November 28-29

"WikiLeaks is what happens when the entire US government is forced to go through a full-body scanner."

--New media guru Evgeny Morozov; image from

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Wikileaks: National security or national embarrassment? - Paul Reynolds, BBC News: "The leaks of American diplomatic communications are certainly revealing and occasionally startling - but are they damaging? Do they threaten US national security or are they simply a US national embarrassment? One test is to see if the cables show a secret diplomacy that is at serious odds with the public. Here, the case of Iran is important.


What the documents show in fact is not that the US secretly wants to go to war with Iran but that it has resisted pressure to do so from Israel and Arab leaders acting out of a coincidental common interest. This is very much in line with President Barack Obama's public diplomacy, which is to engage with Iran and, if necessary, to impose sanctions to try to get it to stop its nuclear activities. This it has done and the documents agree." Image from

US diplomats wanted propaganda war against Osama ahead of 9/11 - economictimes.indiatimes.com: "Some two years before 9/11, American diplomats based in Pakistan wanted the US to step up propaganda war against al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden , a confidential US cable released by WikiLeaks has said. 'We frequently hear reports that some in the lower middle and lower classes, both urban and rural, consider UBL (Usama bin Laden) an 'Islamic Hero', because the US has named him 'Public Enemy Number One'. ... However, the US diplomat posted in Islamabad argued that a large number of Pakistanis, mostly middle-class are not automatically anti-US and are not ideologically committed to Osama bin Laden. 'This middle ground, or at least somewhat susceptible to reason, or at least to other information, should be our primary target. The message crafted for them would also be welcomed by educated, westward-looking elite of both Pakistan and Afghanistan, who feel threatened by UBL's advocacy and violence and theological obscurantism,' the cable said. 'The focus of any enhanced USG public diplomacy effort should be to portray UBL and others around him as criminals, both by international and by Islamic standards. Where possible, responsibility of the movement al -Qaeda should be emphasised, not just UBL as an individual, it said."

WikiLeaks cables: Bin Laden's PR is better than ours, Americans complained: 'Wanted' posters and matchboxes distributed in Pakistan were met with shops selling pro-Osama souvenir versions - Declan Walsh, guardian.co.uk: "Osama bin Laden has been a bugbear for American officials in Pakistan since long before the 9/11 attacks. In 1999 the Islamabad embassy noted that Bin Laden posters were hitting the streets for just 30 cents – 'a bit more than the cost of a sidewalk haircut'. An Osama bin Laden 'wanted' poster distributed by the US after the bombing of its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on 7 August 1998. The posters, officials wrote despairingly, were proving more popular than the US government's 'wanted' posters, which risked proving counter-productive. New wanted posters and matchboxes 'may increase [Bin Laden]'s stature as a kind of folk hero', they said. Even the Taliban, 'in sharp contrast with their ordinary execrable public relations performance', was doing better than the US, the message continued.


'We face a formidable foe among those churning out pro-Osama propaganda.' The message urged Washington to consider a new raft of anti-Bin Laden propaganda through the Voice of America radio station, interviews with Bin Laden victims, 'commissioned articles' in the local press and an anti-Bin Laden website." Image from article: A Pakistani man in Peshawar looks at posters for sale depicting Osama bin Laden as a hero. See also (1) (2) (3).

Embarrassing Wikileaks Revelations Concerning U.S.-Israel Relations - ashehab.blogspot.com: "The U.S. projects a pragmatic interest in combatting Hamas through a public diplomacy campaign, to which the Israelis say: why waste your time? Israel clearly argues for continued Palestinian fragmentation and divisiveness as a policy goal, a losing long-term proposition if ever there was one."

US embassy cables: Wikileaks – War in Georgia: "FR Charge Duchene contacted A/DCM 1730 L time to explain that Paris was concerned about NATO becoming too prominent a part of the dynamic on S.Ossetia and was also eager to keep the EU on the fringe of the conflict as well. She said that NATO,s earlier Friday public statement had been 'enough of a NATO role for now.' ... Duchene noted Rogozin,s proclivity for grandstanding in the media and agreed that NATO needed to manage the conduct of the meetings, public expectations for what they might produce in NATO follow-on steps, and related public diplomacy so as not to inadvertently contribute to any destabilization of the situation."

