Tom Toles Cartoon: Republicans Play "Victim Card" As Next Step Into Total Irrelevance

Is ISIS A Threat To The United States Or Yet Another Way Islam Is Destroying Itself?

Demonstrators chant pro-Islamic State group slogans as they carry the group's flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad.

Alan: What we learned in Vietnam is not to interfere in another country's Civil War. What we learned in Iraq is not to start another country's Civil War. If a European power had intervened in the American Civil War, it would have infuriated every patriot (who was not a quisling), inciting retaliation against the offending power. At bottom, Americans -- utilitarians that we are -- believe in our "exceptional" ability to control the fate of other nations. The unpalatable truth however is that our intervention in Vietnam, Iraq, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and "The Arab Spring" has resulted in a range of outcomes from abject failure to calamity. Then there is "the unmentionable." The United States has squandered so much treasure on overseas swashbuckling that Uncle Sam has no "decisive" military "hand" to play. Even Republicans who "talk the belligerent talk" will not sign off on "the belligerent walk."

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"War Is A Racket," by Gen. Smedley Butler And The Particular Racket Of "The Iraq War"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2014/06/war-is-racket-gen-smedley-butler.html

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The Islamic State’s challenge to the United States

By David Ignatius Opinion writer July 31 at 8:23 PM 

Warnings from U.S. officials about the terrorist Islamic State that has established a haven in Iraq and Syria sound ominously like the intelligence alerts that preceded al-Qaeda’s attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

Richard Ledgett, the deputy director of the National Security Agency, said at the Aspen Security Forum last week that the “most worrisome” threat he’s tracking are the thousands of foreign fighters training with the Islamic State. Lisa Monaco, the White House counterterrorism adviser, said at the same gathering that the al-Qaeda spinoff poses a potential danger to the U.S. homeland.

The case for caution was made by Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the Aspen meeting. He warned against “precipitous” military action and said that the United States “should take the longer view” on how to roll back the Islamic State fighters. Dempsey argued that the United States should channel increased military support through a new, more inclusive Iraqi government after the polarizing Prime Minister Nouri al­Maliki is replaced.The lights seem to be blinking red, but the United States is holding its fire for the moment, despite some calls from congressional hawks to bomb the Islamic State terrorists before they get any stronger. This delay reflects a debate within the Obama administration about how and when to fight the self­proclaimed jihadist caliphate.

A new Iraqi government is certainly desirable, but the United States shouldn’t wait for the perfect allies in Iraq, Syria or other new battlegrounds. Imperfect though they may be, Iraqi tribal leaders and haphazard Free Syrian Army fighters need U.S. help now. And on the legal front, the Obama administration may soon need authority for direct action against the Islamic State, which as an al-Qaeda breakaway may not be covered by existing authorizations to use force.

The Islamic State is dangerous because it operates strategically, forming useful alliances and carefully planning its operations. The group withdrew from vulnerable positions in northern Syria last year and consolidated in a haven in Raqqah. From there, it expanded its operations in Iraq, sweeping across Anbar Province this spring and blitzing through Mosul and Tikrit in June.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, has demonstrated a mix of brutality and cunning. He sliced through Iraq by forming alliances with Sunni tribal leaders and former Baathist officers, capitalizing on their hatred of Maliki. By maintaining good operational security, he achieved tactical surprise in Mosul and elsewhere. He struck at weak points in the Iraqi military, based on what evidently was good intelligence. Though poised to attack Baghdad, he has held back, perhaps fearing a punishing U.S. reaction.

In all these ways, Baghdadi is a formidable foe. He rebuilt a network that had been reduced from its 2006 level of 10,000 fighters to perhaps 1,500 a year or so ago. What’s scary is its outreach: Roughly half of the Islamic State’s 10,000-plus fighters today are neither Syrian nor Iraqi but foreigners drawn from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Europe and even America. The Islamic State has also begun drawing recruits from the most toxic al-Qaeda affiliates and gained their expertise in making undetectable non-metallic bombs.

