Fig. 1. Christmas in Pittsburgh won’t look anything like this, this year. The decorations are up, but the snow is nowhere in sight. Photograph by author, December 25, 2020.
Ukraine
Andrew Roth, “Why Putin is acting like a man who has run out of time,” Guardian, December 23, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/23/vladimir-putin-russian-president-ukraine-analysis
Pandemic
(Inter)national
I think perhaps Donald Trump has realized that his supporters can’t vote for him if they’re dead. Three times now, he has praised the COVID-19 vaccines. He’s been booed twice and he always immediately emphasizes that he opposes mandates, but he praises the vaccines. It’s a little different from when he was in office and promoting quack cures.[1] The prospect of his return to office raises the question of what he’ll do about the mandate for the military, said to be about readiness,[2] and therefore essential for the toxic masculinity that marks Trumpism.[3] If he’s true to his word, he should reverse the discharges.[4]
Lolita C. Baldor, “More Marines Discharged Over Vaccine Refusal, Total at 169,” Military.com, December 23, 2021, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/12/23/more-marines-discharged-over-vaccine-refusal-total-169.html
Olafimihan Oshin, “Trump pushes back on Candace Owens: ‘People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine,’” Hill, December 23, 2021, https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/587079-trump-pushes-back-on-candace-owens-people-arent-dying
Philip Marcelo, Anne D’Innocenzio, and Bobby Caina Calvan, “Omicron is latest blow to pandemic-weary front-line workers,” Associated Press, December 24, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-pandemics-london-7004e1f1b1847b9831623e6adcedb5f3
Brittny Mejia, “ICU doctors, nurses demoralized over ‘needless’ COVID-19 misery. ‘Patients are still dying,’” Los Angeles Times, December 24, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-12-24/covid-icu
Pennsylvania region
Christyn Allen, “Meadville Medical Center pleads for Community’s Help,” Erie News Now, December 23, 2021, https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/45529253/meadville-medical-center-pleads-for-communitys-help
White supremacist gangs
Jason Dearen, “He attended cross burnings, wore a wire, risked his life to expose who was in KKK,” Times of Israel, December 23, 2021, https://www.timesofisrael.com/he-wore-a-wire-risked-his-life-to-expose-who-was-in-the-kkk/
Amy Forliti, “Kim Potter guilty of manslaughter in Daunte Wright’s death,” Los Angeles Times, December 23, 2021, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-12-23/jury-outcome-in-daunte-wright-trial
Bill Peduto
Bill Peduto defends promoting his bodyguard “from sergeant to assistant chief [of police], leapfrogging the ranks of lieutenant and commander” by citing his bodyguard’s military career:[5]
The community has been voicing concerns about the militarization of police. We’re trying to get away from the mentality of soldiers on guard in the city and trying to move toward the guardian model. While soldiers are guardians, that doesn’t necessarily just in and of itself exclusively qualify you to be a law enforcement officer.[6]
At the very least, this is an eye-catching move; it casts further doubt on Peduto’s dubious legacy of white supremacist gang “reform.”[7]
Megan Guza, “Peduto promotes longtime bodyguard to assistant chief of Pittsburgh police,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 23, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/peduto-promotes-longtime-bodyguard-to-assistant-chief-of-pittsburgh-police/
Christopher Columbus
Paula Reed Ward, “Pittsburgh argues that Italian-American group has no right to challenge Columbus statue removal,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 23, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-argues-that-italian-american-group-has-no-right-to-challenge-columbus-statue-removal/
- [1]Associated Press, “FDA warns against using the drugs that Trump touts for coronavirus,” Los Angeles Times, April 24, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-04-24/fda-warns-against-using-trump-touted-drugs-to-treat-coronavirus; Ariana Eunjung Cha and Laurie McGinley, “Antimalarial drug touted by President Trump is linked to increased risk of death in coronavirus patients, study says,” Washington Post, May 22, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/05/22/hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus-study/; Allyson Chiu, Katie Shepherd, and Brittany Shammas, “Trump comments prompt doctors, and Lysol, to warn against injecting disinfectants,” Washington Post, April 24, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/24/disinfectant-injection-coronavirus-trump/; Jill Colvin, “Trump reveals he got COVID-19 booster shot; crowd boos him,” Associated Press, December 20, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-donald-trump-coronavirus-vaccine-74abcd4e6833835f5df445fe2142e22b; Guardian, “Trump booed after telling supporters to get Covid vaccine,” August 22, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/22/donald-trump-rally-alabama-covid-vaccine; Marilynn Marchione, “Heart woes spur partial stop of malaria drug study for virus,” Associated Press, April 13, 2020, https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-malaria-donald-trump-us-news-ap-top-news-f69fd1607a097d8a55bb1ad9fff78e7b; Laurie McGinley and Josh Dawsey, “Touting criticized study, White House presses FDA to authorize hydroxychloroquine — again,” Washington