November 2023 – Irregular Bullshit

Fig. 1. “Henry Kissinger and Hillary Clinton receive the Germany Freedom Award in 2009.” Photograph by Gero Breloer for the Associated Press, 2009, via Mother Jones, fair use.

Thomas W. Lippman, “Henry Kissinger, who shaped world affairs under two presidents, dies at 100,” Washington Post, November 29, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/11/29/henry-kissinger-dead-obituary/

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,^[1] fair use.

It is “forbidden to respond to terror with terror,” [Pope] Francis said [to Israeli President Isaac Herzog], according to a senior Israeli official familiar with the call, which has not been previously reported. . . .

That private call would inform Israeli interpretations of Francis’s polemic statement, at his Nov. 22 general audience in St. Peter’s Square, that the conflict had “gone beyond war. This is terrorism.” Taken with the diplomatic exchange — deemed so “bad” by the Israelis that they did not make it public — the implication seemed clear: The pope was calling their campaign in Gaza an act of terrorism.^[2]

The pope may even have used the word “genocide.”^[3]

What’s more significant here is that the Israelis are getting the message that what they are doing in Gaza is completely unacceptable.^[4] Being the self-righteous assholes they are, I doubt they’ll take the hint anytime soon, but we can hope the message sinks in eventually.

Yana T. R. Golding, “Tracking lost pro-Palestinian posts,” Columbia Journalism Review, November 27, 2023, https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/excessive-moderation-meta-palestinian-7amleh-nashif.php

Summer Said and Dov Lieber, “Israel, Hamas Agree to Extend Truce by Two Days,” Wall Street Journal, November 27, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/talks-to-extend-israel-hamas-truce-go-down-to-the-wire-8f1cbba9

Ishaan Tharoor, “How Israel keeps hundreds of Palestinians in detention without charge,” Washington Post, November 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/27/israel-palestine-detention-adminstrative-prisoners-jail/

Washington Post to 5-Minute Fix list, “The 5-Minute Fix: What’s behind Biden’s steadfast support for Israel?” November 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/the-fix/

Henry Bodkin, “Inside the Israeli settlement being turned into a battleground by the hard-Right finance minister,” Telegraph, November 28, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/11/28/settlement-israels-finance-minister-has-made-a-battleground/

Julia Ioffe, “The Day After the War Ends,” Puck, November 28, 2023, https://puck.news/the-day-after-the-war-ends/

Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer, “Democrats’ Israel dilemma,” Washington Post, November 29, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/29/democrats-israel-dilemma/

Ishaan Tharoor, “Why Christmas is canceled in Bethlehem,” Washington Post, November 29, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/29/palestinian-christians-christmas-ceasefire-cancel/

Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Mohammad Salem, and Humeyra Pamuk, “Hamas hands over two female hostages, others expected after truce extended,” Reuters, November 30, 2023, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/talks-intensify-extend-israel-hamas-truce-after-more-hostages-prisoners-freed-2023-11-30/

Anthony Faiola, Stefano Pitrelli, and Louisa Loveluck, “In undisclosed call, Pope Francis warned Israel against committing ‘terror,’” Washington Post, November 30, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/30/pope-francis-israel-war-terrorism/

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Finances

Fig. 1. Trump International Hotel, Las Vegas, undated image credited to https://www.flickr.com/photos/glynlowe/ [bad link], via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Jennifer Peltz, “Appeals court reinstates gag order that barred Trump from maligning court staff in NY fraud trial,” Associated Press, November 30, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/trump-fraud-lawsuit-trial-gag-order-15304270ea3f61284a414f938155ae62

Pennsylvania

Traffic non-enforcement

Fig. 1. Obviously, nowhere near Pittsburgh: “A Pennsylvania state trooper checks motorists’ speed using a radar gun.” Unattributed photograph credited only to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.^[5]

Ben Wasserstein, “You might not like it, but Pennsylvania might expand use of speed cameras,” WESA, November 30, 2023, https://www.wesa.fm/development-transportation/2023-11-30/pennsylvania-expand-use-speed-cameras

