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tessandscottforever18 · 2 years

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July 7

Camila Cabello on the power of putting yourself first

She’s one of the most successful pop stars on the planet. But what’s life really like when you’re making career moves, figuring out your love life and struggling with mental health, all under the glare of a paparazzi flash bulb? We find out...

'We’re doing a little family trip!' Camila Cabello is Zooming me from her sun lounger in Positano, Italy. I, on the other hand, am sitting in the bedroom of my London flat, while drizzle pathetically slaps against my window. I am not jealous at all.

Shielding her eyes from the ‘golden hour’ sunset, Cabello, 25, has that dazed smile of someone who is in peak relaxation mode right now. That, or someone who is incredibly tired.

The night before we speak, Cabello performed at the chaotic Champions League final at the Stade de France. After four hours of sleep, and with a few days off before heading back to the US, she flew to Italy with her family to make the most of their time in Europe. They spent the day walking around the ancient ruins of Pompeii. ‘It was amazing – so, so cool. But I’m so exhausted, I can’t even tell you,’ she says sleepily.

Cabello has been on the go ever since the release of her third solo studio album, Familia, earlier this year. The record chronicles her ‘relationships’, she says. Not just romantic – though there are several tracks documenting the highs and lows of love – but also with her friends, family (Cabello hugs her younger cousin on the album’s super-cute cover artwork) and herself. The album pays homage to her Mexican-Cuban roots with its Spanish title and several songs sung in the language, while others are set against mariachi bands, reggaeton beats and flamenco-style sounds.

Born in Havana, Cabello spent the first few years of her life between there – where her mother is also from – and Mexico City, where her father is from. The family emigrated to the US and settled in Miami, Florida, when Cabello was around seven years old. Her memories are patchy from that time, but the ones she does have revolve around music and making new friends by bonding over a love of Disney’s The Cheetah Girls. She didn’t speak any English at first, which contributed to her shyness as a child.

‘I would cry if my parents asked me to sing in front of their friends,’ she says. ‘I don’t know if I knew I was a good singer but I really liked to sing and, whenever I did, it didn’t get a terrible response so I just kept doing it.’

As her shyness eased, Cabello began to upload videos of herself singing covers of Alicia Keys, Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato to YouTube, though she often kept her hands up to the camera to obscure her face, or swiftly deleted the videos afterwards.

Then at the age of 15, spurred on by her love for One Direction, Cabello decided to audition for the second season of the American version of The X Factor. (Seriously, she recently told James Corden that she auditioned for The X Factor over The Voice so she could meet Harry Styles.) She was eliminated at bootcamp but, much like 1D and Little Mix, was called back to form an archetypal Simon Cowell ‘soloists-become-supergroup’ band along with fellow contestants Normani, Ally Brooke, Lauren Jauregui and Dinah Jane. They became Fifth Harmony.

From 2012 through to 2016, the group released consecutive multiplatinum singles and performed non-stop tours and festivals. They were a mainstream hit, amassing four MTV VMAs, two People’s Choice Awards and an American Music Award, while also breaking the record for the most viewed music video on YouTube by a girl group with 'Work From Home' (currently at 2.5 billion views and counting).

After months of rumours, Cabello left the group in 2016, in what was – to put it bluntly – a pretty messy departure. The remaining band members (who continued as a foursome until 2018) claimed they were informed of Cabello’s departure via her management, which she denied in an Instagram post.

Six years later, on 'Psychofreak' – perhaps the most vulnerable of all the songs on Familia – Cabello acknowledges the group’s split via her music for the first time. ‘I been on this ride since I was 15, I don’t blame the girls for how it went down, down,’ she sings over an electro-pop beat. For any Harmonisers out there still looking for Easter eggs, 'Down' was the first track Fifth Harmony released sans Cabello.

‘I felt like it was important to keep that [lyric] on there because it was such a big part of my journey as a person. It just explains so much of how I got to where I am now, mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and I’m sure for everyone else in the group, too. I felt like it was important because I don’t really ever talk about that in any of my songs,’ she says.

Has Cabello heard from any of the group since releasing the track? ‘I had such a great time seeing Normani at the Met Gala,’ she gushes. ‘Actually, that was probably one of the highlights of my night. We were just laughing, having fun and hanging out. She said something really sweet about [the song] and in general is really cool and supportive. I try to be super supportive as well. I feel like we’re in a great place. I feel like that about some of the other girls, too, and I feel really good about that.’

The end of pretending

The lyrics on Psychofreak also delve deeper into the mental health issues Cabello has admitted to struggling with during her time in the spotlight, namely anxiety and OCD symptoms. When it comes to the aftermath of laying her inner feelings bare for the world to hear, she references her ‘vulnerability hangover’, a term coined by American author and TED-talker Brené Brown.

‘It’s like if you tell a guy that you like him, the minute he leaves, you’re like, “Oh my god, why did I say that? That was so stupid.” I remember feeling like that when I came out of the booth after [recording] this song. I’d just said all these crazy f**king things like, ‘When we’re making love, I want to be there.’ I said so many other things that didn’t even make it into the song. I thought, “Is everyone going to think I’m a weirdo?” The “vulnerability hangover” is so real, which is why the people you have around you are so important. Because if someone were to say, “Yeah, you shouldn’t have said that, that’s really weird,” it would break my heart and I would probably hide under the covers for a week. But that’s never happened before. Every single time I’ve been vulnerable, someone has said, “That’s not weird, that’s totally normal.”’

Cabello pinpoints the suffocating hold anxiety had over her in her late teens and early twenties. ‘It was something I just lived with. I was used to having functioning anxiety that got really bad every half a year. Then I started opening up to friends, and I realised how much suffering and neuroses are normal, and that we’re all bats**t crazy in our own way, but when it keeps you from having healthy relationships and being more often than not in a relatively stable place, that I needed to seek out some therapy. Talking about it really helped me realise, “Oh, I think this is making my life harder than it is for other people.”’

