Friday, January 16, 2026

Imagining Insurrections

From today’s top link:

“The president and his allies constantly tell Americans that they face catastrophe on all sides—that the country is besieged by weapons of mass destruction, narco-terrorists, invaders, insurrectionists, and terrorists. This misleading rhetoric stokes fear in order to justify extreme measures.”

“Insurrections are rare in U.S. history, but according to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, we’ve had lots of them just since 2024. In his telling, the perpetrators of recent insurrections against the United States include Joe Biden; the Colorado Supreme Court; U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani; U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston; Democrats; protesters in Los Angeles; protesters in Paramount, California; protesters in Compton, California; the city of Los Angeles; U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong; various “radical communist judges”; the Chicago Police Department; a crowd that the Chicago police didn’t stop; an Oregon judge; and “Democrat lawmakers.” (Miller has never called the MAGA movement’s storming of the Capitol an insurrection.)”.  Conor Friedersdorf (Atlantic)

Read the whole article here.

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Thursday, January 15, 2026

It Starts

The scenario I have long feared and predicted is unfolding in Minneapolis.

Trump sent in his troops, in the form of his private police force, ICE. An agent killed someone. Protests ensued. Trump sent in more troops. Another member of the public got shot. More protests follow.

Next, Trump cites the 1807 Insurrection Act and declares martial law. He takes control of the city, now with real troops in the form of the National Guard. Protests erupt nationally. 

Everything escalates everywhere. Is this how it starts?

Note: The Insurrection Act is an old federal law that permits the president to use the U.S. military and federalize the National Guard within the country to suppress rebellion, domestic violence, or enforce federal laws if civilian law enforcement is insufficient. 

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Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Fairness in Journalism

How do reporters stay objective?

The answer is complicated. One answer is that we don’t, but that is hardly the end of the story.

In the course of reporting, we learn so much about the people we cover that it is almost inevitable that we develop what seems like a bias for or against them.

Given that, how do we keep our coverage fair in spite of this? Think of it like when you are asked to serve on a jury. If you have any bias toward the person on trial, you’re asked to put that aside and only take the facts as they are proved into account when making your judgment. 

In fully staffed newsrooms, reporters had systems in place to counteract any prejudicial statements that make their way into the early drafts of articles. Our colleagues, editors and fact checkers — and in big stores, our lawyers — acted collectively as devil’s advocates to test and retest our assumptions and conclusions.

Unfortunately, much of what I’m describing is from the newsrooms of the past, which may no longer exist in many of today’s media organizations after waves of layoffs, buyouts and corporate takeovers.

For the latest on the state of the news media , read “Publishers prepare to be “squeezed” by AI and creators in 2026.” (Nieman)

But with or without those layers of support, the burden remains on every journalist to produce fair and balanced stories and above all else to get it right.

Because the truth is our only and last defense.

Traditionally, in newspapers, there was a strict line between the reporting we did in news coverage and the opinions expressed on the editorial page. 

One attempt to bridge this gap was to have the beat writers produce analysis pieces, which bridged the gap between reporting and opinion and were traditional journalism’s answer to the objectivity problem.

Though the distinction between “analysis” and “opinion” was largely fictional, it was a useful fiction that newspapers employed successfully for many years.

Meanwhile, the ownership of the newspaper often held different opinions and loyalties on the major topics of coverage from the reporters and editors who provided that coverage on a day-in, day-out basis.

This could lead to tension on between the news staff and those in charge of the editorial pages. Anyone who ever visited the nearest bar to a big-city newspaper office knows exactly what I’m talking about.

(This is an updated excerpt from lectures I gave at various universities over many years.)

HEADLINES:

  • Six Prosecutors Quit Over Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim’s Widow (NYT)

  • None of This Should Have Happened (Atlantic)

  • Tensions flare in Minnesota as protesters and federal agents repeatedly square off (AP)

  • Anti-ICE Protests Are Spreading Beyond Big Cities, to Small-Town America (Time)

  • Canada’s armed forces are planning for threats from America (Economist)

  • Greenland and Denmark unite against US advances before White House talks (Guardian)

  • House Republican introduces bill to let Trump annex Greenland (Axios)

  • Trump briefed on military, cyber, psychological options for Iran, sources say (CBS)

  • Trump announces 25 percent tariff on countries that trade with Iran (WP)

  • An Iranian parliamentarian said the government will face even bigger protests unless it addresses people’s grievances, after more than two weeks of nationwide demonstrations. Officials say around 2,000 people have been killed in the unrest. (Reuters)

  • Oil prices rise 3% after Trump cancels meetings with Iran, tells protesters help is on the way (CNBC)

  • U.S. plane used in boat strike was made to look like civilian aircraft (WP)

  • Food Prices Were Stubbornly High Last Year (NYT)

  • Supreme Court hears arguments in blockbuster cases challenging transgender sports bans (CNN)

