The tubby Indonesian toddler who caused a sensation last spring by enthusiastically puffing on cigarettes in a widely viewed video has quit smoking, according to media reports.

Two-year-old Ardi Rizal of South Sumatra, who reportedly smoked 40 cigarettes a day, has broken his nicotine addiction through a 30-day rehabilitation program, the Jakarta Globe reported Thursday.

“He has stopped smoking and doesn’t ask for cigarettes anymore,” Arist Merdeka Sirait, chairman of Indonesia’s National Commission on Child Protection, said, according to another publication, Earth Times.According to earlier reports, the child was placed in state custody after the video emerged and the boy’s parents said he would cry and throw tantrums if he went too long without smoking a cigarette.

Heavy smoking appeared to have caused the boy’s brain to shrink and could cause other health problems later, Sirait said, according to Earth Times.

“He needs to be in a smoking-free environment so that he doesn’t start smoking again,” Sirait said.

Anti-smoking advocates say Indonesia’s tobacco industry markets its products to children, according to the Globe.

From 567-area code (Ohio)

Anyone want to talk to Mr. Scam?

2.I work, but I don’t get paid. With, you know, real money.

3. As the mom I would consider taking payments in massage sessions.

4. That would help with the stress.

5. ‘Cause I get stressed, which causes tense muscles. Which requires a massage. Makes perfect sense to me. Duh.

6.I have to go to the grocery store today.

7.Because my family has to eat.

8. I wish they didn’t eat so much.

9.It would make for cheaper grocery bills.

10. I found another mouse in the master bath today.

11. They are getting in through a hole where the plumbing goes into the wall.

12.The mouse I found was dead. In the nifty trap.

13. No sorrow here.

14. Everyone is working right now.

15. Except me. I’m blogging. Which isn’t work. It’s fun.

16. It’s better than therapy.

17. Not that I know much about therapy, mind you.

18. I’m watching Hurricane Earl reports on the news.

19. All the meteorologists will be standing on beaches.

20. In 150 m.p.h wind, rain pelting them in the face.

21. Hope no one gets swept out into the Atlantic as they try to keep us updated.

22. Weather people live for this stuff.

23. At least I’m in Ohio. Far away from Earl.

24. Safe in my pasture land. With the mice.

25. Filthy, stinkin’ rodents. Blech.

26. The kids are working quietly.

27. This always scares me.

28. The kids are not normally quiet.

29. They may be plotting.

30. I should go check.

After cuddling with Curie for half an hour on the office chair, I decided to recoil from the rest of the world and embrace laziness entirely while watching Mansfield Park – a British film loosely based on Jane Austen’s novel. As the movie progressed, something started to bug me…something about the actress’s face…

Then it hit me! Frances O’Connor (who plays the female lead) looks EXACTLY like Mary-Louise Parker, the suburban, drug-dealing widow in Weeds! Look here:

Eh, eh?? :D

This uncanny resemblance made me think of all the other actors out there who have mysterious twins unbeknown to them. So of course I had no choice – I conducted a full celebrity-doppelganger chase lasting two nights which resulted in the following comparisons. Please know that I find these entirely creepy and am convinced that the Caucasian race is just as impossible to differentiate as the Asian race (or so people think):

Keira Knightly VS Natalie Portman

Katy Perry VS Zooey Deschanel

Linda Cardellini VS Ellen Page

Ryan Phillippe VS Justin Timberlake

Naomi Campbell VS Tyra Banks

Nelly Furtado VS Courtney Cox

Heath Ledger could pass as Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s older brother imo

Benecio del Toro VS Brad Pitt

Bono VS Robin Williams

Emily Osment VS Carrie Underwood

Bradley Cooper VS Ralph Fiennes (aka VOLDEMORT)

Isabelle Adjani VS Monica Bellucci (imo two of the most beautiful actresses ever to grace this earth…the 80′s and 90′s were good to them)

Chad Smith VS Will Ferrell

Jodie Foster VS Helen Hunt VS Leelee Sobieski (triple kill!)

