Category: Society

The Uncritical Thinker

On By WinstonIn Discrimation, Global Issues, Personal, Politics, Rants, SocietyLeave a comment

A post has shown up in the Facebook updates of a couple of people I know which got me a little wound up.  Being me, I quite naturally fired off a response and moved on, but I couldn’t get it out of my head.  It kept nagging at me, so I did a bit more digging.  Turns out it’s good thing I did.

The gist of the post states that the Prime Minister of Australia made a public statement that Muslim immigrants who want to live by Sharia Law should go elsewhere.  It alleges that she then went on to say that if they wish to stay, they should learn english and accept that Australia is a Christian country founded on Christian values etc.  Basically, the entire rant is blatantly racist and offensive to anyone who takes the time to think it through.  The idea of the leader of a major nation saying something like this was frankly nauseating.  To see it re-posted and applauded by people I know and care about was even more so.

When I saw the post I only had my phone with me, so I just replied from there and made a note to check it out later.  Well, later is here and here’s what I learned.  It’s a fraud.

It was originally attributed to then Prime Minister Howard back in 2005 based on some much more generic comments made by one of his cabinet ministers.  Over the years, it has mutated and been expanded to include material from an article written by a retired U.S. airforce pilot for a newspaper in Georgia.  Absolutely none of it has anything to do with current Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard or her government.

What is fascinating about this to me is the context in which I encountered it.  The people who posted and endorsed this stance are themselves the descendants of immigrants.  Those immigrants certainly didn’t learn the language or respect the culture, or religious beliefs of the people who were already here.  In point of fact, our ancestors murdered them in wholesale lots, deliberately destroyed their culture and beliefs and forced them to learn the language of the immigrants.

So what is the difference between the immigrants of today and those of yesterday?  In both cases, they dream/dreamed of building a better life for themselves, their families and descendants.  Each considers/considered their way of life to be one worth maintaining.  They want/wanted the freedom to be who they are, live how they want to live, speak their own language and worship as they see fit.  Oh yes, that sounds evil to me too.

The whole point to this post is to underline the need to actually think things through.  Instead of just accepting what we read or see as being the gospel truth, we need to be willing to look a little deeper.  We need to see if someone isn’t just playing us and feeding off our dissatisfaction to push their own agenda.  We need to be just a little more critical in our thinking and step outside of our comfort zone.  It’s important to listen to people we don’t agree with to help us understand why we think the way we do.

Uncritical thinking is dangerous.  That’s the kind of thinking that leads to wars, genocide, prejudice and hate crimes of every sort.  That’s not how I choose to live and I hope it’s not how the rest of society chooses to live.  The greatest threat to our freedoms and our way of life is, “The Uncritical Thinker”.

Cheers, Winston

A New Low For Christmas Greed

On By WinstonIn Pop Culture, Rants, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

I recently read an article on the Ottawa Sun app that makes the impending zombie apocalypse look downright appealing.  It all has to do with a teenage girl’s letter to Santa.

At first glance, it seems sweet that thirteen year old Mekeeda Austin still writes letters to Santa.  That warm, fuzzy feeling comes to a screeching halt the moment you learn what it is she has actually written to him.
“This Christmas, I don’t ask for much, so if I don’t get at least two of the things I want I want, I will literally kill you!  Do you understand?  Oh, also, I’ll hunt down your reindeers, cook them and serve their meat to homeless people on Christmas Day.  None of us want that, so here’s what I want.”

She then lists a Blackberry, cash, a dress, high top Converse shoes and the real Justin Bieber.  “Remember, two of these things or you die.”  She then signs it, “Love from Keedy.”

Her mother, who found the letter, thinks it’s just humorous.  She then goes on to say that she will try to get her everything she wants but admits that the Beebs might be difficult as he will likely be busy with his own family.  She seems not to see anything wrong with her daughter’s letter, but does add that “… you  don’t want to get on the wrong side of her.”

When asked by a reporter about the letter, Keedy replied, “I want all these things and I don’t see why I shouldn’t get them.”

Now you see why I’d prefer the zombies.  They might try to eat Santa because that’s what zombies do, but at least they won’t shank him for a pair of Converse high tops.  Nope for that, you need a regular living, breathing sociopath.  In this case in the form of a thirteen year old girl.  But the truth is, they come in all shapes and sizes.  Keedy just happens to be a textbook example.

If you look up “rampant, amoral consumerism” in an encyclopedia, you should see this kid’s face.  She’s pretty much the poster child for everything that is wrong with our “things over people” approach to life.  That’s right, OUR approach to life.

