Goodbye For Now

For reasons unknown to me, my daily essays are no longer appearing here on Facebook. Today, Saturday, I have tried four times to post "The Suppression Syndrome" -- about GOP attempts to restrict voting in various states -- only to have it and all comments disappear.

I have requested but received no explanation from Facebook.

Obviously, under these circumstances, I will no longer be posting to Facebook.

***

The latest headlines:

* G-7 countries reach agreement on 15 percent minimum global tax rate (WP)

* U.S. Added 559,000 Jobs in May, but Road to Recovery Is Bumpy -- Many employers report having trouble finding applicants. Economists say the labor market may simply need time to get sorted out. (NYT)

* Biden says it ‘makes sense’ for enhanced jobless aid to end in Sept. -- The position marked a nuanced but important change from last month, when President Biden insisted there was no reason to believe the benefits were discouraging Americans from returning to work. Roughly 15 million Americans are currently receiving some federal unemployment benefits that will end under federal law on Sept. 6. (WP)

* Amid brutal case surge, Afghanistan hit by a vaccine delay (AP)

* U.S. federal judge overturns California's ban on assault weapons (Reuters)

* ‘There is stuff’: Enduring mysteries trail U.S. report on UFOs (AP)

* Black Lives Matter Has Grown More Powerful, and More Divided -- Since the murder of George Floyd, the racial justice movement has received millions of dollars in donations. But some chapters have questioned how those funds are spent. (NYT)

* President Biden’s mandate to boost wind-farm developments as sources of clean energy comes as the administration also takes steps to restore criminal penalties for the accidental killing of migratory birds. (WSJ)

* Maine’s blueberry crop faces climate change peril (AP)

* 40 years ago, the first cases of AIDS were reported in the U.S. (CNN)

* Arthur Staats, child psychologist and father of the ‘timeout,’ dies at 97 (WP)

* On Top Of Everything, Man’s Allergies Also Acting Up (The Onion)

The Suppression Syndrome

Republican officials all over the country are taking desperate measures to suppress the vote of fellow citizens who don't share their views.

Generations of great Republicans, led by Abraham Lincoln, are turning over in their graves because of these actions.  The question is how the living will respond.

A long-time colleague all the way back to our Michigan Daily days, Walter Shapiro, voices the hope that people will be sufficiently outraged to turn out in high enough numbers to defeat the GOP in the midterm elections next year. 

For the sake of our democracy, I hope Walter is right. 

Because what is happening is scary.

What we all have to remember, and never forget, is the context for all this: Trump is the candidate who tried to steal the 2020 election, not Biden. When he failed to do so, he gave an incendiary speech that helped incite the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th to prevent the Congress from certifying the result.

These actions were unprecedented in our country's history. They cannot be allowed to occur again.

Trump remains, seething with resentment in his exile in Florida. According to various reports, he is obsessed with the misguided recount effort by Republicans in Arizona, and hopes similar interventions occur in other states. He also apparently believes the QAnon fantasies that he will be returning to office in August.

Well, if you'll buy that, I've got some ocean front property in Arizona...

***

The government's declassified report on UFOs is not yet public, but former officials who know what is in it, including Barack Obama, are speaking out.

The message is there are objects flying around in our atmosphere that we cannot explain. they maneuver in ways human aircraft cannot handle and accelerate at speeds we can't obtain.

For the first time in a long time, these reports are not being dismissed as the fantasies of quacks. Experienced Navy fighter pilots are among the witnesses, not the kind of folks given to making stuff up.

I don't think I ever thought the time would come in my lifetime that extraterrestrial life would be confirmed, and to be clear, it has not to date.

But it may be one of these days. And this is *not* my ocean front property in Arizona talking...

***

The news:

* Facebook to end exception made for politicians who break hate speech rules -- The change is part of a series of responses to the Facebook Oversight Board’s ruling on former president Donald Trump and comes after years of criticism that the company was too deferential to powerful figures during Trump’s time in the White House. (WP)

* Exclusive: J.P. Morgan resumes political giving, freezes out Republicans who contested 2020 election (Reuters)

* An enormous missing contribution to global warming may have been right under our feet -- A new study finds a large, previously unknown contribution to climate change through human conversion of peatlands for agriculture. (WP)

* U.S. Finds No Evidence of Alien Technology in Flying Objects, but Can’t Rule It Out, Either (NYT)

* National Review Confirms ‘Startling’ Report On Trump’s Current Grasp Of Reality--The former president reportedly believes he’s returning to the White House this summer... and that’s not all. (National Review)

* Facebook says Trump now suspended until at least January 2023 (CNN)

* In a concession made to try and gain Republican support, President Joe Biden has proposed instituting a minimum corporate tax of 15% on infrastructure projects, instead of raising the corporate tax to 28%. It's not clear whether Republicans will go for Biden's new offer or if there will be another counter-proposal. [HuffPost]

* Hong Kong locks down Tiananmen vigil park amid tight security, arrests organizer (Reuters)

* Hundreds show up around Hong Kong park despite vigil ban (AP)

* Taiwan will never forget China’s Tiananmen crackdown, says president (Reuters)

* For Years, Netanyahu Outlasted His Rivals. What Changed This Week? (NYT)

* Palestinian support for Hamas surges after its confrontation with Israel (WP)

* Egypt sends building equipment to begin Gaza reconstruction (Reuters)

* Jerusalem evictions that fueled Gaza war could still happen (AP)

