December 2023 – Page 2 – Irregular Bullshit

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

Donald Trump will, of course, appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court,^[2] but that court has not been receptive to Trump’s election fraud nonsense in the past. Meanwhile, we can hope that other state courts will find a backbone.

Patrick Marley, “Donald Trump is barred from Colorado’s 2024 primary ballot, the state Supreme Court rules,” Washington Post, December 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/19/trump-off-colorado-ballot/

^[1]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 ↩
^[2]Patrick Marley, “Donald Trump is barred from Colorado’s 2024 primary ballot, the state Supreme Court rules,” Washington Post, December 19, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/19/trump-off-colorado-ballot/↩

Saving Prime Minister Netanyahu

December 18, 2023December 18, 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.

The entire conduct of the war [on Hamas] is dictated by the politics of preserving this specific [Israeli government] coalition, this specific composition of parties.^[2]

Edward Luce, “Biden’s mounting self-harm on Israel,” Financial Times, December 15, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/cfb4660f-de36-4453-9b44-531996c6ec9e

Anat Peled, “Israeli Military Says It Accidentally Killed Three Israeli Hostages in Gaza,” Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-says-it-accidentally-killed-three-israeli-hostages-in-gaza-2acebecc

Times of Israel, “White House ups pressure on Israel to end ‘high-intensity’ fighting in Gaza soon,” December 15, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/white-house-ups-pressure-on-israel-to-end-high-intensity-fighting-in-gaza-soon/

Patrick Wintour, “Biden in a bind as Netanhayu ready to flout any US attempt to rein in Israel,” Guardian, December 15, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/15/biden-in-a-bind-as-netanhayu-ready-to-flout-any-us-attempt-to-rein-in-israel

Karen DeYoung, “Biden’s support of Israel could come at a cost to U.S. foreign policy,” Washington Post, December 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/12/16/biden-netanyahu-israel-support-gaza/

John Hudson, “Killing of USAID contractor in Gaza fuels internal protest,” Washington Post, December 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/12/16/usaid-contractor-hani-jnena-killed-gaza/

David Ignatius, “In the West Bank, I saw how peace will require confrontation with Israel,” Washington Post, December 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/16/west-bank-settlers-violence-peace/

Summer Said and David S. Cloud, “Israel Says Its Soldiers Killed Israeli Hostages as They Held Up White Flag,” Wall Street Journal, December 16, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-and-qatar-explore-revival-of-deal-for-gaza-hostages-ff7af151

Shayndi Raice and Carrie Keller-Lynn, “Hostage Deaths at Hands of Israeli Soldiers Raise Questions About War Strategy,” Wall Street Journal, December 17, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israeli-militarys-hostage-killing-raises-questions-about-war-strategy-8dda768d

Andrew Silow-Carroll, “Among Jewish Americans, a ‘quiet middle’ has growing qualms over the war in Gaza,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 17, 2023, https://www.jta.org/2023/12/17/ideas/among-jewish-americans-a-quiet-middle-has-growing-qualms-over-the-war-in-gaza

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

Fig. 2. Donald Trump booking photograph by Fulton County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, August 24, 2023, via New York, August 25, 2023,^[3] public domain.

Nick Coltrain, “Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis faces Colorado disbarment complaint following guilty plea,” Denver Post, December 15, 2023, https://www.denverpost.com/2023/12/15/jenna-ellis-disbarment-colorado-donald-trump-election-lies/

Cristian Farias, “Jack Smith May Have a Secret Weapon Against Donald Trump at the Supreme Court,” Vanity Fair, December 15, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/jack-smith-donald-trump-supreme-court

Andrew Rice, “Why Rudy Giuliani Lost So Big,” New York, December 15, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/12/shaye-moss-ruby-freeman-beat-giuliani-in-defamation-trial.html

Jan Wolfe and C. Ryan Barber, “Rudy Giuliani Hit With $148 Million Verdict for Defaming Election Workers,” Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/us-news/rudy-giuliani-hit-with-148-million-verdict-for-defaming-election-workers-018781ca

U.S. Steel

Fig. 3. “The U.S. Steel Tower looms over the Strip District neighborhood (foreground), awash in color of the morning light.” Photograph by Richard Stephen Haynes, August 23, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Steve Goldstein, “U.S. Steel stock rockets on takeover deal for 122-year-old Pittsburgh icon,” MarketWatch, December 18, 2023, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nippon-steel-said-its-reached-a-deal-to-buy-u-s-steel-for-14-1-billion-54f08494

Evan Robinson-Johnson, “U.S. Steel to be acquired by Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. in a deal valued at nearly $15 billion,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 18, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2023/12/18/us-steel-nippon-acquisition/stories/202312180044

^[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]Guy Laron, quoted in Shayndi Raice and Carrie Keller-Lynn, “Hostage Deaths at Hands of Israeli Soldiers Raise Questions About War Strategy,” Wall Street Journal, December 17, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israeli-militarys-hostage-killing-raises-questions-about-war-strategy-8dda768d ↩
^[3]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 ↩

A long road ahead, still under construction, for self-driving cars

December 17, 2023benfell

Neoliberalism

Self-driving cars

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

Stephen Wilmot seems to think the saner way to self-driving vehicles is through incremental improvements to driver assistance technology.^[1]

I drive a Toyota which includes driver assistance features as part of the company’s safety schtick. It’s a couple years old, and the features are a help, but they could use some work. It’s flaky about recognizing lane markings. Sometimes, for example, it mistakes a seam in the asphalt for a lane marking. It doesn’t do well with old or faded lane markings, particularly when they have been redrawn as around work zones. And sometimes, it fails to spot even highly visible markings. The automatic high beams fail to lower for approaching traffic when we’re on opposite sides of a descent. The automatic windshield wipers are sometimes erratic in recognizing the need or rate to wipe.

