Month: May 2023

Actually, we might have a few Molochs

benfell

Gilead

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.

You know, I don’t normally post old articles here. It’s not what the Irregular Bullshit is here for. But I just came across this one for the first time.

That horror [the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre] cannot be blamed just on one unhinged person. It was the sacrifice we as a culture made, and continually make, to our demonic god. We guarantee that crazed man after crazed man will have a flood of killing power readily supplied him. We have to make that offering, out of devotion to our Moloch, our god. The gun is our Moloch. We sacrifice children to him daily—sometimes, as at Sandy Hook, by directly throwing them into the fire-hose of bullets from our protected private killing machines, sometimes by blighting our children’s lives by the death of a parent, a schoolmate, a teacher, a protector.[1]

Here, yet again, in a single passage, I cannot do justice. Garry Wills wrote this article magnificently. If you can wrangle access, please, by all means do. And I’m going to be thinking about his analogy using Maloch—apparently, a forbidden biblical god for all you heathens (including me)—for guns for a while.

Of course, guns as Maloch, now apparently understood as the author of the First Commandment, is maybe a few mind-blowing bundles all dumped on us at once. Let me count the ways I can unpack thee. . . . Starting with, perhaps, Maloch joining the Holy Trinity (oh, and it looks like an appropriate word for a holy four might lie down a series of ratholes that I’m just not up for chasing down right now). Or maybe Maloch was an apparition, testing human faithfulness, projected by that forever-angry Old Testament God. Or, where do all these pagan gods and goddesses we are told not to worship come from, anyway? What sort of ‘divine’ power struggle is this where we humans must blindly pick sides? How is that even supposed to work? On a few levels, how is that even supposed to work?

Garry Wills, “Our Moloch,” New York Review, December 15, 2012, https://www.nybooks.com/online/2012/12/15/our-moloch/

Right-wing militias

Police White supremacist gangs


Fig. 2. Photograph by Lorie Shaull, April 1, 2021, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Angélica Cházaro, B. J. Last, and Taylor Riley, “DOJ Intervention Didn’t Stop Seattle’s Police Violence. It Gave Cops More Money,” Truthout, May 28, 2023, https://truthout.org/articles/doj-intervention-didnt-stop-seattles-police-violence-it-gave-cops-more-money/

Hydrogen cars

If like Toyota, you were holding out hope that hydrogen cars might be part of the mix in a renewable future:

Yes, climate change means that we need to stop using fossil fuels, which account for 80 per cent of global energy usage. The answer, critics say, is to use renewable and low-carbon electricity to power electric vehicles or heat pumps directly. That would be a better bet than going through the rigmarole of using renewable electricity to split water and generate “green” hydrogen, that can then be burnt in boilers.

For the most part, that is an accurate representation of the energy transition. Hydrogen is abysmally inefficient. Consider EVs, for example. Even when factoring in the 5 per cent lost in transport and 10 per cent as batteries charge and discharge, EVs can be up to 80 per cent efficient. In hydrogen vehicles, between 30 and 40 per cent of the starting renewable electricity is lost in making the fuel and a further 40 per cent in the fuel cell.[2]

Assuming these efficiency rates hold, Toyota is simply wrong about hydrogen.

Hydrogen’s poor efficiency means that it holds a compelling case as a decarbonisation solution only where direct electrification is not feasible — in industrial processes that require a chemical reaction, for instance.[3]

Terms to learn: “grey” hydrogen is produced from natural gas;[4] this has been proposed for steel production in southwestern Pennsylvania.[5] It is not, no matter what people might tell you, “green.”[6] If the methane that would be released in natural gas production is captured, the resulting hydrogen is “blue.”[7]

My issues with electric cars remain the same: I need longer range, more availability of charging stations (Tesla has put in a bank of charging stations, which probably only work for Teslas, at least for now,[8] at a nearby Giant Eagle and that would help, but requires doing business with Elon Musk, and I prefer to do business with grown-ups), and finally, frankly, batteries that are faster and a whole lot less fussy about charging.[9]

Camilla Palladino, “Lex in depth: the staggering cost of a green hydrogen economy,” Financial Times, May 28, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/6e22930b-a007-4729-951f-78d6685a7514

Illiberalism


Fig. 3. Photograph by Joachim F. Thurn, August 1991, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F089030-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.

Kareem Fahim and Louisa Loveluck, “Erdogan wins reelection in Turkey after bitter campaign,” Washington Post, May 28, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/28/turkey-election-runoff-erdogan-kilicdaroglu/

  1. [1]Garry Wills, “Our Moloch,” New York Review, December 15, 2012, https://www.nybooks.com/online/2012/12/15/our-moloch/↩
  2. [2]Camilla Palladino, “Lex in depth: the staggering cost of a green hydrogen economy,” Financial Times, May 28, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/6e22930b-a007-4729-951f-78d6685a7514↩
  3. [3]Mark Meldrum, quoted in Camilla Palladino, “Lex in depth: the staggering cost of a green hydrogen economy,” Financial Times, May 28, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/6e22930b-a007-4729-951f-78d6685a7514↩
  4. [4]Camilla Palladino, “Lex in depth: the staggering cost of a green hydrogen economy,” Financial Times, May 28, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/6e22930b-a007-4729-951f-78d6685a7514↩
  5. [5]Jon Hurdle, “‘Green Steel’ would curb carbon emissions, spur economic revival in Southwest Pennsylvania, study says,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 18, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2023/04/18/green-steel-curb-carbon-emissions-renewables/stories/202304170092↩
  6. [6]Stuart Braun, “The true cost of fracked US ‘freedom gas,’” Deutschewelle, March 28, 2022, https://www.dw.com/en/the-true-cost-of-fracked-us-freedom-gas/a-61283540; Camilla Palladino, “Lex in depth: the staggering cost of a green hydrogen economy,” Financial Times, May 28, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/6e22930b-a007-4729-951f-78d6685a7514; Hiroko Tabuchi, “For Many, Hydrogen Is the Fuel of the Future. New Research Raises Doubts,” New York Times, August 16, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/climate/hydrogen-fuel-natural-gas-pollution.html↩
  7. [7]Hiroko Tabuchi, “For Many, Hydrogen Is the Fuel of the Future. New Research Raises Doubts,” New York Times, August 16, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/climate/hydrogen-fuel-natural-gas-pollution.html↩
  8. [8]Hyunjoo Jin and Jarrett Renshaw, “Tesla to open U.S. charging network to rivals in $7.5 bln federal program,” Reuters, February 15, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-open-us-charging-network-rivals-75-bln-federal-program-white-house-2023-02-15/↩
  9. [9]To me, the procedures required here are insane: Tom Jervis, “Electric car battery life: how to preserve your battery,” Driving Electric, March 22, 2023, https://www.drivingelectric.com/your-questions-answered/96/electric-car-battery-life-how-preserve-your-battery↩

Now a dirty word: the neoliberal wet dream

benfell

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.

It seems that “gig work” has become a dirty word—I’ve been calling it a neoliberal wet dream because, by neoliberal standards, it’s hard to beat the power relationship between so-called ‘ridesharing’ companies and drivers—thanks to how Uber and Lyft treat their drivers:[1]

[David Simon] said people on the [screenwriters’ strike] picket lines had been discussing how the type of gig work associated with Uber had arrived at their industry. “The formula is always the same — labor is only a cost, and to the extent that they can cut costs, they will.”[2]

The reporting treats what should be a non-question of whether driver income has fallen as a question[3] (figure 2).

