Let us be the last to refer to the story published in the UK’s Observer that on the night she died Princess Diana’s phone conversations were being monitored by US intelligence and that the report that’s partially based on those intercepts will shatter a lot of conspiracy theories regarding her death. The reality-based community doesn’t draw the same conclusions from that that I, and perhaps you, do.  Exhibit, Susie at

Why do so many servicemen and women want to go back to a losing battle? Via Gina (remember to vote for her, too): Maybe this is why: I don’t know if my delicate psyche can take the specter of a Vietnam-like denouement to Iraq or Afghanistan. When I think of Vietnam, I am ashamed. I’m not alone: U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin futilely pleaded for $700 million in emergency aid, so

So, your post won’t be buried in dreck, by me.

By those who knew her: Megan was a friend of mine from the Naval Academy. She was a neat person and a great triathlete. I am sure she would appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Posted by Kara | permalink on 12/09 at 01:15 PM I met Megan McClung back in 2004 when we were both here in Baghdad in different civilian capacities. She ran into a friend from the Naval

From Wikipedia: Mise en abyme has several meanings in the realms of creative arts and literary theory. The term is originally from the French and means, “placing into infinity” or “placing into the abyss”. In Western art “mise en abyme” is a formal technique in which an image contains a smaller copy of itself, the sequence appearing to recur infinitely. The term originated in heraldry, describing a coat of arms