Peter Van Buren Intro by b. traven: In the army we used to say someone was “Whistling in Dixie” when they were oblivious to the truth. When Obama in one of his high flying rhetorical promises in his run for the presidency promised “transparency” in government it appears he was “whistling in Dixie.” Under his…
Robyn B. Blanpied, PhD, Major, USAF (ret.) In this article Robyn raises some interesting questions about management strategy in our “global war on terror” (GWOT). With her background of eighteen years in the Air Force and retiring as a Major with a wide range of assignments, she certainly has the creds for her contrary questioning…
b. traven In 1959, retired Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison wrote a Pulitzer Prize winning biography of naval commander, John Paul Jones. Jones was probably the most provocative, shrewd, and aggressive Revolutionary War commander, helping secure the independence of our country from Great Britain. Although born in rural Scotland, Jones was apprenticed at age 13…
Dan White Christina Borjesson’s 2013 doc about TWA Flight 800, a really good movie, has journalists talking about black hole issues in journalism and how the Flight 800 story was one. No matter what any of these journalists did, none of their journalistic efforts yielded any light on that story—it was like all light got…
b. traven Istanbul (AFP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday expressed alarm over reports of a build-up of Russian troops in northern Syria near the Turkish border, saying such movements would not be tolerated. The devil is at work in our fumbling interventions in Syria-Iraq. Why is the Turkish Sunni president Erdogan so…
Stuart Lyle The hit Broadway show ’Hamilton’ has enjoyed a meteoric rise. Less than a year ago, it opened off-Broadway, but quickly found traction and was on Broadway by midsummer. Now shows are sold out well into later this year. Few would have predicted that a show about founding father Alexander Hamilton would strike such a deep chord with a…
Peter Van Buren This post originally appeared on January 21, 2016 in Peter Van Buren’s blog. In an Op-Ed printed in the Washington Post, former General David Petraeus says it is time to “unleash our airpower in support of our Afghan partners in the same way that we support our Iraqi and Syrian partners against…
David and Jeanne Heidler If you’re looking for strange juxtapositions, you had a whopper this weekend. On January 16, 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. In case you’re a bit fuzzy on the amendment numbers, that was the one prohibiting the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage…
Jacek Popiel Americans live in a perpetual now, and the now of 2016 is looking decidedly grim. A quick summary of our current situation: U.S. finances are shaky, with an exploding national debt, two economic crises since the year 2000, and the next one possibly around the corner. The once superb U.S. economic machine has…
W.J. Astore Continuing our election coverage, I thought I’d try to sum up each major candidate with a single word (excluding profanities). I encourage readers to submit your own words for each candidate in the comments section below. The Democrats Clinton: Compromised. No candidate is more beholden to special interests and the establishment than…
The Contrary Perspective 