;)
The Commentariat -- August 28, 2021
~~~ As Ken W. announced at the end of yesterday's Comments, you no longer need to jump through hoops to post a comment on Reality Chex. So comment as usual. No need to sign in. I learned yesterday that all Squarespace customers who use the version of Squarespace that I do were afflicted with the same problem -- for ten days. Maybe it helped that I accused them of elder abuse & asked if any of their mothers had taught them better. Thank you for your patience. You all were way nicer about it than I was.
P.S. If you live on or near the Gulf Coast, please follow advisories on Hurricane Ida. It's predicted to land as a Cat 4 about where Katrina hit 16 years ago Sunday.
~~~~~~~~~~
The New York Times' live updates of developments in Afghanistan Saturday are here. The Guardian's live Afghanistan updates for Saturday are here: British "Civilian evacuations from Afghanistan will finish today, the head of the UK armed forces, Gen Sir Nick Carter, has said. With very few civilian flights remaining, Carter said it was heartbreaking that the evacuation had failed to get everybody out." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live Afghanistan updates for Saturday are here: "... the U.S. Embassy in Kabul warned Americans of ongoing security threats at the capital's airport and urged them to 'leave immediately.'"
Robert Burns & Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The United States military struck back at the Islamic State on Saturday, bombing an IS member in Afghanistan less than 48 hours after a devastating suicide bombing claimed by the group killed as many as 169 Afghans and 13 American service members at the Kabul airport. U.S. Central Command said the U.S. conducted a drone strike against an Islamic State member in Nangahar believed to be involved in planning attacks against the U.S. in Kabul. The strike killed one individual, and spokesman Navy Capt. William Urban said they knew of no civilian casualties. It wasn't clear if that individual was involved specifically in the Thursday suicide blast outside the gates of the Kabul airport...."
The Guardian's live updates of developments in Afghanistan Friday are here: "US army general William Taylor told a Pentagon press briefing: 'I can confirm that we do not believe that there was a second explosion at or near the Baron hotel. That it was one suicide bomber. We're not sure how that report was provided incorrectly, but we do know it's not any surprise that in the confusion of very dynamic events like this it can cause information sometimes to be misreported or garbled. We felt it was important to correct the record.'... During a Pentagon briefing, a US military official said they now believed there was no separate explosion at the Baron hotel." (Also linked yesterday.)
Sayed Hashemi, et al., of the AP: "Evacuation flights from Afghanistan resumed with new urgency on Friday, a day after two suicide bombings targeted the thousands of people desperately fleeing a Taliban takeover and killed dozens. The U.S. warned more attacks could come ahead of next week's end to America's longest war. Two officials said 169 Afghans died, but a final count might take time amid confusion, with many bodies dismembered or not yet identified. Scores more were wounded in the blasts. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.... The U.S. said 13 troops were killed in the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since August 2011." (Also linked yesterday.)
Loveday Morris, et al., of the Washington Post: "Thousands of Afghans who put their lives at risk to work with the United States' NATO allies have been left behind as the military evacuations wrap up, and they hunker down in fear over Taliban reprisals. Britain became the latest nation to announce an end to its airlifts on Friday, as British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told LBC radio that evacuations would end in hours. The British military has airlifted nearly 14,000 people out over the past two weeks, but 'the sad fact is that not every single one will get out,' he said, with up to 1,100 eligible Afghans who 'didn't make it.' Other countries fell further short of their targets. Germany, whose last soldiers flew out of Afghanistan on Thursday evening, said it had rescued around 4,000 Afghans -- far shy of the 10,000 people it had identified as at risk.... From Berlin to Ottawa, questions have been raised as to why more was not done to save those who were vulnerable sooner.... While the United States is continuing airlifts, it is focusing on its own Afghan partners and stranded citizens."
