Eideard

I spent last year in Afghanistan, visiting and talking with U.S. troops and their Afghan partners. My duties with the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force took me into every significant area where our soldiers engage the enemy. Over the course of 12 months, I covered more than 9,000 miles and talked, traveled and patrolled with troops in Kandahar, Kunar, Ghazni, Khost, Paktika, Kunduz, Balkh, Nangarhar and other provinces.

What I saw bore no resemblance to rosy official statements by U.S. military leaders about conditions on the ground…

I saw little to no evidence the local governments were able to provide for the basic needs of the people. Some of the Afghan civilians I talked with said the people didn’t want to be connected to a predatory or incapable local government.

From time to time, I observed Afghan Security forces collude with the insurgency.

Much of what I saw during my deployment, let alone read or wrote in official reports, I can’t talk about; the information remains classified. But I can say that such reports — mine and others’ — serve to illuminate the gulf between conditions on the ground and official statements of progress…

In all of the places I visited, the tactical situation was bad to abysmal. If the events I have described — and many, many more I could mention — had been in the first year of war, or even the third or fourth, one might be willing to believe that Afghanistan was just a hard fight, and we should stick it out. Yet these incidents all happened in the 10th year of war.

As the numbers depicting casualties and enemy violence indicate the absence of progress, so too did my observations of the tactical situation all over Afghanistan…

How many more men must die in support of a mission that is not succeeding and behind an array of more than seven years of optimistic statements by U.S. senior leaders in Afghanistan? No one expects our leaders to always have a successful plan. But we do expect — and the men who do the living, fighting and dying deserve — to have our leaders tell us the truth about what’s going on…

If Americans were able to compare the public statements many of our leaders have made with classified data, this credibility gulf would be immediately observable. Naturally, I am not authorized to divulge classified material to the public. But I am legally able to share it with members of Congress. I have accordingly provided a much fuller accounting in a classified report to several members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, senators and House members…

RTFA. Follow Colonel Davis’ relation of what he saw and has reported – both in classified detail to Congress and the Pentagon and unclassified open publication. The following is the final statement made by ARMED FORCES JOURNAL which published this report.

When it comes to deciding what matters are worth plunging our nation into war and which are not, our senior leaders owe it to the nation and to the uniformed members to be candid — graphically, if necessary — in telling them what’s at stake and how expensive potential success is likely to be. U.S. citizens and their elected representatives can decide if the risk to blood and treasure is worth it.

Likewise when having to decide whether to continue a war, alter its aims or to close off a campaign that cannot be won at an acceptable price, our senior leaders have an obligation to tell Congress and American people the unvarnished truth and let the people decide what course of action to choose. That is the very essence of civilian control of the military. The American people deserve better than what they’ve gotten from their senior uniformed leaders over the last number of years. Simply telling the truth would be a good start. AFJ

One in six UK mobile phones are contaminated with faecal bacteria due to poor personal hygiene, scientists have found.

Researchers said that 16% of the devices were contaminated with E coli, which can cause food poisoning, most probably because people fail to properly wash their hands after going to the toilet. The study…also found that Britons tend to lie about their personal hygiene…

Dr Val Curtis, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “This study provides more evidence that some people still don’t wash their hands properly, especially after going to the toilet.

“I hope the thought of having E coli on their hands and phones encourages them to take more care in the bathroom – washing your hands with soap is such a simple thing to do but there is no doubt it saves lives.”

Birmingham has the highest proportion of bacteria-ridden phones (41%) but the highest level of E coli contamination was found in London (28%).

But the scientists also found a north-south divide in the levels of bacteria found on phones, with northern cities the dirtiest. Glasgow was the worst with average bacterial levels on phones and hands nine times higher than in Brighton…

Dr Ron Cutler, of Queen Mary, University of London, said: “While some cities did much better than others, the fact that E coli was present on phones and hands in every location shows this is a nationwide problem.

