"Stocks plunge as investors finally get real; Hopes for a quick economic recovery fade as the Fed delivers a sobering outlook and coronavirus cases rise in 19 states" by Larry Edelman Globe Staff, June 11, 2020
Jerome Powell and Anthony Fauci have finally wiped that “What, me worry?” smile off Wall Street’s face. It’s about time.
After a blistering rally fueled largely by irrational exuberance or cabin fever, US stocks plunged Thursday, a third straight day of losses and the biggest drop in three months.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1,862 points, or 6.9 percent, as investors confronted mounting evidence the economy isn’t bouncing back like a Bozo the Clown punching bag any time soon. Also pushing stocks lower: jitters over a second wave of coronavirus infections that could slow efforts to reopen businesses.
Powell, who chairs the Federal Reserve, said Wednesday that “a significant chunk” of the nearly 20 million Americans still out of work may never return to their old jobs or industries, as employers adjust to the realities of a post-pandemic world where retailers, restaurants, airlines, movie theaters, and a vast range of other businesses no longer draw customers like they once did.
News on the pandemic front has been mixed. Hard-hit states including Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey are seeing sustained declines in infections, but the country continues to record about 20,000 new cases and 1,000 deaths each day, and 19 states, including California, Florida, and Texas, have reported increases.
“We have something that turned out to be my worst nightmare,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday, referring to the virus. The infection won’t “burn itself out with mere public health measures . . . We’re going to need a vaccine for the entire world."
The COVID-19 concerns, combined with Powell’s sobering comments, have investors reconsidering the optimism behind their buying spree over the past 10 weeks.
“The Fed provided a reality check for markets," said Matthew Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management in Boston. Miskin noted the Fed’s estimate that the economy will not recover fully until the latter part of 2021, and that the jobless rate would remain high, contradicting expectations for a fast “V-shaped” recovery that fueled the recent rally. “In our view, the bounce in stocks likely went too far too fast, and they could potentially trade in a choppy sideways fashion while we wait to see further light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
Let’s hope that isn’t the headlight of the COVID-19 express. The jobs recovery following the 2007-2009 financial crisis was painfully slow, in part because the Great Recession was the longest downturn since World War II.
Bruce Monrad, chairman of Northeast Investors Trust in Boston and a fixed-income fund manager, said this time around shouldn’t be as bad. That’s because this recession was caused by an outside shock — the pandemic — and is likely to last just a few months. “This is more akin to the 9/11 shock,” he said. “I really do think we won’t have to retool the country.”
Monrad has a good point. We still have a chance to rebound quickly, but that requires a fast reopening of the economy, and as the past month has shown, we don’t have the coronavirus contained, and we lack the testing and tracing resources to wrestle the disease into submission, at least so far.
Houston-area officials said Thursday that they are “getting close” to reimposing a stay-at-home order, a warning that came one day after the region reported its biggest one-day jump in COVID-19 cases.
Yes, patience — a virtue hard to find on Wall Street — will be required.....
--more--"
Your saviors can be found at the bottom of page C4 just before the $ports:
"Moderna vaccine trials moving fast, with final study set for July" by Robert Langreth Bloomberg News,June 11, 2020
Moderna Inc. said it had selected a dose for a final-stage clinical trial of its coronavirus vaccine that should begin in July, as the Cambridge company moves ahead rapidly with its innovative approach to trying to prevent COVID-19.
The final study, which will include 30,000 people, will be conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States. Its primary goal will be to show the vaccine prevents people from developing symptoms of COVID-19, Moderna said in a statement. A secondary goal will be to show the vaccine keeps people from getting severe cases requiring hospitalization.
The announcement is another indication that coronavirus vaccine trials are moving ahead at a remarkable pace. On Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson said that it would begin early trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in the second half of July, ahead of its previous schedule to begin testing in September.
Yup, everybody is rushing pell-mell to develop their toxic potion they will call a vaccine.
Last month, Moderna began a second-stage study of its vaccine, called mRNA-1273, in 600 healthy adults. In its statement Thursday, the company said it had already enrolled 350 people in the trial, including a cohort of 300 healthy adults 54 years and younger, and the first 50 of 300 older adults.
RNA?
What's that mean?
What it means is the "innovative" approach to the vaccine will genetically modify your DNA in the name of fighting the invisible enemy.
