Police
There is a new blog post entitled, “The binary between “Black” and “Blue” Lives.”
Andrew Sheeler, “Black drivers in California stopped and searched more than others, state study shows,” Sacramento Bee, January 2, 2020, https://www.sacbee.com/article238915598.html
Iraq and Iran
For historical reference:
Reuters, “Iraq war, the notable quotes,” March 11, 2008, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-war-quotes/factbox-iraq-war-the-notable-quotes-idUSL212762520080311
That[1] didn’t go well. But war is the answer. War is always the fucking answer.
I’m not a Middle East expert and you should discount what I think about it. But I am not getting the warm and fuzzies that there is a coherent well-thought out plan.
— TwoArticleHat (@Popehat) January 3, 2020
Of course, it isn’t. It assumes, unwisely, that only a small portion of the Iraqi population wants the U.S. out and that the rest won’t care about U.S. incursions on Iraqi sovereignty.
This is very likely a #neoconservative fantasy. https://t.co/VuZjLJmups
— David Benfell, Ph.D. (@n4rky) January 3, 2020
Oh, and just sayin’, ’cause I’ve said it before, Iran won’t go any better.[2]
War with Iran has nothing to do with Jews, Muslims, Shias or Sunnis.
Iran, Israel and Saudi Arabia are regional powers with geopolitical interests.#Israel has been pushing US to a war with Iran since Bush, Obama and now Trump.
Business as usual.@MintPressNews pic.twitter.com/FR1HCEbJwp
— Carlos Latuff (@LatuffCartoons) January 3, 2020
Carlos Latuff, in the above, raises an interesting point. For all the apparent hostility between Barack Obama and Binyamin Netanyahu,[3] Obama gave the Israeli government nearly everything it wanted except for two things:
- Complete acquiescence to Israeli hegemony in the West Bank.[4]
- War with Iran.
Julian Borger and Martin Chulov, “Iran general Qassem Suleimani killed in Baghdad drone strike ordered by Trump,” Guardian, January 3, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/03/baghdad-airport-iraq-attack-deaths-iran-us-tensions
Zachary Evans, “State Department Warns Americans to Leave Iraq ‘Immediately’ in Wake of Soleimani Killing,” National Review, January 3, 2020, https://www.nationalreview.com/news/state-department-warns-americans-to-leave-iraq-immediately-in-wake-of-soleimani-killing/
Veganism
Telegraph, “Veganism is a philosophical belief and is therefore protected by law, judge rules,” January 3, 2020, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/01/03/veganism-philosophical-belief-therefore-protected-law-judge/
- [1]Reuters, “Iraq war, the notable quotes,” March 11, 2008, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-war-quotes/factbox-iraq-war-the-notable-quotes-idUSL212762520080311↩
- [2]David Benfell, “Forever war and inhumanity, delusional raging narcissist-in-chief style,” Irregular Bullshit, June 27, 2019, https://disunitedstates.com/2019/06/27/forever-war-and-inhumanity-delusional-raging-narcissist-in-chief-style/↩
- [3]Raphael Ahren, “Spurning lawmakers, Netanyahu loses the Democrats he never thought he had,” Times of Israel, August 16, 2019, https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-never-thought-he-had-the-support-of-democrats-now-he-might-not/; Khaled Elgindy, “Obama’s Record on Israeli-Palestinian Peace: The President’s Disquieting Silence,” Foreign Affairs, October 5, 2016, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/israel/2016-10-05/obamas-record-israeli-palestinian-peace↩
- [4]Adam Entous, “The Maps of Israeli Settlements That Shocked Barack Obama,” New Yorker, July 9, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-map-of-israeli-settlements-that-shocked-barack-obama↩