Every now and then somebody forgets or doesn't notice that when it comes to journalism, I am retired. I don't do investigations, cover events, hit deadlines and most important of all, I don't work for anybody.
So the pitches that land in my inbox daily or via FB Messenger fall on deaf ears.
If it was an extremely attractive work offer, I might be tempted to return to the field, but the odds are long that any such offer will ever come my way. Mostly it's recruiters on LinkedIn or green PR agents in boutique firms with outdated email lists.
Or people with a personal issue who should hire a PI and leave us retired journalists alone. I don't get involved in people's personal lives.
Free advice is quite another matter. I give that out to younger journalists all the time. My only hope is they get more than they pay for.
I have a great deal of empathy for younger journalists working on a difficult story. Most people have no idea how difficult that work can be and the personal traits that are required to succeed.
In novels and movies, journalists sometimes get portrayed as romantic heroes seeking to hold the powerful accountable, or else ridiculous jerks who chase after celebrities to catch them in a compromising situation.
There are extreme cases where journalists do both of those things but mostly the job is like any other -- repetitive, stressful at times, often boring and dependent on a bit of good luck now and then.
Honestly, every time I get tempted to return to the types of work life I endured in the past, I remember what it was really like and the prospect quickly dims.
No, I'm much happier reading, writing, socializing, watching my grandchildren grow up and helping other people chase their dreams than I would be once again clocking in on somebody's else's payroll.
And it would take a lot of zeroes behind the "1" on a check to convince me to change that.
***
THE HEADLINES:
* Facebook Whistle-Blower Urges Lawmakers to Regulate the Company (NYT)
* In her testimony before a Senate subcommittee, Frances Haugen provided tens of thousands of pages of internal Facebook research, which she previously gave to The Wall Street Journal. Haugen took senators’ questions and made a compelling case for federal data privacy laws. “There’s no one currently holding Mark accountable,” she said, referring to Zuckerberg. [HuffPost]
* VIDEO: ‘We Can Do Better,’ Facebook Whistle-Blower Says (Reuters)
* Whistleblower tells lawmakers Facebook reform needed ‘for our common good’ (WP)
* Zuckerberg defended the company after a whistleblower testified before Congress about the harm of the social media giant’s divisive content. He said that Haugen's assertion that the company prioritizes "profit over safety and well-being" is "just not true," and that it was "very important" to him that "everything we build is good and safe for kids." [HuffPost]
* U.N. agency to pay salaries of Afghan health-care workers to help stave off humanitarian crisis (WP)
* A U.S. Military First: The War in Afghanistan Ended With Zero M.I.A.s -- After two decades of combat, there were no American troops missing in action, reflecting a major shift in military priorities. (NYT)
* ‘Everyone here hated the Americans’: Rural Afghans live with the Taliban and a painful U.S. legacy (WP)
* For Sale Now: U.S.-Supplied Weapons in Afghan Gun Shops (NYT)
* A flood of drugs from Afghanistan may become a bigger threat than terrorism (WP)
* Hundreds of Afghans flocked to the passport office in Kabul, just a day after news that it would re-open this week to issue the documents, while Taliban security men had to beat back some in the crowd in efforts to maintain order. (Reuters)
* Marine officer who criticized senior leaders on Afghanistan has been released from military brig (WP)
* One America News, the far-right network whose fortunes and viewership rose amid the triumph and tumult of the Trump administration, has flourished with support from a surprising source: AT&T, the world's largest communications company. (Reuters)
* Global hunt for looted treasures leads to museums, trusts (WP)
* Nearly 840,000 children under the age of four have contracted COVID-19 in the United States, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Reuters)
* California’s National Guard has been deployed to four hospitals struggling to handle an influx of coronavirus patients. (Cal Today)
* Biden administration expands student loan forgiveness eligibility (Reuters)
* Captured, Killed or Compromised: C.I.A. Admits to Losing Dozens of Informants (NYT)
* Military tensions with China are at their worst in more than 40 years, Taiwan's defense minister said, promoting a new arms spending package to lawmakers days after record numbers of Chinese aircraft flew into the island's air defense zone. Biden said that he has spoken to Chinese President Xi Jinping about Taiwan and they agreed to abide by the "Taiwan agreement". (Reuters)
* U.N. weather agency says world ill-prepared for ‘looming water crisis’ (WP)
* Can California save its Giant Sequoia trees? (Reuters)
* Sonoma surfers return after a great white shark bite (SFC)
* Google wants to use AI to time traffic lights more efficiently (Reuters)
* Doctor Has Troubling Amount Of Available Appointment Slots (The Onion)
***
"Tulsa Time"
Sung by Eric Clapton
Written by Daniel W. Flowers
Driving in a Pontiac
Just about to lose my mind
I was going to Arizona
Maybe on to California
People all living so fine
My momma called me crazy
My baby said I'm lazy
Gonna show em all this time
Cause you know I ain't no fooling
I don't need no more damn school
Want to just walk the line
Living on Tulsa time
Gonna set my watch back to it
Cause you know me, I've been through it
Living on Tulsa time
Thinking I was doing good
Talking on the telephone line
They don't want me in the movies
Ain't nobody sing my song
Momma says my baby's doing fine
So then I started thinking
And I got to weaken
I really had a flash this time
I had no business leaving
Ain't nobody would be grieving
Seen I'm on Tulsa time
Living on Tulsa time
Gonna set my watch back to it
Cause you know me, I've been through it
Living on Tulsa time
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