Links for Friday, March 29
From the wealth of the wealthy to national surveillance to wartime misdeeds to the death of literary fiction. Plus science and music.
Today’s links cover the ground from billionaire gold to destructive state power to science that mostly makes sense. Plus a musical treat. Enjoy.
Links
Six links on a wealth of subjects, starting with wealth.
• Wealth of US Billionaires Hits $5.5 Trillion—Up 88% Since Pandemic Hit (Chuck Collins via Naked Capitalism)
Four years ago, the United States entered the Covid-19 pandemic. Forbes published its 34th annual billionaire surveyshortly after with data keyed to March 18, 2020. On that day, the United States had 614 billionaires who owned a combined wealth of $2.947 trillion.
Four years later, on March 18, 2024, the country has 737 billionaires with a combined wealth of $5.529 trillion, an 87.6 percent increase of $2.58 trillion, according to Institute for Policy Studies calculations of Forbes Real Time Billionaire Data.
See chart above for the details on particular miscreants.
File under “They won’t leave till we make them.”
• If Israel Used a Controversial Procedure Against Its Citizens, We Need to Talk About It Now (Haaretz; archive version here)
According to a report on Channel 12 News over the weekend about the Be'eri hostage situation, after several hours of firefights between Israeli troops and Hamas terrorists, which saw the use of light anti-tank weapons, a terrorist exited the building with hostage Yasmin Porat and released her. She said she was then questioned by Police Special Anti-Terror and told them that there were about 40 terrorists and 14 civilian hostages in the house.
Eventually, Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram arrived to take command of the area. When one of the soldiers remarked about the fighting, "Barak, it's a disgrace," he replied, "I know." Afterward, a tank positioned near the house fired two shells – one at the ground, the other at the roof. Of the 14 hostages still inside, two of them children, only Hadas Dagan survived. Porat's first public account of the incident appeared two days later and was later verified by Dagan.
Why are these two accounts, which appear to say that our forces rained tank shells and other fire on a house where Israeli civilians were being held hostages, not seen as earth-shattering?
This is one of several pieces detailing the so-called Hannibal Directive. Read it to see what the Directive allows and how it’s being used today.
File under “Destroying your village to save it.”