Humpday Happenings...
We begin this "leap day" of February (and end the month itself) on a rather "soft" note this morning.
Yes friends, it's raining...and rather well too.
Not a downpour, but not anywhere near a drizzle, either...a soothing type of rain, if one could categorize it.
But, we will not allow it to dampen our SPIRITS, will we?
With that said, let's see to our WHO SAID THAT? quote of the week.
"You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty and you cannot refine it, and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curse and maledictions a people can pour out."
So...who said it? Sounds like something you could say about things TODAY, doesn't it?
(Answer tomorrow at the top of the post)
I was going to talk a bit about how Wifey went to school (work) today with a nice burgundy top, BLACK skirt and (yet) wore BROWN shoes...but I'll let you decide on how much of a "fashion faux-pas" that was...LOL.
Now, if she had a TAN top and TAN shoes with a BLACK skirt...that would work, but if I went out (make that TRIED to go out when I was young) wearing black pants and BROWN shoes, BOTH my Mom AND Dad would call me on that one, so as an adult, that just didn't happen!
I grew up with a distinct sense of what TO wear, as well as what NOT to wear (hmm...kinda sounds like some TV show on cable)
And ladies, feel free to chime in on this...I only want the Missus to look as nice as I know she could be.
Moving onward...and yes, I'm wearing (tactical) BLACK shoes with my (woodland) camos...lol
*** One of the first things I do after I wake up, is to turn on the police radio, because living in the crotch of Fort Wayne, it behooves one to be aware of any situation that might arise, given the nature of the beasts living all around.
I find it both amusing and disturbing when I hear of a police call for some kid that won't bother to get his ass in gear and get the hell to school.
This type of call would NEVER occur when I was growing up.
You just never bothered the police with such trivialities, because they were busy taking care of REAL CRIME on the streets.
If you (as a youth) decided it wasn't "on your plate" to get to school, you might want to consider in what manner you'd be eating the next several meals at your house, because sitting DOWN would be a tad painful.
It was the PARENTS that held sway and dispensed DISCIPLINE to the misbehaving children in their charge...and that worked.
So, it's no wonder that in today's world, whenever I hear or see some "parent" who just tosses her hands up and says: "I dunno whut to do wif dat boy...he don wan go tuh school, an aw he wan do is hang ow wif his frenz.", it bothers me...a lot.
Maybe she should have practiced discipline when he was YOUNGER, and not allowed others to mete out whatever passes for discipline these days?
Hell, there were days when I didn't want to go to school, but sassing Mom (or Dad, God forbid) wasn't on the agenda, wasn't an option, and got you into more trouble than you could imagine. And never once were the POLICE called to "intervene".
I'm sure you went through the same thing.
You KNEW that if you didn't go to school, you were going to be "a failure" in life (and there was never a loss for driving that point home).
There was no reasoning...no discussion...no debate.
Unless you were SICK, you went to school...period.
Now, I can't think of ANY student that REALLY wants to begin their day by being hauled off to the ACJC (Allen County Juvenile Center), but apparently some DO prefer that to getting an education, and becoming a worthwhile individual.
I suppose we can expect to see THEIR mugshot on the news in a few years for doing some heinous crime.
Does that mean the "system" failed these people?
Certainly NOT.
What is most troubling (especially in the world we live in today), is that THEY FAIL THEMSELVES.
There are in place (today) MORE "safety-nets" than in all of the Barnum & Bailey as well as Cirque du soleil high wire acts COMBINED, and yet these kids CHOOSE the wrong path...and make the bad choices.
Maybe it's got something to do with "kids raising kids"...can't really say, but it's got to figure into this.
What I can say is that it's a troubled course these children are on with such behavior, and when you have to call the police into the mix, it's because you've allowed it to get THAT far out of hand...simple as that.
*** I was listening to one of my favorite retired Army Lt. Colonels the other day (and again last night), one Ralph Peters, who served in the intelligence branch, and expresses his views marvelously, when he spoke to our "mission" in Afghanistan.
