Uber now takes sixty percent of passenger fares

So-called ‘ridesharing’

Drivers


Fig. 1. Yeah, this is me. The sign says, “If you’re whining about a labor shortage, STOP ignoring my job applications!” And the QR-code leads here. Photograph by author, January 16, 2023.

I’ve talked to a few passengers now and from what they say they’re paying Uber, versus what Uber is paying me, it very much looks like Uber is taking something like a sixty percent cut of each fare. This is up from twenty-five or thirty percent when I first started with Lyft in 2016 and Uber in 2017. Drivers need to cover their operating costs from and somehow live on the forty percent they’re leaving us and the numbers flatly don’t work out.

At the same time, passengers believe they’re paying a little more, so it’s no wonder Uber has been hiding passenger payments from drivers.[1] And all this is consistent with previous reporting.[2]


  1. [1]Yujie Zhou, “Uber is hiding customer payments from drivers. Again,” Mission Local, November 16, 2022, https://missionlocal.org/2022/11/uber-hiding-customer-payments-from-drivers/
  2. [2]Dhruv Mehrotra and Aaron Gordon, “Uber And Lyft Take A Lot More From Drivers Than They Say,” Jalopnik, August 26, 2019, https://jalopnik.com/uber-and-lyft-take-a-lot-more-from-drivers-than-they-sa-1837450373; Faiz Siddiqui, “You may be paying more for Uber, but drivers aren’t getting their cut of the fare hike,” Washington Post, June 9, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/06/09/uber-lyft-drivers-price-hike/

Very, very, very worried about doomsday, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists sets its clock closer to midnight than ever before

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.

The illegal Russian-Ukraine conflict and its risk that nuclear weapons could be used was a primary, but not exclusive, catalyst in bumping forward the hands on the symbolic measure known as the “Doomsday Clock.”[2]

Russia’s war on Ukraine has raised profound questions about how states interact, eroding norms of international conduct that underpin successful responses to a variety of global risks.

And worst of all, Russia’s thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict—by accident, intention, or miscalculation—is a terrible risk. The possibility that the conflict could spin out of anyone’s control remains high.

Russia’s recent actions contravene decades of commitments by Moscow. In 1994, Russia joined the United States and United Kingdom in Budapest, Hungary, to solemnly declare that it would “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine” and “refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine…” These assurances were made explicitly on the understanding that Ukraine would relinquish nuclear weapons on its soil and sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty—both of which Ukraine did.[3]

John Mecklin also cites Russia’s violent gambits around nuclear power stations in Ukraine and interprets Russian disinformation on Ukraine’s supposed weapons of mass destruction as suggesting that Russia itself may use these weapons.[4]

Rachel Koning Beals, “Russia-Ukraine war leaves Doomsday Clock closest to ‘crisis’ hour of midnight in report’s 76-year history,” Bloomberg, January 24, 2023, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/russia-ukraine-war-leaves-doomsday-clock-the-closest-to-crisis-midnight-in-reports-76-year-history-11674573997

Michael R. Gordon and Gordon Lubold, “U.S. Leans Toward Providing Abrams Tanks to Ukraine,” Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/poland-formally-requests-german-permission-to-send-tanks-to-ukraine-11674558492

John Mecklin, “A time of unprecedented danger: It is 90 seconds to midnight,” Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, January 24, 2023, https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/


Doomsday Clock


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.

The clock now stands at 90 seconds to midnight, the hour of crisis, a Tuesday announcement said. That is the closest, meaning the most worrisome, to midnight in the 76-year history of the release from the Bulletin of Atomic Scienstists, which issues the report at this time each year.

Other factors [in addition to the illegal Russian-Ukraine conflict and its risk that nuclear weapons could be used] moving the clock hands included nuclear tensions heightening on the Korean Peninsula and the climate crisis, which devasted communities in flooded Pakistan, hurricane-battered Florida and elsewhere in 2022. Close attention remains on global efforts to mitigate, but also build defenses against, the global warming that makes natural disasters more extreme and is acidifying oceans that provide food and income for many.[5]

Rachel Koning Beals, “Russia-Ukraine war leaves Doomsday Clock closest to ‘crisis’ hour of midnight in report’s 76-year history,” Bloomberg, January 24, 2023, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/russia-ukraine-war-leaves-doomsday-clock-the-closest-to-crisis-midnight-in-reports-76-year-history-11674573997

John Mecklin, “A time of unprecedented danger: It is 90 seconds to midnight,” Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, January 24, 2023, https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/