She still has weekly therapy sessions to manage her anxiety (‘I love therapy!’) and has found being open and honest about her struggles to be helpful, too. ‘I think pretending is a form of psychological torture and brings the most anxiety. We do that so much in our society and culture. We’re constantly hustling and putting on a smile when we don’t feel good.’

The pandemic forced Cabello to slow down, moving back to Miami with her family and finding time to ride her bike and cook. If her mental health were to start deteriorating again, she now knows to take a break. ‘Obviously, this is a huge luxury, but if I felt like that again, I wouldn’t force myself to do anything and I wouldn’t pretend because who is that for? If I’m not being honest, then I don’t know what I’m bringing to people, you know?'

Having risen to fame in tandem with the explosion of social media – where she has more than 90 million combined followers across Instagram, TikTok and Twitter – her relationship with it is constantly evolving. Cabello admits it’s a balancing act; she is vocal about LGBTQ+ equality, gun control and abortion rights but acknowledges the need to protect her mental health from inevitable trolling and mean comments. ‘If I see something that hurts my feelings, I’ll just violently delete my apps. And then I’ll miss Instagram and TikTok and I’ll redownload them again, and then it’s just a vicious cycle that repeats over and over. But yeah, social media is interesting. It’s got good and bad.’

Fame is a strange concept for Cabello – ‘I want to be an artist, not like a “celebrity”.’ She looks to her friend and Bam Bam collaborator Ed Sheeran as a ‘perfect example’ of this. ‘He just strives to be an artist, and then also just lives his life as a normal dude. He has a whole private life that people don’t know about, where he has fun, hangs out with his friends, has a family, has dinner with the people he loves. I think Ed just lives it – he’s just out here trying to have fun with good people and make music he loves. And that’s the same thing I’m trying to do.’

She tries to hang out with Sheeran whenever they’re both in the same place, including the UK and, it turns out, she is a huge fan of British foods. ‘I love roast beef and a Yorkshire pudding, parsnips and potatoes. I love fish and chips. I love beans on toast. ‘Ooh, and I love Fleabag,’ she gushes. ‘I love Crashing by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, too. In fact, I love Phoebe Waller-Bridge, period.’

The paparazzi paradox

It’s no surprise that Cabello has mixed feelings about ‘fame’. In the classic case of a woman who entered the public domain at a young age, Cabello often attracts the attention of intrusive paparazzi, with photos of her body being picked apart in the media afterwards. In fact, just hours after our chat, a day out with her family was papped and packaged into a tabloid news story, displaying unauthorised and unwelcome bikini pictures alongside thinly veiled backhanded compliments, dished out under the (unconvincing) guise of flattery.

To protect her privacy, she has made changes, such as avoiding places where she might be photographed and attempting to control the narrative via social media. But as this trip to Italy has demonstrated, there is still an expectation by some that privacy is a moot point when you’re a celebrity. ‘There are varying degrees of discomfort [with fame]. The beach thing, paparazzi stuff and people filming me, is really uncomfortable,’ she says, referring to a similar experience at a beach in her home town of Miami, where photographers clamoured to get a bikini shot of her. ‘I was in the ocean and there were six [photographers] four feet away from me. It was so wrong and just weird. [But] I adjust. I don’t go to those places any more or put myself in vulnerable situations like that. It’s fine, I don’t feel like people are going to be interested in my body forever.’

After this incident in Miami, Cabello tweeted about her discomfort, explaining how she felt that we, as a culture, have become accustomed to seeing images of women’s bodies that are ‘completely not real for a lot of women’ and are instead the product of ‘Photoshop, restrictive eating, overexercising and choosing angles that make our bodies look different than how they are in the moment and in their natural form’. She admitted to succumbing to the insecurity herself, holding her ‘core so tight my abs hurt’ and not eating anything heavy, feeling self-conscious in front of hidden photographers, only to feel empty and sad about it all.

Reflecting on all of the support she received after this tweet, she says, ‘I think it sparks up an interesting conversation, even among people that know me. I got a lot of texts being like, “Hey, I really relate to that, I’m glad you posted that.”

‘I would have been glad to see someone post something like that. Especially if they looked amazing in a picture, to be like, oh, thank god, you didn’t just eat three bowls of pasta and then look like that, you know? Sometimes, that’s what we think and that’s not actually true,’ she says.

Moving on and messing up

Cabello’s family, friends and romantic life are all areas she wants to keep separate from her professional life now, too. ‘I don’t really want my dating life or that side of my life to be…’ she tails off. ‘I mean, obviously, I know that it has been in the past, but that’s not really what I want. It just so happened that it turned out that way.’

The relationship, which ‘just so happened to turn out that way’, undoubtedly alludes to her high-profile relationship of two and a half years with fellow singer Shawn Mendes. The origins of their relationship coincided with the release of their steamy duet, Señorita, which went on to be the third biggest song in the world in 2019. Adored by their fans as a celebrity power couple, Cabello and Mendes were frequently photographed together during off-duty moments on walks or while out for dinner. They also shared pictures of the puppy, Tarzan, they bought together on their social media accounts and gave an intimate glimpse into their private relationship via the 2020 Netflix documentary Shawn Mendes: In Wonder.

Cabello doesn’t mention her famous ex-boyfriend by name throughout our chat, and she doesn’t really need to. They split up in November 2021, issuing a joint but mutually appreciative statement. But how do you protect yourself when a break-up, as difficult and personal as that is, becomes news and you have to face the added scrutiny that comes with being famous? ‘It’s the same way I protect my emotions with everything else,’ Cabello explains simply. ‘I just stay off [the internet]. I don’t look at what anyone says and wait for time to do its thing.’

Growing older has also adjusted her expectations and priorities when it comes to romantic relationships. ‘I don’t put a lot of focus on it. I just really want to hang out with people, I want to make friends and I’ve made a lot of great friends over the past year. A lot of girlfriends. I’ve got some great group chats going,’ she laughs.

‘If something happens, then that’s really fun, but I don’t put any pressure on it. Before I used to be like, “Yes, love, oh my god, love,” and now I’m just trying to have a good time. I just want to live my life and have great friendships. If something comes out of [them] that’s something more, then that’s great,’ she says.

