Recommended Reading
Here it is:
Top Billing! Global Guerillas – JOURNAL: Some Final Observations
Information Dissemination – On Hearts, Minds, and Piracy
Pundita – War at sea: piracy and the rise of private navies and More on William Ayers’ education plan: Ayers-Obama relationship primarily an education issue for voters — but try telling that to the news media
ERMB – Books Forever and When does Connectivity Narrow Thinking?
Sic Semper Tyrannis – Tribe on tribe – Pakistan and GOP = Whigs?
Col. H.R. McMaster – Learning from Contemporary Conflicts to Prepare for Future War ( Hat tip Wiggins)
And, finally, Lexington Green sent me the following:
The Truth About Putin and Medvedev by Amy Knight ( a Soviet Studies specialist)
The Great Marathon Man By Peter Green
That’s it!
October 27th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
[…] courtesy Mark and Lex: How likely is it that Russia will face serious economic problems? Although high oil prices […]
October 29th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
About that Pundita piece on Obama/Ayers, the reason that the "main stream" media is asking the wrong questions about Obama/Ayers is that there not working from the presuposition that Obama is a Maoist with a Totalitarian agenda. If they wore working from that key point, then I’m sure they would be asking all the right questions…
Even Iran is’ent Totalitarian. Wow I guess that the US will be joining the Norks in a club of two soon.
The above is the reason that the blogosphere will never replace the need for a professional media. The day one man and his furious keyboard take over the disemination of media is the day sanity departs this plain forever.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Hi Joey,
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Obama is not a maoist totalitarian. He just has an unsual amount of tolerance for those who are, including Ayers in his kinder, gentler, Gramiscian incarnation.
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Ayers ideas regarding teacher training amount to requiring prospective teachers to adhere to a litmus test of far Left " social justice" positions in order to receive a license and for Ed. schools to indoctrinate these positions in order to be accredited. This isn’t a talking point, it’s the program of the dispositions movement:
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http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2005/05/23/johnson
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That strikes me as unacceptable on a host of grounds.
October 29th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Hi Zen,
Obama is a smart guy, he’s a seasoned political operator, he has chosen his friends carefully, generally to further his own political career. He has played the game as it is. He has not changed the rules.
This is the problem I have with the Ayers story. Obama is no radical, in almost all policy areas Hilary was far more radical. Ayers was useful to Obama at one stage in his career. They sat on the same Educational board for a period of time. Ayers was part of the scene, Obama went with the flow, it suited him, and made political sense.
Now this may be distasteful to many people, to others it may be seen as expedency, to yet more people it is viewed with vast indifference.
Do I see Obamas past assocciation with Ayers making a jot of difference to his policy in the white house? can’t say I do, but I could be wrong, I often am.
I’m no Obama booster, I, personally would have prefered to see Clinton running for president. When McCain was nominated I seriously would have considered voting for him, against instinct, McCain and Ron Paul are two Repubicans I’ve always respected, for there clear political beliefs, and there lack of baby kissing antics.
McCain has disappointed me, and many others, with his lack of dignty in the conduct of his campagin, the smears, and whispers, with his VP pick.
I agree with you, no teacher should be disqualified on the grounds of political beliefs.
And it certainly should’ent be part of any hiring criteria.
I’d even have given a nazi/commy a whirl if he could have thought me maths.
I’m living in Ireland at the moment, and I’d forgotten the intestity with which the political and cultual wars are being waged. After being here for a while, it would seem absurd to hear a politican being called anti Irish, or hating Ireland, or a closet communist or totalitarian (a poorly understood term, even by condi rice!). political debate here seems to be about more mundane issues, such as balancing budgets, garden varity corruption, debt burdens ect. As to talking to terrorists, the British and Irish goverments did that with great success.