These are the topics for this week's delayed blog: the Putin Doctrine; economic inversion;  another journalist's death; a welcomed visit.

1823 vs 2013, Monroe v. Putin, so to speak. Tension continued to mount in eastern Ukraine. This from Foreign Policy, Aug 26th.

The Putin doctrine -- the belief that Russia has the right to act to protect Russian-speakers, no matter where they are -- puts NATO nations such as Estonia, Latvia, and Poland at risk. Each of these countries has citizens who speak Russian; the Kremlin has suggested it would penetrate those borders if Moscow thought those populations were threatened.

In 1823, the US warned off European powers, declaring the western hemisphere out of bounds to further European colonization. Today, a "wounded," distraught Putin, shorn of his Russia's empire, seems to be adapting the US example.

"Where's the beef?" Sometimes today's news triggers old memories. Remember Clara Peller, Walter Mondale, and Gary Hart (1984)? Ms. Peller did Wendy's humorous TV "Where's the beef" commercial with which Johnny Carson (et. al.) had a field day. Then Walter's political ads questioned Gary's "insubstantial" political platform. This past week's news put Burger King in the crosshairs as this iconic US corporation announced plans to buy Tim Horton, the Canadian fast food chain, and "invert" in Canada to cut its
tax bill. Just as with the original ad, controversy erupted.

Steven Sotloff.  Apparently second American journalist has been murdered by ISIS. The following quote is noteworthy. "The Death of Steven Sotloff," Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 9/2/2014.

Carl von Clausewitz, the Prussian historian, told us that war is the continuation of politics by other means. What he meant was, wars are fought to advance political objectives. When the objective is attained, or when an army exhausts itself trying, the war ends. The Clausewitzian rule is true whether a war is noble—going to war to defeat Hitler—or ignoble—sending tanks into eastern Ukraine to set up a vassal state. The point is that, for Clausewitz, violence is an instrument used to secure a political objective.


A most enjoyable visit. An ex-USAF colleague and his wife arrived from Boston and spent several days with us in Breckenridge, CO. The weather gods provided two glorious days with sunshine and cobalt blue skies.

Thank you for reading and I hope your Labor Day weekend went as well.