These days, so much of being a pop star is often in the packaging. In the slick management of their ‘profile’ and polished public image. In the promotion and apparent ‘perfection’ of a person and the life they lead. But not for Cabello. After a decade in the industry, she’s very much here for the messiness and vulnerability of being human, of learning and evolving as she continues her journey and finds out what works for her personally. ‘Everyone experiences those things getting older. There’s a lot of messiness. You mess up, you make a lot of mistakes and that’s just what growing up is.

'They don’t say older and wiser for no reason,’ Cabello smiles. ‘I’m more relaxed, at ease and sure of what I want. All the hell I experienced – whether it was in my mind, outside my mind, in little waves or big waves – taught me how to find the peace that I’m getting now,’ she says. And if anything makes an attempt to derail her peace, clarity and balance now? ‘F*ck it, I’m leaving,’ she grins, holding two middle fingers up.

#camila cabello #cosmopolitan uk #interview: cosmopolitan uk

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my-chaos-radio-2010s-list · 6 days

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I Do - Colbie Caillat

I Don’t Want To Talk About It - Marit Larsen

I Feel It Coming - The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk

I Follow Rivers - Lykke Li

I Follow Rivers - Triggerfinger

I Like (The Idea Of) You - Tessa Violet

I Need A Doctor - Dr. Dre feat. Eminem, Skylar Grey

I Said Hi - Amy Shark

I Wanna Go - Britney Spears

I Want You To Know - Zedd feat. Selena Gomez

I Will Wait - Mumford & Sons

I’ll Be Your Man - James Blunt

I’m Not Rich - The King’s Son, Blacko

If I Die Young - The Band Perry

Impossible - Shontelle

In My Mind - LVNDSCAPE feat. Mi Manchi

In The Dark - DEV

In The Morning - Jaded

Innocence - Electric Youth

Instruction - Jax Jones feat. Demi Lovato, Stefflon Don

International Love - Pitbull feat. Chris Brown

Into You - Ariana Grande

Invincible - MGK feat. Ester Dean

Is Anybody Out There? - K'NAAN feat. Nelly Furtado

It Won’t Stop - Sevyn Streeter feat. Chris Brown

It’s The Weekend - Kovacs

Just A Dream - Nelly

Katchi - Ofenbach vs. Nick Waterhouse

Kill Em With Kindness - Selena Gomez

La La La - Naughty Boy feat. Sam Smith

Last Dance - Rhys

Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) - Katy Perry

Last Night In The City - Duran Duran feat. Kieza

Leave A Light On - Tom Walker

Leave A Trace - CHVRCHES

Lemonade - Alexandra Stan

Let Me Down Easy - Sheppard

Let You Love Me - Rita Ora

Levels - Avicii

Like A G6 - Far East Movement feat. The Cataracs, DEV

Limpido - Laura Pausini with Kylie Minogue

Little Hollywood - Alle Farben, Janieck

Little Numbers - BOY

Little Talks - Of Monsters And Men

Live For The Night - Krewella

Live My Life - Far East Movement feat. Justin Bieber

Locked Away - R. City feat. Adam Levine

Lost On You - LP

Love Me Again - John Newman

Love Me Harder - Ariana Grande, The Weeknd

Love Me Like You - Little Mix

Love Song - Zak Abel

Love The Way You Lie - Eminem feat. Rihanna

Lovers On The Sun - David Guetta, Sam Martin

Lovin' So Hard - Becky G

Low Key - Ally Brooke feat. Tyga

Lucky - Bastian Baker

Ma Chérie - DJ Antoine feat. The Beat Shakers

Make It Wonderful - Erasure

Mama - Jonas Blue feat. William Singe

Maria-Maria - Sabina Beyli

Marvin Gaye - Charlie Puth feat. Meghan Trainor

Midnight City - M83

Mirrors - Natalia Kills

Miss Nothing - The Pretty Reckless

Mr. Know It All - Kelly Clarkson

Naturals - Imagine Dragons

No tears left to cry - Ariana Grande

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troublcmakcrs · 7 days

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#pl :: ( tweek )#rel :: ( tweek x stan )

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xtruss · 1 month

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Illustration and Design By Ally J. Levine

— By Moira Warburton | Published March 12, 2024

The U.S. Congress is navigating yet another government funding deadline — the eighth in less than six months — and are at an impasse over sending aid to key allies in Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel. Divisions among Republicans in the House and Senate killed a major bipartisan border policy bill. Reforms to bedrock programs like Medicare and Social Security are desperately needed but no closer to getting passed. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives spent close to a month without a speaker last year due to infighting between moderate and hard right factions of the Republican party.

When U.S. Representative Chip Roy, a Republican from Texas, begged his colleagues in November to “give me one thing I can campaign on and say we did,” he was articulating what many lawmakers and observers were feeling: Congress isn’t working.

The simplest expression of this is the number of bills passed by Congress. Just twenty-seven bills were passed last year — a record low — but even before that, the number of bills signed into law by the president has been falling.

Congress Is Passing Fewer Laws

Experts point to several reasons for this. One key factor is an increase in polarization — Democrats and Republicans are farther apart ideologically than they’ve been in the last 50 years, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. That’s led to a decrease in bipartisanship, a necessary ingredient for bills to pass in a governing body full of checks and balances.

Fewer bills getting through to the president’s desk means the small number of mandatory ones that Congress must pass — such as government funding or annual legislation authorizing defense policies — are getting longer, said Molly Reynolds, senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, as lawmakers try to jam the bills with policies that wouldn’t otherwise get a vote.

“Those large packages have come to bear more of Congress’s legislating,” she said. A longer bill takes more time to read, debate and get voted on, slowing down the process further.

Drawing of a truck carrying an oversized load of green boxes. People are throwing boxes on and off the truck, seemingly in disagreement about what the truck should be carrying.

With more policies being shoved into bills increasing in length, the use of policies known as “poison pills” is another hurdle — partisan policies that will be completely unacceptable to the other party. Case in point: Republicans attempting to ban mail delivery of abortion pills via a crucial agriculture funding bill that must be reauthorized every five years.

