Former U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) goalkeeper Hope Solo claims that star U.S. player Megan Rapinoe bullied some players to get them to kneel during the national anthem before games.
Author: Blazingcatfur
CIA’s Former Counterterrorism Chief for the Region: Afghanistan, Not An Intelligence Failure — Something Much Worse
While it’s certainly convenient to depict the shock and miscalculation U.S. officials claim over Afghanistan’s tragic, rapid fall to the Taliban as an intelligence failure, the reality is far worse. It’s a convenient deflection of responsibility for decisions taken owing to political and ideological considerations and provides a scapegoat for a policy decision that’s otherwise unable to offer a persuasive defense.
As CIA’s Counterterrorism Chief for South and Southwest Asia before my 2019 retirement, I was responsible for assessments concerning Afghanistan prepared for former President Donald Trump. And as a volunteer with candidate Joe Biden’s counterterrorism working group, I consulted on these same issues. The decision Trump made, and Biden ratified, to rapidly withdraw U.S. forces came despite warnings projecting the outcome we’re now witnessing. And it was a path to which Trump and Biden allowed themselves to be held captive owing to the “ending Forever Wars” slogan they both embraced.
Interesting read, an ex-CIA guy defends the CIA and scorches the “decision makers & politicians.” Some salt may be required.
h/t HY
Kelly McParland: Nova Scotia election shows how Trudeau could meet his doom
When Nova Scotia’s Liberal premier chose to call an election in the midst of the pandemic, word on the street was that federal forces might want to keep their eye on this baby, just in case something unexpected arose. It could, observers suggested, prove a harbinger of things to come.
“A weak performance by the Nova Scotia Liberals would be somewhat concerning to the federal Liberals,” a political science prof at Cape Breton University told The Canadian Press. “There seemed to be a high level of support going into the election for the incumbent. If that level of support is eroded, that would signal to the federal Liberals that the public is volatile.”
Pakistan: Outpouring of anger after woman assaulted by over 400 men
Cases have been registered against 400 unidentified people after a viral video showed a woman being assaulted at Minar-e-Pakistan on the country’s independence day.
This is why #Pakistanis r supporting #Taliban they have become 1 of them a Girl was Sexually Molested Stripped Naked by 400 Men at Minar E #Pakistan #Lahore on #IndependenceDayPakistan Celebrations NOT ALL MEN #Congratulationsindia #AfghanWomen #Afghanistan #TalibanSympathisers pic.twitter.com/9TIIh6tjC0
— 🇮🇳 Gopal Thakkar🚩 (@GopalAThakkar_) August 17, 2021
Biden’s Cognitive Decline Is Dangerous – It’s time to admit that Biden is unfit to serve as our chief executive.
In October of 2020, former White House physician Ronny Jackson raised a question that was on the minds of many voters: “I watch Joe Biden on the campaign trail and I am concerned that he does not have the mental capacity, the cognitive ability to serve as our commander in chief and head of state.” Jackson, who had served under Presidents Obama and Trump, stressed that he was speaking as a “concerned citizen” rather than a physician. Inevitably, the media collectively descended on Jackson like so many flying monkeys, but he raised the issue again during Biden’s absence from the public eye last weekend as Afghanistan was being overrun by the Taliban.
Finally, Harry and Meghan speak out on Afghanistan
If you’re an Afghan translator sheltering in a Kabul compound, life must seem pretty grim. The Taliban’s triumph has brought with it the restoration of sharia law – a throwback to when the movement ruled Afghanistan 20 years ago. The only difference between then and now seems to be their warriors’ concerted PR push, with journalists on the ground subject to ceaseless Taliban press conferences. If Madison Avenue did coups, perhaps.
But the night is darkest just before the dawn. And now, at last, hope is here: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have finally released a public statement.
Free speech can’t be filtered through a bureaucratic superstructure
The government wants you to believe it’s targeting hate speech, when in reality it’s targeting free speech
Free speech ensures that Canadians have the right to tell governments when they’re wrong. While this may be unpleasant for governments, it is absolutely vital in a democratic society.
