At least several hundred mile-junkies discovered that a free shipping offer on presidential and Native American $1 coins, sold at face value by the U.S. Mint, amounted to printing free frequent-flier miles. Mileage lovers ordered more than $1 million in coins until the Mint started identifying them and cutting them off.
Coin buyers charged the purchases, sold in boxes of 250 coins, to a credit card that offers frequent-flier mile awards, then took the shipments straight to the bank. They then used the coins they deposited to pay their credit-card bills. Their only cost: the car trip to make the deposit.h/t: Daily Dish
Rabbi Shemtov, who has attended Hanukkah parties at the White House, said he raised an eyebrow when he received his invitation, but noted that the Bush administration once sent invitations out with Christmas trees on them.
“This is all one big overblown latke,” the rabbi said.
“I feel that we need to save our communal kvetching in reserve for when it’s more called for and really matters,” he continued.
The July 2011 date should be understood as an inflection point, not as the end of the American military mission. There is no “mission accomplished” here. The American commitment to Afghanistan and Pakistan will continue. The pace and location of withdrawals will be dictated by conditions on the ground and, indeed, the date itself was carefully chosen based on the military’s best calculations of improved security and political conditions. It was not drawn from a hat, or determined by the domestic political calendar.
The deadline is essential politically because it will provide the necessary urgency for Afghans to make the institutional reforms that will ensure their own survival. An open-ended commitment creates a terrible moral hazard in which Afghan leaders, assuming American troops will always be there to protect them, may make risky or counterproductive decisions. A limited, conditional commitment creates the leverage needed to generate the institutional transformation necessary to cement any gains made by the military.I'm mostly going to take Prof. Lynch's word on this, mostly because it sounds reasonable, I'm ignorant, and I think that getting all of the info for such a decision would get me arrested, but I did want to make an additional point in response to views like this one about his Nobel Speech:
In accepting the award, Obama eloquently apologized for America's past failures — going back to Woodrow Wilson — and credited himself with "banning torture" and closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. In a brief "presser" afterwards, he once again took pains to emphasize his arbitrary and unprecedented July, 2011 withdrawal schedule for the troops he just ordered to combat. [...] Would a "war president" devote 92 percent of his public commentary, speeches, lectures, media appearances over the past 10 months to everything but the war? His "economic stimulus plan," TARP, the government takeover of the auto industry, the plan for government-run health insurance, global climate change and "carbon limits" have each generated more presidential words than "the war."Talk about spin; let's looking at what Obama actually said:
We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth: We will not eradicate violent conflict in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations -- acting individually or in concert -- will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.Col. North description of the above as an "apology for past failures" falls flat on its face. Obama made himself appear as a war President in front of the world, and he had the guts (or rudeness, I suppose) to do so while receiving the Nobel. He defended the American use of force, and did so while acknoleging King and Gandhi. This sort of move embraces complexity, something I admire, and it makes me trust his abilities to represent America all the more. He's given the military the tools it asked for to accomplish an Afghanistan mission, instead of firing those who suggest his policies are wrong-headed. I certainly hope it's the right course, though I imagine the US will claim victory if everything within a day's walk of Kabul is stable, and there aren't regular large-scale bombings.
I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King Jr. said in this same ceremony years ago: "Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones." As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King's life work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there's nothing weak -- nothing passive -- nothing naïve -- in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.
But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism -- it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.
I raise this point, I begin with this point because in many countries there is a deep ambivalence about military action today, no matter what the cause. And at times, this is joined by a reflexive suspicion of America, the world's sole military superpower.
But the world must remember that it was not simply international institutions -- not just treaties and declarations -- that brought stability to a post-World War II world. Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this: The United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms. The service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform has promoted peace and prosperity from Germany to Korea, and enabled democracy to take hold in places like the Balkans. We have borne this burden not because we seek to impose our will. We have done so out of enlightened self-interest -- because we seek a better future for our children and grandchildren, and we believe that their lives will be better if others' children and grandchildren can live in freedom and prosperity.
Two Williams College women's soccer players have been named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All America teams. Midfielder Brianna Wolfson was named to the second team, while defender Kara Duggan earned third-team honors.
Wolfson, the 2009 NESCAC player of the year, had 4 goals and 8 assists in 2009. In her career, the senior from Brookville, N.Y., scored 30 goals -- 11 game winners. Duggan, a junior from Poway, Calif., anchored a defensive unit that allowed only nine goals in 20 games. She also scored three times.Now we just have to see how the freshman develop over the Spring and Summer. I think that made a big difference last time.
A recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that when pens were priced at $1.99 and $4.00, only 18% of the participants chose the higher-priced pen; but when the pens were priced at $2.00 and $3.99, 44% of the participants selected the higher-priced pen. That one-cent price drop makes the $4 pen seem a lot cheaper.h/t: Daily Dish
Located just outside of Crosville, Tennessee, the 97 foot tall tree house/church is supported by a still living 80 foot tall white oak tree with a 12 foot diameter base, and uses six others as further support.h/t: Daily Dish
The University’s peer institutions have witnessed mixed results in this year’s Early Decision process as compared to previous year’s. Bowdoin College experienced a 5 percent increase from their ED pool last year. Williams College dropped about 15 percent. After last year’s record high, Yale’s number of Early Action applicants dropped by 5 percent. Brown’s applications rose by 21 percent following a dramatic drop in 2008.
I love the first architectural impression one gets of Williams when driving down Route 2. After passing the blocky brick Greylock Quad, one goes by the soaring '62 Center, then the more Roman-style (?) Faculty Club. After Park Avenue and a hedge, one reaches the President's House, which I would ignorantly describe as "Georgian." Next is the New England plain-white Congregationalist Church, then the newfangled Schapiro Hall. Hopkins Hall's red brick is next, then the looming Gothic tower of Thompson Chapel. The last building on the left is Griffin, which is in the Federal style.