  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]Rachel Koning Beals, “Russia-Ukraine war leaves Doomsday Clock closest to ‘crisis’ hour of midnight in report’s 76-year history,” Bloomberg, January 24, 2023, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/russia-ukraine-war-leaves-doomsday-clock-the-closest-to-crisis-midnight-in-reports-76-year-history-11674573997
  3. [3]John Mecklin, “A time of unprecedented danger: It is 90 seconds to midnight,” Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, January 24, 2023, https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/
  4. [4]John Mecklin, “A time of unprecedented danger: It is 90 seconds to midnight,” Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, January 24, 2023, https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/current-time/
  5. [5]Rachel Koning Beals, “Russia-Ukraine war leaves Doomsday Clock closest to ‘crisis’ hour of midnight in report’s 76-year history,” Bloomberg, January 24, 2023, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/russia-ukraine-war-leaves-doomsday-clock-the-closest-to-crisis-midnight-in-reports-76-year-history-11674573997

If Merrick Garland is really so desperate to not indict Donald Trump, he should at least have the balls to say so

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

The small fry are getting convicted,[1] but over two years after the January 6 coup attempt, it’s still all excuses when it comes to indicting Donald Trump.[2]

If the Department of Justice is really so damned desperate to not indict Trump, they should at least have the balls to tell us so. But they need to stop with the bullshit about “investigating.” Because, sorry, no, there’s no way in hell it takes this long, not with the evidence that’s already been amassed.

Rachel Weiner, “Four other Oath Keepers found guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy,” Washington Post, January 23, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/01/23/oathkeepers-verdict-seditious-conspiracy-jan6-guilty/


  1. [1]Spencer S. Hsu, Tom Jackman, and Rachel Weiner, “Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy,” Washington Post, November 29, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/11/29/rhodes-oathkeepers-sedition-verdict-jan6/; Rachel Weiner, “Four other Oath Keepers found guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy,” Washington Post, January 23, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/01/23/oathkeepers-verdict-seditious-conspiracy-jan6-guilty/
  2. [2]David Benfell, “It is now even more urgently orange jumpsuit time,” Not Housebroken, January 15, 2023, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/08/24/it-is-now-even-more-urgently-orange-jumpsuit-time/

Binyamin Netanyahu’s government already in jeopardy? Probably not

This post has been updated—see an added section for abortion, under Gilead—since publication.


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.

Here’s the threat:

Another Shas minister, Yaakov Margi, told Israel’s public radio hours before the court ruling on Wednesday [January 18] that “[Binyamin] Netanyahu knows that if [Aryeh] Deri is not in the government, there is no government.” He later softened the threat, saying that he personally would recommend that Shas withdraw from the government if Mr. Deri could not be a minister.[1]

As yet, the follow-through seems, ahem, muted:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed top ally Aryeh Deri from the cabinet on Sunday [January 22], in a move expected to trigger political uncertainty despite being mandated by the High Court of Justice and advocated by the attorney general. . . .

It’s unclear who will replace Deri in the interior and health ministries. Normally, when a minister quits, his portfolios automatically revert to the prime minister for a temporary period until a new minister is appointed. But since Netanyahu is under criminal indictment in connection to a separate corruption investigation, he is blocked by law from holding any cabinet seat sans the premiership.[2]

If the Israeli government has collapsed, I haven’t seen any report of it. But we can hope. As for Aryeh Deri,

Responding to his dismissal, [Aryeh] Deri said that after the court decision “it was clear” to both himself and [Binyamin] Netanyahu that he would leave the government, but that he would not be withdrawing from political life. “No judicial decision will prevent me from serving and representing” the 400,000-odd Shas voters who gave his ultra-Orthodox party 11 Knesset seats in November’s elections, he said.[3]

A push to limit the Israeli judiciary’s powers[4] that has belatedly led me to count Israel as an illiberal regime (a designation Israel also earns with disenfranchised Palestinians under occupation) must be seen in the context of Binyamin Netanyahu’s[5] and Aryeh Deri’s[6] legal troubles. It obviously depends upon some semblance of the current coalition remaining in power.

Carrie Keller-Lynn, “Netanyahu fires Deri ‘with a heavy heart’ after High Court nixes convicted minister,” Times of Israel, January 22, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-fires-deri-with-a-heavy-heart-after-high-court-nixes-convicted-minister/


Gilead

Got some stories here that are at the very limit of my tolerance for old news in the Irregular Bullshit, but there’s more than one, and while the news media focus on yet another mass shooting—sorry, but it will be news if the U.S. ever actually does something about gun nuttery—it’s a painfully slow news day.

