Signs of Hope (Against the Darkness of War)

While Trump has been trying to swing his imperial weight around overseas, making a mess of things, it is worth taking a step back to consider the domestic political situation in the U.S. that preceded (and may have provoked) the start of the war in Iran.

One of the best pieces on this topic in Thomas L. Friedman’s “Why Minnesota Matters More Than Iran for America’s Future,” which ran in the Times on Sunday.

“It was one of the most courageous battles ever fought by American men and women not in uniform. It was led by moms ready to donate their breast milk to strangers and dads ready to drive someone else’s kids to school because the parents, terrified of ICE agents, were too afraid to go out outdoors. It was neighbors ready to hit A.T.M.s to help out neighborhood restaurants and businesses deciding not to open — thus forgoing their income — for fear that masked ICE agents might drag away their cooks or dishwashers or desk clerks.”

The entire article about how the people of Minnesota prevailed over Trump is worth a read.

Another significant article on Sunday was “Michael Pollan Says Humanity Is About to Undergo a Revolutionary Change” (NYT). This one is an extended interview.

Taken together, these pieces represent signs of hope in this dark period of our nation’s history.

HEADLINES:

• European countries resist Trump’s demand for help to clear the strait of Hormuz (Guardian)

• A Top U.S. Counterterrorism Official Resigns, Citing the Iran War (NYT)

• Trump warns Nato faces ‘very bad future’ if allies fail to help US in Iran (FT)

• Trump insisted he didn’t need allies’ help in Iran. Now he’s demanding they step in (CNN)

• Trump says he’s ‘not happy’ with UK after Starmer says it won’t be drawn into wider Iran war (BBC)

• Trump demands NATO and China police the Strait of Hormuz. So far they aren’t joining (NPR)

• Israel steps up bombing in Lebanon as Iran keeps stranglehold on shipping (PBS)

• The Iran war reveals the limits of U.S. military power (WP)

• Intrigue, Power Plays and Rivalries: Inside the Rise of Mojtaba Khamenei (NYT)

• The war is disrupting the flow of critical medicines to the Gulf,imperiling supply routes for cancer drugs and other treatments that require refrigeration and forcing companies to reroute flights and find overland access into the region, industry executives said. (Reuters)

• Trump Says He Wants to Delay Visit to China Because of Conflict (NYT)

• Trump’s mass deportation agenda is at a crossroads with the Homeland Security shake-up (AP)

• Judge Strikes Down Kennedy’s Vaccine Policies (NYT)

• US airports in chaos as unpaid TSA employees stop showing up to work (BI)

• Trouble is brewing among America’s corporate borrowers (Economist)

• Desperation in Cuba Ignites Unusual Acts of Defiance (NYT)

• Cuba’s power system suffers total collapse (CNN)

• Susie Wiles, Trump’s White House Chief of Staff, Has Breast Cancer (NYT)

• White House Rants At Jimmy Kimmel For Oscars Mockery Of Trump And Melania (HP)

• The World Anti-Doping Agency is considering rewriting its rules to try to bar Trump and all U.S. government officials from attending the LA Olympics in 2028, a move that could also have implications for the World Cup, which is being hosted by the U.S. this summer. [AP]

• Robot dogs are protecting data centers. Operators are seeing payoffs. (BI)

• Tech companies are blaming massive layoffs on AI. What’s really going on? (The Conversation)

• See which jobs are most threatened by AI and who may be able to adapt (WP)

• Trump Demands Staff Get King Of Hormuz On Line (Onion)

Work's Meaning

When it comes to the physical evolution of the human species over time, our bodies — including our brains — have changed very little. Slowly it seems most of us get a bit bigger, a bit heavier and quit a bit less hairy.

What about our behavior? Are we getting smarter?

Well, we’ve gotten more sophisticated in using tools, building nests, crafting comfortable clothing, inventing vehicles that let us zoom around the planet, and establishing routines that are meant to optimize pleasure.

We’ve improved our medical knowledge and expanded our lifespans.

And we’ve been able to accomplish all these things largely by inventing technologies.

But are we happier?

Technology inherently is neither good nor bad. It is officially neutral like Switzerland, although neutrality also is a relative concept. But if there are imperatives to the evolution of our species they probably include a technological component, i.e., we are going to continue to experiment and develop technologies that extend our reach — physically, mentally and maybe even emotionally.

