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The Debate Over Vaccine Mandates 0 9. 1 0 . 20 2 1

How the disastrous Afghanistan pullout could haunt his presidency

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How the Afghanistan pullout could haunt his presidency.

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08 Chiba, Japan ATTENTION, EARTHLINGS

There a numerous spots around the world you can visit where UFOs have been sighted.

En Garde!

Les Cayes, Haiti Chaos London Where’s the Hare?

Periscope 10 Was ‘Chaos-istan’

Inevitable?

A New Book Looks at Biden’s Afghanistan Record 16 Are Vaccine

Mandates Justifiable?

The Arguments Pro and Con 20 How to Be a

Work Rebel The Right Way to Be an Unconventional Leader Culture 44 Uncharted

Modern-Day UFO Sightings 48 Parting Shot

Ashley Zukerman

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After the Storm A woman looks over damage caused by Category 4 Hurricane Ida on August 30. Ida made landfall southwest of New Orleans on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and, as of Monday, was racing through Mississippi as a tropical storm. In addition to physical damage, some areas in the region could be without power for weeks.

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On August 25, China’s Li Hao (left) competes with Ukraine’s Artem Manko during the men’s sabre individual category A gold medal wheelchair fencing bout at the Tokyo Paralympic Games at the Makuhari Messe Hall. Li Hao, despite his low seeding, took the gold.

A man throws a bag of rice into a crowd of earthquake victims gathered for the distribution of food and water at the “4 Chemins” crossroads on August 20. The latest death toll from the 7.2 magnitude quake: more than 2200 DFFRUGLQJ WR RIɿFLDOV ,Q DGGLWLRQ PRUH than 12,000 people were injured and some 50,000 homes destroyed.

A Galapagos tortoise is measured during the annual weigh-in photocall at London Zoo on August 26. According to The Daily Standard, zookeepers keep track of the weight and height of all of the residents at the facility.

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THE LONGEST MISSION

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- O NAT H A N SA 5U. ʔG E T T Y TO P 5 I G H T 9 I . TO 5 I I A I L IN A ʔG E T T Y

In his March 2009 speech, Obama said U.S. troops were in Afghanistan to “Disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al-Qaeda.”

Here, U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division take cover as a Blackhawk helicopter takes off on May 24, 2009 in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, southwest of Kabul.

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

“It’s none of my business who gets the vaccine.” » P.16

A FG HA N IS TA N

Was ‘Chaos-istan’ Inevitable? +RZ %LGHQŠV LQʀXHQFH GXULQJ WKH 2EDPD DGPLQLVWUDWLRQ KDG ORQJ ODVWLQJ HIIHFWV

When President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, he inherited former President Donald Trump’s plan for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. The two men agree on little. Yet, Biden honored the agreement.

In fact, Biden has supported reducing troops on the ground for years, advising President Barack Obama to limit involvement there back in 2009, even as Obama’s generals were recommending an increased American presence, as discussed in this excerpt from award-winning, former BBC journalist David Loyn’s new book, The Long War: The Inside Story of America and Afghanistan since 9/11 (St. Martin’s Press, September 21).

In the wake of the U.S.’ unilateral withdrawal from Afghanistan and the country’s swift fall to the Taliban, Loyn and his work offer an insight into Biden’s policy in the region and into some of the decisions that were made while he was vice president to a new president with little foreign policy experience.

in the “yes, we can!” optimism of the administration were committed to the number of change of power in Washington, D.C. in Jantroops that would be needed to make it work. The uary 2009, a profound rethinking of “Bush’s wars” leading realist, Vice President Joe Biden, argued that was one of the top priorities. Afghanistan was no America should not throw any more money or lives longer the “other war” but the “good war,” Iraq the into the maw of Afghanistan other than the bare unnecessary “war of choice.” While both wars were minimum in adopting counterterrorist tactics (CT), to be ended, the administration was not united on pursuing the remnants of Al-Qaeda with drones and how that should be done.

Special Forces.

Far older than most in the administration, Biden Obama hedged between values and interests in foreign policy, idealist promotion of democrawas first elected to the Senate in 1972, aged just cy against realist focus only on U.S. 30, when he ran on an anti-Vietnam war platform. He had been on the economic and security concerns. He other side of the argument from the made a speech in Cairo promising a BY “New Beginning,” but he was wary of soldiers who had joined up then and deeper involvement. Counterinsurwere now the generals commanding DAVID LOYN gency was fashionable, but few in the @DavidLoyn America’s wars. In Afghanistan his

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stripped-down counterterrorist plan was derided by many in the Army as unworkable. “To defeat a network, you have to attack the network,” said General David McKiernan, then the commander of troops in Afghanistan.

It is a well-tested military maxim that to win, insurgents need only outlast the will of those fighting them— contained in the much-quoted line said to be used by the Taliban, “You may have a watch, but we have the time.” Unlike conventional armies, insurgents can face tactical defeats, losing every battle, and still prevail if they have enough support from the population. Counterterrorist tactics alone would not deliver the minimum result required of the campaign—that it prevented Afghanistan again becoming a haven for people planning attacks on the homeland. This was the Afghan dilemma the Obama administration never resolved.

By 2009, the counterinsurgency doctrine developed by Generals David Petraeus and Jim Mattis in 2006 was more widely accepted across the U.S. military. It was known by the acronym COIN, and McKiernan was employing it in Afghanistan. “The war in Afghanistan is such that you have to use counterinsurgency ways and means to achieve your ends. At the same time, you have to use counterterrorist ways and means to defeat terrorist networks that operate in the region… you have to do both.” Fighting, training local troops, and building up the Afghan government, were all parts of a virtuous circle, where security would sustain better governance, building a stable economy to provide jobs, to make it easier to encourage those insurgents not deterred by tough military action to lay down their weapons.

That was the theory at least. But a properly-resourced counterinsurgency would take more time and more

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AFGHANISTAN

money than the Obama administration was prepared to commit. And Biden’s minimalist approach had significant traction in Obama’s support base inside and outside Congress, who feared being sucked further in. It cost $1 million a year to keep a soldier in Afghanistan. In the year of global financial meltdown, spending more on the long war was a hard sell.

It was still no clearer what winning meant. At the beginning, President George W. Bush sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001 “to destroy the Taliban and Al-Qaeda,” before drifting into an ill-formed dream of building democracy. The language of President Obama’s first speech on the war in March 2009 signaled narrower aims: “To disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan and to prevent their return to either country in the future.” But neither president was willing to commit to the long-term stability that would indeed “prevent their return.”

The paradox of not wanting to commit to nation-building, but only shortterm fixes, was what condemned America to be in Afghanistan for the long term. During the arguments in 2009 over troop increases requested by the Afghan commander who replaced McKiernan, General Stanley McChrystal, the president was clear.

“I’m not doing 10 years. I’m not doing a long-term nation-building effort.” As a consequence, America would indeed be in Afghanistan for another 10 years, spending many billions of dollars, still without a plan for anything other than the short term.

The pity was that rethinking the war in 2009 was supposed to be different—making judgments based on more than the numbers of boots on the ground, the only metric that ever seemed to matter. But it did not turn out that way because of the narrow

aperture of the war aim, as if looking down the wrong end of a telescope. If the only target was Al-Qaeda, the administration would not commit to a whole of Afghanistan policy including security, long-term programs for governance, infrastructure, land reform, justice, higher education, a road map for talking to the Taliban and a coherent approach to the continued threat played by the non-Taliban warlords.

Obama saw the decision he had to make as consequential as LBJ being asked to send ground troops to Vietnam in 1965. Across the administration

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

C LO C. WI SE F5O M TOP L EF T M AN D E L NG A N ʔA FPʔG E T T Y LO GA N MO C .ʝ BUNT IN GʔG E T T Y AND 5 E W 4U I LT Y PAU L A B 5O NST E IN ʔG E T T Y

Periscope

AT ODDS In 2009, Obama and his

generals disagreed about committing more troops, and Biden called leaks of McChrystal’s (bottom left) strategic assessment “f*cking outrageous.”

Loyn, pictured with President Ashraf Ghani in 2017 (bottom right).

they were reading Lessons in Disaster, a book just out about national security aide McGeorge Bundy’s missteps in pushing for more troops in 1965.

Obama’s team was determined to learn from Lesson Five—“Never Deploy Military Means in Pursuit of Indeterminate Ends.”

It was unclear what the ends were.

McChrystal regretted not pushing Obama to give him clearer guidance when he was appointed to replace McKiernan. “I should have given him a piece of paper and said, write down what you want me to do, and I will try

to do that. It would have forced him to get in his own mind what he wanted me to do, and me to understand it.”

On arrival in Kabul in June 2009, McChrystal was asked for his strategic assessment. Over the next few months,

It is a well-tested military maxim that to win, insurgents need only outlast the will of WKRVH ˽JKWLQJ WKHP

the White House felt boxed in by generals going public with demands for more troops. At the beginning of September, Centcom commander General Petraeus called The Washington Post to rebut a column saying counterinsurgency would fail in Afghanistan.

