Author: david
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A Favorite Paradox
With thanks to Bertrand Russell… “I thought your boat was larger than it is.” “No, my boat is not larger than it is.”
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No Flawed Policies Here.
“Admiral Church concluded that the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan had been the result primarily of a breakdown of discipline, not flawed policies or misguided direction” NYT That old “Do your own thing” military! Got me thinking: Maybe they could have policies and direction that involved beakdowns of discipline, that discouraged them. I…
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Shamefully Truncated Abstinence Programs
The Bush administration is now funding a sexual abstinence program as part of its contribution to fighting AIDS in Africa. Abstinence is also a mainstay of its efforts against both youth pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases within the US. So that is consistent. But there are rumors that backsliders in the administration want to restrict…
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The Sadr City War on Drugs
A fairly harsh crackdown in the War on Drugs–primarily alcohol–has apparently taken hold in Sadr City and other Iraqi centers where US military power is weak. I personally find this overzealous, hard-line Islamist drug-law enforcement to be both abusive and intolerant–though I don’t doubt they can point to many depredations of alcohol on individuals and…
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Haitians and Maccabees – A Tribute
Having so recently told my grandson for the first time the Chanukah story–the defeat of three successive, heavily armored Hellenic colonial armies by agrarian Jewish guerillas in 168 BCE–I read this in the paper today, and the juxtaposition brought me to tears. …an astounding, and forgotten, episode in Western history. Since Haiti alone produced as…