Wake-Up Call: Taliban Announces 'Amnesty'

BIDEN STANDS BY AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL DECISION: President Biden spoke from the White House Monday in his first public remarks since the Taliban's stunningly quick takeover of Afghanistan's capital of Kabul a day earlier, standing by his decision to withdraw from the country, while acknowledging the scenes of Afghans trying to escape the country as "gut-wrenching." Those included images of several Afghans falling in mid-air off a plane they were clinging to as it took off. Meanwhile, the Taliban on Tuesday announced a, quote, "amnesty" across Afghanistan and urged women to join its government. Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban's cultural commission, said, "The Islamic Emirate" -- their term for Afghanistan -- "doesn't want women to be victims. They should be in government structure according to Shariah law."

Our current military mission in Afghanistan will be short in time and focused in its objectives: Get our people and our allies to safety as quickly as possible. pic.twitter.com/eSESK5QR09

— President Biden (@POTUS) August 17, 2021

In his speech, Biden admitted that the Taliban had taken over Afghanistan much faster then his administration had expected, blaming an Afghan military that collapsed, sometimes not even fighting, and political leaders like the president who fled the country. But Biden said he stood behind his decision to complete the withdrawal negotiated under former President Donald Trump in February 2020, saying it was time for the two-decade-old war to end, and forcefully stating, "American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves." Still, Biden said he would not, quote, "shrink from my share of responsibility for where we are today and how we must move forward from here," stating, "the buck stops with me."

Some of the loudest criticism Biden is facing, including from members of his own Democratic party, are for not having begun sooner to evacuate Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the 20-year war. Biden addressed that, claiming part of it was that, quote, "some of the Afghans did not want to leave earlier, still hopeful for their country," and also that the Afghan government discouraged organizing a, quote, "mass exodus to avoid triggering, as they said, a crisis of confidence." 

Daily Mail screenshot Aug 17, 2021

However, there were a reported 18,000 of those Afghans and 53,000 of their family members who were waiting for special U.S. immigration visas before the Taliban takeover. Biden said 6,000 U.S. troops are now being deployed to assist in evacuating U.S. and allied personnel, Afghan allies and "vulnerable Afghans" out of the country, and he warned the Taliban not to interfere.

➤TROPICAL DEPRESSION SOAKING HAITI AS EARTHQUAKE DEATH TOLL RISES TO 1,419: Tropical Depression Grace was soaking Haiti with rain and bringing whipping winds on Monday as rescuers continued to search for possible survivors from the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the country on Saturday. The death toll rose by more than 1,000 from the day before to 1,419 and the number of injured also increased to some 6,000. More than 7,000 homes were destroyed and nearly 5,00 damaged, with further danger from possible mudslides and flash flooding from the storm in the beleaguered Caribbean nation.

➤U.S. HEALTH OFFICIALS TO REPORTEDLY RECOMMEND COVID VACCINE BOOSTERS AT EIGHT MONTHS: U.S. health officials are expected to recommend that all Americans who are vaccinated against Covid-19 get a booster shot eight months after they got the second dose of their original vaccination, according to reports last night. AP cited two sources as saying an announcement is expected as soon as this week. Health officials have been considering whether a booster is needed as the delta variant has been surging across the country, and as preliminary studies suggest protection from the vaccine against serious illness declines over time. The U.S. last week recommended boosters for immunocompromised people. The World Health Organization is among global health officials who've been urging wealthier and more vaccinated countries to hold off on giving booster shots to allow a supply of more first doses for people in the developing world.

