Who Is Stephanie?

The other day, while perusing the latest update from Ancestry.com, one name and number caught my eye. In case you haven’t gotten your own DNA report yet, I should explain that it evolves over time as more and more people’s data comes online.

Like any information network, this DNA registry becomes more powerful as it expands, yielding new insights that never before were possible, let alone accessible. Today the Ancestry network claims it has data on 25 million people.

Among those are hundreds of people I share some percentage of DNA with, and the names at the top of the list were all familiar. It’s a simple matter of math: My children share 50 percent of my DNA, my grandchildren share ~25 percent of my DNA, my first cousins share ~12.5 percent of my DNA and so forth down the line.

The range for first cousins is actually 7.31–13.8 percent; my late cousin Dan Anderson, for example, shared 13 percent of my DNA.

Well, downlist the number that caught by eye was 8 percent, but the name attached, Stephanie Weir, represents a complete mystery to me. Was she a first cousin? I don’t see how that could be possible.

A first cousin, once removed? This does seem within the realm of the possible, as following the deaths of my parents, my sisters and I have lost track of a few cousins on my father’s side — the Weirs.

(I first published this one a year ago.)

A first cousin, once removed, would share between 2-11.5 percent DNA with the average being 6.6 percent. Since she shares 8 percent with me, Stephanie, wherever she may be, is almost definitely a first cousin, once removed.

I contacted my sisters, none of whom knew of any Stephanie in the family either. But we have all lost contact with my Dad’s brother Bill’s four sons, one of whom likely was responsible for Stephanie, one must assume.

For now, the mystery lies there, unsolved. Further digging clearly will be necessary to connect up the dots. Should I one day get around to that, there are apparently a few other potential first cousins, once removed, and second cousins out there, sharing 2-5 percent of their DNA with me.

HEADLINES:

• Some DACA recipients have been arrested in Trump’s immigration crackdown (AP)

• Georgia prosecutor kills the historic election interference case against Trump and allies (CNN)

• Zelensky ready to meet Trump over Thanksgiving to finalize deal (Axios)

• Peace plan presented by the US to Ukraine reflects inexperienced, unrealistic handling of a delicate situation (The Conversation)

• Welcome to the Gerrymandering Apocalypse (Atlantic)

• A senior House Republican reportedly warned that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) resignation is just the beginning, and predicted that what happens next could cost the GOP the majority even before the 2026 midterms. [HuffPost]

• Pentagon move against war hero Kelly shows Trump’s quest for vengeance is endless (CNN)

• It Turns Out Lindsey Halligan Was a Fake Prosecutor All Along (Slate)

• Doctor Critical of Vaccines Quietly Appointed as C.D.C.’s Second in Command (NYT)

• White House circulates a plan to extend Obamacare subsidies as Trump pledges health care fix (AP)

• DOGE May Be Dead, but Its Crimes Live On (TNR)

• Trump EPA to abandon air pollution rule that would prevent thousands of U.S. deaths (WP)

• The EU’s highest court ruled that same sex marriages must be respected throughout the bloc and rebuked Poland for refusing to recognise a marriage between two of its citizens that took place in Germany. (Reuters)

• Palestinians are facing a dire winter in war-ravaged Gaza. Israel has blocked or restricted the entry of shelter materials like tents into the territory, leaving more than a million people vulnerable to weather and disease. (WP)

• Four more arrested in connection with Louvre heist, Paris prosecutor says (NBC)

• Finland clings to its happiness crown as economic gloom deepens (Reuters)

• The full list of US universities at risk of funding cuts over support for DEI (Guardian)

• Chatbots Are Becoming Really, Really Good Criminals (Atlantic)

• Humans largely follow the lead of biased AI in hiring, a new study found. Research shows that human oversight isn’t enough to mitigate bias from AI. (WP)

• Study: Average 19th-Century American Spent 93% Of Time Waving At Trains, Boats (Onion)

 

Missing the Story

(This one is from 2021. It still holds true.)

One of the things I like about the news is that most of it doesn’t stick around. It comes and goes rather quickly; then it becomes a lot like fish — best when fresh; later on no.

But even though the news itself may come and go, the people who bring it to you remain.

Nieman Reports is out with an opinion piece by HuffPost editor-in-chief Danielle Benton that points out that “The press can’t afford to fall into disarray and depression while reporting on the collapsing world around us.”

