March 2024 – Page 3 – Irregular Bullshit

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.

Remember the cage fight that never happened between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg?^[2] It never happened because both men are just so full of shit that the entire planet would wretch rather than watch. We’re seeing that “full of shit” thing again.

In our previous installment, we saw Binyamin Netanyahu defending his genocidal war on Gaza by citing Israeli public opinion.^[3]

A joint report by 18 [U.S. intelligence] agencies on the global threat level, published on Monday [March 11], found that the Israeli prime minister was facing significant opposition to his “hard-line policies on Palestinian and security issues”.

Mr Netanyahu is under pressure to maintain control of his coalition government, which relies on support from seven parties, amid public anger over the Oct 7 attacks.^[4]

Something we need to remember when we see shit like this is that information is a battleground. I strongly doubt that the intelligence agencies have quantified the opposition to Netanyahu. I suspect that this is Joe Biden, who faces re-election-threatening criticism for being soft on genocide,^[5] ramping up the pressure on Netanyahu.

Sure, there is opposition to Netanyahu in Israel. But what we’re really seeing here are yet more words from the Biden administration. Not action. Words. Even an unthinkably stupid cage fight would be better.

Ron Kampeas, “‘Uncommitted’ campaign opposing Biden’s support for Israel makes a mark in 5 more states,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 6, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/03/06/politics/uncommitted-campaign-opposing-bidens-support-for-israel-makes-a-mark-in-5-more-states

Zack Beauchamp, “Are Biden and the Democrats finally turning on Israel?” Vox, March 8, 2024, https://www.vox.com/politics/2024/3/8/24093748/biden-israel-democrats-state-of-the-union-gaza-port

Konstantin Toropin, “New Military Sealift Operation to Aid Starving Gaza Residents Will Require More than 1,000 US Troops,” Military.com, March 8, 2024, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/03/08/new-military-sealift-operation-aid-starving-gaza-residents-will-require-more-1000-us-troops.html

Steve Hendrix and Sufian Taha, “At Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque, Ramadan brings uncertainty and fear,” Washington Post, March 9, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/09/ramadan-jerusalem-al-aqsa-gaza-war/

Paul Ronzheimer and Carlo Martuscelli, “Netanyahu vows to defy Biden’s ‘red line’ and invade Rafah,” Politico, March 10, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israels-netanyahu-says-he-will-defy-bidens-red-line-and-invade-rafah/

Roya News, “Exposé reveals list of essential aid items banned by ‘Israel’ from entry into Gaza,” March 10, 2024, https://en.royanews.tv/news/49795/2024-03-03

Eric Lutz, “Joe Biden’s Delicate Dance With Netanyahu Can’t Go on Forever,” Vanity Fair, March 11, 2024, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/joe-biden-benjamin-netanyahu-rift

Nataliya Vasilyeva and Tony Diver, “Israel could see Netanyahu ousted from power, US predicts,” Telegraph, March 11, 2024, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/11/israel-could-see-netanyahu-ousted-from-power-us-predicts/

Adam Taylor, “Biden has huge leverage on Israel. He hasn’t really used it yet,” Washington Post, March 12, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/12/israel-united-states-military-aid-leverage/

Illiberalism

Hungary

I’m not quite sure what to make of the European Parliament suing the European Commission over aid to Hungary,^[6] but I’m noticing the lawsuit comes after the Commission got the vote it wanted from Viktor Orbán on Ukraine funding^[7] and after Sweden acceded to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,^[8] which Orbán had opposed,^[9] in other words, after European politicians had gotten what they’d wanted and as European politicians had signaled a loss of patience for Orbán’s negotiating tactics.^[10]

I guess what I’m thinking about here is what this means for future such deals. The pattern we’ve seen here again and again is that while the European Union withholds money, seeking to compel Hungary to roll back its illiberal changes, weakening the “rule of law,” meant to keep its ruling coalition in power, Orbán simply becomes an obstacle to the unanimity European institutions often require, holding out to get at least some of the money released. The parliament is saying rather explicitly that such deals must stop.^[11] Conflict is on the horizon here, and certainly not just in the courtroom.

Hungary remains a problem. Hungary remains a illiberal regime. Hungary will undoubtedly seek to continue to use its leverage to free up as much money as it can get from Europe. Like Binyamin Netanyahu, Orbán likely counts on Donald Trump returning to the presidency, at which point, Ukraine may well be forced to capitulate as the U.S. permanently cuts off aid and the global illiberalism movement, which is at least soft on Vladimir Putin, gets a gigantic boost. A lot of shit can go wrong here.

Jakob Hanke and Claudia Chiappa, “Brussels vs. Brussels: EU Parliament to sue Commission over Hungary cash,” Politico, March 12, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/parliament-sues-commission-over-unfreezing-of-hungary-funds/

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Housing

Fig. 1. Once upon a time this was a Whole Foods Market. The store is part of a complex that replaced the Penn Plaza Apartments.^[12] Whole Foods has now relocated to a larger location a few blocks away. Photograph by author, August 23, 2023.

