Month: April 2022

Uber drops mask requirement

benfell

COVID-19 Pandemic

Doctors and charlatans

As I anticipated,[1] Uber has dropped masking requirements for passengers and drivers and reopened the front passenger seat.[2] I have not yet heard about Lyft’s reaction to yesterday’s court ruling striking down a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rule requiring masks be worn on public transportation.[3]

Omar Abdel-Baqui, “Uber Drops Mask Requirement After Judge Voids Public Transportation Mandate,” Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-drops-mask-requirement-after-judge-voids-public-transportation-mandate-11650369863

Hate

Jeanne Whalen, “Russian Orthodox leader backs war in Ukraine, divides faith,” Washington Post, April 18, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/18/russian-orthodox-church-ukraine-war/

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

Maggie Haberman, Alexandra Berzon, and Michael S. Schmidt, “Trump Allies Continue Legal Drive to Erase His Loss, Stoking Election Doubts,” New York Times, April 18, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/18/us/politics/trump-allies-election-decertify.html

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence

Jesse Bunch and Andrew Goldstein, “In the Hill District, residents grapple with recent spike in gun violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 16, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/16/pittsburgh-hill-district-gun-violence-shootings/stories/202204140127

Julia Felton, “Ed Gainey marks 100 days as Pittsburgh’s mayor, learns to ‘fall in love with adversity,’” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 16, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/ed-gainey-marks-100-days-as-pittsburghs-mayor-learns-to-fall-in-love-with-adversity/

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “One man dead after Marshall-Shadeland shooting,” April 16, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/16/pittsburgh-fatal-shooting-marshall-shadeland-police-mcclure/stories/202204160041

Megan Guza and Ryan Deto, “Multiple shooters suspected in ‘war scene’ that killed 2, injured 8 on Pittsburgh’s North Side,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/police-11-shot-2-dead-on-pittsburghs-north-side/

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “At least 11 shot, 2 dead in North Side shooting, police say,” April 17, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/17/pittsburgh-shooting-north-side-east-allegheny-update-public-safety/stories/202204170168

Brian C. Rittmeyer, “Pittsburgh police investigating shootout at South Side Flats clothing store,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-police-investigating-shootout-at-south-side-flats-clothing-store/

Mick Stinelli, Julian Routh, and Ed Blazina, “North Side residents describe chaos at Airbnb before mass shooting as concerns mount over Pittsburgh gun violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 17, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/04/17/pittsburgh-mass-shooting-reactions-north-side-residents-east-allegheny-suismon-street-madison-avenue/stories/202204170174

Ed Blazina, “Pittsburgh officials finding that barring parties at Airbnb rentals is a difficult task, despite strict ban,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 18, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/18/airbnb-east-allegheny-mass-shooting-two-dead-unapproved-party/stories/202204170181

Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh City Council looks to regulate Airbnb, other short-term rentals after deadly weekend shooting,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 18, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-city-council-looks-to-regulate-airbnb-other-short-term-rentals-after-deadly-weekend-shooting/

Ukraine

Bojan Pancevski and Georgi Kantchev, “Russia Warns It Could Station Nuclear Forces in Europe if Finland, Sweden Join NATO,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-warns-it-could-station-nuclear-forces-in-europe-if-finland-sweden-join-nato-11649958396

Dan Lamothe et al., “Russia says flagship missile cruiser has sunk after explosion off coast of Ukraine,” Washington Post, April 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/14/ukraine-russian-missile-cruiser-moskva-warship/

David E. Sanger, Helene Cooper, and Anton Troianovski, “Girding for New Battle, Russia Warns U.S. on Advanced Weapons for Ukraine,” New York Times, April 15, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/world/europe/ukraine-russia-us-weapons-warning.html

Karen DeYoung and Michael Birnbaum, “U.S., allies plan for long-term isolation of Russia,” Washington Post, April 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/04/16/us-nato-isolate-russia/

Juri Rescheto, “Who’s next? Lithuanians prepare for potential Russian aggression,” Deutschewelle, April 16, 2022, https://www.dw.com/en/whos-next-lithuanians-prepare-for-potential-russian-aggression/a-61496290

Agence France-Presse, “Russian ultimatum to Ukraine forces in Mariupol expires,” Radio Television Luxembourg, April 17, 2022, https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/a/1899789.html

Catherine Lucey, “Biden’s Claim of Russian Genocide in Ukraine Adds to Pressure Campaign,” Wall Street Journal, April 17, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidens-claim-of-russian-genocide-in-ukraine-adds-to-pressure-campaign-11650187802

Shayan Sardarizadeh and Leo Sands, “Ukraine war: Dramatic images appear to show sinking Russian warship Moskva,” British Broadcasting Corporation, April 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61141118

Jeanne Whalen, “Russian Orthodox leader backs war in Ukraine, divides faith,” Washington Post, April 18, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/18/russian-orthodox-church-ukraine-war/

  1. [1]David Benfell, “The expendable worker,” Not Housebroken, April 18, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/07/05/the-expendable-worker/↩
  2. [2]Omar Abdel-Baqui, “Uber Drops Mask Requirement After Judge Voids Public Transportation Mandate,” Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-drops-mask-requirement-after-judge-voids-public-transportation-mandate-11650369863; Uber, “Our commitment to safety,” April 19, 2022, https://www.uber.com/us/en/safety/?stream=top↩
  3. [3]Tierney Sneed, “CDC mask mandate for travelers no longer in effect following judge’s ruling, official says,” CNN, April 18, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/18/politics/cdc-mask-mandate-ruling/index.html↩

The de facto end of mask rules for Uber and Lyft passengers

benfell

COVID-19 Pandemic

Doctors and charlatans

My guess is that the mask rule struck down by a federal judge (a Donald Trump appointee)[1] is the basis for Uber and Lyft mask requirements.

