Article: Iraq

A War We Just Might Win

NYT

 

Opinion piece that talks about how the U.S. Military surge is working under GEN Petraus.  Perhaps the author is right, the us is beginning to "win" a bit more.  The US forces are doing more, fixing things for the people, creating a stable Iraq.  Things are going better in Iraq today than they were a year ago.

 

I see the problem now being that Americans are fixing Iraqi problems because the Iraqi's don't have to.  Wining, as Tom Barnett points out, shouldn't be our aim in Iraq, it should be to let the Iraqis win.  And of course, without the Iraqis out front, throughout the country, the ability to sustain this level of success is almost impossible.

 

Anyhow, between this article and the link to Tom Barnett's blog, it is a good count of Iraq today.

Crossfit Workout

4 rounds:
20 Pull Ups
30 Push Ups
40 Sit Ups
50 Squats

Time: 23min

Article: Subtleties of a Fixer

At War, at Home, at Risk, NYT

 

Amazing article about a “fixer” (local that foreign reporters would hire to explain culture, translate, etc.) who worked for the BBC in Iraq and then came to Columbia Journalism School.  First tremendous set of points relates to the explanations of the initial excitement of events in Iraq as he assisted in the reporting of the news back to the west.  Also notable is discussion of how the western reporter explained to the author how the fixer would become the journalist once the western media ebbed.  How accurate, I believe that the fixers, interpreters, and youngest of Iraq Army Officers will be the one who get it, understand western efficiencies and will be the ones to bring true revolution Iraq many days form now.  Last point is the struggles of the fixer in NYC trying to understand our local issues, that of a political race (horse race or track race, he wonders) and his struggle to understand.  I take that as an implication of the struggle western reporters must have had to understand roots of issues in Iraq.

 

 

Artice: Distrobution of Wealth

The Richest of the Rich, Proud of a New Gilded Age

A discussion of the state of the super rich that have grown that way from hard work and smart investment.  Then, in most cases, these ultra rich folks (Bill Gates, Buffet, etc.) turn around and give it all away.  The government keeps taxes reasonable which give the rich control of their profits, which, in the end, makes the world a better place.  This article goes well with my current read of Atlas Shrugged by Ann Rand.  While that was written in the 50’s it is interesting to consider why it was being written then (as corporate tax rates soared to 70% in the 70’s as the article presents).  Today, the climate is good for business, and good for the world.

Article: Turkey

Turkey's big result

 

Worth taking note of the Turkish People saying no to a religiously run state.  Figure they look to their east and don’t like what they see.  I think the turks see a place for religion yet at the same time, want to enjoy the freedoms the see to the west.  While many might argue, I certainly agree with Tom Barnett (as usual) and support the notion that events currently happening in Iraq help this for a pro-secular state outcome.  That is, we don’t want to be ruled by a bunch of muhallas and we don’t want to deal with the Terrorism that comes when you’re in the middle of states who are grasping for power, as in Iraq.  Did the Iraq invasion have to happen for the Turks to see this, maybe not, but the ideal certainly helps, join the core or get sucked into the gap, perhaps.

 

Corssfit WOD

3 times:

400m run

21 45# Dumbell Swings

12 Pull Ups

 

20 min run

Article: Not that Bad

A Reality-Based Economy

Good one from David Brooks that does something headlines seem to forget: tie in all the other story lines.  We often see stories of how ht rich are getting so much richer, etc.  There are a lot of other things to consider, like how the poor are seeing their incomes rise as well.  Of course, deeper than the Brooks analysis here, is how if we are all getting richer, together, at once, is anyone’s quality of live improving that much?  In general, I would say no, but I do bet there is a little more discretionary income out there. Spent wisely, it could be the bridge from poor to middle class, and so on.  Or, at least a fun weekend in at a Biloxi casino!

 

It total:

July 24, 2007

Op-Ed Columnist

By DAVID BROOKS

If you’ve paid attention to the presidential campaign, you’ve heard the neopopulist story line. C.E.O.’s are seeing their incomes skyrocket while the middle class gets squeezed. The tides of globalization work against average Americans while most of the benefits go to the top 1 percent.

This story is not entirely wrong, but it is incredibly simple-minded. To believe it, you have to suppress a whole string of complicating facts.

The first complicating fact is that after a lag, average wages are rising sharply. Real average wages rose by 2 percent in 2006, the second fastest rise in 30 years.

The second complicating fact is that according to the Congressional Budget Office, earnings for the poorest fifth of Americans are also on the increase. As Ron Haskins of the Brookings Institution noted recently in The Washington Post, between 1991 and 2005, “the bottom fifth increased its earnings by 80 percent, compared with around 50 percent for the highest-income group and around 20 percent for each of the other three groups.”

The third complicating fact is that despite years of scare stories, income volatility is probably not trending upward. A study by the C.B.O. has found that incomes are no more unstable now than they were in the 1980s and 1990s.

