Fewer Troops is Better: Riding Unicorns Over Rainbows

From David Adams and Ann Marlowe, via the WSJ . From the beginning of 2007 to March 2008, the 82nd Airborne Division’s strategy in Khost proved that 250 paratroopers could secure a province of a million people in the Pashtun belt. The key to success in Khost—which shares a 184 kilometer-long border with Pakistan’s lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas—was working within the Afghan system. By partnering with closely supervised Afghan National Security Forces and a competent governor and

Wanted: sexy legal secretaries in Chicago

This is almost beyond belief , but the lawyer in question here — Samir Chowhan — has owned up to posting the original ad and follow-up email. I see a dim future for this particular esquire. To paraphrase from “This is Spinal Tap,” it’s not “sexy,” it’s “sexist.” From the WSJ Law Blog link: The Legal Profession Blog reported on Wednesday about a strange disciplinary complaint filed against an Illinois attorney over an ad the lawyer reportedly posted on Craigslist. The attorney at iss

NEWS WIRE: United States: Blogger Argues Against Investing in Microfinance

Source: Reuters Blogs . Original article available online. NEW YORK, August 13 - It’s good that the WSJ [Wall Street Journal] is taking a skeptical look at the excesses of PE-funded microfinance institutions, even if the newspaper still feels the need to put the word “microfinance” in scare quotes in its headlines. I’m a fan of genuinely local, bottom-up microfinance. But what the WSJ is talking about — which is where the real growth is — is top-down microfinance, driven by external fu

Yanks Pass On Ivan Drago In Spikes

Via John Miller in the WSJ -Kathy Kepler, once a star ballerina at the Berlin ballet, has a saying: “Three days away, out of the ballet.” That training motto also serves her son Max, baseball’s most unusual prospect. Max Kepler-Rozycki, 16, has just received an $800,000 bonus to sign with the Minnesota Twins, a stunning sum for a teenager out of Europe and a record for an amateur position player outside the U.S. and Latin America. Officials from a dozen Major League teams, including the New York

Helmand, Afghanistan is a Sideshow - Or Not

An interesting report from the WSJ (h/t Spencer Ackerman ): “How many people do you bring in before the Afghans say, ‘You’re acting like the Russians’?” said one senior military official, referring to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. “That’s the big debate going on in the headquarters right now.” Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said publicly during his campaign for the approaching Aug. 20 elections that he wants to negotiate new agreements giving the Afghan government