How can the United States begin to combat and ultimately destroy Baghdadi and his Islamic State? A crucial ally would be a new Iraqi government, trusted by Sunnis and Kurds as well as Shiites. But the United States will also need links with Iraqi tribal leaders. An opportunity came at a conference two weeks ago in Amman, Jordan, of 200 Iraqi sheiks, Baathists and other opposition figures. But the Iraqi government denounced the meeting, saying that the attendees were “involved in the shedding of Iraqi blood.” The United States appears to have acted cautiously, despite pleas from some tribal leaders to revive the “Awakening” strategy that shattered al-Qaeda in Iraq between 2006 and 2008.

For Obama, who said last year that he hoped to move the United States away from a “perpetual wartime footing” after Iraq and Afghanistan, the Islamic State threat has been a painful reality check. Obama doesn’t want to create a new generation of enemies for the United States. But he faces a dangerous, festering menace he didn’t anticipate. The Islamic State is like an epidemic in a faraway country. For now, it may be killing mainly Syrians and Iraqis, but left untouched, it’s likely to spread until it threatens Europe and America, too.

The awful truth is that the conflict taking shape in Iraq and Syria will last for years. The challenge for Obama (and, alas, his successor) is how to fight terrorism over the next decade without making the ruinous mistakes of the previous one.

Read more from David Ignatius’s archive

Now That China Has Engaged Africa, Copy-Cat Gringos Want To "Catch Up"

"Ethiopia: Bread Basket Of Africa?!?"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/04/ethiopia-breadbasket-of-africa.html

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To be attentive to history is to be on the lookout for pivotal moments, and in the geopolitics surrounding Africa, the 1990s stand out as a hugely pivotal time.

With the Cold War scarcely over, the West turned its attention away from the continent, largely defining its problems as humanitarian issues, which are traditionally the lowest station of foreign policy priorities. Western Europe, which had colonized Africa decades earlier, reoriented its focus to Eastern Europe, attracted by what it saw as large, capital-starved markets with well-educated workers who would nonetheless be satisfied being paid bargain-basement wages by the standards of that continent.

The U.S. took a different route. With a focus dominated by security, it invested its energy and treasure in a series of interventions in the greater Middle East, leading to a series of costly and inconclusive wars in the Islamic world.

STORY: In His First Year, China's Xi Puts Unprecedented Focus on Africa

In the 1990s, China’s economic reforms were just beginning to rev up, and the People’s Republic was able to survey the world with the fresh eyes that an emergence from a long period of relative isolation brings. The leadership understood that the good run the country had enjoyed since opening its economy to foreign investment in the 1980s could carry it only so far, and that to sustain growth, China had to hold its own in the global economy by finding new international markets. In 1996 the Chinese committed to a policy known simply as Going Out and selected Africa as a priority zone for expansion.

Many people who have focused on China’s burgeoning ties with Africa since then have made the easy mistake of believing the country’s strategy is mostly a natural resources play. They’ve missed the big picture of why Africa has become so important to China and of why this is so relevant to the U.S. and other big, globalized economies that may now have to hustle to get into the Africa game.

Africa’s resource wealth is certainly of huge importance to China, a manufacturing superpower that is urbanizing and building infrastructure on an unprecedented scale. Unlike Western powers, however, China sees raw materials as only one of the three pillars of its Africa strategy. The second pillar involves using Africa as a springboard to help Chinese businesses emerge as global players.

VIDEO: Does GDP Growth Make Nigeria Ripe for Investment?

Over the past decade, Chinese companies have built bulging order books in Africa, cutting their teeth in a part of the world where Western competitors, when present at all, have not brought their A team. The Chinese astutely calculate that the wealth they accumulate in Africa and the lessons they learn will serve them well as they push into bigger, richer, and tougher markets. Examples of this strategy are particularly abundant in telecommunications, where companies such as Tecno (cell phones) and ZTE (000063:CH) (mobile phone infrastructure) have relied on Africa in part to launch themselves globally.

