Support for America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan has plummeted by double digits over the last few months, particularly in the wake of the Taliban seizing control over the U.S.-backed Afghan government, a Politico/Morning Consult survey found.
According to the survey, conducted August 13-16 among 1,999 registered voters, 49 percent of voters support the withdrawal. That number reflects a 20 percent drop from the 69 percent who said the same in April.
Overall, one-quarter of American voters say the withdrawal is going well. Thirty-eight percent of Democrats and 14 percent of Republicans agree with that sentiment.
A majority of Democrats, 69 percent, support withdrawal, but just less than a third of Republicans, 31 percent, agree.
Per Politico:
When asked whether the U.S. should still withdraw its military presence if this would create an opportunity for terrorist groups like al Qaeda to establish operations in Afghanistan, voters were less supportive. Just 35 percent of participants said the American military should withdraw in this case, with 48 percent saying it should not. This highlights the fear of terrorism coming from the country, as U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan began following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Over one-third of American voters, 38 percent, expressed the belief that the U.S. should still withdraw from the country, even if the Taliban “regains control of most of Afghanistan.”
President Biden returned to Washington, DC, from Camp David on Monday and addressed the crisis in Afghanistan. During the speech, he admitted the collapse of the Afghan government occurred “more quickly than anticipated.”
“I am president of the United States and the buck stops with me,” Biden said. “I’m deeply saddened by the facts we now face but I do not regret my decision to end America’s warfighting in Afghanistan.”
“Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to be nation-building, it was never supposed to be to build a unified, centralized democracy,” he said.
That remark stands in stark contrast to the position he took in 2003, where he defended the concept of nation-building during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on rebuilding Afghanistan.
Populism on the right isn’t dead or even slowing down. On the contrary, its mass appeal is growing as evidenced by viral campaign ads that sometimes transcend politics and break through barriers erected by elite media companies.
“America First” seems to be the slogan to champion in any Republican primary in 2022. Hundreds of candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives and other offices up and down ballots will have to convince voters of their authenticity by standing out from the crowd.
Four recent viral political campaign ads set the standard for carrying forward the next rendering of Trumpian populism.
“I’m not doing this for you,” the burly, bald man tells the establishment powerbroker to the shock of the cocktail swirling clubhouse-goers. He then rips off his hoity-toity Oxford shirt to reveal an America First T-shirt.
His name is Teddy Daniels, and he’s running to represent President Joe Biden’s hometown district in the U.S. House.
There are several balancing acts in this ad, as there are in the other ads that will be discussed. Most obviously, and perhaps most importantly, there’s the mix of humor and enormity.
Daniels tears his clothes off, rock music kicks in, and action-movie lettering splashes on the screen as the outsider candidate goes off on those who “sell out America.”
Optimism among Americans about the direction of their country fell off a cliff over the past few months, so more people may be ripe to hear a negative political message.
Still, keeping it light-hearted, especially when highlighting the ad’s protagonist, is necessary. After all, it is only 2021, plenty early in the political calendar, and the ad should keep people’s attention until they’re ready to share it on social media.
Daniels’ most penetrating lines come toward the end of the ad. A Purple Heart recipient for military service in Afghanistan, his purpose for running is twofold: freedom and family.
“We are at a pivotal moment in American history,” he says. “If we don’t act now, we could lose our freedom forever.”
“I’m in this fight for my family, and I’m in this fight for your family,” he adds.
Cory Mills, a U.S. House candidate in Florida, has a more authentic ad that ditches the theatrics.
“I’m an America First conservative, and there’s nothing that concerns me more than the America Last agenda that our government has today,” Mills declares.
The strength in this ad is its straightforwardness in both political messaging and the candidate’s biography. A successful populist movement is based on issues, but it thrives with strong leadership. The ad puts you up close and personal with Mills, who overcame a drug-infested childhood home life and went on to serve in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Would you risk your life?” Mills asks the viewer. “Would you make the sacrifice?”
Like Daniels, Mills also cites “freedoms and liberties” as well as fighting “for our families, for our future.”
The libertarian-conservative fusionist theme continues in the following ad featuring freshman Congresswoman Lauren Boebert explaining why she carries a concealed Glock handgun in Congress and in Washington, D.C.
“So forget what you hear in the fake news,” she says. “Here are the real reasons why I choose to defend myself in our nation’s capital.”
