The Duck of Minerva

Just came across this little gem regarding GOP efforts to distance newly minted House Majority Leader from the lobbying scandals. In their efforts to cover the story it appears a few news outlets have left out a scrumptious little morsel regarding the new king of the hill:The Associated Press, The New York Times, and ABC's World News Tonight reported on Republican efforts to present new House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-OH) as a clean break from GOP corruption scandals, but they ignored criticism Boehner received for passing out checks from a tobacco industry group on the House floor...

I came across a new book meme the other day at The Republic of Heaven. Apparently it originated at Scholar's Blog. Here are the rules:Bold the books you have read. Italicise the books you might read. Cross out the books you probably won't read. Underline the books you have on your shelf to read or have started reading.Have fun!The Da Vinci Code - Dan BrownThe Catcher in the Rye - J.D. SalingerThe Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas AdamsThe Great Gatsby - F.Scott FitzgeraldTo Kill a Mockingbird - Harper LeeThe Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey NiffeneggerHis Dark Materials - Philip...

...I'd go with the Steelers giving four points and also take the over (46.5) in Super Bowl XL tonight. My prediction--Steelers 28 Seahawks 21. Feel free to let me know your picks in the comments section.Filed as: Super Bowl XL

Mark over at Zenpundit has a nice post on the ongoing ridiculousness which is the Danish cartoon row. Andrew Sullivan has a link to the "extra cartoons" and the lowdown on the apparent propoganda roadshow that has helped bring the issue to the forefront in the Muslim world. For an interesting analysis of the pattern of the protests see 'Aquol. The discussion of Syria sounds eerily similar to the recent protests in China over Japan and the legacy of WWII. Additionally, while some of the early protest may have been politically orchestrated it seems to have played the role of a spark that is...

The US Quadrennial Defense Review is finally out (only a year late, but who's counting).Some of the highlights include a shift in the "two-war doctrine"--which envisioned the US being able to battle in two seperate wars with the option of regime change in one--so that one of the major conflicts can be a protracted war against an insurgency. The document also argues that the composition of US forces must shift, incorporating larger numbers (increase of 15%) of Special Operations Forces that can take part in numerous on-going operations around the globe simultaneously. The emphasis is on SOF's...

[Hat tip here to Dan Nexon and the discussion going on at Crooked Timber]Does projecting the image that one is irrational actually confer that person with an advantage in bargaining situations, specifically when nuclear weapons are involved? This seems to be the question taken up by Lee Harris over at Tech Central Station, to which he answers "yes" (Glenn Reynolds provides the pom-poms, imploring the US to do this more often).Harris is concerned that if Iran acquires nuclear weapons it can use those weapons to extract favorable changes to the status quo since other states would view its...

...20! AB takes the title with a bid of 19. What I find most interesting about the speech is not the number of references to terror (I actually thought it would be a bit higher), but this new reference to the President's critics as "isolationists". Suzzane Nossel has it right when she remarks that this is "pure hogwash" and a "strawman".Clearly the administration is trying to propogate a new frame for their opponents--a clever strategy. Hopefully this frame can be adequately rebutted but as we have seen over the years people tend to believe the first thing they hear, regardless of whether...

Thought we could all have a little fun with the State of the Union tonight. Let's try to guess how many times the President uses a derivative of the word terror (the word itself or words using the root 'terror' must be uttered--implicit remarks do not count). I have listed the tally for the last five SOU below.2001-1 (technically, just an Address of Congress as Rodger points out)2002-372003-232004-212005-28I will start the bidding at 25 (NSA wiretapping controversy, Iraq, and Iran not to mention a sagging approval rating all loom large). Let's use Price is Right rules--closest without going...

It is being reported that the US has secured the consent of all five permanent members of the Security Council to submit the case of Iran for the body's review. However, the US did not secure a Security Council "referal"--which would have given the body domain over the issue--but instead managed to get the findings of the emergency meeting of the IAEA "reported" to the body. Not only that, but the matter will not be taken up by the body until March, a stipulation apparently pushed for by China and Russia. Even still, this should be seen as a diplomatic victory for the US, as there seems to...

An interesting story via Laura Rozen, Andrew Sullivan, and Cunning Realist. According to reports, a series of emails and an internal Army memo suggests that US soldiers have used insurgents' wives as leverage in order to get the suspects to surrender. So far, there has been no confirmation that the detentions actually led to the surrender of the insurgents targeted. There is no mention of explicit threats of violence against the wives which were detained, but sometimes silence speaks volumes.Anyone who has studied war, conflict, or tried to get a 3 year old to do something they didn't want...