Now that it’s too late to do anything about them, the House of Representatives is getting Donald Trump’s tax returns

Gilead

Donald Trump

Finances


Fig. 1. Trump International Hotel, Las Vegas, undated image credited to https://www.flickr.com/photos/glynlowe/ [bad link], CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Robert Barnes, “Supreme Court denies Trump bid to withhold tax returns from Congress,” Washington Post, November 22, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/22/supreme-court-trump-taxes/

Twitter


Fig. 1. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[1] fair use.

Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/

Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/

Johana Bhuiyan, “Elon Musk summons Twitter engineers amid mass resignations and puts up poll on Trump ban,” Guardian, November 18, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/18/elon-musk-twitter-engineers-workers-mass-resignation

James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307

Annie Gaus, “Twitter Teeters as Offices Shut Down, Employees Flee,” San Francisco Standard, November 18, 2022, https://sfstandard.com/business/twitter-teeters-on-collapse-as-offices-shut-down/

Elon Musk, “How do you make a small fortune in social media? . . .” Twitter, November 18, 2022, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593415171149791232

Sky News, “World Cup risks knocking out Twitter after staff exodus, industry expert warns,” November 18, 2022, https://news.sky.com/story/twitter-reportedly-closes-offices-over-sabotage-fears-as-more-employees-resign-12749959

Faiz Siddiqui, Drew Harwell and Isaac Arnsdorf , “Elon Musk restores Trump’s Twitter account,” Washington Post, November 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/19/trump-musk-twitter/

Ron Kampeas, “Welcome to the new Twitter: Kanye West returns with ‘shalom’ and Elon Musk trolls the ADL,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 20, 2022, https://www.jta.org/2022/11/20/united-states/welcome-to-the-new-twitter-kanye-west-is-back-and-elon-musk-trolls-the-adl

Liz Moyer, “Elon Musk Reinstates Trump on Twitter. Trump Shrugs,” Barron’s, November 20, 2022, https://www.barrons.com/articles/elon-musk-reinstates-trump-on-twitter-trump-shrugs-51668964354

Kelly Rissman, “Donald Trump’s Twitter Account Has Been Reactivated But Will He Return?” Vanity Fair, November 20, 2022, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/donald-trump-twitter-account-has-been-reactivated

Vlad Savov, “Musk Welcomes Ye Back to Twitter After Inviting Trump’s Return,” Bloomberg, November 20, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-21/musk-welcomes-ye-back-to-twitter-after-inviting-trump-s-return

Duty To Warn, “Elon Musk tweeted this meme. . . .” Twitter, November 21, 2022, https://twitter.com/duty2warn/status/1594655174852755460

Naomi Nix and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Advertisers are dropping Twitter. Musk can’t afford to lose any more,” Washington Post, November 22, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/22/twitter-advertiser-exodus-musk/


Student loans


Fig. 1. Unattributed and undated image via James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal,[2] fair use.

[Student loan] [p]ayments were set to resume Jan. 1, but they now will resume 60 days after litigation over the loan-forgiveness program is resolved or the program is implemented. While many people would have the entirety of their remaining loan balances erased through the debt-relief program, those who didn’t would be required to resume payments once the payment pause was lifted.

If the litigation hasn’t been resolved by June 30, payments will resume 60 days after that date, according to the Education Department.[3]

Gabriel T. Rubin, “Student-Loan Holders See New Path for Wiping Out Debt Through Bankruptcy,” Wall Street Journal, November 21, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/student-loan-holders-see-new-path-for-wiping-out-debt-through-bankruptcy-11669034068

Andrew Restuccia, “Biden Administration Extends Pause on Federal Student Loan Payments,” Wall Street Journal, November 22, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-administration-extends-pause-on-federal-student-loan-payments-through-june-11669149679


Ukraine


Fig. 1. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[4] fair use.

How fraught would negotiations between Ukraine and Russia be? Let Julia Ioffe count the ways. But then, too, Joe Biden isn’t keen to run for re-election with this war still raging with its knock-on effects, including inflation.[5] Ioffe usually has a tighter knit story to tell. This isn’t one of those. It’s ugly, it’s a mess, and it’s very much a necessary and worthwhile read.

Julia Ioffe, “Biden’s Price of Peace,” Puck News, November 22, 2022, https://puck.news/bidens-price-of-peace/


  1. [1]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/
  2. [2]Richard K. Vedder, “Eliminate or Radically Restructure Federal Student Loans,” James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, September 16, 2020, https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2020/09/eliminate-or-radically-restructure-federal-student-loans/
  3. [3]Andrew Restuccia, “Biden Administration Extends Pause on Federal Student Loan Payments,” Wall Street Journal, November 22, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-administration-extends-pause-on-federal-student-loan-payments-through-june-11669149679
  4. [4]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q
  5. [5]Julia Ioffe, “Biden’s Price of Peace,” Puck News, November 22, 2022, https://puck.news/bidens-price-of-peace/

Students should just go bankrupt

Student loans


Fig. 1. Unattributed and undated image via James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal,[1] fair use.

I missed this from last Thursday, but it seems the Joe Biden administration announced new rules for how the Department of Justice will handle bankruptcies involving student loans.[2]

The bankruptcy changes set specific requirements for [student loan] borrowers to prove that they are experiencing economic distress. Government lawyers will assess a borrower’s ability to repay their loans based on a set formula—whether expenses equal or exceed a debtor’s income—and other considerations, such as retirement age, disability, educational attainment and job history.[3]

I would almost certainly qualify for this. While there should be some accountability for this economic system’s absolute refusal to honor my human right to suitable employment, bankruptcy is not something I take lightly.

Gabriel T. Rubin, “Student-Loan Holders See New Path for Wiping Out Debt Through Bankruptcy,” Wall Street Journal, November 21, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/student-loan-holders-see-new-path-for-wiping-out-debt-through-bankruptcy-11669034068


Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 2. Original: The White House. Derivative work: J. J. Messerly, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

With only a few exceptions, this year’s results showed each side further consolidating its hold over the states that already lean in its direction. And in 2024 that will likely leave control of the White House in the hands of a very small number of states that are themselves divided almost exactly in half between the parties – a list that looks even smaller after this month’s outcomes. . . .

These offsetting and hardening partisan strengths could, once again, provide the power to decide the White House winner to a few hundred thousand voters in a very few closely balanced states. That’s a windfall for the owners of television stations who will be deluged with television advertising in states such as Nevada, Wisconsin, Georgia and Arizona. But it’s also another reason for the prodigious stress in our fraught modern politics. Each side in an intensely polarized nation of 330 million recognizes that the overall direction of national policy now pivots on the choices of a miniscule number of people living in the tiny patches of contested political ground – white-collar suburbs of Atlanta and Phoenix, working-class Latino neighborhoods in and around Las Vegas and the mid-sized communities of the so-called BOW counties in Wisconsin.

The partitioning of the nation into distinct and intractable partisan camps is one of the defining features of modern US politics. The Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have each carried 20 states in every election since at least 2008. That means 80% of the states have voted the same way in at least the past four presidential elections – a level of consistency unmatched through the 20th century. Even during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four consecutive presidential victories from 1932 through 1944, only about two-thirds of the states voted the same way each time.[4]

Republicans likely improve their chances in 2024 if they ditch Donald Trump,[5] Whether they can do that remains to be seen and we should emphasize that Ron DeSantis probably should be seen as even more frightening.[6]

Ronald Brownstein, “Why fewer states than ever could pick the next president,” CNN, November 22, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/22/politics/2022-preview-2024-presidential-election


Gilead

Twitter


Fig. 1. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[7] fair use.