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Philip Bump, “Under oath, Trump is confronted with his ‘hoax’ hyperbole,” Washington Post, January 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/19/trump-defamation-suit-hoax/

David Badash, “‘Full retreat mode’: Trump drops suit against NY AG Letitia James day after judge fines him nearly $1 million,” Alternet, January 20, 2023, https://www.alternet.org/the-right-wing/letitia-james-trump/

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.

Lora Kolodny, “Twitter is down to fewer than 550 full-time engineers,” CNBC, January 20, 2023, https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/20/twitter-is-down-to-fewer-than-550-full-time-engineers.html

Abortion


Fig. 1. Sign at demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, May 3, 2022. Janni Rye, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

David G. Savage, “Supreme Court says it cannot determine who leaked draft abortion opinion last year,” Los Angeles Times, January 19, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-01-19/supreme-court-did-not-find-leaker-of-abortion-opinion

Jackie Hajdenberg, “5 rabbis sue state of Missouri over abortion bans on religious freedom grounds,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, January 20, 2023, https://www.jta.org/2023/01/20/united-states/5-rabbis-sue-state-of-missouri-over-abortion-bans-on-religious-freedom-grounds

Ruth Marcus, “Does Dobbs violate the establishment clause?” Washington Post, January 20, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/20/abortion-dobbs-establishment-clause-sotomayor/


  1. [1]Isabel Kershner, “Israel’s Supreme Court Orders Removal of Netanyahu Minister,” New York Times, January 18, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/18/world/middleeast/israel-aryeh-deri-netanyahu.html
  2. [2]Carrie Keller-Lynn, “Netanyahu fires Deri ‘with a heavy heart’ after High Court nixes convicted minister,” Times of Israel, January 22, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-fires-deri-with-a-heavy-heart-after-high-court-nixes-convicted-minister/
  3. [3]Carrie Keller-Lynn, “Netanyahu fires Deri ‘with a heavy heart’ after High Court nixes convicted minister,” Times of Israel, January 22, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-fires-deri-with-a-heavy-heart-after-high-court-nixes-convicted-minister/
  4. [4]David Horovitz, “Hanukkah 2022, when Netanyahu began turning out the lights on Israeli democracy,” Times of Israel, January 1, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/hanukkah-2022-when-netanyahu-began-turning-out-the-lights-on-israeli-democracy/; Jeremy Sharon, “Justice minister unveils plan to shackle the High Court, overhaul Israel’s judiciary,” Times of Israel, January 4, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/justice-minister-unveils-plan-to-shackle-the-high-court-overhaul-israels-judiciary/
  5. [5]Steve Hendrix and Ruth Eglash, “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, breach of trust,” Washington Post, November 21, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-indicted-on-charges-of-bribery-fraud-breach-of-trust/2019/11/21/ef396fee-0bc2-11ea-8054-289aef6e38a3_story.html; Raoul Wootliff, “AG announces Netanyahu to stand trial for bribery, fraud and breach of trust,” Times of Israel, November 21, 2019, https://www.timesofisrael.com/ag-announces-netanyahu-to-stand-trial-for-bribery-fraud-and-breach-of-trust/; Raoul Wootliff, “Netanyahu indicted for corruption in three cases, in first for a sitting PM,” Times of Israel, January 28, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-indicted-for-corruption-in-three-cases-in-first-for-a-sitting-pm/
  6. [6]Carrie Keller-Lynn, “Netanyahu fires Deri ‘with a heavy heart’ after High Court nixes convicted minister,” Times of Israel, January 22, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-fires-deri-with-a-heavy-heart-after-high-court-nixes-convicted-minister/; Isabel Kershner, “Israel’s Supreme Court Orders Removal of Netanyahu Minister,” New York Times, January 18, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/18/world/middleeast/israel-aryeh-deri-netanyahu.html
  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/

A courtesy “C” for Ruth Marcus

Gilead

Abortion


Fig. 1. Sign at demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, May 3, 2022. Janni Rye, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

There is a new blog post entitled, “A ‘C’ grade for Ruth Marcus on abortion rights.”

David G. Savage, “Supreme Court says it cannot determine who leaked draft abortion opinion last year,” Los Angeles Times, January 19, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-01-19/supreme-court-did-not-find-leaker-of-abortion-opinion

Ruth Marcus, “Does Dobbs violate the establishment clause?” Washington Post, January 20, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/20/abortion-dobbs-establishment-clause-sotomayor/


Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence


Fig. 1. “Ed Gainey poses with CeaseFirePA during the 2020 Women’s March in Downtown Pittsburgh.” Photograph by Megan Gloeckler, undated, via Pittsburgh City Paper,[1] fair use.

