I am shocked to learn, shocked I tell you, that the owner of an abandoned mall is a deadbeat

benfell

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Century III Mall


Fig. 1. “The exterior of the closed Century III Mall taken from a drone . . . in West Mifflin.” Photograph by Benjamin B. Braun, May 11, 2023, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,[1] fair use.

Neena Hagen, “Owner of Century III Mall fails to pay $150K fine for dangerous code violations,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 11, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2024/01/10/century-iii-moonbeam-mall-west-mifflin/stories/202401100095

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,[2] fair use.

One interesting wrinkle is at the top of the [International Court of Justice] hearing, the registrar read into the record a new element submitted by South Africa, not contained in its 84 page case, that of a detailed list of the “provisional measures” that is it asking the court to impose on Israel. Recall that the form of this filing was an “Indication of Provisional Measures,” that is, that the evidence of genocide was so overwhelming that the Court should impose provisional measures with the intent of halting Israel’s genocidal conduct while the case continued on the normal (time consuming) course. This list is comprehensive and well thought out, ranging from a cessation of formal military and irregular forces action against Palestinian, ending conduct designed to cause physical and psychological harm and prevent births, to stop forced displacement, to provide access to food, medical care, fuel and other necessities of life to preserving evidence with respect to genocide and not restrict access to fact-finder regarding this type of evidence. . . .

Israel does not have any good cards to play, not just with respect to the South Africa genocide case but in its campaign against Palestinians. It seems to be relying on the fact that no one has been able to stop the slow-motion extermination of Palestinians, and that all it needs to do is stay its vicious course of action. But that sort of win is not going to make Israel safer. . . .

Israel media and statements by official show the country is still operating on blood lust and not realism. The country’s statements so far suggest that rather than attempting a dignified response to the serious South Africa charges, Israel, in keeping with its refusal to file a written answer, looks primed instead in the hearing tomorrow will attack the legitimacy of the court and the charges. That would only serve to further isolate Israel, even if it plays well on domestic TV. Or perhaps is has made a nose count and has come to the same conclusion as Norman Finkelstein, that it will prevail because Russia and China will not vote for the South Africa charge due to their own exposure to similar filings (there is already a case against Russian lodged with the ICJ).[3]

One of the points Yves Smith makes is that the deprivation of human essentials in Gaza will eventually depopulate the territory[4] in plain accordance with right-wing Israeli wishes.[5]

David Cohen, “Israel’s president says expelling Palestinians not the plan,” Politico, January 7, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/07/israel-palestinians-expel-gaza-00134187

Wafaa Shurafa, Jack Jeffery, Bassem Mroue, “Israeli strike kills an elite Hezbollah commander in the latest escalation linked to the war in Gaza,” Associated Press, January 8, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-news-01-08-2024-18fbc9af50000c94fed59017fe82481e

Julia Ioffe, “‘Blood Libel?’: On the Question of Genocide in Gaza,” Puck, January 9, 2024, https://puck.news/blood-libel-on-the-question-of-genocide-in-gaza/

Nahal Toosi, “The US Is Dealing With an Israeli Leader Who’s Losing Control,” Politico, January 9, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/08/netanyahu-israeli-leader-losing-control-00134146

Mark Leon Goldberg, “Why Israel Can’t Just Wave Away International Justice Charges,” New Republic, January 10, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/article/177983/israel-gaza-international-justice-charges

Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani, “ADL Officially Admits It Counts Pro-Palestine Activism as Antisemitic,” New Republic, January 10, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/177993/adl-abandons-pretense-tracking-antisemitism-honestly-palestine-rallies

Ryan Grim, “South Africa Just Made Its Case at The Hague. What’s Next?” Intercept, January 11, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/01/11/south-africa-israel-genocide-charges/

Barbara Moens, Jacopo Barigazzi, and Eddy Wax, “South Africa’s genocide case against Israel lays bare Europe’s feeble power,” Politico, January 11, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/south-africas-genocide-case-against-israel-lays-bare-europes-feeble-power/

