Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Strangers and others

We begin today with Caroline Houck of Vox describing a number of problems affecting the global shipping industry.

The Baltimore incident encapsulates one thing really well: just how globalized the shipping industry is. The Dali was a Singapore-flagged ship, with an all Indian-nationality crew, operated by the Danish company Maersk and on its way to Sri Lanka. (Thankfully, there were no injuries reported among the crew of the ship.)

This degree of interconnectedness — and how fragile it all is — probably feels familiar by now. Remember the wide swath of consumer goods that were subjected to back orders and shortages in 2021 as the global supply chain fell victim to a series of interconnected problems, including (but definitely not limited to) issues with container ships and ports?

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Low water levels in Panama — the result of a prolonged drought that began in early 2023 — forced canal officials late last year to cut the number of ships that pass through each day from the normal 38 to just 24. That’s left some ships stranded for more than two weeks, and others taking costly roundabout routes; major shipping companies are even switching some freight to railroad “land bridges” across parts of the country.

And in the Red Sea, the Houthis, a Yemen-based rebel group that controls much of the country’s north, have been waging an increasingly serious campaign of attacks against shipping, purportedly in protest of Israel’s war in Gaza. Ships are rerouting here, too, this time around the Horn of Africa, or facing the risk at added cost. At the start of this month, the Houthis sank a ship. And while the group is reportedly allowing safe passage to some ships — those affiliated with Russia and China — that’s not necessarily a foolproof guarantee.

David Gilbert of WIRED reports on all the conspiracy theories that have attached themselves to the Baltimore tragedy.

A non-exhaustive list of things that are getting blamed for the bridge collapse on Telegram and X include: President Joe Biden, Hamas, ISIS, P Diddy, Nickelodeon, India, former President Barack Obama, Islam, aliens, Sri Lanka, the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, Wokeness, Ukraine, foreign aid, the CIA, Jewish people, Israel, Russia, China, Iran, Covid vaccines, DEI, immigrants, Black people and lockdowns.

The Francis Scott Key truss bridge actually collapsed when the MV Dali cargo ship collided with one of the bridge supports. Six construction workers, who were filling potholes on the bridge at the time, are presumed dead. The ship is owned by Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd, and the 22-person crew were all Indian. The ship was on route to Colombo, Sri Lanka at the time of the accident.

This did not stop people from “asking questions” about the incident, a frequent conspiracist response to major events. And though conspiracy theorists are having a hard time pinpointing exactly what conspiracy caused the collapse, the one thing they do agree on is that this incident is a “black swan event.”

The term “black swan event” has been around for decades, and is used to describe a major global event (typically in the financial markets) that can cause significant damage to a country’s economy. But in recent years, the term has been co-opted by the conspiracy minded to explain an event triggered by the so-called deep state that would signal an imminent revolution, a third world war, or some other apocalyptic catastrophe.

The end of the world is nigh says noted oracles Michael Flynn and Andrew Tate.

Those two have to be inhaling something stronger than the vapors used by the oracle of Delphi.

Charles Blow of The New York Times says that the plagiarism complaints against Black women at Harvard continue.

As The Harvard Crimson reported last week, three other Black women at the university have had anonymous complaints of plagiarism lodged against them since Gay’s departure. Christopher Rufo, a right-wing provocateur and instigator, immediately cheered the complaints on social media, claiming they were part of a clear pattern for academics involved in the diversity, equity and inclusion field.

This is, after all, part of Rufo’s plan, having announced, “Game on,” after helping to push out Gay. The veracity of the complaints doesn’t matter; the reputational harm — to the accused and to the idea of inclusion — is the goal.

The narrative here is about innate and pervasive inferiority, ineptitude and fraudulence by women and minorities, specifically Black women in this case. And it must be understood that the subtext, the inverse, of minority inferiority is therefore white supremacy.

Ken Chitwood writes for Sojourner’s that evangelicals are looking for more sermons about the application of biblical principles to the modern politics of immigration.

As the 2024 election looms, immigration is a top concern for voters. And according to recent research from Lifeway, a lot of evangelicals... want to hear more about it from their pastors.

The report — sponsored by evangelical organizations including the Evangelical Immigration Table, World Relief, National Association of Evangelicals, National Latino Evangelical Coalition, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, and Bethany Christian Services — said more than 4 in 5 (82 percent) evangelicals say they would value hearing a sermon that teaches how biblical principles and examples can be applied to immigration in the U.S. Among self-identified evangelicals, 81 percent said they would value hearing such a sermon. That is higher than results from previous Lifeway studies in 2022 (77 percent) and 2015 (68 percent).

Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, said the results show an increasing interest from everyday evangelicals — even urgency — to receive guidance on the issue from the pulpit.

“More and more evangelicals are looking to scripture and what it has to say about the immigrant, the refugee, and the stranger,” he said. “Evangelicals want to move beyond just political talking points and be discipled on immigration reform.”

