Irregular Bullshit

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

Stephen Wilmot, “Tesla Is Running Out of Time to Deliver on Self-Driving Promises,” Wall Street Journal, April 16, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/tesla-is-running-out-of-time-to-deliver-on-self-driving-promises-92f4afc1

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Hush money

Fig. 2. Cartoon by Jesse Duquette, undated, via “Minneapple23” [pseud.] on Imgur, April 1, 2023, fair use.

Poor baby.

Victoria Bekiempis, “Trump rebuked as hush-money trial judge warns against juror intimidation,” Guardian, April 16, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/trump-new-york-hush-money-criminal-trial

Kyle Cheney, “The reality of being a criminal defendant on trial finally dawned on Trump. He didn’t take it well,” Politico, April 16, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/16/trump-trial-reality-criminal-defendant-00152421

Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2023-2024

Fig. 3. Photograph credited to Office of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, date inconsistent with title but given as November 9, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Mike Johnson’s speakership has been troubled^[1] since his election.^[2] And when it was just Marjorie Taylor Greene seeking to oust him, I wasn’t much impressed. But now a second Republican has joined her. They need three to oust him unless Democrats rescue him^[3] despite his far right views.^[4] The impetus for all this is his foreign aid package, broken up into four bills, including three, one each, for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan.^[5]

To even bring the [foreign aid] package up on the floor, [Mike] Johnson will need a majority of the House. And given conservative opposition he’s almost certainly going to need Democratic support. Typically, the minority party does not help on so-called rule votes, but some have signaled they’d make an exception for Ukraine aid.^[6]

Get out the popcorn because I have no idea how this plays out.

Jordain Carney, Olivia Beavers, and Anthony Adragna, “Second Republican endorses push to fire Johnson as speaker,” Politico, April 16, 2024, https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/16/congress/massie-joins-greene-00152463

Imperialism

Israel

Fig. 4. John Bolton and Binyamin Netanyahu at a press conference. Office of U.S. National Security Advisor, August 20, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Ishaan Tharoor, “Iran’s escalation with Israel shifts focus away from Gaza,” Washington Post, April 16, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/04/16/iran-escalation-israel-gaza-attention-focus/

Heather Cox Richardson, “April 16, 2024,” Letters from an American, April 17, 2024, https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-16-2024

Palestine

07_09:10:47-2
Fig. 5. 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.

Leigh Ann Caldwell and Marianna Sotomayor, “Johnson gambles on plan separating Israel aid from Ukraine funds,” Washington Post, April 15, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/15/mike-johnson-israel-ukraine-aid-house-republicans/

Eugene Daniels, “White House opposes standalone Israel funding bill,” Politico, April 15, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/15/biden-iran-attack-israel-00152282

Julia Ioffe, “Bibi Stings,” Puck News, April 15, 2024, https://puck.news/will-bibi-netanyahu-escalate-with-iran/

Jason Burke, “Revealed: Israel has sped up settlement-building in East Jerusalem since Gaza war began,” Guardian, April 17, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/17/revealed-israel-has-sped-up-settlement-building-in-east-jerusalem-since-gaza-war-began

Jennifer Scholtes and Connor O’Brien, “Johnson releases text on foreign aid plan as it hangs by thread,” Politico, April 17, 2024, https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/17/congress/johnson-outlines-foreign-aid-plan-00152767

Russia

Ukraine

Fig. 6. “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,^[8] fair use.

Eugene Daniels, “White House opposes standalone Israel funding bill,” Politico, April 15, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/15/biden-iran-attack-israel-00152282

Siobhán O’Grady and Kostiantyn Khudov, “Ukraine, watching U.S. coalition protect Israel, feels alone,” Washington Post, April 15, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/15/ukraine-israel-contrast-defense-iran/

Isaac C. Flanagan, “J.D. Vance’s Ukraine math doesn’t add up,” Defense One, April 16, 2024, https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2024/04/jd-vances-ukraine-math-doesnt-add/395756/