Most of us are horrified by the idea of capping the jolly one for some cash or a new outfit, even more so by the thought of Blitzen Burgers down at the shelter.  The fact of the matter is, we aren’t that far removed from the self-absorbed little girl who wrote that letter.

We like to think we are, but that is demonstrably not the case.  If we were so much better than her, we wouldn’t be watching our widescreen HD TVs while someone else is watching people walk by where they’re sleeping in an alley.  We wouldn’t be worrying about staying warm in a hockey arena while others try to stay warm by huddling in a doorway.

Keedy isn’t all that special.  She’s just at a more advanced stage of a global malaise.  She may be the poster child, but we all suffer from it to some degree.

Just something to think about.

Cheers, Winston

Season Of Giving… What, And To Whom

On By WinstonIn Personal, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

So here we are once again.  It`s that time of the year when the malls fill up with people desperately searching for`the perfect gift`.  It goes on every year, but let`s stop and think a moment about what that perfect gift is.

It`s something you put some thought into.  It`s not just an I want that you throw some cash at.

It`s something that connects you to the person you are giving it to.

It`s not how much money you spend, it`s how much joy you create.

It`s not an obligation, it`s a pleasure.

Gift giving should be personal, it should have meaning to both giver and receiver.

That`s it.  That is my simple guide to giving the perfect gift this year.  Give from the heart….. not the wallet.

One more thing.,  Unlike Scrooge`s day, we don`t have workhouses anymore.  Let`s all try to remember those less fortunate than ourselves.  If you`ve got more than you need, maybe one less gift under your tree to put one more under the tree of someone who doesn`t have enough.

Cheers, Winston

Why Caring Has Gone To The Dogs

On By WinstonIn Rants, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

My brother sent me a link yesterday to a cute little video. In it, an animated squirrel loudly laments an allegedly lamentable fact: Change jars for dogs collect more change than similar jars for kids in retail settings.

The squirrel, or more accurately it’s creator is outraged by this. Really, really outraged. The inference is society’s blatant preference for homeless dogs over homeless children. It’s wrong, but who could blame us if it wasn’t?

My dog love’s me unconditionally. He loves Lynn unconditionally. He feels the same about Cynthia. If I go out to shovel the drive, he is thrilled when I come back inside. Lynn goes to the store and he misses her and fusses ’til she gets back. Then he loses his little puppy mind.

If I tell him to clean up the mess from his treats, he doesn’t pout at me for hours. Nor does call me an a**hole when my humor is a bit dodgy.

Dogs don’t sell crack, liquor, junk food or weapons to live off other dogs suffering. Dogs don’t practice genocide or slavery. As far as I know, no dog has ever leveled a forest.  So yeah, dogs are a lot more sympathetic than humans.    But that’s not the reason they get more change than kids.  Nope, we’re not that thoughtful,  it’s all about implausible deniability.

The truth is both simpler and more complex.  We don’t want to think of ourselves as members of a society where children will go hungry without our charity.  None of us wants to acknowledge our role in that society.  We want to pretend that we would never leave a child in that situation.  Child poverty, child hunger, child labor, homeless children, these things are inhuman.  That’s the key.  We humans couldn’t possibly allow this type of horror.

We can’t reconcile our internal worldview with the truth of the external world so we ignore it.  If it doesn’t exist, it can’t be a problem.  So we look at the jars on the counter and the voices in our heads tell us needy children aren’t a real issue.  If they were, we’d be doing everything possible to fix it.  Since we are good people and we aren’t actively fixing it, it mustn’t exist.  Needy dogs we can handle.  Giving them our change seems like an appropriate response to needy dogs.

So there you have it.  It’s not that we actually prefer dogs to children.  The fact is we prefer our sanity over reality.  We want to keep our little delusions.  We want to keep believing that we are good people.  We can’t believe that if we know there are children going to bed hungry every night, and going t o school scared every day.  If we were good people we’d do more than drop some change in a jar for them.  Because we want to keep believing in our own goodness, we drop some change in the jar for the needy dogs.  It’s the right thing to do after all.

That’s why our caring (and our change) is going to the dogs.

