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 https://giphy.com/gifs/dovLKmIW1t2cE (pretty) https://gph.is/2RBKRbS (dumb). big idea: afghanistan is falling to the talibanthe taliban https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-taliban-f600d6faf28e9c2ccb454ad176987b19 (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. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2021/08/13/this-got-bungled-bidens-two-tragic-afghanistan-missteps-493975 (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 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/12/afghanistan-offer-power-sharing-taliban-official (a last-ditch power sharing agreement). so far, there is no indication that Joe will backtrack and send american troops back in. 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 https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/13/afghan-army-pentagon-504469 ($88 billion spent on training) them over the past 20 years. reports indicate villages have surrendered to the taliban when https://www.vox.com/22618215/afghanistan-news-taliban-advance (as few as 10 militants show up). 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 flexingearlier 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 https://www.wsj.com/articles/private-equity-may-face-return-of-attention-getting-sec-finesunder-gensler-11614081601 (SEC will start monitoring private equity) more closely, it’s clear that the investment regulation commission is stepping up. the diversity proposal will require all companies which want to sell stocks on the NASDAQ to https://www.vox.com/recode/22248351/corporate-board-diversity-nasdaq-black-lives-matter (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 https://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-change-accounting-for-companies-looms-with-all-its-complexities-11628608324 (to publish climate-related risks) and how much carbon they emit. 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...