David Zucker Video on James Baker and the ISG

(found via Power Line)

Ok, sure to offend some and maybe over the top. For those that think negoations with Iran and Syria will solve the situation in Iraq, well, I think history should remind us that words or a piece of paper should not be sufficient. Trust but verify anyone?

You can see the video by following this link

Downtown Columbia Plan Should Include Village Center.

The Baltimore Sun has an article, Wider scope urged in downtown plan on Sunday that focuses on presentations by Robert W. Burchell. Burchell is a professor and co-director of the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University and he wrote his 1971 doctoral dissertation on Columbia.

“There should never be a situation where downtown is being planned that the ripple affects of that plan is not being looked at at the village level,”
…
Burchell said the roles and futures of both are intertwined and should be planned for simultaneously.

I’m not sure if I agree with him all aspects, but I do agree that the impacts to Village Centers (and their neighborhoods) need to be considered. I not sure if I’m disagreeing with HoCo Hayduke on this one:

I’m a firm beleiver in keeping local planning local. That is, conducting it at the most appropriate level, which, for a village center, is the surrounding village. Meanwhile, Town Center, whether for good or bad, is the center of our county — or, at least, the eastern half — and planning for it should therefore involve a county-wide constituency.

Planning for Town Center should involve a county-wide constituency, but the planning should extend to the Villages and beyond.

How to win in Iraq – Powerpoint Presentation

Sunday on Meet the Press, Newt Gingrich video here, (transcript here) talked about a PowerPoint presentation by Captain Travis Patriquin:

…But Captain Travis Patriquin. P-A-T-R-I-Q-U-I-N. He did a stick figure briefing on how to win in Al Anbar and it will break your heart. Because he said, ‘Look, there are sheiks in Al Anbar who’ve been the local power structure for 1300 years and they know how to run the place. They know how to track down the, the, the bad guys. They know what to do.

You can see the presentation in a PDF here.

Captain Patriquin was killed in Iraq on Dec 6th. This presentation seems to be making the rounds and a quick search turns up quite a few references. I found the post at Blackfive to have a good summary of this man’s talents. (and some of the comments are from people that knew him.)

Newt had a wide ranging interview and gave a good account of himself. Like him or hate him, he does present a good argument. I don’t know if he can overcome his high negatives, but if he runs for President I believe that he will really raise the level of the debate.