News Brief: Joshua Edition
Lance on Apr 14 2007 at 7:16 pm | Filed under: Culture, Domestic Politics, Foreign affairs, Lance's Page, Military Matters, Notes on the war
Yes, this is completely stolen. The frustratingly inciteful Joshua Foust continues to be the source for news and analysis you are unlikely to run across as you tour the blog world, especially on Central Asia. That includes Pakistan and Afghanistan, which in case anyone has forgotten (and really, most have) remain very important:
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The Pentagon
- Some interesting questions about Mark Bowden’s much-ballyhooed essay on the non-torture interrogations that probably led to Zarqawi’s death. Why not mention the Jordanians, he asks? It’s simple: Bowden is sold to the military. I don’t necessarily mean that in a cruel or insulting way. But the last few reports of his that I’ve read are disturbingly hagiographic of the U.S. military, often to the detriment of other services, agencies, or countries who were also involved. It’s just what he does… and why I barely pay attention to what he writes anymore.
- A Stop-loss by any other name? 15-month tours are now standard issue in Iraq and Afghanistan. I guess that whole “one year on two years off†thing went right out the window the moment it became convenient. It reminds me of a story about a returned soldier. He and his family complained about being gone for a whole year. Rightfully so, as it sucks to be gone for that long. But does he think the locals he fights with and against get to go home after a year? Maybe I don’t understand the mindset: why did you join the Army, if not to fight wars? (Saying “to defend my country†doesn’t work well, since most Army deployments don’t involve actually defending the country.)
Around the World
- South African women will soon be able to employ the vagina dentata, an intravaginal device designed to maim rapists. I’m glad technology might one day eliminate the pervasive rape culture in the Third World. But I’m horrified it exists in the first place.
- Xeni Jardin, the co-founder of Boing-Boing, has turned into something of a post-modern digital anthropologist, mapping the intersection of technology and tradition in the remotest parts of the planet. I need a chance to look into this further, but it’s way cool.
- Impressions of the first day of protests in Kyrgyzstan.
- Kazakhstan eyes the BTC pipeline, cutting Russia out of transit rights.
- Influence peddling in Kurdistan.
- Al-Qaeda’s rapidly evolving political acumen. Though from its inception, bin Laden had a flair for the dramatic, and for how to frame “the struggle†and so on. He was and is very savvy.
- Ms. Boyd on recent developments in the Aral Sea, in which the North Aral shows signs of recovering, but at the expense of speeding up the desertification of the South Aral. Despite the renewed hope for towns like Aralsk, the area is an unmitigated disaster.
- I snorted at this quote, and giggled further when her Afghan hosts guilted her into feeling sorry. There is just something about having an “already delicate emotional balance†from all the suicide bombings pushed totally off-center when some old dude calls you old. Then again, I’m not a woman, I’ve never been to Afghanistan, and I have no idea what kind of pressure cooker she probably works in. I’m still allowed to be amused right? I mean srsly, OMG DIRTY OLD MEN.
Back Home
- As my buddy Steve said, “I’m wondering whether the Dixie Chicks are going to let Imus cover “Not Ready to Make Nice.†I mean, I expect them to stand shoulder to shoulder with him in his right to free speech.†Actually, I do wonder that. See also this article by John Ridley.
- Here’s a neat game: which Presidential candidate never had cancer? I hope I can be forgiven for honestly wondering if the disease is a campaign tactic… like scrubbing old people’s feet for the cameras.
- Data geeks rejoice: IBM has made free data visualization tools a thing of the present. Rock!
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I suspect he owes Keith a hat tip for that last one, and I am letting him know ahead of time that any claims to the contrary will not be believed. Evidence be damned. Scroll down at his site and the preceding News Brief has all kinds of tidbits which shouldn’t be mised. Joshua helps complete our picture of the world. oh yeah, he is still wrong about some things. I am working on him.
2 Responses to “News Brief: Joshua Edition”
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Toil in futility! No seriously, I appreciate the plug, and I especially appreciate that we can disagree and bicker without hatred. It’s a nice change from most blog exchanges. I ran into that last bit on Digg right before I came across Kieth’s mention in my RSS reader. So you’re kinda right, but I also didn’t technically fail to tip the hat properly. May I carp slightly? You may have done this deliberately, but "inciteful" implies I like to incite things, like anger (which is undeniably true); "insightful" would mean I have insight, which I’m not too sure of. Inciteful it is!
I think I said:
Hmmm….
Heh, I thought you would like that.