;)
The Commentariat -- August 30, 2021
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Elvis Has Left the Building
~~~ Robert Burns & Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan late Monday, ending America's longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, some barely older than the war. Hours ahead of President Joe Biden's Tuesday deadline for shutting down a final airlift, and thus ending the U.S. war, Air Force transport planes carried a remaining contingent of troops from Kabul airport.... In announcing the completion of the evacuation and war effort. Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said the last planes took off from Kabul airport at 3:29 p.m. Washington time, or one minute before midnight in Kabul. He said a number of American citizens, likely numbering in 'the very low hundreds,' were left behind, and that he believes they will still be able to leave the country." ~~~
~~~ From the New York Times' live updates, also linked below: "The last vestiges of the American presence in Afghanistan have departed Kabul airport, ending an occupation that resulted in a complete takeover of the country by the adversary the U.S. military spent two decades fighting, U.S. military officials said. In recent days, American military leaders said the United States would continue evacuation efforts and fully withdraw by Aug. 31. But those efforts were wrapped up a full day early. Evacuation flights ended on Monday, and the military finished packing everything it intended to fly out of the airport onto transport planes before loading the remaining U.S. service members onto planes for departure."
Ohio. Jake Zuckerman of the Ohio Capital Journal: "A Butler County judge ruled in favor of a woman last week who sought to force a hospital to administer Ivermectin -- an animal dewormer that federal regulators have warned against using in COVID-19 patients -- to her husband after several weeks in the ICU with the disease. Butler County Common Pleas Judge Gregory Howard ordered West Chester Hospital, part of the University of Cincinnati network, to treat Jeffrey Smith, 51, with Ivermectin. The order, filed Aug. 23, compels the hospital to provide Smith with 30mg of Ivermectin daily for three weeks. The drug was originally developed to deworm livestock animals before doctors began using it against parasitic diseases among humans. Several researchers won a Nobel Prize in 2015 for establishing its efficacy in humans. It's used to treat head lice, onchocerciasis (river blindness) and others. Both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned Americans against the use of Ivermectin to treat COVID-19, a viral disease. It"s unproven as a treatment, they say, and large doses of it can be dangerous and cause serious harm."
Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Federal researchers will not objectively study ivermectin as a treatment for Covid-19, the Kentucky senator Rand Paul claimed, because 'hatred for Donald Trump' has tainted their view of those who say the drug used to deworm horses can aid the fight against the pandemic. Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic, does have uses in humans, to treat worms, lice and skin problems.... It is not proven to combat Covid-19." MB: Okay, Rand, Donald claims he singlehandedly caused Covid-19 vaccines to be developed quickly. So why don't federal regulators ban vaccines because of "hatred for Donald Trump"?
A Hoax that Proved Deadly. David Gilbert of Vice: "Robert David Steele, a former CIA officer turned conspiracy theorist who claimed to be the first person to call COVID-19 a hoax, has died from COVID-19. Steele, who was among the earliest QAnon promoters and helped the conspiracy theory move from the fringes of the internet into the mainstream, was hospitalized with symptoms of COVID-19 earlier this month. But he continued to spread anti-vaccine and COVID-denial conspiracy theories until the end.
Laura Smith-Spark, et al., of CNN: "Nine members of one family -- including six children -- were killed in a US drone strike targeting a vehicle in a residential neighborhood of Kabul, a relative of the dead told a local journalist working with CNN. The US carried out a defensive airstrike in Kabul, targeting a suspected ISIS-K suicide bomber who posed an 'imminent' threat to the airport, US Central Command said Sunday. The youngest killed was a 2-year-old girl, according to a brother of the one of those killed. They were 'an ordinary family,' he said. 'We are not ISIS or Daesh and this was a family home -- where my brothers lived with their families.'"
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The Washington Post's live updates of developments in Afghanistan Monday are here: "Rockets were fired at Kabul airport early Monday but as many as five were intercepted by a missile defense system, highlighting the continual threat to the international rescue mission ahead of the Aug. 31 deadline for American troops to pull out. There were no initial reports of U.S. casualties, reported Reuters, citing an unidentified American official. A Taliban spokesman said that there were no reports of Afghan deaths and that the Islamist group was investigating the attack." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates of developments in Afghanistan Monday are here. The New York Times' live updates Monday are here. ~~~
~~~ Hannah Ellis-Petersen of the Guardian: "Several rockets were fired at Kabul airport on Monday, less than 48 hours before the United States is due to complete its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Eyewitnesses said the rockets were launched from a car and were aimed towards the airport on Monday morning. It appears Salim Karwan, a neighbourhood adjacent to the airport, was hit in one of the blasts. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack."
