# Professional Writing



## skeeter (Nov 10, 2010)

I am currently enrolled in a Cultural Anthropology course and we have to turn in a paper on Polygamy and Polyandry. This is an argumentative essay on why it should or should not be allowed in the United States. I'm working up ideas right now and I've hit a mental wall. Any Ideas supporting either side are welcomed.
Here is the Prompt:
The US Supreme Court outlawed marriage between more than one man and one woman back in 1879.  For this essay I want you to reconsider the court’s decision on polygamy.  Assuming it takes place between fully consenting adults who go into the polygamous marriage with eyes wide open, should we continue to uphold this law, or is it time it was revised?

Thanks,

Travis


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## Marauder06 (Nov 10, 2010)

OK, since I had to look up the definition of "polyandy" I don't think I'm going to be much help.

That said, there are two things that might help.  Asking members of the site to take a specific side (i.e. "everyone who wants to participate, please take the "pro" argument") and then switching it up and requesting the opposite point of view can really generate some interesting responses.  I did this is a couple of thread in the Intel forum.

Also, something that might really help your paper is utilizing a case study approach.  I'm sure with a little looking you can get several examples of polygamy and polyandy, hell I think they even have a reality show (not "Big Love," something nonfiction).  Those case studies will probably have specific and implied rationale for both pro and con.  Good luck.


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## skeeter (Nov 10, 2010)

Thank you for your response! I've been able to find many reasons for the "pro" side of the argument since it appears in many cultures around the world. I am however having trouble with the "con" side of the argument. One way I am addressing this issue is the evolution of roles by women in American society. I believe with most American women being extremely independent compared to women of other cultures that this system(for lack of a better word) wouldn't work.

What would you guys think would be some cons to multiple partners in a marriage?


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## Marauder06 (Nov 10, 2010)

http://www.traumaawareness.org/id19.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Summary_of_notes_on_negative_effects_of_polygamy

http://bigthink.com/ideas/23049 in the comments (after the bestiality stuff )


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## Scotth (Nov 10, 2010)

skeeter said:


> What would you guys think would be some cons to multiple partners in a marriage?


 

One argument from the "Con" side might be the divorce rate of traditional marriages is very high and opening the nations laws to allow even more complicated relationships would doom the nation to even more unsuccessful marriages.

While there are many Mormons that can live that life style successfully. Can people living outside those religious beliefs and structures learn to live that life style successfully considering 50% of traditional marriages already fail?

Maybe argue how the Hippie Communal living of the late 60 and early 70's failed to sustain itself for long term success because they didn't have those religious belief and structures like the Mormons do. Similarly opening the nation's laws to allow polygamy would doom more children being born into those unsuccessful relationships. Leaving even more children damaged with the scares of failed relationships and forcing them to carrying that emotional baggage into their adult life.


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## skeeter (Nov 10, 2010)

Scotth said:


> Maybe argue how the Hippie Communal living of the late 60 and early 70's failed to sustain itself for long term success because they didn't have those religious belief and structures like the Mormons do. Similarly opening the nation's laws to allow polygamy would doom more children being born into those unsuccessful relationships. Leaving even more children damaged with the scares of failed relationships and forcing them to carrying that emotional baggage into their adult life.



You have some great points! I had not thought about the emotional baggage of the children from these families. I was looking more into the cost of raising children, and the effects the current economy would have on these large families. Great post!

Mara: Thanks for the links. The first one gave me a ton of clinical information I can use to back up my position.


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## HOLLiS (Nov 10, 2010)

Does anyone really go into a new situation "eyes wide open"?     I would go on psychology and social psychology as the bases of paper.    Consenting adults argument, does have it's imitations and problems.


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## LibraryLady (Nov 10, 2010)

Scotth said:


> ... While there are many Mormons that can live that life style successfully...


 
Just a point of order on this statement.  Polygamy is neither accepted nor endorsed by the Mormon religion, in fact they excommunicated all polygamists.  It is practiced by some very small splinter groups/sects/cults from the main Mormon religion.

LL - Not a Mormon, just want the facts correct.


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## skeeter (Nov 10, 2010)

LibraryLady said:


> Just a point of order on this statement.  Polygamy is neither accepted nor endorsed by the Mormon religion, in fact they excommunicated all polygamists.  It is practiced by some very small splinter groups/sects/cults from the main Mormon religion.
> 
> LL - Not a Mormon, just want the facts correct.


 
The correct group would be the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS)


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## SpitfireV (Nov 10, 2010)

The concept of having only one wife is a Christian one, which is why it's entrenched in the laws of us in the West, as most Western countries were founded by devout Christians and so Christian values represent themselves in the law. 

If you wanted an interesting angle (remember, just because you argue an angle doesn't mean you endorse it), you could argue that because of the separation of church and state that the state should not be enacting laws that put forward a Christian perspective.


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## Polar Bear (Nov 10, 2010)

Did you pick the subject matter? I have a minor in Cultural Anthropology but I would have shot myself if I had to write a paper on this with the US as the culture.


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## skeeter (Nov 10, 2010)

SpitfireV said:


> The concept of having only one wife is a Christian one, which is why it's entrenched in the laws of us in the West, as most Western countries were founded by devout Christians and so Christian values represent themselves in the law.
> 
> If you wanted an interesting angle (remember, just because you argue an angle doesn't mean you endorse it), you could argue that because of the separation of church and state that the state should not be enacting laws that put forward a Christian perspective.


 
That is an approach I am looking into. Especially with other religious groups besides the FLDS allowing polygamy, from what little I understand about Islam they are allowed to have up to four wives. Which is interesting because Tunisia(a predominantly Islamic country) bans polygamy.


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## skeeter (Nov 10, 2010)

Polar Bear said:


> Did you pick the subject matter? I have a minor in Cultural Anthropology but I would have shot myself if I had to write a paper on this with the US as the culture.


 
Unfortunately, I did not get a choice of topic.


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## Polar Bear (Nov 10, 2010)

skeeter said:


> Unfortunately, I did not get a choice of topic.



That sucks. Pick a side and use every screwed up event to to support it. Don't forget about Jim Jones it was not the pure form of Polygamy like I have in my brothel but is a form of it.


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## Diamondback 2/2 (Nov 10, 2010)

I would make the argument that the current ruling should not be revised due to the legal aspects. Marriage is a legal binding contract that is used to for legal purposes and not for simple “bonding or joining” of two people. Current marriage contracts offer the ability to gain benefits in areas of governmental allowances or allotments, governmental guardianship of children and personal assets. Adding multiple partners in a contract that involve these issue would requires new guidelines for the entire civil process of entering into the contract (marriage) and then exiting the contract (divorce).

What would happen if the individuals were on welfare?
What would happen if the individuals were in the military?
What would happen if the individuals had children?
What would happen if one of the individuals died?
What would happen if one of the individuals decided to leave the marriage?
How would assets be divided, how would legal ownership be decided, and how would this affect the current court system?

Example 1: A man and two women get married, one of the women is injured in a car crash and becomes unable to care for herself and is on life support. Now the man wants to take her off of life support but the other women wants to keep her on life support, so now how is this decided?

Example 2: A man and two women get married, one woman has 2 children and the other woman has none. Now the woman with children wants to leave the marriage (divorce), who is responsible for the child support and who is authorized visitation?

Example 3: A man and two women get married; the man decides he wants a divorce from the two women. Is the marriage completely dissolved or is the man only removed from the marriage contract? Can two women be married to each other?

It can go on and on, but the end result is that the entire civil legal system would have to be overhauled in order to accommodate multiple party marriages. Also it would leave a mass majority of the decision process up to a judge or jury over the use of or rule of law. This could lead to people’s personal rights being infringed upon by a majority or individual ruling.


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## Marauder06 (Nov 21, 2010)

I was able to tie in a couple of the discussions we had here on SS to a paper I had to write for one of my classes.  I'm posting it here as an FYI in case anyone's interested, I've already turned it in and gotten my grades back so I don't need any help editing it.  Comments, questions, and disagreements are still welcome.



> *The Intelligence Community:  A Return to Credibility*​
> "_If we are not believed, we have no purpose_."​                         -former CIA Director Richard Helms​      Over the last ten years, several highly-publicized missteps have ravaged the U.S. intelligence community (IC), undermining the IC’s credibility with policymakers and the U.S. public.  In order to progress past the mistakes and misperceptions of the past the IC must recognize, remedy, and learn from its past failures to re-establish its credibility as an effective instrument of national power.  This paper will examine six of the most-publicized examples of recent intelligence failures, identify possible remedies for each failure, and conclude by exploring some possible ways to return credibility to the IC.


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## tmroun01 (Nov 22, 2010)

Very well written paper, just a couple of comments. In my opinion:
1.I feel like you left out one of the biggest intelligence failures since the "war on terror" began. The suicide bombing in khost on dec 30 of last year which killed numerous CIA operatives.
2. The WMD argument; (if i remember correctly) the CIA knew there were no WMD's in Iraq however the Bush cabinet falsified documents to gain public/international support. I'll look for the national security briefing from 2003 to support my point.


