Imperialism
Russia
Ukraine
Wagner mutiny
Fig. 1. Yevgeny Prigozhin. Screen capture from video by УлПравда ТВ, June 13, 2023, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
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Yevgeny Prigozhin, it seems, is dead. This afternoon [August 23, 2023], his Embraer jet, with ten passengers on board, fell vertically from the sky after witnesses reported hearing two explosions. With uncharacteristic swiftness for the Russian state bureaucracy, the Kremlin’s aviation agency announced that Prigozhin was listed on the flight manifest within the hour. Three hours later, as responders sorted through the burning, body-strewn debris just north of Moscow, Telegram channels associated with Prigozhin’s private military company confirmed his death. Exactly two months after the Wagner leader announced his “March of Fairness” on Moscow, in what was broadly interpreted as an attempted coup, Prigozhin finally met his end.[1]
Lots of folks have commenced telling us they told us so. But now the question is whether Yevgeny Prigozhin is really dead, if he hasn’t somehow outsmarted Vladimir Putin’s henchmen. Putin had a broad smile on his face,[2] so I’m guessing he knows Prigozhin is really dead. But it’s just a guess.
Gabriel Gavin, “Wagner boss Prigozhin killed in jet crash in Russia,” Politico, August 23, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/jet-believed-to-be-carrying-wagner-boss-prigozhin-crashes-in-russia/
Julia Ioffe, “Prigozhin’s Treason & the Price of Betrayal,” Puck, August 23, 2023, https://puck.news/prigozhins-treason-the-price-of-betrayal/
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,[3] fair use.
Yesterday, while I was stomping on spotted lanternflies outside Cinnaholic, there were a lot of white supremacist gangster cars heading inbound code 3 (lights and siren) on Penn Avenue and on adjacent streets. Of course I had no idea what was going on. But there were a lot of them, both marked and unmarked, even a motorcycle gangster, over a protracted period—I’m guessing it was over at least a half hour.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood was terrified as thousands of shots were exchanged in an encounter that began as an eviction. It’s likely white supremcist gangsters finished off the man who was occupying a family home that had been sold but they aren’t saying how he died.[4]
The dead man, William Hardison, Jr., is hardly a sympathetic character. Based on statements attributed to him, it appears he was an adherent of the individual soverignty movement. He seems to have had a number of brushes with the law, including a previous eviction.[5]
Justin Vellucci, Ryan Deto, and Paula Reed Ward, “Garfield gunman dead after 6-hour standoff,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, August 23, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/authorities-respond-to-extremely-active-shooting-scene-in-pittsburghs-garfield/
Illiberalism
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.
[Yuscil] Taveras was assigned a new public defender in July, replacing his [Donald] Trump-appointed lawyer, and “immediately after receiving new counsel, Trump Employee 4 retracted his prior false testimony and provided information that implicated [Walt] Nauta, [Carlos] De Oliveira, and Trump in efforts to delete security camera footage,” the filing said, referring to Trump and his two co-defendants.[6]
Tori Otten, “Let the Flipping Begin: Key Witness in Classified Docs Case Turns Against Trump,” New Republic, August 23, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/175137/witness-flip-trump-classified-documents-case-trouble
Margaret Hartmann and Nia Prater, “All the Mug Shots of Donald Trump and His Alleged Co-Conspirators,” New York, August 24, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-mug-shot-gallery.html
- [1]Julia Ioffe, “Prigozhin’s Treason & the Price of Betrayal,” Puck, August 23, 2023, https://puck.news/prigozhins-treason-the-price-of-betrayal/↩
- [2]Gabriel Gavin, “Wagner boss Prigozhin killed in jet crash in Russia,” Politico, August 23, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/jet-believed-to-be-carrying-wagner-boss-prigozhin-crashes-in-russia/↩
- [3]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↩
- [4]Justin Vellucci, Ryan Deto, and Paula Reed Ward, “Garfield gunman dead after 6-hour standoff,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, August 23, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/authorities-respond-to-extremely-active-shooting-scene-in-pittsburghs-garfield/↩
- [5]Justin Vellucci, Ryan Deto, and Paula Reed Ward, “Garfield gunman dead after 6-hour standoff,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, August 23, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/authorities-respond-to-extremely-active-shooting-scene-in-pittsburghs-garfield/↩
- [6]Tori Otten, “Let the Flipping Begin: Key Witness in Classified Docs Case Turns Against Trump,” New Republic, August 23, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/post/175137/witness-flip-trump-classified-documents-case-trouble↩