It’s possible that other manufacturers have done a better job. It’s also probable that the technology has improved since I took delivery on this car.

Then again, maybe not:

Days before the [Tesla] recall [reported December 13^[2]], The Washington Post published an investigation that identified eight fatal or serious crashes on roads for which Autopilot was not intended. Tesla has repeatedly acknowledged in user manuals, legal documents and communications with federal regulators that Autosteer is “intended for use on controlled-access highways” with “a center divider, clear lane markings, and no cross traffic.” . . .

In its investigation, The Post found that Autopilot can be engaged on a wide range of roads with intersections, stop lights and cross traffic. One fatal crash occurred when a Tesla in Autopilot plowed through a T intersection and hit a couple looking at the stars. Another occurred when a Tesla in Autopilot failed to recognize a semi-truck crossing the road.^[3]

But even under the conditions it’s supposedly intended for, Tesla’s Autopilot has had problems.^[4]

And yeah, I think it’s gonna take a while, probably an even longer while than I had earlier thought, to overcome these problems.

Faiz Siddiqui and Trisha Thadani, “Recalling almost every Tesla in America won’t fix safety issues, experts say,” Washington Post, December 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/16/tesla-autopilot-recall/

Stephen Wilmot, “Tesla’s Self-Driving Tech Has Competition,” Wall Street Journal, December 16, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/teslas-self-driving-tech-has-competition-249fb3e2

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 2. 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,^[5] fair use.

Israel is defeated. It may prevail militarily—this has yet to be seen—but it has lost entirely the battle for public opinion.

Edward Luce, “Biden’s mounting self-harm on Israel,” Financial Times, December 15, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/cfb4660f-de36-4453-9b44-531996c6ec9e

Illiberalism

Gilead

Fig. 3. The emblem of the Republic of Gilead. Icewizie, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Donald Trump sees American democracy as a sham and he wants to convince his followers to see it that way too. [Vladimir] Putin hates western values like democracy and the rule of law, so does Trump.^[6]

Isaac Arnsdorf, “Trump quotes Putin condemning American democracy, praises autocrat Orban,” Washington Post, December 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2023/12/16/trump-authoritarians-putin-orban-poisoning-blood/

Jeffrey Epstein

Fig. 4. “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,^[7] fair use.

Khadeeja Safdar, “Jeffrey Epstein Never Stopped Abusing Women—and His VIP Circle Helped Make It Possible,” Wall Street Journal, December 17, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/us-news/jeffrey-epstein-sexual-abuse-women-vip-connections-f5451078

Housekeeping

Some of you might recall I have been frustrated with Verizon’s 5G coverage in the Pittsburgh area, and that I was feeling a need for the battery, global positioning system, and 5G improvements on the iPhone 15, so I had gone ahead and bought an iPhone 15 Pro Max and moved one of my Google Voice phone numbers to Boost Infinite, a mobile virtual network operator using AT&T and T-Mobile. I then used the dual subscriber identity module dual standby (DSDS) feature to bring my Verizon number onto the iPhone 15 alongside what had been a Google Voice number.

So that’s two carriers, two phone numbers on a single phone, meant to ensure I have mobile data access more often. I have also added an Xfinity Pass ($20 per month), so I’m effectively doing what they used to call “war driving,” connecting to known hotspots as I drive down the road.

I was hoping to miss fewer Uber orders and my initial impression was that the new setup was indeed an improvement. I wasn’t, however, expecting to be able to quantify that improvement (figure 5):

Fig. 5. Graph of net earnings since January 2022 by author.

Normally—and I have seen it in every market I’ve worked—this time of year, my earnings would be decreasing towards a nadir in February. This year is different. Sixteen days into December, my earnings are still dismal, averaging $58.13 per day, but up slightly from November, averaging $47.77 per day. The monthly averages from 2022 were $58.79 in November and $54.78 in December.

There are a number of variables in play here, including how long I work each day, the improved data coverage with multiple carriers, the technological improvements with the iPhone 15, any changes Uber may have made in their algorithm, the number of other drivers working, and of course that retail is random. I don’t know—and don’t expect to know—how much of the improvement can be attributed to any of these variables. But I seem, for the moment, to have broken the fall.

^[1]Stephen Wilmot, “Tesla’s Self-Driving Tech Has Competition,” Wall Street Journal, December 16, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/teslas-self-driving-tech-has-competition-249fb3e2 ↩
^[2]Jeremy White, “Tesla Is Recalling Nearly All Vehicles Sold in US to Fix an Autopilot Fault,” Wired, December 13, 2023, https://www.wired.com/story/tesla-us-recall-autopilot-fault/↩
^[3]Faiz Siddiqui and Trisha Thadani, “Recalling almost every Tesla in America won’t fix safety issues, experts say,” Washington Post, December 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/16/tesla-autopilot-recall/↩
^[4]Ken Klippenstein, “Surveillance Footage of Tesla Crash on Bay Bridge,” Intercept, January 10, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/01/10/tesla-crash-footage-autopilot/↩
^[5]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/↩
^[6]Jennifer Mercieca, quoted in Isaac Arnsdorf, “Trump quotes Putin condemning American democracy, praises autocrat Orban,” Washington Post, December 16, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2023/12/16/trump-authoritarians-putin-orban-poisoning-blood/↩
^[7]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 ↩

Arrogant men who have no one but themselves to blame

December 16, 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.

