Stories beneath the fold

Asia Pivot? Can't happen.

blame the budget and the pivot to Europe. And weakness over Syria, Georgia and now the Ukraine is sending a green light to China...

Oh, it won't be an "invasion": It would be an "Uncontested arrival".

Asia is worried about the cut back in forces, especially in the US Navy.

And guess who is the weakest link? More HERE.

headsupInstapundit. 

and strategypage says the fast RIF in the Army will result in the loss of valuable experienced men. The USNavy is doing the same.


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also from strategyPage: Women make better helicopter pilots. Also better administrators, cooks, and support personnel.

And I didn't realize this: They also make better snipers, according to the Russians...

Factoid:

There have been numerous situations where women ended up in command (usually because of noble birth and the death of available male nobles to command) and performed exceptionally well

yeah: If Xerxes has listened to Artemesia, we'd be speaking Persian today.

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Tehran's pollution is a big problem. Like L.A., it is in a bowl of mountains that allows air stagnation, and needs to import water from the countryside.

Interview with Dr. E here.

And no, she wasn't portrayed in Argo for some reason.

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Islamic scholars in Pakistan are opposing the Taliban, at the risk of their lives.

Ah, but the Islamophobic American press doesn't notice such thing.

And China is insisting that their investments there be protected against attacks by radicals.

The entire "Red Mosque" kerfuffle was because the radicals attacked Chinese run "massage parlors", so they do have a point. And after the latest terrorist attack on civilians in China, expect pressure on Pakistan to shut down the terrorist training camps for Uighurs.
or they'll shut them down themselves?

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 Drudge had a big headline about Chipote warning of a guacamole shortage due to "global warming", followed by headlines/photos of the recent snowstorm.

It is actually about the California drought, which is affecting crops, and about that which cannot be named: man made policies that cut back irrigation water to protect the delta smelt.


We had an avocado sapling in our gardent that, alas, was blown down by the typhoon...we'll probably replant one when the monsoon season starts.

here, we smash them, mix them with milk and sugar into a pudding consistancy and eating it for dessert.  recipe here.


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Meritocracy thy name is MSNBC...or maybe not...
they don't call him Mr Blue Eyes for nothing...and swinging both ways apparently is one of his charms...

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Ruby LOVED "Frozen" but the song "Let it Go" is terrible: It says to get rid of one's responsibility, and that the "cold" doesn't bother you, so never mind that the people you are responsible for are dying from it.

Ruby defends it by saying she really doesn't realize that she's frozen her entire kingdom,  but that is a lame excuse, since everything she touches freezes.

Oh well.
Maybe I should download it illegally and watch the whole thing and I'll change my mind



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Speaking of illegal downloads: Call the Midwife is back with season 3.

Chummy reconciles with her dying mother in the latest series.

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 Biology lesson for the day:

from Wired: Ten fun facts about the Kakapo.

Photo: jidanchaomian, via Flickr. Distributed under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license.

*You can listen to booms, chings, and other noises kakapos make at the Kakapo Recovery Program website.