We need to accept an uncomfortable reality. The Taliban WILL take over Afghanistan. That was always the inevitable outcome. A committed insurgency will outlast an occupying force every time. There has never been an instance in history when this wasn't true.

And of course, we all seem to have forgotten that the Taliban evolved from the same Mujahideen who defeated and ousted the mighty Soviet military in the '80s (with aid from the U.S., I might add).

When people say Afghanistan is this generation's Vietnam, it really is an excellent analogy. Just as with Vietnam, we chose to oppose a government we didn't like and install a Vichy-type regime that was friendly to us, but which was inevitably hopelessly corrupt and weak.

That once again we've proven ourselves to be incapable of learning the lessons of history is no one's fault but our own.

By Annie Lowrey
July 27, 2021

Not long ago, a New York City data analyst who had been laid off shortly after the pandemic hit told me she had filed for unemployment-insurance payments and then spent the next six months calling, emailing, and using social media to try to figure out why the state’s Labor Department would not send her the money she was owed.

 (From Wikipedia)

The Beatles made several appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, including three in February 1964 that were among their first appearances in front of an American audience. Their first appearance, on February 9, was seen by a then-record 73 million viewers and came to be regarded as a cultural watershed that launched American Beatlemania—as well as the wider British Invasion of American pop music^[1]—and inspired many young viewers to become rock musicians.^[2] The band also made another appearance during their 1965 U.S. tour.

This is their first appearance:

Today’s column focuses on something that, while certainly not as juicy as political intrigue, is really much more impactful in the scheme of things. I can’t make the topic of education more exciting, but I hope you’ll give it attention befitting its importance.

Still with me? Cool. Now imagine this: What if the tens of millions of people in America who regularly fall for all the BS that’s promulgated on cable “news” and the interwebs actually possessed and utilized the intellectual tools needed to see through the lies and propaganda?

The key to anyone being able to do this is an ability to engage in critical thinking, and the ability to do that is largely determined by the quality of one’s education.