Text of State Department letter to Wikileaks - Reuters: "Text of a letter from the State Department to Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, and his lawyer Jennifer Robinson concerning its intended publication of classified State Department documents. The letter, dated November 27, was released by the department. Dear Ms. Robinson and Mr. Assange: I am writing in response to your 26 November 2010 letter to U.S. Ambassador Louis B. Susman regarding your intention to again publish on your WikiLeaks site what you claim to be classified


U.S. Government documents. ... [comment by a reader:] Perhaps it’s time the US began to practice public diplomacy, rather than sniping behind everyone’s back. The letter above is an attempt to threaten and censor documents that will prove embarrassing to our public officials, nothing more." Image from

US Should Avoid Benign Neglect of Central Europe - Philip Seib, Huffington Post: "American policy makers should remember that no one has ever benefited from trusting Russia. Central Europe learned this painfully, and while the United States must continue to deal as amicably as possible with Russia, vigilance must never lessen. As an adjunct to this, the Central European countries, with their friendly attitudes toward the United States, should not be neglected. These important friendships can be enhanced through public diplomacy. Lots of good things are happening. Energetic and thoughtful U.S. ambassadors, such as Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis in Hungary, provide upbeat American representation that the Central Europeans appreciate. But in conversations here with Hungarian officials and scholars, I found a desire for an even closer and more free-flowing bilateral relationship. An example: as in most of the rest of the world, the once popular American libraries, where films, cultural programs, and other U.S. offerings were easily accessed by the general public, have fallen prey to post-9/11 security and budget concerns and have been replaced by 'American corners' at some universities. Safer and cheaper? Yes. Useful? Only in a much diminished way. New media tools provide virtual supplements to these ventures, but something significant is lacking without an on-the-ground, highly visible presence."

Public Diplomacy: "Out" for the U.S., "In" Overseas? - John Brown, Huffington Post:


"Public diplomacy -- defined by the State Department as 'engaging, informing, and influencing key international audiences' -- has become increasingly passé among American officials, scholars, and NGOs as a term and activity used to define how America should communicate with the outside world. Meanwhile, the governments of other countries -- notably China and India -- are enthusiastically embracing public diplomacy as a new and essential part of their foreign policy. Who's the winner in such a situation -- the USA or the rest of the world? Hard to say." Image from

New Global Engagement Initiative at the Wilson Center - James Ketterer, Global Management: "The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars has announced a new project focused on strengthening U.S. global engagement and strategic communications. ... The project labels itself as a public diplomacy initiative that draws on the many reports detailing failings of that function since the demise of USIA in the late 1990s. The effort is co-chaired by Condoleezza Rice


and William Perry. ... In looking over the membership of the working group it appears there is a decided bias on the communications component of public diplomacy, the 'fast media' part of what USIA once covered. But there seems to be much less focus on the 'slow media' components of public diplomacy - those program areas now housed in the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The public diplomacy value of programs like Fulbright, International Visitor Leadership Program, Humphrey Fellows, cultural diplomacy, sports exchanges and many others is often overlooked." Wilson Center Image from

Re-Branding the U.S. to the Muslim World: Mission PR Impossible - International Communication SIS 640: "In 'A 21st Century Model for Communication in the Global War of Ideas: From Simplistic Influence to Pragmatic Complexity,' the authors argue that the U.S. model for public diplomacy is ineffective and outdated. They believe that a clear concise message being repeated is not the way to influence others, but rather a varied approach that plans for failure and decentralizes control in favor of complexity is a more realistic and more effective model for communication."

Dancers from Calif. impresses India audience - ABC30.com: "A group of dancers from California left a lasting impression on an audience in India this weekend. The dancers from San Francisco performed gravity defying routines on the side of this landmark building and drew gasps and applause from the audience. They were suspended by ropes and performed moves inspired by climbing and rappelling. The event, presented by the American Centre, was part of U.S. public diplomacy efforts following President Obama's recent visit there." [Includes video].