Artificial intelligence and robotics are the latest examples of this imperative. No government or religion seems able to stop this process.

But technological progress is also inherently disorienting and disruptive. It was becoming commonplace several years ago to describe each new upheaval of our traditional industries in terms that it had just been disrupted by the internet, or by a digital device, or a software application.

Suddenly it seemed that all of the middlemen, all of the intermediaries who held our society together were being thrown out of work. The technical term is that they were getting disintermediated.

Travel agents? Disintermediated.

Secretaries? Disintermediated.

Taxi drivers? Disintermediated.

Publishers? Disintermediated.

Finally, a year ago, this process reached the federal government in the form of Elon Musk’s DOGE.

Government workers? Disintermediated. 

Now even the tech companies are facing mass layoffs, blaming AI. Meanwhile, the disrupters always ask the same rhetorical question. Why do we need all these people anyway?

I know the answer.

It turns out that we get something pretty valuable from the intermediaries. Something we need every bit as much as food, water, clothing, and blankets when it’s cold..

We need to be cared for; we need to be taken care of now and then; we need to be helped. At the same time, we need to be able to take care of the people we love. In our jobs, we need to be able to feel that our work matters.

It’s what gives our lives meaning. We need to feel we are helping make things better, not worse. And a lot of the fired federal workers fit into that category. And so do the tech workers.

It’s also why the Trump administration has had to quietly rehire some of those federal workers laid off over the past year. And also why AI can never replace humans at work.

Because we care.

HEADLINES:

• Why Minnesota Matters More Than Iran for America’s Future (NYT)

• The biggest change to voting in Republican election bill could become a burden for many US voters (AP)

• Exclusive: Trump Administration Plans to Announce Coalition to Escort Ships Through Strait of Hormuz (WSJ)

• Gulf Arab states intercept new missiles and drones as Iran threatens to widen war (Politico)

• President says Iran’s Kharg Island ‘demolished’ and threatens more strikes ‘just for fun’ (Guardian)

• ‘We never asked for a ceasefire,’ says Iran’s foreign minister as war keeps raging (NPR)

• Iran continues strikes on Gulf states day after US threatens oil facilities (Euronews)

• Iran War Delivers Windfall to America’s Oil Country (WSJ)

• U.S. intelligence shows Iran’s late supreme leader was wary of his son taking power, sources say (CBS)

• Trump is eager to declare victory, but a battered Iran still has cards to play (WP)

• Does Iran have a yuan-for-Hormuz oil trade plan? Why analysts in China are urging caution (SCMP)

• FCC chief threatens broadcasters as Trump criticizes coverage of Iran war (WP)

• There’s a 92 Percent Chance Trump Is Making It Up (Atlantic)

• Jamie Raskin Just Told John Roberts: “The Emperor Has No Clothes” (Nation)

• The Pete Hegseth Exception (Atlantic)

• Two weeks into war with Iran, Trump has been knocked back on his political heels (AP)

• For Trump, a Promised Economic Boom Collides With the Costs of War (NYT)

• Israeli police kill two young Palestinian boys and their parents in West Bank (Guardian)

• How Israel Used the War in Gaza to Accelerate Settlements in the West Bank (New Yorker)

• AP finds an Israeli group discreetly organized the mystery flights evacuating Palestinians from Gaza (AP)

• More Than 60,000 Washington Post Customers Canceled Subscriptions After Jeff Bezos Axed 44% of Reporters (Yahoo)

• DNA testing could clear a dead man’s name — and point to a serial killer (WP)

• The New Faces of Christian Nationalism (New Yorker)

• California’s Billionaire Tax Battle (NYT)

• The demanding new reality of being a grandparent in America (BI)

• Can scientists really resurrect the dodo? Inside the company that says it can (Guardian)

• 2026 March Madness Predictions (Silver Bulletin)

• I’ve lived in San Francisco and Austin, and I want to move back to California. Here’s what Texas is missing. (BI)

• Michael Pollan Says Humanity Is About to Undergo a Revolutionary Change (NYT)

• U.S. Suffers Additional Casualties In War It Won Last Week (Onion)

 

Kathy

My sister Kathy Richardson. (August 29, 1949 - March 10, 2026). My two sisters and I mourn her loss. Her three children and grandson were with her at the end.

