No extra of Kissinger’s “charm”: Henry Kissinger, who served as secretary of state below Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and nationwide safety adviser below Nixon, has died at 100.
“America has lost one of the most dependable and distinctive voices on foreign affairs with the passing of Henry Kissinger,” stated former President George W. Bush in an announcement final night time, praising “his wisdom, his charm, and his humor.”
Others (Cambodians and Laotians, to call a couple of) have been much less enamored with Kissinger’s “charm” and “humor.” For another rundown of Kissinger’s legacy, learn Sheldon Richman’s 2014 piece for Motive which eviscerated Hillary Clinton’s Washington Submit assessment of Kissinger’s e book, World Order.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect some pseudonymous writer of having fun with irony in this review,” stated Richman, noting using a Barack Obama quote on how the U.S., put up–World Conflict II, “construct[ed] an architecture to keep the peace.”
That’s, “if you don’t count the mass atrocity that was the Vietnam War, the U.S.-sponsored Israeli oppression of Palestinians, and various massacres carried out by U.S.-backed ‘leaders’ in such places as Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), East Timor, Chile, and elsewhere,” added Richman. “One Henry Kissinger had a hand in all these crimes,” which went unmentioned by Clinton.
“If the U.S. empire is indispensable to justice and liberalism,” posited Richman, then “we are in trouble. The record is not encouraging. Kissingerian ‘realism’ creates global threats.”
Reactions to Kissinger’s demise from across the net:
’70s flashback pic.twitter.com/iw4l041lpJ
— Jesse Walker (@notjessewalker) November 30, 2023
I like that the PRC propaganda line is that all the pieces about American overseas coverage is horrible — aside from Henry Kissinger. https://t.co/3UbbWxx6Zy
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) November 30, 2023
Preeminent overseas coverage commentator Mia Khalifa determined to offer her OnlyFans subscribers a reduction in celebration of Kissinger’s demise (low cost code: ByeBitch), in a decidedly 2023 twist.
Unusual occasions we reside in. Contra Khalifa, I’ll simply say this: No matter you consider his report, condolences to his household. Additional studying on his legacy right here and right here.
Trump doubles down on skipping debates: Republican presidential contenders preserve taking the talk stage to jockey for consideration, hoping their sparring moments go viral and might win them a lift within the polls. Only one is conspicuously absent.
Donald Trump will probably be skipping Wednesday’s debate, simply as he is skipped the opposite three, to attend a fundraiser for his PAC in Hallandale Seashore, Florida, as an alternative.
Trump is thrashing his opponents by greater than 40 share factors in most polls. He has a powerful and commanding lead, and has referred to as on the Republican Nationwide Committee to cancel the remaining debates—a requirement to which it has not acquiesced—which he calls “unwatchable.” Many have pointed to the attention-grabbing incontrovertible fact that, on this election cycle, Trump is sort of working as an incumbent, seeing himself as up to now above the competitors that he does not must hew to conventional guidelines.
Additionally on the unconventional formatting entrance: Tonight, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, will face off in opposition to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who’s working for president. They will almost definitely debate crime, COVID-19, immigration, and the financial well being of the 2 states.
Israel-Hamas ceasefire prolonged: Early this morning, proper earlier than the short-term ceasefire was set to run out, mediators managed to barter yet another day of pause within the preventing between Israel and Hamas. It will permit extra October 7 hostages to be launched, and for extra support to get into southern Gaza, the place lots of of hundreds are sheltering and in dire want.
Inside Israel’s borders, “at least three people were killed and six others wounded when two Palestinian gunmen affiliated with Hamas opened fire near a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem,” early this morning, in line with Israeli legislation enforcement, reported The New York Instances.
Scenes from New York: Engaged on a brand new documentary for Motive.
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- “Transferring money between bank accounts doesn’t seem like it should be a crime,” writes Motive‘s Elizabeth Nolan Brown. “Then again, neither does most of the underlying activity in this case—consensual hookups between adults; providing a platform for sex-worker speech; letting people pay for services with bitcoin, and so on.”
- That blackface story I discussed yesterday, through which a Deadspin journalist wrote a viral article criticizing a literal little one for having his face painted pink and black and sporting a headdress at a Kansas Metropolis Chiefs sport? It seems, per the child’s mother, that he is Native American.
- Helen Toner is out as considered one of OpenAI’s board members. Maybe probably the most attention-grabbing factor about final week’s saga is that so little has come out about why the board accused CEO Sam Altman of failing to be trustworthy and clear in his communications with them. (Disclosure: My husband works for OpenAI.)
As we speak, I formally resigned from the OpenAI board.
Thanks to the various associates, colleagues, and supporters who’ve stated publicly & privately that they know our choices have all the time been pushed by our dedication to OpenAI’s mission.
1/5— Helen Toner (@hlntnr) November 30, 2023
i’m as soon as once more begging the earlier board to say one thing that is not pastel coloured company pablum
— roon (@tszzl) November 30, 2023
- OK, synthetic intelligence has formally gone too far:
“Here is the awe-inspiring and intense scene of IRS agents in a futuristic command center, actively tracking down rich tax cheats.” pic.twitter.com/tm2o13gipJ
— James Medlock (@jdcmedlock) November 29, 2023