Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 961

U.N. Inspectors Will Investigate the Syrian Chemical Weapons Site

Syria's foreign ministry announced Sunday a deal with the U.N. to allow a team of inspectors to investigate the site of last week's alleged chemical weapons attack, but U.S. officials are already certain of what they will find -- or perhaps what's been hidden. Syrian state television broadcast a statement announcing a deal has been struck between Bashar al-Assad's regime and the U.N. to allow weapons inspectors to access the site of the August 21 alleged chemical weapons attack that reportedly killed over 300 people and injured thousands more. Per NBC's Richard Engel, the U.N. inspectors will have full access to the site starting on Monday, August 26, to begin a fact-finding mission. 

The administration said made their feelings known after the U.N. deal was announced:

From @margbrennan: Sr Admin Official says any deal by Syria to grant UN access to suspected chem weapons site now "too late to be credible."

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) August 25, 2013

Sr US official: At this juncture, any belated decision by the regime to grant access to UN team would be too late to be credible. #syria

— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) August 25, 2013

The administration doesn't seem confident the U.N. inspectors will find anything credible. Just before the announcement was made, the U.S. had already concluded that the regime was behind the deadly attacks. A senior U.S. official leaked to reporters there is "very little doubt" among the U.S. intelligence community that a chemical weapon was used by the regime, based on "the reported number of victims, reported symptoms of those who were killed or injured, and witness accounts." 

But the U.N. will have their day, and that is at least a small step forward. That they were granted access to the site so quickly surprised some. How this will effect the administration's continuing debate over taking military action remains unclear. 

       

The Jay-Z Secret Show Rumor Was Probably a Big Hoax

Twitter was briefly set aflame late Friday and early Saturday morning when word quickly spread that Jay-Z would be performing a surprise show in Brooklyn, potentially with appearances from Justin Timberlake and Beyonce. As perfect and magical as that sounds, it was probably all fake. 

According to a since-deleted tweet from Sean "Diddy" Combs' music station RevoltTV, the show was supposed to happen on Saturday at a location in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood. Here is the offending tweet, captured by XXL: 

The idea of a surprise Jay-Z show in Brooklyn this weekend isn't completely far-fetched. The MTV Video Music Awards are tomorrow night, and excitement is swirling through Hov's home borough. A surprise performance before the show with Timberlake and Beyonce would be a huge, headline-stealing event. And don't forget that Jay-Z's performance art piece was a carefully executed surprise, too. The rumor of a show was passed around by other outlets besides Revolt, like Questlove's OkayPlayer, but they seem to be taking the brunt of the press. 

But Revolt eventually retracted their statement in another tweet a few hours later: 

Please disregard our previous statement about the Jay Z show. We will keep you updated with further details. Apologies to all waiting in BK.

— #FYFFEST X #APFEST13 (@RevoltTV) August 24, 2013

Of course, this announcement came way, way too late for the hundreds of people who showed up to the site of the alleged surprise performance and were left with nothing to show for it but a wasted Saturday afternoon: 

@BKaminsky Idk but hopeful. there are still ppl here as well as eating nearby restaurants bk biz is booming pic.twitter.com/q2oOqFMCVN

— TweetdleC (@weouthea) August 24, 2013

Gothamist has a good roundup of crowd photos and people compaining sourced from social media. People seem peeved that this show didn't happen, even though it was announced through some unusual channels. 

Usually Jay-Z's viral marketing is very carefully contained to a few sources. The most obvious place to watch for super secret, viral-worthy Jay-Z news is his publicist Jana Fleishman's Twitter account. She was the one responsible for the long, drawn out reveal of the lyrics and track list for Magna Carta, Holy Grail. This is how Fleishman issued her low-key response to the news on Saturday: 

Please... stop.. emailing me.... it's Saturday and I # soul cycled .. http://t.co/WjQsO4ELtS

— jjmonster (@jjmonster) August 24, 2013

So, yeah, when the head of Jay's team is spending her afternoon at the gym it's a safe bet there was never any secret show happening today. Don't trust everything you read on the Internet, kids. 