➤MASKS ARE SELLING OUT IN SOME COVID HOT SPOTS WITH THE DELTA VARIANT SURGING AND NEW MASK MANDATES:  The pandemic isn’t over, and another mask shortage is looming as the COVID-19 delta variant continues to surge. The CDC updated its mask guidance on July 27th—recommending that people vaccinated against the disease start wearing masks indoors again in areas with substantial or high transmission rates. As of Thursday (August 12th), over 90 percent of counties in the U.S. were experiencing high or substantial transmission. As a result, the week after CDC updated their guidelines, mask sales increased 24 percent, and the week after that, online mask sales increased 51 percent. Analyst Vivek Pandya says, “While the growth in mask sales is not as high as last year, in part because people likely have leftover inventory, the double-digit growth in the last three weeks has been striking. It has also moved in the same direction as the news uptick around the delta variant.” Also driving the increase in mask sales--- the CDC is calling for mask-wearing in schools among students, staff, and teachers to protect children who aren’t eligible for vaccines.

➤GOV'T. DECLARES FIRST-EVER WATER SHORTAGE ON COLORADO RIVER, MEANING MANDATORY CUTS: The federal government declared a first-ever water shortage for the Colorado River yesterday, which triggers mandatory water cuts for southwestern states. Lake Mead, the Colorado River reservoir that's the largest in the U.S., is at unprecedented lows due to a western drought, at just 35 percent full, the lowest since the lake was filled after Hoover Dam was completed in the 1930s. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced the first tier of water cuts, and under the priority system, Arizona and Nevada will be affected by the tier-1 shortage, with Arizona having an 18 percent reduction in its Colorado River supply, which will mostly affect agriculture, and Nevada having a seven percent reduction.

The federal government has declared a water shortage on the Colorado River for the first time, as climate change-fueled drought pushes the level in Lake Mead to unprecedented lows. https://t.co/pnhnYtkkwp

— CNN (@CNN) August 16, 2021

➤STUDY..SHORT MEN AND OBESE WOMEN EARN $1,000 LESS A YEAR THAN TALLER, THINNER PEOPLE: Physical appearances affect more areas of life than they really should. University of Iowa researchers looked at data from nearly 2,400 volunteers and found that short men and obese women earn up to $1,000 less per year than their taller, thinner counterparts. They found that in men earning over $70,000 per year, a centimeter increase in height was worth $1,000 extra in income per year, while for women earning the same amount, every single point decrease in BMI was worth an extra $1,000 per year. Study authors say this shows the importance in accurately measuring body shapes when it comes to creating public policies on mitigating discrimination and bias.

📱T-MOBILE CONFIRMS DATA BREACH, STILL EVALUATING ITS EXTENT: One day after Vice reported that T-Mobile had been affected by a large data breach, the company confirmed Monday that there was unauthorized access to some of its data, but said it's still determining the extent of the breach. T-Mobile also said it had closed the way the hackers got in. Vice had said that someone was selling personal data online from more than 100 million T-Mobile customers that was obtained in the breach, including names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and driver's license information. T-Mobile said it hasn't determined yet if any personal customer data was involved and couldn't confirm the number of records affected.

➤U.S. INVESTIGATING TESLA'S AUTOPILOT SYSTEM AFTER ACCIDENTS: The U.S. government has opened an investigation into Tesla's Autopilot partially automated driving system after collisions with parked emergency vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had identified 11 crashes since 2018 in which Teslas using Autopilot or Traffic Aware Cruise Control hit vehicles at scenes where first responders used flashing lights, flares, an illuminated arrow, or cones. The investigation covers 765,000 Tesla vehicles, almost everything the company has sold in the U.S. since the 2014 model year.

➤MAKI KAJI, CREATOR OF SUDOKU PUZZLE, DEAD AT 69: Maki Kaji, who created the popular numbers puzzle Sudoku, died on August 10th of bile duct cancer, his Japanese company announced today. He was 69. Kaji was CEO of his puzzle company, Nikoli Co., until July. The name "Sudoku" is made up of the Japanese characters for "number" and "single." In the puzzle, which Kaji created to be easy, players put the numbers 1 through 9 in rows, columns and blocks without repeating them. He came up with the idea for the puzzle around 1983, when he founded Nikoli.

