A dear friend of mine died a year ago today. It’s times like this that make me think of the way things used to be compared to the way things 
are now. Then, I cry for awhile. It’s perfectly okay to cry once in awhile. I think it’s a great way to release tension. I’m talking about those times when I am sitting here alone, like today, thinking of the way things are now, and how I wish they would be, which is always two completely different things.
Watching the news doesn’t help.
This goes against my policy. I wanted to keep this blog free of politics and religion. But it’s really difficult to avoid them, especially with the politicians campaigning on a daily basis.
Go Mitt! Go Newt! Go Rick! All of you, please just GO AWAY! Blah, I’m tired of it. As far as I’m concerned, the Republicans don’t have one decent candidate. Obama may not be perfect, but come on! He’s trying to clean up one big mess that was made by the previous administration. At least he’s making some progress, as slow as it may seem. How can anybody think it can be done in four years? I mean, give the guy a chance!
I just watched this the other day – Update on Afghanistan.
So, they want a dozen or more years to help the people of Afghanistan stand on their own, fight for themselves, and be able to pay for it, but they won’t give Obama more than four years to get the American people back on their feet? Ridiculous!
According to http://www.nytimes.com: “…an American soldier who reportedly killed 16 Afghan civilians, mostly children and women, in Kandahar Province in southern Afghanistan…” “The killings have further clouded the strained Afghan-American relations.”
It’s no surprise, with the Koran (Quran) burning just a week ago, and now these killings.
The war has been going on in Afghanistan for ten years, and the military big-wigs say they expect it to take a lot longer before they reach their goals. Impossible goals, if you ask me. They say that we need to keep our young men and women in the midst of war for a very long time and that pulling them out early will defeat the whole purpose of being there.
On Tuesday, I watched “CBS This Morning” when Charlie Rose interviewed retired Gen. Michael Hayden. It was very depressing.
(Excerpt)
Hayden said there were three things that have to happen in order to win the war in Afghanistan:
– “One of those was end the safe haven; second was to increase Afghan government capacity; and the third at the time was to push down the drug trade, which was poisoning everything.”
– “And most of those three goals have not been met,” said Rose.
– “Oh, that’s correct. That’s right.”
– “So therefore, why should we be in Afghanistan?”
– “Well, we should be in Afghanistan for our own self-interest,” replied Hayden. “We were attacked from Afghanistan. I firmly believe that if we leave that area, it turns into chaos. It becomes another ungoverned area, an ungoverned area within which the al Qaeda feels very comfortable.”
– “But you see no possibility under the present circumstances for the mission to succeed,” said Rose.
– “No, I didn’t say that,” said Hayden. “I would think that anyone who knows how to point to Afghanistan on the map knows that this is going to be a long project, that it’s going to take a very long period of time. Keep in mind, we are trying to negotiate a presence there in the strategic framework agreement post-2014.”
– To watch the complete report and interview with Gen. Hayden – Click Here
So many of our soldiers lost. I think of those suffering from PTSD and how many of them are either going on shooting rampages killing innocent people, or killing themselves because they can’t handle the stress. I just want them out of there, bring our young men and women home.
Then there’s talk of World War III
SEE: Would God want Israel to attack Iran? ~ By (Rabbi) Michael Knopf, Haaretz, 3/04/12
(Excerpt)
The Talmud teaches that, in 586 BCE, Judea was destroyed not because its defenses were too weak, but because the Jews were indifferent about shedding blood (Shabbat 33a). Let us pray that history does not repeat itself.”
– See complete commentary at haaretz.com
Oh, and Israel is believed to have nuclear weapons, too!
I try to imagine a world where there is peace and harmony. Why can’t we all just get along?
Then, in other headlines around the world:
Hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes. The climate is shifting. We had a very mild Winter in 2011/2012, 60 and 70 degree weather in February and March. What’s coming next? Blizzards in July? The collapsed economy. Cultural differences. Rising prices. Famines. American Idol. When will it all end?
According to the Mayan calendar, the world is going to end this year on December 21, 2012. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. One way or another, after that date we won’t have to read about it, anymore.
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