>The puppets are starting to become aware of the hand up their backsides.
What's that tingly sensation in my guts? Is that someone's fingertips? Why does my butthole hurt so much? Who's hand is that?
Schadenfreude
This Audit Is Bad And You Should Feel Bad
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs released an analysis of the state Senate GOP’s incoming report from its so-called “audit” of the 2020 election results carried out by Cyber Ninjas, a firm led by a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist.
https://azsos.gov/sites/default/files/2020_Ballot_Review_Report_ver20210819-03_Review.pdf
>https://azsos.gov/sites/default/files/2020_Ballot_Review_Report_ver20210819-03_Review.pdf
>https://azsos.gov/sites/default/files/2020_Ballot_Review_Report_ver20210819-03_Review.pdf
All credible audits are characterized by controls, access, and transparency that allow for
the processes and procedures to be replicated, if necessary. These standards are all
the more important in a post-election audit, where the outcome affects our democracy.
As this report has described, the review conducted by the Senate’s contractors has
consistently lacked all three of these factors. Procedures have been modified and
changed throughout, observer and media access has been inconsistent and limited, and
the process has been opaque. This exercise has been a partisan political review of the
2020 General Election for President and U.S. Senator in Maricopa County. It was
unnecessary and has undermined public confidence in accurate and secure elections
that were conducted in 2020.
Maricopa County conducted both statutorily required, as well as voluntary pre- and post-
election tests and audits. In an attempt to assure the public, the county also had not
one, but two independent, accredited Voting Systems Test Labs conduct an audit of the
ballots and equipment involved in the 2020 General Election. The election results also
withstood legal scrutiny, when, in multiple lawsuits challenging the results of the
election, judge after judge found that there was no credible evidence of wrong-doing or
widespread fraud during the 2020 General Election.
Senators Fann and Peterson insisted on conducting this review despite the long-lasting
damage their actions are having on these democratic institutions. Similar attempts to
undermine the election results are spreading to other states and communities purely
because some elected leaders refuse to accept the results of the election and tell their
constituents the truth – that the 2020 election cycle was secure.
It is clear that any “outcomes” or “conclusions” that are reported from the Senate’s
review, by the Cyber Ninjas or any of their subcontractors or partners, are unreliable. As
such, it is imperative that leaders across the state and country proclaim that the 2020
General Election was fair and accurate. The voters in Maricopa County turned out,
despite ongoing challenges, and made their voices heard. The right to vote is a
preeminent feature of American democracy and must be honored.
>it is imperative that leaders across the state and country proclaim that the 2020 General Election was fair and accurate
>https://nypost.com/2021/08/21/ex-massachusetts-police-captain-francis-hart-arrested-on-child-porn-charges
Former Massachusetts State Police captain arrested on child porn charges
A retired Massachusetts State Police Captain has been arrested on child pornography charges, the state attorney general’s office announced on Friday.
Francis Hart, 60, of Amhert, pleaded not guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography, and was released after posting $2,500 cash bail on the condition that he have no contact with minors and no internet access outside of public devices.
According to the DA’s office, state police from the department’s Cyber Crimes Unit began investigating Hart in January, after they were tipped off by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an email address traced to Hart had uploaded images believed contain child pornography.
Officers seized various electronic devices during a search warrant executed at Hart’s home which contained images of alleged child pornography.
He was arrested Thursday.
The investigation is ongoing, the DA’s office said.
A pretrial conference has been scheduled for October 22
https://www.mass.gov/news/former-massachusetts-state-police-captain-arrested-arraigned-on-child-pornography-charges
>https://www.mass.gov/news/former-massachusetts-state-police-captain-arrested-arraigned-on-child-pornography-charges
Press Release Former Massachusetts State Police Captain Arrested, Arraigned on Child Pornography Charges
A retired detective captain with the Massachusetts State Police has been arrested and arraigned in connection with allegedly possessing child pornography, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today.
Francis Hart, 60, of Amherst, was arraigned today in Eastern Hampshire District Court on the charge of Possession of Child Pornography (2 counts). Hart pleaded not guilty to the charge and was released after posting a $2,500 cash bail with the conditions that he have no contact with any child under the age of 18 and have no internet access other than on public devices that prohibit access to illegal sites or illegal content.
