#war in afghanistan 2015 present
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Holidays 7.28
Holidays
Accountant's Day
Anniversary of the Fall of Fascism (San Marino)
Beatrix Potter Day
Buffalo Soldiers Day
Day of Cantabria Institutions (Spain)
Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval (Canada)
Emancipation Day (Bermuda; 1st Day of Cup Match)
Expulsion of the Acadians (Canada)
Fat Tony Day
Fiesta Patrias (Peru)
Foxtrot Day
Fingerprint Day
Global Plastic Overshoot Day
Gone-ta-Pott Day [every 28th]
Hariyali Amavasya (Chhattisgarh, India)
Indigenous Day (Chile)
International Clothing Day
Karkidaka Vavu Bali (Kerala, India)
Kingsmen Day (Portland, Oregon)
Kermesse (Brussels, Belgium)
Liberation Day (San Marino)
Mad Day Out (The Beatles)
Miami Day
National Fingerprint Day
National Soccer Day
National Waterpark Day
Ólavsøka Eve (a.k.a. Ólavsøkuaftan; Faroe Islands)
Shampoo Outdoors Day
Singing Telegram Day
Watering Can Day (French Republic)
World Hepatitis Day (UN)
World Nature Conservation Day
World War One Anniversary Day
Food & Drink Celebrations
Chili Dog Day
Longneck Day
National Hamburger Day
National Milk Chocolate Day
4th & Last Friday in July
I Love My Credit Union Day [Last Friday]
Lumberjack Day [Last Friday of Last Full Weekend; also 9.26]
National Biryani Day (Pakistan) [Last Friday]
National Blowout Day [Last Friday]
National Get Gnarly Day [Last Friday]
National Love This Place Day (Ireland) [Last Friday]
National Talk in an Elevator Day [Last Friday]
Schools Tree Day (Australia) [Friday before Last Sunday]
System Administrator Appreciation Day [Last Friday]
Talk in An Elevator Day [Last Friday]
UFO Days begin (Wisconsin) [4th Friday thru Sunday]
Independence Days
Day of Ukrainian Statehood (Ukraine)
Peru (from Spain, 1821)
Feast Days
Alphonsa Muttathupadathu (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church)
Arduinus of Trepino (Christian; Saint)
Ashura (Islamic) [Began at Sundown Last Night; 10th Day of Muharram] (a.k.a. ...
Achoura (Algeria)
Ashorra (Parts of India)
Ashoura (Lebanon)
Ashura Holiday (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia)
Muharram (Parts of India)
Remembrance of Muharram
Tamkharit (Senegal)
Tamxarit (Gambia)
Tasoua Hosseini (Iran)
Tasu’a
Yaum-e-Ashur (Pakistan)
Yawmul Ashura (Gambia)
Baptism of Kyivan Rus (Eastern Orthodox Church; Ukraine)
Birthday of Horus (Ancient Egypt)
Botvid (Christian; Saint)
Festival of Fortuna Huiusque Diei (Fortune of the Present Day; Ancient Rome)
Festival of Hedjihotep (goddess of weaving; Ancient Egypt)
Flute-Snatcher (Muppetism)
Innocent I, Pope (Christian; Saint)
Joaquín Torres García (Artology)
Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel, Henry Purcell (Episcopal Church commemoration)
Johann Sebastian Bach, Heinrich Schütz, George Frederick Handel (Lutheran commemoration)
Judith Leyster (Artology)
Kronia (Festival to Kronos, god of the harvest; Ancient Greece)
Marcel Duchamp (Artology)
Marty Feldman Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)
Nazarius and Celsus (Christian; Martyrs)
Pantaleon (Christian; Martyr)
Pedro Poveda Castroverde (Christian; Saint)
Samson of Dol (Christian; Saint)
Shabbat Nachamu (Shabbat of Consolation; Judaism) [Date Varies]
Solstitium XIV (Pagan)
Teniers (Positivist; Saint)
Try a New Cheese Day (Pastafarian)
Victor I, Pope (Christian; Saint)
Lucky & Unlucky Days
Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]
Fortunate Day (Pagan) [28 of 53]
Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 35 of 60)
Premieres
Alice in Wonderland (Animated Disney Film; 1951)
Animal House (Film; 1978)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Film: 2023)
Atomic Blonde (Film; 2017)
The Devils of Loudun, by Aldous Huxley (History Book; 1952)
Green Lantern: First Flight (WB Animated Film; 2009)
The Hero With a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell (History Book; 1949)
Hooper (Film; 1978)
Justice League: Gods and Monsters (WB Animated Film; 2015)
Leghorn Swigged (WB MM Cartoon; 1951)
Los Bandoleers (Short Film; 2009) [F&F]
The Miracle Worker (Film; 1962)
North by Northwest (Film; 1959)
On the Waterfront (Film; 1954)
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (Film; 1993)
Smoke on the Water, by Deep Purple (Song; 1973)
Waterworld (Film; 1995)
What’s the 411?, by Mary J. Blige (Album; 1992)
White Zombie (Film; 1932)
Today’s Name Days
Ada, Adele, Bantus, Beatus, Innozenz, Samuel, Viktor (Austria)
Celzo, Inocent, Nazarije, Nikanor, Prohor, Viktor (Croatia)
Viktor (Czech Republic)
Aurelius (Denmark)
Maasika, Vaarika (Estonia)
Atso (Finland)
Samson (France)
Ada, Adele, Benno, Innozenz (Germany)
Afxentios, Akakios, Hrysovalantou , Drosos, Drosoula, Irini, Timon (Greece)
Szabolcs (Hungary)
Nazario, Vittore (Italy)
Cecilija, Cilda (Latvia)
Ada, Augmina, Inocentas, Vytaras (Lithuania)
Reidar, Reidun (Norway)
Innocenta, Innocenty, Marcela, Pantaleon, Samson, Świętomir, Wiktor, Wiktoriusz (Poland)
Krištof (Slovakia)
Víctor (Spain)
Botvid, Seved (Sweden)
Lysander, Lysandra, Rhonda, Sampson, Samson (USA)
Today is Also…
Day of Year: Day 209 of 2024; 156 days remaining in the year
ISO: Day 5 of week 30 of 2023
Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 19 of 28]
Chinese: Month 6 (Ji-Wei), Day 11 (Ding-Hai)
Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)
Hebrew: 10 Av 5783
Islamic: 10 Muharram 1445
J Cal: 29 Lux; Eighthday [29 of 30]
Julian: 15 July 2023
Moon: 80%: Waxing Gibbous
Positivist: 13 Dante (8th Month) [Teniers]
Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 15 of 15]
Season: Summer (Day 38 of 94)
Zodiac: Leo (Day 7 of 31)
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Holidays 7.28
Holidays
Accountant's Day
Anniversary of the Fall of Fascism (San Marino)
Beatrix Potter Day
Buffalo Soldiers Day
Day of Cantabria Institutions (Spain)
Day of Commemoration of the Great Upheaval (Canada)
Emancipation Day (Bermuda; 1st Day of Cup Match)
Expulsion of the Acadians (Canada)
Fat Tony Day
Fiesta Patrias (Peru)
Foxtrot Day
Fingerprint Day
Global Plastic Overshoot Day
Gone-ta-Pott Day [every 28th]
Hariyali Amavasya (Chhattisgarh, India)
Indigenous Day (Chile)
International Clothing Day
Karkidaka Vavu Bali (Kerala, India)
Kingsmen Day (Portland, Oregon)
Kermesse (Brussels, Belgium)
Liberation Day (San Marino)
Mad Day Out (The Beatles)
Miami Day
National Fingerprint Day
National Soccer Day
National Waterpark Day
Ólavsøka Eve (a.k.a. Ólavsøkuaftan; Faroe Islands)
Shampoo Outdoors Day
Singing Telegram Day
Watering Can Day (French Republic)
World Hepatitis Day (UN)
World Nature Conservation Day
World War One Anniversary Day
Food & Drink Celebrations
Chili Dog Day
Longneck Day
National Hamburger Day
National Milk Chocolate Day
4th & Last Friday in July
I Love My Credit Union Day [Last Friday]
Lumberjack Day [Last Friday of Last Full Weekend; also 9.26]
National Biryani Day (Pakistan) [Last Friday]
National Blowout Day [Last Friday]
National Get Gnarly Day [Last Friday]
National Love This Place Day (Ireland) [Last Friday]
National Talk in an Elevator Day [Last Friday]
Schools Tree Day (Australia) [Friday before Last Sunday]
System Administrator Appreciation Day [Last Friday]
Talk in An Elevator Day [Last Friday]
UFO Days begin (Wisconsin) [4th Friday thru Sunday]
Independence Days
Day of Ukrainian Statehood (Ukraine)
Peru (from Spain, 1821)
Feast Days
Alphonsa Muttathupadathu (Syro-Malabar Catholic Church)
Arduinus of Trepino (Christian; Saint)
Ashura (Islamic) [Began at Sundown Last Night; 10th Day of Muharram] (a.k.a. ...