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## Marauder06 (Nov 22, 2010)

Thank you for the feedback.  The Khost double (triple?) agent suicide bombing was definitely a failure on the part of the intel community, but I saw it as the failure of a small part of the community, not the systematic failure of the entire IC.  Although it was public and tragic, I didn't really feel that it affected the IC's credibility as much as some of the other failures and letdowns, partly because the damage was confined to the IC itself.  I don't say that to downplay the significance of the event or the loss of life, it's just to limit the scope of the paper.

Interesting point about the WMD.  I'm not sure the CIA's position was that there were no WMDs in Iraq pre-invasion; in fact I believe the CIA's director was quoted as saying it was a "slam dunk" case (although I think he since distanced himself from those remarks).  I think President Bush's administration definitely exercised undue influence over the process, but at the end of the day the intel community caved.  I think the only part of the IC that flat out rejected the WMD argument was State Department's INR.


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## Scotth (Nov 24, 2010)

I thought it was a great paper and hope you got a nice grade for your effort.  I thought you used good examples and covered a broad spectrum of failures.  At least that is my view from an outsiders looking in.

One possible example for future consideration would be a look at the Iraq National Congress role in intelligence failures leading up to the Iraq War.  It was publicily reported that the organization received millions in funding and was run by a guy named Chalabi.  It was said his group of expatriates were able to gather intelligence from connections and family members still inside of Iraq.  It was also reported that the CIA and State Department both cut the guy lose because they found his information unreliable but the INC ended up getting millions more in funding from the DoD.

IIRC Chalabi was at a State of the Union speech prior to the invasion and was held up as a great resource.  When Chalabi and the US had there falling out the guy ended up going over to Iran and had meetings with them.  I think this guy was another example of certain players inside the IC accepting his stories because it fit into the policy objectives instead of getting the unvarnished truth.


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## Brill (Nov 24, 2010)

The best work of the intelligence professionals is never known...as it should be.

*September 12, 2001*
Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet spoke to the CIA  workforce this afternoon about yesterday’s terrorist attacks. Here are  excerpts of his remarks:
   Good afternoon.
   Yesterday, the entire American people—joined by men and women around  the globe—recoiled in horror at the barbaric acts against our country.
   In my hometown of New York, at the Pentagon, and in the skies over  Pennsylvania, the bloody hand of evil struck again and again, stealing  thousands of innocent lives.
   As the devastating toll of terror comes into focus, we are sure to  find among those who were lost friends, colleagues, and others we hold  dear.
   Our thoughts and prayers are with all the victims, with those searching and caring for them, and with those who mourn them.
   I urge all of you to take the time to think of brothers and sisters  that we, as Americans, have lost and to pray for those who survive them.
   The images of fire and destruction are forever etched in our minds.  And in our hearts, amid the numbing shock, there has been profound grief  and renewed resolve.
   As President Bush said last night, the search for the sponsors of  these unspeakable acts has already begun. Our Agency is among the  leaders of that search.
   The fight against those who use the weapon of terror to menace and  murder is necessarily hard. The shield of fanaticism—wielded by those  ready to forfeit their lives to achieve their twisted dreams—is not  easily pierced.
   But it has been pierced before, and it will be pierced again.
*Though we did not stop the latest, terrible assaults, you—the men and  women of CIA and our Intelligence Community—have done much to combat  terrorism in the past.*
*Hundreds, if not thousands, of American lives have been saved by the  brave men and women of our Counter-Terrorism Center, our Directorate of  Operations, our analysts, our scientists, our support officers—all who  work relentlessly every day against this difficult target.*
   I know that together, we will do even more in the future.
   The response yesterday—from our Counter-Terrorism Center, the Ops  Center, Global Support, our entire Security Staff, and many, many  others—was absolutely magnificent. Today, I am—as I always have  been—very, very proud of all the men and women in this organization.
   The important thing for us now is to do our job. To run to ground a  vicious foe—one without heart or pity. A foe who has killed Americans,  but who hopes in vain to kill the ideals and values that define all of  us as Americans.
   The terrorists behind these atrocities—and those who give them shelter  and support—must never know rest, ease, or comfort. The last word must  not be theirs.
   For the future must belong to the champions of freedom, not its enemies. That is our aim—today, tomorrow, always.
   This is a time for us to come together. To bring all our talents to  bear in a steely determination to do what we are called to do—protect  our fellow citizens.
   It is our turn again to step up to a challenge, and to meet it as we meet all challenges: With commitment and courage.
   Put some spirit in your step, square your shoulders, focus your eyes…we have a job to do.
   Many years ago, Winston Churchill—a giant of democracy—recalled his  reaction on hearing the news of another surprise attack on America, this  one at Pearl Harbor:
   There were, he wrote, "many, not only in enemy countries [who] might  discount the force of the United States. Some said they were soft,  others that they would never be united. They would fool around at a  distance. They would never come to grips. They would never stand  blood-letting."
   But, Churchill concluded, "I had studied the American Civil War,  fought out to the last desperate inch. American blood flowed in my  veins. I thought of a remark which Edward Grey had made to me more than  thirty years before—that the United States is like ‘a gigantic boiler.  Once the fire is lighted under it, there is no limit to the power it can  generate.’"
   Indeed there is not.
   I thank you all very, very much for your hard work. May God bless you all.


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## surgicalcric (Nov 24, 2010)

Marauder06 said:


> ...The Khost double (triple?) agent suicide bombing was definitely a failure on the part of the intel community, but I saw it as the failure of a small part of the community, not the systematic failure of the entire IC.  Although it was public and tragic, I didn't really feel that it affected the IC's credibility as much as some of the other failures and letdowns, partly because the damage was confined to the IC itself.  I don't say that to downplay the significance of the event or the loss of life, it's just to limit the scope of the paper.



Well said Sir!

The incident wasn't reflective of the entire IC community or HUMINT in particular.

What it did was bring back to the forefront of the IC's collective minds that you cant trust people further than you can throw them...

Crip


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## Marauder06 (Nov 24, 2010)

Scotth said:


> ...
> One possible example for future consideration would be a look at the Iraq National Congress role in intelligence failures leading up to the Iraq War. ...



Good point- that didn't occur to me.  I could have added Chalabi and Curve Ball and just titled it "The Iraq War" instead of "Iraq WMD."



Scotth said:


> I thought it was a great paper and hope you got a nice grade for your effort......



Thanks Scott, I appreciate it.

As far as the grading goes, maybe what I should have done was type up a one-page summary involving how much of a bad ass I was in Iraq and Afghanistan and use graphic descriptions of how I like to murder people with knives and then blaming it all on the big, mean Army.  I could have gotten an "A" and gotten published, plus I wouldn't have had to provide any corroborating facts, and of course not be constrained by pesky things like the "truth."  /crossthread ;)


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## Scotth (Nov 24, 2010)

Marauder06 said:


> As far as the grading goes, maybe what I should have done was type up a one-page summary involving how much of a bad ass I was in Iraq and Afghanistan and use graphic descriptions of how I like to murder people with knives and then blaming it all on the big, mean Army. I could have gotten an "A" and gotten published, plus I wouldn't have had to provide any corroborating facts, and of course not be constrained by pesky things like the "truth." /crossthread ;)



The down side to the new "Like" system you can't designate the Cross-thread Rep. LOL


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## Chopstick (Nov 24, 2010)

Cant even call it a cross thread like.
I await this paper you speak of Mara!


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## Marauder06 (Nov 25, 2010)

First post this thread, Chop.


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## SpitfireV (Nov 26, 2010)

I found your assertion that the US has the best intelligence community in the entire world to be a bit of a reach. While you're certainly world leaders (by a long shot) in anything to do with technical intelligence, you appear to be lacking in a few other areas- protecting your intelligence from people like wikileaks, for instance. How many other countries having S rated and up documents on wikileaks. If wikileaks can get these documents from people what is a foreign government getting? It's my totally uneducated opinion that your counter intelligence needs work. I have no idea about now but from open source material the KGB and SVR had the upper hand on your work during the Mid/Late Cold War through to the late 90s. The British did a much better job. Again, entirely open source.

I don't mean to be overly critical and like I said, it's an uneducated opinion, but it's what I think.

Other than that I thought it was a good paper.


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## Marauder06 (Nov 26, 2010)

I think the part you were referring to was "_When functioning properly, the U.S. IC is the largest, best trained, and most effective intelligence organization in the world_," to me that's different than saying the U.S. IC is the best in the world- which I do believe but since I didn't define the metrics I shouldn't put it in a paper.  I also added the caveat "when functioning properly," which is an important distinction.  Since I didn't quantify "most effective" either, perhaps I should have used "best resourced" instead.  Point taken.

I think you have a great point about the security of our information and intelligence.  It's extraordinarily frustrating to live in a community that stresses secrecy, only to have former unit commanders on down write stories about it for profit and get away with it.  That doesn't even count legit spying.  The WikiLeaks issue is also a major pain.  While I see it as a major annoyance, I also see it as part of the tradeoff for living in a free country.  I also think that despite its shortcomings, the U.S. IC is still the best in the world.  Not perfect, but the best nonetheless.  

Thanks for the feedback.