Claire Parker and Emily Rauhala to Today’s Worldview list, “What to know about the genocide case against Israel at the ICJ,” Washington Post, January 11, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/todays-worldview/

Yves Smith, “Israel Capitulates at the Start of International Court of Justice Genocide Hearing,” Naked Capitalism, January 11, 2024, https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/01/israel-capitulates-at-the-start-of-international-court-of-justice-genocide-hearing.html

Electric vehicles


Fig. 1. “A Toyota bZ4X electric sport utility vehicle: EVs currently on the market are fitted with batteries that use liquid lithium-ion electrolytes.” Photograph by Kiyoshi Ota, n.d., via Financial Times, fair use.

Uber, which had previously made a deal with Hertz to rent Teslas to drivers,[6] is still pushing drivers hard to get into electric cars and the costs that Hertz is deciding it can’t afford.[7]

Andrew J. Hawkins, “Kia gets its first customer for the PV5 modular electric vehicle: Uber,” Verge, January 10, 2024, https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/10/24033010/kia-uber-mou-pv5-modular-ev-ridehail-deal

Ciara Linnane, “Hertz cites weak demand, high damage costs in decision to downsize EV fleet,” MarketWatch, January 11, 2024, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/hertz-cites-weak-demand-high-damage-costs-in-decision-to-downsize-ev-fleet-0996ae17

  1. [1]Neena Hagen, “The fall of the Century: Once a retail shopping jewel, the West Mifflin mall has been left to rot,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 21, 2023, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2023/05/21/centuryiii-west-mifflin-mall-slag-heap-kaufmanns-sears-police-closed-crime/stories/202305210039↩
  2. [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. [3]Yves Smith, “Israel Capitulates at the Start of International Court of Justice Genocide Hearing,” Naked Capitalism, January 11, 2024, https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/01/israel-capitulates-at-the-start-of-international-court-of-justice-genocide-hearing.html↩
  4. [4]Yves Smith, “Israel Capitulates at the Start of International Court of Justice Genocide Hearing,” Naked Capitalism, January 11, 2024, https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/01/israel-capitulates-at-the-start-of-international-court-of-justice-genocide-hearing.html↩
  5. [5]Ron Kampeas, “Biden administration, Reform Jewish leader slam Smotrich and Ben Gvir for calling for Palestinians’ removal from Gaza,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, January 2, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/01/02/politics/biden-administration-reform-jewish-leader-slam-smotrich-and-ben-gvir-for-calling-for-palestinians-removal-from-gaza; Tori Otten, “Report: Israel in Talks With Third Country to Expel Palestinians Entirely,” New Republic, January 3, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/177837/report-israel-expel-palestinians-gaza-third-country-congo; Ishaan Tharoor, “As Israel ramps up war with Hamas, backers cheer destruction of Gaza,” Washington Post, October 13, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/13/israel-rhetoric-gaza-response-retribution-punishment/; 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/; Ishaan Tharoor, “Israeli calls for Gaza’s ethnic cleansing are only getting louder,” Washington Post, January 5, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/05/wv-israel-hamas/; 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/; Aime Williams and James Shotter, “Joe Biden calls out ‘extreme’ elements within Israel’s government,” Financial Times, July 9, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/6c91f5df-58ce-4fe2-b4f3-de12f565eac2↩
  6. [6]Fred Lambert, “Tesla order could double to 200,000 Model 3s to satisfy deal with Uber, says Hertz CEO,” Electrek, October 28, 2021, https://electrek.co/2021/10/28/tesla-order-double-200000-model-3s-satisfy-deal-uber-hertz-ceo/; Joann Muller, “A big EV push for Uber drivers,” Axios, October 27, 2021, https://www.axios.com/a-big-ev-push-for-uber-drivers-358a720f-f1ba-4c28-9a83-1bb86061c9e4.html↩
  7. [7]Ciara Linnane, “Hertz cites weak demand, high damage costs in decision to downsize EV fleet,” MarketWatch, January 11, 2024, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/hertz-cites-weak-demand-high-damage-costs-in-decision-to-downsize-ev-fleet-0996ae17↩

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