From there, Boebert’s able to work in biographical information, that she’s a mother of four and an entrepreneur/business owner. She segues into the issue of “sky-rocketing crime” across the country, including D.C., one of the 10 most dangerous cities to be in.
“One of the challenges of working in D.C. is people here don’t understand how we live in real America,” she adds.
Perfect. Boebert clearly shows the contrast between the rulers and the ruled, cementing herself as a representative of the latter.
Last but not least comes Madison Cawthorn’s ad against certifying the electoral college results for the 2020 presidential election. It’s actually half-ad, half-documentary, clocking in at over six minutes long.
What makes this one especially relevant to populist and dissident messaging is that it goads Big Tech and the corporate press into lashing out with their censorship, fact-checking, and other thought-policing tactics.
Cawthorn can now boast of a “misleading” label on Twitter, a badge of honor for any American intolerant of voter fraud and unconstitutional election meddling.
“Fact check that,” Cawthorn taunts in the video.
Typical political and marketing consultants will talk about earned media and paid media, but it’s a whole new level when you’re garnering trigger warnings by the very forces that America First populism opposes.
America First is a serious movement (and threat) against the powers-that-be at the top of both the Republican and Democratic parties. Effective messaging will hit the issues and values that define the people’s righteous anger, while also raising up leaders and shining a light on the shadowy powers opposing the people’s will.
It looks like the message is getting out in 2022 whether they like it or not.
Manufacturing activity growth decelerated sharply in New York.
Why it matters: The slowdown could signal a reaction to the growing spread of the Delta variant. And activity in New York generally moves in tandem with other regions of the U.S.
State of play: The Empire State Manufacturing Survey, which tracks activity in New York, is the first of a series of monthly manufacturing reports published by the regional Federal Reserve banks.
The August surveys are of particular interest because they occurred amid a spike in COVID infections, the impact of which was not fully captured in the July economic reports.
By the numbers: The survey’s general business conditions index plunged to 18.3 in August from 43.0 in July. A positive number signals growth, but the drop represents a sharp deceleration in activity.
This August print was much worse than the 28.0 expected by economists.
The shipments, employment and new orders subindexes all deteriorated significantly.
What they’re saying: “The weakening in the Empire State survey data in August could have been some payback from the very strong July data,” JPMorgan economist Daniel Silver says.
“The survey also could be picking up a response to recent virus-related developments,” he adds.
What to watch: For more up-to-date color on manufacturing activity, the Philadelphia Fed’s survey will be released on Aug. 19, the Richmond Fed’s on Aug. 24, the Kansas City Fed’s on Aug. 26, and the Dallas Fed’s on Aug. 30.
“We expect constraints on pandemic-stricken supply chains and labor markets to gradually ease in the coming months, but these headwinds risk staying strong amid the rapid spread of the Delta variant,” Oxford Economics lead U.S. economist Oren Klachkin said in a report.
Immediately after her second Moderna shot, award-winning actress Sally Kirkland knew something was wrong — five months later, she remains in almost constant pain.
Sally Kirkland has been acting since she was 17, and has appeared in more than 250 movies. But she didn’t sign up for the role she’s playing now — an advocate for not getting the COVID vaccine.
In the most recent episode of “The People’s Testaments,” Kirkland told Polly Tommey, “Like I know my own name, I would advise you not to do the vaccine.”
Kirkland decided to get the COVID vaccine, after seeing what a friend, who got the virus, went through. Her friend recovered — but five months after her second Moderna shot, Kirkland remains in constant pain.
Kirkland, 79, was healthy before she took the vaccine. But almost immediately after the second shot, she experienced excruciating headaches, vertigo, nausea and joint pain.
Kirkland said some doctors refused to blame the vaccine for her symptoms, despite the timing of the symptoms. But others didn’t — including three doctors who told her the vaccine attacked the nerve in her brain that causes dizziness, vertigo and joint pain throughout her body.
At one point, alone late at night, the vertigo caused Kirkland to fall, resulting in a broken toe and sprained ankle.
Kirkland said she also has “terrible heart pain,” which makes her feel as though she’s having a heart attack.
Today, Kirkland takes multiple prescriptions for pain, nausea and vertigo, and alternates between applying moist hot packs and ice on her joints. Still, she continues to work, she said, because she needs to support herself.