Fig. 2. Chart of average daily net earnings by month since January 2022 by author, as of May 26, 2023.

Kellen Browning, “Minnesota Governor Vetoes Gig Worker Pay Bill,” New York Times, May 25, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/technology/minnesota-veto-gig-workers.html

Kellen Browning, “Has ‘Gig Work’ Become a Dirty Word?” New York Times, May 27, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/27/business/gig-work-uber-lyft-writers-strike.html

  1. [1]Kellen Browning, “Has ‘Gig Work’ Become a Dirty Word?” New York Times, May 27, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/27/business/gig-work-uber-lyft-writers-strike.html↩
  2. [2]Kellen Browning, “Has ‘Gig Work’ Become a Dirty Word?” New York Times, May 27, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/27/business/gig-work-uber-lyft-writers-strike.html↩
  3. [3]Kellen Browning, “Minnesota Governor Vetoes Gig Worker Pay Bill,” New York Times, May 25, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/technology/minnesota-veto-gig-workers.html; Kellen Browning, “Has ‘Gig Work’ Become a Dirty Word?” New York Times, May 27, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/27/business/gig-work-uber-lyft-writers-strike.html↩

The Department of Justice keeps wagging the dog

benfell

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 [18-year] sentence [imposed on Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes] is the longest given to any of the hundreds of people found guilty of involvement in the pro-Trump riot [on June 6, 2021], and the first to include an enhanced penalty for terrorism. Judge Amit P. Mehta said it was merited by the role Rhodes, a leader in the armed anti-government movement for decades, played in convincing others they had the right to impose their political beliefs by force. . . .

[Judge Amit P.] Mehta on Thursday [May 25, 2023] also sentenced Kelly Meggs, a Florida car dealer and top deputy to Rhodes, to 12 years.

In a lengthy address to the court before the sentence was read, Rhodes, 58, did not dispute that he was a key figure in the right-wing firmament. He cast his conviction as part of a left-wing plot that included the Biden administration, the media and anti-fascist activists.[1]

Aruna Viswanatha, Sadie Gurman, and C. Ryan Barber, “Special Counsel Is Wrapping Up Trump Mar-a-Lago Probe,” Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/special-counsel-is-wrapping-up-trump-mar-a-lago-probe-99cd2517

Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey, and Adriana Usero, “The deepening radicalization of Donald J. Trump,” Washington Post, May 24, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/24/trump-language-policy-2024-race/

Devlin Barrett et al., “Trump workers moved Mar-a-Lago boxes a day before FBI came for documents,” Washington Post, May 25, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/25/trump-classified-documents-mar-a-lago/

Rachel Weiner, Tom Jackman, and Spencer S. Hsu, “Oath Keepers leader Rhodes gets 18 years for Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy,” Washington Post, May 25, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/05/25/oath-keepers-sentencing-seditious-conspiracy-jan6/

White Christian nationalism


Fig. 2. In terms of geographic area, Pennsylvania is very much a white Christian nationalist kind of place. Photograph by author, January 5, 2023.

One point of contention is about the definition of anti-Semitism: Does, as defenders of the Israeli occupation often suggest, anti-Zionism constitute anti-Semitism? The White House definition sidesteps the issue:

When Jews are targeted because of their beliefs or their identity, when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism.[2]

It goes on to suggest that lessons learned in the fight against anti-Semitism might also be useful in the fight against Islamophobia.[3] I think that’s a win: For now, at least, the acknowledgment of the existence of the Palestinian people cannot be construed, as some Zionists would clearly prefer, as anti-Semitism.

White House, “U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism,” May 2023, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/U.S.-National-Strategy-to-Counter-Antisemitism.pdf

Self-driving cars


Fig. 3. Photograph by Mark Doliner, August 1, 2012, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Russ Mitchell, “Huge Tesla data leak reportedly reveals thousands of safety complaints. 4 things to know,” Los Angeles Times, May 26, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-05-26/tesla-autopilot-alleged-data-breach-leak

Imperialism

Russia

Ukraine


Fig. 4. “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.

Robyn Dixon, “Russians snitch on Russians who oppose war with Soviet-style denunciations,” Washington Post, May 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/27/russia-denunciations-arrests-informants-war/

  1. [1]Rachel Weiner, Tom Jackman, and Spencer S. Hsu, “Oath Keepers leader Rhodes gets 18 years for Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy,” Washington Post, May 25, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/05/25/oath-keepers-sentencing-seditious-conspiracy-jan6/↩
  2. [2]White House, “U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism,” May 2023, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/U.S.-National-Strategy-to-Counter-Antisemitism.pdf, 9.↩
  3. [3]White House, “U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism,” May 2023, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/U.S.-National-Strategy-to-Counter-Antisemitism.pdf, 9.↩
  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↩

Black voters have reason for disappointment with Joe Biden. What will they do in 2024?

benfell

Gilead

Right-wing militias

Police White supremacist gangs


Fig. 1. Photograph by Lorie Shaull, April 1, 2021, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Y’all know how I feel about survey research, that with response rate declines, the methodology has ceased even to be a methodology and should be discounted entirely. This problem will be exacerbated with hard-to-reach groups, often overlapping with subaltern groups.

So I would urge caution with the Washington Post story by Toluse Olorunnipa, Scott Clement, and Emily Guskin, which is based entirely on survey results. That said, the upshot seems to be the Black voters don’t have a lot of choice: Joe Biden failed to get police reform passed and, if we accept these results, has disappointed a lot of Black voters. But the alternative is a clearly worse Republican, probably Donald Trump.[1] I didn’t see any analysis relevant to Tim Scott’s candidacy.[2] Scott

has presented his success as evidence that Black Americans are no longer marginalized, telling Iowans in February that he was “living proof” that “we are indeed a land of opportunity, not a land of oppression.”[3]

I think most Black people, certainly around Pittsburgh, know in their bones that they are still marginalized. And at some point—certainly I’ve been there—you wonder that the point of voting is when what you get is the same neoconservative policy regardless of whether Republicans or Democrats are in power, which is really what all this is about: Will Black voters still see a reason to turn out in 2024?

My guess is that they will. But if Republicans ever learn from their mistakes, they’re going to stop frightening the Black folks.

Joyce Sohyun Lee, Sarah Cahlan, and Arelis R. Hernández, “A year after Uvalde, officers who botched response face few consequences,” Washington Post, May 24, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/24/uvalde-school-shooting-police-response/

Toluse Olorunnipa, Scott Clement, and Emily Guskin, “Three years after Floyd’s death, a reckoning for Biden’s agenda on race,” Washington Post, May 25, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/25/george-floyd-death-anniversary-biden-race-agenda/

Abortion


Fig. 2. 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.

Rebekah Riess and Sydney Kashiwagi, “South Carolina governor signs 6-week abortion bill into law,” CNN, May 25, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/25/politics/south-carolina-abortion-ban-bill/index.html

Pennsylvania and surrounding areas

Pittsburgh, the Ohio Valley, and surrounding areas

Pollution


Fig. 3. Photographer unknown, circa 1940-1950, from Smoke Control Lantern Slide Collection, ca. 1940-1950, AIS.1978.22, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh, via Bloomberg,[4] fair use.