Far from it, said Petraeus. More troops were needed for a fully-resourced counterinsurgency. “We have to get ahead of this, to arrest the downward spiral, to revive momentum.”

Afghan experts and think tankers brought to Kabul to inform McChrystal’s Strategic Assessment wrote op-eds on their return saying more force was needed, with bylines associating them to McChrystal. Having his staff contact them to lay off was just locking the stable door. To the White House it looked like a coordinated campaign.

Biden called it “f*cking outrageous.”

What were troops there to do? “Disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al-Qaeda” was what Obama said in his March speech. At Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ insistence, the Strategic Implementation Plan, effectively the orders given to McChrystal, had stronger language. The enemy who should be defeated was not just Al-Qaeda, but also the Taliban. “Defeat” is defined by the U.S. Army as “rendering a force incapable of achieving its objectives.” It may not involve any military action at all, if the political environment could be altered. Defeating the Taliban meant denying them space to operate, so to McChrystal the campaign “necessarily included building capacity across the government and providing the opportunity for economic development.” It

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set alarm bells ringing as it sounded like nation-building.

The word counterinsurgency was not used in the president’s March speech; he took it out of the National Security Council draft. But it was at the heart of McChrystal’s September strategic assessment document. “We must conduct classic counterinsurgency operations in an environment that is uniquely complex,” McChrystal wrote. “Success demands a comprehensive counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign.” Like so much, the assessment leaked. The people could read it in The Washington Post before McChrystal had briefed it to senior military commanders—four columns under the headline “McChrystal: ‘More Forces or Mission Failure.’” McChrystal knew the shock effect of what he was writing. In the military it’s cool to understate, and say things are fine.

This was not going to be an understated report; its conclusions were deliberately stark. “Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near term…risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible.” While there were no troop requests in the document, McChrystal wrote “inadequate resources will likely result in failure.”

About two weeks later, in answers to questions after a speech at a London defense think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, McChrystal was asked if he would support counterterrorism alone, the Biden option, although Biden was not mentioned by name. He said “The short answer is no.” Reducing the mission to drone attacks and airstrikes would lead to “Chaos-istan.”

Excerpt adapted from THE LONG WAR: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA AND AFGHANISTAN SINCE 9/11 by David Loyn,

published by St. Martin’s Press.

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A F G H A N IS T A N

B O OK S

Q&A: David Loyn

BY 720 2Š&21125 $1' 0(5(',7+ :2/) 6&+,=(5

$W ZKDW SRLQW GLG WKH 8 6 PLOLWDU\ PLVsion in Afghanistan become unwinnable? Was it always, or was there a point WKDW VHDOHG LWV IDWH"b In the ɿrst week of December 1, two decisions of the Bush administration set the course for what would become America’s longest war. On December 3, U.S. special forces began an assault on the Tora Bora caves where Osama bin Laden was holed up. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld wanted Afghans to do the ground ɿghting and paid unreliable local militias, backed by U.S. air power, and a handful of special operators. This was despite 1, Marines on the ground near Kandahar, and 3, more not far away on board a ship.

Bin Laden escaped. Not only was this a failure to pursue the main target of the war, but the decision to shower millions of dollars onto these and other militias fueled corruption from the beginning, and obstructed a functioning state.

Later that week, on December , the Taliban offered to surrender to the newly appointed interim leader, Hamid Karzai.

Rumsfeld turned it down, so the Taliban leaders ʀed to Pakistan to regroup.

Which of the last four administrations do you feel understood Afghanistan the best, and for which president could the same be said?

President Trump’s withdrawal deal in was terrible because it gave nothing to the Afghan government, while demanding they release Taliban prisoners and accept the departure of international troops. But the Trump administration was full of real talent and

people who understood Afghanistan, and until the deal, things were going in the right direction. The Obama administration never had a coherent stance, but a series of competing policies that he arbitrated. Hard to say who was the best president on this. Bush had real commitment, but many missteps happened in his time.

In your book you say that Biden has consistently advocated for fewer troops RQ WKH JURXQG +DG 2EDPD OLVWHQHG WR his generals instead and increased the 8 6 SUHVHQFH LQ GR \RX WKLQN WKDW could have made a lasting difference?

The key was not just troop numbers but a will to commit. There was never any long-term planning every year was Year One. And Obama reduced the impact of the surge by announcing a departure timetable at the same time. The constant desire for an exit strategy paradoxically prolonged the intervention.

By the time President Biden inherited the conflict, was there anything else he could have done that might have significantly altered the course of the fighting, or the nation-building project, in Afghanistan?

Biden did not have to stick to the withdrawal timetable. The Taliban had not negotiated in good faith, so there was a reason to scrap the Trump deal. By the time Biden came into office, U.S. troops were at a low level, not engaged in combat on the ground, and only around one third of the international total, which included troops from Germany, Italy,

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

GRA H A M SM I T H COURTESY OF ST. MARTIN’S PRESS

Periscope

Turkey and U.K. None of these countries was consulted in the decision to pull out.

This has left a lot of bad feeling in NATO. Many were stunned by the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan, and HVSHFLDOO\ .DEXO RYHU UHFHQW ZHHNV What were the underlying causes of the collapse of the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s government and its security forces?

The government felt remote, so soldiers were less likely to defend it. And corruption had hollowed out the armed forces. By one estimate there were not the supposed 3 , troops, but only , . Once morale began to collapse, the army was overtaken by what the former Afghanistan and IraT commander General David Petraeus called “an epidemic of surrender.” The speed of collapse of Kabul on August 1 surprised even the Taliban who were not ready for it.

There has been a lot of reflection ODWHO\ RYHU 8 6 VKRUWVLJKWHGQHVV WKURXJKRXW WKH FRQIOLFW 'R \RX IHHO

the Taliban, based on their words and actions, have learned lessons that contribute to their success, both tactically and diplomatically?

In tactical terms, the Taliban have always been highly adaptable, and backed

by Pakistan have turned into a more effective ɿghting force. In diplomatic terms, they are very different from the past, with a sophisticated propaganda machine in ɿve languages. They will be judged though on deeds not words.

The Taliban now say they want to have peaceful relations with all countries and are “committed to the rights of women within the framework of ShaULD Ť :KDW GRHV WKLV UHDOO\ PHDQ IRU women and girls in the country today who have lived dramatically more free lives for the last two decades?

There was Sharia in Afghanistan until now. President Ghani led a government operating under Sharia law, but the Taliban want something far more restrictive. The way they interpret the Hanafi school means that rights and opportunities, particularly for women, and in the cultural arena, will be significantly curtailed. A sad sight this week was seeing instruments at the Kabul music school smashed by their own students as they did not want to be found with them by the Taliban.

What do you foresee, based on current events, for the future of 8 6 $IJKDQ UHODWLRQV" 'R \RX IHHO WKH country might continue to be a priorLW\ IRU 8 6 DVVLVWDQFH PLJKW LW GULIW more into the fold of China and Russia as they seek new opportunities in the DEVHQFH RI 8 6 IRUFHV WKHUH" The U.S. has no cards left, but no option but to seek engagement, because of the volatility of nuclear-armed Pakistan, now emboldened by the all-out Taliban victory. China and Russia have received assurances that the Taliban will not export militants to their countries, which will be difɿcult to enforce.

IN THE THICK OF THINGS The author on the Afghan frontier with Pakistan in 2014 while on an embed with Afghan forces who had just

taken a village from the Taliban. Loyn has been covering events in the area since 1996 when the Taliban took Kabul the first time.

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Are Vaccine Mandates Justifiable?

Some call them reasonable public health measures, while others say they are an un-American invasion of privacy

MANDATES CAN MAKE SENSE

by Benjamin Wittes

i will not knowingly engage with unvaccinated people in person.

I’m happy to do it remotely. I’m not interested in being punitive or stigmatizing, but I’m also not interested in becoming a vector for transmission. And so if somebody tells me that they are not vaccinated, I’m really not interested in being in their presence.

I will, of course, make exceptions to that for people who have legitimate medical reasons to not be vaccinated, or for children for whom the vaccine is not approved on an emergency basis. My own personal vaccine mandate is that I don’t choose to socialize in-person with people who are themselves choosing to be vectors for the

16

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virus’ transmission.

I think that there may be good prudential reasons to avoid formal vaccine mandates. That is, you may risk radicalizing people further by doing it. So I’m not necessarily opposed to the strategy that the

“My own personal vaccine mandate is that I don’t choose to socialize in-person with people who are themselves choosing to be vectors for the virus’ transmission.”

Biden administration has taken, which is to encourage employers and other entities that are not the government to have mandates but not to actually do it themselves.

That said, I certainly don’t oppose a national vaccine mandate. And to me, the question is purely an instrumental one, which is to say that it matters to me only what will get the most people vaccinated. And if a vaccine mandate were to do that, I have absolutely no problem with it.

If you respect my right, as an autonomous human being who gets to make my own associational choices, to discriminate against people who do not get the vaccine—and let’s be candid about what I’m doing, it’s discrimination—then it’s not invidious discrimination for legal purposes. I have adopted a personal policy of discrimination against the unvaccinated. My employer has also adopted that policy. If you’re not vaccinated, you’re not going to be able to go into the Brookings Institution building.

