I hope the following links, excerpts, comments, and reflections (in no particular order) will prove of interest for one reason or another to our readers.
“CIA-Backed Afghan Paramilitaries Behind Unlawful Killing Surge,” by Patricia Grossman for Just Security (Nov. 8, 2019): “Some U.S. officials have called for preserving the CIA’s parallel operations and these strike forces even after a U.S. troop withdrawal, despite overwhelming evidence of their involvement in gross human rights abuses. But the appalling civilian cost of these operations should be ringing alarm bells for those working to see a genuine settlement to the Afghan conflict. For Afghans who have lost loved ones to these raids, and the lack of redress, it adds to a deep sense of grievance that will undermine efforts toward creating a durable peace.”
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“Fred Krinke, L.A.’s king of the fountain pen, dies at 91,” by Steve Marble for the Los Angeles Times (Nov. 8, 2019): “The Fountain Pen Shop was a museum, repair shop and retail outlet squeezed into one room, its glass cases filled with curiosities that attracted collectors, investors and those who preferred the free flow of ink. With a ballpoint pen, a user could say something. With a fountain pen, they could sing it. Stylophiles seem to agree on that. ‘The fountain pen slows you down, and makes you think,’ said John C. Maloney, a frequent customer at the Fountain Pen Shop.” [which perhaps explains why the President prefers a Sharpie]
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On November 10, 2019, the Los Angeles Times had an insert titled, “Special Report on the Marshall Islands” (most often inserts to the Times are sports-related or advertising supplements or in conjunction with marketing of some sort). The following is the introduction to the Report’s cover page: “Just after the dawn of the Atomic Age and during the height of the Cold War, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands of the central Pacific. It has since left this island nation with plutonium and other radioactive remnants of those tests buried under a concrete dome on a low-lying atoll. Rising seas now threaten to destroy that dome.”
As one of the previous articles that served as a preface to the series points out, when we “think of the most radioactive landscapes on the planet … the names Chernobyl and Fukushima may come to mind.” Yet recent research (a peer-reviewed study from Columbia University) “suggests that parts of the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific, where the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests during the Cold War, should be added to the list.” What follows is the prefatory material to that article, the second part of which is the abstract:
“From 1946 to 1958, the United States tested 67 nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands, a remote constellation of atolls in the Pacific Ocean that was then a US trust territory. Two atolls, Bikini and Enewetak, were used as ground zero for the tests, which caused unprecedented environmental contamination and, for the indigenous peoples of the islands, long-term adverse health effects. In addition to the populations of Bikini and Enewetak, the people of Rongelap and Utirik were also affected by radioactive fallout from the largest nuclear test the United States has ever conducted, the Bravo test held March 1, 1954. This article presents a picture of current radiological conditions by examining external gamma radiation and soil radionuclide activity concentrations.
We report on measurements of external gamma radiation on 9 islands in 4 atolls in the northern Marshall Islands, all of which were affected by the US nuclear testing program from 1946 to 1958 (Enjebi, Ikuren, and Japtan in Enewetak Atoll; Bikini and Enyu in Bikini Atoll; Naen in Rongelap Atoll; and Aon, Elluk, and Utirik in Utirik Atoll). We also report americium-241, cesium-137, plutonium-238, and plutonium-239,240 activity concentrations in the soil samples for 11 islands in 4 northern atolls (Enewetak, Japtan, Medren, and Runit in Enewetak Atoll; Bikini and Enyu in Bikini Atoll; Naen and Rongelap in Rongelap Atoll; and Aon, Elluk, and Utirik in Utirik Atoll) and from Majuro Island, Majuro Atoll in the southern Marshall Islands. Our results show low external gamma radiation levels on some islands in the Enewetak Atoll and Utirik Atoll, and elevated levels on Enjebi Island in the Enewetak Atoll, on Bikini Atoll, and on Naen Island in the Rongelap Atoll. We perform ordinary kriging on external gamma radiation measurements to provide interpolated maps. We find that radionuclides are absent from all Majuro soil samples, and that they are present at highest activity concentrations in samples from Runit and Enjebi islands (Enewetak Atoll), Bikini Island (Bikini Atoll), and Naen Island (Rongelap Atoll). We contextualize all results by making comparisons between islands and to various standards, as well as to regions of the world affected by nuclear accidents. We also discuss implications for informed decision-making by the Marshallese and local atoll governments and their people on issues pertaining to island resettlement.” Here is the online version of the “Special Report on the Marshall Islands.”
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“Freed Brazilian ex-president Lula speaks to jubilant supporters,” in The Guardian (Nov. 9, 2019).
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The Trump Administration, not unsurprisingly, was actively engaged in undercutting democracy in Bolivia. See Mark Weisbrot’s November 8th article for The Nation. The best analysis of what is occurring in Bolivia is provided by Vijay Prashad’s piece for People’s World, “‘Bolivia does not exist:’ Neocolonial rule reasserted by racist ‘General’s Coup’” (November 15, 2019).