China

Taiwan

^[1]Tina Nguyen, “Does Mike Johnson Have a Clue?” Puck, November 1, 2023, https://puck.news/does-mike-johnson-have-a-clue/; Tina Nguyen, “Johnson Gets the McCarthy Treatment,” Puck, January 10, 2024, https://puck.news/johnson-gets-the-mccarthy-treatment/; Tina Nguyen, “The Johnson Piñata,” Puck, February 7, 2024, https://puck.news/the-johnson-pinata/; Victor Reklaitis, “Speaker Johnson faces ouster motion as bill to avert shutdown passes House,” Market Watch, March 22, 2024, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/house-passes-package-that-prevents-government-shutdown-ce0b032b; Maegan Vazquez and Mariana Alfaro, “Weakened House GOP majority reckons with Johnson’s leadership,” Washington Post, March 24, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/24/house-speaker-johnson-spending-complaints/↩
^[2]Lauren Fedor, “Donald Trump ally Mike Johnson elected US House Speaker after weeks of gridlock,” Financial Times, October 25, 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/1744b79e-f137-4f81-bdba-f3f2bd5b04f3 ↩
^[3]Jordain Carney, Olivia Beavers, and Anthony Adragna, “Second Republican endorses push to fire Johnson as speaker,” Politico, April 16, 2024, https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/16/congress/massie-joins-greene-00152463 ↩
^[4]Bess Levin, “Mike Johnson Said Same-Sex Marriage Would Lead to People Marrying Their Pets, Wanted to Sentence Abortion Doctors to ‘Hard Labor,’” Vanity Fair, October 25, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/10/mike-johnson-said-same-sex-marriage-would-lead-to-people-marrying-their-pets; Bess Levin, “Election Denial, ‘Sexual Anarchy,’ Noah’s Ark: All the Mike Johnson Details We Regret to Inform You Of,” Vanity Fair, October 26, 2023, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/10/everything-to-know-about-mike-johnson ↩
^[5]Leigh Ann Caldwell and Marianna Sotomayor, “Johnson gambles on plan separating Israel aid from Ukraine funds,” Washington Post, April 15, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/15/mike-johnson-israel-ukraine-aid-house-republicans/; Jordain Carney, Olivia Beavers, and Anthony Adragna, “Second Republican endorses push to fire Johnson as speaker,” Politico, April 16, 2024, https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/16/congress/massie-joins-greene-00152463; Eugene Daniels, “White House opposes standalone Israel funding bill,” Politico, April 15, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/15/biden-iran-attack-israel-00152282; Jennifer Scholtes and Connor O’Brien, “Johnson releases text on foreign aid plan as it hangs by thread,” Politico, April 17, 2024, https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/17/congress/johnson-outlines-foreign-aid-plan-00152767 ↩
^[6]Jordain Carney, Olivia Beavers, and Anthony Adragna, “Second Republican endorses push to fire Johnson as speaker,” Politico, April 16, 2024, https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/16/congress/massie-joins-greene-00152463 ↩
^[7]Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
^[8]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 ↩

Can’t stop, won’t stop genocide

April 16, 2024benfell

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.

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.

[Mike] Johnson plans to put four different bills on the [House of Representatives] floor, essentially decoupling aid for Israel — which faced a barrage of missiles and drone threats from Iran over the weekend in retaliation for a deadly airstrike on its consulate in Syria — from help for Ukraine, which is more controversial inside his conference. The speaker will then advance separate votes for aid to Taiwan and a measure to satisfy Republican foreign policy demands, including the seizure of Russian assets and a House-approved bill that could ban TikTok from the United States, among other measures.^[2]

Do I believe that Joe Biden cares about Ukraine, let alone Taiwan, as much as he does Israel? Not even for a nanosecond. Do I believe he would veto a bill approving aid for Israel? You can’t be serious.

But he’s holding out for Ukraine and Taiwan aid along with aid for Israel, or so he and his administration claim. A standalone bill for aid for Israel would much more easily pass the white Christian nationalist House of Representatives.^[3] Also, fairly obviously, European allies care a lot about aid for Ukraine.^[4]

My bet is that:

Biden is bluffing.
Republicans in the House of Representatives will call that bluff because at least a few of them love Vladimir Putin and could probably warm up to Xi Jinping if Xi were, um, white.
Biden would sign a bill that includes only Israel aid.

‘Cause, you know, genocide is important. Can’t stop, won’t stop that.

Be sure to read Julia Ioffe’s article. She’s back to doing what she does best here.

Eugene Daniels, “White House opposes standalone Israel funding bill,” Politico, April 15, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/15/biden-iran-attack-israel-00152282

Julia Ioffe, “Bibi Stings,” Puck News, April 15, 2024, https://puck.news/will-bibi-netanyahu-escalate-with-iran/

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,^[5] fair use.

Eugene Daniels, “White House opposes standalone Israel funding bill,” Politico, April 15, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/15/biden-iran-attack-israel-00152282

China

Taiwan

Eugene Daniels, “White House opposes standalone Israel funding bill,” Politico, April 15, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/15/biden-iran-attack-israel-00152282

Pennsylvania and surrounding areas

Pittsburgh, the Ohio Valley, and surrounding areas

Pollution

Fig. 1. 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,^[6] fair use.