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said one thing.[2] When it comes to unauthorized violence, Pittsburgh’s city government is doing something entirely different:

That’s included a move toward returning to and reversing some practices: Some city council members want to explore enforcing an existing but not used curfew for kids and young teens, and Pittsburgh police have resumed making traffic stops for minor violations, something banned by a 2021 city ordinance.[3]

These are practices that 1) don’t work,[4] and 2) fail to address underlying causes.[5]

So what’s it going to be, Gainey? Will you be stupid? Or will you be smart? Because what we’re seeing here is textbook purely the former.

Megan Guza, “Experts and research cast doubt about Pittsburgh leaders’ efforts to quell recent surge in violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 22, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/01/22/pittsburgh-police-violence-teens-solutions-city-council-curfew-traffic-stops/stories/202301220036

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “2 critically wounded in shootings on the South Side,” January 22, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/01/21/pittsburgh-police-investigate-2-shooting-scenes-south-side/stories/202301210097

South Side


Fig. 1. Jack’s Bar. Photograph by User:Piotrus, December 2007, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

About 9 p.m., officers from the Zone 3 station responded to a report of a gunshot victim near a parking lot and Monongahela River overlook area known as Color Park near South Fourth Street. The park is a gathering spot for young people and graffiti artists.[6]

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “2 critically wounded in shootings on the South Side,” January 22, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/01/21/pittsburgh-police-investigate-2-shooting-scenes-south-side/stories/202301210097


  1. [1]Charlie Wolfson, “Neighborhood groups try to curb shootings as Pittsburgh’s mayoral campaign puts political focus on gun violence,” Pittsburgh City Paper, October 20, 2021, https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/neighborhood-groups-try-to-curb-shootings-as-pittsburghs-mayoral-campaign-puts-political-focus-on-gun-violence/Content?oid=20401296
  2. [2]David Benfell, “To Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey,” Not Housebroken, October 30, 2023, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/10/30/to-pittsburgh-mayor-ed-gainey/
  3. [3]Megan Guza, “Experts and research cast doubt about Pittsburgh leaders’ efforts to quell recent surge in violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 22, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/01/22/pittsburgh-police-violence-teens-solutions-city-council-curfew-traffic-stops/stories/202301220036
  4. [4]Megan Guza, “Experts and research cast doubt about Pittsburgh leaders’ efforts to quell recent surge in violence,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 22, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/01/22/pittsburgh-police-violence-teens-solutions-city-council-curfew-traffic-stops/stories/202301220036
  5. [5]Steven E. Barkan, Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2006); Wanda D. McCaslin and Denise C. Breton, “Justice as Healing: Going Outside the Colonizers’ Cage,” in Handbook of Critical and Indigenous Methodologies, Norman K. Denzin, Yvonna S. Lincoln, and Linda Tuhiwai Smith, eds. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2008), 511-529; Jeffrey Reiman, The Rich Get Richer and The Poor Get Prison, 7th ed. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2004).
  6. [6]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “2 critically wounded in shootings on the South Side,” January 22, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/01/21/pittsburgh-police-investigate-2-shooting-scenes-south-side/stories/202301210097

A judge finally takes on Donald Trump’s frivolity

Gilead

Donald Trump

Russia investigation


Fig. 1. Photograph by Presidential Press and Information Office (Russia, Kremlin.ru), June 28, 2019,, via Wikimedia Commons Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0

One of the things I pride myself on is that if you really manage to really piss me off with a bullshit argument, I just might sit down and rip it to pieces, with my own essay or blog post, all completely cited, all completely grounded in evidence.

And so it has perplexed me that judges have continued to tolerate Donald Trump’s abuse of the legal system.

I’ve had judges as passengers, both as a taxi driver and as an Uber driver. I’ve spoken with them. They are almost invariably intelligent. We might disagree about the (in)justice system, but that doesn’t make them stupid.

So surely, I thought to myself, they see what’s going on with Trump’s frivolous suits. I mean, how could they not?

It appears that one finally took my approach to the problem, slapping Trump and his lawyer with a nearly $1 million fine in the process.[1] It’s about fucking time.

