Saturday, September 04, 2021
Friday, September 03, 2021
Donald Trump Makes Lewd Remarks about Women on Video | NBC News
How any decent American could ever vote for this licentious, very crude man is truly beyond my comprehension! He disgusts me! He has no principles, no honesty, no morality, no ethics. Nothing! Yet Christian fundamentalists were / are in thrall to him! Go figure! I know where I think he belongs; and it 'ain't' in Mar-a-Lago! Please note: Viewer discretion is advised for what is shown above. This video is certainly NOT suitable for children. – © Mark
Supertramp: The Logical Song
Simon & Garfunkel : The Boxer
Afghans with Ties to U.S. Who Could Not Get Out Now Live in Fear
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Thousands did not make it onto U.S. military evacuation flights. Many of them are now in hiding, worried for their safety and their future.
Armed Taliban militants were looking for Shah. They knew he worked as an interpreter for the United States government, and came to his provincial home at night. “Someone inside worked for the U.S. Army!” they shouted, threatening to shoot down the door.
Shah had already left for Kabul, where he is now in hiding. But he believes he is a hunted man. “I’m not feeling safe here anymore,” said Shah, whose application for a special immigrant visa to the United States is still in the works.
“The Taliban say they are not taking revenge, and they are forgiving everybody,” he said. “But I can’t believe them. Why did they come to my house looking for me?”
There are thousands like Shah, stuck in Afghanistan under a capricious and unpredictable Taliban rule, who did not make it onto U.S. military evacuation flights — those who worked for the U.S. Army or the government, and their families, and who were eligible for U.S. humanitarian visas. They know they are potential targets as the Taliban tighten their grip since taking over Kabul fully this week.
Taliban leaders have pledged to allow those with visas to leave once they reopen the main airport, which remained closed to commercial flights on Friday.
But those like Shah doubt the pledges of a group that they feel they cannot trust and that has ruled Afghanistan ruthlessly before. Trying to leave — or showing a special immigrant visa — could itself expose them to danger if the Taliban renege on their promises. » | Adam Nossiter | Friday, September 3, 2021
Armed Taliban militants were looking for Shah. They knew he worked as an interpreter for the United States government, and came to his provincial home at night. “Someone inside worked for the U.S. Army!” they shouted, threatening to shoot down the door.
Shah had already left for Kabul, where he is now in hiding. But he believes he is a hunted man. “I’m not feeling safe here anymore,” said Shah, whose application for a special immigrant visa to the United States is still in the works.
“The Taliban say they are not taking revenge, and they are forgiving everybody,” he said. “But I can’t believe them. Why did they come to my house looking for me?”
There are thousands like Shah, stuck in Afghanistan under a capricious and unpredictable Taliban rule, who did not make it onto U.S. military evacuation flights — those who worked for the U.S. Army or the government, and their families, and who were eligible for U.S. humanitarian visas. They know they are potential targets as the Taliban tighten their grip since taking over Kabul fully this week.
Taliban leaders have pledged to allow those with visas to leave once they reopen the main airport, which remained closed to commercial flights on Friday.
But those like Shah doubt the pledges of a group that they feel they cannot trust and that has ruled Afghanistan ruthlessly before. Trying to leave — or showing a special immigrant visa — could itself expose them to danger if the Taliban renege on their promises. » | Adam Nossiter | Friday, September 3, 2021
U.S. Employers Added 235,000 Jobs in August, a Marked Slowdown
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The American economy slowed abruptly last month, adding 235,000 jobs, a sharp drop from the huge gains recorded earlier in the summer and an indication that the Delta variant of the coronavirus is putting a damper on hiring.
The Labor Department report on Friday follows a sharp increase in coronavirus cases and deaths that has undermined hopes that restrictions on daily activities were nearing an end.
The unemployment rate was 5.2 percent, compared with 5.4 percent in July. Economists polled by Bloomberg has been looking for gain of 725,000 jobs.
“There’s no question that the Delta variant is why today’s job report isn’t stronger,” President Biden said. “I know people were looking, and I was hoping, for a higher number.”
The August showing would have been respectable in pre[-]pandemic times. But after gains of 962,000 in June and 1.05 million in July — and with more than eight million people unemployed — it was a sharp deceleration.
“Delta is a game-changer,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, an accounting firm in Chicago. “It’s not that people are laying off workers in reaction to Delta but people are pulling back on travel and tourism and going out to eat and that has consequences.” » | By Nelson D. Schwartz | Friday, September 3, 2021
The Labor Department report on Friday follows a sharp increase in coronavirus cases and deaths that has undermined hopes that restrictions on daily activities were nearing an end.
