Air Refugee
August 25, 2021
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“Life is under no obligation to give us what we expect.” — Margaret Mitchell
Not Biden His Time
The Biden administration has gotten pressure from all sides to keep American forces in Afghanistan beyond August 31, to continue evacuating the tens of thousands of people still desperate to escape Taliban rule. So it’s reasonable to assume Monday’s secret face-to-face meeting in Kabul between CIA Director William Burns and the Taliban’s de facto leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar, included a discussion about extending the deadline. The CIA declined to comment on the meeting, but a Taliban spokesman had a warning Tuesday: “[Americans] have the opportunity, they have all the resources, they can take all the people that belong to them but we are not going to allow Afghans to leave and we will not extend the deadline.”
Speaking at the White House late Tuesday afternoon, President Biden said the U.S. is on track to complete its evacuation mission by August 31; however, he also said he had spoken to military leaders about being prepared to “adjust that timetable, should that become necessary.”
Biden told reporters that accelerated evacuation efforts were continuing, and since August 14, 70,700 people have been airlifted out. But the Taliban is blocking Afghans’ access to Kabul’s airport; shots rang out as thousands of men, women, and children waited for hours outside the walls for entry.
The president said the risk of a terrorist attack at the airport grows every day U.S. forces are on the ground. “It is a tenuous situation,” he said. “The sooner we can finish, the better.” A reduction in U.S. military presence has already begun. A Defense Department official said that of the 5,800 Marines and soldiers at the airport, about 300 who were not essential to the evacuation operation had left the country. Available seats on aircraft are being filled by evacuees right now, but the timetable suggests that after this week, the vast majority will be filled by military personnel.
For those evacuated Afghans who are already far along in the special immigrant visa (SIV) process and are now arriving in the U.S., and at least four American military installations will be used to temporarily house them: Joint Base McGuire-Dix, New Jersey; Fort McCoy, Wisconsin; Fort Bliss, Texas, and Fort Lee, Virginia. Vulnerable Afghans who are either not far enough along in the SIV process, or are going through a different visa process, are being taken to U.S. installations in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Spain, Italy, and Germany, where U.S. officials will complete their screening and security checks. An official familiar with the planning said “We have intelligence and law enforcement personnel at these sites making sure a robust screening is done of these individuals … nobody comes into the United States that hasn’t been screened in a robust manner.” Everyone arriving is also being tested for COVID-19. (NYT, WaPo, CNBC, Task & Purpose)
Spoiled Milk
- German police are investigating what they believe to be a deliberate poisoning at the Technical University of Darmstadt, south of Frankfurt. On Monday, six people were hospitalized and a seventh received medical treatment after all drank beverages from a small kitchen in one of the campus buildings.
- Police say that milk cartons and water containers appear to have been contaminated with a harmful substance between Friday and Monday. The contaminated liquid was said to have a powerful smell. Investigators have identified the deadly substance but are not releasing the information at present. (NPR)
Prison Abuse Exposed
- During 2020 and 2021, a group calling itself “The Justice of Ali” hacked into the surveillance system at northern Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, which houses political detainees and foreigners who are often used as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West. The hackers seized evidence of ongoing abuse at the prison and shared the videos with the Associated Press.
- The footage shows a guard in a control room leap to his feet when seeing his surveillance monitors blink on and off and flash the word “Cyberattack.” Other scenes show an apparent suicide attempt by a man smashing a bathroom mirror and attempting to use the glass to cut his arm; an emaciated man dumped from a car, then dragged by guards along floors and stairs; guards kicking and beating prisoners; and guards fighting each other as other prison employees watch.
- On Tuesday, the head of Iran’s prison authority acknowledged the videos were real; he apologized and took responsibility for the “unacceptable behaviors.” The UN special rapporteur and human rights’ groups have long criticized Iran over its prison conditions. A message from the hacker’s online account read: “We want the world to hear our voice for freedom of all political prisoners.” (WaPo, AP)
Additional World News
- Climate change: Europe’s extreme rains made more likely by humans (BBC)
- Police kill top commander and deputy of militant group in Indian Kashmir (CNN)
- Poland plans fence on Belarus border, offers aid to migrants (AP)
- Russia’s Putin, India’s Modi discuss Afghanistan in phone call (Reuters)
- Bahamas travel advisory: CDC, State Department urge tourists not to go (USA Today)
- Algeria cuts diplomatic relations with Morocco (Reuters)
- Ukraine leader stresses NATO, EU ties on independence day (AP)
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Pelo-Sealing The Deal
- Once again, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has demonstrated why she’s among the most respected Speakers of all time. She wrangled up the squabbling groups of moderates and progressives within her own Democratic caucus, staving off what could have been a big embarrassment for the White House, and then got the herd to approve the $3.5 trillion budget blueprint with a 220-212 party-line vote.
- She did it by engineering a plan — to tie the final budget reconciliation bill embodying President Biden’s “social” or “soft” infrastructure plan, and the bipartisan $1.2 trillion “hard” infrastructure bill — together, with one vote on a measure committing the House to take up the bipartisan bill by September 27. Progressive Democrats went along, even though some offered criticism of what they perceived as a win for the centrist faction of the party.