Philip Bump, “A judge rebukes — and punishes — Trump’s false Russia narrative,” Washington Post, January 20, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/20/trump-russia-probe-fine-hillary-clinton/


Gilead

Abortion


Fig. 1. Sign at demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, May 3, 2022. Janni Rye, via Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

I suppose it’s possible that the Supreme Court’s marshal really has failed to figure out who leaked a draft of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.[2]

But my intuition is screaming at me that somebody’s ox would be gored if the marshal revealed the truth. At the time, Eriq Gardner of Puck News wrote,

The strategic upside to leaking isn’t obvious. Conservatives think that a liberal leaked it to influence the outcome. Liberals believe a conservative might have done it to sway a colleague or reset expectations. These theories are certainly plausible, but well short of being self-evident. That means that whomever is taking the risk, there’s no clear-cut payoff. Take the speculation by NPR’s Nina Totenberg that a clerk for one of the conservative justices leaked the draft with the intention of ensuring a majority for overturning Roe. This theory posits 1) that the leaker feared Chief Justice John Roberts would pull a colleague towards his more moderate position, and 2) that this person believed leaking the draft would compel the conservative wing—not wanting to be perceived as bending to public pressure—to hold strong. Sure, this theory of gamesmanship is possible but it also ascribes quite a lot of psychological prowess on the part of that clerk in understanding how a superior would react to a leak. Such a gambit could easily backfire, especially if the source and motivation got out.[3]

I’m just not seeing that “this theory of gamesmanship” really “ascribes quite a lot of psychological prowess,” which is why I suspected that Nina Totenberg was right, not about one of the clerks,[4] but rather one of the justices—probably Samuel Alito, who authored the draft, himself.

Somehow, the justices escape suspicion. Gardner reads much into Josh Gerstein’s phrasing, that “Gerstein has repeatedly been using the word “disclosure” instead of “leak.” It seems a deliberate choice from someone accustomed to the linguistic nuance of law.”[5] But neither Gardner nor anyone else seriously suspects a Supreme Court justice despite the fact these folks are all but unimpeachable and can act with all but certain impunity. If Alito wanted to firm up a conservative majority for the decision he drafted, he could surely find a messenger. As Gardner suggests towards the end of his piece,

[I]f it wasn’t an inside job, where would it come from? That I can’t answer, although the involvement of a national security reporter [Alexander Ward] raises intriguing possibilities. And even if this isn’t a matter of national security, it could be a friend, spouse, or family member of a Supreme Court justice, as one individual who took an almost forensic look at the document itself theorized.[6]

Obviously, I have no proof. But this seems too easy to ignore.

David G. Savage, “Supreme Court says it cannot determine who leaked draft abortion opinion last year,” Los Angeles Times, January 19, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-01-19/supreme-court-did-not-find-leaker-of-abortion-opinion


  1. [1]Philip Bump, “A judge rebukes — and punishes — Trump’s false Russia narrative,” Washington Post, January 20, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/20/trump-russia-probe-fine-hillary-clinton/
  2. [2]David G. Savage, “Supreme Court says it cannot determine who leaked draft abortion opinion last year,” Los Angeles Times, January 19, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-01-19/supreme-court-did-not-find-leaker-of-abortion-opinion
  3. [3]Eriq Gardner, “Was Politico’s Supreme Court Leaker an Inside Man?” Puck News, May 9, 2022, https://puck.news/was-politicos-supreme-court-leaker-an-inside-man/
  4. [4]Eriq Gardner, “Was Politico’s Supreme Court Leaker an Inside Man?” Puck News, May 9, 2022, https://puck.news/was-politicos-supreme-court-leaker-an-inside-man/
  5. [5]Eriq Gardner, “Was Politico’s Supreme Court Leaker an Inside Man?” Puck News, May 9, 2022, https://puck.news/was-politicos-supreme-court-leaker-an-inside-man/
  6. [6]Eriq Gardner, “Was Politico’s Supreme Court Leaker an Inside Man?” Puck News, May 9, 2022, https://puck.news/was-politicos-supreme-court-leaker-an-inside-man/

Pittsburgh isn’t so affordable if you’re working for minimum wage

Work


Fig. 1. Yeah, this is me. The sign says, “If you’re whining about a labor shortage, STOP ignoring my job applications!” And the QR-code leads here. Photograph by author, January 16, 2023.

I had moved to Pittsburgh in part because if, even with a Ph.D., Uber driving was my sole career option, I needed to be in a place where I could afford to live.

That appears to have been mistaken. Pittsburgh ranks on the list of cities with the lowest real minimum wage. It’s not as bad as Philadelphia, let alone Honolulu, but it’s bad. (San Francisco doesn’t even rank, probably because California has a relatively high state minimum wage, with Sacramento and Stockton appearing on the list with the highest real minimum wage.)[1] Though the Digg story[2] is dated on the 17th, it appears to have been based on the SmartAsset story.[3]

Darcy Jimenez, “US Cities Where Minimum Wage Goes The Furthest, Visualized,” Digg, January 17, 2023, https://digg.com/finance/link/minimum-wage-us-cities-visualized-4GpKmRQhZa

Patrick Villanova, “Cities Where Minimum Wage Goes Furthest – 2023 Edition,” SmartAsset, January 18, 2023, https://smartasset.com/data-studies/cities-with-the-highest-and-lowest-real-minimum-wage-2023


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.