The length of bills “represents an increasing dysfunction in the institution,” Michael Thorning, director of structural democracy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said. “Congress has difficulty taking action on a lot of individual pieces because of the politics or because of time constraints, and it’s easier to package some of these things up into ‘must pass’ bills… And then it’s a question of, ‘What can we add to this before it becomes so top heavy that it topples over?’”

The spikes in the number of bills passed correlate with periods when one party controlled all levers of government — House, Senate and the White House. But even when one party controls the majority, “unified party control is not doing as much work as it used to,” Sarah Binder, a professor of political science at George Washington University, said. “The minority party has become especially increasingly aggressive in using the rules of the game, particularly in the Senate, in blocking measures from even going to the floor.” That can be seen in the number of measures passed by each chamber of Congress, which is falling too.

Fewer Measures Passed In Congress

Another more elusive factor in Congress’s decreasing productivity is that members are spending less time talking to each other. A typical senator’s schedule includes flying back to Washington, D.C., on Monday for votes in the evening, then flying back to their home state on Thursday evening. The “Senate Friday” effect is commonly cited among reporters and staffers on the Hill – a sudden surge in activity on Thursday afternoons, as senators rush to finish any votes so they can go home for the weekend.

The House more often has votes Friday morning, but there is still an expectation of going back to the district for a longer weekend, plus recesses when lawmakers are home for weeks at a time. That Monday to Thursday schedule leaves just two full days for a laundry list of work.

Drawing of people standing on opposite sides of a chasm. Their body language, many standing with crossed arms, indicate frustration with the people on the opposite platform.

“Congress is not spending enough time in Washington to get the basics done,” Thorning said. The shortened in-person schedule “really interferes with members’ one opportunity to interact with each other, to learn collectively, to ask questions of witnesses collectively.”

Representative Derek Kilmer, a Democrat who chaired the now-defunct House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress, said the issue of Congress’s shortened schedule was the main thing he would fix if given a choice.

“Part of the reason why when people are watching C-SPAN and no one’s there, it’s because they’re on three other committees at the same time,” he told Reuters. “The dynamic that creates is members ping pong from committee to committee. It’s not a place of learning or understanding. You airdrop in, you give your five minute speech for social media, you peace out.”

“Time is the biggest challenge,” Representative William Timmons, Kilmer’s Republican counterpart on the modernization committee, agreed. “We have to build trust with our colleagues, and we don’t have the time to build the trust with our colleagues.”

The amount of action happening on the floor isn’t a perfect representation of how much Congress is talking to each other – lots of action happens in committee rooms or briefings – but it is a marker of a decrease in action taking place in the main arena where lawmaking was intended to occur.

Less Action on The Floors of Congress

Fewer pages of proceedings are being recorded by the Congressional Record, which publishes all debates and speeches that take place on the floor in the House and Senate.

It is not clear how these hurdles to productivity will be solved. Part of the problem is that the current Republican Party holds a tiny majority in the House of just five seats, giving disproportionate power to any small group of members who wish to exert their influence, as seen by the far right House Freedom Caucus repeatedly blocking legislation it disagrees with, even though it was put forward by their own party, much to the frustration of their colleagues.

“We’ve had divided government in earlier periods and haven’t seen this level of low legislative productivity,” Craig Volden, director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking at the University of Virginia, said. “The question is, what is the Republican Party going to sort itself into, in terms of its main priorities, and what is the best strategy they see as advancing those priorities?”

Timmons acknowledged facing this issue himself.

“I have somebody running against me (in the primary election) that agrees with all the votes that I make, he just doesn’t agree that I don’t scream and yell,” he told Reuters. “Next Congress we’re going to have to figure out how to relearn the muscle memory of voting as one… If we have a narrow majority and we can’t do anything, that’s not good.”

Kilmer is part of a wave of lawmakers retiring Congress – 45 at time of publication, not the highest number on record but enough to draw attention. But he remains optimistic about Congress’s ability to change.

“I don't think it's a secret that Congress is a fixer upper,” he said.

Sources: U.S. Congressional Record, Center for Effective Lawmaking at the University of Virginia

Edited By: Julia Wolfe and Alistair Bell

#United States Congress #Less Action #Fewer Measures Passed #Passing Fewer Laws #Why Less Productive #United States 🇺🇸#House | Senate #U.S. Congressional Record #Center for Effective Lawmaking | The University of Virginia #Moira Warburton #Reuters.Com

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healthstyle101 · 6 months

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EXCLUSIVE: Kim Zolciak flaunts her tiny waist in crop top and sweats as she visits a storage unit in Atlanta amid ugly divorce drama with estranged husband Kroy Biermann

Kim Zolciak Visits Storage Unit Amid Ugly Divorce Drama Reality star Kim Zolciak, caught up in a tumultuous divorce with her estranged husband, Kroy Biermann, was recently spotted at a storage unit in Atlanta. The 45-year-old celebrity kept her appearance low-key as she carried suitcases from her luxury SUV to her storage space. Wearing a long-sleeved black crop top and high-waisted gray sweatpants, the former Real Housewives of Atlanta alum displayed her flat abs. Her makeup was minimal, and she had her long blonde hair pulled back in a low ponytail, completing the look with charcoal shearling slippers. Kim and Kroy's divorce has taken an ugly turn since they announced their separation in June. The couple is reportedly grappling with deep financial troubles, owing approximately $1 million to various creditors. In an effort to avoid foreclosure on their lavish Atlanta estate, Kim has resorted to selling designer shoes and even her wigs, along with her oldest daughter's designer bags. Their Atlanta home has witnessed several visits from law enforcement officers in recent months. Last week, Kim called the police, alleging that Kroy had taken her cell phones and locked her out of the primary bedroom for hours. In her 911 call, she expressed her concerns for her safety, stating, "I need to leave because I don't feel safe here." Fortunately, their four minor children were safe in their rooms during the incident. In August, Kim had to call 911 again when Kroy locked himself in the bedroom and refused to allow her to retrieve her belongings. Despite briefly attempting to reconcile over the summer, their relationship is currently embroiled in financial disputes. Kroy has requested court permission to sell their home, hoping to alleviate some of their financial woes. In the midst of these troubles, Kim managed to earn some money by joining the cast of The Surreal Life season eight, alongside other personalities like model Josie Canseco, singer Macy Gray, Fifth Harmony alum Ally Brooke, rapper O.T. Genasis, Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir, and Chet Hanks. During the two-week shoot in Medellín, Colombia, Kim and Chet Hanks, the 33-year-old son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, reportedly displayed a flirtatious chemistry. Kim also made a cameo appearance in season 15 of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, although her future on the show remains uncertain due to lackluster ratings. Rumors suggest that a cast lineup shakeup might be on the horizon. Read the full article