The unemployment rate was 5.2 percent, compared with 5.4 percent in July. Economists polled by Bloomberg has been looking for gain of 725,000 jobs.
“There’s no question that the Delta variant is why today’s job report isn’t stronger,” President Biden said. “I know people were looking, and I was hoping, for a higher number.”
The August showing would have been respectable in pre[-]pandemic times. But after gains of 962,000 in June and 1.05 million in July — and with more than eight million people unemployed — it was a sharp deceleration.
“Delta is a game-changer,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, an accounting firm in Chicago. “It’s not that people are laying off workers in reaction to Delta but people are pulling back on travel and tourism and going out to eat and that has consequences.” » | By Nelson D. Schwartz | Friday, September 3, 2021
We Must Follow Our Gay Heart: Vintage Gay Montage - Bessie Smith: I'm Wild about That Thing
La Russie renforce son contrôle d'Internet
LE FIGARO : Le pays vient de bloquer six VPN, ces logiciels permettant d'accéder à des sites interdits en Russie, comme ceux liés à l'opposant Alexeï Navalny.
Le gendarme russe des télécoms, Roskomnadzor, a annoncé le blocage de six logiciels très utilisés de réseaux privés virtuels (VPN) permettant d'avoir accès à des sites internet interdits en Russie. Le service fédéral a estimé que l'utilisation de ces VPN permettait de consulter des «contenus interdits» et encourageait des «activités illégales comme la promotion des drogues, de la pédopornographie, de l'extrémisme et des tendances suicidaires».
Ce blocage concerne les programmes Hola!VPN, ExpressVPN, KeepSolid VPN Unlimited, Nord VPN, Speedify VPN et IPVanish VPN, a précisé Roskomnadzor dans un communiqué. Pourtant, Nord VPN semble toujours fonctionner actuellement. Roskomnadzor a précisé qu'il autorisera des entreprises russes utilisant ces VPN dans leurs technologies informatiques de continuer à le faire, s'il est établi que ces sociétés ne violent pas la loi. » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | vendredi 3 septembre 2021
Daniil Trifonov – Chopin: Fantaisie-Impromptu In C-Sharp Minor, Op. 66
Discover ´Chopin Evocations´ here.
This is so beautiful to listen to and so beautifully played that I am re-posting it. It’s sublime! – Mark
Spain on a Fork: Albert Bevia, Cooks ”Mushrooms Like you´ve Never Seen or Tasted Before” | Spanish Champiñones à l'Andaluza
Get the full recipe here.
If you feel so inclined, you can support Albert Bevia on Patreon here.
Married Kremlin Spies, a Shadowy Mission to Moscow and Unrest in Catalonia
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Intelligence files suggest an aide to a top Catalan separatist sought help from Russia in the struggle to break with Spain. A fierce new protest group emerged shortly afterward.
A protest in support of the Catalan independence referendum in Barcelona, in 2017. Spain declared the vote illegal and jailed several of the politicians who called it. | Samuel Aranda for The New York Times
BARCELONA, Spain — In the spring of 2019, an emissary of Catalonia’s top separatist leader traveled to Moscow in search of a political lifeline.
The independence movement in Catalonia, the semiautonomous region in Spain’s northeast, had been largely crushed after a referendum on breaking away two years earlier. The European Union and the United States, which supported Spain’s effort to keep the country intact, had rebuffed the separatists’ pleas for support.
But in Russia, a door was opening.
In Moscow, the emissary, Josep Lluis Alay, a senior adviser to the self-exiled former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, met with current Russian officials, former intelligence officers and the well-connected grandson of a K.G.B. spymaster. The aim was to secure Russia’s help in severing Catalonia from the rest of Spain, according to a European intelligence report, which was reviewed by The New York Times.
Asked about the report’s findings, both Mr. Alay and Mr. Puigdemont confirmed the trips to Moscow, which have never been reported, but insisted they were part of regular outreach to foreign officials and journalists. Mr. Alay said any suggestion that he was seeking Russian assistance was “a fantasy story created by Madrid.”
But other confidential documents indicate that Russia was a central preoccupation between Mr. Alay and Mr. Puigdemont. For Russia, outreach to the separatists would fit President Vladimir V. Putin’s strategy of trying to sow disruption in the West by supporting divisive political movements. In Italy, secret audio recordings revealed a Russian plot to covertly finance the hard-right League party. In Britain, a Times investigation uncovered discussions among right-wing fringe figures about opening bank accounts in Moscow. And in Spain, the Russians have also offered assistance to far-right parties, according to the intelligence report. » | By Michael Schwirtz and José Bautista | Friday, September 3, 2021
Leer en español
BARCELONA, Spain — In the spring of 2019, an emissary of Catalonia’s top separatist leader traveled to Moscow in search of a political lifeline.