^[1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
^[2]Anthony Faiola, Stefano Pitrelli, and Louisa Loveluck, “In undisclosed call, Pope Francis warned Israel against committing ‘terror,’” Washington Post, November 30, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/30/pope-francis-israel-war-terrorism/↩
^[3]Anthony Faiola, Stefano Pitrelli, and Louisa Loveluck, “In undisclosed call, Pope Francis warned Israel against committing ‘terror,’” Washington Post, November 30, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/30/pope-francis-israel-war-terrorism/↩
^[4]Anthony Faiola, Stefano Pitrelli, and Louisa Loveluck, “In undisclosed call, Pope Francis warned Israel against committing ‘terror,’” Washington Post, November 30, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/30/pope-francis-israel-war-terrorism/↩
^[5]Associated Press, “Senate OKs local police using radar for speed enforcement,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 23, 2021, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/senate-oks-local-police-using-radar-for-speed-enforcement/↩

Elon Musk all but admits that the social network formerly known as Twitter is going belly up

November 29, 2023benfell

Illiberalism

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,^[1] fair use.

It’s over and this^[2] is Elon Musk’s admission that it’s over.

Mike Murphy, “Elon Musk lashes out at advertisers who boycott X: ‘Go f— yourself,’” MarketWatch, November 29, 2023, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-lashes-out-at-advertisers-who-boycott-x-go-f-yourself-3664f8d8

^[1]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/↩
^[2]Mike Murphy, “Elon Musk lashes out at advertisers who boycott X: ‘Go f— yourself,’” MarketWatch, November 29, 2023, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-lashes-out-at-advertisers-who-boycott-x-go-f-yourself-3664f8d8 ↩

It’s time—past time—for a plan in the Middle East

November 29, 2023benfell

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,^[1] fair use.

Julia Ioffe and Ishaan Tharoor each take up the question of Binyamin Netanyahu’s end-plan for the Gaza Strip.^[2] The problem remains flatly that he doesn’t have one,^[3] and it is profoundly difficult to argue with Ioffe’s point that the war is only making matters worse.^[4]

Meanwhile, there is an enormous skepticism—perhaps I should say cynicism—about a two-state solution, which Israel has, over decades, made increasingly less tenable with its relentless settler-colonial push. I’ve said before that the two-state solution might not be feasible, but it’s still probably the least infeasible solution to the problem and Tharoor really doesn’t move beyond thinking the process needs to be revived.^[5]

Tharoor isn’t wrong. But Israel is captive to its hard-right settlers who, thumping their bibles, insist that their god promised them the entire land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea and promised it to them exclusively and therefore that they have the right to ethnically cleanse that land. Under such circumstances, it remains awfully hard to see how progress is possible.

Washington Post to 5-Minute Fix list, “The 5-Minute Fix: What’s behind Biden’s steadfast support for Israel?” November 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/the-fix/

Julia Ioffe, “The Day After the War Ends,” Puck, November 28, 2023, https://puck.news/the-day-after-the-war-ends/

Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer, “Democrats’ Israel dilemma,” Washington Post, November 29, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/29/democrats-israel-dilemma/

Ishaan Tharoor, “Why Christmas is canceled in Bethlehem,” Washington Post, November 29, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/29/palestinian-christians-christmas-ceasefire-cancel/

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.

Paula Reed Ward, “Fight over Fern Hollow Bridge collapse records continues in court,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 28, 2023, https://triblive.com/local/fight-over-fern-hollow-bridge-collapse-records-continues-in-court/

Neena Hagen, “Judge orders the release of key documents to victims of Fern Hollow Bridge collapse,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 29, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/11/28/fern-hollow-bridge-collapse-inspection-pittsburgh/stories/202311280116

Human Science

Inquiry

Quantitative

Artificial intelligence idiocy

Fig. 1. Image credited to David Blaikie from Hampshire, UK, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Joanna Stern, “Talking to Chatbots Is Now a $200K Job. So I Applied,” Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/talking-to-chatbots-is-now-a-200k-job-so-i-applied-258bd5f0

^[1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
^[2]Julia Ioffe, “The Day After the War Ends,” Puck, November 28, 2023, https://puck.news/the-day-after-the-war-ends/; Ishaan Tharoor, “Why Christmas is canceled in Bethlehem,” Washington Post, November 29, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/29/palestinian-christians-christmas-ceasefire-cancel/↩
^[3]Hussein Ibish, “Israel’s Dangerous Delusion,” Atlantic, November 1, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/11/israel-gaza-after-hamas/675856/↩
^[4]Julia Ioffe, “The Day After the War Ends,” Puck, November 28, 2023, https://puck.news/the-day-after-the-war-ends/↩
^[5]Ishaan Tharoor, “Why Christmas is canceled in Bethlehem,” Washington Post, November 29, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/29/palestinian-christians-christmas-ceasefire-cancel/↩