➤STUDY..AMERICANS SPEND $70K LIFETIME ON DISAPPOINTING ONLINE PURCHASES:  It's happened to everyone -- you buy something online and when it arrives you're underwhelmed by it in person. A recent survey found that this adds up to more than you'd think, with the average American wasting over $70,000 during their lifetime on online purchases that turn out to be disappointing. The survey of 2,000 Americans found that people typically spend an average of $899 online each year on underwhelming purchases, which include things like clothes, named by 60 percent, tech, named by 27 percent, and toys or children's products, named by 25 percent. More than half, 56 percent, said they return their disappointing purchases, while 30 percent just throw them out and 29 percent give them away as gifts. The survey also asked about the effect of product reviews on online purchases. Just over half, 51 percent, said they're more likely to trust bad reviews than good ones when shopping online, and two-thirds trust reviews with images or photos more than ones with just text.

⚾BAUER ACCUSER TESTIFIES IN HEARING SEEKING RESTRAINING ORDER: The 27-year-old woman who's accused L.A. Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer of assaulting her during two sexual encounters testified Monday during a hearing as she seeks a five-year restraining order. She testified about him choking her, crying as she said, "I couldn’t breathe. It almost felt like I was going to gag. I was gagging for air. Then I went unconscious." But Bauer's attorney, Shawn Holley, read from Instagram messages the woman sent to Bauer to argue she'd given every indication she wanted to be choked and consented to rough sex, including one in which she said she'd "never been more turned on in my life" than when Bauer choked her during their first sexual encounter. The woman said she didn't consent to how violent things got the second time, when, as she was still recovering from being again choked unconscious, Bauer punched her in the face and genitals several times. She said, "I’ve never been punched in the face ever. I felt like my soul left my body, and I was terrified." When her attorney asked why she didn't more clearly tell Bauer to stop, she said they made an emotional connection during their conversations the first night and she wanted to continue that, saying, "I wanted to create a better experience than the first time. I wanted to tell him what he wanted to hear, so he could stay interested." Bauer is currently on leave as MLB and police investigate the allegations, which he has denied.

🏀CELTICS' SMART AGREES TO FOUR-YEAR, $77 MILLION EXTENSION: Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has agreed to a four-year, $77 million contract extension, according to media reports yesterday that he confirmed on Instagram. The extension begins with the 2022-23 season. The 27-year-old Smart has been with the Celtics for his entire seven-year career.

⚽U.S. WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM STAR LLOYD RETIRING: U.S. women's soccer team star Carli Lloyd announced yesterday that she's retiring, ending a career that included two World Cup titles, two Olympic gold medals and an Olympic bronze medal from the just-ended Tokyo Games. The 39-year-old, who was a two-time FIFA World Player of the Year, will play four friendly matches this fall with the U.S., and end the season with her club team, Gotham FC. Lloyd said in a press release, "Through all the goals, the trophies, the medals and the championships won, what I am most proud of is that I’ve been able to stay unapologetically me." Among Lloyd's most famous moments was when she scored three goals within 16 minutes in the U.S. team's 5-2 win over Japan in the 2015 World Cup final.

🏈FALCONS FIRST NFL TEAM 100 PERCENT VACCINATED AGAINST COVID: The NFL announced yesterday that the Atlanta Falcons are the first team to have all of its players vaccinated against the coronavirus, which the team itself confirmed. When the Falcons began training camp, more than 90 percent of players were vaccinated. Because they are 100 percent vaccinated, all players will no longer have to wear masks around the Falcons facility and all of them are able to eat and work out together.

⚾ASTROS SETTLE CASE WITH PARENTS OF GIRL HIT BY FOUL BALL AT 2019 GAME: The attorney for the parents of a two-year-old girl who was hit by a foul ball during a 2019 Houston Astros game at Minute Maid Park said Monday (August 16th) that they've reached a settlement with the Astros. The terms are confidential. The girl, who's now age four, suffered a skull fracture and brain injury and has been on anti-seizure medication since it happened. However, the attorney said she hasn't had a seizure in 22 months and is being weaned off the medication. The incident was among those that led all MLB teams to extend protective netting farther down the foul lines.