Mark Belko, “Rescuing Downtown Pittsburgh: City councilman pitches a plan for broader tax relief to aid in building conversions,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 12, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2024/03/11/downtown-pittsburgh-councilman-bobby-wilson-tax-abatements-assessments-seiu/stories/202403110072

^[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]Peter Hoskins, “Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg agree to hold cage fight,” British Broadcasting Corporation, June 22, 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65981876 ↩
^[3]Paul Ronzheimer and Carlo Martuscelli, “Netanyahu vows to defy Biden’s ‘red line’ and invade Rafah,” Politico, March 10, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israels-netanyahu-says-he-will-defy-bidens-red-line-and-invade-rafah/↩
^[4]Nataliya Vasilyeva and Tony Diver, “Israel could see Netanyahu ousted from power, US predicts,” Telegraph, March 11, 2024, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/11/israel-could-see-netanyahu-ousted-from-power-us-predicts/↩
^[5]Eric Lutz, “Joe Biden’s Delicate Dance With Netanyahu Can’t Go on Forever,” Vanity Fair, March 11, 2024, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/joe-biden-benjamin-netanyahu-rift; Adam Taylor, “Biden has huge leverage on Israel. He hasn’t really used it yet,” Washington Post, March 12, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/12/israel-united-states-military-aid-leverage/↩
^[6]Jakob Hanke and Claudia Chiappa, “Brussels vs. Brussels: EU Parliament to sue Commission over Hungary cash,” Politico, March 12, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/parliament-sues-commission-over-unfreezing-of-hungary-funds/↩
^[7]Gregorio Sorgi, Barbara Moens, and Elisa Braun, “EU approves €50B Ukraine aid as Viktor Orbán folds,” Politico, February 1, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-gets-eu-aid-as-orban-folds/↩
^[8]Radina Gigova, Christian Edwards, and Jennifer Hansler, “Sweden officially joins NATO, becoming alliance’s 32nd member,” CNN, March 7, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/07/europe/sweden-join-nato-official-intl ↩
^[9]Stephen Collinson, Caitlin Hu, and Shelby Rose to Meanwhile In America list, “Strongman in the Mirror,” CNN, March 8, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/newsletters/meanwhile-in-america ↩
^[10]Barbara Moens et al., “EU threatens to silence Hungary if it blocks Ukrainian funds,” Politico, January 26, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-threatens-silence-hungary-orban-if-blocks-ukrainian-aid-funds-article-7/↩
^[11]Jakob Hanke and Claudia Chiappa, “Brussels vs. Brussels: EU Parliament to sue Commission over Hungary cash,” Politico, March 12, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/parliament-sues-commission-over-unfreezing-of-hungary-funds/↩
^[12]Bob Bauder, “Pittsburgh settles court battle over Penn Plaza Apartments,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 27, 2017, https://archive.triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-allegheny/pittsburgh-settles-court-battle-over-penn-plaza-apartments/↩

Too many die for Binyamin Netanyahu’s political survival

March 11, 2024benfell

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.

Binyamin Netanyahu doesn’t actually respond coherently to Joe Biden’s criticism. He just cites Israeli public opinion as if that somehow makes it all logical.^[2] Given that he’s clearly attempting to delay an election, I recommend skepticism.

But there’s a larger issue here in that necessary presumptions in any authoritarian system of social organization are that leaders are somehow superior to the rest of us and can be trusted with that authority. There are times when public opinion is wrong, flatly wrong, and not necessarily due to lack of information, but sometimes due to moral impairment. Paradoxically, to deserve that trust, leaders must sometimes go against public opinion, which is hard when that very same public is their judge. But that’s the test.

Netanyahu is in no way ‘better’ than the Israeli public. He faces corruption charges, his judicial reform was too obviously an attempt to undermine those charges, and his threat to expand the war to Lebanon is a blatant attempt to delay an election. He plays not for any moral high ground but to buy time, with which he hopes to save himself politically.

Far too many have died in a genocidal campaign for Netanyahu’s political survival, a fact that obliterates any claim to moral superiority.

Zack Beauchamp, “Are Biden and the Democrats finally turning on Israel?” Vox, March 8, 2024, https://www.vox.com/politics/2024/3/8/24093748/biden-israel-democrats-state-of-the-union-gaza-port

Roya News, “Exposé reveals list of essential aid items banned by ‘Israel’ from entry into Gaza,” March 10, 2024, https://en.royanews.tv/news/49795/2024-03-03

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.

Chega, a nativist anti-establishment party led by André Ventura, notched up the biggest gains [in Portugal] while the vote of the ruling Socialist party collapsed from a 2022 victory and the centre-right held its ground.

The result marks another important advance for the right in the EU, where conservatives have won elections or joined coalitions in Italy, Greece, Sweden and Finland in the past two years. . . .