This has always been true of journalists but the present context is notable because our own profession — journalism — is stuck in a prolonged state of depression from which some may reasonably conclude it will never recover.

The problem is not just that there are very few jobs for reporters and editors; it is also that the world is flooded with disinformation, lies, conspiracy thinking and outright attempts to undermine those who do seek to tell the truth about important matters.

In public life, virtually no one has enough credibility to be respected as an authority on anything any longer. There really are no “experts” left with a few exceptions here and there. 

In addition, the very companies that employ journalists who seek to get to the root of these issues often seem to not have a clue about just how much the world around them has changed, especially the digital world. Or if they do, they don’t know what to do about it.

Thus, these “legacy” media organizations are seen by many people of all political persuasions as part of the problem rather than a solution. When I curate the news, I rely on what are considered the leading journalism organizations I can locate to pass on each day’s headlines.

But at the same time, I am constantly struck by how little any of those organizations are doing about the Big Story themselves. 

HEADLINES:

• Federal judge dismisses indictments against Letitia James and James Comey, saying Lindsey Halligan appointment was unlawful (CNN)

• Judge tosses Comey, James cases after finding prosecutor unlawfully appointed (NPR)

• F.B.I. Letters Send Shivers Through California’s Political Inner Circle (NYT)

• MTG Quits Her Lousy House Gig But Not the Spotlight (New York)

• Why Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right? (Atlantic)

• Chicago’s immigration crackdown aftermath leaves lawsuits, investigations and anxiety (NBC)

• In cities targeted by ICE, empty desks and school disruptions follow (WP)

• White House Hails Progress on Ukraine Talks, but Zelensky Is Cautious (WSJ)

• Sen. Mark Kelly faces Pentagon investigation for making video on refusing ‘unlawful orders’ (CNBC)

• Trump’s tariffs are pushing Canada closer to China and India (WP)

• China’s Xi tells Trump Taiwan’s ‘return’ key to post-war order, Xinhua reports (Reuters)

• The War of the Rose Bowl (NYT)

• A Battle with My Blood (New Yorker)

• Writing builds resilience by changing your brain, helping you face everyday challenges (The Conversation)

• OpenAI’s Smackdown by a German Court Hints at What’s Next for AI and Art (Gizmodo)

• Amid MAGA fight over AI, Trump allies urge focus on workers (WP).

• What OpenAI Did When ChatGPT Users Lost Touch With Reality (NYT)

• Coast Guard Backtracks On Plan To Reclassify Swastikas As Mascot (Onion)

The Day Before Tomorrow

Everybody understands that holidays can be emotional times, for better or worse. They can be especially loaded for those who have suffered a loss recently or are feeling lonely without a solution at hand.

They also can be times of joy. 

American folklore makes a big deal of the importance of family at holidays, but we all know that family can be a mixed bag. Family histories at holidays include stressful conversations, anxiety swings and fierce political disagreements.

This last fear — of political fights — is so deep that these days there is a constant stream of nervous jokes and advice columns in the media surrounding family holiday get-togethers on ways to try and minimize rifts.

Why do we fear disagreeing so much? Maybe what we fear the most is losing each other, whatever our flaws and differences, forever.

Meanwhile, as other, wiser people before me have noted, we are all part of the larger human family, cousins if you will.

And yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is unknowable. So all there really is, is today, and if you are able make today matter in some small way that brings a larger meaning and a glimmer of hopefulness either for you or for someone else, be sure to do it.

One other thing. We never really lose one another, not completely, even after death.

Because we still appear in each other’s dreams.

HEADLINES:

• Big changes to the agency charged with securing elections lead to midterm worries (AP)

• Geneva talks with Ukraine ‘most productive and meaningful’ so far, Rubio says (BBC)

• Israel says Hezbollah chief of staff killed in first strike on Beirut in months (CNN)

• Are millennials frozen out of the housing market? The reality may be more interesting. (WP)

• Marjorie Taylor Greene Came So Close to Getting the Joke (Atlantic)

• Trump Shows His Power, and Greene Reveals His Weakness (NYT)

• Anything Goes America (Economist)

• Charlotte activists met the immigration crackdown with ‘bless your heart’ resistance (Guardian)

