Ukraine
It’s a bit late, but it was today I found a story on the more recent allegations that Russia in plotting a false flag operation to justify an invasion of Ukraine. As I expected, there is no citation of actual evidence,[1] which means we must treat the evidence as if it doesn’t exist. There are several reasons for this:
- If the evidence even exists, intelligence agencies may be misinterpreting it. We cannot evaluate this possibility without seeing the evidence.
- If the evidence even exists, it may be more ambiguous than intelligence agencies, particularly in a propaganda war,[2] admit.
- The evidence might not even actually exist. Particularly in a propaganda war,[3] we cannot assume that simply because one side is blatantly putting out patent bullshit,[4] that the other is not. On the contrary, we might suspect that bullshit is being answered with bullshit.
- Sources of evidence may not have been correctly identified. We expect opponents to seek to deceive each other in war. They may succeed in planting evidence that misleads. So even if one side is being rigorously honest, its conclusions may simply be wrong.
- The above possibilities are not mutually exclusive. Without access to all of the evidence, we simply cannot know what is supported how well and what flatly is not. We cannot know what is being spun to support a particular policy. It thus becomes dangerously foolish to support that policy.
- [1]Shane Harris, Ashley Parker, and Ellen Nakashima, “New intelligence suggests Russia plans a ‘false flag’ operation to trigger an invasion of Ukraine,” Washington Post, February 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/11/russia-ukraine-invasion-intelligence/↩
- [2]Jon Allsop, “Cutting through the fog of war,” Columbia Journalism Review, February 7, 2022, https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/psaki_price_isis_russia_media.php↩
- [3]Jon Allsop, “Cutting through the fog of war,” Columbia Journalism Review, February 7, 2022, https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/psaki_price_isis_russia_media.php↩
- [4]Shane Harris, Ashley Parker, and Ellen Nakashima, “New intelligence suggests Russia plans a ‘false flag’ operation to trigger an invasion of Ukraine,” Washington Post, February 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/11/russia-ukraine-invasion-intelligence/↩
- [5]Kayla Tarnowski and Julio Cesar Chavez, “Key bridge to U.S. remains closed as Canada police clear protesters,” Reuters, February 13, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-protesters-police-deadlocked-tensions-simmer-blocked-border-bridge-2022-02-13/↩
Simon Tisdall, “Biden rattles his sabre at Putin … but it’s Xi he really wants to scare,” Guardian, February 6, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/06/biden-rattles-his-sabre-at-putin-but-its-xi-he-really-wants-to-scare
Jon Allsop, “Cutting through the fog of war,” Columbia Journalism Review, February 7, 2022, https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/psaki_price_isis_russia_media.php
Missy Ryan et al., “Biden vows to stop Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Europe if Russia invades Ukraine,” Washington Post, February 7, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/07/ukraine-russia-scholz-biden-macron/
David L. Stern, “The Ukrainian language is having a moment. To Putin’s ears, it’s a shot against Russian speakers,” Washington Post, February 8, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/08/ukraine-russia-language-putin/
Julia Ioffe, “War and Peace: The View from Moscow,” Puck News, February 10, 2022, https://puck.news/war-and-peace-the-view-from-moscow/
Shane Harris, Ashley Parker, and Ellen Nakashima, “New intelligence suggests Russia plans a ‘false flag’ operation to trigger an invasion of Ukraine,” Washington Post, February 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/11/russia-ukraine-invasion-intelligence/
Steve Hendrix, Amy Cheng, and Missy Ryan, “U.S. orders most embassy staffers in Kyiv to leave Ukraine amid fears Russia will invade soon,” Washington Post, February 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/12/ukraine-russia-putin-biden-belarus/
Work
Jamison Hixenbaugh, “Gov. Wolf Continues Push for Minimum Wage Increase in Pennsylvania,” Erie News Now, February 11, 2022, https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/45860226/gov-wolf-continues-push-for-minimum-wage-increase-in-pennsylvania
COVID-19 Pandemic
Doctors and charlatans
That bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit might be back open soon.[5]
Anthony Faiola, “Canada’s Trumpian trucker protests show the global radicalization of anti-vaxxers,” Washington Post, February 8, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/08/trucker-freedom-convoy-radicalization-global/
Renatta Signorini, “Hospital leaders hopeful as covid cases decline, staffing remains an issue,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, February 9, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/hospital-leaders-hopeful-as-covid-cases-decline-but-staffing-remains-an-issue/
British Broadcasting Corporation, “Covid: Trucker protests may hit Super Bowl, US security agency says,” February 10, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60338090
Leyland Cecco, “Protesters defy order to clear bridge connecting Canada and US,” Guardian, February 11, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/12/protesters-defy-order-to-clear-bridge-connecting-canada-and-us
Amanda Coletta et al., “Police prepare to clear ‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters on Ontario border bridge. Tear gas used on Champs-Élysées crowd,” Washington Post, February 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/12/canada-ottawa-trucker-protest-freedom-convoy/
Miguel Marquez, Jason Hanna, and Kim Berryman, “Canadian police begin attempt to clear protesters blocking Ambassador Bridge to US,” CNN, February 12, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/12/americas/canada-truckers-protests-covid-saturday/index.html
Kayla Tarnowski and Julio Cesar Chavez, “Key bridge to U.S. remains closed as Canada police clear protesters,” Reuters, February 13, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-protesters-police-deadlocked-tensions-simmer-blocked-border-bridge-2022-02-13/