Luís Montenegro, leader of the Democratic Alliance (AD), insisted in the early hours of Monday [March 11] that he would stick to his pledge of not forming a pact with Chega, even though doing so could create a conservative majority.^[3]

Barney Jolson and Sérgio Aníbal, “Portugal’s centre-right wins tight election as far-right surges,” Financial Times, March 11, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/5ebcc75d-e5ba-4f78-9729-881b9b8bfd0d

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

2024

Fig. 3. Cartoon by Ben Jennings, January 24, 2024, via the Guardian,^[4] fair use.

Now that Nikki Haley is out of the race for the Republican nomination, I am seeing many more campaign flags and yard signs supporting Donald Trump’s candidacy. I do not know if this is coincidence, or if any of these folks were quietly supporting Haley, or if they were simply waiting for a resolution in the primaries.

Many of the messages take the form, “Don’t blame me, I voted for Trump.” It is thus apparent that the white Christian nationalist perception of Biden’s presidency is of an unmitigated disaster, a perception which seems ludicrous to me. As always, the story with the Democrats is more, by far, about what they fail to do or refuse to do than it is about what they do, and while for me, the Democratic sins of omission weigh as heavily as the Republican sins of commission, the omissions don’t amount to a disaster. My problems with Democrats are simply that I lack the privilege of being able to tolerate the status quo and that, taking seriously the “Never Again” oath sworn by people of conscience following the Holocaust, I must oppose, to the extent of my ability, war crimes and genocide.^[5]

^[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]Paul Ronzheimer and Carlo Martuscelli, “Netanyahu vows to defy Biden’s ‘red line’ and invade Rafah,” Politico, March 10, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israels-netanyahu-says-he-will-defy-bidens-red-line-and-invade-rafah/↩
^[3]Barney Jolson and Sérgio Aníbal, “Portugal’s centre-right wins tight election as far-right surges,” Financial Times, March 11, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/5ebcc75d-e5ba-4f78-9729-881b9b8bfd0d ↩
^[4]Ben Jennings, “Ben Jennings on Donald Trump’s progress along the Republican nomination trail – cartoon,” Guardian, January 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2024/jan/24/ben-jennings-on-donald-trumps-progress-along-the-republican-nomination-trail-cartoon ↩
^[5]Noah Feldman, “How Oct. 7 is forcing Jews to reckon with Israel,” Washington Post, March 5, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/05/noah-feldman-jews-israel-progressive-justice-theology-politics/↩

Bringing knives to gunfights

March 10, 2024benfell

Neoliberalism

Banking

Commercial real estate

Fig. 1. The confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, with the “Golden Triangle” and downtown Pittsburgh. Photograph by author, October 15, 2023.

I’m not quite sure what to make of a sudden and recent increase in coverage of problems affecting the commercial real estate market. I don’t know if the situation has suddenly taken a turn for the worse, affecting many more downtowns, or if the vagaries of my news gathering have produced a coincidence.

Natalie Sherman, “What a $1 deal says about America’s office market,” British Broadcasting Corporation, March 9, 2024, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68472143

Work

Fig. 2. The spectre of Death, in the form of a large skeleton, rises with the smoke and flames of the burning Asch Building during the Triangle fire, as people jump and fall to their death. Artist unknown, from International Ladies Garment Workers Union Photographs (1885-1985) at The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Steven Greenhouse, “Major US corporations threaten to return labor to ‘law of the jungle,’” Guardian, March 10, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/10/starbucks-trader-joes-spacex-challenge-labor-board

Imperialism

Israel

Palestine

Fig. 3. Graphic by Roya News,^[1] March 3, 2024, fair use.

I don’t understand how you even begin to justify banning some of the items (figure 3) that Israel bans from entering Gaza.^[2] But clearly, this is not what Binyamin Netanyahu is concerned with as he has promised to defy Joe Biden’s “red line” in attacking Rafah.^[3]

Which brings me to one of my complaints about the Democrats. Not just Joe Biden.

Where a Republican, being defied the way Biden is, would ruthlessly seek out their adversaries’ weak spots and relentlessly exploit them to compel capitulation, the Democrats are entirely too “polite” to do this. “Polite,” that is, if you call enabling a genocide “polite.”

Israel’s leader [Binyamin Netanyahu] was careful in his criticism of his American counterpart, and even more circumspect when asked whether he would prefer Republican candidate Donald Trump. “The last thing I want to do is enter the American political arena,” he said.^[4]

Netanyahu, we should recall, was far less circumspect a few years ago, when he bypassed Barack Obama to address the U.S. Congress. He effectively apologized to Obama in that speech, acknowledging that Obama had on numerous occasions supported Israel,^[5] but it takes quite some ahistorical naïvete to imagine that Netanyahu was not well aware that he was biting the hand that feeds him.

He still does. He plays hardball. Biden and the Democrats prefer bringing knives to gunfights.