• High school senior, a U.S. citizen, detained by ICE in Oregon (OregonLive)

• The Federalist Society Is Torn Between Its Legal Philosophy and Trump’s Demands (NYT)

• Newsom, DeSantis join forces to blast ‘idiotic’ push to allow oil drilling off coasts of California, Florida (Fortune)

• The Justice Department Hits a New Low with the Epstein Files (New Yorker)

• What happens when your immune system hijacks your brain (AP)

• These people experienced near death. Here’s how it changed their lives. (WP)

• Mind-reading devices can now predict preconscious thoughts: is it time to worry? (Nature)

• How Google is disrupting itself to beat OpenAI (BusinessInsider)

MUSIC:

Deana Carter - Strawberry Wine (Official Music Video)

The Purple House

When I wrote for Rolling Stone in the 1970s, I was living in a large Victorian house in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco. It was painted purple and we were a collective of six adults and one child, my niece Elizabeth.

Behind us on the next street over was a far more famous house occupied by British songwriter Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

The Purple House, as we called it, was the nicest place any of us had ever lived in or would live in for many years to come.

But none of us could have afforded the rent on our own, let alone even think about buying it. We were all freelancers of one stripe or another, trying to make it in the city of the Summer of Love.

What got us by month-to-month was pooling our scarce resources to collectively come up with the rent, utilities and groceries.

The Purple House came up in my memory as I pondered what that idealistic young socialist, Zohran Mamdani, can possibly do about the affordability crisis as mayor of New York City.

I know he has proposed building thousands of affordable, rent-controlled units but that will only get him so far. Incentivizing collective living arrangements might be one of those socialist ideas that could be worth a try.

The thing is that groups of people living together encounter all sorts of problems as they try to navigate the practical details of daily life. People fight over those details, and couples break up.

To persist in such arrangements, people have to learn to compromise and adapt. Back at the Purple House, we did that for a while until we no longer were able to. We all moved out and moved on.

So if that kind of experimental living arrangement is to have any chance at a revival, we as Americans are going to have to become much better at the very thing — politically at least — we seem to be worst at.

Compromising and getting along.

HEADLINES:

• How Greene went from Maga loyalist to quitting Congress (BBC)

• The Legal Misstep That Imperiled Trump’s Midterm Strategy (WSJ)

• A Baker, a Pastor, and Charlotte’s Stand Against ICE (The Bulwark)

• Trump officials’ meeting with Russian in Miami spurs questions about latest Ukraine proposal (Reuters)

• The Murky Plan That Ensures a Future War (Atlantic)

• A dangerous moment for Ukraine (Reuters)

• White House blew past legal concerns in deadly strikes on drug boats (WP)

• Senators Launch Inquiry After a White House Official Intervened on Behalf of Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation (ProPublica)

• Trump’s Golden Dome faces big delays (Reuters)

• More than 300 children were abducted in an attack on a Catholic school in Nigeria (NPR)

• Violence, killings escalate in West Bank (Reuters)

• An L.A. man was detained in an immigration raid. No one knows where he is (LAT)

• EPA just approved new ‘forever chemical’ pesticides for use on food (WP)

• The Boomer Inheritance Economy gets weird (Business Insider)

• In Rural America, Public Radio Saves Lives (Reveal)

• Laura Loomer Completely Melts Down Over Mamdani-Trump Meeting (TNR)

• With the Rise of AI, Cisco Sounds an Urgent Alarm About the Risks of Aging Tech (Wired)

• Will ChatGPT trigger the next economic crash? (WP)

 

Pure Practical Politics

While most of the headlines focused on the Trump-Mamdani meeting as a spectacle, the key thing the two men seemed to rally around was the word “affordability” and how it goes with another word, “crisis.”

My guess is that Trump the builder was curious how Mamdani won the NYC mayor’s race and the younger man told him — their compatibility (for now) may rest on a conversation as simple as that.

For all the talk of inflation in grocery prices and health insurance costs, the core of the affordability crisis is the high cost of housing, both for renters and homebuyers. This has been true in urban areas like NYC for years now.. 

And it is increasingly true in rural areas as well — a political reality Trump is well aware of.

The average age of a first-time homebuyer in the U.S. is now around 40, which until recently was considered the onset of middle age. No longer — in this economy, you’re still a kid at 40.

