Today In Biden Land

[Kirkland Laing]

Save the Children said Wednesday that it was “extremely concerned” about the possibility that children in the drought-stricken country would face a severe hunger crisis as aid organizations suspended work after the Taliban assumed control.


“Even before the Taliban advancement, Afghanistan had the second-highest number of people facing emergency hunger levels in the world. Half of all children under five were expected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year and require specialized treatment to survive,” the group said in a statement.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...270_story.html

And that's while we're there after having been there for twenty years pumping billions of dollars a year into the economy. This is clearly a spectacularly disfunctional country. Us being there creates at least as many problems as it solves eh.

Relatedly, these three twitter posts:

https://twitter.com/jbarro/status/1428471515645890574

If you're just relentlessly bombing these fuckers it's unlikely to gain you any support.



This is the most likely reason the Taliban are playing nice:

https://twitter.com/aahmady/status/1427883009164955649

Keep scrolling. Bottom line is they've got no money. If they can't attract some level of western aid then they're fucked and after their attempts at governing before 9/11 they're well aware of this. If they thought they'd be better off taking thousands of hostages and ransoming them off then they'd do it in a second.

Media coverage of the whole thing in America:



https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status...63331916599315



https://twitter.com/_waleedshahid/st...67357924696065



https://twitter.com/russciandra1/sta...67027224588292



The bomb threat guy today:



https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1428435915811209218



https://twitter.com/stevesilberman/s...54130683502593



related:



https://twitter.com/RexChapman/statu...49634158010369



https://twitter.com/BGrueskin/status...75463184572416


Fox News:



https://twitter.com/bad_takes/status...40702386147333



https://twitter.com/TristanSnell/sta...39300764086278

[palmerq]

This is the most likely reason the Taliban are playing nice:

https://twitter.com/aahmady/status/1427883009164955649

This is a pretty good thread, good posting...

So what will China do here? Surely they will be concerned about the Taliban inciting stuff in west China maybe? And the Chinese do like their belt and road iniative but if the Taliban reportedly bugger all money so surely the Chinese can't loan em that much, but they also have a lot invested in the famously calm Pakistan and if the Taliban start rabble rousing there maybe the Chinese will pay/help them to behave?.. This can't be good for China though, which of course would be good for America.

Also in continuation of the mindless ramblings @Kirkland Laing there is a Canadian election coming up and the economy is of course the big talking point, now you know about this stuff is there any reputable economist gits(bit like krugman) who write about the Canadian economy that you know of? I'm as clueless about these matters as usual.

[Kirkland Laing]

This is the most likely reason the Taliban are playing nice:

https://twitter.com/aahmady/status/1427883009164955649

This is a pretty good thread, good posting...

So what will China do here? Surely they will be concerned about the Taliban inciting stuff in west China maybe? And the Chinese do like their belt and road iniative but if the Taliban reportedly bugger all money so surely the Chinese can't loan em that much, but they also have a lot invested in the famously calm Pakistan and if the Taliban start rabble rousing there maybe the Chinese will pay/help them to behave?.. This can't be good for China though, which of course would be good for America.

Also in continuation of the mindless ramblings @Kirkland Laing there is a Canadian election coming up and the economy is of course the big talking point, now you know about this stuff is there any reputable economist gits(bit like krugman) who write about the Canadian economy that you know of? I'm as clueless about these matters as usual.

China don't give a shit about authoritarian regimes and will happily deal with the Taliban. Lots of lithium and other minerals in Afghanistan, China will want first dibs on all of it. The Taliban are basically a creature of the Pakistan intelligence service, they're not going to do anything to upset Pakistan, China or anybody else. They'll be looking to make commercial deals with both of them and gain at least two allies. The last thing they want to do is upset either of them.


Canadian politics don't really matter as you have nice moderate parties and nice moderate policies. The liberals get in for a while and shift things a little to the left then the conservatives get in and shift things a little to the right and they just basically take turns at running the country. No drama and good results.

You fuckers dodged a bullet by not being a big enough market for Rupert Murdoch to turn up and fuck your politics up. Out of the English speaking countries you, Ireland and New Zealand got lucky. Australia, Britain and especially the United States got the poison. You did have Conrad Black but he's nothing compared to what Murdoch does to your politics.

[palmerq]

This is the most likely reason the Taliban are playing nice:

https://twitter.com/aahmady/status/1427883009164955649

This is a pretty good thread, good posting...

So what will China do here? Surely they will be concerned about the Taliban inciting stuff in west China maybe? And the Chinese do like their belt and road iniative but if the Taliban reportedly bugger all money so surely the Chinese can't loan em that much, but they also have a lot invested in the famously calm Pakistan and if the Taliban start rabble rousing there maybe the Chinese will pay/help them to behave?.. This can't be good for China though, which of course would be good for America.