We knew Donald Trump couldn’t tell the difference between a trial and a campaign rally. Turns out his lawyers don’t know it either

November 28, 2023benfell

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Finances

Fig. 1. Trump International Hotel, Las Vegas, undated image credited to https://www.flickr.com/photos/glynlowe/ [bad link], via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

This just ain’t going well for Donald Trump. Which shouldn’t be a surprise.

David Badash, “’Every time you talk it’s a campaign speech’: Judge blasts Trump’s lawyer,” Alternet, November 27, 2023, https://www.alternet.org/campaign-speech-judge-blasts-lawyer/

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,^[1] fair use.

A few weeks ago, the Washington Post reported on a surge in settler violence in the West Bank.^[2] Today, the Telegraph has an example of helicopter journalism—in which, historically, and all too often, a star journalist “helicopters” in and takes the credit for a local stringer’s work—from the scene near Bazelel Smotrich’s house on illegally occupied land.^[3] It’s a good piece of reporting, even if I’m suspicious that Henry Bodkin didn’t do most of the work.

Washington Post to 5-Minute Fix list, “The 5-Minute Fix: What’s behind Biden’s steadfast support for Israel?” November 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/the-fix/

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Annexations

Fig. 1. Photograph by author, November 25, 2020.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Struggling river towns will have to merge. Here’s how it will happen,” November 28, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2023/11/28/mon-valley-turtle-creek-yough-rivers-city-mergers/stories/202311280026

Housekeeping

I am changing Mastodon instances. I am now at @benfell@infosec.exchange.

^[1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
^[2]Louisa Loveluck, “Settler violence is erasing Palestinian communities in the West Bank,” Washington Post, November 9, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/09/west-bank-israel-settlers-violence/↩
^[3]Henry Bodkin, “Inside the Israeli settlement being turned into a battleground by the hard-Right finance minister,” Telegraph, November 28, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/11/28/settlement-israels-finance-minister-has-made-a-battleground/↩

Good cop, bad cop with Binyamin Netanyahu

November 27, 2023November 27, 2023benfell

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,^[1] fair use.

Y’all know I’m no fan either of Joe Biden or Israel.

But I think I may have to give Biden some credit for his handling of Israel in the present crisis. Given Binyamin Netanyahu’s hardline response to the Hamas attack,^[2] any ceasefire, however temporary, and which the Biden administration was heavily involved in negotiating^[3] is an accomplishment in itself. It’s possible to understand Biden as, in fact, having been very canny in how he has handled this situation, in which he is under fire from all sides.^[4]

In my not entirely baseless speculation, however, I suspect that Biden has actually used Palestine’s advocates even within his own party as a “bad cop,” saying to Netanyahu that Netanyahu has to give him something lest Democratic Party support for Israel collapse. There’s surely more to it than this: Netanyahu is likely banking on Donald Trump winning in 2024, which is foolish of course, but he is also clearly feeling pressure as well at home, with many Israelis calling even for his immediate resignation.^[5] Netanyahu needed at least for some hostages to go home to win some breathing space while he plots a path to save his own political ass. It’s also apparent that Netanyahu did not have an end-plan for Gaza;^[6] an extension gives him a bit more time to come up with one,^[7] assuming that’s even possible.

It wouldn’t be a new tactic. Part of the reason for the success of some nonviolent activist “good cops” like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., was—here’s the part you hear a whole lot less about—the presence of “bad cops” like the centuries-long violent resistance to British rule in India and Malcolm X.^[8] The idea is that you bolster the “good cop” so the “bad cop” has less reason to follow through on their threats.

If I’m right, handling this negotiation would have required a deft touch. The Biden administration had that touch and, to be honest, I’m not sure how many presidents you’d have to go back to find another one who could have managed it.

Washington Post to 5-Minute Fix list, “The 5-Minute Fix: What’s behind Biden’s steadfast support for Israel?” November 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/the-fix/

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.

