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JoanofArgh
JoanofArgh's Journal
JoanofArgh's Journal
August 15, 2021
We must focus on saving lives in Afghanistan. As the US works to evacuate those at special risk from the Taliban, I am grateful to Albania, Canada, Kosovo and North Macedonia for offering refuge to Afghan allies, esp women & civil society leaders. I hope & expect others to follow
"We must focus on saving lives in Afghanistan " Madeline Albright
https://twitter.com/madeleine/status/1426927201803440131?s=21We must focus on saving lives in Afghanistan. As the US works to evacuate those at special risk from the Taliban, I am grateful to Albania, Canada, Kosovo and North Macedonia for offering refuge to Afghan allies, esp women & civil society leaders. I hope & expect others to follow
August 14, 2021
WASHINGTON — With a stockpile of at least 100 million doses at the ready, Biden administration officials are developing a plan to start offering coronavirus booster shots to some Americans as early as this fall even as researchers continue to hotly debate whether extra shots are needed, according to people familiar with the effort.
The first boosters are likely to go to nursing home residents and health care workers, followed by other older people who were near the front of the line when vaccinations began late last year. Officials envision giving people the same vaccine they originally received. They have discussed starting the effort in October but have not settled on a timetable.
While many outside experts argue there is no proof yet that the vaccines’ protection against severe disease and hospitalization is waning in the United States, administration officials say they cannot afford to put off figuring out the logistics of providing boosters to millions of people until that tipping point is reached. The spotty nature of the nation’s disease-reporting network makes the question of timing even trickier.
Among other indicators, officials say, the administration is carefully watching Israel, where some data suggests an uptick in severe disease among older adults who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine early in that nation’s campaign, according to people who have reviewed it. Some officials are concerned that even if a decline in protection merely results in mild or asymptomatic infections, those infected people could still spread the virus and prolong the pandemic.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/14/us/covid-vaccine-third-shot-booster.html
Booster shots are coming for nursing home residents, healthcare workers, seniors this fall
Biden Administration Plans for Vaccine Boosters, Perhaps by FallWASHINGTON — With a stockpile of at least 100 million doses at the ready, Biden administration officials are developing a plan to start offering coronavirus booster shots to some Americans as early as this fall even as researchers continue to hotly debate whether extra shots are needed, according to people familiar with the effort.
The first boosters are likely to go to nursing home residents and health care workers, followed by other older people who were near the front of the line when vaccinations began late last year. Officials envision giving people the same vaccine they originally received. They have discussed starting the effort in October but have not settled on a timetable.
While many outside experts argue there is no proof yet that the vaccines’ protection against severe disease and hospitalization is waning in the United States, administration officials say they cannot afford to put off figuring out the logistics of providing boosters to millions of people until that tipping point is reached. The spotty nature of the nation’s disease-reporting network makes the question of timing even trickier.
Among other indicators, officials say, the administration is carefully watching Israel, where some data suggests an uptick in severe disease among older adults who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine early in that nation’s campaign, according to people who have reviewed it. Some officials are concerned that even if a decline in protection merely results in mild or asymptomatic infections, those infected people could still spread the virus and prolong the pandemic.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/14/us/covid-vaccine-third-shot-booster.html
August 14, 2021
NEW: Border Protection officers in Memphis stopped a HUGE shipment of fake COVID vaccine cards heading to New Orleans, from China. @wdsu
MORE: Memphis border protection officers said the cards had 'typos, unfinished words & misspelled some of the Spanish verbiage on the back.' Officers also said the package was imported by a non-CDC or medical entity & this was not the first time they had seen this shipper. @wdsu
MORE: From Memphis border protection officers: "The recipients of this ubiquitous contraband are unfortunately all over the United States. This fiscal year to date, Memphis has made 121 seizures totaling 3,017 of these vaccination cards." @wdsu
MORE from Michael Neipert, Area Port Director of Memphis: "These vaccinations are free & available everywhere. If you do not wish to receive a vaccine, that is your decision. But don’t order a counterfeit, waste my officer’s time, break the law & misrepresent yourself." @wdsu
Border Protection Officers/ Memphis stopped a huge shipment fake vaccine cards
https://twitter.com/cwatkinswdsu/status/1426261946773483525?s=21NEW: Border Protection officers in Memphis stopped a HUGE shipment of fake COVID vaccine cards heading to New Orleans, from China. @wdsu
MORE: Memphis border protection officers said the cards had 'typos, unfinished words & misspelled some of the Spanish verbiage on the back.' Officers also said the package was imported by a non-CDC or medical entity & this was not the first time they had seen this shipper. @wdsu
MORE: From Memphis border protection officers: "The recipients of this ubiquitous contraband are unfortunately all over the United States. This fiscal year to date, Memphis has made 121 seizures totaling 3,017 of these vaccination cards." @wdsu
MORE from Michael Neipert, Area Port Director of Memphis: "These vaccinations are free & available everywhere. If you do not wish to receive a vaccine, that is your decision. But don’t order a counterfeit, waste my officer’s time, break the law & misrepresent yourself." @wdsu
August 14, 2021
And Scottsdale , AZ
https://twitter.com/steve_irvin/status/1426319248591261700?s=21
After just 2nd day of school, 440 students quarantined in Palm Beach County
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1426151557897224192?s=21And Scottsdale , AZ
https://twitter.com/steve_irvin/status/1426319248591261700?s=21
August 13, 2021
Fox News just reported that 63 people tested positive at Obama's birthday party
I googled it and found this from the Daily Mail: A total of 63 people on Martha's Vineyard have tested positive for Covid- 19 since former President Barack Obama's 60th birthday extravaganza last Saturday, more than any week since April.