Isabel Kershner, “Israel’s Supreme Court Orders Removal of Netanyahu Minister,” New York Times, January 18, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/18/world/middleeast/israel-aryeh-deri-netanyahu.html


Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Philip Bump, “Under oath, Trump is confronted with his ‘hoax’ hyperbole,” Washington Post, January 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/01/19/trump-defamation-suit-hoax/

Right-wing militias

Military


Fig. 1. Image of unstated origin and unknown date posted to Quora by Karl Burkhalter,[4] fair use.

Konstantin Toropin, “3 Active-Duty Marines Who Work in Intelligence Arrested for Alleged Participation in Jan. 6 Riot,” Military.com, January 19, 2023, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/01/19/3-active-duty-marines-who-work-intelligence-arrested-alleged-participation-jan-6-riot.html


  1. [1]Patrick Villanova, “Cities Where Minimum Wage Goes Furthest – 2023 Edition,” SmartAsset, January 18, 2023, https://smartasset.com/data-studies/cities-with-the-highest-and-lowest-real-minimum-wage-2023
  2. [2]Darcy Jimenez, “US Cities Where Minimum Wage Goes The Furthest, Visualized,” Digg, January 17, 2023, https://digg.com/finance/link/minimum-wage-us-cities-visualized-4GpKmRQhZa
  3. [3]Patrick Villanova, “Cities Where Minimum Wage Goes Furthest – 2023 Edition,” SmartAsset, January 18, 2023, https://smartasset.com/data-studies/cities-with-the-highest-and-lowest-real-minimum-wage-2023
  4. [4]Quora, “Do you agree with the Marine Corps’ decision to ban the public display of the Confederate flag?” n.d., https://www.quora.com/Do-you-agree-with-the-Marine-Corps-decision-to-ban-the-public-display-of-the-Confederate-flag

Should economic sanctions against Russia be more broadly targeted?

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.

It’s a helluva way to get an education.

As The [Washington] Post’s Catherine Belton and Robyn Dixon reported late last year, scratch the surface of Russia’s economy and you’ll find that sanctions and other measures were hitting Russia where it hurt, “exacerbating equipment shortages for its army and hampering its ability to launch any new ground offensive or build new missiles, economists and Russian business executives said.”

It’s true much of the brunt of sanctions has been cushioned by Russia’s still-enormous energy exports, hence the positive accounts balance. But as Putin tried to use these exports to pressure and punish Europe, their power has been blunted. A new price cap that will soon go into effect looks set to hinder Russian exports further.[2]

My understanding is that the point of “Western sanctions and export controls” is not “to keep bottles of Johnnie Walker off a St. Petersburg shelf,”[3] but rather to target the oligarchs and politically powerful in Russia, to make them feel pain for Putin’s war—and this seems at least partially to have worked.[4] Apart from a chaotic military mobilization,[5] ordinary people have not much suffered.[6]

A criticism of economic sanctions, notably against Saddam Hussein in Iraq, had been that they hurt ordinary people while, if anything, enhancing economic (black market) opportunities for the elite, especially, in the case of Iraq, Hussein’s family. What we’re seeing with Russia appears to be at least a mostly successful attempt to avoid repeating that mistake.

Which means, as well, that there is little pain for ordinary people who support or at least acquiesce to Putin’s war.[7] And with Putin holding leverage to keep Russian elites, grumble though they may, in line,[8] it becomes harder to see how opposition to the war can gain much traction.

It may be that it isn’t enough to target the politically and economically powerful; the magic sauce here may involve a bit more pain for ordinary Russians, so that dissenting oligarchs might feel some wind at their backs.

Julia Ioffe, “The Putin Poison Pill,” Puck News, January 17, 2023, https://puck.news/the-putin-poison-pill/

Adam Taylor, “Putin says Russia’s economy beat expectations. Did sanctions fail?” Washington Post, January 18, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/01/18/sanctions-russia-fail-work-economy-expectations/


COVID-19 Pandemic


Fig. 1. Photograph by author, November 8, 2022.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, our public health institutions were unable to persuade a large portion of the population to get vaccinated or boosted or wear a face mask,” says Dr. James Lawler, codirector of the Global Center for Health Security at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. “I think it would be hard to claim that trust and confidence in those institutions has improved since then.” According to data analyzed by Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, politicized topics are the ones most likely to cause Americans to question the “recommendations of the federal health agencies.” Unfortunately, she says, “COVID polarized.”[9]

The answer to the question posed in Katherine Eban’s headline is, probably, no. And it isn’t just the U.S.[10]

Katherine Eban, “Can America Learn This Pandemic’s Lessons Before the Next One Hits?” Vanity Fair, January 17, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/01/us-covid-prepared-next-pandemic


Gilead

Evangelical Protestants


Fig. 1. “You shall have no other gods before me.”[11] Photograph posted to Twitter by Antonia Lee Donnelly, February 16, 2020,[12] fair use.

