George Will, one of the most influential conservative writers, called today for a complete change of strategy in Afghanistan.   To sum up:  Will says we should pull out ground troops and handle security and terrorism issues from off-shore.

I am honestly unsure about our increasing involvement in Afghanistan.  Part of me feels we need to be there for three reasons 1)to hold off Iran 2)to remain an active participant in anti-terrorist activities in Pakistan and 3)to prevent the country from descending to complete chaos, which will inevitably cause the death of thousands.  But I have another, growing feeling, which is that we simply cannot afford monetarily to continue this level of involvement in Afghanistan, and reports seem to indicate that the people no longer want us there.  I am torn.

What are your thoughts?

I often ponder what the afterlife will be like.  Personally, I think it will include a life’s review of some kind.  I wonder what that review will be like for Ted Kennedy.

Note to Ted Kennedy lovers:  I don’t agree with Ted Kennedy politically, and I think he was a pretty bad person, all in all.  But I don’t know his soul — God does.  Ulimately, Ted Kennedy will be judged by somebody with a lot more knowledge and capacity for love than I have, and I’m very glad of that, because the same thing will apply to me and all my flaws.  My purpose here is to remind some readers of some of the things I remember from his life.  Many of them will be negative, so if that’s going to bother you, my suggestion is to read something else.

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One day earlier this summer my wife was an hour late.  The reason she was an hour late is because she was leaving a store and started talking to an elderly man who literally would not let her leave.  He started discussing his life in the 1950s, and went off on tangents, and she kept trying to say she had to go, but every time she tried to interrupt him, he would completely ignore her and keep on talking.  And she was too nice to leave, so she was stuck for an hour talking to this guy while her husband grumpily waited for her.

I on the other hand am not somebody who allows his time to be wasted.

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The attached chart has been causing a considerable amount of controversy lately.  It is part of the “Complete Lives System” proposed by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, one of Pres. Obama’s top health care advisers (and brother of Rahm Emanuel) and is similar to the CDPAP health care program.  The point of the chart is that medical interventions should take place based on some kind of priority.  And, as Dr. Emanuel says in this article (free registration required), the priority should be give to the relatively young (although not to infants).

A lot of what Dr. Emanuel has had to say has been taken out of context.  But it nevertheless true that he has tried to tackle the complex ethics of health care rationing, and he has proposed a system that favors some people (younger people in whom society has made an investment) over infants and seniors.

What do Latter-day Saints think of this prescription?

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According to Harry Reid, people who protest at town halls are “evil-mongers.” Bro. Reid, in addition to having problems with understanding the First Amendment, doesn’t understand very well what a “monger” is.

For example, a rumor-monger spread rumors, a gossip-monger spreads gossip.  Does Bro. Reid really want to say that people going to town halls are spreading “evil?”

Prediction:  this type of rhetoric will backfire on Bro. Reid and the Democratic party.  I don’t recall him saying that people who protested against the Iraq war (including hanging Pres. Bush in effigy and constantly calling Pres. Bush a Nazi and comparing him with Hitler and, of course, the not-so-subtle anti-Semitism aimed at “neo-cons”) were “evil-mongers.”  Only people who disagree with Bro. Reid are evil — people who agree with him can be as rude and disruptive as they like.