Cheers, Winston

The NCC Rolls Over, The Occupation Rolls On

On By WinstonIn Global Issues, Occupy Movement, Personal Responsibility, Politics, Pop Culture, Society, Values2 Comments

Here in Ottawa, the National Capitol Commission (NCC) issued an eviction notice to the Occupy My Last Nerve crowd in Confederation Park.  The official midnight deadline passed and the Occupiers are still Occupied Occupying a park they have no right to camp in.  Kudos to the NCC for being spineless bureaucrats worried about offending a couple of dozen campers while ignoring the rights of every other person in the city.

We all have the right to use and enjoy Confederation Park.  My tax dollars help pay for that park, and I don’t enjoy having it full of tents and the twerps who put them there.  Seriously, these people have got to have reality explained to them.  The longer this idiocy drags on, the more annoying they become.  As witness this gem from Paul Boudreau the group’s spokesperson.

“We decided that we would politically resist eviction.  What that means is the NCC’s eviction notice is wrong and we don’t consent to it.”

Really?  You don’t consent to the eviction order?  Really?  Go to jail.  Go directly to jail.  Do not pass go.  Do not collect two hundred dollars.  Who exactly do you think you are?  This isn’t Libya, or Egypt or Syria.  You aren’t protesting a repressive and unjust regime that refuses to let you choose your government.  Hell, they’ve allowed you to camp in a public park for two months.  That’s pretty much the opposite of repressive.

An un-named protester shared this bit of genius. “I’m graduate of the University of Ottawa and I lost my job and I’m about to lose my apartment.  The system is wrong and we have to get it fixed.”

Really?  A university graduate?  Really?  If the best plan you’ve got in the face of unemployment and imminent homelessness is to camp in a park, you should ask for you money back from U Ottawa.  It’s pretty obvious they didn’t teach you anything useful.  Just out of curiosity, was the system wrong before you lost you job or only after?  It’s a fair question.

Speaking of fair questions, here are a couple more.  Are you politically active?  Not camping wise, but actually campaigning for these dearly held values of yours.  That’s how you we fix systems in this country by actually working at it.  Not whining and hoping someone will fix it for us.

Now this second question is the tricky one.  Have you considered going out and getting a job?  I realize that with your grand education and all it’s a bit beneath your dignity but you might give it some thought.  I lost my job because of greedy, stupid people at our U.S. parent.  If anyone should be out there camping and protesting the system, it’s me.  The difference is, I’m a grown up.  I don’t believe the Fairness Fairy is going to come along and evenly divide all the money in the country.   That’s why I went out and got another part time job where I’m scrambling to get every hour I can to help pay my mortgage and hydro and keep a roof over my daughter’s head and keep her in college.

Everywhere I go, I see help wanted signs.  Is there some reason you can’t take one of those jobs instead of joining the walking waste of skin which is the occupy movement?  I’ll grant they don’t pay as well as your chosen field, but I bet they pay better than the Occupy Idiocy people do.  I’m getting that if you did get an actual job, you might have better things to with your free time than camp in a public park and say stupid things to the press.

As for the other half of this debacle, the NCC needs to get it’s act together and deal with this now.  I realize that in our media centric society you have to be very careful not to be perceived as trampling their democratic rights.  The short version is, they should never have been allowed to set up tents in the first place.  Sure they have a right to freedom of speech and peaceful protest.  I’m all for those things so let them have at it.  What they don’t have a right to do is build a tent camp on public property.  I understand that sometimes the squeaky wheel get the oil, but I think this one just needs to be removed.  Their squeak is really getting on my nerve.

Cheers, Winston

Occupational Demands

On By WinstonIn Media, Personal Responsibility, Politics, Pop Culture, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

Usually, I try not to write about the same thing two days in a row. This isn’t my fault though. If the Occupy the Media people would just shut up, I could move on peacefully. Instead, they are talking about maybe issuing demands.

Really? Demands? Who do they think they are? What right do they have to make demands on anyone let alone everyone.

I know they claim to be the ninety-nine percent, but even they can’t be stupid enough to actually believe that. Or can they? Well, it seems they can. Wait, maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe stupid isn’t the right word. Maybe delusional would fit better…. Nope. Stupid it is.

It’s ridiculous, but it started me thinking. Why would this tiny little group of people think the rest of the world should listen to their demands? The answer of course is the world we live in. My theory goes something like this:

We live in a brand driven society. Elections aren’t about platforms, they’re about personality and name recognition. Advertisements substitute product information for celebrities, flashy visuals and are often unrelated to the product being advertised. Celebrities use their fame and name recognition to try and shape public policy as though singing or acting has given some insight denied to us mere mortals.

