Well, it's 1, 2, 3, what're we fightin for....

What difference does it make?  Blabla bla.  And a shout out to Che, just to rankle the sensibilities of my NC friend, a passionately misguided soul.  Che was trash. Enough about that.  Because he became a highly marketed logo, I point out his murderous history.  Pol Pot is not relevant to our hemisphere,  or Cuban friends in Miami, yet Joel invariably bristles as he lambasts me for mentioning Che rather than Pol Pot- if I must complain about murderers.  According to him I should talk about PolPot instead.  I don't get it.

I'm so thrilled that the current democrat administration has proven that they are no less likely than Republicans to put our military into situations which are lose-lose scenarios which end badly and cost plenty in terms of life and money.  I told my misguided relatives that Obama would not blink at the death of others as long as it served his narcissistic lust for power.  That was when he was running for his first term.

Judging from the lead up, response, and reaction to the Benghazi debacle, I'd say that American lives are not all that important to many running the show in DC.  Although the whole mess may have threads which tie various troubles, then and now, together.

There can never be good outcomes when allying with, or trying to impose stability on, religious states, or states which are nominally secular but are run by religious lunatics.  It is insanity.  And they wear it like a badge.  This did not happen over night.

Enough of that.  You probably think the UN is a holy, honest, well-meaning organization dedicated to promoting world peace.  So, let us just part ways there and discuss other things.

I need a new tent.  Mine was caught in a dust-devil/twister which ripped up the stakes, lifted the tent up ten feet or so, and carried it a hundred yards, sometimes spinning in the air, sometimes bouncing and dragging across the rocky ground.

Inside the tent were an air mattress, pumps, lanterns, batteries, etc.  Those items were unharmed.  The tent suffered holes and tears.  If only I'd been inside to experience the fun.  I was east of here at an undisclosed location.

To Kelty's credit, the tent remained remarkably intact.  It maintained its shape and the poles held true.
So, I need a good bargain on a stout tent.  I got sick of Coleman's fiberglass poles not being as durable a I'd like so I switched to the Kelty because it had metal poles and I liked the set up and design better, and it was on sale for dirt cheap.

Maybe I'll just buy a few cheap-o tents and expect only one or two uses from each.

By the way, I would not risk my life, or that of anyone I did not despise more than I presently despise anyone, for any action in Syria or any of the other lunatic countries in that region.   There is no clear and simple good guy or bad guy there.  Bomb anything and you are no doubt bombing both.

Pipelines, Russia, and various interests may play a role, but that does not make it a good idea.  Out of mid-east forever is my wish.  Get the oil here, and quit foreign aid to any country.

Those are stupid things to consider.  My tent quest is of far more importance and makes a hell of a lot more sense.

update:  I decided a backup tent would be a good plan.  Get a decent but inexpensive Coleman and wait for the killer deal on a higher quality unit for my Christmas road trip to FL.  Big year.

addendum: I think this is an addendum.   In any case, the whole tent thing has become a deal of judging how and if age is messing with me.  When I get to the point that I can't do it, I'll worry.  Most of my life I couldn't imagine sleeping in a tent on purpose.  I never had a good experience sleeping in a tent until just before I left Memphis, at the Bean Blossom Blue Festival in Indiana.  That was my trial run for the great escape.

I should follow that further.  Maybe I will later