quarta-feira, 30 de junho de 2010

MY CAT

HIDROPIRATARIA



A advogada Ilma Barcelos, da OAB do Espírito Santo, recolocou em circulação uma das denúncias que constantemente vai e volta, sem perder ímpeto nem ganhar credibilidade: de que navios estrangeiros estariam roubando água na Amazônia. Segundo ela, cada navio carregaria em seus porões 250 milhões de litros por viagem. Essa água seria comercializada na Europa e no Oriente Médio.

Realmente, foi comprovado, mas as autoridades competentes (?) brasileiras negam este fato, mas o que existe de concreto é que são navios de grandes lastros que utilizam esta água para manterem-se flutuando e ao mesmo tempo, desviam bilhões de litros para serem vendidos à países da Europa e principalmente do Oriente Médio, entre eles, a Jordânia.
São navios portentosos que vêm até a Bacia Hidrográfica Amazônica, com o intuito puro e simples de piratearem a nossa água, tratando-a e vendendo como água mineral, oriunda de um país exótico chamado Brasil., este é o mais novo ramo da pirataria internacional, chamada de HIDROPIRATARIA!!!
Existem inúmeros tipos de pirataria envolvendo a nossa fauna, as nossas riquezas, onde as conveniências e conivências vergonhosas de autoridades brasileiras passam despercebidas aos olhos do inocente, para não dizer bobo,do povo brasileiro, que continuam dormindo em " berço esplêndido"!

JOHN LENNON - 70 ANOS



Aniversário de John Lennon será lembrado com discos solo remasterizados

DA EFE, EM LONDRES

Os discos solo de John Lennon foram digitalmente remasterizados para comemorar a data em que o vocalista dos Beatles completaria 70 anos, informou hoje a EMI.

Entre os discos relançados estarão "Imagine" (1971), "Rock 'n' Roll" (1975) e o álbum ganhador de um Grammy "Double Fantasy", o último que lançou antes de ser assassinado em 1980, que foi remasterizado para eliminar algumas instrumentalizações.

Engenheiros da EMI e a viúva de John, Yoko Ono, foram os encarregados de remasterizar os oito álbuns que lançou durante sua carreira solo.

Alguns singles que não foram incluídos nesses discos também serão lançados com o título "John Lennon Signature Box".

Yoko afirmou que em um ano "tão especial" espera que o relançamento dos trabalhos de John "permita que sua música chegue a um novo público".

"Espero que a remasterização destas 121 músicas faça com que aqueles que já conheciam o trabalho de John encontrem nova inspiração em seu incrível talento como compositor, músico e cantor e em seu poder como cronista da condição humana", afirmou.

Para Yoko, as músicas de John, que no dia 9 de outubro completaria 70 anos, têm hoje a mesma "relevância" de quando foram compostas.

GRAVE VÍDEOS 3 D EM SUA PRÓPRIA CASA

GAFE DA FOLHA E DO GRUPO PÃO DE AÇUCAR ( EXTRA)


Gafe publicitária na Folha de S.Paulo vira piada no Twitter
Anúncio publicado na edição de hoje dava adeus à seleção brasileira pela desclassificação durante o jogo entre Brasil e Chile


Terça-feira, 29 de junho de 2010 às 13h30

A edição de hoje do jornal Folha de S. Paulo trouxe um anúncio publicitário da rede de supermercados Extra que gerou brincadeiras no Twitter. O anúncio trazia as frases "A I qembu le sizwe sai do mundial. Não do coração da gente". Quem lê a publicidade não entende de imediato a que o Extra se refere. No entanto, é ao Brasil.

A explicação vem a seguir, onde "I qembu le sizwe" significa Seleção em zulu, o mesmo idioma que batiza a bola de futebol Jabulani. Em seguida, a frase "Valeu, Brasil. Nos vemos em 2014" aparece no anúncio.

A publicidade chegou em tempo de pós-jogo entre Brasil e Chile. Porém, como todos sabem, o Brasil não perdeu. E não foi eliminado do Mundial.

A gafe foi percebida rapidamente e chegou ao Twitter, onde se tornou alvo de piadas desde o começo do dia. Entre os tweets, há "Extra 'elimina' o Brasil em anúncio da Folha. Era pra veicular se perdesse. Saiu assim mesmo" e até mesmo "Extra, o patrocinador oficial que mais acredita na seleção brasileira!"

Os tweets sobre o erro de informação continuam se propagando no Twitter. Enquanto isso, a assessoria de imprensa da rede Pão de Açúcar informou que o erro foi da Folha de S. Paulo e que o veículo irá publicar uma retratação na edição desta quarta-feira (30/06). Até lá, os usuários do Twitter continuam fazendo piada do ocorrido.

terça-feira, 29 de junho de 2010

DANILO GENTILI - CQC - BAND - SOFRE AGRESSÃO ( PARTE 2/2 )

DANILO GENTILI - CQC - BAND - SOFRE AGRESSÃO ( PARTE 1/2 )

BRUNO - GOLEIRO DO FLAMENGO ACUSADO/SUSPEITO DE ASSASSINATO




OBS:- DEPOIMENTO DA VÍTIMA GRÁVIDA DE 05 MESES., HOJE A CRIANÇA ESTÁ COM 04 MESES!!!


BANHADO DE MANHÃ - S. JOSÉ DOS CAMPOS/SP




Orla do Banhado na manhã desta terça-feira de inverno. Fenômeno característico da estação fria, a neblina envolve os prédios da região central.



Foto: Adenir Britto/PMSJC

PICAPE AGILE


Revista
WEB MOTORS

SEGREDO - Picape do Agile roda com caçamba da Montana
Internauta flagra protótipo da utilitária pequena da Chevrolet rodando em São Paulo


Texto: Rodrigo Samy














Foto: Marcus Vinicius

(28-06-10) - O leitor Marcus Vinicius flagrou o protótipo do Chevrolet Agile picape rodando em São Paulo. Segundo ele, o flagrante aconteceu hoje pela manhã ao caminho do trabalho.

O Chevrolet Agile é um modelo que nasceu com a proposta de desenvolver uma família de modelos, ou seja, estão nos planos da GM fabricar uma picape, um sedã, um SUV pequeno e talvez uma minivan, todos baseados na plataforma do Agile. A primeira prévia de que isso é possível foi apresentada no Salão do Automóvel de São Paulo – leia-se GPix.

O WebMotors também já havia mostrado que a família Viva (nome industrial da plataforma do Agile) iria crescer em outra ocasião. Na época, o internauta Victor Paulo Jr. pegou a picape Agile rodando em rodovias paulistas. A diferença daquele protótipo para o que foi flagrado hoje cedo está na dianteira. Aquele utilizava a mesma parte do Chevrolet Celta.

Tudo indica que a nova picape conviva com a Montana, sendo uma opção mais cara e mais sofisticada. Em todo caso, o lançamento do novo veículo está previsto para antes do Salão de São Paulo, em outubro de 2010.

Se você, leitor, conseguir flagrar qualquer novidade antes que ela seja oficialmente lançada, não hesite em entrar em contato pelo e-mail editorial@webmotors.com.br e nos enviar as imagens, pelas quais não haverá nenhuma outra remuneração que não o gosto de dividir a novidade com os outros leitores. Não se esqueça de autorizar expressamente a publicação das fotos e também de nos contar a história do flagrante em detalhes. A comunidade de leitores agradece!

DISFUNÇÃO ERÉTIL



Problemas de ereção podem ser sinal de doença cardíaca
Disfunção erétil e doença arterial compartilham muitos fatores de risco comuns



Por Minha Vida

Um estudo apresentado no Congresso Mundial de Cardiologia, em Beijing, na China, traz mais evidências de que a impotência sexual pode ser um sinal prévio de doença cardíaca. De acordo com os pesquisadores da Universidade Malaya, em Kuala Lumpur, sete entre dez homens internados por causa de um ataque cardíaco apresentavam disfunção erétil seis meses antes de irem para o hospital.

Envolvendo 111 homens sexualmente ativos, o estudo demonstrou que 75,7% tiveram problemas de ereção seis meses antes da hospitalização, e todos os pacientes com histórico de doença cardíaca isquêmica apresentavam disfunção erétil. Além disso, quase 25% dos 81 homens sexualmente inativos, que não foram recrutados pelo estudo, relataram disfunção erétil completa mais de seis meses antes da triagem.

Os especialistas explicam que a disfunção erétil e a doença arterial coronariana compartilham de muitos fatores de risco comuns e estão intimamente relacionados. A aterosclerose, por exemplo, pode ser a causa principal de ambas as condições, provocando inflamações generalizadas que podem progredir muito rapidamente pelo sistema circulatório. E os pesquisadores acreditam que a impotência precede a doença cardíaca porque as artérias do pênis são significativamente menores do que as coronarianas.

"Este estudo demonstra que devemos considerar que pacientes com evidências de disfunção erétil são de muito alto risco para o desenvolvimento de futuras síndromes coronarianas agudas. Curiosamente, o estudo também descobriu que todos os pacientes com história pregressa de infarto e disfunção erétil apresentavam ataques cardíacos recorrentes. Portanto, devemos tratar esses pacientes de forma muito agressiva", destacou o pesquisador S. Ramesh. "Homens que não são sexualmente ativos também devem ser avaliados de perto, pois um quarto deles tem disfunção erétil completa, que exige tratamento, e isso pode ser um prenúncio de doença arterial coronariana", concluiu o especialista.


Problema sério

A disfunção sexual é fator preocupante para a maioria dos homens. Uma pesquisa de 2008, realizada pelo Projeto de Sexualidade (ProSex), da USP, ouviu 10 mil homens em 19 cidades do estado de São Paulo e chegou a conclusão de que a disfunção erétil atinge, em algum nível, cerca de 50% da população masculina entre 40 e 70 anos. Isso significa que eles experimentam dificuldades para obter ou manter a ereção para uma atividade sexual satisfatória.

"A questão que já é delicada pode tornar-se ainda mais complexa, por que apenas 30% desses pacientes procuram ajuda médica. O preconceito é um erro grave, pois a doença, quando diagnosticada precocemente, é mais fácil de ser tratada", destaca o urologista Evandro Cunha, do Hospital Urológico de Brasília. "As causas são inúmeras e podem ser até mesmo de aspectos fisiológicos e psicossomáticos, como ansiedade e insegurança, mas existe um amplo leque de tratamentos e para a indicação correta é preciso analisar o fator que causa a problema. O suporte psicológico e o apoio da parceira pesam positivamente na etapa terapêutica", completa o especialista.

TV JAPONESA - HOMENAGEM À MICHAEL JACKSON

PELÉ - ASSISTA PELÉ JOGANDO PELA SELEÇÃO BRASILEIRA - COPA 2010 - 11.07.2010 - BRASIL 1 ( PELÉ) X ARGENTINA 0

THE BEATLES - ÁLBUM REVOLVER ( EMI)

OZZY OSBOURNE - ÁLBUM SCREAM ( EPIC)

TRANSTORNO DE AJUSTAMENTO OU ADAPTAÇÃO



O Transtornos de Ajustamento ou Adaptação é um quadro , entre outros estados psiquiátricos, também relacionados ao Esgotamento.