(Carole, Kathy, David,Nancy)

HEADLINES:

• U.S. Tells Citizens to Leave Iraq After Second Attack on Embassy (NYT)

• Why has the US targeted Iran’s Kharg Island? (BBC)

• Iran threatens UAE cities after US attacked Kharg Island (The Hill)

• How Trump suspending sanctions on Russian oil helps Putin’s war effort (WP)

• Trump threatens hit on Iran’s main oil-export terminal (Reuters)

• Why Little Was Done to Head Off Oil’s Strait of Hormuz Problem (NYT)

• Trump urged uprising, but as bombs fall, Iranians are ‘too scared to move’ (WP)

• Hegseth, Trump face perilous options in the Strait of Hormuz (The Hill)

• Pete Hegseth’s Worrisome Press Briefing (Atlantic)

• Iran war bedevils travel worldwide (Reuters)

• House GOP leadership silent as more members post anti-Muslim statements (NPR)

• Zelenskiy seeks Europe’s reassurances (Reuters)

• How Jeff Bezos Upended The Washington Post (NYT)

• The Racist Hoax That Changed Boston (Reveal)

• Nvidia prepares AI ‘inference’ chip launch to counter rising challengers (FT)

• Meta is weighing major layoffs as it pours billions into AI (BI)

• What the Pentagon Wants from Anthropic (New Yorker)

• The Age of Eerie A.I. Political Ads Is Here (NYT)

• Pete Hegseth Questions What Girls Were Doing In School To Begin With (Onion)

49 Years Ago, CIR is Born

In April 1977, Lowell Bergman and I were discussing how to form a new journalism organization in the wake of the demise of our informal muckraking unit inside Rolling Stone.

Over the preceding two years at the magazine’s headquarters at 625 Third Street in Soma, we’d pulled together a half dozen or so reporters to pursue investigative stories, which had resulted in some good stories and also a ton of trouble.

Along with a bunch of awards, we had proven an ability to attract death threats and huge libel suits, among other forms of attention. We had both been unceremoniously dumped by Jann Wenner just before Christmas 1976 when he announced he would be taking the magazine to the east coast.

Our idea was to form a non-profit to carry on that type of work and Lowell brought an ally into the mix -- Dan Noyes, who he’d met in the “Arizona Project.” That was a group investigation into the murder of journalist Don Bolles, which in turn led to the creation of another non-profit group, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE).

The three of us -- Bergman, Noyes and myself -- co-founded the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) later in 1977. A large group of advisers helped us launch the organization and we settled into an office in downtown Oakland.

But back in April, we had been still discussing what such an organization should be, what it should do, what its essential identity should be.

Today, 49 years later, CIR and IRE have long been staples of the journalism world and we are working individually on our memoirs. In that context, Lowell recently unearthed an old type-written letter he had sent to Dan that April. Dan and I had not yet met and Lowell wanted to introduce him to my thoughts on the subject.

“I talked with Weir --as expected he is enthusiastic. Interestingly, David presented the following perspective: (the group should have) two major groups of activity: publications and community involvement.”

This old letter is a prime example of why I spend so much energy beseeching people to preserve their journals, letters, notes and files whenever possible. Until Lowell sent a copy of it to me recently, I had absolutely no memory of having said those things.

But clearly I was envisioning not only a journalism organization but one that would attempt to root that work in the communities where we worked.

The Bay Area was our base. It was a region with deep contradictions -- idealism, activism and hope with violence, cynicism, and deeply entrenched reactionary media organizations, notably the old Hearst daily, the San Francisco Examiner.

We couldn’t know it at the time, but that same newspaper would be transformed by a talented group of our peers, including the heir to the Hearst publishing empire, Will Hearst, into an excellent newspaper in its final decades.

We participated in that transformation. We also found our way into relationships with dozens of other media groups -- CBS News, NBC News, ABC News, 60 Minutes, 20/20, Mother Jones, New West, New York, NHK, BBC, etc., here and around the world.

