Below are simple links to other interesting stuff I've come across on the web in the last day or two; they may or may not concern literature or photography, or indeed the arts at all. You can click here to learn more about how I compile this list and what software I use, if you're interested.

Vietnamese to US: "Don't let Afghanistan become another Vietnam"
A fascinating article from the new GlobalPost.com, in which several old North Vietnamese military commanders (you know, the ones the US lost to in the early '70s) offer advice on how to not let the new US troop surge in Afghanistan turn into another Vietnam situation. In a nutshell: Understand the difference between guerrillas and the general population; acknowledge the problems of a conventional army fighting in rugged terrain full of hidden sanctuaries; and realize that the main issue is establishing a stable peace and prosperity, not just "killing the bad guys."

One out of every four American adults has smoked marijuana
And meanwhile, over seven thousand Americans JUST IN THE LAST YEAR have been murdered because of the illegal distribution and selling of the drug. When again are we finally going to start treating marijuana the same way we currently treat the much more dangerous alcohol?

Palin: "McCain's staffers were a bunch of godless heathens"
Rocked with weekly new scandals, fighting with her state legislature, facing ethics probe after ethics probe after ethics probe, and even with a freaking volcano erupting in her home state last week; and what's Sarah Palin's latest response? Why, to joke at a recent public event how she had wanted to stop and pray right before last fall's vice-presidential debate, but looked around and couldn't find a single staff member of McCain's campaign that she thought "pious" enough to actually pray with. Yes, that's right, with her state literally crumbling around her feet, Palin is still basing her governing on who around her is self-righteously "Christian enough" to warrant her stooping to talk to. And to think that this woman almost came within a heartbeat of becoming the leader of the United States.

America is moving more and more towards a one-party system
For the last six months, I've been predicting that the ideological meltdown of the Republican Party would eventually lead us to another one-party system, where it's suddenly conservative Democrats versus liberal Democrats deciding things instead of Democrats versus Republicans. (There's a precedent for this; it's exactly what happened after the War of 1812 too, except that time with the liberal party [the 'Federalists'] falling apart, a situation that lasted until the Civil War of 1860, when the all-pervasive "Democratic Republican Party" finally split into the modern Democrats and Republicans.) And hey, will you look at this -- a new article from Politico explains how there is suddenly more and more dissension within the Democratic Party these days, as more and more former Republicans ditch their old party and become so-called "blue dogs" (i.e. conservative Democrats). Expect a lot more of this, and also expect a growing amount of races in 2010 between Dems and Dems, leaving Republicans out altogether.

Have your own interesting link you'd like to share? Post it to the CCLAPocracy, the center's new community-driven microblog. Membership is free!