Atualmente o Transtorno de Ajustamento tem sido o diagnóstico mais adequado para os muitíssimos freqüentes casos de dificuldades emocionais que as pessoas experimentam no cotidiano de suas vidas.

Os Transtornos de Ajustamento, chamados também de Transtornos de Adaptação (CID.10), se diagnosticam em pacientes que manifestam certos comportamentos mal adaptados e/ou certas mudanças no estado de ânimo, como resposta a um estímulo estressor. Segundo o DSM.IV, a característica essencial de um Transtorno de Ajustamento é o desenvolvimento de sintomas emocionais ou comportamentais significativos em resposta a um ou mais estressores psicossociais identificáveis.

Os comportamentos mal adaptados ou mal ajustados, decorrentes do estresse, bem como as mudanças no estado de ânimo incluem "nervosismo" intenso, preocupação, medo, dificuldades no funcionamento ocupacional, escolar, social ou familiar. Embora as pessoas que desenvolvem Transtorno de Ajustamento não tenham, geralmente, antecedentes de outros transtornos emocionais anteriores, as portadoras de outros problemas emocionais prévios têm maior probabilidade de desenvolver esse quadro.

Na realidade, é no Transtorno de Ajustamento onde a idéia de dificuldade adaptativa emocional à vida tem sido mais bem demonstrada. Aqui a reação emocional da pessoa aos estressores de sua vida é caracterizada por acentuado sofrimento. Por definição, um Transtorno de Ajustamento deve se resolver dentro de 6 meses após o término da situação considerada estressante ou de suas conseqüências. Mas os sintomas emocionais podem persistir por um período mais prolongado, principalmente quando ocorrem em resposta a uma situação estressante crônica e duradoura, como por exemplo, uma doença debilitante crônica ou em decorrências das grandes dificuldades financeiras, profissionais, conjugais, etc, que se prolongam.

Portanto, esse transtorno ansioso patológico pode ocorrer durante o período de adaptação a uma exigência existencial importante, quando um acontecimento estressante afete a integridade do ambiente social da pessoa, como por exemplo o luto, as experiências de separação, as grandes perdas. Também pode ocorrer quando a situação estressora compromete o sistema suporte existencial, como por exemplo, a imigração, estado de refugiado, ou mesmo durante os severos esforços de adaptação a alguma etapa da vida ou do desenvolvimento, como é a escolarização, nascimento de um filho, derrota em atingir um objetivo pessoal importante, aposentadoria.

A predisposição e a vulnerabilidade pessoal desempenham um papel importante no desenvolvimento do Transtorno de Adaptação, mas mesmo considerando a predisposição pessoal, admite-se que esse transtorno não teria ocorrido se não houvesse o estresse desencadeante.

O estressor que desencadeia o Transtorno de Ajustamento pode ser um evento isolado, como por exemplo, o fim de um relacionamento romântico, ou uma somatória de múltiplos estressores. Os estressores podem ser ainda recorrentes, como as crises profissionais cíclicas, ou contínuos, atualmente representados pelo perigo de viver em uma área de alta criminalidade.

Os estressores podem afetar um único indivíduo, toda uma família, um grupo maior ou uma comunidade. Alguns estressores podem acompanhar eventos evolutivos específicos, como é o caso do ingresso numa nova escola, ter que deixar a casa dos pais, casar-se, tornar-se pai ou mãe, fracassar em atingir objetivos profissionais, aposentar, etc.

Didaticamente, o Transtorno de Ajustamento se apresenta com subtipos clínicos, dependendo dos sintomas predominantes. No Transtorno de Ajustamento Com Humor Depressivo, as manifestações predominantes são sintomas de humor deprimido, tendência ao choro ou sensações de impotência, desinteresse, apatia, auto-estima baixa. Se for Transtorno de Ajustamento Com Ansiedade, predominam sintomas tais como "nervosismo", preocupação ou inquietação, sintomas físicos, agitação ou, em crianças, com medo patológico da separação de figuras de vinculação.

Pode ainda, o Transtorno de Ajustamento, apresentar-se com um misto de Ansiedade e Depressão ou com Perturbação da Conduta. Neste subtipo a manifestação predominante é uma perturbação da conduta, na qual existe violação dos direitos alheios ou de normas e regras sociais importantes, adequadas à idade. Esse tipo pode ser comum em adolescentes, os quais manifestam rebeldia, vandalismo, direção imprudente, lutas corporais, descumprimento de responsabilidades legais.

O estado de sofrimento e de perturbação emocional causado pelo Transtorno de Adaptação, usualmente compromete muito o funcionamento social e ocupacional, havendo severo prejuízo do desempenho no trabalho, na escola e nos relacionamentos sociais e familiares. Atualmente os Transtornos de Ajustamento estão associados com um maior risco de tentativas de suicídio e suicídio completado.

Os Transtornos de Ajustamento podem ocorrer em qualquer faixa etária ou social, sendo os homens e mulheres igualmente acometidos. Quanto à incidência, calcula-se que a porcentagem de pessoas com diagnóstico de Transtorno de Ajustamento entre aquelas que estão em tratamento para saúde mental varia de 5 a 20%

TRANSTORNOS MENTAIS


Transtornos mentais atingem 23 milhões de pessoas no Brasil
Política prioriza doenças graves, mas as mais comuns são depressão, ansiedade e transtornos de ajustamento



BRASÍLIA - No Brasil, 23 milhões de pessoas (12% da população) necessitam de algum atendimento em saúde mental. Pelo menos 5 milhões de brasileiros (3% da população) sofrem com transtornos mentais graves e persistentes.

De acordo com a Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria, apesar de a política de saúde mental priorizar as doenças mais graves, como esquizofrenia e transtorno bipolar, as mais comuns estão ligadas à depressão, ansiedade e a transtornos de ajustamento.

Em todo o mundo, mais de 400 milhões de pessoas são afetadas por distúrbios mentais ou comportamentais. Os problemas de saúde mentais ocupam cinco posições no ranking das dez principais causas de incapacidade, de acordo com a Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS).

Dados da OMS indicam que 62% dos países têm políticas de saúde mental, entre eles o Brasil. No ano passado, o País destinou R$ 1,4 bilhão em saúde mental.

Desde a aprovação da chamada Lei da Reforma Psiquiátrica (Lei nº 10.216/2001), os investimentos são principalmente direcionados a medidas que visam a tirar a loucura dos hospícios, com a substituição do atendimento em hospitais psiquiátricos (principalmente das internações) pelos serviços abertos e de base comunitária.

Em 2002, 75,24% do orçamento federal de saúde mental foram repassados a hospitais psiquiátricos, de um investimento total de R$ 619,2 milhões. Em 2009, o porcentual caiu para 32,4%. Uma das principais metas da reforma é a redução do número de leitos nessas instituições. Até agora, foram fechados 17,5 mil, mas ainda restam 35.426 leitos em hospitais psiquiátricos públicos ou privados em todo o país.

A implementação da rede substitutiva - com a criação dos centros de Atenção Psicossocial (Caps), das residências terapêuticas e a ampliação do número de leitos psiquiátricos em hospitais gerais - tem avançado, mas ainda convive com o antigo modelo manicomial, marcado pelas internações de longa permanência.

O País conta com 1.513 Caps, mas a distribuição ainda é desigual. O Amazonas, por exemplo, com 3 milhões de habitantes, tem apenas quatro centros. Dos 27 estados, só a Paraíba e Sergipe têm Caps suficientes para atender ao parâmetro de uma unidade para cada 100 mil habitantes.

As residências terapêuticas, segundo dados do Ministério da Saúde referentes a maio deste ano, ainda não foram implantadas em oito Estados: Acre, Alagoas, Amapá, Amazonas, Distrito Federal, Rondônia, Roraima e Tocantins.

No Pará, o serviço ainda não está disponível, mas duas unidades estão em fase de implantação. Em todo o Brasil, há 564 residências terapêuticas, que abrigam 3.062 moradores.




segunda-feira, 28 de junho de 2010

EVANGELHO DE MARIA MADALENA


O apego à matéria gera uma paixão contra a natureza. É então que nasce a perturbação em todo o corpo; é por isso que eu vos digo: Estejais em harmonia... Se sois desregrados, inspirai-vos em representações de vossa verdadeira natureza. Que aquele que tem ouvidos para ouvir, ouça.
Após ter dito aquilo, o Bem-aventurado saudou-os a todos dizendo:
Paz a vós – que minha Paz seja gerada e se complete em vós! Velai para que ninguém vos engane dizendo: Ei-lo aqui. Ei-lo lá. Porque é em vosso interior que está o Filho do Homem; ide a Ele: aquele que o procuram o encontram. Em marcha! Anunciai o Evangelho do Reino.
(Evangelho de Maria Madalena)

IMPRESSIONANTE!!! VALE À PENA VER ESTA REPORTAGEM!

Engenheiro cria remédio para curar doença do filho

Jovem sofre de doença rara que atrasa idade mental e atrapalha coordenação motora
Do R7

Um engenheiro mecânico do Paraná abriu mão da profissão e de qualquer tipo de lazer para encontrar uma maneira de curar a doença do filho Vítor. O rapaz tem 21 anos, mas a idade mental é de uma criança de dois anos. A reportagem é do Domingo Espetacular.

O garoto sofre de gangliosidose, uma doença genética rara causada pela falta de uma enzima fundamental para o funcionamento dos neurônios. Por causa da doença, o jovem tem dificuldades para caminhar e para falar.

Depois de consultar inúmeros médicos, o pai mergulhou nos livros de medicina e desenvolveu um comprimido que deve revolucionar o tratamento da doença. Assista ao vídeo e veja como o engenheiro está ajudando a curar o filho.


TREINADOR DA SELEÇÃO ALEMÃ, LIMPANDO O SALÃO! CENAS FORTÍSSIMAS!!!

RONALDUCHO E A COPA

domingo, 27 de junho de 2010

O VELHO TREM DO PANTANAL - BARTÔ BLUES

ÚLTIMO DIA DO ATENDENTE DA TELEFÔNICA


NarTube - Watch Video

VOCE ACREDITA? ENTÃO, VÁ EM FRENTE!!!

Copa 2010
Vidente Archalus anuncia o vencedor - 23/06/2010 20h29min

A arte da cafeomancia é muito sutil. Uma das videntes mais reconhecidas da área é Archalus Hamparian que através da leitura da borra de café consegue fazer previsões para o futuro. Uma das adivinhações foi sobre o grande vencedor do Mundial da África do Sul. Veja quem será no vídeo.
por José Armando Vannucci





NOVELA PASSIONE - A " REVOLUÇÃO"(?) NOS COSTUMES NO BRASIL! SEMPRE A GLOBO DANDO OS PÉSSIMOS EXEMPLOS!!! ONDE ESTÁ O MP DO BRASIL????


Pedofilia, prostituição infantil, bigamia... Confira as polêmicas de 'Passione'
Sábado, 26/06/2010 - 15:22h

Reprodução/Rede Globo
Marcello Antony, Bianca Bin e Cauã Reymond estão em 'Passione', da Rede Globo
A novela "Passione", da Rede Globo, está no ar há um pouco mais de um mês, mas já foi o suficiente para sacudir o telespectador com temas instigantes, dramáticos e que ainda são tabu. Enquanto sua antecessora permeou com tranquilidade por suas tramas centrais, a novela de Silvio de Abreu mostra ao público agilidade e suspense em menos de 40 capítulos.