Alhurra and BBC Arabic have run-ins with the Egyptian government over election coverage - Kim Andrew Elliot reporting on International Broadcasting

"Positive demeanor" by Afghan army general helped distribute more Radio Azadi radios to Balkh province - Kim Andrew Elliot reporting on International Broadcasting. Image:


Members of the Afghan Air Force, Afghan National Army and NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan advisors distributed solar powered, hand-cranked radios, provided by Radio Azadi, to the surrounding villages of Meymaneh, in Balkh province Nov.27. The villagers are without TV or radio contact with the rest of Afghanistan. Bringing the news to these villages will provide the local populace with the efforts their government and coalition is providing them.

While in prison, Azeri blogger listened to RFE/RL on shortwave: "crackly, like in old Soviet times" - Kim Andrew Elliot reporting on International Broadcasting

Israel recruits citizen advocates in Europe: 'Allies and friends' will promote government policy to press and public meetings as part of fresh PR drive - Harriet Sherwood - Guardian: "Israel has instructed its embassies in 10 European countries, including the UK, each to recruit 1,000 members of the public to act as advocates for its policies in a new public relations offensive. ... Israel has previously launched drives to improve its image through hasbara – literally meaning explanation, although alternatively interpreted as public diplomacy, spin or propaganda. During its three-week war on Gaza, which began in December 2008, Israel launched a PR strategy through its national information directorate to co-ordinate key messages on a daily basis.


The Israeli government, military and various embassies are adept at using social media such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to promote material. Organisations such as Bicom, the Britain Israel Communications Research Centre, in the UK and the Israel Project in the US, which describe themselves as independent, are dedicated to promoting Israeli policies. Both organisations offer regular briefings, contacts and tours to foreign correspondents based in Israel and Palestine, and all-expenses paid trips to Israel for journalists, including from the Guardian, based elsewhere. Other countries undertake similar PR drives." Image from article: Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister, has ordered a range of measures in a bid to improve Israel's image in Europe.

For Israel, 'delegitimization' is becoming an excuse: If we say 'delegitimization' enough times the public will believe there is no connection between what the gentiles say and what the Jews do - Akiva Eldar, haaretz.com: "The State of Israel is under the threat of delegitimization, 'which is no less disturbing than Hamas and Hezbollah,' intoned Defense Minister Ehud Barak in a speech last week. 'Attempts by our enemies and their misguided fellow travelers to delegitimize the Jewish state must be countered,' warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu three weeks ago, in response to cries of protest by peace activists at the General Assembly of Jewish Federations in New Orleans. ... A look at the 'guidebook' the Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs is offering Israelis at the exit gates from the country reinforces the suspicion that the inflation in the expression 'delegitimization' (formerly called 'anti-Semitism') is not a random lexical construction.


'How many times have you had occasion to encounter information presented about Israel that was far from being real?' the tourist/good-will ambassador is asked before he is requested to 'take part in changing the image of the State of Israel.' The booklet 'Explaining Israel' reminds him of such things as the dates of the wars (including Operation Peace for Galilee) and the victories (including the win by Maccabi Tel Aviv of the European Cup), the humanitarian delegations and the invention of the disc-on-key. There is not a single word about the Madrid conference, which paved the way to the direct peace negotiations and diplomatic relations with many important countries, such as China. There is no sign of the fact that the Oslo Accords opened doors to Israel in the Arab countries. Nor is there any trace of the peace with Jordan - a bonus for the Oslo agreement. Nothing about the Arab peace initiative, which is still waiting for an Israeli answer. The Public Diplomacy Ministry is also not mentioning that the European Union decided to upgrade relations with Israel - and then froze the process in the wake of the crisis of the Gaza-bound Turkish flotilla." Image from

There’s no crisis and no division, just a duty to oppose - Michael Dugher, labour-uncut.co.uk: "Only the Labour Party, on attracting 40,000 new members and going five-points ahead in the opinion polls – for the first time in what felt like living memory – could be written up as being in real difficulty. ... But we can’t just blame the journalists for this mischief. They are just filing copy, filling space in the paper, doing what they are paid to do. Too often, the negative stories are the result of 'friendly fire' from our own side – ill-judged remarks (if you are feeling forgiving), 'public diplomacy' (if you are feeling cynical). Or they come from the whingeing briefings and bar-room gossip that are all part of the trade."

