There are all kinds of currents running through the news cycle -- some hopeful and some not so much.
Women educators are determined to preserve the right of girls to continue to go to school under the Taliban rule, but the Taliban is coming out in defense of its strict (and incorrect) interpretation of Sharia law.
The Taliban advocates suppression of women. The Quran does not. Luckily, one of the benefits of the past 20 years of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan is that a generation of women has finally had the opportunity for a good education.
And they will resist any attempt to take that right away from their daughters.
***
The Wikimedia Foundation, a former client of mine, has raised a $100 million endowment. Among the dozens of companies I consulted with during my career, I always had a special place in my heart for Wikipedia, the foundation's main product.
The simple idea of summoning volunteers from all over the planet to gather, publish and maintain custody of the total of collective human knowledge is exactly the kind of hugely unrealistic idea that attracts me.
What did I do for them? Help them produce their annual report and main fundraising document. On that project, I worked with two brilliant designers, Rhonda Rubinstein and David Peters.
It was just for a few years but my visits to the foundations' office in Soma stand out as moments when I instinctively knew I was doing the right thing.
***
Less hopeful news is three of our seasons are shortening while one -- summer -- is lengthening. As with most global climate news, there is no silver lining to this one.
But some experts think they can see the end of the Covid pandemic and that it may be about a year from now.
That's a hopeful thought so for now I think I'll end on that...
***
THE HEADLINES:
* Women in Afghanistan Are Ready to Defy the Taliban and Teach Girls --Teachers in Afghanistan say they fear the gains of the last 20 years – one of the few Afghan success stories – will be lost, with the Taliban yet to announce when girls can return to school. (Vice News)
* Islamic State uses Taliban's own tactics to attack Afghanistan's new rulers (Reuters)
* Taliban official: Strict punishment, executions will return -- (AP)
* Pressure Grows on U.S. Companies to Share Covid Vaccine Technology -- Moderna accepted $2.5 billion in taxpayer money to develop its Covid-19 vaccine. But officials in the U.S. and overseas are having trouble persuading the company to license its technology. (NYT)
*COVID-19 deaths have climbed to an average of more than 1,900 a day for the first time since early March, and experts say the virus is preying largely on the 71 million unvaccinated Americans. For health workers, the deaths — combined with misinformation and disbelief about the virus — have been “heart-wrenching, soul-crushing.” The nation saw 3,000 deaths a day back in December, but that was when almost no one was vaccinated. [AP]
* Moderna chief executive sees pandemic over in a year (Reuters)
* F.D.A. Authorizes Pfizer Booster Shots for Older and At-Risk Americans (NYT)
* Biden pledges to double U.S. donations of Pfizer vaccine to poor nations (WP)
* EPA to cut greenhouse gases thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide (WP)
* Flying Microchips The Size Of A Sand Grain Could Be Used For Population Surveillance (NPR)
* Privacy Reset: A guide to the important settings you should change now (WP)
* Wikimedia Foundation reaches $100 million Endowment goal (Wikimedia)
* Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two laws aimed at protecting the privacy of people seeking abortions, drawing a sharp contrast with Texas. One prohibits filming near an abortion clinic, while the other makes it easier to keep sensitive medical information confidential. (AP)
*Senate Republicans let the Violence Against Women Act's authorization expire in 2019 after they couldn't agree among themselves on what to put in a bill of their own. But now, the Senate may actually be close to introducing a bill to reauthorize it with support from both parties, writes Jennifer Bendery. [HuffPost]
* Paleontologists Determine Dinosaurs Were Killed By Someone They Trusted (The Onion)
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