Roya News, “Exposé reveals list of essential aid items banned by ‘Israel’ from entry into Gaza,” March 10, 2024, https://en.royanews.tv/news/49795/2024-03-03

^[1]Roya News, “Exposé reveals list of essential aid items banned by ‘Israel’ from entry into Gaza,” March 10, 2024, https://en.royanews.tv/news/49795/2024-03-03 ↩
^[2]Roya News, “Exposé reveals list of essential aid items banned by ‘Israel’ from entry into Gaza,” March 10, 2024, https://en.royanews.tv/news/49795/2024-03-03 ↩
^[3]Paul Ronzheimer and Carlo Martuscelli, “Netanyahu vows to defy Biden’s ‘red line’ and invade Rafah,” Politico, March 10, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israels-netanyahu-says-he-will-defy-bidens-red-line-and-invade-rafah/↩
^[4]Paul Ronzheimer and Carlo Martuscelli, “Netanyahu vows to defy Biden’s ‘red line’ and invade Rafah,” Politico, March 10, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israels-netanyahu-says-he-will-defy-bidens-red-line-and-invade-rafah/↩
^[5]David Benfell, “Asking the wrong question on Bibi’s speech,” Not Housebroken, February 17, 2015, https://disunitedstates.org/2015/02/17/asking-the-wrong-question-on-bibi-speech/; David Bernstein, “Is Netanyahu’s address to Congress unconstitutional?” Washington Post, January 25, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/01/25/is-netanyahus-address-to-congress-unconstitutional/; Jodi Rudoren, “Netanyahu Talk Stirs Backlash in Israeli Race,” New York Times, January 27, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/world/middleeast/israeli-opposition-takes-aim-at-netanyahu-over-planned-speech-to-congress.html; Washington Post, “The complete transcript of Netanyahu’s address to Congress,” March 3, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/03/03/full-text-netanyahus-address-to-congress/↩

A curious Emmanuel Macron turnabout

March 8, 2024benfell

As usual, I will be mostly ignoring the State of the Union address.

Imperialism

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,^[1] fair use.

The irony is that Emmanuel Macron was, earlier, among those desperately seeking a diplomatic end to the war.^[2] It’s safe to say his line has hardened considerably.^[3]

Radina Gigova, Christian Edwards, and Jennifer Hansler, “Sweden officially joins NATO, becoming alliance’s 32nd member,” CNN, March 7, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/07/europe/sweden-join-nato-official-intl

Henry Samuel, “Macron: West may need to save Ukraine if Russia makes breakthrough,” Telegraph, March 7, 2024, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/07/emmanuel-macron-threat-russia-breakthrough-ukraine-elysee/

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,^[4] fair use.

By all accounts, President [Joe] Biden still holds a relatively old-school Democratic view of Israel — one that’s deeply sympathetic to the country and its security interests.

As frustrated as he may be with [Binyamin] Netanyahu’s brutish policies and rank partisanship, it’s far from obvious that he is willing to start putting real pressure on Israel.

Most of Biden’s actual policies have involved giving Israel what it wants, like vetoing two UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire. Perhaps most importantly, the US has made over 100 arms sales to Israel since the war began, many of which were structured in such a way that they could escape congressional and public oversight.

For this reason, hearing about the administration’s frustration with Israel can feel a bit like hearing about Republican frustration with Trump. They’re perfectly happy to complain to reporters in private so long as they don’t have to actually do anything about it.^[5]

Zack Beauchamp, “Are Biden and the Democrats finally turning on Israel?” Vox, March 8, 2024, https://www.vox.com/politics/2024/3/8/24093748/biden-israel-democrats-state-of-the-union-gaza-port

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Russia investigation

Fig. 3. Photograph by Presidential Press and Information Office (Russia, Kremlin.ru), June 28, 2019,, via Wikimedia Commons Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0

Tori Otten, “Stable Genius Trump Hit With Massive Fine in Steele Dossier Lawsuit,” New Republic, March 7, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/179650/trump-six-figure-fine-steele-dossier

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Century III Mall

Fig. 4. “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,^[6] fair use.

The next time [they] tell me anything that’s truthful, it will be the first time.^[7]

Paula Reed Ward, “Century III Mall owners joust with Allegheny County DA over razing blighted property,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, March 7, 2024, https://triblive.com/business/century-iii-mall-owners-joust-with-allegheny-county-da-over-razing-blighted-property/

Paula Reed Ward, “Judge gives Century III Mall owners until next month to prove they will raze the property,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, March 8, 2024, https://triblive.com/local/judge-gives-century-iii-mall-owners-until-next-month-to-prove-they-will-raze-the-property/

^[1]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 ↩
^[2]Ishaan Tharoor, “The uncomfortable need to talk about diplomacy with Russia,” Washington Post, October 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2022/10/19/diplomacy-russia-ukraine-need-nuclear/↩
^[3]Leila Abboud and Henry Foy, “Macron says sending western troops to Ukraine cannot be ruled out,” Financial Times, February 27, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/83b8a80d-ab22-47fc-bbbb-6b1fd9df68ba; Henry Samuel, “Macron: West may need to save Ukraine if Russia makes breakthrough,” Telegraph, March 7, 2024, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/07/emmanuel-macron-threat-russia-breakthrough-ukraine-elysee/↩
^[4]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/↩
^[5]Zack Beauchamp, “Are Biden and the Democrats finally turning on Israel?” Vox, March 8, 2024, https://www.vox.com/politics/2024/3/8/24093748/biden-israel-democrats-state-of-the-union-gaza-port ↩
^[6]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 ↩
^[7]Chris Kelly, quoted in Paula Reed Ward, “Century III Mall owners joust with Allegheny County DA over razing blighted property,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, March 7, 2024, https://triblive.com/business/century-iii-mall-owners-joust-with-allegheny-county-da-over-razing-blighted-property/↩

