No Military Solution

Five years after 9/11, it's very clear that Bush's "War on Terror" has failed miserably. An article in the Boston Globe outlines why:

The truth is that, for reasons that go far beyond questions of technique or tactics, history shows that countries like the United States and Israel just don't do protracted unconventional war especially well. It requires patience, self-restraint, bureaucratic agility -- qualities not found in abundance in modern liberal democracies. In a strictly military sense, we're about as likely to beat the Islamists at their game as Nasser or Saddam Hussein were to beat us at ours.

For both the United States and Israel, the real issue is not how to defeat the Islamist way of war but how to circumvent it, rendering it irrelevant. This implies resetting the terms of the competition.

[...]

[One] approach to circumventing the Islamist resistance, premised on a more sober appreciation of war's efficacy, begins with admitting the possibility that the problem posed by radical Islamists has no military solution. (Emphasis added.)

The article goes on to suggest a five-point strategy for changing the way we interact with Islamist resistance fighters. Above all, I sincerely believe we must shift our attention from hard to soft power: endeavoring to cultivate liberalization and democratization over decades, not mere months or years as this trigger-happy administration advocates. Until ideas like this are taken seriously by the American people and reflected in the governmet's policies, this unending and unwinnable War will continue on its bloody path to the benefit of no one.

"this guy iz great!"

My third post to this blog--God that seems like e-ages ago!-- was about an amazing video on YouTube of a nondescript guy in a baseball cap playing an arrangement of Pachebel's Canon on his electric guitar. Today, this video is the topic of a three page article in the New York Times! Unsurprisingly, I can't think of anything new to add. If you haven't watched it already, go to YouTube now and see what all the fuss is about. Oh, and if you have an extra minute, the article is worth reading too.

"フレーフレー、イチロー！" Otherwise known as, "Emmy's First Ball Game"

今日、初めて野球の試合を見に行きました。さすがにイチローを生で見るのは感激でした。野球の事を全然知らないのに感激だったのが、ちょっと不思議だったけど。。。　ま、いっか！とにかく頑張れ、イチロー！　

ちなみに、今日はマリナーズが６対３で勝利を得ました。

On the beach ^ 2

I'm currently 'on the beach': unstaffed but still getting paid, which I'll be the first to admit is a very very beautiful thing, despite its slothful implications. However, for the past two weekends a bunch of us here in the Emerald City have also been going to the real beach for barbecues. We all pitch in to make these bountiful dinners happen, but the majority of the praises were directed at Josh and Megan for their amazing entrees. Lamb kebobs last weekend, sirloin steaks last night. What's even more impressive is because it takes us a while to pile into the car (five adult persons to one vehicle, how's that for environmentalism, huh?) and get over to the actual beach, half or more of the grilling has taken place in darkness. Despite this, we have succeeded in more than filling our bellies, all whilst watching the sun set behind the Olympic (?) mountains and the stars come out. The serenity of Nature is awe-inspiring, especially to a person who grew up in a city where the sun usually goes down behind powerlines and concrete buildings and the smog obscures most of the starlight.

I think I can get used to it up here.

Sittin' in traffic...

Bobby and Brian look up how bad the traffic is heading out to Remond before walking to the bus stop every morning. If they're working late, they work really late--again, to minimize the amount of time they waste sitting on the bus. All of us had heard about how bad the traffic is in Seattle, but it really doesn't sink in until you've sat on the highway for what seems like an eternity because of roadwork or scheduled your day to avoid rush hour. An article in the Times on America's failing infrastructure shows things are bad not just in the Emerald City but all across the country. Americans now spend an average of 47 hours every year idling in traffic! Maybe I shouldn't worry about getting a driver's license after all....

Zen.

I had my first sit-down meal in my apartment tonight. Nattou, miso soup, and pickled Japanese cucumbers. It was a fitting meal since I'd just put myself through a 90 minute session of hot yoga. Tune out the roar of the cars speeding past on Broadway--enjoy the thought that for the first time in the past two weeks, I can enjoy a meal without stressing about what will come after it. Chew slowly, sip artfully. Prepare a cup of tea for dessert. Zen is in the air tonight, here on Capitol Hill.

san francisco, ca ----> seattle, wa

Top: Redwoods in Oregon.
Middle: The Texan hugs a tree.
Bottom: The view from Bobby and Bri's place.

Two weeks...

It's been over two weeks since my last post.

I know.

It's pathetic.

Recently I've developed this notion that blogging, in some ways, is rather like cleaning: it's much easier to keep up and do it daily than it is to let things accumulate and attempt to do everything at once. The unfortunate news is that I'm already so far behind on here, and catching up is such a monstrously overwhelming task, that I've been systematically avoiding Blogger for the last several days. Or week. Sigh.

The mundane excuse for my online absence is that I started my first-ever Real Job down in San Francisco this week. It was a blast, but it also undermined my sense of confidence (not to mention competence) immensely. Who are all of these HBS graduates, nodding in understanding as the IT dude talks about pivot tables and modeling and how to manipulate data in excel spreadsheets spanning thousands of cells? Why do I feel so incredibly young all of a sudden??? It's an interesting feeling to go from feeling old as a senior in university to coming to grips with the rather jarring idea that you'll be working with people 10 or 20 or 30 years your senior on a daily basis. Suddenly, you're not just surrounded by 20-somethings. I really like it--but it's difficult not to feel like the runt of the litter.

Anyway, I just needed to overcome the inertia and put something up here to remind myself that I'm capable of doing just that. Photos from the latter half of Bobby and I's roadtrip to come! And an update on BlogHer! And so much more, right here, on the so-called real world.

Preview: Me, tree-huggin' in Oregon.