They Did What??? Lara Seligman, et al., of Politico: "U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city's airport, a choice that's prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials. The move, detailed to Politico by three U.S. and congressional officials, was designed to expedite the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Afghanistan as chaos erupted in Afghanistan's capital city last week after the Taliban seized control of the country. It also came as the Biden administration has been relying on the Taliban for security outside the airport. Since the fall of Kabul in mid-August, nearly 100,000 people have been evacuated, most of whom had to pass through the Taliban's many checkpoints. But the decision to provide specific names to the Taliban, which has a history of brutally murdering Afghans who collaborated with the U.S. and other coalition forces during the conflict, has angered lawmakers and military officials. 'Basically, they just put all those Afghans on a kill list,' said one defense official...." (Also linked yesterday.)
James Meek of ABC News: "With the Taliban growing more violent and adding checkpoints near Kabul's airport, an all-volunteer group of American veterans of the Afghan war launched a final daring mission on Wednesday night dubbed the 'Pineapple Express' to shepherd hundreds of at-risk Afghan elite forces and their families to safety, members of the group told ABC News. Moving after nightfall in near-pitch black darkness and extremely dangerous conditions, the group said it worked unofficially in tandem with the United States military and U.S. embassy to move people, sometimes one person at a time, or in pairs, but rarely more than a small bunch, inside the wire of the U.S. military-controlled side of Hamid Karzai International Airport. The Pineapple Express' mission was underway Thursday when the attack occurred in Kabul.... There were wounded among the Pineapple Express travelers from the blast, and members of the group said they were assessing whether unaccounted-for Afghans they were helping had been killed." (Also linked yesterday.)
Karoun Demirjian & Alex Horton of the Washington Post: "The U.S. military is destroying equipment at the Kabul airport and more than doubling its temporary housing capacity on bases in the United States to extract as many people from Afghanistan as possible before Tuesday's withdrawal deadline. The military will be able to accommodate up to 50,000 Afghans at seven bases and facilities in the United States, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, who announced that Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, and Fort Pickett and Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia had been added to the four installations already part of the operation. The airlift, which as of Friday morning had carried upwards of 110,000 people out of Kabul, is entering its last four days amid intense urgency.... At least 25 countries have signed on to temporarily host or serve as way stations for the tens of thousands of other Afghans who have departed Kabul."
James Clark of Task & Purpose: "On Thursday, a Marine infantry officer and battalion commander took to social media to air his frustrations with senior military leadership over their handling of the U.S. military's withdrawal from Afghanistan and what he says is a lack of accountability for mistakes made by those charged with managing the final stages of America's longest war.... The Marine Corps announced that [Lt. Col. Stuart] Scheller was relieved 'due to a loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command,' according to Maj. Jim Stenger, a spokesman for Headquarters Marine Corps.... While some comments on social media criticized the officer for calling out his senior leaders while in uniform, many others praised Scheller for putting his career on the line to do so."
Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "... parts of the American right ... [have expressed] open admiration for the Taliban.... The influential young white supremacist Nick Fuentes -- an ally of the Arizona Republican congressman Paul Gosar and the anti-immigrant pundit Michelle Malkin -- wrote on the encrypted app Telegram: 'The Taliban is a conservative, religious force, the U.S. is godless and liberal. The defeat of the U.S. government in Afghanistan is unequivocally a positive development.' An account linked to the Proud Boys expressed respect for the way the Taliban 'took back their national religion as law, and executed dissenters.'... Fox's Tucker Carlson, the most important nationalist voice in America, seemed to sympathize with the gender politics of Taliban-supporting Afghans.... On Twitter earlier this month, [Rep. Matt] Gaetz [R-Fla.] described the Taliban, like Trump, as 'more legitimate than the last government in Afghanistan or the current government here.'... If there's one lesson of recent American history, it's that there's no such thing as something too ridiculous to be dangerous." ~~~
~~~ Marie: While Gaetz is of course wrong about the U.S. government's legitimacy, he does sort of have a point when he compares the Taliban to the newly-fallen Afghan government the West had propped up for years. However, it's hard to say whether that government or the Taliban would win a popularity contest in Afghanistan, and I doubt Gaetz knows. As usual, he should STFU when he doesn't know what he's talking about.