Combine this with reality media which imply that everyone is secretly a celebrity or a potential business success or otherwise just one video away from fame and it all makes sense. If being a media brand is all it takes, then of course they think their demands should be acted on. The media has taken to referring to them as Occupiers. As soon as they started capitalizing that word, it became a brand and gave them the same social credibility as other pop media brands. Brands such as Bono (0%), Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie (0.03%), or Michael Moore (-300%).

It’s that assumed credibility that creates the delusion of grandeur to which they have succumbed. The media refers to them as the 99% and it reinforces their idea that they really represent all these other people. The fact is they don’t. I’ll tell you why they don’t.

The real ninety-nine percent didn’t vote for them. In our society, we vote for people to represent us. I didn’t vote for them, and neither did anyone else. They need to stop saying they represent us, and the media needs to stop reinforcing that misinformation. Which is funny because the Occupado folks love talking about corporate or government misinformation, but are not so strident when the error is in their favor.

The good news in all of this is the probable timeline. The campers are so fragmented that after two months, they still haven’t decided if they have demands. If they do have demands, they haven’t been able to decide what they are. If they figure out what the demands are, they aren’t sure if they should go public with them. At the current rate and with their “organizational structure” their grandkids may actually produce a working draft for consideration by future generations.

In the meantime, thousands are expected to flood Wall Street to celebrate the two month anniversary of the movement. The plan is to obstruct and delay workers on their way at those evil banks and such. Just out of curiosity, how does their right to free assembly trump these people’s right to go to work and support their families? But that’s not the way Occupied mind works. The unOccupied mind is a much simpler creature. Occupiers are good and therefore whatever they do must be right. Banks and those who work for them are bad keeping them from doing what they do is good.

For my money, the police and civic authorities have a responsibility to ensure the workers can get to work unhindered. The only surprise would involve them siding with the public instead of the alleged protesters. I think it would be cool if the bankers showed up for work carrying signs saying, ” The Pandering Stops Here!”.

They should be allowed to protest too.

Cheers, Winston

Unhappy Campers

On By WinstonIn Personal, Personal Responsibility, Politics, Pop Culture, SocietyLeave a comment

It seems some jokes have a shelf life. Apparently, people are done laughing at the Occupy (Camp) Wherever movement. Now, like “Train-wreck” Charlie’s one man show, it’s time to get them off the stage.

The protesters have proven their irrelevance. Two months into their protest, the only people who care about their pet issues are them. Sadly, after listening to the same tired lines for too long, they aren’t even really funny anymore.

Such media coverage as they have garnered has been more about their novelty value than their message. Of course that could have something to do with their own lack of focus. Really, there’s only so much air time in “Too few people control too much money.”.

Nobody cares. More accurately, people do care. The problem is that the protesters are just pointing at problems everyone already knows about. We don’t need a bunch of whiny, bored urban campers to tell us about them.

If they really want to make a difference, maybe they could volunteer in their communities. Right now all they’re doing is annoying people and creating a mess. That mess by the way, is going to be cleaned up with the tax dollars of the real ninety-nine percent.

The whole Occupy crowd has always struck me as being a symptom of society’s distress rather than it’s cure. Here is an analogy to demonstrate:

A parent takes their child with them while running errands. The child doesn’t want to go, but the parent promises them a treat. This goes on for a while. Finally one say the parent says “No. Not today,”.

The child now has a problem and an easily identifiable villain. Being generally over-indulged has given the child a hyper-developed sense of entitlement. As a result, the child sits on the floor in the store, screams, refuses to move and annoys everyone around in an effort to force the parent to give them what they want.

Unlike various urban bureaucrats, most parents don’t leave the child there for two months. However tempting it may be.

There has been failure on both sides in this fiasco. The second order failures involved city officials allowing the installation of tent encampments in the first place. That was just plain stupid as it did nothing but feed into the protester’s sense of entitlement. Oh it also annoyed people, damaged parks and left taxpayers to foot the bill for cleaning and repairs. Way to pander you spineless bureaucrats.

The truly epic, first order failure must be awarded to the protesters themselves. The idea of alleged grown ups thinking that camping and rallying would end human greed is mind boggling. It’s magical thinking.

I’m old enough to remember Harmonic Convergence (the rest of you should look it up). The short version involved getting a specific percentage of the world’s population to create a certain tone at a certain time. This was going to change the Earth’s vibration at an atomic level and so return us to a state of universal harmony.

That had a better chance of success than marching around saying greed is bad and then sitting in a park waiting for people to stop being greedy. Really. It’s like me writing my blog and waiting for those protesters to stop being spoiled children. The main difference being, I don’t expect my fantasy to come true.