A B C F G - The New Diplomacy: A reflective group blog by some of the students on The New Diplomacy module at London Metropolitan University

ugg boots - christianjordan: "26 Brand Feather, organized by the Asia Society on the United States,'the importance on the Shanghai World Expo and the American Museum of the value of expression' as the theme on the seminar, the Shanghai World Expo Steering Committee Chairman with the U.S. Pavilion Lavin said in a speech at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo will likely be now inside the public diplomacy achieved good good results.


Lavin to Shanghai’s achievements in reform and opening up the background, indicating the prosperous growth of Shanghai is a metropolis, and the basic details for the grand as well as the Shanghai Globe Expo impression resulting from the world." Image: Construction workers stand beside a sketch of the US pavilion for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo from

Eating, Shopping and Enjoying the Sun - Heather W., Lisons & Dansons... - "Friday I read articles on public diplomacy all day while Chuck worked on Arabic."

Ambasada Britanica Bucuresti angajeaza Political Officer - British Embassy Bucharest – Job Opportunity - mediasinfo.ro: "The Embassy is looking to appoint a desk officer to work as part of the 6-strong EU/Political team. The officer will focus on EU and wider bilateral and regional political issues. ... Main duties and responsibilities include: ... Contributing to the delivery of the Embassy’s public diplomacy strategy via public events and speechwriting."

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY

Ellen Frank: Filling the Palace of Memory - Betsy Holland, The East Hampton Star: "In a form of syzygy, a sort of celestial coordination or alignment, one might say that Ellen Frank’s dream of revitalizing the art of illumination as a tool for global peace and understanding is being realized, at least partly as the result of the works she and a team of interns have been painting since 2004.


The first of the paintings, 'Jerusalem: A Painting Toward Peace,' Ms. Frank did herself, with an assistant, after a 1999 visit to the city just as she was establishing the nonprofit Ellen Frank Illumination Arts Foundation. ... Although the American State Department’s support for cultural diplomacy had waned until relatively recently, the Obama administration announced in early November that it has earmarked $1 million to expand the United States cultural diplomacy programs and to include visual artists, painters, and sculptors. The total budget for cultural diplomacy programs in this country has increased from $1.6 million in 2001 to $11.75 million in 2010. The whole concept of using visual artists as cultural ambassadors is something that Ms. Frank has been pursuing for some time." Frank image from article

Chinese ballet transplant Jun Shuang Huang loves Houston drivers, modern moves & being a prince - Nancy Wozny, CultureMap: "I had a wonderful visit with Jun Shuang Huang, Houston Ballet's newest principal. It didn't seem to matter that I don't speak or understand a word of Chinese. With new apprentice Liao Xiang translating, there was such a spirit of communication in the room. Imagine cultural diplomacy happening right here in Houston Ballet's conference room. The arts are such a conduit for international exchange. ... Although Huang danced numerous roles during his time at the Guangzhou Ballet, he was ready to spread his wings. 'There's mostly classical in China.


I wanted to dance contemporary work,' he says. After sending his DVD to many ballet companies, Huang received several job offers, finally settling on Houston. 'Houston Ballet is famous in China, because of Ben Stevenson, Li Cunxin and Zhang Jian,' he says. 'The company has a great reputation.'" Image from article: From the "Diamonds" section of the Houston Ballet's "Jewels," artists Jun Shuang Huang and Mireille Hassenboehler.

International Cinema Showcase Of Nz Film Launches - Voxy: "The Ministry for Culture & Heritage, in partnership with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tourism New Zealand, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and the New Zealand Film Commission, will this evening launch a catalogue of New Zealand feature and short films available for overseas culture events organised by New Zealand's diplomatic posts abroad. The showcase is funded by the Government's Cultural Diplomacy Programme, which invests in the promotion of New Zealand culture overseas. The films selected span 23 years of NZ filmmaking and reflect our unique cultural values. Launching the Showcase at Parliament this evening, Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson says the creation of the Film Showcase will enable overseas posts to share our films with an international audience. 'With the addition of new films to the catalogue every year, it will become a valuable cultural diplomacy tool and provide an opportunity to display the talent we have,' Mr Finlayson said."