The achilles heel that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar identified in Israel was hostages. The proof lies in uneven hostage-for-prisoner swaps, typically three Palestinians for one Israeli, showing that Israel values Israeli lives far more than it does Palestinians. Sinwar’s strategy is quite simply to turn this against Israel, seizing a few hostages, getting many more Palestinians freed in exchange.^[2] If you recognize this very dynamic as the very reason the standard advice is against paying kidnap ransoms, go to the head of the class.

But when the Israeli Defense Force encountered three hostages, instead of freeing them, the force killed them.^[3] With Binyamin Netanyahu already taking blame for the October 7 attack, yes, you better believe I was wondering how this is going down in Israeli politics.

Then it emerged that the soldiers had shot the hostages while the latter were holding up a white flag.^[4] The gentlest possible interpretation of this is of soldiers entirely too anxious to kill. It suggests, though the killing supposedly violated rules of engagement, that those rules are entirely too aggressive. And blame will fall on Israel’s political leadership as a matter of course.

In the instant, this is unfair: It amounts to second-guessing soldiers who were reportedly engaged in intense firefights in the area.^[5] But the larger implication for Netanyahu is that he will be accused of failing to adequately prioritize freeing the hostages.^[6]

Which is to say that Netanyahu has failed to pay enough ransom.

Of course, the larger reality remains, that Israel, through its continuing violent expulsion of Palestinians, has no one but itself to blame, especially for having pursued Netanyahu’s hardline policies. But everything I’m seeing suggests the Israeli public isn’t ready to understand that. So Netanyahu will be unfairly and paradoxically blamed. Serves him right.

Edith M. Lederer, “US vetoes UN resolution backed by many nations demanding immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza,” Associated Press, December 9, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-un-resolution-ceasefire-humanitarian-6d3bfd31d6c25168e828274d96b85cf8

Times of Israel, “National security adviser indicates war against Hezbollah likely once Hamas is defeated,” December 9, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/national-security-adviser-indicates-war-against-hezbollah-likely-after-defeat-of-hamas/

Rory Jones et al., “The Hamas Leader Who Studied Israel’s Psyche—and Is Betting His Life on What He Learned,” Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-yahya-sinwar-israel-palestinian-hostages-6407dc41

Jeremy Scahill, “This Is Not a War Against Hamas,” Intercept, December 11, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/12/11/israel-hamas-war-civilians-biden/

David S. Cloud, and Summer Sai, “Israel’s Netanyahu Rejects U.S. Plan for Postwar Gaza,” Washington Post, December 12, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israels-netanyahu-rejects-u-s-plan-for-post-war-gaza-d60fc0c3

Caitlin Hu, “UN General Assembly votes to demand immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” CNN, December 12, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/middleeast/ceasefire-vote-gaza-israel-un-intl/index.html

John Hudson and Yasmeen Abutaleb, “Biden shows deep empathy with Israelis. Some feel it’s missing for Gazans,” Washington Post, December 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/12/biden-empathy-lacking-palestinians/

Kevin Liptak and Jeremy Diamond, “Biden tells donors Israel is losing support, Netanyahu must change his government,” CNN, December 12, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/politics/biden-israel-losing-support-netanyahu/index.html

Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel’s Gaza war raises fears of a Palestinian exodus into Egypt,” Washington Post, December 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/12/12/gaza-displacement-egypt-palestine-israel-flee-rafah/

Nancy A. Youssef et al., “Israel Begins Pumping Seawater Into Hamas’s Gaza Tunnels,” Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-hamas-war-pumping-seawater-gaza-tunnels-2ed3b3f2

Kareem Fahim et al., “Images of stripped and humiliated Palestinians draw condemnation,” Washington Post, December 13, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/13/gaza-palestinian-detainee-photos-israel/

John Hudson et al., “Unguided ‘dumb bombs’ used in almost half of Israeli strikes on Gaza,” Washington Post, December 14, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/12/14/israel-unguided-dumb-bombs-gaza/

Dov Lieber, “Israel’s Netanyahu Bets Political Survival on Opposing a Palestinian State,” Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israels-netanyahu-bets-political-survival-on-opposing-a-palestinian-state-9e78790f

Jacob Magid, “Biden: ‘Indiscriminate’ bombing costing Israel support, Netanyahu ‘has to change,’” Times of Israel, December 13, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-indiscriminate-bombing-costs-israel-support-netanyahu-has-to-change/

Times of Israel, “Poll shows soaring Palestinian support for Hamas; 72% back October 7 atrocities,” December 13, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-shows-soaring-support-for-hamas-in-west-bank-as-90-say-abbas-should-resign/

Nancy A. Youssef and Vivian Salama, “U.S. Blocks Shipment of Rifles to Israel Over Concerns of West Bank Settler Violence,” Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/u-s-blocks-shipment-of-rifles-to-israel-over-concerns-of-west-bank-settler-violence-9764c87d

Edward Luce, “Biden’s mounting self-harm on Israel,” Financial Times, December 15, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/cfb4660f-de36-4453-9b44-531996c6ec9e

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

Fig. 1. Donald Trump booking photograph by Fulton County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, August 24, 2023, via New York, August 25, 2023,^[7] public domain.

