'Persepolis' was robbed

ARTICLE: 'Persepolis' Updated to Protest Election, Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF, New York Times, August 21, 2009

Watched original "Persepolis" recently with the kids. It tells the tale of Iran since 1979 from the perspective of a child. I thought it was great, and now think even more it should have won the Oscar for best animated film. Lots more interesting than Wall-E, to include the animation.

Russia getting into the act v. Al Qaeda

ARTICLE: Al-Qaeda 'coordinator' killed in south Russia, RIA Novosti, 08/31/2009

A reminder of shared strategic interests in that part of the world.

(Thanks: Louis Heberlein)

Obama as divider

ARTICLE: U.S. Stance Toward Russia Again Divides Europe, By JUDY DEMPSEY, New York Times, September 9, 2009

The Old and New Europe divide remains real. Obama please Old Europe but scares New Europe because he doesn't appear to be spoiling for confrontation with Putin.

Tom around the web

+ BOOK REVIEWS CITADEL said Tony Zinni's new book, 'The Battle for Peace',

reads like a summation of Thomas Barnett's "The Pentagon's New Map" and "A Blueprint for Action". War in the context of everything else, new rule sets, the Leviathan Force/Sys Admin concept, Functioning Core/Non-integrated Gap comparisons, all these concepts are presented in "The Battle for Peace", just under different names. The concepts are made particularly relevant by the breadth and depth of GEN Zinni's experience as a Marine, Joint Warrior, and diplomat, but the content is basically the same.

+ New World Global Outlook posted a positive review of GP.
+ BuddhaRocks.org embedded the TED video.
+ Michael's posterous recommended it.
+ middle_age_man linked it.
+ Barbells and Bacon says it's his favorite TED talk.
+ Big, Serious Thoughts (and some music) linked it.

+ James Pethokoukis linked Afghanistan: The generational shift you always end up waiting on.
+ PRNoticias had an article (in Spanish) that mentions Tom and globalization.
+ Dr. Birol Ertan wrote quite a bit about Tom (in Turkish).
+ Powerluke's Blog reprinted 'What Oil Crisis?'
+ Notional Slurry linked The manufacturing edge: how thin the margin?
+ Super Punch linked Chavez still dealing drugs!
+ zenpundit linked Pipes the Elder on Biden comments: so impolite because they are so true.
+ A Postmodern Orthodoxy commented on Tom's Bush-not-screwing-up-China thesis.
+ Someone at On Instructional Design commented on Tom's view that failure shocks the American military into change.
+ Sinologistical Violoncellist called PNM brilliant, but called Tom 'Bartlett', so we'll say he's batting .500 ;-)

From the fans

ESR's review of Great Powers

REVIEW: The responsible liberal's world view, By Steven Martinovich, Enter Stage Right, September 7, 2009

Steven Martinovich is is the Editor-in-Chief of Enter Stage Right and a long-time follower of Tom's work. He's done reviews of both PNM and BFA and subsequent interviews (find those links at the bottom of the GP review linked above). Here he gives us a nice, thoughtful review of GP.

If the title wasn't provocative enough for you, here's the lead:

Among foreign policy aficionados on both the left and right there has been a fight to claim Thomas P.M. Barnett as one of their own. Author of Blueprint for Action: A Future Worth Creating and The Pentagon's New Map: War and Peace in the Twenty-First Century, Barnett has attracted both sides with a compelling worldview which sees an America play an essential role in fighting world poverty, ending the scourge of terrorism and civil war, and making the world safe for liberty and capitalism. With his latest endeavour Barnett has essentially declared himself as member of the centre-left and while that may be a loss for conservatives, it is an invaluable gain for liberals that have been flailing for a visionary foreign policy.

Barnett manages this feat with Great Powers: America and the World After Bush, an effort that is even more grand in its scope than his previous works. Building upon his last two books, Barnett offers a compelling vision which sees America give up its concern over near-peer competitors like China and Russia and instead collaborate with them on spreading globalization to Africa and the Middle East. The challenge for America, and its new allies, is to create a global middle class identity. It is an identity that America created, and thanks to globalization it is one that three billion people around the world want to join in on.

Check it out.

Swine flu vaccine

ARTICLE: One Vaccine Shot Seen as Protective for Swine Flu, By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr., New York Times, September 10, 2009

Nice break on the H1N1 vaccine. As of 9/11, everybody in my family's gotten the seasonal vaccine so as to get it out of the way for when the swine flu doses start appearing.

Damn Green Dam

ARTICLE: China backtracks on PC software filters, By Kathrin Hille, Financial Times, August 13 2009

Old bit of mine: everybody wants connectivity, but they don't want all forms of content. And so the instinct is to try and control it. By and large, the first generation is okay with the walled garden approach (e.g., AOL). But the kids? They're a real problem. Having grown up in the networked world, they chafe mightily at restrictions.