Diana, vivida por Carolina Dieckmann, é a síntese do movimento da novela. Logo nos primeiros capítulos, a mocinha da história se encantou por Mauro (Rodrigo Lombadi) e foi 'roubada' por Gerson (Marcello Antony). Em poucos dias a jornalista e o piloto de stock car estavam apaixonados e planejaram o casamento. Marido e mulher
oficialmente, Diana começou a desconfiar das atitudes do rapaz, que já não demonstra o mesmo carinho.

Paralelamente, todas as atitudes de Gerson indicavam que seu personagem seria um pedófilo. Além de passar noites em claro no computador, em salas de bate papo, cenas sugestivas do rapaz com crianças foram veiculadas. No entanto, como afirmaram alguns veículos esta semana, o autor voltou atrás, temendo a reação do público, e mudou o rumo do personagem.

Enquanto isso, Kelly, personagem de Carol Macedo, mostra o universo da exploração sexual infantil. A menina é obrigada a se prostituir pela avó, personagem de Daisy Lúcidi, e aparece em cena sob os olhares sexuais de homens mais velhos. Um das cenas mais comentas exibia Kelly brigando com a avó, após ser obrigada a fazer sexo oral em um cliente.

Danilo, personagem de Cauã Reymond, passou de atleta esforçado à um rapaz enfurecido e confuso, que começa e trilhar o caminho das drogas e surge nas telas consumindo anfetamina.
Além do vício, Danilo também está no centro da trama que envolve o aborto. Após um affair com o ciclista, Fátima, vivida por Bianca Bin, optou por não dar continuidade à gravidez e abortou. As cenas, carregadas de emoção e verdade, mostraram como o procedimento é feito clandestinamente no país.

A traição também é um pilar que tem destaque na trama, envolvendo Stela, personagem de Maitê Proencça, e diversos homens. Infeliz no casamento, ela trai o marido quase diarimanete com pessoas diferentes. Já no lado cômico, Berillo - ainda que de forma sutil - também aborda um tema polêmico. Interpretado por Bruno Gagliasso, o italiano é bigamo, e se divide entre Jéssica (Gabriela Duarte) e Agostina (Leandra Leal).

"Passione" substituiu "Viver a Vida", de Manoel Carlos, e entrou no ar dia 17 de maio. Escrita por Silvio de Abreu, a novela é ambientada em São Paulo e na Itália e tem ainda no elenco Fernanda Montenegro, Tony Ramos, Mariana Ximenes, Reynaldo Gianecchini, entre outros.


Por Naiara Sobral, do Te Contei!

INEZITA BARROSO - 30 ANOS - VIOLA MINHA VIOLA TV CULTURA - PARTICIPAÇÃO ESPECIAL DE ALMIR SATTER - TREM DO PANTANAL




" O MEU MEDO VIAJA SÔBRE TODOS OS TRILHOS DA TERRA"

MARADOMETRO - MACHO MENOS - MARADONA E TEVEZ?!?!


Informações pessoais
Nome completo Diego Armando Maradona
Data de nasc. 30 de outubro de 1960 (49 anos)
Local de nasc. Lanús, Argentina
Altura 1,65 m
Peso 87 kg
Apelido Dieguito, El Pibe de Oro, El Diez,
Pelusa, Barrilete Cósmico, D10S
Informações atuais
Clube atual Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina
Posição Treinador (ex-meia e atacante)
Clubes de juventude
1969–1976 Argentina Argentinos Juniors
Clubes profissionais
Anos Clubes Jogos (golos)
1976–1981
1981–1982
1982–1984
1984–1991
1992–1993
1993–1994
1995–1997 Argentina Argentinos Juniors
Argentina Boca Juniors
Espanha Barcelona
Itália Napoli
Espanha Sevilla
Argentina Newell's Old Boys
Argentina Boca Juniors 0166 0(116)
040 0(28)
058 0(38)
259 0(115)
029 00(7)
005 00(0)
030 00(7)
Seleção nacional
1977–1994 Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina 091 0(34)
Times que treinou
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1994
1995
2008– Argentina Deportivo Textil Mandiyú
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sábado, 26 de junho de 2010

CONSTRUTORA TENDA - CUIDADO!!!


31/03/2009 - 10:09 - RECLAMAÇÃO CONTRA A CONSTRUTORA TENDA

Nome Completo: Júnior Nonato Roberto
E-mail: omustapha@gmail.com
Cidade: São Paulo
Estado: SP
Conheceu: site
Reclamação: Data: 17/02/2009 18:11
De: Elaine
IP: 200.207.181.206
Assunto: Quero meu dinheiro 100% devolvido

Olá, fiz a compra de um imóvel com a construtora tenda p/ a entrega 08/2009. Agora ela mudou p/ 08/2011. Conversei com algumas pessoas dentro da própria tenda que queria meu dinheiro de volta dei de entrada 41.200 reais eles me falaram p/ conversar com um gerente mas o gerente nem quis conversar com a gente. Passado 2 dias ligaram p/ meu marido o Celso (diretor regional) e disse que iria resolver nosso caso, mas deveria assinar um papel na construtora chegando lá o João nos recebeu e deu um papel chamado distrato e nos explicou q iria cancelar nosso contrato e que iria devolver nosso dinheiro 100% .O Celso confirmou mas ele falou q iria devolver o bruto sem juros e sem correção eu e meu marido não queríamos assinar, então ele questionou mais vc quer seu dinheiro logo precisa assinar então e outra ele disse q iríamos receber rápido pois estávamos com as contas em dia, mas ontem o setor jurídico da construtora falou q eu perdi meus direitos de receber meu dinheiro 100% por causa desse bendito distrato q o João e o Celso alegaram q não me prejudicariam em nada.q só seria p/ não haver mais cobranças.

Eu não conheço muito a lei , mas deve existir alguma p/ o meu caso eles pegaram todas as minhas economias tenho 2 filhas pequenas, me enganaram dizendo que iriam me entregar o imóvel em 2009 agora mudaram p/ 2011 e ainda só querem me devolver 70% de 41 mil, não é justo o dinheiro esta com eles desde 28/07/2008, será que meu caso tem solução, tenho direita alguma coisa, eu não durmo direito não como ando estressada nervosa tudo por causa dessa bendita construtora tenda... me ajudem por favor

Resposta

Curitiba, 27 de Março de 2009

O seu marido não devia ter assinado esse Distrato sem antes mostrar a um advogado de sua confiança.

Procure os Juizados Especiais Cíveis e faça uma reclamação para anular o Distrato e pedir a devolução do dinheiro devidamente corrigido, pois, a Construtora foi quem não cumpriu a sua parte, portanto tem que indenizar e devolver o que recebeu.

José do Espírito Santo Domingues Ribeiro
Advogado: OAB-PR. 23.252 (Anterior 6.536/76)
espirito-santo@uol.com.br
(41) 3233-9002



SELEÇÃO DE GANA PASSA P/ AS 4ªS DE FINAIS


COPA DA ÁFRICA 2010
GANA 2 x USA 1
PRÓXIMO JOGO URUGUAI X GANA ( 02.07.2010)


JOGADORES COREANOS - " SE A MODA PEGA NO BRASIL"


Sex 25 de Jun 18:35 BRT
Dos gramados às minas de carvão?

Por Redação Yahoo!

Após a humilhante derrota por 7 a 0 para Portugal, a seleção da Coreia do Norte provou que, de fato, não repetiria o bom desempenho de 1966, quando eliminou a Itália, em um histórico triunfo por 1 a 0. Porém, as consequências da goleada lusitana parecem ter ido além do esperado. Segundo o jornal alemão Bild, os jogadores podem ser punidos de maneira trágica: todos seriam obrigados a abandonar o futebol e trabalhar em minas de carvão.

Moon Ki-Nam, um técnico norte-coreano que deixou o país em 2004, disse à agência de notícias AP: “Quando vencem, os jogadores são presenteados com grandes casas. Entretanto, se perderem, podem ser enviados para minas de carvão”, garantiu.

O periódico alemão continua: “As famílias dos jogadores estão em observação ferrenha durante a Copa do Mundo. O bem informado serviço secreto japonês acredita que tal punição aos jogadores, de fato, acontecerá." Tendo em vista o manto de sigilo adotado pelo governo norte-coreano e as proezas militares aterrorizantes por ele feitas, é difícil dizer se tal “vingança” é verídica.

O que torna o castigo improvável é o fato de que as eliminatórias para a Copa da Ásia começam em breve. Além disso, o astro Jong Tae-Se, chamado de “Rooney asiático”, voltará para a disputa da liga japonesa, pelo Kawasaki Frontale. Hong Yong-Jo também deve retornar à Rússia, onde joga pelo Rostov.

Segundo o desertor Joo Shim-Il, o mesmo rumor das minas de carvão rondou os norte-coreanos, quando foram derrotados por 5 a 3 pela seleção portuguesa, após estar vencendo por 3 a 0. “As pessoas disseram que, durante a Copa na Inglaterra, eles estavam bebendo e se entretendo com mulheres. Dizem que alguns foram enviados para as minas de carvão e, por isso, nunca repetimos o desempenho de 1966”, declarou à BBC. Coincidência ou não, o fato é que a Coreia do Norte só voltaria à Copa 44 anos depois.



Carvoarias degradam as pessoas e o meio ambiente
Cada caminhão carregado de carvão representa 150 m3
de mata nativa desmatada. (Foto: João Zinclar.)

Presença marcante nos municípios baianos de Barra, Buritirama, Morpará e Muquém do São Francisco, na região do Médio São Francisco, as carvoarias destroem o meio ambiente, exploram trabalhadores e põem em risco as comunidades tradicionais. O principal alvo é o bioma Caatinga, que está sendo devastado, com significativa perda da biodiversidade.

Esta devastação está sendo promovida por carvoeiros de outras regiões da Bahia, ou mesmo de outros estados como Minas Gerais, que é o destino final do carvão, cujo objetivo é alimentar as usinas siderúrgicas mineiras. Da mesma forma, os trabalhadores vêm de diferentes regiões e estão sujeitos a um trabalho superexplorado e, muitas vezes, análogo ao escravo. As atividades variam desde o desmatamento, a construção dos fornos, a carbonização (transformação da lenha em carvão), o ensacamento e o carregamento dos caminhões. Nos municípios citados são conhecidas, pelo menos, cinco grandes carvoarias com centenas de fornos cada uma. Uma das maiores da região possui oficialmente 540 fornos, mas está em processo de ampliação.

Existem também pessoas da própria região que vendem a sua força de trabalho para as carvoarias, a fim de promover uma complementação de renda. O pagamento por produção é uma regra geral na região, onde são fixados valores de referência subestimados para cada serviço, fazendo com que os trabalhadores pratiquem uma jornada mais longa em busca de maiores rendimentos. Em uma carvoaria de Morpará, por exemplo, paga-se R$ 5,00/m³ de lenha, sendo que um trabalhador consegue retirar, com muito esforço, 4 m³ por dia. Aqueles que trabalham na queima da lenha recebem R$ 15,00 para encher o forno e R$ 7,50 para esvaziar (retirar o carvão). Merece destaque o fato de que o carvão é retirado com os fornos ainda quentes, para que sejam imediatamente preenchidos novamente. Além disso, não existem equipamentos de proteção individual. A combinação destes fatos faz com que o trabalho nas carvoarias seja, antes de tudo, um problema de saúde pública.

