Kosh's Shadow 8/14/2021 8:01:18 PM

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Alice in Dairyland 8/15/2021 6:59:24 AM

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Kosh's Shadow 8/15/2021 7:48:34 AM

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Reply to Alice in Dairyland in 2:

Have a great time, and watch out for bears trying to steak your pic-a-nic baskets, especially a team of one tall and one short bear wearing a necktie and bow tie, respectively.

Kosh's Shadow 8/15/2021 7:52:29 AM

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Reminds me when we went to dog training there were a pair of Newfoundlands (very large dogs) called Yogi and Boo-boo.

They wore cardboard ties to their graduation - Yogi had a long tie and Boo-boo a bow tie.

Kosh's Shadow 8/15/2021 11:47:40 AM

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So I stopped in a store to get some adult beverages, and another customer was talking about how disgusted he was at the way we are leaving Afghanistan, just like Vietnam.

Somehow, I doubt OR would hear the same kind of discussion in his neighborhood. Most people out here are working class and not woke.

Occasional Reader 8/15/2021 11:48:53 AM

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So on Friday at the gym, I saw a talking head reporting from Kabul on CNN declare the prediction that Kabul would fall “within 60 to 90 days“.

at the time I thought: try “next week“.

Looks like even my prediction was too optimistic.

And now our people there are literally at the mercy of the Taliban, and will only be safely evacuated if the Taliban let them. Heckuva job, Joe.  I hope you enjoyed some delicious ice cream today.

Occasional Reader 8/15/2021 11:54:53 AM

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In #5 Kosh's Shadow said: how disgusted he was at the way we are leaving Afghanistan, just like Vietnam

That we are leaving, after 20 years of sunk costs, is one question. That we are leaving *in this way*, as such an absolute unplanned, frantic clusterfuck, is another.

lucius septimius 8/15/2021 12:04:14 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 6:

But no mean tweets.

Kosh's Shadow 8/15/2021 12:53:48 PM

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In #6 Occasional Reader said: Heckuva job, Joe.  I hope you enjoyed some delicious ice cream today.

Probably some Ben and Jerry's/

He's on vacation, but his mind went on vacation years ago.

Kosh's Shadow 8/15/2021 1:07:14 PM

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In #7 Occasional Reader said: That we are leaving *in this way*, as such an absolute unplanned, frantic clusterfuck, is another.

I think people on this blog could have run the mission in Afghanistan better, but doubt we'd be allowed to.

The fundamental problem is that the American political class thinks that everyone else thinks the same way - compromise is a sign of strength, not weakness; people have the same values and think nationalism and tribal loyalty are wrong, etc.

In Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and many other countries, the only sign of strength is strength itself. Trying to compromise shows weakness. Announcing you'll leave eventually shows weakness. Tribes back the strong horse, not the weak one.

I'm not sure where the disconnect is. Certainly the politicians think this way, and I think a lot of the Pentagon level military got their promotions by going along with the political views.

Kosh's Shadow 8/15/2021 1:15:56 PM

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I can't find the article now, but read that years ago, some Israeli military leaders got a visit with the Vietnamese who developed the guerilla warfare that got the French and US to leave.

At the end of it, he said "Palestinians often say to me, 'You got the French and Americans to leave. How can we get the Jews to leave?'"

His answer was "The French went back to France; the Americans went back to America. The Jews have nowhere to go. You cannot get rid of them."

He may have been a butcher, but he was smarter than a lot of people in the government.

buzzsawmonkey 8/15/2021 1:25:24 PM

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I'm listening---in short doses---to a lengthy piece by WNYC's "On the Media" program.  This segment is going on about the looming "eviction crisis" now that the Left's eviction moratorium has been very tentatively found to be illegal---and, of course, it is being described as "disproportionately" affecting "black and brown people," so is, naturally, an example of America's "systemic racism." 

Leaving aside that everything today is due to "racism" if it's not the fault of "climate change," and that "disproportionately" is a nonsense word, the notion that blacks could not acquire property because of "systemic racism" is nonsense.  Where were---are---the black mutual-aid societies, the building-and-loans, the credit unions?  These things were formed by wave upon wave of impoverished immigrants who were initially excluded from regular banking.  The further presumption of these "reporters" that "people-of-color" needed government assistance to purchase property is ridiculous.

Occasional Reader 8/15/2021 3:30:50 PM

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Occasional Reader 8/15/2021 3:33:15 PM

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In #12 buzzsawmonkey said: so is, naturally, an example of America's "systemic racism." 

Do you know where this supposed phenomenon cannot be found, at all, guaranteed?  Afghanistan. I cordially invite NPR staff and listeners to relocate there.

buzzsawmonkey 8/15/2021 3:55:02 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 14:

I've been listening to the show, as I said, in dribs and drabs.  At the end of the program, they deal with a number of Chicago neighborhoods with which I am familiar---Lawndale and South Shore, among others.  

The program is chock full of lies---both lies by distortion and lies by omission.