During a recent acting job in New Orleans, Kirkland had to be rushed to a hospital where one doctor told her, “You’re not the first person. We’ve had other people who got the Moderna vaccine, which attacked the nerve in their brain, causing all these symptoms.”
Widespread chaos has consumed Afghanistan now that the Taliban have gained control of the country, inciting fear among religious minorities, including Christians who are worried about an increase in persecution.
International Christian Concern (ICC), a non-profit persecution watchdog, recently spoke with an Afghan church leader about the enormous dangers confronting people of faith in the war-torn country.
In a two-part interview with ICC posted to YouTube, the anonymous church leader explained that the Taliban “has a great number of influence” against people in terms of obtaining information.
“They want to be safe,” the church leader explained. “They want to be protected so if they come to my area, I will tell them everything that I know so that when the Taliban come then they somehow spare my family. They don’t hurt me.”
He said that some Christians cannot even trust their own family members.
“The Taliban come in the area of the mosque, ask how many members of the household are part of that and they take names of all of the people who live there. Places like north of Afghanistan, Taliban control some of the areas, having a beard is compulsory. Taliban come to houses. They ask for food. They ask for money. Some of them are known that they have been Christian,” the leader noted.
And those who do not adhere to the militants demands risk the chance of being killed.
“Definitely, they’re going to kill some of the Christians that have been known and that way they want to spread that fear that we will not tolerate anything against that,” the church leader added.
He pointed out that “weaker people” such as women and villagers will probably be forced to convert to Islam.
In part 2 of the interview, the church leader explained that many Christians are dealing with the crisis through prayer.
“Definitely we trust in the Lord and pray that He is sparring His people,” he said. “We believe in God and we believe that as Christians we know there is persecution. Every Muslim background believer like myself that converted to Christianity knows the consequences of conversion. Islam is very clear, for the apostasy it is death. And there is no mercy on those people.”
The church leader added, “God has a purpose and a plan. He knows what’s best for His children in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, multiple terrorist groups – some supported by the Republic of Turkey – applauded the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.
ICC reports that some compared the coup with the fall of Mosul to ISIS in 2014.
Abu Maria al-Qahtani, a former Mosul policeman and former commander of Syria’s Jahbat al-Nusra, reportedly said, “The victory of the Taliban is a victory for the Muslims, a victory for the Sunnis, a victory for all the oppressed.”
Several mosques in Syria celebrated after the Taliban acquired Kabul on Sunday by reportedly passing out sweets.
Additionally, Turkey was mobilizing terrorists within Syria for deployment into Afghanistan. President Erdogan has even attempted to communicate with the Taliban.
Last Wednesday, he invited the group to Turkey, saying, “Our relevant institutions are working on it, including talks with the Taliban, and I may also receive the leader of the Taliban. Turkey has nothing that contradicts their beliefs.”
Many Iraqi Christians are worried that their own country could fall victim to a major security crisis like Afghanistan.
An Iraqi journalist tweeted, “If a similar takeover of state happens in Iraq, it won’t be ISIS. It’s the PMF (Popular Mobilization Forces), the IRGC-backed (Iranian-backed) groups in particular, that will run down the army and state security apparatus. They’re taking notes from the Taliban right now.”
Claire Evans, ICC’s Regional Manager, said terrorists feel “empowered” by the Taliban’s success in taking over Kabul.
“The atmosphere throughout the Middle East region has changed with the fall of Kabul to the Taliban,” she said. “The Middle East had just entered the recovery stages following the defeat of ISIS, an ideology predicated on the genocide of religious minorities. This is potentially a significant turning point for religious freedom across the Middle East. We are watching the Middle Eastern response closely and with great concern.”
Please continue to pray for the people of Afghanistan, for them to find strength, wisdom, and peace in His promises.
As thousands of people swarmed Kabul’s airport on Monday in a bid to escape the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, videos circulating on social media appeared to show armed Taliban fighters enjoying amusement-park rides.
One video that went viral on Twitter depicted fighters driving bumper cars while touting guns.
The hardline Islamist group ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when US-led forces removed it from power following the September 11 attacks. The US has reportedly invested nearly $83 billion in training Afghanistan’s security forces to defend against a Taliban incursion.