After this search, I felt a little……empty inside. Where was MY twin? Is there a celebrity in this world who has the misfortune of resembling me? I had to do one last thing. I had to find my very OWN doppelganger. Friends, this was a hard task. You may not realize it, but we Asians do not all look alike. No, not even remotely. Lucy Liu is a beautiful woman but I do not look like her.

So I searched and searched. Googled and googled. I even went on facedouble.com for some guidance but to no avail (they tried tricking me into thinking that I looked like Maggie Q and…..Lucy Liu :( But then it occurred to me….slowly. I figured it out! You see, most Asian actresses have tiny frames with heart-shaped faces and delicate chins. Turns out Gong Li (The Emperor and the Assassin, Memoirs of a Geisha, Farewell My Concubine) actually has a round face just like mine with a more angular jaw structure. She’s of Chinese background but comes closer to looking like me than most Korean actresses. See here:

She is far too beautiful to be compared to that lowly peasant on the left, but that’s as close as it gets. If any of you find my doppelganger, please inform me immediately.

Those customs are different here. It’s one of the things you don’t think about until you run right into it. In the US, you have a memorial service somewhere, after which everyone gets into their cars and there’s a long caravan to the cemetery, led by a black hearse with either darkened, curtained, or no windows in the back. Thus respect for both the dead and the bereaved is ensured by privacy. You know there’s a coffin back there, but you never actually see it.

As you can see below, a Portuguese hearse takes the opposite approach.

Here, the dead are given a highly visible place of honor. The all-glass back of the hearse has a raised platform in the center, with angled sides. The coffin sits on the platform and the angled sides are heaped with bouquets, creating a stunning display. Not only that, but the display is amply viewed by all, because the Portuguese don’t drive to their cemeteries. They walk.

The hearse moves very, very slowly down the street, while the lane behind it is filled wall to wall with mourners. Nor is this an event reserved for the young and mobile; I’ve seen extremely aged people walking behind a hearse. They may be using a cane or leaning on a younger person, but their heads are always high.

They walk through the busiest part of town, blocking traffic with impunity, because it’s understood that if you see a funeral procession ahead, you find an alternate route. The procession has absolute priority. It’s an old custom that has remained intact even as villages have grown into towns, and towns into cities. Only when the distance is too great to walk is the custom altered. My wife’s grandmother lived and died in Lisboa, where the logistics of walking to the cemetery are too great to overcome. So everyone drove to the cemetery gates, then got out of their cars and walked behind the hearse as it passed through the grounds to the gravesite.

I think this is a lovely custom. A funeral here is a slower process, where the mourners accompany the dead literally every step of the journey between memorial and burial. They accord respect to their loved one not by keeping the coffin in the darkened back of a hearse, but by displaying it in the light of day, surrounded by flowers. The start of the journey is marked by the tolling of the church bell in a distinctive tone and rhythm, which alerts the entire town that a loved one is now being honored. I have heard that bell more times than I can count, always around 11:00 in the morning, and find it beautiful despite what it signifies. Or perhaps, given the way the Portuguese have made their funerals an open, visible part of their social fabric, the bell seems beautiful because of what it signifies.

Some World Vision coworkers and I have been working on a Youth Leader Small Grants project, teaching Armenian village students about project design and management and, through a series of steps, awarding some of these village kids with small grants to do projects in their communities.  In one small village, Yaghdan, the students applied for furniture and supplies for their new youth center.  The first thing they wanted to do with these new supplies was a small weekend camp.  So, after World Vision supplied the furniture, myself and another Peace Corps volunteer went to the village with a couple days of summer camp planned.

The camp was inspired by a project called Little Drifters (check it out at the killer creative blog,  BOOOOOOOM).  The two of us PCV’s expanded the idea to a two day workshop exploring creativity and nature.  The kids made journals, wrote nature poems, and discussed how creating art that explores nature helps protect nature by helping others come to value it.  We made posters out of their poems to hang on their youth center walls, and just before sunset we hiked up to a hill peak above their village.  Most of them, including the Youth Center Director, had never hiked up the hill; they watched the sun go down with the excited chatter of kids discovering.