Patrick Varine, “Shell Appalachia fined $10 million for air quality violations from Beaver County ‘cracker’ plant,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, May 24, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/regional/shell-appalachia-fined-10-million-for-air-quality-violations-from-beaver-county-cracker-plant/

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Housing


Fig. 4. Most of the homeless encampments I’ve seen around Pittsburgh have been on the North Side. This one is downtown, right by a Parkway (Interstate 376) onramp. Photograph by author, May 22, 2023.

Eric Jankiewicz, “Pittsburgh’s mayor asked for expert advice on homelessness. Here’s what the mayor — and you — should know,” Public Source, May 23, 2023, https://www.publicsource.org/shelter-stakes-homelessness-pittsburgh-encampments-outreach-summer/

Imperialism

Russia

Ukraine


Fig. 5. “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,[5] fair use.

Explaining his claim that a Kremlin power struggle has already begun, Roman Anin argues that those who contend

want to save their lives, assets, the lives of their relatives. They understand that after Russia loses the war — because nobody among them believes in the victory anymore — they understand that it will be the starting point of this battle for the throne. And the one who loses the battle will lose everything — power, assets. . . .

Imagine that the next president of Russia is somebody from [Nikolai] Patrushev’s clan, who is the head of the National Security Council of Russia, one of the major governmental bodies of the country. That means that people who were fighting against him during all these years will not be able to save their assets, and even [their] lives or maybe freedom, and they understand that. And that’s what I believe will make a war really be fought. They will be fighting for their lives.

Because the other problem is that they’re stuck on this boat — because of the sanctions, because of their involvement in various crimes. They can’t leave the country. They can’t just say, “OK, let’s betray Putin and go somewhere.” They’re stuck there. And imagine snakes stuck in the same bottle and they just hate each other. . . .

And what is also really important and interesting in the framework of this war of clans and Prigozhin himself was his public statement [in the same video]…that they are going to leave Bakhmut on the 10th of May. And everyone paid attention only to the first part of this statement. But, in my opinion, the last part was more important. What he said was that “we will leave on the 10th of May, and we will wait until the Russian people need us, which we believe is going to happen really soon if you look at how our leaders are acting.”

It was obvious that he was referring to some kind of revolution, coup, or whatever. So he sees Wagner as this kind of military group that represents the interests of the majority of Russians, and if Russians need it, they will be ready there. That’s a very dangerous statement and nobody noticed. But I believe that Putin and his people in the Kremlin really read between the lines.[6]

This sounds like it will be uglier than I thought.

Philip Breedlove, Wesley Clark, and Ben Hodges, “Why Isn’t the Pentagon Helping the International Court Prosecute Putin?” Defense One, May 23, 2023, https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2023/05/why-isnt-pentagon-helping-international-court-prosecute-putin/386681/

Julian Borger, “Wagner chief warns of revolution and says 20,000 fighters killed in Bakhmut,” Guardian, May 24, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/24/wagner-head-warns-of-revolution-after-claiming-20000-fighters-killed-in-bakhmut

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, “Wagner Chief Prigozhin Says Russia’s Plan To ‘Demilitarize’ Ukraine Has Failed,” May 24, 2023, https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-wagner-prigozhin-failure/32425650.html

Vazha Tavberidze, “Interview: The ‘War Of Clans For Putin’s Throne Has Begun,’” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 24, 2023, https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-clans-war-russia-interview-succession-ukraine-war/32425962.html

  1. [1]Toluse Olorunnipa, Scott Clement, and Emily Guskin, “Three years after Floyd’s death, a reckoning for Biden’s agenda on race,” Washington Post, May 25, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/25/george-floyd-death-anniversary-biden-race-agenda/↩
  2. [2]Maggie Astor, “5 Things to Know About Tim Scott,” New York Times, May 22, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/22/us/politics/tim-scott-2024-election.html↩
  3. [3]Maggie Astor, “5 Things to Know About Tim Scott,” New York Times, May 22, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/22/us/politics/tim-scott-2024-election.html↩
  4. [4]Mark Byrnes, “What Pittsburgh Looked Like When It Decided It Had a Pollution Problem,” Bloomberg, June 5, 2012, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-06-05/what-pittsburgh-looked-like-when-it-decided-it-had-a-pollution-problem↩
  5. [5]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↩
  6. [6]Roman Anin, quoted in Vazha Tavberidze, “Interview: The ‘War Of Clans For Putin’s Throne Has Begun,’” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 24, 2023, https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-clans-war-russia-interview-succession-ukraine-war/32425962.html↩

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s fateful day likely draws near

benfell

Imperialism

Russia


Fig. 1. Historic Russian empire, from the New York Times, possibly March 6, 2014, fair use.[1]

[W]ith the raids into southern Russia this week, the spotlight has been turned on both the Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps, another group composed of Russians who now say they are fighting against [Vladimir] Putin.[2]

These are not all your favorite Russians. Some look for all the world like far right-wing extremists.[3]

That said, I have heard it said before that Russia itself is an empire, even before Soviet additions, even before czarist expansions (figure 1), let alone Putin’s imperialist aspirations.[4] If Yevgeny Prigozhin is literally right in warning of a revolution, not, as I very strongly suspect, actually very strongly projecting his own intentions onto a population grieving war losses,[5] then Russia might be in for years of tumult. We’ve been hearing from the right-wingers with the Ukraine war;[6] I would expect to hear as well from leftists who are, for now, and necessarily, laying very, very low. And I would expect to hear from more long-conquered subjects of Russia, the empire it already is.

The original name of Julia Ioffe’s newsletter to Puck News subscribers was “Tomorrow Will Be Worse.” This, of course, was specifically referring to Putin’s regime and, as many thought possible at the time, a soon-to-be-conquered Ukraine. And indeed, if Putin falls, and especially if I am wrong and Prigozhin succeeds him, a succeeding regime might indeed be considerably worse.

But remember who we aren’t hearing from. We know not what tricks may lie up their sleeves. It is conceivable that depending on how or if they strike, we might never know.

Sometimes, you just have to wait, patiently, for the players to lay down their cards. Then we see who was bullshitting bluffing farthest from the most dismal hand.

I think this is one of those occasions where we just have to wait, patiently. Or impatiently if you insist, but it won’t change a thing. The players will play.

Andrew Roth, “‘We are Russians just like you’: anti-Putin militias enter the spotlight,” Guardian, May 24, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/24/russian-anti-putin-militias-belgorod

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,[7] fair use.

I could very easily be completely full of shit here, and I’ll even apologize for that in advance, but the more I see of Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose name is the only one I’ve seen mentioned as a possible replacement for Vladimir Putin,[8] the more I sense he’s just too clumsy to replace Putin. Now, he’s warning of a “revolution if [Russia’s] leadership does not improve its handling of the war [against Ukraine],”[9] which sounds to me about as obvious a way of telegraphing coup intentions as there is.