Rather than strengthening Canadians’ rights, the Trudeau government wants to filter free speech through the lens of a bureaucratic superstructure. There can be no doubt that there are bad things on the internet. Child pornography, hate speech, and other such crimes are detestable. But these crimes are already labelled as such through the criminal code with lengthy prison sentences for those who are convicted.
Afghanistan was a ghastly display of how wokeness weakens America
Twenty years ago, the military-industrial complex rushed the United States into a pair of wars that cost billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives — only to end in the abject humiliation of American power in Kabul over the past few days. Meanwhile, defense contractors, who had no financial incentive to properly train an Afghan military to operate independently of them, made off handsomely along the way.
Today, a new alliance of big government and big business seeks to profiteer from the domestic culture war. I call it the woke-industrial complex. The consequences could be even more devastating this time around, for democracy at home and for the moral standing of the United States on the global stage.
Has the latest status symbol become a vegan dog?
The first rule of flight club is you don’t talk about flight club. While a private jet might once have been the ultimate status symbol, travelling lavishly has turned into a liability for celebrities who want to be taken seriously. “What about yer private jet, then?” has, understandably, become the knee-jerk response whenever the privileged pipe up about the climate crisis. If you’re going to lecture the hoi polloi on how we need to make sacrifices to save the world, it’s a good idea not to flaunt your own excesses.
It’s animal abuse.
Not a Joke: Biden Admin’s Response to Taliban Violence Is a ‘Strongly Worded’ Letter
The Biden administration is dealing with its deeply serious disasters in a deeply unserious way. Biden’s ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, appeared on CNN with Wolf Blitzer Tuesday and said that the United States and its remaining allies worked really, truly, very hard on a response to the Taliban as it tightened its grip on Afghanistan.
Fired academic sues university on grounds “black radicalism” and Critical Race Theory (CRT) should be protected beliefs
A left-wing academic who was fired after her organisation posted racial slurs against a black conservative is suing her university on the grounds that “black radicalism” and Critical Race Theory (CRT) should be protected beliefs under the UK Equality Act.
Aysha Khanom, who was sacked from her advisory role with Leeds Beckett University (LBU) after the Twitter account for her organisation described conservative political commentator Calvin Robinson as a “house negro” and a “coconut”, is launching a landmark case claiming that her firing was discriminatory.
Conservatives would match Liberal commitment to resettle at least 20,000 Afghans, Erin O’Toole says
OTTAWA — A Conservative government would match commitments by the Liberals to resettle not only Afghan citizens who worked alongside Canada forces, but also thousands more who fear for their lives as the Taliban retake control of their country, Erin O’Toole said Wednesday.
Just before the election campaign began, the Liberal government committed to resettling at least 20,000 Afghans as the Taliban appeared set to regain power after a bloody 20-year battle.
‘Culture Writer’ Triggered Over White Woman’s Dumplings and Noodles Cookbook Gets Responses She Deserves
Roslyn Talusan, who boasts in her bio that she’s written for Vice and Refinery 29 among other online publications, first asked “why did a white woman write a cookbook about dumplings and noodles.” She made sure to include a screen grab of the cookbook and a photo of author Pippa Middlehurst just so everyone could get the full effect of how supposedly offensive this all was.
Knives out: CIA sources tell NBC they warned Biden of fast collapse
If Joe Biden played checkers in a chess game in his catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan, he’s playing Tic-Tac-Toe in his distraction campaign against the US intel community. And losing, too. Sources at the CIA have pushed back against suggestions that the White House lacked intel on the potential for a fast collapse…
Kamala Harris Trip To Vietnam Draws Hanoi Jane Comparison
The Biden administration apparently doesn’t know the meaning of the word “optics.”
With the Taliban takeover of Kabul, which prompted emergency flights out of Afghanistan, drawing comparisons to the fall of Saigon, Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to Vietnam.