How the rumor got started and spread so fast is still unclear. Whether or not there's any shred of truth to the rumor, and a show will end up happening tomorrow instead? That's still a mystery. 

       

Everyone Wants Elon Musk to Be Tony Stark

Elon Musk likes to invent cool stuff, not unlike popular comic book superhero Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. But his latest invention takes the comparison a little far, perhaps, because Musk literally saw the tech in an Iron Man movie and worked to invent it for real life. 

The SpaceX and Tesla Motors CEO announced Friday evening over Twitter that he would unveil a video next week depicting the ability to "design rocket parts just w hand movements through the air," as seen in this scene from the first Iron Man movie: 

Just to clarify, this is the fake Tony Stark handling the technology that inspired Musk's real life latest creation. Iron Man director Jon Favreau asked Musk over Twitter if he got the idea from the movies. "Yup. We saw it in the movie and made it real," Musk said. Musk will also allegedly be able to print the designs immediately with titanium. 

The latest announcement, taken straight from the scenes of a comic book movie, have done nothing to hamper the comparisons between the real life manic billionaire Musk and the comic book life of Tony Stark. They have appeared in countless headlines, and across social media: 

Elon Musk is even closer to becoming the real life Tony Stark http://t.co/Ci87IEEIzK

— Mat Yurow (@myurow) August 24, 2013

Elon Musk is not making a very good case that he's not iron man

— T.C. (@LaughingStoic) August 24, 2013

Elon Musk will reveal gesture-based rocket design program. This man is a real life Tony Stark! http://t.co/wmVatIUFAL

— Greg Rosen (@grosen) August 24, 2013

At this point the two are so intertwined Musk may start drawing cease-and-desist letters from Marvel. But if this promise plays out, when combined with the laterally moving rocket and the proposed Hyperloop, it will be hard to argue against the comparison being made. If Musk ever goes on a field trip to Afghanistan, well, someone make sure he's got an alert security team riding with him. 

Here is Musk's entire exchange from Friday evening: 

We figured out how to design rocket parts just w hand movements through the air (seriously). Now need a high frame rate holograph generator.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 23, 2013

Will post video next week of designing a rocket part with hand gestures & then immediately printing it in titanium

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 23, 2013

@Jon_Favreau Yup. We saw it in the movie and made it real. Good idea!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 24, 2013

       

The L.A. Times May Get Its Own Baseball Owner Savior

The L.A. Times has been looking for a new owner for months now but no suitor has impressed the Tribune Company enough to execute a sale. The latest person to throw a hat in the ring is local billionaire investor, Mark Walter, who just so happens to be the owner of the L.A. Dodgers. Walter told the Times Friday evening that "the Los Angeles Times says something," and "if the price were right, I would buy it." Walter also expressed interest in buying the Chicago Tribune, another of the Tribune Co. newspapers, which include the Los Angeles Times, TheBaltimore Sun, that the company was hoping to unload at different points over the last year. 

No one is certain how Walter would purchase the paper, whether it be as part of a private group, through the investment fund he heads, or as a solo buyer. (Walter is the Guggenheim Partners' chief executive -- the group recently attempted to buy the streaming service Hulu.) This news is coming suspiciously quickly on the heels of the Koch brothers pulling out of the race to purchase the papers. A potential sale to the Kochs was widely protested by Times staff and devotees. For their part, the Tribune Company spun the papers off into a separate business -- away from their successful television channels -- and announced a sale was off at the beginning of July. 

A potential Walter sale is not an original idea in the slightest. The "local baseball team owner swoops in to buy struggling local paper" narrative was already done on the opposite side of the country, in Massachusetts, at the beginning of August. Boston Red Sox owner John Henry purchased the Boston Globe after the paper did an extended stint on the market. Then Henry had to deflect criticism he might influence the way the Globe's heralded sports page cover his beloved Red Sox. Walter would almost certainly face the same fate. 

