News, Notes, and Notions for 22Sep24
Did our best with the week that was, so in case you missed it all the writing, media, and assorted shenanigans of the last few days. Outrage not included
I’m really proud to be a contributor to West Virginia Watch, the State Newsroom outlet for my beloved home state. The reporters and staff are doing amazing work, very high quality journalism on stories that matter, often against a state government that is actively trying to ignore, discredit, and outright attack them. My latest commentary for them focuses on school threats, violents, and how no student becomes a shooter without a whole bunch of adult failure enabling that process:
Holding parents legally liable for the actions of their children has always been a controversial matter both legally and in society. It is also becoming depressingly necessary. The Secret Service detailed in their 2019 analysis of targeted school violence that all the attackers they profiled exhibited concerning behavior, and most elicited both concern from others and the attackers’ communicated intent. Also, the report states, “Nearly every attacker experienced negative home life factors” and that all the attackers experienced social stressors before acting. Combined, the picture of the people who should be most involved with a potential attacker are the ones most likely to identify and prevent violence. But at Apalachee, the parent is charged as being the enabler of the violence.
When gun violence in schools makes headlines, a predictable cycle of response begins. The debate quickly goes directly to the politically and culturally charged issue of guns. Administrators will point out how things like physical security upgrades require funding investment. There is the push/pull between local officials, parents and teachers over how much law enforcement presence at schools is needed, wanted, necessary and healthy.
All worthy topics of great importance. All reactionary responses after there is blood spilled and violence perpetrated by a student upon a school.
How to prevent modern attacks, especially in the face of rising and technologically enhanced threats, requires hard questions on very old topics. Questions of when should law enforcement be held accountable for not following up on known threats. The politically charged, ethically difficult and legally fraught matter of where do parent’s rights and the state’s obligation for public safety meet and when does one override the other? The very uncomfortable conversations of parents, peers, adults and students who see things — not only someone’s behavior and actions but also on social media and their online persona — and knowing when to get authorities involved.
That last one is not helped by state agencies like the West Virginia State Police and Department of Human Services having separate scandals, bad press and notable communication issues between themselves and the public. Or by a state that is far behind on services like adolescent mental health care options. “See something, report something” carries more weight when the citizens have faith their “do something” will result in something being done.
Read the full piece here:
Over at Ordinary Times, we walked through how Israel got Hezbollah’s number…pager numbers, to be exact.
This is quite the operation on multiple levels. First there is the ruse of getting not only rigged devices but making sure Hezbollah’s network acquired them. Then there is the tech to be able to detonate at a designated time. Tactically, hitting something like 3,000 terrorist all at once in a highly targeted way is unprecedented. Strategically, not only are those injured now limited, but Hezbollah in essence self-identified their own network, many of whom will be permanently, physically marked by wounds.
There was collateral damage, and reports of children and civilians being wounded and killed are coming out. When you launch an operation involving explosives, like Israel did here, that is something that has to be answer for. Still, the cries from Hezbollah, supporters, and sympathizers that this attack is a “crime against humanity” rings hollow, since if Hezbollah remotely detonated a device at a bus stop or market in Tel Aviv that’s all SOP for the terrorist organization. That is the difference between a sovereign nation like Israel that can be dealt with, pressured, and held accountable, and the terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and their financial state backers to whom all dead are equally useful to the cause.
Counterterrorism, especially on the international level that Israel is dealing with, is a game of action and reaction. This pager operation was a really big stick Israel has clearly been planning for years and decided to use now. Now Hezbollah and other terrorist organization will adapt and retaliate. Meaning Israel will again have to adapt.
And round and round we go. But, one would assume, with less pagers in the future.
Media Appearances:
Always good chatting with my friend Joe Cats on Hot Talk Morning Show.
I joined our Canadian news friends The News Forum to try and explain our American hot mess of a congress:
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