Gen. Petraeus's COIN suggestions

The document, in pdf format. (Link from Kelley Vlahos's Papa Petreaus lays it on thick.)

Items of Interest 13 July 2010

James Kalb, Natural and Unnatural Acts

Free the Animal: T. Colin Campbell’s The China Study: Finally, Exhaustively Discredited and The China Study Smackdown Roundup. More Barefoot Options

Vegans and the Quest for Purity by Harold Fromm

Don Vandergriff, EXCELLENT ASSESSMENT OF COIN

Heute fehlt es den Jugendlichen vor allem an liturgischer Bildung (via NLM)

Zenit:
The Art of Biblical Hospitality
The "Te Deum"
Observance of Liturgical Norms and "Ars Celebrandi"

Since I've been hearing this a lot lately... June Casagrande: 'Have Drank' or 'Have Drunk'? The Answer Is Closer Than Many Realize

Energy Bulletin:
Canada's energy superpower delusion (original)

David Hughes, The Mark

First off, Canada is not now, nor is it ever likely to be, an "Energy Superpower". This term was first used by Prime Minister Harper on the eve of the 2006 G8 meeting.

Items of Interest, 2 July 2010

Life After RC: Questions about Apostolic Schools and Thoughts on the Legion's future
Dawn Eden, The Holy Ghost in the Machine: Amidst the Legion Crisis, a Sign of Providence

NLM: Review of "Heaven and Earth in Little Space: The Re-Enchantment of Liturgy"

Daniel Larison, Stuck In The Past

CHT: Obama Regime pushes for Three Mass Amnesties

Mark Sisson, How to Improve Your Sleep Posture

Defense Review: Latest-Variant Smith & Wesson (S&W) M&P Tactical AR (AR-15) Rifle/Carbine/SBRs for Special Operations Forces (SOF) Displayed at SOFIC 2010: Ambidextrous Controls!

Asia Times:
'Surge' smoke follows Petraeus to Afpak
As General David Petraeus, the mainstream US media's new armored Messiah, takes command in Afghanistan, the myth of his "successful surge" in Iraq could not but linger. Anyone who buys the Pentagon's spin and believes the same conquest will happen in the Pashtun south and southeast of Afghanistan must have smoked Hindu Kush's finest. - Pepe Escobar

Counter-insurgency down for the count
The United States' Afghanistan strategy isn't working, which raises several key questions. Why does President Barack Obama fire a failing general but cling to his failing war policy? And if nothing much is working, why does it still go on non-stop? It's because Afghanistan has become an ill-oiled war machine generating ever-more incentives for almost everyone involved - except ordinary Afghans. - Ann Jones

Counterpunch:
Vijay Prashad, A Disaster Foretold: BP, Obama and the Gulf
Ralph Nader, Tyranny of the Merchant Class
John Stanton, General Petraeus' Magic Bag

Items of Interest, 1 July 2010

Ann Jones, The Total Failure of COIN

Wired, 2-Billion-Year-Old Fossils May Be Earliest Multicellular Life and Ancient Whale + Killer Shark = Hypercarnivorous Whale

Nature: Video: Biggest ever sperm whale fossil discovered

Mark Sisson, Does It Matter How Grok Slept?

Rod Dreher: Mel Gibson: The final meltdown

Zenit:
43 Saints' Causes Decrees, 40 From 20th Century

On a Saint Who Taught and Guided Holy Priests
"His Secret Was Simple: To Be a Man of God"

Papal Homily for Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul
"The Unity of the Church Is Rooted in Its Union With Christ"

On Sts. Peter and Paul
"Received From God Different Charisms and Different Missions"

Counterpunch:
Russell Mokhiber, The Rape of Appalachia

William R. Polk, Afghanistan Sitrep

Julien Mercille, Why Afghanistan's Poppies Aren't the Problem

Items of Interest, 30 June 2010

Laura Wood, Catholic Feminism and the Popes
Defense Review: SOCOM Cancels FN Mk-16 SCAR-L (SCAR-Light) 5.56mm NATO Rifle/Carbine/SBR Weapons Program. Will the FN Mk-17 SCAR-H (SCAR-Heavy) 7.62mm NATO Variant Survive? Only the Shadow Knows.
Fabius Maximus, COIN as future generations will see it (and as we should see it today)

Free the Animal: Learning to Walk and Out with the Vibram Five Fingers and in with the Soft Star RunAmoc

Some people are not suited for office:
Female Senator Brings up Vampires, Werewolves in SCOTUS Confirmation Hearings
The Senate Jumps the Shark

Energy Bulletin:
Crazy Ideas For Crazy Garden Farmers (original)

Gene Logsdon, OrganicToBe.org

I wonder if a book titled A Guide To Insane Farming would sell, especially when, upon opening the book, the reader would encounter descriptions of how farming is actually done today. But what I’m talking about at the moment are ideas that really are off the grid, outside the box, beyond normalcy, agronomic lunacy.

The Peak Oil Crisis: The Real Gulf Crisis (original)

Tom Whipple, Falls Church News-Press

Counterpunch:
Ralph Nader, 36 Questions for Elena Kagan
Alan Farago, BP's Temple of Doom

Asia News:
Asian stock markets fall, doubts about recovery in China
Nikkei at minus 2.13; Hong Kong and Shanghai negative. Consumer confidence in the U.S. falls, forecasts for growth in China reduced from 1.7 to 0.3 (April). Yen strengthens, penalizing exports from Japan.

Asia Times:
The anatomy of an attack on Iran
The strategic and political realities of a possible Israeli air strike against Iran's nuclear facilities are complex, while the coordination of logistics and tactics of such a long-distance mission - 1,600 kilometers on a straight line from Tel Aviv to Iran's uranium enrichment site in Natanz - would be equally daunting. - David Moon

Gates open on departure
The Chinese government harbors no illusions that the change in leadership at the Pentagon when Secretary of Defense Robert Gates steps down will bring a fresh start. On matters affecting overall strategy, force structure and military posture in Asia and elsewhere, President Barack Obama is the chief architect of the tougher edge to policy. - Peter J Brown

Petraeus circles two camps
With General Stanley McChrystal out of the picture in Afghanistan, pressure is growing on US President Barack Obama to move up his July 2011 troop withdrawal timetable and get behind a negotiated settlement with the Taliban. Voices calling for an open-ended military commitment are equally strident. Incoming General David Petraeus is soon to reveal how he will weave his way between the two camps. - Jim Lobe