The dilemma of the intractable

March 7, 2024benfell

Imperialism

United States

Haiti

Fig. 1. “US Marine Corps (USMC) Marines, Lima Company, 3rd Battalion (BN), 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division (Mar DIV), patrol through the Bel Air area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after distributing donated school supplies to students in a Port-au-Prince, Haiti, school. This effort is known as “Operation Homework,” which is part of Operation SECURE TOMORROW.” Kevin McCall, April 14, 2004, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

I have a problem with situations like Haiti, for which I’ve now set up a new page. This is a country that has been cursed since it declared independence from the French empire. The disasters are both natural and human in origin. The problems seem intractable, in part because somehow every outsider intervening in the country discounts the people who actually live there.^[1] That makes the problem larger than I can possibly capture on the page I’ve now created and one I’m reluctant to wade into because to do so—and to do so properly—is a larger project than I can presently take on.

Adam Taylor’s piece captures a lot of the history,^[2] but there’s more, and what I’ve pieced together so far barely, if at all, scratches the surface.

Adam Taylor, “The history of foreign intervention in Haiti is ugly,” Washington Post, March 7, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/07/haiti-foreign-intervention-history-peacekeeper/

Neoliberalism

Banking

Commercial real estate

Fig. 1. The confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, with the “Golden Triangle” and downtown Pittsburgh. Photograph by author, October 15, 2023.

Mark Belko, “As foreclosure risks rise, nearly half of Downtown Pittsburgh office space could be empty in 4 years, report shows,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 7, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2024/03/06/pittsburgh-downtown-council-bobby-wilson-office-buildings-conversions-gulf-tower/stories/202403060118

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

2024

Fig. 1. Cartoon by Ben Jennings, January 24, 2024, via the Guardian,^[3] fair use.

The lead of any story about the decision in Trump v. Anderson should be that the Court has unanimously ruled that an insurrectionist who attempted to overthrow a presidential election will remain on the presidential ballot. As far as it goes, that statement is accurate. But the brazenness with which the majority exercised its power to reach a decision in flagrant contradiction of the Constitution’s plain meaning has deeper significance. It offers final proof, if any more were needed, that textualism and originalism, the doctrines on which conservatives have long based their judicial philosophy, are nothing but instruments of right-wing activism to produce prearranged outcomes. On Monday, the Court severely weakened an essential constitutional barrier to violent despotism that had been erected in the aftermath of the Civil War. That the minority decided to issue what might be called a dissenting concurrence—quickly agreeing on a particular point while demolishing the majority’s main argument—only underscores how corrupt the Court’s majority has become.^[4]

Ann E. Marimow, “Supreme Court keeps Trump on ballot, rejects Colorado voter challenge,” Washington Post, March 4, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/04/supreme-court-trump-ballot-decision/

George T. Conway, III, “The Court’s Colorado Decision Wasn’t About the Law,” Atlantic, March 5, 2024, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/supreme-court-colorado-opinion-trump-disqualify/677646/

Jennifer Rubin, “The Supreme Court did Trump no favors. He’ll be facing a fall trial,” Washington Post, March 5, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/05/supreme-court-timing-trump-trial/

Matt Ford, “Everybody Hates the Supreme Court’s Disqualification Ruling,” New Republic, March 6, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/article/179576/supreme-court-disqualification-ruling-criticism

Sean Wilentz, “The Constitution Turned Upside Down,” New York Review of Books, March 6, 2024, https://www.nybooks.com/online/2024/03/06/the-constitution-turned-upside-down/

^[1]Adam Taylor, “The history of foreign intervention in Haiti is ugly,” Washington Post, March 7, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/07/haiti-foreign-intervention-history-peacekeeper/↩
^[2]Adam Taylor, “The history of foreign intervention in Haiti is ugly,” Washington Post, March 7, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/07/haiti-foreign-intervention-history-peacekeeper/↩
^[3]Ben Jennings, “Ben Jennings on Donald Trump’s progress along the Republican nomination trail – cartoon,” Guardian, January 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2024/jan/24/ben-jennings-on-donald-trumps-progress-along-the-republican-nomination-trail-cartoon ↩
^[4]Sean Wilentz, “The Constitution Turned Upside Down,” New York Review of Books, March 6, 2024, https://www.nybooks.com/online/2024/03/06/the-constitution-turned-upside-down/↩

Now, we have a reason to impeach “Genocide Joe” Biden, not that Republicans will pursue it

March 6, 2024benfell

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 United States has quietly approved and delivered more than 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel since the Gaza war began Oct. 7, amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid, U.S. officials told members of Congress in a recent classified briefing.