  • Supreme Court seems likely to uphold state bans on transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports (AP)

  • How the Supreme Court Broke Congress (Atlantic)

  • Facing Contempt Threat, Clintons Refuse to Testify in Epstein Inquiry (NYT)

  • Trump swings big at credit cards (Business Insider)

  • Wall Street CEOs warn Trump: Stop attacking the Fed and credit card industry (AP)

  • Trump has repeatedly grumbled to aides in recent weeks that Attorney General Pam Bondi has been "weak" and "ineffective" at imposing his agenda, according to the Wall Street Journal. [HuffPost]

  • Russian forces launched the year’s most intense wave of missile attacks on Ukraine, killing four people and injuring several others, while emergency power cuts were imposed in Kyiv after damage to infrastructure. (Reuters)

  • China’s AI and robotics push isn’t enough to kickstart its economy, leaving growth more exposed to trade risks (CNBC)

  • How IVF has led to a record number of single moms in their 40s (NPR)

  • Behind the Curtain: 20 years of media revolution (Axios)

  • A Clinical Trial Nightmare (Science)

  • Protests draw hundreds in Berkeley, Richmond against shooting of Renee Good, Venezuelan involvement (Daily Cal)

  • Amid federal threats, University of California gets ‘critical’ support in Newsom’s proposed budget (Berkeleyside)

  • Vanderbilt University to take over California College of the Arts campus in San Francisco (SFC)

  • California College of the Arts announces an agreement with Vanderbilt University. (CCA)

  • Which countries are adopting AI the fastest? (Economist)

  • Publishers prepare to be “squeezed” by AI and creators in 2026 (Nieman)

  • Large language models don’t “learn”—they copy. And that could change everything for the tech industry. (Atlantic)

  • Pentagon is embracing Musk’s Grok AI chatbot as it draws global outcry over sexualized fake images (AP)

  • Elon Musk’s Alternate Grok Reality (Mother Jones)

  • Salesforce rolls out new Slackbot AI agent as it battles Microsoft and Google in workplace AI (VentureBeat)

  • Apple Teams Up With Google for A.I. in Its Products (NYT)

  • GOP Adds ‘ICE Kills Everyone’ Pillar To 2026 Platform (Onion)

 

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Tuesday, January 13, 2026

New Song Man

“Art is disagreement.” — Bob Dylan

There is a contradiction built into the work of any artist who achieves success, especially those who perform. The artist wishes, needs to keep changing, while those celebrating the art really just want to celebrate the known. They want to hear the same old songs.

Such is the reality of Bob Dylan and his never-ending experiment. He hasn’t stopped changing or following his instincts, but his audiences have often had trouble keeping up.

I admire Dylan the writer, the storyteller who can spin a good tale within the limited parameters of a song. Well, not so limited in some cases — among my many favorites are his impossibly long, soulful ballads that seem like they could go on and on forever.

Just like the man.

But I’m in awe of him as an artist and his unending commitment to his art. Not to mention his sheer life force — he has kept writing and singing into his eighties. And he never stops breaking new ground because that is what he’s always really been all about.

Recommended Reading: “Art is Disagreement — A Complete Unknown and the myths of Bob Dylan” (The Nation)

HEADLINES:

  • Trump is trying to change how the midterm elections are conducted (WP)

  • Trump’s Shrinking Coalition (Atlantic)

  • Trump’s list of targeted opponents grows longer with action against Powell and the Federal Reserve (AP)

  • Minnesota and Illinois Sue Trump Administration Over ICE Deployments (NYT)

  • Around 1,000 more immigration officers headed to Minneapolis, sources say, as tensions flare after fatal ICE shooting (CNN)

  • They say they’re monitoring ICE arrests. Feds say they’re breaking the law. (WP)

  • As Death Toll Surges in Iran, Leaders Take Tough Line Against Protesters (NYT)

  • Trump weighs response to Iran crackdown, Tehran says communication open with US (Reuters)

  • How Greenland Falls (Foreign Affairs)

  • Trump won’t take Greenland by force, Mandelson says (BBC)

  • The Purged (Atlantic)

  • Young Americans are increasingly rejecting the Democratic and Republican parties, a new poll shows (AP)

  • Federal Prosecutor Is Fired Amid Further Turmoil in Comey Case (NYT)

  • Nearly 15,000 nurses go on strike at top New York City hospitals (Politico)

  • Kelly Sues Pentagon Over Threats of Punishment From Hegseth (NYT)

  • Trump said he might veto legislation to extend federal health insurance subsidies, injecting fresh uncertainty into a debate that has pitted congressional Republicans against Democrats and threatened to raise premiums for millions of Americans. [Reuters]

  • Trump Says Civil Rights Led to White People Being ‘Very Badly Treated’ (NYT)

  • ‘Hermès of durian’: The luxury fruit cashing in on China’s billion-dollar appetite (BBC)

