Hook, Line, and Sinker

Datelineóabove the garage in Portsmouth, 11 April (Easter)

Reference captured below in entirety is from Village Voice in NYC (6 April). I think we have another would-be reviewer guilty of reading the last chapter and letting it go at that. How do I know: the bit about the U.S. adding states in the future is mentioned only in conclusion. When all that the review or mention takes away from entire book can be located entirely within the conclusion, I know the ìjournalistî in question is flat-out lazy.

Come on, even perusing the press kit gets you better than that!

On the other hand, that prediction was meant to be a grabber, so the tears I cry at being misunderstood resemble the crocodileís . . .

But man, realizing that three of his minions ìcontributedî (insider slang for doing all the work and sending it to the great man) are on the case, youíd think one of them could bother to read the whole new-rules/lesser-includeds/core-and-gap/system-perturbations/sys-admin/myths-we-make/host-of-other-predictions in the book. But no, if all you want to do is rant against the war machine, you get your scoop by scouting out the next ìvictims.î

I know most journalists are just plain lazy, but this is just plain unforgivable. Look past the fear and deal with the substance directlyóand maybe actually read the material yourself vice having your staffers do it. Oh, and James, pick up the phone once in a while. Journalistsólong agoówere known to do that.

Hereís the reference, found at: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0414/mondo4.php.

Mondo Washington

by James Ridgeway

The Game Of Risk

In which the pentagon rolls the dice and adds states to the U.S.

April 6th, 2004 12:00 PM

Readers still puzzling over what makes Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tick will gain new insight into the "energizer bunny" from Thomas P.M. Barnett's The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the 21st Century, a book to be released this spring by Putnam. A defense analyst at the Pentagon, Barnett has laid out an elaborate strategy paper that serves as a de facto planning document for Rumsfeld and the rest of the Bush administration in their implementation of globalization. In it, Barnett rationalizes the workings of the modern empire, ends up creating a "story line for the future," and sets out a "hopeful image," which includes the overthrow of the North Korean government, the makings of a democratic Iraq as "globally connected" as Israel, an overthrow of the mullahs in Iran, and new territorial acquisitions by the U.S. "The United States will admit new members to its union in coming decades, and these will come first from the Western Hemisphere, but over time from outside as well," he writes. "By 2050 the United States could include a dozen more states. The first president of Mexican heritage will be elected directly from a Mexico state. But this historical pathway will not be contiguous, as we have learned in the case of Hawaii and Alaska, and there is nothing wrong with cherry-picking the best economies as an inducement for harmonizing economic policies throughout the Western Hemisphere."

Why not start off with a bang by dumping Cheney and installing Vicente Fox as vice president?

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Additional reporting: Alicia Ng, Ashley Glacel, and Phoebe St John

Again with the Risk label! Is that Milton-Bradley board game the extent of most peopleís understanding of grand strategy?

If so, my book arrives just in time . . ..