I Hereby Criminalize Myself
July 18, 2019
“I don’t trust society to protect us, I have no intention of placing my fate in the hands of men whose only qualification is that they managed to con a block of people to vote for them.”
“Accidents don’t happen to people who take accidents as a personal insult.”
– Mario Puzo, The Godfather
Erdogan’s Political Gambit
During his 17 years in power, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not hesitated to double-deal in foreign relations, pitting all sides against each other whether ally or foe. His long-term goal has been to recast his country as a stronger, more independent actor on the international stage, one capable — in his view of — of competing on equal terms with powers like China, Russia, the EU and the US. To outsiders his agenda appears overly optimistic to say the least.
Erdogan survived a failed coup attempt in 2016 in which some 200 Turks lost their lives. Each year since the president has marked that event’s anniversary with a holiday that’s become a celebration of Turkish nationalism. This year a preeminent symbol of national pride was the recent arrival of the S-400 missile defense system, supplied by Russia.
According to an expert with the European Council on Foreign Relations, the real reason behind the S-400 purchase wasn’t about pressure from Russia, but Erdogan’s fear of another coup attempt, coupled with his belief the one in 2016 was instigated by a US-based cleric. “Erdogan no longer trusts Western intentions on Turkey,” she said. “Washington has done nothing to address…suspicions about its role [in the failed coup].”
Wasting Away in Non-Recyclaville
- Eighty-three shipping containers containing some 1,600 tons of plastic waste were found Tuesday at Sihanoukville, Cambodia’s main port.
- 70 of the containers were shipped from the US and 13 from Canada.
- Vowing to return the waste to the countries of origin, a spokesman for Cambodia’s environment minister said: “Cambodia is not a dustbin where foreign countries can dispose of out-of-date e-waste, and the government also opposes any import of plastic waste and lubricants to be recycled in this country.” (Guardian)
Leave the Island – Take the Cannoli
- Italian investigators confirmed on Wednesday that 18 people had been arrested in Sicily and one in the US as part of a coordinated crackdown on a Sicilian mafia family that had spent years in exile in the US.
- Prosecutors allege the Inzerillo clan was seeking to rebuild its power base in Palermo with help from the New-York based Gambino family.
- In the 1980s the head of Sicily’s organized crime group, Cosa Nostra, was Salvatore “Toto” Riina. He launched a bloody war against the Inzerillo family, chasing them out of their stronghold in Palermo and into self-imposed US exile.
- Riina died in prison in 2017 which gave the Inzerillo family a chance to try reclaiming its old territory with the help of allies in New York.
- A history professor and mafia expert at the University of Palermo said those seeking to rebuild power in Palermo are “the cousins, sons of the mobsters who were forced to move out. Riina said that if [the Inzerillos] ever came back, his men would kill them.” (Guardian)
- The Godfather: Part II (1974) (HD Trailer)
Scarface and Sicario Go to Prison
- Joaquin Guzman Loera — El Chapo — notorious outlaw, brutal Mexican cartel leader, wily drug trafficker, murderer — escaped from a Mexican prison twice before being extradited to America to stand trial.
- He was found guilty on all counts in February. Wednesday morning the final chapter of Guzman’s 30-year-long criminal saga was written by a federal judge in New York: El Chapo will spend the remainder of his life in a maximum security US prison. (NYT)
- El Chapo: How Mexico’s drug kingpin fell victim to his own legend (BBC)
I Hereby Criminalize Myself
- It was announced this week that in an act of utter irony Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte signed anti-harassment legislation, called the Safe Spaces Act, into law.
- It criminalizes all forms of physical, psychological and verbal sexual harassment, in all public spaces, including online chat rooms.