Culture diplomacy: Delhi set for 10-day global arts fest - Sify: "New Delhi: The capital is primed for a slot on the global cultural tourism map as it opens its doors to unique performances, fusion projects and artists from 18 countries in a mega showcase of arts and culture for 10 days beginning on Dec 3. The fourth edition of the Delhi International Arts Festival (DIAF), which will focus on cultural collaborations and global contemporary arts,


is bringing cutting-edge expositions like the 'Edgelock', an e-creativity project, and a 'Butoh' dance-musical rendition for the first time to India. ... 'I want to position the festival as a platform for cultural diplomacy and international tourism - as our efforts in the last three years have helped us open up dialogues with the embassies,' Prahlad [Prathibha Prahlad, the festival director] said, explaining the premise of the festival that sought more international participation this year." Image from article

Stage Matters in TCG Video -- But Optics Matter, Too - Leonard Jacobs, Clyde Fitch Report: "Does theater matter? The answers seems a given, no? Of course theater matters. All arts matter. All creativity matters. And, yes, everyone is creative — not just the artist at the cliched canvas, easel or empty space, not just the actor on the stage, but the chef in the kitchen, the designer at the needle, and so on. How sad that such a thing so evident, so elemental, must continually be hammered home. It’s why the Stage Matters video [Stage Matters: A short video on why / how / if theatre matters in America], created by Theatre Communications Group in collaboration with Firefly Theater & Films, left me with worry as well as admiration. Stage matters. Didn’t we already know that? .... Stage matters because veterans can forget their problems? That’s insensitive and reductive, all right, but there’s a case to be made for theater as escapist entertainment (ever hear of the U.S.O.?) and a case to be made for the centuries-old healing power of catharsis. Stage matters because it can be a tool of cultural diplomacy? Absolutely. But that is not so much an argument for theater, per se, as for artistic exchange across disciplines and continents."

RELATED ITEMS

American exceptionalism: an old idea and a new political battle - Karen Tumulty, Washington Post: "American exceptionalism" is a phrase that, until recently, was rarely heard outside the confines of think tanks, opinion journals and university history departments. But with Republicans and tea party activists accusing President Obama and the Democrats of turning the country toward socialism, the idea that the United States is inherently superior


to the world's other nations has become the battle cry from a new front in the ongoing culture wars. Obama: "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." Image from

Why French Scholars Love U.S. Colleges - New York Times: A study by the Institut Montaigne found that academics constitute a much larger percentage of French émigrés to the United States


today than 30 years ago: 27 percent of the total from 1996 to 2006, compared with 8 percent from 1971 and 1980. In particular, many of France’s best biologists and economists are now in the United States. Image from article: They've all come to the U.S., clockwise from top left: Claude Lévi-Strauss, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Jean-Luc Marion, Olivier Blanchard and Esther Duflo.

Whither Civilisation of the Dialogue? - The Chrysalis: In the face of the present breakdown of the mental-rational mode of consciousness in the post-Enlightenment, propaganda has come to displace dialogue and reasoned discourse amongst and between peoples. The important point to observe about propaganda — which is a technology which cynically reduces speech to a mere instrumentalism — is that it eschews authentic dialogue, which is a process between speaker and listener in alternating roles — like alternating electric current — for the mutual discovery and disclosure of truth.

The Deep Character Flaws of the Great Communicator - dad in left field, my.firedoglake.com: You might (but probably don’t) recall the waves made when Reagan promoted fantasies of his World War II record while hosting then-Israeli leader Yitzhak Shamir in Washington D.C. At the time, Reagan claimed to have personally witnessed the Holocaust as part of a government film crew at the end of World War II. Reagan,


in fact, never left the United States during World War II. He worked for the military in Hollywood making propaganda films. His footage of the death camps was pure fantasy. Image from

World War II Propaganda Tee Shirts - militaryleaders.blogspot.com: You can't beat vintage artwork, it's all the rage these days. And some of the best vintage artwork was created during the greatest world conflict our tiny planet has ever known. That conflict is, of course, World War Two. Image from article




ONLY IN INDONESIA?

