Podcasts about Kabul

President Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Alaska, but the summit ended in disappointment with nothing accomplished. In this English lesson, you'll learn the key words and phrases from this failed meeting so you can follow world news with confidence.✅ I can be your speaking partner https://brentspeak.as.me/ Use Code SUMMER10 for 10% off your conversation

Four years after Taliban fighters retook the capital Kabul on 15 August 2021, UN Women, the gender equality agency, is warning that the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan is increasingly untenable. They say without urgent action, this untenable reality will become normalised and women and girls will be fully excluded. To discuss further Anita Rani was joined by Fawzia Koofi, former deputy speaker of the Afghan Parliament & peace negotiator, and BBC senior Afghan reporter Mahjooba Nowrouzi, recently returned from Afghanistan.As rugby fans across the UK look forward to the Women's Rugby World Cup, Anita speaks with rugby trailblazer Deborah Griffin. An amateur player since university, Deborah co-organised the first ever Women's Rugby World Cup, held in Wales in 1991. Earlier this month, she became the first woman to take up the role of President of the Rugby Football Union.A woman in Wales who felt forced to terminate her pregnancy after being unable to access the anti-sickness medication she needed is calling for the drug to be made more widely available. Sarah Spooner was suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum which left her vomiting more than 20 times per day and unable to eat or drink. But she found it virtually impossible to access Xonvea, a medication which is recommended as a first-line treatment in England but not in Wales. Nuala McGovern hears Sarah's story, and speaks to Dr Caitlin Dean from Pregnancy Sickness Support about why there is a postcode lottery across the UK for women needing Xonvea.Emma Holten tells us we need a feminist revolution. The author has spent years investigating the true value of care - and how rethinking it could transform our societies. Her debut book, Deficit: How Feminist Economics Can Change Our World, examines how mainstream economics systematically undervalues care work and advocates for reshaping policy to reflect its true worth.England goalkeeper and Lionesses legend Hannah Hampton joins Nuala on Woman's Hour fresh from winning the UEFA European Women's Championship. Born with a serious eye condition, doctors told her she should never play football. She came into the recent Euros with questions over her ability to fill the gloves of recently retired Mary Earps. To add to that, she revealed her grandfather had died just days before the biggest tournament of her life began earlier this summer. Despite this, Hannah had an extraordinary tournament, particularly in those agonising penalty shootouts. She joined Nuala to chat all about it.Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Annette Wells Editor: Emma Pearce

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Four years after Taliban fighters retook the capital Kabul on 15 August 2021, UN Women, the gender equality agency, is warning that the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan is increasingly untenable. They say without urgent action, this untenable reality will become normalised and women and girls will be fully excluded. To discuss further Anita Rani is joined by Fawzia Koofi, former deputy speaker of the Afghan Parliament & peace negotiator, and BBC senior Afghan reporter Mahjooba Nowrouzi, recently returned from Afghanistan. The synth-pop visionary Alison Goldfrapp has had multi-platinum album sales, unforgettable Glastonbury performances, Brit and Grammy nominations. She received an Ivor Novello for Strict Machine as well as the Ivor's Inspiration Award in 2021. Last year she completed a sold-out UK headline tour, cementing her reputation as one of the most compelling, dynamic and hypnotising live acts. Alison talks about her solo career and the idea behind her latest album Flux.Topshop is relaunching this weekend with Cara Delevigne walking a catwalk show in Trafalgar Square. But with River Island closing stores around the country and Claire's Accessories also under threat, how healthy is the high street as a fashion shopping destination? Retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth looks at what high street shopping is really like these days, how brands are diversifying, and whether Topshop can make a success of a relaunch. Eighty years ago today, Japan unconditionally surrendered, following the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The war in Asia and Pacific ended, and World War Two was finally over. Tens of thousands of British, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers from across Britain's empire had fought Japan. Thousands were taken as prisoners of war and held in appalling conditions. British civilians were also captured and interned. We learn about Shelagh Brown who was held captive for three and a half years, after fleeing her home in Singapore, then a British colony, when the Japanese invaded.The Women's Rugby World Cup, being held in England, starts a week today. The BBC's Rugby Correspondent Sara Orchard runs us through everything we need to know. Presenter: Anita Rani Producer: Kirsty Starkey Editor: Karen Dalziel

Hace cuatro años, el 15 de agosto de 2021, los talibanes se hacían con el control de Kabul, la capital de Afganistán. Desde aquel día hemos visto cómo las afganas han perdido todos sus derechos. Lo repasamos con Isabel Dólera y lo analizamos con Millán Requena, profesor de Derecho Internacional Público y Relaciones Internacionales de la Universidad de Alicante y del Máster en Protección Internacional de los Derechos Humanos. Escuchar audio

El presidente ruso, Vladimir Putin, y el estadounidense, Donald Trump, se reúnen hoy en Alaska para negociar el final de la guerra en Ucrania. Una reunión por Ucrania sin Ucrania porque no va a estar el presidente Volodimir Zelenski ni tampoco ningún otro mandatario. Les contaremos que el lugar elegido para la reunión no ha sido al azar, y analizaremos también qué hay sobre el terreno para tratar de entender hacia dónde pueden ir las negociaciones. Hace hoy cuatro años los talibanes tomaban el control de Kabul, la capital de Afganistán. Cuatro años en los que las mujeres y las niñas han perdido todos sus derechos. Hasta su voz está prohibida. Vamos a estar en Bolivia que este domingo celebra elecciones y hablaremos de un momento histórico que se produjo tal día como hoy, la rendición de Japón en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Escuchar audio

Four years after the Taliban's return to power, Afghanistan remains in the shadow of that chaotic August day in 2021 when US troops finally withdrew, ending two decades of war. The images from Kabul's airport are still etched in global memory, as crowds of desperate Afghans clung to departing planes as the US backed government collapsed and the Taliban took full control. Since then, the country is going through a deepening economic crisis and the end of an active conflict. All of this has been worsened by US aid cuts ordered by President Trump's administration. In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher explores what Afghanistan looks like today and examines the impact of America's policies on its people. She speaks to CNN's International Correspondent Isobel Yeung who was in Afghanistan recently to investigate this, and Sulaiman bin Shah, the former deputy minister of commerce who is currently in Kabul.

Bốn năm sau sự sụp đổ của Kabul, Liên Hiệp Quốc cho biết tình hình nhân quyền của phụ nữ và trẻ em gái tại quốc gia này đang ngày càng tồi tệ. Người Afghanistan là một trong những nhóm người tị nạn lớn nhất thế giới, với 2,6 triệu người tị nạn Afghanistan đã đăng ký trên toàn cầu. Các nhà hoạt động tại Úc đang kêu gọi chính phủ liên bang, đẩy nhanh và giải quyết các đơn xin thị thực còn tồn đọng, của những người Afghanistan làm việc cho phái bộ Úc tại quê nhà của họ.

Actualizamos sobre los incendios en León, Extremadura y Zamora. Informa Nicolás Castellano desde La Bañeza, León y llamamos Laura Casado, vecina de Riofrío de Alista en Zamora y a Rosa Pérez, enfermera y coordinadora de divulgación de la Sociedad Española de Medicina de urgencias y emergencias. Hablamos con Fátima Amiri, afgana en España y Mónica Bernabé, reportera del diario Ara. 

En este episodio de El Brieff explicamos el sobrevuelo de un dron estadounidense en Valle de Bravo y la entrega de 26 narcos a EE. UU. que el Gobierno de México califica de soberana. Revisamos sanciones a empresas ligadas al CJNG en Puerto Vallarta y la incautación de 700 millones en activos de Maduro. Europa acuerda con Trump una estrategia para hablar con Putin, y un tribunal habilita retener ayuda exterior. Kabul encara riesgo de quedarse sin agua. Eleven Madison Park reintroduce carne. Además: recortes de tasas en la mira, Gaza bajo bombardeos, tensiones en el Mar del Sur de China, Perplexity‑Chrome, Irán y Uruguay.Este episodio es presentado por STRTGY y EVA, la plataforma de IA que automatiza tu departamento de análisis con pronósticos, análisis comercial, geointeligencia y un Asistente GenAI. Agenda una llamada de 15 minutos y descubre cómo EVA impulsa decisiones estratégicas en segundos. Conoce más y coordina tu demo escribiéndonos un correo a arturo@strtgy.aiRecibe gratis nuestro newsletter con las noticias más importantes del día.Si te interesa una mención en El Brieff, escríbenos a arturo@brieffy.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ben and guest co-host Yalda Hakim, Sky News' Lead World News Presenter, discuss Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's upcoming Alaska summit, previewing what might unfold, Ukraine's predicament, and how Europe has struggled with being sidelined. They also talk about Trump's fixation on the Nobel Peace Prize and his ‘real estate diplomacy,' as well as Israel's frightening plan to take over Gaza, the targeted killing of several Al Jazeera journalists, and Europe's uncoordinated response to Israel's expanding war and the humanitarian disaster in Gaza. Finally, they discuss the fourth anniversary of the fall of Kabul and what life is like for women and girls under the Taliban's rule. Then, Tommy speaks with Michael C. Horowitz, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Development and Emerging Capabilities, about how drones and artificial intelligence have ushered in a new era of warfare, and why the US military is lagging behind. Check out Yalda's podcast, The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim.For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. Get tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.com

On this episode of the podcast, acclaimed investigative journalist and author Jerry Dunleavy joins to unpack his explosive JustTheNews.com exclusive, “Comey's media mole told FBI he shaped Russia narrative, needed ‘discount' to deny leaking intel.”Dunleavy reveals newly declassified FBI interview notes that shed light on then-Rep. Adam Schiff's (D-Calif.) alleged scheme to leak classified information in an effort to damage then-President Donald Trump, all while championing the false Trump-Russia collusion narrative. He also details the actions of FBI Director James Comey during the Russia investigation, the media's role in amplifying unverified claims, and the glaring lack of accountability for those involved thus far.The “Kabul” author doesn't stop there — he also revisits unanswered questions surrounding the Abbey Gate Attack, welcoming Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision to launch a review into what went wrong in Afghanistan in August 2021. You can grab a copy of Dunleavy's book, “Kabul: The Untold Story of Biden's Fiasco and the American Warriors Who Fought to the End,” on Amazon and follow his latest reporting on X (formerly Twitter) at @JerryDunleavy.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode of Vital Voices Live, Shafiqa Khpalwak and Mahal Wak share their powerful stories of evacuating Afghanistan after the Taliban's takeover of Kabul four years ago-and the urgent realities Afghan women continue to face today. In conversation with Rina Amiri, U.S. Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights, they reflect on the heartbreak of leaving home, the resilience it takes to rebuild, and the ongoing fight to secure the rights and futures of Afghan women and girls.A testament to courage -and a call to keep Afghanistan's women at the center of the global conversation.