A qualidade ambiental da região também está ameaçada por esta atividade, uma vez que os moradores já conseguem perceber as mudanças no clima, decorrida cerca de uma década de ação destas carvoarias. Considerando que cada caminhão comporta cerca de 50 m³ de carvão e que para produzir 1 m³ de carvão são necessários 3 m³ de lenha, uma única carga provoca uma destruição de 150m³ de lenha extraída das matas da região.

Estudos revelam que o volume médio de lenha retirado no processo de desmatamento no caso da caatinga arbustivo-arbórea fechada está em torno de 52,6 m³/ha. Desta forma, cada caminhão carregado de carvão provoca a destruição de uma área média de 2,85 ha de matas. Se cada uma das cinco carvoarias conhecidas na região carregar um caminhão por dia, o que está acontecendo segundo relatos de trabalhadores, haverá uma subtração anual superior a 6 milhões de árvores e arbustos, que correspondem a mais de 5.200 ha de caatinga nativa destruído em apenas um ano.

Diante de tal situação, moradores de comunidades tradicionais vizinhas a estas carvoarias temem sofrer outros efeitos, além dos que já são perceptíveis. Apesar de ocupar áreas muito grandes, como a fazenda Calumbi em Buritirama, que explora mais de 18.000 ha, a população da região avalia que no atual ritmo de uso das matas, não será possível manter uma regularidade no funcionamento das carvoarias sem extrapolar as áreas utilizadas atualmente.

Por isto, as comunidades que estão ao redor destas carvoarias se preocupam em ter suas terras cobiçadas. Esta possibilidade se amplia pela grande conservação das matas destas comunidades, que apresentam outra relação com o meio ambiente, cultivando alimentos e criando animais em pasto comum natural, nos chamados Fundos de Pasto. Existe um grande receio de que, na falta de madeira em suas terras, as carvoarias comecem a entrar nas matas das comunidades para a retirada de lenha.

Enfim, diante das atuais constatações dos pesquisadores sobre os efeitos das mudanças climáticas, que revelam um quadro extremamente preocupante e sugerem uma mudança de postura de todos os países na relação com o meio ambiente, é cada vez mais urgente uma fiscalização rígida destas carvoarias. Nesta região existem denúncias que precisam ser apuradas que variam desde o funcionamento clandestino de carvoarias, que compram “notas frias” de outras que são licenciadas, até mesmo tráfico de drogas e trabalho escravo.

Fonte: Informe da Comissão Pastoral da Terra – Regional Bahia, publicado pelo EcoDebate

sexta-feira, 25 de junho de 2010

ACIDENTES DE TRÂNSITO NO BRASIL


Acidentes De Trânsito Brasil - For more of the funniest videos, click here

ACIDENTE DE AVIÃO NO JAPÃO

Imagens do acidente ocorrido no ultimo da 22/03 no Aeroporto de Narita em Toquio, Japão envolvendo o MD-11 da FEDEX, que durante o pouso enfrentava Ventos Fortes com rajadas de 72Km/h. Piloto e Co-Piloto não resisitiram aos ferimentos.


- Free videos are just a click away

CAPA DE JORNAL DE PORTUGAL - 25.06.2010 ( 09:57')

JAPÃO X DINAMARCA - COPA 2010 - MELHORES MOMENTOS - HD SYSTEM TELEVISION


Japoneses pulverizam Dinamarca
VEJA OS MELHORES MOMENTOS DA PARTIDA


BRASIL X PORTUGAL - JORNAL A BOLA - PORTUGAL


Metam a bola no Cristiano Ronaldo!
Por João Bonzinho

Não se prevê que Carlos Queiroz altere muito a equipa. Possível que Paulo Ferreira entre para o lugar de Miguel. Especial atenção, claro, a Maicon, talvez o maior desequilibrador deste Brasil... mas está lá um Coentrão em grande.

JOANESBURGO - Foi logo após o almoço que a Selecção Nacional deixou o seu quartel-general com destino a Durban. Na bagagem, o espírito de conseguir com o Brasil um bom resultado. O onze com que Portugal desafiará os brasileiros só está na cabeça de Queiroz. Mas não é provável que ele mude muito relativamente ao que venceu, de goleada, a Coreia do Norte.

O que parece certo é que Queiroz não poupará, obviamente, o líder da equipa. Cristiano Ronaldo tem de jogar - apesar de contar com um cartão amarelo e não poder ver outro, para não ficar eventualmente fora dos oitavos-de-final -, e ele comandará a armada lusitana. Só não poderá, como se sabe, trocar em campo a camisola com o seu companheiro no Real Madrid, Kaká, porque Kaká está castigado e por isso não joga.

Ronaldo tem sido um capitão exemplar na força motriz que cria para a equipa, e a equipa deve procurá-lo constantemente. Como muitas vezes dizia Alex Ferguson aos seus jogadores no intervalo dos jogos do Manchester United, «metam a bola no Ronaldo!».

CONTINUIDADE

Já na edição de ontem de A BOLA o escrevemos: o risco de alterar muito o onze que goleou a Coreia do Norte é o de cortar a corrente eléctrica da equipa. Portugal precisa de continuidade, precisa de aumentar a confiança, precisa de se sentir cada vez mais ligado.

Carlos Queiroz deverá, pois, apostar, em nossa opinião, em poucas mexidas. É possível, assim, que Paulo Ferreira entre para o lugar de Miguel, não apenas porque Miguel não esteve em grande plano frente aos norte-coreanos, mas porque Paulo Ferreira oferecerá, nesta altura, mais confiança do ponto de vista defensivo.

COENTRÃO E UMA DÚVIDA

Já no lado contrário, Portugal conta com um Fábio Coentrão num grande momento, e isso pode ser fundamental para diminuir a influência que o lateral-direito brasileiro, Maicon, tem na sua equipa..

Leia mais na edição impressa de A BOLA
03:00 - 25-06-2010

PARTILHAR
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COMENTÁRIOS
ESCREVER COMENTÁRIO VER TODOS OS 34 COMENTÁRIOS
NN_1904
25-06-2010 - 12:50
Boa sorte Portugal!
rmjds73
25-06-2010 - 12:49
engracado ver estes brazucas todos confidentes.....vejam la se nao ficam a chorar no fim do jogo. Ate podem ganhar o jogo..mas isso dos 5 e 6 zero foi aqui uma vez....hoje o jogo e diferente.
jara 86
25-06-2010 - 12:43
carregaaaaa ronaldoooo hj todos juntos temos k acreditar!!!!
PORTUGAL
«Temos plenas condições para vencer o Brasil» - Hugo Almeida
O avançado Hugo Almeida diz que a Selecção Nacional já mostrou que pode vencer o Brasil, pelo que se mostra confiante em dar sequência ao jogo diante da Coreia do Norte, no qual Portugal aplicou sete golos sem resposta.

19:22 - 24-06-2010
PORTUGAL
«Vamos à final» - Sara Kostov
A modelo e relações públicas, filha do ex-jogador do Sporting, Vanio Kostov, tem acompanhado com atenção a prestação de Portugal no Mundial da África do Sul. E deixa aqui os desejos de boa sorte à equipa das quinas para o confronto desta sexta-feira com o Brasil.

18:21 - 24-06-2010
PORTUGAL
| «Não vale a pena lamentar estado do relvado» - Queiroz
18:19 - 24-06-2010
PORTUGAL
| «Cristiano não tem recomendação especial» - Queiroz
17:43 - 24-06-2010
PORTUGAL
| Queiroz alerta para «contra-ataque mortífero» do "escrete"
17:23 - 24-06-2010
PORTUGAL
| Queiroz promete «espectáculo e fantasia» frente ao Brasil
17:05 - 24-06-2010
PORTUGAL
| Queiroz confirma ausência de Deco frente ao Brasil
16:39 - 24-06-2010
ÚLTIMAS - DESPORTO
13:17
Mundial 2010 – Bill Clinton visita Mandela
13:12
Sp. Braga – Leandro Salino já treinou
13:10
Liga Vitalis – Diamantino Miranda assina por dois anos pelo Fátima
13:00
Inglaterra – Liverpool: Hodgson é o eleito para suceder a Benítez
12:52
Ciclismo – Rui Costa novo campeão nacional de contra-relógio
12:39
Argélia – Rafik Saifi arrisca castigo por agredir jornalista
12:31
Itália – Maicon mais perto do Real Madrid
12:16
Itália – Milan oficializa Allegri
ÚLTIMAS - OUTROS MUNDOS
13:24
Gente – Roubaram o carro de Will.i.am
13:17
Mundial 2010 – Bill Clinton visita Mandela
13:10
Gente – Michael Jackson morreu há um ano
12:59
Política – Portas desafia Governo a retirar rendimento mínimo a suspeitos de crimes graves
12:42
Política – Miguel Macedo pede «cortes sérios na despesa inútil do Estado»
12:31
Política – Sócrates rejeita inscrição do limite do défice na Constituição
12:20
Local – Açores: Sismo de 3,9 sentido no Faial e no Pico
12:03
Crime – Mais de oito mil pessoas detidas em quatro dias na Europa
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RSSPDADefinir como Home Page
© A BOLA Sociedade Vicra Desportiva

CALA BOCA, GALVÃO!

Cala boca, Galvão!

Por Porpetone na Copa

O humorista Alexandre Porpetone entra na onda do "Cala Boca Galvão" e presta sua "homenagem" ao grande narrador brasileiro, interpretando Calvão Bueno e Calça Grande. Haja gozação, amigo!




quinta-feira, 24 de junho de 2010

CREIA!!! EXISTE, SIM, UMA FORÇA SUPERIOR, DEUS, QUE NOS ORIENTA!!!


VIDE O VÍDEO ABAIXO:


Talented blind guitarist Jeff Healey performs George Harrison's - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

JEFF HEALEY TALENTOSO GUITARRISTA COM DEFICIÊNCIA VISUAL



PEPE DESAPARECEU! - PEPE DESAPARECIDO! - PEPE VANISHED!

CALA A BOCA, TADEU!!!

BABY - BEBES

CONECTE SEU NOTEBOOK À TV

TV 3 D

quarta-feira, 23 de junho de 2010

Obama demite o general McChrystal, comandante militar no Afeganistão



23/06/2010 - 14h31 / Atualizada 23/06/2010 - 14h43
Obama demite o general McChrystal, comandante militar no Afeganistão
WASHINGTON, 23 Jun 2010 (AFP) -O presidente dos Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, acaba de demitir o general Stanley McChrystal, comandante no Afeganistão, em consequência das críticas feitas pelo militar em um artigo de revista, anunciou o canal de televisão NBC, nesta quarta-feira.

Michael Hastings
Jun 22, 2010 10:00 AM EDT

This article appears in RS 1108/1109 from July 8-22, 2010, on newsstands Friday, June 25.


