Illiberalism
Gilead
Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2023-2024
Fig. 1. Photograph credited to Office of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, date inconsistent with title but given as November 9, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Supposedly Mike Johnson is not in any danger, at least for now, of losing his job. But, according to Tina Nguyen, he clearly also doesn’t have the command of his conference that’d normally be expected of House leadership. Meanwhile there are issues that need dealing with that aren’t getting dealt with.[1]
This is a picture that isn’t making sense. For anyone. This ongoing debacle in the House of Representatives certainly doesn’t help Republicans appear prepared to govern. Democrats aren’t getting the Ukraine aid or even the Israel and Taiwan aid that Republicans have been holding hostage to far right demands. Five months into the federal fiscal year, the federal government still isn’t getting a budget.[2]
Donald Trump thinks he wins from all this.[3] He might win, but I very strongly doubt this will be the reason. And yeah, I gotta wonder if we’ll see a third Speaker of the House this session.
Tina Nguyen, “The Johnson Piñata,” Puck, February 7, 2024, https://puck.news/the-johnson-pinata/
So-called ‘ridesharing’
Bezzle
Fig. 2. “Clarkdale Classic Gas Station, Clarkdale, Arizona,” Photograph by Alan Levine, October 28, 2016, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
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The easy availability of capital for much of the past decade had Uber and other startups burning through tens of billions of dollars in an attempt to gain market share. From 2016 through the first quarter of 2023, Uber collectively racked up close to $30 billion in operating losses, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The company posted its first quarterly operating profit in the second quarter of 2023. The company was founded in 2009.[4]
Okay, I see the $30 billion in operating losses from 2016 into 2023. How much money did Uber lose from 2009 through 2015?
Preetika Rana, “Uber Posts First Annual Profit Since Its IPO,” Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/business/earnings/uber-q4-earnings-report-2023-4e0d59f6
Imperialism
Russia
Ukraine
Fig. 3. “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,[5] fair use.
I’m inclined to see this Politico headline[6] as a bit alarmist. But only a bit: A lot is certainly going south right now.
James Angelos, “Trump’s already back, America has ditched Ukraine. What does Europe do now?,” Politico, February 8, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/olaf-scholz-joe-biden-united-states-support-ukraine-trump-return/
Israel
Palestine
Fig. 4. 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,[7] fair use.
Lazar Berman, “Israel cannot use Oct. 7 as ‘license to dehumanize others,’ Blinken warns in Tel Aviv,” Times of Israel, February 8, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-cannot-use-oct-7-as-a-license-to-dehumanize-others-fumes-blinken-in-tel-aviv/
- [1]Tina Nguyen, “The Johnson Piñata,” Puck, February 7, 2024, https://puck.news/the-johnson-pinata/↩
- [2]Tina Nguyen, “The Johnson Piñata,” Puck, February 7, 2024, https://puck.news/the-johnson-pinata/↩
- [3]Tina Nguyen, “The Johnson Piñata,” Puck, February 7, 2024, https://puck.news/the-johnson-pinata/↩
- [4]Preetika Rana, “Uber Posts First Annual Profit Since Its IPO,” Wall Street Journal, February 7, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/business/earnings/uber-q4-earnings-report-2023-4e0d59f6↩
- [5]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↩
- [6]James Angelos, “Trump’s already back, America has ditched Ukraine. What does Europe do now?,” Politico, February 8, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/olaf-scholz-joe-biden-united-states-support-ukraine-trump-return/↩
- [7]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/↩