Jimmy Graham sits down with Chris Brewer, author of Old Scroll Ranger, to dive into his time in Ranger Battalion and the unforgettable stories that shaped his journey. Purchase Old Scroll Ranger here: https://a.co/d/3uE5qS1 Who's Jimmy Graham? Jimmy spent over 15 years in the US Navy SEAL Teams earning the rank of Chief Petty Officer (E7). During that time, he earned certifications as a Sniper, Joint Tactical Air Controller, Range Safety Officer for Live Fire, Dynamic Movement and Master Training Specialist. He also served for 7 years as an Operator and Lead Instructor for an Elite Federal Government Protective Detail for High-Risk and Critical environments, to include; Kirkuk, Iraq, Kabul, Afghanistan, Beirut, Lebanon and Benghazi, Libya. During this time he earned his certification for Federal Firearms Instructor, Simunition Scenario Qualified Instructor and Certified Skills Facilitator. Jimmy has trained law enforcement on the Federal, State, and Local levels as well as Fire Department, EMS and Dispatch personnel. His passion is to train communities across the nation in order to enhance their level of readiness in response to active shooter situations.   Make sure you subscribe and stay tuned to everything we are doing. Want to get more training? - https://ableshepherd.com/ Need support? https://able-nation.org/ Follow us on: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ableshepherd Instagram - ​​https://www.instagram.com/ableshepherd/ Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ableshepherd

Mithilfe des Deutschschweizer PEN-Zentrums gelang es der Schriftstellerin und Literaturwissenschaftlerin Sabine Haupt, mehr als 90 bedrohte afghanische Intellektuelle in die Schweiz und weitere europäische Länder zu retten. Ein Gespräch über eine aussergewöhnliche humanitäre Aktion. Als die US-Truppen im Sommer 2021 aus Afghanistan abzogen, rissen die Taliban die Macht an sich. Eine lebensgefährliche Situation für zahlreiche Autorinnen und Intellektuelle, die das Land so schnell wie möglich verlassen mussten. Ein verzweifelter Publizist aus Kabul wandte sich mit einem Hilferuf an das PEN-Zentrum der Deutschschweiz. Sabine Haupt setzte sich als Vorstandsmitglied für ein humanitäres Visum ein – mit Erfolg. Damit begann eine Rettungsaktion, von der Beteiligte in einem neuen Buch erzählen: «Wege durch finstere Zeiten. Afghanische und Schweizer Texte über Flucht und Asyl».

Over the past 40 years, Afghans have steadily immigrated to the East Bay town of Fremont, hoping to start new lives close to others who share their language and culture. We trace four waves of immigration and check in with Afghans who've chosen to settle in Fremont. Additional Resources: How Did Fremont Become Known As 'Little Kabul'? Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Asal Ehsanipour. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Gabriela Glueck and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Olivia Allen-Price, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsay and everyone on Team KQED.

Canadian officials are in Mexico, hoping to strengthen economic ties. A former Mexican diplomat tells us how the trade tensions with the U.S. makes that friendship more important than ever.She delivered bad news about jobs statistics -- and found herself out of a job. Now, an expert on stats says Congress needs to investigate Donald Trump's firing of the country's top labour statistician.A Democratic Texas lawmaker tells us why she thinks the best way to oppose proposed changes to the congressional map in her state is by leaving the state -- along with her colleagues. We remember Razia Jan who opened a free school for girls outside Kabul. Her friend and colleague says that was risky business, but Ms. Jan somehow made it look easy. A resident of an island in the Bay of Fundy tells us why a local shed filled with hundreds of free books is a symbol of community -- and honours the legacy of a beloved resident.The United States Department of Agriculture is trying to ward off wolves by blasting AC/DC -- and a particularly intense spat from the film "Marriage Story."As It Happens, the Tuesday edition. Radio that objects to the strategy on quarrel grounds.

Jimmy Graham sits down with Mark Gerson, author of God Was Right, for a powerful conversation on faith, wisdom, and life lessons. To order the book click here: https://a.co/d/fM11w9I To learn more about Mark: https://www.godwasright.com Who's Jimmy Graham? Jimmy spent over 15 years in the US Navy SEAL Teams earning the rank of Chief Petty Officer (E7). During that time, he earned certifications as a Sniper, Joint Tactical Air Controller, Range Safety Officer for Live Fire, Dynamic Movement and Master Training Specialist. He also served for 7 years as an Operator and Lead Instructor for an Elite Federal Government Protective Detail for High-Risk and Critical environments, to include; Kirkuk, Iraq, Kabul, Afghanistan, Beirut, Lebanon and Benghazi, Libya. During this time he earned his certification for Federal Firearms Instructor, Simunition Scenario Qualified Instructor and Certified Skills Facilitator. Jimmy has trained law enforcement on the Federal, State, and Local levels as well as Fire Department, EMS and Dispatch personnel. His passion is to train communities across the nation in order to enhance their level of readiness in response to active shooter situations. Make sure you subscribe and stay tuned to everything we are doing. Want to get more training? - https://ableshepherd.com/ Need support? https://able-nation.org/ Follow us on: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ableshepherd Instagram - ​​https://www.instagram.com/ableshepherd/ Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ableshepherd

It's been four years since the Taliban retook control of Kabul, marking the end of the UK's 20-year military presence in Afghanistan. This week, Patrick sits down with James Cowan, CEO of the HALO Trust and a former army officer who led Task Force Helmand from 2009 to 2010. Together, they reflect on the 2021 evacuation, the recent Afghan data leak, their regrets, and whether Britain's involvement in Afghanistan was, frankly, worth it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Begoña Santos ha estado en el 24 Horas de RNE con Lalo Tovar presentando su libro Mujeres que mueven montañas: "He querido recoger historias de ocho mujeres reales en las que existe una montaña física -Himalaya, Pirineos, Kilimanjaro- y luego existen unas montañas metafóricas, retos", dice Santos. "Trato de contar la naturaleza humana y lo que más me interesa es cómo ellas se sentían", confiesa. Entre las protagonistas está Aquila, una alpinista e ingeniera química de Afganistán, que fue sepultada por los talibanes y finalmente logro salir de Kabul y llegar a España. La autora también cuenta la historia de Lady Lister, que tiene lugar en el 1832. Ella nunca se casó con un hombre y se juntó con mujeres en un momento en el que la homosexualidad no estaba bien vista. "La montaña tiene algo que atrae, esa sensación de sentirse pequeñito en ese contexto de belleza", admite la autora del libro.Escuchar audio

Five years ago, Jimmy Graham dreamed of walking the El Camino with his two daughters. This year, that dream came true. Join Jimmy and Brian Karch as they reflect on the powerful moments, lessons, and memories from their pilgrimage across Spain.   Who's Jimmy Graham? Jimmy spent over 15 years in the US Navy SEAL Teams earning the rank of Chief Petty Officer (E7). During that time, he earned certifications as a Sniper, Joint Tactical Air Controller, Range Safety Officer for Live Fire, Dynamic Movement and Master Training Specialist. He also served for 7 years as an Operator and Lead Instructor for an Elite Federal Government Protective Detail for High-Risk and Critical environments, to include; Kirkuk, Iraq, Kabul, Afghanistan, Beirut, Lebanon and Benghazi, Libya. During this time he earned his certification for Federal Firearms Instructor, Simunition Scenario Qualified Instructor and Certified Skills Facilitator. Jimmy has trained law enforcement on the Federal, State, and Local levels as well as Fire Department, EMS and Dispatch personnel. His passion is to train communities across the nation in order to enhance their level of readiness in response to active shooter situations.   Make sure you subscribe and stay tuned to everything we are doing. Want to get more training? - https://ableshepherd.com/ Need support? https://able-nation.org/ Follow us on: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ableshepherd Instagram - ​​https://www.instagram.com/ableshepherd/ Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ableshepherd