Andrew Rice, “Why Rudy Giuliani Lost So Big,” New York, December 15, 2023, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/12/shaye-moss-ruby-freeman-beat-giuliani-in-defamation-trial.html

^[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]Rory Jones et al., “The Hamas Leader Who Studied Israel’s Psyche—and Is Betting His Life on What He Learned,” Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-yahya-sinwar-israel-palestinian-hostages-6407dc41 ↩
^[3]Anat Peled, “Israeli Military Says It Accidentally Killed Three Israeli Hostages in Gaza,” Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-says-it-accidentally-killed-three-israeli-hostages-in-gaza-2acebecc ↩
^[4]Summer Said and David S. Cloud, “Israel Says Its Soldiers Killed Israeli Hostages as They Held Up White Flag,” Wall Street Journal, December 16, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-and-qatar-explore-revival-of-deal-for-gaza-hostages-ff7af151 ↩
^[5]Anat Peled, “Israeli Military Says It Accidentally Killed Three Israeli Hostages in Gaza,” Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israeli-military-says-it-accidentally-killed-three-israeli-hostages-in-gaza-2acebecc; Summer Said and David S. Cloud, “Israel Says Its Soldiers Killed Israeli Hostages as They Held Up White Flag,” Wall Street Journal, December 16, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-and-qatar-explore-revival-of-deal-for-gaza-hostages-ff7af151 ↩
^[6]Summer Said and David S. Cloud, “Israel Says Its Soldiers Killed Israeli Hostages as They Held Up White Flag,” Wall Street Journal, December 16, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-and-qatar-explore-revival-of-deal-for-gaza-hostages-ff7af151 ↩
^[7]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 ↩

Binyamin Netanyahu’s anti-Semitism shield

December 15, 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.

Joe Biden was right to call Israel’s bombing of Gaza ‘indiscriminate.’^[2]

Almost half of the munitions Israel has used in Gaza since the war began have been unguided bombs, a U.S. intelligence assessment has found, a ratio that some arms experts say helps explain the conflict’s enormous civilian death toll. . . . Nearly 18,800 people have been killed and almost 51,000 wounded in Gaza over the past two months, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Under international law, weapons are considered indiscriminate if they cannot be directed at military targets. . . .

Israel has been using “very, very large weapons,” [Brian] Castner said. “And so when you’re using that in a densely populated area, even if you hit your valid military target, you’re far more likely to kill civilians nearby.”^[3]

The gap between what Israel has said it does to limit civilian casualties and the fact of excessive casualties has been previously reported.^[4] And it is increasingly clear that Israel tells the U.S. one thing (wink, wink^[5]) and does another, having absolutely no intention of curtailing either civilian casualties or its maximalist objectives,^[6] including ethnic cleansing and genocide.^[7] Israel simply flings the anti-Semitism canard at anyone who disagrees and thereby remains utterly beyond challenge.

The disconnect is apparent to Edward Luce of the hardly-leftist Financial Times, who writes in a newsletter,

The train wreck has been a long time coming. Alas, it will take still more needless and costly weeks before it happens. Benjamin Netanyahu is running a policy that is directly at odds with the explicit priorities of his chief benefactor, Joe Biden, and is repeatedly giving him the middle finger. What puzzles me, and vexes many people in the Biden administration, is why the president does not bring forward that inevitable split by doing things that events will force him to do anyway.

That would mean imposing — rather than hinting politely at — conditions on US aid to Israel. It means insisting that Netanyahu endorse the two-state solution and take steps to prepare for “day after” talks with a rebooted Palestinian Authority. It means withholding aid while settlers in the West Bank continue to radicalise the Palestinian population with continued evictions, shootings and settlement expansions. Hamas’s ratings have continued to grow in the West Bank, where a helpless local population is saddled with a toothless Palestinian Authority that is unable to defend their rights. This has been Netanyahu’s policy for 15 years. It helped to create the conditions for the barbarous Hamas slaughter on October 7. Yet he is not changing course.^[8]

There’s a fine line between acquiescence and complicity. With it’s tangible diplomatic, military, and financial support for Israel, the U.S. looks complicit.^[9]

Guardian, “US highlights ‘gap’ in Israel’s commitment to protect civilians in Gaza,” December 7, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/08/us-israel-hamas-war-gaza-civilian-protection-anthony-blinken

Nataliya Vasilyeva, “IDF strip Palestinian men and parade them through square once used by Hamas,” Telegraph, December 7, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/12/07/palestinian-men-stripped-to-underwear-gaza-idf/

Ron Kampeas, “US officials deny pressing Israel for a war ‘deadline,’ but differences between the two are emerging,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 8, 2023, https://www.jta.org/2023/12/08/united-states/us-officials-deny-pressing-israel-for-a-war-deadline-but-differences-between-the-two-are-emerging

Jeremy Scahill, “This Is Not a War Against Hamas,” Intercept, December 11, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/12/11/israel-hamas-war-civilians-biden/

Caitlin Hu, “UN General Assembly votes to demand immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” CNN, December 12, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/middleeast/ceasefire-vote-gaza-israel-un-intl/index.html

Illiberalism

Fig. 2. Photograph by Joachim F. Thurn, August 1991, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F089030-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.