The triple-digit figure, which has not been previously reported, is the latest indication of Washington’s extensive involvement in the polarizing five-month conflict even as top U.S. officials and lawmakers increasingly express deep reservations about Israel’s military tactics in a campaign that has killed more than 30,000 people, according to Gaza’s health authorities.^[2]

So far, Joe Biden has not yielded to the pressure from the ‘uncommitted’ campaign.^[3] He’s still sending vast quantities arms to genocidal maniacs, almost always by approving sales for amounts below the threshold that would require Congress to be notified.^[4] “That’s an extraordinary number of sales over the course of a pretty short amount of time, which really strongly suggests that the Israeli campaign would not be sustainable without this level of U.S. support.”^[5]

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) said in an interview that the Biden administration should apply “existing standards” stipulating that the United States “shouldn’t transfer arms or equipment to places where it’s reasonably likely that those will be used to inflict civilian casualties, or to harm civilian infrastructure.” . . .

The lack of public information about arms deliveries has prompted some arms experts to push for changes. “The arms transfer process lacks transparency by design,” said Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned in protest over the Biden administration’s Gaza policy.

The vast number of transfers since Oct. 7, largely financed by the more than $3.3 billion in U.S. taxpayer funds Washington provides to Israel every year, “is something we deserve to know as citizens of a democracy,” he said.^[6]

Gordon Lubold, Nancy A. Youssef, and Annie Linskey, “U.S. to Deliver Aid to Gaza Through Military Airdrops,” Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-expected-to-deliver-aid-to-gaza-through-military-air-drops-79814c51

Ishaan Tharoor, “Gaza’s spiraling, unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” Washington Post, March 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/01/gaza-humanitarian-catastrophe/

Tara Copp, “US military aircraft airdrop thousands of meals into Gaza in emergency humanitarian aid operation,” Associated Press, March 2, 2024, https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-gaza-airdrop-humanitarian-assistance-f8bc071193f89906abf21478bc70a084

Felicia Schwartz, “US begins Gaza aid airdrops after Joe Biden rebukes Israel,” Financial Times, March 2, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/c36c0386-8acb-48bc-a84b-8dfa636d00b4

Felicia Schwartz and Mehul Srivastava, “Israel has ‘basically signed on’ to a ceasefire, US official says,” Financial Times, March 2, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/b42490ae-8ea1-4744-8745-87123450c6c6

Neri Zilber and Felicia Schwartz, “Netanyahu allies lash out at Gantz over Washington trip,” Financial Times, March 3, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/1068b774-6ce2-4b41-8552-df64d12c7be1

Michelle Nichols, “UN team says rape, gang rape likely occurred during Hamas attack on Israel,” Reuters, March 4, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-team-says-rape-gang-rape-likely-occurred-during-hamas-attack-israel-2024-03-04/

Ishaan Tharoor, “Biden’s rift with Netanyahu grows wider,” Washington Post, March 5, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/05/biden-netanyahu-gantz/

John Hudson, “U.S. floods arms into Israel despite mounting alarm over war’s conduct,” Washington Post, March 6, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/06/us-weapons-israel-gaza/

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

2024

Fig. 1. Cartoon by Ben Jennings, January 24, 2024, via the Guardian,^[7] fair use.

It isn’t just George Conway.^[8] Across the political spectrum, lawyers are unhappy with the Supreme Court’s reversal of Colorado’s ruling that Donald Trump should be disqualified.^[9]

Matt Ford, “Everybody Hates the Supreme Court’s Disqualification Ruling,” New Republic, March 6, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/article/179576/supreme-court-disqualification-ruling-criticism

