Day: August 13, 2021

Afghans Suffering from ‘Long War’ Syndrome

Buck Banks

“It wasn’t crazy for President Biden and his national security team, including the Pentagon, to have imagined that the Afghan forces — with superior technology and manpower — could have done a much better job holding the Taliban at bay. … But senior U.S. officials are privately acknowledging that the Afghans appear psychologically defeated — and there was insufficient accounting for the psychological consequences of the long war.”

— Jonathan Swan

MTG Resorts to Fatalism

Buck Banks

“Everybody needs to get back down to common sense and remember that, you know, we’re human, we can’t live forever, we’re going to catch all kinds of diseases and illnesses and other viruses, and we get hurt sometimes.”

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) waved off concerns over hospitals exceeding capacity due to COVID-19, saying “we can’t live forever,” The Hill reports.

U.S. Jobless Claims Hit New Low

Buck Banks

375,000

Associated Press: “The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell for a third straight time last week, the latest sign that employers are laying off fewer people as they struggle to fill a record number of open jobs and meet a surge in consumer demand. Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims fell to 375,000 from 387,000 the previous week. … A total of about 12 million people are receiving unemployment benefits, down sharply from the previous week’s figure of nearly 13 million… So far at least, there has been little sign that the delta variant has depressed hiring or prompted layoffs.”