Hart will be back in Eastern Hampshire District Court on October 22 for a pretrial conference.
State Police assigned to the Cyber Crimes Unit and the AG’s Office began an investigation in January after receiving information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an email address registered to Hart had uploaded a file containing numerous images of suspected child pornography.
Hart was arrested Thursday at his Amherst residence. During the execution of a search warrant, police seized various digital devices. Subsequent investigation of the devices revealed alleged images of child pornography.
This investigation is ongoing. These charges are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Colleen Monroe and Stephanie Jimenez, both of AG Healey’s Criminal Bureau, with assistance from Massachusetts State Police assigned to the AG’s Office, Massachusetts State Police Cyber Crimes and Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Amherst Police, and the AG’s Digital Evidence Laboratory.
>https://twitter.com/julie_kelly2/status/1428855812982820870
https://twitter.com/EricFlackTV/status/1428845957488291840
https://twitter.com/DrScottHadland
https://twitter.com/DrScottHadland/status/1313825352209367041
I tend to keep my personal life off Twitter, but our new daughter was born this week, and I can’t stop beaming and want to share my family with the world.
https://twitter.com/DrScottHadland/status/1428698556030988294
My kids and your kids are going to grow up in a planet that we and the adults that came before us have trashed. Millennials: It's up to us to hand down something better than we were given.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/opinion/climate-un-report-greta-thunberg.html
Guest Essay
This Is the World Being Left to Us by Adults
Aug. 19, 2021
By Greta Thunberg, Adriana Calderón, Farzana Faruk Jhumu and Eric Njuguna
The authors are youth climate activists from Sweden, Mexico, Bangladesh and Kenya, working with the international youth-led Fridays For Future movement.
Last week, some of the world’s leading climate change scientists confirmed that humans are making irreversible changes to our planet and extreme weather will only become more severe. This news is a “code red for humanity,” said the United Nations secretary general.
It is — but young people like us have been sounding this alarm for years. You just haven’t listened.
On Aug. 20, 2018, one child staged a lone protest outside the Swedish Parliament, expecting to stay for three weeks. Tomorrow we will mark three years since Greta Thunberg’s strike. Even earlier, brave young people from around the world spoke out about the climate crisis in their communities. And today, millions of children and young people have united in a movement with one voice, demanding that decision makers do the work necessary to save our planet from the unprecedented heat waves, massive floods and vast wildfires we are increasingly witnessing. Our protest will not end until the inaction does.
For children and young people, climate change is the single greatest threat to our futures. We are the ones who will have to clean up the mess you adults have made, and we are the ones who are more likely to suffer now. Children are more vulnerable than adults to the dangerous weather events, diseases and other harms caused by climate change, which is why a new analysis released Friday by UNICEF is so important.
The Children’s Climate Risk Index provides the first comprehensive view of where and how this crisis affects children. It ranks countries based on children’s exposure to climate and environmental shocks, as well as their underlying vulnerability to those shocks.
It finds that virtually every child on the planet is exposed to at least one climate or environmental hazard right now. A staggering 850 million, about a third of all the world’s children, are exposed to four or more climate or environmental hazards, including heat waves, cyclones, air pollution, flooding or water scarcity. A billion children, nearly half the children in the world, live in “extremely high risk” countries, the UNICEF researchers report.
This is the world being left to us. But there is still time to change our climate future. Around the world, our movement of young activists continues to grow.
In Bangladesh, Tahsin Uddin, 23, saw the impacts of climate change in his village and other coastal areas and was moved to action. He is passionate about climate education and has created a network of young journalists and educators to spread awareness, all while organizing cleanups of waterways teeming with plastic waste pollution.
In the Philippines, Mitzi Jonelle Tan, 23, has had to complete her homework by candlelight as typhoons raged outside and wiped out her community’s electricity. She told us there were times she was afraid of drowning in her own bedroom as water flooded in. Now she is leading youth in her country to respond to the aftermath of those typhoons and other hazards through sharing food, water, clothes and support with the most affected communities.
In Zimbabwe, Nkosi Nyathi, 18, is worried about a potential food crisis if weather patterns continue. Heat waves made school a challenging experience for him and his peers. Now he speaks to leaders from around the world to demand the inclusion of young people in decisions that affect their future.
