Ending the Endless War

President Joseph Robinette Biden continues to exceed my expectations of him (I make no bones about being Team Warren during the primaries), and his decision to pull most of the American and NATO troops out of Afghanistan by September 11 is, I believe, the right thing to do.  The United States has had a military presence in Afghanistan for twenty years now, with little progress to show for it, I believe that it's 'magical thinking' to believe that a continued military presence would somehow start to work after two decades of stagnation and failure.

Personally, I was against a wholesale military invasion of Afghanistan (doubly so against an invasion of Iraq).  I remember at the time saying, "This is a job for a 'James Bond', not for a 'Patton'."  The campaign against Al Qaeda should have been a police action with a small footprint- a handful of CIA spooks backed by a unit of Special Forces should have been deployed against Bin Laden... one doesn't swat mosquitos with a sledgehammer.  As it was, the US military never got Bin Laden in the Afghan theater of war.

There is a role for UN personnel and employees of NGOs in Afghanistan, to carry out much needed development work, but this is not work for the military.   More than 2,300 American soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, with about 20,000 wounded... it's time to end the seemingly endless war, enough blood has been spilled, American, NATO, and Afghan.

Northern Aggression

 I've been disconcerted by the recent uptick in violence in Northern Ireland.  I have ancestors from Roscommon, in the Republic of Ireland, and the subject of 'The Troubles' has fascinated me since I was a wee laddie.  My upstairs neighbor is an immigrant from Armagh, and her parents, both lovely people, still abide there.  

Thankfully, nobody has died during the current unrest, though youths are hurling bricks and Molotov cocktails, and a bus was hijacked and torched in Belfast.  The cause of the unrest seems to be complications of Brexit over customs and borders, and a failure to enforce masking and social distancing mandates during a funeral for a deceased Sinn Fein leader.  Politicians on both sides of the Republic of Ireland/Northern Ireland border have called for calm.

Me?  I have one thing to say... you don't want to live in a Stiff Little Fingers song.  The members of Stiff Little Fingers were the last people who wanted to live in a Stiff Little Fingers song:

The rioters are too young to remember the 1998 Omagh bombing, an indiscriminate terrorist attack that killed 29 persons and injured more than 300.   The horror of that massacre, committed by an IRA splinter group, was a major catalyst for the peace talks... even the main body of the IRA was appalled at the violence.  The kids trying to ramp up the violence need to be forced to meet with survivors of the bombing to get 'scared straight'.  Nobody needs a return to the bad old days.

The Big New Front in the Culture War

Those who follow right-wing pundits are familiar with the ramping up of the culture war against transpersons. The 'thought' leaders of Movement Conservatism march in lockstep, so this refrain has been loud lately. Brynn Tannehill has a good exploration of the new wave of anti-trans legislation, and it basically boils down to the fact that the Religious Right lost the culture war over same-sex marriage, so they had to find a more marginalized community to attack. 

Even some well-meaning liberals find gender nonconformity baffling, and the topic is not easy for many people to comprehend- much of what I know about trans-identity, I learned from Cerberus/Mazikeen of Sadly, No!... plus, I have studied enough biology to know that gender isn't strictly binary, and I listened to this in high school. My governing principle is maximizing human happiness and human potential for everyone whose desires don't limit the happiness and potential of others. If an individual needs to transition to another gender identity to live a full life, that person should be allowed to do so without hindrance. 

The kerfuffle about women's athletics is a bit of concern-trollery, right wingers have never had much use for women's sports to begin with. Personally, I think that a non-binary grouping of athletes according to muscle mass would be a better way to handle athletics going forward. The real truth of the current right-wing war against trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming individuals is that it's yet another 'holding action' being fought before a backlash... the right-wingers, if successful, won't be content with the status quo, and will try to roll back the gains made by gay and lesbian Americans:

2018: Never-Trump, religious conservative David French declares that there can be no compromise on transgender people. He argues that the right missed their opportunity to keep gays down, and must stomp out "transgenderism" before it is socially accepted https://t.co/YtmFVrGt6g

— Cassandra of Troy (@BrynnTannehill) April 12, 2021

The purported moral outrage is just so much blather, meant to obfuscate what these bigots really want to do. These people claim that they want to protect 'the children' by keeping Rachel Levine out of high school girls' bathrooms, but they are perfectly fine with Matt Gaetz being in there.

Biden and Science

 Last week was a busy one for me, which is reflected by my blog posts from the week.  Because of this, some news items almost slipped by me, such as the GOP outrage over the EPA chief firing almost 45 Trump-appointed 'science advisors' from the Science Advisory Board and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee.  