Y’all have to forgive me. I’ve never been a parent, let alone of a rebellious teenaged boy, so I’m a little slow on the uptake.

But after some back-and-forth on (where else?) Twitter, I’ve decided that my description of Elon Musk as having never outgrown puberty is more apt than I imagined. He’s constantly picking fights,[8] even fights he can’t win, like, most obviously, his attempt to back out of the deal to purchase Twitter, but even now with regulators both in the U.S.,[9] possibly even on national security grounds,[10] and the European Union.[11] His defiance of regulators is absolutely nothing new[12] and who can forget the whole ‘pedophile’ thing that didn’t make any sense even before we get to Musk calling a rescue diver a pedophile?[13]

Now Elon Musk persists in antagonizing Twitter’s advertisers and users; these in combination with his layoffs and regulatory concerns have put Twitter on a full-throttle nosedive to doom.[14] He might finally have picked a fight he can win—against himself.


  1. [1]Richard K. Vedder, “Eliminate or Radically Restructure Federal Student Loans,” James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, September 16, 2020, https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2020/09/eliminate-or-radically-restructure-federal-student-loans/
  2. [2]Gabriel T. Rubin, “Biden Administration to Make It Easier to Dismiss Student Loans in Bankruptcy,” Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-administration-to-make-it-easier-to-dismiss-student-loans-in-bankruptcy-11668706819
  3. [3]Gabriel T. Rubin, “Student-Loan Holders See New Path for Wiping Out Debt Through Bankruptcy,” Wall Street Journal, November 21, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/student-loan-holders-see-new-path-for-wiping-out-debt-through-bankruptcy-11669034068
  4. [4]Ronald Brownstein, “Why fewer states than ever could pick the next president,” CNN, November 22, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/22/politics/2022-preview-2024-presidential-election
  5. [5]Isaac Arnsdorf and Josh Dawsey, “One likely 2024 GOP contender triumphed on election night. It wasn’t Donald Trump,” Washington Post, November 9, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/09/desantis-trump-2024-presidential-election/; Ronald Brownstein, “Why fewer states than ever could pick the next president,” CNN, November 22, 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/22/politics/2022-preview-2024-presidential-election; Jonathan Freedland, “The winner of the midterms is not yet clear – but the loser is Donald Trump,” Guardian, November 9, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/09/the-winner-of-the-midterms-is-not-yet-clear-but-the-loser-is-donald-trump; Liz Goodwin, “A red wave of criticism crashes into Donald Trump after midterm losses,” Washington Post, November 11, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/11/trump-criticism-midterms-republicans/; David Lauter, “The midterm’s big loser: Trump suffers multiple defeats,” Los Angeles Times, November 9, 2022, https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2022-11-09/the-midterms-big-loser-trump-suffers-multiple-defeats-essential-politics; Jonathan Tamari and William Bender, “‘It’s time for him to retire’: Some Pa. Republicans want to push Trump aside after their election losses,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 10, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/pa-republicans-blame-trump-2022-losses-20221110.html; Chris Walker, “Trump Is Blaming Everyone But Himself for Midterm Losses — Including His Wife,” Truthout, November 10, 2022, https://truthout.org/articles/trump-is-blaming-everyone-but-himself-for-midterm-losses-including-his-wife/
  6. [6]Adam Taylor, “Is the world ready for President DeSantis and a Floridian foreign policy?” Washington Post, November 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2022/11/10/desanntis-foreign-policy-florida/
  7. [7]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/
  8. [8]David Benfell, “Elon Musk, groan, again,” Not Housebroken, February 28, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/03/22/elon-musk-groan-again/
  9. [9]Joseph Menn et al., “Twitter’s content moderation head quits as departures alarm the FTC,” Washington Post, November 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/10/twitter-security-resignations/
  10. [10]Sanjay Patnaik, Robert E. Litan, and James Kunhardt, “The national security grounds for investigating Musk’s Twitter acquisition,” Brookings, November 4, 2022, https://www.brookings.edu/research/why-biden-would-be-justified-in-blocking-or-modifying-musks-twitter-acquisition-on-national-security-grounds/
  11. [11]Natasha Lomas, “Is Elon Musk’s Twitter about to fall out of the GDPR’s one-stop shop?” TechCrunch, November 14, 2022, https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/14/is-elon-musks-twitter-about-to-fall-out-of-the-gdprs-one-stop-shop/
  12. [12]John C. Coffee, Jr., “How the SEC can be the babysitter Elon Musk needs,” CNN, April 23, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/perspectives/tesla-elon-musk-sec/index.html; Tim Higgins, “Elon Musk’s Defiance in the Time of Coronavirus,” Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musks-defiance-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-11584733458
  13. [13]Tim Higgins, “Elon Musk Cleared by Jury in Defamation Case Over ‘Pedo’ Tweet,” Wall Street Journal, December 6, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-cleared-by-jury-in-defamation-case-over-pedo-tweet-11575678498; Alistair Walsh, “Elon Musk won’t stop calling diver a pedophile,” Deutschewelle, September 9, 2018, https://www.dw.com/en/elon-musk-wont-stop-calling-diver-a-pedophile/a-45372611; Li Zhou, “Elon Musk and the Thai cave rescue: a tale of good intentions and bad tweets,” Vox, July 18, 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/7/18/17576302/elon-musk-thai-cave-rescue-submarine
  14. [14]David Benfell, “Elon Musk’s Achilles’ heel,” Not Housebroken, November 18, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/07/10/elon-musks-achilles-heel/

About staying and ‘fighting’ on Twitter

Gilead

Twitter


Fig. 1. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[1] fair use.

There is a new blog post entitled, “About Elon Musk’s Twitter poll and about Twitter polls generally.”

In that post, I mention that I have two Twitter accounts, one private and one public. I need to surface into the public account when I want to interact with someone who doesn’t follow me.[2] And so I did recently, and met with a torrent of toxic responses. Twitter has temporarily blocked my public account from Julia Ioffe’s account because—I really don’t know how this works—apparently she invoked a safety mode (which I guess is available to verified users but not to me). I doubt Ioffe meant anything against me and I certainly don’t blame her for invoking that mode; I simply got swept up with a bunch of anti-Semites because Twitter’s artificial idiot is incapable of telling the difference. (But hey, let’s all worship the artificial idiot![3])

Twitter is becoming dramatically more toxic. And I am considering my continued presence on the platform because I certainly don’t want to be involved with this toxicity.

I see a number of people urging folks to stay and “fight.” But it remains unclear to me how we “fight” when Elon Musk can dummy up an utterly bogus Twitter poll any way he likes[4] and claim a popular mandate for whatever he wants to do. We have no power whatsoever to compel, nor even means to influence Musk to do anything.

So what is this “fight?” A bunch of people confusing online activism for real activism?

At the very least, I will likely be using that public account much more sparingly.

