One year ago I published an essay called "You Never Know." Here here is an excerpt, slightly edited and updated:
What they got instead was the Internet.
According to the story as it was told to me, the students and their supervisors couldn't crack the technical obstacles in their way until one night when stoned they came up with the TCP/IP networking concept.
I don't know if that story is precisely true or if my sources simply got stoned themselves and made it up, but as a '60s guy, it makes a lot of sense to me. After all, back then "everybody must get stoned," and you never knew what would happen when you did.
Of course, the irony is that what DARPA ended up with was no more secure than the old party line telephone system we used to know when I was a boy. Indeed it is the greatest information-sharing tool ever invented.
The Internet is so leaky that in recent years investigative reporters have been using end-to-end encryption services like Signal's app to communicate with sensitive sources, under the assumption that law enforcement agencies are able intercept their email communications.
Whistleblowers use encrypted communication methods too, but nothing is foolproof, so it continues to be an extremely dangerous time to be a whistleblower. Nothing remains secret for long in this world -- nothing.
***
Washington Post columnist Radley Balko has published an important Bay Area story with national significance. He uncovers the inaccurate reporting by a local TV reporter, Dion Lim, claiming that San Francisco's D.A., Chesa Boudin, dropped charges in an attempted carjacking case.
In fact, the charges were not dropped, but sloppy, agenda-driven "journalists" like Lim commonly distort the truth as part of a coordinated right-wing attack on the progressive Boudin.
Lim's false story got national exposure when the right-wing agitator Andy Ngo distributed it via Twitter. (Ngo is the author of a sensationalized "expose" of the supposedly powerful leftist entity Antifa, which is nothing but an ineffective fringe group with no political influence whatsoever.)
Normally, I wouldn't give phonies like Lim and Ngo the time of day, but Boudin is facing two recall efforts paid for by right-wing financiers. This is the context for Lim's false story. The pro-recall faction claims that crime is up, while in reality crime is down 25 percent in San Francisco as of 2020.
But even if short-term street crime had gone up, that wouldn't necessarily have anything to do with the D.A. What the recall forces are really against are Boudin's policies ending cash bail, instituting restorative justice, plus using humane sentencing guidelines. Like other progressive prosecutors, he is trying to attack the long-term problem of crime with long-term reforms. He only entered office last year and deserves the opportunity to put his policies in place.
My message to San Francisco voters is clear: Don't be fooled by the Trump-inspired right wing trying to scare you by exaggerating the crime problem. Crime is real and it needs to be addressed realistically, not hysterically. So remain alert and avoid the dishonest reporting by right-wing propagandists like Lim and Ngo.
***
The headlines:
* The bogus backlash against progressive prosecutors -- Opinion by Radley Balko. (WP)
* The Deep Sea Is Filled with Treasure, but It Comes at a Price -- We’ve barely explored the darkest realm of the ocean. With rare-metal mining on the rise, we’re already destroying it. (New Yorker)
* Apple Is Said to Have Turned Over Data on Trump’s White House Counsel in 2018 -- The company notified Donald F. McGahn II last month that it had been subpoenaed for his account information three years ago. (NYT)
* House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that the Trump administration’s secret subpoenas for data on accounts belonging to at least two House Democrats go “even beyond Richard Nixon.”"Richard Nixon had an enemies list. This is about undermining the rule of law,” Pelosi said, referring to Nixon's secret recording of phone calls and meetings, which ultimately contributed to his 1974 resignation. [HuffPost]
* Attacking Russia appears to be a line ransomware hackers are loath to cross -- The relationship between the Russian government and ransomware criminals allegedly operating from within the country is expected to be a point of tension between President Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin at their planned summit on Wednesday. (WP)
* A critical Antarctic glacier is looking more vulnerable as satellite images show the ice shelf that blocks it from collapsing into the sea is breaking up much faster than before and spawning huge icebergs, a new study says. “You can see stuff just tearing apart,” said the study's lead author. [AP]
* Delta variant doubles risk of COVID hospitalization - Scottish study (Reuters)
* Coronavirus infections dropping where people are vaccinated, rising where they are not (WP)
* As Battle Against Virus Ends, Mayors Confront a New Villain: Criminals -- Most city leaders, eager to rejuvenate downtown economies, have lifted coronavirus restrictions. But rising violent crime has kept both residents and tourists at home. (NYT)
* ‘I didn’t take an oath to defend Donald Trump’: Rep. Tom Rice tests whether Republican voters will support a conservative who crossed Trump (WP)
* NATO leaders on Monday expanded the use of their all for one, one for all, mutual defense clause to include a collective response to attacks in space. Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty states that an attack on any one of the 30 allies will be considered an attack on them all. (AP)
* Australian farmers are burning crops to fight a mouse plague that’s destroying their livelihood (WP)
* G7 Nations Take Aggressive Climate Action but Hold Back on Coal -- President Biden pushed climate action after four years in which Donald Trump rejected cooperation with allies. But leaders failed to set an expiration date for burning coal. (NYT)
* Central American women are fleeing domestic violence amid a pandemic. Few find refuge in the U.S. (WP)
* To Fill Millions of Open Jobs, Many Workers Need More Than Skills -- Helping people land good jobs with career paths takes more than skills training, labor experts say. Coaching, mentoring and other assistance are also needed. (NYT)
* 2020 was the deadliest gun violence year in decades. So far, 2021 is worse. (WP)
* Senate Passes $50 Billion Bill To Combat Chinese Influence By Developing Own Pandas (The Onion)
***
Well, they'll stone you when you're trying to be so good
They'll stone you just like they said they would
They'll stone you when you're trying to go home
And they'll stone you when you're there all alone
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned
They'll stone you when you're tryin' to keep your seat
They'll stone you when you're walkin' on the floor
They'll stone you when you're walkin' to the door
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned
They'll stone you when you are young and able
They'll stone you when you're tryin' to make a buck
Then they'll stone you and then they'll say "good luck"
Tell ya what, I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned
Then they'll stone you and then they'll come back again
They'll stone you when you're riding in your car
They'll stone you when you're playing your guitar
Yes, but I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned alright
They'll stone you when you are walking home
They'll stone you and then say you are brave
They'll stone you when you are set down in your grave
But I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned
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