Open Thread - 3 September, 2010

Busy in court today.  pl  

Comments

[Jake]

German Military Study Warns of Potential Energy Crisis

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,715138,00.html

[JohnH]

Winning hearts and minds--RIP.

"JUAN GONZALEZ: It’s been reported in the past few days about the diversion of waters from the floods to save a US military base that was in the path of the floodwaters. Could you talk about that?

QALANDAR MEMON: [...} The air base is called Shahbaz Air Base, and this is in Jacobabad district. And the water could have been diverted. The water was increasing in pressure and volume, and it could have been diverted in two directions. One was toward the city where—Jacobabad city, where 900,000 people would have been affected. On the other side, it could have been diverted, and far less people, less than 100,000, would have been affected, but an air base would certainly have been sacrificed. And the military, in the dead of night, breached the canal so that the water goes towards the 900,000 people, as opposed to the air base. And, you know, it’s said that the air base is in the control of US military and that this is where the drones are flown from. And the secretary of—health secretary, in fact, in the Senate committee said that relief efforts cannot take place in Jacobabad, because the US government would not allow flights from Shahbaz Air Base to take off for relief work."
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/2/as_pakistan_floods_continue_moving_south

The US seems intent on alienating its few friends in the Muslim world and antagonizing everyone else.

[optimax]

Col.,

Too bad you missed the Oregon Country Fair. 4H is a little different here:

http://marks-musings.blogspot.com/2007/10/2007-oregon-country-fair.html

[BillWade]

Chas Freeman's take on the "peace process":

http://mycatbirdseat.com/2010/09/chas-freeman-americas-faltering-search-for-peace-in-the-middle-east-openings-for-others/

[confusedponderer]

Comedy!

[William R. Cumming]

Saw an interesting early 60' movie with Gregory Peck and Omar Sharif. Called "Behold a Pale Horse" involves a highly personalised vendetta coming out of that war and last twenty years with Anthony Quinn as the Police Chief, Guardia Civil opponent of Peck. I would recommend it. I think "Guns of Navaronne" may have been filmed about the same time. Omar Sharif was an Egyptian and wondering if worshipper of Islam? Also religious beliefs of Peck and Quinn?

[Retired (once-Serving)Patriot]

@Bill Wade,

Thanks for the link to Freeman's speech. He lays out some very practical steps towards solving the problem. No doubt, he's correct that they are difficult, nay impossible, to make.

RP

[Patrick Lang]

WRC

This is one of my favorite films. The relevance to my vocation is unmistakable. Omar Sharif was a Coptic Christian. Peck some kind of mainline Protestant and Quinn was a Mexican and therefore probably a Catholic in culture. pl

[ghoti]

Colonel,

I had remember reading somewhere before that Quinn was an Evangelical Christian and had a Baptist funeral.

[SAC Brat]

Rather late to the party, but I thought I should post anyways.

I recently had a summer vacation trip with the family that involved a lot of driving. For personal/driver entertainment I had loaded an iPod with the Forrest Pogue interviews with George Marshall from 1956 concerning events from 1939 to 1952. The format was that Marshall was responding on tape to written numbered questions. What a great American! The man had more leadership in his little finger than... What a giant. The right man at the right time and place.

What knocked me out were his descriptions of his interactions with Congress, other services, the president, allies, the press, training, mentoring, logistics, well... just about everything. A lot of what he talks about is relevant today. What was really amazing was his strength: he expected mistakes to be made and was strong enough to sail to where he wanted to go.

Search iTunes for George Marshall to locate it. Check it out twice, as Joe Bob Briggs would say.