Boasting scores of already mature multinational corporations, Western countries would not be mistaken to think they had relatively little to learn from this aspect of China’s expansion into Africa. The third pillar of Beijing’s strategy, though, could well become the game changer. Understanding that, for the remainder of the century, the bulk of global population growth will take place in Africa, China is making a long bet on the emergence of vibrant, high-consuming middle classes there, and with each year this wager is looking smarter and smarter.

Although at a glance Africa still looks overwhelmingly poor, it’s recently become the fastest-growing region of the world, and its share of global gross domestic product has increased to 4.1 percent, from 3.4 percent in 2000—a trend that figures to accelerate. Africa already has a middle class larger than India’s, albeit a balkanized one. And as the economic emergence continues, it will benefit more and more from new technologies that will allow it to leapfrog communication and infrastructure hurdles.

STORY: The World Isn't As Fragile as the U.S. Thinks

Perhaps most important is Africa’s so-called demographic dividend, which over the next few decades will place most of the population in the most productive, youthful, and heavily consuming phase of life. Young people in Africa resemble less and less the peasant multitudes of the past. Instead, they are urban and highly globalized in terms of culture. African investment in education, among the highest in the world in terms of percentage of GDP, can barely keep up with the heavy demand for learning. The thirst for education can be seen in United Nations data that show enrollment in secondary schools jumped 48 percent in sub-Saharan Africa from 2000 to 2008; higher-education rates grew 80 percent.

STORY: Turning Ethiopia Into China's China

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"Ethiopia: Bread Basket Of Africa?!?"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2012/04/ethiopia-breadbasket-of-africa.html

"Actually, Some Material Goods Can Make You Happy," Rebecca Rosen

"The play's the thing."

Shakespeare

It's been the refrain of behavioral economists and, in my case at least, my wise husband for years: Spend your money on experiences, not things. A vacation or a meal with friends will enrich your life; new shoes will quickly lose their charm.

That's true, but it's not the whole story, argue psychologists Darwin A. Guevarra and Ryan T. Howell in a new paper in the Journal of Consumer Psychology. Not all goods, they say, should be lumped together.

Here's the problem, as Guevarra and Howell see it: In many studies, participants are asked to think about material items as purchases made "in order to have," in contrast with experiences—purchases made "in order to do." This, they say, neglects a category of goods: those made in order to have experiences,  such as electronics, musical instruments, and sports and outdoors gear. Do such "experiential goods," as Guevarra and Howell call them, leave our well-being unimproved, as is the case with most goods, or do they contribute positively to our happiness?

In a series of experiments, Guevarra and Howell find that the latter is the case: experiential goods made people happier, just like the experiences themselves.

This might seem like a pedantic distinction, just a breaking down of two categories of purchases (goods and experiences) into three (pure goods, experiences, and the goods that enable you to have those experiences). But there is more to it: Understanding why some things make people happy and others don't reveals a little bit about the mechanics of human happiness and how to cultivate it. 

Begin by examining why experiences provide more happiness than material consumption. What is it about experiences? It's not the fact of having an experience per se but that experiences can "satisf[y] the psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness." Talking to friends, mastering a skill, expressing oneself through art or writing—all of these provide a measure of fulfillment that merely owning a thing cannot.

Experiential goods fit in under this framework because they likewise can satisfy those same psychological needs. A musical instrument, for example, makes possible a sort of human happiness hat trick: Finely tune your skills, get the happiness of mastery (competence); play your heart out, get the happiness of self-expression (autonomy); jam with friends, get the happiness of connecting with others (relatedness).

"Spend your money on experiences, not things" remains a good basic rule. But it's possible to tweak it slightly to better reflect the drivers of human happiness: "Spend your money on competence, autonomy, and relatedness." That doesn't quite have the same ring to it, but it'll guide you wisely.

Herman Melville Comments On Italian Proverb: "A Full Belly Does Not Believe In Hunger"

"Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity... nothing exceeds... 
the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed." 

Herman Melville, (1819-1891) 

Of this we can be sure: "It's the other guy."

And what's more... "It's his fault."

