Lazy Linking

Well friends, it’s high time you learned something about me. I’m a lazy, lazy man. I do read a bit, so please enjoy.

• Good news! The State Department is hiring an army! The Skeptical Bureaucrat reported that State has begun hiring “Foreign Service Security Protective Specialists.” With Blackwater banned from Iraq, I guess it’s the best option they had. Hopefully it’ll be a bit tougher to hate on State now that we have guns. (Thanks to CAA, where I saw the link!)
• If you want to see a blogger on fire, read Diplopundit’s excellent posts from last week (here, here, here, and here especially).
• Everyone is talking about National Security Advisor James Jones’ aggressive interview in the Washington Post. According to writer Karen DeYoung, “Jones, a retired Marine general, made it clear that he will run the process and be the primary conduit of national security advice to Obama.” I love his idea of standardizing the regional bureaus that the various agencies use (Is Pakistan in the middle-east or South Asia?). I’m less sure about his tone and apparent turfing so early in an administration. Shadow Government called it a “Shot Over the Bow,” and, quoting Difficult Transitions, said, “…presidential decisions to appoint prominent figures ‘without significant previous personal connection to the candidates has, with the important exception of Kissinger, proved problematic.’” Along those lines, Laura Rosen at The Cable hinted that Denis McDonough may be the power behind the power, as he is especially close to the President. I’m reminded of Kissinger’s article from last December in which he indicated that propinquity was amongst the largest source of the ANSA’s power.
• After being ignored since 2001, it seems the Navy has been getting a bit of attention lately. Nikolas Gvosdev at The Washington Realist has made “Monitor, but don’t overreact” his mantra with regard to Chinese and Russian naval increases. Entropic Memes has suggested (”only half in jest”) bringing back bounties to encourage the fight against Somali pirates. There’s no mention of privateers, but if some international power brings them up, I may consider changing jobs…

I hope you’ve enjoyed this indulgence. I’ll try not to make it a habit (especially since now that I’ve finished it took a lot longer than an original post).

Tagged as: Blogs, Navy