Why do you accept my right and encourage it, but the way the Brookings Institution is doing it is inappropriate, and for government to encourage the Brookings Institution to do that is irresponsible or inappropriate? We’re both autonomous legal entities that are entitled to discriminate on this basis. Why isn’t the right answer for the Brookings Institution and for United Airlines and for a lot of other employers to say, like Ben Wittes, we’re adopting our own mandates—and for Joe Biden to say, “That’s great”? Ơ Benjamin Wittes is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. The views in this article, adapted from a transcript of THE DEBATE podcast, are the writer’s own.

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

COURTESY OF BRO OKINGS R I G H T Y U L I A R E =N IKO9ʔG E T T Y

Periscope

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he n to t e t s i an l e on You c debat t s a c e: pod s her e t full a d n ne ma om/ vacci eek.c w s w e www.n ebate the-d

“ I believe that that’s a violation of

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privacy, regardless of the legalese to it.”

T HE D EB A TE

NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO ORDER YOU TO TAKE A VACCINE

G E T T Y; R I G H T: C O U RT E SY O F S O U N D F R O N T

by Liz Wheeler

if you want to eliminate people from your life who have not gotten the vaccine or who are unwilling to disclose whether they’ve gotten it, that’s absolutely your choice. I personally find it ridiculous—but it shouldn’t matter to you what I think.

That’s how it should be done—not by employers and not by the state, not by public health officials, not by the federal government.

I find it a little incongruent that mandate supporters are worried about being infected with COVID-19 by coming into contact with people who haven’t been vaccinated, yet they also say they believe the vaccine is effective against COVID-19. It seems to me you can’t have it both ways. Either you believe the vaccine is going to end the pandemic, you believe it’s going to stop transmission, you believe you’re protected; or you believe it doesn’t really work, that you’re still a vector of transmission, that it just maybe prevents you from dying.

I think that that’s one of the examples I would give for where the CDC has been extremely communicatively poor: They’ve told people different things. We had the president of the United States tell us that if you get the vaccine, you will not get COVID. We now know obviously, you can get COVID—it might not be as severe, but you can get it and we’re told you can transmit COVID even when you’re vaccinated at the same rate as those who are unvaccinated. Yet we’re told

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

again by the CDC that it’s an epidemic of the unvaccinated.

These contradictions, I think, have caused the American public to lose faith in these institutions and to lose faith in the so-called “experts.” I, for one, as an American citizen, I’m happy if you want to get the vaccine, that you have the opportunity to get the vaccine, and I’m happy if someone doesn’t want to. I respect their right to bodily autonomy, to choose what goes into their body. I don’t care. It’s none of my business who gets the vaccine. But the American people don’t trust these institutions.

And this is exactly why.

You have every right to ask people in your personal sphere, if they had the vaccine, and to show you proof.

And the people in your sphere have every right to say, “Well, with all due respect, it’s none of your business. I choose not to disclose that.” We all accept that premise. But when you have an employer mandating it and there are limited but valid reasons that people choose not to get the vaccines, like health care-related reasons, private medical conditions—that causes them and their medical provider, perhaps, to consider themselves not able to take the vaccine safely— and religious beliefs, you would have to disclose those to an employer.

I believe that that’s a violation of privacy, regardless of the legalese to it. In fact, to use a term from the Left’s playbook, it’s almost ableist

because then anybody who has any kind of health condition that they prefer to keep private—prefer all of their colleagues not to know about it, prefer their boss not to know about it, because it’s their personal medical issue—they would then have to disclose that to their employer, which could, in turn, cause some kind of discrimination or different treatment or just a feeling of a violation of privacy.

The same goes with religious beliefs. Often in places of private enterprise, people don’t talk about their religion as much. They don’t talk about their politics, because they don’t want to be having those debates. They don’t want to feel ostracized—they just want to go in and do their jobs. And this is creating an environment then, in these different places of employment, where people have to disclose their most private personal convictions or their medical problems.

I don’t think that’s a good road to go down. With government-subsidized corporations that have been bailed out by the government to enact these mandates, we all know that even when private industry is enacting mandates, they’re under some coercion by the federal government. This is a strategy by the Biden administration to get as many people vaccinated as possible. They’re using the private sector as sort of the enforcers of this.

In New York, the former Cuomo administration is saying you can’t go in bars, restaurants or gyms, and private business has the responsibility then to actually be the enforcer here. Ơ Liz Wheeler is a political commentator and host of THE LIZ WHEELER SHOW. The views in this article, adapted from a transcript of THE DEBATE podcast, are the writer’s own.

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L EA D ER S

How to Be a Work Rebel

Got a contrarian streak in you? Harvard’s Francesca Gino shares the right way to be an unconventional leader

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S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

R I C H AR D D RURYʔG E T T Y

“rebelling” at work isn’t this and moving this forward.” She usually thought of in positive advises prospective rebels: “Despite terms, Harvard Business School prothe fact that you might have a lot of fessor Francesca Gino admits. “Usuexperience, or even be the subject expert on the topic, you’re humble ally if we close our eyes and think about the rebels in our business,” enough to stay open with your mind she says, “we think about the jerks, and broaden your perspective.” the showoffs…people who are troublemakers, people who break rules Favor curiosity over uncertainty. just for the sake of breaking rules, or When things are changing fast, it’s easy to feel unmoored. But rebels the contrarians.” have developed an adaptation that No sane company would actively seek that out.

Gino lauds. “When peoAnd yet Gino, the ple retain their curiosity, author of Rebel Talent, which is a major fuel BY believes that cultivatof the rebels,” she says, “they are able to lower ing your own rebellious DORIE CLARK @dorieclark their stress or make edge might be crucial sure that the stress is to helping your comnot paralyzing, but enhances their pany—and your career. She recently joined me on my weekly Newsweek motivation to think differently.” We interview show Better (Thursdays 12 can’t avoid change or uncertainty, but staying curious and treating it pm ET/9 am PT) to discuss what it really means to be a rebellious leader, as a potential opportunity for learning or exploration can help reframe and why we need rebels now more than ever. what might otherwise be an unsetAs she says, “Being rebellious can tling situation. be constructive, rather than destructive.” The best rebels, according to Rebels are made, not born.

Gino, leverage their distaste for the According to Gino, anyone can choose to become a rebel—it just status quo to “bring about positive change.” takes a little imagination and a willHere are four ways that you can ingness to examine yourself. When do it yourself. she first moved to the United States from Italy, she took speech lessons to reduce her accent, which she Lose the arrogance.

Rebels may opt for unconventional now views as an counterproductive solutions, but the best of them are strategy. “Maybe initially my instinct driven by a genuine desire to help and improve the organization. Gino says a key challenge for rebels is to keep perspective and not get pushy or provocative when change isn’t coming as fast as they’d like. There’s a danger at times of seeming arrogant, so she suggests an approach more along the lines of, “I understand what’s there, and let me suggest, with respect, a different way of looking at

“Usually if we close our eyes and think about the rebels in our business, we think about the jerks.”

[to fit in] was wrong,” she says. “I’m still on the journey.” She believes that being rebellious, in many ways, is about fighting the common tendency to conform. Instead, she says, “We should be authentic. We [take the] usual ways of working for granted, but we should be curious, instead. There is a lot of fighting— internal fighting—to bring out our rebel talent.”

Be the best captain for your crew.

In her research, Gino found inspiration for rebel leadership from one of the earliest examples of rebel talent in action—pirate ships of the 16th century. “The crew was in charge of choosing the captain,” she says, and could remove him if he wasn’t behaving well. For Gino, that sparked a thought-provoking question: “Am I the type of captain that my crew would choose as a leader today?”

For instance, we can think about whether we’re encouraging curiosity among our employees and team members, whether we’re willing to try new ideas or approaches—and whether we ask thought-provoking questions, versus just giving orders.

To sum it up, leaders who embrace rebelliousness in themselves and others open the door for more authenticity, creativity and better ways of working. Says Gino: “If we allow for this to happen, people are going to thrive at work. And given how much [time] we spend at work, isn’t that a good goal to have?” Ơ Dorie Clark, author of ENTREPRENEURIAL YOU and Duke University Fuqua School of Business professor, hosts NEWSWEEK’s weekly interview series, BETTER , on Thursdays at 12 pm ET/9 am PT at newsweek.com/ linkedinlive. Sign up for updates at dorieclark.com.

NEWSWEEK.COM

21

P OL IT I CS

August 26

Below: President Joe Biden addresses the nation after the airport bombing on August 26.

Right, from top: Wounded women arrive at a hospital for treatment after the attacks; volunteers and medical staff in Kabul unload bodies..

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AN ONGOING PANDEMIC UNDERMINES BIDEN’S CREDIBILITY AND DENIES HIM A POLITICAL “WIN.”

