Blowing Up

Thousands of pagers exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday in what appears to have been a coordinated attack by Israel against members of the Hezbollah militia.

The unprecedented attack reportedly killed 12 people—including a young girl—and injured at least 3,000. Videos and photos posted to social media showed the aftermath: busted bellies and bloodied groins. As you might expect, injuries to the eyes and hands also appear to be common. Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, reportedly lost an eye and had the other wounded in the attack.

Critical malfunction. Despite initial speculation that Israel had caused the pagers to blow by simply sending a signal that overheated the device’s lithium batteries—the sort of thing that could be used to target any similar device—the explosive force of the detonations suggested something else was involved. Lithium batteries can burn intensely when damaged or overheated, but they don’t explode.

Instead, it appears that Israeli Mossad agents somehow tampered with the pagers to insert a small amount of explosives. American officials speaking anonymously told The New York Times that “explosive material, as little as one to two ounces, was implanted next to the battery in each pager,” along with a switch that could be activated remotely.

The pagers had been bought from Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese company, but had been manufactured in Hungary by a company called BAC Consulting, Reuters reports. The tampering that turned the devices into miniature bombs appears to have occurred at the manufacturing level, and BAC Consulting doesn’t appear to be a run-of-the-mill tech firm, to say the least: According to Reuters, the company’s “registered activities are wide ranging, from computer game publishing to IT consulting to crude oil extraction.” That sure sounds like a front to me.

The cycle of violence continues. In a statement after the attack, Hezbollah vowed a “reckoning” for Israel in response to the attack. Miri Eisin, a fellow at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, which is based in Israeli, told the Times that the attack was “an amazing tactical event” that seems to lack a clear strategic goal.

Turning personal communication devices into mini, automated suicide bombers and then setting them off in public spaces with little regard for the collateral damage seems more like terrorism than anything that could be construed as self-defense.

Going down? In other news, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce a cut to its baseline interest rate on Wednesday—but the big question is how much of a cut the central bank will make.

The Federal Reserve hiked interest rates 11 times between March 2022 and July 2023 in an attempt to combat inflation. As a result, the baseline rate climbed from near 0 to over 5 percent, and the bank’s leadership has resisted calls for cutting rates so far. Lowering interest rates could be good news for consumers looking to make big purchases—the Fed’s baseline rate filters into the economy in the form of higher borrowing costs for anyone who needs a car loan, a mortgage, a business loan, or some other form of debt—but lower interest rates could also spur a return of inflation.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R–Ohio) has some sensible thoughts about immigration. Or, rather, he once had them.

“A significant part of Republican immigration policy centers on the possibility of deporting 12 million people (or ‘self-deporting’ them),” Vance wrote in a 2012 blog post, which was unearthed Tuesday by CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski. “Think about it: we conservatives (rightly) mistrust the government to efficiently administer business loans and regulate our food supply, yet we allegedly believe that it can deport millions of unregistered aliens. The notion fails to pass the laugh test. The same can be said for too much of the party’s platform.”

Nailed it. Too bad today’s version of Vance is going all-in on a mass deportation plan that would require a huge expansion of government power. Usually, age bestows wisdom, but Vance ought to listen to his younger self.

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Scenes from New York (by way of Washington, D.C.): I wasn’t sure it was possible to harbor more contempt for federal bureaucrats than I already did, and then I read about how some Department of Education employees stole Disney World tickets that were supposed to go to homeless kids.

Linda M. Wilson, a New York-based Department of Education employee who ran the scam, “used the names of homeless students to fabricate permission slips, then forged parent signatures on the paperwork, witnesses told investigators,” the New York Post reports.

Taxpayers covered the cost of the trips with a $300,000 federal grant—but I’ve got other questions, like why are we using federal grants to send homeless kids to Disney World instead of, you know, helping them escape from homelessness?

Fire them all.

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QUICK HITS

• In a post on Truth Social, former President Donald Trump said he would restore the state and local income tax deduction (commonly known as the “SALT” deduction), even though that deduction was capped by the very federal tax bill that he signed into law. Removing that cap would overwhelmingly benefit wealthy Americans in high-tax states like New York and California.
• Vice President Kamala Harris says she would cap child care costs at 7 percent of a family’s income. How? Unclear. But the math doesn’t really work.
• How to escape the political doom loop? More parties!
• Artificial intelligence tools seem to be helping workers, not replacing them. “About 27% of firms using AI report replacing worker tasks, but only about 5% experience employment change due to AI use,” according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data.
• “Nobody gets the golden meat cleaver award.“

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Source: https://reason.com/2024/09/18/blowing-up/