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## Manolito (Nov 26, 2010)

Mara you said a mouthful about people being able to write books without fear of being taken to task by our country. A book was written and the forward was people need to know the sacrafice these people have made. I spent my working life to protect this information only to read about it in a lousy book.
I can't fathom this wikileaks stuff. I think this should be a capitol case and death as the punishment. I would like to see us go back to the check it out and check it in and total control in a specific area.
Bill


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## SpitfireV (Nov 29, 2010)

I'm not ignoring your post Mara, I'm just mulling


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## Marauder06 (Nov 29, 2010)

No worries- as an intel officer in the best IC in the world, I'm used to stunning people to silence with my brilliant observations and insights :cool:


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## skeeter (Nov 30, 2010)

I just wanted to say thanks for the ideas, they really helped me write my paper. I got my paper back today and unfortunately he did not agree with many of my points, saying they were too stereotypical using case studies of Mormons out West (yes, I know they are not Mormons). Three weeks ago he stood there and said to pick a side and stay off the fence. This week he said that the paper was about being culturally relativistic. He gave me a C+ on my paper, which is the lowest grade on a paper in my college career. I thought I wrote a well thought out paper backing up my points with good case studies. I'm confused and a little frustrated.:confused: Time to go PT this one off.


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## Marauder06 (Nov 30, 2010)

Post it.

After PT.


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## skeeter (Nov 30, 2010)

Alright, here it is.


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## Dame (Nov 30, 2010)

Good paper, well written, only one punctuation error (that I saw).  Only thing I can say about effectiveness of arguments is they might make more impact if the pro position had been stated in paragraphs throughout and then refuted using the exact words you have there anyway.

Other than that, this is not a C paper. IMO, as a published essayist, your instructor is an asshole.


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## Scotth (Dec 1, 2010)

Skeeter it was a good paper. My writing skills are pretty horrible at best so I won't try to critique it.

If the instructor didn't leave specific examples why he downgraded the paper. I would talk to him either after a class or during his office hours. Find out what his issues were with the paper. Maybe he has legit points or maybe he was having a bad day and was being an asshole. Either way getting specific feedback will help you avoid the same mistakes on the next paper.

Plus it will leave a positive image with the instructor that you take his class seriously and it never hurts to have an instructor thinking you value his class.  Whether it's true or not.;)


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## skeeter (Dec 1, 2010)

Scotth said:


> Skeeter it was a good paper. My writing skills are pretty horrible at best so I won't try to critique it.
> 
> If the instructor didn't leave specific examples why he downgraded the paper. I would talk to him either after a class or during his office hours. Find out what his issues were with the paper. Maybe he has legit points or maybe he was having a bad day and was being an asshole. Either way getting specific feedback will help you avoid the same mistakes on the next paper.
> 
> Plus it will leave a positive image with the instructor that you take his class seriously and it never hurts to have an instructor thinking you value his class. Whether it's true or not.;)



Thank you both,
Scotth, I talked to him after class and he told me I was the only one out of 90 people to take the opposition.He also said my case studies that I used as examples were not acceptable since they were polygamist in the U.S. and had to be "covert polygamist." I don't see how this makes a difference though since he told us to pick a side and support it. I'm not going to support my side by making the other side look good, and to be honest I personally don't care what they do as long as I'm not involved. I just needed to support my side.
Thank you both, Scotth, I talked to him after class and he told me I was the only one out of 90 people to take the opposition.He also said my case studies that I used as examples were not acceptable since they were polygamist in the U.S. and had to be "covert polygamist." I don't see how this makes a difference though since he told us to pick a side and support it. I'm not going to support my side by making the other side look good, and to be honest I personally don't care what they do as long as I'm not involved. I just needed to support my side.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 1, 2010)

Skeeter-  I haven't had a chance to read your paper yet but I will.  I've been in the same situation as you in the past, made me think of this:


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## skeeter (Dec 1, 2010)

That is Great!


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## Dame (Dec 1, 2010)

skeeter said:


> Thank you both,
> Scotth, I talked to him after class and he told me I was the only one out of 90 people to take the opposition.He also said my case studies that I used as examples were not acceptable since they were polygamist in the U.S. and had to be "covert polygamist." I don't see how this makes a difference though since he told us to pick a side and support it. I'm not going to support my side by making the other side look good, and to be honest I personally don't care what they do as long as I'm not involved. I just needed to support my side.



I see what he's saying and I don't consider it a valid argument. He wants you to use examples of legal polygamy and explain why (if) they don't work.  Since it's illegal in the U.S., his argument is that any data is colored by the fact that they do this covertly.  The big problem with that is he wants you to apply it to U.S. culture and that cannot be done without turning it into a SciFi paper.  There is no legitimate culture for it here so you have to use what statistics are available of Americans practicing this lifestyle, which you did.  An essay comparing life in a harem to life in the U.S. is just a literary jerk off.  It would be an impotent gesture to satisfy his impossible criteria.

You done good, Skeet.  Best thing you can do in a case like this is do your damndest to get an A and then trash him in the eval. That's what I used to do anyway.  Bad grade + bad eval = disgruntled student.  A grade + bad eval = intelligent complaint.


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## AWP (Dec 1, 2010)

This is one reason why I hate college. Most papers/ thesis (even at the Masters and Doctorate levels) only require you to take a side and argue it. You did that, but NOW the prof says in essence that your conclusion was one he couldn't agree with?

What a douche. Imagine if his Master or Doctorate were handled the same way...mo fracker would be managing a Burger King right now.


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## SpitfireV (Dec 1, 2010)

I did an essay recently on Iran's reaction to the 03 invasion and got told I overstated their role in Iraq. C+. Then about 2 weeks later Wikileaks released the Iraq War File thing and there was lots of reporting on Iran's fiddling. I felt vindicated.


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## Dame (Dec 1, 2010)

Free, you hated that? Damn. I always just wanted to make sure to get an A. Didn't care if it meant doing dumbass shit so long as, at some point, I let the instructor know it was dumbass shit. It was the only time that I would rather win than be right, now I think about it.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 1, 2010)

SpitfireV said:


> I did an essay recently on Iran's reaction to the 03 invasion and got told I overstated their role in Iraq. C+. Then about 2 weeks later Wikileaks released the Iraq War File thing and there was lots of reporting on Iran's fiddling. I felt vindicated.



Post it.

Your paper, not the Wikileaks ;)


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## AWP (Dec 1, 2010)

Dame said:


> Free, you hated that? Damn. I always just wanted to make sure to get an A. Didn't care if it meant doing dumbass shit so long as, at some point, I let the instructor know it was dumbass shit. It was the only time that I would rather win than be right, now I think about it.



Very much so. The concept was to argue a point, to prove it, not to validate some loser professor's opinion about the world. You set standards, you meet the standards. The end.


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## Scotth (Dec 1, 2010)

A political science paper was my horror story in school.  I think we have all had them.  I was a freshman writing on nuclear deterrence and he was a professor who studied nuclear issues in his professional studies.  I made the error of writing on a subject he was very well educated on coming from a freshmans perspective.  It was suppose to be a very simple paper and the paper got savaged from the PHD level instead of judging it as a freshman class paper.

It not a fun experience and I feel for you.  I like the way Dame thinks on this subject though.  Do what it takes to get a good grade then trash the guy in his eval.:)


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## SpitfireV (Dec 1, 2010)

Marauder06 said:


> Post it.
> 
> Your paper, not the Wikileaks ;)



Nah, it was first paper back to uni after five years so much like the drought breaker fat girl at the pub, I'd rather just forget about it 

He was a useless tutor to boot.


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## Polar Bear (Dec 1, 2010)

Freefalling said:


> Very much so. The concept was to argue a point, to prove it, not to validate some loser professor's opinion about the world. You set standards, you meet the standards. The end.



Word...this is why I gradumated with a C average in my core. Had a Prof say the UN was the end all to be all. (I was 6 months out of AD) I called her bluff and asked her if she ever served Nope, "Then if you have never severed and not put on a blue helmet, vest and can not shoot back HOW IN THE CRAP could you be right?" I got a D. The funny part about it is I had a Prof who is a Diplomat now read everything and correct it before I turned it in......Lets just say I eneded up taking several of his courses and got an A and tutored other students....I still dislike the woman


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## SpitfireV (Dec 1, 2010)

With all due respect, how does you being right out of AD have anything to do with you being "more correct" than she was? Just because someone hasn't served doesn't mean their opinion is suddenly null...I know a few military people I wouldn't ask for the time of day because they'd get it wrong...and I know a few I would ask for complex science answers. Serving or not serving, when it comes to UN discussion, is totally irrelevant to the topic.

Sounds like you were both too hard headed to actually listen to one another.


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## AWP (Dec 1, 2010)

Probably because PB saw it in action while she read about it in a book. Besides, military service does allow one to contextualize information in certain situations far better than someone who hasn't. It isn't the be-all end-all, but it provides a broader base for certain situations than pure academics.


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## SpitfireV (Dec 1, 2010)

Saw one part of it in action, it's a multi tentacled monster you know.

I mean, it's a multi faceted organisation of love, peace and outreach.

(I'm not a fan).


----------



## Marauder06 (Dec 12, 2010)

So now I get to write a paper on whether or not German had a choice in deciding to utilize unrestricted submarine warfare in WWI.    If my professor's intent was to get me out of my academic comfort zone, he succeeded.  Guess I'll have to do some actual research now.


