Category: Uncategorized
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Robert Putnam on Commuting
Putnam likes to imagine that there is a triangle, its points comprising where you sleep, where you work, and where you shop. In a canonical English village, or in a university town, the sides of that triangle are very short: a five-minute walk from one point to the next. In many American cities, you can…
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We have always been at war with Iran.
The recent peaceful return of British soldiers to the contrary, (and so smartly dressed!) it appears we are currently involved with groups carrying out military operations in Iran: Most recently, Jundullah took credit for an attack in February that killed at least 11 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard riding on a bus in the…
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The effects of withdrawal and Iranian covert operations
Two recent “Intelligence Briefs” from PINR caught my eye: “Iran’s Covert Operations in Iraq,” and “The Implications of Strategic Withdrawal from Iraq.” As some readers know, I’m a big fan of PINR for supplying ‘open source intelligence,’ which is to say, generalized insights into foreign policy and educated guesses based on publicly available information. In…
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“Embrace the Suck”
Check out the newest slang from the Global War on Terror: Bohica, Fobbit, Echelons Above Reality, Full Battle Rattle. I loves me some jargon. The title phrase means, basically, “The situation is bad, but deal with it.” Via Metafilter.
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Reading Tehran
This CSM piece gives an excellent background on the British-Iranian conflict that lead to the capture of British soldiers last week. The big mystery is why Iran would give the UK/US a clear casus belli like this, when we’re so clearly itching for a fight. It’s not like they couldn’t guess what sort of reaction…
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Insert Words/Images Ratio Here
A while back I posted some links to photos of life in Tehran. I just figured out how to make Microsoft OneNote grab my favorite picture from Flickr, so I thought I’d share it: I love the summer greens mixed with the bright grays and blues of a metropolis. The child in the center says…
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After a long hiatus, a shocking discovery!
I’ve been distracted by travel… first I went to the Arendt Circle in Louisvlle, Kentucky, then to Pennsylvania where I selected a site for my wedding! I volunteered to become the Arendt Circle’s webmaster, which means my online time will be further divided between setting up a website for them, my time on metafilter, and…
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Big Llama
Big Llama wants tort reform for llama activities.
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Confessions of a Torturer
Just pulled this off Metafilter. A St. John’s grad turned interrogator speaks about what he did to innocents in Iraq: Confessions of a Torturer. There goes Martha Nussbaum’s thesis that the study of the liberal arts will cultivate an ethical sensibility, right out the window. That said, Mr. Lagouranis has a lot more to tell…
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Academic first paragraphs
Crooked Timber challenges us to discover the best first paragraphs of academic texts. They provide this example: “Affluence breeds impatience and impatience undermines well-being. This is the core of my argument. For detail and evidence, go directly to the chapters; for implications, to the conclusion, which also has chapter summaries.” (Avner Offer, The Challenge of…