There were many ups and downs in the early years, including press conferences denouncing us, and/or announcing libel suits and more death threats, but ultimately CIR survived and thrived. How that came to be is the story the three of us need to tell in our memoirs.

NOTE: Early in 2024, Mother Jones and CIR merged into a single organization.

HEADLINES:

• U.S. Military Attacks Iran’s Oil Export Hub, Trump Says (NYT)

• Trump: ‘When oil prices go up, we make a lot of money’ (The Hill)

• Ships identify themselves as Chinese around Strait of Hormuz during Iran war to avoid attacks (AP)

• 6 killed in U.S. refueling plane crash; Iran’s new supreme leader ‘likely disfigured,’ Hegseth says (NBC)

• Weakened by War, Iran Hits Back by Strangling a Vital Waterway (NYT)

• A complex tug-of-war inside the White House is driving US President Donald Trump’s shifting public statements on the course of the Iran war, as aides debate when and how to declare victory even as the conflict spreads across the Middle East. Read our exclusive. (Reuters)

• Wall Street Bankers Offered Lucrative Access to Join the Pentagon (NYT)

• Why China could emerge a winner from Trump’s global energy shock (WP)

• The ‘Chinese Dream’ is shrinking for Gen Z (BI)

• Cuban President Acknowledges Talks With Trump Administration (NYT)

• The US may move some of its anti-missile system - and it’s sparking unease in South Korea (BBC)

• A federal judge criticizes the government for pursuing an investigation of Jerome H. Powell. (NYT)

• Election Records Handed Over to the FBI in Maricopa County, Arizona, Could Be Fatally Flawed, Experts Say (ProPublica)

• Shot by Border Patrol, Then Called a “Domestic Terrorist” (New Yorker)

• Old Dominion shooter convicted of Islamic State ties released from prison just 2 years before attack (AP)

• Synagogue Attacker Killed Himself During Gunfight With Guards, Officials Say (NYT)

• The US slashed research for cancer, Alzheimer’s, mental health — and nearly everything else (Vox)

• E.P.A. Moves to Weaken Limits on a Cancer-Causing Gas (NYT)

• A new wave of disrupters takes on American health care (Economist)

• Congressional Democrats say Trump tariffs will cost US households more than $2,500 this year (AP)

• China’s nuclear warhead storage a ‘highly concentrated risk’, US report says (SCMP)

• MPs ‘deeply troubled’ by BBC World Service funding uncertainty (BBC)

• They Want to Rebuild. Can They Afford to Prevent the Next Fire, Too? (NYT)

• The Fog of AI (Atlantic)

• How Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the world (TR)

• China’s DeepSeek gives US tech giants a run for their money as Microsoft and others expand AI push in Africa (BI)

• Working in A.I. Lifted Their Compensation. Now They Want Prenups. (NYT)

• Inside the Dirty, Dystopian World of AI Data Centers (Atlantic)

• Meta Delays Rollout of New A.I. Model After Performance Concerns (NYT)

• Trump, Mitch McConnell Clash In Oval Office Over Where They Are (Onion)

 

Pushing Autocrats Aside

I wrote the a year ago. It still holds:

The Guardian has put into words what many of us have been fearing for some time: “(Trump) is leading the world’s oldest continuous democracy to a once unthinkable destination.

“Eviscerating the federal government and subjugating Congress; defying court orders and delegitimising judges; deporting immigrants and arresting protesters without due process; chilling free speech at universities and cultural institutions; cowing news outlets with divide-and-rule. 

“Add a rightwing media ecosystem manufacturing consent and obeyance in advance, along with a weak and divided opposition offering feeble resistance. Join all the dots, critics say, and America is sleepwalking into authoritarianism.”

The Guardian article is very long and goes into great detail before ending on a surprising and welcome positive note.

Norm Eisen, a lawyer and founder of State Democracy Defenders Action, says “There is reason for hope but nobody knows. Will we go the way of Brazil, Poland, Czech Republic, where I was ambassador, all of which pushed out autocratic regimes in recent years? Or will we go the way of Hungary and Turkey, which failed to oust autocrats? It remains to be seen but I, at least, am hopeful.”