Take Zohran Mamdani as a case in point. He’s 34 and lives in a rent-stabilized one-bedroom apartment in Queens. He doesn’t own a home yet but he does, however, own a 4-acre plot of land in Uganda.

Mamdani has ideas to address the housing crisis in New York and at least some of those ideas no doubt appealed to Trump, the builder-politician.

And BTW, none of this has anything to do with labels like left or right, Democrat or Republican, socialist or fascist.

It’s pure practical politics right down the middle of main street in today’s America.

HEADLINES:

• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she will resign, after fallout with Trump (CNBC)

• President Heaps Praise on Mamdani and New York’s Future (NYT)

• ‘We agree on a lot more than I would have thought,’ Trump says after meeting Mamdani (BBC)

• What If the Most Dangerous Man in the Administration Isn’t Donald Trump? (The Bulwark)

• How billionaires seized unprecedented power over American politics (WP)

• Judge dismisses charges against Chicago woman shot by Border Patrol (NBC)

• Abbott, Republican lawmakers’ comments cited in court order overturning Texas’ congressional gerrymander (Texas Tribune)

• The swing state of North Carolina has emerged as a new front in Trump’s immigration crackdown, and Democrats have spotted an opportunity. (Reuters)

• U.S. pushing Ukraine to sign peace deal by Thanksgiving or lose support (WP)

• Trump Presents Ukraine With a ‘Very Tough Choice’ (Foreign Policy)

• Trump’s Devastating Plan for Ukraine (Atlantic)

• The female crash test dummy has been a long time coming — but she isn’t here yet (NPR)

• In reversal, Coast Guard again classifies swastikas, nooses as hate symbols (WP)

• Kennedy Says He Told CDC to Change Website’s Language on Autism and Vaccines (NYT)

• “Embarrassing” and “Horrifying”: CDC Workers Describe the New Vaccines and Autism Page (Mother Jones)

• MAHA idealism meets political reality as RFK Jr. attempts to wrangle a growing movement (AP)

• Trump’s Angry Tirade Calling for “Death” to Dems Just Backfired Badly (TNR)

• In reversal, DOJ says Comey indictment was reviewed by full grand jury (ABC)

• In Mozambique, an ISIS insurgency is newly energized as US cuts impact aid programs (CNN)

• A drying-up Rio Grande basin threatens water security on both sides of the border (AP)

• The Ghislaine Maxwell Emails (Atlantic)

• How the classic anime ‘Ghost in the Shell’ predicted the future of cybersecurity 30 years ago (TechCrunch)

• Ubisoft Reveals Teammates – An AI Experiment to Change the Game (Ubisoft)

• A teddy bear powered by AI told safety testers about knives, pills and sex (AP)

• The A.I. Boom Has Found Another Gear. Why Can’t People Shake Their Worries? (NYT)

• JD Vance Cries In Bathroom After Trump Uses ‘Piggy’ Nickname On Someone Else (Onion)

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

It finally came to me, what I am trying to provide here on Substack. Based on 60 years of journalism, these are the stories that come to me night after night, either in weirdly vivid dreams fueled by Parkinson’s/medication, or in sudden moments of clarity.

They are stories of madness, often in my coverage of the evil spirit who’s trying to become our king. And they are stories of hope based in my belief that collectively, we can resist and ultimately prevent that evil spirit from succeeding.

There’s also a bunch of other stuff, randomly.

I’m not going to rename my newsletter just yet but if you’re a new or not-so-new reader of these essays on a regular basis and find yourself asking “What the hell is this?,” here is the answer.

And it’s an idiom.

HEADLINES:

• Trump says Democratic lawmakers’ video is ‘seditious behavior, punishable by death’ (NPR)

• Trump calls Democrats ‘traitors’ for telling military not to follow unlawful orders (WP)

• Texas redistricting case turns ugly as judge dissents 15 times (ABC)

• Texas Republicans have gerrymandered their way into a corner (Economist)

• Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with ‘suspicious’ travel patterns (AP)

• Meet the Veteran Who Chases ICE on a Scooter (Mother Jones)

• CDC in turmoil after agency backpedals on debunking vaccines-autism link (WP)

• Food banks, already strained, brace for prolonged demand (NPR)

