[NOTE:This is the latest in a series of conversations I have been having with a friend in Afghanistan about life there since the Taliban took over. I am protecting his identity for his safety.]
Dear David:
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last year, nomads have started to come into Hazarajat, a mountainous region in the central part of the country where the Hazara people live. This area lacks fertile soil suitable for growing crops so most villagers make their income from sheep herding, as do the nomads.
Last year, soon after the collapse of the central government, the nomads with their animals started becoming a big problem for the Hazara villagers, who were already suffering from a long drought. The nomads’ sheep ate the grasses needed by the villagers’ animals, which led to a number of angry confrontations.
The villagers tried to protect their land by throwing stones at the nomads but this had little effect. So the Hazara petitioned the Taliban government to prevent the nomads from coming into Hazarajat. The Taliban ignored their request.
More than two thousand families live in our family’s village in Hazarajat. My father is an elder in the village so he tried to intervene with the nomads and negotiate an agreement. He did this in spite of the fact that he knew that the nomads might bring harm onto our family as a result of his confrontations with them.
One recent night, four nomads did a very odd thing. They came into our village and asked for my father's house and found it. My father invited them into his home, and treated them as honored guests, which is customary among these villagers, even though they are very poor. The four men spent the night in our family’s home and talked to my father for many hours about the conflict.
My father told me afterward that their words sounded more like warnings than offers to be reasonable. They basically told him that he should give up and let their sheep graze freely in the valley.
But my father is not the type of person to back down, regardless of the danger. He is also one of my best friends.
***
(Yesterday’s hearing of the Jan. 6th committee focused on Trump’s pressure on his justice department to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Watch on CSPAN.)
TODAY’s LINKS: (6/24/22 — 39 stories from 18 sources)
Senate passes most significant gun control legislation in decades (CBS)
Gun Bill’s Progress Reflects Political Shift, but G.O.P. Support Is Fragile (NYT)
Why this gun safety deal could be the last one for a generation (Politico)
The bipartisan gun safety bill unveiled in the Senate this week would close the notorious “boyfriend loophole” — with a catch. Dating partners convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors would lose their gun rights under the proposal, but only for five years if they avoid committing another violent offense. In the weeks since the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, a raft of states have passed, or are seriously considering, much stronger measures. [HuffPost]
Supreme Court Strikes Down New York Concealed-Gun Law in Sweeping Decision (WSJ)
The Supreme Court Just Made the NYPD’s Job Harder (Atlantic)
VIDEO: Powell Cautions That a Recession Is Possible Amid Rising Interest Rates (Reuters)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) cautioned Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that he should be careful not to “tip the economy into a recession” with interest rate hikes. “Inflation is like an illness, and the medicine needs to be tailored to the specific problem, otherwise you could make things a lot worse," Warren told Powell at a Senate Banking Committee hearing. [HuffPost]
New documentary footage reveals Pence reacting to a resolution calling for him to invoke 25th amendment to remove Trump from power (CNN)
Justice Dept. expands Jan. 6 probe with fresh subpoenas (WP)
Trump campaign official subpoenaed by FBI appears to be at meeting of fake Arizona electors (AZ Central)
Feds search home of Jeffrey Clark, former DOJ official who pushed Trump's false election fraud claims (CNN)
As Jan. 6 committee targets Trump, his consternation at McCarthy grows (WP)
Biden’s blues: is the US president out of political capital? (Financial Times)
President Joe Biden's public approval rating fell for a fourth straight week to 36% matching its lowest level last seen in late May, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll. (Reuters)
Gavin Newsom jumps onto the national stage and Bidenworld takes notice (Politico)
Texas shooting: America's gun control debate that never goes away (BBC)
LGBTQ students would get new protections under Biden plan (AP)
Manufacturing growth is slowing from Asia to Europe as China's COVID-19 curbs and Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupt supply chains, while the growing risk of a recession in the United States poses a new threat to the global economy. (Reuters)
Netflix Lays Off About 3% of Workforce in New Round of Cuts (WSJ)
Sen. Ron Johnson under fire over fake-electors disclosure at hearing (WP)
U.S. to send four more long-range rocket launchers to Ukraine in new aid package (Politico)
Watchdog: Russian troops executed Ukranian journalist (NHK)
Ukraine will be accepted as a candidate to join the European Union today, a move that will boost the country's morale as the battle with Russian troops for two cities in the east reached what one official called a "fierce climax".(Reuters)
Russia Gains in the East, Threatening to Overrun Luhansk (NYT)
Two “hellish battles” are happening in Ukraine’s east. In the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk people are preparing for another Russian assault this week. (WP)
Survivors dug by hand through villages in eastern Afghanistan reduced to rubble by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 1,000 people, as the Taliban and the international community that fled their takeover struggled to aid the disaster’s victims. How — and whether the Taliban allow — the world to offer aid remains in question. [AP]
The Biggest Change in Media Since Cable Is Happening Right Now (Politico)
The U.S. is reckoning with its troubled past of Indian boarding schools (NPR)
California wildfires caused by human activity spread faster, burn hotter and destroy more trees than those caused by lightning strikes. (Los Angeles Times)
Think all bacteria are microscopic? Tell that to these centimeter-long monsters (NPR)
The June election was bad news for Mayor Breed (48 Hills)
Title IX: NCAA report shows stark gap in funding for women (AP)
Florida nabs largest python ever found in state (BBC)
Inca-era tomb unearthed beneath home in Peru’s capital (Guardian)
Man Always Carries Gun In Case He Needs To Escalate Situation (The Onion)
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