Lara Jakes of the New York Times: "The United States and 97 other countries said on Sunday that they would continue to take in people fleeing Afghanistan after the American military departs this week and had secured an agreement with the Taliban to allow safe passage for those who are leaving. The Taliban's chief negotiator, Sher Mohammed Abas Stanekzai, had announced on Friday that the group would not stop people from departing, no matter their nationality or whether they had worked for the United States during the 20-year war. The joint statement released on Sunday on behalf of more than half of the world's governments and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said that they had 'received assurances from the Taliban' that people with travel documents showing they were clear to enter any of those countries could safely depart. The countries also pledged to 'continue issuing travel documentation to designated Afghans' and cited a 'clear expectation of and commitment from the Taliban' of their safe passage.... Notably missing from the statement were Russia and China, two permanent members of the U.N. Security Council who have pledged to help the Taliban rebuild Afghanistan." The Hill's story is here.
Aamer Madhani of the AP: "President Joe Biden met in solemn privacy Sunday with the families of the 13 U.S. troops killed in the suicide attack near the Kabul airport as the remains of their loved ones returned to U.S. soil from Afghanistan. Biden and first lady Jill Biden were also to attend the 'dignified transfer' of the fallen troops while at Dover Air Force Base, a military ritual of receiving the remains of those killed in foreign combat." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here.
Kathy Gannon, et al., of the AP: "A U.S. drone strike Sunday struck a vehicle carrying 'multiple suicide bombers' from Afghanistan's Islamic State affiliate before they could target the ongoing military evacuation at Kabul's international airport, American officials said. There were few initial details about the incident, as well as a rocket that struck a neighborhood just northwest of the airport, killing a child. The Taliban initially described the two strikes as separate incidents, though information on both remained scarce and witnesses heard only one large blast Sunday in the Afghan capital." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ David Zucchino of the New York Times: "A U.S. drone strike on Sunday destroyed an explosives-laden vehicle that the Pentagon said posed an imminent threat to Afghanistan's main airport, as the massive airlift of Afghans fleeing Taliban rule shut down just two days before the scheduled final withdrawal of American forces. Afghans said the drone strike killed as many as nine civilians, including children, and the U.S. military said it was investigating the assertions. The U.S.-led coalition told Afghans awaiting transport out of the country that for them the airlift was over. 'We regret to inform you that international military evacuations from Kabul airport have ended,' it said in a text message sent late Saturday night, 'and we are no longer able to call anyone forward for evacuation flights. 'The airlift has flown more than 117,000 people out of the country since Aug. 14, most of them Afghans, and some Afghans may already be in the airport waiting for flights, but it is leaving untold thousands behind. The desperate, dangerous scramble to reach Kabul's international airport and the deadly attack there last Thursday by an Islamic State branch have defined the chaotic and bloody end to America's longest war."
Farnaz Fassihi of the New York Times: "Hundreds of students and alumni of American University of Afghanistan gathered at a safe house on Sunday and boarded buses in what was supposed to be a final attempt at evacuation on U.S. military flights, students and alumni said. But after seven hours of waiting for clearance to enter the airport gates and driving around the city, the group met a dead end: Evacuations were permanently called off. The airport gates remained a security threat, and civilian evacuations were ending Monday.... [An] email asked the 600 or so students and alumni to return home. The U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan must be completed by a Tuesday deadline, so the U.S. military is turning from evacuating civilians to bringing its own personnel home. The group was then alarmed to learn that the university had shared a list of names and passport information of hundreds of students and alumni with the Taliban guarding the airport checkpoints, said four students...."
David Edwards of the Raw Story: "During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell argued that the Afghanistan war had been a 'complete success' and that the U.S. could safely maintain an indefinite military presence in the country with just 2,500 troops. But [host Chris] Wallace pointed out that President Joe Biden's Pentagon advisers have said that at least 10,000 more troops would be required if the war continues.... McConnell insisted that the assessment was 'totally not accurate.'"
