Will the ‘grim reaper’ in fact come for Vladimir Putin? I mean, soon?

Work

Rachel Lerman et al., “Amazon workers vote to join a union in New York in historic move,” Washington Post, April 1, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/04/01/amazon-union-staten-island/


Residential schools

It’s good that Pope Francis is apologizing on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church, but “other religious groups that managed residential schools included the United, Anglican and Presbyterian faiths.” These, too, should apologize and as profoundly as Francis seems to have done. The indigenous groups are also requesting reparations.[1]

Francis X. Rocca and Paul Vieira, “Pope Francis Apologizes for Abuse of Indigenous Canadian Children at Catholic-Run Schools,” Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/pope-francis-apologizes-for-abuse-of-indigenous-canadian-children-at-catholic-run-schools-11648815430


Fossil fuels

Northeast

Tanisha Thomas, “Springdale power plant shuts down, demolition work to begin,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 1, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/springdale-power-plant-shuts-down-demolition-work-to-begin/


Jeffrey Epstein

Victoria Bekiempis, “Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid for new trial denied, judge rules,” Guardian, April 1, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/01/ghislaine-maxwell-retrial-bid-denied-judge


Ukraine

Despite an optimistic frame over the last week or so, the news is, in fact, all bad,[2] but if we are indeed hoping for the “grim reaper” to solve our Vladimir Putin problem,[3] there’s this: It seems Putin has been keeping a doctor who specializes in thyroid cancer in attendance and seems to have undergone at least one surgery.[4] Perhaps all that toxic masculinity that Trumpists admire so much.

Thyroid cancer can usually be treated but can spread.[5] On the other hand, it might just be that Putin and this medical entourage are are all just good friends.

Daniel Boffey, “Russia reasserts right to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine,” Guardian, March 26, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/26/russia-reasserts-right-to-use-nuclear-weapons-in-ukraine-putin

William Booth, Robyn Dixon, and David L. Stern, “Russian generals are getting killed at an extraordinary rate,” Washington Post, March 26, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/26/ukraine-russan-generals-dead/

James Kilner, “Russian MP accuses Poland of planning to take Kaliningrad back from Moscow,” Telegraph, March 26, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/26/russian-mp-accuses-poland-planning-take-kaliningrad-back-moscow/

Claire Parker, Robyn Dixon, and Erin Cunningham, “Where was Sergei Shoigu? Russia’s missing defense minister resurfaces,” Washington Post, March 26, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/26/sergei-shoigu-russia-disappearance/

Tarini Parti and and Drew Hinshaw, “Biden Says Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘Cannot Remain in Power,’” Wall Street Journal, March 26, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-and-polands-leader-look-to-boost-support-for-ukraine-11648304117

Nebi Qena and Yuras Karmanau, “Russia shifts focus to try to grind Ukraine’s army in east,” Associated Press, March 28, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-kyiv-business-europe-7386a5893a3b43bad7e438cfe45468c2

Robin Wright, “Biden’s Fate Is Now Inextricably Linked to Putin’s War in Ukraine,” New Yorker, March 28, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/bidens-fate-is-now-inextricably-linked-to-putins-war-in-ukraine

Jon Henley, Pjotr Sauer, and Shaun Walker, “‘Ukrainians are not naive’: Zelenskiy voices doubt on Russian military withdrawals,” Guardian, March 29, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/29/ukraine-russia-peace-talks-istanbul-war-kyiv

Samantha Lock and Léonie Chao-Fong, “Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 35 of the Russian invasion,” Guardian, March 29, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/30/russia-ukraine-war-what-we-know-on-day-35-of-the-russian-invasion

Adam Taylor and William Neff, “Why the world is so worried about Russia’s ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons,” Washington Post, March 29, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/29/why-world-is-so-worried-about-russias-tactical-nuclear-weapons/

Joshua Yaffa, “Why Do So Many Russians Say They Support the War in Ukraine?” New Yorker, March 29, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-do-so-many-russians-say-they-support-the-war-in-ukraine

Michael Birnbaum et al., “U.S. says Putin being misled, as Ukraine refugee tally hits 4 million,” Washington Post, March 30, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/30/ukraine-putin-misled-russia/

Nebi Qena and Yuras Karmanau, “Russia shells areas in Ukraine where it vowed to scale back,” Associated Press, March 30, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-roman-abramovich-kyiv-europe-ef9c28c44f94b34262fe6b7c296d58a6

Tom Ball, “Cancer surgeon ‘visited Putin 35 times in four years,’” Times, April 1, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cancer-surgeon-visited-putin-35-times-in-four-years-gkflcsvfg

British Broadcasting Corporation, “Ukraine war: Gruesome evidence points to war crimes on road outside Kyiv,” April 1, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60949791

Julia Ioffe, “How Putin’s Game Ends,” Puck News, April 1, 2022, https://puck.news/how-putins-game-ends/

Martin Farrer, “Russians booby-trapping homes as they retreat, claims Zelenskiy,” Guardian, April 2, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/02/russia-ukraine-war-invasion-retreat-zelenskiy-kyiv-us-biden-uk-evacuees-escape-mariupol


  1. [1]Francis X. Rocca and Paul Vieira, “Pope Francis Apologizes for Abuse of Indigenous Canadian Children at Catholic-Run Schools,” Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/pope-francis-apologizes-for-abuse-of-indigenous-canadian-children-at-catholic-run-schools-11648815430
  2. [2]Julia Ioffe, “How Putin’s Game Ends,” Puck News, April 1, 2022, https://puck.news/how-putins-game-ends/
  3. [3]Mark Galeotti, “How does Putin extract himself from this nightmare of his own making?” Times, March 5, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-does-putin-extract-himself-from-this-nightmare-of-his-own-making-v2ktvw08g
  4. [4]Tom Ball, “Cancer surgeon ‘visited Putin 35 times in four years,’” Times, April 1, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cancer-surgeon-visited-putin-35-times-in-four-years-gkflcsvfg
  5. [5]Mayo Clinic, “Thyroid Cancer,” January 21, 2020, https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/thyroid-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20354161

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