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## Teufel (Dec 12, 2010)

You can reference sea warfare doctrine by Mahan and Corbett.  According to Mahan a nation should seek out a decisive battle to destory their enemy's Navy, gain dominance of the seas and open up the sea lines of communication.  In WWI pretty much dominated the seas with their surface fleet and were eventually able to blockade Germany.  According to Mahan, they should have freedom of manuever on the seas but they did not because of the u boat.  Germany was able to effectively blockade Britain with their unrestricted submarine warfare and Britain wasn't able to counter this until they dedicated a lot of their Navy to convoy escort.  In either case Germany's u boat campaign was effective in reducing supplies or breaking up the British fleet.


----------



## Marauder06 (Dec 12, 2010)

Nice.  Thanks.


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## SpitfireV (Dec 12, 2010)

I would say they didn't have too much choice, the German navy was green water for the most part, with the exception of the odd commerce raider.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 12, 2010)

I think they needed it to invade Australia.

What?


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## SpitfireV (Dec 12, 2010)

Oh bam or something.


----------



## pardus (Dec 12, 2010)

The policy of the Royal Navy was to have more than twice the capacity of the largest navy in the world.

With that in mind, the Germans had little option but to deploy a large submarine force to try and break the British stranglehold around Europe during the War.

.02c


----------



## Marauder06 (Dec 12, 2010)

Here's my first draft.  Not my best work but not bad for a couple hours work on a subject I know little about.  Comments welcome but I'm turning it in tomorrow morning.  Thanks for the comments.  Good night all.


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## Teufel (Dec 13, 2010)

I don't think that the submarine campaign was necessarily a failure.  It was very successful for what it was but ultimately a submarine campaign wasn't going to win the war for the Germans.  Mahan, an American theorist, felt that command of the sea would ultimately lead to an overall military victory.  Corbett, an English theorist, had seen that this was not the case during the Napoleonic wars and ceded that maritime warfare was just a component of a joint military campaign.  I think that the submarine campaign delayed the German defeat and the war may have gone differently if the US had not entered the war.  The sinking of the Lusitania brought us into the war but I think we would have found another excuse even if it hadn't have happened.  Overall its a good paper!


----------



## Marauder06 (Dec 13, 2010)

Thanks Teufel.  Do you think unrestricted submarine warfare helped lengthen the war, or shorten it?  The reason I think it helped shorten it is that it brought America in on the side of the Entente.  I think German could have strung out the war much longer if not for that.  The reason I think the policy was a failure was because it failed in its primary objectives- shatter the British blockage of Germany and stun the Americans into staying on the sidelines.


----------



## Teufel (Dec 13, 2010)

I think it helped lengthen the war.  America was supporting the Entente powers so much before the Lusitania that I think we were just looking for an excuse to get involved.  I think the primary objective of the submarine campaign was not to shatter the blockade but rather to interdict British supply lines between America and Britain.  They did a pretty good job too and I think drawing America into the war was inevitable.  Allowing the US to continue to "secretly" supply Britain was unacceptable for Germany and without a strong surface fleet they had no option but to revert to submarine warfare.  The only way the British were able to protect themselves, even after the US entered the war, was to break up their Navy and do convoy escorting.  The Brits followed the Mahan doctrine and sought decisive battle with Germany to "end" the German Navy.  They thought they finally had it at the Battle of Jutland, but Jutland was a very indecisive battle with no distinct victor.   Jutland was the biggest naval battle of WWI but it had very little effect on the war aside from confirming the German policy of avoiding fleet to fleet battles.  This did a lot to disprove some of Mahan's theories.


----------



## Manolito (Dec 13, 2010)

I enjoyed the paper. Germany lost 187 U Boats but sank 5,234 Merchant ships. In 1917 she sank 2,349 merchant ships alone. This makes me think this was not a failure to proceed with Unrestricted Submarine Warfare. I think the decision was impacted by the US entering the war and bringing a better ASW capability (Anti Submarine Warfare) Even with that 1917 was by far the most successful year the Germans had. Germany also sank 10 battleships, 20 destroyers, and 9 submarines.
Interesting side note Germany started working on steels for specific submarine purposes and continued that into WWII and developed HY80 steel but could never perfect the welding process. After WWII the US perfected the welding process and HY80 steel is used today in the most sofisticated submarines we build.
As important as the statement we own the night today back then to own the deep was incredible. The capabilities of a submarine are given to a sigle person to attack at will making independant decisions. I often wonder if the battlefield wouldn't be better off with the same capability.
Mara thanks for sharing.
Bill


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## Marauder06 (Dec 13, 2010)

Nice insight Bill.


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## SpitfireV (Dec 18, 2010)

I know there are a few of us here who are uni/college students. What would you guys think about setting each other practice essays to do and we can critique them? I'm on summer holidays right now with little else to do but I do realise a lot of guys are studying part time while still working full time so I'd understand if people aren't keen.

I'd wager it going something like the person states what the topic would be (depending on what they're weak at or need to work on) and a word limit and the group (or first person) comes up with a question for the person to answer.

Thoughts?


----------



## Dame (Dec 19, 2010)

I'm not a student just now but I love this idea. I would say that keeping it someplace like the old "groups" would be good though so the spoiled asswipes who troll the internet looking for their next term paper can't pinch them.


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## SpitfireV (Dec 19, 2010)

Yeah I'd like it so that somehow turnitin or similar can't pick it up off google and tell me I'm plagiarising my own work LOL.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 19, 2010)

SpitfireV said:


> I know there are a few of us here who are uni/college students. What would you guys think about setting each other practice essays to do and we can critique them? I'm on summer holidays right now with little else to do but I do realise a lot of guys are studying part time while still working full time so I'd understand if people aren't keen.
> 
> I'd wager it going something like the person states what the topic would be (depending on what they're weak at or need to work on) and a word limit and the group (or first person) comes up with a question for the person to answer.
> 
> Thoughts?



That's one of the primary purposes of this thread.  Post away.

I'll even get a head start on critiquing your essay- "you suck."  ;)


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## x SF med (Dec 19, 2010)

I don't know if this will help... I did a degree in English Literature, Language and Rhetoric at one point in my life...  I think I remember how to proofread.


----------



## SpitfireV (Dec 19, 2010)

Excellent. Now, does anyone know if google will pick up the words contained in a PDF attached here? My gut says yes, but my brain says, how the fuck do I know.


----------



## Dame (Dec 19, 2010)

Let's see.


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## Dame (Dec 19, 2010)

Shit. That's not gonna work. There are too many references to Pardus and lambs out there.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 19, 2010)

SpitfireV said:


> Excellent. Now, does anyone know if google will pick up the words contained in a PDF attached here? My gut says yes, but my brain says, how the fuck do I know.



I've done it lots, .pdf comes out fine.


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## Manolito (Dec 19, 2010)

Well done Vegas Lady


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## x SF med (Dec 20, 2010)

Dame said:


> Let's see.





Dame said:


> Shit. That's not gonna work. There are too many references to Pardus and lambs out there.



points for style...  negative points for lack of pictures...  Pardus and the rest of the Southern Hemisphere gang need pictures....  all in all this ends up being a zero sum post....  :cool:


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## SpitfireV (Jan 1, 2011)

Would you guys mind setting a question for me?

Let's say 2k words. I need to work on analysis. My areas of interest are the Cold War, particularly civilian intelligence but the Cold War in general. My major is IR so something roughly related to that would be appreciated.

Thanks!


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## Dame (Jan 1, 2011)

Was the information garnered from Operation Gold of any real value in determining the course of the cold war?
Include information on the melted snow incident and how that and other events might have tipped off Dulles that the operation had been compromised.


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## SpitfireV (Jan 2, 2011)

Works for me, cheers. I'll get started tomorrow.


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## x SF med (Jan 3, 2011)

What about the rise of 'corporate espionage' during the Cold War, and it's links to information security especially in the computer related industries?  follow on to that the with the new industries created and how the circular event horizon keeps pushing itself to new heights.  just think only 15 years ago 128 bit encryption was the schnizzle, now you need 256meg encryption to even slow some of these guys down.


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## SpitfireV (Jan 4, 2011)

I've started on Dame's idea for a start but I'll work on that one next. Cheers!


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## Marauder06 (Jan 4, 2011)

When are you going to post it?


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## Dame (Jan 4, 2011)

Give him time. We're still discussing reference material. :)


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## Marauder06 (Jan 4, 2011)

When I was his age, I would have had it written by now ;)


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## SpitfireV (Jan 5, 2011)

Pft. When you were my age it probably would have been written with a quill!

(Looking at the end of the weekend).


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## Manolito (Jan 5, 2011)

Hell Spit when I was your age the only source was the library and dewey decimal system research. File card catalog was always messed up and you couldn't take home reference material. No photo copy machines back then so hand written and then the bibliography cards etc. Minimum term papers then were 5K.
I sit in the evenings and read a thread and without getting up I can google the subject and read until I get tired. God I love this technology. Now if I could just figure out how to program my phone.
Bill


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## Marauder06 (Jan 5, 2011)

Don't ask Spit to help you with it, at his pace your phone will be obsolete before he gets it working for you!  ;)


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## SpitfireV (Jan 5, 2011)

Hey, I worked for the government. It's pending assignment to the relevant team member right now, who will get to it as soon as they can.