This is so evil it is tough to type and comment on it without a great deal of resignation and sadness.
Some vaccines are moving into clinical trials even faster than Moderna’s. A shot codeveloped by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca PLC is starting final-stage clinical trials this month, and the UK company said Thursday that it had recruited Emergent BioSolutions Inc. to help with development and manufacturing.
--more--"
Related:
"Novo Nordisk said Thursday that it’s buying the Waltham biotech Corvidia Therapeutics for $725 million as the Danish pharmaceutical company expands its core business beyond diabetes drugs to pursue new treatments for cardiovascular disease. Novo Nordisk, the world’s biggest producer of diabetes medications, said it was drawn to Corvidia because of the privately held startup’s experimental medicine to lower the risk of heart attacks in patients with chronic kidney disease. The yet-to-be approved drug is called ziltivekimab......."
There is so much money out there in certain agenda-pushing sectors.
What Verve:
Verve raises another $63m to develop gene-editing treatment for heart disease
It's the ‘leading cause of death in the world’ says the Cambridge biotech.
Also see:
"In a city famous for its lack of patience, some businesses have jumped ahead on what’s supposed to be a slow and methodical emergence from coronavirus lockdown. Shoppers mostly self-policed for social distancing, which wasn’t difficult given the store’s size, but the only restriction applied by owner, Albert Abeal, was that customers must wear masks. “We just opened. Everybody’s hungry for merchandise,” said Abeal, who has owned the store for about 20 years. He said business this week had essentially returned to normal, although he didn’t expect that to last. “They didn’t buy clothes for so long. It’s going to slow down in a week.” Abeal said he believed he was allowed to have customers inside because it sold face masks and alcohol, although the latter did not appear to be on display....."
"When members enter a BSC facility, they’ll be greeted by floor stickers that look like stop signs leading to the welcome desk, where they will check in by scanning a barcode. Members will be required to sign a waiver acknowledging that they will follow safety guidelines. At a nearby screening station, they will have their temperatures taken and be asked to complete a questionnaire about any health symptoms, recent travel, and other coronavirus risk factors. Members with a temperature of 100.4 degrees higher — or a questionnaire answer that indicates risk — will be denied access to the club and must wait 14 days before attempting to return. Those who pass the screening will notice several posters about health and safety around the club....."
Ah, go read a book (just make sure you return it to the library).
You will have the time once you are in the contact tracing dragnet.
"The coronavirus pandemic has hammered the travel industry, but Airbnb cofounder Nate Blecharczyk says his short-term rental site has seen a surge in domestic travel in the past few weeks as states loosened restrictions and local economies reopened....."
It's full-$peed ahead and damn the torpedoes:
"Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States shouldn’t shut down the economy again even if there is another surge in coronavirus cases. ‘‘We’ve learned that if you shut down the economy, you’re going to create more damage — medical problems that get put on hold,’’ Mnuchin said Thursday on CNBC. ‘‘We can’t shut down the economy again.’’ Mnuchin added that he believes President Trump made the right decision to urge states to ease social-distancing rules that have crippled the US economy. He said that in the event of a resurgence, it will not be necessary to impose restrictions again because COVID-19 testing and contact tracing are improving and officials understand more about how to contain outbreaks. Mnuchin echoed an argument advanced by Trump and Health Secretary Alex Azar: The health costs of the shutdown may exceed the toll of the virus or already have. The White House has offered no data to support that assertion and has declined requests to do so. While the United States has seen a decline in some services, such as cancer screenings and childhood vaccinations, during the lockdown, health experts have warned that it’s a false choice to weigh those directly against the pandemic. The United States continues to see around 20,000 new cases and 1,000 deaths per day from the virus, with rising case totals in states including Georgia, Arizona, and Texas."
That is certainly a CHANGE of HEART from THIS GOVERNMENT!
Looks like LOCKDOWN was the wrong thing to DO!
I gue$$ Gates and the other billionaires have gotten everything they want this round -- even if the learning proce$$ for Mnuchin included destroying our livelihoods and economy.
What I learned during the COVID scare was how deeply the pharmaceutical industry controls the health care $y$tem in this country, and I'm tired of listening to lying, $elf-$erving experts.
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
Another reality check awaits on the front page (a picture is worth a thousand words):
These cities have tried to reform their police departments
The results have been mixed, and the message scrawled across homemade signs and reverberating through protests across the country: Defund the police.