Post, July 10, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/07/10/peter-navarro-hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus/; Olafimihan Oshin, “Trump pushes back on Candace Owens: ‘People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine,’” Hill, December 23, 2021, https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/587079-trump-pushes-back-on-candace-owens-people-arent-dying; Aaron Rupar, “Trump and Fox News want to send their hydroxychloroquine hype down the memory hole,” Vox, April 22, 2020, https://www.vox.com/2020/4/22/21230982/hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus-trump-fox-news-hype; Anna Sanders and Chris Sommerfeldt, “A spike in New Yorkers ingesting household cleaners following Trump’s controversial coronavirus comments,” New York Daily News, April 24, 2020, https://www.nydailynews.com/coronavirus/ny-coronavirus-new-yorkers-household-cleaners-trump-20200425-rnaqio5dyfeaxmthxx2vktqa5m-story.html; Michael D. Shear and Maggie Haberman, “Health Dept. Official Says Doubts on Hydroxychloroquine Led to His Ouster,” New York Times, April 22, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/us/politics/rick-bright-trump-hydroxychloroquine.html; Paul Waldman, “The real reason Trump is obsessed with hydroxychloroquine,” Washington Post, April 7, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/07/real-reason-trump-is-obsessed-with-hydroxychloroquine/↩
- [2]Associated Press, “US air force discharges 27 service members for refusing Covid vaccine,” Guardian, December 13, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/13/us-air-force-discharges-27-service-members-for-refusing-covid-vaccine; Lolita C. Baldor, “Navy Commander Fired After Refusing to Get COVID Vaccine,” Military.com, December 11, 2021, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/12/11/navy-commander-fired-after-refusing-get-covid-vaccine.html; Lolita C. Baldor, “Across services, troops face discipline for refusing vaccine,” Sacramento Bee, December 16, 2021, https://www.sacbee.com/news/article256645827.html; Lolita C. Baldor, “More Marines Discharged Over Vaccine Refusal, Total at 169,” Military.com, December 23, 2021, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/12/23/more-marines-discharged-over-vaccine-refusal-total-169.html; Steve Beynon, “Soldiers Who Refuse Vaccination Can Still Serve, But Their Careers Are Over,” Military.com, November 22, 2021, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/11/22/soldiers-who-refuse-vaccination-can-still-serve-their-careers-are-over.html; Alex Horton, “Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops have not yet complied with vaccine mandate as deadlines near,” Washington Post, October 10, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/10/10/military-vaccine-mandate/; Konstantin Toropin, “Oklahoma Guard Leader Tells Vaccine Refusers to Prepare for ‘Career Ending Federal Action,’” Military.com, December 10, 2021, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/12/10/oklahoma-guard-leader-tells-vaccine-refusers-prepare-career-ending-federal-action.html; Nancy A. Youssef, “Thousands in Air Force, Space Force Seek Exemption From Covid-19 Vaccines,” Wall Street Journal, November 3, 2021, https://www.wsj.com/articles/thousands-in-air-force-space-force-seek-exemption-from-covid-19-vaccines-11635968785↩
- [3]Priya Elan, “The data is in: men are too fragile to wear Covid-19 masks. Grow up, guys,” Guardian, July 3, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/03/covid-19-masks-men-masculinity; Nan Levinson, “The Far Right in Uniform,” TomDispatch, April 6, 2021, https://tomdispatch.com/the-far-right-in-uniform/; Angie Schmitt, “What Happened to Pickup Trucks?” CityLab, March 11, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-11/the-dangerous-rise-of-the-supersized-pickup-truck; Matthew S. Schwartz, “5 Boats Sink At Trump Boat Parade In Texas,” National Public Radio, September 6, 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/09/06/910322916/5-boats-sink-at-trump-boat-parade-in-texas↩
- [4]Jill Colvin, “Trump reveals he got COVID-19 booster shot; crowd boos him,” Associated Press, December 20, 2021, https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-donald-trump-coronavirus-vaccine-74abcd4e6833835f5df445fe2142e22b; Guardian, “Trump booed after telling supporters to get Covid vaccine,” August 22, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/22/donald-trump-rally-alabama-covid-vaccine; Olafimihan Oshin, “Trump pushes back on Candace Owens: ‘People aren’t dying when they take the vaccine,’” Hill, December 23, 2021, https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/587079-trump-pushes-back-on-candace-owens-people-arent-dying↩
- [5]Megan Guza, “Peduto promotes longtime bodyguard to assistant chief of Pittsburgh police,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 23, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/peduto-promotes-longtime-bodyguard-to-assistant-chief-of-pittsburgh-police/↩
- [6]Beth Pittinger, quoted in Megan Guza, “Peduto promotes longtime bodyguard to assistant chief of Pittsburgh police,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, December 23, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/peduto-promotes-longtime-bodyguard-to-assistant-chief-of-pittsburgh-police/↩
- [7]Charlie Wolfson, “After eight years, Peduto’s record is a mix of bold plans and frustrating endings,” Public Source, December 22, 2021, https://www.publicsource.org/peduto-pittsburgh-outgoing-mayor-equity-policing-gainey/↩