Uber and Lyft have been requiring both drivers and passengers to wear masks (not necessarily correctly) and have closed the front passenger seat, reducing the passenger capacity of most cars to three (plus the driver).

I have not heard any reaction from either company to this ruling. I’ve had to turn down a number of rides because there were too many passengers. One even attempted to invoke a Google search result for an UberX ride saying that the limit was four passengers. Nope, no dice. Uber directly says three.

But with this ruling,[2] I don’t see it being tenable for drivers to continue to enforce these rules. Passengers do get violent.[3] And as before, passengers can report drivers for not complying with the rules, but really not the other way around.[4]

Tierney Sneed, “CDC mask mandate for travelers no longer in effect following judge’s ruling, official says,” CNN, April 18, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/18/politics/cdc-mask-mandate-ruling/index.html

  1. [1]Tierney Sneed, “CDC mask mandate for travelers no longer in effect following judge’s ruling, official says,” CNN, April 18, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/18/politics/cdc-mask-mandate-ruling/index.html↩
  2. [2]Tierney Sneed, “CDC mask mandate for travelers no longer in effect following judge’s ruling, official says,” CNN, April 18, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/18/politics/cdc-mask-mandate-ruling/index.html↩
  3. [3]Danielle Abril, “Uber Drivers Are Victims of Violence Too,” Fortune, December 10, 2019, https://fortune.com/2019/12/10/uber-driver-safety-report-sexual-assualt/; David Benfell, “The vulnerability of Uber and Lyft driving,” Not Housebroken, February 18, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/02/18/the-vulnerability-of-uber-and-lyft-driving/; Aarian Marshall, “A Criminologist Says Uber’s Crime Report Is ‘Highly Alarming,’” Wired, December 6, 2018, https://www.wired.com/story/criminologist-uber-crime-report-highly-alarming/↩
  4. [4]David Benfell, “The expendable worker,” Not Housebroken, May 14, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/07/05/the-expendable-worker/↩

Too many confusing their penises for their guns

benfell

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence

This is becoming seriously alarming. It’s not like I can avoid neighborhoods driving for Uber. Some, like the South Side Flats,[1] where stupid people go to do stupid stuff, are indeed inevitable. Most of these shootings, but not all, are occurring after my self-imposed curfew.

That one yesterday (Sunday) afternoon in the South Side Flats,[2] for example, is right by a shopping plaza, which includes a Giant Eagle grocery store, and another strip mall right across the street. I won’t say I get orders there all the time, but it certainly isn’t unusual.

It’s across the Monongahela River from Pittsburgh’s Uptown neighborhood, which is severely affected by blight. It’s right down the hill from the county slums at the end of Josephine Street.

As for that mass shooting in the North Side, literally a stone’s throw from I-279, the Parkway North,[3] from what I gather, overhearing passengers’ conversations, AirBNB is just how parties are done now, I presume, so somebody else can clean up the mess. It’s a violation of the AirBNB rules,[4] but much like unaccompanied underage passengers riding on Uber and Lyft, winked at.[5] I do not see, however, how attacking the problem as an AirBNB problem[6] will accomplish anything.

It’s a simple fact that poor people around Pittsburgh (also in Erie, by the way) rely heavily on Uber and Lyft for transportation. That means I’m in the Hill District, again, not all the time, but often.[7]

But what we’re seeing, as these shootings occur in multiple neighborhoods, is that this can’t be viewed as a neighborhood-specific problem. It’s a systemic problem, a problem where people are condemned to lives of poverty and even the most fleeting fantasies of escaping it are ruthlessly and relentlessly crushed. They know they have nothing to lose.[8]

And it’s a societal problem, where far too many people’s identities are wrapped up in their weapons, as I have phrased it, confusing their guns for their penises. Violence is not, as Pittsburgh Councilman Bruce Kraus suggests, merely “acceptable,”[9] but rather is the only form of power that far too many people can find.

Julia Felton, “Ed Gainey marks 100 days as Pittsburgh’s mayor, learns to ‘fall in love with adversity,’” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 16, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/ed-gainey-marks-100-days-as-pittsburghs-mayor-learns-to-fall-in-love-with-adversity/

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “One man dead after Marshall-Shadeland shooting,” April 16, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/16/pittsburgh-fatal-shooting-marshall-shadeland-police-mcclure/stories/202204160041

Megan Guza and Ryan Deto, “Multiple shooters suspected in ‘war scene’ that killed 2, injured 8 on Pittsburgh’s North Side,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/police-11-shot-2-dead-on-pittsburghs-north-side/

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “At least 11 shot, 2 dead in North Side shooting, police say,” April 17, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/17/pittsburgh-shooting-north-side-east-allegheny-update-public-safety/stories/202204170168

Brian C. Rittmeyer, “Pittsburgh police investigating shootout at South Side Flats clothing store,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-police-investigating-shootout-at-south-side-flats-clothing-store/

Mick Stinelli, Julian Routh, and Ed Blazina, “North Side residents describe chaos at Airbnb before mass shooting as concerns mount over Pittsburgh gun violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 17, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/04/17/pittsburgh-mass-shooting-reactions-north-side-residents-east-allegheny-suismon-street-madison-avenue/stories/202204170174

Ed Blazina, “Pittsburgh officials finding that barring parties at Airbnb rentals is a difficult task, despite strict ban,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 18, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/18/airbnb-east-allegheny-mass-shooting-two-dead-unapproved-party/stories/202204170181

