(dis)United Kingdom
I’m still plugging away on filling in the premiership and Brexit pages.
Prime minister
Harry Lambert, “Why Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak finally lost patience with Boris Johnson,” New Statesman, July 5, 2022, https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/conservatives/2022/07/why-sajid-javid-and-rishi-sunak-finally-lost-patience-with-boris-johnson
Graham Russell and Martin Farrer, “‘Johnson on the brink’: what the papers said about Boris Johnson’s cabinet resignations,” Guardian, July 5, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/jul/06/johnson-on-the-brink-what-the-papers-said-about-boris-johnsons-cabinet-resignations
Heather Stewart, Rowena Mason, and Jessica Elgot, “Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak quit – throwing Boris Johnson’s future into doubt,” Guardian, July 5, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/05/sajid-javid-and-rishi-sunak-quit-throwing-boris-johnsons-future-into-doubt
Telegraph, “This political crisis must be resolved,” July 5, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2022/07/05/political-crisis-must-resolved/
Kieran Devine, Daniel Dunford, and Ganesh Rao, “Boris Johnson suffers more ministerial resignations in one day than any PM in history,” Sky News, July 6, 2022, https://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-suffers-more-resignations-in-one-day-than-any-prime-minister-in-history-12647012
Nick Gutteridge, “Boris Johnson drops heavy hints of snap election – but the Queen could block the plan,” Telegraph, July 6, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/07/06/snap-general-election-what-will-call-boris-johnson-confidence/
Times, “The Times view on Boris Johnson’s position: Game Over,” July 6, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-boris-johnsons-position-game-over-t83xkkts6
Max Colchester, “U.K.’s Boris Johnson to Resign After Scandals Grow Too Great to Handle,” Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-k-s-boris-johnson-quits-after-scandals-grow-too-great-to-handle-11657183819
Karla Adam and William Booth, “Boris Johnson expected to resign amid party revolt,” Washington Post, July 7, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/07/uk-boris-johnson-resignation/
Stephen Fidler, “Conservatives Aim to Recover the Trust Lost Under Boris Johnson,” Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/conservatives-aim-to-recover-the-trust-lost-under-boris-johnson-11657221679
Ben Riley-Smith, “Mortally wounded Boris Johnson defies Cabinet demands to quit,” Telegraph, July 7, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/07/06/mortally-wounded-boris-johnson-defies-cabinet-demands-quit/
Telegraph, “The only three PMs who had shorter tenures than Boris Johnson,” July 7, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/07/07/boris-johnson-resignation-makes-among-top-four-shortest-serving/
Pittsburgh
Infrastructure
If you can’t afford to maintain your infrastructure, the responsible thing to do is to start closing it, paring it down to something you can maintain. That doesn’t seem to be happening anywhere around Pittsburgh.
Joe Napsha, “Emergency closure ordered for Washington Avenue Bridge in Swissvale,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 7, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/washington-avenue-bridge-in-swissvale-bridge-closed/
Mick Stinelli, “Washington Street Bridge in Swissvale closed because of ‘structural concerns,’” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 8, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/east/2022/07/08/washington-street-bridge-swissvale-closed-detour-bus-emergency/stories/202207080078
Gilead
Abortion
Gillian McGoldrick, “Pa. Senate GOP committee advances late-night amendment to restrict abortion, require voter ID,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 8, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2022/07/08/pennsylvania-senate-republicans-advance-constitutional-amendment-to-restrict-abortion-and-call-for-voter-ids-roe-v-wade/stories/202207080073
Michael D. Shear and Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “Under Pressure, Biden Issues Executive Order on Abortion,” New York Times, July 8, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/us/politics/biden-abortion-executive-order.html
Rodrigo Torrejón, “What the Pa. constitutional amendment package could mean for abortion and elections,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 8, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/pa-senate-constitutional-amendments-abortion-elections-voting-20220708.html
Matt Viser, “Biden to outline new steps aimed at bolstering abortion rights,” Washington Post, July 8, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/08/biden-outline-new-steps-aimed-bolstering-abortion-rights/
Gilead competitive authoritarian regime project
Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and Nathaniel Rakich, “How The Supreme Court Could Turbocharge Gerrymandering — Just In Time for 2024,” FiveThirtyEight, July 7, 2022, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-the-supreme-court-could-turbocharge-gerrymandering-just-in-time-for-2024/
Gillian McGoldrick, “Pa. Senate GOP committee advances late-night amendment to restrict abortion, require voter ID,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 8, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2022/07/08/pennsylvania-senate-republicans-advance-constitutional-amendment-to-restrict-abortion-and-call-for-voter-ids-roe-v-wade/stories/202207080073
Rodrigo Torrejón, “What the Pa. constitutional amendment package could mean for abortion and elections,” Philadelphia Inquirer, July 8, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/pa-senate-constitutional-amendments-abortion-elections-voting-20220708.html
[T]he terms of the deal [to buy Twitter] mean it wouldn’t be easy for [Elon] Musk to walk away. Musk has agreed to complete it unless something major happens to Twitter’s business, and legal experts doubt the bot issue would qualify.[1]
Mr. [Elon] Musk’s decision to try to abandon a deal that he initiated—citing an issue [bots] he knew about before agreeing to the transaction—reinforces the billionaire’s reputation for unpredictability. It also leaves major questions about the future of Twitter, which Mr. Musk had pledged to rejuvenate, as the company and other social-media platforms contend with slowing growth in digital advertising and broader economic uncertainty.[2]
Faiz Siddiqui and Gerrit De Vynck, “Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter is in peril,” Washington Post, July 7, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/07/elon-musk-twitter-jeopardy/
Meghan Bobrowsky and Cara Lombardo, “Elon Musk Seeks to Abandon $44 Billion Twitter Deal,” Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/musk-says-he-is-terminating-twitter-deal-11657315905
Jeremy C. Owens, “Elon Musk terminates deal to buy Twitter, and Twitter’s chairman promises a legal fight,” MarketWatch, July 8, 2022, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-terminates-deal-to-buy-twitter-11657315801
- [1]Faiz Siddiqui and Gerrit De Vynck, “Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter is in peril,” Washington Post, July 7, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/07/07/elon-musk-twitter-jeopardy/↩
- [2]Meghan Bobrowsky and Cara Lombardo, “Elon Musk Seeks to Abandon $44 Billion Twitter Deal,” Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/musk-says-he-is-terminating-twitter-deal-11657315905↩