However, health officials note it's still too early to know whether the hundreds of guests and workers gathered for his weekend of maskless parties have contributed to the surge in cases.
'At this time we're not aware of any cases connected to the Obama party,' Tisbury health agent and boards of health spokesperson Maura Valley told DailyMail.com. 'It's a little too early and the only way we're going to know is through comprehensive contact tracing.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9891873/63-people-Marthas-Vineyard-tested-positive-Covid-Obamas-60th-birthday-bash.html
They need to be sued. I assume there were a lot of people at their summer homes that weekend.
August 13, 2021
US policy in Afghanistan has been 20 yrs of bad decisions & bad execution in the face of an insoluble challenge. Our local allies were very flawed, our enemy was resolute & the last 3 US presidents have wanted out & knew what's happening now would happen. But sure, it's on Biden.
The original sin and greatest blame goes to George W. Bush who got us involved in a protracted mission when the only right mission was to go in, get Al Qaeda & leave. That was compounded by the catastrophic decision to enter Iraq--an enormous distraction.
Obama and Trump compounded the problem by failing to find a way to exit. Why didn't they? Because their advisors knew that the center (the Afghan gov't and forces) couldn't hold and that ultimately collapse would follow the exit. Those advisors were right.
Those who recommended staying indefinitely did so in the full knowledge that 20 years of massive expense and effort could not produce a stable central government or a secure Afghanistan. There is zero evidence any outside force ever could do that. None ever has.
There are profound human rights issues--particularly women's rights issues--that should be of great concern and a priority for the international community. But the answer is not a costly U.S. & allied military Band-Aid.
The military is not the only tool in what Madeleine Albright would call our diplomatic toolbox. Moreover it is one that has proven wholly ineffective to produce lasting change in Afghanistan. We must shift to other tools--at the top of the list being multilateral diplomacy.
Bringing together all the major powers with a stake in Afghanistan and institutions to communicate to the effective leaders of the country that if they respect the rights of women they will benefit and if they do not they will be severely penalized.
Letting them know that they will be subject to military strikes if they harbor terrorists is also fair. The notion that the only path is continuing to do what hasn't worked to date is ridiculous. And the costs & pitfalls of alternative paths aren't worse than what hasn't worked.
Some suggest that Biden could have planned this better. First, Bush, Obama and Trump could have and should have planned and executed this better. Next, there is plenty to suggest that whenever the US decided to leave, what is happening would happen.
The Taliban want to embarrass us and claim victory. They have known all along they would not get much resistance in most of the country from the central government. This was so predictable everyone predicted it--and no one, no one offered a viable alternative solution.
Only one president has had the courage to do the right thing in Afghanistan. It is the same man who advised we do this in 2009 when he was Vice President. It takes courage because he knows that he will receive the critiques his opponents are heaping on him now
But doing the right thing even when it is likely to be politically controversial and even when it reveals uncomfortable realities is what strong leadership is about.
Biden & his team have already committed to using other means to advance US interests in Afghanistan-as we should have done long, long ago. It's fascinating that so many who opposed nation building, who do not believe the US should be the world's sheriff are now criticizing Biden.
America's war in Afghanistan will rank alongside Vietnam as one of our great modern failures of strategy and execution. Many are to blame for that. Whatever arguments might be made that the US departure could have been better executed, one thing is absolutely clear.
The bulk of the responsibility for that failure lies with past administrations and with the leadership in Kabul (and to some extent with Taliban enablers beyond the country's borders). Biden is doing what is right and what must be done. It is time to turn the page.
David Rothkopf: US policy in Afghanistan has been 20 yrs of bad decisions & bad execution
https://twitter.com/djrothkopf/status/1426164809804959748?s=20US policy in Afghanistan has been 20 yrs of bad decisions & bad execution in the face of an insoluble challenge. Our local allies were very flawed, our enemy was resolute & the last 3 US presidents have wanted out & knew what's happening now would happen. But sure, it's on Biden.
The original sin and greatest blame goes to George W. Bush who got us involved in a protracted mission when the only right mission was to go in, get Al Qaeda & leave. That was compounded by the catastrophic decision to enter Iraq--an enormous distraction.
