Perhaps, in other words, it’s time to merge the military Plan B — the surge — with a political Plan B — flexible decentralization. That would mean using adequate force levels (finally!) to help those who are returning to sectarian homelands. It would mean erecting buffers between populations where possible and establishing order in areas that remain mixed. It would mean finding decentralized governing structures that reflect the social and psychological facts on the ground.

the partitioning of Iraq may be inevitable but i'm reminded of my country's involvement in the partitioning of Ireland, the partitioning of India/Pakistan/Bangladesh and the problems of Cyprus
the seeds of India and Pakistan developing nuclear weapons were sown in 1947
partition may be inevitable
it may damp down the escalating internecine warfare
but don't be fooled it's the easy solution
i don't have an alternative reality simulator that might allow me to weigh the comparitive death tolls of different approaches but history suggests that partition doesn't cool the sides off rather they brood and plot revenge from a position of safety and yet Rwanda pops into my head *sigh*
i'm so glad i'm not in charge

Making the Surge Work - New York Times

It’s against the backdrop of both the Hussein video and the Ford presidency that we must examine the prospect of that much-previewed “surge” in Iraq

The Timely Death of Gerald Ford - New York Times

images
life, death, grief, dancing
images

Best of the Post 2006 (washingtonpost.com)

Edge Designs is an all-women run company that designs interior office space. They had a recent opportunity to do an office project in NYC. The client allowed the women of this company a free hand in all design aspects. The client was a company that was also run by all women execs. The result, well, we all know that men never talk, never look at each other, and never laugh much in the restroom. The men's room is a serious and quiet place, but now, with the addition of one mural on the wall......lets just say the men's restroom is a place of laughter and smiles.

I was sent this image and figured I would share. Unfortunately there are not embedded images here so clink on the linky

Men's Room Mural

“Radical” changes in Washington always have this Charlie Brown/Lucy-like character (remember Lucy holding the football?): it doesn’t take long before you realize how little really ever changes in DC. The latest example is the Dems and IP issues as they affect the Net. Message to the Net from the newly Democratic House? Go to hell.

Dems to the Net: Go to hell

Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki has said his government could review relations with any country which criticised the execution of ex-leader Saddam Hussein.

followed by that he'll throw all his toys out of the pram

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Iraq PM warns over Saddam hanging

In the summer of 1975, I was asked by Robert Goldman, President Ford’s in-house intellectual, to participate in a discussion on ethnicity at the White House, one of a series put on for the edification of the president.

a lovely euology to Ford

A Meeting With Gerald Ford - New York Times

Gravity may be the force we're most familiar with, but it's also the one we understand with the least accuracy. Now, a quantum mechanical technique could help pin down the strength of gravity more precisely.

Quantum technique could pin down gravitational constant - Yahoo! News UK

The first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, attacked for planning to use the Koran at his swearing-in instead of a Bible, will use a copy of the Muslim holy book once owned by Thomas Jefferson, an official said on Wednesday.

Representative-elect Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat, requested the 18th century copy of the Koran for the unofficial part of his swearing in on Thursday, according to Mark Dimunation, chief of rare books and special collections at the Library of Congress in Washington.

Ellison, a Muslim convert who traces his U.S. ancestry to 1741, wanted a special copy of the book to use, Dimunation said, and approached the library for one.

The third U.S. president, serving from 1801 to 1809, Jefferson was a collector with wide-ranging interests. His 6,000-volume library, the largest in North America at the time, became the basis for the Library of Congress.

I've been ignoring all the silly bickering about Ellison getting sworn in using a Koran, because frankly, it's too damn stupid for me to take seriously. As far as I'm concerned, the item used in any oath should have significance to the individual taking the oath. What is the use of taking an oath on something you don't find personally significant? He could use a picture of his mother for all I'd care.. However, I do think it's really neat that he is using Thomas Jefferson's copy of the Koran.

First Muslim in U.S. Congress to use Jefferson's Koran - washingtonpost.com

Vancouver is the world's best place to live, a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has found.

hooray
i visited in 2005 and loved it

BBC NEWS | Business | Vancouver is 'best place to live'