And it is all also to say that all the murmuring about Prigozhin attempting a coup may not be in vain,[10] because yes, I think that’s what, given the opportunity, he will fail attempting. I just don’t think Prigozhin has the finesse and while I think it may be difficult for Putin,[11] the day draws near when he’ll have to do something about Prigozhin to prevent it even getting that far.

Of greater interest may be the follow-up on Russian (minority[12]) rebels striking inside Russia. Based on the Russian military response to that raid,[13] it appears that Putin still doesn’t have a fighting force.

Of course, that’s just what Prigozhin claims will do Putin in lead to revolution[14]—and as far as that goes, he might not be wrong, as long as he stops there, which is precisely what I don’t think he’ll do.

Julian Borger, “Wagner chief warns of revolution and says 20,000 fighters killed in Bakhmut,” Guardian, May 24, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/24/wagner-head-warns-of-revolution-after-claiming-20000-fighters-killed-in-bakhmut

  1. [1]New York Times, “Ukraine Crisis in Maps,” n.d., http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/02/27/world/europe/ukraine-divisions-crimea.html↩
  2. [2]Andrew Roth, “‘We are Russians just like you’: anti-Putin militias enter the spotlight,” Guardian, May 24, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/24/russian-anti-putin-militias-belgorod↩
  3. [3]Andrew Roth, “‘We are Russians just like you’: anti-Putin militias enter the spotlight,” Guardian, May 24, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/24/russian-anti-putin-militias-belgorod↩
  4. [4]Julian O’Shaughnessy, “I’m reconquering just like Peter the Great, insists Vladimir Putin,” Times, June 10, 2022, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/president-putin-creates-police-department-to-impose-martial-law-xqhlt79fn; Reuters, “Hailing Peter the Great, Putin draws parallel with mission to ‘return’ Russian lands,” June 9, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hailing-peter-great-putin-draws-parallel-with-mission-return-russian-lands-2022-06-09/; Ishaan Tharoor, “Putin makes his imperial pretensions clear,” Washington Post, June 13, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/13/putin-imperial-russia-empire-ukraine/↩
  5. [5]Julian Borger, “Wagner chief warns of revolution and says 20,000 fighters killed in Bakhmut,” Guardian, May 24, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/24/wagner-head-warns-of-revolution-after-claiming-20000-fighters-killed-in-bakhmut↩
  6. [6]Dan Ladden-Hall, “Prigozhin Says Jealous Kremlin Deliberately Stopped Wagner Taking Bakhmut,” March 16, 2023, https://www.thedailybeast.com/prigozhin-says-jealous-kremlin-deliberately-stopped-wagner-taking-bakhmut; Pjotr Sauer, “‘We have already lost’: far-right Russian bloggers slam Kremlin over army response,” Guardian, September 8, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/08/we-have-already-lost-far-right-russian-bloggers-slam-kremlin-over-army-response; Allan Woods, “Why Vladimir Putin isn’t shutting down the outspoken ‘thug’ running the Wagner Group,” Toronto Star, May 15, 2023, https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2023/05/15/why-vladimir-putin-isnt-shutting-down-the-outspoken-thug-running-the-wagner-group.html↩
  7. [7]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↩
  8. [8]Julia Ioffe, “‘Putin’s Chef’: The Man Behind Russia’s Shadow Army,” Puck, December 13, 2022, https://puck.news/putins-chef-the-man-behind-russias-shadow-army/; Maria Katamadze, “Can Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin challenge Putin?” Deutschewelle, February 19, 2023, https://www.dw.com/en/can-wagner-head-yevgeny-prigozhin-challenge-putin/a-64744266; Allan Woods, “Why Vladimir Putin isn’t shutting down the outspoken ‘thug’ running the Wagner Group,” Toronto Star, May 15, 2023, https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2023/05/15/why-vladimir-putin-isnt-shutting-down-the-outspoken-thug-running-the-wagner-group.html↩
  9. [9]Julian Borger, “Wagner chief warns of revolution and says 20,000 fighters killed in Bakhmut,” Guardian, May 24, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/24/wagner-head-warns-of-revolution-after-claiming-20000-fighters-killed-in-bakhmut↩
  10. [10]Julia Ioffe, “‘Putin’s Chef’: The Man Behind Russia’s Shadow Army,” Puck, December 13, 2022, https://puck.news/putins-chef-the-man-behind-russias-shadow-army/; Maria Katamadze, “Can Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin challenge Putin?” Deutschewelle, February 19, 2023, https://www.dw.com/en/can-wagner-head-yevgeny-prigozhin-challenge-putin/a-64744266; Allan Woods, “Why Vladimir Putin isn’t shutting down the outspoken ‘thug’ running the Wagner Group,” Toronto Star, May 15, 2023, https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2023/05/15/why-vladimir-putin-isnt-shutting-down-the-outspoken-thug-running-the-wagner-group.html↩
  11. [11]Allan Woods, “Why Vladimir Putin isn’t shutting down the outspoken ‘thug’ running the Wagner Group,” Toronto Star, May 15, 2023, https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2023/05/15/why-vladimir-putin-isnt-shutting-down-the-outspoken-thug-running-the-wagner-group.html↩
  12. [12]Theo Merz, “Ethnic minorities in Russia are campaigning for the breakup of the country,” World, May 22, 2023, https://theworld.org/stories/2023-05-22/ethnic-minorities-russia-are-campaigning-breakup-country; Tom Mutch, “Soldiers Make Secret Pact to ‘Destroy’ Putin’s Empire From Within,” Daily Beast, April 9, 2023, https://www.thedailybeast.com/chechen-fighters-make-war-pact-with-ukrainian-troops-to-fight-vladimir-putin; Andrew Roth, “‘We are Russians just like you’: anti-Putin militias enter the spotlight,” Guardian, May 24, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/24/russian-anti-putin-militias-belgorod↩
  13. [13]Julian Borger, “Wagner chief warns of revolution and says 20,000 fighters killed in Bakhmut,” Guardian, May 24, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/24/wagner-head-warns-of-revolution-after-claiming-20000-fighters-killed-in-bakhmut↩
  14. [14]Julian Borger, “Wagner chief warns of revolution and says 20,000 fighters killed in Bakhmut,” Guardian, May 24, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/24/wagner-head-warns-of-revolution-after-claiming-20000-fighters-killed-in-bakhmut↩

In Pittsburgh, the paramedics who come to rescue you might not get there

benfell

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh


Fig. 1. Along Mifflin Road in Pittsburgh’s Hays neighborhood. Photograph by author, December 1, 2020.

Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh’s public safety, public works vehicle fleets in ‘dire straits,’” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, May 23, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburghs-public-safety-public-works-vehicle-fleets-in-dire-straits/

Imperialism

Russia

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.

President [Joe] Biden should authorize the sharing of U.S. evidence and other support for the [International Criminal Court’s] important work.

Ukraine’s choice to involve the ICC is entirely appropriate. Every commander understands that providing accountability when the laws of war are broken—whether on your own side or an adversary’s—is ultimately a way of protecting your own people. Civilians are safer during hostilities, and servicemembers are safer when taken captive, if all the parties to a conflict understand that there will be legal consequences fairly imposed for violations. . . .

