Monthly Archives: January 2014

Another Kerry failure

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Pat Lang

"A week of UN-brokered peace talks between Syria's opposition and government has failed to achieve any tangible results, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Friday. "I regret to tell you that we have not reached tangible results during this week," he … Continue reading →

Posted in Syria | 30 Comments

“On Conversation” By Richard Sale

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Pat Lang

Conversation is more and more a lost art.  And it is an art. It is the imparting of personal observations impelled by an impulse to share and learn, not dominate. A successful conversation requires two minds that are similar in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

“American Hustle” a Review by Alan Farrell

Posted on January 29, 2014 by FarrellAF

Directed by: David Russell (who also did The Fighter, dispiriting flick about one of Nature’s lesser creatures who manages at length—great length—to stand on his hind legs and beard his tormentors; then Silver Linings Playbook, dispiriting flick about one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Farrell, Film | 10 Comments

Is Obama sleep walking toward disaster?

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Pat Lang

"While the proposals announced tonight may turn out to be constitutional – certainly administration lawyers will be ready to cite statutes they purport authorize the action. The president is doubtless using such language to emphasize what he sees as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Affairs, government, Politics | 136 Comments

“Lone Survivor” a review by Alan Farrell

Posted on January 29, 2014 by FarrellAF

 Directed by: Peter Berg, who also wrote the scenario, “based”evidently on the book of the same name (sorta) written by the SEAL who survived this action, Marcus Luttrell (he had a ghost… actually, twenty-some ghosts if you count his buddies … Continue reading →

Posted in Farrell, Film | 14 Comments

Why are two US Army combat brigades still in Kuwait?

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Pat Lang

Don Bacon recently informed me that in addition to various headquarters, logistical facilities and rotating air units throughout the Gulf area, the US Army continues to maintain two ground combat brigades in Kuwait, presumebly at Camps Arfijan and Buehring.  I … Continue reading →

Posted in Middle East | 10 Comments

Unworthy, shameful and rotten

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Pat Lang

"Since November 2012, when an adulterous affair felled David H. Petraeus, the CIA director and most renowned Army general of his generation, the armed forces have struggled to cope with tawdry disclosures about high-ranking commanders. The Navy has been humbled … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Affairs | 24 Comments

“The Dictatorship of Partisanship” By Richard Sale

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Pat Lang

Robert Gates in his new memoir used very well chosen words to scorch the U.S. Congress for its defects, calling it, “uncivil, incompetent, parochial, and hypocritical.”  Of course, he could have gone to say it is also narrow, self-serving, ill … Continue reading →

Posted in government, Intelligence | 6 Comments

Obama: the true father of his country. Ask him.

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Pat Lang

"… remarks the President made this week while announcing a task force aimed at protecting students on college campuses from sexual assault. "Sexual assault is an affront to our basic decency and humanity. And it's about all of us – … Continue reading →

Posted in government | 85 Comments

Congress cuts funds for Afghanistan

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Pat Lang

 "With no perceptible opposition from the Obama administration, Congress has quietly downscaled Washington’s ambitions for the final year of the Afghan war, substantially curtailing development aid and military assistance plans ahead of the U.S. troop pullout. As congressional appropriators put … Continue reading →

Posted in Afghanistan | 35 Comments