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my-chaos-radio · 8 months

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youtube

Release: January 31, 2019

Lyrics:

Oh, yeah

Low key, low key

You should really get to know me

Low key, low key

You should really get to know me

Yeah, I know you got some things

That you could show me

Low key, low key

You should really get to know me

I see you looking at my body very closely

But there's a lot of things about me that you don't see

You know we could take it fast or take it slowly

We could fly out to Ibiza and get cozy

All your friends are looking for you

They don't know where you're at

'Cause you left with me and slipped out the back

Low key, low key

You should really get to know me

Low key, low key

You should really get to know me

Yeah, I know you got some things

That you could show me

Low key, low key

You should really get to know me

Let's forget about our phones until the morning

('Til the morning)

We can post up, no one gets to see our story (Oh no)

I can take you places you ain't been before me

Then, the rest I guess is self-explanatory

All your friends are looking for you

They don't know where you're at

'Cause you left with me

And slipped out the back (Ah, shh)

Low key, low key

You should really get to know me

(Get to know me)

Low key, low key

You should really get to know me (Ah, ah)

Yeah, I know you got some things

That you could show me (Oh oh)

Low key, low key

You should really get to know me

La, la-la, la-la-la

La-la-la-la-la

La, la-la, la-la-la

La-la-la-la

La, la-la, la-la-la (Oh)

La-la-la-la-la

La, la-la, la-la-la

La-la-la-la

Yeah

I see you watching, you been plotting on me

Low key, yeah (Low key)

I put this ice up on your neck and freeze your body, yeah (Ha)

I've been known to be givin' (Yeah)

Get it, then I spend it (Yeah)

Invent a new wave, then I re-invent it

Baguettes on your wrist now, can't be acting timid (Woo)

Take you to New Mexico, ain't nobody business (Yeah)

Throw me that, Ally, I'ma dunk and win it (Slam)

I ain't looking for love

But it's been a minute (Oh, oh)

Serve it to me on a plate

I'ma come and get it

You love it, I like it, it's litty (Woo)

Low key, low key, you should really get to know me

Low key, low key

You should really get to know me (Know me)

Yeah, I know you got some things

That you could show me (Yeah, yeah)

Low key, low key,

You should really get to know me

(Really get to know me)

Songwriter:

La, la-la, la-la-la

La-la-la-la-la

La, la-la, la-la-la

La-la-la-la

La, la-la, la-la-la (Ooh)

La-la-la-la-la

La, la-la, la-la-la

La-la-la-la

Ian Kirkpatrick / Michael Stevenson / Teddy Geiger / Julian Benetta / John Ryan / Scott Harris / Allyson Hernandez / Joseph Spargur / Cermyth Williams

SongFacts:

👉📖

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torahtantra · 1 year

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The Key to Understanding Topography in the Torah.

Mountains.

Mountains are very important in the Torah. They represent the highest point in Judaic instruction, where the Tantras and the Self unite to become one.

They are called "Houses of the Sun" because on the tops of mountains one is able to see the sunrise and set without obfuscation, either from internal thoughts or especially form "talkers" external to the Self.

"Horeb" the "Glowing Heat" is the equivalent of Realization in eastern religion. It is when the pure ore of the metal of the self is smelted away from the dross, the runoff consisting of all doubt, fear, delusion, immature thoughts, traditions that did not advance the human condition, and even the Dove, the airborne self has gone and come back leaving a completely grounded individual. Mountains must be climbed periodically as there are different fires of Horeb.

The process of completing Horeb is called Harrar, "to climb." The most famous climb took place by the namesake of the Kingdom, Jacob, son of Isaac. From Vayetzei:

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel “The House of God.”

10 Jacob left Beersheba “the highest” and set out for Harran “the climb” 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.

=which stone? which skill do you think? Probably #1, Reuben “to lead.”

12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven =the climb, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. “yesterdays going up, tomorrows coming down.”

Simeon Horeb, "A glowing reputation" is the hallmark of a Jew who has completed his pilgrimage though God loves Reuben Horeb, Dan Horeb, Judah Horeb etc. All of the Tribal Stones in the Ephod have moments of glowing that must be found during Horeb.

The most important Mountains in the Torah are Ararat, where violence is wrung out, Sinai, where Union with God takes place, and Hermon, where final self-realization takes place.

Plateaus.

Plateaus are mentioned in the Book of Joshua. There are two types. One is where terrible things happen all the time as in Joshua 13:

21 all the towns on the plateau and the entire realm of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled at Heshbon. Moses had defeated him and the Midianite chiefs, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—princes allied with Sihon—who lived in that country.

Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, Reba and Sihon are serious transgressions:

Evi= desirous

Rekem= a confederate, a partisan

Zur= sexual transgressions

Hur= heat, smoke, the focal point

Reba= to cross back over and be promiscuous

Sihon= gossip

The other type of plateau is mentioned in Joshua 20:8, which means once prosperity is achieved, it should last:

8 East of the Jordan (on the other side from Jericho) they designated Bezer "The fortress" in the wilderness on the plateau in the tribe of Reuben.

Plateaus are also associated with "all the special things we want to repeat."

Valleys.