Heh. 

I wonder why evangelical pastors don’t teach their flocks The Word about how strangers should be treated.

And...waitaminute...I am a heretic and a heathen (and proud of it), but I am also my Auntie L.’s oldest nephew, raised, in large part, by her and raised in the church, and I can’t let this “Brian Clark” Facebook posting of Scripture that opens Mr. Chitwood’s story go without comment.

By tradition, the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy is a set of instructions from God delivered by Moses to the Israelites just before they entered the Promised Land. about the rewards of being obedient to God and the consequences of failing to be obedient to God. Verses 1-14 covers the rewards and blessings of those who “observe and to do all his commandments.”

Verses 15-68 covers a lengthy list of “curses” that will be brought upon the Israelites if “thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.”

So...Deuteronomy 28:43-44 only applies to you, Brian, if you do not “observe and to do all his commandments.”

So my advice to “Brian Clark” is to stop worrying about “foreigners” and to MYOB (which includes, according to The Word, showing hospitality to the “foreigner” or “stranger”).

Of course, traditions and customs about how to treat the stranger aren’t just biblical; every culture of the ancient world that I’ve ever read about had these codes of hospitality. 

What type of Bible reading are these evangelicals doing?

Chris Geidner of LawDork reports that Texas law S.B.4 remains on hold.

“The Texas laws at issue permit state authorities to prosecute an individual for being unlawfully present and remove individuals who are unlawfully present or removable, without any consultation or cooperation with the Attorney General of the United States,” Chief Judge Priscilla Richman, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote for the court’s 2-1 majority keeping S.B. 4 on hold.

The decision — technically, denying Texas’s request for a stay of the district court’s February injunction of the law during the state’s appeal — followed last week’s arguments and is the latest ruling in the quick-moving case, but the overnight opinion was significant for two reasons.

It is the first ruling of substance analyzing S.B. 4 from an appeals court, which is good whenever courts take actions — but particularly when those rulings are affecting the enforcement of national and state laws. And, second, this is same panel of judges that will be hearing the merits of the S.B. 4 next week, meaning we have a fairly good idea that the same outcome will likely result from the full appeal. [...]

The bulk of Richman’s extensive opinion...is about preemption itself and makes a strong case for why Texas’s law is clearly preempted — albeit written about Texas’s “likely” success in light of the procedural posture of the case, a stay request on a preliminary injunction appeal — under both field and conflict preemption principles.

Anton Troianovski and Milana Mazaeva of The New York Times report that the Kremlin fears that the reaction to the Crocus City Hall massacre could spark ethnic tensions within Russia.

In the wake of the assault near Moscow that killed 139 people last Friday, there has been a recurring theme in the Kremlin’s response: a fear that the tragedy could spur ethnic strife inside Russia. While Mr. Putin and his security chiefs are accusing Ukraine — without evidence — of having helped organize the killing, the fact that the four detained suspects in the attack are from the predominantly Muslim Central Asian country of Tajikistan is stoking anti-migrant rhetoric online.

For Mr. Putin, the problem is magnified by the competing priorities of his war in Ukraine. Members of Muslim minority groups make up a significant share of the Russian soldiers fighting and dying. Migrants from Central Asia are providing much of the labor that keeps Russia’s economy running and its military supply chain humming.

But many of the most fervent supporters of Mr. Putin’s invasion are Russian nationalists whose popular, pro-war blogs on the Telegram messaging app have brimmed with xenophobia in the days since the attack.

“The borders have to be shut down as much as possible, if not closed,” said one. “The situation now has shown that Russian society is on the brink.”

Finally today, Ella Creamer of the Guardian reports that 23 Japanese words have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

More than half of the borrowed words relate to food or cooking. Santoku, a knife with a short, flat blade that curves down at the tip, and okonomiyaki, a type of savoury pancake, were both added. Okonomiyaki is derived from okonomi, meaning “what you like”, combined with yaki, meaning “to fry, to sear”.

Katsu – a piece of meat, seafood, or vegetable, coated with flour, egg, and panko breadcrumbs, deep-fried, and cut into strips – is considered a boomerang word, a case of reborrowing: katsu is the shortened form of katsuretsu, which is a borrowing into Japanese of the English word “cutlet”.

Donburi, a Japanese dish consisting of rice topped with other ingredients, is also used to describe the bowl in which this dish is served. The culinary use is likely related to the Japanese adverb donburi, meaning “with a splash”, which “could be an allusion to the sound of ingredients being dropped into a bowl”, said Danica Salazar, executive editor of OED World Englishes.

Omotenashi, which describes good hospitality, characterised by “thoughtfulness, close attention to detail, and the anticipation of a guest’s needs”, was also added to the dictionary.

Have the best possible day everyone!