Afghan Women Advised to Use "Black Girl Magic"
Karen Decker, the US top ranked diplomat in Afghanistan, advised women being oppressed by the Taliban government "to 'bone up' on Black History Month and learn from Beyonce and Lizzo, both of whom overcame racism in America to become top performers in the music industry."
Whether Afghan women could similarly over come oppression from Islamic tyranny seems doubtful. Under the Taliban's rule women are banned from appearing outside their homes without the permission of their husbands or fathers. In public they can be charged with indecency if not properly covered. They can be beaten, imprisoned, or ritually murdered by male relatives for trying to assert any independence. More overt protests against this oppression are brutally suppressed by police.
State Department spokesman Ned Price called Decker's remarks "ignorant and childish. Afghan women lack the legal rights and protections under US law that allowed Beyonce and Lizzo the freedom to pursue their own path to happiness and financial success. Urging them to act as if they do is apt to intensify their misery."
Decker apologized for her inane remarks, saying "I wasn't aware that the women in Afghanistan are essentially chattel without the human rights we take for granted. No one briefed me on that before I was sent here."
"Abortion Is a Religious Freedom"
Montana State Rep. Ed Stafman (D-Bozeman) has proposed an amendment to a state law that prevents pro-life doctors and nurses from being forced to participate in performing abortions. His amendment would add a pro-abortion exception allowing for unborn babies to be aborted if the woman's sincerely held religious beliefs require it.
Stafman explained that "if a doctor or nurse is allowed to refuse to abort an unwanted child as a matter of conscience, shouldn't a devout pro-abortion believer have the right to refuse to give birth as a matter of conscience? The Satanic Temple asserts that abortion is a sacred ritual. Shouldn't our laws also provide protection for this belief?"
In Massachusetts, Framingham Democratic Committee Chair Michael Hugo claims that "aborting unborn babies is a fundamental right." He also cited a practical consideration, saying that "aborting babies with disabilities will lessen the burdens on public school budgets. It would be more fiscally prudent to cull defective humans from our population. It would also be more merciful to spare a downsyndrome child from suffering through an unworthy existence."
In response to criticism of his "heartless" suggestion, Hugo cited Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger's advice that "the poor and people with disabilities are unfit. Such human weeds clog up the path, drain up the energies and the resources of this little Earth. We must clear the way for a better world; we must cultivate our garden."
Biden Defends Attacks on Balloons
Determined to deflect criticism for his delayed response to a suspected Chinese spy balloon, President Biden ordered a series of strikes against at least three other aerial objects. The targets were described by the pilots that shot them down as very small. Now, the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade's (NIBBB) says its globe-trotting $12 pico balloon and $80 ham radio transmitter has gone missing.
Biden took full responsibility for ordering the downing of these objects, explaining that "from all outward appearances they seemed to be innocent amateur science projects, but rather than be caught with our pants down like we were with the Chinese spy balloon I felt compelled to take them out. Sadly, little of the debris has been recovered. So, the NIBBB can't prove it was their balloon that I ordered destroyed or that it wasn't spying on secret military sites."
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) mocked the balloon fiasco, saying "we sent out a $140 million aircraft to fire a $485,000 missile to take out a hobby group's science project. I guess this level of ferocity is supposed to show the world not to mess with the USA."
Biden shrugged off Cruz's criticism and pointed out "Sen. Cruz lost his bid for the presidency. I won mine. I will go down in history as the 46th president of the United States. Cruz will hardly be remembered. I think everyone will know who the real buffoon is in this controversy."
Meanwhile, China has threatened retaliation for the US shooting down its balloon. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, "what we have learned over the past week is that dozens, maybe hundreds, of these so-called amateur balloons have been launched from within the United States over the past few years. This provocation cannot go unanswered."
Vice-President Kamala Harris brushed off concerns about China's possible retaliation, pointing out that "the President has already demonstrated his sympathy by starting the process of taking out these balloons by whatever means necessary. And let's not forget all the confidential information his son Hunter has passed on to his Chinese business partners. I don't think President Xi will let things get too far out of hand."
Airport Encampment Irks Mayor
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) expressed disappointment that "the decision of homeless people to squat in the cozy confines of O'Hare Airport comes at an especially bad time for me. Unfortunately, the squatting is literal. Though the airport has plenty of restroom facilities a distressingly large portion of those camping inside the airport can't make the effort to hold it until they get to a restroom."
A possible contributing factor for not using the restrooms is that in 55 Chicago schools not a single student is proficient in reading. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, blamed the pandemic, "between the masking, remote instruction, and poor parenting it's no wonder kids can't read. It's clear to me that abolishing standards and tests is our best option going forward. We can't make students learn, but we don't have to publicize their ignorance."
As is her habit, Lighfoot promised "that if I am reelected I will do something to resolve this problem. All I need is more time. For years the homeless were satisfied with camping on the streets. Why did they have to choose now to illegally occupy the airport? What occurs to me is that my opponents put them up to it just to embarrass me before the election. I hope I can convince voters that this racist attack on me is even more reason why they should support me for another term."