Ukraine

Bojan Pancevski and Georgi Kantchev, “Russia Warns It Could Station Nuclear Forces in Europe if Finland, Sweden Join NATO,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-warns-it-could-station-nuclear-forces-in-europe-if-finland-sweden-join-nato-11649958396

Dan Lamothe et al., “Russia says flagship missile cruiser has sunk after explosion off coast of Ukraine,” Washington Post, April 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/14/ukraine-russian-missile-cruiser-moskva-warship/

David E. Sanger, Helene Cooper, and Anton Troianovski, “Girding for New Battle, Russia Warns U.S. on Advanced Weapons for Ukraine,” New York Times, April 15, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/world/europe/ukraine-russia-us-weapons-warning.html

Karen DeYoung and Michael Birnbaum, “U.S., allies plan for long-term isolation of Russia,” Washington Post, April 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/04/16/us-nato-isolate-russia/

Juri Rescheto, “Who’s next? Lithuanians prepare for potential Russian aggression,” Deutschewelle, April 16, 2022, https://www.dw.com/en/whos-next-lithuanians-prepare-for-potential-russian-aggression/a-61496290

Agence France-Presse, “Russian ultimatum to Ukraine forces in Mariupol expires,” Radio Television Luxembourg, April 17, 2022, https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/a/1899789.html

Catherine Lucey, “Biden’s Claim of Russian Genocide in Ukraine Adds to Pressure Campaign,” Wall Street Journal, April 17, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidens-claim-of-russian-genocide-in-ukraine-adds-to-pressure-campaign-11650187802

  1. [1]Brian C. Rittmeyer, “Pittsburgh police investigating shootout at South Side Flats clothing store,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-police-investigating-shootout-at-south-side-flats-clothing-store/↩
  2. [2]Brian C. Rittmeyer, “Pittsburgh police investigating shootout at South Side Flats clothing store,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-police-investigating-shootout-at-south-side-flats-clothing-store/↩
  3. [3]Megan Guza and Ryan Deto, “Multiple shooters suspected in ‘war scene’ that killed 2, injured 8 on Pittsburgh’s North Side,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/police-11-shot-2-dead-on-pittsburghs-north-side/; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “At least 11 shot, 2 dead in North Side shooting, police say,” April 17, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/17/pittsburgh-shooting-north-side-east-allegheny-update-public-safety/stories/202204170168↩
  4. [4]Ed Blazina, “Pittsburgh officials finding that barring parties at Airbnb rentals is a difficult task, despite strict ban,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 18, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/18/airbnb-east-allegheny-mass-shooting-two-dead-unapproved-party/stories/202204170181↩
  5. [5]Julie Jargon, “Uber Says No Kids—These Other Car Services Say Yes,” Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-says-no-kidsthese-other-car-services-say-yes-11557221402↩
  6. [6]Ed Blazina, “Pittsburgh officials finding that barring parties at Airbnb rentals is a difficult task, despite strict ban,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 18, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/18/airbnb-east-allegheny-mass-shooting-two-dead-unapproved-party/stories/202204170181↩
  7. [7]Jesse Bunch and Andrew Goldstein, “In the Hill District, residents grapple with recent spike in gun violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 16, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/16/pittsburgh-hill-district-gun-violence-shootings/stories/202204140127; Julia Felton, “Ed Gainey marks 100 days as Pittsburgh’s mayor, learns to ‘fall in love with adversity,’” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 16, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/ed-gainey-marks-100-days-as-pittsburghs-mayor-learns-to-fall-in-love-with-adversity/; Megan Guza, “3 shot in Pittsburgh’s Hill District,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 12, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/3-shot-in-pittsburghs-hill-district/; Sarafina James, “Man assaulted, hospitalized following crash in Pittsburgh’s Hill District,” WPXI, April 8, 2022, https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/man-assaulted-hospitalized-following-crash-pittsburghs-hill-district/CCH6JMSD6NAQXKODHLNFIETOZ4/; Nick Matoney, “Man shot multiple times in Pittsburgh’s Hill District,” WTAE, March 25, 2022, https://www.wtae.com/article/man-shot-multiple-times-in-pittsburghs-hill-district/39534380; WPXI, “19-year-old killed, 1 other injured in Hill District shooting,” April 11, 2022, https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/2-people-injured-hill-district-shooting/XL2XHK7AVFEVDD42QUYIGUDSOQ/↩
  8. [8]Jesse Bunch and Andrew Goldstein, “In the Hill District, residents grapple with recent spike in gun violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 16, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/16/pittsburgh-hill-district-gun-violence-shootings/stories/202204140127↩
  9. [9]Ed Blazina, “Pittsburgh officials finding that barring parties at Airbnb rentals is a difficult task, despite strict ban,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 18, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/18/airbnb-east-allegheny-mass-shooting-two-dead-unapproved-party/stories/202204170181↩

If it’s war in Pittsburgh, can we at least find out who’s fighting whom?

benfell

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence

Jesse Bunch and Andrew Goldstein, “In the Hill District, residents grapple with recent spike in gun violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 16, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/16/pittsburgh-hill-district-gun-violence-shootings/stories/202204140127

Julia Felton, “Ed Gainey marks 100 days as Pittsburgh’s mayor, learns to ‘fall in love with adversity,’” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 16, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/ed-gainey-marks-100-days-as-pittsburghs-mayor-learns-to-fall-in-love-with-adversity/

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “One man dead after Marshall-Shadeland shooting,” April 16, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/16/pittsburgh-fatal-shooting-marshall-shadeland-police-mcclure/stories/202204160041

Megan Guza and Ryan Deto, “Multiple shooters suspected in ‘war scene’ that killed 2, injured 8 on Pittsburgh’s North Side,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/police-11-shot-2-dead-on-pittsburghs-north-side/

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “At least 11 shot, 2 dead in North Side shooting, police say,” April 17, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/17/pittsburgh-shooting-north-side-east-allegheny-update-public-safety/stories/202204170168

Mick Stinelli, Julian Routh, and Ed Blazina, “North Side residents describe chaos at Airbnb before mass shooting as concerns mount over Pittsburgh gun violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 17, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/04/17/pittsburgh-mass-shooting-reactions-north-side-residents-east-allegheny-suismon-street-madison-avenue/stories/202204170174

Vladimir Putin’s imperial fallacy

benfell

Ukraine

The fallacy should be immediately apparent:

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the first European leader to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in person since the invasion began, said he thinks the Russian president believes the war is necessary for his country’s security.