Little is actually being asked of the United States. The U.S. government does not have to join the ICC to assist it in Ukraine, although doing so would make U.S. calls for justice much more credible and powerful. Rather, it only has to accept the world as it is.[2]

Philip Breedlove, Wesley Clark, and Ben Hodges, “Why Isn’t the Pentagon Helping the International Court Prosecute Putin?” Defense One, May 23, 2023, https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2023/05/why-isnt-pentagon-helping-international-court-prosecute-putin/386681/

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.

Aruna Viswanatha, Sadie Gurman, and C. Ryan Barber, “Special Counsel Is Wrapping Up Trump Mar-a-Lago Probe,” Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/special-counsel-is-wrapping-up-trump-mar-a-lago-probe-99cd2517

Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey, and Adriana Usero, “The deepening radicalization of Donald J. Trump,” Washington Post, May 24, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/24/trump-language-policy-2024-race/

Right-wing militias

Police White supremacist gangs


Fig. 1. Photograph by Lorie Shaull, April 1, 2021, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Joyce Sohyun Lee, Sarah Cahlan, and Arelis R. Hernández, “A year after Uvalde, officers who botched response face few consequences,” Washington Post, May 24, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/24/uvalde-school-shooting-police-response/

  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]Philip Breedlove, Wesley Clark, and Ben Hodges, “Why Isn’t the Pentagon Helping the International Court Prosecute Putin?” Defense One, May 23, 2023, https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2023/05/why-isnt-pentagon-helping-international-court-prosecute-putin/386681/↩

The not faster turnpike

benfell

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.

So this[1] will be an attempt to make Pennsylvania Turnpike Route 43 useful. It goes from pretty much nowhere to pretty much nowhere. The extension will move one of the endpoints to another nowhere.

This after completion of the Southern Beltway (Pennsylvania Turnpike Route 576),[2] God knows how much concrete and how many millions or billions of dollars later, all to save—wait for it—zero time.

Yup, taking the Southern Beltway from Interstate 79 to the Pittsburgh Airport is unlikely to save you any time. It will cost you money—not a lot, but the locals will howl like you’re taking their last nickel—but it won’t save you time because the route bows out so far from a straight line that you might as well just stay on I-79 and take the Parkway (I-376) to the airport. The virtue of the Southern Beltway is like that of the Mon/Fayette Expressway: If you’re looking for some quiet, fast roadway, you’ll often find it on the turnpike.

The Mon/Fayette does, by contrast, save you time, mainly because the alternative roads are all two-lane surface roads that wander through the Appalachian Mountains. But because it doesn’t go anywhere from anywhere, it still remains very, very lightly used.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike system, however, seems to be an entity unto itself, effectively answerable only to itself. I’m not seeing that anyone tells it what to do or not do.

Patrick Varine, “Turnpike officials break ground on next phase of Mon/Fayette Expressway,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, May 22, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/south-hills/turnpike-officials-break-ground-on-next-phase-of-mon-fayette-expressway/

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 2. “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.

I am still not believing there will be federal charges against Donald Trump until there are actually federal charges.

Aruna Viswanatha, Sadie Gurman, and C. Ryan Barber, “Special Counsel Is Wrapping Up Trump Mar-a-Lago Probe,” Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/special-counsel-is-wrapping-up-trump-mar-a-lago-probe-99cd2517

Abortion


Fig. 3. 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.

You can’t expect and won’t see a happy ending in the story of Baby Milo, who was tortured by the state of Florida.[3]

Frances Stead Sellers, Thomas Simonetti, and Maggie Penman, “The short life of Baby Milo,” Washington Post, May 23, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2023/florida-abortion-law-deborah-dorbert/

Imperialism

Russia


Fig. 4. Historic Russian empire, from the New York Times, possibly March 6, 2014, fair use.[4]

Theo Merz, “Ethnic minorities in Russia are campaigning for the breakup of the country,” World, May 22, 2023, https://theworld.org/stories/2023-05-22/ethnic-minorities-russia-are-campaigning-breakup-country

  1. [1]Patrick Varine, “Turnpike officials break ground on next phase of Mon/Fayette Expressway,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, May 22, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/south-hills/turnpike-officials-break-ground-on-next-phase-of-mon-fayette-expressway/↩
  2. [2]Ed Blazina, “Moving on: Pennsylvania Turnpike finishes Southern Beltway, ready to begin Mon-Fayette Expressway,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 19, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2022/06/19/southern-beltway-mon-fayette-expressway-pennsylvania-turnpike/stories/202206160141↩
  3. [3]Frances Stead Sellers, Thomas Simonetti, and Maggie Penman, “The short life of Baby Milo,” Washington Post, May 23, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/interactive/2023/florida-abortion-law-deborah-dorbert/↩
  4. [4]New York Times, “Ukraine Crisis in Maps,” n.d., http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/02/27/world/europe/ukraine-divisions-crimea.html↩

Not a river in Egypt

benfell

Jeffrey Epstein


Fig. 1. “Donald Trump with his future wife Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in February 2000.” Photograph credited to Davidoff Studios Photography/Getty Images, February 2000,[1] fair use.

If you want to read a whole bunch of denials, this Wall Street Journal article is jam-packed with folks denying they knew of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes or participated in them. They uniformly condemn these crimes and express their regrets to his victims,[2] pretty much as if that’s what they’ve all been told what to say. Perhaps, in some cases, it’s the truth. But I’m wondering in how many cases it isn’t.

Khadeeja Safdar and Emily Glazer, “Jeffrey Epstein Appeared to Threaten Bill Gates Over Microsoft Co-Founder’s Affair With Russian Bridge Player,” Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/jeffrey-epstein-bill-gates-affair-russian-bridge-player-8b2022ff

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Century III Mall


Fig. 2. “The exterior of the closed Century III Mall taken from a drone . . . in West Mifflin.” Photograph by Benjamin B. Braun, May 11, 2023, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,[3] fair use.

Neena Hagen, “Officials set to discuss whether Century III Mall should be condemned,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 20, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2023/05/19/century-iii-mall-west-mifflin-condemn/stories/202305190077

Neena Hagen, “The fall of the Century: Once a retail shopping jewel, the West Mifflin mall has been left to rot,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 21, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2023/05/21/centuryiii-west-mifflin-mall-slag-heap-kaufmanns-sears-police-closed-crime/stories/202305210039

Imperialism

Russia

Ukraine


Fig. 3. “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.

