After Billions In US Aid, The Iraqi Army Evaporates

"the men called headquarters and received the same information, that all officers colonel and above had abandoned their posts. This evaporation of the officer corps, followed quickly by the rank and file, gave wide berth to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/06/14/230400/iraqi-soldier-who-fought-with.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

Literary Update

I'm reading Nightwoods by Charles Frazier, sort of a southern gothic set in the 1960's. I'm enjoying Nightwoods, but I'm becoming ruthless about dumping the bad novels. I just shit-canned Mission Road by Rick Riordan, which is a horrible pile of dreck. He publishes novel after novel, series after series. My guess is that he's run out of real ideas and is now churning out books by rote. The characters are cartoonish, and the decisions they make are laughable. This novel is meant to have a latino flavor, but the dialog and cultural markers are painted with a very broad brush. I know lots of latinos, and this novel seems to be an almost parody. He actually wrote that a cat purrs like a lowrider engine.