“I think he is now in his own war logic,” Nehammer said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press”, portions of which were released Saturday.

“I think he believes he is winning the war.”[1]

Let us stipulate that Vladimir Putin is indeed “winning the war.” Let us stipulate that he succeeds, against all odds and a determined resistance,[2] in pacifying Ukraine. If you conquer a country for your own security, then you have to defend that country in order to preserve that security; its security becomes your security. If you view countries surrounding that country as a threat, hello North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, then you must conquer them as well. And so it goes, in an ever widening circle, all to preserve the security that Putin perceives essential.

As I have previously said, repeatedly,

Fundamentally, imperialist logic exists on a slippery slope. There is always a necessity, indeed, an existential necessity, to expand; such is, in fact, intrinsic to our system of social organization and a fundamental reason it is unsustainable, for at some point, even after all the wars of expansion that can be fought have been fought, there is nothing on earth left to expand into.[3]

So if indeed Ukraine is existential for Russia and the dissolution of the Soviet Union is catastrophic,[4] then by what logic does Putin satisfy himself merely with Ukraine? Why not the entire former Soviet Union, including NATO members Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania[5] and non-members Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldava, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, and Turkmenistan?[6] Why not all of the countries formerly behind the Iron Curtain, including Poland, East Germany (now united with the west), Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia and the Czech Republic), Hungary, Yugoslavia (now several countries), Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania?[7] Where does Putin stop? By what logic?[8]

We still have zero reason to accept that the war ends with Ukraine.[9] And if, more probably, Putin cannot fully subjugate Ukraine, then, particularly as more countries join NATO, worsening his security situation as he perceives it,[10] he still must have “something,” whatever that “something” may be in the context of his imperial ambition,[11] in the context of not only his but Kremlin ego.[12]

And because it is so manifestly apparent that Putin’s conventional forces are not up to the job,[13] that whatever he may tell Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer about “winning the war,”[14] he must know that the only way forward will be nuclear.[15]

Bojan Pancevski and Georgi Kantchev, “Russia Warns It Could Station Nuclear Forces in Europe if Finland, Sweden Join NATO,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-warns-it-could-station-nuclear-forces-in-europe-if-finland-sweden-join-nato-11649958396

Dan Lamothe et al., “Russia says flagship missile cruiser has sunk after explosion off coast of Ukraine,” Washington Post, April 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/14/ukraine-russian-missile-cruiser-moskva-warship/

David E. Sanger, Helene Cooper, and Anton Troianovski, “Girding for New Battle, Russia Warns U.S. on Advanced Weapons for Ukraine,” New York Times, April 15, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/world/europe/ukraine-russia-us-weapons-warning.html

Karen DeYoung and Michael Birnbaum, “U.S., allies plan for long-term isolation of Russia,” Washington Post, April 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/04/16/us-nato-isolate-russia/

Agence France-Presse, “Russian ultimatum to Ukraine forces in Mariupol expires,” Radio Television Luxembourg, April 17, 2022, https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/a/1899789.html

