Phantom Withdrawal: The US military completed its withdrawal from the Kabul airport yesterday, finishing their exit a day early and leaving Afghanistan to control by the Taliban after 20 years of war.

 The last C-17 cargo plane, with the call sign MOOSE 88, left at midnight local time carrying the last American troops. The Pentagon tweeted a green night-vision picture of the last to leave, Maj. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne. 

  The announcement of the end was made by Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., the head of the military’s Central Command, not by President Joe Biden.

  A senior Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, tweeted, “Our country has achieved a full independence, thanks to God.”

   After the US departure, Taliban fighters were  reported to be walking through aircraft hangars looking at some of the helicopters the US left behind.

 The NY Times reports that “Senior commanders made the decision a few days ago to depart unannounced roughly 24 hours before the withdrawal deadline.” They decided to leave a little pad time in case a plane broke down and to avoid a desperate mob overrunning the airport in the final hours.

  Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that roughly 100 American citizens had been left behind. He said the US will attempt to get them out over land or by charter flight once the Kabul airport reopens. “We have no illusion that any of this will be easy, or rapid,” he said.

Not Easy: New Orleans and Southern Louisiana are digging out and drying out after Hurricane Ida. The state’s $14.5 billion improved levee and pumping system built after Hurricane Katrina appears to have performed well, but many people were left trapped in their homes and even on rooftops. The damage is reported to be “catastrophic.”

  Two people were reported to have died in the storm.

  Ida knocked out power for two million people and severed water service for 641,000. 

  The historic Karnofsky Tailor Shop building in New Orleans collapsed. Jazz legend Louis Armstrong once lived there and the Karnofsky family helped him buy his first cornet. 

Covid Nation: The US has reached a daily average of 100,000 Covid-19 hospitalizations as the pandemic resurges. The surge is second only to last winter.

  Hospitalizations are up 500 percent, led by Florida where 16,457 people are hospitalized, the most of any state, followed by Texas, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Across the country, 20 percent of intensive care beds are reported to be at or near full capacity because of Covid cases.

  Meanwhile, The Department of Education warned five states that their statewide bans on mask mandates could violate the civil rights of students. Letters of investigation went out to Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah.

  Covid cases over the past week are up  23 percent in Kentucky and 25 percent in South Carolina. Overall, deaths in the US are up just shy of 30 percent in the past week.

Supply Shortage: You may have noticed when you go to the grocery that some shelves are surprisingly spare in a country in which customers are accustomed to plentiful supply of everything.

  The NY Times reports that pandemic-related shortages of everything from pots and pans to computer chips and cars. It’s called “The Great Supply Chain Disruption” and it’s causing economic uncertainty around the world. Factories are short of metal parts, plastics, and raw materials. With shortages, contractors are paying more for paint, lumber, and hardware. 

  Toyota announced that it is cutting car production 40 percent because of a shortage of computer chips.

  The Times quotes one economic expert saying it may be another year or two before things return to normal. 

The Spin Rack: An enormous wildfire is descending the hills into South Lake Tahoe, California, causing evacuation of 22,000 residents. If it gets into the homes among the trees, it’s going to be a conflagration. — With Algeria using up the last of its supply, the world has stopped using leaded gasoline. Added lead was believed to improve engine performance, but it was also a big polluter. — Farmworker Cristhian Bahena Rivera was sentenced to life in prison without parole in the murder of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts in 2018, a crime that that President Trump used as an argument in favor of his fight against illegal immigration. — A school board in Virginia agreed to pay $1.3 million in legal fees to a former student whose attempts to use the boys’ bathroom turned into a lawsuit. Gavin Grimm informed his school in 2014 that he was transgender, but they wouldn’t let him use the boys’ bathroom.

Dept. of Edicashun: Steve Lynch, the Republican candidate for Northampton County executive in Pennsylvania, is saying that he will employ “20 strong men” to forcefully remove pro-mask members from the local school board. 

  At a rally in Harrisburg, Lynch led a chant of  “Make men men again!”

  He declared that “I’m going in with 20 strong men, and I’m going to speak to the school board, and I’m going to give them an option. They can leave or they can be removed,” Lynch said. “And then after that, we’re going to replace them with nine parents and we’re going to vote down the mask mandates that evening — that evening.”

  And you know, he’s going to do that even if it conflicts with the day that Donald Trump is restored to the presidency. 

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