Best Pax Posts On Psychological Projection And "The Shadow"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/02/best-pax-posts-on-psychological.html

Compendium Of Best Pax Posts On "Too Pure Principles" And The Collapse Of Conservatism

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/02/compendium-of-best-pax-posts-on-too.html

Psychological Projection: Who's The Idiot?

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/02/psychological-projection-whos-idiot.html

Psychological Projection, "The Shadow" And American Conservatism's Hatred Of Islam

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/02/psychological-projection-shadow-and.html

25 Impressive Outdoor Sculptures From Around The World

Mustangs, Las Colinas, Texas

Other Outdoor Sculptures:

http://www.boredpanda.com/worlds-most-creative-statues-sculptures/?image_id=worlds-most-creative-statues-2.jpg#topcategories

In Search Of Perfect Pesto

J.S. Marcus
July 31, 2014 

NOT ALL PESTO is created equal. The cherished amalgam of basil, garlic, salt, grated cheese and olive oil has its origins in the northwest of Italy, around the port of Genoa, the undisputed pesto capital, and the surrounding region of Liguria. The pesto here tastes different wherever you choose to eat—but just about always right.

As you learn in Liguria, true pesto—or pesto alla genovese, as Italians usually call it in deference to its origins—requires a lot more effort than just opening a jar.

The first step is sourcing the ingredients. And the first ingredient that everyone worries about in Genoa is the basil—which isn't just any basil, but "basilico genovese," an especially sweet variety of sweet basil grown in the center and west of Liguria.

As it turns out, what's so special is not just the variety but also the age of the basil, says Roberto Panizza, Genoa's pesto impresario, who owns a local trattoria, Il Genovese, and helps to organize the Genoa Pesto World Championship (held biannually).

"Basil can have different flavors," he says. "It can taste of mint, or lavender or lemon." But young basil, no more than a few weeks old, with leaves the size of a fingernail, has the purest basil taste.

Pesto as it is made at Ristorante Rosa, in Camogli, near Genoa, Italy David Yoder for The Wall Street Journal

Pesto is traditionally made with Ligurian olive oil—a mild, buttery product a world away from the fruity, peppery oils in the rest of Italy. Good garlic is also essential.

Salt should be coarse, and its abrasion is key in breaking down the basil leaves when pesto is made by hand. The grated cheese is a matter of taste and temperament. Mr. Panizza, like many in Genoa, prefers a combination of 24-month old Parmigiano-Reggiano and stronger fiore sardo, a pecorino cheese from Sardinia.

When combining, pesto purists reach for a mortar and pestle. The mortar should be marble and the pestle should be wood. Mr. Panizza says you should plan on 10-15 minutes of grinding time.

Meanwhile, many home cooks in Genoa take out the blender. The result is clearly different—mortar-and-pestle pesto has visible bits of basil leaves whereas the machine-made versions are often a homogenous green. A key advantage in the mortar-and-pestle method is that the whir of the blender will heat up the ingredients, affecting the taste. Local cooks make sure to avoid this by chilling the blender pitchers before preparation.

Fresh pesto belongs with pasta. In Liguria, unlike much of the rest of Italy, fresh pasta is made without eggs—the result can be oddly bland on its own, but that blandness turns out to be the perfect vehicle for pesto.

Classic fresh-pasta accompaniments to pesto include hand-rolled and dumpling-like trofie; and mandilli, a Ligurian-style variant of lasagna that is served like pappardelle rather than in layers.