The next day we discussed litter, wrote more poems and then talked about creating found art using examples of garbage art and the boats pictured at BOOOOOOOM.  Then the kids went out to collect garbage from their village fields and likewise picked up natural refuse to create their own Little Drifters.  We waded out into Yaghdani Get to let the boats go, splashing at the boats and each other and ignoring the blazing sun.

Enjoy the pics below from our Little Drifter creation:

My Armenian friend teaching about volunteering to protect the environment.

Yaghdan’s very supportive mayor, one of the few woman mayor’s I’ve met

Below: Collecting, building, and sending off our Little Drifters.

Hurricane Earl 1915Z IR Rainbow Image 09.01.10-Click Image for Real time Loop

Hurricane Earl 1915Z Visible Satellite Image 09.01.10-Click Image for Real Time Loop

If you recall, yesterday I mentioned that one aspect of the forecast regarding Hurricane Earl was the dry air in which Earl was moving into.  I had thought that perhaps dry air might work its way into the circulation of the hurricane and perhaps limit its intensity potential or even bring it down a notch or two.  At 5 AM on Wednesday September 1, 2010 the National Hurricane Center included this bit of information near the end of it’s discussion: ” …WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS A TONGUE OF MID/UPPER-LEVEL DRY AIR WRAPPED MORE THAN HALFWAY AROUND THE CYCLONE.”  I honestly had been surprised that they had not mentioned that potential earlier because the the scale of the dry air ahead of the storm was rather large.   Nevertheless, by Wednesday afternoon, the outflow symmetry of Earl looks to have improved  and the dry air looks to have been absorbed without a whole lot of disruption; perhaps it hurt Earl a bit.  But, Earl overcame the dry air and at 5pm EDT on Wed Sept 1 had maximum winds of 135 mph with gusts to 160 mph.  Central pressure was 941mb and was moving at 310 -320 degrees (NW) at 17 mph.    The dry air was one of the “challenges” that I referred to that I felt Earl would face in maintaining its intensity.  There are other issues at play as well that suggest the storm has seen its better days and its ferocity will not be as great as it once was, or even feared it would be, when it affects the US Coast.  Nevertheless, I would not take the storm lightly and it would be advisable to get out of its way if you may be in the path of Earl.

N. Atlantic Basin Total Precipitable Water Image-Click For Loop That Clearly Indentifies Cyclone in the N. Atlantic

18Z Hurricane Earl Spaghetti Model Track 09.01.10-Note Model track or two suggest a mainland landfall

As of 5 PM EDT Wednesday, Hurricane Warning flags have been hoisted from  Bouge Inlet, North Carolina to the North Carolina/Virginia.  A Hurricane Watch extends from the North Carolina/Virginia border to Cape Henlopen, DE and from Woods Hole, MA to Sagamore Beach, MA.  Tropical Storm Warnings are posted from the North Carolina/Virginia border to Sandy Hook, NJ.  A Tropical Storm Warning means tropical storm conditions are likely within 36 hours, A Hurricane Watch and a Tropical Storm Watch means that those conditions are possible within 48 hours.  A Hurricane Warning means that hurricane conditions are expected in the warned area with the onset of tropical storm force winds expected within 36 hours.  Tropical Storm winds are considered to be 40 to 73 mph and winds are considered hurricane force at 74 mph.  Remember, these are sustained winds, not gusts.  Winds can gust to at least 20% higher than the sustained winds.  It is not uncommon with a hurricane for a region to experience continuous hurricane force winds for many hours.  Most people who survive “riding out” a hurricane swear they will never do so again.  Wind is only part of the story as torrential rain is always a part of a hurricane and the storm surge associated with any hurricane is typically the gravest life taker.  People generally have no idea just how powerful the sea can be.  Click here for to find the storm surge probability forecast for your region.

