Unknown Hero

While growing up, none of us learned about Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the Quaker girl from the Midwest who was in fact one of our greatest national heroes. We didn’t know that she had cracked German codes during World War I, helping the Allies to win that terrible conflict, then returned to her role as codebreaker to play a key role in defeating the Nazis in World War II.

In between the wars, she briefly received some press attention for helping authorities bust major gangsters, including Al Capone, but I don’t recall ever hearing about that in my childhood either.

One reason her work was ignored is that an egomaniacal publicity seeker named J. Edgar Hoover had claimed all the credit in the high-profile mobster arrests. We all learned Hoover’s version of the mobster wars and how his G-men had brought the criminals to justice.

Another reason was sexism. Women almost never got the credit they deserved for heroic deeds in the first 70 years of the 20th century; the men holding power in every sector of public life, including the press, made sure of that.

Not that Elizebeth worried too much about such matters herself. A modest person, self-contained, she didn’t much like the limelight.

But her crowning achievement — cracking ever more sophisticated German codes during World War II — remained completely hidden, secret from my generation when we were growing up largely because all of those involved, including Friedman, had to sign pledges that they would never speak of their work as long as they lived.

Friedman kept that pledge. She died in 1980.

Meanwhile, the insufferable Hoover was not required to sign any such pledge so he again took all the credit for busting the German spy rings during the war, embellishing his legend as well as that of his beloved FBI and ignoring the true heroes.

Only when long-classified records of the war-time code-breaking work done by Elizebeth and the small unit she created were declassified in 2000 did her role finally begin to come out into the open.

Even then, it took a sustained effort by a few scholars and activists, mostly women, to begin to get Elizebeth Smith Friedman a modicum of the posthumous credit she so richly deserves.

Ultimately, though, history has a way of evening out the playing field, doesn’t it? Engulfed by scandal at his death, today J. Edgar Hoover is widely remembered as a monumental jerk, although he does have a building named after him. Meanwhile, Elizebeth’s legacy has only recently started emerging but she already has a couple of reading rooms named in her honor.

For some revisionist history that is very much worth knowing, I recommend Jason Fagone’s The Woman Who Smashed Codes for those who wish to know more.

HEADLINES:

• Commercial Ships Transit Strait of Hormuz as U.S. Blockades Iran’s Ports (WSJ)

• U.S. says Hormuz blockade ‘fully implemented,’ while signaling diplomatic off-ramp for Iran (CNBC)

• Israel and Hezbollah continue attacks after Israel-Lebanon talks in US (BBC)

• GOP senators grow uncomfortable with Trump rhetoric, endgame for Iran (The Hill)

• After Trump’s latest broadside, pope says ‘world needs to hear’ message of peace (CNN)

• Labor Dept. Investigates Texts Among Secretary’s Family and Staff (NYT)

• How Eric Swalwell rose to the top of Democratic politics as rumors followed him (WP)

• Swalwell’s Exit Injects ‘Chaos’ Into California Governor’s Race (NYT)

• The Nationalist Right Isn’t Taking Orbán’s Loss Well (Bulwark)

• Trump threats cause dilemma for US officers: disobey orders or commit war crimes (Guardian)

• Trump threatens to fire Powell, won’t halt probe of Fed renovations (WP)

• Here’s exactly how I spot a liar, says ex-CIA officer: It can be very ‘revealing’ (CNBC)

• America’s Insane Tax-Filing Process (Atlantic)

• Drop in immigrant tax filings may cost government billions as IRS shares data with ICE (WP)

• Teens’ Experiences on TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat (Pew)

• New technique makes AI models leaner and faster while they’re still learning (MIT)

• Why Anthropic and OpenAI are locking up their latest models (Economist)

• Can you spot a fake political ad? AI is making it harder. (WP)

• NFL Announces Multiple Games Next Season To Be Played Across Ancient History (Onion)

Another Ring on the Tree Trunk

So Tuesday was my 79th birthday, a time to look back and remember. This caused a certain degree of angst over regrets, actions both taken and not taken.

I’m also proud of certain things. Being a father six times over and a grandfather.

