Month: July 2009

A reader writes:

Why buy books you are not sure you will like? What about the library? The NYPL catalog is online. You reserve a book and they deliver it to the nearest branch library, which in my case happens to be across the street from a Barnes and Noble. I pick up the books and start reading. If I really like the book I go to the bookstore or online and purchase a copy for future use. The NYPL also has ebooks available from their website that you download into Adobe Digital Editions. After two or three weeks the file expires. I probably finish about half the books I check out from the library and return the rest as soon as I decide it's not for me. The ebook versions are even easier. I wish the Kindle would work with Libraries around the country and create a elending system. Now that would make sense.

Yep, the other face of the GOP – after Coulter, Limbaugh, Malkin, Cheney and Inhofe – just blocked a resolution affirming the birthplace of Obama. The GOP base really believes Obama is not a citizen. But then they also believe the earth is 6,000 years' old. Great news for Obama, I'd say. He sometimes manages always to turn his opponents into self-destructive maniacs.

Terri Gross tackles the two. Pretty funny if you've never heard them side by side.

Afghan village elders listen to unseen French soldiers from the Tast Force Kapisa (TFK) as they discuss their concerns during an operation in the Tagab district in Kapisa province on July 27, 2009. The French Army is trying to secure the area along with US soliders, the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the Afghan National police (ANP) and control polling centres prior to the presidential elections. Insurgents are still active in this area leaving Improvised Explosive Devices (IED)s planted on the roads. By Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images.

Check out how the British military has easily assimilated openly gay men and women into its ranks.

Ackerman:

In a word: badly. Musings on Iraq summarizes the conclusion of a report by Michael Eisenstadt and Ahmed Ali of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy:

Eisenstadt and Ali finish by saying that reconciliation in Iraq will take years, and may never occur in a meaningful fashion. The problems are large and many. First, the major Iraqi political parties are based upon ethnosectarian politics, and could lose power if they give that up. Second, there is still fighting in Iraq, and a World Bank study on conflicts found that almost 50% of countries coming out of civil wars fall back into them within five years.

Third, there is little consensus in Baghdad on major issues such as oil, and politics are fragmented, which makes it hard to conduct negotiations or find partners. Fourth, there is a lack of accountability as many militants are involved in politics and security with no regret for their past deeds. Fifth, many conflicts and fighting took place within communities, not just between them, which has never been resolved. Sixth, many groups still talk about revenge, and see things in zero-sum terms. Seventh Iraq has been in the throes of elections since 2008, which makes compromising more difficult. Last, Iraq’s neighbors have all interfered in its internal affairs, and continue to do so to this day such as Iran. These problems may never be overcome, which is why the authors are so pessimistic about the country’s future. Iraq’s government will continue, but without resolving some of these large and pressing concerns, it’s unlikely that major changes or legislation will be implemented, which are a necessity to pull the country out of its current predicament.

It is ungovernable and will be run by some kind of dictator within a decade. This much any fool or casual reader of history could tell you. And for the record, by endorsing this invasion, I was a fool and not even a casual enough reader of history. As long as we get out cleanly, it won't be so bad. But we won't – Obama will see to it that we are there for as long as he is president. I mean: that's why we elected him, right?

(Photo: Jewel Samad/Getty.)

Radley Balko wonders why cases with false lessons or unlikely outcomes get into the public spotlight so often.

Tyler Cowen thinks we should put down bad books:

Finishing books has a lot to do with sunk costs. If a reader paid $25 for a book, it's a lot harder for them to put it down after ten pages than if a publishing house sent you a free review copy. That's why e-books make more sense. They cost less and so the investment is lower.

By the way, I think the same principle should apply to meals. If Americans simply left half their food on the plate, most of our obesity issues would disappear.

Nate Silver does the math on Palin. She has lower favorables than Hillary did at this point:

I think she has a very strong future in the GOP and will be a fixture for many years. She is the purest incarnation of Kristol-Rove conservatism: white, Christianist identity politics; borrow-and-spend economics; permanent war for Greater Israel, war against Iran; open-ended occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan; and a constant culture war irritant to keep the country polarized. What's not to like? They like their elections 51-49.