Adam Taylor, “Javier Milei’s study of Judaism sets him apart from far-right leaders,” Washington Post, December 14, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/14/milei-judaism-torah-religion-argentina-israel-jewish/

Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, “As Russia ramps up ‘traditional values’ rhetoric − especially against LGBTQ+ groups − it’s won Putin far-right fans abroad,” Conversation, December 15, 2023, https://theconversation.com/as-russia-ramps-up-traditional-values-rhetoric-especially-against-lgbtq-groups-its-won-putin-far-right-fans-abroad-219102

Gilead

Fig. 3. The emblem of the Republic of Gilead. Icewizie, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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,^[10] fair use.

Alexa Corse and Dave Michaels, “Elon Musk Can’t Stall SEC Investigation, Judge Says,” Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/finance/regulation/elon-musk-cant-stall-sec-investigation-judge-says-10f9dfb0

Abortion, reproductive freedom and health

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.

Jodi Kantor and Adam Liptak, “Behind the Scenes at the Dismantling of Roe v. Wade,” New York Times, December 15, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/15/us/supreme-court-dobbs-roe-abortion.html

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

Fig. 6. Donald Trump booking photograph by Fulton County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, August 24, 2023, via New York, August 25, 2023,^[11] public domain.

[Rudy] Giuliani was ordered to pay each woman more than $36 million in compensatory damages and to pay another $75 million in punitive damages. Those figures far exceed amounts his lawyer told jurors earlier in the week “would be the end of Mr. Giuliani,” who earlier said in court filings that he was in financial trouble.^[12]

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Infrastructure

Fig. 7. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

I’m wondering if this article was written by an artificial idiot. It repeats that Pennsylvania Route 28 passes under the Highland Park Bridge,^[13] which is not how anyone who had actually seen the interchange would describe it.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “New northbound lane on Route 28 under the Highland Park Bridge is finally opening,” December 15, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/12/15/route-28-highland-park-bridge-construction/stories/202312150086

Pennsylvania and surrounding areas

Pittsburgh, the Ohio Valley, and surrounding areas

Pollution

Fig. 8. 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,^[14] fair use.

Sakshi Udavant, “Local groups voice frustrations over massive oil spill cleanup on the Monongahela River,” Prism, December 13, 2023, https://prismreports.org/2023/12/13/oil-spill-monongahela-river/

^[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]Jacob Magid, “Biden: ‘Indiscriminate’ bombing costing Israel support, Netanyahu ‘has to change,’” Times of Israel, December 13, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-indiscriminate-bombing-costs-israel-support-netanyahu-has-to-change/↩
^[3]John Hudson et al., “Unguided ‘dumb bombs’ used in almost half of Israeli strikes on Gaza,” Washington Post, December 14, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/12/14/israel-unguided-dumb-bombs-gaza/↩
^[4]Guardian, “US highlights ‘gap’ in Israel’s commitment to protect civilians in Gaza,” December 7, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/08/us-israel-hamas-war-gaza-civilian-protection-anthony-blinken ↩
^[5]Jeremy Scahill, “This Is Not a War Against Hamas,” Intercept, December 11, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/12/11/israel-hamas-war-civilians-biden/↩
^[6]Patrick Wintour, “Biden in a bind as Netanhayu ready to flout any US attempt to rein in Israel,” Guardian, December 15, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/15/biden-in-a-bind-as-netanhayu-ready-to-flout-any-us-attempt-to-rein-in-israel ↩
^[7]Democracy Now! “Judith Butler on Hamas, Israel’s Collective Punishment of Gaza & Why Biden Must Push for Ceasefire,” October 26, 2023, https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/26/judith_butler_on_hamas_israels_collective; Democracy Now! “Palestinian Lives Matter Too: Jewish Scholar Judith Butler Condemns Israel’s ‘Genocide’ in Gaza,” October 26, 2023, https://www.democracynow.org/2023/10/26/judith_butler_ceasefire_gaza_israel; Ryan Grim, “Netanyahu’s Goal for Gaza: ‘Thin’ Population ‘to a Minimum,’” Intercept, December 3, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/12/03/netanyahu-thin-gaza-population/; 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/; Khaleda Rahman, “Israel Committing ‘Textbook Case of Genocide,’ Holocaust Historian Says,” Newsweek, October 17, 2023, https://www.newsweek.com/holocaust-historian-israel-committing-genocide-raz-segal-1835346; Jeremy Scahill, “This Is Not a War Against Hamas,” Intercept, December 11, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/12/11/israel-hamas-war-civilians-biden/; Times of Israel, “Attorney general said to warn ministers to be careful when talking about Hamas war,” November 14, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/attorney-general-said-to-warn-ministers-to-be-careful-when-talking-about-hamas-war/↩
^[8]Edward Luce, “Biden’s mounting self-harm on Israel,” Financial Times, December 15, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/cfb4660f-de36-4453-9b44-531996c6ec9e ↩
^[9]Jeremy Scahill, “This Is Not a War Against Hamas,” Intercept, December 11, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/12/11/israel-hamas-war-civilians-biden/↩
^[10]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/↩
^[11]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 ↩
^[12]Jan Wolfe and C. Ryan Barber, “Rudy Giuliani Hit With $148 Million Verdict for Defaming Election Workers,” Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/us-news/rudy-giuliani-hit-with-148-million-verdict-for-defaming-election-workers-018781ca ↩
^[13]Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “New northbound lane on Route 28 under the Highland Park Bridge is finally opening,” December 15, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2023/12/15/route-28-highland-park-bridge-construction/stories/202312150086 ↩
^[14]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 ↩

U.S. likely complicit in Israeli war crimes

December 14, 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.

