The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
Phi Beta Iota: Poor Newsweek. First they can't afford a photographer of their own, then they develop a cover and story that is patronizing in the extreme, rather than sexist. And then to make it worse, their cover story is so badly ranked beneath stories about the story that they are inviisble. Great photo. Memorable. Newsweek, on the other hand, is NOT memorable.
Recommended by Tom Atlee
Various specialised techniques have been developed to encourage public involvement in decision-making processes.
A guide to who gets whacked
Andy Barr, Jonathan Martin – Tue Nov 17
Sarah Palin may claim to scorn elites, but her new book will ring familiar to its Beltway readership.
Getting even with those who crossed her, praising her allies and generally putting a self-serving sheen on last year’s presidential campaign, “Going Rogue” is typical of the political memoir genre of recent vintage. It’s the sort of book that will send the political class scurrying to bookstores, eager to see how they fared in what’s known as “the Washington read.”
With no index, though, Palin’s book has made that ritual more difficult.
So POLITICO, having obtained a copy of the book before its Tuesday release, has created a reader’s guide to “Going Rogue,” grouping the many characters into three categories: Friends, Foes, In Between.
Below the Fold we provide a commentary and links to a number of books about the prospects for honest independent government in 2012 and beyond.
NIDAL MALIK HASAN OF VIRGINIA TECH, BETHESDA, AND FORT HOOD: A MAJOR PATSY IN A DRILL GONE LIVE? By Webster G. Tarpley 14 November 2009
What Hollywood Can Teach Us About the Fort Hood Massacre Christina News Service, Friday, November 13, 2009 By Chuck Muth
Most Americans have this whole Fort Hood massacre all wrong. Maj. Nidal M. Hassan was not a terrorist. And he wasn’t a mass murderer. And he may not even have been a coward. Maj. Hassan was an enemy combatant.
A Man in a Hundred By ALEXANDER COCKBURN CounterPunch Weekend Edition November 13-15, 2009
The general obviously doesn’t have Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire on his bedside table. Gibbon wrote flatly that the introduction of foreigners “into Roman armies became every day more universal, more necessary and more fatal.”
Is Fort Hood Really a “Tragedy?” Pajamas Media by Victor Davis Hanson November 14, 2009
Something has gone terribly wrong in the entire reaction to the Ft. Hood massacres, as evidenced by the media, the administration, the military authorities, and perhaps the public at large.
Continue reading “Journal: Fort Hood Cognitive Dissonance Round-Up”
November 12th, 2009
Some quick notes from Georgetown, where David Kilcullen has just addressed students and faculty at the Center for Peace and Security Studies. Highlights below:
The oft-touted 1:50 (or 20:1,000) ratio is “flawed.” It was based on post-war reconstruction studies done by the Rand Corporation, not on actual insurgencies. Successful COIN campaigns have employed ratios that vary widely. It also refers to total security forces, not just — in our case — American troops. Finally, it’s better to think about the military presence functionally, rather than numerically.
“Where local officials sleep” is a good indicator to track progress. In the film, I Am Legend, Will Smith must get home before the vampires come out to feast. Similarly, in Afghanistan today some 70% of provincial governors sleep in Kabul instead of the provinces they govern. This is bad.
Continue reading “Journal: Kilcullen on Troops for Afghanistan”
Radical Middle Newsletter
Thoughtful Idealism, Informed Hope
The recent closing of this five year award-winning newsletter by Mark Satin, author of the book Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now has yielded a marvelous “best of the best” series of links on a single page that we strongly recommend to anyone with a brain interested in democracy and the creation of a prosperous world at peace.
Marcus Aurelius Transmittal Comment and Phi Beta Iota Comment:
