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You Have Been The Victims Of A Terrible Swindle

The bad news is that you have been the victims of a terrible swindle, denied an inheritance you deserve by contract and by your merits. And you aren’t the only ones; victims of this ripoff include the students who were on your left and on your right in high school but didn’t get into Cal, a whole generation stiffed by mine.


Is A Little Corruption a Bad Thing?

The right yells about left wing corruption. As an example, Rob Ford screams about spending “scandals” approved by lefty councilors. The left yells about tax and regulation cuts for corporations owned by the richest amongst us. Oddly, most of the examples shown are factual, though whether they are corruption is a matter of interpretation.

As I listen to the continual diatribes about corruption, my recurring response is, “Yes. Of course. Why is this a surprise?”


Help Me Understand the Word Insurgent

Perhaps you can help me understand something that puzzles me a bit.

Every time I consume the news or watch the pundits, the Taliban in Afghanistan are described as insurgents.

I understand the the US, along with an international coalition, invaded Afghanistan to route out the terrorists who planned the 9/11 acts. This was a reasonable action.

Somewhere along the way, the mission changed. Put on the back burner by the US in favour of a still inexplicable invasion of Iraq, retribution changed to a push to build a new country. At first, it was freeing women from oppression. Then it somehow turned into a nation-building exercise.