Notations On Our World (Weekly Edition): Out & About With our "Outsider Wall" For the Week

 

We welcome all to August here in the Daily Outsider.   Our team pulled together a compilation of the final week courtesy of the White House, The National Review, The Financial Times, and Democracy at work as we assessed the state of affairs in America and the World.   This is as China continues its' assertive stance,  Iran gets a new President and COVID continues its rage.  

We look forward to our continued privilege to serve. 

Walmart and Disney Impose Vaccination Mandates on Employees The new rules follow the CDC’s mask guidance update in light of the spread of the Delta COVID ... READ MORE For US Troops, Getting COVID Vaccine Is Now a Matter of 'How and When' By Tara Copp All federal employees and contractors will be required to either get vaccinated or face regular testing for COVID-19, and the Pentagon must determine “how and when” the vaccine will be mandated for all service members, too, President Joe Biden announced Thursday.  Read more » World Donald Trump raises a $100m war chest Former president has brought in more cash than anyone else in the Republican party ahead of midterm elections AUGUST 1, 2021 by Christine Zhang in New York

THIS WEEK IN GOVERNING JULY 31, 2021 South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster. (Sean Rayford/TNS) Around the country, Republican-controlled states have pursued unusually ambitious programs this year. They have slashed taxes, created new private school choice programs and engaged in culture war fights over issues such as transgender athletes. Much of the newfound energy in red states is part of the response to the GOP losing power in Washington. It’s natural for the GOP’s focus to shift from Washington, where it can only play defense, out to the states, where the party controls a majority of legislatures and governorships. Some Republicans are clearly thumbing their nose at President Biden. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (above) sought to block the administration from sending people door to door to promote vaccinations, while Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has cracked down on vaccine outreach efforts targeted at children. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other GOP governors have sent members of the National Guard to the Mexican border essentially to protest what they see as lax immigration enforcement from the administration. But there’s skepticism that Republicans will be able to stem the tide of government growth or push back meaningfully against a culture being changed both by demographics and evolving attitudes. READ MORE. THE COVID ECONOMY GDP growth hit 6.5 percent in the second quarter, exceeding the pre-pandemic pace: “The growth came as business reopenings and government aid powered a surge that is expected to gradually slow in coming months, with Covid-19 variants and materials and labor disruptions clouding the outlook. Second-quarter growth fell short of economists’ forecasts. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal estimated that gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services made in the U.S., grew at an 8.4 percent annual rate in the April-to-June period.” “Still, the growth propelled GDP beyond pre-pandemic levels, a milestone that underscores the speed of the recovery that began last summer.” READ MORE World Raisi vows to restore ‘trust’ with disillusioned Iranian public President-elect sworn in this week as water shortages add to hardship of inflation and sanctions AUGUST 1, 2021 by Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran World Tunisian president vows to crack down on corruption Kais Saied says businessmen and officials have stolen $4.8bn through unpaid taxes and fraud JULY 29, 2021 by Heba Saleh in Tunis

Politics Taliban officials visit China to discuss security after US pulls out Delegation meets foreign minister Wang Yi as American troop withdrawal draws closer JULY 28, 2021 by Stephanie Findlay in New Delhi and Christian Shepherd in Beijing

Politics US and Russian officials to begin Geneva arms control talks Meeting is first of a ‘strategic stability dialogue’ agreed last month by presidents Biden and Putin JULY 28, 2021 by Henry Foy in Brussels

World Chinese businessman who challenged Beijing jailed for 18 years Agricultural tycoon Sun Dawu sentenced as Xi Jinping reins in entrepreneurs that question rule JULY 28, 2021 by Christian Shepherd in Beijing “In ‘Stuck Nation,’ I share my observations on the origins of our national stuck-ness, my reporting on how it endures and my analysis of what might be required for us to change the course of our historical patterns. I've written this book while our country has been in the convulsions of a global pandemic that had been long predicted by public health experts. Yet the nation and the planet were caught so unprepared that millions would die; and, as of this writing, 115,000 health care workers around the world have perished. And in the midst of this once in a century public health crisis, the United States itself — despite the expenditure of trillions of dollars in military procurement and global deployment in the name of protecting democracy — was almost toppled from within by one of the two national political parties, which had been commandeered by a white-supremacist authoritarian. In ‘Stuck Nation’ I have assembled accounts of individuals and a broader movement willing to put everything at risk to change our national narrative, so that America can begin what the Rev. Dr. William Barber  describes as a "Third Reconstruction," one that puts the condition of the people ahead of profits so obscene they can launch a handful of billionaires into space." Read the full excerpt in Salon Magazine.