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CLO CKWISE FROM LEFT: DREW ANGERER ʔG E T T Y; WA K I L KO H S A RʔA F PʔG E T T Y ʤ ʥ

TRAGEDY UNFOLDS

was “the worst day” of Joe Biden’s presidency, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki conceded.

The problem for Biden and his party is that it wasn’t just a bad day, but a potentially defining one. As the U.S. raced to extract all Americans from Afghanistan by August 31—the deadline set

by Biden—a suicide attack at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport killed 10 Marines, two Army soldiers, a Navy medic and more than 180 people overall. The devastating attack , which resulted in the deadliest day for the U.S. military in a decade, also seems likely to permanently scar the Biden presidency, branding it as dangerously incompetent.

In his speech to the nation hours after the attack, Biden described the dead as heroes who gave their lives “in the service of liberty, the service of

security and the service of others. In the service of America, like their fellow brothers and sisters in arms who died defending our vision and our values, with the struggle against terrorism, on this day, are part of a great noble company of American heroes.” Biden also threatened retribution, saying, “To those who carried out this attack, as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this—we will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay. I will defend our interests and our people with every measure at my command.”

Following through on that vow successfully may be the only way to undo, even partially, the damage to his presidency. A retaliatory drone strike in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province the night after the attack, which the Pentagon said killed two Islamic State militants, followed by another strike two days later targeting a vehicle said to be carrying more ISIS suicide bombers to the Kabul airpost, may be just the beginning.

There is no precise analog to the debacle in Kabul, though it brings other fiascos to mind. The collapse of Saigon in 1975 on Gerald Ford’s watch. The crash of Desert One outside Tehran in 1980 and the failed mission to rescue 53 hostages from the U.S. Embassy, which destroyed Jimmy Carter’s presidency.

George W. Bush’s “mission accomplished” performance aboard the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2003, although the war in Iraq would drag on for years. The Benghazi attacks in Libya that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in 2012, haunting Hillary Clinton, then-Secretary of State, to this day. There are echoes of all of these events in Biden’s disastrous endgame in Afghanistan.

Should the Republicans retake

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PAST IS PROLOGUE

Clockwise, from left: An armed man takes part in the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate compound in Benghazi, Libya; Americans killed during the attack are transported home; a CIA employee helps evacuate Vietnamese during the fall of Saigon in 1975; Secretary of State Hillary &OLQWRQ WHVWLɿHV GXULQJ D 2013 Senate hearing on the Benghazi attacks.

26

the House next year, as they are increasingly confident they will, they are sure to bury the Biden administration in investigations and hearings for the following two years. The political fallout from Benghazi is but a scale model of the kind of backlash that Biden will face.

“This makes Benghazi look like a much smaller issue,” Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a member of GOP leadership who sits on the Armed Services Committee, told CNN. “This may be one of the worst and most consequential foreign policy and national security disasters in our history. There will be a lot of answers to seek and questions to be answered.”

Biden’s presidency is now just seven months old and even before the August 26th attack, his approval ratings were sinking. An August 24th USA Today/Suffolk University poll had him at only 41 percent approval, down more than 10 points from the previous month. The chaos in Kabul was certainly part of the reason for that, but so too were perceived failures in controlling the southern border, rising inflation and the recent surge in

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COVID-19 cases. Hospitalizations have been rising, and so too has the number of “breakthrough” cases in people who have been vaccinated twice, as the Centers for Disease Control recommends.

That makes persuading people to get vaccinated-which the administration and public health officials have heralded as the path to victory against the pandemic—a tougher sell. An ongoing pandemic undermines Biden’s credibility and denies him a political “win.”

The fatal Kabul attack will weaken Biden further. Overall, his approval was at 47.4 per cent, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.

By contrast, Donald Trump’s high point was 47.8, one week into his presidency in January of 2017.

In early August that year—at the point comparable to Biden now—it was 38 percent.

Biden’s numbers right now aren’t terrible— yet—but are drooping at an inauspicious time for him. Quietly, an increasing number of influential Democrats were already beginning to wonder about Biden’s viability as a candidate in 2024, if only because of his age. Some were beginning to

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PO L I T I C S

say that questions about his cognitive abilities were not just a figment of Sean Hannity’s imagination. On Twitter, in the hours after the attack, the phrase “Where’s Joe Biden?” was trending, and during his public remarks later in the afternoon, Biden stressed that he had been meeting with his national security and military advisers all day. He exited by saying, “I have another meeting—for real.” Biden will be 82 in 2024. Newsweek last month asked an influential Democratic fundraiser from California if he thought Biden would run again. “I wouldn’t bet on it,” he said.

White House officials and Democrats in Washington had been hoping—unrealistically—that the air lift from Kabul would be complete by the August 31 deadline, without casualties or Americans left behind. Left-leaning pundits had begun praising the success of the airlift. Had the pullout continued to go well, Biden could declare victory, say he had brought an “endless war” to an end, and Democrats would quickly turn to their domestic

THERE ARE ECHOES OF BENGHAZI, DESERT ONE AND OTHER FATAL FAILURES IN BIDEN’S DISASTROUS AFGHANISTAN ENDGAME.

agenda: the infrastructure bill, the massive $3.5 trillion spending bill, and hearings on the January 6 “insurrection” on Capitol Hill, aimed at putting Republicans on the defensive.

The president was already struggling to hold onto the so-called Mod Squad—the nine House Democrats who oppose his spending bill and other domestic priorities. A deeply committed base can help a leader wrangle his foes: They fear to cross a president whose supporters will punish them. That scenario played out repeatedly to Trump’s advantage. It’s hard to see what price the Mods would risk in opposing Biden.

Now it is Biden who is on the defensive. Critics

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P O L IT I C S

QUIETLY, AN INCREASING NUMBER OF INFLUENTIAL DEMOCRATS WERE ALREADY BEGINNING TO WONDER ABOUT BIDEN’S VIABILITY AS A CANDIDATE IN 2024. ni terror group, closely allied with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, is responsible for security in Kabul, and the man heading that operation has a $5 million FBI bounty on his head.)

Finally, why did the U.S. abandon its Bagram Air Base in July before getting out all those civilians— Americans and Afghans who assisted the U.S. military—who wanted to leave? That decision severely diminished U.S. surveillance and reconnaissance capability, as well as the ability to project power as the airlift occurred. And did the Pentagon really support that decision, as Biden asserted in his speech on Thursday? “I find that astounding,” said retired General Jack Keane, who informally advised former President Trump on military matters, after the speech.

He’s not alone. Many Democrats on Capitol Hill have been appalled by the events in Kabul. Key committees in the House and Senate had begun preparing for hearings into the withdrawal before the attacks. “We want answers as much as the minority

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CLO CKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: DIANA WALKERʔG E T T Y; -ASO N M I NTOʔ U. S. AIR FORCEʔG E T T Y; B E T T M A N NʔG E T T Y

pounced on his shifting story lines about Afghanistan: In early July he said it was “highly unlikely” that the desperate scenes of helicopters departing the Saigon embassy in 1975 would be repeated, and a month later he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that a chaotic end was all but inevitable.

The questions are piling up, and not just among Republicans. Why were troops pulled out before civilians? Did the Pentagon raise any questions about that? What exactly did intelligence reports say about the possible collapse of the Afghan National Army? Why did the U.S. not insist on keeping enough troops in the country to secure the perimeter around the Karzai airport, rather than farming that duty out to the Taliban? (The Haqqa-

does,” a senior Democratic staffer on the House Armed Services Committee told Newsweek.

The threats to Biden’s presidency are piling up.

In the very short term the possibility of another attack before the August 31 withdrawal date is real.

So is the possibility that a revived Al-Qaeda will once again be able to stage attacks abroad from Afghanistan—perhaps while Biden is still in office.

(The ability to deter such attacks from afar via an “over the horizon” presence, which Biden asserted again during Thursday’s press conference, is widely dismissed in the Pentagon and at the CIA.) The Democratic majority in the House is unlikely to be able to punt on those questions, not after the tragedy in Kabul. And even if Democrats

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

wanted to, the Republicans, and much of the American public, won’t let it go.

Biden and his supporters now cling to the fact that there have been past presidencies that weren’t defined by calamitous events. Early in his term, John F. Kennedy presided over the Bay of Pigs, the failed effort to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba in 1961, but eventually returned to the public’s good graces. Ronald Reagan’s presidency survived the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut in October 1983, which killed 241 U.S. service members.

For Team Biden, “this too shall pass” is more a hope than a certainty right now. But in the wake of the airport attack on August 26th, that hope is all they have to cling to.

AFTERMATH

Right, from top: Nancy and Ronald Reagan at a memorial service for soldiers killed in the 1983 Beirut bombing; President John Kennedy awaiting developments during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Above: At Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Marines carry the remains of fellow Marine Darin T. Hoover, killed in the Kabul airport attack.

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America’s Best

GETTY

Customer 30

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S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

r Service 2022

Illustrations by O K S A N A G R I V I N A

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ll of us want to feel listened to and accommodated, particularly when we are shopping for something. Being treated respectfully and helpfully is just as important as finding the right item at the right price. This year Newsweek has again partnered with respected global data research firm Statista to identify the stores that consistently provide the Best Customer Service 2022. Whether it’s an easy-to-use website, a generous returns policy or a just friendly voice, these companies have found a way to put you, the customer, first. This year we’ve included 581 retailers across 16 industries.