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“Trump’s latest anti-immigrant move: Making it far more costly to apply for citizenship,” by Manuel Pastor for the Los Angeles Times (November 12, 2019). These proposed new rules are consistent with the President’s racism and his implicit (when not explicit) views and policies in support of targeted xenophobia and White nationalism. Moreover, and relatedly, it is directly a result of long-standing Republican efforts to make it harder for anyone not a mindlessly reflexive supporter of their political party to vote, in this case, “harder to naturalize and vote.” In other words, we have here yet another instance of both blatant and insidious anti-democratic “Republican effort[s] to disenfranchise the changing electorate — consider the spate of voter restrictions supported by the GOP.”
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“U.S. Held Nearly 70,000 Migrant Children in Government Custody in 2019,” from AP in HuffPost (November 12, 2019). Apart from the inexcusable moral abomination, this amounts to a violation of human rights as they apply to children as found in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It is telling that the U.S. was one of but two countries (the other being Somalia) that failed to ratify (after signing) The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, “the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history.” In any case, it does not change the fact that the U.S. is also in clear and systematic violation of several rights specified in the aforementioned human rights instruments as well as those specified in that Convention on the Rights of the Child.
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“Meet the scientist who’s been counting California butterflies for 47 years and has no plans to stop,” by Deborah Netburn for the Los Angeles Times (November 12, 2019). As the late John Ziman* reminds us, “It is popularly supposed that science can be distinguished from other modes of systematic inquiry by a distinctive method. This is not what is observed. The techniques used in scientific research are extraordinarily diverse, from counting sheep and watching birds to detecting quasars and creating quarks. The epistemic methodologies of research are equally varied, from mental introspection to electronic computation, from quantitative measurement to speculative inference.” From Ziman’s indispensable study, Real Science: What it is, and what it means (Cambridge University Press, 2000): 14. Observing (with his own eyes and those of his students who now help him), identifying, counting and collecting are among the methods (later subject to statistical analysis) used by Professor Art Shapiro as mentioned in this article. His findings, alas, are alarming. All the same, we are fortunate to have among us such a dedicated natural scientist (a professor of evolution and ecology) and delightful human being as Professor Shapiro.
* “John Michael Ziman (16 May 1925 – 2 January 2005) was a British-born New Zealand physicist and humanist who worked in the area of condensed matter physics. He was a spokesman for science, as well as a teacher and author.”
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“We’re quickly moving toward a world where drone executions are the norm,” by Jennifer Gibson for the Los Angeles Times (November 13, 2019). The erosion, degradation, and outright destruction of democratic principles and practices and corresponding constitutional norms (which extend a bit beyond the law proper) in many capitalist democracies is taking place on the domestic front, but we should not forget how much our foreign policies and military behavior abroad are likewise part of this abandonment of the core values and instruments of Liberal democracy, as we learn below. The deleterious consequences are cumulative and a precipitous tipping point may be reached sooner than we might imagine.
“For more than a decade now, the U.S. and its European allies have pioneered the use of drones to target and kill suspected terrorists far from traditional battlefields. Those drone strikes have killed thousands of innocent civilians far outside combat zones — in places like Yemen and Pakistan where, thanks to the drone program, many people’s first and only engagement with the West is when a missile lands on their doorstep. Sometimes those strikes hit alleged ‘bad’ guys, hundreds of whom are reportedly on a kill list. But nobody outside the U.S. government knows how you get on or off this list. No one on the list is ever charged with a crime or tried in a court of law before they are executed by drone. [….]
Almost two decades into the so-called war on terror, the U.S. and its European allies have abandoned their long-held democratic principles. From torture to rendition to assassinations, fear has driven these governments to bend the rules and their values to the breaking point.”
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“Trump claims Ivanka created 14m jobs. The entire economy only added 6m,” by Luke O’Neil for The Guardian (November 13, 2019). (The following is not from the article.) “Pathological lying, also known as mythomania and pseudologia fantastica, is the chronic behavior of compulsive or habitual lying. [….] A pathological liar is someone who lies compulsively. While there appears to be many possible causes for pathological lying, it’s not yet entirely understood why someone would lie this way. [….] Compulsive lying is also a known trait of some personality disorders, such as antisocial personality disorder. Trauma or head injuries may also play a role in pathological lying, along with an abnormality in hormone-cortisol ratio.” I would argue that in Trump’s case it is directly tied to Narcissistic Personality Disorder, which need not rule out accompanying or complementary causes (in other words, in this instance it may be overdetermined!).
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Trump once again fawns over an authoritarian leader, this time inviting him to the White House to kiss his ass, proclaiming he is a “big fan” of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And this despite the fact that Erdogan “said he returned a letter sent to him last month by President Trump that had implored him not to be a ‘tough guy’ or a ‘fool’ as he embarked on an offensive in northern Syria.” (An understandable reaction from a head of state receiving a letter of this sort, but Trump fails to discern the meaning of the act.)