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## Marauder06 (Aug 7, 2011)

Bump for Spit's essay on the caliphate.


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## Dame (Aug 7, 2011)

Yeah... Good luck. I'm still waiting to see an essay on Operation Gold.


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## Marauder06 (Aug 7, 2011)

I finally found someone on the site who is slower about following through on their writing than I am.

Thanks, Spitty!


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## x SF med (Aug 7, 2011)

And now we know why Israeli agents could set up shop in NZ right under the Custom's Service nose.... this is the peed of information transfer in kiwiland...

Hey Spit, are you posting by telegraph or leg key in 5 character groups?


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## Marauder06 (Aug 8, 2011)

<cricket... cricket...>


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## SpitfireV (Aug 8, 2011)

Hey what the hell I'm getting shit and I didn't even know! Bloody typical Americanos to not even tell someone they're talking shit about me and not even bother to let me know...jeeeez.

I'm just trying to dig it out. It's in my old papers folder somewhere hidden amongst the research and other assorted crap. Maybe I should have labelled it with the actual title LOL.


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## Marauder06 (Aug 8, 2011)

Well maybe I should have use my new-found mod-like powers to rename this thread "HEY SPITTY REMEMBER THAT PAPER YOU PROMISED US YOU'D POST MONTHS AGO?  PUT IT HERE!" would that have helped?


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## SpitfireV (Aug 8, 2011)

No, probably not.


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## SpitfireV (Aug 8, 2011)

Here it is. I'll post it up in that other thread too. It's a fairly rubbish essay, I got a B for it. Was one of the first ones I did when I went back.


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## Marauder06 (Aug 8, 2011)

SpitfireV said:


> Here it is. I'll post it up in that other thread too. It's a fairly rubbish essay, I got a B for it. Was one of the first ones I did when I went back.



A "B?"  With all of those spelling errors (organized, recognized, etc.) you're lucky to get that ;)

Thanks for posting that Spitfire.


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## SpitfireV (Aug 8, 2011)

LOL.

It was actually a bit difficult to get sources for some of it since I was very wary about certain sites and whatnot.


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## x SF med (Aug 8, 2011)

SpitfireV said:


> LOL.
> 
> It was actually a bit difficult to get sources for some of it since I was very wary about certain sites and whatnot.



What? Nothing about Aladdin or Sinbad? Not even a nodding mention of Scheherezade? Yeah, the essay is bloody rubbish you nodder....


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## SpitfireV (Aug 8, 2011)

x SF med said:


> What? Nothing about Aladdin or Sinbad? Not even a nodding mention of Scheherezade? Yeah, the essay is bloody rubbish you nodder....



Words...too big...no...understand...


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## x SF med (Aug 8, 2011)

SpitfireV said:


> Words...too big...no...understand...



douche bag - are these small enough words?:-":-|


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## SpitfireV (Aug 8, 2011)

x SF med said:


> douche bag - are these small enough words?:-":-|



Yes but I didn't think you'd need to introduce yourself after all this time?! :confused:


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## Gypsy (Aug 9, 2011)

x SF med said:


> Hey Spit, are you posting by telegraph or leg key in 5 character groups?



Carrier pigeon.


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## SpitfireV (Aug 9, 2011)

OPSEC thanks Gypsy. I can't have my stuff being intercepted by the enemy.


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## Marauder06 (Aug 27, 2011)

OK- I thought I was going to have a couple of more days to work on this, but the deadline is next week and with the very real possibility that due to the hurricane I'm going to lose power and therefore internet access in the next 24 hours, I probably need to get this sent in.  I took a couple of hours this morning to throw this together from a couple of things I was working on a couple of months ago.

The attachment below is a response to a call for papers for an overseas international relations journal.  The format the article is written in is (for the most part) the format required for submission.  Word count is 1500-3000 words, basically they're looking for an opinion article about an international relations topic, particularly one that "challenges conventional wisdom."  For anyone who chooses to read it, I could use feedback on the following:

-Does it make sense to you?
-Are there any conspicuous errors or inconsistencies?
-Any questions or suggestions?

Posting a response is fine, or you can PM me.  Weather is pretty good here, but once the rains start I'm going to go ahead and call it done so I can get it turned in.  I'm going to continue to work on refining it as well, just wanted to post the draft here first.  Thanks for your input.

mara


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## x SF med (Aug 27, 2011)

Mara - by the time you start into the "non-state actors"  there is a missing arena - modulated public opinion as influenced by the media conglomerates  - unless you are lumping those into "super-empowered individuals" and "Major corporations"....  wher they loosely fit,  but are smaller and larger than the definitions - they are a synthesised and highly volatile incubator for belief (not truth) that an action or policy in the international arena is black, white, or grey...  or whether it is obsured by puff pieces to distract the international public.

Case in point for the above - without a good grounding in where and how to look, most  North and Central Americans have no clue as to the problems and difficulties in the entirety of the non-mid-east continent of Africa...  a general idea there may be drought, or revolution - but no real idea of the immensity of the social, political, economic issues including genocides and slavery...   ask where Burkina Faso is.

I would have liked to have seen further development of the interactions and interplay of the various "boxes" on each other and rollout of influences based on the importance of individual components.  i.e. high economic and diplomatic influence with low legal and military influence....

Overall, I think it's good stuff - thanks for the read.


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## Marauder06 (Aug 27, 2011)

Very useful feedback and observations, as usual.  I hadn't specifically considered mass-media as an independent non-state category before, but I should have; they are definite influencers of international policy.  I went back and added verbiage about "mass media outlets" instead of "conglomerates" to cover the gamut from individual bloggers to massive media corporations.  Great suggestion.

I also like the "boxes" idea.  I don't have time to develop that right now but if I have the opportunity to write a paper on this in class (you know, once I actually know something about international relations ;) ) I'll probably be able to do something pretty good with it.

I made some other minor corrections and went ahead and sent it in- time to go make sure my house is ready for the hurricane.


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## Marauder06 (Oct 20, 2011)

Marauder06 said:


> _North Korea, in an escalation to recent provocations, attacked a remote region of South Korea that resulted in 1,000 combined South Korean military and civilian causalities.  The South Korean government has publicly communicated their strong desire to retaliate,
> and considers the North Korean actions to qualify as an external armed attack under the
> Mutual Defense Treaty. What should the President’s response be?_



I had the above assignment a couple of weeks ago.  Here is what I wrote, what would you have recommended?


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## parallel (Oct 20, 2011)

Without reading all of these posts and without thinking this all the way through (as if I've never done THAT before); one argument against is the same argument that was used against gay marriage. That being that recognizing a union between anything other than one man or one woman is ostensibly a slippery slope that could (would?) result in people wanting to marry their dog, etc.

The problem that I have with those who say that Marriage is a covenant between one man, one woman and God is this; once we as a culture allowed the Government to decide who could and could not get married (ie. a marriage license) we made marriage something OTHER than a covenant between us and God.


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## SpitfireV (Oct 21, 2011)

Marauder06 said:


> I had the above assignment a couple of weeks ago. Here is what I wrote, what would you have recommended?



A limited missile strike was what I was thinking before you even mentioned it, so I'm quite happy there 

(Which is agreement).


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## Marauder06 (Nov 14, 2011)

I'm looking for data on drug prices within Afghanistan.  Specifically, I'd like to know the price of a gram of heroin (or opium) over the course of five years, doesn't matter which ones, between say 1994 and 2011.  I'm looking for prices paid by users inside Afghanistan, not the price of a kilogram exported out of the country.  Alternately, the same type of information for Pakistan would be useful.

This information was harder to track down than I expected, any assistance would be appreciated.


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## SpitfireV (Nov 14, 2011)

Marauder06 said:


> I'm looking for data on drug prices within Afghanistan. Specifically, I'd like to know the price of a gram of heroin (or opium) over the course of five years, doesn't matter which ones, between say 1994 and 2011. I'm looking for prices paid by users inside Afghanistan, not the price of a kilogram exported out of the country. Alternately, the same type of information for Pakistan would be useful.
> 
> This information was harder to track down than I expected, any assistance would be appreciated.



http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2011.html

And you should be able to find the years before that too.


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## Dame (Nov 14, 2011)

Good find Spit. They have charts on wholesale vs retail even.
http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/WDR2011/WDR_Final_Prices_crop.pdf


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## SpitfireV (Nov 15, 2011)

I used to find it very interesting in my old line of work to compare what the organisation used to declare as the worth of the seizure (street price), to what it was probably actually worth to the importers.


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## Marauder06 (Nov 20, 2011)

SpitfireV said:


> http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2011.html
> 
> And you should be able to find the years before that too.





Dame said:


> Good find Spit. They have charts on wholesale vs retail even.
> http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/WDR2011/WDR_Final_Prices_crop.pdf


 
Thank you both, that information was very useful.

I turned in my paper last week (attached). I had conflicting data when it came to pricing and quantity supplied/demanded (of course, because 1) it's illegal drugs and 2) it's in Afghanistan) and I'm not really sure if I calculated some things correctly but here it is. It's turned in already so I don't need any feedback or comments, but I thought it might be interesting to any of you who are wondering why people keep making such a big deal out of the Afghan heroin trade... anytime you have an illegal industry that represents 40% of the legitimate GDP of your country, there are going to be problems. At any rate, some of the references might be useful to any of you who might write something about the drug market in Afghanistan in the future.