For today's episode, Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson is sharing more of the conversations he had with leading policy experts and practitioners on the margins of this year's Aspen Security Forum, which took place last week. First, he is joined by Ali Nazary, the head of foreign relations for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, to discuss the Front's position nearly four years after the collapse of Kabul—and what Russia's recent recognition of the Taliban may mean for Afghanistan's future.Scott then sat down with Sam Charap, the Distinguished Chair in Russia and Eurasia Policy at the RAND Corporation, to discuss Trump's recent pivot on support for Ukraine and where the conflict may be headed next.This is part two of two. So if you missed them earlier this week, look back in this podcast feed for more conversations from Aspen.To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quaranteam-Northwest: Part 1 Pandemic Survivors, Harems and the Pacific Northwest. Based on a post by Break The Bar. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels. To combat the deadly Duo Halo virus, the government will change the lives of Harrison Black and his friends out in the hills of Oregon. In return, Harrison finds a new purpose to his life in the midst of losing his family history. The House Guest. I glanced away again, relatively certain that Erica hadn't noticed my involuntary glance down at her cleavage but not overly worried. The grocery store parking lot was only half full, but we were waiting out front and I felt like we were in a bread line in Soviet Russia. The only good news was that it was a warm spring for Oregon State, and a clear day, so Erica and I weren't bundled up in jackets or anything. Of course, we were still getting used to the masks. "This feels ridiculous," Erica said, adjusting the bandana covering her lower face. She'd done her makeup as usual, with soft but smoky eyeshadow, and her thick dark hair was pulled back in a messy bun. Erica was a well-put-together lady, with the hips and bust of a woman who had aged perfectly into her thirties. I'd known her through our late twenties, and I wasn't ashamed to say I thought she'd only gotten hotter with time. Her black jeans clung to her hips and ass, and the black sweater she was wearing unzipped over a ripped band t-shirt accented the v of her cleavage that I'd been trying not to glance at. "At least it's not the middle of winter," I said. "Imagine this going on in January, in a snowstorm?" "We'll never need to see that," said the old man in front of us in line. He was wearing a hunting gaiter, but it was riding low on his upper lip. "This ain't the first virus, it won't be the last. Couple of weeks and the panic will die down. We'll have practically forgotten it by the fall, I bet." "Hopefully," Erica nodded. They'd announced the quarantine two weeks ago, and it had gone into effect last week. My roommate Leo and I had invited Erica, his sister, up from Portland; she was going to be cooped up in her apartment alone for the two-week shutdown and we had plenty of space on my old family property. Erica had made the drive the day before the statewide quarantine kicked in, having locked up the Tattoo Parlor she managed, and it had been a week of sun, hiking and ATV tours through the property, along with teaching her how to throw an axe and shoot some archery. Next week we were planning to show her the ropes on gun safety, and let her try out some of my grandfather's old hunting rifles. Erica was game for it all, and it felt like a mini vacation for all three of us. What Leo and I hadn't planned for was making meals for three instead of two, and so now a week in Erica and I were braving a trip into town trying to figure out exactly what we were and weren't supposed, or allowed, to do. Erica turned to say something to me, but her sentence was cut off by the heavy thrum and backfiring of a pair of ugly pickups rumbling into the parking lot of the grocery store on jacked-up wheels, halfway to 'monster truck.' They parked near the back, near my own truck, both vehicles with the stupid 'truck nuts' swinging from the hitches on the back and one of them with a big confederate flag sticker in the back window. "Jesus, I thought rednecks were supposed to come from the South," Erica muttered. "There are rednecks in every part of every country," I sighed. "Ask me about German rednecks sometime. Those people are weird." Five men unloaded from the two pickups, and I could see someone still sitting inside one of the cabs. I immediately took in everything I needed to know about the men; my brain couldn't shut off the instinct. Five military-aged males, three who looked like they could handle a bit of a fight. None of them were carrying firearms, no obvious sign of concealed weapons, but several had utility knives sheathed on their belts. Not that uncommon out here in the foothills of western Oregon. Three of them were wearing army surplus combat boots, one was wearing what looked like steel-toe construction boots, and one was wearing hiking boots. Their clothes were blue-collar casual. Rough, in other words. None of them were wearing any form of a mask. The debate was still out in the news; first, we were supposed to wear masks, then they said it wasn't going to be helpful, and now they were saying wearing masks might be the most important thing. Everyone seemed confused about the issue, but everyone in line outside the grocery store was wearing one of some sort or other. "Are they seriously going to just?" Erica muttered. The rednecks were heading straight for the entrance to the store, looking to bypass the ten or so folks in line ahead of us and another six behind us. I could see the panic in the eyes of the pimple-faced teen manning the door. He had no fucking clue what to do about it. "Ah, shit," I muttered, already stepping out of line. "Harrison," Erica cautioned me. "It's not worth it. What's the point?" "If not me, then who?" I asked her, then raised my fingers to my lips and blasted a whistle that echoed across the parking lot. Everyone turned and looked at me. All the folks in line, the rednecks as they were about to bull their way past the boy, and the beleaguered kid who I'd already watched bumble through explaining the line to annoyed people, let these alone belligerent assholes. "Hey," I yelled, but tried to keep my voice more friendly than commanding. "How about you guys show some respect to the folks out here and just grab a spot in line?" "How about you suck my nuts? We aren't sheeple, we know our rights," one of them yelled. "Yeah, this place can't deny us service, we've got rights," another shouted. "There's a difference between rights and being polite," I said. "Old folks are waiting to get their groceries, you boys can wait fifteen minutes." "You got a problem with us?" Another one shouted. "You know who the fuck we are?" "Harrison," Erica sighed. "I ain't got a goddamn clue who you are," I said. "And I don't care beyond the fact that you're acting like assholes." Two of them immediately started coming towards me down the line, the other three hesitating a moment before following. Fuck. I'd been hoping they were just some bully idiots, but the two in the lead were way angrier than they should have been. "Take a few steps back and don't get involved, E," I said quietly. "I'll be fine, but you can't get involved, Okay?" "Harry, what the actual fuck? There are five of them. This is a fucking parking lot. We should just call the cops!" she whispered back. "I'd listen to your fella," the old guy in the gaiter said. "We got one State Trooper somewhere in thirty square miles of here; would likely take too long to do any good." "You wanna say that to my face, you fucking fuck?" one of the men said. I'd taken a few more steps out of line, and he got up within a foot of me with his teeth bared and a fist raised threateningly. "I'm a god damned sovereign citizen, and I got every right to protect my dignity, honor and good name against fucks like you." "Yeah," I said, looking down at him as I breathed in deep and let my full size loom over him. The guy was probably 6'1 or so, but I was 6'6 in my stockings and had an extra couple inches over that from my own hiking boots. "I said you guys are acting like assholes, and otherwise I could give one single shit about who you think you are." "You motherfucker, I'm gonna," "Harrison?" One of the three guys in the back asked. He was one of the ones I'd identified as not being much of a fighter. "Harrison Black, right? You played Defensive End at Eisenhower." "Uh, yeah," I said. "That was a while ago though..." "Oh man, dude. It's me, Barry O'Callahan. I was a year behind you," the guy said. "Guys, this dude almost single-handedly ran our high school defense. Didn't you end up joining the military or something?" "Yeah, yeah," I said, squinting and looking at Barry. "Really? Barry O?" "Heh, yeah I filled out a bit since I was a junior," the man laughed, his gut jiggling with the effort. "And then I filled out a bit more. How are you doing, man? When did you get out of the service?" "Well, I'm doing fine, Barry. Been out going on seven years. But this is a bit awkward," I said. The interruption had been as confusing a moment for the two hotheads in their group as it had been for me. They were looking back and forth between us, trying to decide if they were still mad at me, or mad at Barry, or were just giving it up. "Oh, yeah. Uh, don't worry guys, Harrison is cool, Okay?" Barry said. "Dude, are you just in the area visiting or what?" "I've been up at the family place for the last few years since Pop died," I said. "Oh man, I'm sorry," Barry said. "But hey, can't believe we didn't run into each other until now. Who'd a thunk, huh? Here dude, you should come out to the clubhouse sometime. We'll grab some brews, catch a game or something." Barry pulled a crumpled matchbook out of his shirt pocket and handed it to me. The front had a WWII-style blonde pinup girl on a navy background with a white star behind her, invoking the flag. The Golden Beaver and an address was printed in tiny letters on the backside. It would have been a funnier innuendo if they weren't referencing the Oregon state flag. "Yeah, maybe," I said. "Come on, guys," Barry said, slapping his two hot head friends on the shoulders. "Let's get in line. Nice seeing you, Harrison." "Yeah, you too Barry," I said. And then shook my head as the five men headed back towards the end of the line. "What the fuck was that?" Erica asked me as I joined her back in line, and we moved up a couple spaces as the teen at the door let more people into the store. "Honestly, I thought I was about to spend the night in county lockup," I said. "Fuckin' Barry O." "He seemed like a fan of yours," Erica smirked. "Big high school football star, huh?" "I was a little above average at best," I said. "And I wasn't an idiot. Easy to look good when the rest of the team sucks." I looked down at the matchbook again and shook my head, showing it to Erica. She snorted and took it. "Is this real? Please tell me you aren't going to go join their little redneck club." "Not likely," I said. "It's a wannabe militia group. Bunch of swinging cocks with no sway." "What?" "Cause they're so small. It's a tiny penis joke." Erica smirked again and rolled her eyes. "You child. Can you do me a favor?" "What's that?" I asked. "Maybe, for the foreseeable future, you keep the whole Walking Tall routine to a minimum?" "I'm sorry, did you just make a Dwayne Johnson, early 2000s movie reference?" "Yeah, I did," Erica grinned. "What are you going to do about it?" "We need to get you to watch some better movies," I laughed. "Hey, son," the old man ahead of us said quietly. "Seriously, could you have taken those guys?" I glanced back at them at the end of the line, muttering to each other. "Probably, if I was right. If I got three of them, the other two wouldn't have done anything." "Heh. Would have liked to have seen that," the old man grinned. "Don't encourage him," Erica said. "He hasn't gotten into a fight on my watch yet, I don't want him to start now." "Yeah," I said. "But that's mostly because you're the one who usually starts throwing punches at the bar." "Hey, a guy gets handsy, I put him in his place," Erica shrugged. "No 'Walking Tall' shit, my ass," I snorted. "You two make a fine, rowdy couple," the old man said. "Oh, we're not a couple," Erica said. "Just friends," I said. "He's my brother's roommate," Erica clarified. "I'm just visiting." The old man raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Alright. Well, maybe you two should consider toning down the flirting then. You're likely to attract bears with all the hormones you're putting out." "Erica, Erica! No, you cannot punch him," I said, holding her back. "Hey, Erica? Can we talk to you for a minute?" Erica looked up from her phone with a cocked eyebrow and a pensive smile. I immediately realized how weird and out of character our approach was. She was lounging on the couch in the living room, her sketchbook tossed to the side with a half-finished something scribbled out in frustration like she'd been trying to work but just couldn't get it right. I knew how she felt, having had the same frustrations ever since the quarantine had been announced. "Sure guys, what's up?" she asked. I let Leo sit down next to his sister on the couch as she sat up, and I took my usual chair. It had been my Father's up until he passed; I'd avoided it the first month after he died and I took over the family homestead. Then when my older sister Valerie and her family came to stay for that summer, she practically pushed me into it. 'It's just a chair,' became our catchphrase for the summer as we sorted through the belongings of our parents and grandparents. "I'm sorry," I said as I settled into the chair. "This is already coming off weird. Erica, it's nothing." "You're making it seem like it's something," Erica said. She turned to her twin. "What's going on?" Leo and Erica were both a couple of years older than me, but once you were into your early thirties that kind of stuff meant a lot less. Leo had the looks of a classic Italian paisan with thick dark hair, a hawk beak of a nose and bushy eyebrows. He was built thin and a little lanky, and was usually ready with an eager smile and word of encouragement for anyone he met. That's probably why we'd gotten along so well when we started rooming together; his positive attitude had been just what I needed coming out of the Army. Erica had a lot of the same features as her brother; the thick dark hair, the ready smile, the energetic sparkle in her eyes; but she also had a sensuality to her that I can't say I'd ever noticed in Leo. She was a little more patient, a little more sure of herself and willing to take charge of things. And that control went all the way to her fitness, as she hadn't let herself slide even through quarantine. Leo sighed. "No, it's nothing. Well, I mean I guess it's something, but it's not," "How about we just say it, instead of talking about talking about it?" I said. "Yeah," Erica nodded. "How about that?" "Well, uh, Harrison?" Leo looked at me, which I guess was fair considering this was my house at the end of the day. "Erica, we're almost a month into the quarantine now," I said. "I know that when we invited you down out of the city to stay with us, it was supposed to only be for a couple of weeks. 'Two weeks to flatten the curve' and all that shit. But things don't seem to be getting any better." "No, it's fine," Erica said, sitting up straighter in her seat and pulling away from her brother. "I know I've been imposing on you guys. It's fine, I can head back down to Portland and I'll just," "Jesus Christ, Erica," Leo said. "We're not kicking you out." "You're not?" she asked. I realized that she was clenching her fists in her lap so hard she was trembling slightly. "Not a shot, E," I said. "We just wanted to make sure that you knew we want you to stay as long as you want or need. We love having you here." For the first time in my life, I saw Erica's lower lip tremble. "Really?" she asked. Back in the city she was the manager of one of the most successful tattoo and piercing parlors in the state, herding artsy workers that acted like cats with constant access to catnip. Erica was firm but fair with her artists, managed a clientele that ran the gamut from rich and entitled assholes to meth'd out deadbeats, and kept her own skills sharp with constant discipline and practice. Every time we had hung out in the years before the quarantine, I'd always been struck by how forceful a personality she was; she could smack talk with the best of them, manhandle a drunk in a bar like an experienced bouncer, and laughed loud and full-bellied. Seeing her on the verge of tears was a shock, and I realized we probably should have had this talk two weeks ago. "Yes, of course we do," I said. "God, you're practically family, Erica. I don't think I could let you go back and stay in the city right now. We love you." The damn burst and as thick tears began to pour over her cheeks and streak her dark eyeliner she reached out and pulled Leo into a hug with one arm. She beckoned for me with the other and I crossed the space to wrap her up in a hug as well. "Thank you," she whispered quietly between us. "I know you guys wouldn't; but still. Everything going on out there, and the way the city is right now... I just didn't" "It's going to be fine," Leo said to his sister, squeezing her harder. "You'll see." She kissed him on the cheek, then turned and kissed me on the cheek as well. "Thank you." I gave her a bit of a squeeze in return. "We'll need to go get some more of your stuff, I guess. You only came down here with a duffle bag." She laughed. "God, yes," she said and tried to wipe her tears. "I can go up there. I could use some more underwear, ha-ha." "Too much information!" Leo said, releasing his sister. She sniffed hard to clear her nose and wiped her cheeks some more to clear her spilt makeup and tears. Erica had a sort of post-punk or light goth style, with thick eyeliner and soft but smoky eyeshadow. For someone in the tattoo business, she had relatively few piercings, just two in each earlobe and a single small, silver nose ring on one nostril. She made up for it with a pair of full sleeve tattoos on her arms and a collection of assorted smaller tattoos on her legs. "What, you don't want to hear about me sweating through my bras?" She laughed at her brother. "Come on, Leo, we're all adults here." I laughed at her teasing and she squeezed me to her with the one arm she still had around my shoulder. She turned and kissed me on the cheek again. "I can go down to the city by myself, you guys don't need to risk yourselves for me. All the news reports are saying this thing is extra dangerous for men." "No, we'll help," I said. "We don't know how long this thing will last, so we'll bring the pickup and you can bring your car. And if you get exposed, you'd bring it back here with you anyways, so we might as well try and do it as fast as possible. Three sets of hands will make things go easier." "Okay," she nodded, then with a last squeeze of my shoulders she eased away and stood up. "Okay. Well, damn, guys. This feels like a fucking weight lifted off my shoulders. I've felt like I've been overstaying my welcome, not that you guys did anything to make me think that. I just,” "It's fine," I said. "We understand." "I don't," Leo said. "You've been all up in my personal space since the dam womb. You never had a problem with it before now." "Come here, you twerp," Erica laughed, slapping her brother on the arm. "Alright, alright," I said. "Come on, children. Let's make a plan here. No time like the present, if we get everything ready we can head out tomorrow."   