  1. [1]Agence France-Presse, “Russian ultimatum to Ukraine forces in Mariupol expires,” Radio Television Luxembourg, April 17, 2022, https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/a/1899789.html↩
  2. [2]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/; Larisa Brown, Charlie Parker, and Richard Spencer, “Ukraine forces ‘counter-attack’ as Russia loses estimated 7,000 troops and 230 tanks,” Times, March 18, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ukraine-crisis-world-war-three-may-have-already-started-warns-zelensky-f5fs72vq5; Larisa Brown and Richard Spencer, “Struggling Russians ‘plant mines’ and dig in for a long war,” Times, March 21, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/retroville-mall-a-symbol-of-new-kyiv-is-destroyed-by-cruise-missile-0znsr9zc9; Robert Burns, “Russia’s failure to take down Kyiv was a defeat for the ages,” Associated Press, April 6, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-battle-for-kyiv-dc559574ce9f6683668fa221af2d5340; Helene Cooper, Julian E. Barnes, and Eric Schmitt, “As Russian Troop Deaths Climb, Morale Becomes an Issue, Officials Say,” New York Times, March 16, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/16/us/politics/russia-troop-deaths.html; 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; Michael R. Gordon and Alex Leary, “Russia, Failing to Achieve Early Victory in Ukraine, Is Seen Shifting to ‘Plan B,’” Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-failing-to-achieve-early-victory-in-ukraine-is-seen-shifting-to-plan-b-11647824374; Jon Henley, “Russia laments ‘tragedy’ of troop deaths as Zelenskiy warns of atrocities in Borodyanka,” Guardian, April 8, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/08/russia-laments-tragedy-of-troop-deaths-as-zelenskiy-warns-of-atrocities-in-borodyanka; 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; Richard Kemp, “The Russian army has run out of time,” Telegraph, March 22, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2022/03/22/russian-army-has-run-time/; Dan Lamothe, Alex Horton, and Karoun Demirjian, “Ukraine’s military adapts tactics after enduring Russia’s initial invasion,” Washington Post, March 5, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/05/ukraine-military-strategy/; Eric Levitz, “Putin’s War Looks Increasingly Insane,” New York, March 4, 2022, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/03/putins-war-looks-increasingly-insane.html; Matthew Luxmoore, “Russia Refocuses on Ukraine’s East After Month of Heavy Losses,” Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-refocuses-on-ukraines-east-after-month-of-heavy-losses-11648243627; James Mackenzie, Natalia Zinets, and Oleksandr Kozhukhar, “Russia getting bogged down in Ukraine, Western nations say,” Reuters, March 17, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/shells-hit-theatre-sheltering-ukraine-civilians-biden-calls-putin-war-criminal-2022-03-17/; Justin McCurry, Samantha Lock, and Luke Harding, “Russia targeting cities as strength of Ukraine’s resistance ‘continues to surprise’, UK says,” Guardian, March 6, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/06/biden-and-zelenskiy-discuss-more-aid-for-ukraine-as-russian-attacks-intensify; Ashley Parker et al., “‘No off-ramps’: U.S. and European officials don’t see a clear endgame in Ukraine,” Washington Post, March 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/10/ukraine-end-game/; 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; David Remnick, “The Weakness of the Despot,” New Yorker, March 11, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/stephen-kotkin-putin-russia-ukraine-stalin; Dan Sabbagh, “Is an outright Russian military victory in Ukraine possible?” Guardian, March 17, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/17/is-an-outright-russian-military-victory-in-ukraine-possible; Liz Sly and Max Bearak, “Russia pulls back from battered Kyiv region in major shift of war to east,” Washington Post, April 2, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/02/russia-ukraine-east/; Liz Sly and Dan Lamothe, “Russia’s war for Ukraine could be headed toward stalemate,” Washington Post, March 20, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/20/russia-ukraine-military-offensive/↩
  3. [3]John H. Bodley, Victims of Progress, 5th ed. (Lanham, MD: AltaMira, 2008).↩
  4. [4]Julia Ioffe, “Will Putin Get His World War III?” Puck News, February 22, 2022, https://puck.news/will-putin-get-his-world-war-iii/; Julia Ioffe, “Putin’s New Iron Curtain,” Puck News, February 24, 2022, https://puck.news/putins-new-iron-curtain/; Julia Ioffe, “Europe’s 9/11,” Puck News, March 3, 2022, https://puck.news/europes-9-11/; Eugene Rumer and Andrew S. Weiss, “Ukraine: Putin’s Unfinished Business,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, November 12, 2021, https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/11/12/ukraine-putin-s-unfinished-business-pub-85771↩
  5. [5]Thomas E. Ricks, “7 Former Communist Countries Join NATO,” Washington Post, March 30, 2004, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2004/03/30/7-former-communist-countries-join-nato/476d93dc-e4bd-4f05-9a15-5b66d322d0e6/↩
  6. [6]Russia Beyond, “The complete list of Soviet republics,” July 30, 2021, https://www.rbth.com/history/334057-soviet-republics-list↩
  7. [7]Public Broadcasting System, “Iron Curtain,” 1999, https://www.pbs.org/redfiles/prop/deep/prop_deep_maps.htm↩
  8. [8]David Benfell, “Where does Vladimir Putin stop?” Not Housebroken, April 12, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/03/04/where-does-vladimir-putin-stop/↩
  9. [9]David Benfell, “Where does Vladimir Putin stop?” Not Housebroken, April 12, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/03/04/where-does-vladimir-putin-stop/↩
  10. [10]Bruno Waterfield and Charlie Parker, “Finland and Sweden set to join Nato as soon as summer,” Times, April 11, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/finland-sweden-set-to-join-nato-war-ukraine-latest-7m8bn6mf8↩
  11. [11]Eugene Rumer and Andrew S. Weiss, “Ukraine: Putin’s Unfinished Business,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, November 12, 2021, https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/11/12/ukraine-putin-s-unfinished-business-pub-85771↩
  12. [12]Bruno Maçães, “‘Russia cannot afford to lose, so we need a kind of a victory’: Sergey Karaganov on what Putin wants,” New Statesman, April 2, 2022, https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/ukraine/2022/04/russia-cannot-afford-to-lose-so-we-need-a-kind-of-a-victory-sergey-karaganov-on-what-putin-wants↩
  13. [13]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/; Larisa Brown, Charlie Parker, and Richard Spencer, “Ukraine forces ‘counter-attack’ as Russia loses estimated 7,000 troops and 230 tanks,” Times, March 18, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ukraine-crisis-world-war-three-may-have-already-started-warns-zelensky-f5fs72vq5; Larisa Brown and Richard Spencer, “Struggling Russians ‘plant mines’ and dig in for a long war,” Times, March 21, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/retroville-mall-a-symbol-of-new-kyiv-is-destroyed-by-cruise-missile-0znsr9zc9; Robert Burns, “Russia’s failure to take down Kyiv was a defeat for the ages,” Associated Press, April 6, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-battle-for-kyiv-dc559574ce9f6683668fa221af2d5340; Helene Cooper, Julian E. Barnes, and Eric Schmitt, “As Russian Troop Deaths Climb, Morale Becomes an Issue, Officials Say,” New York Times, March 16, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/16/us/politics/russia-troop-deaths.html; 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; Michael R. Gordon and Alex Leary, “Russia, Failing to Achieve Early Victory in Ukraine, Is Seen Shifting to ‘Plan B,’” Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-failing-to-achieve-early-victory-in-ukraine-is-seen-shifting-to-plan-b-11647824374; Jon Henley, “Russia laments ‘tragedy’ of troop deaths as Zelenskiy warns of atrocities in Borodyanka,” Guardian, April 8, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/08/russia-laments-tragedy-of-troop-deaths-as-zelenskiy-warns-of-atrocities-in-borodyanka; 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; Richard Kemp, “The Russian army has run out of time,” Telegraph, March 22, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2022/03/22/russian-army-has-run-time/; Dan Lamothe, Alex Horton, and Karoun Demirjian, “Ukraine’s military adapts tactics after enduring Russia’s initial invasion,” Washington Post, March 5, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/03/05/ukraine-military-strategy/; Eric Levitz, “Putin’s War Looks Increasingly Insane,” New York, March 4, 2022, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/03/putins-war-looks-increasingly-insane.html; Matthew Luxmoore, “Russia Refocuses on Ukraine’s East After Month of Heavy Losses,” Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-refocuses-on-ukraines-east-after-month-of-heavy-losses-11648243627; James Mackenzie, Natalia Zinets, and Oleksandr Kozhukhar, “Russia getting bogged down in Ukraine, Western nations say,” Reuters, March 17, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/shells-hit-theatre-sheltering-ukraine-civilians-biden-calls-putin-war-criminal-2022-03-17/; Justin McCurry, Samantha Lock, and Luke Harding, “Russia targeting cities as strength of Ukraine’s resistance ‘continues to surprise’, UK says,” Guardian, March 6, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/06/biden-and-zelenskiy-discuss-more-aid-for-ukraine-as-russian-attacks-intensify; Ashley Parker et al., “‘No off-ramps’: U.S. and European officials don’t see a clear endgame in Ukraine,” Washington Post, March 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/10/ukraine-end-game/; 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; David Remnick, “The Weakness of the Despot,” New Yorker, March 11, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/stephen-kotkin-putin-russia-ukraine-stalin; Dan Sabbagh, “Is an outright Russian military victory in Ukraine possible?” Guardian, March 17, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/17/is-an-outright-russian-military-victory-in-ukraine-possible; Liz Sly and Max Bearak, “Russia pulls back from battered Kyiv region in major shift of war to east,” Washington Post, April 2, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/02/russia-ukraine-east/; Liz Sly and Dan Lamothe, “Russia’s war for Ukraine could be headed toward stalemate,” Washington Post, March 20, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/20/russia-ukraine-military-offensive/↩
  14. [14]Agence France-Presse, “Russian ultimatum to Ukraine forces in Mariupol expires,” Radio Television Luxembourg, April 17, 2022, https://today.rtl.lu/news/world/a/1899789.html↩
  15. [15]David Benfell, “Nuclear survival,” Not Housebroken, April 11, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/03/13/nuclear-survival/↩