The 2012 air quality rules — with which [Allegheny County] is in compliance — state that the limit for fine particles (known as PM2.5) is 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter. But earlier this year, the EPA lowered that limit to 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter. That rule goes into effect on May 6, according to the Federal Register.^[7]

Steve Bohnel, “Allegheny County withdraws request to EPA to be labeled in compliance with federal air quality standards,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 16, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/environment/2024/04/15/allegheny-county-epa-air-quality-standards/stories/202404150153

^[1]Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
^[2]Leigh Ann Caldwell and Marianna Sotomayor, “Johnson gambles on plan separating Israel aid from Ukraine funds,” Washington Post, April 15, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/15/mike-johnson-israel-ukraine-aid-house-republicans/↩
^[3]Leigh Ann Caldwell and Marianna Sotomayor, “Johnson gambles on plan separating Israel aid from Ukraine funds,” Washington Post, April 15, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/15/mike-johnson-israel-ukraine-aid-house-republicans/; Eugene Daniels, “White House opposes standalone Israel funding bill,” Politico, April 15, 2024, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/15/biden-iran-attack-israel-00152282 ↩
^[4]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/↩
^[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]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 ↩
^[7]Steve Bohnel, “Allegheny County withdraws request to EPA to be labeled in compliance with federal air quality standards,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 16, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/environment/2024/04/15/allegheny-county-epa-air-quality-standards/stories/202404150153 ↩

Sure, why not? World War III, just to keep Binyamin Netanyahu in power. He deserves it, after all. Right?

April 15, 2024benfell

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.

As a show of force, the attack was unprecedented in scope, involving more than 300 drones and missiles combined, but analysts said it was also carefully choreographed — giving Israel and its allies time to prepare, and providing the Israeli government a possible off-ramp amid fears of a widening war.

The assault was designed with the knowledge that Israel’s “multi-layer systems would prevent most of the weapons from reaching a target,” said Sima Shine, head of the Iran program at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. “That outcome made space for [Binyamin] Netanyahu and senior leaders to strike a more measured tone than they could if one of the missiles had taken out an apartment building or barracks.”^[1]

But Binyamin Netanyahu wants a wider war, preferably drawing in the U.S.,^[2] all to delay an election he knows he’ll lose.^[3] It is not clear to me that the Iranian regime considered this in its retaliation or that the attack could garner sympathy for Israel:

Israeli officials on Sunday expressed conviction that the Iranian attack could turn the tables in terms of widespread international criticism over its actions in Gaza, earning them sympathy as a victim of an Iranian government that is arguably equally unpopular.^[4]

Andrew England and James Shotter, “Is time starting to run out for Benjamin Netanyahu?” Financial Times, April 12, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/ce0de70e-461a-4279-9a15-df45be1c0785

Lauren Izso et al., “Israel braces as Iran launches wave of retaliatory strikes,” CNN, April 13, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/13/middleeast/iran-drones-attack-israel-intl-latam/index.html

Suleiman Al-Khalidi, “Most of the Iranian drones over Syria were downed by Israel,US, intelligence sources say,” Reuters, April 14, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/most-iranian-drones-over-syria-were-downed-by-israelus-intelligence-sources-say-2024-04-14/

Jamie Dettmer, “How Israel foiled Iran’s attack,” Politico, April 14, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-iran-attack-missile-drone-strike-defense-cooperation/

Karen DeYoung and Matt Viser, “Biden counsels Netanyahu to ‘slow things down’ after Iranian attack,” Washington Post, April 14, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/14/biden-netanyahu-israel-iran/

Susannah George, “Iran crosses old red lines and sets ‘new equation’ with attack on Israel,” Washington Post, April 14, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/14/iran-israel-attack-missiles-drones/

Murtaza Hussain, “Israel and Israel Alone Kicked Off This Escalation — In a Bid to Drag U.S. Into War With Iran,” Intercept, April 14, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/04/14/israel-iran-drag-us-war-netanyahu-biden/

Rory Jones et al., “Biden Pushes for Diplomatic Response to Iran’s Attack on Israel,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/biden-presses-for-diplomatic-response-to-irans-attack-on-israel-1c5452a1

Illiberalism

Gilead

Donald Trump

Hush money

Fig. 1. Cartoon by Jesse Duquette, undated, via “Minneapple23” [pseud.] on Imgur, April 1, 2023, fair use.