• Bondi and Halligan’s Spectacularly Bad Lawyering for Trump (The Bulwark)

• The Trump Steamroller Is Broken (Atlantic)

• Tucker Carlson continues to fracture the right (NYT)

• U.S. Coast Guard Will No Longer Consider Swastika a Hate Symbol (TNR)

• Massive US Marine Buildup in Caribbean Just 7 Miles from Venezuela’s Coast (Military.com)

• US and Russia draw up peace plan for Ukraine that includes big concessions from Kyiv (AP)

• COP30 climate talks evacuated after fire breaks out (BBC)

• China’s civilian fleet could be a potent weapon in a Taiwan invasion (Reuters)

• Who wins and who loses as the US retires the penny (The Conversation)

• They retired from the government. Now they’re back, protecting forests Trump abandoned. (WP)

• Trump Moves to Weaken the Endangered Species Act (NYT)

• Bush, Biden and former vice presidents honor Dick Cheney, while Trump, Vance snubbed for funeral invitation (CNN)

• Google Gemini is getting better at identifying AI fakes (Verge)

• White House drafts order directing Justice Department to sue states that pass AI regulations (WP)

• ‘You Think You’re Better Than Me?’ Says Nicki Minaj Interrupting Child Reciting Nursery Rhyme (Onion)

The Left Hand Cringe

In one of the cringiest moments of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s meeting in the Oval Office this week, Trump reached over and grabbed MBS’s left hand, blurting out “I don’t give a hell where that hand has been.”

Watching this, I gasped.

From my time living in Afghanistan, I know that among Moslems, the left hand has traditionally been considered unclean because it is used for personal hygiene, like cleaning oneself after using the toilet. 

So was this what Trump was referring to when he said he didn’t care where that hand had been? It’s hard for me to believe that a buffoon like Trump would know about sensitive Islamic traditions, though I suppose he could have been briefed.

On the other hand (so to speak), considering that MBS is the guy the CIA believes ordered the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it doesn’t really matter which hand Trump clasped because both of them are covered with blood.

And in either case, Trump was saying he just doesn’t care.

HEADLINES:

• Trump Makes MBS Awkward With ‘Hand Grab’ After Loud Laugh; Watch Saudi Prince’s Reaction (Hindustan Times)

• The C.E.O.s Who Came to Dinner (With the Saudi Crown Prince) (NYT)

• Trump’s approval rating fell to 38%, the lowest since his return to power (Reuters)

• President Signs Bill on Release of Epstein Files (NYT)

• Quick release of Epstein files is in doubt, despite congressional action (WP)

• As Summers Sought Clandestine Relationship With Woman He Called a Mentee, Epstein Was His ‘Wing Man’ (Harvard Crimson)

• How well did Bill Clinton know Jeffrey Epstein? (ABC)

• Trump’s Global Tariffs Curtailed Trade, Data Shows (NYT)

• Trump’s Scheme to Give the GOP Extra House Seats Just Blew Up in His Face (Slate)

• Trump’s congressional gerrymandering push is getting complicated for the GOP (AP)

• ndiana Republicans refuse to redistrict their way to House seats (WP)

• Marjorie Taylor Greene’s big MAGA break-up (Economist)

• ‘A Recipe for Idiocracy’ (Atlantic)

• Trump is dismantling the Education Department. (AP)

• Trump Loyalist Admits Grand Jury Never Saw Final Comey Indictment (NYT)

• Comey challenges his indictment for “vindictive and selective” prosecution (CBS)

• Comey attorney argues indictment is an abuse of power by Trump (WP)

• Russia Pounds Ukraine Even as Zelensky Aims to Revive Peace Talks (NYT)

• China has informed Japan that it will ban all imports of Japanese seafood, media outlets reported, in what appeared to be the latest salvo in an escalating diplomatic dispute between Asia’s top two economies. (Reuters)

• U.S. citizens caught in Trump’s immigration dragnet (NPR)

• A Politically Restless Billionaire Enters the California Governor’s Race (NYT)

• Country Music Goes Apocalyptic (TNR)

• Fox News hires Palantir to build AI newsroom tools (Axios)

• Saudi Arabia Backs Elon Musk’s xAI With Data Center Deal (NYT)

• Exclusive Soup Kitchen Offers Free Meals By Invite Only (Onion)