. . . the good old days when Marja was considered by everyone to be the key campaign in Afghanistan? What ever happened to that?

Norway's response to the terrible tragedy over the weekend that stripped the innocence of the nation from terror attacks and mass murder?

Intelligence

Norway's prime minister said Wednesday that the response to twin attacks that have rocked his country will be "more democracy."

Jens Stoltenberg told reporters Wednesday that Norwegians will defend themselves by showing they are not afraid of violence.

The vicious attack in the normally placid country has left Norwegians appalled and shaky, but determined to move forward. Some government workers were planning to return to work in their offices in the buildings where the bomb blasts blew out most windows.

At this point, I'm with Doug. We're gonna default, therefore: we're hosed.

Note, I disagree with his McArdle citation--she's an idiot, but what he says about Obama and the Republicans? All too true.

Are you ready for default?

Then again, as one commenter notes, McArdle is wrong about everything, so there might be hope.

. . . on the proposed changes to the Armed Forces pension plan is simple: the Pentagon wants to cut costs on the backs of the grunts, instead of reeling in it's utterly wasteful procurement of weapons and civilian contractors engaged in wingnut and security state welfare. Same thing is happening with public sector employees all over the country. Those who accepted lower wages/salary than the private sector paid were made a deal: a better pension after retirement. (It's not their fault, either, that private sector wages have collapsed due to outsourcing and executive greed.)

Now the Pentagon elites, flag and field officers who will have no problems finding cushy work with contractors after retirement, have to find costs savings. Of course, the elites will find those savings in ways that affect grunts negatively but preserve their own sinecures. Same story all over the country. The little people will pay. Elites will not.

I know some here will probably say that salaries and pensions and healthcare for the military are too high, but seriously, the DoD spends $13 billion a year on pensions. How much is the total overall military budget, something like $700 billion? You do the math.

Nota bene: As I read it, Col. Lang seems to concur with me.

The trend of international land grabbing—when governments and private firms invest in or purchase large tracts of land in other countries for the purpose of agricultural production and export—can have serious environmental and social consequences, according to researchers at the Worldwatch Institute. Deals that focus solely on financial profit can leave rural populations more vulnerable and without land, employment opportunities, or food security.

Well, this is not kicking the can down the road, this is pushing the penny across the table:

According to a GOP aide familiar with the emerging House bill, it would provide for an immediate $1 trillion increase in the government's $14.3 trillion debt limit in exchange for $1.2 trillion in cuts in federal spending.

The measure also envisions Congress approving a second round of spending cuts of $1.8 trillion or more in 2012, passage of which would trigger an additional $1.6 trillion in increased borrowing authority.

. . . currently, you literally have no hope of getting a job. Austerity, bitches!

In most cases, I can conjure a witty quip, or close approximation, to add a hint of irony, sarcasm or snark to the title or opening of a post.

In this case, this "talent" of mine has been neutered by the subject matter and the effect of the policy proposal discussed in the linked article. In fact, this is one of the very few times the description "jaw dropping" applies to me.

There's an odd synchronicity at work here, as I stumbled upon this article (h/t Balloon Juice) a mere 11 hours before my morning doctor's appointment at my local VA hospital. I may print a few copies of the article to carry along with me in case the PX has already sold out of this week's Army Times. My intention is to informally survey some of my fellow vets without being (too) suggestive or annoying to them.

Since Borders Books needs a federal bailout, why don't we outsource all of our libraries to them?

. . . stories about how two-faced and unqualified and like John Edwards Michele Bachmann is for spending $4700 at the beauty salon.

. . . get their fill of unity porn last night?

Kevin Young has written everything from a book-length detective film noir in verse to a volume of blues poems. Here is one you can eat.

Ode to Pork

I wouldn't be here
without you. Without you
I'd be umpteen
pounds lighter & a lot
less alive. You stuck
round my ribs even
when I treated you like a dog
dirty, I dare not eat.
I know you're the blues
because loving you
may kill me—but still you
rock me down slow
as hamhocks on the stove.
Anyway you come
fried, cued, burnt
to within one inch
of your life I love. Babe,
I revere your every
nickname—bacon, chitlin
craklin, sin.
Some call you murder,
shame's stepsister—
then dress you up
& declare you white
& healthy, but you always
come back, sauced, to me.
Adam himself gave up
a rib to see yours
piled pink beside him.
Your heaven is the only one
worth wanting—
you keep me all night
cursing your four—
letter name, the next
begging for you again.