And of my career as a journalist.

It started small, as a freshman in college writing for the sports page of my college paper.

But it soon grew into a life-long passion for covering the use and abuse of power in all its manifestations.

I also am happy about more peaceful things — art, music, literature, nature. A friend from long ago sent me the first birthday message of my day. She wrote: “Despite destructive humans, nature keeps nurturing and spring is here. I saw a fox and a pheasant in the yard today. :)”

I liked that.

HEADLINES:

• U.S. Oil Blockade Is Set to Boost American Exports—and Prices at the Pump (WSJ)

• Why geography gives Iran an edge in the Strait of Hormuz (WP)

• Middle East War Will Slow Global Economic Growth, I.M.F. Warns (NYT)

• Orbán Was First. Trump Is Next. (Bulwark)

• Trump’s Erratic Behavior and Extreme Comments Revive Mental Health Debate (NYT)

• The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was deeply concerned by attacks on medical workers in Lebanon after a deadly strike on a Red Cross center in the country and the death of a volunteer a day ‌earlier. (Reuters)

• Woman says Swalwell drugged and raped her; plans to file police report (MS)

• Hegseth’s Unholy War (Atlantic)

• Trump family deal spree could open door for future presidents to profit from office (AP)

• Catholic Vance Breaks Silence on Trump’s Jesus-Like Image Amid Outcry From Other Conservatives (Time)

• How Trump’s Jesus-like image and feud with the Pope are sparking backlash (BBC)

• Most feel taxes are too high despite Trump’s tax changes, polls show (AP)

• Anti-MAGA Rocker Slams Trump With Savage New Title (Daily Beast)

• French woman, 86, held by ICE after moving to US to reunite with long-lost love (BBC)

• Engagement” is a dumb metric (BI)

• CEOs are betting AI will augment work rather than displace all workers (CNBC)

• Anthropic Mythos And Embracing The AI ‘Bugmageddon’ (Forbes)

• The attacks on Sam Altman are a warning for the AI world (Verge)

• Pentagon Develops Tactical Zoot Suit (Onion)

Tuesday Mix

 (Please support my friend and colleague, Mark Fiore, by visiting his page on Substack.)

HEADLINES:

• Donald Trump’s blockade of Hormuz is a dangerous gamble (Economist)

• Iran Proposes Suspending Nuclear Activity for Up to 5 Years (NYT)

• Live updates: Trump vows to ‘kill’ Iranian warships that get near US blockade of ports (AP)

• U.S. naval blockade on Iran will trigger a currency devaluation spiral and hyperinflation, potentially ending the war more quickly, analyst says (Fortune)

• Trump’s promised naval blockade of Iran threatens to worsen energy crisis (WP)

• How the US Navy could blockade Iran’s ports and sweep mines from the Strait of Hormuz (CNN)

• In Pakistan Talks, Iran Saw a U.S. Trying to Dictate, Not Negotiate (NYT)

• Pope Leo says he does not fear Trump, citing Gospel as he pushes back in feud over Iran war (AP)

• Orbán era swept away by Péter Magyar’s Hungary election landslide (BBC)

• Illiberalism Is Not Inevitable (Atlantic)

• MAGA International Goes Down in Flames (Bulwark)

• Tony Gonzales, a Texas Congressman, Says He Will Resign (NYT)

• Eric Swalwell resigns from Congress (WP)

• How California Democrats Got Behind Swalwell — and Quickly Abandoned Him (NYT)

• Small talk is good for us. Many underestimate how much we’ll enjoy it, study finds. (NBC)

• Hollywood Heavyweights Sign Letter Opposing Paramount’s Deal for Warner Bros. (NYT)

• Mark Zuckerberg is reportedly building an AI clone to replace him in meetings (Verge)

• Inside the AI Index: 12 Takeaways from the 2026 Report (Stanford)

• AI detectors are hurting honest students. Schools should ban them. (WP)

• As AI use increases at work, many employees still avoid it, Gallup poll finds (AP)

• Mutually Automated Destruction: The Escalating Global A.I. Arms Race (NYT)

