Not Everybody Gets the Good, but Nobody Escapes the Bad

PASTICHE:

a compelling compendium

“By then I knew that everything good and bad left an emptiness when it stopped. But if it was bad, the emptiness filled up by itself. If it was good you could only fill it by finding something better.” 
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

AFGHANISTAN

Time for a (mini) surge in Afghanistan 

US to provide Afghanistan with up to 159 Black Hawks to help break

The U.S. will never win the war in Afghanistan OPINION

Trump Has to Decide: 50,000 Troops to Afghanistan? OPINION

Trump Administration Is Split on Adding Troops in Afghanistan

THE ADVISER’S DILEMMA: ENDEMIC CHALLENGES AND UNREALIZED OPPORTUNITIES IN THE TRAINING MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN

CHINA

St Kitts-Nevis passports deactivated for fugitive economic citizens

China's credit rating downgraded amid fears over slowing economy

Moody's downgrades China, warns of fading financial strength as debt mounts

21 Photos of China’s Best UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Surreal photos show the inside of China's 'largest ghost city'

U.S. TRAVEL BAN

Glad we both agree the ban is a ban. 

GOP senator: Trump's travel ban 'too broad'

Susan Rice: 'No evidence' Trump's travel ban would make us safer

GOP senator: Trump can implement extreme vetting without travel ban

Trump reignites debate over travel ban

Trump reacts to London terror by stoking fear and renewing feud with mayor

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“It's not a travel ban,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer has insisted from behind his podium. “It's a vetting system!”

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TRUMP'S BUDGET PROPOSAL

Trump's Path to a Balanced Budget Paved With Accounting Gimmicks

Donald Trump’s Balanced Budget Goal Rests on Questionable Assumptions

Trump's proposed budget is 'DOA,' says expert Jared Bernstein

The 6 million people the White House believes can balance its budget OPINION

A new definition of ‘compassion’: How the White House wants to fundamentally redefine government spending OPINION

FAMILY

Why “Mom Brain” Is Good for Mothers and Babies 

What Happens in a Child’s Brain When They Learn to Empathize?

Child Marriage Survivor: I Was Introduced to Him in the Morning and Handed Over That Night

Twelve seconds of gunfire

READ

Trophy Son FICTION 

The Gold Leaf PICTURE BOOK

A Daughter of the Samurai NONFICTION

Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?

The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan NONFICTION

YOU DECIDE

The Thucydides Trap: Are the U.S. and China Headed for War? 

Obama’s White House photographer trolls the Trumps’ hand-holding failures on Instagram

Fidget Physics

Feds drop bombshell: Up to 100 girls may have had their genitals cut in

Mar-a-Lago manager apparently has second job—working for the Trump White House?

Organizers kicked a child out of a soccer tournament because they refused to believe she's a girl

SCREEN

Baby Sea Turtles: The Hardest Animals to Film? 

Elizabeth McGovern Returns to MASTERPIECE in The Chaperone

How This Film About Modern Orthodox Women Turned Into A Surprise Hit

A meme come true: Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o to star in film based on tweet

I took an Afghan war vet to Brad Pitt’s bad, anti-military movie. He liked it. OPINION

WHIMSEY

Ice Cream With A Side Of Social Justice Has Arrived In Times Square 

CHAYA CZERNOWIN’S DARKLY MAJESTIC OPERA “INFINITE NOW”

Behind the Scenes of China's Over-the-Top Wedding Shoots

See 30 of the Best Photographs of Children From the LIFE Magazine Archives

NOTE: The news sources here vary.  Not all sources have the same credibility, but in an effort to share some different perspectives, they are included here.  This compendium itself cannot claim to be unbiased.  Please take into consideration where these different perspectives originate in assessing their value.  Thank you.