  • Bob Dylan, Trey Anastasio, John Mayer, and More Remember Bob Weir (Pitchfork)

  • UK regulator Ofcom opens a formal investigation into X over CSAM scandal (Engadget)

  • 10 Breakthrough Technologies (Technology Review)

  • New York Seeks Ban on A.I.-Generated Images of Candidates (NYT)

  • The Dangerous Paradox of A.I. Abundance (New Yorker)

  • A red pixel in the snow: How AI solved the mystery of a missing mountaineer (BBC)

  • Kristi Noem On Renée Good Murder: ‘We Will Find The Immigrant Who Did This’ (Onion)

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Monday, January 12, 2026

Nutshell Summary

An unstable world requires steady leadership. Instead, the U.S. offers up Donald Trump.

That in a nutshell is what’s up globally, as the world teeters from a number of destabilizing developments in Iran, Greenland, Venezuela and beyond.

It would be inaccurate to blame Trump for everything going haywire in foreign affairs, but this much is true.

His hand is far from steady.

HEADLINES:

  • Is the Iranian Regime About to Collapse? (Atlantic)

  • ‘Massacre’ feared as Iran tries to crush protests; U.S. weighs military options (WP)

  • Iran warns against potential US involvement as protesters defy crackdown (CNN)

  • U.S. Launches Major Strikes on Islamic State Targets in Syria (NYT)

  • Denmark Is Sick of Being Bullied by Trump (New Yorker)

  • ‘Fateful moment’ for Denmark amid Trump threats to take over Greenland (Guardian)

  • Trump says US will do something on Greenland ‘whether they like it or not’ (ABC)

  • Trump tells Cuba to ‘make a deal, before it is too late’ (BBC)

  • Federal Prosecutors Are Said to Have Opened Inquiry Into Fed Chair Powell (NYT)

  • Anti-ICE, anti-war protests in Berkeley (Berkeleyside)

  • America Watches One Shooting and Comes to Two Different Conclusions (WSJ)

  • ICE Minneapolis shooting: Noem to deploy hundreds more federal agents to city (CNBC)

  • Nationwide anti-ICE protests call for accountability after Renee Good’s death (NPR)

  • Congress is debating the possible consequences for ICE and even Noem after Renee Good’s killing (AP)

  • Congress Is Reversing Trump’s Steep Budget Cuts to Science (NYT)

  • Smithsonian removes Trump impeachment text as it swaps his portrait (WP)

  • “Mar-a-Lago face” hits its expiration date (Salon)

  • Bob Weir, Grateful Dead co-founder, dies aged 78 (BBC)

  • The Last Days of the Southern Drawl (Atlantic)

  • Lamar wants to have children with his girlfriend. The problem? She’s entirely AI (Guardian)

  • Ref Under Uprights Sheepishly Waits To Do ‘Good’ Sign Until Other Ref Does It First (Onion)

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Sunday, January 11, 2026

Remembering


Yesterday I wrote about breaking things. I could just as well have written about forgetting things, which is another of those irritations that often accompanies aging.

But instead I think I’ll focus on all the things we remember. People my age can summon images from the 1950s, when rock ‘n roll was young and so were we. We remember the 1970s, when our careers took off and we started having kids of our own.

We remember the 1990s, when many of us saw our lives blow up and we tried to start over. 

After that has been 30 years, frankly, of chaos. Personally, I was excited by the coming of the Internet. For an information junkie, it seemed like a dream come true.

But with the arrival of social media in the 2000s, that dream started to turn into a nightmare, in the worst-case scenario with the emergence of Donald Trump. He is the man who is breaking things and who wants us to forget all that is dear to us.

But we old folks, we remember.

We remember what matters.

(Note: Painting can help with stress. Maybe it can help with memory?)

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Saturday, January 10, 2026

Broken Things

 

Note: The above is from 18 years ago, when I used to try and water paint if I was upset.

***

Yesterday afternoon, I broke something. I knocked it over and it cracked.

That’s the third time in a month that I’ve done something like that, which is extremely unusual for me. It’s disconcerting.

I told my daughter and she said, “That’s the sort of thing you’re supposed to keep track of. You know, being butter-fingered.”

She meant to write it down. She meant the Parkinson’s.

As I looked online for how much replacements for these three items would cost, it occurred to me that maybe I’ll just try to live without replacing them for a while. Maybe until next month at least.

Then I realized that I was much more upset than I should be. Why the deep sense of angst?

It’s not being butter-fingered, whatever that is. It’s not about the Parkinson’s. It’s not really about me at all. You only need to scan the following set of headlines to understand the root of my discontent and why it goes way beyond the things I have broken. 

As usual, Bob Dylan said it best.

Broken lines, broken strings
Broken threads, broken springs
Broken idols, broken heads
People sleeping in broken beds
Ain’t no use jiving, ain’t no use joking
Everything is broken.

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