HEADLINES:

• Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Trump’s Cabinet (Atlantic)

• How Trump and His Advisers Miscalculated Iran’s Response to War (NYT)

• Iran’s new supreme leader vows to keep blocking Strait of Hormuz as oil prices spike again (NBC)

• 4 Killed in Crash of U.S. Refueling Plane in Iraq, Military Says (NYT)

• U.S. sailors injured in fire aboard aircraft carrier near Iran (WP)

• Outdated intel likely led US to carry out deadly strike on Iranian elementary school (AP)

• What it will mean for the economy if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed (Axios)

• Former NFL players don’t want Trump using them to sell the Iran war (WP)

• he Pentagon has reportedly told Congress that the first week of the Iran war cost the U.S. over $11 billion. The military reported spending $5 billion on munitions alone over the first weekend of the conflict. [AP]

• US intelligence indicates that Iran’s leadership is still largely intact and is not at risk of collapse any time soon after nearly two weeks of relentless US and Israeli bombardment, according to three sources familiar with the matter. (Reuters)

• Trump Removes Sanctions on Russia to Help Oil Flow Amid Iran Conflict (NYT)

• Michigan synagogue attack updates: Temple Israel suspect identified (Yahoo)

• The Supreme Court’s Favorite New Excuse to Rule Against LGBTQ+ Kids (Slate)

• The Republican Party Continues Eating Its Own (Atlantic)

• RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine agenda curbed as GOP realizes it’s unpopular (Ars Technica)

• One-third of Americans skip meals or other needs to afford health care (WP)

• Federal Surveillance Tech Becomes Mandatory in New Cars by 2027 (Yahoo)

• Mortgage Rates Rise as Iran War Ripples Through Financial Markets (NYT)

• Smithsonian museum will revamp its slavery exhibit after artifact loan runs out (AP)

• California’s Deadliest Avalanche Turned on One Choice Atlantic)

• AI money is already influencing the midterms. And more is coming. (WP)

• Trump Defends Wearing Fruit Hat, Samba Dancing During Dignified Transfer (Onion)

 

Echoes of a Past War

The Trump administration keeps emphasizing that the U.S. military is by an overwhelming margin the most powerful in the world.

And I have no doubt that by conventional ways of measurement that is a true statement.

But when it comes to whether the U.S. will “win” the war with Iran, regardless of how strong our military may be, there are some historical precedents that are relevant.

People my age remember the Vietnam War. In that case we were also assured by our government that our military was far superior to that of our enemy. Accordingly, the U.S. bombed and bombed, but the war never seemed to end.

Instead, the Vietnamese pursued unconventional means and eventually overcame the U.S. advantage to win the war.

Although Iran’s military may be far inferior to the U.S.’s, it is employing drones and other relatively inexpensive technologies to attack targets in the Strait of Hormuz and the neighboring countries that house U.S. military facilities.

It is not a random thought that Iran may prevail in the end, at least to the extent Trump ends the conflict, declares “victory” and moves his attention elsewhere, perhaps to Cuba.

Such a victory declared by Trump would be, of course, pyrrhic in nature. And only the latest reminder of what happened in Vietnam.

HEADLINES:

• Iranian Military Shows It Knows How to Adapt, U.S. Officials Say (NYT)

• US bases will be attacked unless closed, says Khamenei (Al Jazeera)

• Will Iran break MAGA? (Silver Bulletin)

• The Iran war has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil chokepoint. Reopening it is a big challenge (AP)

• Ships attacked near key shipping lane as Iran launches its ‘most intense’ strikes of the war (NBC)

• Three Ships Hit Near Strait of Hormuz as Iran Tries to Choke Off Oil Traffic (WSJ)

• U.S. forces sink 16 Iranian minelayers as reports say Tehran is mining the Strait of Hormuz (CNBC)

• U.S. at Fault in Strike on School in Iran, Preliminary Inquiry Says (NYT)

• Iran’s new supreme leader is injured but reportedly ‘safe’ as traders sour on war exit strategy (Fortune)

• How Iran Is Building a Religious Mythology Around Its New Supreme Leader (WSJ)

• Countries agree to record release of emergency oil reserves as prices surge (BBC)

• Local officials confirm FBI warning of Iranian plot to attack California with drones (SFC)

• Everything Trump Touches Dies: Oil Edition (Bulwark)

• Iran war becomes a contest of who can take the most pain (AP)