Valleys are dual. There are no bad mountains but valleys can be where rivers flow, which is good, meaning they tributary the words of the Rabbi into the disciple, or they mean the opposite, they can be some of life's very low times. Valleys also represent places the ungodly and uncivilized reside.

From Ekev:

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey;

9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing.

8 Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 9 and so that you may live long in the land the Lord swore to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. 12 It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

Gorges.

Gorges are areas of stimulation found "under the navel". Arnon Gorge is the most famous, it is the '"agile happy place" where he empties:

From Joshua 12:

He ruled from Aroer "destitution" on the rim of the Arnon Gorge—"cheery, agile"- from the middle of the gorge—to the Jabbok River "He Will Empty, Emptying", which is the border of the Ammonites "the kinsman".

In Devarim, God says we are not to allow talkers and gossipers waylay or dismay us from our visit to the Gorge provided we are of age:

Defeat of Sihon King of Heshbon, “who uproots intelligence.”

24 “Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge "the center of cheer".

See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle.

25 This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you.”

= Once you get the hang of it, you are supposed to provide an intelligent and entertaining perspective on adult relations to inexperienced persons.

Hills.

Negev, the place of rolling hills is spoken of frequently in the Torah.

Hills are the ups and downs of cyclic existence. Negev is the final range of hills one crosses before settling in Hebron, the Four Cities in One.

From Massei:

The Israelites Conquer the Canaanites.

40 The Canaanite king of Arad "the wild ass", who lived in the Negev "rolling hills" of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming.

41 They left Mount Hor "the highest mountain" and camped at Zalmonah "place of idols."

42 They left Zalmonah and camped at Punon "the regions beyond."

43 They left Punon and camped at Oboth, "water skins".

44 They left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, "ruins of the regions behind" on the border of Moab "the waters of the past".

45 They left Iye Abarim and camped at Dibon Gad "future washing water".

46 They left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim "hidden in the two cakes".

47 They left Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, "across the Jordan" near Nebo "the prophecy."

48 They left the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho "the fragrant place". 49 There on the plains of Moab they camped along the Jordan from Beth Jeshimoth "house of waste" to Abel Shittim, "the stream by the acacias".

"In order to make the plan of God, His Promise of a land flowing with milk and honey come to pass, the rolling hills of cyclic existence must be surpassed. All the idols, men who act like and are treated like gods, who long for the afterlife at the expense of real life must be thrown down so their flawed and ridiculous patterns come to an end.

Beyond them are "water skins" pure men who, free to worship the One God Alone, will be able reflect upon Him. Leave the dirty water of the past behind, move forward by reflecting upon the future. A future free of assholes, liars, tyrants, cheaters, freaks, and their corruption which lay between yesterday and tomorrow.

Do not hesitate to leave their shittiness behind, their House of Waste, and cross over into a land that is fragrant with "inexpensive fragrance", the sweetness of men who live without strife."

Rivers.

Rivers demark moments of change. The Nile, "future life" is where Aaron turned a dead place into a living one with his staff, showing the fools-Egyptian and Israelite alike only God has the ability to make and continue life. It is a miracle given to men but it comes with a responsibility, one of them is showing respect for the Maker of All Life.

Other rivers include the Jordan, which symbolizes the responsibilities and privileges that accompany semenarche and menarche, after which one must leave childhood behind.

Crossing the Jordan

In Re'eh, God tells the Israelites they must cross the Jordan, it is a must but to pay attention to everything he said to them after they do it. He even calls spoojing a blessing and curse:

26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— 27 the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; 28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. 29 When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim "the exit" the blessings, and on Mount Ebal "Barrenness of Baal" the curses. 30 As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh "early rain, the teacher" , in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah "criss crossing" in the vicinity of Gilgal "a circle of stones". 31 You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you have taken it over and are living there, 32 be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

Baptism in the Jordan

Baptism in the Jordan is similar- it is willing abandonment of all doubt God and the Holy Spirit are One Being that creates life in an infinite number of individual beings but recognizes and is intimate with each one. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the moment the sentiment is returned and the soul recognizes God as its Parent.

From Matthew 3:

The Baptism of Jesus

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Deserts.

Deserts are places of sojourn, vast expanses of time and effort we must cross in order to exhaust all the pettiness, the past, starve out all the bad habits, rotten attitudes, how spoiled rotten and cruel and overindulged we are and come to rely exclusively on oneself as the cause and effect of all that happens to us.

God told Moses to cross the desert in Ekev because He was sick and tired of it:

11 At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the Lord told me, “Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made an idol for themselves.”

13 And the Lord said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed! 14 Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.”

15 So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 16 When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. 17 So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.

18 Then once again I fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. 19 I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me. 20 And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too. 21 Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.

22 You also made the Lord angry at Taberah "the consumption", at Massah "the proving" and at Kibroth Hattaavah "graves of desire".

23 And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea "Sacred Desert Of Wandering, Holy Purifying Staggerings", he said, “Go up and take possession of the land I have given you.” But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust him or obey him. 24 You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you.

Forests.

Cities of Forest, Kiriath Jearim are mentioned in the Book of Joshua. They refer to places where bees and honey can be found, AKA the honey part of the land flowing with milk and honey.

Honey refers to sweet speech, both the seductive kind and the kind laced with learned wisdom.

From Chapter 9:

16 Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them. 17 So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. 18 But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel.

As with bees and all dumb forest boys alike you have to tap the hive in order to get the honey out.

Just ask the Naked Beekeeper:

Caves.

Caves are the hollow spaces in our heads we fill as we grow up. In Vayera and Devarim, the Torah says Lot and his daughters retired to a cave to create the Moabites and Ammonites, who themselves displaced primitive cave people and grew into successful cultures.

Wilderness.

Wilderness is the opposite of settled, cultivated land. It is associated with pre-civilization, and conditions where rule of law and citizenship by enlightened persons are absent.

When the balance of power disfavors honorable men, life on earth devolves in the same sequence it came into being. Wilderness takes over at Stage 5 of the surrender of civlization to anarchy.