After speaking with the Times, Walter walked into Dodger Stadium to watch his red hot boys in blue take on a team that travelled across the country, all the way from Massachusetts, for the game: the Boston Red Sox. 

       

Major Fire Threatens San Francisco's Power Supply

A fire spreading through Tuolumne County, California is beginning to seriously threaten the utilities of one of the state's biggest cities. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency last night for the City and County of San Francisco because the massive, uncontained wildfire making its way through parts of the Yosemite National Park are threatening the power and water supply for the metropolitan area. According to the governor, the fires "now threaten damage to property, equipment, and resources of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission." Certain areas have been ordered to evacuate, but some stubborn locals refused to comply. 

The fire is sprawling and scary right now. The U.S. Forest Service says the Rim fire, as it's being called, is only 5 percent contained. It's also covering an area much larger than San Francisco. "The total acreage count so far is at 125,620 acres. The fire now covers 165 square miles, more than three times the size of San Francisco," according to NBC News. 

A lot of the locals' worry is focused on the historic Yosemite-area Hetch Hetchy reservoir, which supplies San Francisco with 85 percent of its water intake. Some are worried smoke and ash from the wildfire will damage the water supply system, but so far local officials have seen no change in water quality. 

       

How Can the NSA Catch Spys Spying on Loved Ones?

It seems the NSA -- despite its massive eaves-dropping operation -- can't keep track of its own spies using that eavesdropping technology to spy on wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends or whatever the kids are calling their bedfellows these days. We'd like to offer some help. 

The Wall Street Journal's Siobahn Gorman reports some of the willful violations the NSA admitted to on Friday were actually NSA spies checking in on their "loved ones" using the government program's massive eavesdropping operation. This snooping isn't a regular occurrence -- it's only come up in a "handful of cases in the last decade" -- but it happens often enough that it has its own hilarious spy shorthand: LOVEINT. (LOVE, because duh, INT, because intelligence.) Gorman reports each instance "involved overseas communications," so the NSA isn't copping to directly violating your Fourth Amendment rights here. (Though we find that hard to believe. Everyone who broke the rules was dating a foreigner? Sure.) But what's troubling is the NSA usually doesn't discover the violations until the agents admitted to them much later:

Most of the incidents, officials said, were self-reported. Such admissions can arise, for example, when an employee takes a polygraph tests as part of a renewal of a security clearance.

You mean to tell us no part of the expansive spying operation noticed Joe from the third floor was checking in on his wife while she was vacationing in Spain? This would be more shocking if we didn't already know the NSA is bad at snail mail. But now we know what the problem is, so it should be easy enough to fix. The NSA needs to learn to spy on itself. 

The NSA may be at a loss unless it creates an oversight division dedicated to constantly spying on its own spies. They would keep track of phone records, emails and data logs to determine patterns consistent with contact between two people who are obviously knocking boots. If the NSA can do that with terrorists in international sleeper cells, it stands to reason they can do that with their own employees. Or, alternatively, they can cross reference their employee list with Facebook and see who's in a relationship and set up a red flag system if any of those names are showing up in recurring searches. That shouldn't be too difficult. Phil in sector seven could probably handle that workload by himself. 

Anyway, this is a fun report that really isn't all that surprising. We all do a little snooping online when we meet someone new. It's just a fact. If you were sitting at an NSA desk, on a Tuesday, bored out of your mind with the most sophisticated surveillance system at your fingertips, you'd do the same thing. Some have been fired for the offense, though, so be forewarned. 

