(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.
Tory [members of Parliament] began casting around wildly for mechanisms to oust [Liz] Truss and candidates to replace her. While party rules make that complicated, rules can be changed and Truss’ removal is fast becoming a question of when, not if. Her only strength at this point, insiders say, is that there is no obvious successor.[1]
But with the 1922 Committee chair still resisting a change to the rules needed to oust Liz Truss, this is starting to look like the British may be headed for an early election, which it seems clear the Conservative Party would lose, badly:[2]
Another mechanism being mooted in some quarters is getting a majority of Tory MPs to agree on her replacement and installing the new prime minister via a majority vote in the Commons. Such a move might be technically possible but would drag the King into a constitutional row, with opposition parties demanding an election if Truss cannot command a parliamentary majority.[3]
So as that thread holding the Sword of Damocles over Truss’ head frays ever more, the question remains what it was: when and how?
Nick Gutteridge, “1922 Committee rules: How Tory MPs could oust Liz Truss,” Telegraph, October 13, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/13/tory-mps-plotting-coronation-new-leader-replace-liz-truss/
Nick Gutteridge, “The runners and riders for PM if Liz Truss is ousted as Tory leader,” Telegraph, October 13, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/13/runners-riders-pm-liz-truss-ousted-tory-leader/
Eleni Courea and Esther Webber, “Furious Tories conclude that Liz Truss is finished,” Politico, October 14, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/liz-truss-prime-minister-uk-conservative-party-finished/
Szu Ping Chan, “Kwasi Kwarteng cuts short Washington trip as axe looms over mini-Budget,” Telegraph, October 14, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/14/kwasi-kwarteng-cuts-short-washington-trip-axe-looms-mini-budget/
Larry Elliott, “Kwasi Kwarteng dashes home early from US amid tax U-turn chaos,” Guardian, October 14, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/14/kwasi-kwarteng-dashes-home-early-from-us-amid-tax-u-turn-chaos
Steve Goldstein, “Kwasi Kwarteng says he has accepted decision to stand aside as chancellor,” MarketWatch, October 14, 2022, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/kwasi-kwarteng-says-he-has-accepted-decision-to-stand-aside-as-chancellor-2022-10-14
Ben Riley-Smith, “Liz Truss clings to power after axing Kwasi Kwarteng,” Telegraph, October 14, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/14/liz-truss-clings-power-axing-kwasi-kwarteng/
Pittsburgh
Gentrification
Fig. 2. The old Hazelwood library branch. It has been replaced with a new branch on Second Avenue. Photograph by author, May 1, 2020.
I have to say I’m wondering what the story is behind a story on Pittsburgh’s housing problems, focusing on the Larimer neighborhood, but, really, applicable to many more.[4] It’s a good, thoughtful story. Somebody or some number of people put some serious work into it. They aren’t credited: The byline is simply the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
I have heard of this happening when reporters disagree with edits imposed by editors and so I wonder if that is what happened here. The story is, nonetheless, the basis for a new blog post entitled, “A non-argument on Pittsburgh housing.”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods pay the price for abandoned and decrepit homes,” October 15, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/10/15/pittsburgh-blight-crime-urban-vacant-census/stories/202210160080
Fossil fuels
Northeast (especially Pittsburgh)
I can’t prove it, of course, but it sure looks like the U.S. Steel Clairton Works are responsible for recently spiking hydrogen sulfide levels. People gotta breathe this shit and they aren’t happy.[5]
I haven’t heard whether the worst ovens at Clairton have indeed shut down as promised. It’s been over a year since this was announced,[6] so I assume they have. If so, it’s clear that this was inadequate. The entire plant still needs to be shut down and razed.[7]
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “High levels of hydrogen sulfide in Mon Valley spark advocates’ frustration,” October 15, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2022/10/15/mon-valley-hydrogen-sulfide-levels-air-quality/stories/202210140123
- [1]Eleni Courea and Esther Webber, “Furious Tories conclude that Liz Truss is finished,” Politico, October 14, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/liz-truss-prime-minister-uk-conservative-party-finished/↩
- [2]Eleni Courea and Esther Webber, “Furious Tories conclude that Liz Truss is finished,” Politico, October 14, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/liz-truss-prime-minister-uk-conservative-party-finished/; Nick Gutteridge, “1922 Committee rules: How Tory MPs could oust Liz Truss,” Telegraph, October 13, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/10/13/tory-mps-plotting-coronation-new-leader-replace-liz-truss/; Telegraph, “Labour surges to 33-point poll lead over Tories in wake of market turmoil,” September 30, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/30/labour-surges-33-point-poll-lead-tories-wake-market-turmoil/↩
- [3]Eleni Courea and Esther Webber, “Furious Tories conclude that Liz Truss is finished,” Politico, October 14, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/liz-truss-prime-minister-uk-conservative-party-finished/↩
- [4]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods pay the price for abandoned and decrepit homes,” October 15, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2022/10/15/pittsburgh-blight-crime-urban-vacant-census/stories/202210160080↩
- [5]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “High levels of hydrogen sulfide in Mon Valley spark advocates’ frustration,” October 15, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/health/2022/10/15/mon-valley-hydrogen-sulfide-levels-air-quality/stories/202210140123↩
- [6]Ryan Deto, “Two large air pollution sources will soon be offline. Will Allegheny County’s air quality future be as clean as it can be?” Pittsburgh City Paper, June 23, 2021, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/two-large-air-pollution-sources-will-soon-be-offline-will-allegheny-countys-air-quality-future-be-as-clean-as-it-can-be/Content?oid=19710475; Kristina Marusic, “U.S. Steel abandons clean tech plans in Pittsburgh region following damning health study,” Environmental Health News, May 6, 2021, https://www.ehn.org/us-steel-pittsburgh-pollution-asthma-2652882219/residents-at-risk-and-in-the-dark; Oliver Morrison, “‘Today is a difficult day.’ U.S. Steel announces closure of several of Clairton’s ‘dirtiest’ coke oven batteries,” Public Source, April 30, 2021, https://www.publicsource.org/mon-valley-clairton-us-steel-coke-works-pollution-f-grade-air-quality/↩
- [7]David Benfell, “The old, the filthy, and the decrepit,” Not Housebroken, May 6, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/02/25/the-old-the-filthy-and-the-decrepit/↩