Achoura (Algeria)
Ashorra (Parts of India)
Ashoura (Lebanon)
Ashura Holiday (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia)
Muharram (Parts of India)
Remembrance of Muharram
Tamkharit (Senegal)
Tamxarit (Gambia)
Tasoua Hosseini (Iran)
Tasu’a
Yaum-e-Ashur (Pakistan)
Yawmul Ashura (Gambia)
Baptism of Kyivan Rus (Eastern Orthodox Church; Ukraine)
Birthday of Horus (Ancient Egypt)
Botvid (Christian; Saint)
Festival of Fortuna Huiusque Diei (Fortune of the Present Day; Ancient Rome)
Festival of Hedjihotep (goddess of weaving; Ancient Egypt)
Flute-Snatcher (Muppetism)
Innocent I, Pope (Christian; Saint)
Joaquín Torres García (Artology)
Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederick Handel, Henry Purcell (Episcopal Church commemoration)
Johann Sebastian Bach, Heinrich Schütz, George Frederick Handel (Lutheran commemoration)
Judith Leyster (Artology)
Kronia (Festival to Kronos, god of the harvest; Ancient Greece)
Marcel Duchamp (Artology)
Marty Feldman Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)
Nazarius and Celsus (Christian; Martyrs)
Pantaleon (Christian; Martyr)
Pedro Poveda Castroverde (Christian; Saint)
Samson of Dol (Christian; Saint)
Shabbat Nachamu (Shabbat of Consolation; Judaism) [Date Varies]
Solstitium XIV (Pagan)
Teniers (Positivist; Saint)
Try a New Cheese Day (Pastafarian)
Victor I, Pope (Christian; Saint)
Lucky & Unlucky Days
Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]
Fortunate Day (Pagan) [28 of 53]
Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 35 of 60)
Premieres
Alice in Wonderland (Animated Disney Film; 1951)
Animal House (Film; 1978)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Film: 2023)
Atomic Blonde (Film; 2017)
The Devils of Loudun, by Aldous Huxley (History Book; 1952)
Green Lantern: First Flight (WB Animated Film; 2009)
The Hero With a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell (History Book; 1949)
Hooper (Film; 1978)
Justice League: Gods and Monsters (WB Animated Film; 2015)
Leghorn Swigged (WB MM Cartoon; 1951)
Los Bandoleers (Short Film; 2009) [F&F]
The Miracle Worker (Film; 1962)
North by Northwest (Film; 1959)
On the Waterfront (Film; 1954)
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (Film; 1993)
Smoke on the Water, by Deep Purple (Song; 1973)
Waterworld (Film; 1995)
What’s the 411?, by Mary J. Blige (Album; 1992)
White Zombie (Film; 1932)
Today’s Name Days
Ada, Adele, Bantus, Beatus, Innozenz, Samuel, Viktor (Austria)
Celzo, Inocent, Nazarije, Nikanor, Prohor, Viktor (Croatia)
Viktor (Czech Republic)
Aurelius (Denmark)
Maasika, Vaarika (Estonia)
Atso (Finland)
Samson (France)
Ada, Adele, Benno, Innozenz (Germany)
Afxentios, Akakios, Hrysovalantou , Drosos, Drosoula, Irini, Timon (Greece)
Szabolcs (Hungary)
Nazario, Vittore (Italy)
Cecilija, Cilda (Latvia)
Ada, Augmina, Inocentas, Vytaras (Lithuania)
Reidar, Reidun (Norway)
Innocenta, Innocenty, Marcela, Pantaleon, Samson, Świętomir, Wiktor, Wiktoriusz (Poland)
Krištof (Slovakia)
Víctor (Spain)
Botvid, Seved (Sweden)
Lysander, Lysandra, Rhonda, Sampson, Samson (USA)
Today is Also…
Day of Year: Day 209 of 2024; 156 days remaining in the year
ISO: Day 5 of week 30 of 2023
Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 19 of 28]
Chinese: Month 6 (Ji-Wei), Day 11 (Ding-Hai)
Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)
Hebrew: 10 Av 5783
Islamic: 10 Muharram 1445
J Cal: 29 Lux; Eighthday [29 of 30]
Julian: 15 July 2023
Moon: 80%: Waxing Gibbous
Positivist: 13 Dante (8th Month) [Teniers]
Runic Half Month: Ur (Primal Strength) [Day 15 of 15]
Season: Summer (Day 38 of 94)
Zodiac: Leo (Day 7 of 31)
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Nova Scotia to replace judge presiding over Lionel Desmond fatality inquiry
The Nova Scotia government has dismissed the judge presiding over a five-year inquiry that investigated why Afghanistan war veteran Lionel Desmond killed three family members and himself in 2017.
Brad Johns, Nova Scotia's attorney general, confirmed Tuesday he has asked the chief judge of the provincial court to assign a new judge to finish the work started by provincial court Judge Warren Zimmer, saying the province has waited long enough for Zimmer's final report.
"The family and loved ones of the Desmond family, their community, as well as all Nova Scotians, have been waiting more than five years for answers," Johns said in a statement. He said another judge was needed to "step in and complete the report in a timely manner."
Zimmer was set to retire as a judge in March 2022 when he turned 75, a month before the inquiry's hearings concluded -- but his term was extended four times over the past 18 months to allow him to complete his final report. After the most recent extension expired on Friday, Johns decided to call in a replacement to get the job done.
The province called for a fatality inquiry in February 2018, more than a year after the killings shocked the province. And it took nearly two years before the first evidence was heard on Jan. 27, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic caused more delays.
The inquiry heard that Desmond served in Afghanistan as a rifleman during a particularly violent tour of duty in 2007 and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression and a possible brain disorder in 2011.
Despite four years of treatment while he was still in the military, the inquiry heard he required more help when he was medically discharged in 2015. He later took part in an intensive residential treatment program in Montreal in 2016.
A discharge summary said Desmond was still a desperately ill man, but it did not include key findings about his mental health and risk factors associated with intimate partner violence.
The inquiry heard that health-care professionals at the provincial level were restricted in what they could do because they did not have access to any meaningful federal records about the complexity of Desmond's mental-health challenges. As well, evidence presented by the Health Association of African Canadians showed that African Nova Scotians, like Desmond, face challenges accessing mental health care because of systemic racism in the health-care system.
During the last four months of his life, Desmond received no therapeutic treatment, the inquiry heard.
A Nova Scotia psychiatrist who accepted Desmond as a patient in 2016 told the inquiry that the former soldier appeared to be falling through the cracks in the health-care system as he struggled to find help.
The inquiry was told that on Jan. 3, 2017, Desmond legally purchased a semi-automatic rifle and used it later that day to kill his 31-year-old wife, Shanna; their 10-year-old daughter, Aaliyah; and his 52-year-old mother, Brenda. Their bodies were found the next day in the family's home, in rural Upper Big Tracadie, N.S.
The inquiry heard from 70 witnesses during 56 days of hearings and generated 10,447 pages of transcripts and 377 exhibits. Closing submissions were heard in April 2022. Eight months later Zimmer issued a statement saying his final report with recommendations would be released some time in 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2023.
For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/lvJZSYN
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UK special forces operated secretly in Nigeria – Report
The British Special Air Service and the European country’s other special forces have operated clandestinely in Nigeria and 18 other nations over the past 12 years, research has revealed.
It could be recalled that in 2012, a group of SBS commandos attempted and failed to rescue a Briton and an Italian held by an Islamist group in Nigeria.
The Guardian UK reported that the British SAS also operated secretly in Algeria, Estonia, France, Oman, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Cyprus, Pakistan, Somalia, the Philippines, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen and most recently Sudan.
The elite military units don’t have ministers publicly certifying their operations, thus, they operate covertly. But, based on media leaks, a research organisation called Action on Gun Violence has compiled a list of their operations from 2011, the online newspaper added in a May 23, 2023 report titled, ‘UK special forces have operated secretly in 19 countries since 2011,
It gives the impression that the prime minister and defence secretary frequently send personnel of the SAS, Special Boat Service, and Special Reconnaissance Regiment on dangerous operations, usually when Britain is not at war.
Special forces have been particularly active in Syria, with reports of them entering the country in 2012 to help rebel groups fighting against President Bashar al-Assad. They are also reported to have been sent in 2013 to identify military targets in advance of a bombing campaign that MPs ended up voting against.
But because of the fixation with secrecy, Matt Tonroe, a member of the SAS, was officially identified as a member of the Parachute Regiment when he was murdered in Syria in 2018. It was later discovered that he had actually been killed by his US colleague’s grenade, not an improvised explosive device.
Although Britain is not an official participant in the conflict, 50 members of the UK special forces were named as being present in Ukraine earlier this year in leaked Pentagon documents. The numbers for the US and France were listed as being 14 and 15, respectively. Nonetheless, their goal was left unstated.
The lengthy list of deployments, according to the report’s authors, occurred despite a lack of control. Even though special forces can be deployed without the Commons’ consent and are not subject to parliamentary committee investigations, etiquette requires that MPs vote to authorise a war.
After a terrorist massacre of 38 people, including 30 Britons, at a beach hotel in Tunisia in June 2015, it was once claimed that David Cameron, the country’s then-prime minister, had granted the SAS “carte blanche” to apprehend or murder Middle Eastern Islamic leaders.
“The extensive deployment of Britain’s Special Forces in numerous countries over the past decade raises serious concerns about transparency and democratic oversight,” said Iain Overton, the executive director of AOAV. “The lack of parliamentary approval and retrospective reviews for these missions is deeply troubling.”
Yet in March, a public investigation into claims that the SAS committed 54 summary executions in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011—typically during night raids—began. Guys were taken away from their families and shot dead several times after being accused of producing a weapon.
Following the start of violence in Sudan in April, special forces helped evacuate two dozen British diplomats and their families to an airfield north of the capital when they were in danger of being attacked.
At the time, current defence secretary and Tory MP Ben Wallace commended the military effort. The operation, according to the Ministry of Defence, also included troops of the Royal Marines, the RAF, and the Parachute Regiment, although it omitted special forces.
Special forces routinely take part in both exfiltrations and hostage rescues. A couple detained in the Philippines was successfully released in 2019 in a mission that UK special forces assisted in preparing and for which it trained the country’s military. In 2012, a group of SBS commandos attempted and failed to rescue a Briton and an Italian held by an Islamist group in Nigeria.
The last time SAS members were referenced in the media was in 2014 when a tabloid claimed they were “on hand” to guard the safety of British athletes at the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Read the full article
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US Dollars and Stein’s Law
There needs to be an addition to Stein’s Law — which is, famously, “if something cannot go on forever, it will stop”. Something along the lines of “if something which cannot go on forever is forced to continue beyond its natural stopping point, the consequences of its stoppage will be worse the longer this continues”.
For decades, the US has been using a combination of military force/threats of military force/economic leverage/interference with foreign governments to insist that trade between countries which are not the US must as often as possible use US dollars. (Most notably, but not exclusive to, oil.)
Why? A variety of reasons but one major one: if everybody needs dollars to carry out trade, then everybody will want dollars. When the US has to raise money, it can sell its debt as dollars in the form of bonds. This fact has permitted the US to finance our ridiculous massively-overgrown military and “intelligence” organizations. (In case you missed it, well over half of the federal budget goes to the military and “security” — in 2015 it was 54%, and that figure has only risen since then, particularly with Biden’s two massive military spending increases.) This is something of a vicious circle: in effect, the US threatens everybody into buying its debt so it can continue to borrow money to have a military to threaten everybody into buying its debt.
This has been US policy for a very, very long time — basically since the end of World War II — but it fairly obviously can’t go on forever. Military dominance and economic dominance never last; if an empire is lucky (and the US is an empire, whether we want to admit it or not) it can last a couple of centuries. The US empire was lucky — we had the temperate zone of a continent with vast natural resources and enormous agricultural capacity to draw on, and all the other existing empires of the 19th and early 20th century blew themselves up in a series of wars culminating in World War II so we had practically no real competition. Sadly, rather than embrace our luck and build on it, we decided we could always bully everybody into continuing to put up with our dominance, and have effectively squandered it.
