Ukraine
Fig. 1. “The atomic cloud over Nagasaki 1945.” Photograph from Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information. Overseas Operations Branch, New York Office, News and Features Bureau, (12/17/1942 – 09/15/1945), by Charles Levy, August 9, 1945, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
I am unlikely to do it, but the thought did occur to me that perhaps I should rename this site “The Irregular Putinshit.” Vladimir Putin is spewing forth again, calling the Kerch Bridge bombing an act of terror and blaming Ukrainian special forces. He’s likely laying the rhetorical groundwork for a significant escalation of his war effort.[1] And his rhetoric, of course, completely ignores the crimes the Russian military has committed and the crimes that Putin himself has committed.
“None of this would be happening if Russia had not invaded,” echoed Philippe Sands, a prominent international law specialist. “The danger that we face is that in five years’ time, we will have three or four trials of low-grade, useless sorts of characters that are totally irrelevant, and the top people just get off scot-free.”[2]
My guess is we’ll be lucky even to get that. And prosecuting Putin, it would seem, is entirely out of the question:
But other countries, including the U.S., may also not look favorably on the prospect of prosecuting [Vladimir] Putin for the crime of aggression, for fear of setting a precedent that could boomerang against them.
“They don’t want to deal with the crime of aggression because they know that if it’s used against Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, today, it might be used against them tomorrow,” said Sands. “The big elephant in the room in Ukraine is [George W. Bush’s invasion of] Iraq, which was also a manifestly illegal war and produced a very different response in Britain and in the United States.”[3]
It might be more honest to admit that it is between states as it is within them: The rule of the strong, by whatever pretext necessary.
Lewis Page, “Why Putin would be a fool to go nuclear in Ukraine,” Telegraph, October 2, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/10/02/why-putin-would-fool-go-nuclear-ukraine/
Farida Rustamova, “Vladimir Putin is making rash and secretive decisions in face of defeats, Kremlin insiders warn,” Telegraph, October 2, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/10/02/vladimir-putin-making-rash-secretive-decisions-face-defeats/
Josie Ensor, “Nuclear weapons convoy sparks fears Putin could be preparing test to send ‘signal to the West,’” Telegraph, October 3, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/10/03/nuclear-weapons-convoy-sparks-fears-putin-could-preparing-test/
Luke Harding, Isobel Koshiw, and Peter Beaumont, “Russia no longer has full control of any of four ‘annexed’ Ukrainian provinces,” Guardian, October 3, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/03/russia-has-no-full-control-of-any-of-four-annexed-ukrainian-provinces
Dominic Nicholls, “Russia’s bloated military has finally been properly tested – and the results are not good,” Telegraph, October 3, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/10/03/ukraines-lyman-victory-shows-skill-trumps-numbers-when-comes/
Mary Ilyushina, Emily Rauhala, and Isabelle Khurshudyan, “Ukraine hammers Russian forces into retreat on east and south fronts,” Washington Post, October 4, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/10/04/russia-retreat-kherson-lyman-ukraine/
Pjotr Sauer, “Attempts to play down retreats in Ukraine no longer wash inside Russia,” Guardian, October 5, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/05/attempts-to-play-down-retreats-ukraine-russia-war-kremlin-military-failure
Ishaan Tharoor, “Annexations show the depth of Putin’s imperial delusion,” Washington Post, October 5, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2022/10/05/putin-colonial-imperial-delusion/
Yasmeen Abutaleb, “Biden suggests Putin’s nuclear threats mean a ‘prospect of Armageddon,’” Washington Post, October 6, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/06/biden-putin-nuclear-armageddon/
Charlie Cooper, “Coal built the EU. Will gas destroy it?” Politico, October 6, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/prague-summit-enegy-gas-eu-ukraine-war-russia-vladimir-putin/
Robyn Dixon, “As Ukraine war falters, Russians ask a risky question: Could Putin fall?” Washington Post, October 6, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/10/06/putin-successor-president-russia-war/
Alex Horton, “Russians flee by boat to Alaska after Putin’s military mobilization,” Washington Post, October 6, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/10/06/russians-flee-alaska/
Nandita Bose and Pavel Polityuk, “Biden says Putin’s nuclear threat brings risk of ‘Armageddon,’” Reuters, October 7, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraine-forces-break-through-russian-defences-south-advance-east-2022-10-03/
Christian Esch et al., “Berlin and Washington Play Out Nuclear Scenarios,” Spiegel, October 7, 2022, https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/berlin-and-washington-play-out-scenarios-of-a-nuclear-strike-by-putin-a-ecbc1772-8526-4ce1-ae0d-7270309df54e
Greg Miller et al., “Putin confronted by insider over Ukraine war, U.S. intelligence finds,” Washington Post, October 7, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/10/07/putin-inner-circle-dissent/
Peter Beaumont, “Impact of Kerch bridge blast will be felt all the way to the Kremlin,” Guardian, October 8, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/08/impact-of-kerch-bridge-blast-will-be-felt-all-the-way-to-the-kremlin
Adam Schreck and Vasilisa Stepanenko, “Explosion on Crimean bridge damages key Russian supply route; 3 dead,” Los Angeles Times, October 8, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2022-10-08/truck-bomb-damages-crimea-bridge-a-key-supply-artery-for-russias-war-effort
Maite Fernández Simon and Paul Sonne, “Putin’s bridge of dreams explodes in flames,” Washington Post, October 8, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/10/08/kerch-bridge-crimea-symbolism-putin/
Times of Israel, “Russia says truck bomb caused Crimea bridge explosion, stops short of blaming Kyiv,” October 8, 2022, https://www.timesofisrael.com/russia-says-truck-blast-caused-crimea-bridge-explosion-stops-short-of-blaming-kyiv/