China's Great Firewall is a first-generation attempt at a walled garden. For now, plenty of Chinese internet users barely know it's there, but as more and more--typically young--people bump into the walls of the Matrix, they pursue workarounds.

China's next-generation solution was this Green Dam software that was supposed to be installed on all PCs, so there would be control inside as well as at the great router in the sky. But the pushback was significant, not so much from the Chinese people as from the outside world, which simply didn't want to go so far as Beijing did on the subject because it was a hassle and could have easily led to security problems. Plus it just went against our nature on these things.

Do I expect China will continue to throw resources as this issue (blocking certain "bad" content)? Yes. Will pornography will the usual excuse? It's a good one, mind you.

So the battle rages on, even as this setback to state control suggests China may be moving to a tipping point faster than many imagined.

So a good sign.

(Thanks: John S. Weitzer)

Fonzie's going to jump a shark!

POST: The Secret Mission That Makes Subs Indispensible (sic), By Loren B. Thompson, Early Warning Blog, The Lexington Institute, August 12, 2009

A classic, by any measure, of "jumping the shark" in force structure arguments.

[Ed. Re: Thompson's comment below, I actually came across Thompson's post and sent it to Tom. Tom doesn't read Thompson's weblog.]

The Leviathan is screwed

ARTICLE: Defense budget portends difficult trade-offs, By Katherine McIntire Peters, Government Executive, August 12, 2009

Analysis here supports a favorite logic of mine: if you do not widen your pool of potential allies, and try to make all your SysAdmin efforts on your own, it will end up killing your Leviathan in terms of budget stress.

Of course, making new friends will rob the Leviathan of its favored conflict scenarios, so the Leviathan is screwed by either route and survives primarily by getting America to retreat from the world.

(Thanks: VacationLaneGrp)

R2 D2 will replace you

ARTICLE: A Soldier's Eye in the Sky, By CHRISTOPHER DREW, New York Times, August 11, 2009

Again, the shift to robotics is very SysAdmin: the few, the proud and the absurdly expensive are being replaced by the many, the cheap and the disposable.

Got to get you into my life

ARTICLE: Generation Gap Narrows, and Beatles Are a Bridge, By SAM ROBERTS, New York Times, August 12, 2009

Stunning, when you think about it:

"There's now broad agreement across the generations about one realm of American culture that had been an intense battlefield in the 1960s: the music," the survey concludes. Every age group from 16 through 64 listens to rock 'n' roll more than any other format (people 65 and over prefer country music). The Beatles rank in the top four among every group.

And this with the Beatles Rock Band edition and new remastering of all their songs just coming out.

Anonymous Swiss banking no more

EDITORIAL: If Switzerland Can ... , New York Times, August 21, 2009

Mentioned this in the past. Now it seems to have come about. A serious milestone in erasing a hole in the Core's connectivity-equals-transparency rule set, and about time too.

Now to go after the island banking sector . . .

(Thanks: jarrod.myrick)

What's on my iPod

Put 2500 songs on my iPod recently.

The artist/soundtrack list:

ABBA
AC/DC
"Rent"
Al Green
Alanis Morissette
Beethoven
Alison Krauss
Allman Brothers
America
"Moulin Rouge"
Amy Winehouse
London Symp (classics w Previn)
"Phantom of the Opera"
"Twin Peaks"
Ken Burns' "Jazz"
"Les Miserables"
B-52s
"Last Emperor"
Barbara Streisand
Barenaked Ladies
Beach Boys
Beatles
Beck
Benedictine Monks
Benny Goodman
Billie Holiday
Billy Joel
Blue Oyster Cult
Bob Dylan
Bob Marley
Borodin
Brad White and Pierre Grill
Brian Eno and David Byrne
Bruce Springsteen
Carly Simon
Carole King
Charlie Mingus
Charlie Parker
Cher
Chet Baker
Chick Webb
Christina Aguilera
Christopher Hogwood
The Clash
Claude DeBussy
The Coasters
Coldplay
Count Basie
Creedance Clearwater Revival
Crosby Stills Nash and Young
Dave Brubeck
"Death Proof"
Dave Matthews Band
David Bowie
David Byrne
Dean Martin
Dixie Chicks
Dizzy Gillespie
The Donnas
The Doors
Duke Ellington
Edvard Grieg
Elton John
Elvis Presley
Emmylou Harris
Enya
Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Symphony
Fatboy Slim
Fleetwood Mac
Foreigner
"Lord of the Rings" (all three)
Frank Sinatra
Frederic Chopin
Gary Glitter
Glenn Miller
Gorillaz
Green Day
Harry Chapin
Harry James
Herbie Hancock
Howard Shore
Jackson 5
James Taylor
Jelly Roll Morton
Johannes Brahms
John Coltrane
John Lennon
John Williams
Johnny Cash
Joss Stone
Journey
Kid Rock
Sheryl Crow
The Killers
The Knack
The Kingsmen
Kraftwerk
Led Zeppelin
Los Lonely Boys
Louis Armstrong
Maurice Ravel
Michael Jackson
Miles Davis
Neil Young
Norah Jones
"The Producers"
Paul McCartney
Pink Floyd
The Police
Prince
Psychedlic Furs
Queen
R.E.M.
Radiohead
Robert Schumann
The Romantics
Rufus Wainwright
Sade
Sarah Vaughn
Simply Red
Sly and the Family Stone
Smash Mouth
Sonny & Cher
Stan Gets
Stan Kenton
Steely Dan
Stevie Wonder
Sting
T. Rex
Talking Heads
Thelonius Monk
Todd Rundgren
Tommy Dorsey
Translator
U2
The White Stripes
Willie & Lobo
Wynton Marselis
Yes