Ishaan Tharoor, “Europe’s far right goes mainstream,” Washington Post, November 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/27/europe-far-right-geert-wilders-dutch-election-mainstream/

^[1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
^[2]Jason Burke, “Netanyahu sets out uncompromising postwar vision as Israel pounds Gaza,” Guardian, November 12, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/12/main-gaza-hospital-totally-surrounded-director-says-as-netanyahu-rejects-ceasefire-calls ↩
^[3]ashington Post to 5-Minute Fix list, “The 5-Minute Fix: What’s behind Biden’s steadfast support for Israel?” November 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/the-fix/↩
^[4]ashington Post to 5-Minute Fix list, “The 5-Minute Fix: What’s behind Biden’s steadfast support for Israel?” November 27, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/the-fix/↩
^[5]Simon Tisdall, “The pressure on Netanyahu is starting to tell – this potential truce shows something has changed,” Guardian, November 21, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/21/pressure-benjamin-netanyahu-potential-truce-gaza-hostages ↩
^[6]Hussein Ibish, “Israel’s Dangerous Delusion,” Atlantic, November 1, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/11/israel-gaza-after-hamas/675856/↩
^[7]Summer Said and Dov Lieber, “Israel, Hamas Agree to Extend Truce by Two Days,” Wall Street Journal, November 27, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/talks-to-extend-israel-hamas-truce-go-down-to-the-wire-8f1cbba9 ↩
^[8]Benjamin Ginsberg, “Why Violence Works,” Chronicle of Higher Education, August 12, 2013, http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Violence-Works/140951/↩

My one and only comment on the OpenAI debacle

November 24, 2023benfell

Human Science

Inquiry

Quantitative

Artificial intelligence idiocy

Fig. 1. Image credited to David Blaikie from Hampshire, UK, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Archie Bland has written a very smart newsletter on the whole OpenAI debacle. I couldn’t care much less about Sam Altman or the company; I was watching mainly because so many other people were. But Bland offers a summation of what little is known about what happened and why—there’s a tension between safety and innovation that Altman’s structure was meant to address and failed—and about the “great man” syndrome that Silicon Valley is exceptionally prone to.^[1] Very little of this is unique to artificial idiocy: A lot is about ego and arrogance.

Archie Bland, “Thursday briefing: What the meltdown at OpenAI means for the future of artificial intelligence,” Guardian, November 23, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/23/first-edition-openai-sam-altman

^[1]Archie Bland, “Thursday briefing: What the meltdown at OpenAI means for the future of artificial intelligence,” Guardian, November 23, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/23/first-edition-openai-sam-altman ↩

Binyamin Netanyahu climbs down, accepts ‘pause’ in war with Hamas

November 22, 2023November 22, 2023benfell

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,^[1] fair use.

Ben Sales and Philissa Cramer, “It’s official: Israel approves deal with Hamas to free at least 50 hostages in exchange for pause in fighting,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 21, 2023, https://www.jta.org/2023/11/21/israel/its-official-israel-approves-deal-with-hamas-to-free-at-least-50-hostages-in-exchange-for-pause-in-fighting

Simon Tisdall, “The pressure on Netanyahu is starting to tell – this potential truce shows something has changed,” Guardian, November 21, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/21/pressure-benjamin-netanyahu-potential-truce-gaza-hostages

Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel has utterly devastated Gaza,” Washington Post, November 22, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/22/gaza-destruction-destroy-israel-strikes-reconstruction/

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.

Elaine Schaart, Peter Haeck, and Jakob Hanke Vela, “Far-right leader Geert Wilders wins Dutch election: Exit poll,” Politico, November 22, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/far-right-leader-geert-wilders-wins-dutch-election-exit-poll/

Gilead

Donald Trump

Fig. 1. Donald Trump, depicted in an orange jumpsuit, reportedly by the Drudge, via Mediaite,^[2] fair use. Apparently, no mugshot was taken when he was actually arrested over hush money paid to Stormy Daniels.^[3]

Peter Wehner, “Have You Listened Lately to What Trump Is Saying?” Atlantic, November 22, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/trump-becoming-frighteningly-clear-about-what-he-wants/676086/

Coup attempt

Fig. 1. Donald Trump booking photograph by Fulton County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, August 24, 2023, via New York, August 25, 2023,^[4] public domain.

