In Search of a Home

DW: Ever since the Taliban took over power in Afghanistan, I have been exchanging messages with a young friend who lives in Helmand Province. This is our 17th conversation to date. We are keeping his identity secret in order to protect his safety.

***

Conversation 17

My brother is 16, and would be in the ninth grade, if he were in school. Instead, he's in the hands of smugglers, on his fourth perilous attempt to cross the border to Iran. There, he hopes to find work, save money, and eventually migrate to a European country where he can have a better future. My parents and I see no other alternative. 

The situation here in Afghanistan is darker than the darkness of the grave. The suicide attacks, blasts, and instability increase day by day. We Hazaras are in more danger than ever before.We’ve decided that if any of us is to have a decent chance at life, it should be my brother.

Since the Taliban took control of the country, the economic, educational, and health systems are collapsing. Food expenses have doubled and the Afghan currency has lost its value against the dollar. The situation is even worse than the press reports. Passports are rarer than diamonds. 

My brother, of course, does not have a passport – or even a phone, once he crosses the border. I spoke to him today for perhaps the last time. I am hopeful for him, but I am also grieving. My heart aches for him, for the agony and hardness I know he will suffer. He is too young to be alone, adrift in the cold world. His place should be in the classroom and on the playground. He should be listening to his teacher's lessons, and my mother's stories – not to the harsh words of the Iranians who will curse him as he works on their buildings. He has gone to find a home in a new country, but he does not yet know he will roam all his life homeless.

***

DW: We are publishing these conversations not just to tell my friend's story but to highlight the conditions faced by millions of Afghans, particularly Hazaras and others in the Shia minority. Our hope is that this type of publicity will result in much greater pressure on the Taliban by the international community to respect the human rights of all Afghans.

WEDNESDAY'S HEADLINES:

* Can Biden's Agenda Survive Inflation? (New Yorker)

* Uneasy About the Economy, Americans Are Spending Anyway (NYT)

* U.S. reportedly plans diplomatic boycott of China’s Winter Olympics (Guardian)

* Schools close as smog-laden India capital considers lockdown (AP)

* Biden administration to announce purchase of 10 million courses of Pfizer anti-covid pill (WP)

* U.S. drug overdose deaths top 100,000 annually - CDC (Reuters)

* Why Health-Care Workers Are Quitting in Droves (Atlantic)

* Covid-19 is taking a terrible toll on nurses. They deserve much more help. (Editorial Board/WP)

* Rep. Jackie Speier retiring from Congress (Politico)

* Californians have been asked to reduce water use by 15 percent, but new data shows just a 4 percent drop. (AP)

* The California Energy Commission approved a $1.4 billion plan to fund car charging stations or hydrogen refueling to help the state meet its climate goals. (Reuters)

* A developer has begun digging for lithium, a crucial ingredient in electric car batteries, near the southern shore of the Salton Sea. (LAT)

* Volkswagen plans to double staff numbers at its charging and energy division, roll out new payment technology next year and strike more alliances to take on Tesla in a key electric vehicle battleground: power infrastructure. (Reuters)

* Rising prices have crushed consumer sentiment and become  major political news. But that's not the only story right now. There has been a big reduction in child poverty — and Congress could make it permanent. The same fiscal policies that are partly blamed for high inflation produced a 40% reduction in child poverty in July, according to researchers. [HuffPost]

* Democrats Press for House Censure of Gosar for Violent Anime Video (NYT)

* States sidestep federal rules to offer booster shots to all adults (WP)

* Covid-19 shock responsible for global inflation, says Australian central bank (Financial Times)

* Covid could be endemic illness by next year with more vaccine uptake, Fauci says (WP)

* In Taliban-Run Kabul, Beauty Salons Fear for Their Future (WSJ)

* Japan, U.S. conduct submarine drill in S.China Sea (NHK)

* We Live By a Unit of Time That Doesn’t Make Sense -- The seven-day week has survived for millennia, despite attempts to make it less chaotic. (Atlantic)

* Israeli firm’s spyware linked to attacks on websites in UK and Middle East (Guardian)

* D.C. will no longer require masks in many public settings (WP) 

* China, U.S. to ease restrictions on each other’s journalists (AP)

* Sesame Street to debut first Asian American muppet (NHK)

* Tea and coffee may be linked to lower risk of stroke and dementia (Guardian)

* How ISIS Has Expanded Into Central Africa (BBC)

* After record low, monarch butterflies return to California -- 

The number wintering along California's central coast is bouncing back after the population, whose presence is often a good indicator of ecosystem health, reached an all-time low last year. (AP)