“People may claim they wash their hands regularly but the science shows otherwise.”

BTW, today, 15th October is Global Handwashing Day.

I doubt anyone in the US knows that, either. Or washes their hands anymore often.

A vengeful grandfather was caught making napalm after his house was egged by neighbours, a court has heard.

When police officers found an agitated Nicholas Smith mixing substances and asked what he was doing he replied: “What does it ——- look like? I am making a bomb.”

The 53-year-old was grating soap into a saucepan at his home after trawling the internet for bomb-making tips, a court heard.

The two officers were responding to a complaint about eggs being thrown at his house in May when they found Smith “stressed and anxious” as he made the concoction.

Smith was arrested and during an interview, he said: “I just wanted to kill them, I had enough.”

In a chilling entry on Facebook, Smith is said to have threatened to “burn” neighbours who “declared war” on his terraced home…

Smith, a former Territorial Army volunteer, is on trial at Teesside Crown Court facing two charges under the Explosive Substances Act.

Initially he repeated what he had said on arrest, that he was making a bomb. He said, ‘I just wanted to kill them, I just had enough’. He explained, by that he meant the residents of 13, 17 and 25 of Twelfth Street.

“A group of kids between six and 12 years of age were all responsible for anti-social behaviour directed at him.

“He said he was getting hassled day after day with kids doing things like dropping their trousers and throwing eggs.”

Mr Smith denies the charges against him. The trial continues.

I admit I’m of two minds. Admittedly, napalm would have been overkill [pun intended]. Though I can always sympathize with old-fashioned rage.

Or…

 
Herbal teas often contain unlisted extra ingredients such as weeds, ferns or bits of tree, according to a study by New York high school students that could help tighten labeling rules.

“A third of the herbal teas had things in them that are not on the label,” Mark Stoeckle, of the Rockefeller University who helped oversee the project…

The students collected dozens of teas and herbal teas and found extra ingredients in some including ferns, grass, parsley, other weeds and even traces of an ornamental tree, Taiwanese cheesewood, they said…

The students said that three of 70 tea products tested and 21 of 60 herbal products contained rogue ingredients not on the labels…

Stoeckle said extra ingredients such as camomile or parsley might be added deliberately to provide flavor or color. Or manufacturers may seek to sell full-looking tea bags and so pad them with filler.

“This is something that manufacturers and regulators could use,” Stoeckle said of the DNA technique for tea. Importers, for instance, could double check if a shipment of dried leaves is really tea.

We used to have a fave herbal tea that we called Monty Python tea because – one of the major ingredients was “The Larch”.

The managers of Madonna’s charity in Malawi have been ousted after they squandered $3.8m on a school that will never be built…The damning audit came as Raising Malawi confirmed that it has scrapped plans for a $15m elite academy for girls.

The charity’s executive director, Philippe van den Bossche, the partner of Madonna’s former personal trainer, left in October after criticism of his management style and spending at the school, according to the New York Times.

“These included what auditors described as outlandish expenditures on salaries, cars, office space and golf course membership, free housing and a car and driver for the school’s director,” the paper said.

In a shakeup at the charity, the board of directors has been removed and replaced by a caretaker board that includes the 52-year-old singer and her manager, it added.

The abandonment of the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls – backed by prominent Hollywood figures and Madonna’s associates in Kabbalah – was announced in January. This caught the Malawian government by surprise and caused anger among villagers who had surrendered their homes to make way for a 117-acre construction site near the capital, Lilongwe…

Trevor Neilson, a founder of the group, said $3.8m had been spent on the unbuilt school, much of it on architects, salaries and two cars for employees who had not yet been appointed.

“Despite [this outlay], the project has not broken ground, there was no title to the land and there was, overall, a startling lack of accountability on the part of the management team in Malawi and the management team in the United States,” he was quoted as saying.

RTFA for a cautionary tale about trophy charities and celebrities who seem to need more attention than the “beneficiaries” of the charity.

