Time once again for our mid-week random selection of stories.<\/p>\n
It will be months \u2014 perhaps years or even decades \u2014 before we have the truth about the chemical weapons horror in Khan Sheikhoun<\/a>. The US government and corporate media \u2014 who both have a history of dishonesty \u2014 claim that the Assad government used chemical weapons, probably Sarin but maybe chlorine, on civilians. The Assad government and its ally Russia \u2014 who both have a history of dishonesty \u2014 claim that a rebel cache of chemical weapons was hit in a conventional airstrike, causing the disaster. While the US ridicules this claim, the VOA reports that Syrian rebels may have used chemical weapons, probably chlorine, in an attack on a Kurdish district of Aleppo.<\/a> (Given the context, this is probably a candidate for underreported story of the year.)<\/p>\n If I knew the truth were going to be unquestionably revealed and were so crass as to bet on it, I\u2019d bet that the Assad government did indeed use a chemical weapon. But the facts are far from established. Not only is there reasonable doubt, there hasn\u2019t even been an investigation.<\/p>\n That, of course, did not stop the Trump administration from launching missiles into Syria.<\/p>\n The UN Charter states<\/a>:<\/p>\n All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.<\/p>\n All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There is no exception to this clause which makes the United States judge, jury, and executioner when it thinks another nation has stepped over a line.<\/p>\n The US has ratified the UN Charter as a treaty.<\/a> That, according to the Constitution, makes it part of the supreme law of the land.<\/p>\n That means that these airstrikes \u2014 like every other attack and invasion we\u2019ve made without UN sanction \u2014 are a crime under our own laws.<\/p>\n And as a matter of practical politics, we cannot effectively make one nation stop its (probable) crimes by committing (definite) crimes of our own.<\/p>\n But since both major parties are in the habit of carrying out these crimes, no one is prosecuted or brought to justice, and the people are easily led. It\u2019s war crimes as usual \u2014 and as perennially popular \u2014 in the US of A.<\/p>\n In other crime news, a man who declined to give us his seat on a United Airlines flight to help United fix its screwed up employeee logistics<\/a> was beaten and dragged off the plane. (Contrary to widespread reporting, the flight was not overbooked; United wanted to bump passengers to move its employees around.) Whether you think it was he or his assailant who committed a crime here says a lot about your moral sense.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve tried to avoid United ever since they screwed me over in 2007 by changing the baggage policy between legs of a round-trip flight. (Yes, it was almost three months between departure and return, but under no rational system can one party change the agreement without notifying the other until that second party arrives at check-in.) But Reddit has a thread about United horror stories<\/a> that makes my baggage problem pale.<\/p>\n One of the most outrageous is told by user \u201cskinandtonic\u201d, who tells of how United stopped him, at age 13, from visiting his dying grandfather:<\/p>\n I was 13 at the time, and had to transfer in Chicago which is a nightmareish airport to connect at so my mom arranged for United to have a staff member take me off the first plane and to the gate to catch my connecting flight, which is a service they offer for some sort of fee.<\/p>\n I get to the airport and I\u2019m checking in when they say that because my flight is the last one of the day, the connection accompaniment service isn\u2019t offered, even though we had confirmed booking it on the phone the day before. Even when we asked if I could just make the connection alone they said that not only could they not arrange an accompaniment, but because I was a minor they wouldn\u2019t let me on the flight even though my seat was already booked because they didn\u2019t think I could make the connection on my own\u2026<\/p>\n Even worse, they wouldn\u2019t let me take a flight the next day\u2026or move my ticket to another airline\u2026We went home from the airport after several hours of trying to get me on any flight going to Florida at all but couldn\u2019t find a single ticket because it was so last minute. I never got to see my grandfather.<\/p>\n We did finally get a refund, just in time to spend that money on my ticket out for his funeral.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n United\u2019s official response to the beating of David Dao talked about how they sought \u201cvolunteers\u201d to give up their seats, which provoked this response from the @MerriamWebster Twitter account:<\/p>\n \u2018Volunteer\u2019 means \u201csomeone who does something without being forced to do it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Friends, when the dictionary is laying sick burns on you, it\u2019s time to check yourself.<\/p>\n \u2018Volunteer\u2019 means \u201csomeone who does something without being forced to do it.\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/qNAcMyplhZ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster)<\/p>\nUnited Horror Stories<\/h2>\n
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