ICC

Bad timing, really.

July 26, 2023

President Biden has quietly ordered the U.S. government to begin sharing evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, according to officials familiar with the matter, signaling a major shift in American policy.

...

Since the International Criminal Court was created by a 1998 treaty to investigate war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, administrations of both parties have viewed it with wariness and sometimes hostility. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 has helped thaw those relations.

Lunch

Shop while you eat! (Ad, I get a commission).

In The Now

I am the age that Maureen Dowd was in 2004. Say what you want about the Maureen Dowd of 2004 (and I said plenty!), her references then were, like, Sex and the City, something contemporary at the time. The issue here isn't that people who get older should be pushed off the stage, it's that we should understand that they perhaps don't have much to say about The Kids Today and similar.

 

Andy Rooney, what ever his merits, understood that he was a cranky old fart. It was his schtick! He didn't spend half his "act" getting mad at college students for not thinking he was cool and fun.

Aside from the rather unfortunate suggestion here, obviously neither of these people know what's on the history channel these days:

His range may be explained by something Maher, a Cornell history major, writes in his book: “I watch the History Channel like most guys watch Pornhub.”

 

Imagine thinking Bill Maher cares about anything except Bill Maher: 

Maher evokes the twin archetypes of the wisecracking kid who sat behind you in school and the grumpy uncle who sits next to you at Thanksgiving. He’s a rebel with a cause: He actually cares about the things he complains about, so there’s heart behind the cynicism.

Ah, the center, in charge of everything all the time and yet still the endlessly besieged source of sanity:

“Why can’t everybody live in my world, in the middle, where we’re not nuts?” he wondered, ordering a shot of tequila to go with his margherita pizza. The dedicated health freak, opponent of treating obesity as body positivity, and Ozempic skeptic has a small bottle with a dropper, dripping into his sparkling water a product called Jing, a bubbly water enhancer with no aspartame, gluten or carbs.

 

Time Keeps On Ticking

Predictions are hard, especially about the future, but the geniuses who thought Gaza would be "wrapped up" by the end of January and that Biden would go on a victory tour, arm in arm with Bibi, celebrating their deal with the Saudis, were not making bad predictions but wishcasting an impossible future.

It's almost June.

The IDF assesses the fighting in Gaza will last at least another six months, in order to completely stop Hamas from operating as a militant governing body in the Gaza Strip.

The Rules-Based International Order

Which Biden flunky gets to go out and shit on the ICC today?

The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview on Monday.

Khan said the ICC is also seeking warrants for Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as two other top Hamas leaders — Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the leader of the Al Qassem Brigades and better known as Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political leader.

It's an opportunity for the US to let Netanyahu and Gallant be the sineaters for Israel, which in some sense they want (at least Natanyahu), but, I suspect, NOT LIKE THAT.

Morning

Monday not so funday

Sunday Night

Rock on.

Things I Know Nothing About

Internal Iranian politics.

Sunday Afternoon

 A lazy one.

And What Does That Say About Them

Obviously it isn't the most important thing about it, but the events in Gaza have also revealed that the top level of the Biden administration is filled with Bush administration-level evil clowns and do we think this is good? Do we think we can trust them on other important issues?

Aside from the good/bad issue, people on the D side have too much misplaced belief in the idea that "we" are, at worst, Team Competence despite the frequent evidence.

Anyway, it isn't demanding a purity pony to expect that these people have any idea what they are doing.

Morning

Sunday funday

Saturday Afternoon

Weekending

This Is Just How Journalism Works, You Fool, You Imbecile, You Moron

Any time journalists get caught trading access for PR, that is how the rest of them respond. Trump trial transcript with Michael Cohen (pdf):

Q. So, talking for a few minutes about Ms. Haberman, who does she work for? 

A. She is with the New York Times. 

Q. And over the years well, let me ask you this: When did you first meet Ms. Haberman ?

A. Over 20 years ago. 

Q. So you met before so early 2000?

A. Yes. 

Q. Over the years, you have a very strong would you describe your relationship with her very strong? 

A. I would . 

Q. You asked her to write positive stories about you correct ? 

A. Correct. 

Q. As a matter of fact, when you started in your official role in 2017 as President Trump's Personal Attorney, you asked her to write a story and say what a great idea it was? 