The Occupy movement has once more proven the adage “If you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”. So far, they haven’t offered any practicable solutions that I’ve heard of. On the other hand, with the ever increasing cost of policing, cleanup, detention processing, eventual trials, appeals etc, they are definitely part of the problem.

Just like the public meltdown of the Sheen Machine, they aren’t funny anymore. They’re just pathetic. It’s time to get off the stage and go home.

Cheers, Winston

Welcome To Pavillion Wyo. Population: Poisoned

On By WinstonIn Environment, Global Issues, Personal Responsibility, Society, Values1 Comment

A story on MSNBC caught my eye today.  For years now, the residents of Pavillion Wyoming have been complaining about their drinking water.  They claim it’s turned black and stinks of gasoline.  Many are claiming serious health issues relate to the problems with the water.  Why am I writing about this?

Well, aside from the genuine tragedy of the situation, there’s a Canadian connection to all of this.  You see, Pavillion sits on a large natural gas deposit.  The only practicable way to get to that gas is process known as “fracking”.

This process involves pumping a mix of water and toxic chemicals under high pressure deep underground to fracture the rock strata and release the gas.  Residents have long been convinced that this is the source of the problems with their water.  Not least because the start of “fracking” and the problems with the water were too close together to seem entirely coincidental.

What does all that have to do with Canada?  Well, as you may know we have a companies here with a lot of experience at pulling fossil fuels out of the ground regardless of the cost.  At least the environmental cost.  One of those is called EnCana.

When the people of Pavillion originally spoke up about their concerns, the company that owned the drilling rights decided it was a good time to cut their losses.  All they needed was a buyer with more cash than ethics.  Fortunately, EnCana fit that bill perfectly.

For years now they have been insisting that the issues with the local aquifer have nothing to do with all the chemicals and toxins they pump into the ground.  I mean really, what are the odds that toxic water pumped into the ground could possibly contaminate the groundwater?

Apparently, they may have miscalculated.  Responding to the ongoing concerns of the residents, the Environmental Protection Agency drilled a couple of deep monitoring wells in the area.  Can anyone guess what they found?

If you said nothing, go buy some EnCana shares.  If you said seriously life threatening levels of exactly the sort of toxins one associates with “fracking”.   These include 2-Butoxyethanol, commonly used in the “fracking” process, fifty times the safe levels of Benzene, Phenois, Acetone, Toluene, Napthalene and Diesel Fuel.  Despite attempts at damage control by EnCana, there were no traces of Nitrates or fertilizers which would have pointed to an agricultural source for the contamination.

Nope, there’s only one source, and in the words of Battlestar Gallactica’s Starbuck, “It’s pretty “fracking” obvious!”

The EPA has released the raw data, but to minimize any claims of error, they are holding off publishing findings pending further analysis.  They want to have all their ducks in a row before it all gets tied up in court for the next thirty years or so.

Meanwhile back in Pavillion Wyoming.  EnCana has denied any culpability for the contaminated ground water.  It is an act of pure charity that sees them supplying drinking water to the townsfolk.  At the same time, they are said to negotiating the sale of their local wells to an outfit from Texas.

The previous owners may not have taught them a clean way to get gas out of the ground, but at least they taught them to cut and run when the going gets tough.

Let’s be clear on one thing though.  When I talk about EnCana’s underhanded dealings with the nice folks of Pavillion, I’m not just talking about a greedy CEO or even a greed Board of Directors.  I’m talking about the greedy shareholders who don’t waste a lot of time looking at the ethical stance of the companies in their portfolios.  They just look at the bottom line and congratulate themselves on backing a winner.

If the EPA rules that EnCana and it’s predecessor and probable successor are responsible for the issues in Pavillion, then their stocks should be frozen the moment the handwriting is on the wall.  The people who wanted to profit off the misery of others shouldn’t really be given a chance to sell out.  Maybe losing some money will make them a little more sympathetic to those who’ve lost their health, their peace of mind, their homes and for  some, their lives.  As for the executives and their boards of directors, all of their assets should be seized and turned over to their victims and they should be banned for life from holding such positions of authority and abuse.

Just one person’s opinion.

Cheers, Winston

Mayor Misses The Point On Abusive Bus Driver

On By WinstonIn Bullying, Personal, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

So a driver on an OC Transpo bus went off on a passenger.  The driver yelled, swore and threatened a passenger.  The passenger, who deals with mild autism was reciting a play he had written for a screen writing class.  He was at the front of the bus and apparently, the driver didn’t like the play.  When the passenger wouldn’t stop reciting, the driver became progressively more abusive.