Yaroslav Trofimov, “Major Explosion Hits the Bridge Between Crimea and Russia, Halting Traffic,” Wall Street Journal, October 8, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/major-explosion-hits-the-bridge-between-crimea-and-russia-halting-traffic-11665215052
Peter Beaumont, “Vladimir Putin calls blast on Crimea-Russia bridge an ‘act of terror,’” Guardian, October 9, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/09/russia-ukraine-war-attack-housing-zaporizhzhia
Siobhán O’Grady, Anastacia Galouchka, and Whitney Shefte, “In Russian-occupied Izyum, she was raped and tortured,” Washington Post, October 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/10/09/izyum-rape-torture-occupation-russia/
Alice Speri, “The Mother Crime: Will Putin Face Prosecution for the Crime of Aggression in Ukraine?” Intercept, October 9, 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/10/08/russia-putin-ukraine-war-crimes-accountability/
(dis)United Kingdom
Prime minister
Fig. 1. President Reagan on the South Lawn during the arrival ceremony of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom. U.S. Government photograph, November 16, 1988, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Andrew Rawnsley, “Johnson was slow-poisoning arsenic for the Conservatives. Liz Truss is instant cyanide,” Guardian, October 9, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/09/johnson-was-slow-poisoning-arsenic-for-tories-liz-truss-is-instant-cyanide
Aubrey Allegretti and Patrick Butler, “Liz Truss on verge of major U-turn on real-terms benefits cut,” Guardian, October 9, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/09/liz-truss-on-verge-of-major-u-turn-on-real-terms-benefits-cut
Gilead
Police White supremacist gangs
Fig. 1. Image credited to Darnella Frazier, made from a video posted to Facebook, of Minneapolis white supremacist gangster Derek Chauvin’s knee on George Floyd’s neck, May 25, 2020, via ABC News,[4] fair use.
You won’t need college credit to be a white supremacist gangster in Pittsburgh. They’re dropping the requirement because it was an impediment to recruiting new gang members.[5]
“We’re going to recruit and train a new class of police officers, and we so want those officers to be from our community, reflect our community and have the values of the community,” Ms. Frank said, “and be the first class of police officers trained under Mayor Gainey to really be the future of our police department.”[6]
Because who needs a college education to shoot Black people? And that, it seems is the point:
Elizabeth Pittinger, director of the Citizens Police Review Board, said the city explored this topic two decades ago when it charged the board with analyzing the usefulness of the 60-credit requirement. The board concluded then that the education requirement hadn’t significantly impeded recruitment of women and people of color, and Ms. Pittinger said the board maintains that position 20 years later.
“It’s a screening tool. It helps with the screening of applicants to weed out or to bring in — bring in people who’ve demonstrated the ability to be disciplined, that have been exposed to people that aren’t just like them,” she said.[7]
That last part, it seems, is a real obstacle. So, come on down, all you right-wing extremists who are so common in southwest Pennsylvania![8] Pittsburgh wants you!
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Pittsburgh scrapping college credit requirement for police recruits,” October 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/10/08/pittsburgh-bureau-police-college-credits-academy-mayor-ed-gainey/stories/202210090071
Pittsburgh
Infrastructure
Fig. 1. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Pitt, Pa. Turnpike team up to make Mon-Fayette Expressway a test bed for innovative construction,” October 10, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2022/10/10/mon-fayette-expressway-pa-turnpike-university-of-pittsburgh-irise-swanson-school-of-engineering/stories/202210070091
- [1]Peter Beaumont, “Vladimir Putin calls blast on Crimea-Russia bridge an ‘act of terror,’” Guardian, October 9, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/09/russia-ukraine-war-attack-housing-zaporizhzhia↩
- [2]Alice Speri, “The Mother Crime: Will Putin Face Prosecution for the Crime of Aggression in Ukraine?” Intercept, October 9, 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/10/08/russia-putin-ukraine-war-crimes-accountability/↩
- [3]Alice Speri, “The Mother Crime: Will Putin Face Prosecution for the Crime of Aggression in Ukraine?” Intercept, October 9, 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/10/08/russia-putin-ukraine-war-crimes-accountability/↩
- [4]Catherine Thorbecke, “Derek Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes, complaint says,” ABC News, May 29, 2020, https://abcnews.go.com/US/derek-chauvin-knee-george-floyds-neck-minutes-complaint/story?id=70961042↩
- [5]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Pittsburgh scrapping college credit requirement for police recruits,” October 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/10/08/pittsburgh-bureau-police-college-credits-academy-mayor-ed-gainey/stories/202210090071↩
- [6]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Pittsburgh scrapping college credit requirement for police recruits,” October 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/10/08/pittsburgh-bureau-police-college-credits-academy-mayor-ed-gainey/stories/202210090071↩
- [7]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Pittsburgh scrapping college credit requirement for police recruits,” October 9, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/10/08/pittsburgh-bureau-police-college-credits-academy-mayor-ed-gainey/stories/202210090071↩
- [8]Ryan Deto, “The FBI declared Pgh. a new hub for white supremacy. That ignores decades of history,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, November 16, 2020, https://www.penncapital-star.com/civil-rights-social-justice/the-fbi-declared-pgh-a-hub-for-white-supremacy-it-has-a-long-history-already/; Ewan Palmer, “FBI Warn White Supremacist Activity in Pittsburgh Among Highest in Country,” Newsweek, November 13, 2020, https://www.newsweek.com/pittsburgh-white-supremacist-fbi-far-right-1547149↩