* A stowaway roadrunner hitched a ride in a moving van from Las Vegas to Maine (NPR)

* Wildebeest Mother Blasts ‘Our Planet’ Producer Who Just Stood By While Jackal Ate Her Daughter (The Onion)

***

"Help Me Make It Through the Night"

By Kris Kristofferson

Take the ribbons from your hair
Shake 'em loose and let 'em fall
Let 'em fall against your chin
Like the shadows on the wall

Come and lay down by my side
And the early morning light
All I'm taking is your time
Help me make it through the night

Well I don't care who's right or wrong
And I won't try to understand
Let the devil take tomorrow
'Cause tonight I need a friend

Yesterday is dead and gone
And tomorrow's out of sight
And it's sad to be alone
Help me make it through the night

Well I don't care who's right or wrong
And I won't try to understand
Let the devil take tomorrow
'Cause tonight I need a friend

Yesterday is dead and gone
And tomorrow's out of sight
And it's sad to be alone
Help me make it through the night.

A New Story (T)old

"Democratic revolutions are contagious. If you can stamp them out in one country, you might prevent them from starting in others." -- Anne Applebaum

_____________

One regrettable aspect of reaching a certain age is the tendency to conclude that the world has changed so much for the worse that all we can do is mourn the loss of the old days. But when you get right down to it, the old days were not all that great to begin with.

Nevertheless, what if -- as an article in the Atlantic argues -- the world actually is demonstrably changing for the worse right now?

In her long, thoughtful article, "The Bad Guys are Winning," Anne Applebaum documents the decline of democracy globally and the accompanying rise of autocratic regimes in Belarus, Venezuela and elsewhere. Anti-democratic ideologies had their moments in the 20th century, of course, but by 2,000 democracy did seem to have prevailed.

Then came 9/11 and a rude awakening to the new millennium. Sixteen years in and the U.S. was confronted with the rise of a despot who angled to achieve a degree of individual power our system had successfully resisted since its founding for over 225 years ago.

When Trump lost his bid for re-election in 2020, he tried to incite a coup to overthrow the results of the election and stay in power. That effort failed, by the width of a fingernail.

But similar efforts have not failed in Belarus, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Russia, China, Nicaragua and many other places around the world. As Applebaum notes:

"Nowadays, autocracies are run not by one bad guy, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, security services (military, police, paramilitary groups, surveillance), and professional propagandists. The members of these networks are connected not only within a given country, but among many countries."

They are all based on an assumption that democracies are too weak in the end to oppose the rise of autocracies.

And to date that assumption is proving to be true. When it comes to the good old days, the world came to a similar historical juncture as to how to confront fascism on the eve of World War Two.

History has a way of repeating itself.  Unfortunately, we are reaching that point once again.

***

Thanks to friends who alert me to stories I might otherwise have missed, especially Jackie Ross on Afghanistan-based stories.

***

TUESDAY's HEADLINES

* The Bad Guys Are Winning -- If the 20th century was the story of slow, uneven progress toward the victory of liberal democracy over other ideologies—communism, fascism, virulent nationalism—the 21st century is, so far, a story of the reverse. (Atlantic)

* Democrats fear consequences after Biden underestimated U.S. problems (WP) 

* How Your Family Tree Could Catch a Killer -- Genetic genealogists like CeCe Moore are cracking cold cases and transforming policing. As DNA analysis redefines ancestry and anonymity, what knowledge should we be permitted to unlock? (New Yorker) 

* U.S. anger at Russian anti-satellite missile test debris (BBC)

* Pfizer agrees to let other companies make its COVID-19 pill (AP)

* Europe Toughens Rules for Unvaccinated as Fourth Covid Wave Swells (NYT)

* Chinese President Xi Jinping greeted U.S. President Joe Biden as 'old friend' at the start of their first video meeting. Biden and Xi stressed their responsibility to the world to avoid conflict as the heads of the two top global economies gathered for virtual talks.  (Reuters)

* A newly disclosed memo reveals Trump’s plot to turn the military into his personal goon squad (WP)

 * Alex Jones liable for defamation in Sandy Hook ‘hoax’ case (AP)

* Alex Jones must pay damages to Sandy Hook families in defamation case, judge rules (WP)

* The Wyoming Republican Party voted to quit recognizing Rep. Liz Cheney as a member of the GOP, a symbolic move that reflects ongoing frustration among conservatives who are still firmly allied with Trump and his lies. Cheney’s spokesperson said that the idea she isn’t a conservative Republican is “laughable.” [HuffPost]