– Kevin Young

If political functionality were a means test for a country’s credit-worthiness, the US would have lost its AAA rating a long time ago. The country which prides itself as the “World’s Greatest Democracy” has puts its dysfunctional political system on display for months now, in a struggle to get the debt ceiling increased. The resulting spectacle has nauseated even the ever-complacent American public: both Democrats and Republicans are now given losing grades by the voters for their performance in this farce. If the country had a legitimate third party to vote for, the Democrats and Republicans would be in serious trouble. Of course, the political system is geared to prevent third parties from emerging, so the country flounders about, looking for leadership from pusillanimous Democrats or ideological Republicans who consider raising taxes a mortal sin. The voters are probably a few steps away from concluding what is meant to be hidden but by now should be obvious: American democracy doesn’t exist, and the political system in Washington is beyond repair. What is worse: there are people and organizations who like things just the way they are and will fight any attempts at reform.

It was quite an incredible road-trip. The last two dozen photos can be seen starting here and moving forward. The full set, as always, is here. Enjoy!

Regular blogging will resume this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

That's the satirical note to take away from the events of Friday afternoon, when the Norwegian equivalent of a Teabagger decided to slaughter nearly 100 people, willingly and gladly:

“He has said that he believed the actions were atrocious, but that in his head they were necessary,” lawyer Geir Lippestad told independent TV2 news.

[...]Breivik hated “cultural marxists”, wanted a “crusade” against the spread of Islam and liked guns and weightlifting, web postings, acquaintances and officials said.

July 24

Iranian Exile Group Poses Vexing Issue for U.S. in Iraq

The more than 3,000 people living here once represented a powerful paramilitary organization bent on overthrowing the government in Iran. In the 1970s, the group killed Americans in Tehran, and after being given refuge by Saddam Hussein its members were suspected of serving as a mercenary unit that took part in his violent suppression of the Kurds in the north of Iraq and the Shiites in the south.

Now they are unwelcome in Iraq but believe they should be given protection in the United States — even though their group, known as the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, remains on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations.

“You probably have in mind Hawaii,” said Ambassador Lawrence E. Butler, the American diplomat who has been negotiating with the group in recent sessions here.

“I suspect you don’t want to go to Guantánamo,” he added.
..
Adding to his difficulties, the group has a formidable and well-financed communications machine. It has attracted political figures like Howard Dean and Wesley K. Clark, the retired Army general, by paying them to make speeches in support of the group, fueling its resistance to a move and angering officials trying to bargain with it, like Mr. Butler.
Traitors - they also have a huge right wing following

Foreign investment begins to pour into Iraq

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been urging American companies to consider investments in Iraq and pushing the U.S. government to more aggressively represent the interests of American businesses in the country.

"We have invested a lot in Iraq over the last decade in blood and treasure, and it is really unfortunate if we permit our trading partners to sort of capitalize on that investment to our disadvantage," said Lionel Johnson, vice president of Middle East affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

** China's CNPC starts oil output in Iraq
** Al-Qaeda cell in Baghdad smashed
** Kurdish rebels kill Iranian commander, five guards
** Pentagon wants new Iraq security pact
** For wounded veteran, medical marijuana's been a godsend

Christopher Dickey & John Solomon | July 25

Newsweek - She was paid to clean up after the rich and powerful. Then she walked into Dominique Strauss-Kahn's room—and a global scandal. Now she tells her story.

** Dominique Strauss-Kahn Accuser Speaks Out in Exclusive ABC News Interview
The interview airs on Tuesday, July 26 on "Nightline" (11:35 p.m. ET) on the ABC Television Network.

July 24

Press Association(UK) - Police role plan for Army officers

Army officers could be parachuted into the highest police ranks as part of a major Government shake-up.

Downing Street is looking at changes that would establish an "officer class" in local forces, according to the Sunday Times.

Senior intelligence personnel, civil servants and lawyers could also be fast-tracked into top positions, while university graduates could be put through a Sandhurst-style college to speed their progress.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "As the Prime Minister said in the House of Commons this week, we are interested in radical proposals for the future of leadership and training in the police service.

"Tom Winsor, the Government's independent reviewer of police pay and conditions, is considering the issue of entry into the police service and will make recommendations in the second part of his review, due to be published early next year."

I mean really, what could possibly go wrong with this idea...