Obama and Trump compounded the problem by failing to find a way to exit. Why didn't they? Because their advisors knew that the center (the Afghan gov't and forces) couldn't hold and that ultimately collapse would follow the exit. Those advisors were right.
Those who recommended staying indefinitely did so in the full knowledge that 20 years of massive expense and effort could not produce a stable central government or a secure Afghanistan. There is zero evidence any outside force ever could do that. None ever has.
There are profound human rights issues--particularly women's rights issues--that should be of great concern and a priority for the international community. But the answer is not a costly U.S. & allied military Band-Aid.
The military is not the only tool in what Madeleine Albright would call our diplomatic toolbox. Moreover it is one that has proven wholly ineffective to produce lasting change in Afghanistan. We must shift to other tools--at the top of the list being multilateral diplomacy.
Bringing together all the major powers with a stake in Afghanistan and institutions to communicate to the effective leaders of the country that if they respect the rights of women they will benefit and if they do not they will be severely penalized.
Letting them know that they will be subject to military strikes if they harbor terrorists is also fair. The notion that the only path is continuing to do what hasn't worked to date is ridiculous. And the costs & pitfalls of alternative paths aren't worse than what hasn't worked.
Some suggest that Biden could have planned this better. First, Bush, Obama and Trump could have and should have planned and executed this better. Next, there is plenty to suggest that whenever the US decided to leave, what is happening would happen.
The Taliban want to embarrass us and claim victory. They have known all along they would not get much resistance in most of the country from the central government. This was so predictable everyone predicted it--and no one, no one offered a viable alternative solution.
Only one president has had the courage to do the right thing in Afghanistan. It is the same man who advised we do this in 2009 when he was Vice President. It takes courage because he knows that he will receive the critiques his opponents are heaping on him now
But doing the right thing even when it is likely to be politically controversial and even when it reveals uncomfortable realities is what strong leadership is about.
Biden & his team have already committed to using other means to advance US interests in Afghanistan-as we should have done long, long ago. It's fascinating that so many who opposed nation building, who do not believe the US should be the world's sheriff are now criticizing Biden.
America's war in Afghanistan will rank alongside Vietnam as one of our great modern failures of strategy and execution. Many are to blame for that. Whatever arguments might be made that the US departure could have been better executed, one thing is absolutely clear.
The bulk of the responsibility for that failure lies with past administrations and with the leadership in Kabul (and to some extent with Taliban enablers beyond the country's borders). Biden is doing what is right and what must be done. It is time to turn the page.
August 13, 2021
204 COVID cases in Pinellas co, FL among students & staff in 1st 48 hours of school. Still no masks
School Board still REFUSING to implement a mask mandate
https://twitter.com/Green_Footballs/status/1426277600020815877?s=20
In the first 48 hours of school returning, Pinellas County, Florida has already reported 204 COVID cases among students and staff.
During an emergency meeting Monday, the Pinellas County School Board refused to implement a mask mandate
August 13, 2021
15,840 people are in the hospital being treated for COVID-19 in Florida, according to 254 hospitals reporting to @HHSGov.
This is a new record.
Almost 16,000 people are now hospitalized in FL w/ COVID
https://twitter.com/nikkifried/status/1426171986481397766?s=2115,840 people are in the hospital being treated for COVID-19 in Florida, according to 254 hospitals reporting to @HHSGov.
This is a new record.
August 12, 2021
Some fun Census stats on 2010-2020:
>> McKenzie County, North Dakota (!) was the fastest growing US county, up 131%
>> The Villages, FL was the fastest growing US metro area, up 39%
>> US population growth this decade was slower than any other this past century, save the 1930s
Fastest growing US metro area : The Villages,FL
https://twitter.com/allymutnick/status/1425883293854191620?s=20Some fun Census stats on 2010-2020:
>> McKenzie County, North Dakota (!) was the fastest growing US county, up 131%
>> The Villages, FL was the fastest growing US metro area, up 39%
>> US population growth this decade was slower than any other this past century, save the 1930s
August 12, 2021
Watch for extreme gerrymandering in FL, GA, NC, and TX, where Republicans will use their control of the process to gerrymander as many as 11-16 seats in these states alone. This is how they plan to take back the House for a decade.
This just makes me sick. I think it was 2 years after the pukes took over the NC state legislature, Duke did a research paper showing that Democrats could have retaken it without the extreme gerrymandering. Ugh.
Watch for extreme gerrymandering in FL. GA, NC and TX
https://twitter.com/kellycward/status/1425833508061077509?s=21Watch for extreme gerrymandering in FL, GA, NC, and TX, where Republicans will use their control of the process to gerrymander as many as 11-16 seats in these states alone. This is how they plan to take back the House for a decade.
This just makes me sick. I think it was 2 years after the pukes took over the NC state legislature, Duke did a research paper showing that Democrats could have retaken it without the extreme gerrymandering. Ugh.
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHome country: USA
Current location: Charlotte, NC
Member since: Fri Sep 14, 2012, 01:15 AM
Number of posts: 14,971