* Russia’s dangerous build-up around Ukraine (Financial Times)

* Canada: floods prompt evacuations in region hit by summer wildfires (Guardian)

* Southeast Asian economies shrank amid pandemic (NHK)

* A cautionary tale from the streets of San Francisco -- There are 50% more injection drug-users in the city than there are students enrolled at its public high schools (The Economist)

* Biden signs $1.2 trillion infrastructure measure (WP)

* Pentagon: Oklahoma Guard must comply with vaccine mandate (Politico)

* Atmospheric river slams western Washington with record rains, flooding and high winds (WP)

* The Kabul passport office has been forced to suspend operations after equipment used for issuing biometric documents broke down under the pressure of processing thousands of applications a day, the head of the office said. (Reuters)

* Afghans say the Taliban is too busy policing women to prevent a humanitarian disaster that could leave half of Afghanistan hungry this winter (Business Insider)

*  

Despite mistrust, Afghan Shiites seek Taliban protection (AP)

* Afghan food-for-work program amid food shortages (NHK)

* European Union expected to hit Belarus with more sanctions amid escalating fight (WP)

* Islamic State Ally Blamed for Deadly Bombings in Ugandan Capital (WSJ)

* Apple digital ID scheme comes with conditions and costs (BBC)

* Underdog No More, a Deaf Football Team Takes California by Storm -- The California School for the Deaf, Riverside, is steamrolling its opponents, electrifying a campus that has seen more than a few athletic defeats. (NYT)

* Stephen Curry’s Scientific Quest for the Perfect Shot--The NBA’s best shooter decided the basket was too big. He used technology to make it smaller. The goal: “swishes within swishes.” (WSJ)

* Idiotic Squirrel With Acorn Runs Away From Man As If He Doesn’t Get To Eat All The Nuts He Wants (The Onion)

***

"The Story"

by Norah Jones

The Story

Norah Jones

I don't know how to begin
Cause the story has been told before
I will sing along i suppose
I guess it's just how it goes
And now those sprangs in the air
I don't go down anywhere
I guess it's just how it goes
The stories have all been told before
But if you don't char
The light won't hit your eye
And the moon won't rise before it's time
But if you don't char
The light won't hit your eye
And the moon won't rise before it's time
But I don't know how it will end
With all those records playin'
I guess it's just how it goes
The stories have all been told before
I guess it's just how it goes
The stories have all been told before
I guess it's just how it goes

Just An Inch Away

“Democracy’s a very fragile thing. You have to take care of democracy. As soon as you stop being responsible to it and allow it to turn into scare tactics, it’s no longer democracy, is it? It’s something else. It may be an inch away from totalitarianism.”

— Sam Shepard

_____________________________

It may be a bit early to focus too much on next year's mid-term elections in the U.S., but as things stand currently it doesn't look good for the Democrats.

Traditionally, the party controlling the White House loses seats in Congress in the midterms, so that in itself is not surprising.

But gerrymandering at the state level has once again reduced the number of competitive races so that both parties should be able to preserve most of their seats quite easily. And it is in the new swing districts where the GOP may have an advantage.

Meanwhile, President Biden's approval rating has fallen to the lowest level since his election, as his administration has struggled to exploit its razor-thin advantage in Congress to get meaningful legislation passed.

In the ugly process of legislative combat, many of the progressive elements of Biden's ambitious social agenda have been chipped away, while others -- like significant college debt relief -- remain unaddressed.

The severe partisan divide leads to overheated rhetoric on both sides suggesting that the very essence of democracy may hinge on the results.

That is probably an exaggeration when it comes to the midterms but the 2024 Presidential election could be another matter.

We are still learning details of how close the country came to a true constitutional crisis as key Trump administration officials plotted to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. But as various investigations uncover new details, the publics attention is elsewhere.

The days of ethical county election officials resting political pressure to throw out legitimate election results may be coming to an end. Trump may have failed to convince enough of them to do so in 2020 to steal the election, but there are numerous signs that the result could be different next time around.

The question is how many of us will be paying close enough attention to prevent that from happening?