2,435 songs, 6.4 days

Plus "The Watchmen Movie," six Star Trek classic episodes and 20 Simpson episodes (for emergency, long-plane ride use only).

The thing is still nowhere being filled.

But that's me loading on every CD we have in my family that I care to listen to. Biggest repeats are the Beatles, Sinatra, Elvis, TalkingHeads, Coldplay, Beck, Radiohead, Kraftwerk, Springsteen, Joel and the Doors.

They are glorious little machines. I get mine hand-me-down from my older son. He also gave me a nice speaker I can plug it into for my office. Kev's so generous with my money.

Google.ps

ARTICLE: Palestine finally has its own Google search engine, By Josie Ensor, Daily Star (Lebanon), August 14, 2009

Nice sign. Sure as hell beats the alternative. Google.ps

(Thanks: Terry Collier)

SysAdmin could save Congo

OP-ED: U.S. Boots On Congo Ground, By Michael O'Hanlon, Washington Post, August 14, 2009

Another call for a pure SysAdmin-type unit within the military, from a prolific military analyst.

(Thanks: Richard Lum)

How do you say 'gulag' in Farsi?

ARTICLE: Ahmadinejad Foe Calls Arrests an Ominous Sign, By NAZILA FATHI, New York Times, September 9, 2009

The gist:

Iran's principal opposition leader warned Wednesday that the recent arrests of two senior reformist figures were "a sign of more horrendous events to come."

The Stalinist purges are just beginning, I think. All pretense is being abandoned. It is a go-for-broke strategy.

Obama's got a hard row to hoe in Afghanistan

OP-ED: Obama's Afghan Hopes Meet Reality, By Jim Hoagland, Washington Post, September 10, 2009

Hoagland piece

A good overview by Hoagland of the problems stemming from the Afghan election.

The key gist at the end:

Karzai's relatively poor showing among his fellow Pashtuns, who make up 42 percent of Afghanistan's population and nearly all of the Taliban's forces, is a danger sign for Obama's strategy of rapidly building up the Afghan National Army by adding U.S. trainers and other forces while moving to co-opt local Taliban commanders.

The Bush administration originally rejected such a strategy after concluding that Afghan forces lacked the "absorptive capacity" to field enough officers and sergeants to direct large Afghan formations. This was another way of saying that an army expansion that would have sent large numbers of Tajik and Uzbek tribesmen from the north into Pashtun areas to fight the Taliban would have created disasters.

The important debate is not the media guessing game about how many troops U.S. commanders may request beyond the 21,000 that Obama already approved. The more serious question is whether the escalation strategy can produce results on the ground fast enough to stem growing disaffection at home.

Karzai's failure to heed Washington's demands for a credible election process makes this harder. Obama is stuck with a damaged plan to which there is little immediate alternative. He needs to be more forthright with the American people about the sacrifices and obstacles ahead. It is the people who are ultimately responsible, and they need the facts to exercise that responsibility.

I think that's overstating it a bit, but not much.

(Via WPR Media Roundup)

Obesity: burden on health care

OP-ED: Big Food vs. Big Insurance , By MICHAEL POLLAN, New York Times, September 9, 2009

Right on the money:

No one disputes that the $2.3 trillion we devote to the health care industry is often spent unwisely, but the fact that the United States spends twice as much per person as most European countries on health care can be substantially explained, as a study released last month says, by our being fatter. Even the most efficient health care system that the administration could hope to devise would still confront a rising tide of chronic disease linked to diet.

That's why our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately depends on whether Washington can summon the political will to take on and reform a second, even more powerful industry: the food industry.

The rise in obesity in America over my lifetime is simply stunning, and it has little to do with the field of medicine and plenty to do with the food industry.

This industry kills people abroad by insisting on its subsidies and it kills Americans at home by flooding our systems with bad cheap food. Our mythology of the "family farm" has led us down a hugely destructive path. It's time to confront this monster in all its forms and demand better.

One more way to draw the Map

ARTICLE: 800,000 More Workers Needed in Africa to Meet Health Goals by 2015, By SARAH ARNQUIS, New York Times, August 10, 2009

Reasonable approximation of the Core-Gap map: doctors per 10k population.