We should not be surprised to learn that “Trump’s real estate business has extensive interests in Turkey and ties with the Turkish government.” Yet again, Trump puts his own narcissistic desires and economic interests over and above those of the nation (the latter defined by the Constitution and Liberal Democracy). Erdogan calls Kurdish factions/groups once allied with the U.S. in fighting ISIS in Syria “terrorists.” Trump, having already provided us with abundant and persuasive evidence that he is unmoored from both truth and reality, said yesterday that he believes Erdogan has “a great relationship with the Kurds,” adding that “[m]any Kurds live currently in Turkey, and [are] happy and taken care of.” As the LA Times notes this morning,
“A long list of actions by Turkey — a NATO ally — has troubled Congress and human rights organizations. In Syria, Turkish army units and Turkish-backed militias have been accused of possible war crimes in the killing of Kurds, who led the U.S.-backed fight against Islamic State militants. Erdogan sent his troops into Syria last month when Trump abruptly announced the withdrawal of U.S. forces — a decision that was met with unusually fierce opposition from Republicans as well as Democrats.
In Turkey, Erdogan has imprisoned or fired tens of thousands of dissidents, civil servants, police, professors and military officers after a failed coup against him in 2016. The president has manipulated elections to stay in power, according to pro-democracy organizations in Ankara. Turkey is the world’s leading jailer of journalists. Turkey also has turned increasingly toward Russia, recently buying military equipment — the S-400 surface-to-air missile system — from Moscow, which experts say may not be compatible with equipment the North Atlantic Treaty Organization already uses. [….]
Erdogan, in remarks to the press, complained bitterly about a recent declaration by the U.S. House recognizing the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s as genocide.”
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A Note for Republicans: The failure to complete an act of extortion remains an “attempt” in criminal law, and is thus punishable, assuming the requisite intent (the mens rea element of criminal law). As a ground-breaking philosophical examination of the inextricably moral and legal wrong inherent in the punishment of “attempts” in criminal law by Gideon Yaffe* notes,
“Attempts are worth punishing only because completions are. We do not devise our criminal law, in the first instance, to fight those who attempt crimes, but instead to fight those who complete them. But, still, the adjudication of criminal attempts makes up a large and important part of the criminal law.” An indispensable element of the legal and moral wrong involved in criminal attempts is the intention to complete the crime (‘an intention that commits one to completion’), thus regardless of whether or not one in fact successfully completes the criminal act. This is substance of the analogical response to those Republicans who argue that Trump was not successful in his attempt at extortion (truth be told, the attempt was successful for a time, at least several months). As for the attempted extortion itself together with the larger context and efforts coordinate with that attempt (which license the inference to satisfaction of the requisite conditions for intent), the following is on point:
“First, the transcripts show how Rudy Giuliani pursued objectives in Ukraine for the benefit of his business partners, as well as the political interests of his client, President Trump. These activities lead to the president being fed bad information over a long period of time and they ultimately result in the meritless dismissal of Yovanovitch, as well as to a concerted attack on Deputy Secretary of State George Kent. Second, against the backdrop of the election of a new president in Ukraine, the transcripts show the development of an irregular channel for achieving Trump’s objectives in that country—a channel that was not always playing by the usual rules of diplomacy or bureaucratic lines of communication. The transcripts show the members of both the regular and irregular channels trying to figure out what was really going on and how to navigate the unprecedented situation of Giuliani’s influence on Trump, in order to help the new Ukrainian president solidify a relationship with the United States—a relationship that is crucial for Ukraine’s continued existence as a fully independent sovereign country.
Third, in this broader context, the transcripts tell a specific story of the development of conditionality regarding a White House meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. What began as a mere hostility on the part of Trump toward Ukraine and an unsubstantiated conviction that the Ukrainians had interfered in the 2016 election, came to involve demands to investigate that theory. And it came as well to involve demands that the Ukrainians investigate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and his connection to the Ukrainian natural gas company, Burisma, on whose board the younger Biden sat. Those demands, over the course of the summer, came to be linked to the desire of the new Ukrainian government for a White House meeting between Zelensky and Trump.
Finally, the transcripts tell a related story of how the provision of military assistance to Ukraine similarly came to be conditioned on U.S. demands—because what Ukraine ultimately needs is U.S. support in an ongoing military conflict with a more powerful neighbor that is occupying its territory. The narrative is ultimately one of how an irregular actor’s behavior circumventing the normal policy process and feeding bad information and conspiracy theories to a president—led to that president demanding political smears of an embattled, struggling democracy as a condition of U.S. support.” From the article, “The Story the Impeachment Depositions Tell,” by Margaret Taylor and Benjamin Witte online at LAWFARE (12 November, 2019).
Gideon Yaffe, Attempts (in the philosophy of action and criminal law) (Oxford University Press, 2010). Yaffe is the Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld Professor of Jurisprudence, Professor of Philosophy, and Professor of Psychology at Yale.