Devlin Barrett et al., “Trump’s hush money trial strategy: Deny, delay and denigrate,” Washington Post, April 14, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/13/trump-hush-money-trial-defense-strategy/

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.

Aaron Gregg, “Tesla will shed more than 10 percent of its workforce,” Washington Post, April 15, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/04/15/tesla-layoffs-elon-musk-ev/

^[1]Murtaza Hussain, “Israel and Israel Alone Kicked Off This Escalation — In a Bid to Drag U.S. Into War With Iran,” Intercept, April 14, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/04/14/israel-iran-drag-us-war-netanyahu-biden/↩
^[2]Murtaza Hussain, “Israel and Israel Alone Kicked Off This Escalation — In a Bid to Drag U.S. Into War With Iran,” Intercept, April 14, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/04/14/israel-iran-drag-us-war-netanyahu-biden/↩
^[3]Andrew England and James Shotter, “Is time starting to run out for Benjamin Netanyahu?” Financial Times, April 12, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/ce0de70e-461a-4279-9a15-df45be1c0785 ↩
^[4]Karen DeYoung and Matt Viser, “Biden counsels Netanyahu to ‘slow things down’ after Iranian attack,” Washington Post, April 14, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/14/biden-netanyahu-israel-iran/↩

Iran strikes back: A swing and a miss?

April 14, 2024April 14, 2024benfell

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Infrastructure

Fig. 1. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Rich Cholodofsky and Ryan Deto, “Barges break free on Ohio River in Pittsburgh; marina damage extensive, Sewickley Bridge reopens again,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 13, 2024, https://triblive.com/local/barges-break-free-on-ohio-river-in-pittsburgh/

Illiberalism

Gilead

White Christian nationalism

Fig. 2. If one weighs by geography rather than population, Pennsylvania is very much a white Christian nationalist kind of place. Photograph by author, January 5, 2023.

There is a new blog entry entitled, “Slavery and ‘law of the jungle’ economics.”

Heather Cox Richardson, “April 12, 2024,” Letters from an American, April 13, 2024, https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/april-12-2024

Imperialism

Israel

Fig. 3. John Bolton and Binyamin Netanyahu at a press conference. Office of U.S. National Security Advisor, August 20, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Iran launched its attack in response to a suspected Israeli airstrike on its embassy compound in Damascus on April 1 that killed officers of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the attack.

The Pantsir air defence systems that Iran operates from several air bases inside Syria were ineffective in downing any Israeli aircraft, both sources added, without giving further details.^[1]

The first direct attack by a state military against Israel since Iraq’s Scud missile launches during 1991’s Gulf War, the Iranian salvo — slow, deliberate, and forewarned — appeared calculated not to escalate the situation. The same cannot be said of Israel’s strike against the Iranians in Syria.

While Israeli officials, not least Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have sought to portray the Jewish state as the victims of an unprovoked Iranian attack, it was their own deadly strike on the Damascus consulate that triggered the new phase of the conflict. Though the U.S. created the conditions that may have encouraged Netanyahu’s gambit, it was reportedly Israel, acting on its own behalf, without coordination with its allies, that precipitated the latest grave escalation.^[2]

Iran tried to overwhelm Israel’s air defenses with five hours of missile and drone strikes overnight — but the offensive failed spectacularly.

Tehran targeted Israel with multiple waves of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as explosives-laden drones, in retaliation for a deadly Israeli strike on Iran’s Damascus consulate earlier this month.

Despite the Iranian army claiming its blitz “achieved all its objectives,” the impact was small — minor damage was incurred at the Nevatim Air Base in the south of the country and a 7-year-old Bedouin girl was injured by fragments from an intercepted missile.^[3]

The way I would resolve that paradox is to assume that Iran was mostly sending a message—and trying not to escalate, which a more serious attack might have done. The trouble with that is that this was a very large attack.^[4] But,

Iran held back its most potent weapon—the Lebanese militia, Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that Israel says is largely funded by Tehran. The group has tens of thousands of precision-guided missiles that could overwhelm Israel’s air defenses and likely cause much more damage than Saturday’s attack, military analysts said.^[5]

It could have been larger.

The limited impact was thanks to two factors — the resilience and efficiency of Israel’s advanced multilayered air defenses, which include the anti-ballistic Arrow system and the Iron Dome system, and the extraordinary close cooperation between Israel and its Western allies — the United States, Britain and France.^[6]

Something to remember here is that Iran now has a better sense of Israeli defenses, including the help it got from the U.S., Jordan, Britain, and France.^[7]

Iran’s mission to the [United Nations] confirmed early on Sunday [April 14] local time that the drone attacks were its response to the strike on its consulate in Damascus, adding that the matter was now “deemed concluded.”