***

MONDAY HEADLINES:

* The Desperate Scramble to Stop an Insider Election Threat--Trump loyalists could be running polling places across Pennsylvania in 2024. (Atlantic)

* Republicans Gain Heavy House Edge in 2022 as Gerrymandered Maps Emerge  -- On a highly distorted congressional map that is still taking shape, the party has added enough safe House districts to capture control of the chamber based on its redistricting edge alone. (NYT)

* Retiring Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) predicted former President Donald Trump may be laying the groundwork to steal the 2024 election. He slammed Trump as an "enormous political loser" who led the GOP "into a ditch." "It looks to me ... that he has evaluated what went wrong on Jan. 6. Why is it that he wasn’t able to steal the election? Who stood in his way?” Gonzalez said. He was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol riot. [HuffPost]

* ‘Ghost Guns’: Firearm Kits Bought Online Fuel Epidemic of Violence -- They are untraceable, assembled from parts and can be ordered by gang members, felons and even children. They are increasingly the lethal weapon of easy access around the U.S., but especially California. (NYT)

* 15% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions have occurred in the past decade (WP)

* The High Stakes of Infrastructure -- It has been, it seems, “infrastructure week” in Washington since the Truman Administration. (New Yorker)

* Why is Europe returning to the dark days of Covid? (Guardian)

* Rep. Schiff: Bannon’s indictment will ‘without a doubt’ lead others to comply with Jan. 6 panel (Politico)

* Trump ally Bannon taken into custody on contempt charges (AP)

* Japan's economy shrinks more than expected as supply shortages hit (Reuters)

* Exasperation and dysfunction: Inside Kamala Harris' frustrating start as vice president (CNN)

* A Purple Heart medal was stolen from a Vietnam veteran nearly 40 years ago. He just got it back. (WP)

* Crunch at Ports May Mean Crisis for American Farms -- Backlogs and cancellations are hitting growers as costs rise, profits slump and overseas customers shop elsewhere. (NYT)

* The robots behind the bar that want to pull your next pint (BBC)

* What the Taliban’s youngest fighters tell us about the future of the movement (WP)

* Democrat Beto O’Rourke running for Texas governor in 2022 (AP)

* China accuses the EU of threatening global trade (Financial Times)

* Birds in the Amazon rainforest have gotten physically smaller over the last four decades, and scientists believe that a warming planet may be the reason. While birds’ bodies have gotten smaller over time, their wings have gotten longer. The researchers believe this may be an adaptation to hotter temperatures. [HuffPost]

* American journalist Danny Fenster released from Myanmar jail (WP)

* 3G shutdowns could leave most vulnerable without a connection (WP)

* Harry Potter turns 20: where are stars of the film franchise now? (Guardian)

* Yellen says inflation will stay high until Covid is under control (Financial Times)

* On SNL, Taylor Swift Stopped Time -- 

The singer’s 10-minute performance of “All Too Well” was a dazzling reminder of how far she has come as an artist. (Atlantic)

* No Amount Of Training Could Have Prepared Cat For First Experience Seeing Mouse In Real Life (The Onion)

***

"Slip Slidin' Away

By Paul Simon

Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away

I know a man
He came from my home town
He wore his passion for his woman
Like a thorny crown
He said Delores
I live in fear
My love for you's so overpowering
I'm afraid that I will disappear

Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away

I know a woman
Became a wife
These are the very words she uses
To describe her life
She said a good day
Ain't got no rain
She said a bad day's when I lie in bed
And think of things that might have been

Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away

And I know a father
Who had a son
He longed to tell him all the reasons
For the things he'd done
He came a long way
Just to explain
He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping
Then he turned around and headed home again

He's slip slidin'
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away

God only knows
God makes his plan
The information's unavailable
To the mortal man
We work our jobs
Collect our pay
Believe we're gliding down the highway
When in fact we're slip slidin' away

Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away

Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away

Opportunity of a Lifetime

NOTE: This blog is evolving into the staging area for my writing at Substack. In the future, that will be the main place to access my writing, as I pause out access to this blog and wind down my use of Facebook.

Please bookmark this page: <https://davidweir.substack.com>

______________________

"Clusters of mostly asymptomatic cases among the vaccinated, like what we’re seeing with the Cal football team, are neither cause for concern, nor unexpected with a virus that will become endemic." -- Monica Gandhi, UCSF

______________________

During this long strange pandemic, one of the relatively sane voices over time has been that of Dr. Monica Ghandi. 

As the medical director of General Hospital's acclaimed HIV clinic, a professor and director of AIDS research at U-C, San Francisco, she qualifies as a leading expert on public health issues.

But unlike some, she's never under-estimated the emotional and intellectual challenges we face collectively in confronting Covid-19. She is one of those leaders who understands the holistic nature of the crisis, that it is about much more than one nasty disease. 

Thus she avoids the scare tactics chosen by so many others.

