Wonderful gallery of photos/thoughts from Afghanistan — IMGUR*
Anti-Taliban protests, clashes, 3 dead in Jalalabad — Al-Jazeera
US agencies scrub websites to protect Afghans left behind — AP
Chinese state media floats U.S. lab leak hypothesis — Global Times**
These robots are getting good (I’m scared) — Boston Dynamics
The Welsh acoustic guitarist Gwenifer Raymond — YouTube
*the above photo is from this link, which is authored anonymously
**My oh my. First anyone who said COVID could have leaked from a lab was a conspiracy theorist, then they were all politically motivated, and now China is saying, ok, maybe it did escape from a lab in **checks notes** NORTH CAROLINA! What a world. I expressed frustration about this whole thing back in May.
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Several of you responded to my Afghanistan note yesterday, which I appreciate. A few excerpts:
From Illinois: “Yes, it was inevitable, but your article has all the empathy of a snake killing a puppy. This is a time to grieve.”
From Georgia: “Why do so many want to get our troops out of Afghanistan, but have not reacted in the same way or more so about thousands of troops still in South Korea, Europe and elsewhere for more than 50 years at costs of billions?”
From Minnesota: “Under the toppled regime we supported, Afghanistan ranked very low, even among Islamic countries, on the International Human Rights Rank Indicator. Worse than Iran, but not as bad as our good buddies in Saudi Arabia. No doubt the Taliban will take it the rest of the way to near the bottom, but we were not actually defending some brave new world of tolerance, freedom of expression, womens' rights, etc.”
Also from Minnesota: “I'm not so sure. I get the fatigue and the complicated situation on the ground, but I think there's more geopolitical risk here than what you've allowed for. I also think the idea that it had to be a complete and total withdrawal or bust is a flawed one.”
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“Biden being dovish seems like the first time media actually turned on him, just as Trump being hawkish seemed like the first time the media gave him praise.” — Zaid Jilani
Morning Belz comes out most weekdays and is published by Adam Belz, a former newspaper reporter who lives just outside Chattanooga, Tenn. Hope you benefit from it. Please shoot me a note if you have suggestions, ideas or corrections, share it with anyone you think might enjoy it, and please check out Scuffed News on YouTube. You can support that work, and this, with your money on Patreon.