Recent Comments

1. about 12 years ago on Doonesbury

   @DylanThomas3.14159Hi .. are you implying that I agree with Guard STG on something?Did you check the link I provided? Cheers.

2. about 12 years ago on Doonesbury

   @Guard SGT

   I always look for your comments, you are hilarious!

   I thought you might reassured if you saw the following: https://store.barackobama.com/made-in-the-usa-mug.html

3. about 12 years ago on Doonesbury

   @basshwy @Linguist

   GuardSGT might find it useful for drinking his Kool-Aid :)

4. about 12 years ago on Doonesbury

   Here’s a splendid gift idea for @Guard SGT :-)

   ’Today’s a good day to buy one of our “Made in the USA” mugs—with the President’s birth certificate on the back’:

   http://OFA.BO/HxKQbt

5. over 12 years ago on Doonesbury

   @Spaghettus1

   “No, point not made” …. it had to be said : )

   Of course it will make little effect on those determined to think otherwise.

   Extremely difficult to find common ground with those of such differing views, .. but regardless, I have found your perspectives very interesting.

   Keep up the Good Fight : )

6. over 12 years ago on Doonesbury

   @Guard SGTWell, I guess we will continue to disagree with each other’s conclusions & reasoning.I’m sure your experiences in Iraq were very instructive, I would never try to take that away from you. But you have chosen to focus on the theoretical differences between Nazi Germany & Soviet Russia as one of the key basics of your argument. Regardless of their political orientation they were both an abomination & a grotesque aberration of the human spirit, more to do with the arrogance of power & a monumental hatred of humanity than left wing vs right wing I believe.

   No one, & certainly no one of the ‘Left’, would condone such a backward sliding. The only people who make such a connection between Socialism & the Left these days are those who still pore avidly over the writings of Ayn Rand. I know .. because I used to : )

   Anyway, after all that I thank you for your comments regards the Aussie servicemen & women. That was very kind of you & very much appreciated.

7. over 12 years ago on Doonesbury

   @Spaghettus1 Thank you for your comments yesterday .. I posted a late reply I hope you can read. Cheers.

8. over 12 years ago on Doonesbury

   @Spaghettus1 I have enjoyed your rebuttals of @Guard SGT. Thank you for your comments & your attempts to state your case.

   BTW I often speak to young people in the forces about political events which affect their overseas postings. I’m always amazed by these young men & women, their energy, their extraordinary dynamism & their willingness to serve. I’m often surprised though by their lack of discernment in what they are told by their superiors. However, for the most part they are very open to different forms of analysis & manage to accommodate new ideas into their world view.

   @Guard & @Donald Ostrem, I am usually not surprised when I hear such bellicose comments bundled together with a conviction of being totally, 100% correct! Such adamant & unyielding beliefs often go hand in hand with a lack of exposure to different ideas & with a certain lack of the stimulation that can come from being without such exposure.

   I know this seems as if I am falling into the trap of criticising the person rather than the idea, & my apologies for this, but when I hear @Guard’s political classifications of Nazi Germany for example, I am quite shocked by such bizarre definitions.

   That said, you did serve I believe, & you have my respect for that. There are several decorated vets within my family & it is a factor in our family’s world view that I have been aware of since I was a child.

   My parent’s war was in Japan & the Pacific, I was brought up with an unambiguous idea of the moral rights of an invaded nation versus an invader. It has set the moral tone of most of my life. But it is a double-edged sword. Regardless of my great admiration for the United States, which I have felt since early childhood, our profile in the Middle East (as an Australian & an US ally) is that of an invader, & we will continue to reap what we sow there for decades.

   My main interest in Afghanistan currently, is that it contains the world’s largest potential source of rare earth metals, elements crucial for your fancy iPhones, tablets, hybrid motor batteries, imaging optics through to guided missile systems. Rare earths (currently a monopoly stored by China) are the ‘oil’ of the 21st century. Afghanistan has the potential to be the Saudi Arabia of Rare Earths .. IF there is a stable, compliant Govt there to protect foreign investment.

   Please remember, all those who share hatred of others, that all Wars have ultimately been a war for territory & resources. Even the long-suffering foot soldier of Japan’s WW2 Imperial Armies were convinced that they were fighting a noble war to ‘liberate the Brown Man of Asia’ from the heel of European colonialists .. when it was the crudest & most brutal & murderous theft & rape of nations in modern history. I’m NOT comparing the US & its allies to WW2 Japan, merely that it is easy for the outcome of our intentions to be obscured by imperfect perceptions of the culture & psychology of our opponents.

   If in doubt, listen to former US State Secretary, McNamara, for his changed perceptions of the Vietnam war.

   Friends of mine were in NY on 9-11, we cried for their horror & grief. The only legacy of Iraq for me however, is the horror of the endless stories of revenge, beheadings & the vilest tortures of civilians imaginable.

   I know of these from NGO’s, embedded journalists, documentary makers, cameramen & service men & woman from the US & Australia. Whether we like it or not, what we did was stir up a region of unrest & a grotesque civil war, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians & the deaths & maiming of thousands of the most remarkable young people of our generation.

9. about 13 years ago on Matt Wuerker

   Thank you Shanbo1926, that is the best one-sentence description of the catastrophe that Pres Obama inherited.

   As an Australian, I & many others here are constantly bemused (appalled) at how a President like Obama is pilloried & attacked by so many ‘haters’.Pres Bush was a disaster for the WORLD, then you elect a highly intelligent, subtle & sophisticated man to office, a leader that is the envy of the world.

   Then your most belligerent party rips him to shreds in order to regain power.

   Even in peaceful Australia we groan in despair when listening to our politicians – & that’s not just because they all need elocution lessons & talk like ignorant peasants – we despair because of the lack of vision, the pettiness, the lack of self-respect & basic intelligence.

   We wish you well … & trust some commonsense will prevail.

10. over 13 years ago on Doonesbury

    re bagbalm “Re: Hitler’s genius. This is why as I get older I value kindness in people more than sheer intellect.” -——————————————————- Thank you for your comment Bagbalm … I appreciated your comment on many levels. It was all the more worthy for its succinctness.Power breeds arrogance, whereas empathy & wisdom create gentleness & true happiness.