Daily Roundup

Brilliant!

Umberto Eco on mass tourism and it's unintended effects. The thrust of his article is that the masses bring cash which allow for the preservation of history. Keeping history from those same people dooms it to ruin and neglect. Eco is always interesting and this time he doesn't disappoint.

Fisking the pope's critics. I think the writer is unduly harsh on the New Yorker and it's readers but his point stands. Most writers don't understand The Pope (whomever he may be) or what his job is. Similarly, they are not versed in the faith so they get things wrong and gloss over other things carelessly.

Following up on yesterday's piece from The Derb, American Thinker has an insightful view on EU diplomacy and UK standing therein. He contends the goal was to drive a wedge in the Anglosphere.

Even ABC concedes the troop surge is working. I expect total silence from the "I -support-the-troops-but-not-the-war-and-i'm-showing-my-support-by-cutting-funding-for-troops" crowd.

Weekly Standard points to Biden's description of the Democrat "plan" for Iraq. Influence Peddler fails to see that Biden is proposing the Force Multiplier argument. The rationale is that you ramp up Iraqi forces very quickly to allow for American withdrawal down to a much smaller number. This idea has some merit but falls apart upon inspection. Force multipliers are very effective for insurgency groups and other groups engaged in armed conflict. The troops now are going frequently be engaged in armed conflict but more often they'll be civil affairs officers. The Iraqi Police is a prime example. Their numbers are significant but they are unreliable. American troops don't trust them and don't like them. They have been infiltrated by various militia groups. Contrast that with the Iraqi Army which has taken much longer to staff and train. They're professional and capable.

Rum, sodomy and the lash. Well, two out of three anyway. Eric is taking a survey of readers to see if they'd prefer prison or the lash if given the choice. My initial thought was that he was nuts. Read it. He'll change your mind.


Echoing my own sentiments from yesterday....
"What is disturbing about the Iranian piracy is that it establishes a warning of what we can come to expect when Iran is nuclear, and how organizations like the UN, the EU, and NATO will react. If a few Iranian terrorists in boats can paralyze an entire nation and the above agencies, think what a half-dozen Iranian nukes will do."


Nancy Pelosi is an ardent feminist. Unless she's undercutting foreign policy by visiting dictatorships that sponsor terrorism. Then it's time to don the hijab!

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