Today's main story beyond Afghanistan takes us back to 1994 when a relatively obscure computer scientist foresaw many of the problems we have today with our reliance on technology, especially artificial intelligence, surveillance, and disinformation.
The Washington Post recounts how so many of Philip Agre's predictions have eerily come true.
Count me among those who did not have the wisdom or the foresight back then to envision how a decentralized data collection system would ultimately pose a far greater threat to our essential freedoms than the authoritarian governments we feared.
There is a reason that one of the first things despots try to do is regulate the Internet and related digital technologies. The technological web that ensnares us all to a greater or lesser degree cannot be controlled by any one entity and therefore resists centralized direction.
That ensures some degree of anarchy since all sorts of mischief flows freely -- from official disinformation campaigns to preposterous conspiracy theories to pornography to organizing efforts to storm the U.S. Capitol.
If there were a simple solution to this crisis I would jump to endorse it. But the die were cast a long time ago and now we are living with the result.
As for Philip Agre himself, he disappeared off the grid years ago and I hope he has found peace from the cacophony he so presciently envisioned. Another part of me wishes he'd come back and help us out of this mess!
Among the consequences of our dependence on technology is the dissolution of the boundaries between our actual and virtual lives to the point it is sometimes possible to confuse ourselves over which is which.
Meanwhile, one of my major interests as a writer is in what could be called asynchronous story-telling. This is when I juxtapose two events or memories without clarifying whether they take place in the past or present. I also like to mix reality with fantasy in my stories.
I realize that through my experimental writing style, I'm pushing some of the boundaries of the virtual and the real, and that may confuse some readers.
But these are just snippets of feelings, mental daily road trips, which means they are heartfelt and very much real to me but may have occurred in the past or potentially in the future or even just in dreams. I apologize for any confusion that results.
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Thanks again to my friend Jay Hirschman for alerting to me to the Agre story. I'd noticed the headline earlier but as so often happens, even for a professional news hound, a referral from a friend means more than the best-written headline.
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THE HEADLINES:
* He predicted the dark side of the Internet 30 years ago. Why did no one listen? -- Philip Agre, a computer scientist turned humanities professor, was prescient about many of the ways technology would impact the world. (WP)
* Apple’s Child-Protection Features and the Question of Who Controls Our Smartphones (WSJ)
* Afghan Leader Flees Country as Taliban Take Over Kabul (WSJ)
* Afghan president flees country after Taliban enters Kabul, a sign the government has collapsed (WP)
* Taliban enters Kabul, putting Afghan government on brink of collapse -- The militant group said it wanted to take the Afghan capital without violence as helicopters landed at the U.S. Embassy and armored diplomatic vehicles were seen leaving the area around the compound. (WP)
* Taliban Capture Strategic Cities as Biden Speeds Troop Deployment to Afghanistan -- With the collapse of Mazar-i-Sharif and Jalalabad, the insurgents appeared to be on the verge of a full military takeover. (NYT)
* As the Taliban Advance in Afghanistan, Pressure on Pakistan Grows -- The United States and others want Pakistan to push harder for peace. But many Pakistanis see a Taliban victory as inevitable, and some are cheering for one. (NYT)
* Taliban Sweep in Afghanistan Follows Years of U.S. Miscalculations -- An Afghan military that did not believe in itself and a U.S. effort that Mr. Biden, and most Americans, no longer believed in brought an ignoble end to America’s longest war. (NYT)
* Haiti Earthquake Death Toll Rises to at Least 724 (WSJ)
* Torrential rain in Japan causes more floods, mudslides (AP)
* Small Towns Grow Desperate for Water in California -- The drought is revealing for California that perhaps even more than rainfall it is money and infrastructure that dictate who has sufficient water during the state’s increasingly frequent dry spells. (NYT)
* Thunderstorms, heat fuel wildfires burning across West (AP)
* Record Salmon in One Place. Barely Any in Another. Alarm All Around. -- Historically low runs on the Yukon River have devastating impacts for Alaskans relying on the fish for sustenance and tradition, but Bristol Bay is seeing more sockeye than ever before. (NYT)
* Rural population losses add to farm and ranch labor shortage (AP)
* Mask, vaccine mandates cause new divides as officials try to halt surge (WP)
* Poverty, Disease, Customs: Why So Many Indonesian Children Die of Covid -- The disease kills far more children in developing countries than in rich ones, and some factors make them especially vulnerable in Indonesia. (NYT)
* The pandemic has harmed children’s mental health. But therapy is hard to find. (WP)
* Mounting lawsuits and federal government challenge Fla., Texas governors’ bans on mask mandates (WP)
* Doubts, Anger and Anxiety: What It’s Like to Go to School Now -- What was supposed to be a new, relatively normal year has become a politicized, bewildering experience for many parents, students and educators. (NYT)
* ‘Outsider’ Buttigieg plays inside game, positioning himself for the future (WP)
* Stop Sign Takes Forever to Change (The Onion)
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"I Will Let You Go"
Daniel Ahearn
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