A couple of things I would have added if I wasn't up against a page length restriction were  the price difference to the farmer for growing an acre of poppy vs. an acre of any legit good, such as wheat; eradication efforts and degree of success; and the way the opium poppy goes from a plant through harvesting, refining, and into the veins of a user.


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## SpitfireV (Nov 21, 2011)

Awww you mentioned little old us :)

I thought that was quite interesting. Thanks for sharing.


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## Teufel (Nov 21, 2011)

I didn't read all the background of this thread but I wrote an article on Force Reconnaissance that made it into this month's Marine Corps Gazette.


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## Dame (Nov 21, 2011)

Teufel said:


> I didn't read all the background of this thread but I wrote an article on Force Reconnaissance that made it into this month's Marine Corps Gazette.


Linky please.


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## Teufel (Nov 21, 2011)

Dame said:


> Linky please.


 
Sorry , you have to have an online subscription or buy a hard copy.  Also they don't pay authors!


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## Marauder06 (Nov 22, 2011)

Post up a .pdf of what you sent in?


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## Grey (Dec 8, 2011)

As directed I am posting here to search out information for a paper I am doing for my psychology class. Initially my teacher gave us certain subjects to research and then from there do a paper. I decided against this and instead do a paper on something I would have more interest in. After giving her an outline of what I wanted to do she gave me the OK. 

The main question I wanted to try and answer with this paper was do members of SOF units have similar and specific personalities, if so do those personalities positively or negatively affect their ability to be in those types of units? Are people with these same personality types more likely to be attracted to and eventually get through the training of these types of units? 

By no means am I looking for someone to do the research for me. I actually held off on asking around here because I did not want to come off that way. I have been searching a lot but most of the things I have found were not specifically about SOF which was my goal, though much of what I have found is still useful towards my overall idea of the paper. Originally the idea came after a thread in the general discussion came with the personality test. I can no longer find that thread (possibly deleted after update) but it showed many SOF types with the same specific personality type. I was hoping to use that as a way to compare against personality types of people within other non-SOF units and then that of civilians. 

If anyone would be able to point me in the right direction or give any ideas or criticisms it would be greatly helpful and appreciated. I simply am not knowledgeable enough to know where to look.
-Nick


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## Marauder06 (Dec 8, 2011)

I discussed this issue with Nick before he made the above post.  I think it will make for an interesting paper and would ask that any so inclined give him a hand with what he is trying to do.


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## HoosierAnnie (Dec 8, 2011)

Nick said:


> The main question I wanted to try and answer with this paper was do members of SOF units have similar and specific personalities, if so do those personalities positively or negatively affect their ability to be in those types of units? Are people with these same personality types more likely to be attracted to and eventually get through the training of these types of units? -Nick


 

Nick - not sure if you ran across this yet.   http://www.statecraft.org/chapter15.html
Scroll down about 1/3 down page.  This might give you an idea at least what the mil is looking for when they select. Then you need to investigate how well the actual service members fit the "ideal"
*Psychological Screening—and "Modeling"—for Elite *


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## Grey (Dec 8, 2011)

HoosierAnnie said:


> Nick - not sure if you ran across this yet.



I had not but this is exactly the type of thing I had been looking for, mostly anything that referances to studies done on the psychology of SOF. Most things I had found were very generalized and about regular military. Thank you.


----------



## tmroun01 (Dec 8, 2011)

Okay guys and gals, working on a project for my irregular warfare class. I'm trying to come up with something that is somewhat outside of the box. The topic I'm considering pertains to the Mexican drug cartels and how they are fighting each other and the government for control of natural resources. The kicker is that said natural resources are the smuggling corridors into the U.S. Any thoughts suggestions or critiques on this idea are appreciated. I should have a draft on here in the next couple of days.


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## SpitfireV (Dec 10, 2011)

I wouldn't consider it a natural resource since the routes and corridors, which naturally occurring, are not resources that diminish or replenish like, say, oil or diamonds.


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## HoosierAnnie (Dec 11, 2011)

Spit  its become a fight like those of the old west over things like water rights.


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## SpitfireV (Dec 11, 2011)

Disagree. It's more like a "proper" war that's fought over geography.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 11, 2011)

What definition are you using for "natural resource?"  I tend to agree with Spitty that the war is over control of key terrain, not over natural resources.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 15, 2011)

For several years I've been toying with the idea of recommending some major changes to the five-paragraph OPORD.  One of my friends and I are going to co-author an article about it, and I'm looking for input, specifically what the standard basic OPORD (i.e. the format from ROTC and/or IOBC) is now, and any OPORD-related articles currently in existence.  UNCLASS preferred, FOUO is OK, nothing classified.  PMs welcome.


----------



## Dame (Dec 16, 2011)

Could use an extra pair of eyeballs before I turn in my term paper on GNU/Linux security.


Anyone?


Anyone?


----------



## CDG (Dec 17, 2011)

I can proofread, but I know nothing about the actual topic.....


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## Dame (Dec 17, 2011)

CDG said:


> I can proofread, but I know nothing about the actual topic.....


PM inbound


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## Marauder06 (Feb 16, 2012)

I have to write a short (5-7 pages )leadership paper on the decision to go into Iraq in 2003.  I'm going to start looking for sources tomorrow, if anyone has some good ones off the top of their head, please let me know what they are.  Thanks.


----------



## x SF med (Feb 16, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> I have to write a short (5-7 pages )leadership paper on the decision to go into Iraq in 2003. I'm going to start looking for sources tomorrow, if anyone has some good ones off the top of their head, please let me know what they are. Thanks.


 
I believe some of the backup for the decision making is still classed well above FOUO


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## SpitfireV (Feb 16, 2012)

Gee Dub's autobio would be a good source.


----------



## Manolito (Feb 16, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> I have to write a short (5-7 pages )leadership paper on the decision to go into Iraq in 2003. I'm going to start looking for sources tomorrow, if anyone has some good ones off the top of their head, please let me know what they are. Thanks.


 There were some interesting bits and pieces in General Tommy Franks Book.


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## Marauder06 (Feb 16, 2012)

x SF med said:


> I believe some of the backup for the decision making is still classed well above FOUO


 
Good; that means my professor won't be able to contradict me if I'm wrong ;)

I'm just looking for open-source stuff for this paper.


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## AWP (Feb 16, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> I have to write a short (5-7 pages )leadership paper on the decision to go into Iraq in 2003. I'm going to start looking for sources tomorrow, if anyone has some good ones off the top of their head, please let me know what they are. Thanks.


 
Cobra II by Gordon and Trainor
Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward


----------



## CDG (Feb 17, 2012)

Ditto on Plan of Attack.  Also, "War and Decision" by Douglas Feith.


----------



## Marauder06 (Mar 3, 2012)

Attached is the paper I wrote about the war in Iraq. Thank you for the book recommendations, I ended up using Decision Points (which is where I derived the title of my paper), In My Time, and Plan of Attack as primary sources. I also used a lot of magazine and newspaper articles.

When I first starting writing this paper, I had in my mind that while the decision to go into Iraq in 2003 turned out to be a bad one, that anyone in the same situation would have made the same decision. The more I read and the more I looked at the available evidence, however, I came to a different conclusion.

I ended up doing a massive re-write on this paper the night before it was due, in part because of the ultimate conclusion I came to and in part because I wanted to do a really good paper and impress the professor. The result, however, was not my best work. There were a couple of things I could have expanded, and a couple of places where I went off on a bit of a tangent. I also got kind of pissed off towards the end of the paper when I started thinking about all the waste and loss of life in Iraq, and that anger crept into what I was writing.

Nonetheless, the sources I cited might be useful to anyone if they have to write something on this topic in the future, or if you want to take a look at the same evidence and make up your own mind.


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## CDG (Mar 4, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> Attached is the paper I wrote about the war in Iraq.....


 
Good read, sir.  Thanks for posting that.


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## Marauder06 (Mar 8, 2012)

OK I think I got the .pdf thing sorted.  Attached are the slides and the briefing notes for the presentation I'm going to give on MIDLIFE tomorrow.  The briefing notes will probably change slightly before the brief, and you'll just have to imagine my gratuitous green laser pointer use and how great I look in a suit ;) but here you go.


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## x SF med (Mar 8, 2012)

Here's a picture of Mara and Irish at the presentation...  Mara is the tall one...


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## Marauder06 (Mar 8, 2012)

"hate" lol

If the tall one is me. Irish must be the short one ;)


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## SpitfireV (Mar 9, 2012)

I'm just surprised you agreed to be photographed in Irish cammies.


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## Marauder06 (Mar 9, 2012)

I did the briefing this afternoon.  It went OK, but in hindsight it was a bit too long and I relied to heavily on my notes.  Next time I do the briefing I'm going to take out a couple of slides and just do talking points instead of writing out all of what I'm going to say.


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## x SF med (Mar 9, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> I did the briefing this afternoon. It went OK, but in hindsight it was a bit too long and I relied_* to*_ heavily on my notes. Next time I do the briefing I'm going to take out a couple of slides and just do talking points instead of writing out all of what I'm going to say.


 
um.... Mara, the highlighted, bold underlined, red word should be "too" ...  Aren't you some sort of advanced degree candidate, for fuck's sake?  Learn how to spell, Sir, or hire some NCOs to spell for you....  this is embarassing.