Predictably, the Trump Maladministration ousted EPA scientists from academia and replaced them with fossil fuel and chemical industry flacks back in 2017, so this is a corrective measure.  Of course, when Republicans do this, it's not political- only Democrats are so churlish to politicize science (or morals, or 'family values' or...).  GOP representatives James Comer and Ralph Norman had the gall to write this to EPA chief Michael Regan:

“Traditionally science advisory boards are bipartisan panels used to provide advice to the administrator. Unfortunately, it appears the Biden administration is continuing to purge officials in the government who do not share its political beliefs.  The midterm firing of science advisory board members within the first months of a new administration .... raises serious concerns about the politicization of the EPA.”

Here is where I note that the same 'researchers' who are trying to cast doubt on the connection between climate change and the burning of fossil fuels were the monsters who tried to obfuscate the link between cigarette smoking and cancer.  There's no need to give these prevaricators a seat at the table when discussing such a crisis as global climate change.  They just aren't good faith actors, and they would do their level best to derail any discussion of climate crisis mitigation.

Joe Biden has the Herculean task of cleaning out the Augean Stable that Former Guy turned the government into, and thankfully he's willing to do the necessary work.  Starting with four dozen hired guns posing as scientists gives me hope that he is up to the challenge. 

Even more importantly, President Biden signaled his commitment to science by elevating the role of Science Advisor to a cabinet position.  The only thing that would make me more excited would be Biden's formation of a Science Ninja Team:

 

Vacation's Over, Missy!

 There are certain VIP employees who get privileges not extended to the rank-and-file workers, essential personnel who nevertheless get a couple of month's vacation with accommodations provided by management.  So it is with my co-worker Ginger, the head of our Rodent Abatement Team, who returned to work yesterday after spending a couple of months at a manager's apartment:

 

As much as I missed her, I am glad that she wasn't onsite when we had three feet of snow on the ground, especially during the three-day stretch during which we were buried under two feet of snow.  While Ginger's usual accommodations are perfect for a cat, they are a bit 'rustic', so a few weeks spent with All Mod Cons was a good change of pace for her (it also allowed us to turn the heat down in her usual spot to fifty, which is pretty much minimum for ensuring the pipes don't freeze).

Now that she's back, I'm grateful for the companionship.  I imagine she's happy to be able to accompany me while I Scooby Doo (is too a verb) around the property, and she reconnoiters her demense.  I'm also glad to be able to provide the spicy Ginger content that everybody craves.

Don't Vote for Failsons

The biggest problem in the United States, from a political standpoint, is that there are just too many damn failsons involved in our gocernment.  George W. Bush is a failson, and he damn near destroyed the country with his wars of choice and his laissez faire economic policies which tanked the economy.  Donald Trump is a failson, and he was even worse than Dubya.  Matt Gaetz?  Failson...  

Here in New York State, Andrew Cuomo has turned out to be quite the failson.  Who better to challenge this failson in the upcoming gubernatorial election than another failson named Andrew?  Andrew Giuliani has stated that he is running for the governorship of New York, despite never have served in an elected position- he was involved in Former Guy's Associate Director of the Office of Public Liaison, but we all know that Former Guy's maladministration was a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Andrew Giuliani's campaign is pretty much dead on arrival, as New York is a heavily Democratic state.  I suspect that Andrew Cuomo's campaign is also dead on arrival, he just has too much baggage.  Personally, I even find our lieutenant governor too conservative for my tastes, and would rather see our attorney general or senate majority leader running for the office.

We don't need another failson in a position of authority... ever.  Don't vote for failsons, not in the primary, not in the general.  Just don't ever vote for failsons.

Servitor of Gates

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DOWNLOAD PROTOCOL BG-2021

It is by the will of Gates alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the shots of Pfizer that thoughts acquire speed, the bots acquire signals, the signals become a warning. It is by will of Gates alone I set my mind in motion.

All kidding aside, I really didn't even feel any adverse reactions to the first Pfizer inoculation.  I woke up at 6:30PM today and thought, "Damn, I'm really fatigued..." Then I thought for two seconds, and realized that this is exactly how someone should feel after leaving the house at 2PM, taking a 150 mile round trip, getting a shot, and working an overnight shift.  

Truth be told, I was pretty much bouncing off walls last night, and didn't actually get to sleep until about 10AM this morning.  Part of this is, no doubt, due to the feeling of relief that accompanies receiving the first shot and knowing that I am in line for the next one in three weeks.  Even better is the knowledge that many of my friends are currently receiving the vaccine.  

I'm looking forward to experiencing the small pleasures of life, such as sitting at a bar, drinking a draft beer and shooting the breeze.  I'm not a big one for new year's resolutions, but this year I resolved to just socialize, because I missed it last year.  Already, my next-door neighbor is making plans for a big backyard BBQ.

That would make becoming a cyborg servitor of Bill Gates worthwhile.