We hope our Newsweek-Statista rankings of the Best Customer Service 2022 companies will help make your shopping an easier, more efficient and more pleasant experience. Ơ Nancy Cooper, Global Editor in Chief

Methodology The 2022 America’s Best Customer Service rankings were identiɿed from the results of an independent survey of more than 25,000 U.S. customers who have either made purchases, used services or gathered information about products or services in the past three years. Customers evaluated several brands: in total 1 0,000 evaluations were collected. The awarded brands each received on average close to 100 evaluations from customers.

The survey was conducted on retailers and service providers from 1 1 categories, providing results for a broad-spectrum of customer experiences in traditional

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retail, online and service segments. For each category, the most relevant brands were included in the scope of the survey according to reputation, turnover or market share.

In the brick and mortar categories, only retailers and service providers present in at least two census regions have been included in the list. In the online categories, only retailers and service providers present mainly online have been included in the list. For retailers and service providers with online presences and store networks, only the core business was taken into account. In total the survey took an average of 9-11 minutes to

complete and the ɿeld period ran from May to -uly 2021.

The ɿnal assessment and rankings were based on the likelihood of recommendation 50 percent of the ɿnal score

and ɿve evaluation criteria also 50 percent of the ɿnal score . The criteria are: Ơ QUALITY OF COMMUNICATION: Measures whether the contact via e-mail, telephone or face to face

was friendly or polite. Ơ PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE: Measures the Tuality of information received and whether Tuestions were answered correctly and in sufɿcient detail.

Ơ RANGE OF SERVICES: Measures the variety of solutions available to fulɿll one’s personal expectations. Ơ CUSTOMER FOCUS: Measures whether the customer feels acknowledged and important. Ơ ACCESSIBILITY: Measures the availability of customer service in a shop or on a helpline.

The top 3-5 brands based on category size receiving the highest scores in each category were awarded as having America’s Best Customer Service 2022. For the full methodology, see newsweek.com/abcs-2022

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

1

Fabulous Frocks

8.27

2

Lovely

8.24

3

Bella Bridesmaids

7.89

1

Nordstrom

8.72

2

Dillard’s

8.52

3

Bloomingdale’s

8.44

4

Boscov’s

8.43

5

Belk

8.42

Fashion Jewelry & Accessories Retailer

1

Brighton

8.03

2

Alex and Ani

7.93

3

francesca’s

7.70

Footwear

1

Merrell

8.44

2

Toms

8.42

3

Red Wing

8.13

4

Skechers

8.07

5

DSW

8.05

1

Helzberg

8.82

2

Cartier

8.62

3

Bulgari

8.51

1

-ames Avery

8.50

2

Swarovski

8.11

3

Pandora

8.10

1

Intimissimi

8.23

2

Victoria’s Secret

8.17

3

Soma

7.97

1

Gucci

8.88

2

Chanel

8.63

3

Neiman Marcus

8.61

4

Giorgio Armani

8.55

5

Burberry

8.51

1

Athleta

8.75

2

Duluth Trading Co.

8.49

3

Eddie Bauer

8.47

4

Patagonia

8.40

5

Under Armour

8.34

1

Torrid

8.17

2

Cato Fashions

8.16

3

Lane Bryant

8.05

Bridal Fashion

Department Stores

High-End Jewelry Retailer

Jewelry Retailer

Brick & Mortar

Lingerie

Luxury Fashion & Accessories

CLOTHING Apparel

Baby & Children’s Products

1

Tommy Bahama

8.07

2

Hollister

8.02

3

White House Black Market

8.01

4

Brooks Brothers

7.82

5

Zara

7.80

1

Carter’s

8.38

2

Buybuy Baby

8.23

3

The Children’s Place

8.21

4

OshKosh B’gosh

8.15

5

-anie and -ack

7.99

Outdoor & Athletic Apparel

Plus-Size Fashion

T H E L I S T I S A L S O AVA I L A B L E AT 1 ( :6: ( ( . &2 0ʔ$%& 6ʝ

Premium Apparel

Second-Hand Clothing & Products

Sporting Goods Retailer

Women’s Apparel

1

Bath and Body Works

8.45

2

Sephora

8.43

3

L’Occitane

8.41

1

Genoa Healthcare

8.20

2

Giant Eagle Pharmacy

8.06

3

Good Neighbor Pharmacy

7.98

1

Publix

8.82

7.95

2

Wegmans

8.61

DICK’S Sporting Goods

7.80

3

Trader -oe’s

8.60

1

LOFT

8.34

4

Sprouts

8.49

2

Madewell

8.22

5

The Fresh Market

8.44

3

-.-ill

7.97

1

Costco

8.59

4

Chico’s

7.93

2

Meijer

8.28

5

Free People

7.90

3

Target

8.13

1

-oS. A. Bank

8.42

2

Men’s Wearhouse

8.27

3

Levi’s

8.26

1

Red, White Blue Thrift Stores

8.01

2

Clothes Mentor

7.97

3

Once Upon A Child

7.95

1

Academy Sports Outdoors

8.26

2

Scheels

3

Perfume & Cosmetics

Pharmacies & Drugstores

Supermarkets

Superstores & Warehouse Club Stores

FO OD, HEALTH & BEAU TY Chocolate & Candy Stores

Convenience Stores

Eyewear Retailers

Hearing Care

1

See’s Candies

8.54

2

Lindt

8.40

3

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company

8.27

4

Edible Arrangements

8.03

5

Chocolate Works

7.92

1

Wawa

8.33

2

4uikTrip

8.25

3

Sheetz

8.21

1

Vision Source

7.91

2

MyEyeDr.

7.91

3

America’s Best Contacts Eyeglasses

7.76

1

Hear

8.54

2

Amplifon

8.17

3

Connect Hearing

8.15

S TAT I S TA

publishes worldwide established rankings and company listings with high-profile media partners.

This research and analysis service is based on the success of statista.com. The leading data and business intelligence portal provides statistics, business relevant data, and various market and consumer studies/surveys.

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S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