Ron Kampeas, “Welcome to the new Twitter: Kanye West returns with ‘shalom’ and Elon Musk trolls the ADL,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 20, 2022, https://www.jta.org/2022/11/20/united-states/welcome-to-the-new-twitter-kanye-west-is-back-and-elon-musk-trolls-the-adl

Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/

Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/

Johana Bhuiyan, “Elon Musk summons Twitter engineers amid mass resignations and puts up poll on Trump ban,” Guardian, November 18, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/18/elon-musk-twitter-engineers-workers-mass-resignation

James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307

Annie Gaus, “Twitter Teeters as Offices Shut Down, Employees Flee,” San Francisco Standard, November 18, 2022, https://sfstandard.com/business/twitter-teeters-on-collapse-as-offices-shut-down/

Elon Musk, “How do you make a small fortune in social media? . . .” Twitter, November 18, 2022, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593415171149791232

Sky News, “World Cup risks knocking out Twitter after staff exodus, industry expert warns,” November 18, 2022, https://news.sky.com/story/twitter-reportedly-closes-offices-over-sabotage-fears-as-more-employees-resign-12749959

Faiz Siddiqui, Drew Harwell and Isaac Arnsdorf , “Elon Musk restores Trump’s Twitter account,” Washington Post, November 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/19/trump-musk-twitter/

Liz Moyer, “Elon Musk Reinstates Trump on Twitter. Trump Shrugs,” Barron’s, November 20, 2022, https://www.barrons.com/articles/elon-musk-reinstates-trump-on-twitter-trump-shrugs-51668964354

Kelly Rissman, “Donald Trump’s Twitter Account Has Been Reactivated But Will He Return?” Vanity Fair, November 20, 2022, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/11/donald-trump-twitter-account-has-been-reactivated

Vlad Savov, “Musk Welcomes Ye Back to Twitter After Inviting Trump’s Return,” Bloomberg, November 20, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-21/musk-welcomes-ye-back-to-twitter-after-inviting-trump-s-return

Duty To Warn, “Elon Musk tweeted this meme. . . .” Twitter, November 21, 2022, https://twitter.com/duty2warn/status/1594655174852755460


  1. [1]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/
  2. [2]David Benfell, “About Elon Musk’s Twitter poll and about Twitter polls generally,” Not Housebroken, November 21, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/11/21/about-elon-musks-twitter-poll-and-about-twitter-polls-generally/
  3. [3]David Benfell, “Our new Satan: artificial idiocy and big data mining,” Not Housebroken, April 5, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/01/13/our-new-satan-artificial-idiocy-and-big-data-mining/
  4. [4]David Benfell, “About Elon Musk’s Twitter poll and about Twitter polls generally,” Not Housebroken, November 21, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/11/21/about-elon-musks-twitter-poll-and-about-twitter-polls-generally/

Some Protestant preachers accuse their flocks of being more faithful to the Republican Party than to Christianity

Gilead

Evangelical Protestants


Fig. 1. “You shall have no other gods before me.”[1] Photograph posted to Twitter by Antonia Lee Donnelly, February 16, 2020,[2] fair use.

Y’all know I deeply distrust survey research now as response rates have plummeted to single digits.[3] But first, I don’t know how that applies to surveys conducted among specialized groups like, in this case, Protestant pastors;[4] to assume it’s the same would be the ecological fallacy. Which is to say that what is true at one level of analysis (for example, a group) is not necessarily true at another (for example, an individual). And second, that preachers are raising these issues[5] is interesting in itself, regardless of the rate at which they do so.

That said, I should hasten to add that fealty to political party was way down on the list of reasons pastors said they were burning out,[6] so while interesting, the headline is more to grab attention, and perhaps to advance a particular agenda, than it is to reflect actual sentiment.

Barna [Research Group] asked pastors to elaborate on how “current political divisions” have emerged as a source of stress, causing them to consider stepping away from full-time ministry. Majorities of both mainline (66%) and non-mainline Protestant pastors (53%) expressed concern that “Christians are more loyal to their political views than their faith.” . . .

Roughly equal shares of mainline (21%) and non-mainline Protestants (16%) [pastors] reported that “debates about racial justice issues has made it harder for me to lead.” Additionally, 29% of mainline pastors and 19% of non-mainline pastors maintained that “the church is too aligned with political conservatism.” Far smaller shares of both mainline (8%) and non-mainline pastors (4%) believed that “the church is too aligned with political liberalism.”[7]

Ryan Foley, “Many pastors say Christians are more loyal to their political party than to the faith: survey,” Christian Post, November 20, 2022, https://www.christianpost.com/news/barna-pastors-cite-political-division-as-major-source-of-stress.html

Gun nuttery


Fig. 1. “Rally Against Gun Control ‘Come and Take it’ flag at the Minnesota State Capitol,” photograph by Fibonacci Blue [pseud.], April 28, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Jonathan D. Silver, “A deadly tide: Officials blame violence in Pennsylvania on relentless flow of guns,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 20, 2022, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/a-deadly-tide-officials-blame-relentless-flow-of-guns-on-violence-in-pennsylvania/

Twitter


Fig. 1. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[8] fair use.

[Elon] Musk’s latest tweet depicts Twitter as a drug that [Donald] Trump will be sorely tempted to return to. The billionaire Twitter owner’s courtship of the network’s controversial figures — beside himself — threatens to further alienate advertisers, who have been wary about associating their brands with the service in recent times.[9]

Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/

Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/

Johana Bhuiyan, “Elon Musk summons Twitter engineers amid mass resignations and puts up poll on Trump ban,” Guardian, November 18, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/18/elon-musk-twitter-engineers-workers-mass-resignation

James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307

Annie Gaus, “Twitter Teeters as Offices Shut Down, Employees Flee,” San Francisco Standard, November 18, 2022, https://sfstandard.com/business/twitter-teeters-on-collapse-as-offices-shut-down/

Elon Musk, “How do you make a small fortune in social media? . . .” Twitter, November 18, 2022, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593415171149791232

Sky News, “World Cup risks knocking out Twitter after staff exodus, industry expert warns,” November 18, 2022, https://news.sky.com/story/twitter-reportedly-closes-offices-over-sabotage-fears-as-more-employees-resign-12749959

Faiz Siddiqui, Drew Harwell and Isaac Arnsdorf, “Elon Musk restores Trump’s Twitter account,” Washington Post, November 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/19/trump-musk-twitter/

Vlad Savov, “Musk Welcomes Ye Back to Twitter After Inviting Trump’s Return,” Bloomberg, November 20, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-21/musk-welcomes-ye-back-to-twitter-after-inviting-trump-s-return


Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence


Fig. 1. “A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday’s shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 2018,” photograph by Cathal McNaughton for Reuters, via ABC News, October 29, 2018,[10] fair use.