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "President Biden on Friday used his first meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett of Israel to underscore that working closely with a longstanding ally in the Middle East was still a focus of his administration, even as the crisis in Afghanistan has opened him up to criticism that he is ceding ground in the wider region to extremists.... 'I look forward to us establishing a strong personal relationship,' Mr. Biden said, sitting in the Oval Office next to Mr. Bennett. He said the focus of the meeting was to demonstrate 'an unshakable partnership between our two nations.' Both men wore masks. The two leaders have significant policy differences. In an interview with The New York Times several days before Friday's meeting, Mr. Bennett said he would oppose American-led attempts to reinstate a lapsed nuclear agreement with Iran and would expand West Bank settlements that Mr. Biden opposes."
Justice Breyer Has Some Thoughts. Adam Liptak of the New York Times "in an interview prompted by [Breyer's] new book.... Justice Stephen G. Breyer says he is struggling to decide when to retire from the Supreme Court and is taking account of a host of factors, including who will name his successor. 'There are many things that go into a retirement decision,' he said." MB: If Breyer is "struggling" over whether or not to retire while a Democrat is President & Democrats hold a slim, and tenuous, Senate majority, he must get downright apoplectic over every decision he renders from on high. (Also linked yesterday.)
Lois Beckett of the Guardian: "When David Dempsey was arrested in California on Thursday and charged with attacking police officers defending the US Capitol on 6 January, local activists in Los Angeles were not surprised. Federal prosecutors have accused 34-year-old Dempsey of striking police at the Capitol with improvised weapons, including a crutch and a pole, and spraying them with a chemical agent, according to the criminal complaint against him. Five months earlier, two Los Angeles men said, Dempsey had used the exact same tactics to assault them during tense summer political demonstrations in the Tujunga neighborhood and in Beverly Hills. One of these alleged assaults had happened directly in front of police officers in Beverly Hills, and the other was reported in detail to the Los Angeles police department, according to the two men. Both said that local police failed to follow up or to arrest Dempsey, even though he had previously been charged with using bear mace on anti-Trump protesters in Santa Monica, California, in 2019."
Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "California parole commissioners recommended on Friday that Sirhan B. Sirhan should be freed on parole after spending more than 50 years in prison for assassinating Robert F. Kennedy during his campaign for president. The recommendation from the two commissioners does not necessarily mean Mr. Sirhan, 77, will walk free, but it most likely puts his fate in the hands of Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat facing a recall election that will determine his political future. A spokeswoman for Mr. Newsom declined to say whether he would approve the recommendation, only tha he would consider the case after it is reviewed by the parole board's lawyers." MB: I think Sirhan -- and every assassin -- should die in jail.
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Julian Barnes of the New York Times: "American intelligence agencies have not been able to determine if the coronavirus pandemic was the result of an accidental leak from a lab or if it emerged more naturally, according to declassified portions of a report to the White House that were released on Friday. The nation's spy agencies, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said, are unlikely to reach a conclusion without more cooperation from China or new sources of information." CNN'sreport is here. ~~~
~~~ The DNI's unclassified report is here.
Victoria Guida of Politico: "Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday signaled that the central bank may start pulling back some of its historic support for the economy later this year, striking an upbeat tone even as the resurgent coronavirus and labor market troubles loom. The speech at the annual Jackson Hole conference in Wyoming could be Powell's last big test before President Joe Biden decides whether to reappoint him to the government's most powerful economic post. His main task was not to rattle investors -- and rankle the White House -- with any suggestion that the Fed would abruptly exit from a policy that has bolstered the economy throughout the pandemic. He succeeded: Stocks jumped as Powell said the Fed would move deliberately." A transcript of Powell's speech, titled "Monetary Policy in the Time of COVID" & provided by the Fed, is here.