• The U.S. military is missing out because of Hegseth’s war on Anthropic (WP)

• Man Who Threw Molotov Cocktail At Sam Altman’s Home Claims He Was Following ChatGPT Recipe For Risotto (Onion)

Monday Mix

HEADLINES:

• Judge dismisses Trump $10B defamation lawsuit against Murdoch, WSJ about Epstein letter (CNBC)

• Pope Leo says he has ‘no fear’ after Trump labels him ‘weak’ and ‘terrible’ in feud over Iran war (NBC)

• Why Trump is threatening to blockade a strait that Iran is already blockading (CNN)

• Starmer says UK will not support US blockade of Strait of Hormuz (Al Jazeera)

• Hungary election: Trump ally Viktor Orbán concedes defeat after 16 years as prime minister (CNN)

• Hungary’s Orban, Beacon to the Right, Concedes Election Defeat (NYT)

• ‘Everything is gone’: Israel destroys entire villages in Lebanon (Guardian)

• Iranians left disappointed but defiant after failure of peace talks with US (AP)

• Iran Has Thousands of Missiles and Could Retrieve Launchers, U.S. Intelligence Finds (WSJ)

• Fees for seas: a history of taxing waterways (FT)

• 21 Hours in Pakistan: How Vance Tried and Failed to End a War He Opposed (NYT)

• China, Iran weaponized global economy to beat U.S. at its own game (WP)

• Ex-CIA director calls for ousting Trump: ‘25th amendment was written with him in mind’ (Guardian)

• Swalwell Suspends Campaign for California Governor Amid Sexual Assault Accusations (NYT)

• Some House members say they’ll vote to expel Reps. Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales (NBC)

• What spending probes at DHS reveal about Kristi Noem’s time in office (WP)

• Years of drought has major energy port of Corpus Christi, Texas, wrestling with water crisis (AP)

• China says it will resume some ties with Taiwan after visit by opposition leader (Politico)

• Where Does Our Free Time Go in Retirement? Too Often, It’s Social Media (WSJ)

• America’s new retirement age (BI)

• ‘There’s a lot of desperation’: skilled older workers turn to AI training to stay afloat (Guardian)

• How AI is getting better at finding security holes (NPR)

• CBS Announces Retirement Of Longtime Masters Commentators Captain Cooter And The Gooch (Onion)

Big Questions for Tiny Minds

So let’s just say it’s the case that there are no new ideas. Mark Twain famously thought so. 

So does Google’s AI:

“True originality is unlikely after centuries of human thought, meaning innovation is actually the recombination, recontextualization, or new application of existing ideas. Creativity is viewed as a ‘mental kaleidoscope’ rearranging old ideas into new patterns, perspectives, or personal expressions.”

Don’t ask me why, but recently, I started watching “The Miniature Wife” on Peacock. Although the concept is reminiscent of a 1989 comedy, “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,” this story is about the complex dynamics in a troubled marriage, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance as a subplot. Comedic relief is largely missing.

Elizabeth Banks plays the six-inch-tall wife, shrunk to that size by her mad scientist husband, played by Matthew Macfadyen. Unfortunately, the provocative bits of content about big questions in this series are interrupted constantly by giant ads, which sends a sad message of its own. What good is a subscription to Peacock if it only yields such an irritating format?

Meanwhile, the idea of confronting just how small our lives and concerns are in the overall scheme of things was enhanced this week by the spectacular Artemis II moon venture.

Only from outer space can we glimpse just how tiny each of us is in a vast universe of other stars and universes. Collectively, as a species, we amount to a speck in the sky.

One hopes that we as a species can learn from this insight, and that we can perhaps figure out how to do more than joke about it.

Our best scientists, artists, poets and (rare) leaders have been urging us to try and transcend our tribalism, embrace our enemies, and live in peace — but are we truly capable of that?

Check out this morning’s headlines.

Maybe it’s just too big a challenge for us, small as we are.