Otherwise, some tried to turn the news into a bad hashtag about surveillance jokes and movies and occasionally poetry: 

He’s Just Not Intercepting You No Strings Attached (Because You’re On A Cell Phone) I’ve Got Your Mail! Say Anything. #NSAromcom

— Marc Ambinder (@marcambinder) August 24, 2013

@pbump @margafret Roses are red Drones fly above The 4th Amendment Won’t stop my love

— Burrito Justice (@burritojustice) August 24, 2013

When Harry Doxxed Sally #NSAromcom

— Dan Amira (@DanAmira) August 24, 2013

Other were less subtle: 

I'm sure there's people at the NSA fapping to hacked nudes right now.

— netw3rk (@netw3rk) August 24, 2013

Hopefully no one gives up their day job.

       

How Obama May Justify a Military Strike in Syria

With the Navy waiting in the wings, the President now has to decided whether or not the U.S. will for the first time execute a military strike in the Syrian conflict. If he does decide to strike, Obama will use similar actions taken by President Bill Clinton to subvert Russia's authority on the U.N. Security Council. 

The U.N. Security Council have tried in vain to decide a Syrian course of action for months now. Every time the major countries get together, Russia's vote -- and their ties with Bashar al-Assad's regime -- always leads to nothing getting done. 

But now, in the wake of this week's devastating chemical weapon attacks, it appears President Obama is growing more and more restless to act. The U.S., France and Britain are right now working in concert to verify tissue samples collected on the ground from separate, elaborate series of spy channels on the ground in Syria, according to The Wall Street Journal's Adam Entous, Siobahn Groman and Cassell Bryan-Low. They also allegedly have unseen video evidence showing the Syrian government is responsible for this week's chemical attacks.

Should those three countries come to a consensus pinning the attacks on the Assad regime, what would happen next is still unclear, but Obama will allegedly use NATO's 1998 air war in Kosovo as a precedent for an attack on the Syrian government. Citing a senior administration official, The New York Times' Mark Lander and Michael R. Gordon explain the eerie parallels between the two conflicts:  

Kosovo is an obvious precedent for Mr. Obama because, as in Syria, civilians were killed and Russia had longstanding ties to the government authorities accused of the abuses. In 1999, President Bill Clinton used the endorsement of NATO and the rationale of protecting a vulnerable population to justify 78 days of airstrikes.

[...]

“It’s a step too far to say we’re drawing up legal justifications for an action, given that the president hasn’t made a decision,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the deliberations. “But Kosovo, of course, is a precedent of something that is perhaps similar.”

France has already mentioned their desire to respond "with force" if they can prove the Assad regime is behind the latest attacks. Obama said Syria was a "grave concern" on Friday on CNN. 

The Syrian government contends the attack was carried out by the rebels, and they claim to have found evidence implicating as much in tunnels beneath Damascus. Russia also accused the rebels of carrying out a "provocative" attack in order to draw an international response, in part because of critical videos that appeared on the Internet prior to the attacks, according to Russia. That may not be the case, though, according to Landler and Gordon: 

However, Mr. Lukashevich may have been confused by YouTube’s practice of time-stamping uploaded videos based on the time in its California headquarters, no matter the originating time zone. The attacks occurred early Wednesday in Syria, when it would still have been Tuesday in California for about eight more hours.

International time stamp confusion strikes again. 

The legal process to justify a strike with NATO's cooperation would delay any military action for at least a few days, possibly a few weeks, so those naval ships positioned for an attack likely won't see any action this weekend. The President is expected to meet with his top advisors on Saturday. 

But there are many consequences that must be weighed before the U.S. will even argue in favor of an attack, including "whether a military strike would have unintended consequences, destabilize neighbors like Lebanon, or lead to even greater flows of refugees into Jordan, Turkey and Egypt," according to Landler and Gordon. Bypassing Russia would also further damage the U.S.'s cold, rocky relationship with Moscow. 

       

Reports: Obama Administration Repositions Naval Forces for Possible Syria Strike

CBS' Charlie Kaye, along with multiple Friday evening sources, reports that the United States Navy has moved vessels into range for cruise missile strikes on Syrian government installations.