Bakhmut has fallen. Ukrainians claim to have gotten the better of the long battle for a now-leveled city but their claim to still hold on to parts of the city—dubbed “insignificant” even by one of their own generals—does not help their credibility.[5]

Yaroslav Trofimov and Matthew Luxmoore, “Brutal Battle for Bakhmut Leaves Russia With an Uncertain Victory,” Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/brutal-battle-for-bakhmut-leaves-russia-with-an-uncertain-victory-29b56da7

  1. [1]Martin Pengelly, “‘She say anything about me?’ Trump raised Ghislaine Maxwell link with aides,” Guardian, October 4, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/04/trump-ghislaine-maxwell-epstein-maggie-haberman-book-confidence-man↩
  2. [2]Khadeeja Safdar and Emily Glazer, “Jeffrey Epstein Appeared to Threaten Bill Gates Over Microsoft Co-Founder’s Affair With Russian Bridge Player,” Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/jeffrey-epstein-bill-gates-affair-russian-bridge-player-8b2022ff↩
  3. [3]Neena Hagen, “The fall of the Century: Once a retail shopping jewel, the West Mifflin mall has been left to rot,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 21, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2023/05/21/centuryiii-west-mifflin-mall-slag-heap-kaufmanns-sears-police-closed-crime/stories/202305210039↩
  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]Yaroslav Trofimov and Matthew Luxmoore, “Brutal Battle for Bakhmut Leaves Russia With an Uncertain Victory,” Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/brutal-battle-for-bakhmut-leaves-russia-with-an-uncertain-victory-29b56da7↩

By all means, blame the pandemic for problems that long preceded it

benfell

Banking

Commercial real estate


Fig. 1. “The iconic Crescent stands as recognizable landmark in the upscale neighborhood of Uptown, Dallas.” Photograph by Dallasedits [pseud.], July 5, 2016, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

This Financial Times article is worth it for the pictures alone, imagining San Francisco reverted to nature. In my last edition, I expressed some concern in speaking of the South of Market Area (SOMA) that I hadn’t been there in a few years so didn’t know what it looked like today.[1] Tabby Kinder and George Hammond write mostly of the Tenderloin and pretty much confirm that that neighborhood is still hell.[2] The depiction of homeless camped behind the Westfield Mall with easy access to its elevators[3] pretty much tells me that SOMA hasn’t improved much.

The problems of these areas long predate the pandemic, so I suspect that part of London Breed’s problem is that she may be treating these problems as if they were something new.

Dialing back out, if San Francisco indeed collapses in the way those pictures imagine, it and the surrounding area can serve as a monument to high technology hubris and arrogance.

Kevin Truong, “Union Square: Empty Powell Street Gets $6M Plan to Lure Shops Back,” San Francisco Standard, May 16, 2023, https://sfstandard.com/business/vacancy-ridden-street-near-sfs-union-square-gets-6m-investment/

Biz Carson, “San Francisco Gets a $1 Billion Bet That Workers Will Return,” Bloomberg, May 17, 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-17/san-francisco-transamerica-pyramid-is-being-remade-in-bet-remote-work-will-fade

Tabby Kinder and George Hammond, “What if San Francisco never pulls out of its ‘doom loop’?” Financial Times, May 18, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/71d8013d-9d94-441e-b2d1-3039c04397d6

Lizzy McLellan Ravitch, “Hybrid work is here to stay. These Philly business leaders say ‘we should stop complaining,’” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 18, 2023, https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-hybrid-work-executives-women-business-20230518.html

Maryann Jones Thompson and Shelley D. Fargo, “Nearly Half of Storefronts in San Francisco’s Union Square Have Shuttered Since 2019,” San Francisco Standard, May 18, 2023, https://sfstandard.com/research-data/san-francisco-union-square-store-closures-pandemic-fallout/

Ximena Conde and John Duchneskie, “Most large U.S. cities reversed or slowed pandemic population drops. But not Philly,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 19, 2023, https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/philadelphia-population-census-data-us-cities-pandemic-20230519.html

Gilead

Abortion


Fig. 2. 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.

Sam Biddle, “U.S. Marshals Spied on Abortion Protesters Using Dataminr,” Intercept, May 15, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/05/15/abortion-surveillance-dataminr/

Brian Fung, “Fertility app fined $200,000 for leaking customer’s health data,” CNN, May 17, 2023, https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/17/tech/easy-healthcare-corporation-premom-app-privacy/

Ann E. Marimow, Caroline Kitchener, and Perry Stein, “Appeals court appears likely to restrict access to key abortion pill,” Washington Post, May 17, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/17/abortion-pill-appeal-court-arguments/

Donald Trump

Russia investigation


Fig. 3. Photograph by Presidential Press and Information Office (Russia, Kremlin.ru), June 28, 2019,, via Wikimedia Commons Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0

If you want a sense of how very, very different the white Christian nationalist universe is from our own, I’m not sure I can offer a better demonstration than a massive Christian Post report on reaction to the Durham report,[4] which was critical of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for investigating Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia.[5]

We should note that John Durham was appointed by Donald Trump attorney general Bill Barr, when Trump’s fealty requirement had already been well established, and was therefore not expected to produce a favorable report.[6] Even so, the white Christian nationalist reaction[7] to the report is completely over the top.

Ryan Foley, “‘Worse than Watergate,’ ‘Devastating to the FBI’: 5 reactions to the Durham report,” Christian Post, May 18, 2023, https://www.christianpost.com/news/five-reactions-to-the-durham-report-on-the-trump-russia-probe.html

Right-wing militias

Police White supremacist gangs


Fig. 4. Photograph by Lorie Shaull, April 1, 2021, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

So Los Angeles County had an election. And Los Angeles County elected itself a new sheriff. And it looks like the new Los Angeles County Sheriff is taking the “deputy gang” problem a little more seriously than did former Sheriff Alex Villanueva.[8] Which is a big oops if you’re a white supremacist gangster who’s been counting on Villanueva’s attitude to hold sway. But for the white supremacist gangster unions, it’s all just standard operating procedure to resist accountability in every way possible:

Before [Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert] Luna fired off his Thursday morning email ordering his deputies to comply, the unions representing rank-and-file deputies put out mass texts and Facebook posts telling their members to call the union before responding to the inspector general’s letter.

One union — the Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs — also sent a message to its members, advising anyone who received a letter from Huntsman’s office to respond only by sending an ALADS form letter to their supervisor, describing the OIG letter as a “threat” and asking for direction as to whether deputies should actually respond to it.[9]

And naturally, it remains to be seen if all this makes a bit of difference as the gangsters may continue to attempt to obstruct the investigation and Luna “has not yet formally accepted any of the 27 recommendations to eradicate deputy gangs that were proposed more than two months ago by the Civilian Oversight Commission.”[10]

Keri Blakinger, “Sheriff orders deputies to obey watchdog request to reveal gang tattoos,” Los Angeles Times, May 18, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-18/sheriff-orders-deputies-to-obey-watchdog-request-to-reveal-gang-tattoos

  1. [1]David Benfell, “Really important news,” Irregular Bullshit, May 17, 2023, https://disunitedstates.com/2023/05/17/really-important-news/↩
  2. [2]Tabby Kinder and George Hammond, “What if San Francisco never pulls out of its ‘doom loop’?” Financial Times, May 18, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/71d8013d-9d94-441e-b2d1-3039c04397d6↩
  3. [3]Garrett Leahy; Downtown San Francisco: Human Waste Increasingly Found in Westfield Mall Elevators, Staff Say,” San Francisco Standard, May 16, 2023, https://sfstandard.com/business/downtown-san-francisco-human-waste-increasingly-found-in-westfields-elevators-staff-say/↩
  4. [4]Ryan Foley, “‘Worse than Watergate,’ ‘Devastating to the FBI’: 5 reactions to the Durham report,” Christian Post, May 18, 2023, https://www.christianpost.com/news/five-reactions-to-the-durham-report-on-the-trump-russia-probe.html↩
  5. [5]Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, “Durham report sharply criticizes FBI’s 2016 Trump campaign probe,” Washington Post, May 15, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/15/durham-special-counsel-trump-report/↩
  6. [6]Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, “Durham report sharply criticizes FBI’s 2016 Trump campaign probe,” Washington Post, May 15, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/15/durham-special-counsel-trump-report/↩
  7. [7]Ryan Foley, “‘Worse than Watergate,’ ‘Devastating to the FBI’: 5 reactions to the Durham report,” Christian Post, May 18, 2023, https://www.christianpost.com/news/five-reactions-to-the-durham-report-on-the-trump-russia-probe.html↩
  8. [8]Keri Blakinger, “Sheriff orders deputies to obey watchdog request to reveal gang tattoos,” Los Angeles Times, May 18, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-18/sheriff-orders-deputies-to-obey-watchdog-request-to-reveal-gang-tattoos↩
  9. [9]Keri Blakinger, “Sheriff orders deputies to obey watchdog request to reveal gang tattoos,” Los Angeles Times, May 18, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-18/sheriff-orders-deputies-to-obey-watchdog-request-to-reveal-gang-tattoos↩
  10. [10]Keri Blakinger, “Sheriff orders deputies to obey watchdog request to reveal gang tattoos,” Los Angeles Times, May 18, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-18/sheriff-orders-deputies-to-obey-watchdog-request-to-reveal-gang-tattoos↩