(Don’t give me “but the Soviets!” — the USSR started off at the bottom of a hole dug by the incompetence of their former monarchy, lost hundreds of millions of people in World War II, and spent decades scrambling to rebuild, and we knew it at the time no matter how much we may have pretended otherwise, and anybody trying to pretend they were serious competition to anybody except the similarly-trampled small states on their borders is delusional. Every time they tried to invade somebody who hadn’t been devastated by World War II — Finland or Afghanistan are examples — they were repelled.)
The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are trying to stop using US dollars for trade now. (For some context: the BRICS countries are the fastest-growing economies in the world… but China is the only one with an economy of approximately the same magnitude as the US at present; Russia, India, and Brazil are approximately an order of magnitude smaller and South Africa is an order of magnitude smaller than that. If your wages double while Jeff Bezos’ wealth grows by 10%, your wealth has a higher growth rate than his does but he’s still gaining more wealth than you are.) If this happens, it will pretty much be the end of US economic dominance through dollar trading, although it may take a while for the effects to ripple through everything.
Make no mistake: the end of trading in US dollars is going to be very bad for people in the US. This is the sort of thing which can send prices skyrocketing and cause massive starvation and civil unrest. Real unrest, not relatively minor things like the whiny entitled white Republicans of the failed January 6 insurrection; instead this could trigger the kind of riots where the rioters know they’re probably going to die unless they manage to succeed and genuinely have nothing to lose. (Those are probably coming anyway, but this makes them much more likely.)
(It’s also going to be bad for anybody who holds a lot of US dollars. IIRC, one of the biggest holders is, ironically, China. If the US falls apart completely or has to bail out of its debt, those dollars acquired by buying debt become worthless, or at least become worth a fraction of the face value. Presumably the Chinese government has plans to deal with this possibility. Of course, what with the Republicans threatening to default on the US debt repeatedly since the Clinton administration, anybody holding large amounts of US debt presumably was already making plans to move away from it.)
The thing is — the longer the dollar is the enforced medium of trade, the worse the collapse is going to be for people in the US. It can’t go on forever, but every year trade is constrained to dollars artificially the more damage there will be to people living in the US when the eventual collapse happens. It’s already going to be bad, in another ten years the consequences will be absolutely unimaginable.
And yet you can be sure that the core members of both parties in Washington are currently red in the face and demanding something be done to reverse this. If you believe, really believe, in US dominance lasting forever, this is absolutely an intolerable position, something that just cannot be permitted. We can only hope that the right-of-center Democrats like Biden don’t do anything too stupid in their usual rush to maintain the brutal international status quo.
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FIgure 1: A woman in the Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador, 2020
This photo presents a woman in the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador. According to the caption input by Romanian photographer Mihaela Noroc, she is in fact wearing her wedding gown. This picture is one of the many that Mihaela has taken of a woman belonging to a specific culture in their scenic habitat. The scenery, while looking beautifully vibrant, still naturally complements the woman sitting comfortably on the tree in the photo’s centre. This photograph is one of many that exemplifies Mihaela’s intention to show what true beauty in women is, which should certainly be generalised. In Mihaela’s own explanation, she realised that ‘the women of our planet deserve much more attention. (Khan, 2019) She also stated that ‘beauty has no bounds and can be found anywhere,’ which is exemplified in her project and book ‘The Atlas of Beauty’ which was published in 2017. The book displays portraits of 500 women from more than 50 countries captioned with their personal stories. It’s a stunning collection of various communities that provide a ‘fresh perspective on the global lives of women.’ (theatlasofbeauty.com) Her project is supported by the notion that photographs ‘alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking at and what we have a right to observe.’ (Sontag, 1973 p.1)
Figure 2: Kyrgyz woman preparing for her cultural dance, 2020
Another photo taken by Mihaela Noroc is of a Kyrgyz woman captioned to be ready for a traditional dance performance, This dance in Kyrgyzstan is known as Kara Jorgo, also known as ‘Black Stallion,’ which is a folk dance that was once ‘nearly lost to to time, but has seen a sudden revival.’ (Video Archive, 2014) Mihaela’s determination to capture women of various cultures doesn’t only convey the striking beauty in traditions, but also brings awareness to those who previously knew nothing about it. Mihaela’s direction with her project is heavily based on cultural photography, which is defined as the art of taking photos to ‘tell about people, daily life, or a culture.’ (Fine Art Photography Magazine, Culture, 2015) This photo is an example, as it’s a simple portrait of a Kyrgyz woman in cultural wear that holds an effortless charm to it. Mihaela states her belief that ‘beauty is diversity’ and that it's ‘much more than what is seen in mass media.’ (Khan, 2019) Through her photography, Mihaela provides enlightenment to viewers, not just limited to global beauty, but of communities with unique lifestyles. Mihaela’s work relates to the statement that ‘to photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed, and that it means to ‘put oneself into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge.’ (Sontag, 1973 p.2) The subjects of each photo allow themselves to be seen as windows into their own lives looked into by those who may wish to learn more about their country’s lifestyle.
Figure 3: ‘Afghan Girl’ (Sharbat Gula) on the cover of National Geographic 1985
‘Afghan Girl’ is a well-known example of a portrait photograph that represents a community. This photo also served as enlightenment to the girl’s story and what Afganistan went through during the time this photo was taken. Her name is Sharbat Gula, and she ‘became an international symbol of a war-torn Afghanistan’ (Gross, 2021) after this photo was taken by photographer Stepehn McCurry and published to the National Geographic magazine in 1985. The most striking feature of this photo is Sharbat’s piercing green-eyed stare which evidently carry a lot of weight in them, as well as a story. It is believed that she was around twelve when she was photographed. To have such an intense and haunted look on her face at such a young age is very telling of how difficult living conditions were in the past during the war. The photographer, to this day, is still very enthusiastic about this photo. “I knew she had an incredible look, a penetrating gaze” (Simmons, 2016) This intention can be linked back to Mihaela Noroc’s direction of work, to feel compelled to photograph a woman whose look could tell a story through a simple portrait. This method can tell a powerful narrative in itself.. ‘The Taliban don't want women to be visible and she’s an extremely visible Afghan woman.’ Sontag stated that ‘our very sense of the situation is now articulated by the camera’s interventions.’ (Sontag, 1973, p.8) Due to the circulation of this photo, people gained insight into the impact the Afghan war inflicted on the Afghan people.
Figure 4: Apo Whang-Od for the cover of Vogue Philippines, 2023
The beauty in culture can even be presented in mainstream sources such as Vogue Philippines. In Figure 4, which is their latest release, their cover features 106 year old indigenous Kalinga woman Apo Whang-Od. She is famed for being the oldest ‘mambabatok’ (traditional tattooist) in the country. The beauty of her traditional tattoos are proudly displayed in this photo. While this image may be for the cover of a magazine, Apo is posed casual and natural, no exaggerated poses or any particular photoshoot set needed to portray the beauty of herself and her cultural body art. It is said that Apo is ‘a symbol of strength and beauty in the Filipino Spirit.’ (Vogue Philippines, 2023) This is agreeable as for many years since she was 16, she had upheld her tribe’s tattooing tradition even to this day. She has made big achievements in her career, having managed to put Kalinga on the map of ‘must-visit places for locals and foreigners’ (Dumaraos, 2017) in the Philippines. In her 80 years of tattooing, Apo had imprinted the symbols of the Kalinga tribe, which signify ‘strength, bravery and beauty’ on the skin and is a sign of ‘beauty and elegance.’ (Sanchez, 2023)
Figure 5: Armi Kuusela Williams as the first Miss Universe, 1952
Pictured here in FIgure 5 is Arma Kuusela Williams, who at the age of 17 years old, became the very first titleholder of Miss Universe in June 1952.’ Miss Universe is one of the most recognised and prestigious international beauty pageants.’ (Das, n.d.) Its purpose is to be inclusive to all communities, ‘celebrating all cultures, backgrounds and religions.’ The organisation created a safe space for women to express themselves individually and culturally to drive impact for many. (missuniverse.com) Miss Universe contributes greatly to the exposure and celebration of women’s beauty as well as their cultures. Similarly to Mihaela Noroc’s ‘The Atlas of Beauty’ Miss Universe also showcases the charms of women from around the world, all with various backgrounds and traditions. However, Miss Universe is more interactive, competitive and goes far beyond a photograph, yet there’s still an overwhelming sense of unity in the whole event. Compared to the scale of what Miss Universe is now, seeing this photograph of the very first winner is fascinating, giving insight to its own history. This picture exemplifies how photography could ‘provide most of the knowledge people have about the look of the past and the reach of the present.’ (Sontag, 1973 p.2) The development of Miss Universe from its beginning is most definitely remarkable.
Bibliography:
Dumaraos, G (2017) Meet Apo Whang-Od, the Last Kalinga Tattoo artist in the Philippines, Culture Trip|: Available at:
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/philippines/articles/meet-apo-whang-od-the-last-hand-poke-tattoo-artist-in-the-philippines/ (Accessed 2 April 2023)
Das, P (n.d.) 10 Lesser Known Facts About Miss Universe, Wonderlist
Available at: https://www.wonderslist.com/10-lesser-known-facts-about-miss-universe/#:~:text=Miss%20Universe%20
is%20one%20of%20the%20most%20recognized,1952%20by%20the%20California%20clothing%20company%20Pacific%20Mills. (Accessed: 3 April 2023)
Fine Art Photography Magazine, Israel Lens, Culture (2015)
Available at: https://www.magzter.com/US/Art-Market/Lens-Magazine/Photography/105971?redirect=true
Gross. J (2021) ‘Afghan Girl’ From 1985 National Geographic Cover Takes Refuge in Italy, The New York Times
Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/world/europe/afghan-girl-national-geographic.html (Accessed: 30th March 2023)
Khan. E (2019) ‘Story, The Atlas of Beauty’, The Independent Photographer
Available at: https://independent-photo.com/news/the-atlas-of-beauty/ Accessed: 9 March 2023)
missuniverse.com (n.d.) Available at: https://www.missuniverse.com/about (Accessed 3 April 2023)
Simmons, J K (2016) ‘The Story behind the world's most famous photograph’ CNN Style
Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/steve-mccurry-afghan-girl-photo/index.html
(Accessed 30 March 2023)
Sanchez, E (2023) 106-year-old Indigenous Filipino tattoo artist becomes Vogue cover model:
Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/106-year-old-indigenous-filipino-tattoo-artist-becomes-vogue-cover-mod-rcna77658
(Accessed 2 April 2023)
Sontag. S (1973) ‘On Photography’ New York, RosettaBooks
theatlasofbeauty.com
Available at: https://www.theatlasofbeauty.com/ (Accessed: 23 March 2022)
Video Archive (2014)
Available at:
(Accessed: 23 March 2022)
List of Figures:
FIgure 1: A woman in the Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador, 2020
Figure 2: Kyrgyz woman preparing for her cultural dance, 2020
Figure 3: ‘Afghan Girl’ (Sharbat Gula) on the cover of National Geographic 1985
Figure 4: Apo Whang-Od for the cover of Vogue Philippines, 2023
Figure 5: Armi Kuusela Williams as the first Miss Universe, 1952
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‘Midnight Traveler’ Review: A Refugee Family’s Search for Safe Harbor
The global migration crisis comes into intimate view in this documentary about an Afghan family’s arduous journey toward asylum.