Poverty and violence in Pittsburgh

benfell

When you get a sunset in Pittsburgh, you really get a sunset (figure 1).

Fig. 1. Photograph by author, April 16, 2022. I am not disclosing the precise location to protect privacy.

Pittsburgh

Hill District violence

Mr. [Tiwan] Hill’s death was just one of 11 shootings — two of them fatal — that echoed through the historic African American neighborhood since March 22. For some neighbors, the location and scale of recent shootings are surprising, though the grisly realities of gun violence have become just another part of life.[1]

In Pittsburgh, you are never far from poverty and the problems associated with poverty. I’ve been slow to pick up this story of recent violence in the Hill District,[2] because I tend not to focus on street crime; I see it as a symptom of the problem rather than the problem itself. And this, indeed, is what residents will tell you.[3]

Still, this has been an exceptional spate of violence recently, and the explanations I tend to resort to—the poverty, the despair, political neglect, that a lot of folks around here confuse their guns for their penises (and that includes the women)—and the explanations residents add—the drugs, the lack of positive influence, a lack of things to do[4]—fail to explain the spike now.

Jesse Bunch and Andrew Goldstein, “In the Hill District, residents grapple with recent spike in gun violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 16, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/16/pittsburgh-hill-district-gun-violence-shootings/stories/202204140127

Julia Felton, “Ed Gainey marks 100 days as Pittsburgh’s mayor, learns to ‘fall in love with adversity,’” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 16, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/ed-gainey-marks-100-days-as-pittsburghs-mayor-learns-to-fall-in-love-with-adversity/

North Side violence

If in the Hill District, I see a big hole in the ground where I gather the Civic Arena used to be, where a new office tower will be built, and where jobs will allegedly be offered to Hill District residents[5]—a promise I am deeply skeptical of—in the North Side, I see increasing gentrification. In some cases, old homes are being torn down, but in many cases, they are being extensively renovated; in all cases, housing is becoming much more ‘trendy’ and expensive. And as always, I ask, what happens to the people who were here?

I can’t help but suspect that as people come under pressure, as they lose their homes to gentrification, you can expect an increase in violence. I doubt this entirely explains this recent spate. But it’s part of the context, something a critical theorist will insist is essential in understanding a social phenomenon.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “At least 11 shot, 2 dead in North Side shooting, police say,” April 17, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/17/pittsburgh-shooting-north-side-east-allegheny-update-public-safety/stories/202204170168