If you have any lingering doubt about a prevailing bias in favor of Zionism, it’s more than a bit disturbing that a possible war crime committed by the Israeli Defense Force that was reported in the Telegraph a week ago^[2] is only now drawing reaction. And apparently, this humiliation of Palestinian prisoners is by no means an isolated incident.^[3] Any argument that the U.S. government, having backed Israel against United Nations votes for a ceasefire,^[4] is not complicit in these crimes may be tough to make:

The events of the past week should obliterate any doubt that the war against the Palestinians of Gaza is a joint U.S.–Israeli operation. On Friday, as the Biden administration stood alone among the nations of the world in vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was busy circumventing congressional review to ram through approval of an “emergency” sale of 13,000 tank rounds to Israel. . . .

Over the past two months, Benjamin Netanyahu has argued, including on U.S. news channels, “Our war is your war.” In retrospect, this wasn’t a plea to the White House. Netanyahu was stating a fact. From the moment President Joe Biden spoke to his “great, great friend” Netanyahu on October 7, in the immediate aftermath of the deadly Hamas-led raids into Israel, the U.S. has not just supplied Israel with additional weapons and intelligence support, it has also offered crucial political cover for the scorched-earth campaign to annihilate Gaza as a Palestinian territory. It is irrelevant what words of concern and caution have flowed from the mouths of administration officials when all of their actions have been aimed at increasing the death and destruction.^[5]

Jeremy Scahill, “This Is Not a War Against Hamas,” Intercept, December 11, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/12/11/israel-hamas-war-civilians-biden/

Caitlin Hu, “UN General Assembly votes to demand immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” CNN, December 12, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/middleeast/ceasefire-vote-gaza-israel-un-intl/index.html

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,^[6] fair use.

Douglas Busvine, “Sanctions aren’t working: How the West enables Russia’s war on Ukraine,” Politico, December 11, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-sanctions-western-companies-intel-huawei-amd-texas-instruments-ibm/

Ishaan Tharoor, “Ukraine’s Zelensky and Hungary’s Orban reflect a divided Washington,” Washington Post, December 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/12/zelensky-orban-hungary-ukraine-aid-eu-funding/

Jakob Hanke Vela, “Orbán names his price,” Politico, December 13, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/brussels-playbook/orban-names-his-price/

Emily Rauhala and Beatriz Ríos, “E.U. agrees to open membership talks for Ukraine,” Washington Post, December 14, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/14/ukraine-eu-summit-orban/

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.

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

Fig. 1. Donald Trump booking photograph by Fulton County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, August 24, 2023, via New York, August 25, 2023,^[7] public domain.

This^[8] is different from the immunity question that the Supreme Court may also be taking up:^[9]

The supreme court’s eventual ruling in Fischer v United States will indicate whether the obstruction charge under section 1512 of title 18 of the US criminal code can be used against Trump, and could undercut the other general conspiracy charges brought against the former president by the special counsel, Jack Smith.

The court could also end up by extension invalidating many convictions against rioters involved in the January 6 Capitol attack. The obstruction statute has been the justice department’s primary weapon to hold accountable those involved in the violence of that day.^[10]

Apparently, the Supreme Court has frowned upon broad interpretations of conspiracy statutes in the past,^[11] so this looks like a real threat.

Chris Geidner, “Supreme Court takes first step toward quick review of Trump constitutional questions,” Law Dork, December 11, 2023, https://www.lawdork.com/p/supreme-court-first-step-toward-trump-review

Sam Levine, “Rudy Giuliani faces trial over defamation of 2020 election workers,” Guardian, December 11, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/11/rudy-giuliani-court-defamation-2020-election-workers

Hannah Rabinowitz and Devan Cole, “Special counsel goes directly to Supreme Court to resolve whether Trump has immunity from prosecution,” CNN, December 11, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/11/politics/special-counsel-trump-jack-smith/index.html

Spencer S. Hsu and Amy Gardner, “Georgia election worker describes harrowing threats in Giuliani defamation trial,” Washington Post, December 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/12/12/giuiliani-defamation-trial-election-workers-testify/

Hugo Lowell, “Trump’s defense in election interference case may get boost from US supreme court,” Guardian, December 13, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/13/supreme-court-trump-election-interference

Neoliberalism

Self-driving cars

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

Gareth Vipers, “Tesla to Recall More Than Two Million Vehicles Over Autopilot Safety Concerns,” Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/tesla-recalls-more-than-two-million-vehicles-over-autopilot-safety-concerns-274eb6e6

Jeremy White, “Tesla Is Recalling Nearly All Vehicles Sold in US to Fix an Autopilot Fault,” Wired, December 13, 2023, https://www.wired.com/story/tesla-us-recall-autopilot-fault/

