I don't usually write about the news on this blog o'mine but this Monday morning I just feel a few events need my touch.
Afghanistan and our departure from a 20-year war there is about over.
Contrary to the views of a lot of politicians and pundits, I think the U.S. has handled our leave-taking about as well as was possible.
The Afghan government and military which we supposedly had built up and trained collapsed like a house of cards and the Taliban swept in and took over practically without a fight.
While they were in charge of security outside the airport in Kabul they let a mad bomber through and 13 Americans and hundreds of Afghans were killed.
Since then the U.S. forces have taken out several ISIS K whackos and stopped a handful of mortars while continuing to get Americans and Afghans out of the country; over 120 thousand now in about a week.
So I think President Biden needs to be cut a little slack.
Meantime, on the Gulf Coast of the home front, Hurricane Ida made a mess of much of Louisiana over the weekend.
All of New Orleans is without power but the levee system apparently held.
It's now a Tropical Storm and moving on up to the north.
A FOX news reporter decided to step out of a parking garage and demonstrate the force of the wind.
He was nearly blown off his feet and had to have help getting back into the protection of the garage.
And Sean Payton, the coach of the New Orleans Saints, announced that the team would continue practicing this coming week in Dallas, Texas, and stay away from home for awhile.
For some people, that's serious!
For others of us, the sad news was that Ed Asner died on Sunday.
The exemplary actor lived to 91, entertaining us with both comedy and drama roles and winning award after award.
My pal, Easy Ed, wrote this morning that he and his wife had just been watching Asner in a one-man show called "A Man and His Prostate".
He said it is hilarious.
I think I'd have to see that to believe that, though all the reviews describe it the same way.
And finally, on the home front, we had a marvelous dinner yesterday of Chicken Marsala and a Quinoa-and-Brown-Rice mix seasoned with garlic.
Both items came already cooked in packages from Costco.
It took about 10 minutes to prepare (heat) and it was absolutely delicious.
So the news from this corner isn't all bad on this Monday.
I hope yours is just as good.
That's a lot of news! And yes that chicken marsala is delish!
ReplyDeleteMany sad things.
ReplyDeleteAfghanistan goes back many hundreds of years, but the last two hundred have been bad and the last fifty worse.
I must check that Ed Asner thing... Pirate's prostate problems are back we think, and he needs a laugh
This is a great post Bruce.
ReplyDeleteYour take on the Afghan evacuation is spot on, meaning that our old profession really blew the coverage, mostly because they had no overview. Their cameras were essentially inside ,in the, in the scrum, missing the continuation of flights and the enormous number of people leaving. It was like a gang up on the President. I'm working on a piece on this in the context of Viet Nam and other incidents.
Loved Asner. Met him about 5 years ago when he came to make a campaign pitch for candidates in our village election. Loved the the crusty old newsman he played tool.
And between you and me, how many restaurant "chefs" do you think also utilize some of the prepped meals sold at Costco?
When I saw the headlines about the final plane taking off from Kabul I felt such a sense of relief. The 20-year war is over. Yes.
ReplyDeleteIt was sad news about Ed Asner, but good news about yummy food from Costco.
These are the times we are living. Ups and downs, ups and downs.
I concur. It was time to go. More than enough has been done and sacrificed.
ReplyDeleteThumbs up on every thing
ReplyDeleteThe big mistake concerning Afghanistan was sending our troops their in the first place. Will we never learn?
ReplyDeleteCostco has good food! I have one very near me and need to go to it more often. Excellent words on Afghanistan. We learned nothing from the Brits or the Russians and stayed there way too long.
ReplyDeleteI guess whatever was done, there would be some sad stories from Afghanistan. Truly. And don't think that my heart breaks for them, because it does. It surely does. But there are a lot LESS sad stories out of Afghanistan today. I just really pray hard for the NOWZAD staff. I hope they can get those people out of there.
ReplyDelete*isn't breaking
ReplyDeleteI'm with you about Afghanistan, as you know. It would have been a mess no matter who was in charge and how our exodus occurred. I was sad about Asner too.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the Afghanistan situation. It will be interesting to see what happens next. That part of the world is such a mess.
ReplyDeleteYou had good luck with that packaged food. I might try it. I didn't have as such luck when I bought one of those foil envelopes with Tikka Marsala sauce in it. (I think Silk Road was the brand.) I just had to add the chicken. That was possibly the worst Tikka I've ever tasted. I had to pick up the real thing last night at an Indian restaurant. Much, much better.