Leo and I had first become roommates when he sublet me a room as I came out of the military seven years ago and wanted to move back to the Portland area. Then, when my father passed and I needed to move back to the family property, Leo had been more than happy to come on up with me instead of trying to find someone new to take over my half of the house lease. The old ranch-style house I'd grown up in had plenty of room, and my mother had died a few years before Dad, so it worked out for both of us. Even before the quarantine was announced we'd both been working from the homestead; my freelance illustration and concept art gigs kept the bills and property tax under control and food on the table, and Leo had swapped to making artisanal furniture in his little shed workshop instead of the house framing and cabinetry he'd been trained in. The old barn made a decent new workshop for him after a couple of upgrades, and once I'd gotten a satellite installed for point-to-point internet service we were... Well, we hadn't exactly been living the technological dream, but we had what we needed. The drive down to Portland from the homestead outside Jewell took a bit over an hour and a half on a good day with moderate traffic. It only took us an hour, in the middle of the day. I drove my truck, the cover on over the bed, and Leo rode with Erica in her car. The highways were practically empty, and for a while the drive almost felt like just a beautiful day out; other than the thick sweater I was wearing, and the work gloves I'd duct taped to the cuffs. I also had a pair of bandanas hung around my neck, ski goggles sitting on the passenger seat, and the hood of my sweater pulled up. It was the middle of a hot spring and I was sweating my ass off in my own truck just in case of death by viral infection. Even in the last couple of weeks, all the messaging online from the Government about what to do for safety felt like it had been conflicting with itself constantly, and when Leo and Erica tried to do more research they couldn't even figure out which politician or government body to listen to, let alone find something useful and convincing. So we went all out. Driving through the suburbs was a bit of an experience. One neighborhood would be completely desolate, not a single person outside and everything locked up tight. The next would be full of people outside on the street, walking dogs and kids running around playing. Most of them had those medical masks on, but it looked like people were out on summer vacation or something. The neighborhood after that was mostly shut down like the first, but one of the houses easily had thirty vehicles parked around it and was hosting some sort of party going on in the front and back yard. Somehow, despite the world feeling so alien, I still found driving through the city even weirder. Getting into the urban center where Erica had a small apartment near the Tattoo Parlor was like we'd hit the end of the world. Even more than in the suburbs, the near complete lack of people was shocking. We could go entire city blocks without seeing another car, and then suddenly we'd come across a food delivery driver peddling down the middle of the city street on a bike. The only other motorized vehicles I saw were one dude on an electric scooter having the time of his life, and ambulances speeding down the streets with their lights running. They didn't even bother with the sirens. Crackle, crackle. "Hey, Harrison? You read me? Over." I picked up my handheld radio and pressed the button. "Yeah, I read you, Leo. Over." "So we need to take a detour. There's a bunch of stuff online about this Autonomous Zone thing. Protestors in the middle of the city. We're going to avoid it. Over." "Yeah, sounds good. I'll follow. Over and out." I shook my head. The protests had started about a week ago. Halfway across the country, a man had been shot by police; investigations were ongoing, but no one looked good in the situation. Not the cops, not the man, not even the bystanders who had filmed the whole thing instead of intervening. It was a shit show all around, and it had sparked protests that I could only assume were fueled by people feeling so trapped in their own lives. Portland, ever a liberal center of activism, had been a hotbed every night. Vigils and marches every afternoon and evening. Then the riots started at night. We drove down a couple of streets that looked like we'd left the United States behind and entered a foreign warzone. I'd seen streets in Kabul during my deployment that had looked similar; the only thing missing from the burned-out cars, graffiti and general detritus were bullet scars on the walls. Windows that weren't boarded over were smashed. Storefronts were burnt out, looted, or both. It took us an extra twenty minutes to drive all the way around the 'autonomous zone.' By the time we pulled up into the alley behind Erica's apartment building, I was feeling sick to my stomach. A pandemic. Riots. What was next, a natural disaster? I'd seen some of the world; not a lot, but enough. Some of the best and worst places. We were supposed to be better than this. Taking the back stairwell was part of the plan. We didn't want to draw any attention from people; for all that Portland was that liberal bed of activism I'd just been thinking about, it was also still an urban center plagued by theft, crime and people trying to take advantage of each other. With no one on the streets, I'd suggested that pulling up out front made us more of a target to people looking to cause trouble, or attracting the attention of overzealous police. I pulled my truck in next to Erica's car and hopped out. "Alright, make sure you lock up," I said. "Harri, please," Erica said, sliding down her own ski goggles over her eyes. We were all bundled up now, with multiple face coverings each. "I've lived in the city about eight times longer than you ever did. I know how to handle myself." "Yeah, I know," I said. "I'm just a little anxious." "It's fine, dude," Leo said. "Let's just get this done." Erica let us into the building, keying in through a back door, and up through the stairwell. We didn't see anyone on the way up, and she led us through the halls to her apartment. As she let us in, one of her neighbors opened their door and stuck their head out. "Erica? Dear, is that you?" It was a woman, maybe in her fifties. "Hey, Dianne," Erica said. "It's me. I'm just here to pick up some things, and I brought my brother and his roommate to help out." Dianne stepped fully out of her apartment. She was dressed comfortably and had her silvering blonde hair pulled back into a bun. Most notably, she wasn't wearing a mask or any other sort of personal protection. "It's so nice to see you, Erica!" she said. "It's been quiet up here the last few weeks. I have to say, I never thought I'd actually miss your early morning banging around, but I do." "Ah, Dianne," Erica said, holding up her hands. She was wearing rubber gloves, duct taped at the wrists to her sweater just like my work gloves were. "We really shouldn't get any closer than this." "Oh, dear, it's fine," Dianna said. "I've been cooped up in the apartment for a week now, the only person who comes over is Mr. Jones from 5C for coffee every few days. I'm sure you've been just as safe, living out of the city." "No, really Dianne," Erica said. "I don't mean to be rude, but we're only here to get some of my things and go. And I know Mr. Jones is probably lonely up there, but it's not safe for you two to get together for coffee. You should really just skype each other or something." "Oh, I already have to do that Zoomy thing to see my grandkids," Dianna scoffed. "But fine, fine. It's good to see you, dear. Try not to take things too seriously, it won't be good for your health." From inside Erica's apartment, I couldn't help but shake my head. "Dianne, maybe you need to take things more seriously," Erica said. "I'd hate if anything happened to you, but more importantly I'd hate for your grandkids to never get to see you again if you got sick." "Well, I guess..." Dianne trailed off. "Goodbye, Dianne. It was nice seeing you," Erica said in that tone of voice that was just shy of 'politely fuck off,' then followed Leo and me into her apartment and shut the door. "God, that woman," Erica said. She peeled down the pair of gaiters she was wearing over her face. The top layer was a winter covering Leo and I usually used in the middle of winter when we were snowmobiling, and the second was a much thinner one we used in the summer when A T Veeing. "We should be good in here, no one's come in since I left." I peeled down my bandanas and sighed. "I'm sure she's nice, but that lady needs a reality check." "I just hope she isn't someone else's reality check," Erica said. "Alright. I'm going to start in the bedroom. Leo, can you go through the living room and grab anything you think we might want in terms of DVDs and stuff? And Harrison, do you mind doing a check-over of the kitchen? I'm pretty sure I got rid of all the immediate perishables before I came down, but I might have missed some things that could've gone for a couple weeks." We split up and went to work. I cleaned out a few old condiments that Erica had missed and collected some canned and boxed food that would travel easily, along with some of the more specialty cooking equipment Erica had made of point of mentioning. I wasn't sure what an 'air fryer' did, but she made it sound like it was a gift from God, so I was willing to pack it up. "All done in the kitchen," I said, standing in the doorway to Erica's bedroom. She was rummaging in her closet. Her bed was covered in clothes and a couple of pieces of luggage, and everything looked like a mess. "Okay, hold on," she said, then she reappeared and dumped what looked like an entire department store's worth of bras out onto the bed. "Can you start packing this stuff up? Don't worry about folding or sorting it, I'll fix it all once we're back at your place. Then I can grab everything I need from the washroom and we'll be done." "Sure," I said, and we squeezed past each other so she could duck into the washroom. Once she was gone, I just chuckled and shook my head at the mess she'd already made. "I don't think this is all going to fit in these bags." I got to work, and soon three of the four pieces of luggage were stuffed full. That's when I made it to the pile of bras. I glanced out the door, and quickly picked up a fancy looking one and checked the tag. "Damn, Erica," I chuckled. It was obvious she was a busty girl, but 36E? I wouldn't have guessed. Then again, I wasn't exactly a bra aficionado. I wouldn't even know if I'd seen D's or E's or what, the sizing just sort of confused me enough that I couldn't care to look into it any further. I carefully began packing her daintier things into a bag, and below the bras was a pile of panties; and only a few of them seemed like they were designed for comfort and not show. There were strings, there was lace. I held a particular red number and shook my head again, trying to do my best not to imagine Erica wearing it and failing. I shoved it into the bag with the rest. "Incoming," Erica said, bustling back into the room with her arms full of canisters and bottles and all sorts of things from the bathroom. She dumped it all on top of the panties in the bag. "Usually I'd be a lot more organized with this," she sighed. "But I just feel... being in the city feels kinda gross right now." "Hmm, I feel it too," I said. I picked up the last handful of her underwear and put them on top of the cosmetics stuff. "Oh my God," Erica said, grabbing the bag from me. "I can't believe; God, this is embarrassing." She was grinning and her cheeks had heated up as she quickly zipped up the luggage and turned to me. "I didn't realize you'd work that fast." "Hey, I've seen ladies' underwear before," I laughed. "It's not a big deal." "Yeah, but you haven't seen my underwear," she chuckled along with me. "At least you saw the nice stuff. I left most of it here when I came down; wasn't exactly thinking about showing off the goods, ya know?" "Hey, anytime you want to show off, you just let me know," I laughed. "I tried not to pry, but some of them looked pretty hot." "Oh, my God," she said, face palming her embarrassment. Then her smile turned teasing. "Then again, we could always play you show me yours, I'll show you mine. I'm sure the girls would be happy for some more freedom around the house." She squished her upper arms together to pop out her chest a bit under her sweater. Now it was my turn to smirk and blush a little. I was just starting to try and figure out what to say when Leo came in from the front area of the apartment. "Think I'm about done up here," he said. "Anything else, sis?" Erica snickered and punched me in the arm. "That's probably it. I was just teasing Harrison about feeling' up my panties though." "Dude!" Leo said. "Oh, come on," I said. "You know I wouldn't." "Still..." Leo trailed off. "Whatever. Just leave my sister's granny panties alone." "You think I wear granny panties?" Erica said, then turned back to the bag and started unzipping it. "Well, let me just show you some of these..." "Nope, no, nada, nyet!" Leo said, covering his eyes with both hands and turning out of the room. "I do not need to know. Too much information for me!" Erica snorted and shook her head, re-zipping the bag. She winked at me and gave me another friendly punch on the arm. "Thanks again for helping with all of this, Harrison." "No problem at all, E," I assured her. "No, no," she said. "Seriously. Thank you. You guys didn't need to come out here; it feels sort of silly to say, but you're technically risking your lives for me right now." "Well, chivalry ain't dead yet, I guess," I said. "I guess not," she laughed. She leaned in and kissed my cheek. "It's nice. Just don't go making a habit of it, I don't need some White Knight savior act out of you or my brother." "Deal," I said. We got everything out into the front hallway of the apartment, and it ended up being more than we could hope to carry down in one trip. The end result was that we made the first trip down, started loading everything into the bed of the pickup, and while Leo and Erica went back up for another load I stayed down with the vehicles. The thing about inner cities, we'd all learned quickly when we originally moved in, was that you took a risk when you left things in your car. Well, if you had a car to begin with, but if you did and people could see in then it was likely your shit was going to get stolen. So there I was, sitting on the open back gate of my pickup with double bandanas over the bottom half of my face and ski goggles over the top, when two men rounded a corner further down the wide back alley and stopped. They looked at me and the cars. I looked at them. One of them was wearing a medical mask, while the other had a knit wool balaclava on with nothing but his eyes showing. I'd never really considered it before, what with us living out in the woods away from most people, but at that moment I realized how simple it must be to do crime when everyone was expected to wear masks. I watched them. They eyed up the vehicles. I stood up. They watched me do it. I slammed the gate of my truck shut. They watched me do it. I walked around to the passenger door of the truck cab, pulled out the hard case I had stowed under the seat, grabbed my Dad's old Colt 1911 and slid a magazine home. The men kept their eyes on me, not batting an eye even though I was now holding a loaded firearm. I leaned against the back of my truck and watched them right back. Eventually, Leo and Erica came back down and I didn't mention the men or the pistol, which I tucked onto the passenger seat of my truck while we were moving things around. I left the door open so that I could keep easy access. Erica and Leo went up for one last load, and I entered another long staring match with the two men. They hadn't moved and were about fifty yards away so I couldn't tell if they were talking to each other. I swear I must have been sweating bullets under my sweater and gloves and various masks. I don't know if my adrenaline had spiked like this since seeing combat while deployed. Not even the grocery store parking lot showdown a few weeks ago had been like this. Finally, Erica and Leo came down with the last load, we got everything stowed away, and got back into our vehicles. I took a moment to unload and re-stow my firearm, and as Erica and Leo pulled away in her car I watched as the two men came up the alley and entered Erica's apartment building through the door we had been using. Maybe they had just been waiting to use the door, playing it safe with us. Or maybe it was something else. I wouldn't ever know. It took three days for us to start feeling... safe wasn't the right word. 'Less apprehensive' is where I ended up landing. Coming back from the city had been as smooth as driving out, but once we were home we all had this feeling of being dirty. It felt silly even at the time, but we ended up hosing each other off outside with the garden hose before heading in to take some long, hot showers. Was that ineffective? Probably. Did it make us feel better? Maybe, a little. When none of us were showing any symptoms of getting sick by the third night back, we all decided to crash and start a new show together on Netflix that night after dinner. I ended up in the living room first and was starting to scroll through the menus to find something we might like when Erica came down the stairs in her own comfy clothes. She was wearing baggy, low-riding sweatpants and a black tank top that I very quickly realized was bouncing way more than usual with each of her steps down the stairs. Erica walked over to the TV sitting area and flopped down onto the couch across from me, absentmindedly reaching up and tying her hair back into a loose and messy bun. "What?" she asked me when she realized I was staring at her. "Nothing," I said. "You just... you look good. Like that." She rolled her eyes. "It's just makeup, Harrison." What she meant was she wasn't wearing any. For the first time ever, even including the month that she'd already been staying with us, I was seeing Erica without makeup on. It was sort of shocking, honestly; whatever magic she did in the mirror, with her kit, it was like she could change the very structure of her face. Usually, she had an almost angular predatory look, with sultry and smoky eyes and sharp cheekbones leading down to a perfect set of clean and bright red lips. Now she looked brighter, more girl-next-door. Sure there were imperfections; soft lines under her eyes, little freckles and blemishes that got hidden by foundation, but her eyes were brighter, and her smile was wholesome. "Just don't feel like you need to be anything but comfortable, E," I assured her. "I like this look on you." She sighed and gave me a smirk. "Alright, charmer. What are we watching?" I tossed her the remote and let her start scanning through the list of new shows. Besides her lack of makeup and apparent lack of a bra, she was still her usual self. Both of her arm sleeves were bared by the tank top; her left arm was a colorful splash of a dozen of her favorite Pokémon from the original 150, all water-themed. Her right was Star Wars themed and focused on a pinup Femme Boba Fett on her outer upper arm, along with a couple sexy lady Stormtroopers, a Princess Leia in the requisite golden slave bikini, and Padme in the ripped-up white arena fight outfit. Not to mention the Yoda on her inner forearm and chili Chewbacca just below her armpit on her bicep. Her tank top also showed off the two heart tattoos on either side of her clavicle, and the half-mandala tattoo that sat on the back of her neck at the hairline. Erica's legs, while currently covered by her sweats, were a more eclectic collection of random and unplanned tattoos dating back from her start in the industry; some were done by her own hand, others by fellow apprentices, and a few even by the apprentices she'd eventually trained over the years. "Heads up!" Leo said, bounding down the stairs in his own sweats and a hoodie, vaulting over the back of the sofa and landing heavily next to his twin sister. "Jesus Christ," Erica said, ducking away to narrowly avoid getting kicked in the back of the head. She turned and hit Leo in the shoulder. "Watch it, you monkey!" "Takes one to know one," Leo laughed, swiping away her hands as she tried to hit him again. Soon the two were involved in a swearing match as Erica was leaning over Leo, trying to tweak his ears and drop a wad of spit down on his face, while he tried to both ward off her hands and push her away at the same time. Their easy sibling rivalry and goofing off usually wasn't this physical, but it still had me laughing and wondering all the same. I'd never had that with my sister; she was about seven years older than me, so we hadn't ever had that sort of a relationship. To be honest, I was also a little interested in the sibling scrap because Erica's tits looked fucking great jostling and bouncing around in her tank top, and a part of me hoped a boob would pop out in the chaos. Unfortunately, I couldn't be so lucky and the duel ended with both of them panting, sitting next to each other, with no boob appearance. "What are we watching?" Leo asked. "I dunno, we hadn't picked yet," I said. "Let's watch this," Erica said, seemingly at random, and selected some sort of a baking show. "Aw man," Leo said. "These competition shows are always so scripted." "They make me hungry," I said. "Maybe I should start baking more." "Yes," Erica said. "Now we're watching every season just so you can get more good ideas like that, Harri." The show was easy to follow and clearly designed like every other Food Porn-style "reality" competition. Other than the deliciously described food, the only thing actually keeping my attention was the host. "She's hot," Erica said during one of the transition scenes, right after the host had finished showing the TV audience the differences between a mousse and whipped cream. It had involved a lot of whisking very fast. "Not my type, but I can see it," Leo said. "She's got too much of a Fifties Housewife vibe going on." "That's just because she's so proper British," Erica said. "Look at her, she's gorgeous. And fucking stacked under those pretty dresses. What do you think, Harri?" "I'm with you, I think she's definitely hot," I agreed. "And I really dig the accent." "I bet she's a fucking freak in bed, too," Erica said. "No way!" Leo argued with his sister. "Look at her. She's all syrup and sweetness. I bet she's dry as a desert down there, and you couldn't fit anything in due to the stick up her ass." "Nuh-uh," Erica shook her head. "I'd put money on her having a filthy mouth off-screen. Just swears like a fucking sailor. And,  Hmm, I bet she probably says she's straight, but has plenty of experience with girls from her Prep School days." "Sure," I laughed along. "Makes perfect sense. Anything else?" "I bet she's got a cum fetish," Erica said. "Look at her eyes when she's talking about glazing. She's practically creaming her conservative little dress. And she definitely likes a cheeky finger up the bum to really set her off." All of us were laughing now, and the conversation faded as we struggled to get control of our giggles. By the time the first episode was over, we were hooked despite the silly concept, and let it play. We got four episodes in before Erica called it quits. "That's enough for me tonight, boys," she said, yawning and stretching her arms wide. Her right arm rubbed roughly against Leo's face on purpose, just to bug him as he pulled away. "I'm off to bed. Good night!" She bounced up off the couch and made for the stairs, her hips swiveling in her low-waisted sweats. They'd ridden lower, and she was showing a bit of a whale tail with her lace thong panties peeking over the waistline. "Dude," Leo said, snapping my vision from his sister as she walked up the stairs. "Uh," I hummed, and slowly raised both arms in an awkward shrug. "What do you want me to do?" "Just... don't make it a thing," he sighed, then flopped over onto his side. "She's my sister. You wanna watch Deadpool?" Visitors The rumble, sputter and hum of the approaching ATV broke my concentration as it cut through the quiet warbling of my shitty Bluetooth speaker long before Leo pulled around the trail bend. The thick foliage up here in the foothills, far at the back end of my family property, created a weird dampening effect so I hadn't heard him until he was almost on top of me. The rumble cut through the thick greenery now and was followed by the crunching of the tires biting into th