Note the Trof in N. Central US on 1845Z Atlantic IR Rainbow Image 09.01.10-Click Image for Real Time Loop

18Z Hurricane Earl Spaghetti Model Intensity Graph 09.01.10

By midday on Wednesday,  Hurricane Earl had continued its gradual curvature around a big fat ridge extending from the Atlantic.  As the ridge continues to move eastward,  Earl will continue its right hand shifting and will eventually be moving due North.  By late Thursday, the long anticipated trof moving across the northern United States will be close enough to pick up Earl.  The result will be an increase in forward speed as well as a turning of the storm; first North-Northeast and eventually Northeast.  The timing of the trof will be the determining factor as to the precise track of Earl up the East Coast, particularly off of New England.  The variable is so slight that no one can say with certainty how it will play out.  An hour or so timing difference of the trof’s influence on Earl can make the difference between the storm staying offshore or running over land.  Suffice it to say, it will be at least a close call and no one along the NE Coast of the United States will escape some affect of Hurricane Earl. 

Atlantic Sea Surface Temperatures-Click for Loop

While the shearing winds from the Southwest ahead of the trof and the dry air trying to work its way into Earl may serve to limit its intensity,  forecasts continue to call for a major hurricane with winds of 100 to 120 mph running just off the North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware coasts.  By the time its off the New England coast, it will be probably scooting along at least at 30 mph and winds will have diminished from weakening due to the shearing winds that mess up its upper support as well as colder water. Tropical Cyclones need surface water temperatures of at least 80 F current coastal conditions from off of Delware northward fall below that level.  Farther out though, in the Gulf Stream, waters remain above 80 F extend a shade farther north.   However, hurricane conditions may still be probable for Long Island and Cape Cod, if not the mainland of the New England states.  The official track keeps the storm offshore but it would not take much of a deviation, say 20 miles, for the eye of the hurricane to run right over Long Island and perhaps Cape Cod or Nantuckett Island.  While its not entirely likely, it is not totally out of the question for Earl to actually make at least a partial landfall on some portion of the mainland. 

NHC Hurricane Earl Forecast Track 5PM EDT 09.01.10

While the winds may back off as it heads farther North, the increase in forward speed may serve to enhance the storm surge to the right of the storm.  Further, given that Earl was a big bopper, the sea will not necessarily react as quickly to diminishing winds so the surge may be on the top end of the normally expected storm surge associated with a minimal hurricane running up the East coast.  So, when you hear the forecasts call for a category 1 hurricane off the Jersey shore of off of the New England coast, it would be advisable not to pooh-pooh it as the destructive potential of a  category 1 hurricane can be somewhat excessive. 

18Z Tropical Depression 9 Spaghetti Model Track 09.01.10

Behind this is Tropical Storm Fiona which has been experiencing some difficulty as the outflow from Earl has been disrupting its outflow.  Aside from its intensity, the same trof that is picking up Earl will most likely pick up Fiona as well, regardless of its strength, and should turn it north well before it threatens the US coast.  Behind Fiona is a Tropical Wave (Invest 98) and Tropical Depression 9 which was designated at Tropical Storm Gaston at 5pm EDT September 1.  Invest 98 appears to be running over the same worked-over water as Danielle, Earl and Fiona and may have a difficult time developing.  However, Tropical Storm Gaston is farther south and the initial modeling data suggests its track will be more westerly and as it will be far enough south as to not be influenced by any trofs farther North.  While there is no data currently showing a rapid intensification, a few models do indicate that it will develop into a hurricane and the general track would suggest the potential exists for it to some day affect the US coast from the Gulf of Mexico to the East Coast.  It’s a long way out and there are many scenarios so there will be time to monitor its development. 