^[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]John Hudson, “U.S. floods arms into Israel despite mounting alarm over war’s conduct,” Washington Post, March 6, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/06/us-weapons-israel-gaza/↩
^[3]John Cassidy, “Michigan’s “Uncommitted” Democrats Send a Message to Biden,” New Yorker, February 28, 2024, https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/michigans-uncommitted-democrats-send-a-message-to-biden; Tony Diver, “Michigan primary results: Joe Biden wins but young and Arab Democrats rebel over Israel,” Telegraph, February 28, 2024, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2024/02/28/michigan-primary-results-polls-vote-republicans-trump-haley/; Caleb Ecarma, “Why Michigan’s Protest Vote Could Change Joe Biden’s Calculus: ‘There Will Be Political Consequences,’” Vanity Fair, February 28, 2024, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/michigan-vote-change-joe-biden-calculus; Lauren Fedor and James Politi, “Joe Biden faces dissent over Gaza as he wins Michigan Democratic primary,” Financial Times, February 28, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/4dbd9253-5147-4bbd-9e09-276e48e3f799; Ron Kampeas, “‘Uncommitted’ campaign protesting Biden’s Israel support nets 100,000+ votes in Michigan primary,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, February 28, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/02/27/politics/campaign-protesting-bidens-support-for-israel-celebrates-as-tens-of-thousands-vote-uncommitted-in-michigan-primary; Ron Kampeas, “‘Uncommitted’ campaign opposing Biden’s support for Israel makes a mark in 5 more states,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, March 6, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/03/06/politics/uncommitted-campaign-opposing-bidens-support-for-israel-makes-a-mark-in-5-more-states ↩
^[4]John Hudson, “U.S. floods arms into Israel despite mounting alarm over war’s conduct,” Washington Post, March 6, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/06/us-weapons-israel-gaza/↩
^[5]Jeremy Konyndyk, quoted in John Hudson, “U.S. floods arms into Israel despite mounting alarm over war’s conduct,” Washington Post, March 6, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/06/us-weapons-israel-gaza/↩
^[6]John Hudson, “U.S. floods arms into Israel despite mounting alarm over war’s conduct,” Washington Post, March 6, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/03/06/us-weapons-israel-gaza/↩
^[7]Ben Jennings, “Ben Jennings on Donald Trump’s progress along the Republican nomination trail – cartoon,” Guardian, January 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2024/jan/24/ben-jennings-on-donald-trumps-progress-along-the-republican-nomination-trail-cartoon ↩
^[8]George T. Conway, III, “The Court’s Colorado Decision Wasn’t About the Law,” Atlantic, March 5, 2024, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/supreme-court-colorado-opinion-trump-disqualify/677646/↩
^[9]Matt Ford, “Everybody Hates the Supreme Court’s Disqualification Ruling,” New Republic, March 6, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/article/179576/supreme-court-disqualification-ruling-criticism ↩

Please, just spare me the bogus diplomatic optimism

March 5, 2024benfell

Imperialism

Israel

Lebanon

Fig. 1. “Sabra & Shatila Massacre 1982 Memorial in Sabra, South Beirut,” photograph by Bertramz, September 2009, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

During a meeting in Beirut on Monday, [Amos] Hochstein said that a war between Israel and Hezbollah would not be containable, and added that the US was optimistic about restoring stability in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.^[1]

Disregard utterly the optimism. Treat it the same way you would politicians making promises “when,” not “if,” they win. It’s not quite deception, at least until they are in a position to fulfill those promises, because if people believe you, it might actually work, but this is the real problem with it: It hopes to reify magical thinking.

Emanuel Fabian, “As rockets fly at north, Gallant says Israel nearing military option against Hezbollah,” Times of Israel, March 5, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-rockets-fly-at-north-gallant-says-israel-nearing-military-option-against-hezbollah/

Imperialism

Russia

Fig. 1. Historic Russian empire, from the New York Times, possibly March 6, 2014, fair use.^[2]

What do you write when all you can say is that no opposition to Vladimir Putin is possible and yet, there it is? Julia Ioffe offers a pretty good stab at it.

Julia Ioffe, “Moscow After Navalny,” Puck, March 5, 2024, https://puck.news/moscow-after-navalny/

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

2024

Fig. 1. Cartoon by Ben Jennings, January 24, 2024, via the Guardian,^[3] fair use.

Jennifer Rubin thinks Donald Trump won’t be able to campaign while attending his criminal trials and that the Supreme Court has effectively set at least one of those trial dates for the fall, precisely when we would expect the most intense campaigning to occur.^[4] I don’t know that she’s right but her argument is certainly interesting.

Meanwhile George Conway sends the Supreme Court back to an undergraduate program. It seems to need instruction in basic logic.^[5]

^[1]Emanuel Fabian, “As rockets fly at north, Gallant says Israel nearing military option against Hezbollah,” Times of Israel, March 5, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-rockets-fly-at-north-gallant-says-israel-nearing-military-option-against-hezbollah/↩
^[2]New York Times, “Ukraine Crisis in Maps,” n.d., http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/02/27/world/europe/ukraine-divisions-crimea.html ↩
^[3]Ben Jennings, “Ben Jennings on Donald Trump’s progress along the Republican nomination trail – cartoon,” Guardian, January 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2024/jan/24/ben-jennings-on-donald-trumps-progress-along-the-republican-nomination-trail-cartoon ↩
^[4]Jennifer Rubin, “The Supreme Court did Trump no favors. He’ll be facing a fall trial,” Washington Post, March 5, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/03/05/supreme-court-timing-trump-trial/↩
^[5]George T. Conway, III, “The Court’s Colorado Decision Wasn’t About the Law,” Atlantic, March 5, 2024, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/supreme-court-colorado-opinion-trump-disqualify/677646/↩

Whodunnit, Gaza-style

March 5, 2024benfell

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 United Nations reported that sexual assaults and genital mutilation had likely occurred during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, but “[t]he team said a ‘fully-fledged investigation’ would be required to establish the overall magnitude, scope and specific attribution for the sexual violence,” which is to say we still don’t know very much. We don’t know if Israel Defense Force soldiers raped Palestinian women. We don’t know if Hamas fighters raped women in Israel. We have “clear and convincing information that some hostages taken to Gaza have been subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence and ha[ve] reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing” and we have information “about ‘sexual violence against Palestinian men and women in detention settings, during house raids and at checkpoints’ after Oct. 7. The detention centers were in Israel.”^[2]