Meanwhile scare tactics attract media coverage, which in turn boost ratings, but they do little to help us grapple with the daily decisions we need to make about how we lead of our lives.

And what Ghandi and similar voices have been saying for some time now is that Covid cannot be eradicated -- it's not going to go away -- so we simply have to learn how to live with it.

As near as I can tell from reading numerous reports, the most likely scenario for Covid is that it will retreat to the status of a seasonal flu -- worse some years than others -- but always there as a threat to the most vulnerable.

Meanwhile, vaccines have been developed to cope with it, and they will continue to evolve along with the virus as it mutates.

The takeaway? For virtually all of us, it's time to get over the irrational fear of a Middle Ages- type plague and get on with living our normal lives.

Of course, there are some among us -- the extreme elderly, frail, immunocompromised and others -- who face an elevated risk should they get infected. And we need to aggressively protect them. 

But while it is quite contagious, Covid-19 isn't a particularly lethal disease. It has a mortality rate of around 1.4 percent, which mens that 98.6 percent of those who get ill survive. (In citing this, I'm in no way minimizing the tragedy of any individual death.)

As I look at those right around me, practically everyone I know has been exposed, a few people have been infected, fewer still were actually symptomatic and no one, thankfully, has died. Meanwhile, I have lost a number of friends and relatives to other causes having nothing to do with the pandemic.

Life and death go on.

But too many people, IMHO, continue to behave as if the virus is a vicious killer stalking them around every corner. They shrink away from contact with other people, cross the street rather than encounter them at close range, and shrink the pool of their social contacts to the barest minimum.

That is no way to live a life. It is, however, a perfect way to miss the opportunity of a lifetime.

***

SUNDAY HEADLINES 

* Why Facebook won’t let you control your own news feed (WP)

* We need to start thinking differently about COVID outbreaks, says UCSF’s Monica Gandhi (SFC) * Covid misinformation spreads because so many Americans are awful at math (James Surowiecki/WP) * After two weeks of talks in Glasgow, diplomats from almost 200 countries have agreed to ramp up their carbon-cutting commitments, phase out some fossil fuels and increase aid to poor countries on the front lines of climate change. But the deal doesn’t offer the transformative breakthrough scientists say must happen if humanity is to avert disastrous planetary warming. (WP) * How the U.S. Hid an Airstrike That Killed Dozens of Civilians in Syria (NYT) * Can California save itself from the flames? (BBC) * Delhi shuts schools as government considers 'pollution lockdown' (AFP) * Fox News edits video of Biden to make it seem he was being racially insensitive (Guardian) * During climate negotiations at COP26, extreme weather was rampant around the world (WP) * Austria and Netherlands set out stringent curbs to control Covid-19 (Financial Times) * Can Self-Defense Laws Stand Up to a Country Awash in Guns? -- The Kyle Rittenhouse and Ahmaud Arbery cases raise intriguing legal questions about people who take the law into their own hands and then claim self-defense when someone dies. (NYT) * The Taliban Is Vulnerable. Here’s How to Seize the Moment -- The Taliban is tottering; Afghanistan is in chaos. This offers the West unprecedented leverage over a foe it couldn’t beat on the battlefield. (Politico) * Some Afghans trying to flee country face exorbitant costs as Blinken touts success of efforts to help Americans (CNN) * Boys Have Eating Disorders, Too. Doctors Think Social Media Is Making It Worse. (WSJ) * Discovering the Oldest Figural Paintings on Earth -- While working as an independent archeologist, an Indonesian grad student revised the human story. (New Yorker) * The Manufactured Migrant Crisis on Europe’s Doorstep (Atlantic) * Biden approval hits new low as economic discontent rises, Post-ABC poll finds (WP) * Historians found a WWI bunker ‘frozen in time’ in the Alps. Climate change makes it a bittersweet discovery. -- The intact cavern contains munitions, books, cigarette holders and animal bones, and was once teeming with Austro-Hungarian troops. (WP) * Skunk Forced To Bluff Way Through Encounter With Dog After Realizing There’s Nothing Left In Chamber (The Onion) *** "Let's Live For Today" The Grass Roots Songwriters: Norman David Shapiro / Mogol Giulio Rapetti / Michael Julien When I think of all the worries People seem to find And how they're in a hurry To complicate their minds By chasing after money And dreams that can't come true I'm glad that we are different We've better things to do May others plan their future I'm busy loving you One, two, three, four Shah-la, la-la-la-la live for today Shah-la, la-la-la-la live for today And don't worry 'bout tomorrow hey, hey, hey Shah-la, la-la-la-la live for today Live for today