Ever since Donald Trump kicked off his third presidential bid in November, several high-profile evangelical leaders and activists have signaled that they want a new standard-bearer to lead the Republican Party into 2024. Unsurprisingly, these objections are not sitting well with the former president. “That’s a sign of disloyalty,” he told Real America’s Voice on Monday after host David Brody referenced Trump’s evangelical critics. “There’s great disloyalty in the world of politics, and that’s a sign of disloyalty.”

Trump then argued that he deserves the devotion of the religious right because “nobody has ever done more for ‘right to life’ than Donald Trump. I put three Supreme Court justices who all voted [to overturn Roe v. Wade]…. They won, they finally won.”[13]

Caleb Ecarma, “Donald Trump to Evangelicals: You Can’t Break Up With Me Because I’m Breaking Up With You First,” Vanity Fair, January 17, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/01/donald-trump-evangelicals-break-up

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 1. “Jake Angeli (Qanon Shaman), seen holding a Qanon sign at the intersection of Bell Rd and 75th Ave in Peoria, Arizona, on 2020 October 15.” Photography by TheUnseen011101 [pseud.], October 15, 2020, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

It seems that evangelical Protestant leaders have noticed the 2022 midterm election results.[14]

Caleb Ecarma, “Donald Trump to Evangelicals: You Can’t Break Up With Me Because I’m Breaking Up With You First,” Vanity Fair, January 17, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/01/donald-trump-evangelicals-break-up


  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]Adam Taylor, “Putin says Russia’s economy beat expectations. Did sanctions fail?” Washington Post, January 18, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/01/18/sanctions-russia-fail-work-economy-expectations/
  3. [3]Adam Taylor, “Putin says Russia’s economy beat expectations. Did sanctions fail?” Washington Post, January 18, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/01/18/sanctions-russia-fail-work-economy-expectations/
  4. [4]Catherine Belton and Greg Miller, “Cracks emerge in Russian elite as tycoons start to bemoan invasion,” Washington Post, April 29, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/29/russia-oligarchs-ukraine-invasion-dissent/
  5. [5]Agence France-Presse, “‘Full chaos’: Over 100,000 Russians flood neighboring countries to flee army call-up,” Times of Israel, September 28, 2022, https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-chaos-over-100000-russians-flood-neighboring-countries-to-flee-army/; Robyn Dixon et al., “Russian mobilization prompts backlash as Ukraine annexation effort plows ahead,” Washington Post, September 25, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/25/russia-ukraine-mobilization-referendums/; Barbara Kollmeyer, “Putin’s partial draft announcement appears to spark scramble to leave Russia as flights fill up,” MarketWatch, September 21, 2022, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/putins-partial-draft-announcement-appears-to-spark-scramble-to-leave-russia-as-flights-fill-up-11663769382; Robert Mackey, “Russians Return to Streets to Protest Widening of Putin’s War on Ukraine,” Intercept, September 22, 2022, https://theintercept.com/2022/09/22/russia-ukraine-putin-war-protests/; Pjotr Sauer and Dan Sabbagh, “Border queues build as people flee Russia to escape Putin’s call-up,” Guardian, September 23, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/23/border-queues-build-as-people-flee-russia-to-escape-putin-call-up
  6. [6]Adam Taylor, “Putin says Russia’s economy beat expectations. Did sanctions fail?” Washington Post, January 18, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/01/18/sanctions-russia-fail-work-economy-expectations/
  7. [7]Julia Ioffe, “Mothers for Putin,” Puck News, April 21, 2022, https://puck.news/mothers-for-putin/; Joshua Yaffa, “Why Do So Many Russians Say They Support the War in Ukraine?” New Yorker, March 29, 2022, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-do-so-many-russians-say-they-support-the-war-in-ukraine
  8. [8]Catherine Belton and Greg Miller, “Cracks emerge in Russian elite as tycoons start to bemoan invasion,” Washington Post, April 29, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/29/russia-oligarchs-ukraine-invasion-dissent/
  9. [9]Katherine Eban, “Can America Learn This Pandemic’s Lessons Before the Next One Hits?” Vanity Fair, January 17, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/01/us-covid-prepared-next-pandemic
  10. [10]Katherine Eban, “Can America Learn This Pandemic’s Lessons Before the Next One Hits?” Vanity Fair, January 17, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/01/us-covid-prepared-next-pandemic
  11. [11]Exod. 20:3.
  12. [12]Antonia Lee Donnelly, “Now I've seen everything,” Twitter, February 17, 2020, https://twitter.com/DonnellyAntonia/status/1229227422836559873
  13. [13]Caleb Ecarma, “Donald Trump to Evangelicals: You Can’t Break Up With Me Because I’m Breaking Up With You First,” Vanity Fair, January 17, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/01/donald-trump-evangelicals-break-up
  14. [14]Caleb Ecarma, “Donald Trump to Evangelicals: You Can’t Break Up With Me Because I’m Breaking Up With You First,” Vanity Fair, January 17, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/01/donald-trump-evangelicals-break-up