Whole country under lockdown after just one COVID case detected.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has mimicked Australia’s top public health official by telling citizens, “Don’t talk to your neighbors,” after the country went into full lockdown as a result of just a single COVID case being detected.
As we highlighted earlier, the entire country has been placed under lockdown for three days, with Auckland in lockdown for a week, following the discovery of a single coronavirus infection in the coastal town of Coromandel.
Citizens are now being told to avoid work, school and leisure activities while only venturing outside for “essential” reasons like purchasing food.
However, Ardern went further, claiming the risk of passing on the infection was so high that people shouldn’t even have conversations with their own neighbors.
JUST IN – New Zealand to enter nationwide lockdown after detecting 1st local case for 170 days: "Do not talk to your neighbors."pic.twitter.com/jCJSU5g0nw
“Stay local and do not congregate, don’t talk to your neighbors, please keep to your bubbles,” said Ardern.
“We know from overseas cases of the delta variant that it can be spread by people simply walking past one another – so keep those movements outside to the bare minimum, wear a mask, and make sure you keep up that physical distancing,” she added.
Arden is basically repeating what the chief health officer of New South Wales told Australians last month.
“Whilst it’s human nature to engage in conversation with others, to be friendly, unfortunately this is not the time to do that,” said Dr. Kerry Chant.
“So even if you run into your next door neighbor in the shopping center…don’t start up a conversation, now is the time for minimizing your interactions with others, even if you’ve got a mask, do not think that affords total protection, we wanna be absolutely sure that as we go about our daily lives we do not come into contact with anyone else that would pose a risk,” she added.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.
DON’T ACT LIKE A HUMAN. DON’T TALK TO YOUR FRIENDS, EVEN WHEN MASKED. DON’T BE FRIENDLY. THIS IS NOT THE TIME. pic.twitter.com/iiPgz2D8Bb
Why are authorities in Australia and New Zealand so insistent on people not talking to each other?
Perhaps because if enough of them did, authorities would come under enough pressure to reverse the disastrous ‘zero COVID’ policy which means both countries could be under some form of on and off lockdown for years to come.
New Zealand has followed many of the same draconian restrictions imposed by neighboring country Australia, with authorities previously announcing that they will put all coronavirus infectees and their close family members in “quarantine facilities” even if they refuse.
Dr. Vladimir Zelenko is a Ukrainian-American family physician known for promoting hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and azithromycin as part of an outpatient treatment for Covid-19.
He received his medical degree from the University at Buffalo, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and has been in practice between 11-20 years, according to US News.
He is credited (here) for bringing hydroxychloroquine to President Donald Trump’s attention.
Zelenko recently told host Stew Peters that Covid-19 is “a bioweapon designed to isolate humanity and create pathologic, pathogenic fear which then is manipulated by the stakeholders, manipulating human behavior into a course of action that is irrational.”
He goes on to say that Covid-19 is “not a threat” to humanity but a “psy-op” (psychological operation).
Dr. Zelenko argues that more have died from the mainstream “response of lockdown and global immunization” than from the coronavirus.
Zelenko believes we are “on the verge of a potentially genocidal event” that will kill “billions of people.”
“It’s not a matter of belief,” says Zelenko, “It’s a matter of understanding the science. This is an immunologist’s worst nightmare.”
"I'm not ready to sacrifice my future to have a present. I'd rather sacrifice my present to maintain a future." — Vladimir Zelenko MDhttps://t.co/S9aQJ7iUkA
Dr. Zelenko cites Professor Dr. Luc Montagnier—who won the 2008 Nobel Prize for identifying the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)—for warning that the Covid-19 vaccine is “the biggest risk of genocide of the human race in history.”
He goes on to cite former Pfizer VP Dr. Michael Yeadon for warning that “for every one child who dies from Covid, 100 will die from the vaccine,” and that 75% of those who receive the vaccine will be dead “in three years.”
Zelenko says “the world experts are warning that [the Covid-10 vaccine] could be a global genocidal event.”
He also notes the Covid-19 vaccine is causing heart disease and miscarriages.
ANTIBODY-DEPENDENT ENHANCEMENT (ADE) CAUSED BY VACCINE:
In animal testing, “these vaccines killed the animals,” said Dr. Zelenko.
He clarified that the vaccinated animals had died “indirectly,” when exposed to the coronavirus after vaccination. “When those animals were challenged with the actual virus they were immunized to, they died.”