• U.S. Gas Prices Jump for 11th Straight Day, and Oil Pushes Higher (NYT)

• Two drones came down in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport, injuring four people, Dubai’s media ‌office said, as attacks on infrastructure across the Gulf continued on the 12th day of the Iran crisis, which has caused widespread disruption to global air traffic. (Reuters)

• Drone hits U.S. diplomatic facility in Iraq, official says; no known casualties (WP)

• Arizona Is Now at the Center of Election Investigations (Atlantic)

• Pete Hegseth’s Defense Department Blew $22M On Steak and Lobster in a Single Month, Watchdog Claims (Yahoo)

• Trump’s Assault on Higher Education Has Hit a Snag (Atlantic)

• Ukraine Reaches a Milestone: Making ‘China-Free’ Drones (NYT)

• Pentagon bars press photographers over ‘unflattering’ Hegseth photos (WP)

• ‘Forever chemicals’ contaminate nearly 40% of non-organic California-grown produce (EWG)

• The tiny forests that could save endangered trees (WP)

• Even the most radical anti-abortion lawmakers (with a few exceptions) have made it clear that pregnant women should not be criminalized for abortions, let alone pregnancy loss due to miscarriage. But it seems prosecutors and police haven’t gotten the memo, HuffPost's Alanna Vagianos reports. [HuffPost]

• How UC Berkeley’s veteran student newspaper covers the campus in turbulent times (Berkeleyside)

• Rosanna Arquette: ‘I paid a price for saying no to Harvey Weinstein’ (Times)

• As AI data centers scale, investigating their impact becomes its own beat (Nieman)

• Play It Again, Claude (Atlantic)

• Schools are teaching AI — and making a massive mistake (WP)

• ‘Which Way Is Iran?’ Asks Pantsless, Sword-Wielding Trump Wandering On Side Of Freeway (Onion)

 

Wednesday Mix

HEADLINES:

• ‘Largest ever’ oil reserve release agreed by 32 countries, as Strait of Hormuz ships attacked (BBC)

• At Least 3 Ships Are Struck In and Around a Key Gulf Oil Passage (NYT)

• US will end war with Iran ‘on our timeline,’ Hegseth says (CNN)

• Oil prices are volatile amid conflicting reports about security in the Strait of Hormuz (NBC)

• Aluminium, Helium and Sulfur: The Iran War Is Affecting More Than Oil (NYT)

• Why emergency oil releases won’t fix this crisis (CNN)

• What Americans think about the war in Iran, according to recent polls (AP)

• Human Rights Watch accuses IDF of unlawful use of white phosphorus in Lebanon (TJP)

• Is the war in Iran over or just beginning? When confronted about the mixed messages from his administration, Trump said it's "both" on Monday. But some of his own advisers are now urging him to map a way out of the conflict, amid concerns that a continued war could fuel further political backlash, according to The Wall Street Journal. [HuffPost]

• Iran is wagering it can outlast the United States and Israel - not militarily, but by grinding the war into a brutal contest of endurance. Its strategy is stark: Unleash drones and missiles, cut vital energy routes and jolt global markets hard enough to force Washington to blink first. Read our analysis. (Reuters)

• RFK Jr’s pick to review Covid vaccines authored misleading research, experts say (Guardian)

• How the special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene is testing the power of Trump’s endorsement (CNN)

• Judge limits crowd control devices at Portland ICE building, says federal officers must identify themselves (OPB)

• Wyoming governor signs ban on abortions after about 6 weeks but cites misgivings (AP)

• In Marjorie Taylor Greene’s District, a Trump-Backed Candidate Advances (NYT)

• Trump reiterates threat of a ‘friendly takeover’ of Cuba as fuel crisis deepens (CNBC)

• Whistleblower claims ex-DOGE member took Social Security data to his new job (WP)

• The Weather-Changing Conspiracy Theory That Will Never End (Atlantic)

• The Bay Area Considers the Unthinkable: Life Without BART (NYT)

• Meta hires duo behind Moltbook (Axios)

• Research: How AI Is Changing the Labor Market (HBR)

• AI Layoffs Are a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy (Atlantic)

• MAGA Voter Claims She Loves High Gas Prices (Onion)