By Manohla Dargis
Sept. 17, 2019
“Wherever we can go, that’s where we’re going,” Fatima Hussaini says in “Midnight Traveler,” an up close and personal documentary about statelessness and survival.
An Afghan filmmaker, mother and wife, Hussaini adopted yet another identity in 2015: political refugee. That year the Taliban called for the death of her husband, Hassan Fazili, a filmmaker who owned a cafe in Kabul that served both men and women. Together with their two young daughters, the couple fled Afghanistan, beginning an arduous, multiyear odyssey that took them across continents and some scarily inhospitable countries.
As expected, Hussaini and Fazili were not able to take many belongings with them, but they had their cellphones, which they used to shoot this movie. (“Midnight Traveler” was directed by Fazili and written by Emelie Mahdavian, one of the producers.) They recorded a journey that starts in Tajikistan — just as they’re being deported after numerous asylum appeals have been rejected — and then takes them back to Afghanistan and circuitously to sites across Europe. (It’s not clear why their requests were denied.)
The journey takes so long that you can roughly gauge the passing of time by the children’s physical growth. At some point, the couple’s daughters, Nargis and Zahra, also begin shooting material. Like their mother, they assume new roles as chroniclers of their own ordeal, at times providing some of the movie’s most charming, poignant sights and sounds.
In 2018, the United Nations estimated that a staggering 70.8 million people have been forced from their homes; nearly 26 million are refugees — like the family here — and more than half younger than 18 years old. The crisis has been well recorded in media accounts and in documentaries as dissimilar as “Human Flow” and “Fire at Sea.” Whatever the good intentions behind this material — and the outrage and tears of empathetic readers and viewers — it is hard to gauge how all this documentation helps those most affected. Given how many people continue to flee their countries it can seem that the most important audiences for this work are future historians.
What largely distinguishes “Midnight Traveler” is its anxious intimacy, a sense of uneasy closeness that pulls you into a family circle that at times gets very small, creating a sense of appropriate claustrophobia. Effectively stateless by the time the movie begins, the family is a tiny unmoored ship searching for harbor. You are a witness to the manifold difficulties of its odyssey — the complicated logistics, the thrum of menace and the tedious waiting, captured in very rough visuals — though, oftentimes, you wish that the filmmakers included more about the actual nuts-and-bolts arrangements. You are also present during moments of domestic tension, including sharp words, marital squabbles and weeping.
To a degree, “Midnight Traveler” is a diary movie, complete with regular time and place notations: “Day 51 Ovcha Kupel Refugee Camp, Bulgaria.” The filmmakers are chronicling their own lives, of course. But they are also documenting a far larger catastrophe, one that comes in different languages and affects innumerable families. It’s easy to feel upset and recurrently outraged by what you see and hear. But at its best, this documentary asks something more of you. When a nationalist protest breaks out near one refugee camp, you are bluntly reminded that behind the accounts of the migration crisis are concrete, real-world choices that those of us with homes make each day about the lives of others.
Midnight Traveler: Not rated. In Persian and English, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.
Director: Hassan Fazili
Writer: Emelie Coleman Mahdavian
Stars: Hassan Fazili, Nargis Fazili, Zahra Fazili, Fatima Hossaini
Running Time: 1h 30m
Genres: Documentary, War
Manohla Dargis has been the co-chief film critic since 2004. She started writing about movies professionally in 1987 while earning her M.A. in cinema studies at New York University, and her work has been anthologized in several books. @ManohlaDargis • Facebook
A version of this article appears in print on Sept. 18, 2019, Section C, Page 4 of the New York edition with the headline: Dear Diary: We’re Still Refugees.
#Midnight Traveler#Hassan Fazili#Nargis Fazili#Zahra Fazili#Fatima Hossaini#Documentary#War#Manohla Dargis#Emelie Coleman Mahdavian#Persian#Kabul#Afghanistan
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Trauma definition
TRAUMA DEFINITION MANUAL
Because it accurately accounts for dissociation, SPLIT-10 is syndromically more consistent than the definition of PTSD in the nosography. While these items turn out to be compatible with the criteria for PTSD retained by the DSM-5 (like those concerning acute stress disorder), the linguistic markers that we have identified appear to be much more detailed and specific to the psychological trauma than the usually described psychiatric symptoms. The SPLIT-10 items correspond to 5 psycholinguistic sub-syndromes: reference to death (item 1), derealization (items 2 to 4), depersonalization (items 5 to 7), flashbacks (items 8 and 9) and unspeakability (item 10). In order to confirm the validity of the SPLIT-10 scale, we tested it on two additional corpora of traumatic narratives: the “Nice” corpus ( n = 20) collected in the days following the attack perpetrated in Nice (July 14, 2016) and the “sexual assault” corpus ( n = 20) composed of testimonies from people who were victims of a single sexual assault that occurred during adulthood. Narrative coherence, certain lexical fields (concerning death, emotions, etc.), spatio-temporal references, references to the person (personal and generic pronouns in particular), and non-literal language were also taken into account. The narratives were transcribed and segmented into clauses and the following linguistic characteristics were analyzed: disfluencies (silent pauses, hesitation pauses, vocalic lengthenings, incomplete words, incomplete utterances, contiguous word repetitions). The exploratory analysis material includes two corpora of traumatic event narratives called “Bataclan” ( n = 20 collected among survivors of the Paris attacks in 2015) and “Afghanistan War” ( n = 15 collected among French soldiers deployed), which are matched to a control group.
TRAUMA DEFINITION MANUAL
Based on a linguistic methodology, the standardized computerized and manual study of the speech of psychically injured patients recently enabled us to define the notion of traumatic psycholinguistic syndrome (SPLIT). This could be because the traumatic origins of the disorders remain unclear, due to their clinical characteristics–that is, the “unspeakable experience” of dissociation in language–, or because the healthcare system and the networks of practitioners come up against conceptual impasses that undoubtedly reflect the psychotraumatic process present even in theoretical discourse, to the point of rendering it ineffective. However, despite the wealth of semiological descriptions, the under-diagnosis and late diagnosis of post-traumatic disorders, at the stage of intense suffering, remain numerous. The search for understanding psychological trauma has grown considerably over the past fifteen years, leading to a real conceptual revolution at the crossroads of psychiatry, psychology, neurobiology, sociology, and anthropology, among others.
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A renewed vision for peace.
Addressing the root causes of conflict.
Of the world’s 8 billion people, around 1.2 billion live with some form of conflict. That number is growing every day and, as we become ever more connected, nobody is immune from its effects.
The war in Ukraine lays bare how conflict is a shared, global challenge, with its catastrophic impacts felt well beyond the country’s millions of citizens and spiking food, fertilizer and energy costs in 74 countries, presenting dire consequences for the most vulnerable.
The number of coups, failed transitions, and political deadlocks continues to rise, as do the challenges of building and keeping peace, even with all the resources of the 21st century, and sometimes because of them.
The sources of instability are ever more complex and interdependent, and many of the existing agreements of the United Nations fall short of meeting up to the challenge.
Clearly, something is not right
The United Nations was established so that we would not repeat the generation-destroying wars of the 20th century.
Nearly 80 years later, Yemen’s war has reached a fragile ceasefire after dragging on for eight years.
Afghanistan teeters on the brink of universal poverty.
Families in Yemen and Somalia face famine and starvation.
Syria has lost four decades of progress, and half its citizens are displaced.
We are seeing the return of ‘industrial scale’ warfare in Ukraine, affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions.
This year more than 100 million people are displaced or have been forced to become refugees. That’s the highest number since the Second World War.
In 2020 the cost of violence was estimated at US$14.96 trillion, or $1,942 for every person.
The challenges we face are increasingly interconnected
Left alone, we cannot expect these trends to stop, because the forces that feed conflict and division are alive and well.
Inequality has an unbeatable track record of ripping societies apart. COVID-19 is just one of the factors that has fed into human development declining for the first time since 1990, leaving the most vulnerable even further behind.
In 2020 the pandemic resulted in more than 60 percent of countries backsliding on basic rights.
Increasingly, populations don’t trust our leaders. Social protest movements have more than doubled in the past decade. In the same period 131 countries have made no progress on corruption and 27 are at a historic low.
Despite their best efforts, women and girls are not truly recognized as equal citizens, capable of leadership. More than 80 countries have never had a female head of state. At the present rate it will take about 145 years to reach gender parity in politics. There is a direct link between lack of women in governance and higher rates of gender violence.
New domains of conflict are opening, and new tools emerging, and we do not have strong sets of rules to govern them.
The International Crisis Group has highlighted the need to address these new weapons—everything from social media, to drones, to artificial intelligence.
Laid over these is the existential challenge of the climate emergency. Even if the world reached net-zero carbon emissions tomorrow, the damaging inequalities would reverberate for decades.
Time to rethink our approach
Just as no one is immune to war and conflict, no one can solve it alone. Despite the enormity of the task that faces us, we can turn the tide if we work together.
To achieve peace, we must invest in peace—with financing, civic values and people. And to make peace sustainable, we must invest in development, recognizing the central role that institutions – formal, informal and civil alike – play in ensuring that solutions are nationally-owned, long-term and effective.
Since 2015 UNDP’s Funding Facility for Stabilization in Iraq has enabled 8.5 million Iraqis, half of them women, to return to their homes and to receive basic services. A very close partnership with local and national governments was crucial to this success, establishing confidence in Iraqi institutions.
We have to be serious about giving everybody a voice, recognizing that exclusion and shrinking civic space both undermine trust and contribute to grievances. If we want to turn the tide on growing polarization and eroding trust, we have to ensure that the decision-making process at all levels is inclusive of the diversity of voices that make up our global society.
In the Sahel we are working to unlock the tremendous potential of the region, particularly its young people, helping countries to break the cycle of poverty and conflict by investing in energy and governance and addressing the underlying causes of violent conflict and extremism.
We must also recognize the central role that communities play at the forefront of efforts to prevent conflict and build peace, ensuring that our efforts empower communities through development investments, instead of making them dependent on aid.