  1. [1]Jesse Bunch and Andrew Goldstein, “In the Hill District, residents grapple with recent spike in gun violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 16, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/16/pittsburgh-hill-district-gun-violence-shootings/stories/202204140127↩
  2. [2]Megan Guza, “3 shot in Pittsburgh’s Hill District,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 12, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/3-shot-in-pittsburghs-hill-district/; Sarafina James, “Man assaulted, hospitalized following crash in Pittsburgh’s Hill District,” WPXI, April 8, 2022, https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/man-assaulted-hospitalized-following-crash-pittsburghs-hill-district/CCH6JMSD6NAQXKODHLNFIETOZ4/; Nick Matoney, “Man shot multiple times in Pittsburgh’s Hill District,” WTAE, March 25, 2022, https://www.wtae.com/article/man-shot-multiple-times-in-pittsburghs-hill-district/39534380; WPXI, “19-year-old killed, 1 other injured in Hill District shooting,” April 11, 2022, https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/2-people-injured-hill-district-shooting/XL2XHK7AVFEVDD42QUYIGUDSOQ/↩
  3. [3]Jesse Bunch and Andrew Goldstein, “In the Hill District, residents grapple with recent spike in gun violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 16, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/16/pittsburgh-hill-district-gun-violence-shootings/stories/202204140127↩
  4. [4]Jesse Bunch and Andrew Goldstein, “In the Hill District, residents grapple with recent spike in gun violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 16, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/16/pittsburgh-hill-district-gun-violence-shootings/stories/202204140127↩
  5. [5]Tom Davidson, “Plans for redevelopment of Civic Arena site set for approval,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, May 3, 2021, https://triblive.com/local/plans-for-redevelopment-of-civic-arena-site-set-for-approval/↩

Is the Student Loan Limbo some kind of a dance?

benfell

Student loans

I’m beginning to wonder if, perhaps, I was wrong to assume that Joe Biden would never cancel student loan debt.[1] Zack Friedman talks about “IDR,” income-driven repayment;[2] this is actually a different program from the one I’m on, income-based repayment.

But the whole thing is a mess and apparently a lot of folks, like me, have had their payments reduced to zero because our income is so low. It turns out that some, not all, but some of these folks have not been getting credit for these zero-dollar payments toward eventual forgiveness, promised at the end of 20 or 25 years of “payments.”[3] I do not know if I have been affected by this and do not know how to find out if I have.

But it’s clear that the Biden administration understands that all these extensions have seemed ludicrous. If restarting payments now is a hardship,[4] there is little reason to think that it will ever not be. They’re recognizing that they need to do something, but they haven’t decided what that something will be.[5] Which leaves us all in limbo.[6]

Sequoia Carrillo and Cory Turner, “Senators call for probe into student loan program after NPR unearthed major problems,” National Public Radio, April 14, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/04/14/1092804056/student-loan-debt-investigation-response

Justin Sink, “Biden Weighing Student Loan Cancellation or Moratorium Extension,” Bloomberg, April 15, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-15/biden-weighing-student-loan-cancellation-or-moratorium-extension

Zack Friedman, “Biden Will Cancel Student Loans Or Extend Student Loan Pause Before August 31,” Forbes, April 16, 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2022/04/16/biden-will-cancel-student-loans-or-extend-student-loan-pause-before-august-31/

Ukraine

Bojan Pancevski and Georgi Kantchev, “Russia Warns It Could Station Nuclear Forces in Europe if Finland, Sweden Join NATO,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-warns-it-could-station-nuclear-forces-in-europe-if-finland-sweden-join-nato-11649958396

Dan Lamothe et al., “Russia says flagship missile cruiser has sunk after explosion off coast of Ukraine,” Washington Post, April 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/14/ukraine-russian-missile-cruiser-moskva-warship/

David E. Sanger, Helene Cooper, and Anton Troianovski, “Girding for New Battle, Russia Warns U.S. on Advanced Weapons for Ukraine,” New York Times, April 15, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/world/europe/ukraine-russia-us-weapons-warning.html

  1. [1]Justin Sink, “Biden Weighing Student Loan Cancellation or Moratorium Extension,” Bloomberg, April 15, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-15/biden-weighing-student-loan-cancellation-or-moratorium-extension↩
  2. [2]Zack Friedman, “Biden Will Cancel Student Loans Or Extend Student Loan Pause Before August 31,” Forbes, April 16, 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2022/04/16/biden-will-cancel-student-loans-or-extend-student-loan-pause-before-august-31/↩
  3. [3]Sequoia Carrillo and Cory Turner, “Senators call for probe into student loan program after NPR unearthed major problems,” National Public Radio, April 14, 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/04/14/1092804056/student-loan-debt-investigation-response↩
  4. [4]Danielle Douglas-Gabriel and Andrew Van Dam, “Biden extends federal student loan payment pause through Aug. 31,” Washington Post, April 6, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/04/06/student-loan-pause-biden/↩
  5. [5]Justin Sink, “Biden Weighing Student Loan Cancellation or Moratorium Extension,” Bloomberg, April 15, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-15/biden-weighing-student-loan-cancellation-or-moratorium-extension↩
  6. [6]Zack Friedman, “Biden Will Cancel Student Loans Or Extend Student Loan Pause Before August 31,” Forbes, April 16, 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2022/04/16/biden-will-cancel-student-loans-or-extend-student-loan-pause-before-august-31/↩

Ukraine sinks Russian flagship as Russian nuclear rhetoric heats up

benfell

Ukraine

Bojan Pancevski and Georgi Kantchev, “Russia Warns It Could Station Nuclear Forces in Europe if Finland, Sweden Join NATO,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-warns-it-could-station-nuclear-forces-in-europe-if-finland-sweden-join-nato-11649958396

Dan Lamothe et al., “Russia says flagship missile cruiser has sunk after explosion off coast of Ukraine,” Washington Post, April 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/14/ukraine-russian-missile-cruiser-moskva-warship/

Police White supremacist gangs

David D. Kirkpatrick, Steve Eder, and Kim Barker, “Cities Try to Turn the Tide on Police Traffic Stops,” New York Times, April 15, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/us/police-traffic-stops.html

Pittsburgh


Fig. 1. Photograph by author, April 15, 2022.