The independence movement in Catalonia, the semiautonomous region in Spain’s northeast, had been largely crushed after a referendum on breaking away two years earlier. The European Union and the United States, which supported Spain’s effort to keep the country intact, had rebuffed the separatists’ pleas for support.
But in Russia, a door was opening.
In Moscow, the emissary, Josep Lluis Alay, a senior adviser to the self-exiled former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, met with current Russian officials, former intelligence officers and the well-connected grandson of a K.G.B. spymaster. The aim was to secure Russia’s help in severing Catalonia from the rest of Spain, according to a European intelligence report, which was reviewed by The New York Times.
Asked about the report’s findings, both Mr. Alay and Mr. Puigdemont confirmed the trips to Moscow, which have never been reported, but insisted they were part of regular outreach to foreign officials and journalists. Mr. Alay said any suggestion that he was seeking Russian assistance was “a fantasy story created by Madrid.”
But other confidential documents indicate that Russia was a central preoccupation between Mr. Alay and Mr. Puigdemont. For Russia, outreach to the separatists would fit President Vladimir V. Putin’s strategy of trying to sow disruption in the West by supporting divisive political movements. In Italy, secret audio recordings revealed a Russian plot to covertly finance the hard-right League party. In Britain, a Times investigation uncovered discussions among right-wing fringe figures about opening bank accounts in Moscow. And in Spain, the Russians have also offered assistance to far-right parties, according to the intelligence report. » | By Michael Schwirtz and José Bautista | Friday, September 3, 2021
Leer en español
Frei, fromm und frauenfeindlich in Texas
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Das neue Abtreibungsgesetz in Texas ist Teil eines Wertesystems, zu dem auch die Ablehnung der Homo-Ehe und das Misstrauen gegen die Corona-Massnahmen gehören. Kaum einer verkörpert diese Skepsis gegenüber dem Staat besser als der Gouverneur Abbott.
Demonstration in Austin gegen das Abtreibungsverbot. | Jay Janner / AP
Seit Mittwoch gilt im amerikanischen Gliedstaat Texas das schärfste Abtreibungsgesetz der USA. Es verbietet Schwangerschaftsabbrüche, sobald der Herzschlag des Fötus feststellbar ist. Das ist schon in der sechsten Woche möglich. Viele Frauen wissen zu diesem frühen Zeitpunkt noch gar nicht, dass sie schwanger sind.
Ein Eilantrag für eine Blockierung des Gesetzes wurde abgelehnt; der Supreme Court entschied am Mittwoch mit 5 zu 4 Stimmen, das Inkrafttreten nicht aufzuschieben. Die Weigerung ist bemerkenswert, weil das Gesetz mit anderen Präzedenzfällen kollidiert, in denen der Oberste Gerichtshof das Recht auf Abtreibung in einem späteren Stadium schützte. 1973 legalisierte er im Urteil Roe v. Wade Abtreibungen bis zum sechsten Monat. Der amerikanische Präsident Joe Biden sagte denn auch, das «extreme Gesetz» in Texas stelle einen eklatanten Verstoss gegen das verbriefte Recht auf Abtreibung dar. » | David Signer, Chicago | Freitag, Spetmber 3, 2021
Seit Mittwoch gilt im amerikanischen Gliedstaat Texas das schärfste Abtreibungsgesetz der USA. Es verbietet Schwangerschaftsabbrüche, sobald der Herzschlag des Fötus feststellbar ist. Das ist schon in der sechsten Woche möglich. Viele Frauen wissen zu diesem frühen Zeitpunkt noch gar nicht, dass sie schwanger sind.
Ein Eilantrag für eine Blockierung des Gesetzes wurde abgelehnt; der Supreme Court entschied am Mittwoch mit 5 zu 4 Stimmen, das Inkrafttreten nicht aufzuschieben. Die Weigerung ist bemerkenswert, weil das Gesetz mit anderen Präzedenzfällen kollidiert, in denen der Oberste Gerichtshof das Recht auf Abtreibung in einem späteren Stadium schützte. 1973 legalisierte er im Urteil Roe v. Wade Abtreibungen bis zum sechsten Monat. Der amerikanische Präsident Joe Biden sagte denn auch, das «extreme Gesetz» in Texas stelle einen eklatanten Verstoss gegen das verbriefte Recht auf Abtreibung dar. » | David Signer, Chicago | Freitag, Spetmber 3, 2021
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