Learn When Its Easy.

The reason that it’s so important to embarras China on her backwards response to the 314 Tibet Uprising is that China is “young enough” to take risks now. As China’s population ages and her “charm offense” is exposed for the colonial resource grab that it is, China will need a competent government that responds to trouble in a more mature way than this:

But even as Beijing is promising to welcome 1.5 million visitors to the Olympic Games, public security officials are tightening controls over daily life and introducing visa restrictions that are causing anxiety among the 250,000 foreigners who have settled here in recent years.

The visa rules, which were introduced last week with little explanation, restrict many visitors to 30-day stays, replacing flexible, multiple-entry visas that had allowed people to remain for up to a year. The new rules make it harder for foreigners to live and work in Beijing without applying for residency permits, which can be difficult to obtain. The restrictions are also complicating the lives of businesspeople in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore used to crossing the border with ease.

“I can’t begin to explain how serious this is going to be,” said Richard Vuylsteke, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. “A barrier like this is going to have a real ripple effect on business.”

and this:

The first refers to China closing itself off to the world by making it harder to get travel and work visas, as previously reported on tdaxp. The second is an anti-CNN (see the bullet holes?) banner from Sina.com, as noted on imagethief, the largest internet company in China and one whose violent anti-western-media graphics somehow escape censorship, even while pro-Tibet comments on Sina servers are removed.

China’s hurting herself a lot in her resposne to the 314 Tibet Uprising, alienating friends (including businessmen and, of all people, the French) while endearing herself to no one. The failure of China’s 314 reaction must be underlined, so the “next generation” of Communist leaders can react to similar events smarter than this one did.

Colombia is close to winning the war against Marxist rebels.

Let’s see if the Democrats in Congress can put a stop to it.

The silence from the Democratic presidential candidates is understandable, but still disappointing. From Hillary Clinton the silence sounds like hypocrisy: her husband did so much to advance free trade during his years in the White House. From Barack Obama it seems like a continuation of a pattern: fitting the rhetoric against middle-classness that has agreed with his actions for the past two decades.

This is incredibly good news — only promoting General Petreaus to CINCEUCOM (where he would have overseen NATO operations in Afghanistan) would be comparable:

The Associated Press: Gen. Petraeus named as next commander of Mideast command
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press has learned that Gen. David Petraeus, the four-star general who has been leading troops in Iraq, has been tapped to become the next commander of U.S. Central Command.

If confirmed by the Senate, he would replace Navy Adm. William Fallon, who stepped down in March.

Taking Petraeus’ position as the senior commander in Iraq would be Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, who had until recently been serving as Petraeus’ deputy.

Completing the Counter-Insurgency cycle in Iraq is incredibly important — and Petreaus is just the man to do it.

Soob links to an article on electronic swarming by pro-Communist agitators. I ran into my own countermeasures today: Oasis China Visa (see my earlier review) asked me for more info ASAP, because between when my mother’s and sister’s visas were approved and when mine was received, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China is now requesting plane ticket receipts and hotel reservation info (I’m not staying at a hotel, so…). Aggravating.

Surprising no one, Barack Obama has lost the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. His performance was as it always was, bringing together would-be George McGovern and Jesse Jackson voters, while repelling nearly everyone else (uneducated whites, latinos, asians). What made the Pennsylvania election especially interesting was that Hillary Clinton was doing everything she could to make it look like that McGovern-Jackson ticket was running against John McCain. Thus, her advertisement:

Of course, this makes a lot of sense. Hillary is systematically supporting her contention that Barack Obama will lose to John McCain. Certainly the results from Pennsylvania (where Clinton was outspent 2-, 3-, or 4- to 1, depending on your source) strengthen her arguments.

Tonight was also Barack Obama’s third blown chance to win the Democratic Primary, after New Hampshire and Ohio-Texas. While it’s safe to say my early prediction that an Obama candidacy would emphasize the things that make us strongest was hooey, the Pennsylvania results at least strengthen my hope that Barack Obama will do the most important thing: lose in November.

Props to the major Democratic candidates for being clear on their position in favor of medical marijuana.

Presidential Candidates on Marijuana – TierneyLab – Science – New York Times Blog
Bruce Mirken, who has been tracking the issue for the Marijuana Policy Project, says John McCain has been dismissive of marijuana’s medical potential and has been unclear on whether he’d continue federal raids against clinics in states that have legalized medical marijuana. Of the two leading Democratic candidates, Mr. Mirken says, Barack Obama has been clearer in his support for medical marijuana

Neither seems to support legalization or decriminalization, but atleast (unlike John McCain) thay are clear that it should be a medical option.

My friends at Dreaming 5GW should definitely check out The Thomas Crown Affair, staring Pierce Brosnan. Not only a description of 5GW (Observation Warfare) on many layers, also props potential 5GW v. 3GW (Manuever Warfare) and 5GW v. 1GW (Massed Formation) styles.

Really clever all around. Much cleverer than any of the awful James Bond movies that Brosnan starred in.

I won’t say that The Thomas Crown Affair is to 5GW what Lawrence of Arabia is to 3GW… but it’s close.

Outrage is the recognition of your weakness and your (perceived) enemy’s (perceived) aggression.

Outrage is valuable at building in-group cohesion and subduing others.

The recognition of how outrage distorts your orientation is valuable, if harder to achieve than it seems.

Props to Hillary Clinton, the best Democratic candidate when it comes to national defense, for reiterating and emphasizing that the United States has as a goal the elimination of state-on-state warfare in areas of the world we consider important. (I heard this on Meet the Press, where the analysis was political as opposed to strategic. This sort of reaction underlines Clinton’s bravery when it comes to protecting the country.)

Political Punch
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, said that the U.S. “should be looking to create an umbrella of deterrence that goes much further than just Israel. Of course I would make it clear to the Iranians that an attack on Israel would incur massive retaliation from the United States, but I would do the same with other countries in the region.” …

That umbrella of deterrence would be offered, Clinton suggested, in order to deter other nations in the region “from feeling that they have to acquire nuclear weapons. You can’t go to the Saudis or the Kuwaitis or UAE and others who have a legitimate concern about Iran and say: ‘Well, don’t acquire these weapons to defend yourself’ unless you’re also willing to say we will provide a deterrent backup and we will let the Iranians know that, yes, an attack on Israel would trigger massive retaliation, but so would an attack on those countries that are willing to go under this security umbrella and forswear their own nuclear ambitions.”

This is an old strategy by the United States. But a good one.

Way to go, Hill.

Really, this is laughable stuff. I nearly left a comment, but then I remembered the adage about wrestling with a pig.

Bush Admits He Betrayed The Country, Especially The Military « Hidden Unities
This week, President Bush admitted to a journalist that Tony, and those like him who died in this war, died for his stubborn incompetence and patent dishonesty. This may not be news to most, but the way this bastard casually admitted he’d been deliberately lying to the military, the military families and the American people for so long should gall at least some of us.

What’s sad about this is that Edide’s writing when it comes to comments (both on his blog and elsewhere) is generally top-notch.