August 25, 2021
What kind of person sees tragedy unfolding in Afghanistan, where untold tens of thousands are desperate to escape ahead of the Taliban's imminent takeover, and identifies an opportunity for profit? Erik Prince, the notorious Blackwater founder and brother of Betsy DeVos, that's who. Prince, the Wall Street Journal reports today, is currently charging $6,500 per person for a spot aboard chartered planes out of Kabul. From the WSJ:
As I noted earlier, Prince's plans to capitalize on tragedy come amid a broader effort by aid organizations to rescue as many people as possible as the US struggles to process visas and evacuate Americans still in the country and the tens of thousands of Afghans who worked for the US government over the past 20 years of war. His attempt to turn a profit fits right into his longstanding machinations to privatize every inch of the forever wars. —Inae Oh The Blackwater founder is back to privatizing every inch of the forever wars. BY INAE OH
BY MAANVI SINGH AND OLIVER MILMAN
BY DAN FRIEDMAN
BY JACOB ROSENBERG
BY EDWIN RIOS
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SOME GOOD NEWS, FOR ONCE
“You were a champion and still are. You’re always gonna be a champion to me,” saxophonist Wayne Shorter told drummer Roy Haynes in our Mother Jones tribute this year on Haynes’ 96th birthday—and the recognition runs both ways. Shorter, who turns 88 today, is, as one listener summed up in a quote highlighted by Michelle Mercer in her biography Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter, “jazz’s all-around genius, matchless in his field as composer, utterly original as an improviser.” Shorter is a pillar of the postwar canon and an evolving adventurer, from hard bop to fusion to operatic ballads boundlessly open with space and time. For his 88th birthday, start with the classic “Footprints.” Herbie Hancock, who’s on there, gets straight to the heart of Shorter’s music in the foreword of Mercer’s book: “Wayne has gleaned deeper meaning from a question by using it as a springboard for an answer that will ‘knock your socks off’ and perhaps change your life for the better.” For a live listen, spin “Free for All” by Shorter and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. If you’re looking to tussle, email us at recharge@motherjones.com to spar over whether Shorter’s version of “Free for All” is more electrifying than, or equally as jolting as, Bobby Watson’s “Free for All” on Blakey’s own birthday at Bubba’s in Florida on October 11, 1980. Also in today’s birthday lineup is Linda May Han Oh, the fast-rising bassist who turns 37 and who was named 2021’s bassist of the year by the Jazz Journalists Association. Her vital, expansive music is extraordinary in settings with pianist Vijay Iyer and drummer Tyshawn Sorey—a towering trio—most recently on Uneasy, an album that traces the contours and connections of jazz, justice, and social change. —Daniel King Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by forwarding it to a friend or sharing it on Facebook and Twitter.
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