Ripple Effects Of The Israel Conflict & Microsoft’s Big Tax Bill
October 13, 2023
A Bloody War In Palestine, A Culture War At Home
While casualties in Israel continue to climb, the U.S. has become embroiled in a culture war. On Thursday, officials said that Israeli air strikes – which have rained over 6,000 bombs in Gaza – had killed over 1,500 people (a third of them children), injuring over 6,600 others, and displacing over 400,000 more. The damage to Israel seems to have reached a plateau, with officials saying that the death toll stands at about 1,300 Israelis.
In the U.S., most politicians have voiced their support for Israel’s counteroffensive. Students from about 30 different clubs at Harvard University, who released a joint letter stating that Israel’s “apartheid regime is the only one to blame” for the attacks, have faced massive backlash in the media. A conservative media group went as far as renting out a truck with some of the letter’s signees’ names and faces on it, parading the vehicle around campus. Several CEOs, including Jonathan Neman of Sweetgreen, called for their information to be publicly released so they could blacklist them from being hired.
The Biden administration’s Education Department is also under pressure to release a proposal to make universities more involved in campus debates regarding Israel and Palestine. The proposal would force college administrators to investigate claims of discrimination against ethnic groups – especially antisemitism – or risk losing federal funding. The rule, according to free speech advocates and pro-Palestine groups, could be used by pro-Israel groups to bludgeon back any advocates for Palestine.
“Whenever something comes up with Palestine, the narrative put out by police or elected officials is that they’re deeply concerned about Jewish Americans,” said one student organizer with Yale’s Yalies4Palestine group. “My community is made out to be a threat against the Jewish community here, which couldn’t be further from the truth.” Other pro-Palestine activists have echoed that sentiment, expressing worries that the overwhelmingly pro-Israel wave of sentiment sweeping across the U.S. will lead to their groups being labeled antisemitic, even if they’re anything but that.
Currently, the political climate in the U.S. seems close to a post-9/11 fervor, which saw the U.S. invade Iraq on the false pretense of seizing weapons of mass destruction, and also brought about the passage of the Patriot Act, which vastly expanded the powers of the U.S. security state to the detriment of Americans’ privacy.
Want To Know More?
- Israeli official says government cannot confirm babies were beheaded in Hamas attack (CNN)
- Israel seeking end to Hamas in ground war as Gaza casualties soar (WaPo, $)
- Gaza hospitals risk turning into morgues, Red Cross says (BBC)
- ‘Walk the talk’ or face fines: EU boss tells Musk, Zuckerberg and Tik Tok chief (NPR)
- U.S. and Qatar agree to not release Iran’s $6B (NBC)
France bans all pro-Palestinian demonstrations (BBC)
Some Good News
- 2023 Fat Bear Week has crowned its winner – a “queen that’s thicker than a bowl of oatmeal” (CBS)
- U.S. judge upholds suspension of right to carry guns in some New Mexico parks (Reuters)
- Leading LGBTQ+ groups endorse Biden for reelection (ABC)
- Makers of some menstrual product brands to repay “tampon tax” to shoppers (CBS)
War Of The Wars
- Though Ukraine has made small gains in its counteroffensive this year, Russia is pushing to counter that counteroffensive. Russian forces have begun closing in on the Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, mobilizing thousands of troops and large numbers of armored units on the third day of Moscow’s assault of the key location. The push is also being supported by artillery and air strikes on the city, which have allowed Russian troops to try surrounding their target. Experts say the city will be a hard target for Russia to capture, but noted that the offensive might be an attempt to pull Ukrainian troops away from their counteroffensive.
- Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has struggled to maintain Western support for his country with the situation in Israel capturing much of the world’s attention. “We are in the war, we understand what it means (to suffer) a terrorist attack,” Zelenskiy told the media, linking Russia and Hamas. “I remember the first days of the war… so many dying people, so many deaths, it was very important not to be alone. So my recommendation for the (NATO) leaders is that they go to Israel, and support the people.” However, he also stressed that it was “very important” to keep up pressure on Russia, and secured a small $200 million funding package from the U.S. on Wednesday.
Want To Know More?
- Russian President Putin arrives in Kyrgyzstan on a rare trip abroad (AP)
- Why Russia is engaged in a delicate balancing act in the Israel-Hamas war (AP)
CIA Stands For Coup-Inducing Agency
- On the CIA’s official podcast (who even listens to that?), America’s premier foreign intelligence agency admitted that its involvement in the 1953 coup in Iran was “undemocratic.” The coup saw the CIA overthrow the nation’s democratically-elected Prime Minister in order to install Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the country’s supreme leader. The main reason for the coup? The democratically-elected government had attempted to nationalize Iran’s oil industry, of course!
