The cold fact of European geo-political history distinguishing March 18, 2014, from March 17, and, for that matter, making it precariously unlike any other day since the end of World War II is this: Military aggression in Europe by a major European power has led to political annexation and territorial expansion. On Feb. 25, Russian […]
Austin Bay
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Austin Bay: Commerce doesn’t work without trust
What began as a local Austin, Texas, celebration of live music and slacker chic has become emblematic of a global phenomenon: individual economic innovators, open-minded marketing professionals and individual investors connecting poly-digitally to kick start wealth creation. Personal observation confirms that Austin’s South By Southwest expo — the music venues, the film festival, but especially […]
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Austin Bay: Most of Crimea in Russian hands
Whether delivered as a rock, rifle round or laser burst, lethal fire by a military force is one of the two most fundamental combat actions. It is certainly the action best understood by artists. From cave painters to Hollywood directors, their material weapons make the “fire” threat posed by the spearman and the sniper explicit. […]
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Austin Bay: Ukraine tug of war isn’t over
Last week, as three months of escalating “Euromaidan” protests ended in violent turmoil, Viktor Yanukovych, Russian president Vladmir Putin’s Puppet in Kiev, fled the Ukrainian capital. As I write this column, the toppled Ukrainian president’s whereabouts remain a mystery. The Internet runs rife with speculation, some of it informed by a knowledge of Ukrainian-Russian historical […]
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Austin Bay: Venezuela’s gangster government blames America
Despite five years of Obama Administration “smart diplomacy,” Venezuela’s deteriorating socialist regime is following a classic script as its replacement caudillo blames America for his own regime’s legacy of economic folly, domestic repression, corruption and criminal turpitude. That America should continue to serve as a gangster clique’s scapegoat ought to surprise no one except the […]
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Austin Bay: 1944: The Anzio idea, the Rapido reality
The high-risk, high-payoff battle plan of “the Anzio idea” tantalized U.S. and British commanders seeking to end the bloody January 1944 stalemate in Italy. The complex operation could be summarized with deceptive simplicity. First, punch Monte Cassino, the fortified gut of the Nazi’s western Gustav Line. Hit the sector hard, with aerial bombardment and artillery […]
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Austin Bay: Senate cybersecurity report Is damning
On Feb. 4, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee’s minority staff released a 19-page assessment titled “The Federal Government’s Track Record on Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure.” Retiring Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., sponsored the assessment. The footnoted assessment draws on more than 40 agency audits and inspector general reviews. Coburn’s short and readable document […]
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Austin Bay: Gates’ optimism counters doomsday scenarios
Last week, when the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation released its 2014 Gates Annual Letter, doom-and-gloom headline writers reacted with astonishment. The annual letter, titled “3 Myths That Block Progress For The Poor,” begins with four simple and, to my mind, factually incontestable sentences: “By almost any measure, the world is better than it has […]
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Austin Bay: Benghazi testimony debunks Obama’s claim
Scanning the transcripts of the 9/11/2012 Benghazi terror attack testimony released this week by congressional committee investigators makes this point quite clear: The video definitely didn’t do it. I am referring to the bizarre blame-tale spun by the Obama Administration and repeated in the days following the terror attack. For those with dim memories, here’s […]
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Austin Bay: Tunisia’s Arab Spring after three years
Three years after the Jan. 14, 2011, fall of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia continues to be Arab Spring’s most promising revolution. Despite economic troubles, bitter disagreements over the legal status of Islam and terror attacks by Islamist militants, Tunisia has managed to escape the communal horrors afflicting post-Arab Spring Syria (war) and […]