I am not caught up.
Democratic (neoliberal) Party
Joe Biden
Strictly speaking, it’s still possible that Tara Reade was telling the truth when she accused Joe Biden of sexual assault.[1] But she has defected to Russia, now supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and her concerns about safety[2] seem poorly formed, vague, and possibly paranoid.
The way claimed threats to safety become credible is through specificity. Reade’s story needs to be about who specifically threatened her, specifically how, and specifically what they wanted of her. It should be about who she reported these threats to and what they did (or didn’t do) about them. Reade’s story, at least as reported in the Guardian, isn’t anything like that.[3] Instead, it looks to me like a play for publicity.
And if she is not telling the truth about her reasons for ‘defecting’ to Russia, then I have reason to doubt her story about Biden.
I’m still thinking about the implications for the #MeToo movement. Reade is a single case, but the assumption that underlies “Believe Her” is that women would never lie about sexual misbehavior. That assumption always sounded naïve; with Reade, we now have specific reason for doubt.
As well, evidence has only accumulated over time suggesting that powerful men often express their power through various sexual misbehaviors. Which is what #MeToo is really about. The cause is undiminished.
And when there are so many opportunities for such behavior behind closed doors, without witnesses, a great many of these cases will continue to reduce to “he said, she said,” enabling misbehaving men, denying victimized women justice. This isn’t an adequate answer.
Martin Pengelly, “Tara Reade, who accused Joe Biden of sexual assault, defects to Russia,” Guardian, May 30, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/30/tara-reade-defects-russia-biden
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,[4] fair use.
Julia Ioffe, “Yalta 2023: Planning for Life After the Russian Invasion,” Puck, May 30, 2023, https://puck.news/yalta-2023-planning-for-life-after-the-russian-invasion/
Richard Milne, Adam Samson, and Felicia Schwartz, “West steps up pressure on Turkey to admit Sweden into Nato,” Financial Times, May 30, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/2954fa63-4590-4570-96e6-962c85957904
Bojan Pancevski, Laurence Norman, and James Marson, “Ukraine and Allies Plan Peace Summit Without Russia,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-and-allies-plan-peace-summit-without-russia-72341551
Max Seddon and Christopher Miller, “Vladimir Putin vows retaliation for drone attack on Moscow,” Financial Times, May 30, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/cdde0e44-0e90-41c0-a3be-e5f6849b706b
Patrick Tucker, “Estonia Will Ask For a Clearer Path for Ukraine to Join NATO,” Defense One, May 30, 2023, https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2023/05/estonia-will-ask-clearer-path-ukraine-join-nato/386879/
Nataliya Vasilyeva, “James Cleverly backs Ukraine’s right to attack Russia after Moscow’s ‘Beverly Hills’ hit by drones,” Telegraph, May 30, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/05/30/moscow-uav-drones-ukraine-kremlin-putin-civilain-attack/
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.
[Andrzej] Duda and the Law and Justice (PiS) party government say [a controversial bill creating a commission to investigate Russian influence on Polish politics that could ban people from public office for a decade is] an effort to root out the Kremlin’s agents in Poland, but the opposition warns the commission is aimed at harassing political rivals — especially Donald Tusk, a former prime minister and European Council president who heads the opposition Civic Platform party — ahead of this fall’s pivotal parliamentary election.[5]
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/
Wojciech Kość, “Political uproar in Poland after Duda pledges to sign Kremlin commission law,” Politico, May 29, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/politics-election-poland-andrzej-duda-russia-law-donald-tusk-pis-civic-platform/
Matthew Miller, “Concerns Over Potential use of New Polish Legislation to Target Opposition,” U.S. Department of State, May 29, 2023, https://www.state.gov/concerns-over-potential-use-of-new-polish-legislation-to-target-opposition/
Kareem Fahim, “Erdogan continues divisive rhetoric following victory,” Washington Post, May 30, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/29/erdogan-post-election-harsh-rhetoric/
Ishaan Tharoor, “Erdogan becomes an era-defining electoral autocrat,” Washington Post, May 30, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/30/erdogan-autocrat-electoral-power/
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.
While office towers sit empty and nearby businesses struggle to pay their bills, residential neighborhoods in America’s biggest cities are bustling again.
The pandemic and remote work have done little to dent the overall appeal of cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, foot-traffic and rent data show. Instead, the pandemic has shifted the urban center of gravity, moving away from often sterile office districts to neighborhoods with apartments, bars and restaurants.
“We’re now back to what cities really are—they’re not containers for working,” said Richard Florida, a specialist in city planning at the University of Toronto. “They’re places for people to live and connect with others.”[6]
Konrad Putzier and Kate King, “American Cities Are Starting to Thrive Again. Just Not Near Office Buildings,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/american-cities-are-starting-to-thrive-again-just-not-near-office-buildings-d839798f
Human Science
Inquiry
Quantitative
Artificial idiocy
Alyssa Lukpat, “AI Poses ‘Risk of Extinction’ on Par With Pandemics and Nuclear War, Tech Executives Warn,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-threat-is-on-par-with-pandemics-nuclear-war-tech-executives-warn-39105eeb
- [1]Alanna Vagianos, “Joe Biden Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Senate Aide In 1993,” HuffPost, March 29, 2020, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-biden-sexual-assault-tara-reade_n_5e7e69c8c5b6256a7a2a88f2↩
- [2]Martin Pengelly, “Tara Reade, who accused Joe Biden of sexual assault, defects to Russia,” Guardian, May 30, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/30/tara-reade-defects-russia-biden↩
- [3]Martin Pengelly, “Tara Reade, who accused Joe Biden of sexual assault, defects to Russia,” Guardian, May 30, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/30/tara-reade-defects-russia-biden↩
- [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]Wojciech Kość, “Political uproar in Poland after Duda pledges to sign Kremlin commission law,” Politico, May 29, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/politics-election-poland-andrzej-duda-russia-law-donald-tusk-pis-civic-platform/↩
- [6]Konrad Putzier and Kate King, “American Cities Are Starting to Thrive Again. Just Not Near Office Buildings,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/american-cities-are-starting-to-thrive-again-just-not-near-office-buildings-d839798f↩