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A couple are suing a hotel after a disastrous wedding that resulted in a catalogue of complaints.

Garry and Lorraine McKay are demanding their money back, plus £10,000 each in damages, claiming that their big day was the “worst day of their lives”, ruined by hotel staff who failed to live up to the standard promised in their brochures and letters.

An Edinburgh court heard that after the wedding, at the Hilton Coylumbridge, near Aviemore, several guests were struck down with food poisoning.

It was claimed that during the reception, sparkling wine ordered for the wedding party was given to other hotel guests by mistake, that cleaners tried to eject the bride from her room while she was getting ready and that guests were unable to taste the cake because the chef took it away.

The McKays said that the wedding ceremony was delayed because there was no blotter on the table to sign the register, that the reception started late, there were only five waiting staff to serve 15 tables and that some of the meals were cold.

They said that guests had been promised sticky toffee pudding but got spotted dick, there were no mints served with the coffee and there was a mix-up about whether drinks should be served inside or in the hotel grounds.

The court heard that when the bridal party complained about the service, a brandy and coke was sent up to the room for the bride’s 20-month-old daughter as an apology.

Mrs McKay, 46, told her local newspaper: “It was supposed to be the most important day of my life, but instead it turned out to be the worst. We saved up for ages to pay for it. This will haunt me forever.”

Har! Stand up for your rights as consumers, folks. We all get screwed often enough as it is.

Remember when CNN was one of the best news sources in the world?

CNN President Jim Walton announced a major shakeup of CNN management today, replacing the head of CNN/US with a long-time CNN executive known for his business turn-around skills.

HLN head Ken Jautz takes over as executive vice president of CNN/US, replacing Jonathan Klein, who headed the network for six years. CNN’s chief marketing officer Scot Safon will run HLN, replacing Jautz.

Walton also said he would hire a managing editor to “help leverage our newsgathering resources across multiple platforms.”

Most recently, Jautz has presided over the revamp and rebranding of the HLN channel, introducing [crap] signature programs such as Nancy Grace, Joy Behar, ShowBiz Tonight, Issues with Jane Velez Mitchell and Morning Express with Robin Meade…

Safon takes over HLN after heading CNN’s marketing for the last eight years, winning wide industry accolades for his marketing campaign for CNN and CNN=Politics. Before joining CNN, Safon oversaw marketing for one of CNN’s sister channels, TNT…

We continue to witness the devolution of a seminal news organization into the sort of grubby, entertainment-centered crap machine that doesn’t grow past mediocrity at that role.

The only person associated with CNN who deserves concern is Ted Turner – who admits that selling his networks to Time-Warner was the dumbest thing he ever did.

Hollywood’s faith in the power of 3D movies to deliver a bright future of packed cinemas and spectacle-wearing audiences has been jolted by figures that show the high-tech format may already be floundering.

Seven months ago James Cameron’s science fiction epic Avatar burst onto the screen in three dimensions, taking in $2.7 billion and becoming the highest grossing film of all time…

But now, with the tally of major films released in the new format expected to reach 22 by the end of the year – with up to $7.50 extra being charged per ticket – there are signs that 3D may not, after all, be the panacea for falling ticket sales…

When Avatar came out in December, 71 per cent of Americans who went to see it on opening weekend – often the peak moment for a new release – opted for a cinema showing the 3D version. In March, when the animated fantasy How to Train Your Dragon was released, 68 per cent of the audience chose to see the film that way. By May that figure for Shrek Forever After was down to 61 per cent. At the beginning of this month only 56 per cent saw The Last Airbender in 3D, and a week later the proportion fell even lower, to 45 per cent, for the newly-released animation Despicable Me…

Critics say part of the problem may be the technology itself. While Avatar was specifically made in the new format, studios have hurriedly converted films that were originally made for two dimensions. The process…can be done in a matter of weeks, allowing for a quick release. However, a lot of the time it simply doesn’t work and delivers murky pictures…

After seeing director M.Night Shyamalan’s…The Last Airbender…Roger Ebert said it “looked like it was filmed with a dirty sheet over the lens”. He said Hollywood’s current infatuation with 3D was just an excuse to add surcharges to already expensive cinema tickets…

Some of those who know the film industry best are convinced the latest trend will go the same way as the 3D fads of the 1950s and 1980s. “3D is a waste of a perfectly good dimension and Hollywood’s current crazy stampede toward it is suicidal,” according to Ebert.