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## SpitfireV (Mar 9, 2012)

x SF med said:


> um.... Mara, the highlighted, bold underlined, red word should be "too" ... Aren't you some sort of advanced degree candidate, for fuck's sake? Learn how to spell, Sir, or hire some NCOs to spell for you.... this is embarassing.


 
Technically, shouldn't there be three of these?


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## x SF med (Mar 10, 2012)

SpitfireV said:


> Technically, shouldn't there be three of these?


 
Not in Trollville...  be quiet you hobbit or I'll send Gollum after you.


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## Marauder06 (Mar 10, 2012)

x SF med said:


> um.... Mara, the highlighted, bold underlined, red word should be "too" ... Aren't you some sort of advanced degree candidate, for fuck's sake? Learn how to spell, Sir, or hire some NCOs to spell for you.... this is embarassing.


 
Clearly, some hater came behind me and surreptitiously edited an error into my work...


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## Salt USMC (Mar 11, 2012)

Its Chinese cyberwar!


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## x SF med (Mar 11, 2012)

Deathy McDeath said:


> Its Chinese cyberwar!


 
Is that like Chinese Checkers?


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## Marauder06 (Apr 7, 2012)

For a short paper due at the end of the month, I have to write a five-year strategy for a contemporary "key leader" (interpreted broadly here to be anyone in a leadership position:  sports franchise, military, government, education, non-profit/NGO, etc.).

I was considering "advising" the commander of SOCOM on a five-year plan to institute a centralized, command-wide, assessment/selection/training program for enablers.  If my professor doesn't like that, I'm considering advising the commander of the Haqqani Network on how best to defeat the Americans and take over eastern Afghanistan after we leave.  Any other suggestions?


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## Crusader74 (Apr 7, 2012)

POTUS maybe?


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## Marauder06 (Apr 7, 2012)

Irish said:


> POTUS maybe?


 
That might be a really short paper ;)


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## TH15 (Apr 7, 2012)

The two leaders that came to my mind were Netanyahu and Ahmadinejad. You could choose the Israeli PM and advise him on Iran, perhaps. Or, pick Ahmadinejad and advise him on dealing with the US and/or the Israelis and Saudis.


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## Marauder06 (Apr 8, 2012)

I talked it over with my professor, and he recommended I do a general five-year plan for SOCOM.  I'll be actively soliciting input on what you all think SOCOM should focus on for the next five years.  Two things I'm going to specifically address are the enabler training program and whether or not SOF should be its own branch of service.


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## Marauder06 (Apr 18, 2012)

Am I the only person who writes papers anymore?  :ehh:  I know a lot of you guys are in school and/or write for professional journals, you should post up your work in this forum.  It's educational for the rest of us, and you might get some constructive feedback on whatever it is you're working on.

Here is a paper I wrote for my Leadership class.  We had to analyze a world leader in terms of his/her ability to overcome resistance and implement change.  I chose Bismarck because I felt what he did in terms of uniting the German-speaking states of central Europe and crushing France was pretty impressive.  It's also a cautionary tail about what happens when an organization is too personality-dependent.


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## SpitfireV (Apr 19, 2012)

I've got one I'll put up on Monday (it's on the uni computer). It's about being the NSA circa 2008 and having to write a briefing paper to Obama briefing him on the "war on terror" and how it's going. I had to cater a bit to the possibility that the lecturer might be a raging lefty but I think I still put enough in to raise his blood pressure if so lol.

Actually I roughly recall you posted something similar up once, Mara? Maybe my lecturer has borrowed your course outline lol.


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## SpitfireV (Apr 20, 2012)

OK here it is. It's kinda rubbish but I'd happy for some feedback. 1k words is really not enough for even a nibble at how the terrorism operation is going.


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## SpitfireV (Apr 22, 2012)

Got a good mark for that one. :)

Anyway, I've managed to get a different topic for the intel failures, using Ames and Hanson as a case study on how intelligence failures (within the context of the cycle) contributed to Soviet intelligence penetrating the two different agencies.


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## Marauder06 (Apr 23, 2012)

SpitfireV said:


> Got a good mark for that one.
> 
> Anyway, I've managed to get a different topic for the intel failures, using Ames and Hanson as a case study on how intelligence failures (within the context of the cycle) contributed to Soviet intelligence penetrating the two different agencies.


 
That ought to be a good read!


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## Marauder06 (May 4, 2012)

SpitfireV said:


> OK here it is. It's kinda rubbish but I'd happy for some feedback. 1k words is really not enough for even a nibble at how the terrorism operation is going.


 
Spitty-

I read your paper, and I agree with the underlaying theses, particularly with regard to Pakistan's support of violent extremist groups.  A couple of notes/suggestions:

-"War on Terror" was President Bush's thing, President Obama uses "Overseas Contingency Operations."
-You said "Warisistan" but I think you meant "Waziristan."  
-"Detention" is also misspelled.


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## SpitfireV (May 4, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> Spitty-
> 
> I read your paper, and I agree with the underlaying theses, particularly with regard to Pakistan's support of violent extremist groups. A couple of notes/suggestions:
> 
> ...


 
The spellingky I have no excuse for! Thanks for your other comments too mate, agreed.


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## Marauder06 (May 14, 2012)

Here is the final paper I wrote for this semester.  It was for a strategy/history class I really liked.  For this paper, we could write on anything we liked as long as it tied into strategy.  I decided to take a chance and try something "funny and witty" (some here like to remind me that I'm neither ;) ).  I applied the grand strategic principles of the books we studied over the past semester (Art of War, The Prince, On War, The Armada, The Peloponnese War, The History of Rome, etc.) and see how they might be applied in a bar on a Friday night.  I also added in some references to some of our other readings, and to some inside jokes from the class.  The bit at the end is a little jab at my professors for not including On Guerrilla Warfare by Mao to the syllabus.  I admit I hadn't read much out of these books before I took the course, but I thought there would be many site members better-read than I who would get the jokes and find this amusing.


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## SpitfireV (Sep 10, 2012)

I have to do an essay on why certain landmines are banned for use but weapons such as napalm is not. I was going to argue that AP mines are a lasting influence on ground and difficult to remove while napalm and the like is a "use once" kind of weapon. Thoughts?


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## Polar Bear (Sep 10, 2012)

Napalm sticks to kids


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## Marauder06 (Sep 10, 2012)

SpitfireV said:


> I have to do an essay on why certain landmines are banned for use but weapons such as napalm is not. I was going to argue that AP mines are a lasting influence on ground and difficult to remove while napalm and the like is a "use once" kind of weapon. Thoughts?


 
I think that's exactly right.  Landmines are an "area denial" weapon, which have very long "shelf lives" and are very indiscriminate weapons.  In contrast, napalm is an "instantaneous effect" weapon.  Interestingly, the US is one of the countries which is not a signatory on the international treaty to ban land mines.  MOO, this is because 1) the US recognizes the extreme utility of area-denial weapons, and 2) IIRC, all of our landmines have built-in self destruct mechanisms and 3) we are very, very careful as to when, where, and how we use them.  For these reasons, the US does not believe we need to sign the treaty; we're responsible enough without it.  Again, this is MOO and AFAIK not an official position of the USG.

Another related issue is the use of cluster bombs.  Again, they are a highly effective area-denial and direct targeting system, but they, like napalm, are instantaneous.  Only... sometimes they're not.  Apparently there is a high dud rate of the cluster munitions, and being round like baseballs, many times they're picked up and played with, with unfortunate results.


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## SpitfireV (Sep 10, 2012)

Area denial. That's the word I was looking for. That stuff on why you guys use it is really interesting too. Thanks for the post mate.


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## Marauder06 (Sep 10, 2012)

Glad to do it.


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## SpitfireV (Sep 20, 2012)

Could somebody tell me if the list on the right hand side is reasonably accurate as to mines that in service still?

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/m77.htm


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## Marauder06 (Sep 27, 2012)

*CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS*
*Volume 8, Issue 1*

*DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 1, 2012*

*DESCRIPTION*

The _Yale Journal of International Affairs_ (YJIA) is a biannual print journal and online platform (yalejournal.org) that seeks to bridge the gap between the academic and policy worlds.  YJIA publishes articles, interviews, and op-eds by scholars, think tanks, policy practitioners, and advanced graduate students on international affairs topics with implications for policy.  We look for original argumentation and insightful criticism.


Recent contributors to the _Yale Journal of International Affairs_ include: Francis Gavin, Robert Jervis, John M. Owen IV, Marc Trachtenberg, Stephen M. Walt, David Cohen, Alexander Evans, Janet Napolitano, Oona Hathaway, Stanley McChrystal, Tony Blair, Paul Collier, Joseph Stiglitz, John Negroponte, and Mary Kaldor, among others. To view YJIA’s archives, visit us online at yalejournal.org


*S**UBMISSIONS*
The _Yale Journal of International Affairs _accepts three types of submissions for its print journal:
1)      Articles (3,000 to 5,000 words) – Please include a 100-word abstract
2)      Op-Eds (800 words or less)
3)      Book Reviews (2,000 words or less)
*FORMATTING YOUR SUBMISSION**
·         All citations should take the form of endnotes.
·         All submissions must conform to the conventions of the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition
·         All submissions must include a short bio, which should indicate current institutional affiliation and must not exceed three sentences in length.

