Threatening War Crimes, An Amazing Rescue
In a continued move toward the reunification of church and state, the Trump administration celebrated Easter by going full resurrection in a series of religious posts from various departments. But an Easter morning they hoped would commemorate a rising, served instead as a stark reminder of the depths of our descent. In his own unhinged, religion-charged post, the president of the United States threatened war crimes. “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH. Praise be to Allah.” (Anyone remember when Trump told Iranian protesters HELP IS ON ITS WAY?) What’s the big deal? It’s just Trump being Trump. It will all get lost in the news cycle anyway. Well, it is a big deal for several reasons. It’s yet another crazy, terrible hit on American leadership, in which most of our allies have already lost faith. It’s a signal to our enemies that the rules of war are no longer in play. It’s a message that could potentially galvanize the Iranian people against American efforts, even those predisposed to support efforts to rid their country of a terrible regime. It’s a detriment to American service personnel who are being associated with, and potentially being ordered to commit, war crimes. And it’s a reminder that the most powerful country on Earth is being run by a lunatic, and no matter how offensive he is or how serious a threat he poses, his enablers will continue to enable him. NYT (Gift Article): Trump Revels in Threats to Commit War Crimes in Iran. “The American president has been unambiguous in his disdain for international law. In a two-hour Oval Office interview in January with The New York Times, Mr. Trump declared, ‘I don’t need international law.’ When asked whether there was any limit on his global powers, he said, ‘Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality.'” Let’s hope America can resurrect itself from that.
+ “As former uniformed military lawyers who advised targeting operations, we know the president’s words run counter to decades of legal training of military personnel and risk placing our warfighters on a path of no return.” Just Security: When War Crimes Rhetoric Becomes Battlefield Reality.
+ NYT (Gift Article): On Iran, Trump Keeps World Off Balance With Ever-Changing Threats. (Off balance. I guess that’s one way to put it.)
+ Iran rejects latest ceasefire proposal, calling instead for permanent end to the war. Here’s the latest from AP, The Guardian, and NBC.
Search and Rescue
“Iran had launched several search parties, one of which had assembled at the base of the mountain where the weapons officer was hiding. For the Iranians, the downed Air Force colonel was a powerful asset they could use as leverage in high-stakes negotiations with the United States. For the U.S. military, which lives by the mantra of ‘no man left behind,’ finding the downed officer was a moral imperative. Battered by the force from his ejection, the weapons officer waited. He knew that both U.S. and Iranian forces were racing to find him.” A Harrowing Race Against Time to Find a Downed U.S. Airman in Iran.
Control Altman Delete
“The firm was established as a nonprofit, whose board had a duty to prioritize the safety of humanity over the company’s success, or even its survival.” Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz in The New Yorker: Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted? “Altman has a relentless will to power that, even among industrialists who put their names on spaceships, sets him apart. ‘He’s unconstrained by truth,’ the board member told us. ‘He has two traits that are almost never seen in the same person. The first is a strong desire to please people, to be liked in any given interaction. The second is almost a sociopathic lack of concern for the consequences that may come from deceiving someone.'” (Sound like the kind of guy you want in charge of making decisions about the future of AI?)
Ice Crusher
“The incident caught my eye because I sometimes attend wrestling shows, and because of a pet theory that’s gained momentum among pundits over the past decade: that the style of pro wrestling actually explains a lot about modern politics. The way that politicians stretch the truth for their audience, and quickly swap stances, and lean into a blustering, exaggerated persona—all of that’s wrestling.” Jeremy Gordon in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Wrestling’s Newest Star Is Massive, Bearded, and Ready to Piledrive Ice. “Politics may creep into any sport, but it can feel closer to the surface in wrestling, which made me think their anti-ICE chants were less a momentary gesture of support for the character King is cultivating and more an authentic expression of feeling at a particularly charged and violent moment in American life.”
+ Why is ICE losing favor in places where you might not expect it? Because the notion that they’re going after the worst and most dangerous criminals has been body slammed by reality. These are just a few of the headlines I came across today. MoJo: She Helped the Authorities Deport Her Abuser. Then They Deported Her Back to Him. NYT (Gift Article): ICE Agents Detain Newlywed Spouse of Soldier Training to Deploy. The Atlantic (Gift Article): She Testified About Being Raped. Then ICE Showed Up. NBC: Some Marines graduate without their parents present amid ICE fears.
Extra, Extra
Close Enough to Moon the Moon: “The astronauts woke up to the voice of Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, who recorded the message just two months before his death last August. “Welcome to my old neighborhood. It’s a historic day and I know how busy you’ll be, but don’t forget to enjoy the view.” Artemis II astronauts race to set a new distance record from Earth and behold the moon’s far side. Ars Technica: Artemis II is going so well that all we’re left to talk about is frozen urine.
+ America Upside Down: “Vice President JD Vance is heading to Hungary this week with a lofty goal: to try and boost Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the country’s looming election.”
+ Something Big Was Bruin: “UCLA stymied South Carolina, 79-51, on Sunday in the national title game to secure the program’s first NCAA championship. It was a dominant UCLA effort from the opening tip that turned into a runaway in the second half.” UCLA locks down South Carolina for dominant win, program’s first Women’s NCAA championship.
+ Island Fever: Trump Seeks $152 Million to Begin to Turn Alcatraz Back Into a Prison. (Time to close the Strait of the Golden Gate.)
+ Angel in the Outfield: ‘Greatest defensive game I’ve ever seen’: Jo Adell robs 3 home runs in dramatic Angels win. Wow.
+ I-Hopping to Waffle House: No One at Waffle House Remembers FEMA Official Who Says He Teleported In. “Gregg Phillips, who is in charge of responding to fires and floods, says the hand of God suddenly and mysteriously moved him to a 24-hour breakfast spot in Rome, Ga.” (If I ever have a religious experience like this, I can only hope it involves breakfast foods…)
Bottom of the News
“A woman who had sex with identical twins within four days of each other is unable to ensure one of them takes parental responsibility because it is ‘not possible‘ to know which is the father, the court of appeal has said.” (Someday, we’re gonna get back to a world where this is the top news of the day. You have to believe…)