The fundamental goal of the adults in any society is to protect their young and do everything they can to leave a better world than the one they inherited. The current generation of adults, and those that came before, are failing at a global scale.
The Children’s Climate Risk Index reveals a disturbing global inequity when it comes to the worst effects of climate change. Thirty-three countries, including the Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria and Guinea, are considered extremely high-risk for children, but those countries collectively emit just 9 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. The 10 countries with the highest emissions, including China, the United States, Russia and Japan, collectively account for nearly 70 percent of global emissions. And children in those higher-emitting states face lower risks: Only one of these countries, India, is ranked as extremely high-risk in the UNICEF report.
Many higher-risk countries are poorer nations from the global south, and it’s there that people will be most impacted, despite contributing the least to the problem. We will not allow industrialized countries to duck responsibility for the suffering of children in other parts of the world. Governments, industry and the rest of the international community must work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as 195 nations committed to do in the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015.
We have less than 100 days until the U.N. Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, in Glasgow. The world’s climate scientists have made it clear that the time is now — we must act urgently to avoid the worst possible consequences. The world’s young people stand with the scientists and will continue to sound the alarm.
We are in a crisis of crises. A pollution crisis. A climate crisis. A children’s rights crisis. We will not allow the world to look away.
The authors are youth climate activists from Sweden, Mexico, Bangladesh and Kenya, working with the international youth-led Fridays For Future movement. They wrote the foreword for UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index.
https://twitter.com/DrScottHadland/status/1428694211017248768
A gentle reminder that sharing your pronouns isn't 'ideology'. It's signal to others that you care about and are an ally to people who historically have been marginalized, beaten, and murdered for who they are.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/opinion/masks-schools-covid.html
>https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/18/opinion/masks-schools-covid.html
Actually, Wearing a Mask Can Help Your Child Learn
Aug. 18, 2021
Dr. Danovitch is a research psychologist who studies the cognitive and social development of children.
Opponents of mask mandates for preschool and elementary-school children have expressed concern that wearing masks will impair children’s ability to learn language and socialize — or worse, that (in the words of one anxious parent in Utah) it will “rewire their brains.” Even parents who support mask mandates often worry about how a school year without smiles and frowns might negatively affect their children.
These concerns are understandable but unwarranted. Although scientists don’t have much data yet on how wearing masks during a pandemic affects children’s development, there is plenty of reason to believe that it won’t cause any harm. Children in cultures where caregivers and educators wear head coverings that obscure their mouths and noses develop skills just as children in other cultures do. Even congenitally blind children — who cannot see faces at all — still learn to speak, read and get along with other people.
Indeed, there is good reason to believe that wearing a mask at school could actually improve certain social and cognitive skills, helping to strengthen abilities like self-control and attention. This is not to say that masks are preferable to no masks, all things being equal. Masks are inconvenient, uncomfortable and bothersome. But as long as they are needed, we should take advantage of the fact that they offer distinctive opportunities for learning and growth.
Take language learning. It’s true that masks cover our mouths and that seeing mouth shape and movement contributes to language development in infants. But learning how to communicate involves a lot more than mouths — a reality that masks accentuate. It turns out that looking at eyes is at least as important as looking at mouths to understand whom you are looking at and what they are trying to convey. Eye-tracking research shows that by age 2, typically developing children spend more than twice as much of their time looking at adult speakers’ eyes as at their mouths. In fact, children with a stronger capacity to discern people’s thoughts and emotions based on their eyes alone exhibit greater social-emotional intelligence.
Children also rely on other cues, such as prosody, gesture and context, to figure out what new words mean and what other people are thinking. Sometimes these cues are subtle. A classroom full of people wearing masks is a great opportunity for children to practice paying attention to those cues, such as a peer’s tone of voice or a teacher’s body language.
Wearing a mask can also help teach children to pay more attention to their own bodies and physical behaviors. Keeping a mask on over the course of a school day involves the kind of self-control and self-regulation that many children find challenging. Younger children must inhibit the urge to pull off their mask, and older children must be mindful of when their mask is slipping down or when it’s OK to take it off.
Needless to say, children will not always be perfect at keeping their masks on. But the research on self-control and self-regulation suggests that children who master the skills needed to keep their masks on will grow up to be better at achieving their long-term goals, solving problems and handling stressful situations. (For children who habitually bite their nails or pick their nose, a mask could also be precisely what they need to kick the habit.)
