October 1, 2014 archive

Afghanistan: The Forever War, Forever Forgotten

New Afghanistan pact means America’s longest war will last until at least 2024

Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian

Bilateral security deal ensures that President Obama will pass off the Afghanistan war and his new war in Iraq and Syria to his successor  

The longest war in American history will last at least another decade, according to the terms of a garrisoning deal for US forces signed by the new Afghanistan government on Tuesday.

Long awaited and much desired by an anxious US military, the deal guarantees that US and Nato troops will not have to withdraw by year’s end, and permits their stay “until the end of 2024 and beyond.”

The entry into force of the deal ensures that Barack Obama, elected president in 2008 on a wave of anti-war sentiment, will pass off both the Afghanistan war and his new war in Iraq and Syria to his successor. In 2010, his vice-president, Joe Biden, publicly vowed the US would be “totally out” of Afghanistan “come hell or high water, by 2014.”

Obama called Tuesday “a historic day” for the US and Afghanistan, as the security pact, which puts US troops beyond the reach of Afghan law, “will help advance our shared interests and the long-term security of Afghanistan.”

Cartnoon

TBC: Morning Musing 10.1.14

I read this last weekend and it was an interesting article, but it was also a piece of beautiful writing. Enjoy!

Intelligent People All Have One Thing In Common: They Stay Up Later Than You

There’s an electricity in the moon. A pulse, a magic, an energy. A bewitching entrancement unlike that of the sun.

The moon is for things unseen, things done in the shadows and beneath the fog. Under bridges and beneath bed sheets – it’s for wild hearts and unconcerned minds. It’s where plans are made in dark alleyways and secrets revealed under the soft haze of light coming through the cracks of closed shutters.

It’s when fugitives escape and kids run away. It’s when girls lose their virginities on torn leather seats and boys get into trouble. It’s when the suffering take their lives and the lonely seek comfort.

Jump!

On This Day In History October 1

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

October 1 is the 274th day of the year(275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 91 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this day in 1946, 12 high-ranking Nazis are sentenced to death by the International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg. Among those condemned to death by hanging were Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi minister of foreign affairs; Hermann Goering, founder of the Gestapo and chief of the German air force; and Wilhelm Frick, minister of the interior. Seven others, including Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s former deputy, were given prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life. Three others were acquitted.

The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military, held by the main victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany. The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, in 1945-46, at the Palace of Justice. The first and best known of these trials was the Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal (IMT), which tried 22 of the most important captured leaders of Nazi Germany. It was held from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946. The second set of trials of lesser war criminals was conducted under Control Council Law No. 10 at the US Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMT); among them included the Doctors’ Trial and the Judges’ Trial.

The Main Trial

The International Military Tribunal was opened on October 18, 1945, in the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. The first session was presided over by the Soviet judge, Nikitchenko. The prosecution entered indictments against 24 major war criminals and six criminal organizations – the leadership of the Nazi party, the Schutzstaffel (SS) and Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the Gestapo, the Sturmabteilung (SA) and the “General Staff and High Command,” comprising several categories of senior military officers.

The indictments were for:

  1. Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of a crime against peace

  2. Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace

  3. War crimes

  4. Crimes against humanity

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning


And once you’re gone,

you can never come back

Late Night Karaoke

TDS/TCR (Shyamalan-a-ding-dong)

TDS TCR

So much classier with a British accent.

Our Plagiarist President

So no Matt Bai (you didn’t miss much) and Hadi al-Bahra, President of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, instead.

Oops.  I’m a mushroom.

His 2 part web exclusive extended interview as well as the real news and this week’s guests below.

Jr. League Wildcard Play In: As @ Royals

A mite o’ meta.  TMC is on vacation after a very busy week and I leave tomorrow on family business and do not expect to be back until Tuesday next.  Does this mean we shall cease publication?  No.  We’ll do the best we can to provide the same content our readers have come to expect.

This is a particular problem for our sports coverage (Major League Baseball Playoffs and Formula One Racing) since I’m not sure what times I’ll be available, what my connection will be like, and whether I’ll have a TV handy.

As I said we’ll do the best we can.  Some games we will be liveblogging as usual, some games you’ll have to make your own fun.  We will attempt to post pre-game matchups and summaries of the key plays from the previous day’s contests.

– ek hornbeck

The Royals will be hosting, hosting I say, the Athletics tonight in the Jr. League Wild Card Play In Game.  What makes this so unusual is it’s been years, nay decades since the Royals have even sniffed post season play, and to enter tonight’s contest with a better record and home field advantage over the As is odd indeed.

The Play In Games have the unique feature that they’re not a series and teams can make up a special 1 game roster with only 1 or 2 starters and replace the others with position players.  Tonight’s contest will see Jon Lester (L, 6 – 4, 2.35 ERA) face James Shields (R, 14 – 8, 3.21 ERA).  Neither team has performed particularly well, what distinguishes this year’s edition of the Royals (who hit less than 100 Home Runs) is they have an excellent Bullpen with has covered for their lack of offense.  The As are just having an off year.

Game starts at 8 pm on TBS.