You almost knew when you heard the name "First Liberty" that the people running said business were aiming for a specific kind of client.It turns out that clientele was "easily duped conservative," as we learned last week that a Newnan, Georgia-based lender was hawking "patriot notes" to help fuel a movement of "America First patriots."You just know it's gross when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Trump administration is going after 'em. Or, as I surmise, maybe they're quashing competition for Trump's ceaseless business empire targeting the same rubes. It's lead to a potential class action lawsuit by some of the conservatives duped by it. It's also been heavily scrutinized by the staff at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who's followed the money to PACS, the state GOP and a handful of far-right politiicans and even the current governor and lieutenant goernor (like he needs it). Here's the thing: anyone who's listened to conservative talk radio or watched OANN or Fox News has seen or heard that same kind of icky sales pitch. Hell, I caught a bourbon brand utilizing the deaths of the 13 American servicemembers who died in Kabul as fodder in their pitch on an Atlanta Braves radio commercial campaign. Ick.On to discuss this and the makeup of the 2026 gubernatorial field is Atlanta-based political consultant Andrew Heaton.

SHOW SCHEDULE 7-21-2025 GOOD EVENING: The show begins in Afghanistan, four years since the US departed Kabul... 1878 AFGHANISTAN CBS EYE ON THE WORLD WITH JOHN BATCHELOR FIRST HOUR 9:00-9:15 TALIBAN 2025. Bill Roggio. 9:15-9:30 TALIBAN 2025, continued. 9:30-9:45 AIR WAR UKRAINE AND RUSSIA. Blaine Holt, Bill Roggio. 9:45-10:00 AIR WAR UKRAINE AND RUSSIA. Blaine Holt, Bill Roggio, continued. SECOND HOUR 10:00-10:15 DRUZE MURDERED. Malcolm Hoenlein @CONF_OF_PRES @MHOENLEIN1 @THADMCCOTTER @THEAMGREATNESS 10:15-10:30 IRAN SHIPPING WEAPONS. Malcolm Hoenlein @CONF_OF_PRES @MHOENLEIN1 @THADMCCOTTER @THEAMGREATNESS 10:30-10:45#SMALLBUSINESSAMERICA: NEITHER GOOD NOR BAD, WAITING. @GENEMARKS @GUARDIAN @PHILLYINQUIRER 10:45-11:00 #SMALLBUSINESSAMERICA: CALIFORNIA FAST FOOD EMPLOYMENT DECLINES. @GENEMARKS @GUARDIAN @PHILLYINQUIRER THIRD HOUR 11:00-11:15 #NEWWORLDREPORT: VENEZUELA AND BRAZIL. Joseph Humire @JMHUMIRE @SECUREFREESOC. Ernesto Araújo, Former Foreign Minister Republic of Brazil. #NEWWORLDREPORTHUMIRE, Alejandro Peña Esclusa. 11:15-11:30 #NEWWORLDREPORT: COLOMBIA AND CHILE. Joseph Humire @JMHUMIRE @SECUREFREESOC. Ernesto Araújo, Former Foreign Minister Republic of Brazil. #NEWWORLDREPORTHUMIRE, Alejandro Peña Esclusa. 11:30-11:45 ROBOTS AND AI ON THE FACTORY FLOOR. Alan Tonelson, Gordon Chang. 11:45-12:00 ROBOTS AND AI ON THE FACTORY FLOOR. Alan Tonelson, Gordon Chang, continued. FOURTH HOUR 12:00-12:15 SYRIA HORRORS. Ahmad Sharawi, Bill Roggio. 12:15-12:30 SYRIA HORRORS. Ahmad Sharawi, Bill Roggio, continued. 12:30-12:45 IRAQ STATE WITHIN A STATE. Janatyn Sayeh, Bridget Toomey.12:45-1:00 AM UNKNOWNS OF DEATHS IN IRAN. Janatyn Sayeh, Bill Roggio. Key changes made: Organized into clear hour sections with proper formatting Fixed "IRNA" to "IRAN" Added accent to "Araújo" and "Peña" Fixed spacing and punctuation throughout Added proper time formatting and structure Maintained all hashtags and social media handles as intended

