Still working off that rant meme, thoughts on characters...

[dlgood]

I'm still thinking upon the Rant Meme...

I have requested rants outstanding for ludditerobot: those remaining include:

1. The final seasons/episodes of Buffy and Angel
2. The Pentagon's New Map

As to #1, it's almost too vast with BtVS-7, whereas I really have fewer problems with AtS-5. I'll get to it at some point.



As to #2, I don't really have a rant for it. I had to go back and re-read the abstract.

DISCONNECTEDNESS DEFINES DANGER Problem areas requiring American attention (outlined) are, in the author's analysis, called the Gap. Shrinking the Gap is possible only by stopping the ability of terrorist networks to access the Core via the "seam states" that lie along the Gap's bloody boundaries. In this war on terrorism, the U.S. will place a special emphasis on cooperation with these states.

But that cooperation doesn't merely hinge on backing regimes. It involves strengthing the emerging global rule set of democracy, transparency, and free trade. And it means being dedicated to seeing it through, and willing to invest in such a program over time, rather than going for "quick fixes".

For the most part, I don't find Thomas P. Barnett all that inflammatory, and I think he has something of a point. And he seems reasonably realistic about what such an enterprise might entail. However, while they have the zeal, I don't think that this current administration has the vision, competence, or inclination to execute such a strategy.

And BTW - the US States that I have visited. (Milling about during an airport layover does not count...)



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.