Really important news

benfell

My groundhog neighbor had three babies in tow crossing the lawn this morning. Just so we all know what’s really important.

My landlord worries about his (actually his wife’s) tulips but honestly, I’ve never seen a groundhog anywhere near his tulips; I always see them rummaging in the grass or running to a bramble where I’m pretty sure their den is.

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.

The failure of the opposition in Turkey[1] should serve as a warning as well to the U.S. about the Republicans’ competitive authoritarian regime project.

Deutschewelle, “Turkey election: Erdogan, Kilicdaroglu head to a runoff,” May 15, 2023, https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-election-erdogan-kilicdaroglu-head-to-a-runoff/a-65619880

Ishaan Tharoor, “Erdogan scores win through culture wars and soft authoritarianism,” Washington Post, May 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/05/16/erdogan-turkey-culture-war-right-wing-authoritarianism/

Imperialism

Russia

Ukraine


Fig. 2. “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,[2] fair use.

A Washington Post report raises a possibility that the report—from leaked U.S. intelligence[3]—that Yevgeny Prigozhin offered Ukrainians Russian troop locations[4] is an attempt to smear Prigozhin.[5] Prigozhin hardly needs smearing, but the idea that such leaked intelligence, which so far seems to have been the real thing, would be a ‘hoax’ in just this one case seems a bit over the top.

Meanwhile, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas’ woes in persuading companies to decline deals circumventing sanctions on Russia will surely sound familiar to anyone who has read George Seldes’ account of U.S. corporations who couldn’t resist more deals with Nazi Germany.[6] The simple fact is that capitalists are in business to make money even if, as Vladimir Lenin is alleged to have suggested, it means selling their hangman a rope to hang them with.[7]

But those (including me) who wonder how Vladimir Putin can continue this war will find support for their doubts in a Washington Post op-ed:

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a longtime [Yevgeny] Prigozhin ally, has now appeared to break with the Wagner chief, harshly criticizing his threats to withdraw from the front. As a result, the three principal Russian forces in Bakhmut — the Wagner Group, Kadyrov’s Chechen militias and the regular army — are openly feuding with each other as Ukrainian troops advance.

Meanwhile, [Vladimir] Putin has conspicuously failed to explain to the public how his security forces failed to prevent two drones from reaching the Kremlin and neglected to thwart the car-bomb attack on a key Russian warmonger, Zakhar Prilepin.

Former Putin speechwriter Abbas Gallyamov told me the Kremlin is “shaking.”[8]

All this pales, really, before the spectacular failure of Russian forces in Ukraine,[9] but it can only add to the question of how much longer Putin can last.

Francesca Ebel and Mary Ilyushina, “Russia dismisses report that Wagner boss offered to reveal troop positions,” Washington Post, May 15, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/15/yevgeniy-prigozhin-russia-ukraine-wagner/

Shane Harris and Isabelle Khurshudyan, “Wagner chief offered to give Russian troop locations to Ukraine, leak says,” Washington Post, May 15, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/14/prigozhin-wagner-ukraine-leaked-documents/

Allan Woods, “Why Vladimir Putin isn’t shutting down the outspoken ‘thug’ running the Wagner Group,” Toronto Star, May 15, 2023, https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2023/05/15/why-vladimir-putin-isnt-shutting-down-the-outspoken-thug-running-the-wagner-group.html

Chris Cook, “Estonian PM pleads with companies to resist ‘ghost trade’ with Russia,” Financial Times, May 17, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/1a17dacf-9c8d-46fe-860d-36ae9b708987

Anna Nemtsova, “I’ve never seen the Kremlin so rattled,” Washington Post, May 17, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/17/rattled-kremlin-ukraine-psychological-warfare/

United States


Fig. 3. “American Progress,” painting by John Gast, 1872, digital version 2006, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Brown University researchers, in a report released Monday, draw on U.N. data and expert analyses to attempt to calculate the minimum number of excess deaths attributable to the war on terrorism, across conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Yemen — impacts “so vast and complex that” ultimately, “they are unquantifiable,” the researchers acknowledge.

The accounting, so far as it can be measured, puts the toll at 4.5 million to 4.6 million — a figure that continues to mount as the effects of conflict reverberate. Of those fatalities, the report estimates, some 3.6 million to 3.7 million were “‘indirect deaths” caused by the deterioration of economic, environmental, psychological and health conditions.[10]

Miriam Berger, “Post-9/11 wars have contributed to some 4.5 million deaths, report suggests,” Washington Post, May 15, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/15/war-on-terror-911-deaths-afghanistan-iraq/

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.

Ford Turner, “An aging Swissvale bridge raises a question: Should Pa. help pay to replace spans once owned by railroads?” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 16, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2023/05/16/swissvale-washington-avenue-bridge-pa-funding/stories/202305150083

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,[11] fair use.

We shall see what Elon Musk has to say when he’s panhandling on a median strip.

No, I don’t expect that will happen. That would require justice in a deeply unjust world.

Mike Calia, “Elon Musk: ‘I’ll say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it,’” CNBC, May 16, 2023, https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/16/elon-musk-defends-inflammatory-tweets-ill-say-what-i-want.html

Abortion


Fig. 5. 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.

Ann E. Marimow, Caroline Kitchener, and Perry Stein, “Appeals court appears likely to restrict access to key abortion pill,” Washington Post, May 17, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/17/abortion-pill-appeal-court-arguments/

Banking

Commercial real estate


Fig. 6. “The iconic Crescent stands as recognizable landmark in the upscale neighborhood of Uptown, Dallas.” Photograph by Dallasedits [pseud.], July 5, 2016, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

I mostly remember the blocks in San Francisco of Powell Street between Market and Geary Streets, that is apparently now mostly vacant,[12] for the Woolworth’s on Market that I think has been gone for a while (it appears vacant on Google Street View) and a bunch of shops offering goods (including electronics) that made no sense to buy at those shops and that aimed to rip off tourists (fools and their money) who wouldn’t know or perhaps even care even to go to a fucking department store where the prices are still exorbitant, just not so exorbitant as at these shops. I guess those stores didn’t survive the pandemic—good riddance.

