Fish Fear Me

Monday odds and ends

FFL: After struggling back to .500, my team has been demolished the last two weeks. With two more weeks to go, I still have a slim chance to get into the upper division playoffs, but it's looking grim. I'm blaming too many injuries to too many key players. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

A wonderful tribute: A beautiful essay by Stevie about his dad.

Greenpeace China?: Here's a story about all of the junk electronics that get dumped into China these days to be recycled and the environmental problems that result from poor practices in reclaiming metals from all that junk. While it kind of amazes me that it's actually cost effective to ship that stuff all the way to China, it does not amaze me that the robber barons in charge of China can't seem to do much to stop it. Or don't want to. You need look no further than the environmental disasters that took place in the Eastern Bloc and the old Soviet Union to see how this is going to play out in the near term. It is kind of interesting that there's a Greenpeace China though, I didn't know that. In fact, I didn't think that an organization like that would be tolerated in China. Are they as aggressive in China as they historically have been in the West? It seems to me that their existence means something, but I'm not sure what  or how significant it is. Something to look into I guess.

Blind Faith: Bruce McQuain at QandO has an interesting post about a new deep water oil platform that is being readied for use in the Gulf of Mexico. You can also follow a link he has to a story about a huge new BP platform. The planning and engineering behind projects like these fascinates me. And they are critically important to keeping the country moving for the foreseeable future, no matter what people may think about alternative fuels and energy sources. I know that it's great sport to demonize the big oil companies, but it's not very helpful in getting to real solutions for the economy or the environment. Also via that QandO post, a link to what I will call a grown-up perspective.

Chuckle: I'm not a bumper sticker kind of guy so I probably won't do it, but I find this idea for a bumper sticker hugely amusing: Cheney - Satan '08. Besides, a couple of people I work with would probably stroke out if they saw it. I may disagree with most of their politics, but I wouldn't want to hurt them.

YRMV

Here's a quote from yesterday's Washington Post that sums up pretty well what my current thoughts on Iraq are:

"It's never as bad as it was, and it's not as good as it's being reported now," said Army Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero, chief of strategic operations for U.S. forces in Iraq.

I'm very encouraged by the drop in violence, the absolutely brutal pounding that al Qaeda in Iraq has taken, and reports of reconciliation at the neighborhood level like this one today by Michael Yon. There is a real opportunity now to reach the tipping point where stability could become unstoppable. There are also real opportunities for any number of groups in Iraq and the US to totally screw that up. It's good to see more visible progress, but I wouldn't get too high about it until the reconciliation and truce that's happening at the local and provincial levels starts happening at the national level also. It could happen, and I'm cautiously optimistic that it will happen, but the only thing certain about Iraq is nothing is certain. And for damn sure if we don't press the gains that have been made over the last few months, then it really could go bad in a big way.

I haven't written much about Iraq lately because it's just been too damn frustrating and depressing. The frustrating part is getting good info what's really going on there. I read this piece in The Guardian about one of the Sunni Concerned Local Citizens groups when it came out earlier this week. It's a depressing article, portraying one of the local sheiks who has turned on al Qaeda(with American support) as basically just another thug. Some of the statements in that article didn't ring true, such as the total absence of other authorities in the area, but after unsuccessfully searching for more info on the area I moved on. Today I read a rebuttal from a US Army battalion commander in the area via Confederate Yankee that debunks the gist of that article.

Go ahead and read the article and then the rebuttal. It's a classic example of the too often disconnect between what's reported in the media and the on the record statements of our commanders on the ground and independent journalists like Yon, Ardolino, and Roggio. A healthy dose of skepticism is in order for all of the above sources and I don't just abjectly swallow the official line either. But I keep a kind of mental scorecard of who is guilty of throwing bullshit around, and it's not even close. While most of the media in general reports things that are "true", they often filter out other facts that might be inconvenient to the overall narrative they wish to convey. I'm fairly sure that the Guardian reporter that wrote that article actually saw the incidents that he reported, but I have no doubt that it takes Lt. Col. Dale Kuehl's rebuttal to actually get a true, or at least truer, perspective on that neighborhood. Both the good and the bad.

"It's never as bad as it was, and it's not as good as it's being reported now."

Your reality may vary.

It's a bird, it's a plane...

...No, it's Al Gore: Planet-saving Venture Capitalist:

The recovering politician, environmental activist, and Nobel laureate is adding another title to his résumé: venture capitalist. After "a conversation that's gone on for a year and a half," according to Gore, he has decided to join his old pal John Doerr as an active, hands-on partner at Kleiner Perkins, Silicon Valley's preeminent venture firm.