And, “It was their own immune system that killed them,” said Zelenko.
Since experimentation for this deadly ADE response has not been conducted in humans, Dr. Zelenko warns that “you are the experiment.”
WHAT TO DO IF YOU’VE ALREADY BEEN VACCINATED:
Dr. Zelenko says there is a “strategy” for potentially avoiding severe side effects from the vaccine even if you’ve already taken it.
His strategy is “to prophylax them with antiviral drugs.”
“That person needs to be…on prophylaxis (preventive therapy)…so that they will not get Covid, and, if they do get Covid, …to treat it immediately within the first day or two,” Zelenko suggests.
Zelenko says he kept 85% of his patients out of the hospital using combinations of zinc, hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, quercetin, vitamin C, and vitamin D.
While game journalist applaud the game’s transition to a more diverse roster, Siege’s transient playerbase is less enthused, citing the character’s similarity to previous operators
Ubisoft’s multiplayer tactical third-person shooter Rainbow Six Siege has added a transgender operator to the game, whose ability revolves around transforming maps by deploying transparent portable shields that they transport on their person around the map. Corporate game journalists are transfixed in admiration for the new character, who is the first transgender operator in the game.
PC Gamer reports that the new character Osa, “brings a gadget to her team that the defenders would probably love to steal: redeployable, transparent, waist-high bulletproof walls that can attach to windows, doorways, or anywhere on the ground,” with the author claiming that the character could become their new main in the game. The article notes that the character is voiced by a transgender voice actor, and that “Siege’s roster has become more diverse in recent years, which feels like a win for a game that began with a very white, male-dominated roster.”
Game art director Alexander Karpazis declared, “We haven’t kept it a secret, the Rainbow team is diverse. And we quite frankly love that inclusivity, that representation where anybody can come into the game and find somebody that they can relate to, want to play, and can see as a role model. Osa is just that, another operator that comes from a diverse background.”
Corporate journalists across Twitter gushed over the character, claiming Osa could revive Siege’s flagging playercount. Unfortunately, actual Rainbow Six players were less enthused. In the comments section for the character gameplay reveal on IGN, players pointed out the character’s similarity in gadgetry to other operators already in the game, reused weapons, and the lack of a new map being produced for the game in several years.
Top comments on the reveal include observations such as “Can not wait to not use this operator,” “We need new maps, and literally nobody wants another OP shield operator,” and “Why does it seem like Ubi doesnt have any actual operator idea designers, they just reuse and slightly alter old operators and think that’ll fix it.”
Video Game Adds Trans Character: Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six
While game journalist applaud the game’s transition to a more diverse roster, Siege’s transient playerbase is less enthused, citing the character’s similarity to previous operators
Ubisoft’s multiplayer tactical third-person shooter Rainbow Six Siege has added a transgender operator to the game, whose ability revolves around transforming maps by deploying transparent portable shields that they transport on their person around the map. Corporate game journalists are transfixed in admiration for the new character, who is the first transgender operator in the game.
PC Gamer reports that the new character Osa, “brings a gadget to her team that the defenders would probably love to steal: redeployable, transparent, waist-high bulletproof walls that can attach to windows, doorways, or anywhere on the ground,” with the author claiming that the character could become their new main in the game. The article notes that the character is voiced by a transgender voice actor, and that “Siege’s roster has become more diverse in recent years, which feels like a win for a game that began with a very white, male-dominated roster.”
Game art director Alexander Karpazis declared, “We haven’t kept it a secret, the Rainbow team is diverse. And we quite frankly love that inclusivity, that representation where anybody can come into the game and find somebody that they can relate to, want to play, and can see as a role model. Osa is just that, another operator that comes from a diverse background.”
Corporate journalists across Twitter gushed over the character, claiming Osa could revive Siege’s flagging playercount. Unfortunately, actual Rainbow Six players were less enthused. In the comments section for the character gameplay reveal on IGN, players pointed out the character’s similarity in gadgetry to other operators already in the game, reused weapons, and the lack of a new map being produced for the game in several years.
Top comments on the reveal include observations such as “Can not wait to not use this operator,” “We need new maps, and literally nobody wants another OP shield operator,” and “Why does it seem like Ubi doesnt have any actual operator idea designers, they just reuse and slightly alter old operators and think that’ll fix it.”