PREVIEW: AFGHANISTAN: Colleague Bill Roggio of FDD reports the new inquiry of the US withdrawal from Kabul in 2021. More to come. OCTOBER 1939

In dieser neuen Folge AMR_Recap sprechen Martin Lautwein und ich über die großen geopolitischen und moralischen Spannungen dieser Woche – mit dem Schwerpunkt auf Syrien und Afghanistan. Wir beginnen mit der Lage im Süden Syriens: Was geschieht gerade in Suwaida? Wer kämpft gegen wen? Was ist Propaganda, was ist Realität? Und was bedeutet es, wenn sich niemand mehr wirklich für einen möglichen Genozid an den Drusen interessiert? Dann geht es um Abschiebungen nach Afghanistan: Was passiert mit Menschen, die aus Deutschland abgeschoben werden? Was erwartet sie in Kabul – und was sagt das über unsere Werte aus? Wir reden auch darüber, warum Deutschland syrische IS-Kämpfer nicht zurückholt, aber gleichzeitig Afghanen in ein faktisches Kriegsgebiet abschiebt. Dazwischen fragen wir uns: Wie viel Wahrheit steckt in Videos, die auf Social Media kursieren? Wer nutzt den Begriff „Menschenrechte“ eigentlich nur dann, wenn er politisch passt? Ein weiterer Teil dieser Folge dreht sich um die rechtsextreme Gruppierung The Base – eine transnationale Terrororganisation mit Wurzeln in den USA, aktiv in Russland, und nun mit einem ersten Anschlag in der Ukraine. Was sagt das über die neue geopolitische Gemengelage rechter Gewalt aus? Zum Schluss geht es zurück zum Krieg in der Ukraine: Wie ernst ist das russische Angebot eines Waffenstillstands zu nehmen? Welche Bedingungen stellt Russland? Und wie lange kann sich die Ukraine diese Form des Widerstands überhaupt noch leisten? Diese Folge ist kostenlos für alle verfügbar. Wir wollen damit zeigen, wie tief und ungeschönt wir bei AMR_Recap jede Woche arbeiten – politisch, menschlich, widersprüchlich. Hast du Fragen, Feedback oder Anmerkungen? Schreib uns eine Nachricht an [amr@pqpp2.de](mailto:amr@pqpp2.de) oder auf Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allesmussraus_podcast/ und wenn du möchtest unterstütze unsere Arbeit auf Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/AllesMussRaus?l=de Du möchtest mehr über unsere Werbepartner erfahren? Hier findest du alle Infos & Rabatte: https://linktr.ee/allesmussrauspodcast Du möchtest in „Alles Muss Raus“ werben? Dann hier* entlang: https://podstars.de/kontakt/?utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=shownotes_alles-

This is not just another crackdown. It's not even just another culture war. It's a full-spectrum economic and psychological operation, aimed not only at the undocumented population but also at America's industrial stagnation, its working-class despair, and its hunger for purpose. With no global war to stimulate GDP and no appetite for new foreign interventions, the Trump administration has reverse-engineered the forever war—on American soil. Not to export democracy, but to deport illegals. And in doing so, it has built a bottomless pit of domestic war profiteering, wrapped in the language of law and order but fueled by the same contractors, consultants, and logistical profiteers that once gorged themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan.Call it the Deportation Industrial Complex. But it's not just complex—it's beautiful in its simplicity. Thirty million people must go. That's the mandate. That's the scale. And in a country wired to believe that all problems can be solved with enough manpower, tech, and money, the answer is obvious: hire everyone. Equip everyone. Pay everyone. Give every red-state welder, ex-cop, off-duty Guardsman, and bored veteran a uniform, a badge, a contract, and a pension. Transform unemployed linemen into tactical apprehension specialists. Turn shuttered Walmarts into ICE logistics hubs. Repurpose municipal airports as detention corridors. America isn't just making deportation possible. It's making it profitable—deeply, addictively so.What began as a promise to restore the rule of law has metastasized into an economic engine. Every dollar once earmarked for building democracies abroad is now funneled into controlling populations at home. But unlike Iraq or Kabul, there's no need to ship gear across oceans or train interpreters in Dari. The war is local. The targets are domestic. And the contractors are finally working in their own time zone.Trump understood something that few in the press corps ever grasped: wars don't have to be fought to be funded. They just need to be declared. The war on terror taught a generation of federal agencies how to secure blank checks, build redundant infrastructure, and bill for metrics instead of results. That same playbook is now deployed along highways in New Mexico, suburbs in Georgia, and industrial parks in Ohio. Detention centers don't have to be full to be funded. Drones don't have to fly to be leased. Uniforms don't have to be worn to be paid for. This is the genius of the domestic security economy: the appearance of effort is sufficient. And with every raid filmed for Facebook and every Alcatraz revival whispered in policy memos, the appearance becomes self-sustaining.What the Pentagon did to the Middle East, ICE is now doing to middle America. The economy is no longer post-industrial. It's para-industrial—anchored not in goods but in bodies: processing, moving, containing, intimidating. And just like every imperial project before it, this one needs both elite buy-in and grassroots sweat. So while the consultants rake in six-figure retainers, the MAGA base gets something better: dignity. Work. Uniforms. Authority. Meaning.And that's the real brilliance. This isn't just a boondoggle. It's a buffet. A Golden Corral of enforcement where everyone eats. From the billion-dollar contractor to the $23/hour transport tech, there is room at the table. The goal is not deportation efficiency. The goal is economic resuscitation, social stabilization, and narrative control—all wrapped in the spectacle of taking America back. It's not clean. It's not moral. But it is working.The Gold Rush of Deportation is here. And for those who missed out on the last war, this one's paying in cash, no passport required.

The history of the world's most successful military alliance, from the wrecked Europe of 1945 to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. As they signed NATO into being after World War II, its founders fervently believed that only if the West's democracies banded permanently together could they avoid a catastrophic global atomic conflict. Over the 75 years since, the alliance has indeed avoided war with Russia, also becoming a major political, strategic and diplomatic player well beyond its borders. It has survived disagreements between leaders from Eisenhower, Churchill and de Gaulle to Trump, Stoltenberg and Merkel, faced down Kremlin foes from Stalin to Putin and endured unending questions and debate over what new nations might be allowed to join. Deterring Armageddon: A Biography of NATO (Hachette UK, 2024) takes the reader from backroom deals that led to NATO's creation, through the Cold War, the Balkans and Afghanistan to the current confrontation with the Kremlin following the invasion of Ukraine. It examines the tightrope walked by alliance leaders between a powerful United States sometimes flirting with isolationism and European nations with their ever-evolving wishes for autonomy and influence. Having spent much of its life preparing for conflicts that might never come, NATO has sometimes found itself in wars that few had predicted – and with its members now again planning for a potential major European conflict. It is a tale of tension, danger, rivalry, conflict, big personalities and high-stakes military and diplomatic posturing – as well as espionage, politics and protest. From the Korean War to the pandemic, the Berlin and Cuba crises to the chaotic evacuation from Kabul, Deterring Armageddon tells how the alliance has shaped and been shaped by history – and looks ahead to what might be the most dangerous era it has ever faced. Peter Apps is global defence correspondent for Reuters news agency and is currently on sabbatical as executive director of the Project for Study of the 21st Century (PS21). He is the author of two Kindle Singles. BEFORE EBOLA (2014) describes his experiences covering haemorrhagic fever in Angola in 2005 while CHURCHILL IN THE TRENCHES (2015) reconstructs the experiences of Britain's future prime minister at the front line during the First World War. Peter's podcast, focusing on modern military topics, as part of PS21 can be found here. Sidney Michelini is a post-doctoral researcher working on Ecology, Climate, and Violence at the Peace Research Institute of Frankfurt (PRIF). Book Recomendations: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow Tom Clancy novels Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The history of the world's most successful military alliance, from the wrecked Europe of 1945 to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. As they signed NATO into being after World War II, its founders fervently believed that only if the West's democracies banded permanently together could they avoid a catastrophic global atomic conflict. Over the 75 years since, the alliance has indeed avoided war with Russia, also becoming a major political, strategic and diplomatic player well beyond its borders. It has survived disagreements between leaders from Eisenhower, Churchill and de Gaulle to Trump, Stoltenberg and Merkel, faced down Kremlin foes from Stalin to Putin and endured unending questions and debate over what new nations might be allowed to join. Deterring Armageddon: A Biography of NATO (Hachette UK, 2024) takes the reader from backroom deals that led to NATO's creation, through the Cold War, the Balkans and Afghanistan to the current confrontation with the Kremlin following the invasion of Ukraine. It examines the tightrope walked by alliance leaders between a powerful United States sometimes flirting with isolationism and European nations with their ever-evolving wishes for autonomy and influence. Having spent much of its life preparing for conflicts that might never come, NATO has sometimes found itself in wars that few had predicted – and with its members now again planning for a potential major European conflict. It is a tale of tension, danger, rivalry, conflict, big personalities and high-stakes military and diplomatic posturing – as well as espionage, politics and protest. From the Korean War to the pandemic, the Berlin and Cuba crises to the chaotic evacuation from Kabul, Deterring Armageddon tells how the alliance has shaped and been shaped by history – and looks ahead to what might be the most dangerous era it has ever faced. Peter Apps is global defence correspondent for Reuters news agency and is currently on sabbatical as executive director of the Project for Study of the 21st Century (PS21). He is the author of two Kindle Singles. BEFORE EBOLA (2014) describes his experiences covering haemorrhagic fever in Angola in 2005 while CHURCHILL IN THE TRENCHES (2015) reconstructs the experiences of Britain's future prime minister at the front line during the First World War. Peter's podcast, focusing on modern military topics, as part of PS21 can be found here. Sidney Michelini is a post-doctoral researcher working on Ecology, Climate, and Violence at the Peace Research Institute of Frankfurt (PRIF). Book Recomendations: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow Tom Clancy novels Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