From Vayeschev:

41 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, 2 and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. 3 And behold, seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. 4 And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke. 5 And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time. And behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk. 6 And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind. 7 And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 8 So in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was none who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

Two dreams by two of seven by seven. The first two Decrees must be be the two dreams and two years. What happens in these? Seven good days and the seven bad days. What happens if we reverse the seven days?

Let's find out.

7. the Sabbath- prosperity.

6. Civilization- men and animals in agricultural relationships.

5. Untamed wilderness.

4. Cosmic Principals.

3. The elements.

2. Atmosphere.

Light.

0. Darkness.

As prosperity dwindles in a blight of ignorance, men, the animals, the land, the atmosphere, light darkness, civilization and anarchy will begin to trade places.

God is said to reside on the far side of the wilderness and we are expected to cross it and meet him on Sinai.

From Shmot:

Moses and the Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

Springs.

Springs renew, hot springs, hammoth dor, are especially good for purifying disgrace.

In summary: "Spring," "well" and "streams" are all forms of flowing water. Every liquid, be it the most superior wine or the plainest liquid such as water, has its own inherent quality and unique purpose in serving the needs of created beings. G‑d imbued water with the ability to refresh and nurture.

Wells.

Isaac also digs wells in order to placate his enemies. This is done by princes throughout the Torah, which as I have said are supposed to be all Jewish men:

From here we learn that whoever wishes to awaken and draw down things from above whether by actions or words, will achieve nothing unless the action or words are done in a fitting manner. Everyone goes to the Synagogue to awaken something from above but there are only a few who know how to do so. The Holy One Blessed be He is close to all those who know how to call Him and to arouse response in the proper way. If they don't know how to relate to Him, then He is not close to them as is written: "G‑d is near to all those who call upon him, to all who call upon Him in truth." (Psalms 145:18) What do the words "in truth" mean? They indicate that they know how to awaken a true response, appropriate to the each and every request.

So, in our text about the spring, Israel would say these words, spoken in truth, in order to awaken a response from the spiritual source of that spring and provide water to Israel. Until Israel spoke the words of the song the spring would not flow.

Wells are how we related to God, they are a way to scry through the reflection into the soul and provide it with resounding truth.

Pits.

“He falls long; falls hard. Bangs his head, scrapes his skin, sprains some bones. To a prince who has only ever known the soft comforts of a palace, the pain is blinding. He comes to a stop eventually, though how far away from the bottom is anyone’s guess. This pit is as wide as it is deep, filled with ledges and alcoves branching off into darkness. It seems endless—an impossible distance to climb and an impossible distance more to fall.

But the prince is indignant. He is a prince, after all. A prince does not belong in a pit. He belongs outside, free and proud and reunited with his father. So he picks himself up, dusts himself off, and sets off to find a way out.

It’s on one of his explorations that he finds the rope. There’s not much to it, really—just a thin, long rope, rising out of the pit into the world beyond…his body isn’t made for rope climbing. His hands bleed, his muscles ache, his grip slips again and again. He forces himself to keep climbing, to fight through the exhaustion and the sweat and the pain, but for every step he gains he seems to fall two more, the excitement that once fueled him long since lost.

Yet still he climbs, compelled by a drive he cannot comprehend. A need to ascend. To return."

This place is and always has been a prison pit for those who dream about humanity making its final ascent into civilization. God is always with them, because without them we have nothing.

Seas.

Seas are boundaries like Rivers, but unlike rivers which demark life's changing times, seas are where one sees oneself reflected.

The objective is to see one's reflection in the Mediterranean, "where one sees one's greatness" not the Dead Sea.

From the Book of Joshua, The Western Boundary.

6 “‘Your western boundary will be the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, "the very best version of the self, selves, and Self that can be made". This will be your boundary on the west."

The WEST is associated with the wall between reason and full enlightenment". The goal of the Jew is as the Book of Joshua says is to "run a line" from the Mediterranean Sea to the North, where civilization begins anew within every succeeding generation.

The Northern Boundary.

The NORTH is associated with the Super Conscious, the Holy Spirit.

7 “‘For your northern boundary, run a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor "the highest place." 8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath "entering the fortification". Then the boundary will go to Zedad, "the flank" 9 continue to Ziphron "sweet smell" and end at Hazar Enan "the village of the fountain." This will be your boundary on the north.

"The Fortification, the place God vaulted during the first days of the creation, contains none of the impurities found in civilizations that engage in idolatry, propaganda, violence, and corruption. Unlike Eden, where innocence is lost forever, God says the North is available to us at any time. All we need do is enter and protect it once we are established within.

It is the belief, it is the optimism this is possible and there is a bona fide way to make it come true that sets the Torah and Judaism itself apart from all the other faiths and their instruments.

Jewish People in particular have been longing for and clinging to hope it will come to pass more than any other people since time began."

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mariacallous · 1 year

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Editor’s Note: Although Afghanistan has faded from the headlines, the crises the country is facing remain intense—and have grown worse under the Taliban. My Brookings colleague Madiha Afzal argues that now is the time for the Biden administration to articulate its policy toward Afghanistan, both to ensure a better U.S. approach and to garner more international support.

Daniel Byman

***

The United States may be out of Afghanistan, but America’s dilemmas on Afghanistan policy continue. Political and general public discussions about Afghanistan since August 2021 have focused mainly on the botched withdrawal (with Congress now conducting hearings on the issue), the evacuations of Afghan partners and allies, and how to engage in counterterrorism with the Taliban in charge. Meanwhile, other key questions of policy, particularly those relating to the country’s human rights and humanitarian crises, get little high-level attention. That’s not surprising—it’s clear that President Biden wants to move on from Afghanistan and the failures associated with it—but the United States needs a better articulation of its current policy approach toward Afghanistan and the 40 million Afghans dealing with both a repressive regime and economic hardship.