Directly below it:
Black leaders call Trump rally planned for June 19 in Tulsa, Okla., ‘a slap in the face’ with a “wink to white supremacists.”
Below that:
Amid push for systemic change, city councilor wants equity proof from BPDA
Making the Four Seasons pay for its treatment of workers
Oh, make 'em pay, huh?
"As colleges and universities announce plans to bring students back for the fall, many are encountering resistance from professors who are wary of returning to the classroom, fearful that the health risks may be too high and that teaching face-to-face and online at the same time may be ineffective. Faculty members say their concerns have been sidelined, as institutions — in an effort to keep students and families happy and minimize potential financial losses — have promised a robust slate of in-person classes....."
The professors say it's a “bad plan,” and Fauci agrees.
The featured apparel:
"Late night deals, international holdups, and curious characters: Inside the state’s quest for PPE" by Matt Rocheleau and Dugan Arnett Globe Staff, June 11, 2020
In mid-March, as they scrambled to prepare for a coming surge in COVID-19 cases, state officials found themselves in dire need of masks, gowns, gloves, and other personal protective equipment.
Hospitals were clamoring for the gear to shield front-line workers from the new and gravely infectious coronavirus. National shortages had rendered many traditional supply chains useless, and President Trump made it clear that the federal government had little interest in jumping in to help. “We’re not a shipping clerk,” Trump said.
With limited options, state officials turned to an international gray market populated by pandemic profiteers and middlemen who promised lots of gear, quickly. Massachusetts linked up with a range of providers, among them a curious cast of characters — including one convicted fraudster — and waded into a kind of guy-who-knows-a-guy world that sometimes resulted in deliveries that came weeks late or contained second-rate product.
The state has racked up at least $290 million in bills for medical gear in the past few months, and a Globe review of a sliver of those payments — the only ones disclosed in detail to date — shows just how shadowy the high-stakes world of PPE procurement can be.
Among those to whom the state awarded contracts: a company run out of a suburban New Jersey home that is now under investigation by the Massachusetts attorney general; a businessman who, prior to the pandemic, specialized in selling a cellphone holder designed to aid in selfie-taking; and a company co-owned by a 39-year-old former government official-turned-online brand marketer who arranged the April delivery of nearly a million respirator masks via the New England Patriots’ team plane. Many of those masks would prove to be unusable by front-line health care workers. A fourth company, run out of a high-rise Miami-area condo, has seemingly no Internet presence to speak of.
Globe went a little off script there.
The state has declined to detail what it received for the $16 million in taxpayer funds it agreed to pay those four companies; officials from multiple state agencies, including the governor’s office, declined to release the contracts the state signed off on — or discuss what has been delivered.
What is clear is that the lack of federal preparedness, coupled with worldwide shortages of PPE, created a famine scenario, or put another way, a strange sort of arms race, prompting bidding wars between states and leaving desperate American institutions to go outside established supply chains in an effort to procure gear.
“You saw brokers, legitimate and illegitimate, rush into that void — not necessarily illegally, but opportunistically,” said Scott Brady, US attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, whose office recently handled a case of alleged fraud involving PPE.
The opportunists seized the moment.
Not the same as the "opportunities" to resign society and all the other ramifications on our way of life that seem so far beyond a normal response to a virus. You never let opportunities during a crisis to go to waste.
In an interview in late April, Governor Charlie Baker alluded to the fly-by-night nature of the PPE market, telling the Globe that he’d devoted a quarter of his days in mid-March to chasing down leads on safety gear and that he’d heard “from people who said, I got a guy here, I got a guy there, I got a girl here, I got a girl there.”
WTF?!!!!
In the midst of this unprecedented emergency, meanwhile, the state loosened its normal rules for purchasing supplies, giving agencies more freedom to make deals as they saw fit....
Remember the guy from Baystate?
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Apparently not.
Also see:
EPA tells Amazon, EBay to stop shipping unproven COVID goods
"A Georgia man is accused of falsely claiming that an air purifier he was selling would kill the coronavirus, federal prosecutors said Thursday....."
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
Milley apologizes for role in Trump photo op
The military has turned against him as Biden projects the narrative (the exact opposite will be true):
Biden warns that President Trump ‘is going to try to steal this election’
He promised and is absolutely convinced that ‘‘military officers will escort him from the White House with great dispatch.’’