The history of the world's most successful military alliance, from the wrecked Europe of 1945 to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. As they signed NATO into being after World War II, its founders fervently believed that only if the West's democracies banded permanently together could they avoid a catastrophic global atomic conflict. Over the 75 years since, the alliance has indeed avoided war with Russia, also becoming a major political, strategic and diplomatic player well beyond its borders. It has survived disagreements between leaders from Eisenhower, Churchill and de Gaulle to Trump, Stoltenberg and Merkel, faced down Kremlin foes from Stalin to Putin and endured unending questions and debate over what new nations might be allowed to join. Deterring Armageddon: A Biography of NATO (Hachette UK, 2024) takes the reader from backroom deals that led to NATO's creation, through the Cold War, the Balkans and Afghanistan to the current confrontation with the Kremlin following the invasion of Ukraine. It examines the tightrope walked by alliance leaders between a powerful United States sometimes flirting with isolationism and European nations with their ever-evolving wishes for autonomy and influence. Having spent much of its life preparing for conflicts that might never come, NATO has sometimes found itself in wars that few had predicted – and with its members now again planning for a potential major European conflict. It is a tale of tension, danger, rivalry, conflict, big personalities and high-stakes military and diplomatic posturing – as well as espionage, politics and protest. From the Korean War to the pandemic, the Berlin and Cuba crises to the chaotic evacuation from Kabul, Deterring Armageddon tells how the alliance has shaped and been shaped by history – and looks ahead to what might be the most dangerous era it has ever faced. Peter Apps is global defence correspondent for Reuters news agency and is currently on sabbatical as executive director of the Project for Study of the 21st Century (PS21). He is the author of two Kindle Singles. BEFORE EBOLA (2014) describes his experiences covering haemorrhagic fever in Angola in 2005 while CHURCHILL IN THE TRENCHES (2015) reconstructs the experiences of Britain's future prime minister at the front line during the First World War. Peter's podcast, focusing on modern military topics, as part of PS21 can be found here. Sidney Michelini is a post-doctoral researcher working on Ecology, Climate, and Violence at the Peace Research Institute of Frankfurt (PRIF). Book Recomendations: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow Tom Clancy novels Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history

The history of the world's most successful military alliance, from the wrecked Europe of 1945 to Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. As they signed NATO into being after World War II, its founders fervently believed that only if the West's democracies banded permanently together could they avoid a catastrophic global atomic conflict. Over the 75 years since, the alliance has indeed avoided war with Russia, also becoming a major political, strategic and diplomatic player well beyond its borders. It has survived disagreements between leaders from Eisenhower, Churchill and de Gaulle to Trump, Stoltenberg and Merkel, faced down Kremlin foes from Stalin to Putin and endured unending questions and debate over what new nations might be allowed to join. Deterring Armageddon: A Biography of NATO (Hachette UK, 2024) takes the reader from backroom deals that led to NATO's creation, through the Cold War, the Balkans and Afghanistan to the current confrontation with the Kremlin following the invasion of Ukraine. It examines the tightrope walked by alliance leaders between a powerful United States sometimes flirting with isolationism and European nations with their ever-evolving wishes for autonomy and influence. Having spent much of its life preparing for conflicts that might never come, NATO has sometimes found itself in wars that few had predicted – and with its members now again planning for a potential major European conflict. It is a tale of tension, danger, rivalry, conflict, big personalities and high-stakes military and diplomatic posturing – as well as espionage, politics and protest. From the Korean War to the pandemic, the Berlin and Cuba crises to the chaotic evacuation from Kabul, Deterring Armageddon tells how the alliance has shaped and been shaped by history – and looks ahead to what might be the most dangerous era it has ever faced. Peter Apps is global defence correspondent for Reuters news agency and is currently on sabbatical as executive director of the Project for Study of the 21st Century (PS21). He is the author of two Kindle Singles. BEFORE EBOLA (2014) describes his experiences covering haemorrhagic fever in Angola in 2005 while CHURCHILL IN THE TRENCHES (2015) reconstructs the experiences of Britain's future prime minister at the front line during the First World War. Peter's podcast, focusing on modern military topics, as part of PS21 can be found here. Sidney Michelini is a post-doctoral researcher working on Ecology, Climate, and Violence at the Peace Research Institute of Frankfurt (PRIF). Book Recomendations: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow Tom Clancy novels Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/world-affairs

Der Bundeskanzler stellt sich der Hauptstadt-Presse: Friedrich Merz wurde von den Berliner Journalisten befragt!

Will the conspiracy theories about Jeffrey Epstein divide Trump from his MAGA supporters? Can British culture accept genetically modifying embryos to prevent serious diseases? And why have we only just learned of the data breach involving Afghan refugees? Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer's Head of Audio Jasper Corbett, reporter Phoebe Davis and producer Poppy Bullard. Links to the team's Must Reads here: Sarina Wiegman, the tough England manager who could win us the EurosIlliberal land: Hungary's empire of ideas‘A relentless, destructive energy': inside the trial of Constance Marten and Mark GordonListen to the Retreat from Kabul parts One and Two**Join us at the News Meeting Live HEREFollow us on Social Media: @ObserverUK on X @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok@theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky Host: Giles Whittell, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Producer: Casey MagloireExecutive Producer: Rebecca Moore, Executive Producer To find out more about The Observer:Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free contentHead to our website observer.co.uk Download the Tortoise app – for a listening experience curated by our journalistsIf you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact hello@tortoisemedia.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

//The Wire//2000Z July 16, 2025////ROUTINE////BLUF: ISRAELI FORCES STRIKE DAMASCUS. ATTEMPTED FIREBOMBER ARRESTED IN MICHIGAN. CONCERNS MOUNT REGARDING SECRET BRITISH PLAN TO HOUSE AFGHAN MIGRANTS.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-United Kingdom: Social backlash has resulted from a court order issued yesterday, which unsealed many details pertaining to a secret government plan to relocate Afghans to the United Kingdom following the fall of Kabul in 2021. In 2022, a plan was created by the Ministry of Defense to covertly extricate roughly 4,500 people from Afghanistan and relocate them to the United Kingdom, after a data breach allegedly revealed that they were working for the British government during the war. On Tuesday, the British citizenry discovered that the true number of Afghans imported under this secret plan was actually over 16,000.Syria: This morning Israeli forces conducted a large-scale airstrike at the Ministry of Defense building in Damascus, with initial damage assessments indicating the complex was nearly completely destroyed. The bombing of Damascus continued throughout the day.Analyst Comment: At the moment it is uncertain as to how far Israel will go (for this specific engagement), however it's possible these are the next steps of their much larger campaign. For additional context, PM Netanyahu's criminal trial was scheduled to begin today, however court was adjourned due to the strikes. Before the cancellation, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee was in attendance at the court.-HomeFront-Michigan: One assailant has been arrested in conjunction with a firebombing attempt that was carried out at the GOP headquarters in Dickinson County on Saturday. Local authorities state that Zayn Edward Arcand attempted to throw an incendiary device at the facility, however the device failed to ignite during the attack. Arcand was arrested shortly after the attack.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: The Afghan scandal in the United Kingdom comes as concerns grow regarding the censorship of the citizenry. One of the more important aspects of this case is that everyone knew this was happening at the time in 2022, however a court order banned speech from media groups referencing this scandal. Now that this order has been rescinded, more details pertaining to immigration issues are likely to come to light over the next few weeks.Analyst: S2A1Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground//END REPORT//

The British Government has revealed it has secretly moved thousands of Afghans to the UK, after a data leak by a defence official. We'll hear from the journalist who fought to reveal the story and an Afghan who says his family's safety has been threatened. Also on the programme: our Washington correspondent who was having an early evening nap at home when Donald Trump gave him a call; and the world's biggest human imaging project that has scanned the bodies of 100,000 people. (Photo: A captain of the Afghanistan army boards a British military plane at Kabul airport to be evacuated to the UK. Issue date: Tuesday August 24, 2021. Credit: Ministry of Defence)

*** VIDEO EN NUESTRO CANAL DE YOUTUBE **** https://youtube.com/live/5IyNPQStu24 +++++ Hazte con nuestras camisetas en https://www.bhmshop.app +++++ #actualidad #geopolítica #militar Pakistán atraviesa una de las crisis más graves de su historia reciente. Grupos separatistas, insurgencias tribales, yihadismo transnacional y un Estado debilitado conviven bajo el control incierto del ISI, el poderoso servicio de inteligencia paquistaní. En este programa analizamos cómo el ISIS-K ha logrado afianzarse en zonas como Baluchistán y Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, aprovechando el vacío de poder, el resentimiento sectario y la ambigüedad histórica del propio aparato de seguridad. ¿Estamos ante una ruptura real entre el Estado profundo y el yihadismo, o solo ante una reconfiguración táctica? La rivalidad con India, el factor afgano, el papel de China y la presión de Estados Unidos completan este tablero geopolítico explosivo. Con Mariano de Miguel, exploramos: - El legado del ISI y su relación con los grupos yihadistas - Las motivaciones detrás de la pasividad del aparato de seguridad frente al ISIS-K - La presión internacional sobre Islamabad y el nuevo contexto regional - El uso del terrorismo como herramienta de poder en Asia del Sur - Y las fracturas internas que amenazan con desbordar al Estado paquistaní Un programa clave para entender el nuevo eje de inestabilidad que está tomando forma entre Islamabad, Kabul y Nueva Delhi. APÓYANOS Y HAZ POSIBLE BELLUMARTIS ¿Te gusta nuestro contenido y quieres echarnos una mano? Compra lo que necesites en Amazon desde nuestro enlace y nos estarás ayudando sin coste adicional: https://amzn.to/3ZXUGQl También puedes invitarnos a un café o una cerveza virtual: PATREON: patreon.com/bellumartis PAYPAL: paypal.me/bellumartis BIZUM: 656 778 825 SUSCRÍBETE Y COMPARTE Si todavía no lo has hecho, suscríbete al canal, dale a “me gusta” y comparte este contenido con amigos, compañeros y amantes de la historia y la geopolítica. Y por supuesto, síguenos en todas nuestras redes sociales para no perderte nada.

Artist Kubra Khademi was so enraged by the constant sexual harassment faced by women in Afghanistan that she created a bespoke suit of armour, forged out of metal with exaggerated breasts and buttocks. The idea came from an experience she had many years earlier, as a little girl, walking along a street and encountering a male stranger who would sexually assault her - at the time she wished she was wearing "iron underwear" to protect her. In March 2015 Kubra wore her custom-made armour and decided to walk down Kabul's busiest street. The reaction to her performance was life-changing - she received death threats and was forced to flee her home.Kubra's now living in France where she's a successful artist, recognised for her work celebrating the female body.Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Maryam MarufLives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else's life and expect the unexpected.   Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784   You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

Roman Abasy was a national Taekwondo champion and human rights advocate in Afghanistan, until the Taliban made him a target. Forced to flee, he rebuilt his life in Australia, turning exile into purpose. We explore Romans powerful journey from athlete to refugee to community leader, using sport, discipline, mental health and advocacy to uplift others, fight for justice and the right to belong. Timestamps added below if you want to skip to your juice.Want to become a Keep Rolling Patron and help further support the channel, hit the Patreon link below and Roll with the Squad!https://www.patreon.com/street_rolling_cheetahAdd, Follow or Contact Roman:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roman-abasy-702ab2227/Add, Follow or Contact me: Email: streetrollingcheetah@gmail.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/street_rolling_cheetah/?hl=enTwitter: https://twitter.com/st_rollcheetahFace book: https://www.facebook.com/StreetRollingCheetah/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-briggs-77b867100/Timestamps(00:00:00)  Welcome (00:03:23)  Introducing Roman Abasy(00:05:25)  Growing up in Kabul during a civil war(00:07:44)  School under the Taliban regime(00:12:27)  Starting into Taekwondo(00:14:40)  Continuing on education(00:16:20)  Regime change in 2001 - freedom (00:18:35)  Life inside and outside of Kabul (00:23:30)  Living with threats(00:25:10)  The normalisation of war(00:27:00)  Disabilities in a war torn country(00:32:45)  Hope Wheels program(00:34:01)  Access to tech vs values(00:37:45)  Leaving Afghanistan - a chaotic time(00:42:15)  Getting help from the Olympic committee(00:45:00)  Making it to Pakistan(00:46:03)  Australia was not by choice(00:48:16)  Learning languages (00:49:18)  Arriving in Sydney & getting support(00:56:10)  Living under different politics(00:58:05)  First job in Australia as a sports coordinator(01:03:42)  The different communities and integration(01:05:26)  Working in the public service(01:07:30)  Addressing local needs (01:10:35)  Youth settlement worker's role - helping with adaptation(01:16:15)  Housing crisis issues(01:18:40)  Comms with people in Afghanistan is controlled(01:22:15)  You can't forget where you came from(01:24:10)  Hope for change in a war torn country(01:31:02)  Local Islamic community - the difference(01:35:00)  Thoughts on Palestine, Israel and Iran(01:36:55)  Thoughts on local support for refugees(01:38:25)  Little Kabul and food talk

Duke is an international hip hop star who is visiting US troops in Kabul. Roya is his interpreter. In the new play set against a war-torn Afghanistan in 2016, can their chemistry matter more than their differences? Stars Jay Ellis and Stephanie Nur discuss the new play 'Duke & Roya', alongside director Warren Adams.

