Afternoon Tea 11.15.21 - Shelter In Space

Debris almost forced ISS astronauts to evacuate, ISIS tried to fight a police barracks in Pakistan, Belarus is weaponizing migration, a car bomb went off in Liverpool, Britney is Free, and ghost soldiers were a thing in Afghanistan. It's Monday, November 15th 2021, and this is your Tea. Today's vibe is an ensemble cast musically annotating this cat. So much better than you’re expecting.

How the US Hid an Airstrike That Killed Dozens of Civilians In Syria (New York Times) In 2019 we did something horrible. Truly horrible. And then it was swept under the rug entirely. This is one of those things that radicalizes hundreds of people, and they couldn’t even admit it happened. It’s so much worse than the one Biden took it on the chin for, and it’s not like we’ll hear an apology from anyone associated.

Space debris forces astronauts on space station to take shelter in return ships (Space) & Debris from Russia's antisatellite weapons test is a hazard for ISS astronauts (NPR) The astronauts at the International Space Station had to shelter in place after what might be Russian anti-satellite weapons test. The debris forced the astronauts to escape areas, and we’re still learning more about what weird star wars ass test happened, if any. It does give us an excuse to use one of our favorite Tim Curry clips.

Islamic State claims attack on Pakistani police barracks (Reuters) & Dozens of Maoist rebels killed in India gun battle (AJZ) IS lighting up a police barracks signals a semi-emboldened group. And who knew Maoists were still running around in South Asia?

EU readies sanctions for migrant trafficking over Belarus border crisis (France24) & How Minsk became a destination for migrants traveling as tourists (Reuters) Weaponized migration is a wild dystopian term. But the faucet of migrants that Belarus, Turkey, Morocco, Mexico, and other border nations possess needs to be reckoned with.

Liverpool explosion: Three arrested under Terrorism Act after car blast at hospital (BBC News) This is not a good thing y’all. The optimal number of car bombings in the UK is zero. One if Manchester United loses in the Finals, maybe.

Afghanistan's ghost soldiers undermined fight against Taliban (BBC News) The reason the Afghan military collapsed against the Taliban so quickly is because the soldiers only existed for purposes of accounting. That’s right, an entire army was grifted into existence, and no one bothered to go out and do a head count.

Britney Spears free from conservatorship, judge rules (NBC News) Britney is free! Give thanks to the Old Gods (One More Time) and the New (Toxic)! Fantastic end that took way too long to get to. In slightly less iconic, but still meme-worthy news:

Astroworld Security Guard Was Not Injected In Neck, Police Now Say (Stereogum) This literally never happens, but every time kids and drugs are involved, somehow opiates become super weapons, able to be injected and cause cop overdose through steel or surgical mask. If you see this type of nonsense anywhere, cops are lying.

The Great Organic Food Fraud (New Yorker) There’s no way to confirm a crop was grown organically, a fact that somehow eluded us until reading this spectacular piece.

Texas woman steals cousin’s $1M winning lottery ticket (NY Post) Just the wild, messy drama that you’ve come to expect from the New York Post.

Poem of the Tea: Sometimes you just have to respect a picture being worth a thousand words.

When is that New Moon again?

Yours,