Nicholas Riccardi, “Colorado Supreme Court will hear appeal of ruling that Trump can stay on ballot despite insurrection,” Denver Post, November 21, 2023, https://www.denverpost.com/2023/11/21/both-sides-appeal-ruling-that-trump-can-stay-on-colorado-ballot-despite-insurrection-finding/

^[1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
^[2]Alex Griffing, “Drudge Puts Trump in an Orange Jumpsuit as Site Monitors His Potential Indictment,” Mediaite, August 29, 2022, https://www.mediaite.com/news/drudge-puts-trump-in-an-orange-jumpsuit-as-site-monitors-his-potential-indictment/↩
^[3]Sarah D. Wire and Alexandra E. Petri, “Trump charged with 34 felony counts in alleged hush money cover-up case,” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-04-04/donald-trump-alleged-hush-money-investigation-indictment-arraignment ↩
^[4]Margaret Hartmann and Nia Prater, “All the Mug Shots of Donald Trump and His Alleged Co-Conspirators,” New York, August 25, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-mug-shot-gallery.html ↩

Israel’s hospital claims a nothing-burger, at least so far

November 20, 2023benfell

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,^[1] fair use.

Israel has been desperate to show that Gaza’s largest hospital was a Hamas command center and thereby to justify its war crimes. Whatever Israel might claim about a blast door it has not dared penetrate, it still doesn’t have the evidence to back its claims.^[2]

Steve Hendrix, “A midnight trip into northern Gaza reveals a shattered warscape,” Washington Post, November 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/19/israel-gaza-war-shifa-hospital/

^[1]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
^[2]Steve Hendrix, “A midnight trip into northern Gaza reveals a shattered warscape,” Washington Post, November 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/19/israel-gaza-war-shifa-hospital/↩

Argentina does the tango with a Donald Trump acolyte

November 19, 2023benfell

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.

Argentinians were fed up with the economy. But don’t expect much of a honeymoon for this guy.^[1] But for the moment at least, if you encounter a Donald Trump supporter, you can tell them to move to Argentina rather than Russia.

Samantha Schmidt and David Feliba, “Trump-like libertarian Javier Milei wins Argentina’s presidency,” Washington Post, November 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/19/argentina-presidential-election-results-javier-milei/

Gilead

Donald Trump

Tom Nichols has decided Donald Trump is a fascist. But not his followers.^[4]

Tom Nichols, “Trump Crosses a Crucial Line,” Atlantic, November 16, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/11/trump-crosses-a-crucial-line/676031/

In case anyone is wondering, I am now reasonably satisfied that my iPhone 15 move is working out. I am seeing far fewer global positioning system (GPS) glitches, I more reliably have mobile data (this is likely in part due to my addition of Boost Infinite), and yes, the battery is better behaved. I’ll never know if these modest improvements will actually pay off, but I can hope.

^[1]Samantha Schmidt and David Feliba, “Trump-like libertarian Javier Milei wins Argentina’s presidency,” Washington Post, November 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/19/argentina-presidential-election-results-javier-milei/↩
^[2]Alex Griffing, “Drudge Puts Trump in an Orange Jumpsuit as Site Monitors His Potential Indictment,” Mediaite, August 29, 2022, https://www.mediaite.com/news/drudge-puts-trump-in-an-orange-jumpsuit-as-site-monitors-his-potential-indictment/↩
^[3]Sarah D. Wire and Alexandra E. Petri, “Trump charged with 34 felony counts in alleged hush money cover-up case,” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-04-04/donald-trump-alleged-hush-money-investigation-indictment-arraignment ↩
^[4]Tom Nichols, “Trump Crosses a Crucial Line,” Atlantic, November 16, 2023, https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/11/trump-crosses-a-crucial-line/676031/↩

Trisha Thadani, Eli Tan, and Taylor Telford, “Disney, Comcast, Lionsgate pull ads from X over antisemitic posts,” Washington Post, November 17, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/11/17/apple-disney-x-musk-antisemitic/

Harry Taylor, “Elon Musk to file ‘thermonuclear lawsuit’ as advertisers desert X,” Guardian, November 18, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/18/elon-musk-to-file-thermonuclear-lawsuit-as-advertisers-desert-x

^[1]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/↩