Here are four of the top spots for pesto in Liguria:

A view of the terrace at Ristorante Rosa in Camogli, Italy David Yoder for The Wall Street Journal

Ristorante Rosa, Camogli

Trofie al pesto David Yoder for The Wall Street Journal

Camogli, an upscale beach town 25 kilometers east of Genoa, is an accessible entry point to the Portofino peninsula. You can match great pesto with superlative coastal views at the elegant old-fashioned restaurant, Rosa. The classic way to prepare fresh trofie is to boil it with green beans and potatoes, then mix it together with pesto—in Italian, trofie al pesto con fagiolini e patate. The pesto here has a buttery richness, thanks to the prime Ligurian olive oil, which suits the competing starchiness of the ingredients. Camogli is also known as a fishing village, so let the pesto be a first course before moving onto a mixed grill of local fish and seafood. Trofie al pesto con fagiolini e patate, €8

Mangiabuono, a bare-bones trattoria across from the 16th-century Palazzo Salvago in Genoa David Yoder for The Wall Street Journal

Mangiabuono, Genoa

Pesto served with primitive whole-wheat pasta David Yoder for The Wall Street Journal

Genoa's old town is known for retaining a medieval egalitarianism—rich and poor still live cheek-by-jowl here. For authentic pesto, and a dip into ordinary Genoese life, you can't do better than Mangiabuono, a bare-bones trattoria across from the 16th-century Palazzo Salvago. The no-plastic rule only applies to credit cards in this cash-only, English-free zone. (Expect plastic table clothes and plastic cups containing fantastic homemade tiramisu.) Pesto here is served with primitive pasta called testaroli—a crêpe-like Ligurian concoction that is rolled out and pan-fried, then cut up in spongy diamonds and boiled. It soaks up the homemade pesto, creating more of an infused dough than a sauced pasta. Testaroli al pesto, €8; +39 010 253 0501

La Bossa di Mario in Camogli, Italy David Yoder for The Wall Street Journal

La Bossa di Mario, Camogli

Trofie with pesto David Yoder for The Wall Street Journal

Many restaurants specializing in pesto are traditional to a fault—for variation, head to La Bossa di Mario on Camogli's quaint main drag, Via della Repubblica, where locally sourced ingredients are featured in a wine-bar setting. Many pesto lovers drown the pasta in sauce, but trofie al pesto at La Bossa takes another route. The scant amount of homemade pesto, with noticeable basil flecks, lets the homemade al dente pasta shine. Plan on half an order as a first course, before moving on to a Ligurian main dish such as an earthy stew of mackerel and peas, or an elegant presentation of locally-caught shrimp sautéed in brandy and served with an asparagus cream. Dinner for two, €70; labossa.it

Pesto being made at Il Genovese David Yoder for The Wall Street

Il Genovese, Genoa

Pesto served on gnocchi David Yoder for The Wall Street Journal

Ask the locals where to find the best pesto and most of them will send you to Il Genovese, where the pesto is made by hand every day. This no-nonsense, two-story trattoria, surrounded by the grandiose architecture of Genoa's late 19th-century boom years, fills up fast, especially at lunch. Pesto is the star here, and pasta foils include fresh troffiete, a variation on trofie, and gnocchi. The pesto has perfectly balanced flavor—you can't pick out the basil or the garlic, for instance. Have a full portion as a main course and combine it with a green salad. Troffiete al pesto, €9; ilgenovese.com

PESTO

TOTAL TIME: 10-15 minutes | Serves 4-6

• 4 bunches of fresh PDO (Protected Designation of

Origin) Genoese basil, which guarantees high-quality

flavor (this is equivalent to about 280 g of leaves)

• 30 g pine nuts

• 50-60 g aged Parmesan cheese, grated

• 20-40 g fiore sardo cheese

(Sardinian pecorino), grated

• 1-2 garlic cloves from Vessalico (in the Ligurian

province of Imperia)

• 3 g coarse salt

• 60-80 mL PDO extra-virgin olive oil
from "Riviera Ligure"

Preparation

A marble mortar and wooden pestle are the tools traditionally used to make pesto. Wash the basil leaves in cold water and dry them on a tea towel without rubbing. In a mortar, finely crush the garlic and pine nuts until they are smooth. Add a few grains of salt and the basil leaves, then pound the mixture using a light circular movement of the pestle against the sides. Repeat this process. When the basil drips bright green liquid, add the cheeses. Pour in a thin layer of olive oil, and lightly blend the ingredients. The preparation must be done as quickly as possible to avoid oxidation.

Recipe courtesy of the Genoa Pesto World Championship