HURRICANE EARL DISCUSSION NUMBER  30
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL   AL072010
500 PM EDT WED SEP 01 2010

VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGES INDICATE THAT THE EYE HAS BECOME VERY
DISTINCT…WITH OJECTIVE T-NUMBERS OSCILLATING AROUND 6.0 FOR THE
PAST FEW HOURS. AN AIR FORCE PLANE MEASURED FLIGHT-LEVEL WINDS OF
138 KNOTS AND A MINIMUM PRESSURE OF 941 MB IN THE LAST FIX.
HOWEVER…SFMR MEASUREMENTS WERE A LITTLE LOWER. A COMPROMISE OF
THESE DATA SUPPORTS AN INITIAL INTENSITY OF 115 KNOTS.
HOWEVER…EARL COULD FLUCTUATE IN INTENSITY DURING THE NEXT 12 TO
24 HOURS BUT SHOULD BEGIN TO GRADUALLY WEAKEN AS IT REACHES
COOLER WATERS AND MOVES INTO HIGHER SHEAR BEYOND 36 HOURS. BY DAY 5
THE HURRICANE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABSORBED BY A LARGE EXTRATROPICAL
CYCLONE WELL NORTH OF CANADA.

SATELLITE AND RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT FIXES INDICATE THAT EARL
HAS BEEN MOVING RELENTLESSLY TOWARD THE NORTHWEST OR 310 DEGREES
AT 15 KNOTS. THE HURRICANE IS ABOUT TO REACH THE WESTERN EDGE OF
THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE AND SHOULD BEGIN TO TURN MORE TO THE
NORTH-NORTHWEST AND NORTH LATER TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. IN ABOUT 36
HOURS OR SO…THE HURRICANE WILL ENCOUNTER THE BASE OF THE
MID-LATITUDE WESTERLIES AND SHOULD BEGIN TO RECURVE OR TURN TO THE
NORTHEAST WITH AN INCREASING FORWARD SPEED. THIS IS THE SOLUTION
CONSISTENTLY PROVIDED BY TRACK MODELS…WHICH HAVE EARL PASSING TO
THE EAST BUT NOT FAR FROM THE OUTER BANKS OF NORTH CAROLINA ON
THURSDAY NIGHT. ONLY A SMALL WESTWARD DEVIATION OF THE TRACK TO THE
WEST WOULD BRING THE CORE OF THE HURRICANE TO THE COAST.

GIVEN THE FORECAST TRACK…THE LARGE SIZE OF THE WIND FIELD…AND
THE EXPECTED INCREASE IN FORWARD SPEED WATCHES AND WATCHES HAVE
BEEN EXTENDED NORTHWARD ALONG THE EAST COAST OF THE UNITED STATES.

FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INITIAL      01/2100Z 26.3N  73.3W   115 KT
12HR VT     02/0600Z 28.4N  74.7W   115 KT
24HR VT     02/1800Z 31.7N  75.4W   110 KT
36HR VT     03/0600Z 35.1N  74.7W   100 KT
48HR VT     03/1800Z 38.5N  72.2W    90 KT
72HR VT     04/1800Z 46.5N  63.5W    60 KT
96HR VT     05/1800Z 58.0N  57.0W    40 KT…POST-TROP/EXTRATROP
120HR VT     06/1800Z…DISSIPATED

$$
FORECASTER AVILA

Of all the spirits categories, vodka package design does seem to be the most creative, daring, and unusual. Vodka package design very often embodies some of the most exciting design concepts you will see in the spirits industry. These designs often employ many different decoration techniques such as pressure sensitive labeling (PSL), which allows considerable creative latitude in label shapes and application, and applied color labeling (ACL) along with full bottle decorations such as frosting and blended colors. Not to mention very creative closures.

Another design feature that is very common is the use of proprietary custom bottles. The process of developing a custom bottle is long and costly, often involving multiple CAD/CAM drawings after the design is concepted. These drawings then must be tested. What looks good on paper may not in 3D, so that means making machined Lucite models (or some other modeling process) to allow the designer and client to actually handle the bottle before production. Lucites can be expensive, especially if the design is not round and can’t be turned on a lath easily. They do give the best representation of the finished bottle, as they simulate the glass better than other processes and can even be tinted to simulate contents if necessary.