A One-Two Punch to the Pocketbook. Tony Romm & Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "The clock is now ticking for millions of Americans who are set to face a series of stinging financial hardships in a matter of days, with the loss of federal protections against eviction and looming cuts to their weekly unemployment checks.... The first blow arrived Friday, as landlords now can more easily begin removing tenants who have fallen behind on their monthly payments. The potential wave of evictions comes after the Supreme Court found the Biden administration's recent eviction moratorium to be unconstitutional.... Ten days later, some of those same families could face additional financial peril as enhanced unemployment insurance benefits are set to lapse. Congress repeatedly has extended these weekly checks, but President Biden and some of his congressional allies have not sought to renew them ahead of their planned expiration Sept. 6."
God Is Agnostic on Vaccinations. Bob Smietana of Religion News Service: "The spokesman for a major evangelical nonprofit was fired for promoting vaccines on the MSNBC 'Morning Joe' cable news show.... Daniel Darling, senior vice president of communications for the National Religious Broadcasters, was fired Friday (Aug. 27) after refusing to back down from his pro-vaccine statements, according to a source authorized to speak for Darling.... During a broadcast on Aug. 2, Darling, an evangelical pastor and author, told host Joe Scarborough about how his faith motivated him to get a COVID-19 vaccine. Darling described the vaccines as an amazing feat of discovery by scientists, some of whom share his Christian faith. Darling said he was proud to be vaccinated.... Earlier this week, leaders at NRB, an international association of Christian communicators with 1,100 member organizations, told Darling his statements violated the organization's policy of remaining neutral about COVID-19 vaccines. According to the source, Darling was given two options -- sign a statement admitting he had been insubordinate or be fired. When he refused to sign a statement, Darling was fired and given no severance, the source told RNS."
Florida. Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "A Florida judge ruled Friday that Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration overstepped its authority in restricting school districts from enacting mask mandates after parents sued officials amid a surge in coronavirus infections. Judge John C. Cooper of Florida's 2nd Circuit sided with parents from six Florida counties who challenged DeSantis (R) and state education officials in court this week, arguing that the governor's order infringes on classroom safety guaranteed by the state's constitution. In a milestone decision in the heated debate about mask mandates in Florida, Cooper declared that the state cannot require districts to offer voluntary mandates over 'the preservation of general welfare.'... The injunction is expected to go into effect as early as next week and will bar the Education Department from punishing school districts for not complying with a Health Department rule requiring those with mask mandates to offer an opt-out option." ~~~
~~~ Texas. KVUE (Austin): "A Travis County [Austin] judge has issued a temporary injunction order against Gov. Greg Abbott and his ban on mask mandates, according to court documents.... The Austin American-Statesman reported that lawyers say Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has already appealed Judge Catherine Mauzy's ruling. Mauzy's order says that the challengers made a sufficient showing' that Abbott is not authorized to declare by executive fiat that school districts are prohibited from requiring masks to be worn. According to the judge, Abbott's ban was unlawful and exceeded his authority of the Texas Constitution."
Georgia. Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "A captain at the Wayne County Sheriff's Office who promoted anti-vaccination propaganda on his Facebook page has died from COVID-19. Local news station WSAV reports that Capt. Joe Manning died this week at the age of 57 after what Sheriff Chuck Moseley described as a brief battle with COVID-19.... On August 14th, for instance, Manning posted a meme that stated, 'If we lose on vaccines we will completely lose our right to sovereignty over our own bodies.' That very same day, Manning informed his friends that 'Wayne Feed and Seed has some liquid and past Ivermectin get it while supplies last.'"
Texas. "Freedom Fighter" Now Fighting for His Life. Josephine Harvey of Yahoo! News: "A Texas man who helped organize protests against pandemic restrictions is fighting for his life after being hospitalized for nearly a month with COVID-19, the San Angelo Standard-Times reported.... Caleb Wallace, a 30-year-old father of three, has been unconscious, ventilated and heavily sedated in the ICU at Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo since Aug. 8, the Standard-Times reported.... In July 2020, Caleb Wallace reportedly helped organize a 'freedom rally' that billed itself as a protest against the 'government being in control of our lives.' He also founded the San Angelo Freedom Defenders, which hosted a separate rally last year to 'end COVID tyranny.'... When he first felt symptoms on July 26, his wife told the Standard-Times, he refused to get tested or seek medical care. He instead began treating himself with a cocktail of Vitamin C, zinc, aspirin and ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug that has been falsely promoted as an effective treatment for COVID-19 by conservative media. He was taken to the hospital on July 30."