The driver yelled, swore including repeated use of the “F” word and culminated in threats of physical violence.  Unfortunately for the driver but fortunately for everyone else, another passenger recorded the incident on her phone and uploaded it to Youtube.  OC Transpo is investigating.

I’m not sure what there is to investigate.  The driver verbally abused and threatened a rider on his bus.  There is a video of the incident.  Thousands have seen it.  These are my tax dollars that pay this uber-jerk.  I don’t think that’s appropriate.  I’ve dealt with some really people over the years, and I’ve never pulled that sort of crap.  The other ninety-nine percent of the drivers at OC Transpo put up with everything he does, but they remain professional and courteous.  he doesn’t deserve to be part of that group.  Fire him now and restore some public faith in the cities decision making process.

Which brings me to Mayor Jim Watson.  After offering his pro-forma apology, he said he hopes OC Transpo will share the outcome of their investigation.  Wait a minute!  Who runs this place?  Apparently not  our elected officials.  Seems like the it’s actually the bureaucrats and unions.  Makes me want to vote next election.  Probably for someone willing to stand up for the people who pay the bills.  You know.  Us.

The other gem from Mayor Watson runs as follows.  “People should govern themselves accordingly knowing most people are carrying cameras.”  What the hell?  How about this?  People shouldn’t verbally abuse and threaten other people because it’s wrong whether you’re being filmed or not.  To figure.  It’s wrong.  Maybe I should mention this again.  It’s wrong!

The head of the driver’s union responded to the incident by saying the witness shouldn’t have filmed the incident.  He’s apparently on the same page as the Mayor.  The problem isn’t with the psycho driver.  Hell no, the only problem they see is that he shouldn’t have been filmed doing it.  Thank you ATU president Garry Queale.

By your reasoning, the police who beat Rodney King shouldn’t have been filmed and held to account.  No one should record or report abuses of power.  It seems he and Mayor Watson would be happier if there was some sort of blanket amnesty for their pet idiot.  Fortunately for the rest of us, there’s no such thing.

Cheers, Winston

Just A Quick Note… And Major General Peter Fuller Gets The Boot

On By WinstonIn Global Issues, Politics, SocietyLeave a comment

Working on catching up on my NaNoWriMo project so not a lot of time for the blog tonight.  Serious backlog of writing to take care of.  The timing is however quite excellent.  I had not idea what to write about tonight.

Of course, this is also true of the novel I’m supposed to be writing.  This whole idea of randomly deciding to write a novel in a month may not be my most well thought out plan ever.  Still, if I don’t try, I’m guaranteed not to do it.  Of course, deciding to go ahead with it only slightly increases the odds.

So now it’s time to get back to it.  But first, the news.Maj. Gen. Peter Fuller is being yanked from Afghanistan for making some wildly inappropriate, entertaining and true comments.  Fuller said something terrible about Hamid Karzai.  According to the general, who was the deputy commander of training for Afghan security forces, the Afgan President is a little erratic.  Why would he say such a thing?  Probably it has a little something to do with the Prez saying Afghanistan would side with Pakistan in a war against the U.S.

You know the same Afghanistan the U.S. just spent billions of dollars saving from the Taliban.  Yep their puppet just bit the hand that put him on the throne.  And the nasty general called him on it.  Bad General Fuller.  So says the State Department.

These are  people who should have pyramids beside them and crocodile insurance.  Yep, they spend that much time in “de-nial”.  When the president of your client state says he would help another country go to war with you it may be a sign.  Pretending it isn’t is…. what’s the term?  Oh yeah.  Delusional.

The evil general also mentioned that contrary to expectations among some Afghan leadership, U.S. pockets are not bottomless.  In his words “They think the streets are paved with gold and everyone lives in Hollywood.

So basically, a man who put his life on the line to bring freedom to the Afghans  is being punished for telling the truth.  That is what we commoners refer to as irony.  Mostly because we’re too polite to call it utter stupidity.  If they really want to punish someone, how about replacing the ungrateful wretch who just offered to go to war with them.  They’ve replaced one Afghan leader, why not go two for two?

That seems like common sense to me.  That’s why it isn’t going to happen.  There’s one thing we all know about government, military and the situation in Afghanistan in particular; common sense isn’t.

Cheers, Winston