran created an impossible situation, forcing Fallon to retire to spare everyone tremendous … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web
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“Frankly, I joined the military to fight against people who torture”
LTC John Nagl, who literally wrote the book on counterinsurgency (FM 3-24, used with great fanfare in lowering the levels of violence in Iraq over the past year), reacts in horror at the high number of military officers who disagreed … Continue reading
Posted in Around the Web
2 Comments
It Couldn’t Happen To A Nicer Tyrant
I’m sure you are all well informed on the Spitzer chronicles by now. If not, crawl through the Memeorandum links to inform yourself (get a cup of coffee or other preferred beverage, because it will take awhile). I just wanted … Continue reading