Ishaan Tharoor, “Gaza’s spiraling, unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” Washington Post, March 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/01/gaza-humanitarian-catastrophe/

Felicia Schwartz, “US begins Gaza aid airdrops after Joe Biden rebukes Israel,” Financial Times, March 2, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/c36c0386-8acb-48bc-a84b-8dfa636d00b4

Neri Zilber and Felicia Schwartz, “Netanyahu allies lash out at Gantz over Washington trip,” Financial Times, March 3, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/1068b774-6ce2-4b41-8552-df64d12c7be1

Ishaan Tharoor, “Biden’s rift with Netanyahu grows wider,” Washington Post, March 5, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/05/biden-netanyahu-gantz/

^[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]Michelle Nichols, “UN team says rape, gang rape likely occurred during Hamas attack on Israel,” Reuters, March 4, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-team-says-rape-gang-rape-likely-occurred-during-hamas-attack-israel-2024-03-04/↩

Chaos? This Supreme Court talks about chaos?

March 4, 2024March 4, 2024benfell

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.

Ishaan Tharoor, “Gaza’s spiraling, unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” Washington Post, March 1, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/03/01/gaza-humanitarian-catastrophe/

Felicia Schwartz, “US begins Gaza aid airdrops after Joe Biden rebukes Israel,” Financial Times, March 2, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/c36c0386-8acb-48bc-a84b-8dfa636d00b4

Neri Zilber and Felicia Schwartz, “Netanyahu allies lash out at Gantz over Washington trip,” Financial Times, March 3, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/1068b774-6ce2-4b41-8552-df64d12c7be1

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt

2024

Fig. 1. Cartoon by Ben Jennings, January 24, 2024, via the Guardian,^[2] fair use.

The justices said the Constitution does not permit a single state to disqualify a presidential candidate from national office, ruling that such responsibility “rests with Congress and not the states.” The court warned of disruption and chaos if a candidate for nationwide office could be declared ineligible in some states, but not others, based on the same conduct.

“Nothing in the Constitution requires that we endure such chaos — arriving at any time or different times, up to and perhaps beyond the inauguration,” the court said in an unsigned, 13-page unsigned opinion.^[3]

If “[n]othing in the Constitution requires that we endure such chaos,”^[4] what about the chaos of Donald Trump’s coup attempt, still unresolved three years later? What about the chaos of unlimited guns? What about the chaos of women having to travel to obtain urgent medical care? I see a whole lot of chaos the Supreme Court enables.

^[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]Ben Jennings, “Ben Jennings on Donald Trump’s progress along the Republican nomination trail – cartoon,” Guardian, January 24, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2024/jan/24/ben-jennings-on-donald-trumps-progress-along-the-republican-nomination-trail-cartoon ↩
^[3]Ann E. Marimow, “Supreme Court keeps Trump on ballot, rejects Colorado voter challenge,” Washington Post, March 4, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/04/supreme-court-trump-ballot-decision/↩
^[4]U.S. Supreme Court, quoted in Ann E. Marimow, “Supreme Court keeps Trump on ballot, rejects Colorado voter challenge,” Washington Post, March 4, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/04/supreme-court-trump-ballot-decision/↩

A righteously howling mob

March 3, 2024benfell

Illiberalism

Gilead

Right-wing militias

Police White supremacist gangs

Fig. 1. Photograph by Lorie Shaull, April 1, 2021, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Nothing new here, except a Pennsylvania state trooper made the mistake of stopping and abusing the husband of a Philadelphia city official who filmed a portion of the encounter.^[1] My guess is that officer will, after all is said and done, be sacrificed to a righteously howling mob in order to spare the rest of white supremacist gangsters and enable them to continue as before. Will this solve the problem of white supremacist gangsters in Pennsylvania? Of course not. What would the point of the sacrifice be then?

Wendy Ruderman, “Mayor Parker says video of state trooper detaining top city official is ‘very concerning,’” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 2, 2024, https://www.inquirer.com/news/trooper-pennsylvania-police-celena-morrison-mayor-parker-20240302.html

Felicia Schwartz, “US begins Gaza aid airdrops after Joe Biden rebukes Israel,” Financial Times, March 2, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/c36c0386-8acb-48bc-a84b-8dfa636d00b4

Neena Hagen, “Despite progress, Pittsburgh’s busiest bridges languish without repairs,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 3, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2024/03/03/pittsburgh-bridges-repairs-fern-hollow-infrastructure-herron-ave/stories/202403030064

^[1]Wendy Ruderman, “Mayor Parker says video of state trooper detaining top city official is ‘very concerning,’” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 2, 2024, https://www.inquirer.com/news/trooper-pennsylvania-police-celena-morrison-mayor-parker-20240302.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/↩