A couple levels down at Woolworth’s you could find an entrance to the Powell Street Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station. On the other side was the Emporium, which closed long ago and also had a BART entrance; it was replaced by the Westfield Mall that now has a problem with homeless people shitting in its elevators and included a Nordstrom’s that has shut down.[13]

At the end of the day, we got to start somewhere. San Francisco is not in the doom loop that everyone says it is.[14]

I have to tell you that sinking six million bucks into that corridor[15] only makes a “doom loop”[16] seem more likely.

Yes, the cable cars that are actually useful start there. So, too, really, does the Tenderloin and South of Market Area (SOMA). SOMA is pretty diverse; historically, it had a lot of what they call single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels that offered homes to folks who couldn’t hack the regular rental market. It did attract some technology companies even during the dot-com boom; Twitter headquarters is on the southeast corner of 10th and Market Streets. It’s been a few years since I’ve been there, so I don’t know what it all looks like now, but I gather the Tenderloin, which had many more SRO hotels, is still very much a troubled neighborhood.[17] And the vacancy rate going out on Market Street (which separates SOMA from the Tenderloin) from Powell was probably the number one reason why San Francisco passed a tax on vacant storefronts.[18]

So between the tourist ripoff shops and the adjoining neighborhoods, I’m pretty sure this corridor is gonna be a waste of six million bucks.

Kevin Truong, “Union Square: Empty Powell Street Gets $6M Plan to Lure Shops Back,” San Francisco Standard, May 16, 2023, https://sfstandard.com/business/vacancy-ridden-street-near-sfs-union-square-gets-6m-investment/

Biz Carson, “San Francisco Gets a $1 Billion Bet That Workers Will Return,” Bloomberg, May 17, 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-17/san-francisco-transamerica-pyramid-is-being-remade-in-bet-remote-work-will-fade

Jeffrey Epstein


Fig. 7. “Donald Trump with his future wife Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in February 2000.” Photograph credited to Davidoff Studios Photography/Getty Images, February 2000,[19] fair use.

James Fanelli and Khadeeja Safdar, “Deutsche Bank to Pay $75 Million to Settle Jeffrey Epstein Accusers’ Suit,” Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/deutsche-bank-to-pay-75-million-to-settle-jeffrey-epstein-accusers-suit-962564d7

  1. [1]Deutschewelle, “Turkey election: Erdogan, Kilicdaroglu head to a runoff,” May 15, 2023, https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-election-erdogan-kilicdaroglu-head-to-a-runoff/a-65619880; Ishaan Tharoor, “Erdogan scores win through culture wars and soft authoritarianism,” Washington Post, May 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/05/16/erdogan-turkey-culture-war-right-wing-authoritarianism/↩
  2. [2]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↩
  3. [3]Francesca Ebel and Mary Ilyushina, “Russia dismisses report that Wagner boss offered to reveal troop positions,” Washington Post, May 15, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/15/yevgeniy-prigozhin-russia-ukraine-wagner/↩
  4. [4]Shane Harris and Isabelle Khurshudyan, “Wagner chief offered to give Russian troop locations to Ukraine, leak says,” Washington Post, May 15, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/14/prigozhin-wagner-ukraine-leaked-documents/↩
  5. [5]Francesca Ebel and Mary Ilyushina, “Russia dismisses report that Wagner boss offered to reveal troop positions,” Washington Post, May 15, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/15/yevgeniy-prigozhin-russia-ukraine-wagner/↩
  6. [6]George Seldes, 1000 Americans: The Real Rulers of the U.S.A. (New York: Boni and Gaer, 1948; Joshua Tree, CA: Progressive, 2009).↩
  7. [7]Quote Investigator, “The Capitalists Will Sell Us the Rope with Which We Will Hang Them,” February 22, 2018, https://quoteinvestigator.com/2018/02/22/rope/↩
  8. [8]Anna Nemtsova, “I’ve never seen the Kremlin so rattled,” Washington Post, May 17, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/05/17/rattled-kremlin-ukraine-psychological-warfare/↩
  9. [9]David Benfell, “If Vladimir Putin doesn’t make sense, he doesn’t make sense, and he cannot last,” Not Housebroken, May 15, 2023, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/10/10/if-vladimir-putin-doesnt-make-sense-he-doesnt-make-sense-and-he-cannot-last/↩
  10. [10]Miriam Berger, “Post-9/11 wars have contributed to some 4.5 million deaths, report suggests,” Washington Post, May 15, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/15/war-on-terror-911-deaths-afghanistan-iraq/↩
  11. [11]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/↩
  12. [12]Kevin Truong, “Union Square: Empty Powell Street Gets $6M Plan to Lure Shops Back,” San Francisco Standard, May 16, 2023, https://sfstandard.com/business/vacancy-ridden-street-near-sfs-union-square-gets-6m-investment/↩
  13. [13]Garrett Leahy; Downtown San Francisco: Human Waste Increasingly Found in Westfield Mall Elevators, Staff Say,” San Francisco Standard, May 16, 2023, https://sfstandard.com/business/downtown-san-francisco-human-waste-increasingly-found-in-westfields-elevators-staff-say/; Roland Li and J. D. Morris, “After Nordstrom store closures, what can San Francisco do to stop the retail exodus?” San Francisco Chronicle, May 3, 2023, https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/after-nordstrom-closures-s-f-stop-retail-exodus-18074794.php↩
  14. [14]London Breed quoted in Kevin Truong, “Union Square: Empty Powell Street Gets $6M Plan to Lure Shops Back,” San Francisco Standard, May 16, 2023, https://sfstandard.com/business/vacancy-ridden-street-near-sfs-union-square-gets-6m-investment/↩
  15. [15]Kevin Truong, “Union Square: Empty Powell Street Gets $6M Plan to Lure Shops Back,” San Francisco Standard, May 16, 2023, https://sfstandard.com/business/vacancy-ridden-street-near-sfs-union-square-gets-6m-investment/↩
  16. [16]Roland Li and Noah Arroyo, “Cities are struggling. San Francisco could be in for the biggest ‘doom loop’ of all,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 30, 2023, https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/city-economy-doom-loop-17846412.php; San Francisco Chronicle, “San Francisco could be on the verge of collapse. What should California do about it?” April 4, 2023, https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/downtown-san-francisco-17852552.php↩
  17. [17]Biz Carson, Karen Breslau, and John Gittelsohn, “Bank Turmoil Collides With Tech Slump in Battered San Francisco,” Bloomberg, April 2, 2023, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-02/san-francisco-s-feeling-the-pain-of-the-banking-crisis-big-tech-layoffs↩
  18. [18]Adam Brinklow, “SF election results: Vacant stores tax Proposition D leads,” Curbed San Francisco, March 4, 2020, https://sf.curbed.com/2020/3/4/21164603/election-results-prop-d-vacant-store-tax; Dominic Fracassa, “SF’s Prop. D vacant storefront tax wins; so does Prop. E, tying office space to housing,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 6, 2020, https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SF-s-vacant-storefront-tax-measure-Proposition-15112228.php↩
  19. [19]Martin Pengelly, “‘She say anything about me?’ Trump raised Ghislaine Maxwell link with aides,” Guardian, October 4, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/04/trump-ghislaine-maxwell-epstein-maggie-haberman-book-confidence-man↩