Sanctions have not succeeded in lessening support or creating regime change. They are a siege warfare tactic, and a way of inflicting suffering upon the masses of people. There’s plenty of books on the topic, I’d recommend Sanctions as War, edited by Stuart Davis and Immanuel Ness.

I was driving this weekend, a truck turned onto the road ahead of me, stayed stopped in the right hand lane until I got near to them, then slammed on the gas spewing a massive cloud of filth that entirely enveloped my car. Thankfully my wife and I noticed it beforehand and rolled our windows up.

It’s not every day for everyone, but I used video calling every day to talk to my foreign spouse, and to talk to my little brothers when I was overseas. It’s pretty amazing overall.