Jonathan D. Silver, “A deadly tide: Officials blame violence in Pennsylvania on relentless flow of guns,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 20, 2022, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/a-deadly-tide-officials-blame-relentless-flow-of-guns-on-violence-in-pennsylvania/


  1. [1]Exod. 20:3.
  2. [2]Antonia Lee Donnelly, “Now I've seen everything,” Twitter, February 17, 2020, https://twitter.com/DonnellyAntonia/status/1229227422836559873
  3. [3]Courtney Kennedy and Hannah Hartig, “Response rates in telephone surveys have resumed their decline,” Pew Research Center, February 27, 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/02/27/response-rates-in-telephone-surveys-have-resumed-their-decline/; Steven Shepard, “Report: Phone polls aren’t dead yet,” Politico, May 15, 2017, https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/15/pollsters-phone-polls-238409
  4. [4]Ryan Foley, “Many pastors say Christians are more loyal to their political party than to the faith: survey,” Christian Post, November 20, 2022, https://www.christianpost.com/news/barna-pastors-cite-political-division-as-major-source-of-stress.html
  5. [5]Ryan Foley, “Many pastors say Christians are more loyal to their political party than to the faith: survey,” Christian Post, November 20, 2022, https://www.christianpost.com/news/barna-pastors-cite-political-division-as-major-source-of-stress.html
  6. [6]Ryan Foley, “Many pastors say Christians are more loyal to their political party than to the faith: survey,” Christian Post, November 20, 2022, https://www.christianpost.com/news/barna-pastors-cite-political-division-as-major-source-of-stress.html
  7. [7]Ryan Foley, “Many pastors say Christians are more loyal to their political party than to the faith: survey,” Christian Post, November 20, 2022, https://www.christianpost.com/news/barna-pastors-cite-political-division-as-major-source-of-stress.html
  8. [8]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/
  9. [9]Vlad Savov, “Musk Welcomes Ye Back to Twitter After Inviting Trump’s Return,” Bloomberg, November 20, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-21/musk-welcomes-ye-back-to-twitter-after-inviting-trump-s-return
  10. [10]Bill Hutchinson et al., “Pittsburgh synagogue-shooting suspect wheeled into courtroom; Trump to visit city Tuesday,” ABC News, October 29, 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-suspect-discharged-hospital-set-make/story?id=58825389

The endless dithering of Merrick Garland

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. Department of Justice photograph of seized materials, reportedly partially redacted, via the Washington Post, August 31, 2022,[1] public domain.

Merrick Garland, who dithered for weeks before deciding to retrieve improperly secured and highly classified materials from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence,[2] still can’t make up his mind and so has appointed a special counsel to lead investigations into Trump and decide whether or not to prosecute.[3]

Some former Justice Department officials and prosecutors have said such an appointment [of a special counsel] wouldn’t do much to allay criticism of the [Federal Bureau of Investigation] and Justice Department by Mr. [Donald] Trump and his supporters. Others said the appointment sets an unnecessary precedent of appointing outsiders for high-profile investigations and sends a message that the Justice Department can’t be trusted to make decisions in politically sensitive matters.[4]

This is nothing short of absolutely asinine and what it actually is, is that Garland can’t trust himself to make brain-dead obvious decisions regarding Trump. Garland is nothing but an absolute disgrace.

Hannah Knowles, Marianna Sotomayor, and Colby Itkowitz, “Republicans narrowly win House, ending full Democratic control of Congress,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/16/republicans-win-house-majority/

Bryan Pietsch and Amy B. Wang, “Rep. Lauren Boebert race too close to call, with margin inside recount threshold,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/17/boebert-colorado-election-adam-frisch/

Kaleigh Rogers, “Why Lauren Boebert’s Race Is So Close,” FiveThirtyEight, November 17, 2022, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-lauren-boeberts-race-is-so-close/

Katy Stech Ferek, “Adam Frisch Concedes to Lauren Boebert in Colorado House Race,” Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/adam-frisch-concedes-to-lauren-boebert-in-colorado-house-race-11668798633

Aruna Viswanatha and Sadie Gurman, “Jack Smith Named Special Counsel to Lead DOJ Probes of Donald Trump,” Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/garland-to-name-special-counsel-to-determine-whether-trump-should-face-charges-11668796152


Gilead

Twitter


Fig. 1. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[5] fair use.

Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/

Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/

Johana Bhuiyan, “Elon Musk summons Twitter engineers amid mass resignations and puts up poll on Trump ban,” Guardian, November 18, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/18/elon-musk-twitter-engineers-workers-mass-resignation

James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307

Annie Gaus, “Twitter Teeters as Offices Shut Down, Employees Flee,” San Francisco Standard, November 18, 2022, https://sfstandard.com/business/twitter-teeters-on-collapse-as-offices-shut-down/

Elon Musk, “How do you make a small fortune in social media? . . .” Twitter, November 18, 2022, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593415171149791232

Sky News, “World Cup risks knocking out Twitter after staff exodus, industry expert warns,” November 18, 2022, https://news.sky.com/story/twitter-reportedly-closes-offices-over-sabotage-fears-as-more-employees-resign-12749959

Faiz Siddiqui, Drew Harwell and Isaac Arnsdorf , “Elon Musk restores Trump’s Twitter account,” Washington Post, November 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/19/trump-musk-twitter/


Pennsylvania

2022 election


Fig. 1. John Fetterman as mayor of Braddock, photograph uncredited and undated, via Next Pittsburgh,[6] fair use.

As usual, and completely consistent with conservative epistemology,[7] the suits challenging Pennsylvania election results in the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races (Democrats won[8]) offer absolutely no evidence in support of their claims.[9]

I’m a human scientist and as such, alternative ways of knowing deserve my respect. But the epistemology of the legal system relies on written law,[10] arguments, and evidence. This epistemology’s relationship to positivism is obvious. It should be unethical for lawyers to accept cases such as this and those who do should be subject to sanctions by the court.

Rich Cholodofsky, “Lawsuits request hand recounts of votes for governor, senator,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 18, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/lawsuits-request-hand-recounts-of-votes-for-governor-senator/


  1. [1]Devlin Barrett, “Justice Dept. says Trump team may have hidden, moved classified papers,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-documents-removed-storage-room/
  2. [2]Devlin Barrett and Josh Dawsey, “Trump worker told FBI about moving Mar-a-Lago boxes on ex-president’s orders,” Washington Post, October 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/10/12/maralago-witness-trump-boxes-moved/; Sadie Gurman and Aruna Viswanatha, “Merrick Garland Weighed Search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago for Weeks,” Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/merrick-garland-weighed-search-of-trumps-mar-a-lago-for-weeks-11660601292
  3. [3]Aruna Viswanatha and Sadie Gurman, “Jack Smith Named Special Counsel to Lead DOJ Probes of Donald Trump,” Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/garland-to-name-special-counsel-to-determine-whether-trump-should-face-charges-11668796152
  4. [4]Aruna Viswanatha and Sadie Gurman, “Jack Smith Named Special Counsel to Lead DOJ Probes of Donald Trump,” Wall Street Journal, November 18, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/garland-to-name-special-counsel-to-determine-whether-trump-should-face-charges-11668796152
  5. [5]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/
  6. [6]Kim Lyons, “Braddock Mayor John Fetterman keeps on truckin’ in his quest for the Senate,” Next Pittsburgh, March 11, 2016, https://nextpittsburgh.com/features/the-challengers-braddock-mayor-john-fetterman-keeps-on-truckin/
  7. [7]David Benfell, “A theory of conservative epistemology,” Not Housebroken, August 19, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/08/06/a-theory-of-conservative-epistemology/
  8. [8]Kris Maher, “Democrat Josh Shapiro Wins Pennsylvania Governor Race Over Doug Mastriano,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/election-midterms-2022/card/democrat-josh-shapiro-wins-pennsylvania-governor-race-over-doug-mastriano-rdDSLqwHlckU7Q5yZYF2; Aaron Zitner, “John Fetterman Wins Key Senate Race in Pennsylvania, Defeating Mehmet Oz,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/election-midterms-2022/card/oW3cFfkuo97s4Fa2Q9Sl
  9. [9]Rich Cholodofsky, “Lawsuits request hand recounts of votes for governor, senator,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 18, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/lawsuits-request-hand-recounts-of-votes-for-governor-senator/
  10. [10]R. H. Helmholz, Natural Law in Court: A History of Legal Theory in Practice (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2015).

