Reason-Able

  The Taliban are the Good Guys... Huh?     By James Terminiello     I found this mind-boggling post on the website of the United States Institute of Peace.     The Taliban have done it again: implementing a nearly complete ban against cultivation of opium poppy — Afghanistan’s most important agricultural product — repeating their similarly successful 2000-2001 prohibition on the crop. But the temptation to view the current ban in an overly positive light — as an important global counter-narcotics victory — must be avoided. This is particularly true given the state of Afghanistan’s economy and the country’s humanitarian situation. Indeed, the ban imposes huge economic and humanitarian costs on Afghans and it is likely to further stimulate an outflow of refugees. It may even result in internal challenges for the Taliban itself. And, in the long run , it will not have lasting counter-narcotics benefits within Afghanistan or globally.     Hol...

  COLA Increase Does Not Take the Fizz Out of Inflation     By James Terminiello     Come January, I and my fellow ancients will enjoy the bounty of a 3.2% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) in our Social Security disbursements. This is on the heels of a lusty 8.7% COLA for 2022. So, inflation appears to be in eclipse.     Uh ..... No!     Even as the size of everything – orange juice containers, boxes of cookies, cuts of meat, rolls of toilet paper, portions at restaurants – shrinks to cover up price increases, the blade of inflation continues to slice deeply.  We are in a permanently inflated economy and no COLA-flavored ointment will heal the wound.      Why is this so?      The rampaging drunken sailor that is the Biden Administration has been on a money-spewing spree since Old Squint took office.     Here’s a short list .     Build Back Better – Spend. Spend. Spend.  ...