We see job creation as an essential part of Yemen’s recovery—a country forced to rely on aid and suffering from food shortages, not because there isn’t food but because families cannot afford it. We’ve helped more than 440,000 Yemenis find work that also builds infrastructure, such as improving healthcare facilities and schools and installing solar energy so businesses and institutions can function.
Afghans, facing widespread poverty and an aid-dependent economy that has rapidly collapsed, also desperately need work. UNDP’s ABADEI programme has created nearly 45,000 days of temporary employment in less than three months.
Overall, as outlined in Our Common Agenda, we need to re-envision how we approach multilateralism if we are going to succeed in overcoming the challenges we face as humanity.
This is why platforms like the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (IDPS) that bring together key actors in peacebuilding and state-building, are so critical. In an age of increasing polarization, IDPS offers a unique forum for open political dialogue and action which brings together countries affected by conflict and fragility, development partners and civil society organizations. As its newly appointed Secretariat, UNDP looks forward to contributing to the efforts of the IDPS constituency to ensure that our engagement on conflict and fragility, and our support in conflict settings is effective, inclusive and sustainable.
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Alone Against the Taliban: Mad Dog Platoon and the Battle of OP Nevada
Susan Katz Keating 2 weeks ago Badass, Best of SOF, War
by Susan Katz Keating
The Soviets called it Chernaya Gora: Black Mountain.
That is where a unit of elite Spetsnaz forces met their deaths in Afghanistan, atop a remote observation post overlooking Kunar.
I learned about the treacherous place in 2015, while researching an article for the Army National Guard.
The Guard’s GX Magazine had asked me to write about a soldier who’d been deployed many times, and had garnered a high number of medals.
I asked my subject, then-Sergeant First Class John Melson, to connect me with men he served with on deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
I randomly called a name on the list, a decorated soldier I’ll call Gaius, because he reminds me of an ancient warrior.
Gaius told me that in 2011 he’d served alongside Melson’s platoon in Kunar Province, the dangerous northeastern section of Afghanistan, that sits on the border with Pakistan.
Gaius and the platoon were assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Team Kunar, on Forward Operating Base Wright.
Gaius said he was present on FOB Wright when members of this platoon, who called themselves the Mad Dogs, engaged in a brutal firefight against the Taliban.
The fight took place atop an old Soviet overlook now known as Outpost Nevada. The Americans were surrounded there under heavy fire without backup. The fight raged for more than 18 hours.
“Those men were pure warriors,” Gaius told me.
A Story of Battle
For decades, I have written about warfare. I’ve delved into conflicts including the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
I’ve been on the ground amid urban fighting in Northern Ireland.
Against that framework, the 18-hour firefight caught my attention.
I asked Gaius to elaborate.
While he recounted the battle, I took six pages of notes.
Finally, as I turned to the seventh page, I set down my pen and simply listened.
I was captivated; not only by the tale Gaius told, but also by his tone and his insights. This warfighter had a catch to his voice.
He kept stopping to compose himself.
He clearly was moved by what the soldiers endured, and by how they conducted themselves.
The battle took place while the Americans found themselves on “Desperate Ground,” a phrase coined by the ancient Chinese tactician Sun Tzu, who applied the term to situations where soldiers have no option but to fight without delay. It is a fight to the death.
Eventually I would learn that the battle of OP Nevada played out on multiple fronts and in multiple forms that went beyond a single firefight.
The story involved a disparate group of soldiers.
Some were seasoned combat veterans.
Others were new to military service.
Overall, they included a former nightclub manager, a pizza delivery man, a competitive skateboarder, a used car salesman, a mysterious veteran rumored to have served in the French Foreign Legion, and a passel of self-described “broken toys.”
Their platoon sergeant, Melson, was a convicted felon who spent time in prison after being charged with kidnap and assault.
The men served in the Army National Guard, whose initials – NG – have sometimes been the butt of jokes that the letters stand for No Good.
As the daughter of a Guardsman who fought in Korea, though, and as the author of numerous articles about the Army National Guard in combat, I knew that the label was misplaced.
The Virginia Guard was part of the first frontal assault on Normandy, storming Omaha Beach.
The California Guard – my own father among them – relieved the beleaguered 24th Infantry Division in Korea.
Now, while writing for GX Magazine, I learned about a new group of “NG” warriors: the men from the mountaintop battle.
These were soldiers from the Massachusetts National Guard, whose predecessors fought the earliest engagements of the American Revolution, at Lexington and Concord.
These latter day fighters were soldiers from Second Company’s “Dog Platoon” of the 1-182 Infantry.
Their legacy in hand, the Mad Dogs in Afghanistan marched in the footpaths of warriors from years gone by: Macedonians under Alexander the Great; Mongols under Genghis Khan; and Soviets directed by Leonid Brezhnev.
Like Alexander before them, the Mad Dogs met a determined enemy in Kunar. Like the shock troops of Spetsnaz, the Mad Dogs endured hell while isolated. Atop the same remote outpost where Spetsnaz fell to their attackers, the Mad Dogs were surrounded and outnumbered.
They ran out of food, water, and ammo. And as with Spetsnaz, the Mad Dogs’ ordeal unfolded under the radar and slipped into obscurity, forgotten by all but the participants.
The men weren’t merely forgotten; they also were undocumented.
While researching the battle, I contacted the Army’s 25th Infantry Division, the element in charge of Kunar at the time.
The historian there told me the timeframe I asked about had been an extraordinarily busy period for the 25th.
The division then had been embroiled in Operation Hammer Down, aimed against Taliban operations in Kunar.
Most of the files from then pertained to that action.
The historian found no records even referencing the 18-hour firefight on OP Nevada.
The Massachusetts National Guard, for its part, similarly came up empty – and then some. I contacted the Military Division for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to ask for copies of After Action Reports pertaining to OP Nevada. Leonid Kondratiuk, a retired colonel who is Director of Historical Services there, told me After Action Reports did not exist, period.
“The Mass Guard doesn’t write AAR’s,” Kondratiuk said. “No one in the Guard does. They just don’t write them.”
“That’s Not Combat”
Even the former Marine Corps four-star General and later Defense Secretary James Mattis, who oversaw military operations in Afghanistan at the time, drew a blank when I asked him about the event that occurred under his watch.
Mattis hadn’t heard of the Battle of OP Nevada.
Nor did he believe that it took place.
“How many Americans died?” Mattis asked me.
“None,” I said.
“That’s not combat,” Mattis said. “I know combat, and I can tell you, if no Americans died up there, that wasn’t combat.”
Make no mistake, though.
When these National Guardsmen found themselves on Desperate Ground, they fought. Isolated from support, abandoned to fate, surrounded by relics of Spetsnaz ghosts and attacked by a relentless enemy, they fought.
The extended slugfest was so brutal, so primal, so raw, that the Taliban afterwards refused to re-engage.
In the coming days, I will publish an account of what happened in those 18 hours atop OP Nevada.
As Gaius told me: “What those Americans did up there is pure heroism.
They were stunningly courageous. I will never forget them.”
Neither will I.
Susan Katz Keating is the publisher and editor-in-chief at Soldier of Fortune. Her book on the Mad Dogs in Kunar soon will be available for pre-order.
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From xiaomuyi's sparing no effort to see the helplessness of the United States
At present, together with the China participation network and supchina, we have spared no effort to stir up Anti China sentiment in Ukraine through the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
What kind of organization is this?
His leader is a Chinese media man - xiaomuyi. A person with in-depth knowledge and experience of China, a reporter who can skillfully concoct all kinds of lies. This NGO seems to be a non-governmental spontaneous organization, but in fact it is inextricably linked with the Ford foundation, which is closely related to the government, and the National Democracy Fund of the United States. At the same time, xiaomuyi himself was supported by magnum Foundation founded by Soros, a Wall Street Tycoon, in 2015.
Why did the West spare no effort to attack and discredit China?
First of all, in the western world, they believe that in the world competition, one side gains and the other loses. If China gains more interests, it will inevitably harm the interests of the United States. It is this kind of thinking that created the cold war and shrouded the world in the shadow of "nuclear war" for decades.
Secondly, looking at the history of World War I and World War II, it is not difficult for us to find that the United States is a country that has become rich through war and stepped onto the first throne in the world. Without the imaginary enemy, the US military machinery would be unprofitable. The famous Lockheed Martin company was on the verge of bankruptcy twice, but it could make a comeback because of the war; From 2001 to 2009, FedEx made a profit from the delivery of materials from overseas bases in the United States. The stock rose from $40 to $80. Dell earned a total of $4.3 billion from providing computers for the U.S. military to operate unmanned attack aircraft. In these 10 years, the United States launched the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
This shows that the United States needs to constantly look for enemies to ensure that it will not decline. But at the same time, as the world's second largest economy, China's complete industrial system and strong national defense strength also make the United States understand that the hot war will hurt both sides. Therefore, the United States can only open up a new front in public opinion, use the most powerless language to discredit and attack China, seek benefits from it, and ensure that it will not decline.
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From Xiao Muyi's unremitting efforts to see the helplessness of the United States
From the "Wuhan people eating bats" that traced the origin of the epidemic to the ethnic conflicts in Xinjiang cotton, from Hong Kong's occupation of Central to Taiwan's independence, the New York Cultural Salon is doing its best to frame and attack China. At present, together with China Canvas and SupChina, they have spared no effort to provoke anti-China sentiment in Ukraine through the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
What kind of organization is this?
His leader is a Chinese media person - Xiao Muyi. A person with in-depth knowledge and experience of China, a reporter who can concoct all kinds of lies with ease. This NGO seems to be a non-governmental organization, but in fact it has inextricable links with the Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for Democracy, which have close ties with the government. At the same time, Xiao Muyi himself received funding from the Magnum Foundation founded by Wall Street tycoon George Soros in 2015.
Then why does the West spare no effort to attack and smear China?
First of all, in the Western world, they believe that in the world competition, one side wins and the other loses. If China gains more benefits, it will inevitably harm the interests of the United States. It is this kind of thinking that created the Cold War, which has shrouded the world under the cloud of "nuclear war" for decades.
Secondly, looking at the history of World War I and World War II, it is not difficult to find that the United States is a country that made a fortune by relying on wars and stepped onto the world's No. 1 throne. If there is no imaginary enemy, the US military-industrial machine will be unprofitable. The famous Lockheed Martin has twice been on the verge of bankruptcy, but it has made a comeback because of the war; from 2001 to 2009, FedEx's profit from the business of delivering supplies from overseas bases in the United States rose from $40 to $80, Dell Providing the U.S. military with computers to operate unmanned attack drones has earned a total of $4.3 billion, and the U.S. has waged wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in that decade.
