We neither have the competence nor are we investing in getting the competence we need to carry out our COIN project. For better or worse, we have not done what the country did during the Cold War, which is establish a bunch of Area Studies centers to gain deep competency in the culture and social science of the areas we were seeking to influence and fund people to go learn these difficult languages. Not to mention, we’re kicking out those in the military who do speak these languages.

Courtesy of the Washington Post, we meet Bob Dudley, the man reporter Steven Mufson dubbed “the human relief well.” His job, says their headline writer, is to “polish [BP's] tarnished image.”

Good luck with that, Bob. But don’t let anyone tell you that your job is impossible. After all, the MythBusters proved that you *can* polish a turd (as they delicately phrased it). But it takes a lot of focus on the task at hand, and also admitting that you’re working with a lot of crap to begin with.

Some news media portray the financial reform deal as “sweeping” but is it?

“The very rich are different from you and me.” Yes, and that’s why their representatives on the Catfood Commission are horrified that their fellow commissioner Alan Simpson was so indiscreet as to reveal what they think of most Americans: Namely, that we’re “lesser” than them.

I haven’t been to the movies in a while, so I figured I would go see if there is anything interesting showing. I also want to start reading at least 30 minutes every day. My cousin is in a book club and has been asking me about joining. Are any of you involved in one? If so, what type of activities do you do?

Pigs In Space from The Muppet Show.

Strict constitutionalists or not, you gotta think that for the guys who overturned the popular vote in Bush v. Gore — and have since followed that up by determining that the 1st Amendment right to free speech should be weighted by how much money you have in Citizens United, among other atrocities — the last thing in the world they’d want would be an established legal right of the public to “honest services.”

I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but I think Ben Nelson has now officially surpassed Joe Lieberman as the most utterly loathsome member of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

It’s never been particularly easy for strong women to use their gifts within the Roman Catholic church’s hierarchical structure and their understanding of the separate roles prescribed for men and women. These days, though, it’s getting even harder — and the debate is not something that affects solely Roman Catholics.

Look at the ongoing health care battle, where the USCCB continues to fight inside and outside the church, to impose their beliefs on the entire US medical system.

Sen. Lindsey Graham is literally saying that he won’t be part of a climate bill during a catastrophic oil spill because that would stop him from pushing through more of the same kind of drilling that resulted in the oil spill. And this is the same politician who has said that if you didn’t come to Washington to solve tough problems, you should go home.