Wisconsin. Maria Paul of the Washington Post: "... the Waukesha School District board decided to opt out of a federally funded program that would give free meals to all students regardless of family income. The board voted June 9 to return to the pre-pandemic National School Lunch Program, which offers free and reduced-price lunches to students who apply and receive federal money for them. Waukesha is the only eligible school district in the state to eschew the funding.... Since June, the Alliance for Education in Waukesha, about 900 parents and teachers who connected over social media, has pressed the district to switch back to the 'universal' or free-for-everyone meals after board members decried the program's potential to produce an 'addiction' to the service -- a stigma that some experts have disproved.... Karin Rajnicek, a school board member, said the free program made it easy for families to 'become spoiled.'" MB: Yes, because there's nothing like a full stomach to spoil a child.
Beyond the Beltway
Texas. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "A police officer in Austin, Texas, who was charged with murdering a man in April 2020 has been charged with murdering another man about nine months earlier, prosecutors said on Friday. The latest indictments charge the officer, Christopher Taylor, 29, and another officer, Karl Krycia, 28, with murder and deadly conduct in the fatal shooting of Mauris DeSilva, 46, who had been holding a knife in the hallway of his condominium complex on July 31, 2019. The charges came five months after Officer Taylor had been charged with fatally shooting Michael Ramos, 42, outside an Austin apartment complex on April 24, 2020. The killing of Mr. Ramos, who was Black and Hispanic, set off protests against police violence in Austin about a month before the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis catalyzed global demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism. Mr. DeSilva had severe mental illness and had been holding a knife to his neck when people in the building called 911, according to a lawsuit filed by his father that accuses Officers Taylor and Krycia of knowing that Mr. DeSilva was experiencing a mental health crisis and yet still responding 'as if this were the scene of a violent crime.'"
News Ledes
Weather Channel: "Hurricane Ida is forecast to rapidly intensify into a major hurricane as it draws closer to the northern Gulf Coast this weekend, where it will bring life-threatening storm surge, dangerous rainfall flooding, potentially catastrophic winds and tornadoes. Ida is currently centered 510 miles southeast of New Orleans and is tracking northwest at just over 15 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 80 mph, making Ida a Category 1 hurricane. Interests along the northern Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Alabama should monitor Ida's progress closely and finish hurricane preparations on Saturday." MB: Sunday is the 16th anniversary of the day Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. ~~~
~~~ The New York Times is live-updating Hurricane Ida developments Saturday: "Hurricane Ida, the rapidly intensifying storm barreling toward Louisiana, could be one of the most powerful to hit the state in more than a century, meteorologists and state officials warned on Saturday. 'We can sum it up by saying this will be one of the strongest hurricanes to hit anywhere in Louisiana since at least the 1850s,' said Gov. John Bel Edwards at a news conference, warning residents that their window to evacuate the area was closing." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates of Ida on Saturday are here.
Guardian: "A stubborn wildfire continued its slow march toward the Lake Tahoe resort region, as crews worked in rugged terrain to hold the lines of the blaze. Gusty winds complicated the battle against the Caldor fire on Friday, while dry conditions made vegetation ready to burn. The fire has already consumed more than 143,900 acres and destroyed 469 homes and is just 12% contained. The fire has been the nation's top firefighting priority because of its proximity to Lake Tahoe. Home to thousands, the alpine lake on the California-Nevada border is a prime tourist destination that has been particularly popular during the pandemic. Flames churned through mountains just south-west of the Tahoe Basin on Friday, blanketing the area in smoke at a time when summer vacations should be in full swing."
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Reader Comments (8)
YIPPEE! We are back in bizz-in-ness. I thank Marie for her concern (we battened down the hatches just as she did –-removed outside potential flying objects–- to prepare for the hurricane which in my area and in hers, I think, turned out to be just a ruckus storm.
