All You Need

When companies that depend on subscribers try to find new ones, they often approach those who subscribed in the past.

In other words, their former subscribers.

The reason they do this is the odds of a renewal are much higher from that group than from a list of potential first-timers.

Although this may seem like an odd analogy, I believe the same is true thing is of our social lives, i.e., for most of us it's going to be easier to renew former friendships than make new ones.

Of course, sometimes there are unresolved issues with former friends (and lovers). Disagreements, fights,  the collapse of companies or living arrangements, bitter breakups, relocations, any number of factors might be the explanation for your decoupling back then.

More often you just drifted apart and neither of you can recall a reason.

Maybe the pandemic has opened up a new window into this process for many of us, whereby we rediscovered old friendships partly as an antidote to the sudden impact of loneliness and isolation in our lives.

In my case, I started posting lengthy essays to Facebook, and subsequently added daily news summaries and story-song lyrics as well. Of course I know that Facebook is a terrible environment for doing this -- very few people want to use this platform for extended visits during their daily routine.

Plus I don't even like Facebook for many, many reasons. Today's lead headline is but one.

But in the process of posting here I've not only made new friends I have reconnected with dozens of others. I treasure those connections -- especially those reconnections -- beyond expression.

They've enriched my life, given me renewed energy and are helping to re-vitalize me as a story-teller.

If it's happening for me if can happen for you, not necessarily in the same way or by the same vehicle. You do not have to spend hours each day creating massive media packages and long essays that probably only a handful of people will actually read start-to-finish.

You can choose more efficient methods, like placing a phone call to an old friend or meeting up with a neighbor.

You can conquer any loneliness and isolation you may feel one friend at a time.

Once you get started it may be hard to stop, and perhaps that is a good thing. I've threatened to stop doing my thing here a hundred times but it still gives me too many rewards.

And the ROI (return on investment) is better than any alternative.

If you are reading this you are by definition my friend, at least virtually. Your "likes" and 💜's sustain me. Your comments stimulate me. Criticism make me reconsider my opinions. Suggestions of links cause me to enlarge my search for the stories that matter.

Together we are getting better at this way of connecting in real time. Nobody's making any money, except Mr. Zuckerberg, but that's okay.

Money won't buy him, you or me love. All you need is love.

***

THE HEADLINES:

* Reporters Reveal 'Ugly Truth' Of How Facebook Enables Hate Groups And Disinformation  (FRESH AIR/NPR) 

* Prices rise 5.4 percent in June over last year, largest spike since 2008, as economy continues to recover (WP)

* Monthly Payments to Families With Children to Begin -- The Biden administration will send up to $300 per child a month to most American families thanks to a temporary increase in the child tax credit that advocates hope to extend. (NYT)

* The new child tax credit could lift more than 5 million kids out of poverty. Can it help them learn, too? (WP)

* Biden Hosts Meeting on Gun Violence Prevention -- President Biden met at the White House on Monday with leaders including Attorney General Merrick Garland and New York’s Democratic mayoral nominee, Eric Adams, to discuss ways to combat rising gun violence. (Reuters) 

* Biden calls passing voting legislation ‘a national imperative’ (WP)

* Wildfires Explode as Heat Wave Scorches the West for Another Day (NYT)

* Wildfires torch homes, land across 10 states in U.S. West (AP)

 

* It's Summer, And That Means The Mysterious Return Of Glacier Ice Worms --  On mountaintop glaciers of Alaska, Washington and Oregon, billions of tiny black worms are tunneling upward to the barren, icy surface. What lures them, and how do they survive the frozen depths? (NPR)

* Wildfire smoke clogs skies in Western U.S., Canada (WP)

* Last week, Gov. Greg Gianforte withdrew Montana from a bipartisan coalition of more than two dozen states committed to upholding the goals of the Paris climate agreement. But he now wants federal assistance to deal with the climate impacts at Montana's door. [HuffPost]

* Judge presses Trump-allied lawyers on 2020 election fraud claims -- U.S. District Court Judge Linda V. Parker said she would rule on a request to discipline the lawyers in coming weeks for filing a suit seeking to overturn Michigan’s results. (WP)