'How'd I get screwed into going to this dinner?" demands Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It's a Thursday night in mid-April, and the commander of all U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan is sitting in a four-star suite at the Hôtel Westminster in Paris. He's in France to sell his new war strategy to our NATO allies – to keep up the fiction, in essence, that we actually have allies. Since McChrystal took over a year ago, the Afghan war has become the exclusive property of the United States. Opposition to the war has already toppled the Dutch government, forced the resignation of Germany's president and sparked both Canada and the Netherlands to announce the withdrawal of their 4,500 troops. McChrystal is in Paris to keep the French, who have lost more than 40 soldiers in Afghanistan, from going all wobbly on him.

"The dinner comes with the position, sir," says his chief of staff, Col. Charlie Flynn.

McChrystal turns sharply in his chair.

"Hey, Charlie," he asks, "does this come with the position?"

McChrystal gives him the middle finger.

More on General McChrystal
1 ⁄ 3

*
Hastings on Replacing McChrystal: Can Petraeus Win the War?
*
Photos: On the Ground with the Runaway General
*
Revolt of the Troops: Hastings Reports In From Afghanistan

The general stands and looks around the suite that his traveling staff of 10 has converted into a full-scale operations center. The tables are crowded with silver Panasonic Toughbooks, and blue cables crisscross the hotel's thick carpet, hooked up to satellite dishes to provide encrypted phone and e-mail communications. Dressed in off-the-rack civilian casual – blue tie, button-down shirt, dress slacks – McChrystal is way out of his comfort zone. Paris, as one of his advisers says, is the "most anti-McChrystal city you can imagine." The general hates fancy restaurants, rejecting any place with candles on the tables as too "Gucci." He prefers Bud Light Lime (his favorite beer) to Bordeaux, Talladega Nights (his favorite movie) to Jean-Luc Godard. Besides, the public eye has never been a place where McChrystal felt comfortable: Before President Obama put him in charge of the war in Afghanistan, he spent five years running the Pentagon's most secretive black ops.

"What's the update on the Kandahar bombing?" McChrystal asks Flynn. The city has been rocked by two massive car bombs in the past day alone, calling into question the general's assurances that he can wrest it from the Taliban.

"We have two KIAs, but that hasn't been confirmed," Flynn says.

McChrystal takes a final look around the suite. At 55, he is gaunt and lean, not unlike an older version of Christian Bale in Rescue Dawn. His slate-blue eyes have the unsettling ability to drill down when they lock on you. If you've fucked up or disappointed him, they can destroy your soul without the need for him to raise his voice.

"I'd rather have my ass kicked by a roomful of people than go out to this dinner," McChrystal says.

He pauses a beat.

"Unfortunately," he adds, "no one in this room could do it."

With that, he's out the door.

"Who's he going to dinner with?" I ask one of his aides.

"Some French minister," the aide tells me. "It's fucking gay."

The next morning, McChrystal and his team gather to prepare for a speech he is giving at the École Militaire, a French military academy. The general prides himself on being sharper and ballsier than anyone else, but his brashness comes with a price: Although McChrystal has been in charge of the war for only a year, in that short time he has managed to piss off almost everyone with a stake in the conflict. Last fall, during the question-and-answer session following a speech he gave in London, McChrystal dismissed the counterterrorism strategy being advocated by Vice President Joe Biden as "shortsighted," saying it would lead to a state of "Chaos-istan." The remarks earned him a smackdown from the president himself, who summoned the general to a terse private meeting aboard Air Force One. The message to McChrystal seemed clear: Shut the fuck up, and keep a lower profile

Now, flipping through printout cards of his speech in Paris, McChrystal wonders aloud what Biden question he might get today, and how he should respond. "I never know what's going to pop out until I'm up there, that's the problem," he says. Then, unable to help themselves, he and his staff imagine the general dismissing the vice president with a good one-liner.

"Are you asking about Vice President Biden?" McChrystal says with a laugh. "Who's that?"

"Biden?" suggests a top adviser. "Did you say: Bite Me?"

When Barack Obama entered the Oval Office, he immediately set out to deliver on his most important campaign promise on foreign policy: to refocus the war in Afghanistan on what led us to invade in the first place. "I want the American people to understand," he announced in March 2009. "We have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan." He ordered another 21,000 troops to Kabul, the largest increase since the war began in 2001. Taking the advice of both the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he also fired Gen. David McKiernan – then the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan – and replaced him with a man he didn't know and had met only briefly: Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It was the first time a top general had been relieved from duty during wartime in more than 50 years, since Harry Truman fired Gen. Douglas MacArthur at the height of the Korean War.

Even though he had voted for Obama, McChrystal and his new commander in chief failed from the outset to connect. The general first encountered Obama a week after he took office, when the president met with a dozen senior military officials in a room at the Pentagon known as the Tank. According to sources familiar with the meeting, McChrystal thought Obama looked "uncomfortable and intimidated" by the roomful of military brass. Their first one-on-one meeting took place in the Oval Office four months later, after McChrystal got the Afghanistan job, and it didn't go much better. "It was a 10-minute photo op," says an adviser to McChrystal. "Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. Here's the guy who's going to run his fucking war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The Boss was pretty disappointed."

From the start, McChrystal was determined to place his personal stamp on Afghanistan, to use it as a laboratory for a controversial military strategy known as counterinsurgency. COIN, as the theory is known, is the new gospel of the Pentagon brass, a doctrine that attempts to square the military's preference for high-tech violence with the demands of fighting protracted wars in failed states. COIN calls for sending huge numbers of ground troops to not only destroy the enemy, but to live among the civilian population and slowly rebuild, or build from scratch, another nation's government – a process that even its staunchest advocates admit requires years, if not decades, to achieve. The theory essentially rebrands the military, expanding its authority (and its funding) to encompass the diplomatic and political sides of warfare: Think the Green Berets as an armed Peace Corps. In 2006, after Gen. David Petraeus beta-tested the theory during his "surge" in Iraq, it quickly gained a hardcore following of think-tankers, journalists, military officers and civilian officials. Nicknamed "COINdinistas" for their cultish zeal, this influential cadre believed the doctrine would be the perfect solution for Afghanistan. All they needed was a general with enough charisma and political savvy to implement it.

As McChrystal leaned on Obama to ramp up the war, he did it with the same fearlessness he used to track down terrorists in Iraq: Figure out how your enemy operates, be faster and more ruthless than everybody else, then take the fuckers out. After arriving in Afghanistan last June, the general conducted his own policy review, ordered up by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The now-infamous report was leaked to the press, and its conclusion was dire: If we didn't send another 40,000 troops – swelling the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan by nearly half – we were in danger of "mission failure." The White House was furious. McChrystal, they felt, was trying to bully Obama, opening him up to charges of being weak on national security unless he did what the general wanted. It was Obama versus the Pentagon, and the Pentagon was determined to kick the president's ass.

Official White House photo by Pete Souza

Last fall, with his top general calling for more troops, Obama launched a three-month review to re-evaluate the strategy in Afghanistan. "I found that time painful," McChrystal tells me in one of several lengthy interviews. "I was selling an unsellable position." For the general, it was a crash course in Beltway politics – a battle that pitted him against experienced Washington insiders like Vice President Biden, who argued that a prolonged counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan would plunge America into a military quagmire without weakening international terrorist networks. "The entire COIN strategy is a fraud perpetuated on the American people," says Douglas Macgregor, a retired colonel and leading critic of counterinsurgency who attended West Point with McChrystal. "The idea that we are going to spend a trillion dollars to reshape the culture of the Islamic world is utter nonsense.

In the end, however, McChrystal got almost exactly what he wanted. On December 1st, in a speech at West Point, the president laid out all the reasons why fighting the war in Afghanistan is a bad idea: It's expensive; we're in an economic crisis; a decade-long commitment would sap American power; Al Qaeda has shifted its base of operations to Pakistan. Then, without ever using the words "victory" or "win," Obama announced that he would send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, almost as many as McChrystal had requested. The president had thrown his weight, however hesitantly, behind the counterinsurgency crowd.

Today, as McChrystal gears up for an offensive in southern Afghanistan, the prospects for any kind of success look bleak. In June, the death toll for U.S. troops passed 1,000, and the number of IEDs has doubled. Spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the fifth-poorest country on earth has failed to win over the civilian population, whose attitude toward U.S. troops ranges from intensely wary to openly hostile. The biggest military operation of the year – a ferocious offensive that began in February to retake the southern town of Marja – continues to drag on, prompting McChrystal himself to refer to it as a "bleeding ulcer." In June, Afghanistan officially outpaced Vietnam as the longest war in American history – and Obama has quietly begun to back away from the deadline he set for withdrawing U.S. troops in July of next year. The president finds himself stuck in something even more insane than a quagmire: a quagmire he knowingly walked into, even though it's precisely the kind of gigantic, mind-numbing, multigenerational nation-building project he explicitly said he didn't want.

Even those who support McChrystal and his strategy of counterinsurgency know that whatever the general manages to accomplish in Afghanistan, it's going to look more like Vietnam than Desert Storm. "It's not going to look like a win, smell like a win or taste like a win," says Maj. Gen. Bill Mayville, who serves as chief of operations for McChrystal. "This is going to end in an argument."

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The night after his speech in Paris, McChrystal and his staff head to Kitty O'Shea's, an Irish pub catering to tourists, around the corner from the hotel. His wife, Annie, has joined him for a rare visit: Since the Iraq War began in 2003, she has seen her husband less than 30 days a year. Though it is his and Annie's 33rd wedding anniversary, McChrystal has invited his inner circle along for dinner and drinks at the "least Gucci" place his staff could find. His wife isn't surprised. "He once took me to a Jack in the Box when I was dressed in formalwear," she says with a laugh.

The general's staff is a handpicked collection of killers, spies, geniuses, patriots, political operators and outright maniacs. There's a former head of British Special Forces, two Navy Seals, an Afghan Special Forces commando, a lawyer, two fighter pilots and at least two dozen combat veterans and counterinsurgency experts. They jokingly refer to themselves as Team America, taking the name from the South Park-esque sendup of military cluelessness, and they pride themselves on their can-do attitude and their disdain for authority. After arriving in Kabul last summer, Team America set about changing the culture of the International Security Assistance Force, as the NATO-led mission is known. (U.S. soldiers had taken to deriding ISAF as short for "I Suck at Fighting" or "In Sandals and Flip-Flops.") McChrystal banned alcohol on base, kicked out Burger King and other symbols of American excess, expanded the morning briefing to include thousands of officers and refashioned the command center into a Situational Awareness Room, a free-flowing information hub modeled after Mayor Mike Bloomberg's offices in New York. He also set a manic pace for his staff, becoming legendary for sleeping four hours a night, running seven miles each morning, and eating one meal a day. (In the month I spend around the general, I witness him eating only once.) It's a kind of superhuman narrative that has built up around him, a staple in almost every media profile, as if the ability to go without sleep and food translates into the possibility of a man single-handedly winning the war.

By midnight at Kitty O'Shea's, much of Team America is completely shitfaced. Two officers do an Irish jig mixed with steps from a traditional Afghan wedding dance, while McChrystal's top advisers lock arms and sing a slurred song of their own invention. "Afghanistan!" they bellow. "Afghanistan!" They call it their Afghanistan song.

McChrystal steps away from the circle, observing his team. "All these men," he tells me. "I'd die for them. And they'd die for me."

