The Panda Bear on Windows 8, the Afghani War, and Vietnam

The Panda Bear will have to do another short post this week.   Her main computer that she takes with her and works on her blog posts is still in repair.   She got a new computer at home which uses Windows 8.

While the Panda Bear is sure Windows 8 has some good features, she finds many features very frustrating.   She does not like the fact that you have to log into Microsoft to use the computer.   She does not like cloud computing for personal use and would rather keep all her information on her own computer.    The Panda Bear wonders if Microsoft will have some privacy groups sue them because it seems like for more functions the user is forced to go online to use them making for less computer security.   She liked the old Windows menu and seeing all her open windows are the bottom of the screen.   For this post she wanted to share several links but is having a hard time of keeping track of all her open windows so she can link to them.

However, she found this interesting petition online started by a US physician born in Kabul which the Panda Bear wanted to share with her readers.    Here is some of what the petition is about:

The Responsible End to the War in Afghanistan Act (H.R. 200), introduced by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA13), could help save the lives of millions and allow us to improve the health of many more. This bill would accelerate the timetable for ending the war in Afghanistan by requiring funds allocated to the armed forces in Afghanistan to be used only for the safe and orderly withdrawal of all U.S. military personnel and Department of Defense contractor personnel in Afghanistan.

While the bill has already gained 40 cosponsors, it has stalled in the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, which Rep. Ed Royce chairs. Rep. Royce could help bring the bill to the House floor, but so far he has refused, putting the lives of more Afghan children at risk and preventing others from receiving care. 

Thousands of children have been treated at the hospital in Kabul since it opened in March of 2001. For the cost of ONE day of war in Afghanistan, EMERGENCY can build TEN high-standard, free-of-charge hospitals and cover all expenses for THREE years!

The ongoing bloodshed in Afghanistan is evidence that a political solution is not feasible as long as American troops remain as an occupation force. If we accelerate the timetable to end the war in Afghanistan, we can improve the lives of millions who finally have the opportunity to live without war.

Sign this petition to show your support to end the war in Afghanistan, the longest running war in United States history, and your belief in healthcare as a human right.

The physician is a board member of  EmergencyUSA an NGO that seems to be doing much good in the world.  Please click on the link to see about all the wonderful things this group does with all the terrible things going on the world.   It is interesting to note that this group wants a diplomatic solution to the problems in Syria not war.

The Panda Bear would like the US to withdraw from Afghanistan.    The Panda Bear remembers how much the US was upset about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan when it wanted to keep up a regime it supported in that country.   Yet now the US is doing the same thing in Afghanistan as the former Soviet Union.  Let the Afghans solve their own problems.

The Panda Bear was a young child during the Vietnam war.   She remembers all the war protests and the songs for peace.   Where are all the peace protesters now?

Father Panda, may he rest in peace, was one of few people that the Panda Bear knew who supported the Vietnam war at the time.   The theory at the time was that if we showed weakness in Vietnam the former Soviet Union would become more aggressive  in other countries.   Father Panda was a good person and he had the rather simplistic belief that the US army was always on the side of truth and justice.   A few years before Father Panda died in 2012, he admitted he was wrong about the Vietnam war and that the US should not have gotten involved in that country.

The Panda Bear on Mr, Panda's Leg, Afghanistan and Her New Computer

The Panda Bear's return to blogging has been fraught with obstactles, First computers were broken(but are in the process of being repaired now).  Then Mr, Panda came down with a cold and his leg had a mild infection.   He spent the week at home,  Fotunately, Mr, Panda is feeling much better.

What does this have to do with The Panda Bear Blog?    The Panda Bear writes her blog when she finishes her humble full time office position and Mr. Panda still at work,   Since Mr   Panda is at home is need for attention is depriving the Panda Bear of her moments contempletion and solitude needed to complete the blog,

The Panda Bear does not think time management experts leave enough slack for all the unexpected things that can go wrong,   Recently, the Panda Bear took a stress management test and found out she was overcommitted,   However, the problem is the Panda Bear finds that the part of her life that miht be seen as "overcommitted" is the part off her life that gives the Panda Bear her most satisfaction,
The Panda Bear finds her job routine and does not like home chores,   Shopping gives her no joy.

