The Weasel Watcher’s have voted

The Watcher’s Council, residing comfortably at Watcher of Weasels, has again carefully reviewed 12 council-authored blog posts and 14 posts from the rest of blogosphere. As I’m discovering week after week, this is a great way for me to learn and read things that I wouldn’t otherwise know about. Aside from this new breadth to my information, I continue to be impressed by the high quality writing and thinking, both among fellow council members, and just out there generally. Anyway, enough blather. Let me introduce you to the winners and, as always, I strongly suggest that you make all of the weekly nominations part of your regular reading.

For council-authored posts, this week’s winner was Germany and Iraq, Part 4, which you will find at Done with Mirrors. This post contains a truly erudite examination of the General behind Germany’s post-War recovery, and contrasts his tactics with the reconstruction strategy in Iraq. Second place went to moi, for my Means v. Ends post.

On the non-council side, the winner was The Blame Game, to be found on From My Position . . . On The Way. It’s an inside view of the deep troubles plaguing Walter Reed hospital’s outpatient care. I found it a particularly interesting story because a friend of mine who works in hospital administration thought that the whole thing has a bad smell. He pointed out that, while the problems go back years, the administrator who got fired, Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, was there only six months and could not possibly change the hospital culture in that time. My source was particularly disturbed because Weightman has a very distinguished resume and because the administrator who was in charge before Weightman — and who presided over the mess in the first place — has been returned to that post. According to my source, this reeks of hospital politicking and scape-goating, and seems to have little to do with a genuine effort to repair a broken system.

The second place winner on the non-council side was Honor Killings, Silence, and the Meaning of Speaking Out, which you’ll find at the Augean Stables. The post’s title tells you everything you need to know about a superb article that you’ll definitely want to read.

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