HEADLINES:

• Trump Says U.S. Will ‘Blockade’ Strait of Hormuz After No Peace Deal Reached (NYT)

• After collapse of U.S.-Iran talks in Pakistan, the path to peace is less clear (NBC)

• World Leaders Push to Save Iran Talks Amid Israel’s Attacks in Lebanon (NYT)

• 4 ways the war in Iran has weakened the United States in the great power game (The Conversation)

• Nancy Pelosi, top Dems urge Eric Swalwell to exit governor’s race after Chronicle report (SFC)

• Investigation Opened Into Sexual Assault Allegation Against Swalwell (NYT)

• Van Hollen: Trump ‘genocide’ post shows Republican Party is ‘bankrupt’ (The Hill)

• Growing List of Orban Loyalists Defecting Before Critical Election (NYT)

• An Orban loss in Hungary’s election could be the turning point Putin fears (France24)

• Inside America’s race to hide the world’s money (Reveal)

• Longevity isn’t just about the latest gadget. The actual keys to a longer life are in plain sight (CNN)

• The Coming AI Superstorm (Dispatch)

• The 70-Person AI Image Startup Taking on Silicon Valley’s Giants (Wired)

• “AI polls” are fake polls (Silver Bulletin)

• What Anthropic’s new nightmare means, in plain English (WP)

• Scottie Scheffler’s Masters Hopes Fade After He Is Swallowed By Sandworm (Onion)

 

Kickers

Lots of writers have asked me over the years about the best way to write endings, or kickers, to their stories. This is an especially difficult question to answer when you’re telling a depressing story. How can you leave your readers with something other than an utter sense of hopelessness?

And, given the seriousness of, say, global environmental threats, should you even try to do that?

My answer is yes.

As to the how, whenever possible try to find a life-affirming aspect to whatever story you are telling, and close with that. It takes some additional reporting and some hard thinking to locate the set of facts or perspectives that may allow readers to absorb all of the bad news and still feel empowered to go on, better informed about dangers, but not necessarily bereft of hope.

Endings are as natural as beginnings. At the very end of my own stories, I like to find something to leave readers with that can encourage them to find even a small piece of inspiration going forward.

If only a joke from The Onion.

(I published the first version of this short essay 19 years ago.)

HEADLINES:

• US and Iran begin peace talks in Pakistan, according to Iranian state media (CNN)

• Vance departs for talks in Pakistan, as Israel bombs Lebanon (Al Jazeera)

• The high-stakes diplomacy that led to Pakistan hosting US-Iran peace talks (BBC)

• The US-Iran ceasefire is under strain ahead of talks, and shippers weigh unusual routes as high air cargo rates and ocean gridlock persist. (Reuters)

• Gulf states rethink security in light of US-Israel war on Iran (Guardian)

• Trump started the Iran war with 5 goals. How far has he really gotten? (WP)

• Fact-checking Trump and Hegseth’s claims of U.S. ‘victory’ in the Iran war (PBS)

• It’s Not a TACO. It’s a Surrender. (Bulwark)

• The War Is Bad. The Cease-Fire Doesn’t Exist. The Future Is Awful. (American Prospect)

• China helped broker Iran truce, but it’s wary of deeper involvement (WP)

• Iran war kicks US inflation into high gear after gas prices soar (AP)

• European stocks end higher, defense shares tumble on Ukraine-Russia deal progress reports (CNBC)

• Israel is winning wars but losing American public opinion (The Hill)

• NATO Labors to Avoid Becoming Another Casualty of the Iran War (NYT)

• A president and a pope: The world’s most influential Americans are at odds over Iran (AP)

• Swalwell Faces Sex Assault Accusations and Calls to Quit Governor’s Race (NYT)

• Every company is now a media company—and every boss a star (Economist)

• U.S. Government Moves Toward Automatic Registration for Military Draft (NYT)

• RFK Jr.’s CDC Delays Report Proving the Covid Vaccine Worked (TNR)

• Too young for the MMR shot, babies are at high risk in measles outbreaks (AP)

• Fewer and fewer older Americans are working (Axios)

• What Will Humanity Do With the Moon? (Atlantic)

• Artemis II Astronauts Exit Spacecraft After Successful Splashdown (NYT)

• Melania Trump blasts claims about Jeffrey Epstein and her (CNBC)