She will set up her computer which should give her more time to blog,   How much of our lives is just wasted on doing the same things over an over again!!   It seems like it was just yesterday the Panda Bear bought and set-up her last computer,   Then she has to figure out Windows 8,

Another time management problem the Panda Bear has with blogging is that how can she write about all the injustices in the United States in about two to four hours a week?   The Panda Bear has come to believe that power corrupts and there needs to be some activism such as was seen in the US during the 1960s,

Therefore, she has decided to push the political focus of her blog to ending the US involvement in foreign wars.   She does not think the US should be aiding Syrian rebels,  Recently, she came accross a petition asking Congress to immediately end the war Afghanistan.   The Panda Bear thinks the US should leave Afghanistan.   The US is falling apart and we are in no position to tell others what to do.

The Panda Bear on Her Return,, Red Lines, Syria and the War on Office Plants

The Panda Bear Blog is a blog about a stressed out, overly busy, lowly office worker and her thoughts on life. She has returned from her summer break of sitting outside and reading after work. (The Panda Bear knows that she has serious problems if this is her idea of summer fun). She needed to connect with friends.

With her much needed break from blogging the Panda Bear returns. Readers have been asking the Panda Bear about her different home projects. They went well. However, are two crises that will be the focus of this blog posts. There the international crisis of Syria crossing Obama's red line in using chemical weapons and the Panda Bear's workplace crossed the Panda Bear's red line in banning office plants.

The Panda Bear has spent much of the Labor Day weekend e-mailing officials and signing petitions against the US using military force in Syria. The civil war is Syria does not directly affect US security. The US is already having problems paying for the wars it is in right now. The US would be responsible for civilian deaths if it took military action in Syria. The US has to learn to mind its own business.

Some experts have asserted that the US will lose all credibility if it does not go to war when it threatens to go to war. The Panda Bear has two responses to this line of reasoning. One is to be credible but incorrectly start a war is still not a smart thing to do. It is better to admit that one has changed one's mind. Secondly, to behave in an unpredictable and erratic way to threats probably would cause more anxiety in the "enemy" then consistency.

Senator McCain has said that the honor of the US is at stake. The Panda Bear could not care less about hono of the United States. . She agrees with Shakespeare’s Falstaff on the nature of honor and courage. In one place Falstaff says “The better part [quality] of valour is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life”. Below is Falstaff's speech on honor in both the original and modernized version from Spark notes-

http://nfs.sparknotes.com/henry4pt1/page_223.htm

Regarding a visit from death.

FALSTAFF 'Tis not due yet. I would be loath to pay Him before His day. What need I be so forward with Him that calls not on me? Well, ’tis no matter. Honour pricks me on. Yea, but how if honor prick me off when I come on? How then? Can honor set to a leg? no. Or an arm? no. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honor hath no skill in surgery, then? No. What is honor? A word. What is in that word “honor”? What is that “honor”? Air. A trim reckoning. Who hath it? He that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. 'Tis insensible, then? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it. Therefore, I’ll none of it. Honor is a mere scutcheon. And so ends my catechism.

FALSTAFF It’s not due yet. I’d hate to pay him before the due date. Why should I be so eager to pay him before he even asks for it? Well, it doesn’t matter: honor spurs me on. Yeah, but what if honor spurs me off once I’m on, and picks me out to die? What happens then? Can honor set a broken leg? No. Or an arm? No. Can it make a wound stop hurting? No. Honor can’t perform surgery, then? No. What is honor? A word. What is in that word, “honor?” What is that “honor?” Air. Quite a bargain! Who has it? A guy who died last Wednesday. Does he feel it? No. Does he hear it? No. It can’t be detected, then? Right—not by the dead, anyway. But won’t it live with the living? No. Why? Slander won’t allow it. That’s why I don’t want any part of it. Honor is nothing more than a gravestone, and that concludes my catechism

The Panda Bear agrees with Falstaff that a sense of honor and respect is not always enjoyed by those who win wars. Often the "winners" in war (i.e. the Europeans over the Native Americans) are described as blood thirsty, overly aggressive, imperialistic, deceitful  treacherous and ruthless Thus, the Panda Bear thinks honor is one of the worst reasons to go to war.

Meanwhile, the Panda Bear's employer has crossed the Panda Bear's red line in banning all plants from work. The plants gave the workers much pleasure and joy and the office has few windows. These and a few similar rules have made the Panda Bear actively seek employment elsewhere. The Panda Bear is convinced a nicer work environment is out there but the Panda Bear believing that discretion is the better part of valor has to be careful not to burn her bridges.

The Panda Bear was talking to one of her physicians about the ban on plants and she told the Panda Bear that several of her patients were complaining about employers putting in some petty rules. For whatever, reason modern managers don't seem to feel that the happy worker is the productive worker.