I actually read a Wall Street Journal op-ed so you don’t have to

Illiberalism


Fig. 1. Photograph by Joachim F. Thurn, August 1991, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F089030-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.

There is a new blog post entitled, “Move along, folks, nothing to see here.”

Joseph C. Sternberg, “Orbán and the Collapse of the Trump Intellectuals,” Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/orban-and-the-collapse-of-the-trump-intellectuals-hungary-national-conservatives-brussels-european-union-money-legal-corruption-reform-11668696725


Academic freedom


Fig. 2. “The Evolution of Intellectual Freedom.” Comic by Jorge Cham, 2011, via Episyllogism[1] fair use.

Jack Stripling, “Channeling Orwell, Judge Blasts Florida’s ‘Dystopian’ Ban on ‘Woke’ Instruction,” Chronicle of Higher Education, November 17, 2022, https://www.chronicle.com/article/conjuring-orwell-florida-judge-blasts-dystopian-ban-on-woke-instruction


Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Infrastructure


Fig. 3. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

When last I checked in on this particular story, Ed Gainey was promising snow removal on all streets in Pittsburgh within 24 hours.[2] People don’t believe him.[3]

It’s kind of an odd thing, really. Nobody talks about corruption to the newspaper reporter, or if they do, she doesn’t report it.[4] But I had a guy in my back seat a few nights ago who declared—I don’t know how you would establish this—that Allegheny County is the most corrupt county in the most corrupt state in the Union. My passengers take it for granted that the interminable road work projects are more about keeping those workers employed than they are about accomplishing anything.

Indeed, lately, I’ve been hearing about multiple projects, not all in Allegheny County, by the way, that, not having been done right the first time, are having to be done over again, sometimes multiple times.

It really feels like these workers live in terror that whatever job they’re on is the last one they’ll ever get, so they’re milking it for every penny they can get. And of course, I can’t help but feel that something similar is happening with the snow plowing operation.

As I sit here waiting for my car’s (gasp) 90,000-mile service, it strikes me that this is how you know corruption. You feel it, even when you can’t connect the dots with logic and evidence, because everything is hush-hush and you aren’t supposed to know.

My dilemma remains. I expect evidence and argument and of course I don’t have this. But I do have that feeling.[5] It’s a feeling I can’t shake.

Julia Felton, “Pittsburghers skeptical of mayor’s snow removal goals,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburghers-skeptical-of-mayors-road-snow-removal-goals/


Gilead

Twitter


Fig. 4. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[6] fair use.

A British Broadcasting Corporation story[7] in particular must be read to be believed.

Despite the turmoil at the company, Mr [Elon] Musk tweeted on Friday: “And… we just hit another all-time high in Twitter usage lol.”

Satirist Frank Lesser replied: “‘Rome has never been this brightly lit at night!’ – Nero” – a reference to the Roman emperor who is reputed to have fiddled while Rome burned.

Before Mr Musk took control of Twitter the company had about 7,500 staff. The firm was also reported to have employed thousands of contract workers, the majority of whom are understood to have been laid off.[8]

There might be less than 2,000 left now[9] as Twitter had already laid off approximately half its workforce,[10] then asked those remaining to commit to long hours and “exceptional” performance,[11] reportedly leading hundreds (sounds like over a thousand) more to accept severance.[12] We might be really close[13] to that 75 percent cut in staff that Elon Musk had originally threatened,[14] and we might be really close to Twitter simply crashing as critical systems are now insufficiently staffed.[15]

Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/

Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/

James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307

Annie Gaus, “Twitter Teeters as Offices Shut Down, Employees Flee,” San Francisco Standard, November 18, 2022, https://sfstandard.com/business/twitter-teeters-on-collapse-as-offices-shut-down/

Sky News, “World Cup risks knocking out Twitter after staff exodus, industry expert warns,” November 18, 2022, https://news.sky.com/story/twitter-reportedly-closes-offices-over-sabotage-fears-as-more-employees-resign-12749959


  1. [1]Bob Lane, “Academic Freedom,” Episyllogism, November 3, 2016, https://boblane.com/2016/11/03/academic-freedom/
  2. [2]Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh sets goal to clear roads within 24 hours of snowfall,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 15, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-officials-share-citys-plans-for-snow-removal-say-goal-is-to-clear-streets-within-24-hours-of-snowfall/
  3. [3]Julia Felton, “Pittsburghers skeptical of mayor’s snow removal goals,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburghers-skeptical-of-mayors-road-snow-removal-goals/
  4. [4]Julia Felton, “Pittsburghers skeptical of mayor’s snow removal goals,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburghers-skeptical-of-mayors-road-snow-removal-goals/
  5. [5]David Benfell, “It is what it is,” Not Housebroken, December 31, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/12/31/it-is-what-it-is/
  6. [6]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/
  7. [7]James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307
  8. [8]James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307
  9. [9]James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307
  10. [10]Edward Ludlow and Kurt Wagner, “Musk Plans to Eliminate Half of Twitter Jobs to Cut Costs,” Bloomberg, November 2, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-02/musk-plans-to-eliminate-half-of-twitter-jobs-in-cost-cut-drive
  11. [11]Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/
  12. [12]Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/
  13. [13]James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307
  14. [14]Elizabeth Dwoskin et al., “Documents detail plans to gut Twitter’s workforce,” Washington Post, October 20, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/20/musk-twitter-acquisition-staff-cuts/
  15. [15]Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/; Sky News, “World Cup risks knocking out Twitter after staff exodus, industry expert warns,” November 18, 2022, https://news.sky.com/story/twitter-reportedly-closes-offices-over-sabotage-fears-as-more-employees-resign-12749959

Lauren Boebert has a problem. Besides a career built on stupid, that is.

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. Department of Justice photograph of seized materials, reportedly partially redacted, via the Washington Post, August 31, 2022,[1] public domain.

Colorado’s 3rd District is red and, thanks to redistricting, has gotten redder since the last time [Lauren] Boebert ran — it has a FiveThirtyEight partisan lean1 of R+19. As an incumbent Republican in a midterm cycle that looked like it would favor the GOP, Boebert was expected to easily win: Our forecast gave Boebert a 97-in-100 chance of winning. As of 5 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Boebert had a slim, 1,122-vote lead over Democrat and former Aspen City Council Member Adam Frisch. But even if she prevails, it’ll be a photo finish in a race that was absolutely not expected to be close. So what the heck happened? While Republicans overall performed poorer than expected this midterm cycle, certain things about this race made it particularly susceptible to a potential upset — and help explain why Boebert wasn’t popping Champagne on election night.[2]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s surprised. But what emerges here is that white Christian nationalists face a similar dilemma to progressives. In my analysis of the need to break up the United States, I’ve noted a difficulty that breaking up the country would not only be the world’s messiest divorce but that it is nearly impossible to draw nice neat geographic lines between white Christian nationalist areas and even the rest of the country.[3] It turns out this is a problem in the reverse direction as well. Sure, Lauren Boebert’s district is redder than red, but it includes pockets of blue, and even some Republicans are turned off by Boebert’s antics.[4] So now there’ll likely be a recount, which would have to “be completed no later than 35 days after the election, which is Dec. 13.”[5]

