What is Israel doing? Is it genocide? Ethnic cleansing? Forced migration? A crime against humanity? Such distinctions don’t matter. Even those who support Israel are in agreement: It’s wrong. But it won’t end until Benjamin Netanyahu is removed from power.
The source problem is Benjamin Netanyahu. In Israel, two things are simultaneously true: Very few people support Netanyahu, but very many support the assault on Gaza. Netanyahu stays in power only with the support of far-right anti-Palestinian extremists, so he has to keep them happy, and they want Palestinians out of Israel. It’s a situation similar to the GOP in the U.S. House, except Netanyahu is trying not just to keep his job but to stay out of jail.
The most recent polling on the conflict that I could find showed about 40% of Americans think the U.S. should be doing more to resolve the conflict, a result consistent across Republicans, Democrats and independents. But the other 60% is split between giving Israel carte blanche and staying the current course.
So what should Biden do? This Haaretz analysis lays out six potential courses he could take to maneuver around Netanyahu, which would open a path to deescalation. He ought to take an option soon. The longer he dawdles, the weaker he looks.
I wonder if any future civilization will realize the destruction of ours came at the hands of the fossil fuel industry? The greed-driven industry, far from trying to curb global warming, intends to keep pumping at all costs – or at least the cost of an enormous election-year advertising campaign that will preach to the gullible that fossil fuel is good for the economy and lie about job losses if pumping is curtailed (job growth in renewables well outpaces fossil fuel extraction). Will it work? Do morons and assholes vote for Trump?
I’ve seen several headlines about the increased use of child labor since the pandemic, but until I saw this story I didn’t realize that the biggest violators by far are fast-food restaurants franchisees. The Labor Department is cracking down, levying six-figure fines that wouldn’t faze the parent companies, who aren’t happy about the bad publicity but can’t crack down on franchisees, because the whole franchising business model – basically a way to let other people take the risk while the corporation reaps the reward – depends on an arm’s-length relationship.
One labor-saving solution that’s coming up short: Self-checkout technology. Retailers are finding that loss rates, meaning shoplifting, doubles through self-checkout “skip-scanning.” On top of that, the labor savings aren’t that great because employees are still needed to help when something goes wrong. This is an example of why I’ve learned to dread the words “new and improved.”
The floor’s yours.