“However, should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe. It is a conflict between Iran and the rogue Israeli regime, from which the US MUST STAY AWAY!” Iran’s Permanent Mission added in its statement on X.^[8]

I don’t know how much capacity Iran has to follow through on this threat.

Most of the Iranian drones flying over Syria’s airspace during Tehran’s strikes overnight were downed by Israeli and U.S. jets before reaching their targets in Israel, two Western intelligence sources said on Sunday.^[9]

Whether or not this escalates further remains to be seen. Whether or not Joe Biden goes back to his full embrace of Israel’s genocide in Gaza remains to be seen.^[10]

That begs the most important question of how Israel will respond, potentially raising the prospect of a massive conflagration in the region. According to Axios, Biden signaled to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the U.S. will not join in on any retaliation by Israel for the first-ever direct attack on it by Iran.

The Iranian strikes have taken place “against the backdrop of waning global sympathy for Israel and growing strain in the relationship between Biden and Netanyahu,” said Carmiel Arbit, an analyst at the Atlantic Council, a think tank. “As has been the case with Gaza, further escalation may deplete that public support.”^[11]

Despite reported pleading from the Biden administration to seek a diplomatic off-ramp, Israeli officials are promising an escalated response to Iran. They are threatening to target military sites inside Iran, as well as sites tied to the country’s nuclear program, a longtime Israeli obsession.

The Iranians have said continuing this cycle of strikes would trigger another reciprocal attack against Israel, far broader in scope and less likely to be coordinated with the U.S. or other regional powers to minimize damage. The result could be a full-scale war between two powerful states, including one whose security is all but politically guaranteed by the U.S. military. In that light, the prospect of the U.S. “pivoting to Asia,” or even recommitting fully to the defense of Ukraine would likely become farcical.^[12]

Binyamin Netanyahu has a vested interest in prolonging or even expanding the war on Gaza to delay an election he and his coalition will surely lose.^[13]

Andrew England and James Shotter, “Is time starting to run out for Benjamin Netanyahu?” Financial Times, April 12, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/ce0de70e-461a-4279-9a15-df45be1c0785

Lauren Izso et al., “Israel braces as Iran launches wave of retaliatory strikes,” CNN, April 13, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/13/middleeast/iran-drones-attack-israel-intl-latam/index.html

Jamie Dettmer, “How Israel foiled Iran’s attack,” Politico, April 14, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-iran-attack-missile-drone-strike-defense-cooperation/

^[1]Suleiman Al-Khalidi, “Most of the Iranian drones over Syria were downed by Israel,US, intelligence sources say,” Reuters, April 14, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/most-iranian-drones-over-syria-were-downed-by-israelus-intelligence-sources-say-2024-04-14/↩
^[2]Murtaza Hussain, “Israel and Israel Alone Kicked Off This Escalation — In a Bid to Drag U.S. Into War With Iran,” Intercept, April 14, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/04/14/israel-iran-drag-us-war-netanyahu-biden/↩
^[3]Jamie Dettmer, “How Israel foiled Iran’s attack,” Politico, April 14, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-iran-attack-missile-drone-strike-defense-cooperation/↩
^[4]Rory Jones et al., “Biden Pushes for Diplomatic Response to Iran’s Attack on Israel,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/biden-presses-for-diplomatic-response-to-irans-attack-on-israel-1c5452a1 ↩
^[5]Rory Jones et al., “Biden Pushes for Diplomatic Response to Iran’s Attack on Israel,” Wall Street Journal, April 14, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/biden-presses-for-diplomatic-response-to-irans-attack-on-israel-1c5452a1 ↩
^[6]Jamie Dettmer, “How Israel foiled Iran’s attack,” Politico, April 14, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-iran-attack-missile-drone-strike-defense-cooperation/↩
^[7]Suleiman Al-Khalidi, “Most of the Iranian drones over Syria were downed by Israel,US, intelligence sources say,” Reuters, April 14, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/most-iranian-drones-over-syria-were-downed-by-israelus-intelligence-sources-say-2024-04-14/; Jamie Dettmer, “How Israel foiled Iran’s attack,” Politico, April 14, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-iran-attack-missile-drone-strike-defense-cooperation/↩
^[8]Lauren Izso et al., “Israel braces as Iran launches wave of retaliatory strikes,” CNN, April 13, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/13/middleeast/iran-drones-attack-israel-intl-latam/index.html ↩
^[9]Suleiman Al-Khalidi, “Most of the Iranian drones over Syria were downed by Israel,US, intelligence sources say,” Reuters, April 14, 2024, https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/most-iranian-drones-over-syria-were-downed-by-israelus-intelligence-sources-say-2024-04-14/↩
^[10]Jamie Dettmer, “How Israel foiled Iran’s attack,” Politico, April 14, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-iran-attack-missile-drone-strike-defense-cooperation/↩
^[11]Jamie Dettmer, “How Israel foiled Iran’s attack,” Politico, April 14, 2024, https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-iran-attack-missile-drone-strike-defense-cooperation/↩
^[12]Murtaza Hussain, “Israel and Israel Alone Kicked Off This Escalation — In a Bid to Drag U.S. Into War With Iran,” Intercept, April 14, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/04/14/israel-iran-drag-us-war-netanyahu-biden/↩
^[13]Andrew England and James Shotter, “Is time starting to run out for Benjamin Netanyahu?” Financial Times, April 12, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/ce0de70e-461a-4279-9a15-df45be1c0785; Murtaza Hussain, “Israel and Israel Alone Kicked Off This Escalation — In a Bid to Drag U.S. Into War With Iran,” Intercept, April 14, 2024, https://theintercept.com/2024/04/14/israel-iran-drag-us-war-netanyahu-biden/↩