He will be torn down like a Confederate traitor:
"Pelosi: Confederate symbols ‘have to go’ from Capitol, bases" by Andrew Taylor Associated Press,June 11, 2020
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that it’s time to remove symbols honoring Confederate figures from the US Capitol building and military bases as the pandemic and racial unrest force a national reckoning with racial discrimination.
Confederate monuments have reemerged as a national flashpoint since the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes. Protesters decrying racism have targeted Confederate monuments in multiple cities, and some state officials are considering taking them down.
President Trump doubled down Thursday on his vow to not rename military bases honoring Confederate generals, even as NASCAR announced it would ban displays of the Confederate flag at its races, but Republicans in the Senate, who are at risk of losing their majority in the November elections, aren’t with Trump on this issue.
He's out there alone now, with only the American people behind him.
Confederate symbols in the military and on Capitol Hill are coming under attack as public opinion has dramatically shifted since Floyd’s killing.
So we are told, and I think it is bull$hit as the PTB scrub our historical memories in advance of the coming technological dystopia.
“The statues in the Capitol should embody our highest ideals as Americans, expressing who we are and who we aspire to be as a nation,’’ Pelosi wrote earlier. “Monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to these ideals.”
At her press conference, she said of Trump: “He seems to be the only person left who doesn’t get it.”
I'm so sick of that hypocritical gasbag and her spewing of s**t!
The presence of statues of generals and other figures of the Confederacy in Capitol locations such as Statuary Hall — the original House chamber — has been denounced by Black lawmakers for many years. Former representative Jesse Jackson Jr. was known to give tours pointing out the numerous statues, but it’s up to the states to determine which of their historical figures to display. Jefferson Davis, a former US senator from Mississippi who was president of the Confederate States of America, is represented by one of two statues from that state. Pelosi noted that Davis and Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens, whose statue comes from Georgia, “were charged with treason against the United States.’’
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said the appropriate way to handle the statues controversy would be to continue the trend of states replacing them on their own.....
Meaning those feckless cowards will soon kneel before the mob and take down the statues.
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Pelosi says the ‘‘base names and these statues have to go,” and the SAME could be said about HER!
Related:
Solicitor General Noel Francisco expected to step down
UMass chancellor stepping down
Also see:
"Surgeons in Chicago have given a new set of lungs to a young woman with severe lung damage from the coronavirus. Northwestern Medicine on Thursday announced the procedure, which took place last Friday. Only a few other COVID-19 survivors, in China and Europe, have received lung transplants. The Chicago patient is in her 20s and was on a ventilator and heart-lung machine for almost two months before her operation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The 10-hour procedure was challenging because the virus had left her lungs full of holes and almost fused to the chest wall, said Dr. Ankit Bharat, who performed the operation. She remains on a ventilator while her body heals but is well enough to visit with family via phone video and doctors say her chances for a normal life are good. She was otherwise pretty healthy but her condition rapidly deteriorated after she was hospitalized in late April. Doctors waited six weeks for her body to clear the virus before considering a transplant."
I hope she doesn't hyperventilate and die like in NYC. Then she can have beer!
"A Republican Ohio state senator is under fire after asking whether “African-Americans or the colored population” have been disproportionately affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic because they “do not wash their hands as well as other groups.” State Senator Steve Huffman, who is also a doctor, raised the question Tuesday during a hearing on whether to declare racism a public health crisis. Huffman, an emergency room physician, wanted to know why Black communities are being hit so much harder by the virus Huffman’s remarks, which came amid widespread protests calling for racial justice and equality following the death of George Floyd, prompted swift outcry online and from other local lawmakers. In a phone interview with The Washington Post late Wednesday, Huffman defended himself, insisting that his language was not intended to be derogatory. Huffman added that he thought the phrases “people of color” and “colored population” were similar. “People of color would have been better, but they seem to be interchangeable,” he said, before stressing repeatedly that the question had been rhetorical....."
Don't claim you are not a racist because that only confirms that you are, Dr. Huffman(!).