BREAKING. @CBSNews has learned that the Pentagon is making the initial preparations for a Cruise missile attack on Syrian government forces

— Charlie Kaye (@CharlieKayeCBS) August 23, 2013

BREAKING. @CBSDavidMartin: US naval commander orders warships to move closer to Syria to be ready for possible Cruise missile strike.

— Charlie Kaye (@CharlieKayeCBS) August 23, 2013

More from @CBSDavidMartin: Joint Chiefs Chair GEN Martin Dempsey expected to present options for Syria strike at White House mtg tomorrow.

— Charlie Kaye (@CharlieKayeCBS) August 23, 2013

According to a later Reuters report, the U.S.S. Mahan, armed with cruise missiles, is remaining in range of the country. But the anonymous source quoted by Reuters stressed that no naval military operations had been approved for Syria. The AP reports that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel suggested on Friday that the military was positioning itself for a possible decision by President Obama to pursue military options in Syria.

The reports follow an earlier report from NBC News, indicating that the Obama administration was considering responses to Syria after believing that chemical weapons were used in the country this week. That report quoted an anonymous official who referred to the possibility of "limited airstrikes" against Syria: 

"If the president wants to send a message" — most likely with limited airstrikes against a few targets — "we're good at sending messages," one official said. But if the White House wants to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, "We're not able to do that" without a long-term military commitment, the official said.

The planned Saturday meeting, NBC explains, is a follow-up to an inconclusive meeting on Thursday with Obama's top advisors. 

       

Sorry, Russia, but Tchaikovsky Was Definitely Gay

Historians don't doubt that Peter Tchaikovsky was gay, but an upcoming biopic filmed in his native country will. Yuri Arabov told a Russian newspaper that his adaptation of the 19th century composer's life won't focus on his sexuality because “it is far from a fact that Tchaikovsky was a homosexual," The New York Times reported.

Arabov also said that films that "advertise" homosexuality are "outside the sphere of art," and that only "philistines" think the composer was gay. In light of Russia's recent anti-gay legislation, this could be seen as another effort to erase the country's gay history. Well, sorry Russia, but Tchaikovsky — along with dozens of other Russian cultural icons — were gay, as many scholars would attest to. 

Peter Tchaikovsky — composer

Tchaikovsky composed two of the most quintessentially Russian ballets — Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. And as Christopher Harrity described in The Advocate, Tchaikovsky's sexuality was well known, and also well documented in his own letters. He wrote (emphasis added):

The history of Tchaikovsky's homosexuality was suppressed in Russia by the Soviets, and it has only recently become widely known in post-Soviet Russia. Tchaikovsky's letters and diaries, as well as the letters of his brother Modest, who was also gay, make clear his orientation. [...] Many of Tchaikovsky's most intimate relationships were homosexual: Tchaikovsky's servant Aleksey Sofronov and his nephew, Vladimir “Bob” Davydov. Gay author E.M. Forster referenced Tchaikovsky and Davydov in his love story Maurice, written in 1913-14 and published in 1971: “...Tchaikovsky had fallen in love with his own nephew, and dedicated his masterpiece [Symphonie pathetique] to him.”

And as The Independent reported in 2009, a biography by Roland John Wiley found definitive evidence of sexuality:

A new biography by Roland John Wiley was published this autumn and ecstatically reviewed in these pages by Michael Church; it claims that some of those mysteries are no more than myths. For instance, Wiley points out that Tchaikovsky was openly gay all his life, to the point that he feminised the names of the young men he consorted with, and indeed his own – signing a letter to his brother (who was also gay) "Petrolina".

Nikolai Gogol — author

The 19th century novelist, best known for Dead Souls and his short stories, was also homosexual. The Sexual Labyrinth of Nikolai Gogol, by fellow gay Russian Simon Karlinsky, argued that evidence of Gogol's homosexuality could be found in his works. In her review of the book for The New York Review of Books, Helen Muchnic laid out Karlinsky's argument this way:

His thesis, in brief outline, is that Gogol, unable to be himself in a world where homosexuality was proscribed, concealed his inclinations, attempted to suppress his emotions, projected his secretiveness unconsciously in the deceptions, mystifications, and symbols of his stories and plays, and ultimately broke down under the strain, ruining his art and destroying himself. 