Amy Gardner, Reis Thebault, and Robert Klemko, “Election deniers lose races for key state offices in every 2020 battleground,” Washington Post, November 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2022/11/13/election-deniers-defeated-state-races/

Richard M. Nixon [Justin Sherin], “The Field Takes Shape,&rdqo; Patreon, November 13, 2022, https://www.patreon.com/posts/field-takes-74601639

Nicholas Riccardi and Ken Ritter, “Cortez Masto wins in Nevada, giving Democrats Senate control,” Associated Press, November 13, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/nevada-senate-race-live-updates-c8edd4399c9766e1a184a24928fc7edf

Devlin Barrett and Josh Dawsey, “Investigators see ego, not money, as Trump’s motive on classified papers,” Washington Post, November 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/14/trump-motive-mar-a-lago-documents/

Isaac Arnsdorf, “Trump, who as president fomented an insurrection, says he is running again,” Washington Post, November 15, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/15/trump-2024-announcement-running-president/

Jonathan J. Cooper, “Hobbs wins Arizona governor’s race, flipping state for Dems,” Associated Press, November 15, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-arizona-donald-trump-phoenix-doug-ducey-ceadb2bf55f1d5ec4760f423f1af0204

Hannah Knowles, Marianna Sotomayor, and Colby Itkowitz, “Republicans narrowly win House, ending full Democratic control of Congress,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/16/republicans-win-house-majority/

Bryan Pietsch and Amy B. Wang, “Rep. Lauren Boebert race too close to call, with margin inside recount threshold,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/17/boebert-colorado-election-adam-frisch/

Kaleigh Rogers, “Why Lauren Boebert’s Race Is So Close,” FiveThirtyEight, November 17, 2022, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-lauren-boeberts-race-is-so-close/


Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence


Fig. 2. “A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday’s shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 2018,” photograph by Cathal McNaughton for Reuters, via ABC News, October 29, 2018,[6] fair use.

Megan Guza, “Man accused in fatal Mount Washington stabbing was ‘frustrated, cold and wanted a cigarette,’” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 17, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/11/17/mt-washington-pittsburgh-fatal-stabbing-southern-avenue-domestic-homicide/stories/202211170093


Gilead

Twitter


Fig. 3. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[7] fair use.

It says more than a little something about Elon Musk that he thought Twitter workers would accept his ultimatum:[8]

Hundreds of Twitter employees refused Thursday to sign a pledge to work longer hours, threatening the site’s ability to keep operating and prompting hurried debates among managers over who should be asked to return, current and former employees said.

The number of engineers tending to multiple critical systems had been reduced to two, one or even zero, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

The crisis came in response to an ultimatum new owner Elon Musk issued Wednesday demanding that employees sign a pledge to work harder by 5 p.m. Eastern time Thursday or accept three months’ severance pay. . . .

Resignations and departures were already taking a toll on Twitter’s service, employees said. “Breakages are already happening slowly and accumulating,” one said. “If you want to export your tweets, do it now.”[9]

So, following the advice in the last paragraph quoted above, I attempted to download an archive of my data. Twitter requires you re-enter your password and a code sent by either email or text message. I tried the latter first; it didn’t work. But email seems to have worked. I’m waiting for the download to be ready.

Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/

Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/


  1. [1]Devlin Barrett, “Justice Dept. says Trump team may have hidden, moved classified papers,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-documents-removed-storage-room/
  2. [2]Kaleigh Rogers, “Why Lauren Boebert’s Race Is So Close,” FiveThirtyEight, November 17, 2022, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-lauren-boeberts-race-is-so-close/
  3. [3]David Benfell, “Pure poison,” Not Housebroken, September 15, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/12/17/pure-poison/
  4. [4]Kaleigh Rogers, “Why Lauren Boebert’s Race Is So Close,” FiveThirtyEight, November 17, 2022, https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-lauren-boeberts-race-is-so-close/
  5. [5]Bryan Pietsch and Amy B. Wang, “Rep. Lauren Boebert race too close to call, with margin inside recount threshold,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/17/boebert-colorado-election-adam-frisch/
  6. [6]Bill Hutchinson et al., “Pittsburgh synagogue-shooting suspect wheeled into courtroom; Trump to visit city Tuesday,” ABC News, October 29, 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-suspect-discharged-hospital-set-make/story?id=58825389
  7. [7]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/
  8. [8]Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/
  9. [9]Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/

Ukraine insists missile that exploded in Poland was Russian

Ukraine


Fig. 1. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[1] fair use.

Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday said he had “no doubt” that an explosion that killed two men in Poland was caused by a missile fired by Russia.

Western leaders concluded that the missile was likely to be part of Ukrainian air defences against Tuesday’s relentless bombardment of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin’s army.

Moscow launched 90 missiles and more than 10 drone strikes against Ukraine, which led to earlier accusations that the explosion four miles across the Polish border was Russia’s fault.

But the president of Ukraine insisted it had evidence of a “Russian trace” in the explosion, which briefly threatened to put Moscow and Nato on the brink of war.

“I have no doubt that it was not our missile,” Mr Zelensky said. “I believe that it was a Russian missile based on the credibility of the reports of the military.”[2]


One of the lessons we should have learned from World War II is that the path to peace does not lie through appeasing an imperialist, for the imperialist only comes back for more. Appeasement allows for a possibility that the imperialist has some legitimate reason for his aggression. It ratifies and rewards that aggression.

We are letting Vladimir Putin off the hook much, much, much too easily here.

Julia Ioffe, “Putin’s Retreat & Kyiv’s Dangerous Hope,” Puck News, November 15, 2022, https://puck.news/putins-retreat-kyivs-dangerous-hope/

Seung Min Kim and Zeke Miller, “Biden calls ‘emergency’ meeting after missile hits Poland,” Associated Press, November 15, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/g-20-summit-nato-biden-andrzej-duda-25e615909ba0d871d5092f5b3aec21c8

James Crisp, Joe Barnes, and Ben Riley-Smith, “Russia ‘ultimately responsible’ for Poland missile strike, say Western allies,” Telegraph, November 16, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/11/16/poland-missile-strike-przewodow-ukraine-forces/

Vanessa Gera, Zeke Miller, and Michael Balsamo, “Poland: Russian-made missile fell on our country, killing 2,” , November 16, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-zelenskyy-kherson-9202c032cf3a5c22761ee71b52ff9d52

Daniel Michaels, Laurence Norman, and Drew Hinshaw, “NATO Says Missile That Hit Poland Was Likely Ukraine Air Defense,” Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/missile-that-hit-poland-likely-launched-by-ukraine-in-air-defense-western-officials-say-11668589786

David Benfell, “@JuliaIoffe's latest newsletter this morning notes that Ukraine hotly disputes this view, insisting that the missile was Russian. . . .” Twitter, November 17, 2022, https://twitter.com/BenfellPhD/status/1593190534797230082

Julia Ioffe to Tomorrow Will Be Worse list, “DeSantis’s Chris Christie Syndrome,” Puck News, November 17, 2022, https://puck.news/newsletters/tomorrow-will-be-worse/


Pennsylvania

2022 election


Fig. 1. John Fetterman as mayor of Braddock, photograph uncredited and undated, via Next Pittsburgh,[3] fair use.

