Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!

Afghanistan

Afghanistan has always been a mess.

It is also like a roach motel--you can get it, but you can't get out.  Actually you can. Just leave.

Alexander the Great and Ghengis Khan won there with a mix of slaughter and bribes,but it there any reason to stay there. There is no gold and any real precious resources there. Location used to be an asset since Afghanistan is on the way to everywhere.  Afghanistan sits in the middle of Asia, so it is hard to avoid.

In order to win there, you need the support of the Afghan people.

We don't have it.

They will never push the US out.The US will never beat the Afghans. End result--just a waste for everyone involved. The British found out in the Nineteenth Century, the Soviet Union found out in the Twentieth, and now the United States is walking over the ground---literally.

US soldiers going to boot camp in 2019 were not even born when America invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after the World Trade Center attack.Osama Bin Laden was killed in 2011.  There is not reason to be there anymore.  Pick up and go, leave a couple of Special Forces behind to "hop and pop" the Taliban to keep it from reforming

Geo-politics is not hard.

It is just that politicians are idiots.

The School Budget Answer

Education has become a toxic sewer run by incompetent bureaucrats and "administrators" who make much more than the overworked, overwhelmed teachers.  There are stories about this all around. In North Carolina, there was a march by teachers wanting a 5% pay raise and the state legislators are offering 4.8% (close enough!),but also a 6.5% increase for assistant principals and 10% (!) for principals. This just makes the problem worse.And there is the possibly of having to raise taxes.

The strength of the Greek phalanx was not the front, but the back.  The hoplites in the back made sure no one ran because if they did, the entire formation would fall apart.  Administrators are the back line and when they don't enforce rules or back up the teachers, the whole thing falls apart.  Throwing money at this problem is like pouring gasoline on a fire

Why reward failure?

Here is a proposal:

Reduce administrator pay by $5,000 and distribute it to the teachers.  They get a raise, no tax increase, and there won't be a tax increase or deficit spending.  If the principals don't like it, they can find another job. I am sure their are plenty of teachers who can step in.

Or use the money to put webcams in rooms to get them under control.

If they care about the kids, you will see something like this.