The Speckled Axe

"I found the difficulty of obtaining good and breaking bad habits in other points of vice and virtue, have given up the struggle, and concluded that a speckled axe was best…" -Benjamin Franklin

The Best and Worst Foreign Policy Presidents of the Past Century

The only saving grace that keeps Lyndon Johnson out of the cellar is that this list included 21st century presidents as well. After all there are bad foreign policy presidents … and then there is George W. Bush. The decision alone to go to war in Iraq, an unnecessary and pointless conflict based on dubious intelligence and hyped threats of nuclear, biological attack, would place Bush squarely in the cellar. Yet there is so much more. In making the case for war, Bush ran roughshod over the international system that his own country had helped to form; angered and undermined key allies and cratered the US image in the world. A failure to prioritize post-war planning ensured that a successful military victory against Saddam Hussein turned into a long-term and disastrous occupation that weakened America even further. It’s pretty hard to fight a war that literally does not one thing to further US interests and strengthens the enemy you nominally went to war against in the first place (al Qaeda), but Bush accomplished that feat.

Iraq also diverted necessary resources from the war in Afghanistan and the fight against al Qaeda (leading to further escalation and American loss of life after Bush left office). Bush’s second term Freedom doctrine to spread democracy around the world failed badly and opened up the US to charges of hypocrisy (it also led in part to a Hamas government taking over in Gaza). And Bush offered little response as North Korea officially became a member of the nuclear club during his presidency. Bush supporters will argue that it’s too early to judge the success of his foreign policy performance. Perhaps, but early judgments are in; and they’re not good. It’s pretty hard to imagine any situation under which that judgment will be reversed.

(Source: azspot)

good: Hustlin’: How I Became My Own Mentor in a Freelance Economy The fact is, freelance is becoming the new 9-to-5, whether we want it to or not. Tom Fisher, writing in the Huffington Post, reports that “contingent workforce,” meaning the self-employed, freelancers, or “accidental entrepreneurs” laid off from full-time positions, will make up between 40 and 45 percent of the workforce by 2020 and become a majority by 2030.  As the “contingent” workforce grows, we need to embrace the freelance hustle. Check it out on GOOD→ 

good:

Hustlin’: How I Became My Own Mentor in a Freelance Economy

The fact is, freelance is becoming the new 9-to-5, whether we want it to or not. Tom Fisher, writing in the Huffington Post, reports that “contingent workforce,” meaning the self-employed, freelancers, or “accidental entrepreneurs” laid off from full-time positions, will make up between 40 and 45 percent of the workforce by 2020 and become a majority by 2030.

 As the “contingent” workforce grows, we need to embrace the freelance hustle.

Check it out on GOOD→ 

latimes: Rise in crime intensifies unease in once-safe Egypt: Egyptians say they don’t recognize the country now, a place with carjackings, soccer melees and brazen bank robberies. Photo: A woman passes a mural in Cairo depicting unidentified soccer fans slain at this month’s riot in Port Said. The bloodshed underscored a new kind of cruelty in Egypt. Credit: Nasser Nasser / Associated Press

latimes:

Rise in crime intensifies unease in once-safe Egypt: Egyptians say they don’t recognize the country now, a place with carjackings, soccer melees and brazen bank robberies.

Photo: A woman passes a mural in Cairo depicting unidentified soccer fans slain at this month’s riot in Port Said. The bloodshed underscored a new kind of cruelty in Egypt. Credit: Nasser Nasser / Associated Press

(Source: Los Angeles Times)

fotojournalismus: A protester threw stones at Israeli troops firing tear gas outside Ofer Prison in the West Bank Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012. Demonstrators rallied in support of Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, who has been detained without being charged; he agreed Tuesday to end a 66-day hunger strike in exchange for being freed in April. [Credit : Abbas Momani/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images]

fotojournalismus:

A protester threw stones at Israeli troops firing tear gas outside Ofer Prison in the West Bank Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012. Demonstrators rallied in support of Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, who has been detained without being charged; he agreed Tuesday to end a 66-day hunger strike in exchange for being freed in April.

[Credit : Abbas Momani/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images]

latimes: Gun culture spreads in India: Indians own about 40 million guns, second only to the U.S. Rising incomes, along with crime and fear of terrorist attacks, have fueled firearms purchases. Photo: A couple headed to their field in Noney village in January rely on a gun for safety in light of tensions before elections in India’s Manipur state. Credit: European Pressphoto Agency They’re also on the rise in terms of using gas guzzling automobiles. The United States isn’t a model other rising nations should follow!

latimes:

Gun culture spreads in India: Indians own about 40 million guns, second only to the U.S. Rising incomes, along with crime and fear of terrorist attacks, have fueled firearms purchases.

Photo: A couple headed to their field in Noney village in January rely on a gun for safety in light of tensions before elections in India’s Manipur state. Credit: European Pressphoto Agency

They’re also on the rise in terms of using gas guzzling automobiles. The United States isn’t a model other rising nations should follow!

(Source: Los Angeles Times)