Anna Orso, Jonathan Lai, and Max Marin, “Democrats appear to have won a majority of seats in the Pa. House for the first time in 12 years,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 16, 2022, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/democrats-set-to-win-control-of-pa-house-20221116.html


Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. Department of Justice photograph of seized materials, reportedly partially redacted, via the Washington Post, August 31, 2022,[4] public domain.

Amy Gardner, Reis Thebault, and Robert Klemko, “Election deniers lose races for key state offices in every 2020 battleground,” Washington Post, November 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2022/11/13/election-deniers-defeated-state-races/

Richard M. Nixon [Justin Sherin], “The Field Takes Shape,&rdqo; Patreon, November 13, 2022, https://www.patreon.com/posts/field-takes-74601639

Nicholas Riccardi and Ken Ritter, “Cortez Masto wins in Nevada, giving Democrats Senate control,” Associated Press, November 13, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/nevada-senate-race-live-updates-c8edd4399c9766e1a184a24928fc7edf

Devlin Barrett and Josh Dawsey, “Investigators see ego, not money, as Trump’s motive on classified papers,” Washington Post, November 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/14/trump-motive-mar-a-lago-documents/

Isaac Arnsdorf, “Trump, who as president fomented an insurrection, says he is running again,” Washington Post, November 15, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/15/trump-2024-announcement-running-president/

Jonathan J. Cooper, “Hobbs wins Arizona governor’s race, flipping state for Dems,” Associated Press, November 15, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-arizona-donald-trump-phoenix-doug-ducey-ceadb2bf55f1d5ec4760f423f1af0204

Hannah Knowles, Marianna Sotomayor, and Colby Itkowitz, “Republicans narrowly win House, ending full Democratic control of Congress,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/16/republicans-win-house-majority/


  1. [1]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q
  2. [2]James Crisp, Joe Barnes, and Ben Riley-Smith, “Russia ‘ultimately responsible’ for Poland missile strike, say Western allies,” Telegraph, November 16, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/11/16/poland-missile-strike-przewodow-ukraine-forces/
  3. [3]Kim Lyons, “Braddock Mayor John Fetterman keeps on truckin’ in his quest for the Senate,” Next Pittsburgh, March 11, 2016, https://nextpittsburgh.com/features/the-challengers-braddock-mayor-john-fetterman-keeps-on-truckin/
  4. [4]Devlin Barrett, “Justice Dept. says Trump team may have hidden, moved classified papers,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-documents-removed-storage-room/

Blowing a chance to wring concessions from Vladimir Putin

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.

Three U.S. officials said preliminary assessments suggested the missile [which hit Przewodów, a village in Poland, killing two people] was fired by Ukrainian forces at an incoming Russian one amid the crushing salvo against Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure Tuesday. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.[1]

Assuming these “preliminary assessments” hold, and it appears this is the line the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is adopting,[2] Russia remains at fault. Ukraine was defending itself against a Russian attack on its infrastructure. The trouble here is that the blame on Russia[3] is indirect and therefore muted. An opportunity to wring some concessions from Vladimir Putin[4] at a time when Putin’s back is against the wall with his retreat from Kherson,[5] and at a time when it is even more apparent that Russia is in hopelessly over its head with its war on Ukraine,[6] is going to waste.

Julia Ioffe, “Putin’s Retreat & Kyiv’s Dangerous Hope,” Puck News, November 15, 2022, https://puck.news/putins-retreat-kyivs-dangerous-hope/

Seung Min Kim and Zeke Miller, “Biden calls ‘emergency’ meeting after missile hits Poland,” Associated Press, November 15, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/g-20-summit-nato-biden-andrzej-duda-25e615909ba0d871d5092f5b3aec21c8

Vanessa Gera, Zeke Miller, and Michael Balsamo, “Poland: Russian-made missile fell on our country, killing 2,” , November 16, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-zelenskyy-kherson-9202c032cf3a5c22761ee71b52ff9d52

Daniel Michaels, Laurence Norman, and Drew Hinshaw, “NATO Says Missile That Hit Poland Was Likely Ukraine Air Defense,” Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/missile-that-hit-poland-likely-launched-by-ukraine-in-air-defense-western-officials-say-11668589786


Gilead

Twitter


Fig. 1. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[7] fair use.

Elon Musk is simply delusional:

Anyone who did not sign the pledge by 5 p.m. Eastern time Thursday was told they would receive three months of severance pay, the message said.

In the midnight email, which was shared with The Washington Post, [Elon] Musk said Twitter “will need to be extremely hardcore” going forward. “This will mean working long hours at high intensity,” he said. “Only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”

The pledge email, paired with a new policy mandating a return to the office, is expected to lead to even more attrition at a company whose staff Musk had already reduced by half.[8]

What Musk is attempting here is to treat creative (for an admittedly strange value of ‘creative’) people like Amazon warehouse workers, with work speed-ups. Creativity simply doesn’t work like that and only a fool imagines that it does.

And, just as with the warehouse workers, it’s not clear that there’s any reward for this effort, other than getting to keep an abusive, albeit a whole lot better paid, job for an abusive employer. What’s different here is that Amazon will probably still be in business next year and the year after. There’s considerable reason to doubt that Twitter will be.[9]

Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/


Pennsylvania

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.

Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh to use $400K designated for public safety training facility on road work,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 14, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-to-use-400k-designated-for-public-safety-training-facility-on-road-work/

Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh sets goal to clear roads within 24 hours of snowfall,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 15, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-officials-share-citys-plans-for-snow-removal-say-goal-is-to-clear-streets-within-24-hours-of-snowfall/

Unauthorized violence


Fig. 1. “A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday’s shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 2018,” photograph by Cathal McNaughton for Reuters, via ABC News, October 29, 2018,[10] fair use.

Midway Drive, where a stabbing occurred,[11] runs through a housing project in a far corner of West Mifflin, adjacent to Whitaker Borough and near the Rankin Bridge.

The project is old and decrepit. I don’t know how anyone feels safe but there are a lot of people living there.

I venture into this project occasionally, picking up or dropping off passengers.

Security at this project is more than a little bizarre. If I drive in on Midway Drive past the first few buildings, where I guess anything goes, I have to present my driver’s license to a security guard who scans the code on the back, recording my details. But there are other streets leading into the project which are completely unguarded. Anybody on foot or riding a bus goes unidentified. Any passengers I bring into the complex go unidentified.

So there’s really no control whatsoever over who’s coming or going. They just pretend to have security.