* Trump Organization Strips Weisselberg of Roles After Indictment -- The removal of Allen Weisselberg from dozens of subsidiaries could signal a looming shake-up in former President Donald Trump’s family business. (NYT) 

* A secret algorithm is transforming DNA evidence. This defendant could be the first to scrutinize it. (WP)

* Gov. Gavin Newsom will not have a “D” next to his name to identify him as a Democrat on the recall special election ballot. (Politico)

* Fresno is making major strides to relocate its homeless population living along the city’s freeways into housing. (Fresno Bee)

* MAJORITY OF BOUDIN RECALL MONEY COMES FROM ONE BIG CORPORATE PAC -- Records show very limited grassroots support; it's just one big-money group organized to attack progressive causes and candidates. (48 Hills)

* FDA adds new warning on J&J vaccine related to rare autoimmune disorder (WP)

* The French Rush For Vaccines After They're Told They'll Need Them To Go To Cafés (NPR)

* The Food and Drug Administration added a new warning for the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus shot after a handful of people developed Guillain-Barre syndrome following vaccination. But the GBS cases are extremely rare and the immune system's attack on nerves may also be a side effect of other infections and shots. Here's everything you need to know. [HuffPost]

* Responding to SOS, Afghan commandos caught in fierce Taliban attack (Reuters)

* Video shows 22 Afghan commandos executed by the Taliban (CNN)

* Taliban surge in north Afghanistan sends thousands fleeing -- In Camp Istiqlal, family after family, all from the Hazara ethnic minority, told of Taliban commanders using heavy-handed tactics as they overran their towns and villages — raising doubts among many over their persistent promises amid negotiations that they will not repeat their harsh rule of the past. (AP)

* Latin America Unrest Forces Biden to Confront Challenges to Democracy Close to Home -- U.S. influence began waning in the region over the past decade, as successive administrations turned toward fighting terrorism in the Middle East. (NYT)

* Ex-DEA informant linked to Haiti assassination

One of the Haitian-American men arrested on suspicion of taking part in the assassination of Haiti's president last week had been an informant to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, a DEA official said. (Reuters)

* Six months into his presidency, Biden’s administration has not released a single person from Guantanamo Bay, even though 11 of the 40 men still there have been cleared for release. It’s been hard to discern exactly what the administration plans to do with Guantanamo — and how fast. [HuffPost]

* Everyone Has a Tipping Point’: Hunger Fuels Cuba’s Protests (NYT)

* Medieval French Coins Unearthed in Poland? A Mystery Begins -- Could a scavenger hunter’s find be a part of the lost booty once extorted by Vikings to spare Paris from ruin? A full-scale excavation may tell. (NYT)

* How do you teach robots to navigate new places? Study toddlers. (WP)

* Our Favorite Presidents You’ve Never Heard Of (NYT)

* How Internet and TV providers get away with jacking up your bill (WP)

* Two 14-Year-Olds Grill An Author About The Future Of Humanity -- In his new book for Gen Z readers, Charles Kenny explains why despite all the gloom and doom, the world is getting better for billions. NPR turned to two Gen Zers to help ask him the tough questions. (NPR)

* Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit the longest homer ever recorded in an all star game and Shohei Ohtani was the winning pitcher as the American League defeated the National League 5-2 in the midsummer classic played in Colorado. (Fox)

* ‘It Was Fine,’ Says Man Following Visit With Only People On Earth Who Love Him (The Onion)

***

"Can't Buy Me Love"

The Beatles

[Verse 1]
I'll buy you a diamond ring, my friend
If it makes you feel alright
I'll get you anything, my friend
If it makes you feel alright
'Cause I don't care too much for money
Money can't buy me love

[Verse 2]
I'll give you all I've got to give
If you say you love me too
I may not have a lot to give
But what I got I'll give to you
I don't care too much for money
Money can't buy me love

[Verse 3]
Say you don't need no diamond rings
And I'll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of things
That money just can't buy
I don't care too much for money
Money can't buy me love
Ow!

[Verse 4]
Say you don't need no diamond rings
And I'll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of things
That money just can't buy
I don't care too much for money
Money can't buy me love

[Chorus]
Can't buy me love, love
Can't buy me love

-30-