I can’t speak from personal experience. I haven’t found the potential interesting enough to drag me to the nearest whoop-de-doo cinemaplex. And no way would I bust my personal budget for entertainment hardware for a 3D replacement for my existing HDTV sitting happily in our living room.

Might get a bigger set, some day. That’s always a worthwhile investment. Especially if we get more proper football matches in HD.

Tomorrow Gordon Brown will ask for a dissolution of parliament, and on Sunday week I shall fly away. An engagement to lecture at the University of Texas means that I shall be out of the country for most of the election campaign.

And I don’t care. My absence is of no concern at all to anyone else, but I mention it since I’ve realised that for the first time in my life I can’t summon up any real interest in a general election. Even as someone who has to write about politics as a trade, I feel barely a flicker of election fever coming on. What’s more, this ennui is clearly shared by my compatriots. We are bored, jaded, and fed up with politics and politicians, and with good reason.

Even if you didn’t wear a red or blue rosette, election campaigns used to be absorbing, and election nights exciting…

You could dislike Wilson or Thatcher, but still regard them as real leaders. The mood now is quite different. We’re disgusted by Blair, more so than ever as we learn about his awe-inspiring avarice, and we’re depressed by Brown, but we haven’t taken to Cameron either…

As the election approaches, the mood is thus rather like the old Viennese phrase: the situation was serious but not hopeless, now it’s hopeless but not serious…

The historian Tony Judt says…”I was born in 1948 so I am more or less the same age as George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Gerhard Schröder, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown – a pretty crappy generation, when you come to think of it, and many names could be added. It is a generation that grew up in the 1960s in western Europe or in America, in a world of no hard choices, neither economic nor political.”

But in truth there are hard choices ahead, from the economy to Afghanistan, and while “hopeless but not serious” may capture the public mood, it’s a form of denial. No wonder the coming orgy of dishonesty and evasion from all our would-be rulers inspires such revulsion. No, deep in the heart of Texas is a good enough place to be: I really shan’t mind watching this unseemly contest from afar.

I can’t help adding – take a good look around while you’re in Texas. You can actually photograph the stink of corporate power; Tea Party populism; traditional racism and bigotry [you will be hated for your accent] – you will be lecturing in a state which as much as any in this imperfect union rejects science and knowledge, education and justice.

Here’s today’s “investigative journalism” from CNN:

I won’t waste your time linking to this crap…

Auto manufacturer Toyota warned dealerships in 2002 that Camry owners were complaining about throttles surging and recommended adjustments in an electronic control unit to fix the problem, according to a document obtained by CNN.

The technical service bulletin went to every U.S. Toyota dealership in late August 2002 after some customers reported their vehicles were speeding up unexpectedly.

“Some 2002 model year Camry vehicles may exhibit a surging during light throttle input at speeds between 38-42 mph,” the bulletin states. “The Engine Control Module (ECM) calibration has been revised to correct this condition…”

The internal Toyota document was given to CNN by a group of attorneys now seeking a nationwide class-action lawsuit against the company. Clarence Ditlow said the document — not previously made public — indicates Toyota knew much earlier about an electronic connection to sudden acceleration problems. He also said the bulletin was apparently ignored or hidden from the public not only by Toyota, but also by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. – emphasis added.

“The government is really hiding this information from the consumer,” Ditlow told CNN. “They’re in a conspiracy with the auto industry to keep these out of the public’s sight…”

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