Polls show Paul Vallas is currently in the lead in the crowded field of candidates at 19%. Jesus Garcia is second with 17%. Lightfoot is third with 14%. Six other candidates have even less voter support. Twenty percent of the voters are undecided. If no one gets a majority the top two will go to a head-to-head runoff. The one thing all of the Mayor's opponents agree on is that she isn't competent to do the job. "With fours years of worsening city problems during her term, it's time that someone more competent is given a chance," Garcia said.
Buttigieg Blames Trump for Rail Crash
In answer to those wondering if any of the blame for the East Palestine, Ohio rail crash should be placed on him, the hapless Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg pointed the finger blame at former President Trump. "It was during the Trump Administration that the Department of Transportation failed to implement a requirement for electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes for trains carrying certain dangerous chemicals," the Secretary said.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy called Buttigieg's contention "misinformation. The regulation Secretary Buttigieg cited would not have applied to the train that derailed. A more relevant factor was President Biden's cancellation of the Keystone Pipeline. For obvious reasons, shipping dangerous substances via an underground pipeline is far less risky than shipping them by rail. In the two years that Buttigieg has been Secretary of Transportation he has been unable to accomplish anything that would improve the safety of any mode of transportation."
Stung by Homendy's refutation of his unsuccessful attempt to shift attention away from his lackluster handling of his job, Buttigieg suggested that racism was to blame for the crash. "The sad truth is that there are too few non-white minorities working on the railroads," he argued. "The dominance of white thinking and white values in both management and labor unfairly excluded the kind of diversity that the Democratic Party has been striving for since we lost the Civil War. Only by increasing the diversity to include not only racial minorities, but also the entire spectrum represented by LGBTQ in railroad construction can we expect to see a safer and better quality of results in our transportation systems."
In related news, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's request for federal disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was initially rejected. Now it's been approved. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell explained "we realized that the optics of rejecting aid to a county where voters went 71.7% for Trump to only 26.8% for Biden in 2020 were bad. Second, while it was Gov. DeWine who gave the Norfolk Southern Railroad permission to burn the deadly chemicals--sending plumes of poison gases into the local air and water, it would reflect poorly on the Administration if we didn't try to help mitigate the disaster."
Africa Dodged Covid Bullet
Even though Africa largely failed to embrace the orthodox anti-covid strategies of lockdowns, masks, social distancing, and vaccines that world health authorities were successful in foisting on so many other parts of the globe, they also avoided most of the illness and harm experienced by those who did embrace the recommended strategies.
In Africa, Ivermectin is a drug in wide use for ailments common to that continent. Doctors in the US and Europe who viewed this drug as potentially useful in treating covid were harassed and censored for advocating this drug or treating patients with it. Africa's success in fending off the worst of covid probably owes something to the willingness of its governments to allow doctors to use the therapies they thought best.
Rather than learning a lesson from the divergent outcomes between Africa and the rest of the world where vaccines were touted and, in some cases, mandated, the World Health Organization (WHO) is still insisting that Africa must raise the percentage of people who are vaccinated for covid. Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asserted that "the idea that the advice of the world's foremost experts can be safely ignored must be squelched. Each nation or person going their own way is a recipe for anarchy and chaos. Unity, even if behind an erroneous idea must be preferred. A common human identity pursuing a common destiny is the highest ideal. Obviously, we cannot unvaccinate those who have already gotten the shots. Our only option for unity is to ensure that everyone be vaccinated. If this turns out to be an error, at least we will all perish as one."
In related news, while the "died suddenly" spate of heart attacks among those aged 25 to 44 who have received the covid vaccines has garnered some media attention, the CDC and FDA have now acknowledged that the new bivalent booster shots appear to be triggering strokes in susceptible persons aged 65 years and older. They advise those getting the bivalent booster shot "to know the warning signs of a stroke and seek medical help if you are experiencing one or more of the symptoms."
Real Wages Negative for 22 Consecutive Months
The most successful unity achieved by the Biden Administration is the unity of declining real wages. For the year 2022 real disposable income (i.e., income adjusted for the impact of inflation) was down 6.4%. This is the worst decline for wage-earners since the Great Depression.
Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen sees a "silver lining" in the declining purchasing power of the US dollar. "If you pay close attention you'll notice that at an 11.3% increase year-over-year, food prices are up more than most other prices," she pointed out. "At a personal level, this could provide an extra assist to those of us who have gained unattractive weight. I'm pretty confident that the inability to afford overeating may be a more potent factor than mere willpower when it comes to slimming down."
"From as global perspective, the 26.7% YoY increase in the price for home heating could help fight climate change," the Secretary added. "Not being able to afford to adequately heat or cool your home will act to reduce your carbon footprint and partially offset the necessarily large carbon footprint for Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry's travel around the world to attend climate summits. So you see, your suffering will not be in vain."