I am curious as to the reason Squarespace (I always want to say Squarepants) screwed up.
Anyway let's see how many in this R.C. family returns to the fold. Perhaps they were, as I was, unable to post for one reason or another. And kudos to those who kept the comments flowing and most of all a big bunch of flowers for our mistress of the miserable news she endures and puts up here every day.
THANK YOU.
Can't resist:
"So God is agnostic on vaccines?
Good to know the Big Guy is one of those wishy-washy types (liberals?) who doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Wouldn't want to offend. Bad for business.
My great fear this morning is that He has entirely lost his spine. Who knows what might come next? Next thing we may hear is that homosexuality isn't so bad and maybe guns do kill people.
Then there are all those Commandments. What's to happen with them?
What does an agnostic injunction look like? Something along the lines of "Maybe thou shalt not kill?"
In our enlightened times, those Commandments do need a little work, but I have full faith in the Lord. He'll get there."
That was easy.
Well, Ken, the Lord is mighty busy lately instilling crazy theories onto those whose sense of humanity seems to have flown the coop. Just came a across this gem:
The Waukesha School district in Wisconsin has rejected federally funded lunches for all students. You read this and say to your self–-nah, that can't be right even though you know nitwits like Ron Johnson represents Wisconsin so anything is possible. You read on and discover the reason: We are spoiling children by giving them free lunches! Imagine the kind of thinking and feeling that went into this statement. I find this, as I find so much of late, beyond comprehension.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/waukesha-district-universal-free-school-lunches-spoiled_n_61299da5e4b0f562f3de34cf
And here in my own state of Connecticut there was a story in the local rag about crowds of parents screaming at our governor, Ned Lamont, for mandating masks in schools. So looks like the fatuous fever has spread even in liberal states where you just might find feed stores running out of that animal de-wormer now touted as a cure for Covid in humans. It's enough to wonder if we are witnessing the demise of anything resembling that thing called TRUTH.
PD,
I think you may be on to something with your Squarepants idea! It could be that the proprietor of this space is the famous Sponge Bob Squarepants. Since he’s a sea creature he must, perforce, be subject to the effects of climate change. That being the case, the warming ocean waters pro’bly put him to sleep. Or maybe a boat load of confederate climate denying anti-vaxxers hit him in the head with empty booze bottles tossed over the side and knocked him out for ten days.
In any event, we’re all glad that Sponge Bob is back in business.
And now I’m thinking Marie oughta demand a rebate for the recent inconvenience, either that or sue the squarepants off those winger party goers. Fargin’ bastages!
"If God had intended for us to cover our nose and mouth with a
mask, He would have made us that way", says the woman on the
telly who is wearing glasses (and clothes).
The Gov. Newsom recall could have some dire consequences if I
understand it correctly. If he is replaced by a Republican and if
Sen. Diane Feinstein, who is 88 years old, should become
incapacitated, the new R. Gov. would replace her with an
R. Senator, giving control of the Senate back to Mitch (obstructionist)
McConnell.
Somehow this sounds like going around the will of the voters.
I'm thinking they should have a say in who represents them in D.C.
Remember who the Fed holds water for: Its (their) event is held in a hotel started by John D. Rockefeller Jr. Nuff said.
The Defense Dept. kill list in Afghanistan: there are good solid reasons to not trust governments. Figuring out the rhyme or reason of when to trust governments can confound the highest ranking individuals to the lowest.
With C-19 cases soaring in Florida schools, governor DeSantis is continuing his war against mask mandates by the school districts. I just wish some journalist would come out and ask him what is his acceptable level for C-19 infection, illness, and deaths in our schools.
We in NorCal are beyond distressed at the cynical move by the CA repugs to carry off a coup by ballot. The legislation that enabled it is inconceivably moronic,but moreso the failure of the Dems to make sure that there would be only one D on the back half of the ballot having 24 Rs vs 9 Ds. If the recall succeeds, the one with the most votes, could be less than 5%, wins. As Barbie said: Math class is hard.