The assembled men may look and sound like a bunch of combat veterans letting off steam, but in fact this tight-knit group represents the most powerful force shaping U.S. policy in Afghanistan. While McChrystal and his men are in indisputable command of all military aspects of the war, there is no equivalent position on the diplomatic or political side. Instead, an assortment of administration players compete over the Afghan portfolio: U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, Special Representative to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke, National Security Advisor Jim Jones and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, not to mention 40 or so other coalition ambassadors and a host of talking heads who try to insert themselves into the mess, from John Kerry to John McCain. This diplomatic incoherence has effectively allowed McChrystal's team to call the shots and hampered efforts to build a stable and credible government in Afghanistan. "It jeopardizes the mission," says Stephen Biddle, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who supports McChrystal. "The military cannot by itself create governance reform."

Part of the problem is structural: The Defense Department budget exceeds $600 billion a year, while the State Department receives only $50 billion. But part of the problem is personal: In private, Team McChrystal likes to talk shit about many of Obama's top people on the diplomatic side. One aide calls Jim Jones, a retired four-star general and veteran of the Cold War, a "clown" who remains "stuck in 1985." Politicians like McCain and Kerry, says another aide, "turn up, have a meeting with Karzai, criticize him at the airport press conference, then get back for the Sunday talk shows. Frankly, it's not very helpful." Only Hillary Clinton receives good reviews from McChrystal's inner circle. "Hillary had Stan's back during the strategic review," says an adviser. "She said, 'If Stan wants it, give him what he needs.' "

McChrystal reserves special skepticism for Holbrooke, the official in charge of reintegrating the Taliban. "The Boss says he's like a wounded animal," says a member of the general's team. "Holbrooke keeps hearing rumors that he's going to get fired, so that makes him dangerous. He's a brilliant guy, but he just comes in, pulls on a lever, whatever he can grasp onto. But this is COIN, and you can't just have someone yanking on shit."

Michael Hastings at the ISAF base in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Photograph by Mikhail Galustov for RollingStone/Redux

At one point on his trip to Paris, McChrystal checks his BlackBerry. "Oh, not another e-mail from Holbrooke," he groans. "I don't even want to open it." He clicks on the message and reads the salutation out loud, then stuffs the BlackBerry back in his pocket, not bothering to conceal his annoyance.

"Make sure you don't get any of that on your leg," an aide jokes, referring to the e-mail.

By far the most crucial – and strained – relationship is between McChrystal and Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador. According to those close to the two men, Eikenberry – a retired three-star general who served in Afghanistan in 2002 and 2005 – can't stand that his former subordinate is now calling the shots. He's also furious that McChrystal, backed by NATO's allies, refused to put Eikenberry in the pivotal role of viceroy in Afghanistan, which would have made him the diplomatic equivalent of the general. The job instead went to British Ambassador Mark Sedwill – a move that effectively increased McChrystal's influence over diplomacy by shutting out a powerful rival. "In reality, that position needs to be filled by an American for it to have weight," says a U.S. official familiar with the negotiations.

The relationship was further strained in January, when a classified cable that Eikenberry wrote was leaked to The New York Times. The cable was as scathing as it was prescient. The ambassador offered a brutal critique of McChrystal's strategy, dismissed President Hamid Karzai as "not an adequate strategic partner," and cast doubt on whether the counterinsurgency plan would be "sufficient" to deal with Al Qaeda. "We will become more deeply engaged here with no way to extricate ourselves," Eikenberry warned, "short of allowing the country to descend again into lawlessness and chaos."

McChrystal and his team were blindsided by the cable. "I like Karl, I've known him for years, but they'd never said anything like that to us before," says McChrystal, who adds that he felt "betrayed" by the leak. "Here's one that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say, 'I told you so.' "

The most striking example of McChrystal's usurpation of diplomatic policy is his handling of Karzai. It is McChrystal, not diplomats like Eikenberry or Holbrooke, who enjoys the best relationship with the man America is relying on to lead Afghanistan. The doctrine of counterinsurgency requires a credible government, and since Karzai is not considered credible by his own people, McChrystal has worked hard to make him so. Over the past few months, he has accompanied the president on more than 10 trips around the country, standing beside him at political meetings, or shuras, in Kandahar. In February, the day before the doomed offensive in Marja, McChrystal even drove over to the president's palace to get him to sign off on what would be the largest military operation of the year. Karzai's staff, however, insisted that the president was sleeping off a cold and could not be disturbed. After several hours of haggling, McChrystal finally enlisted the aid of Afghanistan's defense minister, who persuaded Karzai's people to wake the president from his nap.

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This is one of the central flaws with McChrystal's counterinsurgency strategy: The need to build a credible government puts us at the mercy of whatever tin-pot leader we've backed – a danger that Eikenberry explicitly warned about in his cable. Even Team McChrystal privately acknowledges that Karzai is a less-than-ideal partner. "He's been locked up in his palace the past year," laments one of the general's top advisers. At times, Karzai himself has actively undermined McChrystal's desire to put him in charge. During a recent visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Karzai met three U.S. soldiers who had been wounded in Uruzgan province. "General," he called out to McChrystal, "I didn't even know we were fighting in Uruzgan!"

Growing up as a military brat, McChrystal exhibited the mixture of brilliance and cockiness that would follow him throughout his career. His father fought in Korea and Vietnam, retiring as a two-star general, and his four brothers all joined the armed services. Moving around to different bases, McChrystal took solace in baseball, a sport in which he made no pretense of hiding his superiority: In Little League, he would call out strikes to the crowd before whipping a fastball down the middle.

McChrystal entered West Point in 1972, when the U.S. military was close to its all-time low in popularity. His class was the last to graduate before the academy started to admit women. The "Prison on the Hudson," as it was known then, was a potent mix of testosterone, hooliganism and reactionary patriotism. Cadets repeatedly trashed the mess hall in food fights, and birthdays were celebrated with a tradition called "rat fucking," which often left the birthday boy outside in the snow or mud, covered in shaving cream. "It was pretty out of control," says Lt. Gen. David Barno, a classmate who went on to serve as the top commander in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005. The class, filled with what Barno calls "huge talent" and "wild-eyed teenagers with a strong sense of idealism," also produced Gen. Ray Odierno, the current commander of U.S. forces in Iraq.

The son of a general, McChrystal was also a ringleader of the campus dissidents – a dual role that taught him how to thrive in a rigid, top-down environment while thumbing his nose at authority every chance he got. He accumulated more than 100 hours of demerits for drinking, partying and insubordination – a record that his classmates boasted made him a "century man." One classmate, who asked not to be named, recalls finding McChrystal passed out in the shower after downing a case of beer he had hidden under the sink. The troublemaking almost got him kicked out, and he spent hours subjected to forced marches in the Area, a paved courtyard where unruly cadets were disciplined. "I'd come visit, and I'd end up spending most of my time in the library, while Stan was in the Area," recalls Annie, who began dating McChrystal in 1973.

McChrystal wound up ranking 298 out of a class of 855, a serious underachievement for a man widely regarded as brilliant. His most compelling work was extracurricular: As managing editor of The Pointer, the West Point literary magazine, McChrystal wrote seven short stories that eerily foreshadow many of the issues he would confront in his career. In one tale, a fictional officer complains about the difficulty of training foreign troops to fight; in another, a 19-year-old soldier kills a boy he mistakes for a terrorist. In "Brinkman's Note," a piece of suspense fiction, the unnamed narrator appears to be trying to stop a plot to assassinate the president. It turns out, however, that the narrator himself is the assassin, and he's able to infiltrate the White House: "The President strode in smiling. From the right coat pocket of the raincoat I carried, I slowly drew forth my 32-caliber pistol. In Brinkman's failure, I had succeeded."

After graduation, 2nd Lt. Stanley McChrystal entered an Army that was all but broken in the wake of Vietnam. "We really felt we were a peacetime generation," he recalls. "There was the Gulf War, but even that didn't feel like that big of a deal." So McChrystal spent his career where the action was: He enrolled in Special Forces school and became a regimental commander of the 3rd Ranger Battalion in 1986. It was a dangerous position, even in peacetime – nearly two dozen Rangers were killed in training accidents during the Eighties. It was also an unorthodox career path: Most soldiers who want to climb the ranks to general don't go into the Rangers. Displaying a penchant for transforming systems he considers outdated, McChrystal set out to revolutionize the training regime for the Rangers. He introduced mixed martial arts, required every soldier to qualify with night-vision goggles on the rifle range and forced troops to build up their endurance with weekly marches involving heavy backpacks.

In the late 1990s, McChrystal shrewdly improved his inside game, spending a year at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and then at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he co-authored a treatise on the merits and drawbacks of humanitarian interventionism. But as he moved up through the ranks, McChrystal relied on the skills he had learned as a troublemaking kid at West Point: knowing precisely how far he could go in a rigid military hierarchy without getting tossed out. Being a highly intelligent badass, he discovered, could take you far – especially in the political chaos that followed September 11th. "He was very focused," says Annie. "Even as a young officer he seemed to know what he wanted to do. I don't think his personality has changed in all these years."

By some accounts, McChrystal's career should have been over at least two times by now. As Pentagon spokesman during the invasion of Iraq, the general seemed more like a White House mouthpiece than an up-and-coming commander with a reputation for speaking his mind. When Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made his infamous "stuff happens" remark during the looting of Baghdad, McChrystal backed him up. A few days later, he echoed the president's Mission Accomplished gaffe by insisting that major combat operations in Iraq were over. But it was during his next stint – overseeing the military's most elite units, including the Rangers, Navy Seals and Delta Force – that McChrystal took part in a cover-up that would have destroyed the career of a lesser man.

After Cpl. Pat Tillman, the former-NFL-star-turned-Ranger, was accidentally killed by his own troops in Afghanistan in April 2004, McChrystal took an active role in creating the impression that Tillman had died at the hands of Taliban fighters. He signed off on a falsified recommendation for a Silver Star that suggested Tillman had been killed by enemy fire. (McChrystal would later claim he didn't read the recommendation closely enough – a strange excuse for a commander known for his laserlike attention to minute details.) A week later, McChrystal sent a memo up the chain of command, specifically warning that President Bush should avoid mentioning the cause of Tillman's death. "If the circumstances of Corporal Tillman's death become public," he wrote, it could cause "public embarrassment" for the president.

"The false narrative, which McChrystal clearly helped construct, diminished Pat's true actions," wrote Tillman's mother, Mary, in her book Boots on the Ground by Dusk. McChrystal got away with it, she added, because he was the "golden boy" of Rumsfeld and Bush, who loved his willingness to get things done, even if it included bending the rules or skipping the chain of command. Nine days after Tillman's death, McChrystal was promoted to major general.

Two years later, in 2006, McChrystal was tainted by a scandal involving detainee abuse and torture at Camp Nama in Iraq. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, prisoners at the camp were subjected to a now-familiar litany of abuse: stress positions, being dragged naked through the mud. McChrystal was not disciplined in the scandal, even though an interrogator at the camp reported seeing him inspect the prison multiple times. But the experience was so unsettling to McChrystal that he tried to prevent detainee operations from being placed under his command in Afghanistan, viewing them as a "political swamp," according to a U.S. official. In May 2009, as McChrystal prepared for his confirmation hearings, his staff prepared him for hard questions about Camp Nama and the Tillman cover-up. But the scandals barely made a ripple in Congress, and McChrystal was soon on his way back to Kabul to run the war in Afghanistan.