Buffet Restaurants

HOME G O ODS Arts & Crafts

Bookstores

Furniture Retail

Home Goods & Decor

Home Improvement Stores

Outdoor Sporting Goods

Pet Care

Premium Furniture Retail

Toys

Pizza Ranch

7.96

2

Hoss’s Steak and Sea House

7.82

3

Western Sizzlin

7.75

1

LongHorn Steakhouse

8.60

2

Boneɿsh Grill

8.59

3

Texas Roadhouse

8.55

4

Maggiano’s

8.49

5

Seasons 52

8.46

1

Starbucks

8.22

2

Tim Hortons

8.07

3

Caribou Coffee

8.03

1

LaMar’s Donuts

8.57

2

Shipley Do-Nuts

8.52

3

Krispy Kreme

8.34

1

Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen

8.38

2

Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers 8.34

3

Firehouse Subs

8.16

4

Panera Bread

8.16

5

The Habit Burger Grill

8.08

1

Chick-ɿl-A

8.76

2

Zaxby’s

8.62

1

Blick

8.32

2

Hobby Lobby

8.25

3

Michaels

8.11

1

Barnes Noble

8.55

2

Book Off

8.53

3

Amazon Books

8.35

1

La-Z-Boy

7.94

2

American Signature Furniture

7.93

3

Rooms To Go

7.88

1

CB2

8.21

2

HomeGoods

8.17

3

Bed Bath Beyond

8.08

1

True Value Hardware

8.60

2

Ace Hardware

8.38

3

Menards

8.28

1

REI

8.47

2

L.L.Bean

8.46

3

Cabela’s

8.44

1

PetSmart

8.30

3

Culver’s

8.62

2

Pet Supplies Plus

8.25

4

In-N-Out Burger

8.57

3

Pet People

8.24

5

Whataburger

8.43

1

Armani Casa

8.42

1

Kilwins

8.47

2

Ballard Designs

8.36

2

Rita’s Italian Ice

8.38

3

Havertys Furniture

8.02

3

Bruster’s Real Ice Cream

8.34

1

Disney Store

8.58

4

sweetFrog

8.29

2

LEGO

8.53

5

H¦agen-Dazs

8.28

3

American Girl

8.29

1

Marcus Theatres

8.20

2

Landmark Theatres

8.08

3

Cinemark

7.94

1

Papa Murphy’s

8.32

2

Blaze Pizza

8.17

3

Marco’s

8.17

1

The Capital Grille

8.35

2

Morton’s The Steakhouse

8.30

3

Ruth’s Chris Steak House

8.26

Casual Dining Restaurant Chains

Coffeehouse Chains

Doughnut Chains

Fast-Casual Restaurant Chains

Fast-Food Restaurant Chains

Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Stores

Movie Theaters

CATERING, RESTAURANTS & LEISURE Bagel & Sandwich Chains

1

1

-ersey Mike’s Subs

8.05

2

-ason’s Deli

8.03

3

Corner Bakery Cafe

8.00

4

Big Apple Bagels

7.90

5

Potbelly Sandwich Shop

7.89

Pizza Chains

Upscale Chain Restaurants

T H E L I S T I S A L S O AVA I L A B L E AT 1 ( :6: ( ( . &2 0ʔ$%& 6ʝ

Plus-Size Fashion

Online Retailers

Women’s Apparel

CLOTHING Apparel

Baby & Children’s Products

Footwear

Jewelers

Luxury Fashion & Accessories

MembersOnly Sales

Men’s Accessories

Occupational Clothing

36

1

KingSize

8.39

2

Rebdolls

8.37

3

Roaman’s

8.34

1

Venus

7.90

2

ModCloth

7.57

3

Eileen Fisher

7.57

FO OD, HEALTH & BEAU TY

1

Christopher and Banks

8.52

2

Lands’ End

8.31

3

Everlane

8.12

4

Blair

8.04

5

Hanes

8.04

1

Primary

8.30

2

The Honest Company

8.16

3

Baby Swag

8.07

4

Aden and Anais

5

1

Total Wine More

8.63

2

Marketview LiTuour

8.45

3

4uality LiTuor Store

8.33

1

ContactLensKing.com

8.42

2

AC Lens

8.21

3

Discount Contact Lenses

8.20

1

Zenni Optical

8.57

8.05

2

Coastal

8.56

4Moms

8.04

3

GlassesShop

8.51

1

Allbirds

8.30

1

AmazonFresh

8.25

2

Brooks Running

8.18

2

FreshDirect

8.24

3

Zappos

8.10

3

Local Harvest

7.97

4

Avia

8.09

5

pm.com

1

Home Chef

8.48

8.08

2

Martha and Marley Spoon

8.38

1

Ross-Simons

8.47

3

Freshly

8.33

2

Etsy

8.35

3

Anjolee

1

Allegro Medical

8.19

8.34

2

Discount Medical Supplies

8.07

1

Mytheresa

8.32

3

East Coast Medical Supply

8.06

2

Moda Operandi

8.29

3

Bergdorf Goodman

1

Estée Lauder

8.68

8.12

2

CliniTue

8.55

1

Fabletics

8.03

3

Lancôme

8.47

2

One Kings Lane

7.85

4

Luxury perfume

8.35

3

Zulily

7.79

5

Tarte Cosmetics

8.33

1

Tiemart

8.02

1

delivery.com

8.44

2

Sam Hober

7.92

2

BeyondMenu

8.17

3

Absolute Ties

7.68

3

Gopuff

7.75

1

Uniform Advantage

8.38

1

QVC

8.41

2

All seasons uniforms

8.38

2

Gemporia

8.31

3

USA Scrub

8.38

3

Home Shopping Network

8.14

NEWSWEEK.COM

Adult Beverages

Contact Lenses

Eyewear Retailers

Groceries

Meal Kit Services

Medical Supplies

Perfume & Cosmetics

Restaurant Delivery Services

Shopping TV Channels

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

Flower Retailer

Home Furnishings

Lighting

2IɿFH 6XSSOLHV

Online Home Stores

Second-Hand Products Subscription Boxes (Clothing & Other)

Subscription Boxes (Makeup & Cosmetics)

Vegan & Vegetarian Products

1

Society Socks

8.29

2

Stitch Fix

8.24

3

Bespoke Post

8.24

1

Macy’s Beauty Box

8.55

2

BoxyCharm

8.42

3

Allure Beauty Box

4

Consumer Electronics

Fifty Flowers

8.41

2

Florists

8.38

3

fromyouʀowers.com

8.29

1

Magnolia

8.12

2

Caitlin Wilson

8.05

3

Dash Albert

8.05

1

Circa Lighting

8.58

2

Lighting New York

8.23

3

Build.com

8.06

1

Poppin

8.31

2

Quill

8.06

3

Staples

8.06

1

Hayneedle

8.44

2

Furniture USA

8.35

3

Houzz

8.31

1

eBay

8.22

2

Gazelle

8.19

3

thredUP

7.86

SPORTS & LEISURE 1

Bike Nashbar

8.57

8.40

2

Blue Sky Cycling

8.40

Ipsy

8.33

3

-enson USA

8.40

5

BeautyFI; by Dermstore

8.30

4

Colorado Cyclist

8.35

1

Vegan Organic onlyveganorganic.com

8.62

5

BikeSomeWhere

8.25

2

Healthy Goods

8.29

1

Buy Costumes

8.23

3

VeganEssentials

8.27

2

Costumes4Less.com

8.00

3

Halloween Costumes

7.92

1

1 0 Smoke

8.48

2

MyVaporStore.com

8.28

3

blu

8.14

1

Tackle Warehouse

8.61

2

Fishing Tackle Unlimited

8.26

3

Monster Fishing Tackle

8.21

1

Free Time Hobbies

8.27

2

Gundam Planet

8.14

3

Model Space

8.02

HOME G O ODS Booksellers

1

Bicycles

Costumes & Accessories

Electronic Cigarettes

1

Amazon

8.56

2

Powells

8.49

3

ThriftBooks

8.40

1

Apple

8.92

2

Bose

8.59

3

Samsung

8.58

4

Dell

8.39

5

HP

8.36

Fishing Equipment & Clothing

Hobby Store, Model Making

T H E L I S T I S A L S O AVA I L A B L E AT 1 ( :6: ( ( . &2 0ʔ$%& 6ʝ

Hunting Gear & Equipment

Musical Equipment

Party Supplies

Pet Food & PetRelated Products

Photo & Video Equipment

Sports & Fitness Nutrition

1

MidwayUSA

8.30

2

Sportsman’s Guide

8.17

3

OpticsPlanet

8.02

1

World Music Supply

8.61

2

Sweetwater

8.51

3

U.S. Music Store

8.51

1

Beau Coup

8.53

2

Koyal Wholesale

8.46

3

Oriental Trading Company

8.22

1

Chewy

8.84

2

PetCareRx

8.50

3

BudgetPetCare.com

8.27

1

Nikon

2

SERVICES & DIGITAL PRODUC TS 1

Blurb

8.04

2

Snapɿsh

7.99

3

DiggyPod

7.95

1

GotPrint

8.35

2

Vistaprint

8.31

3

UPrinting

8.16

1

Google Drive

8.22

2

iCloud

8.20

3

OneDrive

8.14

1

Gmail

8.21

8.58

2

Hushmail

8.11

GoPro

8.40

3

Inbox.com

7.95

3

B&H

8.31

1

Vitacost

8.74

2

Optimum Nutrition

8.38

3

Fitness First USA

8.33

4

BiPro

8.29

5

Bodybuilding

8.15

Book Printing Services

Business Printing Services

Cloud Storage & Cloud Computing Services

Email Services

TRANSPORTATION Auto Parts Retailer

Automotive Marketplace

Motorcycle Parts & Accessories

Tire & Wheel Manufacturers

38

1

RockAuto

8.45

2

Advance Auto Parts

8.43

3

4 Wheel Parts

8.38

4

1A Auto

8.30

5

AutoZone

8.30

1

AutoTempest

8.30

2

Carsforsale.com

8.02

3

CarGurus

7.93

1

Revzilla

8.06

2

Bike Bandit

7.99

3

-&P Cycles

7.95

1

Tirebuyer

8.50

2

Detroit Wheel and Tire

8.14

3

Tire Rack

8.12

NEWSWEEK.COM

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

Employment Search Engines

Internet Service Providers

Language E-Learning Platform

Mobile Carriers & Telecommunications

Music Streaming Services

Online Dating Sites

Pay-Per-View Services & VideoOn-Demand

PriceComparison Websites

Ticketing Services

Wedding Registries

1

-ora

8.10

2

Indeed

7.76

3

LinkedIn

7.72

1

T-Mobile

8.38

2

Verizon

7.44

3

Lumen

7.23

4

Cricket Wireless

7.08

5

Cox

6.92

1

Babbel

8.07

2

Hello-Hello World

3

Services BEAU TY & WELLNESS 1

World Gym

8.00

8.01

2

Planet Fitness

7.87

Duolingo

7.94

3

Workout Anytime

7.86

4

Rosetta Stone

7.93

4

Snap Fitness

7.81

5

busuu

7.89

5

Blink Fitness

7.70

1

Consumer Cellular

8.68

1

First Choice Haircutters

8.05

2

T-Mobile

8.16

2

Famous Hair

8.01

3

Metro by T-Mobile

8.08

3

Fiesta Salon

7.99

1

Spotify

8.37

1

WW Weight Watchers Reimagined

8.24

2

Amazon Music

8.28

2

myɿtnesspal

8.17

3

Pandora

8.04

3

SlimFast

7.80

1

ChristianCafe.com

8.01

1

Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa 7.77

2

Afrointroductions

7.80

2

Massage Lu;e

7.75

3

Badoo

7.79

3

The Woodhouse Day Spa

7.68

4

BBPeopleMeet

7.78

5

Bumble

7.36

1

Netʀix

8.53

2

Amazon Video

8.48

3

HBO Max

8.30

1

Become

8.38

2

Shopping.com

7.94

3

Pricepirates

7.93

1

Primesport

8.22

2

A;S

8.02

3

Coast to Coast Tickets

7.71

4

Vivid Seats

7.65

5

Barry’s Tickets

7.65

1

Blueprint Registry

8.19

2

Wayfair

7.97

3

MyRegistry.com

7.94

Fitness Centers

Hair Salons

Nutrition & Weight-Loss Programs

Spas, Wellness & Beauty

EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION & CHILD CARE Child Care Services