There are also references to Gogol's sexuality here and here, among other places. 

Sophia Parnok — poet 

Parnok, who died in 1933, was known as the Russian Sappho wrote about her sexuality in her poems. Here's an excerpt from her 1924 poem "Dreams": 

Only in dreams, with a broken off moan,
so as not to die in her sleep,
on such a mellifluous wave,
above this sky-blue drowning,
her whole chest heaving freely
with breath, my soul is bobbing.

Parnok published several collections of poems until censorship under the Soviet government deemed her works "unlawful" in 1928. 

Sergei Nabokov — brother of Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov, best known for his 1955 novel Lolita, was a known homophobe. As Lev Grossman explained in this 2000 piece for Salon, his brother was a known homosexual. Grossman wrote:

Sergei’s homosexuality would cast a long shadow over his strange and heroic life, and it would also, ultimately, be the cause of his horrifying and untimely death. It cast a shadow over Vladimir’s life as well: He loved his brother, but whatever else he may have been — a brilliant writer, a loving father — Vladimir was a confirmed homophobe, and his gay brother was a constant source of shame, confusion and regret to him.

Sergei died in a Nazi labor camp, while Vladimar went on to write several novels. Meanwhile, gay characters appear throughout Vladimir's work, possibly in recognition of his brother. 

       

Guess Which Industries Democrats and Republicans Disagree On Most

Think you know what sort of jobs Americans approve of the most? A poll released today by Gallup breaks down the country's favorite and least favorite industries, including by party. We've converted it into a little quiz for your entertainment.

Obviously, you shouldn't read the full results at the Gallup site until you take the quiz, because that's cheating. Once you've answered all eight questions below, we'll show you some graphs with the data. But until then, you'll need to rely on your wits. Which industries are most popular with which groups? See how you do.

One final note. Only about 50 percent of Americans approve of the internet industry, of which we assume The Atlantic Wire is a part. What's wrong, America? What are we doing wrong? If the answer is "have more quizzes," we're way ahead of you.

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Question 1

What industry do Democrats like the most?

Right. It's the computer industry. Sixty-nine percent approve.

Wrong. It's the computer industry. Sixty-nine percent approve.

Question 2

What industry do Republicans like the most?

Right. It's farming and agriculture. Two-thirds approve.

Wrong. It's farming and agriculture. Two-thirds approve.

Question 3

What industry do Democrats like the least?

Right. It's oil and gas. Only 19 percent approve.

Wrong. It's oil and gas. Only 19 percent approve.

Question 4

What industry do Republicans like the least?

Right. It's the federal government. Only 13 percent approve.

Wrong. It's the federal government. Only 13 percent approve.

Question 5

What industry do Democrats and Republicans disagree on the most?

Right. It's the federal government. Democrats like it 26 percentage points more.

Wrong. It's the federal government. Democrats like it 26 percentage points more.

Question 6

What industry are people under 30 most evenly split on?

Right. It's the travel industry, which 50 percent approve of.

Wrong. It's the travel industry, which 50 percent approve of.

Question 7

What industry do people over 65 like the most?

Right. Sixty-one percent like restaurants.

Wrong. Sixty-one percent like restaurants.

Question 8

What industry do old and young people disagree on the most?

Right. A quarter of older people approve of the movies; more than half of young people do.

Wrong. A quarter of older people approve of the movies; more than half of young people do.

  Difference of opinion between Republicans and Democrats

Bars pointing to the right indicate stronger support from Democrats.

Difference of opinion between people under 30 and over 65

Bars pointing to the right indicate stronger support from younger people.