Maddie Aiken, “Man dies after stabbing in West Mifflin,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 15, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/south-hills/man-dies-after-stabbing-in-west-mifflin/

Justin Vellucci, “Bystander struck by bullet in Downtown Pittsburgh, police say,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 15, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/bystander-struck-by-bullet-in-downtown-pittsburgh-police-say/


  1. [1]Vanessa Gera, Zeke Miller, and Michael Balsamo, “Poland: Russian-made missile fell on our country, killing 2,” , November 16, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-zelenskyy-kherson-9202c032cf3a5c22761ee71b52ff9d52
  2. [2]Daniel Michaels, Laurence Norman, and Drew Hinshaw, “NATO Says Missile That Hit Poland Was Likely Ukraine Air Defense,” Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/missile-that-hit-poland-likely-launched-by-ukraine-in-air-defense-western-officials-say-11668589786
  3. [3]Vanessa Gera, Zeke Miller, and Michael Balsamo, “Poland: Russian-made missile fell on our country, killing 2,” , November 16, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-zelenskyy-kherson-9202c032cf3a5c22761ee71b52ff9d52; Daniel Michaels, Laurence Norman, and Drew Hinshaw, “NATO Says Missile That Hit Poland Was Likely Ukraine Air Defense,” Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/missile-that-hit-poland-likely-launched-by-ukraine-in-air-defense-western-officials-say-11668589786
  4. [4]David Benfell, “Where does Vladimir Putin stop?” Not Housebroken, November 15, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/03/04/where-does-vladimir-putin-stop/
  5. [5]Julia Ioffe, “Putin’s Retreat & Kyiv’s Dangerous Hope,” Puck News, November 15, 2022, https://puck.news/putins-retreat-kyivs-dangerous-hope/
  6. [6]Julia Ioffe, “Putin’s Retreat & Kyiv’s Dangerous Hope,” Puck News, November 15, 2022, https://puck.news/putins-retreat-kyivs-dangerous-hope/; Vanessa Gera, Zeke Miller, and Michael Balsamo, “Poland: Russian-made missile fell on our country, killing 2,” , November 16, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-zelenskyy-kherson-9202c032cf3a5c22761ee71b52ff9d52
  7. [7]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/
  8. [8]Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/
  9. [9]David Benfell, “Elon Musk’s Achilles’ heel,” Not Housebroken, November 15, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/07/10/elon-musks-achilles-heel/
  10. [10]Bill Hutchinson et al., “Pittsburgh synagogue-shooting suspect wheeled into courtroom; Trump to visit city Tuesday,” ABC News, October 29, 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-suspect-discharged-hospital-set-make/story?id=58825389
  11. [11]Maddie Aiken, “Man dies after stabbing in West Mifflin,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 15, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/south-hills/man-dies-after-stabbing-in-west-mifflin/

So Vladimir Putin had a little ‘accident’

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.

It seems a missile probably made in Russia hit Polish territory. The assumption that Russia launched the missile is being investigated. That the missile was in fact made in Russia has not been confirmed. But, at least in theory, Vladimir Putin might now actually have himself a shooting war with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.[1]

A lot will surely depend on the “findings” of an “investigation.” Perhaps Russia did indeed manufacture the missile. Perhaps Russia did indeed launch the missile. Perhaps Russia intentionally targeted Poland. But NATO’s investigation can, of course, conveniently fail to substantiate such claims. And it would help loads if such a report were in fact credible. Of course, that might require Putin to make some concessions.

A problem for anyone attempting to downplay the attack will be Putin’s own, his government’s own, and his propagandists’ own rhetoric suggesting that his war on Ukraine is in fact a war against NATO.[2] Another problem is that he and they have rattled his sword at Poland already.[3] That should raise the price Putin will have to pay.

That is, unless Putin actually wants a shooting war with NATO.

I’m wondering how this plays.

Seung Min Kim and Zeke Miller, “Biden calls ‘emergency’ meeting after missile hits Poland,” Associated Press, November 15, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/g-20-summit-nato-biden-andrzej-duda-25e615909ba0d871d5092f5b3aec21c8


Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence


Fig. 2. “A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday’s shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 2018,” photograph by Cathal McNaughton for Reuters, via ABC News, October 29, 2018,[4] fair use.

Justin Vellucci, “Bystander struck by bullet in Downtown Pittsburgh, police say,” Pittsburgh Tribune=Review, November 15, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/bystander-struck-by-bullet-in-downtown-pittsburgh-police-say/


Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 3. Original: The White House. Derivative work: J. J. Messerly, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Utterly unsurprisingly, our least favorite delusional raging narcissist, formerly -in-chief, is running again.[5] At this point, it’s hardly even news. Yawn.

Amy Gardner, Reis Thebault, and Robert Klemko, “Election deniers lose races for key state offices in every 2020 battleground,” Washington Post, November 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2022/11/13/election-deniers-defeated-state-races/

Richard M. Nixon [Justin Sherin], “The Field Takes Shape,&rdqo; Patreon, November 13, 2022, https://www.patreon.com/posts/field-takes-74601639

Nicholas Riccardi and Ken Ritter, “Cortez Masto wins in Nevada, giving Democrats Senate control,” Associated Press, November 13, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/nevada-senate-race-live-updates-c8edd4399c9766e1a184a24928fc7edf

Devlin Barrett and Josh Dawsey, “Investigators see ego, not money, as Trump’s motive on classified papers,” Washington Post, November 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/11/14/trump-motive-mar-a-lago-documents/

Isaac Arnsdorf, “Trump, who as president fomented an insurrection, says he is running again,” Washington Post, November 15, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/15/trump-2024-announcement-running-president/

Jonathan J. Cooper, “Hobbs wins Arizona governor’s race, flipping state for Dems,” Associated Press, November 15, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-arizona-donald-trump-phoenix-doug-ducey-ceadb2bf55f1d5ec4760f423f1af0204


Winter


Fig. 4. Photograph by author, November 15, 2022.

I don’t think anyone in Pittsburgh was actually expecting it to snow today. According to the thermometer in my dashboard, the temperature never got below 34° Fahrenheit, but I was sometimes driving through blizzard-like conditions. I never had a problem with traction, but the facts that 1) the snow was actually sticking to the ground (figure 4) and 2) the roads had not been salted meant a lot of folks, myself included, were driving very conservatively.


  1. [1]Seung Min Kim and Zeke Miller, “Biden calls ‘emergency’ meeting after missile hits Poland,” Associated Press, November 15, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/g-20-summit-nato-biden-andrzej-duda-25e615909ba0d871d5092f5b3aec21c8
  2. [2]CTV, “Top Russian diplomat warns Ukraine against provoking world war,” April 26, 2022, https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/top-russian-diplomat-warns-ukraine-against-provoking-world-war-1.5876149; Chiara Giordano, “Russia effectively at war with Nato, Lavrov says as he calls western weapons ‘legitimate targets,’” Independent, April 25, 2022, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-weapons-ukraine-war-nato-b2065422.html; Toby Helm et al., “Defiant Putin warns the west: your sanctions are akin to an act of war,” Guardian, March 5, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/05/defiant-putin-warns-the-west-your-sanctions-are-akin-to-an-act-of-war; Julia Ioffe, “Europe’s 9/11,” Puck News, March 3, 2022, https://puck.news/europes-9-11/; Robin Wright, “What Does Putin’s Nuclear Sabre Rattling Mean?” New Yorker, March 1, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-does-putins-nuclear-sabre-rattling-mean
  3. [3]Luke Harding, Peter Beaumont, and Lorenzo Tondo, “Russia missile strike on Ukraine base close to Polish border kills 35, governor says,” Guardian, March 13, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/13/russia-widens-attacks-on-ukraine-with-missile-strike-on-base-close-to-polish-border; 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/
  4. [4]Bill Hutchinson et al., “Pittsburgh synagogue-shooting suspect wheeled into courtroom; Trump to visit city Tuesday,” ABC News, October 29, 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-suspect-discharged-hospital-set-make/story?id=58825389
  5. [5]Isaac Arnsdorf, “Trump, who as president fomented an insurrection, says he is running again,” Washington Post, November 15, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/15/trump-2024-announcement-running-president/