Neoliberalism
Work
Fig. 1. The spectre of Death, in the form of a large skeleton, rises with the smoke and flames of the burning Asch Building during the Triangle fire, as people jump and fall to their death. Artist unknown, from International Ladies Garment Workers Union Photographs (1885-1985) at The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Gillian McGoldrick, “Pa. House votes to raise state minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 2023, https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-house-passes-bill-raising-minimum-wage-20230620.html
Ryan Deto, “Allegheny County Council overrides Fitzgerald veto, enacts county-worker minimum wage,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 20, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/allegheny-county-council-overrides-fitzgerald-veto-enacts-county-worker-minimum-wage/
Imperialism
China
Cuba
I guess that if we see the world as bipolar, with China and the United States; or tripolar, adding Russia, it would make sense to expect some serious investments by each of these countries in spying in each of the others. And when Donald Trump was president and I first started hearing suspicions about Huawei, I was inclined to dismiss them as sinophobic; certainly Trump and his followers manifest no small number of such phobias.
But now we’re seeing the price of Trump’s hardline policy toward Cuba, with the latter turning to China, which of course has an interest in Cuba’s spectacular—I’m sure—geography. Huawei and ZTE showing up on these spy sites,[1] though, has me wondering if maybe the worst doomsayers, that the companies will not and likely cannot protect their customers’ privacy, including confidential communications, from the Chinese government, were right.
Kate O’Keeffe, “U.S. Tracked Huawei, ZTE Workers at Suspected Chinese Spy Sites in Cuba,” Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-tracked-huawei-zte-workers-at-suspected-chinese-spy-sites-in-cuba-355caddc
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.
Tom Nichols, “Trump Seems to Be Afraid, Very Afraid,” Atlantic, June 21, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/donald-trump-fox-bret-baier-interview-fear/674467/
- [1]Kate O’Keeffe, “U.S. Tracked Huawei, ZTE Workers at Suspected Chinese Spy Sites in Cuba,” Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-tracked-huawei-zte-workers-at-suspected-chinese-spy-sites-in-cuba-355caddc↩