Peace Talks?

This headline just showed up in my email (from the WSJ):

U.S., Taliban to Hold Afghan Peace Talks in Doha

Doha is in Qatar.

What instantly flashed to mind were the peace talks with Vietnam, which really were our negotiated withdrawal after losing the war there.  Shortly after our withdrawal there was completed, the state we propped up (South Vietnam) was completely overrun by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army, and South Vietnam disappeared.

I sure hope that's not a portent for the future of Afghanistan...

Dragon Dreams...

It looks likely that giant aeroships will sail the skies again, in the not too distant future...

What's Coming in New Versions of JavaScript...

Addy Osmani has a post about changes we can expect in the next major release of ECMAScript (aka JavaScript)...

Takers, not Makers...

This is a bit exaggerated by a common bias: not including the entire software industry (and, similarly, other makers of “intangible” products).  Nonetheless, the point is one that I agree with, and worry about...

Steyn on the Decline of America...

Steyn has a fascinating essay posted at NRO, called Tattered Liberty, about the kind of decline the American voters have put us on, and why it's likely to be different than what's happened in Europe.  I'd like to see him flesh out the ideas he surfaces into a book.  Here's his conclusion:

But, as Charles Krauthammer said recently, “decline is a choice.” The Democrats are offering it to the American people, and a certain proportion of them seem minded to accept. Enough to make decline inevitable? To return to the young schoolboy on his uncle’s shoulders watching the Queen-Empress’s jubilee, in the words of Arnold Toynbee: “Civilizations die from suicide, not from murder.”

Go read the whole thing.