Friday Stuff

These are things I have read over the past few days and enjoyed.  I may have little or no commentary, but you can tell what I thought was important by my summaries.  In no particular order:

Silver or Lead

La Inseguridad, as Mexicans call it, has become engulfing, with drugs sliding far down the list of public concerns, below kidnapping, extortion, torture, murder, robbery, corruption, unemployment, and simple fear of leaving the house. The big crime syndicates—known as cartels, although they don’t actually collude to set prices—still earn billions from the production, smuggling, and sale of drugs, but they have also diversified profitably. In Michoacán a recent estimate found eighty-five per cent of legitimate businesses involved in some way with La Familia. Analysts have begun describing Mexico as a “failed state,” which is premature at best, but “state capture” is not too strong a term for the realities of power in an increasing number of places. That was my impression, certainly, in January and February in Michoacán.

Frank Gaffney Accuses General David Petraeus Of ‘Submission’ To Sharia Law
A Beast in the Heart of Every Fighting Man

Neither [Gen.] Twitty nor anyone else has accused [Col.] Tunnell of illegal activity. In his own written statement to Twitty, Tunnell is remarkably frank about his disdain for counterinsurgency (COIN). His primary objection to the doctrine is that it cannot be effectively implemented because U.S. Army forces “are not organized, trained or equipped” to carry out the peaceful development work that counterinsurgency demands of them. He also argues that Americans are not “culturally suited” for such work.

According to Twitty, Tunnell’s fervent repudiation of counterinsurgency in Afghanistan created “frustration and confusion” among lower-level commanders, who believed his orders contradicted the fundamental strategy of the war. One lieutenant colonel writes in the statement he submitted for Twitty’s report: “Stories of his negative reactions to this generally accepted truth about how the Army operated were legend. . . . We knew instinctively that we would have to do some of the things that Colonel Tunnell didn’t want to see — such as work to improve local government institutions — so we set about preparing to do so in semisecret.”

Jon would know better than I, but I was under the impression that showing kindness and respect had been understood to be the key to winning an insurgency since the days of Xenophon at least.


Obama's Silence on Boeing Is Unacceptable

This one is critical: if the government wins this suit it means central planning all the way down.



Education Dept. inspector general investigating influence of Wall Street short sellers on regulations


Look, I think it's important that we understand that these regulators were just helping people avoid spending their money stupidly.  If they were paid a little extra for that service, what of it?

Walking the Border

10:00 A.M. until 2:00 P.M., U. S. citizens are allowed to enter. Then, if there happen to be Mexicans on the other side of the second, southern fence, the Americans are allowed to look at them and talk with them, though reaching through the fence or attempting "physical contact with individuals in Mexico" is prohibited. A portion of the American side of the visiting area has been paved with cement, in the shape of a semicircle, and there is an identical semicircle on the Mexican side of the fence.

The official name of this place is the "Friendship Circle."