- Duterte is personally infamous for his long history of sexist jokes and crude behavior toward women. Female politicians and women’s rights advocates question whether the president will respect the law. (NYT)
The Interview Meets Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind
Barely two weeks after President Trump stepped foot into North Korea and said nuclear talks would restart with its leader, Kim Jong-un’s government delivered a thinly-veiled warning Tuesday that it would ditch efforts to resume talks, and possibly start nuclear and long-range missile testing again, unless the US canceled planned joint military exercises with South Korea. (NYT)
Additional World News
- Notre-Dame came far closer to collapsing than people knew. This is how it was saved. (NYT $)
- From Iraq to Yemen, drones raise U.S. alarm over Iranian plans (Reuters)
- Iran’s Zarif says U.S. travel curbs on Iranian diplomats ‘inhuman’ (Reuters)
- U.S. and Russia trade accusations over ‘visa war’ as ties fray (Reuters)
Thank You Doctors and Big Pharma For Taking a Breather From Killing US(A)
- Preliminary government data released Wednesday shows a decline in overall drug overdose deaths for the first time in three decades.
- The 5 percent drop in 2018 was the first fall in total drug deaths since 1990.
- It was almost entirely due to a dip in deaths from prescription opioid painkillers; fatal overdoses from other drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamines continued to rise. Even with the decline, the number of overdose deaths was more than 68,000, exceeding the nation’s highest number of annual deaths from car crashes, AIDS or guns. (NYT)
- After Dozens of Fentanyl Killings, Hospital C.E.O. and 23 Employees Are Forced Out: The chief executive of Mount Carmel Health System in Ohio resigned one month after a doctor was charged with overprescribing fentanyl to 25 patients. (NYT, $)
- ‘Don’t flush your drugs m’kay’: police warn of the possibility of ‘meth-gators’: Tennessee officials fear that animals living in sewage treatment ponds could ingest drugs that have been disposed of improperly (The Guardian)
Fake It Till It’s Made For You
- Spoiler alert — President Trump’s ‘stellar’ academic successes weren’t all that. Trump has said repeatedly that he went to “the hardest school to get into, the best school in the world,” calling it “super genius stuff.” He was referring to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
- In 1966 Trump transferred there from Fordham, after older brother Fred, Jr. beseeched his good friend in the admissions office, James Nolan, to help younger brother Donald get in. Nolan said in 1966 more than 50 percent of applicants to Penn were accepted, and the rate for transfer students was even higher. Just another example of how Trump routinely relied on family or other connections at key junctures in his life, and then inflated any successes that resulted. (WaPo)
To The Moon, And Back to The Moon!
- Going back to the moon by 2024, perhaps for an extended visit, could cost upwards of $30 billion.
- That’s a lot more than the world spends annually on clean energy research and development. So is it worth the money to make another trip to the moon?
- The Future Perfect podcast delves into the question — what’s already been learned from the moon and what’s left to discover. The journey continues with a look back to a scientific expedition in Greenland almost 100 years ago. Travelers on that expedition couldn’t possibly understand the value of the science being done, but we know now it was an important first step toward our current understanding of global warming. (Vox)
- Scientists work out way to make Mars surface fit for farming: Aerogel sheet mimics Earth’s greenhouse effect and could help to create fertile oases (The Guardian)
- The Spanish Island Where Astronauts Prepare for Mars: In 1969, Nasa astronauts landed on the Moon for the first time. Fifty years later, scientists are in training for the next mission – and in a place few would suspect. (BBC)
Additional Reads
- Diver Swims Alongside A Jellyfish That’s As Big As A Human (NPR)
- Why Midsize Cities Struggle to Catch Up to Superstar Cities For decades, smaller metropolitan areas closed the income gap with bigger, richer ones, but no longer. So places like Winston-Salem, N.C., are trying to lay a new foundation for prosperity. (NYT $)
- How Chimpanzees Bond Over a Movie Together (BBC)
- You’ve heard of lab-grown meat. Now there’s lab-grown ice cream. Scientists have created a vegan treat that requires absolutely zilch from cows. (Vox)
- Men do see the mess – they just aren’t judged for it the way women are (The Conversation)
- Cool Your Jets! Science Might Explain Your Weird And Emotional Airplane Behavior (NPR)