The media, to a large extent, have also given McChrystal a pass on both controversies. Where Gen. Petraeus is kind of a dweeb, a teacher's pet with a Ranger's tab, McChrystal is a snake-eating rebel, a "Jedi" commander, as Newsweek called him. He didn't care when his teenage son came home with blue hair and a mohawk. He speaks his mind with a candor rare for a high-ranking official. He asks for opinions, and seems genuinely interested in the response. He gets briefings on his iPod and listens to books on tape. He carries a custom-made set of nunchucks in his convoy engraved with his name and four stars, and his itinerary often bears a fresh quote from Bruce Lee. ("There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.") He went out on dozens of nighttime raids during his time in Iraq, unprecedented for a top commander, and turned up on missions unannounced, with almost no entourage. "The fucking lads love Stan McChrystal," says a British officer who serves in Kabul. "You'd be out in Somewhere, Iraq, and someone would take a knee beside you, and a corporal would be like 'Who the fuck is that?' And it's fucking Stan McChrystal."

It doesn't hurt that McChrystal was also extremely successful as head of the Joint Special Operations Command, the elite forces that carry out the government's darkest ops. During the Iraq surge, his team killed and captured thousands of insurgents, including Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. "JSOC was a killing machine," says Maj. Gen. Mayville, his chief of operations. McChrystal was also open to new ways of killing. He systematically mapped out terrorist networks, targeting specific insurgents and hunting them down – often with the help of cyberfreaks traditionally shunned by the military. "The Boss would find the 24-year-old kid with a nose ring, with some fucking brilliant degree from MIT, sitting in the corner with 16 computer monitors humming," says a Special Forces commando who worked with McChrystal in Iraq and now serves on his staff in Kabul. "He'd say, 'Hey – you fucking muscleheads couldn't find lunch without help. You got to work together with these guys.' "

Even in his new role as America's leading evangelist for counterinsurgency, McChrystal retains the deep-seated instincts of a terrorist hunter. To put pressure on the Taliban, he has upped the number of Special Forces units in Afghanistan from four to 19. "You better be out there hitting four or five targets tonight," McChrystal will tell a Navy Seal he sees in the hallway at headquarters. Then he'll add, "I'm going to have to scold you in the morning for it, though." In fact, the general frequently finds himself apologizing for the disastrous consequences of counterinsurgency. In the first four months of this year, NATO forces killed some 90 civilians, up 76 percent from the same period in 2009 – a record that has created tremendous resentment among the very population that COIN theory is intent on winning over. In February, a Special Forces night raid ended in the deaths of two pregnant Afghan women and allegations of a cover-up, and in April, protests erupted in Kandahar after U.S. forces accidentally shot up a bus, killing five Afghans. "We've shot an amazing number of people," McChrystal recently conceded.

Despite the tragedies and miscues, McChrystal has issued some of the strictest directives to avoid civilian casualties that the U.S. military has ever encountered in a war zone. It's "insurgent math," as he calls it – for every innocent person you kill, you create 10 new enemies. He has ordered convoys to curtail their reckless driving, put restrictions on the use of air power and severely limited night raids. He regularly apologizes to Hamid Karzai when civilians are killed, and berates commanders responsible for civilian deaths. "For a while," says one U.S. official, "the most dangerous place to be in Afghanistan was in front of McChrystal after a 'civ cas' incident." The ISAF command has even discussed ways to make not killing into something you can win an award for: There's talk of creating a new medal for "courageous restraint," a buzzword that's unlikely to gain much traction in the gung-ho culture of the U.S. military.

But however strategic they may be, McChrystal's new marching orders have caused an intense backlash among his own troops. Being told to hold their fire, soldiers complain, puts them in greater danger. "Bottom line?" says a former Special Forces operator who has spent years in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I would love to kick McChrystal in the nuts. His rules of engagement put soldiers' lives in even greater danger. Every real soldier will tell you the same thing."

In March, McChrystal traveled to Combat Outpost JFM – a small encampment on the outskirts of Kandahar – to confront such accusations from the troops directly. It was a typically bold move by the general. Only two days earlier, he had received an e-mail from Israel Arroyo, a 25-year-old staff sergeant who asked McChrystal to go on a mission with his unit. "I am writing because it was said you don't care about the troops and have made it harder to defend ourselves," Arroyo wrote.

Within hours, McChrystal responded personally: "I'm saddened by the accusation that I don't care about soldiers, as it is something I suspect any soldier takes both personally and professionally – at least I do. But I know perceptions depend upon your perspective at the time, and I respect that every soldier's view is his own." Then he showed up at Arroyo's outpost and went on a foot patrol with the troops – not some bullshit photo-op stroll through a market, but a real live operation in a dangerous war zone.

Six weeks later, just before McChrystal returned from Paris, the general received another e-mail from Arroyo. A 23-year-old corporal named Michael Ingram – one of the soldiers McChrystal had gone on patrol with – had been killed by an IED a day earlier. It was the third man the 25-member platoon had lost in a year, and Arroyo was writing to see if the general would attend Ingram's memorial service. "He started to look up to you," Arroyo wrote. McChrystal said he would try to make it down to pay his respects as soon as possible.

The night before the general is scheduled to visit Sgt. Arroyo's platoon for the memorial, I arrive at Combat Outpost JFM to speak with the soldiers he had gone on patrol with. JFM is a small encampment, ringed by high blast walls and guard towers. Almost all of the soldiers here have been on repeated combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and have seen some of the worst fighting of both wars. But they are especially angered by Ingram's death. His commanders had repeatedly requested permission to tear down the house where Ingram was killed, noting that it was often used as a combat position by the Taliban. But due to McChrystal's new restrictions to avoid upsetting civilians, the request had been denied. "These were abandoned houses," fumes Staff Sgt. Kennith Hicks. "Nobody was coming back to live in them."

One soldier shows me the list of new regulations the platoon was given. "Patrol only in areas that you are reasonably certain that you will not have to defend yourselves with lethal force," the laminated card reads. For a soldier who has traveled halfway around the world to fight, that's like telling a cop he should only patrol in areas where he knows he won't have to make arrests. "Does that make any fucking sense?" asks Pfc. Jared Pautsch. "We should just drop a fucking bomb on this place. You sit and ask yourself: What are we doing here?"

The rules handed out here are not what McChrystal intended – they've been distorted as they passed through the chain of command – but knowing that does nothing to lessen the anger of troops on the ground. "Fuck, when I came over here and heard that McChrystal was in charge, I thought we would get our fucking gun on," says Hicks, who has served three tours of combat. "I get COIN. I get all that. McChrystal comes here, explains it, it makes sense. But then he goes away on his bird, and by the time his directives get passed down to us through Big Army, they're all fucked up – either because somebody is trying to cover their ass, or because they just don't understand it themselves. But we're fucking losing this thing."

McChrystal and his team show up the next day. Underneath a tent, the general has a 45-minute discussion with some two dozen soldiers. The atmosphere is tense. "I ask you what's going on in your world, and I think it's important for you all to understand the big picture as well," McChrystal begins. "How's the company doing? You guys feeling sorry for yourselves? Anybody? Anybody feel like you're losing?" McChrystal says.

"Sir, some of the guys here, sir, think we're losing, sir," says Hicks.

McChrystal nods. "Strength is leading when you just don't want to lead," he tells the men. "You're leading by example. That's what we do. Particularly when it's really, really hard, and it hurts inside." Then he spends 20 minutes talking about counterinsurgency, diagramming his concepts and principles on a whiteboard. He makes COIN seem like common sense, but he's careful not to bullshit the men. "We are knee-deep in the decisive year," he tells them. The Taliban, he insists, no longer has the initiative – "but I don't think we do, either." It's similar to the talk he gave in Paris, but it's not winning any hearts and minds among the soldiers. "This is the philosophical part that works with think tanks," McChrystal tries to joke. "But it doesn't get the same reception from infantry companies."

During the question-and-answer period, the frustration boils over. The soldiers complain about not being allowed to use lethal force, about watching insurgents they detain be freed for lack of evidence. They want to be able to fight – like they did in Iraq, like they had in Afghanistan before McChrystal. "We aren't putting fear into the Taliban," one soldier says.

"Winning hearts and minds in COIN is a coldblooded thing," McChrystal says, citing an oft-repeated maxim that you can't kill your way out of Afghanistan. "The Russians killed 1 million Afghans, and that didn't work."

"I'm not saying go out and kill everybody, sir," the soldier persists. "You say we've stopped the momentum of the insurgency. I don't believe that's true in this area. The more we pull back, the more we restrain ourselves, the stronger it's getting."

"I agree with you," McChrystal says. "In this area, we've not made progress, probably. You have to show strength here, you have to use fire. What I'm telling you is, fire costs you. What do you want to do? You want to wipe the population out here and resettle it?"

A soldier complains that under the rules, any insurgent who doesn't have a weapon is immediately assumed to be a civilian. "That's the way this game is," McChrystal says. "It's complex. I can't just decide: It's shirts and skins, and we'll kill all the shirts."

As the discussion ends, McChrystal seems to sense that he hasn't succeeded at easing the men's anger. He makes one last-ditch effort to reach them, acknowledging the death of Cpl. Ingram. "There's no way I can make that easier," he tells them. "No way I can pretend it won't hurt. No way I can tell you not to feel that. . . . I will tell you, you're doing a great job. Don't let the frustration get to you." The session ends with no clapping, and no real resolution. McChrystal may have sold President Obama on counterinsurgency, but many of his own men aren't buying it.

When it comes to Afghanistan, history is not on McChrystal's side. The only foreign invader to have any success here was Genghis Khan – and he wasn't hampered by things like human rights, economic development and press scrutiny. The COIN doctrine, bizarrely, draws inspiration from some of the biggest Western military embarrassments in recent memory: France's nasty war in Algeria (lost in 1962) and the American misadventure in Vietnam (lost in 1975). McChrystal, like other advocates of COIN, readily acknowledges that counterinsurgency campaigns are inherently messy, expensive and easy to lose. "Even Afghans are confused by Afghanistan," he says. But even if he somehow manages to succeed, after years of bloody fighting with Afghan kids who pose no threat to the U.S. homeland, the war will do little to shut down Al Qaeda, which has shifted its operations to Pakistan. Dispatching 150,000 troops to build new schools, roads, mosques and water-treatment facilities around Kandahar is like trying to stop the drug war in Mexico by occupying Arkansas and building Baptist churches in Little Rock. "It's all very cynical, politically," says Marc Sageman, a former CIA case officer who has extensive experience in the region. "Afghanistan is not in our vital interest – there's nothing for us there."

In mid-May, two weeks after visiting the troops in Kandahar, McChrystal travels to the White House for a high-level visit by Hamid Karzai. It is a triumphant moment for the general, one that demonstrates he is very much in command – both in Kabul and in Washington. In the East Room, which is packed with journalists and dignitaries, President Obama sings the praises of Karzai. The two leaders talk about how great their relationship is, about the pain they feel over civilian casualties. They mention the word "progress" 16 times in under an hour. But there is no mention of victory. Still, the session represents the most forceful commitment that Obama has made to McChrystal's strategy in months. "There is no denying the progress that the Afghan people have made in recent years – in education, in health care and economic development," the president says. "As I saw in the lights across Kabul when I landed – lights that would not have been visible just a few years earlier."