Now, as Patton once said (in the movie, anyway)..."America LOVES a winner...and will not tolerate a loser".
And given the nature OF our military (past and present), we have always been able to back that one up.
In our brief history as an independent nation, we have seen to it that we come out ON TOP, and with the types of enemies we have fought over time, it was certainly in our best interest that we have succeeded in that accomplishment.
But the whole Middle East thing has got both Ralph and myself wondering...about what constitutes a "victory" there.
WHY did we ever go into Afghanistan in the FIRST place?
Short answer: To KILL BIN LADEN.
(mission accomplished , even IF he was actually killed in Pakistan.)
So WHY then are we STILL there (in Afghanistan)?
We should not be in the business of "nation-building", because it's a whole different ballgame than it was after WW2.
Sure, the MARSHALL PLAN worked (and damn well, too), but you have to realize that both Germany as well as Japan were NOT Afghanistan.
Japan might have just exited the Feudal realm, but they were fast learners and got into the Industrial Age at damn near warp-speed.
Germany had been a center for technologies and innovation LONG before America became a country.
(Gutenberg and something called a printing press ring a bell?)
Choosing to HELP rebuild BOTH of those nations was in the best interest of EVERYONE, and not just for those peoples.
Plus, they were civilized well enough to take the assistance we gave to them and "run with it", to re-establish themselves.
Afghanistan isn't quite there yet...and won't be for another several hundred years.
Although these people DO have access to modern technologies, societally, they are infantile, and operate much like people did back in the dark ages.
Let's face it, if you went and gave a bunch of firearms to primitive man, you'd have CHAOS ensuing.
Kinda sounds JUST like the Afghans in many respects.
Sure, they put on the "air" of being in the 21st century like the rest of civilization, but it's all a facade.
This is an article from 2009 by Col. Peters:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/item_DILbepkOZbQIHAyOXRocAM
It explains WHY present strategies there need to be RE-thought out, and the comparisons to South Vietnam are stunningly correct.
It also explains WHY the Soviets made no impact there in the TEN years they fought in Afghanistan.
To quote Col. Peters recently: "In their decade in Afghanistan, the Soviets actually made more progress than we have... It is a broken, primitive, savage society - and, by the way, it's not worth another drop of American blood."
That sort of sums it all up nicely.
I have to like Col. Peters...we were born the SAME year, and we've got stuff in common.
*** Lastly today, we have to start taking notice as to whether we're E-volving or DE-volving as a society...we really do.
Sure, we can have all the newest technologies, designed to make life BETTER...or EASIER...or whatever, but how does this impact on who WE are...where WE'RE going, and how WE fare in the future?
What about such things as ETHICS...or SELF-RELIANCE...or even (dare I say it?) SELF-AWARENESS?
Because, if you listen to the police radio, or read the news, or watch it on TV, you'll surely see people who are NOT self-aware, otherwise they'd not pull HALF the sh$t that they do.
If you're not aware of OTHERS, then your OWN self-awareness is in serious jeopardy.
When you don't even care that much about YOURSELF...or YOUR life, how in God's name can you begin to care about others?
There supposedly lies the "great mystery", but it's really not.
When we supplant WHO we are with WHAT we can acquire or have, we lose a lot...of ourselves.
When we try to force everyone to be "(more) equal" without calling into question the DESIRE and abilities to WANT to achieve like results from an equal OPPORTUNITY...we lose.
When we hold no one accountable for their actions and motives, but rather pander to those with crocodile tears and a good lie...we lose.
When we negate personal responsibility by fostering a nanny-state to take care of us...we lose.
Personally, I think we've lost too much already, and it's time to start winning again.
And we can do that by disallowing those taking the "easy" way out to languish in that comfortability.
Think of this nation as a team, and we all do better when we work together (as Americans), instead of against one another.
We used to conduct ourselves a lot more like that...and I feel we CAN achieve such things again.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.