A. I asked her if she would write a story. 

Q. That was my question saying how good it was that you had that role for President Trump; right? 

A. Yes, sir.  

Q. And , in exchange for that, you would give tips to Ms. Haberman ; correct ? 

A. Not in exchange, I would use Ms. Haberman if the story was something that I believed the New York Times would run, and  if it wasn't the New York Times style story, I would go to a different newspaper.

Q. But there were a number of times when you gave Ms. Haberman a scoop, as you testified about, on Tuesday? 

A. Yes, sir.

...

 

Q. My question is, the reason why one of the reasons why you want relationships with reporters is to give you an opportunity to respond before an article is written  right?

A. Correct .

Q. To give you an opportunity to push information to the reporter if you think an article should be written ; correct?

A. Correct .

Q. Also to shape an article --so, maybe that's not the word you would use, you can pick the word , but to make the article come out in a way as favorable to you or at the time President Trump as possible; right?

A. That is correct .

Q. So the example I just went through with Ms. Haberman, you had several reporters where you had the same relationship?

A. Yes, sir.

Happy Birthday, Rudy

He taunted them and they got him at his birthday party!

Rudy Giuliani’s 80th birthday bash in Palm Beach was stormed “like it was Normandy” as the former New York City mayor was served with notice of his Arizona indictment, sources told The Post.

In front of nearly 75 guests, two officials with Arizona’s attorney general’s office arrived at the shindig around 11 p.m. to hand Giuliani the papers in the case alleging he and 17 others were involved in a plot to overturn the 2020 election, the sources said.

Some partygoers started screaming and one woman even cried as Giuliani was served.

Noun, verb, 9/11, one last time...

“It’s unfortunate that they chose to barge up and startle guests during a celebration of this man’s 80th birthday,” Goodman told The Post.

Rudy Giuliani’s bizarre 80th birthday Amazon gift registry includes Armani cologne, an electric razor and ceiling paint “They could’ve shown a little more respect for the man who comforted the nation following September 11th and who stands up for law enforcement and the men and women in blue.”

I'm no smart law-talking dude, but I do not think that if you manage to hide for 90 days you win. Not how it worked in The Fugitive!

Morning

Slacker Saturday.

Friday Night

Rock on.

Happy Hour

Made it through another one.

American Dreaming

Haven't checked in for awhile - maybe there's still some hope for the place!

The country’s largest international supermarket chain will open a food court at American Dream in the next few weeks, the mega mall announced Wednesday.

H Mart will occupy 16,860-square-feet inside the shopping, dining and entertainment complex in the Meadowlands, making it the largest H Mart food hall in the Northeast.

Or not

Triple Five Group, the mall’s owner, borrowed about $1.1 billion in the municipal bond market to help finance the $5 billion project. About $300 million of the securities, backed by New Jersey economic development grants sold to investors to fund the development, didn’t make their February interest payment, according to a filing that same month, the fourth straight time that the semi-annual interest payment was missed.

Absolutely amazing:

Gross sales for the mall’s retail, attractions, entertainment, dining and parking rose 27% to just under $148 million in the first quarter compared to the same period a year earlier, according to a municipal bond filing.

...

While sales are picking up, they remain off the pace of the nearly $2 billion that a 2017 study projected the mall would bring in during its first year of operations.

"Off the pace."

I Blame Bad Parenting

FLASH: Brent Bozell IV, seen here leaving court with Brent Bozell III, sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in federal prison for his role in the Capitol attack.

I asked him if he still thinks the 2020 election was stolen, he declined comment.

Reporting with @JulesJester. pic.twitter.com/TlC78aGqN8

— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) May 17, 2024

Lifestyle Choices

This is not a fringe belief. It is true that some people choose the streets rather than the options available to them, but that tells us about the options (sometimes) offered.