Also in continuation of the mindless ramblings @Kirkland Laing there is a Canadian election coming up and the economy is of course the big talking point, now you know about this stuff is there any reputable economist gits(bit like krugman) who write about the Canadian economy that you know of? I'm as clueless about these matters as usual.

China don't give a shit about authoritarian regimes and will happily deal with the Taliban. Lots of lithium and other minerals in Afghanistan, China will want first dibs on all of it. The Taliban are basically a creature of the Pakistan intelligence service, they're not going to do anything to upset Pakistan, China or anybody else. They'll be looking to make commercial deals with both of them and gain at least two allies. The last thing they want to do is upset either of them.


Canadian politics don't really matter as you have nice moderate parties and nice moderate policies. The liberals get in for a while and shift things a little to the left then the conservatives get in and shift things a little to the right and they just basically take turns at running the country. No drama and good results.

You fuckers dodged a bullet by not being a big enough market for Rupert Murdoch to turn up and fuck your politics up. Out of the English speaking countries you, Ireland and New Zealand got lucky. Australia, Britain and especially the United States got the poison. You did have Conrad Black but he's nothing compared to what Murdoch does to your politics.

Aha fair point.. So the Taliban are sort of buggered and bent over a barrel by the superpowers?... China can bail them out a bit and get mining and the Americans have all their money and can withhold it until they get their guys out or whatever they want..

And yes luckily Canadian politics and news is a good bit calmer than America and the Conservatives seem pretty reasonable this time round too(he's talking about a carbon tax)... I do worry the crazies are making Their way over though, I've noticed an increase in some of the more extreme ramblings from some people... Although none of them have much of a problem with me being an immigrant which is nice............. :S

[Kirkland Laing]

This is the most likely reason the Taliban are playing nice:

https://twitter.com/aahmady/status/1427883009164955649

This is a pretty good thread, good posting...

So what will China do here? Surely they will be concerned about the Taliban inciting stuff in west China maybe? And the Chinese do like their belt and road iniative but if the Taliban reportedly bugger all money so surely the Chinese can't loan em that much, but they also have a lot invested in the famously calm Pakistan and if the Taliban start rabble rousing there maybe the Chinese will pay/help them to behave?.. This can't be good for China though, which of course would be good for America.

Also in continuation of the mindless ramblings @Kirkland Laing there is a Canadian election coming up and the economy is of course the big talking point, now you know about this stuff is there any reputable economist gits(bit like krugman) who write about the Canadian economy that you know of? I'm as clueless about these matters as usual.

China don't give a shit about authoritarian regimes and will happily deal with the Taliban. Lots of lithium and other minerals in Afghanistan, China will want first dibs on all of it. The Taliban are basically a creature of the Pakistan intelligence service, they're not going to do anything to upset Pakistan, China or anybody else. They'll be looking to make commercial deals with both of them and gain at least two allies. The last thing they want to do is upset either of them.


Canadian politics don't really matter as you have nice moderate parties and nice moderate policies. The liberals get in for a while and shift things a little to the left then the conservatives get in and shift things a little to the right and they just basically take turns at running the country. No drama and good results.

You fuckers dodged a bullet by not being a big enough market for Rupert Murdoch to turn up and fuck your politics up. Out of the English speaking countries you, Ireland and New Zealand got lucky. Australia, Britain and especially the United States got the poison. You did have Conrad Black but he's nothing compared to what Murdoch does to your politics.

Aha fair point.. So the Taliban are sort of buggered and bent over a barrel by the superpowers?... China can bail them out a bit and get mining and the Americans have all their money and can withhold it until they get their guys out or whatever they want..

And yes luckily Canadian politics and news is a good bit calmer than America and the Conservatives seem pretty reasonable this time round too(he's talking about a carbon tax)... I do worry the crazies are making Their way over though, I've noticed an increase in some of the more extreme ramblings from some people... Although none of them have much of a problem with me being an immigrant which is nice............. :S

I was saying a couple of days ago about how a lot of the Afghan players looked to have agreed a lot of stuff in advance of the Taliban storming through the country in a few days:

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog...s-coverage-but

Where did you immigrate to Canada from? I had you down as French Canadian.

[Master]

This is the most likely reason the Taliban are playing nice:

https://twitter.com/aahmady/status/1427883009164955649

This is a pretty good thread, good posting...

So what will China do here? Surely they will be concerned about the Taliban inciting stuff in west China maybe? And the Chinese do like their belt and road iniative but if the Taliban reportedly bugger all money so surely the Chinese can't loan em that much, but they also have a lot invested in the famously calm Pakistan and if the Taliban start rabble rousing there maybe the Chinese will pay/help them to behave?.. This can't be good for China though, which of course would be good for America.