- After dropping that (lukewarm) bombshell, CIA spokesman and host of the podcast Walter Trosin went on to defend the rest of his agency’s clandestine operations, claiming that the majority of the CIA’s throughout its history served to “bolster” democratically elected regimes. “We should acknowledge, though, that this is, therefore, a really significant exception to that rule.” You can form your own opinions about those claims if you’d like — here’s a Wikipedia article that might be a good starting place.
Additional World News
- Ecuador candidate Luisa Gonzalez pledges return of mentor Correa’s movement (Reuters)
- More than 90% of people killed by western Afghanistan quake were women and children, UN says (AP)
- Argentina wildfires spur evacuations in central Córdoba province (NBC)
- Zimbabwe bans large gatherings as threat of cholera outbreak grows (Guardian)
- Syria says Israeli missiles hit Damascus, Aleppo airports (Reuters)
- Antony Blinken pledges US will never falter from supporting Israel as he likens Hamas’ crimes to ISIS (CNN)
- Egypt warned Israel of Hamas attack days earlier, senior US politician says (Guardian)
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A Badger Of Honor
- Wisconsin Republicans reversed course on Thursday when Robin Vos, the powerful Republican speaker of the State Assembly, said he would not support impeaching Justice Protasiewicz. Republicans had been arguing that Protasiewicz calling the state’s voting maps “rigged” during her campaign would justify impeachment if she didn’t recuse herself from a case about those maps.
- The Democratic Party of Wisconsin began a $4 million campaign focused on fighting the potential impeachment of Protasiewicz. “The people of Wisconsin rose up in outrage and the G.O.P. backed down,” said Ben Wikler, the chairman of the DPW. Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is now controlled by liberals for the first time in 15 years, and Republicans are concerned it will shift the direction of the state’s politics.
Mo’ Charges, Mo’ Problems
- Senator Bob Menendez (D, NJ) faces additional charges after federal prosecutors filed a new indictment accusing him of accepting bribes from a foreign government and acting as a foreign agent. Menendez, his wife, Nadine, and three others pleaded not guilty to corruption charges last month, which accused him of using his influence for personal financial gain.
- The new indictment alleges that he “provided sensitive U.S. Government information and took other steps that secretly aided the Government of Egypt.” Menendez faces up to two years in prison for failing as a public official to register as an agent of a foreign power. His crimes are thought to have taken place from around January 2018 to about June 2022.
Additional USA Reads
- Oklahoma judge sent over 500 texts during murder trial, including messages mocking prosecutor, calling witness liar (CBS)
- 5 officers shot in east central Minnesota, suspect not in custody (CBS)
- White House condemns Trump for calling Hezbollah ‘very smart’ amid Israel-Hamas war (NBC)
- Tornado damage reported in Florida on both coasts as millions remain at risk on Thursday (CNN)
- Banker says Trump’s financial statements were key to loan approvals, but there were ‘sanity checks’ (AP)
- 25 years after Matthew Shepard’s death, LGBTQ activists say progress is at risk (NBC)
- Palestinian Americans, Dismayed by Violence, Say Historical Context Is Being Overlooked (NYT, $)
You Better Tax Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself
- We all hate doing taxes, but most of us still end up doing them – that is, besides Microsoft. The tech giant, according to the IRS, owes the U.S. government $28.9 billion (with a B!) in back taxes thanks to its practice of transfer pricing — which is when companies say they’ve made big profits in low-tax areas and small profits in high-tax areas in order to lower their tax burdens.
- The IRS has been running a long-term investigation of Microsoft to examine claims that the company had run a transfer pricing scheme from 2004 to 2013. The company has already announced that it will be appealing the decision within the IRS, which could drag out the investigation by another few years.
- The company said in its administrative appeal, “We believe we have always followed the IRS’s rules and paid the taxes we owe in the U.S. and around the world.” The corporation added that it’s likely that the penalty could be reduced by up to $10 billion, the amount that it paid as a result of a 2017 tax law.
Additional Reads
- Australian job agency under fire over ‘employability’ course that advises on washing and bathing (Guardian)
- The Cure’s Lol Tolhurst lovingly reflects on the goth subculture in his new book (CNN)
- Canada rejects request to protect northern spotted owl habitat (Guardian)
- Montana federal judge voices doubt over state’s TikTok ban (WaPo, $)
- New Starlink page launched to promote cellular service coming in 2024 (The Verge)
- Researchers use AI to read word on ancient scroll burned by Vesuvius (Guardian)
- ‘Too dangerous’: Why even Google was afraid to release this technology (NPR)