The bloodshed is not likely to end anytime soon. Intra-Afghan talks are faltering, and the Taliban are gaining on the battlefield. Some Afghans cling to the hope that the Biden administration will follow a more conditions-based approach to U.S. withdrawal. Biden has promised to end America’s “forever wars” and was against Obama’s surge, but U.N. and Afghan officials say the Taliban actively maintain their alliance with Al Qaeda, in violation of the peace deal. Without an enduring U.S. presence, many predict that talks will collapse and that the country could once again plunge into chaos, as it did when the Soviet army departed. “If we see a total disengagement of the international community, the naturally ensuing result will be a state of civil war,” says Davood Moradian, the director of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies. The Taliban, he says, would be just one of many warring factions. “We have already seen this reality in Libya, … [Read more...] about Highway to Hell: A Trip Down Afghanistan’s Deadliest Road
Motorcycling the right way
John Aldred, Soundman on ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Dr. Strangelove,’ Dies at 99
Hitchcock shot Under Capricorn in 10-minute uninterrupted takes (similar to what he had done a year earlier on Rope). The process was quite difficult to pull off and needed movable sets, a specially designed studio floor and numerous microphones. Rehearsing each take took full two days before shooting could begin on the third day. … [Read more...] about John Aldred, Soundman on ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Dr. Strangelove,’ Dies at 99
Lisa Montgomery Suffered Years of Abuse and Trauma. The United States Killed Her Anyway
They never asked him. While we’re doing our investigation for the hearing, we had a list of like 450 people, and he was on my list. My co-counsel said, “Kelley, you haven’t talked to Kidwell yet.” And I said, “Yeah, but his testimony [from the original trial] was weak. He said that [her mother] Judy said that Lisa tried to steal her husband. He didn’t have any good information.” And we interviewed him at a truck stop in Topeka, Kansas. And I mean, my jaw dropped to the floor. I couldn’t believe what he told us that Lisa had told him when she was 14 years old about these gang rapes. And he was on the witness stand! And in his declaration, he told me, “It took me longer to take the oath than to give my testimony. I couldn’t believe they didn’t ask me any of these questions.” He thought they were gonna ask, and he was ready to get to give that testimony. They never asked him. … [Read more...] about Lisa Montgomery Suffered Years of Abuse and Trauma. The United States Killed Her Anyway
America’s Longest War Takes a Deadly New Turn
“When I saw my nieces and sister-in-law, I could not control myself,” Waheeda’s uncle and now guardian, Sherif Khan, recalls, breaking into sobs at the memory. “I thought that my heart would explode, but human beings have tough hearts.” The March 9th, 2019, attack was carried out by U.S. air support, the American-led NATO mission would later confirm, and had been called in by Afghan forces in an operation against the Taliban. But more than a year later, Khan has not received answers from the U.S. military as to why the home of his brother, the only doctor in the village, was targeted. He says the U.S.-led mission, Resolute Support, has made no recognition of his loss. “We Afghans are very kind and compassionate people. Our hearts are full of mercy,” he says. “But no one has come.” … [Read more...] about America’s Longest War Takes a Deadly New Turn
The Audacity of ‘Dreams’: Biden’s Inauguration Week and the Triumph of American Musical Weirdness
If the week had a music highlight, it would have to be the surprise reunion for the New Radicals, doing the 1998 hit “You Get What You Give”: a quintessential Nineties one-hit wonder that’s never vanished from the airwaves, or faded into the background. Gregg Alexander was not lip-synching, not hiding how he and his voice have changed, just putting on the old-school bucket hat and yelping, “I feel the music in youuuu!” He strained valiantly for his old high notes — “You’re tops! Give it to me now!” — knowing he wouldn’t reach but giving it a go anyway, with a dedication to the president’s late war-hero son, Beau Biden. He also left out the beatdown threats against Hanson (who were literally children at the time!), Beck, Courtney Love, and Marilyn Manson, explaining to Rolling Stone’s Andy Greene that he really likes Hanson. … [Read more...] about The Audacity of ‘Dreams’: Biden’s Inauguration Week and the Triumph of American Musical Weirdness