Just so you know, the sky is red

April 12, 2024benfell

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.

Understand that I am highly disinclined to credit Donald Trump with any intelligence whatsoever. His time in the presidency was marked not only by the black hole of sheer hatred he perhaps still has us spiraling into, but in which it is impossible to conceive of a human intelligence saying the things he says and therefore, that anyone saying them must somehow be deficient in humanity or intelligence, perhaps both. But even he seems to have figured out that the abortion issue has fairly reliably been kicking Republican ass.^[1]

So with that “No shit, Sherlock” revelation, we do still have to ask about much of the rest of the Republican Party, which has apparently decided the sky is red.

Tara Palmeri, “Midnight at Mar-a-Lago,” Puck, April 11, 2024, https://puck.news/trump-choice-for-vp-could-come-down-to-abortion/

Imperialism

Israel

Fig. 2. John Bolton and Binyamin Netanyahu at a press conference. Office of U.S. National Security Advisor, August 20, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Andrew England and James Shotter, “Is time starting to run out for Benjamin Netanyahu?” Financial Times, April 12, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/ce0de70e-461a-4279-9a15-df45be1c0785

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.

A promised surge in aid into Gaza that Benjamin Netanyahu promised Joe Biden a week ago has so far failed to materialise, aid workers say, as the US aid chief confirmed that famine is beginning to take hold in parts of the besieged coastal strip.

The increase in the number of truck crossing into Gaza claimed by Israel conflicts with UN records and already appears to be faltering.^[3]

Dov Lieber, Rory Jones, and Margherita Stancati, “Israel Says Troops Lacked Grounds for Strike That Killed Aid Workers in Gaza,” Wall Street Journal, April 5, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-to-allow-more-aid-into-gaza-after-biden-warning-over-u-s-support-49bc42e4

Michael Tomasky, “Is Biden Really Going to Let Netanyahu Lose Him the Election?” New Republic, April 5, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/180481/biden-israel-netanyahu-lose-election

Lazar Berman, “Israel’s begrudging approach to humanitarian aid could cost it the war in Gaza,” Times of Israel, April 6, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-begrudging-approach-to-humanitarian-aid-could-cost-it-the-war-in-gaza/

Karen DeYoung, “Six months into Gaza war, Biden confronts the limits of U.S. leverage,” Washington Post, April 6, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/06/gaza-israel-biden-war/

Emanuel Fabian, “IDF chief says withdrawal of troops from Gaza doesn’t mean war is close to end,” Times of Israel, April 7, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-chief-says-withdrawal-of-troops-from-gaza-doesnt-mean-war-is-close-to-end/

M. J. Lee, “Inside President Biden’s pointed phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu,” CNN, April 7, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/06/politics/biden-netanyahu-israel-gaza-war-phone-call-details/index.html

David Horovitz, “Israel’s major ground war in Gaza is over; the state of war inflicted by Hamas is not,” Times of Israel, April 8, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-major-ground-war-in-gaza-is-over-the-state-of-war-inflicted-by-hamas-is-not/