The fourth complicating fact is that recent rises in inequality have less to do with the grinding unfairness of globalization than with the reality that the market increasingly rewards education and hard work.

A few years ago, the rewards for people earning college degrees seemed to flatten out. But more recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that the education premium is again on the rise.

Fifth, companies are getting more efficient at singling out and rewarding productive workers. A study by the economists Thomas Lemieux, Daniel Parent and W. Bentley MacLeod suggests that as much as 24 percent of the increase in male wage inequality is due to performance pay.

Sixth, inequality is also rising in part because people up the income scale work longer hours. In 1965, less educated Americans and more educated Americans worked the same number of hours a week. But today, many highly educated people work like dogs while those down the income scale have seen their leisure time increase by a phenomenal 14 hours a week.

Seventh, it’s not at all clear that the big winners in this economy are self-dealing corporate greedheads who are bilking shareholders. A study by Steven N. Kaplan and Joshua Rauh finds that it’s not corporate honchos who are filling up the ranks of the filthy rich. It’s hedge fund managers. Or, as Kaplan and Rauh put it, “the top 25 hedge fund managers combined appear to have earned more than all 500 S.&P. 500 C.E.O.’s combined.” The hedge fund guys are profiting not because there’s been a shift in social norms favoring the megarich. It’s just that a few superstars are now handling so much capital.

Eighth, to the extent that C.E.O. pay packets have thickened (and they have), there may be good economic reasons. The bigger a company gets, the more a talented C.E.O. can do to increase earnings. Over the past two and a half decades, the value of top U.S. companies has increased 500 percent, according to Xavier Gabaix and Augustin Landier. The compensation for the C.E.O.’s of those companies has also increased 500 percent.

Ninth, we’re in the middle of one of the greatest economic eras ever. Global poverty has declined at astounding rates. Globalization boosts each American household’s income by about $10,000 a year. The U.S. economy, despite all the bad-mouthing, is chugging along. Thanks to all the growth, tax revenues are at 18.8 percent of G.D.P., higher than the historical average. The deficit is down to about 1.5 percent of G.D.P., below the historical average.

All of this is not to say everything is hunky-dory. Inequality is obviously increasing. There’s evidence that global trade is producing more losers.

Instead, the main point is that the Democratic campaign rhetoric is taking on a life of its own, and drifting further away from reality. Feeding off pessimism about the war and anger at Washington, candidates now compete to tell dark, angry and conspiratorial stories about the economy.

I doubt there’s much Republicans can do to salvage their fortunes by 2008. But over the long term a G.O.P. rebound can be built by capturing the Bill Clinton/Democratic Leadership Council ground that the Democrats are now abandoning. Whoever gets globalization right will have a bright future, and in the long run, the facts matter.

 

Quote: Hate

We hate some persons because we do not know them; and we will not know them because we hate them.
  - Charles Caleb Colton

Blog: Great Net Articles

10 Articles That Changed My Life
Great collection of some great articles that are worth reading a few times over.  Found this post while scouring digg.com which is a site that ranks stories based on user “diggs”

Travel: Montenegro

An Adriatic Stretch Is Awaiting Its Riviera Moment

The Adriatic coast as a destination is growing.  You’re east of Italy’s boot, across the Adriatic Sea.  Montenegro is south of Croatia and north of Albania, all west of the mess that is ending: Bosnia, et al. Stability is sweeping the former communist countries.  And look at the beaches.  Globalization happens and on come the tourists.

Article: Google Phones

Google Pushes for Rules to Aid Wireless Plans

 

This is why Google is great and we’ll surly be driving our Googles to the Google to get some Google soon.  May as well add that we’ll be googling ahead with our Google phones.  The reality is that Google sees a area ripe for reform.  The lack of innovation of the FCC is appalling.  Clearly, with so much radio waves dedicated to say, TV, and so little to mobile phones, things need to be redone, and in their defense, the FCC is doing that.  Unfortunately, I think that they have been over lobbied by the cell phone companies who want to maintain their lock over the industry.  In reality, sell more bandwidth, make in “open” (which is a Google way of thinking) and you’ll see all sorts of innovation.  The mobile market is long over due of some serious bandwidth and content improvements.  My mobile should be just as good as my computer sitting in a coffee shot.

Intervals

10 times:

1 min sprint

1 min active rest

 

1 Tabata Sprint

Article: August off?

Wow, Friedman uses fighting words here. I suppose the idea that the Iraqi
Parliament is taking August off is a bit of a disappointment, but if the
problems just started there.

In full from today's NYT:

July 18, 2007
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Help Wanted: Peacemaker
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
I can't imagine how I'd feel if I were the parent of a soldier in Iraq and I
had just read that the Iraqi Parliament had decided to go on vacation for
August, because, as the White House spokesman, Tony Snow, explained, it's
really hot in Baghdad then - "130 degrees."

