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US Army Major Resigns Over Gaza Policy - The Tuesday AM Quickie 5/14/24

By Jacob Silverman —

I think we should negotiate with the orcas. -Jacob

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5/14: It's News Day Tuesday! Sam and Emma break down the biggest headlines of the day.

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Today you'll read about a Defense Intelligence Agency official resigning over Biden's Gaza policy; Michael Cohen's chance to get revenge on Trump in court; and how Elon Musk's SpaceX refuses to pay its bills.

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THE BIG NEWS

Army Major Resigns Rather Than Be Complicit In Gaza Genocide

Major Harrison Mann, a US Army officer working for the Defense Intelligence Agency, released a resignation letter yesterday that captures the disillusionment and horror of a soldier who could no longer stand to be silent. The letter, which Mann also shared on LinkedIn, is a clear-eyed, morally urgent call from a loyal public servant for his fellow soldiers to join him and no longer be complicit in atrocities against Palestinians. Mann lamented America's "nearly unqualified support for the government of Israel, which has enabled and empowered the killing and starvation of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians."

Describing a sense of "incredible shame and guilt," Mann said that he had held out hope that the conflict might end, or that US policy might shift. He was also afraid of betraying his colleagues and had become used to executing policies that he might not fully agree with. But he considered his own bit part in all this and decided he couldn't go on.

"At some point – whatever the justification – you're advancing a policy that enables the mass starvation of children, or you're not," wrote Mann. "I know that I did, in my small way, wittingly advance that policy. And I want to clarify that as the descendent of European Jews, I was raised in a particularly unforgiving moral environment when it came to the topic of bearing responsibility for ethnic cleansing... I am haunted by the knowledge that I have failed those principles."

At least two State Department officials have resigned over the Biden administration's policy on Israel's war in Gaza. Maj. Mann, whose act of conscience stands besides Airman Aaron Bushnell's self-immolation, is the lone military officer to resign publicly.

Michael Cohen Offers Vengeful Testimony In Trump's Criminal Trial

Donald Trump's criminal trial over a hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels continued this week with the testimony of former Trump lawyer and bagman Michael Cohen. The longtime Trump loyalist now considers Trump an "enemy" and has been chided by prosecutors for refusing to stop posting videos about the case. In his first day of testimony on Monday, Cohen said that he paid Daniels at Trump's request to quash her story. "Everything required Mr. Trump's sign-off," said Cohen, whose cross-examination by defense lawyers could begin today.

Let's Panic Over a New Trump/Biden Poll

A new poll of registered voters shows Donald Trump beating Biden in five swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Respondents tended to cite the economy, inflation and cost of living, and foreign policy as their most important issues. About 80 percent of voters from the five Trump-leaning states said that they would rate the country's economy as fair or poor. For Biden supporters, some optimism may be found in the fact that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seemed to pull support equally from Democrats and Republicans. Biden also continues to poll solidly in the potentially essential state of Wisconsin.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • SpaceX Is Stiffing Contractors More than $2 million in liens have been filed against Elon Musk's SpaceX and its partners in Texas for not paying companies for not paying contractors. The accusations of stiffing suppliers recalls reports from last year that Musk wasn't paying rent on the San Francisco headquarters of the company formerly known as Twitter. via Reuters.
  • American Doctors Volunteering in Rafah Are Trapped Israel's relentless bombardment of Rafah and closure of the border crossing with Egypt has trapped medical volunteers who traveled from the US to assist Palestinian colleagues. The US State Department is reportedly trying to get them out, but Israeli forces shot and killed a UN worker who was traveling to one of the hospitals where they are located. via The Intercept.
  • Saudi Arabia Is Killing Local Villagers for Its Crazy Neom Project The Saudi government has displaced longtime inhabitants of the area designated for its bizarre Neom city, a kind of horizontal skyscraper with eco-fascist themes. Now, it appears that Saudi forces have already shot and killed one protester. via BBC and Business Insider.
  • Last Stuck Ships Leave Baltimore As Bridge Cleanup Continues The last ships blocked by the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge have left the port of Baltimore. Yesterday, workers blew up a section of the bridge that is still draped over the Dali, the larger container ship that struck a bridge pylon and inaugurated this mess 50 days ago. Officials hope the controlled explosion will help free up the Dali so it can finally be moved. via Baltimore Sun and Politico.

SOME NUMBER

8 percent

That's how much of U.S. energy consumption will be devoted to data centers by 2030, according to Goldman Sachs, which would be a boon for fossil fuel companies and a disaster for everyone else. Blame the extremely resource intensive – and so far not very profitable – new wave of artificial intelligence applications. In Japan, electricity production may need to rise as much as 50 percent by 2050 to accommodate AI demand. In a couple years, the amount of energy devoted to data centers will equal the annual consumption of a mid-sized country.

DON'T MISS MR CLIPS‌

Republican Spews Bloodthirsty Fantasy About Nuking Gaza

In a functioning society it might be a bad thing for a senator to go on TV and argue for mass atomic slaughter.

Trump Congratulates "Wonderful" Hannibal Lecter During Bizarre Rant About Mental Institutions

The former president seems to think Hannibal Lecter is a) real; b) dead; c) a good guy.

PARTING WORDS

“You're like the guy who has a fantasy football team and thinks he's a fucking GM.”

-- Comedian Bill Burr speaking to blowhard TV host Bill Maher about Palestine and Israel. A hawkish neoliberal with Islamophobic tendencies, Maher has defended Israel's military campaign in Gaza with his typical free-floating condescension. In the process, he's come to exemplify a certain morally vacant boomer politics.

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