"After days of clashes with protesters outside the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct, authorities backed down on Monday, removing barricades and boarding up the building. Since then, protesters have moved in, proclaiming the area the ‘‘Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,’’ where the police are forbidden, food is free, and documentaries are screened at night. To some protesters, it’s a first step toward their appeals to defund the police and end racial injustice. A list of demands from the autonomous zone’s occupants included abolishing the city’s police department, banning the use of armed force, removing officers from schools, eradicating juvenile jails and prisons, and distributing reparations to victims of police brutality. Instead of ‘‘protesters,’’ President Trump suggested another term for the demonstrators late Wednesday: ‘‘Domestic Terrorists.’’ Trump criticized Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Washington Governor Jay Inslee, both Democrats, on Twitter, threatening federal action if local leaders don’t ‘‘take back’’ the city. Both Durkan and Inslee swiftly hit back at Trump....."
Related: Never Appease a Tyrant
Durkan and Inslee just don't get it.
Federal Arrests Show No Sign That Antifa Plotted Protests
It's a New York Times pos, and if you are not looking for it or don't want to see it, you won't find it, and willful omission is even worse.
"The World Health Organization says the pandemic in Africa is “accelerating” and that while it took 98 days for the continent to reach 100,000 coronavirus cases, it took just 18 days to get to 200,000. WHO Africa chief Matshidiso Moeti said Thursday that community transmission has begun in more than half of Africa’s 54 countries and “this is a serious sign.” The virus largely arrived on the continent via travelers from Europe and is spreading beyond capital cities and commercial hubs into more rural areas where many health systems are unequipped to handle cases that require intensive care."
Africa is where the virus was first found, and get this:
"The European Union on Thursday urged all its member countries to start lifting travel restrictions on their common borders beginning next week, saying that the closures they introduced to tackle the coronavirus do little to limit its spread. The EU’s executive arm wants Europe’s ID check-free travel area to be up and running again by the end of June. Once that has happened, a ban on nonessential travel to the continent can also gradually be eased. Unveiling the executive arm’s recommendations for helping to breathe new life into Europe’s virus-ravaged tourism sector, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said that the virus situation ‘‘is really improving in all member states, the situation is converging.”
What is with the f**king mixed message bull$hit anyway, and don't go to Germany whatever you do -- or France:
"The European Court of Human Rights ruled Thursday that France violated the freedom of expression of pro-Palestinian activists who were convicted for campaigning against Israeli goods. The global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement movement has called for boycotts against Israeli businesses, universities, and cultural institutions in what it says is a nonviolent campaign against Israeli abuses against Palestinians. Israel says the movement masks its motives to delegitimize or destroy the Jewish state....."
BDS is forced to mask like Antifa now, and Europe may not want to open up at all:
"South Korea has reported 45 new cases of COVID-19, all but two of them in the greater capital area, continuing a weeks-long resurgence that health authorities fear will develop into a massive wave. The figures announced by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday brought national totals to 11,947 cases and 276 deaths. The capital of Seoul reported 21 new infections while 22 other cases were reported in nearby Incheon and Gyeonggi province towns. The country has been reporting around 30 to 50 new cases per day since late May, mostly in the densely populated capital area where about half of South Korea’s 51 million people live. Despite expressing concern over the steady rise in infections, government officials are resisting calls to reimpose stronger social distancing measures that were relaxed in April, citing concerns over hurting a fragile economy."
"India reported a record of 9,996 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours with health services in the worst-hit cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, and Chennai getting swamped by the rising infections. The Health Ministry on Thursday also reported an increase of 357 deaths. India’s tally of confirmed cases has reached 286,579, the fifth highest in the world, with 8,102 deaths. Most Indian states have lifted lockdown restrictions, with train services partially restored and shops and manufacturing reopened. Subways, hotels, and schools remain shuttered nationwide. The Health Ministry said testing capacity has increased and the number of recovered patients has exceeded the number of active cases for the first time."
"A temple that is one of Thailand’s major tourist attractions has barred entry to foreigners, professing fear they could spread the coronavirus. Signs at the main gate of Wat Pho, a Buddhist temple adjacent to the Grand Palace in Bangkok, say in English “Open for Thai only” and “NOW NOT OPEN FOR FOREIGNERS.” The temple was closed to all visitors for two months until last week in compliance with a government directive to fight the coronavirus."
"Afghanistan’s acting health minister is warning that the coronavirus has spread to “each and every house” in the country. Officially, Afghanistan has about 22,800 confirmed cases of the virus with 426 fatalities, but tens of thousands have not been tested. The country has a population of 36.6 million."