Language Schools

Nanny & Au Pair Agences

Temporary Employment Agency

1

Primrose Schools

8.13

2

Montessori Kids Universe

8.05

3

KLA Schools

8.01

1

ELC English Language Center

8.20

2

Berlitz

7.83

3

Kaplan International

7.71

1

Nanny Connections

7.90

2

Care.com

7.61

3

Agent Au Pair

7.57

1

Creative Circle

8.07

2

Allegis Group

7.57

3

Manpower

7.51

T H E L I S T I S A L S O AVA I L A B L E AT 1 ( :6: ( ( . &2 0ʔ$%& 6ʝ

Retirement Planning Solutions

Tutoring Services

1

The Tutoring Center

8.19

2

At Home Tutoring Services

8.06

3

Brighter Minds

8.06

4

The Tutors Directory

7.96

5

American Tutor

7.93

Supplemental Insurance

Travel Insurance

INSURANCE Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance

1

MetLife

8.31

2

Fidelity Life

8.03

3

Mutual of Omaha

7.95

Auto Insurance

1

USAA

8.97

2

State Farm

8.34

3

GEICO

8.30

1

MetLife

7.89

2

Mutual of Omaha

7.85

3

Aetna

7.61

1

USAA

9.09

2

State Farm

8.50

3

Progressive

8.37

1

AARP

8.42

2

Health Net

8.25

3

Aetna

8.19

4

Medicare

8.15

5

Kaiser Permanente

8.05

1

The Hartford

8.84

2

USAA

8.83

3

Auto-Owners

8.66

4

Erie Insurance

8.53

5

State Farm

8.44

1

MetLife

8.56

2

Paciɿc Life

8.54

3

Guardian

4 5

Disability Insurance

General Liability Insurance

Health Insurance

Homeowners Insurance

Life Insurance

40

1

Vanguard

8.81

2

USAA

8.73

3

TIAA

8.59

4

Prudential

8.49

5

Fidelity Investments

8.49

1

American Fidelity

8.33

2

Aʀac

8.31

3

UnitedHealthcare

8.25

1

TravelSafe Insurance

8.14

2

A;A Assistance USA

8.05

3

Allianz Global Assistance

7.99

4

Nationwide

7.98

5

AIG

7.80

PERSONAL SERVICES, HOME CARE & MAINTENANCE 1

Pep Boys

7.96

2

O’Reilly Auto Parts

7.93

3

Brake Masters

7.83

4

Firestone Complete Auto Care

7.75

5

NAPA AutoCare Center

7.75

1

Mister Car Wash

7.68

2

Quick Quack Car Wash

7.61

3

Detail ; Perts

7.56

1

Martinizing Dry Cleaning

8.01

2

Comet Cleaners

7.94

3

CRDN

7.89

1

-iffy

7.90

2

Home Serve

7.61

3

Handy

7.58

1

xɿnity

8.22

2

Ring

8.04

3

SimpliSafe

7.84

1

Senior Helpers

7.98

2

Visiting Angels

7.78

3

Always Best Care

7.71

8.44

4

Comfort Keepers

7.59

Haven Life

8.35

5

Bright Star Care

7.49

Assurity

8.28

NEWSWEEK.COM

Automotive Repair

Car Washes

Dry-Cleaning Services

Handyman Referral Services & Home Repairs

Home Security

Home-Care Services For Seniors & Disabled

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

Crowdfunding Platforms

Online Banking

Payment Services

Real Estate Agencies

Real Estate Database

House Cleaning & Maid Services

Storage Centers

1

Maid Simple

7.69

2

Housekeeper

7.64

3

MaidPro

7.64

1

SecurCare Self Storage

7.78

2

Extra Space Storage

7.72

3

CubeSmart

7.70

4

StorageMart

7.69

5

Life Storage

7.63

Commercial Banks

1

Vanguard

8.50

2

Fidelity Investments

8.41

3

Allianz USA

8.34

4

-PMorgan Chase & Co.

8.17

5

Bank of New York Mellon

8.04

1

U.S. Bank

8.44

2

Capital One

8.13

3

Citibank

8.11

4

Fifth Third Bank

8.07

5

Citizens Bank

7.85

Kickstarter

8.05

2

Indiegogo

7.80

3

GoFundMe

7.68

1

Discover Bank

8.43

2

Charles Schwab Bank

8.43

3

Ally

8.23

1

Visa

8.78

2

American Express

8.74

3

Apple Pay

8.61

1

Keller Williams Realty

7.95

2

Better Home

7.89

3

Century 21

7.82

4

HomeServices of America

7.76

5

Realty One Group

7.69

1

ReMax

8.37

2

Apartments

8.16

3

Homes

8.05

4

Camden

8.05

5

Realtor.com

7.97

1

Vanguard

8.93

2

TD Ameritrade

8.67

3

Fidelity Investments

8.44

4

Merrill

8.41

5

Edward -ones

8.34

TRANSPORTATION & TRAVEL Airlines

REAL ESTATE & BANKING Asset Management

Trading & Brokerage Services

1

Amusement Park Experience

Apartment Hotels, Extended Stays

1

Alaska Airlines

8.42

2

Hawaiian Airlines

8.08

3

Delta

7.99

1

Disney Parks & Resorts

8.88

2

Universal Parks & Resorts

8.87

3

Dollywood

8.86

1

Residence Inn by Marriott

8.11

2

Homewood Suites by Hilton

8.05

3

Staybridge Suites

8.04

T H E L I S T I S A L S O AVA I L A B L E AT 1 ( :6: ( ( . &2 0ʔ$%& 6ʝ

Budget Hotel WR VWDUV

Bus Carriers

Car Rental

Carsharing

Cruise Operators

Economy Hotel (3 stars)

Flights, Hotels & Holiday Deals Search Engines

Gas Stations

Low-Cost Airlines

Luxury Hotel (5 stars)

1

La Quinta Inn & Suites

7.81

2

AmericInn

7.78

3

Candlewood Suites

7.60

4

Ramada

5

1

U-Haul

7.84

7.60

2

IVL

7.58

Quality Inn

7.59

3

American Van Lines

7.45

1

Peter Pan Bus Lines

7.66

4

Penske

7.40

2

Megabus

7.47

5

Budget Truck Rental

7.33

3

Amtrak Thruway

7.37

1

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival

8.63

1

Enterprise Rent-A-Car

8.11

2

Burning Man

8.02

2

Sixt

7.94

3

New Orleans -azz & Heritage Festival

7.94

3

National Car Rental

7.74

4

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 7.92

5

Austin City Limits Music Festival

7.80

1

Getaround

7.37

2

Turo

7.15

1

Hilton

8.65

3

Zipcar

6.80

2

Marriott

8.60

3

Hyatt

8.60

1

Viking Cruises

9.06

2

Celebrity Cruises

8.71

1

Lyft

7.93

3

Princess Cruises

8.69

2

Uber

7.77

4

Disney Cruise Line

8.66

3

Via

7.43

5

Royal Caribbean International

8.48

1

UPS

8.33

1

SpringHill Suites by Marriott

8.54

2

FedEx

8.31

2

Hampton by Hilton

8.53

3

DHL

8.06

3

Drury Hotels

8.53

1

-W Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa 8.42

4

Embassy Suites by Hilton

8.53

2

Gage Spa

5

TownePlace Suites by Marriott

8.51

3

LakeHouse Spa at Lake Austin Spa Resort 8.29

1

TripAdvisor

8.01

4

Lazy You Spa

8.24

2

Priceline

7.98

5

Red Mountain Resort

8.10

3

trivago

7.84

1

Gate 1 Travel

8.87

1

QuikTrip

8.08

2

Vacations To Go

8.32

2

Chevron

7.76

3

Expedia

7.96

3

Shell

7.67

1

Allure Travel

7.76

4

Speedway

7.67

2

Carlson Wagonlit Travel

7.44

5

BP

7.66

3

Liberty Travel

7.33

1

Southwest Airlines

8.81

1

VRBO

8.04

2

-etBlue

8.38

2

Airbnb

7.98

3

Allegiant Air

7.45

3

Hotels.com

7.75

1

Park Hyatt

8.94

1

Lyft

8.36

2

Waldorf Astoria

8.92

2

Bird

7.87

3

The Ritz-Carlton

8.85

3

Lime

7.57

Moving Services

Music Festival

Premium Hotel (4 stars)

Ridesharing, Taxi

Shipping & Delivery Services

Spa Resort & Retreat

Travel Agencies

Travel Management

Vacation Rental

E-mobility

T H E L I S T I S A L S O AVA I L A B L E AT 1 ( :6: ( ( . &2 0ʔ$%& 6ʝ

8.33

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

Airline technology that opens the world of e-commerce shipping.