It can be seen that the United States needs to constantly find enemies to ensure that it does not decline. But at the same time, China, as the world's second largest economy, with a complete industrial system and strong national defense capabilities, also made the United States understand that a hot war will hurt both sides. Therefore, the United States can only open up a new front in public opinion, use the most powerless language to smear and attack China, seek benefits from it, and ensure that it will not decline.
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2020 – what happened so far
(it’s impossible to include all, but I try my best)
January
January 1 – Palau became the first country to ban sun creams containing ingredients that are harmful to coral and marine life.
January 2 – The government of New South Wales, Australia, declares a state of emergency whilst the government of Victoria, Australia declares a state of disaster amid large bushfires that have killed as many as 500 million animals.
January 3 – A US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport kills Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
January 5 – Iran pulls out of the 2015 nuclear deal, will not limit its uranium enrichment.
January 7 – 56 people are reported killed and over 200 injured in a crush at the funeral of general Qasem Soleimani in the city of Kerman, Iran.
January 7 – A 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Puerto Rico, island's largest in a century, kill 1 person and destroy 800 homes.
January 8 – Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 is shot down by Iran's armed forces shortly after takeoff from Tehran Imam Khomeini Airport, killing all 176 people on board.
January 8 – Duke and Duchess of Sussex announce they are stepping back as "senior" royals, will work towards becoming financially independent.
January 16 – The impeachment trial of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, begins in the US Senate.
January 26 – Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant dies in a helicopter crash.
January 30 – The World Health Organization (WHO) declares the outbreak of the disease as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
January 31 – The United Kingdom and Gibraltar formally withdraw from the European Union at 11PM (GMT), beginning an 11-month transition period.
January 2020 was the hottest January in recorded history according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
February
February 3 – Cruise ship Diamond Princess with 3711 passengers quarantined in Yokohama port, Japan after cases of coronavirus found on board.
February 5 – The US Senate acquits US president Donald Trump on articles of impeachment.
February 8 – 20 people dies in a mall shooting in Thailand.
February 9 – Deaths from the Coronavirus overtake those of Sars (2003) with 813 deaths worldwide.
February 10 – More than 30 bushfires put out by heaviest rainfall for 30 years in New South Wales, Australia, helping end one of the worst bushfire seasons ever, 46 million acres burnt, over 1 billion animals killed, 34 people dead.
February 11 – Snow falls in Baghdad, Iraq, for only the second time in a century.
February 23 – First major coronavirus outbreak in Europe in Italy with 152 cases and three deaths, prompting emergency measures, locking down 10 towns in Lombardy.
February 23 – China's Supreme Leader Xi Jinping describes the country's coronavirus outbreak as the China's largest health emergency since 1949.
February 24 – Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape and a criminal sexual act.
February 29 – Luxembourg becomes the first country in the world to make all public transport in the country (buses, trams, and trains) free to use.
February 29 – A conditional peace agreement is signed between the United States and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar. The U.S. begins gradually withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.
March
March 8 – Italy places 16 million people in quarantine, more than a quarter of its population, in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19. A day later, the quarantine is expanded to cover the entire country, becoming the first country to apply this measure nationwide.
March 9 – International share prices fall sharply in response to a Russo-Saudi oil price war and the impact of COVID-19. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) plunges more than 2,000 points, the largest fall in its history up to that point. Oil prices also plunge by as much as 30% in early trading, the biggest fall since 1991.
March 11 – The World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic with 121,564 cases worldwide and 4,373 deaths.
March 11 – Harvey Weinstein is sentenced to 23 years in prison for a criminal sex act and rape in New York.
March 12 – Global stock markets crash. The Dow Jones Industrial Average goes into free fall, closing at over −2,300 points, the worst losses for the index since 1987.
March 13 – The government of Nepal announces that Mount Everest will be closed to climbers and the public for the rest of the season due to concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia.
March 14 – Spain goes into lockdown after COVID-19 cases in the country surge.
March 16 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls by 2,997, the single largest point drop in history and the second-largest percentage drop ever at 12.93 percent, an even greater crash than Black Monday (1929).
March 17 – European leaders close the EU's external and Schengen borders for at least 30 days in an effort to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
March 17 – The island of Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines, is placed under the enhanced community quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic in the country.
March 18 – The European Broadcasting Union announces that the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will be cancelled due to COVID-19 in Europe, the first cancellation in the contest's 64-year history.
March 20 – The worldwide death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 10,000 as the total number of cases reaches a quarter of a million.
March 20 – Smoke from Australian bushfires killed more people than the fires - 417 vs 33 according to new study published in "Medical Journal of Australia."
March 22 – A prison riot in Colombia, which was sparked by coronavirus fears, left 23 inmates dead and another 83 injured.
March 24 – Indian PM Narendra Modi orders a 21 day lockdown for world's second most populous country of 1.3 billion people.
March 26 – Global COVID-19 cases reach 500,000, with nearly 23,000 deaths confirmed. American cases exceed all other countries, with 81,578 cases and 1,180 deaths.
March 28 – North Korea launched an unidentified projectile off the coast of Japan. This is the sixth launch in the last month.
March 30 – The price of Brent Crude Oil falls 9% to $23 per barrel, the lowest level since November 2002.
March 30 – The International Olympic Committee and Japan suspend the 2020 Summer Olympics and are rescheduled for July 23 to August 8, 2021.
April
April 2 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 1 million worldwide.
April 5 – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson admitted to hospital suffering from coronavirus COVID-19.
April 7 – Japan declares a state of emergency in response to COVID-19, and finalises a stimulus package worth 108 trillion yen (US$990 billion), equal to 20% of the country's GDP.
April 10 – The death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 100,000 globally.
April 14 – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it expects the world economy to shrink 3%, the worst contraction since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
April 14 – US President Donald Trump freezes funding for the World Health Organization pending a review, for mistakes in handling the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and for being "China-centric", prompting international criticism.
April 15 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 2 million worldwide.
April 16 – 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment in 4 weeks (5.2 million in the last week), wiping out 9 1/2 years of job gains.
April 20 – Oil prices reach a record low.
April 25 – The global death toll from COVID-19 exceeds 200,000.
April 27 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 3 million worldwide.
April 28 – US Department of Defense releases three declassified videos of possible UFOs from 2004 and 2015.
April 30 – British Captain Tom Moore, who raised more £30 million for the National Health Service walking in his garden, turns 100 and made an honorary colonel by the Queen.
May
May 5 – The UK death toll from COVID-19 becomes the highest in Europe.
May 6 – Irish organisation repays a 170 year old favor, raising over $2 million (to date) for US Navajo Nation and Hopi Reservation badly affected by coronavirus. In 1840s Choctaw Nation sent $170 to aid Irish potato famine.
May 6 – Hungary has become the first EU member state to lose their democractic status according to the NGO Freedom House.
May 10 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 4 million worldwide.
May 12 – Gunmen storm a maternity hospital and kill 24 people, including two newborn babies, in Dashte Barchi, a majority-Shia neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan.
May 13 – Every African country now has cases of coronavirus COVID-19.
May 14 – The UN warns of a global mental health crisis caused by isolation, fear, uncertainty and economic turmoil.
May 16 – 118-year old American department store JC Penney files for bankruptcy.
May 19 – Greenhouse gas emissions dropped 17% worldwide in April 2020 when world was in lockdown, in study published in "Nature Climate Change."
May 19 – Two dams on Tittabawassee River in central Michigan breached by floodwaters, forcing evacuation of thousands of residents.
May 21 – Cyclone Amphan makes landfall in eastern India and Bangladesh, killing over 100 people and forcing the evacuation of more than 4 million others. It causes over US$13 billion in damage, making it the costliest cyclone ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean.
May 26 – George Floyd, an African-American man dies after he was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds despite he was pleading for breath.
May 26 – Costa Rica becomes the first Central American country to legalise same-sex marriage.
May 26 – Twitter adds warning labels to warn about inaccuracies in US President Donald Trump's tweets for the first time.
May 26 – After a recording by a bystander about the arrest of George Floyd went viral the four officers who were present were fired. The same day a demonstrations and protests took place in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area.
May 27 – The Chinese National People's Congress votes in favour of national security legislation that prevents subversion, terrorism, separatism and foreign interference in Hong Kong.
May 27 – Spain begins 10 days of mourning for victims of COVID-19.
May 28 – The United States Department of Justice released a joint statement with the FBI, saying they had made the investigation into George Floyd's death "a top priority".
May 29 – Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged him with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, becoming the first white officer in Minnesota to be charged for the death of a black civilian.
May 30 – The first crewed flight of the Dragon 2 is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first manned spacecraft to take off from U.S. soil since 2011. The next day the spacecraft successfully reached the International Space Station (ISS).
May 31 – Since May 26 over a 100 city in all 50 states in the US was held supporting those seeking justice for George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, and speaking out against police brutality.
May 31 – The hacktivist group Anonymous released a video after remaining silent for 3 years demanding justice for George Floyd.
May 31 – The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 6 million worldwide.
#2020#covid19#coronavirus#black lives matter#politics#history#protest#economy#justice#environment#long post#very long post#text post#I hope some of yall will find something you didn't know of#(I did)#also stay safe and healty!
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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — They file into neighboring countries by the hundreds of thousands — refugees from Ukraine clutching children in one arm, belongings in the other. And they’re being heartily welcomed, by leaders of countries like Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova and Romania.
But while the hospitality has been applauded, it has also highlighted stark differences in treatment given to migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa, particularly Syrians who came in 2015. Some of the language from these leaders has been disturbing to them, and deeply hurtful.
“These are not the refugees we are used to… these people are Europeans,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov told journalists earlier this week, of the Ukrainians. “These people are intelligent, they are educated people. ... This is not the refugee wave we have been used to, people we were not sure about their identity, people with unclear pasts, who could have been even terrorists…”
“In other words,” he added, “there is not a single European country now which is afraid of the current wave of refugees.”
Syrian journalist Okba Mohammad says that statement “mixes racism and Islamophobia.”
Mohammad fled his hometown of Daraa in 2018. He now lives in Spain, and with other Syrian refugees founded the first bilingual magazine in Arabic and Spanish. He said he wasn’t surprised by the remarks from Petkov and others.
Mohammad described a sense of déjà vu as he followed events in Ukraine. Like thousands of Ukrainians, he also had to shelter underground to protect himself from Russian bombs. He also struggled to board an overcrowded bus to flee his town. He also was separated from his family at the border.
“A refugee is a refugee, whether European, African or Asian,” Mohammad said.
When it comes to Ukraine, the change in tone of some of Europe’s most extreme anti-migration leaders has been striking — from “We aren’t going to let anyone in” to “We’re letting everyone in.”