Speaking of Afghanistan:
"One-third of 500 random coronavirus tests in Afghanistan’s capital came back positive, officials said Sunday, raising fears of widespread undetected infections in one of the world’s most fragile states. The results of the tests are “concerning,” said Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Mayar. Afghanistan has performed only limited testing, about 12,000, with more than 2,700 confirmed infections, in a nation of 36.6 million. As more testing becomes available, the country’s confirmed infection numbers are likely to rise sharply, said Mayar. He urged residents to stay home. Kabul and most other cities are in lockdown, but compliance has not been widespread."
What do they think, they are Americans, and how is that peace deal coming along?
"A suicide bomber in a stolen military Humvee targeted a base in eastern Afghanistan belonging to the country’s intelligence service early on Monday, killing at least nine members of the force, Afghan officials said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The provincial capital briefly fell to Taliban control twice in recent years. The province has in the past been the scene of many large-scale attacks against both Afghan and NATO forces. The attack came a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, signed a power-sharing agreement, two months after both declared themselves the winner of last September’s presidential election....."
Better get them to the hospital:
An Afghan security officer carried a newborn baby from a maternity clinic that was attacked in Kabul Tuesday morning (AFP via Getty Images).
After taking a break for Ramadan and the celebration amid curfews and virus fears while practicing social distancing:
"The Islamic State group took responsibility Sunday for a deadly roadside bombing against a bus belonging to a local TV station in the Afghan capital, while renewed fighting in nearby provinces killed at least seven civilians, including a woman and several children. In a statement on an Islamic State affiliated website, the group said Saturday’s attack in Kabul targeted a bus carrying employees of Khurshid TV, a station it described as “loyal to the Afghan apostate government.” Two employees were killed and four wounded, said Marwa Amini, the Interior Ministry deputy spokeswoman. Two of the wounded were in critical condition Sunday, said Mohammad Rafi Sediqi, an official at the station. Both the Taliban and the Islamic State are active in Kabul. The Islamic State has claimed recent attacks on civilian targets, while the Taliban has taken responsibility for attacking military targets. Another roadside bomb exploded in Kabul on Sunday as a police patrol was passing by, wounding three civilians, said Tariq Arian, the Interior Ministry spokesman. No one immediately claimed responsibly for the blast. The attacks come after a truce expired between the Taliban and Afghan security forces for the three-day Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which ended Tuesday. The Taliban have claimed only one attack since then."
Still can't trust the Taliban:
"The Taliban in Afghanistan still maintain close ties with the Al Qaeda terror network, despite signing a peace deal with the United States in which they committed to fight militant groups, a United Nations report released on Tuesday said. The insurgents promptly slammed the report as “baseless and bigoted.” The US-Taliban accord, signed in Qatar’s capital of Doha at the end of February, was meant to allow for American troops to gradually leave Afghanistan after 19 years of war and pave way for intra-Afghan negotiations that would shape the country’s political future. Under the accord, the Taliban pledged to combat other terror groups — including Al Qaeda, which they once harbored — and prevent militants from using Afghan territory to stage attacks on America, but the details of the Taliban counterterrorism commitment were never publicized. Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington’s peace envoy and the architect of the deal, says the secrecy is necessary to protect intelligence operations involved in enforcing it. Khalilzad told reporters in Washington on Monday that the Taliban pledge was specific “in terms of their presence, in terms of training, in terms of recruiting, in terms of fund-raising in the territory that they currently control.” He insisted that “progress has been made and our future steps in terms of force reduction and related commitments” now depend on the Taliban delivering on their promise. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued an English-language statement condemning the UN report. Critics of the US-Taliban deal have expressed concern at its vagueness, warning it makes monitoring the insurgents’ compliance difficult.
Right, the Taliban are in cahoots with Al-CIA-Duh! What fortuitous timing!
