Iraq and American elections

Putting aside feelings about how we got to this point, I don't believe that quick withdrawals from Iraq, or promises of quick withdrawals from Iraq, are pragmatic or strategically wise. Senator Obama is the lone candidate who is solidly pro-withdrawal. It makes him politically exciting, but could become an albatross in a long campaign for the Presidency or in his administration if he wins. Here is a link to a counterinsurgency expert who talks about this issue. He sidesteps a question that asked him to judge current candidates, which I think adds to his credibility. (NPR.org, Nagl: Beating Insurgents Takes Unconventional War)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18921312

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Bad Memes: This meme makes me sad.

This meme makes me sad. It takes a cheap shot at both climate scientists and meteorologists. I call it out here because of the mockery. It bypasses rational thought. It discounts science without having to engage in any reasoning. The laugh-till-you-cry faces emphasize the attitude you should have toward 'those people'. It’s important to note the impact these memes have on social interactions. They discourage actual discussion on these topics. Someone posts a meme that mocks a person, position, or party, and any friend who disagrees knows what topics to avoid. I'm offended by a cheap shot at meteorologists. Meteorologists have an immensely difficult job, and the predictions they make about events like hurricanes are amazing by any measure. Fifty years ago, people found out about hurricanes when the hurricane showed up. Now we have days to prepare, to board up windows, and to evacuate entire areas. Meteorologists save lives. Have you ever tracked a hurricane projection in the...

Real Estate in America

We sold our house this summer and bought a new home. The experience has led me to reflect on homes and home-buying in America. As in any industry, there are good and bad incentives at work in real estate. A home seller would like to get the highest price for their house and sell it in a reasonable period of time. The industry operates on a commission system so that the agent seeks to sell the house at a higher price. This incentive works, but only to a point. Consider the impact of $5000 on the seller vs. the agent. Six percent of $5000 is $300. After the realty company and purchasing agent take their cut, the agent isn't left with much. A $5000 difference in the price of the house means little to the agent, but a lot to the home owner. Does an agent become successful by getting the highest price or by turning over lots of houses? The answer is obvious. An agent's ideal world is not one where people get exactly the right price for their homes, it is a world where everyone is wi...

New Yorker letter to editor

(In The New Yorker, 2/4/08, p5) Jeanne Guillemin, a senior fellor in MIT's Security Studies Program, wrote an excellent letter to the editor regarding how Americans talk about casualties. I'm unable to find a link to a full-text example, but here is an excerpt: "In wars since 1945, American combat mortality figures have sharply declined, while the exclusivity of the American claim on memorialization has intensified, as if U.S. soldiers were the only casualties in Korea or Vietnam or, more recently, Iraq, and the deaths of many thousands of civilians killed in those distant conflicts merited no acknowledgment and carried no meaning. Whose deaths matter and whose do not always tells a great deal about American politics and culture."

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