But the Lucite isn’t the end of that process. It is merely the beginning of the end. The next step will be unit mold samples, where an actual mold is made and a small sample run of glass is produced. These are tested by both the glass manufacturer and the client. If approved a production run will be scheduled. Additional molds are made, and the bottles are produced on multiple-gob machines.

Some vodkas get around this by sourcing stock glass. This usually means Europe, where there is a much larger selection of very nice stock glass to choose from. Some of the vodka out there is actually in wine or olive oil bottles from Europe. The French Company Saver Glass has done very well with their Ariane bottle, which is used by several vodkas as well as a few bourbons.

The decoration process often uses multiple processes such as ACL, frostings, and color decorations on the bottles. These processes are generally rather expensive, especially compared to a cold glue labels or even PSL. They involve screen printing on the glass with either ceramic colors or UV inks. The former requires multiple trips through a Lehr oven to fire on the colors, and the less expensive UV process requiring exposure to UV light to cure the inks.

Notice the theme running through this thread so far? Expensive? Costly? Get the picture?

Vodka is actually one of the cheapest spirits to make. It comes off the still at very high proof, usually about 192 proof or so, as grain alcohol, also called grain neutral spirits. Water gets added to that to reduce the alcohol content down to bottle proof, usually between 80 and 100 proof (40-50% alcohol). That means half or more of that vodka is water.

Vodka is not aged. Aging is a very costly process for spirits products, which involves expensive aging warehouses, financing the distillation and waiting years for a return on that investment. And while aging, the product is evaporating from the barrels. There may be less than half a barrel left of well aged bourbon or scotch when it is ready for bottling. This evaporation is called “the angel’s share.”

So, expensive packaging and relatively cheap vodka product inside. This doesn’t sound good, does it?

To be fair, many vodkas do get special treatment that does add to the cost of production, such as multiple distillations, where the “heads” and “tails” (beginning and end of the distilling process) are re-distilled to extract more of the good alcohol from the bad. Cranky has smelled heads and tails, and some of it would gag a maggot. You DO NOT want that stuff in your cocktail!

Vodka is usually heavily filtered, and the water that goes into it to cut it is also filtered, often by reverse osmosis. Cranky has tasted this water, and it is best described as “wet”, as it has no flavor, which is good for the alcohol.

In the response to @PackagingDiva, Cranky cited two main drivers for vodka having generally more creative (and expensive) packaging. The first is that vodka package design is not hampered with a lot of “traditions” as are other categories of beverage alcohol. Exceptions to this might be national products like Stoli. Since they don’t have to fit in to a preconceived notion of what a vodka package must look like, that leaves considerable liberty to be creative.

The other driver is that the premium and ultra premium vodka market is extremely crowded. This requires the brand owners to find ways to make their vodka stand out on the shelf. Since by law, vodka must be odorless and tasteless, what are you left with to sell is process (multiple distillations, organic, “exotic” sources, etc.) and/or packaging bling? Since products in this category are reaching for very high margins, the package had better say, “I am worth the price!”

Bet you are distressed and confused about your favorite vodka now and wondering if you paid for the juice or the package it came in? It is whatever you want to believe, and if you believe strongly enough, let me introduce you to my friend Tinkerbell.

EDIT: Even though by law vodka is not supposed to have a distinctive taste or smell, some do. They may be quite subtle, but a discerning pallet can detect those differences.

The two things that stick with me the most from Obama’s speech last night both came at the end: that “some [American soldiers] were teenagers when the war began” and that the 4,000-plus people who died in Iraq had worked alongside the “nearly 1.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq.” To me, those are sad figures for what was ultimately a mistake. However, the decision to invade was not Obama’s, nor was the decision to withdraw, so I will search the speech for what I thought was worth commending the president:

His rhetoric.