Perhaps most important, wearing masks during a pandemic is an opportunity for even young children to practice caring for their community. By preschool, children can understand that invisible “germs” can cause illness and that behaviors such as hand-washing can keep germs from spreading. A recent study shows that children living through the Covid-19 pandemic understand illness transmission better than ever. During a time of anxiety and uncertainty, wearing a mask gives young children the ability to do something to help protect other people.
For older children, mask wearing is a way to teach more sophisticated ethical concepts like duty and sacrifice. By age 7, for example, children believe that it feels good to make sacrifices on behalf of others in need. Stressing that the discomfort and inconvenience of mask wearing are forms of generosity and public service might motivate children to address other social problems in their lives, like bullying.
Ultimately, how children feel about wearing masks at school, and how much they psychologically benefit from wearing them, is going to depend on how the parents, teachers and caregivers around them present the issue. Masks are hopefully not here to stay, but while they are still necessary, we should make the most of them.
Judith Danovitch (@JudithDanovitch) is an associate professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Louisville and a Learning Sciences Exchange fellow at New America.
https://twitter.com/DrScottHadland/status/1428285097954975746
A few folks have accused me of the 'argument from authority' fallacy. Hmm. (1) It's not a fallacy if it's not a fallacy. (2) This is literally what you do when you go to see the doctor – get accurate advice based on their expertise. That is all, thanks.
>It's not a fallacy if it's not a fallacy.
>Most pronoun people seem to have their heads so far up their butts, they can eat the food in their stomachs again before it even gets processed.
>first symptom was falling over flat on your face and dying
>violated vaccine mandate
>I really want to switch to another planet sometimes.
This is the good one believe it or not.
>Governor Doug Ducey
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/21/delta-is-different-inside-gladys-berejiklians-powerful-crisis-cabinet
‘Delta is different’: inside Gladys Berejiklian’s powerful crisis cabinet
Most participants in the influential group say the health advice usually prevails – and NSW is ratcheting up controls. Whether they work remains to be seen
From the beginning of the pandemic, NSW’s crisis cabinet has met – initially at 8am but now more often in the afternoon – to discuss the unfolding coronavirus caseload in NSW and the steps needed to combat the spread and keep the state operating.
It’s an immensely powerful body that in normal circumstances would not be tolerated in a democracy.
As one participant said: “We make decisions there that would take 18 months under normal circumstances and would require legislation through parliament. We’re taking decisions that curtail people’s freedoms or pay out millions in an afternoon.”
The meeting takes place a few times a week, online. It usually begins with a briefing by health officials led by Dr Kerry Chant, the chief health officer, and more recently, a briefing on the ongoing vaccination effort by deputy secretary of NSW Health, Susan Pearce.
More often than not there’s an update on the hospital capacity, and more recently, the resilience commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons, briefs on the efforts in the 12 LGA hotspots of concern to co-ordinate services between community leaders, staff on the ground delivering care parcels to infected families, and non-government organisations like the Salvation Army.
Then there is usually a briefing from NSW police on enforcement of the lockdown rules before they turn to the businesses of what more needs to be done. Sometimes it’s the police commissioner, Mick Fuller, or one of the deputy commissioners, Gary Warboys or Mick Willing.
The key ministers attending include the premier, Gladys Berejiklian; the deputy premier, John Barilaro; the health minister, Brad Hazzard; and the treasurer, Dominic Perrottet.
Also in attendance are the Services NSW minister, Victor Dominello, who’s been under pressure on the slow pace of processing business support; and the tourism minister, Stuart Ayres (who’s been responsible for standing up quarantine hotels and health accommodation for families, usually in Meriton suites in the west).
Not everyone is happy about the line-up. There have been reports that police minister David Elliott was miffed at not being included, though most of the police matters are operational ones rather than matters of policy and funding.
Fuller has recently stepped back into the role of state emergency operations commander and is responsible also for deploying the Australian Defence personnel across the state. He’s been responsible for making recommendations about what tools he needs to achieve effective compliance with the stay-at-home orders.
Berejiklian is fond of saying she is following the health advice – so often that it’s become a meme – but most participants say that generally the health advice does prevail in crisis cabinet.