Okay, so how stupid is Vladimir Putin? And should the West take the risk to find out?

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.

I wonder if Vladimir Putin is really so stupid as to confirm to the West that he is not interested in negotiating an end to his war in Ukraine.[2] I mean, he might be, but I think that rather than giving up that bit of ammunition in the propaganda war, he might more likely engage in the pretense of negotiation, effectively banking whatever gains the West offered in its gambit and hanging on to them for as long as he can prolong the negotiation.

Julia Ioffe, “The Putin Poison Pill,” Puck News, January 17, 2023, https://puck.news/the-putin-poison-pill/


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,[3] fair use.

Zoë Schiffer, Casey Newton, and Alex Heath, “Extremely Hardcore: Twitter’s staff spent years trying to protect the platform against impulsive ranting billionaires — then one made himself the CEO,” New York, January 17, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/elon-musk-twitter-takeover.html


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.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Contract awarded for next major phase of Mon-Fayette Expressway,” January 17, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/01/17/contract-mon-fayette-expressway-trumbull-first-section-valley-turnpike/stories/202301170085


  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]Julia Ioffe, “The Putin Poison Pill,” Puck News, January 17, 2023, https://puck.news/the-putin-poison-pill/
  3. [3]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/

Nearly two years later, employers still whine about a so-called “labor shortage.” Spare me.

Work


Fig. 1. Yeah, this is me. The sign says, “If you’re whining about a labor shortage, STOP ignoring my job applications!” And the QR-code leads here. Photograph by author, January 16, 2023.

It’s ludicrous that nearly two years after Jon Schwarz debunked the “labor shortage,” retelling the story of its origins as a rationalization for slavery, explaining that what it really means is that employers can’t get workers cheaply enough,[1] 1) they’re still whining about a “labor shortage;”[2] 2) Robert Reich has to explain that, still, employers need to pay more;[3] and 3) I still can’t get a fucking job.[4] What Reich elides, of course, is that not only do employers insist (with Federal Reserve collusion) on lower wages,[5] but that employers discriminate, excluding workers like me. I can’t even, for very much the most part, get an interview. I just get ‘ghosted.’[6]

Robert Reich, “There is no US labor shortage. That’s a myth,” Guardian, January 15, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/15/there-is-no-us-labor-shortage-thats-a-myth


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.

Anthony Faiola, Samantha Schmidt, and Marina Dias, “Brazil’s military blocked arrests of Bolsonaro rioters, officials say,” Washington Post, January 14, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/14/brazil-riot-investigation-military-collusion/


  1. [1]Jon Schwarz, “The Business Class Has Been Fearmongering About Worker Shortages for Centuries,” Intercept, May 7, 2021, https://theintercept.com/2021/05/07/worker-shortage-slavery-capitalism/
  2. [2]Catherine Rampell, “Where are the workers, really?” Washington Post, December 2, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/02/jobs-report-labor-participation-low-missing-workers/
  3. [3]Robert Reich, “There is no US labor shortage. That’s a myth,” Guardian, January 15, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/15/there-is-no-us-labor-shortage-thats-a-myth
  4. [4]David Benfell, “About my job hunt,” Not Housebroken, n.d., https://disunitedstates.org/about-my-job-hunt/
  5. [5]Robert Reich, “There is no US labor shortage. That’s a myth,” Guardian, January 15, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/15/there-is-no-us-labor-shortage-thats-a-myth
  6. [6]David Benfell, “About that alleged ‘labor shortage,’ Not Housebroken, May 9, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/05/09/about-that-alleged-labor-shortage/