Reed and Company is another vegan restaurant in Pittsburgh that I didn’t get to nearly as often as I’d like. It, too, is closing.[1]

Hal B. Klein, “Pittsburgh Restaurant News: Reed & Co. Will Close Next Week,” Pittsburgh, April 15, 2022, https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/pittsburgh-restaurant-news-reed-co-will-close-next-week/

Baldwin Borough

So I saw a lot—more than I think I’ve ever seen anywhere else in my life, including at active fire scenes—of fire trucks crowding the Pennsylvania American Water facility, located at Becks Run and Agnew Roads. Across the street, at least two paramedics. I saw no smoke. I really had no more clue what was happening than DiVittorio had.[2]

I picked up a passenger nearby and we drove back down by the scene. He said he’d heard sirens and crews rushing to the scene but he didn’t know what was going on either. I was wondering if there’d been a chlorine leak or something.

It’s one thing when I see something like this and I don’t know what’s going on. It’s another when a reporter for a local news operation reports that he doesn’t know what was going on.[3] It turns out it was indeed a hazardous material response. Supposedly, there was no risk to the public.[4]

Michael DiVittorio, “Emergency response at Pennsylvania American Water facility in Baldwin Borough,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 14, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/emergency-response-at-pennsylvania-american-water-facility-in-baldwin-borough-thursday/

KDKA-TV, “HAZMAT Called To Penn-American Water Facility In Baldwin For Chemical Leak,” April 14, 2022, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2022/04/14/hazmat-penn-american-water-baldwin/

  1. [1]Hal B. Klein, “Pittsburgh Restaurant News: Reed & Co. Will Close Next Week,” Pittsburgh, April 15, 2022, https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/pittsburgh-restaurant-news-reed-co-will-close-next-week/↩
  2. [2]Michael DiVittorio, “Emergency response at Pennsylvania American Water facility in Baldwin Borough,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 14, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/emergency-response-at-pennsylvania-american-water-facility-in-baldwin-borough-thursday/↩
  3. [3]Michael DiVittorio, “Emergency response at Pennsylvania American Water facility in Baldwin Borough,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 14, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/emergency-response-at-pennsylvania-american-water-facility-in-baldwin-borough-thursday/↩
  4. [4]KDKA-TV, “HAZMAT Called To Penn-American Water Facility In Baldwin For Chemical Leak,” April 14, 2022, https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2022/04/14/hazmat-penn-american-water-baldwin/↩

Elon Musk wants to buy Twitter

benfell

Twitter

So Elon Musk, whom I think has never managed to outgrow puberty, wants to buy Twitter.[1] At the Wall Street Journal, Dan Gallagher thinks Musk’s offer is too low.[2] At Puck News, William D. Cohan thinks the offer is (at least) “fair” and, further, that Musk’s threat to dump the shares he now already owns would depress the price dramatically.[3]

I’m out of my depth. I can’t tell you who is right, or if, in fact, either of them are. What I will tell you is that I rather very strongly suspect that either of these gentlemen has put more thought into Musk’s offer than Twitter shareholders have or will. That leaves me to suspect that, given the chance, they’ll take the money and run.

William D. Cohan, “The Twitter Board’s Panic Room,” Puck News, April 14, 2022, https://puck.news/the-twitter-boards-panic-room/

Rob Copeland, Rebecca Elliott, and Cara Lombardo, “Elon Musk Makes $43 Billion Bid for Twitter, Says ‘Civilization’ At Stake,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-offers-to-buy-rest-of-twitter-for-54-20-a-share-11649932296

Dan Gallagher, “Musk Gives Twitter’s Board an Expensive Out,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/musk-gives-twitters-board-an-expensive-out-11649954729

  1. [1]Rob Copeland, Rebecca Elliott, and Cara Lombardo, “Elon Musk Makes $43 Billion Bid for Twitter, Says ‘Civilization’ At Stake,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-offers-to-buy-rest-of-twitter-for-54-20-a-share-11649932296↩
  2. [2]Dan Gallagher, “Musk Gives Twitter’s Board an Expensive Out,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/musk-gives-twitters-board-an-expensive-out-11649954729↩
  3. [3]William D. Cohan, “The Twitter Board’s Panic Room,” Puck News, April 14, 2022, https://puck.news/the-twitter-boards-panic-room/↩

B52 Cafe closing

benfell

Hate

There is a new blog post entitled, “The epistemology of conspiracy theories.”

Zoe Williams, “‘The lunacy is getting more intense’: how Birds Aren’t Real took on the conspiracy theorists,” Guardian, April 14, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/14/the-lunacy-is-getting-more-intense-how-birds-arent-real-took-on-the-conspiracy-theorists

B52 Cafe

My sole remaining favorite vegan restaurant in Pittsburgh is closing. The owner wants to focus on his Allegro Hearth location in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, which I’m not familiar with.[1]

It probably isn’t quite as dire as I’m feeling, but I’m increasingly feeling that Pittsburgh is not a place for me.

The other two restaurants I’m familiar with are Fortuitea in North Strabane, which is run by a Jewish family whose patriarch is a brilliant chef but gets his information from the same sources as often anti-Semitic white supremacists; and Onion Garden, which relies much too heavily on onions for flavor. As to the latter, I’m hypersensitive to onions, peppers, and cilantro, so Onion Garden isn’t the place for me.

There are other vegan restaurants, but their hours and locations make them hard for me to get to.

Hal B. Klein, “Pittsburgh Restaurant News: B52 Cafe is Closing,” Pittsburgh, April 12, 2022, https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/pittsburgh-restaurant-news-b52-cafe-is-closing/

  1. [1]Hal B. Klein, “Pittsburgh Restaurant News: B52 Cafe is Closing,” Pittsburgh, April 12, 2022, https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/pittsburgh-restaurant-news-b52-cafe-is-closing/↩