Sammy Westfall & Paulina Villegas of the Washington Post: "Marine Corps Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, who was relieved of command after a video of him criticizing senior U.S. officials for 'failures' in Afghanistan went viral, said Sunday that he will be leaving the Marine Corps after 17 years. 'All I asked for was accountability of my senior leaders when there are clear, obvious mistakes that were made,' he said in a video posted on LinkedIn this weekend."
A Marine & His Dogs. Gina Harkins of the Washington Post: Former British Royal Marine Paul "Pen" Farthing, who ran an animal shelter in Afghanistan, airlifted dogs & cats to Heathrow airport in a private plane, apparently after the Taliban let the dogs out, but not Farthing's staff. He vows to evacuate his human friends, too. "But some British leaders said Farthing was pulling precious resources from the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Kabul.... British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace ... [said] that Farthing's supporters had 'taken up too much time of my senior commanders.'"
Prospect of Hard Evidence Makes Jungle Gym Jordan Change His Story. Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "... Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) confessed to a Politico reporter that he probably had multiple talks with the president that day instead of just one. In July, Jordan claimed, 'I spoke with him that day, after? I think after. I don't know if I spoke with him in the morning or not. I just don't know.... I don't know when those conversations happened,' reported Rolling Stone. According to Politico's Olivia Beavers, the Ohio conservative is altering his story on the heels of the House select committee on the Jan 6th insurrection asking phone companies for records on phone calls during that day.... Politico's Playbook is reporting, 'Look, I definitely spoke to the president that day. I don't recall -- I know it was more than once, I just don't recall the times,' Jordan explained when pressed." MB: Jordan is like criminals in murder mysteries; under questioning, they claim they didn't speak to someone during a critical time period -- till the detective shows them their phone records. Cuff him! ~~~
~~~ According to the Politico report, which is down the page here, "After a group of lawmakers were evacuated from the House chamber to a safe room on Jan. 6, Jordan was joined by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for a call during which they implored Trump to tell his supporters to stand down, per a source with knowledge of that call. The source declined to say how Trump responded to this request."
Marie: If you think a news story seems bizarre, it's probably more bizarre than you think. ~~~
~~~ The Lady Disappears. Matt Shuham of TPM: As we've learned, "Tina Peters, the clerk in conservative Mesa County, Colorado, [is] now under investigation for allegedly helping facilitate the leak of sensitive election software information to a QAnon influencer.... Peters ... has acknowledged taking digital images of her election machines' hard drives both before and after a May 25 software update [in an effort to prove election law violations.... But] someone [else] in the room took surreptitious video and pictures[, too]." Next, QAnon Guy Ron Watkins released footage of the sensitive hard drive on his Telegram account, and investigators swarmed Peters' office. Meanwhile, Peters went to speak at Mike Lindell's flop of a "cyber-symposium"; in keeping with the theme of the event -- "Cyber-symposium Flops" -- Peters' 'revelations" of election-machine irregularities were "unimpressive." But wait. A story set in Colorado & South Dakota surely needs ... a surfer! Back on stage, QAnon Guy suddenly alleged surfer Conan Hayes had stolen the Mesa County harddrives. Whereupon, whereupon, "Tina Peters leaped to the stage, denying that any county property had left her office -- and seemingly setting off a recording of a duck quacking.... And then, and then -- Peters disappeared! And who helped her in this dramatic after-act? Why, Mike Lindell, the MyPillow Guy. He first ferried Peters to Texas, then accidentally leaked her location, then moved her again. Tune in for the next exciting episode. Will officers find Tina? Or is she in disguise, hanging out in a wetsuit & hanging ten of them toes over the edge of a surfboard? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Geoffrey Fowler of the Washington Post: Even if you never use Facebook, Facebook is collecting intimate details (your brand of underwear!) about you. "Facebook has become too big to escape.... Facebook is so big, it has convinced millions of other businesses, apps and websites to also snoop on its behalf. Even when you're not actively using Facebook. Even when you're not online. Even, perhaps, if you've never had a Facebook account.... Facebook provides its business partners tracking software they embed in apps, websites and loyalty programs. Any business or group that needs to do digital advertising has little choice but to feed your activities into Facebook's vacuum: your grocer, politicians and, yes, even the paywall page for this newspaper's website. Behind the scenes, Facebook takes in this data and tries to match it up to your account.... Facebook may be free, but you pay for it with your privacy. And Facebook keeps raising the price."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here: "The daily average for hospitalized Covid-19 patients in the United States is now more than 100,000. That average, calculated over the last seven days, is higher than in any previous surge except last winter's, before most Americans were eligible to get vaccinated.... Hospitalizations nationwide have increased by nearly 500 percent in the past two months, particularly across Southern states, where I.C.U. beds are filling up, a crisis fueled by some of the country's lowest vaccination rates and widespread political opposition to public health measures like mask requirements." ~~~
~~~ Update: The NYT's stand-alone story, by Dan Levin, on the 100,000+ daily average of new cases is here.
