27 afghanistan is falling, SEC flexing

dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this email newsletter with its newly revamped website and expanded blog called hottakes. sorry guys, it’s summer and love is in the air. for real though, our new weekly deep dive into topics of import is going strong, and we’re continuing to look into the origins of the arab-israeli conflict. this week - how the british made conflicting promises to the arabs, zionists, and french after WWI. we’d say that’s surprising, but the english are pretty dumb.

big idea: afghanistan is falling to the taliban

1. the taliban has taken control of the majority of afghanistan, winning a stunning series of battles over this past week, just three weeks after the US military withdrew from the country. taliban forces took over the second and third largest afghan cities, most international border crossings, and are just seven miles south of kabul. american intelligence agencies predict they could militarily take control of the capital within a month.
2. Joe is scrambling - no one expected afghanistan to fall so quickly. the US embassy is being evacuated, with sensitive documents being destroyed. the US is trying to convince the taliban to spare our embassy when their inevitable attack on kabul begins. the afghan government is reportedly trying to reach a last-ditch power sharing agreement. so far, there is no indication that Joe will backtrack and send american troops back in.
3. the taliban has a clear military strategy. they’re funneling refugees into kabul to overwhelm the government, and are systematically surrounding the city to increase pressure. the government...doesn’t really know what they’re doing, despite $88 billion spent on training them over the past 20 years. reports indicate villages have surrendered to the taliban when as few as 10 militants show up.
4. there’s no sugar coating this - afghanistan will fall to taliban rule as inevitably as Mitch McConnell is slowly turning into a turtle. the taliban’s end game is unclear though - do they intend to take kabul by force, or are they betting they can force the government into surrender? 

story to watch: the SEC’s flexing

1. earlier this month, the SEC approved a NASDAQ proposal on corporate board diversity, and last week, the SEC chair said the commission is working on disclosure rules for carbon emissions. along with reports that the SEC will start monitoring private equity more closely, it’s clear that the investment regulation commission is stepping up.
2. the diversity proposal will require all companies which want to sell stocks on the NASDAQ to report the diversity of their corporate boards, and explain themselves if they don’t have any women or minorities in these leadership positions. the environmental disclosures being discussed would require corporations to publish climate-related risks and how much carbon they emit.
3. the SEC is clearly empowered under Joe and has been given a mandate - rein in the excesses of the markets and big business, and move the ball forward on important societal issues. who knew such a boring sounding commission could put out such exciting news?

this week’s image: school bus

• (The Guardian) children laugh in a literal school bus - a mobile classroom on wheels for poor indian communities. we’re pretty sure the teacher’s name is ms. frizzle.

this week’s number: only 57.8% of ‘murica is white

1. detailed data of last year’s census was released this week, revealing that the US is increasingly less white, at just 57.8% of the population. the hispanic population boomed, increasing by 25% since 2010, with the asian population also jumping by about a third. the number of americans identifying as multiracial also skyrocketed, mostly due to changes in how the census asked about race.
2. despite the growth in minorities, and as we discussed in issue 12, the US is still facing a baby bust and the resulting slower economic growth

reader mailbag:

1. reader S.R. reached out about our story last week on progressives losing big in recent elections, including a special house race in ohio. we pointed out that the progressive outraised the moderate (who won) by a 2:1 margin, but S.R. argued that was a moot point because super PACs, including the Democratic Majority for Israel, poured millions in on the moderate’s side.
2. even including that super PAC money though, the moderate still was at a cash disadvantage, and still won. if progressives want to elect dems who don’t unconditionally support israel, they should choose people who can actually win, not the most controversial person on twitter.

and, in case you missed it:

• the senate passed a bipartisan $550 billion infrastructure bill, which will now go to the house for approval
• Uber & Lyft prices continue to rise despite additional drivers on the services
• the olympics drew to a close, with NBC ratings falling to record lows
• a Canadian woman set an unofficial world record for speed...crawling, going 100 meters in 23 seconds

the weekly rundown is produced by Yunus, Faisal, and Ahmed. learn more about us and email us your comments and feedback!