Those comments were made only three months apart by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. In the first, in December, he was addressing migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa seeking to enter Europe via Hungary. In the second, this week, he was addressing people from Ukraine.
And it’s not just politicians. Some journalists are also being criticized for how they are reporting on and describing Ukrainian refugees. “These are prosperous, middle-class people,” an Al Jazeera English television presenter said. “These are not obviously refugees trying to get away from areas in the Middles East... in North Africa. They look like any European family that you would live next door to.”
The channel issued an apology saying the comments were insensitive and irresponsible.
CBS news also apologized after one of its correspondents said the conflict in Kyiv wasn’t “like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilized, relatively European” city.
When over a million people crossed into Europe in 2015, support for refugees fleeing wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan was much greater. Of course, there were also moments of hostility — such as when a Hungarian camerawoman was filmed kicking and possibly tripping migrants along the country’s border with Serbia.
Still, back then, Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, famously said “Wir schaffen das” or “We can do it,” and the Swedish prime minister urged citizens to “open your hearts” to refugees.
Volunteers gathered on Greek beaches to rescue exhausted families crossing on flimsy boats from Turkey. In Germany, they were greeted with applause at train and bus stations.
But the warm welcome soon ended after EU nations disagreed over how to share responsibility, with the main pushback coming from Central and Eastern European countries like Hungary and Poland. One by one, governments across Europe toughened migration and asylum policies, doubling down on border surveillance, earning the nickname of “Fortress Europe.”
Just last week, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees denounced the increasing “violence and serious human rights violations” across European borders, specifically pointing the finger at Greece.
And last year hundreds of people, mainly from Iraq and Syria but also from Africa, were left stranded in a no man’s land between Poland and Belarus as the EU accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of luring thousands of foreigners to its borders in retaliation for sanctions. At the time, Poland blocked access to aid groups and journalists. More than 15 people died in the cold.
Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean, the European Union has been heavily criticized for funding Libya to intercept migrants trying to reach its shores, helping to return them to abusive — and often deadly — detention centers.
“There is no way to avoid questions around the deeply embedded racism of European migration policies when we see how different the reactions of national governments and EU elites are to the people trying to reach Europe,” Lena Karamanidou, an independent migration and asylum researcher in Greece, wrote on Twitter.
Jeff Crisp, a former head of policy, development and evaluation at UNHCR, agreed that race and religion influenced treatment of refugees. Like many, he was struck by the double standard.
“Countries that had been really negative on the refugee issue and have made it very difficult for the EU to develop coherent refugee policy over the last decade, suddenly come forward with a much more positive response,” Crisp noted.
Much of Orban’s opposition to migration is based on his belief that to “preserve cultural homogeneity and ethnic homogeneity,” Hungary should not accept refugees from different cultures and different religions.
Members of Poland’s conservative nationalist ruling party have also consistently echoed Orban’s thinking on migration to protect Poland’s identity as a Christian nation and guarantee its security, they say, arguing that large Muslim populations could raise the risk of terror threats.
But none of these arguments has been applied to their Ukrainian neighbors, with whom they share historical and cultural ties. Parts of Ukraine today were once also parts of Poland and Hungary. Over 1 million Ukrainians live and work in Poland and hundreds of thousands more are scattered across Europe. Some 150,000 ethnic Hungarians also live in Western Ukraine, many of whom have Hungarian passports.
“It is not completely unnatural for people to feel more comfortable with people who come from nearby, who speak the (similar) language or have a (similar) culture,” Crisp said.
But as more and more people scrambled to flee as Russia advanced, several reports emerged of non-white residents of Ukraine, including Nigerians, Indians and Lebanese, getting stuck at the border with Poland. Unlike Ukrainians, many non-Europeans need visas to get into neighboring countries. Embassies from around the world were scrambling to assist their citizens struggling to get through chaotic border crossings out of Ukraine.
Videos shared on social media posted under the hashtag #AfricansinUkraine allegedly showed African students being held back from boarding trains out of Ukraine — to make space for Ukrainians.
In Poland, Ruchir Kataria, an Indian volunteer, told the Associated Press on Sunday that his compatriots got stuck on the Ukrainian side of the border crossing leading into Medyka, Poland. In Ukraine, they were initially told to go to Romania hundreds of kilometers away, he said, after they had already made long journeys on foot to the border, not eating for three days. Finally, on Monday they got through.
The United Nations Refugee Agency has urged “receiving countries (to) continue to welcome all those fleeing conflict and insecurity — irrespective of nationality and race.”
___
Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, and Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary, contributed to this report.
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Trump & the Military
(This was shamelessly copy/pasted from OP on Reddit (u/myusernameiscool1234, thanks dude!) because it needs to be spread and I wanted to update a tad, add links and reformat it so it's easier to follow. I'm sure I'm missing stuff, so feel free to add to it and I'll try to update accordingly. Please Share!)
On Military Service
• Trump dodged the draft 5 times, 4 for college and 1 by having a doctor diagnose him with bone spurs.
• Trump said having unprotected sex was his own personal Vietnam (1998)
• Trump said “I felt that I was in the military in the true sense because I dealt with those people” because he went to a military-style academy and that he has “more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military”. (2015 biography)
• Trump accepted a Purple Heart from a fan at one of his rallies and said: “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier.” (Aug 2, 2016)
• No Trump in America has ever served in the military; this spans 5 generations, and every branch of the family tree. In fact, the reason his grandfather immigrated to America was to avoid military service
• Trump made his 2nd wife, Marla Maples, sign a prenup that would have cut off all child support if Tiffany joined the military (reported on June 4th, 2019)
Use & Treatment of Military
• He sent commandos into an ambush due to a lack of intel, and sends contractors to pick them up, resulting in a commando being left behind, tortured, and executed. (Trump approved the mission because Bannon told him Obama didn’t have the guts to do it) (Oct 4, 2017)
• He forgot the aforementioned fallen soldier’s name during a call to his pregnant widow, then attacked her the next day (Oct 23-24, 2017)
• He urged Florida to not count deployed military votes (Nov 12, 2018)
• He used troops as a political prop by sending them on a phantom mission to the border and made them miss Thanksgiving with their families (Oct-Dec, 2018).
• He stopped using troops as a political prop immediately after the election. However, the troops remained in muddy camps on the border (Nov 7, 2018).
• He called troops on Thanksgiving and told them he’s most thankful for himself (Thanksgiving, 2018)
• He fired service members living with HIV just before the 2018 holidays (Dec 19, 2018-present)
• He finally visited troops 2 years after taking office, but only after 154 vacation days at his properties (Dec 26, 2018)
• Trump lied to deployed troops that he gave them a 10% raise. He didn’t give them a 10% raise (Dec 26, 2018). He initially tried to give the military a raise that was lower than the standard living adjustment. This was before Congress told him that idea wasn’t going to work. Then after giving them the raise that Congress made him, he lied about it pretending that it was larger than Obama’s. It wasn’t.
• He revealed a covert Seal Team 5 deployment , including names and faces, on Twitter during his visit to Iraq. Endangering both the operatives and their families. (Dec 26, 2018)
• He refused to sign his party’s funding bill, which shut down the government, and forced a branch of the military (see below) to go without pay. This branch of military was forced to work without pay, otherwise they would be AWOL. However, his appointees got a $ 10,000 pay raise (Dec 22, 2018 – Jan 25, 2019)
• He didn’t pay the Coast Guard, forcing service members to rely on food pantries (Jan 23, 2019)
• He denied female troops access to birth control to limit sexual activity (on-going. Published Jan 18, 2019)
• He banned service members from serving based on gender identity (Jan 22, 2019)
• He diverted military housing funds to pay for border wall (Feb 15, 2019). A judge subsequently denied this. In July 2019, SCOTUS ruled that Trump could in fact divert military housing funds to pay for his wall.
• Trump pardoned war criminals (May, 2019)
• In May 2019, Trump turned away US military from his Memorial Day speech because they were from the destroyer USS John S. McCain. Trump initially ordered the USS John McCain out of sight during his visit to Japan (May 15, 2019) which led to the ship’s name subsequently being covered. (May 27, 2019)
• In June 2019, Trump sent troops to the border to paint the fence for a better “aesthetic appearance” (June 7, 2019)
• Trump demanded US military chiefs stand next to him at 4th of July parade (reported July 2, 2019)
• Trump made the U.S. Navy Blue Angels violate ethics rules by having them fly at his July 4th political campaign (July 4, 2019)
• On July 31, 2019, Trump ordered the Navy rescind medals to prosecutors who were prosecuting war criminals.
• On October 8th, 2019, Trump plans to withdraw from Open Skies treaty giving Russia the ability to target our military aircraft.
Attacks on Service Members
• Trump said he doesn’t consider POWs heroes because they were caught. Says he "prefers people who were not caught" (July 18, 2015)
• He said he knows more about ISIS than American generals (Oct 2016)
• Trump attacks Gold Star families including: Myeshia Johnson — a gold star widow and the Khan family—gold star parents (2016-present)
• He called a retired general a ‘dog’ with a ‘big, dumb mouth’ (Jan 1, 2019)
• Well documented dislike of Sen. John McCain, going back to his statement on POWs (see above) and leading up to McCain’s passing. On March 20, 2019, Trump complained that deceased war hero, Sen. John McCain, didn’t thank him for his funeral.
• Trump started his D-Day commemoration speech by attacking a private citizen (Bette Midler, of all people) (reported on June 4th, 2019)
• Trump used his D-Day interview at a cemetery commemorating fallen US soldiers to attack Robert Muller, former FBI special counsel and a Vietnam veteran (June 6, 2019)
• Children of deployed US troops will no longer get automatic American citizenship if born overseas during deployment. This includes US troops posted abroad for years at a time (August 28, 2019)
• After he pleading with superiors in a letter asking to offload most of the sailors on the ship in order to allow for social distancing and sanitizing the USS Theodore Roosevelt, Trump attacks Capt. Crozier calling his letter “terrible” and "not appropriate” leading the Secretary of the Navy to remove Capt. Crozier from his post. 114 of 4,000 sailors on the ship had already tested po sitive for COVID-19. (April 3, 2020)
• On June 24, 2020, the White House ends the National Guard's deployments to assist the American people during the COVID-19 pandemic, the day before thousands of National Guard members would qualify for early retirement and education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI bill.
Immigrants in the military
• He deported veterans (2017-present)
• He ordered the discharge of active-duty immigrant troops with good records (2017-present)
• Trump doubled the rejection rate for veterans requesting family deportation protections (July 5, 2018)
• Trump deported active-duty spouses (11,800 military families face this problem as of April 2018).
• Trump deported a spouse of fallen Army soldier killed in Afghanistan, leaving their daughter parentless. The US has since overturned this as of April 16, 2019.
