258 days until the November election
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Today’s comic by Jen Sorensen is School of Glock:
• After 16 years in Afghanistan, U.S. still coddles the murderous warlords it funds:
The war in Afghanistan will cost the United States approximately $45 billion this year, according to Pentagon estimates. About $5 billion of that will go towards paying the budget of the Afghan security forces. A report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) last month revealed that the United States is unable or unwilling to stop funding units that engage in torture, summary execution, and other serious human rights violations, despite Congress’s efforts to restrict that aid.
A dramatic illustration of this is the case of Lt. Gen. Abdul Raziq, the chief of the Afghan National Police (ANP) in Kandahar. Raziq is a valuable enough ally for the U.S. military to be photographed with three–star U.S. generals when they come to Kandahar, and he and his forces have received millions of dollars in U.S. aid in the last decade. But there are credible allegations of his involvement in murder and torture of detainees that date back to 2006 and continue to today.
• Newt Gingrich says every school should arm 6-8 teachers to prevent massacres.
• It’s more dangerous to cross a street if you’re black:
Sure, walking means fewer emissions and a healthier you. But have you ever spent an annoying amount of time trying to cross a busy street? For black people, the wait is usually even longer.
MIDDAY TWEET
• Elon Musk’s company gets okay to dig Hyperloop tunnel under Washington, D.C.
• Investors got scammed by too-good-to-be-true cryptocurrency companies:
The Commodities Futures Trading Commission, an independent U.S. government agency, joined the chorus of cautionary voices on what it called thinly trade alternative virtual currencies.
"Pump-and-dump schemes long pre-date the invention of virtual currencies, and typically conjure the image of penny stock boiler rooms, but customers should know that these frauds have evolved and are prevalent online,” CFTC spokeswoman Erica Elliott Richardson said in a statement Thursday. She called on consumers to “avoid purchasing virtual currency or tokens based on tips shared over social media.”
• Countries made modest vows to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But they are failing to meet even those goals:
Global emissions of carbon dioxide are rising again after several years of remaining flat. The United States, under President Trump, is planning to withdraw from the Paris accord and is expected to see emissions increase by 1.8 percent this year, after a three-year string of declines. Other countries, too, are showing signs they might fail to live up to the pledges they made in Paris.
In short, the world is off target.
“It’s not fast enough. It’s not big enough,” said Corinne Le Quéré, director of the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research in England. “There’s not enough action.”
• ‘Black Panther’ shatters box-office records:
The numbers are in and "Black Panther," directed by Ryan Coogler, is a wild and historic success. The film starring Chadwick Boseman and Michael B. Jordan, which is also Marvel's first film directed by an African-American, had the fifth biggest opening weekend of all time, bringing in a projected $235 million domestically over the four-day weekend. Official numbers will be released later today.
But beyond the film's groundbreaking numbers and obvious popularity (nationally and abroad), it points to the power and importance of black creatives telling stories of all kinds and validates the, often maligned, commercial potential of black-led films.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show, compromise is in the air! The PA courts hand down a new Congressional map. It’s fair, so Republicans say it’s not. David Brooks invites gun nuts to the Applebee's salad bar. Pizzagate was projection. Again. Got time to spare? Impeach Clarence Thomas.
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