Afghanistan’s Twin Crises

Afghanistan plunged into a humanitarian crisis immediately following the withdrawal in 2021 as the levying of sanctions on the Taliban, the drying up of international assistance, and the freezing of reserves meant the Afghan economy essentially lost all liquidity. Donor assistance and the work of international and local aid organizations largely staved off the worst fears of a humanitarian catastrophe during the first winter of Taliban rule. The United Nations’s humanitarian response plan for 2022 was $4.4 billion—the largest in the world that year—and the United States has been the single largest humanitarian donor to Afghanistan, contributing $1.1 billion in the year after the withdrawal. To deal with the hurdle posed by sanctions against the Taliban, the U.S. Treasury Department granted carve-outs so that aid could reach the needy directly. This included the ability to directly pay teachers’ and health care workers’ salaries.

This humanitarian aid has inserted badly needed liquidity into the Afghan economy; in so doing, it has indirectly benefited the Taliban, who have been running a successful tax collection operation. But it hasn’t reduced the dependence of Afghans on assistance this year. The U.N. humanitarian plan in 2023 grew slightly relative to 2022, with a funding appeal of $4.6 billion, once again the largest in the world. This year, 28 million Afghans—more than two-thirds of the population—are in need of humanitarian aid. In the wake of a brutally cold winter, an estimated 6 million Afghans are now “knocking on famine’s door,” according to Martin Griffiths, the U.N.’s top aid official. Afghans require sustained assistance to maintain even their current low-level equilibrium. There are worries that it might not come through.

At the same time, the Taliban’s increasingly repressive rule has systematically rolled back the basic rights of Afghan women and girls, severely constraining their lives: first by shuttering girls’ secondary schools, then by restricting access to public parks and gyms, and most recently, in a double blow in December 2022, by barring women from attending universities and working for nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The Taliban’s onslaught against rights and freedoms extends beyond women to those who worked with the previous government and security forces.

Each of these decisions has drawn condemnation from the international community and highlighted the dilemma of how to deal with a brutal regime intent on curtailing human rights; it has also seriously tested the resolve of donors to contribute to the country. The Taliban’s latest decision on women’s NGO work is a direct blow both to women’s rights and to humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan, given that women workers form a key part of NGO aid delivery operations and that their incomes are crucial for their households. It left humanitarian organizations in a bind about how to proceed with aid delivery; in the immediate aftermath of the ban, many of them suspended operations because they were unable to function, devastating both their female workers and those dependent on them for aid. In the months since, aid organizations have been able to seek exceptions from the Taliban and seem to have at least partially resumed operations, but this rule still poses a constraint on their work.

Failed Leverage and Reactive Policy

The premise of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the promise of a sensible future policy toward the country was the notion of leverage—that the United States would have influence over the Taliban through the use of economic tools (including sanctions and access to development assistance and financial reserves) and diplomatic tools (such as international recognition) to pressure them to moderate their behavior and their approach to women’s rights. That premise has been falsified; neither economic nor diplomatic tools have in any way moved the hardline Taliban leadership in Kandahar, which is responsible for the policy edicts that have removed women and girls from the public sphere. (The Taliban leaders in Kabul seem ostensibly to be more open to moderation, but they are not in charge of policy, at least for now.)

Given this failure of leverage, and in response to the economic and humanitarian crisis that emerged after the withdrawal, the United States and international organizations have crafted a humanitarian policy response that essentially exists separate from its economic and diplomatic tools, instead using carve-outs to sanctions and an extensive aid operation that reaches the Afghan population directly. This policy was largely reactive and hence delayed by some months, but in the end it was the right response to meet the needs of the Afghan population and manage the dilemma posed by Taliban intransigence. America owed at least this much to Afghans after 20 years of war there, and Biden himself promised that the United States would “continue to support the Afghan people through diplomacy, international influence, and humanitarian aid” after the withdrawal. This policy approach has allowed the United States to toe the line on values and rights by applying its diplomatic and economic penalties to the Taliban regime (however ineffective they’ve been) while still assisting the neediest Afghans.

Current U.S. policy has left one item partially unresolved: the $7 billion in frozen Afghan central bank reserves held by the United States that rightly belong to the Afghan people. The United States has made half that amount available to benefit Afghans (but not the Taliban) through a Swiss-based Afghan Fund; the other half remains frozen as part of a legal claim made by the families of 9/11 victims. While it’s still unclear whether the fund will be able to function effectively in practice, this was a compromise solution prepared when the Taliban were unable to assure the United States that the Afghan central bank would be independent. In February 2023, a U.S. judge denied the 9/11 families’ request to seize the remaining $3.5 billion in reserves; the Biden administration should now ensure that this second half of the reserves reaches the Afghan Fund as well.

The United States and the West’s policy response to Afghanistan over the past year and the low-level equilibrium that response attained are now being tested by the Taliban edict banning women’s NGO work, which has strained these NGOs’ operations and tested the resolve of donors. But international aid organizations say they remain committed to working with the Taliban to find exceptions and ways to ensure that assistance reaches the needy. Unfortunately, there is no other option.

Time for a Clear Statement

The Biden administration has deliberated and implemented its Afghanistan policy quietly since August 2021, likely not wanting to draw attention to the ignominy of the Taliban takeover—and the futility of the tools that were supposed to moderate Taliban behavior—nor otherwise stir the political pot. But beyond issuing condemnations of Taliban policies, the administration would do well to elevate its principled approach to the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. Officials should publicly identify the policy dilemma they face and their lack of good options, and they should be clear about the principles that define current U.S. policy toward Afghanistan—especially that humanitarian aid is and should remain unconditional.

This articulation of policy would better explain the administration’s approach over the first year of Taliban rule and would reach a receptive audience internationally. It is especially crucial now that the sustainability of this approach is under threat from the Taliban’s abhorrent decision on women’s NGO work and increasing donor fatigue. The United States has not clearly articulated its policy response to the Taliban’s latest decisions nor announced a new tranche of humanitarian assistance since December. Stepping forward with a statement that it is committed to ensuring the unconditionality of humanitarian aid for needy Afghans, as the single largest humanitarian donor to Afghanistan, would send an important message. It would also help bolster the case for international donors to contribute to this year’s U.N. appeal and will be necessary to stave off yet another potential humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan.

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