"What the World Costs- Indonesia
500 rupiah ($.06): a single mentos candy; one piece of deep-fried tempe
1,000 rupiah ($.11): student ticket to Jakarta museum; ten minutes internet in Bali; a bag of tofu and chillies
1,500 rupiah ($.17): cup of green tea in Bandung
2,000 rupiah ($.22): cup of cafe bali on the street; slice of watermelon or papaya from street vendors
3,000 rupiah ($.33): 1.5 liters of water; transyogya bus service
3,500 rupiah ($.39): transjakarta bus service; elevator to the top of Manas tower
4,500 rupaih ($.50): deep-fried tofu; student ticket to the Indonesian National Museum
5,000 rupiah ($.56): nasi goreng (fried rice) in Jakarta; sweet rice breakfast in Ubud; 3in1 nescafe
6,000 rupiah ($.69): babak ayam (chicken soup) in Jakarta
7,000 rupiah ($.78): fresh-squeezed oj; mango smoothie
8,00 rupiah ($.89): a shave at a barber shop
9,000 rupiah ($1.00): udap udap (Balinese noodles); 1 hr train from Solo to Yogja 10,000 rupiah ($1.11): the best chicken soup with rice in Jakarta; entrance to Kebun Raya botanical garden
11,000 rupiah ($1.22): martabak in Yogya


12,000 rupiah ($1.33): chicken sate with thick peanut sauce and rice; stupidity tax for 2hr bus from Probolingo to Malang
15,000 rupiah ($1.67): mie goreng (fried noodles) in Kuta
16,400 rupiah ($1.83): 250ml bottle of listerine
17,000 rupiah ($1.89): fish in yellow curry, spinach and rice in Jakarta
20,000 rupiah ($2.23): matinée movie ticket; ticket to see monkey sanctuary in Ubud; 1 hr bemo (minibus) to Ubud
22,000 rupiah ($2.45): banana split in Jakarta
25,000 rupiah ($2.79): large bottle of Bintang beer in a corner store; arak and pineapple in Kuta (2 for 1 happy hour)
27,000 rupiah ($3.01): large bottle of Bintang beer in a restaurant
32,000 rupiah ($3.57): tenderloin steak, potato wedges and veggies for thanksgiving dinner
34,000 rupiah ($3.79): halal Big mac, fries and a coke
35,000 rupiah ($3.90): half a double room with breakfast in Yogya; dorm in Jakarta
40,000 rupiah ($4.46): per person for a double room at Nick's hostel in Jakarta; 3 hr bus Bogor to Bandung
50,000 rupiah ($5.57): 2 for 1 vodka tonics in Kuta; single room w/ bathroom and cold shower in Ubud
55,000 rupiah ($6.13): room with fan in Solo
60,000 rupiah ($6.69): single room in Jakarta, no bathroom
70,000 rupiah ($7.80): single room w/ bathroom in Kuta (Bali)
75,000 rupiah ($8.36): capirinhas at nice bar in Jakarta; room in Bogor, no bathroom
105,000 rupiah ($11.70): new copy of "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving in Bandung
120,000 rupiah ($13.37): 12 hour bus from Denpasar to Probolingo
130,000 rupiah ($14.49): 10 hr "bisnis" train from Yogya to Jakarta
150,000 rupiah ($16.72): cup of kopi luwak (civet shit coffee); 16 hr bus Bandung to Surabaya; 12 hr bus Surabaya to Denpasar
230,000 rupiah ($25.63): 54 hr bus from Jakarta to Bukittinggi
270,000 rupiah ($30.09): fast ferry from Dumai to Malacca, Malaysia
373,000 rupiah ($41.57): flight from Medan to Penang, Malaysia (Aka possible stupidity tax)"

--From Paul Rockower, Levantine; Rockower image from

AMERICANA

The Pentagon's Spending Binge

"This year, the United States will spend at least $700 billion on defense and security. Adjusting for inflation, that's more than America has spent on defense in any year since World War II -- more than during the Korean war, the Vietnam war, or the Reagan military buildup. Much of that enormous sum results from spending increases under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Since 2001, military and security expenditures have soared by 119 percent."

"For most of that time, of course, the United States has been fighting two wars. Yet that's not the cause of the defense-spending explosion. Even if the costs of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are subtracted, the defense budget has swelled by 68 percent since 2001."

Remarkable: "The U.S. defense budget is now about the same as military spending in all other countries combined."

--Gregg Easterbrook, New Republic

ONE MORE QUOTATION FOR THE DAY


"We are texting ourselves to death."

--Author Neal Gabler; image from article