Also in continuation of the mindless ramblings @Kirkland Laing there is a Canadian election coming up and the economy is of course the big talking point, now you know about this stuff is there any reputable economist gits(bit like krugman) who write about the Canadian economy that you know of? I'm as clueless about these matters as usual.

China don't give a shit about authoritarian regimes and will happily deal with the Taliban. Lots of lithium and other minerals in Afghanistan, China will want first dibs on all of it. The Taliban are basically a creature of the Pakistan intelligence service, they're not going to do anything to upset Pakistan, China or anybody else. They'll be looking to make commercial deals with both of them and gain at least two allies. The last thing they want to do is upset either of them.


Canadian politics don't really matter as you have nice moderate parties and nice moderate policies. The liberals get in for a while and shift things a little to the left then the conservatives get in and shift things a little to the right and they just basically take turns at running the country. No drama and good results.

You fuckers dodged a bullet by not being a big enough market for Rupert Murdoch to turn up and fuck your politics up. Out of the English speaking countries you, Ireland and New Zealand got lucky. Australia, Britain and especially the United States got the poison. You did have Conrad Black but he's nothing compared to what Murdoch does to your politics.

Aha fair point.. So the Taliban are sort of buggered and bent over a barrel by the superpowers?... China can bail them out a bit and get mining and the Americans have all their money and can withhold it until they get their guys out or whatever they want..

And yes luckily Canadian politics and news is a good bit calmer than America and the Conservatives seem pretty reasonable this time round too(he's talking about a carbon tax)... I do worry the crazies are making Their way over though, I've noticed an increase in some of the more extreme ramblings from some people... Although none of them have much of a problem with me being an immigrant which is nice............. :S

I was saying a couple of days ago about how a lot of the Afghan players looked to have agreed a lot of stuff in advance of the Taliban storming through the country in a few days:

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog...s-coverage-but

Where did you immigrate to Canada from? I had you down as French Canadian.

Must be Scotland.

[Kirkland Laing]

This is the most likely reason the Taliban are playing nice:

https://twitter.com/aahmady/status/1427883009164955649

This is a pretty good thread, good posting...

So what will China do here? Surely they will be concerned about the Taliban inciting stuff in west China maybe? And the Chinese do like their belt and road iniative but if the Taliban reportedly bugger all money so surely the Chinese can't loan em that much, but they also have a lot invested in the famously calm Pakistan and if the Taliban start rabble rousing there maybe the Chinese will pay/help them to behave?.. This can't be good for China though, which of course would be good for America.

Also in continuation of the mindless ramblings @Kirkland Laing there is a Canadian election coming up and the economy is of course the big talking point, now you know about this stuff is there any reputable economist gits(bit like krugman) who write about the Canadian economy that you know of? I'm as clueless about these matters as usual.

China don't give a shit about authoritarian regimes and will happily deal with the Taliban. Lots of lithium and other minerals in Afghanistan, China will want first dibs on all of it. The Taliban are basically a creature of the Pakistan intelligence service, they're not going to do anything to upset Pakistan, China or anybody else. They'll be looking to make commercial deals with both of them and gain at least two allies. The last thing they want to do is upset either of them.


Canadian politics don't really matter as you have nice moderate parties and nice moderate policies. The liberals get in for a while and shift things a little to the left then the conservatives get in and shift things a little to the right and they just basically take turns at running the country. No drama and good results.

You fuckers dodged a bullet by not being a big enough market for Rupert Murdoch to turn up and fuck your politics up. Out of the English speaking countries you, Ireland and New Zealand got lucky. Australia, Britain and especially the United States got the poison. You did have Conrad Black but he's nothing compared to what Murdoch does to your politics.

Aha fair point.. So the Taliban are sort of buggered and bent over a barrel by the superpowers?... China can bail them out a bit and get mining and the Americans have all their money and can withhold it until they get their guys out or whatever they want..

And yes luckily Canadian politics and news is a good bit calmer than America and the Conservatives seem pretty reasonable this time round too(he's talking about a carbon tax)... I do worry the crazies are making Their way over though, I've noticed an increase in some of the more extreme ramblings from some people... Although none of them have much of a problem with me being an immigrant which is nice............. :S

I was saying a couple of days ago about how a lot of the Afghan players looked to have agreed a lot of stuff in advance of the Taliban storming through the country in a few days:

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog...s-coverage-but

Where did you immigrate to Canada from? I had you down as French Canadian.

Must be Scotland.

His English is far too good for him to be Scottish.