Alexandra Hudson | Istanbul | July 22

Reuters - Normal ties between Turkey and Israel are "unthinkable" until Israel apologises for the nine Turks killed when Israeli troops stormed a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Prime Miniser Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

Speaking just days before the submission of a U.N. report on the raid in May last year, Erdogan said Turkey would never forget the nine men and condemned the continuing blockade of Gaza as "illegal and inhuman".

"Unless Israel officially apologises for its unlawful action which is against international laws and humanitarian values, pays compensation for the families of those who lost their lives and lifts its embargo on Gaza, normalisation of relations between the two countries is unthinkable," he said.

Update: July 24
** Israel weighs response after Turkey's 'spoiled' slam
** Lieberman won’t bolt gov’t. over apology to Turkey
** UN report on Gaza flotilla delayed due to Israeli request to continue Turkey talks

James Tapsfield | July 24

The Independent - Business Secretary Vince Cable today launched an extraordinary attack on "right wing nutters" in the US who are threatening to cripple the world economy.

Mr Cable said the row over whether to raise the American government's debt ceiling was a more serious crisis than the eurozone's problems.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, he also suggested the Bank of England may have to engage in more quantitative easing - effectively printing money - as growth stalls.

Mr Cable said the deal struck in Europe last week to bail out countries such as Greece and Ireland had been a "significant step forward", without solving the fundamental issues.

But he added: "The irony of the situation at the moment, with markets opening tomorrow moning, is that the biggest threat to the world financial system comes from a few right-wing nutters.

I love the Brits, always so understated..

Stephen Coates | Nusa Dua, Indonesia | July 24

AFP - The United States said Sunday it has invited a top North Korean envoy to New York for "exploratory talks" on the possible resumption of the six-party negotiations on denuclearisation.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the North's vice foreign minister and former nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-Gwan, would visit the US "later this week" for the talks -- the first such contacts for almost two years.

The invitation was announced after envoys from North and South Korea held unexpected talks in Indonesia on Friday, on the sidelines of an Asian security forum which Clinton attended alongside ministers from China and South Korea.

"Following the first round of denuclearisation talks between the nuclear negotiators of the Republic of Korea and North Korea, the United States has invited North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kae-gwan to New York later this week," Clinton said in a statement.

Kim's visit will mark the resumption of US-North Korean dialogue 19 months after Stephen Bosworth, the top US envoy on Korean peninsula affairs, visited Pyongyang in December 2009.

Water gushing from the ground at 13,000 feet.

Here's what I have heard and experienced:

For the first time in 10 to 15 years the water of Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam has risen. Western states were preparing to go into a special water ration regime for the Colorado River water if levels had not risen.

My contact in Durango reports that Durango, Colorado was at the break even line for snow pack. At the northern end of Colorado at Steamboat Springs they had 216% normal snow while Durango had 100% and south of Durango, CO, had below average.

July 23

NATO hands control of Mazar-i-Sharif to Afghans

NATO troops on Saturday handed control of Afghanistan's northern capital Mazar-i-Sharif to local forces amid rising security fears just days after it was hit by a deadly bombing.

Mazar-i-Sharif is the sixth of seven areas to transition to Afghan control, but critics say the timetable is politically motivated and scepticism is running high over Afghan abilities to ward off a trenchant Taliban insurgency.

U.S. looks to European allies for defense help

The Pentagon is looking to save some money, so it wants European allies to pick up a greater share of the defense burden, according to a story of National Public Radio. The question, NPR says, is which way to look.

U.S. Aid Money Funding Afghan Insurgents

It’s bad enough when foreign aid dollars headed for a war zone are siphoned off by government insiders and their wealthy friends before reaching the impoverished people it is meant for. But it’s doubly frustrating when it ends up in the hands of the enemy.

A scathing report issued this week by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction indicated much of the U.S. assistance has been misspent, embezzled or indirectly given to militants, due to weak oversight on the part of the U.S. and corruption at the hands of Afghan officials.

** Vanderbilt study links military service in Middle East with serious lung disorder
** Taliban hang 8-year-old boy in Afghanistan
** Rethink Afghanistan
** Anti-Taliban group kills 13 militants in Pakistan
** Iran Frowns at Strategic Deal between US, Afghanistan
** Old War, New General in Afghanistan

Please check comments for related articles

The Brunette and I visited Billy The Kid's gravesite and the International UFO Museum in Roswell, New Mexico today for an absolutely surreal day. The photos start here and move forward.

The full set can be seen here. Enjoy!