I've been in Baghdad in the summer and it is really hot. But you know what?
It is a lot hotter when you're in a U.S. military uniform, carrying a rifle
and a backpack, sweltering under a steel helmet and worrying that a bomb can
be thrown at you from any direction. One soldier told me he lost six pounds
in one day. I'm sure the Iraqi Parliament is air-conditioned.

So let's get this straight: Iraqi parliamentarians, at least those not
already boycotting the Parliament, will be on vacation in August so they can
be cool, while young American men and women, and Iraqi Army soldiers, will
be fighting in the heat in order to create a proper security environment in
which Iraqi politicians can come back in September and continue squabbling
while their country burns.

Here is what I think of that: I think it's a travesty - and for the Bush
White House to excuse it with a Baghdad weather report shows just how much
it has become a hostage to Iraq.

The administration constantly says the surge is necessary, but not
sufficient. That's right. There has to be a political deal. And the latest
report card on Iraq showed that a deal is nowhere near completion. So where
is the diplomatic surge? What are we waiting for? A cool day in December?

When you read stories in the newspapers every day about Americans who are
going to Iraq for their third or even fourth tours and you think that this
administration has never sent its best diplomats for even one tour yet -
never made one, not one, single serious, big-time, big-tent diplomatic push
to resolve this conflict, but instead has put everything on the military, it
makes you sick.

Yes, yes, I know, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is going to make one
of her quick-in-and-out trips to the Middle East next month to try to enlist
support for an Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in the fall. I'm all for
Arab-Israeli negotiations, but the place that really needs a peace
conference right now is Iraq, and it won't happen with drive-by diplomacy.

President Bush baffles me. If your whole legacy was riding on Iraq, what
would you do? I'd draft the country's best negotiators - Henry Kissinger,
Jim Baker, George Shultz, George Mitchell, Dennis Ross or Richard Holbrooke
- and ask one or all of them to go to Baghdad, under a U.N. mandate, with
the following orders:
"I want you to move to the Green Zone, meet with the Iraqi factions and do
not come home until you've reached one of three conclusions: 1) You have
resolved the power- and oil-sharing issues holding up political
reconciliation; 2) you have concluded that those obstacles are
insurmountable and have sold the Iraqis on a partition plan that could be
presented to the U.N. and supervised by an international force; 3) you have
concluded that Iraqis are incapable of agreeing on either political
reconciliation or a partition plan and told them that, as a result, the U.S.
has no choice but to re-deploy its troops to the border and let Iraqis sort
this out on their own."

The last point is crucial. Any lawyer will tell you, if you're negotiating a
contract and the other side thinks you'll never walk away, you've got no
leverage. And in Iraq, we've never had any leverage. The Iraqis believe that
Mr. Bush will never walk away, so they have no incentive to make painful
compromises.

That's why the Iraqi Parliament is on vacation in August and our soldiers
are fighting in the heat. Something is wrong with this picture. First, Mr.
Bush spends three years denying the reality that we need a surge of more
troops to establish security and then, with Iraq spinning totally out of
control and militias taking root everywhere, he announces a surge and
criticizes others for being impatient.

At the same time, Mr. Bush announces a peace conference for Israelis and
Palestinians - but not for Iraqis. He's like a man trapped in a burning
house who calls 911 to put out the brush fire down the street. Hello?
Quitting Iraq would be morally and strategically devastating. But to just
drag out the surge, with no road map for a political endgame, with Iraqi
lawmakers going on vacation, with no consequences for dithering, would be
just as morally and strategically irresponsible.

We owe Iraqis our best military - and diplomatic effort - to avoid the
disaster of walking away. But if they won't take advantage of that, we owe
our soldiers a ticket home.

Fun Workout

Footkit Ball:

Rules of Ultimate Frisbee

Using a Football

On a basketball court

Teams of 5 or 6

First to 10 baskets wins

Blog: A Month With No News

After about a month with no news it is overwhelming to come back to a full google reader and a very "fresh" feeling New York Times.  The Dow is staring down 14,000, the congress is sort of really getting maybe kind of serious about this Iraq thing (come on, you can't fool me).  Summer is most certainly here, and in full swing, vice just starting up in June. 

 

I have to say catching up is refreshing.  Some of it is simply just missing that sort of stimulation and getting it back.  As I read though this mornings New York Times and enjoyed it, I also realized how much you can miss.  What was printed and published in the last month that would have been intriguing enough to blog?  Missing that is sort of like missing a college class, not the end of the world, but opportunity lost.  I suppose we all face the same dilemma everyday.  Maybe there was something great in the L.A. Times, but I'm a NYT reader so I'll likely miss it unless I catch it on a blog I read, and even then, if blogged, will I read the underlying article.

 

Too much information, at times.

 

Anyhow, this new little connection to the magical world of the Internet seems to think that blogs are off limits (stone age thinking, but I'll take what I can get).  So, I'll be emailing post.  Unfortunately blogger doesn't have an easy way to "tag" so that will mean going back though one day... Great!