Yes, what was one of the biggest attack points used by conservatives during the 2008 election is what I consider Obama’s best strength. The man can speak, and when he does it he speaks in a way that will not haunt America for years to come and ruin our credibility around the world. Following are a few bite-sized chunks of his speech.

Of course, violence will not end with our combat mission. Extremists will continue to set off bombs, attack Iraqi civilians and try to spark sectarian strife. But ultimately, these terrorists will fail to achieve their goals. Iraqis are a proud people. They have rejected sectarian war, and they have no interest in endless destruction. They understand that, in the end, only Iraqis can resolve their differences and police their streets. Only Iraqis can build a democracy within their borders. What America can do, and will do, is provide support for the Iraqi people as both a friend and a partner.

I felt that this claim was necessary. While I question those who declare that we have won in Iraq, I do see some reason to be proud of the military’s accomplishments thus far (though I do think it is ironic that a victory for our mighty military is to be able to get out of a mess that it started with some dignity intact). However, never again should the United States declare “Mission Accomplished” prematurely, and Obama has made it explicitly clear that there will still be combat ahead.

… I am mindful that the Iraq War has been a contentious issue at home. Here, too, it is time to turn the page. This afternoon, I spoke to former President George W. Bush. It’s well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset. Yet no one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security. As I have said, there were patriots who supported this war, and patriots who opposed it. And all of us are united in appreciation for our servicemen and women, and our hope for Iraq’s future.

This is a post-partisan moment for Obama. Politically, it’s safe to bash Bush — even conservatives do it. But Obama has chosen the high road. And in doing so, he has bucked against the conservative tactic of branding politicians who disagree as traitors, a tactic that helped Bush defeat Kerry in 2004 and prevented Democrats from gaining a majority in Congress at the time. Obama has chosen not only to stand up for his fellow Democrats, but to make the respectable decision to honor those politicians who disagree with his policies.

Within Afghanistan, I have ordered the deployment of additional troops who-under the command of General David Petraeus — are fighting to break the Taliban’s momentum. As with the surge in Iraq, these forces will be in place for a limited time to provide space for the Afghans to build their capacity and secure their own future. But, as was the case in Iraq, we cannot do for Afghans what they must ultimately do for themselves. That’s why we are training Afghan Security Forces and supporting a political resolution to Afghanistan’s problems. And, next July, we will begin a transition to Afghan responsibility. The pace of our troop reductions will be determined by conditions on the ground, and our support for Afghanistan will endure. But make no mistake: this transition will begin — because open-ended war serves neither our interests nor the Afghan people’s.

Here Obama learns from the mistakes of Kennedy, Johnson and Bush. Afghanistan will not be another Vietnam. We cannot afford to stay in a country once we’ve realized it is hopeless. There are good things that can come out of the war in Afghanistan, but if it becomes clear that they’re not going to happen, or that the ability to accomplish them lies not in our hands but rather the Afghani’s, than we need to count our losses and leave. America has more to lose from its drudging economy and crippled credibility than from the Taliban at this point.

Unfortunately, over the last decade, we have not done what is necessary to shore up the foundation of our own prosperity. We have spent over a trillion dollars at war, often financed by borrowing from overseas. This, in turn, has short-changed investments in our own people, and contributed to record deficits. For too long, we have put off tough decisions on everything from our manufacturing base to our energy policy to education reform. As a result, too many middle class families find themselves working harder for less, while our nation’s long-term competitiveness is put at risk.”

I think this paragraph sums up what has been and will be the Obama legacy. Bush was a war president, and while Obama has inherited both wars they are not where his priorities lie. His efforts have been on domestic issues — economic recovery, health care, tax cuts — and his ambitions remain domestic — energy reform, education reform, economic recovery. Obama hasn’t charted a new path when it comes to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and he doesn’t have to. They will bring themselves to an end with time, and they will never be his babies. With the economy in the shape that it’s in, Obama has bigger fish to fry.

You can read the entire text of Obama’s Tuesday night speech here.