- Instead of passing the budget as is, like progressives wanted, congressional Democrats will now work in parallel with the Senate. They have committed to voting on the $1.2 trillion bipartisan bill next month, even if that means separating it from the $3.5 trillion budget blueprint. Pelosi won this battle for now, but she knows a war is still ahead. (WaPo)
Air Refugee
- Airbnb is going to provide housing to 20,000 Afghan refugees around the world for free. The refugees will be staying in properties listed on the company’s website. The stays are funded through contributions to Airbnb.org from Airbnb and Brian Chesky, Airbnb’s CEO and co-founder, as well as donors to the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund.
- “As tens of thousands of Afghan refugees resettle around the world, where they stay will be the first chapter in their new lives,” Chesky said in a news release Tuesday. For these 20,000 refugees, my hope is that the Airbnb community will provide them with not only a safe place to rest and start over, but also a warm welcome home.” Last week, Airbnb.org gave emergency funding along with support to the International Rescue Committee, HIAS, and Church World Service to provide immediate temporary stays through the Airbnb platform for up to 1,000 arriving Afghan refugees.
- Over the weekend, the company worked with several partners to place 165 refugees in housing shortly after they arrived in the U.S. Over the last four years, both Airbnb and Airbnb.org have provided roughly 25,000 refugees with temporary housing. In June, Airbnb.org announced plans for a $25 million refugee fund to expand its support of refugees and asylum-seekers further worldwide. (NPR)
Additional USA News
- Caldor fire burns over 400 homes as smoke chokes Lake Tahoe (LAT)
- Harris rebukes China in major speech on Indo-Pacific relations (Politico)
- Crews work to restore power for tens of thousands as Henri drenches the Northeast (CNN)
- Rudy Giuliani associate Igor Fruman likely to plead guilty Wednesday (NBC)
- Proud Boys leader Tarrio sentenced to more than 5 months in jail (CNN)
- Firefighters could get $600 million boost from Congress. It’s probably not enough. (NBC)
- Hiker attacked by bear during solo outing in Denali National Park (CNN)
There Goes The Neighborhood
Airbnb is clearly trying hard to put its best face forward. But not everybody is happy about a revolving-door business, wherein a constant flow of strangers moves into, then after a week or two, out of, their neighbor’s house. Airbnb has been criticized for changing neighborhood dynamics, disrupting the housing market, and avoiding taxes. Often, there are conflicts between property rights and municipal/HOA regulation.
In May of 2016, a Board of Supervisors in Northern California’s wine country adopted an ordinance rezoning designated parcels within the north county and the Sonoma Valley to apply the Vacation Rental Exclusion (X) Combining District. The new ordinance said that for areas designated with the Vacation Rental Exclusion (X) Combining District, existing legally permitted vacation rentals could continue, but those permits “will expire upon sale or transfer of the property.” Furthermore, the ordinance says: “No further applications for vacation rentals will be accepted within the Vacation Rental Exclusion (X) Combining District Areas.”
Brad Day and his wife, Holly Kulak, live on a sleepy cul-de-sac amid the bucolic vineyards and grassy hills of Sonoma Valley. The county their neighborhood is in has designated it an “exclusion zone,” specifically banning Airbnb style, short-term rentals in order to preserve the “residential character” of communities like Brad and Holly’s.
After a romantic sunset dinner in their yard last May, Brad and Holly noticed a drone flying over their house. About a week later, one of their neighbors said they were moving and selling their house to a limited liability corporation (LLC). Brad and Holly got suspicious and began speaking with other residents on their cul-de-sac. One said a friend in nearby Napa Valley had told her a new company called Pacaso was buying houses in the area.
Pacaso was founded less than a year ago by two former Zillow executives, one of whom lives in Napa. Using the “fractional home ownership” model, the company buys houses, converts them into LLCs, then sells shares of these corporate houses to multiple investors. For a one-eighth share in a house, the investor-homeowner can stay in it 44 nights per year in increments that can’t exceed 14 consecutive days per visit. Stays can also be “gifted” to friends or family. Pacaso offers an app to handle the logistics of booking stays. It oversees management, maintenance, and cleaning of the property. For this it charges 12% of the home’s purchase price upfront and monthly fees going forward. An investor must hold onto his share for a year, after which he can sell it.
Pacaso owns a house on Brad and Holly’s cul-de-sac. It’s been named “Chardonnay,” and investors can buy a 1/8 share for the token price of $606,000. How does this tactic differ from a glorified timeshare? Will the company’s plan avoid the “rental exclusion zone” trap? Do furious neighbors like Brad and Holly have a shot at stopping it? Stay tuned. (NPR)
Additional Reads
- Giant tortoise seen attacking and eating baby bird for first time in the wild in ‘horrifying’ incident (CNN)
- ‘We love everybody’: the French drag couple making non-traditional wedding dresses (Guardian)
- A Pilgrimage To Meet Germany’s Last Beer-Brewing Nun (NPR)
- ‘Kill it!’ US officials advise no mercy for lanternfly summer invasion (Guardian)
- Paper-Wasp Nests Glow Incredibly Bright (Atlantic)
- NASA astronaut reveals medical issue that postponed ISS spacewalk (CNET)
- Japan roller coaster shuts down following multiple serious injuries (CNN)