^[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]Nataliya Vasilyeva, “IDF strip Palestinian men and parade them through square once used by Hamas,” Telegraph, December 7, 2023, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/12/07/palestinian-men-stripped-to-underwear-gaza-idf/↩
^[3]Kareem Fahim et al., “Images of stripped and humiliated Palestinians draw condemnation,” Washington Post, December 13, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/13/gaza-palestinian-detainee-photos-israel/↩
^[4]Caitlin Hu, “UN General Assembly votes to demand immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” CNN, December 12, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/middleeast/ceasefire-vote-gaza-israel-un-intl/index.html; Edith M. Lederer, “US vetoes UN resolution backed by many nations demanding immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza,” Associated Press, December 9, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-un-resolution-ceasefire-humanitarian-6d3bfd31d6c25168e828274d96b85cf8 ↩
^[5]Jeremy Scahill, “This Is Not a War Against Hamas,” Intercept, December 11, 2023, https://theintercept.com/2023/12/11/israel-hamas-war-civilians-biden/↩
^[6]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 ↩
^[7]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 ↩
^[8]Hugo Lowell, “Trump’s defense in election interference case may get boost from US supreme court,” Guardian, December 13, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/13/supreme-court-trump-election-interference ↩
^[9]Chris Geidner, “Supreme Court takes first step toward quick review of Trump constitutional questions,” Law Dork, December 11, 2023, https://www.lawdork.com/p/supreme-court-first-step-toward-trump-review; Hannah Rabinowitz and Devan Cole, “Special counsel goes directly to Supreme Court to resolve whether Trump has immunity from prosecution,” CNN, December 11, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/11/politics/special-counsel-trump-jack-smith/index.html ↩
^[10]Hugo Lowell, “Trump’s defense in election interference case may get boost from US supreme court,” Guardian, December 13, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/13/supreme-court-trump-election-interference ↩
^[11]Hugo Lowell, “Trump’s defense in election interference case may get boost from US supreme court,” Guardian, December 13, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/13/supreme-court-trump-election-interference ↩

Spitting into a fire

December 13, 2023December 13, 2023benfell

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

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

Abortion, reproductive freedom and health

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.

Paul J. Weber and Jamie Stengle, “Texas woman who sought court permission for abortion leaves state for the procedure, attorneys say,” Associated Press, December 11, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/abortion-texas-ban-7d865cdfd75bdc6b2f4186f4d1e6e8bd

Ann E. Marimow, “Supreme Court will decide access to key abortion drug mifepristone,” Washington Post, December 13, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/12/13/abortion-drug-supreme-court-mifepristone-fda/

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 3. 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,^[2] fair use.

This is a war that cannot be won. Israel has created an amount of hatred that will haunt this region, that will define generations to come.^[3]

The United Nations General Assembly has voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in war-torn Gaza, in a rebuke to the United States which has repeatedly blocked ceasefire calls in the UN’s Security Council.

A majority of 153 nations voted for the ceasefire resolution in the General Assembly’s emergency special session Tuesday, while 10 voted against and 23 abstained.^[4]

Joe Biden has warned Binyamin Netanyahu that he risks losing international support for Israel.^[5] This is projection. The U.S. has already lost support for its support of Israel.^[6]

Peter Beaumont, “Angry relatives of Hamas captives and ex-hostages confront Netanyahu,” Guardian, December 5, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/05/angry-relatives-of-hamas-captives-and-ex-hostages-confront-netanyahu

Loveday Morris, “Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas. Yet the group remains largely intact,” Washington Post, December 5, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/05/israel-military-offensive-hamas-destruction-gaza/

Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel’s Netanyahu is fighting two wars, and may not win either,” Washington Post, December 5, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/05/netanyahu-wars-win-lose-political-endgame-career/

Steve Hendrix, Miriam Berger, and Hazem Balousha, “Israel touts civilian warning system, but for Gazans, nowhere is safe,” Washington Post, December 6, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/06/israel-gaza-civilians-protection/

John B. Judis, “Yes, Israel Is a Colonialist State. But Does That Matter Today?” New Republic, December 6, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/article/177306/israel-colonialist-state-history-today

Caitlin Hu, “UN General Assembly votes to demand immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” CNN, December 12, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/middleeast/ceasefire-vote-gaza-israel-un-intl/index.html

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,^[7] fair use.

Jakob Hanke Vela, “Orbán names his price,” Politico, December 13, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/brussels-playbook/orban-names-his-price/

(dis)United Kingdom

Prime minister

Fig. 5. President Reagan on the South Lawn during the arrival ceremony of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom. U.S. Government photograph, November 16, 1988, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

I’m smelling blood on the water.