*Submissions** must be sent **by email** as Microsoft Word documents to YJIA Editor-in-Chief Mark Redmond at **mark.redmond@yale.edu** no later than **November 1**, 2012**.*


_*__ Failure to follow these guidelines may result in your piece not being considered._ _Authors will be notified of the status of their submissions no later than f__ive__ weeks after the submissions period has closed.  Release of Volume VIII, Issue I is expected in Winter 2013.__ The views expressed in this journal do not necessarily represent those __of the Journal’s editorial board, board of advisors, or any other entity at Yale University._



For further information, please contact:
Mark J. Redmond, Editor-In-Chief | mark.redmond@yale.edu
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## Texas_Medic (Sep 30, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> Here is the final paper I wrote for this semester.


Funny read, really enjoyed it. To bad Bismarck could never get the "double cannae" in that bar room that his roommate Count Schlieffen promised.


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## Marauder06 (Sep 30, 2012)

Texas_Medic said:


> Funny read, really enjoyed it. To bad Bismarck could never get the "double cannae" in that bar room that his roommate Count Schlieffen promised.


 
That is brilliant, actually.  It might have to go into the revision...


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## Texas_Medic (Sep 30, 2012)

Hey, I'm just here to help.;)​


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## Texas_Medic (Oct 2, 2012)

I'm writing a paper on the constitutionality of the War Powers Act/ Resolution of 1973. I'm interested in thoughts about whether people feel it is constitutional or not. Its a 3 page maximum, thank god, so it will be fairly easy but I found the topic interesting from a constitutional perspective. Currently, and since the act has been passed, no one in the executive office has agreed with the constitutionality of it.


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## Marauder06 (Oct 2, 2012)

Yeah, IIRC it gets pretty regularly ignored by the executive branch.  Which pisses off the legislative branch.  

I don't know a lot about the topic but if you want to post your paper here, I'm sure a couple of us will read it and tell you how crappy it is provide useful feedback.


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## Texas_Medic (Oct 2, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> ... I'm sure a couple of us will read it and tell you how crappy it is ....


 
I am sure that will be the case, for now I am just doing some reading on the subject since I know squat other than what you stated. I hope to write it up next week sometime. I like to be under pressure procrastinate.


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## Marauder06 (Oct 2, 2012)

Search for it here on the site.  I think someone pissed me off posted something that interested me about this subject, which caused me to get off my ass to prove him wrong in an Internet fight do some research on it.  If we didn't delete it, it might still be here.


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## Dame (Oct 15, 2012)

I have to do an online help guide this semester. It's not so much a white paper as a how-to or manual for a user. We'll be using MadCap Flare which is a new program for me. But it does use XML which I recently began learning. Anyway, the bit that has me stumped is what to write the manual for. What might you like to see online help for? Think product. Higher tech than a toaster. Oh, and if anyone has a manual for an SA-H351 made by Sigma/Trimm for the U.S. Navy about 15 years ago, I would dearly love to have that. I wrote it and the company is long gone. It would be close to the perfect project. The drive canisters looked like this:


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## Marauder06 (Dec 16, 2012)

Writing this paper is what got me thinking about whether what the Fort Hood shooter did could be considered a war crime. I should have started writing it AFTER that thread where we all discussed it, those arguments would have made it a much better paper.

My professor for this class likes a more conversational tone in writing, and he doesn't require the same kind of rigor when citing footnotes, so this paper is slightly different from the way I normally write. I thought it came out pretty well and the prof liked it, although he had a LOT of comments where he disagreed with some of my positions and found holes in some of my logic. Posting here for source material if anyone wants to write something on a related topic in the future.


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## 8654Maine (Dec 16, 2012)

I am too tired for any coherent thoughts but I am very impressed by the depth of knowledge exhibited in these papers and comments.  Just a science geek.


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## Rogers0317 (Dec 18, 2012)

I just found this thread and the papers are great.  I am currently working on my BA in Political Science (have about 30 credits left to finish up).  Tomorrow I'm going to try to post a paper I recently wrote about the Senate Intelligence Committee.  It has already been graded, but I would appreciate any feedback from anyone!


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## walra107 (Dec 19, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> paper


 
Mara, 
Great paper, I learned a lot from it, I was just wondering though and this is just an innocent question in regards to the paper, not necessarily the content...Was there/are there any caps on the amount of internet based research? i.e. Online periodicals, websites etc. I always had professors who liked to put a limit on internet resources.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 19, 2012)

walra107 said:


> Mara,
> Great paper, I learned a lot from it, I was just wondering though and this is just an innocent question in regards to the paper, not necessarily the content...Was there/are there any caps on the amount of internet based research? i.e. Online periodicals, websites etc. I always had professors who liked to put a limit on internet resources.


 
No limits on Internet research; in fact most research here is Internet-based.  Also, if you look closely you'll see that several of the links are links to books or to newspaper/magazine articles; I found it easier to post a link vs. the tiresome combination of author name, publisher name, publisher's location... etc.  It's also easier for my profs to fact-check my sources, which they do from time to time.


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## Rogers0317 (Dec 19, 2012)

Here is a paper I recently wrote about the Senate Intelligence Committee.  I realize that there are a few format errors, but it was my first time using Turabian in a few years.  I already received my grade, but I would appreciate any general feedback.


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## Marauder06 (Dec 20, 2012)

Liked it.  Learned something.

I would have started off with sentence four of your intro, and either worked in the other bits in later, maybe after the comma in "Due to the tremendous... to produce intelligence, one of the most important Committes that fall underneath the United States Senate is the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence."  Then start a new sentence or even a new paragraph with "The Senate Select Intelligence Committee has a direct..."

IMO, and this is a style issue only, some of your sentences are too short, it makes for a choppy read.  For example where you have "The US SSCI (I'm using this as an abbreviation so I don't have to type out "Senate Select Committee on Intelligence" every time, did you consider doing that?) Anyway, where you have "The US SSCI has a vital mission.  The Committee..."  I would have gone with, "The vital mission of the SSCI is to oversee and study..."

I thought Turabian called for Western/Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) for footnotes/endnotes, not Roman numerals?  And were you required to use endnotes vs. footnotes?  For readability, I prefer footnotes.  I also thought that Turabian called for the first line of footnotes to be tabbed in, it makes for easier readability when you have many sources with multiple lines per note.

Ended a couple of sentences with a preposition.

You mention the IC quite a bit, it might have been good to have a footnote to a link that spells out what all 16 of them are.  I'd also use "IC" instead of "intelligence community" every time.  Unless you're deliberately trying to stretch word count/page length.

Doesn't the House have an intel committee too?  It might have been interesting to contrast the two groups and talk about how they work together (or don't) on intel-related issues.


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## Rogers0317 (Dec 20, 2012)

Marauder, 
Thanks for all of the advice!  I will definitely try to incorporate some of your tips in my next paper.  Turabian does use Arabic numerals as opposed to Roman numerals.  This was one of the first papers I have written using Turabian, so I did have some format errors.  Also, footnotes or endnotes can be used.  I will probably use footnotes in future papers, because I do agree that it does make the paper easier to read.  It is interesting that you mentioned using "IC."  I am currently taking the Introduction to the U.S. Intelligence Community class, and we use "IC" in this class.  I have enjoyed the class so much that I am seriously considering trying to earn a Master Degree in Intelligence Studies with a concentration in Criminal Intelligence.  I'm planning on transitioning out of the Marine Corps in about 2 years in order to start a career in law enforcement (possibly federal). 

The House also has an Intelligence oversight committee.  I am interested in learning more about the differences between the committees, but for this particular paper, I was supposed to focus on the roles and responsibilities of a single committee. 

Thanks again for all of the help!


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## Marauder06 (Dec 20, 2012)

If you're interested in doing an intel-related masters degree, and if you have a clearance, you should consider National Intelligence University (formerly National Defense Intelligence College).  It's a 1-year masters-producing program, and AFAIK it's the only grad school intel program where you actually deal with real intel (i.e. classified) material.


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## Rogers0317 (Dec 21, 2012)

That looks like an awesome opportunity, and I am definitely going to look into it!


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## SpitfireV (Dec 21, 2012)

What can be done with actual intel that can't be done with a made up case study though? Ideally I have thought the lecturers and the course content would be more important than that.


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## Marauder06 (Jan 8, 2013)

For those of you looking for publishing opportunities:



> *CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS*
> *DEADLINE: MARCH 1, 2013*
> 
> The _Yale Journal of International Affairs_ (YJIA) is a biannual print journal that seeks to bridge the gap between the academic and policy worlds. YJIA publishes articles, interviews, and op-eds by scholars, think tanks, policy practitioners, and advanced graduate students on topics of international affairs with implications for policy. We look for original argumentation and insightful criticism.
> ...


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## SkrewzLoose (Jan 9, 2013)

Marauder06 said:


> For those of you looking for publishing opportunities:


Hmm...nothing about unfinished case studies there...:-/


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