According to the article, success will be measured by "the company we keep, the quality of the companies we help grow, the quality of the partners we add, returns on the investments we make, and by the CO2 that's taken out of the atmosphere."

Golly, that sounds swell. What a fine bunch of fellows. Unless they hit on a pretty major technological breakthrough though, that "returns on the investments" part is going to be kind of tough. The problem isn't that there aren't already "clean technologies" out there, but that they aren't cost competitive with burning fossil fuels. They won't be in the foreseeable future either, certainly not on the grand scale that Gore envisions. That could be a bit of a problem, because even altruistic investors expect a return. If you don't believe that, please contact me about some land in Florida I'd like to sell. Hmmm...What to do? What to do?

Well, this is where big Al comes in:

Gore can certainly help in this arena by, for example, introducing Kleiner people to top atmospheric scientists or government decision-makers. Policy and politics, his specialties, will have a huge impact on the business of clean technology.

Yes, indeed. Our venture capital friends, and keep in mind that these guys really know how to make money, are betting on a breakthrough. Not a technology breakthrough, but a political one. They recognize that there is another way for clean technologies to be cost competitive with fossil fuels, and that of course, is to raise the cost of fossil fuels. We aren't quite to the point where people are willing to pay two or three times more for energy, but I think we're getting close. The most likely scenario I think, is a carbon tax that will be offset by income tax cuts/credits. If or when that happens, depending on how Al and friends structure it, all sorts of businesses that are not now profitable will suddenly become gold.

Doerr, Gore, and friends are placing their bets, and that's what this is really about. You ready?

Paging Damage Control

This is going to go over with fans like a lead balloon:

Vikings dock Williamson a week's pay for extended absence

The Vikings have let Troy Williamson know they clearly were not on board with his decision to return home last week to tend to family issues. The wide receiver, who missed three practices as well as Sunday's game against San Diego, has been informed he will not be paid for the week.

The family issue was the death of his maternal grandmother and the subsequent arrangements for her funeral. The Vikes are docking him $25,588.24, or 1/17th of his base salary.

I suspect that there's more here than meets the eye and that Williamson didn't exactly, uh, rush back at the earliest possible moment to be with the team. It doesn't matter though. This is going to be terrible PR for the Vikes any way you cut it. "They fined him for going to his grandma's funeral" will be, is, the story and Vikings owner Ziggy Wilf might as well bite the bullet and pay Williamson before he starts making smilin' Carl Pohlad begin to look human.

The money involved is chump change and any benefits of standing on principle or keeping team discipline, if that's what it's about, will be lost when Williamson becomes a martyr as far as most fans are concerned. What's even more puzzling is why they would make a big deal out of it when they didn't even miss him. Would they have beaten the Chargers by more if Williamson had been there to drop a couple of passes?

Ziggy: Pay him, call the PR guys in to smooth it over, and hope everyone forgets it. You ain't gonna win this one even if you think you should.

More on Iraq and Foreign Service Officers

The team leader of a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Anbar, Iraq, FSO John Matel, has a letter to his colleagues posted on the official State Department blog regarding the whole forced service in Iraq flap. I had no idea there was an official blog of the State Department, but then I don't get out much. An excerpt:

Calling Iraq a death sentence is just way over the top. I volunteered to come here aware of the risks but confident that I will come safely home, as do the vast majority of soldiers and Marines, who have a lot riskier jobs than we FSOs do.

I wrote a post a couple days ago where I said that perhaps everyone's talents are not best employed in Iraq . That is still true. But I find the sentiments expressed by some at the town hall meeting deeply offensive. What are they implying about me and my choice? And what do they say to our colleagues in the military, who left friends and family to come here and do their jobs? As diplomats, part of our work is to foster peace and understanding. We cannot always be assured that we will serve only in places where peace and understanding are already safely established.

Read the whole thing, as they say. And thanks for your service, Mr. Matel.

And: Here's another PRT story from MNF-Iraq. This team is embedded with the US Army in a neighborhood of Baghdad.

Random Thoughts

Halloween Wasteland: One group of trick or treaters this year, that's it. Halloween in my neighborhood is, if not officially dead, at least end-stage Castro at this point. It's not hard to see why so few kids are stopping by. I walked out to the street at about 7:00 that night and my house was the only one with a front light on for almost a block in either direction. I can see how kids might turn down another street that's more lit up than mine. Why run a gauntlet of darkened doorways just to hit the one house with a light on? You know, at least eight of those darkened houses are home to kids who used to go up and down the street trick or treating a decade or so ago. Now that they've grown up I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Yeah, that irks me.

