Synchromysticism

" Synchromysticism:
The art of realizing meaningful coincidence in the seemingly mundane with mystical or esoteric significance."

- Jake Kotze

March 12, 2017

Kabulseye?!

Click on photo to make larger,
so
you can read the highlighted words
I had just finished reading the above chapter about Paul visiting a Kabul hospital that ends up with the words, "Only after our aircraft was over water and descending into Dubai did I start to feel my shoulders relax. What did I learn from this? I sat there and let what I could replay in my head. I reminded myself of human dignity, resolve, compassion, fear, hope. Afghanistan reminded me that it changes you, more than you change it. It's sitting in freedom's nursery, but learning from all the bad kids. The man sitting next to me shifted in his seat and folded his newspaper: 'Kabulseye' said the headline.
Then I saw on the news that day this headline -
Kabul hospital attacked by gunmen disguised as doctors
"More than 30 people are dead and dozens more are wounded after an attack on a military hospital in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in which gunmen dressed as doctors slipped into the facility and battled security forces inside the building for several hours."
Kabul attack: Survivors recount carnage inside hospital as militants battled special forces
I don't know if this was the same hospital that Paul wrote about visiting in his book, but how many hospitals could there be in Kabul?
I've written two posts already about reading through Paul's book -
Dance Like a Monkey, But Don't Smoke One
and -
Let's Be Frank
Do those covers look similar to you?-)
The 'A Confederacy of Dunces' Curse
But it was the end of Paul's previous chapter titled, 'Kabul on Thirty Rounds a Day' in the passage quoted below, that I found profound and a case of life imitating art/entertainment imitating life when you watch the videos of Paul posted here flogging his book on Australian breakfast TV.
"As the world's quest for new oil reserves intensifies, so will the 'war on terror'. And the use of  PMCs will only become more prolific as well. Guys just like me have been full-bore drilling for a century, but keeping up with the insatiable demand is daunting; current production (the number of barrels pumped per day, BPD) is falling each year, while in thirty years we will need more than twice the oil we need today. Imagine what it will be like in thirty years. "Hell, I can remember when petrol was only two dollars a litre" you will say. You might have faith or belief in our system of government, or even lots of money, but everyone will feel it on every level - the end of affordable fuel brought about by our own belligerent superpowers and, of course, the inconvenience of upsetting everyone's weekend road trip plans in the West. But apart from that, it's all just fine ... What time is the next appalling TV show on?
Afghan TV needs a show called 'Who Wants To Be a Normal Person?' followed by 'Survivor Kabul', then another riveting re-run of
'Mass Murder She Wrote'.
Can you imagine breakfast TV, with your appropriately jovial and upbeat presenters faking smiles and doing the daily 'faecal matter'count and car bomb traffic updates? Interviewing celebrity - obsessed Western visitors, and crossing to a guy who will show you how to disarm a landmine, and sell you today's special offer on the new 'Kevlar second chance' bulletproof vest. Just be one of the first ten callers and we'll throw in a prosthetic limb of your choice.
I had finished half the bottle, my head was swimming; it was like trying to understand free-to-air TV. The age of cheap oil is over; what we are doing is the long slide into post 'peak oil' propaganda. What kind of future will Clare and I leave for our children if we are lucky enough to have them? Within their lifetime it's possible they could slowly see the world end up in a kind of permanent energy crisis, a 'forever war'. If we're not careful, hydrocarbons and warfare will go hand in hand to define human life."  
Sobering words Paul.

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