August 28, 2021

$5 Trillion in possible Infrastructure and nothing for Social Security?

My pet peeve and top political issue has always been the Social Security payment structure, particularly the base benefits.

If you had a limited working career, spent decades caring for family members... you might barely have enough credits for the basic Social Security benefits which amounts to around...

$628/month

President Biden proposed raising the minimum benefit to IIRC, around $1200/month during the campaign.

$628 a month is literally cat food... actually I take that back. Those little cans of cat food are $1.30 each. You can't afford cat food.

Better not have to pay rent or a mortgage payment either... or get sick.

There is LITERALLY no political backlash to taking retirees off of poverty... in fact, it might make some retirees start voting BLUE...

August 27, 2021

So much confusion about ISIS, ISIS-K... ISIS this and ISIS that.

ISIS was founded by al Zarqawi in 1999... as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, aka Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, aka Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham.

ISIS... as defined, is 90% dead or disbanded and their proto-State was dissolved.

However... Islamic radical groups have adopted the "Islamic State" moniker and have started "new chapters"

The folks in Afghanistan are actually IS-K... not ISIS-K. They're the Islamic State of Khorasan, formed in 2015 to oppose both the USA and Taliban.

And looking across the globe, one can find other IS "Chapters"

ISIL-YP in Yemen

IS-WAP, West Africa Province

IS-JAD in Indonesia

In summary, "IS" is a prefix meaning "Islamic State" just like "Democratic Republic" or "Federal Republic" or "Kingdom" or whatever...

After IS is where they're located. That's why I'm baffled that the media outlets would be calling everyone ISIS when they're... not.

Rant mode-off

August 26, 2021

Straight up tears on my face... the biggest heart ever to reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

His comments are just brutal to listen to...

August 26, 2021

CENTCOM and the Taliban... sharing INTEL and working together

CENTCOM even confirmed that the Taliban has lists of US evacuees and their contact info and locations.

Sure hope they're trust-able.

August 26, 2021

Sorry if this is a DUPE story... BREAKING, San Diego Students successfully evac'd from Kabul!

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/were-trying-to-get-them-out-san-diego-students-stranded-in-afghanistan-expected-to-return-home-soon/2702761/

Pardon me for the Darrell Issa (Dumbass, Trumpistan County) quote:

“This is great news, the result of tireless work by our team to ensure that our people aren’t left behind in Afghanistan,” said Issa in a press release. “But while we have made extraordinary progress, there are so many more Americans stranded in Afghanistan. We have more work to do and under extremely difficult conditions.”

August 26, 2021

Reuters: At least 12 US soldiers KIA at Kabul Airport.

https://www.reuters.com/world/least-10-us-troops-believed-killed-kabul-blasts-official-2021-08-26/

The count of U.S. troops believed to have been killed in Thursday's Kabul blasts has increased to 12, according to U.S. officials citing initial information that can change.

Other sources I follow confirm 13 dead, 20 injured including 10 in Critical Condition... A very sad day.

August 26, 2021

Second blast rips through Kabul Airport. US and allied casualties...

Would saying "The wheels are coming off..." be hyperbolic?

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/afghanistan-news-taliban-refugees-08-26-21-intl/index.html

August 24, 2021

Please don't CONFLATE the WITHDRAWAL with the EVACUATION.

They're two separate things.

Some of us have been pushing for withdrawal for more than 10 years... more like 19.5, lol...

Some have been blaming Biden for the "Withdrawal". There's absolutely nothing wrong with the withdrawal, the vast majority of Americans support a withdrawal from this endless war.

The evacuation is the final strategic and tactical move made in a withdrawal.

Bottom line, one of these things can be flawed and the other perfect.

I personally don't like Joe taking the blame and saying "the buck stops with..." I don't like it. Joe had NOTHING to do with the tactical movements on the ground. Like ALL POTUS's, he assembles a team of people to implement his own broad and sweeping policy demands.

If something doesn't go right... it means a ball was DROPPED. I really wish we'd see firings or people resign.

One more time, the withdrawal is NOT the evacuation. Separate things, don't get them mixed up.

RW'ers like Fox are using the "Evacuation debacle" to smear the "Withdrawal"... damn neocons are already beginning to miss their "precious" war...

August 24, 2021

US Troop Withdrawal v2.0 Iraq 2021

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-combat-troops-will-leave-iraq-this-year-biden-says-11627326623

“We are not going to be, by the end of the year, in a combat mission,” Mr. Biden said Monday at the start of a White House meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. The president said U.S. military forces would “be available to continue to train, to assist, to help and to deal with ISIS.”

Currently the US has around 2500 troops fighting with the Iraqi and Kurdish forces, the Peshmerga.

Some people seem to be confused about US support for the Kurds, thinking that US troops stopped supporting them when in reality the US (Trump) only pulled back US forces from the Turkish border.

In fact... far from being crushed by her neighbors, the Kurds have established energy contracts with the Syrian Gov't and received full recognition and protection from the Iraqi Gov't.

A US Withdrawal from Iraq will be a MUCH stickier affair than what is happening in Afghanistan... better make sure the DoD and State are working closely with the WH...

EDIT: to answer a question from another thread, the Kurds would NEVER evacuate their lands. No matter the circumstances, they will fight and die for their region (if that became necessary) as they've done for a loooong time.

August 21, 2021

We're all going to get it... we need a "Vaccine-Like" push for treatments.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/08/delta-has-changed-pandemic-endgame/619726/

The U.S. now faces a dispiriting dilemma. Last year, many people were content to buy time for vaccines to be developed and deployed. But vaccines are now here, uptake has plateaued, and the first surge of the vaccine era is ongoing. What, now, is the point of masking, distancing, and other precautions?

The answer, as before, is to buy time—for protecting hospitals, keeping schools open, reaching unvaccinated people, and more. Most people will meet the virus eventually; we want to ensure that as many people as possible do so with two doses of vaccine in them, and that everyone else does so over as much time as possible. The pandemic isn’t over, but it will be: The goal is still to reach the endgame with as little damage, death, and disability as possible. COVID-19 sent the world into freefall, and although vaccines have slowed our descent, we’d still be wise to steer around the trees standing between us and solid ground. “Everyone’s got pandemic fatigue—I get it,” Rivera told me. “But victory is not you as an individual getting a vaccine. It’s making sure that SARS-CoV-2 doesn’t bring us to our knees again.”