When asked about whether this is true, Chant said on Wednesday that her role was to put the health advice squarely and clearly and that obviously it was for others to apply a political lens and to consider economic and social impacts. More recently the chief psychiatrist has had a louder say.
“The premier and I have a shared vision. That’s to get vaccine rates up and to limit movement as much as possible,” Chant said in response to a question about whether they had diverged in their views about a lockdown.
“Even with the high vaccine coverage, we cannot do well without the numbers of cases being very low,” she warned.
There’s no doubt that, to a man and a woman, crisis cabinet has leant towards trying to replicate the feat NSW pulled off earlier in the pandemic of having less stringent rules than Victoria and yet still keeping Covid-19 under control.
To a greater or lesser extent the Liberals in NSW are predisposed to talking about freedoms and keeping NSW “open for business”.
But to coin Berejiklian’s other oft-repeated phrase “Delta is different”. It has proved a much more challenging variant. And this time NSW’s approach is failing.
Having passed on a lockdown early on, the state is now in a world of pain and having to ratchet up controls.
Chant was unclear on her stance during those first 10 days of the outbreak when she fronted a parliamentary committee last week. But she pointed to the discovery that they had not identified 10 attendees at a major seeding event, a party in West Hoxton, as a turning point.
The problem for crisis cabinet now is how to manage an outbreak that is transmitting in essential workplaces, like freight hubs, childcare and healthcare, and then being taken home to large households in the city’s west and south-west.
There had been debate about whether curfews should be introduced in NSW as they had been in Victoria. On Friday we got one – confined to the hotspot zones in Sydney’s west.
A week ago, Fuller said he had asked for new powers and been given everything he wanted. On Friday, he got a curfew, after NSW police found people from the hotspot LGAs out and about at 2am. He admitted he wished he’d requested one earlier but gave no indication of being thwarted by crisis cabinet.
Curfews will make policing easier, they don’t necessarily help with the spread of the disease, except on the margins.
The real problem for NSW is spread of Covid-19 is happening in places where people are permitted to be – at home and in essential work.
While it’s hard to get a good read on how crisis cabinet operates, participants contacted by the Guardian said it’s generally been a case of everyone putting their views, and in the end, the health advice usually prevailing.
“It’s usually a consensus and no one really goes against the health advice,” said one participant.
But Berejiklian’s inclination to hold off has certainly led to a slower response than in other states and delays in taking action that might have helped.
As for whether Berejiklian’s hold on the top job is in jeopardy, there’s no doubt there is some unrest among the troops.
Some, particularly those on the right, are upset about the lack of a plan out of lockdown and some are concerned about the moves to require vaccination. The powerful business lobbies in NSW such as the pubs and clubs have also been angling for a plan out of lockdown.
Others are disconcerted by Berejiklian’s muddy messaging, which can veer from dire warnings to offering hope of relaxed restrictions in a single press conference. But she’s not alone there.
On Friday morning on Sunrise, Elliott was out foreshadowing a new roadmap to open pubs and clubs by October when the state reaches 70% vaccination rates.
A few hours later, the premier and Chant were warning how “incredibly concerning” the case numbers were, announcing tougher restrictions and extending the lockdown for a month.
Insiders say while Berejiklian’s critics are again briefing against her, she still has the support of the kingmakers in her cabinet such as Perrottet and moderate faction leader Matt Kean.
And who would want the job anyway? At least right now.
>I knew Qatar would play a big role eventually.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Steele#FIFA_research
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9911499/Osama-bin-Laden-predicted-Joe-Biden-lead-America-crisis.html
Osama bin Laden BANNED al Qaeda from trying to assassinate Joe Biden because he believed he would be an incompetent president and 'lead the US into a crisis'
Joe Biden has been widely condemned for pulling US troops out of Afghanistan
Ongoing chaos in Kabul has led critics to accuse him of 'humiliating' the US
Osama bin Laden, the man America went to Afghanistan to kill, warned in 2010 that a Biden presidency was likely to 'lead the US into a crisis'
Bin Laden banned al Qaeda from killing Biden, hoping he would become leader
Osama bin Laden banned al Qaeda from assassinating Joe Biden because the Democrat would become an incompetent president and 'lead the US into a crisis' if jihadists were successful in killing Barack Obama.
Bin Laden made the remark in a 2010 letter that was found in a trove of documents at the Pakistan compound where he was killed by US special forces in 2011.