Katie Polglase et al., “Dying for a bag of flour: Videos and eyewitness accounts cast doubt on Israel’s timeline of deadly Gaza aid delivery,” CNN, April 9, 2024, https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/09/middleeast/gaza-food-aid-convoy-deaths-eyewitness-intl-investigation-cmd/index.html

Times of Israel, “US Sen. Warren: World Court has ‘ample evidence’ to find Israel guilty of genocide,” April 9, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-sen-warren-world-court-has-ample-evidence-to-find-israel-guilty-of-genocide/

Guardian, “Netanyahu making a ‘mistake’ on Gaza, says Biden, as he urges Israel to push for ceasefire,” April 9, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/10/benjamin-netanyahu-joe-biden-gaza-mistake-ceasefire-israel-war-palestine

Asaf Elia-Shalev, “Israeli academics face backlash after signing letter accusing Israel of ‘plausible genocide’ in Gaza,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, April 10, 2024, https://www.jta.org/2024/04/10/israel/israeli-academics-face-backlash-after-signing-letter-accusing-israel-of-plausible-genocide-in-gaza

Matt Lebovic, “Has the term ‘antisemitism’ been overused – or overblown – beyond usefulness?” Times of Israel, April 10, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/has-the-term-antisemitism-been-overused-or-overblown-beyond-usefulness/

Jacob Magid, “Biden urges Israel ‘to just call for’ 6-8 week ceasefire, slams PM’s handling of Gaza war,” Times of Israel, April 10, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-urges-israel-to-just-call-for-6-8-week-ceasefire-slams-pms-handling-of-gaza-war/

Julian Borger, “Aid ‘still not reaching Gaza’, as top US official warns famine has started,” Guardian, April 11, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/11/aid-still-not-reaching-gaza-as-top-us-official-warns-famine-has-started

Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh

Fig. 4. The confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, with the “Golden Triangle” and downtown Pittsburgh. Photograph by author, October 15, 2023.

It’s a real mess out there.

Jeff Himler and Renatta Signorini, “Much of Western Pa. remains under flood warning,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 11, 2024, https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/flash-flooding-closes-allegheny-county-roads-triggers-warnings-throughout-region/

Laura Esposito and Benjamin B. Braun, “Torrential rain triggers dangerous flash flooding in Allegheny County,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 12, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/weather-news/2024/04/11/tornado-watch-pittsburgh-region-1/stories/202404110126

^[1]Tara Palmeri, “Midnight at Mar-a-Lago,” Puck, April 11, 2024, https://puck.news/trump-choice-for-vp-could-come-down-to-abortion/↩
^[2]Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
^[3]Julian Borger, “Aid ‘still not reaching Gaza’, as top US official warns famine has started,” Guardian, April 11, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/11/aid-still-not-reaching-gaza-as-top-us-official-warns-famine-has-started ↩

Even some Israeli academics agree the war on Gaza is genocide

April 11, 2024benfell

I had to reach up to get this shot, so it’s poorly aimed, but here it is:

This is the robin’s nest built on what I had thought was an impossible location, on the light by my front door. It looks like I have neighbors, with, um, more on the way.

Pennsylvania

Erie

Fig. 1. Lake Erie, from Presque Isle State Park. Photograph by author, April 3, 2021.

The issue of official-looking badges to higher-ups in the Erie County bureaucracy sounds like a flawed response to a real problem. Brenton Davis’ complaint is that in some cases some people, including white supremacist gangsters, fail to recognize him or his authority. So he issued badges that look like law enforcement badges to himself and some other top-level county officials. They are not actually law enforcement badges and do not carry that authority. It’s an unusual solution and the problem with it lies in the potential for confusion.^[1]

I don’t expect this to go well for Davis. But I do recognize the problem he’s trying to solve. In my experience, white supremacist gangsters (sometimes called ‘police’) are control freaks: They perceive a threat in any situation they do not control and it is my understanding that they are trained accordingly.

There are times when that’s a problem. It is certainly foreseeable that white supremacist gangsters will reject even appropriate authority. Hell, the Pittsburgh gangsters are ignoring a city ordinance that forbids secondary traffic stops.^[2] They haven’t sued: Courts have not weighed in on an ordinance the gangsters object to. The gangsters just ignore it.

And when we talk about “trained law enforcement,” a good deal of the notion of “defunding the police” is about training that is in no way sufficient to the problems of what sociologists broadly term “deviant” behavior and about diverting resources to people who do have the necessary training,^[3] which in my judgment would entail at least a Master’s degree in social work, psychology, or a closely related discipline (no, human science will not do), and frankly, I’d prefer to see doctoral-level folks out there and with actual authority over the gangsters.