Every online shopping site is looking for reliable solutions for fast delivery of their products.

Airlines and their supply-chain partners own the assets to meet the growing demand for speed in delivery by e-commerce retailers worldwide.

Connecting this demand with an airline’s supply of capacity can bring a nice revenue increase via air cargo.

SmartKargo provides the technology and know-how to help airlines and their partners connect from the desktop to the doorstep.

Learn more Contact us at hdq@smartkargo.com or scan the QR Code below to read a case study.

Enabling e-commerce. Delivered.

HIGH, LOW + EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

V I TA L I I PE T RUSH E N KOʔG E T T Y; TO P R I G H T: G A R E T H C AT T E R M O L EʔC ONTOU R ʔG E T T Y

Culture

Dyatlov Pass Incident February 1, 1959 DEAD MOUNTAIN, RUSSIA

Nine experienced hikers were mysteriously found dead, frozen in varying states of undress. Their tents had been slashed. Some were missing eyeballs or tongues, and one man’s body registered high levels of radiation. An investigation concluded the cause was a “compelling natural force,” leading some to theorize that the deaths were due to UFO activity.

(See #8 on following spread)

44

NEWSWEEK.COM

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

FOLLOWING TOM HANKS “I’ll wait to see what the hair reaction is.” »P.48

UNCHARTED

UFO Sightings No One Can Explain This June, for the first time in history, the U.S. government acknowledged the existence of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs), also known as UFOs. So far, nothing’s been attributed to extraterrestrial activity—but nothing’s been ruled out, either. One hundred forty three of the 144 UFOs reported by military planes remain unexplained. The last 75 years have been rife with similar reports from across the globe, some of which might get even the toughest cynics wondering what’s really out there Here are some of the weirdest sightings, from U.S. fighter pilots engaging with a superspeed, giant Tic Tac-shaped aircraft in 2004 to an Italian stadium full of fans viewing an oval saucer raining metallic glitter a half century earlier. —Meghan Gunn

NEWSWEEK.COM

45

Culture 05

Not Your Parents’ UFOs 1989–1990

01

The Original ‘UFO’ Sighting June 24, 1947

BELGIUM

Over the span of ɿve months, 13,500 people claimed to have witnessed silent, low-ʀying black triangles, each with three orange headlights—a type of UFO completely different from previous reports. Skeptics call the event a mass delusion, but believers point to military radar, which showed unusual activity during the sightings.

MOUNT RAINIER, WASHINGTON

Pilot Kenneth Arnold was ʀying his private plane when he saw a ʀash of light, then an object he described as looking “like a saucer.”

It was moving at incomprehensible speed along the side of the mountain. Then he saw eight more. He reported them as “unidentiɿed ʀying objects” and the description stuck.

5

4 1

04 3

Charlie Redstar Sightings 1975

03

Desert Takeoff April 24, 1964 SOCORRO, NEW MEXICO

02

The USS Nimitz Encounter November 14, 2004 PACIFIC OCEAN

One hundred miles southwest of San Diego, ɿghter pilots engaged with a white aircraft, shaped like a massive Tic Tac and moving three times faster than the speed of sound. “I have no idea what I saw,” Commander David Fravor said of the encounter. “It had no plumes, wings or rotors and outran our F-18s.” He added that he wanted to ʀy one.

NEWSWEEK.COM

Police Sergeant Lonnie Zamora was driving down a dirt road when he saw the “egg-shaped craft” peeking out from an arroyo.

First, he thought it was a car in need of help; however, he then saw a blue ʀame and heard a loud roar. The object began to rise. Five tourists later reported seeing the craft in ʀight.

Hundreds of people in the region reported seeing a glowing red-orange object soar through the sky every night for several months. Often described as “mischievous” and “playful,” the UFO was affectionately nicknamed Charlie Redstar. Charlie inspired a summer of UFO watch parties in ɿelds across Manitoba.

06

Greener Pastures?

January 8, 1981 75$16ʝ(1ʝ3529(1&( FRANCE

Renato Nicolaï was working on his farm when he heard an odd whistling sound. Then he saw a disc-shaped object take off and disappear above the treeline, leaving burn marks on the ground where it sat.

An investigation was done by France’s special UFO-hunting team, GEIPAN, which claimed the ground had been heated to over 500rF.

S E P T E M B E R 10, 2 021

0 1: B E T T M A NN ʔG E T T Y; 0 2 : U. S . N AV Y; 0 3 : C LOY D T E T E Rʔ TH E D E NV E R POSTʔGE T T Y; 0 4: M USTA FA NAVE EDʔG E T T Y; 0 5 : H O M E W O R KS 2 5 5ʔG E T T Y; 0 : PASC A L PAVA N I ʔA F PʔG E T T Y

SOUTHERN MANITOBA, CANADA

2

46

6

08

Dyatlov Pass Incident February 1, 1959 DEAD MOUNTAIN, RUSSIA

(See previous spread)

8

10

Mysterious Disappearance October 21, 1978 BASS STRAIT, AUSTRALIA

“It is hovering and it is not an aircraft.” These were the last words 20-year-old pilot Frederick Valentich said before he and his plane disappeared forever.

All he left behind was a radio dispatch in which he describes the mysterious ʀying vessel “playing a game” with him.

0 : G A BR I EL E M A LTI NTI ʔG E T T Y; 0 8 : A N O N Y M O USʔSOV IE T I N V E ST IG ATOR S; 0 9 : IR I A F; 1 0 : AUST R A L I AN D E PART ME NT O F T R AN S PO RTATI ON

7

9

07

Crowd Control October 27, 1954 FLORENCE, ITALY

Play was put on pause at a soccer game at the Artemio Franchi Stadium as thousands of spectators went silent midgame. Several were pointing to a large oval in the sky that was emitting a strange material—one fan described it as raining silver glitter.

09

Midair Chase September 19, 1976 TEHRAN

After multiple people reported a metallic object bounding through the sky, Lieutenant Yaddi Nazeri engaged it in a high-speed air chase in what is known as the “Tehran UFO Incident.” The UFO won this time. As Nazeri approached, his electronics, including communications devices, were all disabled.

They only came back to life once he returned to ground.

10

NEWSWEEK.COM

47

Culture

PA R T I NG S HO T

Ashley Zukerman

“We were JLYHQ ERWK a mandate and freedom to make VRPHWKLQJ D OLWWOH QHZ Ť

How does the show differ IURP WKH ɿOPV" We have more time to delve into the characters and what they’re experiencing. We spend 10 hours.

Was it important to you to put your RZQ WZLVW RQ WKH FKDUDFWHU" The book we’re jumping off from is such an ideal book to start a TV show with because it’s a personal story.

He’s not as in control of his faculties.

So that is going to make him angry, inconsiderate, and somehow his hubris and arrogance will come out in ways that won’t be as noble.

'DQ %URZQŠV ZRUN LV QRW UHDOO\ SRODUL]LQJ ,W VSHDNV WR UHOLJLRXV DQG VHFXODU SHRSOH 'LG \RX VHH WKDW LQ WKH VKRZ WRR" When reading the books, it’s a UHʀHFWLRQ RI ZKDWHYHU \RX \RXUVHOI were experiencing or thinking about in that moment. People of faith read the books one way and people of fact—if that’s the opposite of faith—read them another way. The show tries to marry the two into the experience of the characters, and especially of Langdon.

We see him going on that journey.

7RP +DQNVŠ KDLU IURP WKH ɿOPV EDVLFDOO\ EHFDPH LWV RZQ FKDUDFWHU 6R ZHUH \RX ZRUULHG DERXW \RXU KDLU" No. But I doubt Tom Hanks was concerned about his hair, either.

I’ll wait to see what the hair reaction is and what that subreddit is about. [laughs] —H. Alan Scott

V i s it Ne w s w e e k .c om f o r t h e f u l l int e r v i e w

PHOTO GRAPHER: JAMES MACARI; GRO OMING: AMY KOMOROWSKI; ST YLING: SAM SPECTO R

taking on a role made famous by another actor is already intimidating, but one Tom Hanks made famous? That’s a whole other deal. But Ashley Zukerman, who plays Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon in the new Peacock series The Lost Symbol (September 16), took it in stride. “I loved the films, and Tom Hanks is one of the greatest actors of our time. This should have been more daunting than it was, it just felt like I could launch into this from myself.”

In this version, which author Dan Brown executive produced, we see young Langdon, years before we originally met him in The Da Vinci Code. “We get to explore what made him the person everyone knows. So we lean on the love everyone already has for the material, but we tried to take it back a few steps.” Zukerman actually hadn’t read the books before being cast. “It wasn’t by design that I hadn’t read them. I had just missed them.” But from the very beginning, Brown made it clear that Zukerman had to make Langdon his own. “It felt like we were given both a mandate and freedom to make something a little new.”