~~~ Mississippi. Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "... the health care system in the nation's poorest state is close to buckling under the latest avalanche of cases triggered by the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus.... The current coronavirus spike has hit the South hard, but a combination of poverty and politics made Mississippi uniquely unprepared to handle what is now the worst coronavirus outbreak in the nation. The state has fewer active physicians per capita than any other. Five rural hospitals have closed in the past decade, and 35 more are at imminent risk of closing, according to an assessment from a nonprofit health care quality agency. There are 2,000 fewer nurses in Mississippi today than there were at the beginning of the year, according to the state hospital association.... Mississippi has waged decades of political battles over health care policy.... Most crucially, the state rejected a proposal to expand Medicaid.... What Mississippi has been left with, after years of infighting, is a system believed to be the weakest in the nation."
Florida. Mark Harper of the Daytona Beach News-Journal: "Marc Bernier, a talk radio host in Daytona Beach for 30 years, died after a three-week battle with COVID-19, WNDB and Southern Stone Communications announced on Twitter Saturday night. Bernier, 65, of Ormond Beach, has been remembered in recent days as a conservative who sought out and aired others' points of view while airing a morning comment, three-hour afternoon show, weekend shows and specials.... He also was an outspoken opponent of vaccinations." Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Texas. Fake "Freedom Defender" Dies. AP: "A man who led efforts in his Central Texas community against mask wearing and other preventative measures during the coronavirus pandemic has died from COVID-19, one month after being admitted to the emergency room. Caleb Wallace died on Saturday, his wife Jessica Wallace said on a GoFundMe page where she had been posting updates on his condition, the San Angelo Standard-Times reported Saturday. He was 30 years old and a father of three children. His wife is pregnant with their fourth child." More on Caleb Wallace in yesterday's Commentariat. MB: Let's see. He's 30 years old, has three children, a pregnant wife who had to rely on GoFundMe to survive, he refuses the vaccine, takes horse dewormer & Vitamin C instead, encourages others to put themselves & associates at risk. Everything about this guy was irresponsible. I don't "wish him dead," as his wife implies; I wish he had behaved like a responsible adult so he'd still be alive & he'd have a family he took care of. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Ledes
New York Times: "Rescue teams fanned out across Louisiana on Monday searching for people left stranded in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, even as New Orleans emerged from its most serious onslaught since Hurricane Katrina confident that its levees had held. While city residents could take a measure of relief at having dodged a catastrophic flood, several surrounding communities remained cut off by the storm, with the extent of the devastation in those areas still coming into focus. More than a million people, including most of New Orleans, were left without electricity, more than 300,000 were without water and some 2,000 were in shelters, officials said." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Appreciated some of the comments I heard on the teevee from the Man on the Flooded Street, which ran to, "Wow! We never thought it was gonna be this bad. We thought we was gonna die." Yeah, how could they have known? ~~~
~~~ Weather Channel: "Roads are covered in water, buildings have been ripped apart and rescue calls were coming in after Hurricane Ida roared ashore in southeastern Louisiana Sunday with crushing storm surge and extreme winds. The storm made landfall near Port Fourchon and is ripping a path of destruction as it marches inland." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates of storm developments Monday are here. The New York Times' live updates are here. ~~~
~~~ The New Orleans Times-Picayune front page has links to numerous stories. MB: I don't know whether or not these -- or some of these -- are firewalled. ~~~
~~~ AP: "A fearsome Hurricane Ida left scores of coastal Louisiana residents trapped by floodwaters and pleading to be rescued Monday while making a shambles of the electrical grid across a wide swath of the state in the sweltering, late-summer heat. One of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the U.S. mainland weakened into a tropical storm overnight as it pushed inland over Mississippi with torrential rain and shrieking winds, its danger far from over. Ida was blamed for at least one death -- someone hit by a falling tree outside Baton Rouge -- but the full extent of its fury was still coming into focus at daybreak." ~~~
Near St. Pius Church, Marrero, Louisiana. ~~~ New York Times photographers dispatched to Louisiana to document some of the damage. Marie: In the one photo, there is a sign of eternal hope: it appears Very White Jesus has been saved, if just barely. There is little to laugh about in a hurricane/flood situation, and I don't mean to make light of this great difficulty, but that photo did cause me to laugh out loud. I can see where a lot of people would not find this at all funny.
