Word: localize
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...Remembrance: Robert McNamara" and your cover story on Afghanistan. Both articles mirror each other in thought and tone and express hope for American efforts in ongoing quagmires. Gelb and McChrystal understand that wars in places like Afghanistan and Vietnam - no matter how expertly executed - can't be won unless local people have a true stake in the operations. McChrystal's new fighting strategy - to separate and protect instead of kill, to understand motivations rather than employing brute force, to supplement instead of micromanaging conditions for success - is a step in the right direction. I'm reminded of something I learned...
...Parliament: a new right-wing grouping chaired by Polish MEP Michal Kaminski, a former member of two hard-right parties. But Pickles says the key to winning the argument against extremism is to take it back to grassroots. "The only way to deal with [the far right] is by local politicians championing their neighborhoods and being very proud that they represent their electors," he says. (Read: "David Cameron: UK's Next Leader...
Without big national platforms and regular media access, far-right parties rely heavily on door-to-door campaigning and local meetings. The bigger parties ignore such old-fashioned techniques at their peril, says Eric Pickles, chairman of Britain's Conservative Party. "You've got a kind of [mainstream politician] representing those estates who didn't grow up on them, doesn't know them well and visits like a political tourist." Mainstream parties have "got to re-engage the population," he says. "You can't write the people off who voted BNP as all being Nazis. It's neglect...
This, you might be asking, is the good news? Well, yes, it is, because a housing recovery isn't just about bottoming out on price. What is more important for a healthy market is that there be a prevailing logic or reason - rooted in local neighborhoods, in local economies - for houses to cost what they do. And that sort of logic, as illustrated by Boise, is reclaiming the housing market from coast to coast...
None of this means everyone's happy. In fact, one of the ways in which Boise reflects a return to local logic is the city's rising foreclosure rate. It hasn't been tricky subprime and Alt-A loans tripping up the folks in Idaho; it's been the flailing economy. At 10.1%, Boise's unemployment rate is above the national average and nearly twice what it was this time last year. As big employers such as HP and semiconductor maker Micron lay off thousands of workers, job losses cascade through other industries and small businesses. If people...