The document was first made public in 2012 but has been brought back to light and given new significance amid the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan that has gifted the country back to the Taliban.
Bin Laden - then-leader of al Qaeda, and the man that America went to Afghanistan to kill - penned the 48-page missive in May 2010 to an aide identified as 'Brother Shaykh Mahmud', real name Atiyah Abd al-Rahman.
In it, he discusses the need to direct resources away from terror attacks in other Muslim countries and instead focus on direct attacks against the US.
On page 36, he outlines his desire to form two hit squads - one in Pakistan and another in Afghanistan - whose job it will be to plot attacks against then-US President Barack Obama and ex-CIA director David Petraeus, should they visit either country.
Giving his reasoning for attacking Obama, he says: 'Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make Biden take over the presidency for the remainder of the term, as it is the norm over there.
'Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the US into a crisis.'
He the adds: 'As for Petraeus, he is the man of the hour in this last year of the war, and killing him would alter the war's path.'
US intelligence analysts who first revealed the existence of the document to the Washington Post in 2012 said neither of the plots against Obama or Petraeus were realistic or amounted to anything.
But bin Laden's attack on Biden's abilities and his forewarning of an American 'crisis' rings truer now than it did back then.
Biden is facing mounting fury across the world for abandoning Afghans to their fate - and yesterday it emerged that his administration was warned last month that the Afghan capital would quickly fall to the Taliban after an American withdrawal.
A dozen diplomats sent a confidential memo in a dissent channel to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on July 13 that the Taliban was rapidly gaining ground and the city was vulnerable to collapse, the Wall Street Journal reported.
On July 8, President Biden said it was 'highly unlikely' the Taliban would take control of Afghanistan and denied there would be chaos in Kabul.
There are mounting questions over how the White House, the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence services were evaluating the future of Afghanistan, the threat of the Taliban and how quickly power would change hands.
Afghan security forces were collapsing, they said, and offered ways to mitigate the advancing insurgents.
But it may have been too late to stop them.
The State Department memo, according to the report, also called for the government to use tougher language on the violence in the past from the Taliban and urged them to start collecting information for Afghan allies who qualified for Special Immigrant Visas after working with US forces.
The Journal reported that 23 Embassy staffers signed the cable and rushed to deliver it considering the deteriorating situation in Kabul.
Blinken reviewed the cable, a personal familiar with it told the paper.
State Department spokesman Ned Price told the Journal: 'He's made clear that he welcomes and encourages use of the dissent channel, and is committed to its revitalization. We value constructive internal dissent.'
The memo urged the administration to start flights evacuating people out of the country no later than August 1st.
A former CIA counter-terrorism chief also advised the president's campaign Kabul would crumble within days with a depleted American presence.
But in an interview released on Thursday morning, President Biden claimed that he was never told that such a rapid collapse was possible.
And a day earlier, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he never saw any intelligence warning that the Afghan government could fall so quickly.
'There was nothing that I or anyone else saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days,' Milley said.
Their claims were disputed in a detailed account describing the state of understanding at the CIA written by Douglas London, the agency's former counter-terrorism chief for south and south-west Asia, which offered a very different assessment.
He said the rapid collapse was one of a number of possible scenarios.
'Ultimately, it was assessed, Afghan forces might capitulate under the circumstances we witnessed, in projections highlighted to Trump officials and future Biden officials alike,' he wrote on the Just Security website.
London, who also served as a volunteer adviser to the Biden campaign after leaving the CIA in 2019, scoffed at the president's claim that events in Afghanistan unfolded more rapidly than expected.
'That's misleading at best,' he said. 'The CIA anticipated it as a possible scenario.'
Biden has been accused of 'humiliating' America on the world stage by committing himself to Trump's plan to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan this year.
The rapid withdrawal was followed by the equally rapid collapse of the Afghan army - which the west spent 20 years and billions of dollars training and equipping - allowing the Islamists to walk into Kabul virtually unopposed last week.
That has sparked a desperate rush to get out of the country, with tens of thousands of people gathering at the airport each day in a bid to get on one of the last evacuation flights.
Meanwhile the Taliban has started going house-to-house in a hunt for anyone who collaborated with the west, so they can be tortured and killed.
Each day brings more horrifying scenes from the airport including men falling from US planes, a teenager whose body was crushed in landing gear, women being whipped by Taliban guards and children who have been trampled.
