Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Fig. 1. The confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, with the “Golden Triangle” and downtown Pittsburgh. Photograph by author, October 15, 2023.
Jeff Himler and Haley Daugherty, “2 tornadoes suspected as severe storm causes damage, outages in Westmoreland, Allegheny,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 26, 2024, https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/2-tornadoes-confirmed-as-severe-storm-causes-damage-outages-in-westmoreland-allegheny/
Imperialism
United States
Fig. 2. “American Progress,” painting by John Gast, 1872, digital version 2006, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
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Josh Gerstein and Samantha Latson, “Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, cuts plea deal to avoid US prison,” Politico, June 24, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/24/julian-assange-plea-deal-00164763
Ellen Nakashima, Devlin Barrett, and Rachel Weiner, “WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange expected to plead guilty to felony charge,” Washington Post, June 24, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/06/24/assange-wikileaks-plea-deal-guilty/
Ed Pilkington, “Julian Assange leaves UK after striking deal with US justice department,” Guardian, June 25, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/jun/25/julian-assange-plea-deal-with-us-free-to-return-australia
Ishaan Tharoor, “The joy and rage over Assange’s release,” Washington Post, June 26, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/06/26/julian-assange-release-debate/
Mathew Ingram, “Julian Assange is free, but troubling journalistic questions remain,” Columbia Journalism Review, June 27, 2024, https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/julian-assange-is-free-but-troubling-journalistic-questions-remain.php
Israel
Lebanon
Fig. 3. “Sabra & Shatila Massacre 1982 Memorial in Sabra, South Beirut,” photograph by Bertramz, September 2009, via Wikimedia Commons,
There’s a curious pattern to war: It seems inconceivable until it seems inevitable. It’s looking like we’re in the latter stage here.
The United States on Thursday joined a growing list of countries that have advised their citizens to leave Lebanon due to the risk of war as tensions between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group continue to spiral.
The US call came as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned during a visit to Washington that Israel was capable of sending Lebanon “back to the Stone Age” in any war with Hezbollah, though he stressed that a diplomatic solution is preferred.[1]
“Stone Age” rhetoric sounds like a threat to use nuclear weapons.
A notice from the US Embassy in Lebanon published on Thursday strongly advised nationals to reconsider travel to the country, and said that “US citizens in Lebanon should not travel to southern Lebanon, the Lebanon-Syria border area, or refugee settlements.”
On Wednesday, Dutch and German authorities urged their nationals to leave Lebanon due to the risk of war.
The Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday that the majority of Western embassies — especially European missions — had already examined the Lebanese coast for potential sites from which to evacuate their citizens by sea should war break out between Israel and Hezbollah.[2]
It just completely doesn’t matter how many people Binyamin Netanyahu must kill in order to salvage his political career.
Times of Israel, “US joins countries telling citizens not to visit Lebanon, amid push to avert war,” June 27, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-joins-countries-telling-citizens-to-get-out-of-lebanon-amid-push-to-avert-war/
Illiberalism
Gilead
Abortion, reproductive freedom, reproductive health, and even divorce
Fig. 4. 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.
Eric Berger, “Conservative US lawmakers are pushing for an end to no-fault divorce,” Guardian, June 25, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/25/republicans-no-fault-divorce
John Fritze, “Bloomberg: Supreme Court appears to side with Biden admin in abortion case, according to draft briefly posted on website,” Cable News Network, June 26, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/26/politics/supreme-court-abortion-idaho-bloomberg
Ann E. Marimow and Dan Diamond, “Supreme Court officially allows emergency abortions in Idaho, for now,” Washington Post, June 27, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/06/27/supreme-court-abortion-emergency-room-hospital-impact/
- [1]Times of Israel, “US joins countries telling citizens not to visit Lebanon, amid push to avert war,” June 27, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-joins-countries-telling-citizens-to-get-out-of-lebanon-amid-push-to-avert-war/↩
- [2]Times of Israel, “US joins countries telling citizens not to visit Lebanon, amid push to avert war,” June 27, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-joins-countries-telling-citizens-to-get-out-of-lebanon-amid-push-to-avert-war/↩