Send in the Clowns...er, scratch that: Geez, I almost had an embolism on Sunday when the Vikes gave up a 109 yard TD, a new NFL record for longest play, to San Diego after a missed field goal at the end of the first half. Really, it just doesn't get much more inept and buffoonish than they looked on that play. A half a season of stupid play calling and dumbass mistakes summed up in one play. I was so pissed I went out and did yard work for the next hour, figuring that it was just a harbinger of their imminent destruction in the second half. Oops. I came in and flipped the game back on and the Vikes were up 28-17 on their way to a 35-17 win. While I was puttering around outside, Adrian Peterson was on his way to his own NFL record of most rushing yards in a game. Go figure and give them some credit, the Vikes didn't fold and came out playing hard in the second half. Good job, guys.

Soon now: Is dreary a National Weather Service term? I suspect not.

There was about a ten minute squall of snow yesterday afternoon. It pretty much melted as it hit the ground, but it felt like Mother Nature's warning shot that winter is coming. The forecast is actually pretty good for the tail end of this week, but I think after that we'd better be ready for winter. One of our local forecasters is predicting that we will be slightly above normal in snowfall and perhaps a little colder than normal in temps this year. My forecast, based completely on gut-feeling, is we're going to get blasted this year, both snow and cold. Something feels off this fall and not in what I would call a good way. I can't put my finger on it though. I just can't shake the notion that we'll be begging for global warming in about two months. I guess we'll find out.

What does PRT mean?

In some cases, you could say it stands for Petulant, Recalcitrant, Truculent:

Several hundred foreign service officers participated in the gathering at which several diplomats, backed by the vocal support of their colleagues there, vehemently complained about the prospect of so-called "directed assignments" to Iraq to make up for a lack of volunteers.

"Incoming is coming in every day, rockets are hitting the Green Zone," said Jack Croddy, a senior foreign service office, referring to the highly fortified area of Baghdad where the embassy is located.

"It's one thing if someone believes in what's going on over there and volunteers, but it's another thing to send someone over there on a forced assignment," Croddy said. "I'm sorry, but basically that's a potential death sentence and you know it. ... Who will raise our children if we are dead or seriously wounded?"

His remarks were met with loud applause.

Before we get into Mr. Croddy and his vocal supporters, it should be noted that the same article mentions that more than 1500 State Department personnel have voluntarily served in Iraq in the past five years and that 94% of the current slots are filled. As far as government departments/agencies go, the State Department is the second least likely for me to defend(after the CIA), but in this case I don't think it's appropriate to paint with too broad a brush. Lots of Foreign Service Officers have answered the call and even if one wants to argue about their performance or their effectiveness once there, you have to give them credit for showing up.

This is the piece that really bugs me:

It's one thing if someone believes in what's going on over there and volunteers, but it's another thing to send someone over there on a forced assignment," Croddy said.

Sorry, Mr. Croddy, I call bullshit. I don't give a damn whether you believe in what's going on over there or not. You are either a professional who will work to accomplish the goals of the elected President of the United States, or you're not. If you're not, then as far as I'm concerned don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. It's as simple as that.

On a more upbeat note, I can point you to a Foreign Service Officer who does know what professionalism is all about, and he also knows quite well that PRT stands for Provincial Reconstruction Team. His name is Andy Passan, he leads the Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team, and on Sunday he participated in another one of those press conferences that never seems to make it past the gatekeepers. You can get the transcript here in pdf format. If you want to learn what the Baghdad PRT is all about, at least read his opening statement at the above link. Even better, read the whole transcript and his answers to some fairly pointed questions.

I'll be the first to admit that transcripts like this are not thrilling reads. They are however, quite often filled with lots of information that rarely, if ever, gets into mainstream media reports on Iraq. Even more importantly, they provide a much needed non-hysterical perspective to all the work that is being done by lots of unsung people behind the scenes. And it's not all good news and fluff either. The people standing up at these press conferences and answering questions are, by and large, pretty frank about what's not going right also. That's generally when you see a quote appear in one of the media outlets back home.

I've been on this horse before, and I'll likely be on it again, but if all you read are the major media stories on Iraq(and I read them also), you are probably woefully uninformed about what is happening there. If you care about having a truly informed opinion on Iraq, I urge you to supplement the regular media coverage you see with the press releases, press briefings, and other articles at the Multi-National Forces-Iraq website, and check in on people like Michael Yon, Michael Totten, and Bill Roggio and company at The Long War Journal. You will find both good and bad news at those links and I think adding those sites to your reading list will help you be more informed about events in Iraq.

You may even catch a glimpse of a professional Foreign Service Officer or two.