Kiran Stacey and Rajeev Syal, “Rishi Sunak desperately lobbying Tory MPs to avoid defeat on Rwanda bill,” Guardian, December 11, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/dec/11/rishi-sunak-desperately-lobbying-tory-mps-to-avoid-defeat-on-rwanda-bill

Pippa Crerar, Ben Quinn, and Peter Walker, “Relief for Rishi Sunak as Rwanda bill passes first vote in Commons,” Guardian, December 12, 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/dec/12/rishi-sunak-survives-rwanda-bill-commons-vote

Neoliberalism

Self-driving cars

Fig. 6. Photograph by Mark Doliner, August 1, 2012, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

^[1]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 ↩
^[2]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/↩
^[3]Ayman Safadi, quoted in Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel’s Gaza war raises fears of a Palestinian exodus into Egypt,” Washington Post, December 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2023/12/12/gaza-displacement-egypt-palestine-israel-flee-rafah/↩
^[4]Caitlin Hu, “UN General Assembly votes to demand immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” CNN, December 12, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/middleeast/ceasefire-vote-gaza-israel-un-intl/index.html ↩
^[5]Kevin Liptak and Jeremy Diamond, “Biden tells donors Israel is losing support, Netanyahu must change his government,” CNN, December 12, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/politics/biden-israel-losing-support-netanyahu/index.html ↩
^[6]Caitlin Hu, “UN General Assembly votes to demand immediate ceasefire in Gaza,” CNN, December 12, 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/12/middleeast/ceasefire-vote-gaza-israel-un-intl/index.html; Edith M. Lederer, “US vetoes UN resolution backed by many nations demanding immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza,” Associated Press, December 9, 2023, https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-un-resolution-ceasefire-humanitarian-6d3bfd31d6c25168e828274d96b85cf8 ↩
^[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 ↩

Even little countries have to get in on the imperialism act

December 11, 2023benfell

Imperialism

Fig. 1. “Map of the Roman Empire during 69AD, the Year of the Four Emperors. Coloured areas indicate provinces loyal to one of four warring generals.” Original: User:Steerpike and en:User:Andrei nacu, August 11, 2009, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ishaan Tharoor, “How the Venezuela-Guyana border almost started a U.S.-British war,” Washington Post, December 11, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/11/venezuela-guyana-oil-borders-history-us-british-war/

Israel

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 2. 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.

John B. Judis, “Yes, Israel Is a Colonialist State. But Does That Matter Today?” New Republic, December 6, 2023, https://newrepublic.com/article/177306/israel-colonialist-state-history-today

Lebanon

Fig. 3. “Sabra & Shatila Massacre 1982 Memorial in Sabra, South Beirut,” photograph by Bertramz, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

Don’t like Syria’s Bashar al-Assad? You should dislike Binyamin Netanyahu for the same reason:

Israeli forces continued to shell the town [Dheira, Lebanon] with white phosphorus munitions for hours, residents said, trapping them in their homes until they could escape around 7 a.m. the next morning. Residents now refer to the attack as the “black night.”^[2]

It’s worth highlighting that this occurred in Lebanon,^[3] not Gaza. It’s all a bit bizarre: The war on Hamas might take years, but Israel appears desperate to start a war against Hezbollah.^[4]

Housekeeping note: Lebanon now has its own page in my hierarchy.

William Christou, Alex Horton, and Meg Kelly, “Israel used U.S.-supplied white phosphorus in Lebanon attack,” Washington Post, December 11, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/12/11/israel-us-white-phosphorus-lebanon/

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

Fig. 4. Donald Trump booking photograph by Fulton County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office, August 24, 2023, via New York, August 25, 2023,^[5] public domain.

^[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]William Christou, Alex Horton, and Meg Kelly, “Israel used U.S.-supplied white phosphorus in Lebanon attack,” Washington Post, December 11, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/12/11/israel-us-white-phosphorus-lebanon/↩
^[3]William Christou, Alex Horton, and Meg Kelly, “Israel used U.S.-supplied white phosphorus in Lebanon attack,” Washington Post, December 11, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/12/11/israel-us-white-phosphorus-lebanon/↩
^[4]Jamie Dettmer, “Israel could open second front in Lebanon, defense minister hints,” Politico, December 6, 2023, https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-could-open-second-front-lebanon-defense-minister-hintsgaza-hamas-war-yoav-gallant/; Times of Israel, “National security adviser indicates war against Hezbollah likely once Hamas is defeated,” December 9, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/national-security-adviser-indicates-war-against-hezbollah-likely-after-defeat-of-hamas/↩
^[5]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 ↩

A desperate misogyny

December 10, 2023December 10, 2023benfell

Illiberalism

Gilead

Abortion, reproductive freedom and health

Fig. 1. 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.

Chris Geidner, “Kate Cox ‘needs an abortion.’ Ken Paxton will do anything to stop her,” Law Dork, December 9, 2023, https://www.lawdork.com/p/kate-cox-needs-an-abortion-ken-paxton

Imperialism

Israel

Fig. 1. John Bolton and Binyamin Netanyahu at a press conference. Office of U.S. National Security Advisor, August 20, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

[Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi] Hanegbi said Israel does not want to fight simultaneously on two fronts, and indicated it would therefore tackle Hezbollah after Hamas is defeated. He said Israel has been “making clear to the Americans that we are not interested in war [in the north], but that we will have no alternative but to impose a new reality” if Hezbollah remains a threat.^[1]

So if I’m Hezbollah, what do I do? Israel is telegraphing that I’m next. So, of course, I attack, precisely so Israel has to fight on two fronts, while I still have Hamas available to fight on that other front. I absolutely do not wait for Hamas to be defeated.

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,^[2] fair use.

^[1]Times of Israel, “National security adviser indicates war against Hezbollah likely once Hamas is defeated,” December 9, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/national-security-adviser-indicates-war-against-hezbollah-likely-after-defeat-of-hamas/↩
^[2]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/↩

^[1]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 ↩