• Melania Trump tried to sweep the Epstein saga away, but she ended up reviving it (CNN)

• At 100 days, Mamdani is already a different kind of mayor (Politico)

• Meet Abi, the AI-powered robot companion for senior care (WP)

• Why a ‘terrifying’ Elon Musk robot dog is roaming San Francisco (SFC)

• Powell, Bessent discussed Anthropic’s Mythos AI cyber threat with major U.S. banks (CNBC)

• ‘How are you using AI?’ Your therapist should ask you that question, experts argue (NPR)

• Is Schoolwork Optional Now? (Atlantic)

• AI could vastly streamline policing. Skeptics urge caution. (WP)

• MLB Rookie Still Can’t Believe The Sunflower Seeds Are Free (Onion)

Zealotry

(Note: I just rediscovered this essay written back in 2007, and it feels relevant today, so here goes.)

By reading books about Islam, I’m trying to piece together histories never taught in school. Somewhere around 25-30 books are under my belt now, but I'm not sure I'm making much progress. The latest was The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, by Amin Maalouf, which left me marveling at the wanton bloodshed caused by both sides during those inglorious eras.

Did you know that some of the Crusaders acted as cannibals, and hunted Arab villagers down for food? Do you know how the Cult of the Assassins came about? This book documents those and other atrocities. 

I find myself speculating how the pools of Jews, Christians, and Moslems persisted side by side in the Middle East for millenia, albeit with major pogroms launched against Jews, and wars between the other two now and again. But, still, in the in-between times, the regular times when there was no great war, how did they get along?

The Jew, the Christian, the Moslem, each with his holy book, all originating in the same cradle of civilization. And now very much at war, in our time, with an idiot king, I mean President, who summoned the awful cry of the Crusaders in his call to action following 9/11, not even knowing how his words would reverberate throughout an Islamic world that has not forgotten the stains of that past.

That political leaders of both major parties in the U.S. cannot summon the courage to admit this country has made a major mistake by invading Iraq is frightening evidence that the war was never about anything more than securing our addictive supply of oil, rationalized as a mission to "democratize," (read: "Christianize") the heathens (the "Believers.") Bush the Decider is utterly clueless about the Middle East.

His coterie of advisors, however, knew exactly what they were doing. Now they are getting desperate, never a good thing in geopolitics. Expect something horrific to happen before next year's elections.

Know why I don’t practice any religion?

Because I love life and I love being alive and I love people. I had a button in the Sixties (as many others did) that said simply: God is Love.

HEADLINES:

• A deal or a mirage? Trump’s Iran ceasefire collides with chaos on the ground (CNN)

• Israel’s Netanyahu calls for talks with Lebanon ‘as soon as possible’ (Al Jazeera)

• Iran’s Battered Leaders Emerge From War Confident — and With New Cards (NYT)

• Ships remain cautious approaching Strait of Hormuz amid fragile ceasefire (BBC)

• After Trump pauses war, Iranians fly flags of victory, not surrender (WP)

• Iran war has exposed the weakness of the dollar (FT)

• Trump says U.S. ready for ‘next conquest,’ warns military will remain near Iran until ‘real agreement’ is honored (CNBC)

• 1979 Is the Year That Explains Donald Trump (Atlantic)

• GOP praise pours in for Army chief of staff ousted by Hegseth (The Hill)

• Supreme Court remade by Trump ushers in historic defeats for civil rights (WP)

• In a rare public criticism of a fellow justice of the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor knocked her conservative colleague for his justification of racial profiling in immigration-based stops of U.S. citizens. [HuffPost]

• Apocalyptic threat paused war but fueled debate about Trump’s credibility, morality (WP)

• A Last Chance for Hungary (Foreign Affairs)

• Inside Khaby Lame’s $975 million TikTok mystery (BI)

• The AI job loss story is all about bundles (FT)

• China deploys new battlefield AI in command tent. It outsmarts everyone (SCMP)

• Why one of America’s most revered newsrooms is striking against AI (WP)

• State Department Issues Travel Warning For Women Vacationing With Husbands (Onion)