The UN committee behind the report said several significant Al Qaeda figures were killed over the past months but a number of prominent leaders of the group, once led by Osama bin Laden, remain in Afghanistan. The report said they maintain links with the feared Haqqani network, an ally of the Taliban, and still play a significant role in Taliban operations. Jihad, or holy war, and a shared history continue to bind the two militant groups. Several top Al Qaeda leaders, such as Ayman al-Zawahri who succeeded bin Laden as the terror network’s leader, trace their involvement in Afghanistan to the 1980s war against the invading Soviet Union, when the Afghan mujahedeen, or holy warriors, were also financed by the United States to oust Moscow’s troops. The Taliban, he said, “in accordance with the Doha agreement, will not allow anyone to use the soil of Afghanistan against anyone else or maintain training camps or use our soil to fund raise against others.” “One of the many problems with a very flawed deal is that the demands of the Taliban on counter-terrorism are worded very vaguely,’’ said Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia program at the Washington-based Wilson Center. He said the deal doesn’t even mention Al Qaeda by name. “At the very least, Washington should be demanding that the Taliban cease all communication with senior Al Qaeda figures,” Kugelman said. The UN report, however, did note the Taliban contribution in fighting the Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan. The Islamic State has become increasingly aggressive, carrying out horrific attacks in the capital, Kabul. The group is also believed to have been behind a brutal assault on a maternity hospital last month that killed 24, mainly young mothers and also two newborn babies. In his Monday telephone interview with reporters, Khalilzad also said the Taliban have been an important part in the battle by US and Afghan forces against the Islamic State. “Daesh is working against peace . . . and they have been responsible . . . for some of the most dastardly attacks recently,” he said, using the Arabic name for the Islamic State. Still, Kugelman warned against underplaying the Taliban ties to Al Qaeda. “If the US simply shrugs off the Taliban’s continued ties to the very terror group that US forces entered Afghanistan to eliminate nearly 19 years ago, then you’d have some really bad optics to say the least,” he said."
Nothing like undercutting all the propaganda that came before, and as for the Haqqani network:
"Haqqani.... credited with introducing suicide bombing to the region.... cultivated as a "unilateral" asset of the CIA and received tens of thousands of dollars in cash for his work.... He may have had a role in expediting the escape of Osama Bin Laden.... In July 2008, CIA officials confronted Pakistan officials with evidence of ties between Inter-Services Intelligence and Haqqani. Haqqani has been accused of involvement in the 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul.... The Haqqani Network is based in Pakistan and is believed to have links to Al Qaeda."
Unbelievably, it's for the Bo$ton $peakers $eries, which are thought-provoking evenings of diverse opinions and world perspectives, and how about that wonderful genocidal fella with the nice smile on the far left there? He's appearing in October when everything will be back to "normal."
{@@##$$%%^^&&}
Beacon Hill tackles police reform
The Globe tells me good intentions are rapidly finding their way into actual legislation, and this moment must not be lost -- as if it were an OPPORTUNITY!
Protests alone won’t suffice
It will take prolonged efforts to bring real change to America says Scot Lehigh Globe, a Globe Columnist, and take Pride in your violation of lockdown advisories:
Celebrating 50 years: Pride marches on
I'm told pride in being gay had been an almost inconceivable concept and hardly the basis for a social and political movement.
Black lives, LGBTQ+ lives, and Pride
Irene Monroe says that for LGBTQ+ people of color, George Floyd’s death raises a fear we live with, too.
I find it offensive that the gay lobby is piggybacking on the racial strife. The comparison is not equal. Black people can not put their skin color in a closet.
Irene Monroe says that for LGBTQ+ people of color, George Floyd’s death raises a fear we live with, too.
I find it offensive that the gay lobby is piggybacking on the racial strife. The comparison is not equal. Black people can not put their skin color in a closet.
Boston’s North End finally opens for temporary outdoor dining
Many look to marijuana to cope with coronavirus anxiety
That concerns health officials (cough!).
From caregiver to patient, one medical worker’s fight against the coronavirus
Was she put on a ventilator?
Mass. reports 519 new coronavirus cases, 38 new deaths; one of four key metrics ticks slightly upward
The backslide was reported on page B2! Used to be the daily front-page lead before Floyd, and we gotta lockdown again right now!
Man arrested for trying to set fire to cruiser, second vehicle
MBTA to close part of Red Line for 2 weeks
Sununu to lift stay-at home order Monday
They have been dying to reopen up there.
Columbus statue vandalized in North End park is put in storage for the time being
In race for open Kennedy seat, candidates try anything to break through
One says it is time for a change while another claims he will light the way forward.
One says it is time for a change while another claims he will light the way forward.
