"Businesslike" and "Professional"

 I suppose it's all a matter of perspective.  The meaning of words this day and age. Our whole language and culture is changing because of the "woke" movement, what ever that is and why it's even tolerated.

Okay, here I go again. An old lady who well knows Joe Biden should not be President any more than Donald Trump should run again.  When we reach a certain age everything about us is diminishing, be it cognitive acuity or the ability to compete in an Ironman competition. There comes a time when you should recognize truth because even if you refuse to, for whatever reason, those around you will.

So it is with Joe Biden. I think he's going rogue on his handlers.  I think he's still sharp enough to understand he is President and is getting irritated by being manipulated. Never mind that the reason that is happening is because that's where his being sharp ends.

That being said, if he is so sharp, I wish he would keep closer tabs on those who speak for him. We hear that the Taliban was "businesslike and professional" in facilitating the departure of a plane full of refugees and, hopefully, some Americans. Never mind that there are another half dozen planes being held on the tarmac of another airfield that the Taliban will not release.  No one is telling us what sort of "business and professionalism" is going on there.

Are they also being "businesslike and professional" when they arrest two fellow Afghanis, reporters, for covering a woman's protest?  Was it "businesslike and professional" the way the men were beaten and told they were lucky they hadn't been beheaded?

I'm sure they were. That is the "business" the Taliban is in. I fear we aren't that far from using similar tactics in this country. It depends on who wins the battle of wills.  Unfortunately, there seems to be only one side of our divide that has any will and it isn't the right side.

What really makes me cringe for the moment, however, is wondering when they'll start being "businesslike and professional" with those Americans and allies waiting on that other tarmac and those still trying to reach it. Will we even know? What journalist in his or her right mind would chance covering it?

If a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

 I remember back when George H.W. Bush looked at his watch during a presidential debate.  It was noticed.  He was roundly criticized and never really recovered from it. 

Will Biden recover from the watch watching in the photo below? Combined with all the other images coming out of Afghanistan of late, I'm sure it's the least of his worries.  It is, however, visually telling.  

So are the photos of dogs being left behind to fend for themselves and the Taliban parading about in U.S. Military uniforms. 

Now, can any of you help me get my blood to quit boiling?

Could This Soon Be a City Near You?

 Yesterday's news video of the debacle in Kabul brought back so many memories from a similar situation in Vietnam, oh so long ago. Americans literally turning their tails and running.  For their lives. 

It isn't the fault of the thousands of Americans working in Afghanistan, nor the military who kept the Taliban at bay nor the rank and file of the Afghanis themselves.  It is the fault of self-serving, naive and perhaps even stupid leadership - people we've put in power to lead us.  It turns my stomach.

What makes it even worse is those among us who bow to their dictates because we are too lazy to dig beneath the surface to find truth. I think of the children of Afghanistan - both boys, who are subjected to a demented form of homosexuality, and girls who are sometimes not even in their teens spirited off to be the "wife" of some warrior. And more girls and women who are going to lose their opportunities for an education that can so vastly improve their lives.

Well, you might say, that's far away and it doesn't really affect us.  Doesn't it? The illustration above could soon be Chicago or Portland or Seattle or New York if we don't soon get a handle on our own country.

I see hope, I hear people speaking who are angry.  Really angry about what's happening be it CRT or mask mandates or defunding the police. The one thing that's lacking, however, is a lack of cohesiveness.  Someone who is willing to pick up the reins and get a movement organized.  A Tea Party movement without the capitulation to the Republican Party who are just as complicit in our current mess as the Democrats.

The ones I envision pulling it together are parents, no matter their politics. For those who are suffering the most are the children and don't get between a child and its parent. Mother or Father. Kids have lost far too much in the way of schooling during the lockdowns which have proven to be ineffectual at best. This applies to kids up to and including college.  They're not getting the education we expect them to get nor the one they deserve.

A lot of atonement needs to take place. First with our feckless politicians, then to those who have hijacked higher education, to the teachers union and school boards to health care officials who have suddenly turned into petty dictators.

They say they are following the science. How can the science be so different in so many places if that's true? Truth.  That's all we ask. Is that too much?  Apparently so.

What Day Is It?

 Not much has changed since last I wrote a post.  The smoke still hangs in the air irritating throats, eyes and humor.  The heat still soars into the high 90s to low 100s on a daily basis. Tempers are short.

This seems to be  the perfect storm of things gone wrong. Days run together to the point I have to ask myself what day it is or sneak a peak if I happen to be reading the paper. 

I have lived through a lot during my many years on this earth but I cannot, ever, remember when people have been so self serving, identities so run amok and common sense a relic of the dark ages. What has happened to us as a race?

I can't judge what is happening in other countries because my information is scant and most likely skewed, but I can judge what's going on in this country. It makes me sad and angry at the same time.  People who are in my age group are some of the worst offenders and those are the ones I'm most angry with.  They know better, but somewhere along the way the power they lust for, and in too many cases, have, just isn't enough.  Why is that?  Like me, many are in what will probably be the last, or nearly the last, decade of their lives.  They have every material thing they could possibly want and they have their power. Do they not realize they are going to be reviled after they are gone just as much as they are today? Do they not realize memories of them are going to fade and at some point in time they will be known as another dead white or black or brown person who were a flash in the pan in the grand scheme of things? Will history judge them well?  I doubt it.

I don't understand egos like that. I don't understand how the here and now and their power to mold it doesn't bring out the best in them instead of the worst.

An aside here about why I began writing children's books in my late 70s. I wanted to chronicle what life was like when I grew up.  A time when parents and teachers were on the same wave length, when kids understood the value of authority and the meaning of respect.  When boys were boys and girls were girls. When kids were allowed to run free because their parents trusted them.  I purposely used a big, lovable St. Bernard as my protagonist because I didn't want to preach to them.  I wanted them to see life as a wild and wonderful romp, an adventure to be explored and celebrated.

Now too many parents are cowed by those who speak louder.  Shame on them. What ever happened to moral courage.  Why do we allow ourselves to be dictated to by people who can't get their eyes off their phones or computer screens? Why are we so afraid of being criticized by name callers who often don't even have the courage to use their own! How can those of you who succumb  look at your own reflection in a mirror without feeling some degree of revulsion?

What day is it? I do know it's not the day in which I grew up. It pains me to think this may be the new normal for the children of today and tomorrow. We should all be ashamed for we all share in the blame.

Don't Let the Smoke Get in Your Eyes...

 If you ever wondered what life would be like if you lived in your backyard smoker, it might be something like this.

This was sunset last evening. The odd thing is there are no fires close by.  That's how bad it is. 

Everything reeks.  Your clothes, your hair. Your eyes sting and your throat is raw. The temperatures have been in the high 90s and 100s for weeks now. There is no rain in sight.

 Our president says these fires need urgent attention.  They've been buying out of control for how long now? The problem is we're running out of firefighters!

I have a theory about climate change. For all those who think deadfall should just stay put, this is the end result of that thinking.  It's tinder dry and fuel for fires that are destroying homes and decimating wildlife.

Those who say we'll all be dead in ten years or so if we continue at our current pace, that may be true but not for the reasons they preach. It will because there will be no farms left to produce food, nor wildlife left to maintain balance. It will be just one big, charred landscape brought about by those who think they know more than land management professionals and mandate ridiculous policy. 

The smoke has fogged their eyes and brains for longer than I care to think...