Nearly four years after Kabul fell, the Taliban remain entrenched—and the resistance is fragmented, under-resourced, and increasingly demoralized. General Hibatullah Alizai, the last Chief of General Staff of the Afghan army, joins Bill Roggio and Will Selber to discuss the anti-Taliban fight, internal Taliban rifts, and why the US and its allies risk repeating their worst mistakes.

Wir haben es immer schon geahnt: Das Leben ist weder Ponyhof noch Kindergeburtstag. Sätze wie diese fallen ja immer dann, wenn etwas schief geht oder etwas Gravierendes passiert, Verlust, Trauer, Schmerz gehören für uns alle dazu, auch das ist bekannt. In diesen Momenten hoffen wir auf Beistand mit unserem ganz individuellen Leid, auf jemanden, der uns heilt und hilft. Wer aber schützt und stützt all die Menschen in den Regionen weltweit, in denen es zu Naturkatastrophen und Kriegen kommt? Wer fährt in die Krisengebiete und setzt dabei sein eigenes Leben auf das Spiel? Die ehrenamtlichen Mitarbeiter der medizinischen Hilfsorganisation "Ärzte ohne Grenzen" beispielsweise, deren Vorstandsvorsitzende Parnian Parvanta heute unser Gast ist. Sie kam 1982 in Kabul zur Welt, inmitten der Wirren des Afghanistankrieges, und hatte als 8jähriges Mädchen das Glück, mit ihrer Familie über Umwege nach Deutschland fliehen zu können. Immer schon wollte Parnian Parvanta Ärztin werden, sie wurde es, genauer: Fachärztin für Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe. Nach Einsätzen z.B. in Indien, Nigeria und im Irak wurde sie 2023 zur Vorstandsvorsitzenden von "Ärzte ohne Grenzen" gewählt. Playlist: Shakira - Whenever wherever Grohe Baran - Kabul Jan Fettes Brot - Jein Freundeskreis - Mit Dir Ashiqi 2 - Tum Hi Ho Fairuz - Ya ana ya ana Shervin Hajipour - Barraye Rahat Fateh Ali Khan & Momina Mustehsan - Afareen Afareen Diese Podcast-Episode steht unter der Creative Commons Lizenz CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

L'apertura dei giornali, con le notizie e le voci dei protagonisti, tutto in meno di 30 minuti.Crisi dimenticate, Afghanistan: Il quadro che emerge dall'analisi condotta da EMERGENCY e CRIMEDIM (Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca e Formazione in Medicina dei Disastri, Assistenza Umanitaria e Salute Globale) è quello di un Afghanistan dove 22.9 milioni di persone, metà della popolazione, necessitano di aiuti umanitari e oltre 14 milioni di cure sanitarie. Ci colleghiamo con la nostra Cristina Carpinelli, che in questi giorni si trova proprio in Afghanistan, attualmente a Kabul.

On this episode of the Protector Culture Podcast, Jimmy and BK dive into the new laws being passed in Colorado—and why now is the time to take a stand. Our children's future and our foundational beliefs are under pressure like never before.   Jimmy and BK break down what these changes mean, why it matters, and how we, as protectors, must rise up with conviction and courage.

The Taliban have severely restricted the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan since returning to power in August 2021. Nearly 2.2 million girls are deprived of education, with girls banned from school after the age of 12 years, while women are not allowed to work in most sectors of society. In response, more and more Afghan women in the capital Kabul are using art as an act of hope and resistance. FRANCE 24's team reports, with Shahzaib Wahlah.

The war in Afghanistan didn't end when the last C-17 lifted off from Kabul. That was just the beginning of the fallout. It was a trillion-dollar failure, and that failure didn't just disappear—it sent shockwaves across the Middle East. Now, with Israel and Iran staring each other down and the world edging closer to full-blown war, we're seeing the cost of the Global War on Terror in real time. On this episode of Mike Drop, I sit down with Navy SEAL and Afghanistan vet Larsen Jensen—someone who was there, who saw the writing on the wall years ago. Together, we pull no punches. We break down how the U.S. exit from Afghanistan wasn't just a tactical blunder—it was a green light for our enemies. This isn't about politics. It's about reality. Washington failed. The signs were there. Jensen saw them. And if you think the worst is behind us, think again. What's coming next could make Afghanistan look like a warm-up. ---------- #sponsored IDEO U Get 15% Off at www.ideou.com/mikedrop TEAM DOG FOOD, TREATS & SUPPLEMENTS Be Your Dog's Hero: Veteran-owned by a former Navy SEAL and Special Operations K9 Trainer, Team Dog provides a complete diet of science-backed premium dog food, treats, and supplements to optimize your dog's health, forged from rigorous standards and real-world expertise. https://www.teamdog.shop TEAM DOG ONLINE TRAINING Mike Ritland – a former Navy SEAL & Special Operations K9 trainer – shares his simple and effective dog training program to build trust and control with your dog. Based on Mike's bestselling book “Team Dog, Train the Navy SEAL Way”, join tens of thousands of families that successfully trained their way to a better dog. https://www.teamdog.pet SHOP ALL THE MIKE RITLAND BRANDS Get all your Mike Ritland branded gear - Mike Drop | Trikos | Team Dog https://shop.mikeritland.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Their volatile, inconsistent messaging isn't new. Victor Davis Hanson unpacks the deeper story behind the chaos of how the Democrat Party has surrendered to its most radical base on today's episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “The Left knows that they are not polling well. They know that the party's base is controlling their narrative, and they know that that narrative supports issues from transgenderism, to an open border, to lax enforcement of criminal statutes, to something like Kabul, abroad, that has no public support. And they're angry.  “ Whatever Donald Trump has done to them—and maybe that will be his lasting legacy—he had the ability to expose what used to be Democrats, as absolutely unhinged and nihilistic. And I don't think anybody wants any part of them.”

Welcome back to Home Base Nation! This is our sixth episode in a series where we talk with some of the folks at Home Base who wake up every day with the same mission in mind, regardless of their role at the Center of Excellence in the Navy Yard and beyond. Over the next several weeks, we will share the staff conversations I had with some of the hardworking professionals at Home Base who help treat the invisible wounds of veterans and military families. We have published 120 episodes since 2019. For this new season, we thought it would be a good idea to look back on some of the highlights of our conversations and select 20 episodes that resonated with veterans, service members, military families, and the civilians who support them.But first up, you'll hear from some of the folks at Home Base who wake up every day with the same mission in mind, no matter what they do at the Center of Excellence in the Navy Yard and beyond. For this episode, you will hear a brief conversation with Registered Dietitian and Manager of Clinical and Culinary Nutrition for the Home Base Program Nicolette Maggiolo, serving those in the Home Base Intensive Clinical Program, New England Warrior Health & Fitness Program, and Outpatient Clinic. Additionally, Nicolette has authored a Limited edition Home Base Cookbook that features over 100 original recipes with reflections from veterans and military families. With all proceeds benefiting Home Base. It even has a bonus dog treat recipe for your pup, honoring our beloved Home Base dog Gatsby.  Woof. The cookbook was available at Stop and Shop in honor of Military Appreciation Month and once more become available we will share it here.Following my conversation with Nicolette, you'll hear an episode with Rock DJ and podcast host Mistress Carrie. A vehement supporter of U.S. troops and veterans, Mistress Carrie wanted to find a way to give back, and in 2006 she made her way to Iraq, as the first non-news journalist embedded with troops there, before "deploying" for a second time in Afghanistan in 2011, where she met Brigadier General (Ret.) Jack Hammond, who was leading command in Kabul at the time. Back in 2022, she stopped by the Home Base Center of Excellence to speak with Ron and General Hammond to speak about why supporting veterans matters so much and how she views service. Run To Home Base: Join Ron and his team and sign up individually or on another team at the 16th annual Run To Home Base on July 26th, 2025, at Fenway Park! Go to runtohomebase.orgPlease visit homebase.org for updates, programming, and resources if you or someone you know is struggling. Home Base Nation is the official podcast for the Home Base Program for Veterans and Military Families. Our team sees veterans, service members, and their families addressing the invisible wounds of war at no cost. This is all made possible thanks to a grateful nation. To learn more about how to help, visit us at www.homebase.org. If you or anyone you know would like to connect to care, you can also reach us at 617-724-5202.Follow Home Base on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedInThe Home Base Nation Team is Steve Monaco, Army Veteran Kelly Field, Justin Scheinert, Chuck Clough, with COO Michael Allard, Brigadier General Jack Hammond, and Peter Smyth.Producer and Host: Dr. Ron HirschbergAssistant Producer, Editor: Chuck CloughChairman, Home Base Media Lab: Peter SmythThe views expressed by guests on the Home Base Nation podcast are their own, and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by guests are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Home Base, the Red Sox Foundation, or any of its officials. 

From March 14, 2023: For years, the international community has wrestled with how to reconcile sanctions policies targeting terrorist groups and other malevolent actors with the need to provide humanitarian assistance in areas under those groups' control. Late last year, both the Biden administration and the UN Security Council took major steps toward a new approach on this issue, installing broad carveouts for humanitarian assistance into existing sanctions regimes. To talk through these changes, Lawfare Senior Editor Scott R. Anderson sat down with two leading sanctions experts: Rachel Alpert, a Partner at the law firm Jenner & Block and former State Department attorney, and Alex Zerden, the Founder and Principal of Capitol Peak Strategies and a former Treasury Department official, including at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. They talked about the long-standing issues surrounding humanitarian assistance, what these changes may mean in jurisdictions like Afghanistan, and where more changes may yet be forthcoming. To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trump and Elon Musk attacked each other on social media in an extraordinary public fight. Politico has the blow-by-blow. Afghanistan has a complex set of migration exemptions owing to the war. The travel ban could complicate that. The Washington Post’s Kabul bureau chief, Rick Noack, joins to explain. The deported Venezuelan migrants were said by Trump aides to be the “worst of the worst.” ProPublica’s Melissa Sanchez and colleagues have been digging to reveal a more complicated picture. Plus, Trump and Xi Jinping spoke for the first time, and we saw two significant Supreme Court rulings: a consequential judgement in a woman’s “reverse discrimination” case, and one regarding a move by Mexico to take gun companies to task for arming gangs. Today’s episode was hosted by Yasmeen Khan.