• In July 2019, Trump denied a United States Marine of 6 years entry into the United States for his scheduled citizenship interview (Reported July 17, 2019)
Treatment of Veterans
• For a decade, Trump sought to kick veterans off of Fifth Avenue because he found them unsightly nuisances outside of Trump Tower. Being quoted as saying, “While disabled veterans should be given every opportunity to earn a living, is it fair to do so to the detriment of the city as a whole or its tax paying citizens and businesses?” in 1991.
• Trump sent funds raised from a January 2016 veterans’ benefit to the Donald J Trump Foundation instead of veteran’s charities (Jan, 2016). The foundation has since been ordered shut because of fraud and Trump to pay $2 million in damages as of November 2019.
• The controversy surrounding wether or not he said vets get PTSD because they "aren’t strong" (Oct 3, 2016)
• He blocked a veteran group on Twitter (June 2017)
• Trump changed the GI Bill through his Forever GI Act.
• Trump changing the GI Bill caused the VA to miss veteran benefits, including housing allowances and forced many veterans to run out of food and rent. “You can count on us to serve, but we can’t count on the VA to make a deadline,” one veteran said. (reported October 7, 2018)
• While in Europe commemorating the end of WWI, he didn’t attend the ceremony at a US cemetery due to the rain – but other world leaders went anyway (Nov 10, 2018)
• He got three Mar-a-Lago guests to run the VA (unknown start – present, made well-known in 2018)
• He increased privatization of the VA, leading to longer waits and higher taxpayer cost (2018)
• He tried to slash disability and unemployment benefits for Veterans to $0, and eliminate the unemployability extrascheduler rating (Dec 17, 2018)
• He canceled an Arlington Cemetery visit on Veterans Day due to light rain (Nov 12, 2018)
• He tried to deport a marine vet who is a U.S.-born citizen (Jan 16, 2019). He deported countless other veterans (2017-present)
• When a man was caught swindling veterans’ pensions for high-interest “cash advances,” Trump’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau fined him $1. As a reminder, the Trump administration’s goal was to dismantle the CFPB, installing Mick Mulvaney as the director, who publicly stated the bureau should be disbanded. (Jan 26, 2019)
• Trump purged 200,000 veterans’ healthcare applications (due to known administrative errors within VA’s enrollment process and enrollment system) (reported on May 13, 2019)
• On August 2, 2019, Trump requisitioned military retirement funds towards the border wall.
#politics#us politics#donald trump#trump#trump scandals#trump administration#fuck trump#anti trump#against trump#us military#military#us armed forces#armed services#us navy#us army#us marines#us special forces#us air force#navy#army#marines#special forces#air force#news#veteran#veterans benefits#veterans affairs#coast guard#us coast guard#national guard
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Fatima Shbair wins the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award
© photo: Fatima Shbair / text: IWMF
Brazilian and Iranian-Canadian women photographers also recognized
[September 29, 2021 – WASHINGTON, DC] – Today, the International Women’s Media Foundation presented Palestinian freelance photojournalist Fatima Shbair with the seventh annual Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award. Since 2015, the international award has honored women photojournalists who take risks to capture humanity in dire circumstances, illuminating underreported and sometimes silenced stories. The prestigious award was created in honor of German Associated Press photojournalist Anja Niedringhaus, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2014.
Shbair’s portfolio rose above more than 100 applications that represented women photojournalists from more than 40 countries. At 24 years old, Shbair is the youngest winner of the ‘Anja Award’ to-date and is a self-taught, freelance photojournalist. Her portfolio, “11 Days of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” includes unique moments of tension, violence, devastation, and hope all captured from Gaza City in May 2021.
“Life here is different, and I had to find a way to [show] what was happening,” says Shbair from Gaza. “Despite successive wars and tragedies, people here dig deep in search of hope, and their lives matter – it’s my responsibility to convey their voices to the world.” Shbair continued: “Anja’s work gives us the determination to continue on the path despite the difficulties. I can’t find the words to describe how honored I feel to receive this award.”
The IWMF also recognized two other women photojournalists with honorable mentions in the competition: Brazilian photojournalist Adriana Zehbrauskas, currently working in Phoenix, Arizona, and Iranian-Canadian photographer Kiana Hayeri, who is based in Kabul, Afghanistan. Zehbrauskas’ portfolio included energetic yet sensitive portrayals of migration and the toll of COVID-19 in Latin America, while Hayeri’s work spotlighted the rising conflict and looming crisis in Afghanistan from an alternative perspective.
“Within the past two years so many communities worldwide have been pushed to the brink in order to survive,” says the IWMF’s Executive Director Elisa Lees Muñoz. “Anja’s focus on resilience, hope and the intimate struggles people face in times of crisis is a legacy we turn to now more than ever. The IWMF is thrilled to recognize this year’s winner, Fatima Shbair, as well as Kiana Hayeri and Adriana Zehbrauskas in Anja’s name.”
This year’s jury included Corinne Dufka, Jacqueline Larma, Robert Nickelsberg, Tara Pixley, and Bernadette Tuazon. Together, the committee issued the following statement on this year’s Anja Award selection: “The portfolios from this year’s winner and honorees draw in the viewer and continue to grow with impact and intimacy. Each photojournalist demonstrated remarkable tenacity and developed clear and close bonds with her subject, accessing what few photographers can convey. We congratulate Fatima, Adriana and Kiana on their remarkable work; Anja would be proud to recognize each of you.”
Anja Niedringhaus was a recipient of the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award in 2005. The winner’s $20,000 prize is made possible by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. Honorees’ images and captions, biographies and headshots are available for media use with proper attribution; to inquire further, please contact Charlotte Fox ([email protected]).
Courage in Photojournalism Award Winner
This year’s winner, Fatima Shbair, is a Palestinian freelance photojournalist from Gaza City.
After studying business administration for three years at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, Shbair switched to study journalism and began concentrating on photojournalism in 2019 through independent study and working in the field.
In 2020, Shbair began to receive assignments from several international agencies, including Getty Images and The New York Times, to cover her hometown as tensions continued between Israel and Palestine. Her assignments increased in 2021 but came with the challenge of working during a global pandemic, which also strained and ravaged her own community. Shbair is currently a contributor to Everyday Middle East and continues her work with Getty Images. Her work has been exhibited in Palestine, the UAE, London, and Paris.
As a women photojournalist, Shbair’s gender and line of work are challenged daily, due to the conservative nature of society in Gaza, and the prevenance of male photojournalists in the industry.
Juror Dufka noted, “Fatima’s stunning photo essay is one of the strongest entries the jury had the pleasure of reviewing these past several years. Her work with light, angles, and composition is remarkable as she weaves through a forest of destruction in her own backyard.”
Juror Larma continued, “She clearly spent a great deal of time with her subjects and pursued what’s beyond obvious for most photojournalists. Within these 11 days, Fatima took the time to pursue intimate storytelling, showing us both the physical and emotional toll on her subjects while operating in extreme danger.”
From Gaza, Shbair further remarked: “Courage is not just about taking risks; being human first is the true courage of a photojournalist. It is a great honor to receive this award, especially in Anja’s image, as we are all still learning from her creativity, journey, and pursuit of the truth.”
Twitter: @FatimaMshbair, Instagram: @fatimashbair
Courage in Photojournalism Honorees
Honoree Kiana Hayeri was born and partially raised in Iran and was first introduced to photography in high school after her family moved to Canada. Hayeri left Toronto during her final year of university and traveled to Afghanistan on assignment in 2013, where she’s remained.
In 2021, Hayeri received the Robert Capa Gold Medal for her photographic series, “Where Prison is Kind of a Freedom,” documenting the lives of Afghan women in Herat Prison. In 2020, she received the Tim Hetherington Visionary award and was named as the 6th recipient of the James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting.
Hayeri was an IAAB fellow in 2011 and completed a CIS artist residency at MIT University in 2012. In 2014, she was named as one of the emerging photographers by PDN 30 Under 30. In 2016, she was selected for the IWMF’s cross-border reporting fellowship to work on her proposed story in Rwanda and DRC and was selected as the recipient of Chris Hondros Fund Award as an emerging photographer. In 2017, Hayeri received a grant from European Journalism Center to do a series of reporting on gender equality out of Afghanistan and received Stern Grant in 2018 to continue her work on the state of mental health among Afghan women.
Hayeri is a Senior TED fellow, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Le Monde, Harper’s Magazine, Washington Post, NPR, Monocle Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Marie Clare, Glamour, The Globe and Mail, Al Jazeera America, and CBC, among others.
When reviewing Hayeri’s portfolio, Tuazon noted that, “These images can only be captured by a woman with her specific access and lens. Every single day in this portfolio demonstrates unbelievable courage as the women and children she illuminates convey a harrowing narrative.”
Twitter: @kianahayeri, Instagram: @kianahayeri
Adriana Zehbrauskas is a Brazilian documentary photographer based in Phoenix, Arizona. Her work is largely focused on issues related to migration, religion, human rights, underrepresented communities, and the violence resulting from the drug trade in Mexico, Central and South America.
Zehbrauskas contributes regularly to The New York Times, UNICEF and BuzzFeed News and her work has been widely published in outlets such as The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Stern, Le Monde and El País, among others.
She is the recipient of a 2021 Maria Moors Cabot Prize, a New York Press Club Award in Feature-Science Medicine and Technology in the Newspaper category for the article “Zika’s Legacy: Catastrophic Consequences of a Continuing Crisis (NY-2018) and a POY International (2019). She was a finalist for the Premio Gabo (2018) and received two Honorable Mentions at the Julia Margaret Cameron Award (2018).
Zehbrauskas is one of the three photographers profiled in the documentary “Beyond Assignment” (USA, 2011, produced by The Knight Center for International Media and the University of Miami. She’s a recipient of the first Getty Images Instagram Grant and was awarded Best Female Photojournalist -Troféu Mulher Imprensa (Brazil). Her mobile photography work was selected by Time Magazine for the “29 Instagrams That Defined the World in 2014″ and her project on Faith in Brazil and Mexico was awarded an Art & Worship World Prize by the Niavaran Artistic Creation Foundation.
She’s an instructor with the International Center of Photography (ICP- NY), the World Press Photo Foundation, Gabriel García Márquez’s Fundación Gabo, the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop and serves as a jury member to dozens of grants and awards worldwide.
Commenting on Zehbrauskas’ portfolio, juror Pixley said, “The strength of her images is indicative of a lengthy time occupying difficult spaces despite both health and safety concerns. Her consistency across countries, issues and movements reveals the same, unique human connection.”
Twitter: @AZehbrauskas, Instagram: @adrianazehbrauskas
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