I don’t know what the solution is here. I think Davis is well-intentioned. I think he has a real problem. But this problem has roots which reach deeply into our system of social organization’s reliance on white supremacist gangsters, a reliance which is beyond challenge.

A. J. Rao, “Erie County Executive Brenton Davis uses police-like badge to ID himself. Is it appropriate?” Erie Times-News, April 11, 2024, https://www.goerie.com/story/news/local/2024/04/11/erie-pa-county-executive-brenton-davis-uses-police-like-badge-to-id-himself/73272067007/

Regev Nathansohn, who teaches communications at Sapir College, is one of two dozen Israeli academics who have signed a petition calling for the United States to stop arming Israel in its war with Hamas. The petition, which more than 1,000 academics from around the world have signed, characterizes Israel’s conduct as a “plausible genocide.”

“President Biden, do not let the United States go down in history as the enabler of genocide,” said the petition, which has more than 1,000 signatories, from a group called Academics4Peace. “Respect the US’s obligation under international law and basic morality. The only way to stop the starvation of two million people, including 100+ Israeli hostages, is to end this war.”

Sapir is located on the Gaza border near the town of Sderot, which was one of the sites attacked in Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel. . . .

Nathansohn, who earned his doctorate at the University of Michigan, is one of at least five Israeli signatories who have faced intense backlash from students, according to the petition’s organizer, Shira Klein, an Israeli American history professor at Chapman University in California. She said the others are Eran Fisher of the Open University of Israel, and three scholars at Beersheba’s Ben Gurion University: Michal Givoni, Maor Zeev-Wolf and Uri Mor. Klein pointed to posts from students denouncing them on social media and in an online petition, as well as, in one case, a campus protest.

In total, more than 20 Israeli academics have signed the letter, among more than 1,000 overall. Outside of Israel, signatories include two Nobel laureates and numerous scholars of the Holocaust and Jewish history. Klein is an expert on the Holocaust and has studied contemporary antisemitism.^[5]

Yasmeen Abutaleb and Matt Viser, “Biden rebukes Israel over aid workers, but his Gaza policy is unchanged,” Washington Post, April 3, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/03/biden-world-central-kitchen-tough-statement-israel-policy/

Hafiz Rashid, “‘Unacceptable’: White House Cancels Event as Biden Struggles on Gaza,” New Republic, April 3, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/180409/white-house-cancels-event-gaza-outcry

Haroon Siddique, Eleni Courea, and Patrick Wintour, “Former supreme court judges say UK arming Israel breaches international law,” Guardian, April 3, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/03/former-supreme-court-judges-say-uk-arming-israel-breaches-international-law

Ishaan Tharoor, “Israel’s ‘unintentional’ strike on aid workers stirs global outrage,” Washington Post, April 3, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/04/03/israel-strike-world-central-kitchen-aid-workers-global-outrage/

Yasmeen Abutaleb and Matt Viser, “Biden warns Netanyahu the situation in Gaza is ‘unacceptable,’” Washington Post, April 4, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/04/biden-warns-netanyahu-situation-gaza-is-unacceptable/

Trinidad Deiros Bronte, “The unpunished deaths of other civilians question Israel’s willingness to clarify the attack on WCK,” El País, April 4, 2024, https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-04-04/the-unpunished-deaths-of-other-civilians-question-israels-willingness-to-clarify-the-attack-on-wck.html

Michael R. Gordon and Nancy A. Youssef, “Biden Ties Support for Israel to Civilian Protection in Gaza, ” Wall Street Journal, April 4, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/biden-netanyahu-set-to-talk-as-gaza-aid-worker-deaths-add-to-pressure-on-israel-9dee3793

Jacob Magid, “Senior Israeli official warns of growing ‘shoot first, ask later’ culture in IDF,” Times of Israel, April 4, 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/senior-israeli-official-warns-of-growing-shoot-first-ask-later-culture-in-idf/

Kate Sullivan, “Trump says Israel needs to ‘finish what they started’ and said war with Hamas is ‘taking a long time,’” CNN, April 4, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/04/politics/trump-israel-comments/index.html

Adam Taylor, “Biden’s ‘red line’ on Gaza is nowhere to be found,” Washington Post, April 4, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2024/04/04/biden-wck-world-central-kitchen-israel-policy-change/

Michael Tomasky, “Is Biden Really Going to Let Netanyahu Lose Him the Election?” New Republic, April 5, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/180481/biden-israel-netanyahu-lose-election