first: a small request; Bob, use a spelling/grammar program.
https://tinyurl.com/4nkfbzaa

second: a sincere observation; when has TT ever mentioned Afghanistan before? checked only the last 10 years of his posted comments.* Nix. Nil. Notta. More dead air than normal.

* [the Beck prediction is in the same league as bob's 'landslide' prognostication. the swing & miss league.]

then a few questions about his contentions...

- now he is concern about the Afghani women? too weird coming from our own Tali-ban-abortion tribesmen.
- would he know the mechanisms of the 25th? what the requirements are? obviously, stupidity isn't one. (orange you glad?!)


none of the events should have surprised anyone. personally, it was a bit like déjà vu. although not lived through, but seen easily with the mind's eye. highly predictable by many, long ago, and not so much psychic ability as an inevitability.

believe that the US presence did make an impression on the Afghanis. just hearing today's Taliban leadership words are so unlike those 20 years ago it's heartening. remember these were the folks that blew up historical items in the name of Mohammed/Allah. total trocklidites. at least they've learned PR and some knowledge of how the rest of the world views them.

will know how successful, if the country moves to the 17, 18, or 19th century? how will they keep the boy/girl on the opium farm after they've seen the big city?


what should happen, not in another country, but this one, is that the USA returns to a draft. or some required national service. the 'privatization' of the military and the all-volunteer service is a corrupt failure.

too many times, too many people talked about iraq/afghanstan and knew of NO service person serving there.

return it back to a collection of representation of ALL sections of the American people. when we don't know a single person in the conflict, the majority loses connection.

then, what should have been 3 years becomes 20 years.

can't find the speech but Geo Mason once talked about this very situation. essentially, he said; right now all levels of society are present in our fight for freedom, but what about the future?

he questioned whether the defense of the country would continue to be all citizens or descend into 'higher-ups' calling the shots and the lower in society actually doing the fighting and dying.

the last two wars have answered this.

'draft dodger' use to be derision, now it's a class of people.

(clinton, bush jr, trump...just to name a few)

in short, we ALL should have had a literally 'dog in the fight' that affects ALL of us. then, maybe, it ends when it is supposed to...or we try to lead by example instead of pounding bombs on people that don't want 'our way of life'...or we aren't so easily mislead as citizens.

it could be the one very powerful connection for ALL of the American people to keep ALL of US united.

* * * *
this is where I'd put a (but can't find an example of it) David Letterman monologue link where he said (believe it was Iraq, but still good as a comment on Afghanistan) to the effect of..."And the administration says we're going to bring democracy to them, upgrade their infrastructure, and improve their schools! And they say if it works there we're gonna try it here!"

so instead, something for the kids...
https://youtu.be/3XoIDGs11kE?t=198

2011. not a new thing kiddies. roll that reality over your blistered tongues.

moonsammy: great take. thumbs-up! crystalized my thoughts exactly!*

a couple of rules of comedy are 'know your audience' and [the joke] 'it has to be funny'. if there is no laugh, either you told it wrong, told it to the wrong person, or your wrong about it being funny. your audience is the final judge. not their duty to laff at your doody joke.

stukafox: okay [btw: the watermelon joke is very old] but not going w/the worst or nastiest, just with a few of old risqué ones.

novice is riding back to the convent w/the mother superior on their bicycles through the medieval section of the town. mother superior tells the novice "let's cut through this alleyway". the alley is long, rough and bumpy but the novice agrees. when they get back on the regular route the novice says, "that was new! I've never come that way before!" mother superior says, "it's the cobblestones."

a woman notices her neighbor's tomatoes are fully ripening while her's are still green. she asks him "how do you get your tomatoes to ripen so quickly?" he tells her, "I get up around dawn while I'm still in my bathrobe and open it and flash them. they get so embarrassed they turn red." women tells him she's going to try it but later in the evening. the next day, the neighbor sees the woman and asks "so? did it work?" the woman turns to tell him, "no. it didn't - but YOU SHOULD SEE MY CUCUMBERS!

an old woman was talking w/her younger friend. old woman tells her about some of the older woman in town. "oh! don't let them fool you! they were pretty wild in their day! " then she went on and listed all the men a trio of sisters went through and each tête à tête they had. the list was shockingly impressive enough that the younger woman said, "gee...maybe they couldn't help themselves...maybe they suffered from a hereditary disease?" the old woman cocks her head back and eyes the younger woman then says, "hereditary? hell! yes! it was! it was IN THEIR JEANS!!!"



*david letterman