Western nations have pledged to take more than 100,000 Afghan refugees between them but have now been forced to admit that they may not even be able to evacuate their own citizens before the air bridge is cut off.
Biden has said US troops will stay past his August 31 date for withdrawal in order to get all US passport holders out of the country - but with the Taliban now firmly in control, it remains to be seen whether he can keep that promise.
UK defence sources have said they are contingency planning for withdrawal of their own forces with as little as 24 hours notice if the Americans suddenly decide to abandon ship - a scenario they fear will put troops in danger.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-17/why-zambia-s-new-leader-urgently-needs-an-imf-loan-quicktake
Why Zambia’s New Leader Urgently Needs an IMF Loan
August 17, 2021
Zambia in November became the first African country to default on foreign debt during the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, it was discussing new financing with the International Monetary Fund, which hadn’t extended a loan to the nation since 2008. Presidential elections held on Aug. 12 complicated the talks because the IMF couldn’t be sure who it would be dealing with. Now Zambia has a new leader, who wants to pin down funding as quickly as possible.
The Patriotic Front party, which took power in 2011, embarked on a spending spree, building thousands of miles of new roads, airports and rural healthcare facilities. In the process, it amassed $13 billion of foreign debt. The government’s ability to meet its obligations was eroded because it discouraged investment with attempts to extract more revenue from the mining industry, the bedrock of the economy. The pandemic made the situation worse, with gross domestic product contracting 3% in 2020.
>'Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make Biden take over the presidency for the remainder of the term, as it is the norm over there. Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the US into a crisis. As for Petraeus, he is the man of the hour in this last year of the war, and killing him would alter the war's path.'
>John Lennon should be treated as a communist.
https://qmeetups.org/
https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/defendant-sentenced-online-threats
https://www.justice.gov/
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/floridians-charged-and-convicted-connection-international-enterprise-operated-sexually
Floridians Charged and Convicted in Connection with International Enterprise that Operated Sexually Exploitive ‘Child Modeling’ Websites
According to court documents, Kenneth Power (deceased at 58, of Weston), was a principal member of the Newstar Enterprise – an internet-based business aimed at for-profit sexual exploitation of vulnerable children under the guise of “child modeling” through a collection of websites called the Newstar Websites. Patrice Eileen Wilowski-Mevorah, 53, of Tampa, and Mary Lou Bjorkman, 58, of Lutz, recently pleaded guilty to laundering money for the Newstar Enterprise. Other members of the Newstar Enterprise resided in Europe. Kenneth Power’s wife, Tatiana “Tanya” Power, 41, of Weston, is currently pending trial on money laundering charges in connection with the Newstar Enterprise.
According to court documents, founded around 2005, the Newstar Enterprise built, maintained, hosted and operated the Newstar Websites on servers in the United States and abroad. To populate the Newstar Websites with content, Newstar Enterprise members sourced, enticed, solicited and recruited males and females under the age of 18, some of whom were prepubescent, to use as “child models” for the Newstar Websites. Using the recruited child-victims, the Newstar Enterprise produced more than 4.6 million sexualized images and videos to distribute and sell on the Newstar Websites. Some of those images and videos, though non-nude, depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. For example, images and videos sold on the Newstar Websites depicted children as young as 6 years old in sexual and provocative poses, wearing police and cheerleader costumes, thong underwear, transparent underwear, revealing swimsuits, pantyhose and miniskirts. Most of the child-victims - recruited from Ukraine, Moldova and other nations in Eastern Europe - were particularly vulnerable due to their age, family dynamics and poverty. Law enforcement officers have disabled the servers hosting the Newstar Websites.
The Newstar Enterprise maintained a membership list for subscribers and customers of the Newstar Websites, who originated from 101 nations across the world. Images in the websites’ galleries were freely available to the public to preview, but greater access and more content required purchasing a subscription. The sale of purported “child modeling” content on the Newstar Websites generated more than $9.4 million during the course of the conspiracy. To process, receive and distribute this money, Newstar Enterprise members fraudulently opened merchant and bank accounts in the United States and laundered proceeds using a bogus jewelry company.
To date, four members of the Newstar Enterprise have been charged in connection with the Newstar Websites. The chart below shows the statuses of each case.
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