It is a disconcerting observation for Obama to make. During the worst years in Iraq, when the Bush administration had no real progress to point to, officials used to offer up the exact same evidence of success. "It was one of our first impressions," one GOP official said in 2006, after landing in Baghdad at the height of the sectarian violence. "So many lights shining brightly." So it is to the language of the Iraq War that the Obama administration has turned – talk of progress, of city lights, of metrics like health care and education. Rhetoric that just a few years ago they would have mocked. "They are trying to manipulate perceptions because there is no definition of victory – because victory is not even defined or recognizable," says Celeste Ward, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation who served as a political adviser to U.S. commanders in Iraq in 2006. "That's the game we're in right now. What we need, for strategic purposes, is to create the perception that we didn't get run off. The facts on the ground are not great, and are not going to become great in the near future."

But facts on the ground, as history has proven, offer little deterrent to a military determined to stay the course. Even those closest to McChrystal know that the rising anti-war sentiment at home doesn't begin to reflect how deeply fucked up things are in Afghanistan. "If Americans pulled back and started paying attention to this war, it would become even less popular," a senior adviser to McChrystal says. Such realism, however, doesn't prevent advocates of counterinsurgency from dreaming big: Instead of beginning to withdraw troops next year, as Obama promised, the military hopes to ramp up its counterinsurgency campaign even further. "There's a possibility we could ask for another surge of U.S. forces next summer if we see success here," a senior military official in Kabul tells me.

Back in Afghanistan, less than a month after the White House meeting with Karzai and all the talk of "progress," McChrystal is hit by the biggest blow to his vision of counterinsurgency. Since last year, the Pentagon had been planning to launch a major military operation this summer in Kandahar, the country's second-largest city and the Taliban's original home base. It was supposed to be a decisive turning point in the war – the primary reason for the troop surge that McChrystal wrested from Obama late last year. But on June 10th, acknowledging that the military still needs to lay more groundwork, the general announced that he is postponing the offensive until the fall. Rather than one big battle, like Fallujah or Ramadi, U.S. troops will implement what McChrystal calls a "rising tide of security." The Afghan police and army will enter Kandahar to attempt to seize control of neighborhoods, while the U.S. pours $90 million of aid into the city to win over the civilian population.

Even proponents of counterinsurgency are hard-pressed to explain the new plan. "This isn't a classic operation," says a U.S. military official. "It's not going to be Black Hawk Down. There aren't going to be doors kicked in." Other U.S. officials insist that doors are going to be kicked in, but that it's going to be a kinder, gentler offensive than the disaster in Marja. "The Taliban have a jackboot on the city," says a military official. "We have to remove them, but we have to do it in a way that doesn't alienate the population." When Vice President Biden was briefed on the new plan in the Oval Office, insiders say he was shocked to see how much it mirrored the more gradual plan of counterterrorism that he advocated last fall. "This looks like CT-plus!" he said, according to U.S. officials familiar with the meeting.

Whatever the nature of the new plan, the delay underscores the fundamental flaws of counterinsurgency. After nine years of war, the Taliban simply remains too strongly entrenched for the U.S. military to openly attack. The very people that COIN seeks to win over – the Afghan people – do not want us there. Our supposed ally, President Karzai, used his influence to delay the offensive, and the massive influx of aid championed by McChrystal is likely only to make things worse. "Throwing money at the problem exacerbates the problem," says Andrew Wilder, an expert at Tufts University who has studied the effect of aid in southern Afghanistan. "A tsunami of cash fuels corruption, delegitimizes the government and creates an environment where we're picking winners and losers" – a process that fuels resentment and hostility among the civilian population. So far, counterinsurgency has succeeded only in creating a never-ending demand for the primary product supplied by the military: perpetual war. There is a reason that President Obama studiously avoids using the word "victory" when he talks about Afghanistan. Winning, it would seem, is not really possible. Not even with Stanley McChrystal in charge.

This article appears in in RS 1108/1109 from July 8-22, 2010, on newsstands Friday, June 25.

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Comments (24) Sort by:
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409 Like
sdsteve
June 22, 2010 12:09 P.M. EDT
Our democracy depends on civilian control of the military. If The President lets this slide, he will lose all respect from the Troops. McChrystal should have already been fired for his public pressuring during the review, but this is the last straw. No one is irreplaceable. Read More
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ademon4u
June 22, 2010 1:21 P.M. EDT
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kenbert
June 22, 2010 1:32 P.M. EDT
That goes for the president also!!
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Steven Terrell
June 22, 2010 2:07 P.M. EDT
The troops already don't respect Obama! Obama is the one who needs replaced. Read More
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timothy.l.crowe
June 22, 2010 3:37 P.M. EDT
The president has, past tense, lost the respect of the troops. Read More
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jtc78623
June 22, 2010 4:52 P.M. EDT
The current administration does not respect our military. Where was Obama on the day we set aside to honor our military ? Sure as hell was not at Arlington ! Granted McChrystal spoke out of turn on the record, but all he did was utter the truth and feelings of his men. . . Read More
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viper21970
23 hr(s) ago
The General did something that is not acceptable in the military. However, the so-called leader of the military is one of the most shameful, lying, deceitful, incompetent individuals ever to hit D.C., he too should have been fired over a year ago. When you have no confidence in the leadership, the troops' behavior will show it. They will still do ...Read More
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billyoneal(R)
20 hr(s) ago
hahaha...pull your head out of your ass. your obviously not a SOLDIER!!! i am and he's doing a good job with this shit ass country!!! our politicians are whats going to get us all killed. the white house, congress, senate, the house of reps., etc.... this is a political battle on our home front and GEN. McChrystal can only do ...Read More
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dmackay56
15 hr(s) ago
...when have the troops ever had respect for the present administration, an administration that has no respect for the military or this country's veterans; an administration being run by an individual whose best friends growing up have been socialists, communist party members, and home-grown terrorists; an administration that puts ivy-league liberals in the most important non-military positions of this country! ...Read More
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TomS
10 hr(s) ago
It looks as if, throughout his career, McChrystal has operated by testing the limits of the relevant authority. So long as the authority can bite back, the process of testing and reasserting the limits can be useful. COIN is a hard road. The policy is more important than the odd (pretty mild) indiscretion about higher-ups. The fact that no-one is ...Read More
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Michigangirl11
5 hr(s) ago
Obama is the one who is losing respect. He is nothing but arrogant and self centered. Him and his pet Biden have no respect for our military or the American people.............. Read More
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makisov
3 hr(s) ago
People don't understand Chain of Command or breaking rank. He deserved to be 'relieved'. Read More
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176 Like
Alfred di Genis
June 22, 2010 12:53 P.M. EDT
It's striking how the childish, salivating idiocy revealed by the military leader in this interview is so far at odds with the pretense of competence and insight that is presented in public fora. It's fitting that a sham war has a general with sham integrity and a grotesque misunderstanding of the chain of command. The interview goes a long way ...Read More
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Gregdude53
June 22, 2010 1:23 P.M. EDT
Did you even read it? What did he say? It was all aides, staff members and other people. Read More
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Steven Terrell
June 22, 2010 2:09 P.M. EDT
Obama is a sham and needs to be told so. Thank You General and his Aides! Read More
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timothy.l.crowe
June 22, 2010 4:08 P.M. EDT
Agree with counterproposal thank you GEN McCrystal.
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Mahzad
17 hr(s) ago
Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Read More
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ObaMao
17 hr(s) ago
Thanks, Gregdude! You said exactly what I was thinking. Ha. Typical leftie one-sided view. They're so far up Obama's a$$ it's clouding their brain. PEOPLE, it's called the Constitution. FREEDOM OF PRESS, SPEECH, and RELIGION. Why is it they only seem to think it's only important when it's protecting their dumb-ass views? Ignoramus' !! Read More
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username
5 hr(s) ago
Nice shot at intelectualism Alfrado!
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803 Like
CommonSense
June 22, 2010 1:00 P.M. EDT
If a general would have made those very same statements during the Bush years, the left would be falling all over themselves praising him for being so brave and speaking "truth to power"...but since he's calling out the incompetence of Obama and his staff, not so much. So he calls the panty waists in the White House what they are, ...Read More
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Steven Terrell
June 22, 2010 2:10 P.M. EDT
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kbarr
June 22, 2010 5:25 P.M. EDT
Oh right. Another all-leftists-are-exactly-alike mind reader. No CS, I would not be falling all over myself to brag up the General for being "so brave" and "speaking truth to Power" unless the General's remarks were on behalf of the innocent lives killed in an unnecessary war. Why do you and so many others gloss over that? You never seem to ...Read More
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Tom Paine
19 hr(s) ago
But no general would, becasue their plush offices in the big defense contractors outfits would be at stake. What pathetic bunch of patsies we Americans have become. McChrystal is no hero. Pull your head out and smell the bullshit. Read More
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MsLizStoddard
18 hr(s) ago
Gen. John Abizaid, US commander in the Middle East, Major General Batiste General George Casey, the United States' Army's senior commander in Iraq Are three examples of Generals that Bush jr. fired enough. I don't recall me and pinko, commie lefties falling all over these Generals because they disagreed with the worst president in our history, we were still fighting ...Read More
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625 Like
mwmillertime
June 22, 2010 1:04 P.M. EDT
Dude. McChrystal is AWESOME. He don't take shit from nobody. Read More
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CommonSense
June 22, 2010 2:51 P.M. EDT
It really doesn't matter whether it is Bush Presidency or Obama - in the military, insubordination is a serious offence. There is just no excuse for publicly describing your commander-in-chief that way; let a lone the fact that it is in a foreign land for diplomatic reasons!
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VoiceOfAmerica
21 hr(s) ago
He's too busy giving out shit to take it. I bet he has a battalion of soldiers who wipe him Read More
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toniwynn
14 hr(s) ago
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username
6 hr(s) ago
This isn't a damn football game!
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username
5 hr(s) ago
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bezvodka
3 hr(s) ago
I believe that those who think McChrystal is so great never served in uniform for one day and have no understanding of the military. Certainly every single trained officer knows that you may argue with the commander but once his mind is made up, the only permissible response is, "Yes, Sir." And you do not make fun of your Commander ...Read More
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TRBNYC
1 hr(s) ago
But then, who are you? "Millertime" says a whole lot about your priorities.... Read More
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186 Like
Flex
June 22, 2010 3:39 P.M. EDT
This is Gladiator life imitating art! "Are we so different, you and I?" asks the false king. The general replies, "The time for honoring yourself will soon be at an end." Read More
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Mis4Margaret
June 22, 2010 3:42 P.M. EDT
10 LOLZ for you buddy....thats awesome!!!
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maybeheisspeakingtruth
22 hr(s) ago
I so agree. perhaps the general speaks the truth and we are just now seeing through all the BS promised by Obama Read More
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wazup12
18 hr(s) ago
Flex, I love the post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And so true!
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username
5 hr(s) ago
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