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Reader Comments (9)
Perhaps a new message from the health care group should be:
Attention to all you anti-vaccers: If you don't want to get vaccinated or wear masks because you "believe in your freedom" then here's what we have in store for you. Go the way of Caleb Wallace who advocated the same as you and has since died of Covid leaving behind a pregnant wife, and three small children whose Go Fund Me page begs for help. You, too, can leave this world pretty darn quickly just like many who like Caleb Wallace, fought like hell to preserve that something which is nothing but childish resistance. But a warning here: Beds are full, hospitals close their doors, and you will end up in a plastic bag in a big cooler truck ––just one of many heaped up in a stack. Now–-if that's how you want to end your days–-that's your business but keep in mind your business is killing others also so not only are you suicidal you are a murderer.
Cut to commercial.........
Another way to get through to the unvaccinated would be for
insurance companies to notify those anti- and un- that their
insurance charges will be doubled without proof of vaccination.
The average cost for a short ICU stay is $40,000.00. How many
of those people will lose their homes if they even survive?
The only way to make some people understand is to hit them in
the pocketbook, because you can't reason with them. You can't
convince them that they're killers until their family dies and even
then they won't admit their stupidity.
Forrest,
But even the pocketbook argument is lost on many.
While resenting the social safety net for others, they rely on it for themselves, because they deserve it.
And as all believers know know, the Lord (or Uncle Sam) will provide.
Delta Airlines has already taken Forrest's advice. It's charging all its employees who aren't fully vaccinated an extra $200 a month for health insurance.
I’m gonna bet that a lot of the antivax folks don’t have health insurance.
So let them pay retail for the cost of their COVID treatment.
THE BEASTS OF BURDENS:
The Lincoln Project high lights the creatures of the Party of Cockleburs that stick and stink and are poisoning our system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2xzzHfw94
It seemed to me to be a disbarment offense for a judge to order a hospital to administer a drug off-label, a la Ohio/Ivermectin/Butlr.
And it probably is.
But when you read the actual order (not the stories), the judge ordered the hospital to fill and execute the prescription of one of the patient's physicians. The judge didn't order the drug, just that the prescribing Dr. can determine treatment, even if that is whack.
Which highlights a problem in US medicine -- any MD with prescription authority can prescribe any drug off label without challenge by a pharmacist. "Off label" means that Doc X can prescribe (human) Ivermectin for whooping cough, measles, tetanus, piles, toe fungus, whatever, based on a judgment that it might work and won't do further harm.
If the situations get bad, (i.e. lots of crazy scrips and dead people in the county) hospitals can take Doc X off the list of those with the necessary authority, but it has to get pretty bad. The med board can pull Doc's license. After many deaths.
And, of course, how this actually works, and what the law is, varies from state to state.
Personally, I'm looking into witch doctors, but that's just me.
Anent doctors:
Part of a 14 page Power Point presentation my doctor son who is also on the local school board is preparing for his district which has experienced a little mask blowback as the school year opens.
This particular phrase (slightly edited) is directed at those who cited one of those whack-witch doctors Patrick refers to.
"Read critically. Don't trust a doctor who cannot back up his or her opinions with solid research or a doctor you have not worked with for a long time and come to trust. Especially, don't trust them just because they appeared on TV, look like you, or agree with what you already believe."
His version had a slightly harsher tone.
Jungle Gym Jordan. What a putz. I sure hope that his anal sphincter is starting to flutter.
He doesn't know when or how many times he attempted to communicate with TFG on Jan. 6th. Yeah, right.
Anyone with an Android or iPhone knows how to use their phone app. One, tap on the keyboard icon to enter a number. Two, scroll down the list of recent calls sent and received, sorted in chronological order from newest to oldest, to select the one you want. Three, scroll down your list of contacts and their details to view a time-sequenced list of calls and texts.
He has the answer to his confusion at hand. That is, unless he deleted the entries from his device. (Which doesn't mean that they were deleted from his provider's server, their records accessible via subpoena.)
My question is: how is TFG listed on his Contact list? Under DL, for Dear Leader?