* The White House announced plans to distribute at least 80 million surplus COVID-19 vaccine doses via the global COVAX partnership and by sharing them directly to countries in need. As demand drops around the country, the U.S. faces increasing pressure to share more of its vaccine stockpile. [HuffPost]

* Taiwan gets vaccine boost from U.S., Japan (WP)

* During The Pandemic Lockdown, Traffic Deaths Soared To The Highest Level In 13 Years -- Safety regulators say a 7% spike in deaths last year, the biggest increase in 13 years, may have come from drivers speeding and taking other risks on less-congested roads. (NPR)

* Hundreds of abandoned cats live on a deserted Brazilian island. The pandemic has only made it worse. -- The coronavirus crisis in Brazil has left pet owners unable to tend to their animals — an emblem of the region’s crisis and a global pandemic trend. (WP)

* Why Doing Good Is No Longer Bad Business --The focus on environmental, social and governance changes at America’s biggest companies is a response to demand from consumers and investors (WSJ)

* German competition authority launches probe into Google's news showcase (Reuters)

* EU, UK investigate Facebook over classified ad competition (AP)

* The U.S. should swear off drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge once and for all (Editorial Board/WP)

* Biden Administration Moves to Restore Protections for Endangered Wildlife --The safeguards for endangered animals and plants that were loosened under former President Donald Trump, which had triggered lawsuits from environmental groups. (WSJ)

* To Offset Climate Change, Scientists Tout City Trees and Ultra-White Paint (WSJ)

* Congress Takes Field Trip To Goldman Sachs To Learn How Laws Get Made (The Onion)

***

"Ocean Front Property"

Song by George Strait

Songwriters: Dean Dillon / Royce Porter / Hank Cochran

If you leave me
I won't miss you
And I won't ever take you back
Girl, your memory
Won't ever haunt me
'Cause I don't love you
And now if you'll buy that

I've got some ocean front property in Arizona
From my front porch, you can see the sea
I've got some ocean front property in Arizona
If you'll buy that, I'll throw the Golden Gate in free

I don't worship
The ground you walk on
I never have, and that's a fact
I won't follow or try to find you
'Cause I don't love you
Now if you'll buy that

I've got some ocean front property in Arizona
From my front porch, you can see the sea
I've got some ocean front property in Arizona
If you'll buy that, I'll throw the Golden Gate in free

I've got some ocean front property in Arizona
From my front porch, you can see the sea
I've got some ocean front property in Arizona
If you'll buy that, I'll throw the Golden Gate in free

Yeah, if you'll buy that, I'll throw the Golden Gate in free

-30-

An Origin Story

In April 1977, Lowell Bergman and I were discussing how to form an investigative journalism organization in the wake of the demise of our informal muckraking unit inside Rolling Stone.

At the magazine's headquarters down at 625 Third Street in Soma, we'd pulled together a half dozen or so reporters to pursue investigative stories, which had resulted in some good stories but also a ton of trouble.

Along with a bunch of awards, we had proven an ability to attract death threats and huge libel suits, among other forms of attention. We had both been unceremoniously dumped by Jann Wenner just before Christmas 1976 when he announced he would be taking the magazine to the east coast.

Our idea was to form a non-profit to carry on that type of work and Lowell brought an ally into the mix -- Dan Noyes, who he'd met in the "Arizona Project." That was a group investigation into the murder of journalist Don Bolles, which in turn led to the creation of another non-profit group, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE).

The three of us -- Bergman, Noyes and myself -- co-founded the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) later in 1977. A large group of friends helped us launch the organization and we settled into an office in downtown Oakland.

But back in April, we were still discussing what such an organization should be, what it should do, what its essential identity should be.

Today, 44 years later, CIR and IRE have long been staples of the journalism world and we are old men, working individually on our memoirs. In that context, Lowell recently unearthed an old type-written letter he had sent to Dan that April. Dan and I had not yet met and Lowell wanted to introduce him to my thoughts on the subject.

    "I talked with Weir --as expected he is enthusiastic. Interestingly, David presented the following perspective: (the group should have) two major groups of activity: publications and community involvement."

This old letter is a prime example of why I spend so much energy beseeching people to preserve their journals, letters, notes and files whenever possible. Until Lowell sent a copy of it to me recently, I had absolutely no memory of having said those things.

But clearly I was envisioning not only a journalism organization but one that would attempt to root that work in the communities where we worked.

The Bay Area was our base. It was a region with deep contradictions -- idealism, activism and hope with violence, cynicism, and deeply entrenched reactionary media organizations, notably the old Hearst daily, the San Francisco Examiner.

We couldn't know it at the time, but that same newspaper would be transformed by a talented group of our peers, including the heir to the Hearst publishing empire, Will Hearst, into a great newspaper in its final decades.

We participated in that transformation. We also found our way into relationships with dozens of other media groups -- CBS News, NBC News, ABC News, 60 Minutes, 20/10, Mother Jones, New West, New York, NHK, BBC, etc., here and around the world.

There were many ups and downs in the early years, including press conferences announcing libel suits and more death threats, but ultimately CIR survived and thrived. How that came to be is the story the three of us have to tell now.

Old documents like the letter Lowell found will help.

***

The news:

* U.S. Finds No Evidence of Alien Technology in Flying Objects, but Can’t Rule It Out, Either -- A new report concedes that much about the observed phenomena remains difficult to explain, including their acceleration, as well as ability to change direction and submerge. (NYT)

* The Peril of Not Vaccinating the World -- Absent a concerted global commitment to vaccine equity, the virus will continue to evolve, and humanity may be consigned to a never-ending pandemic. (New Yorker)

* A scientist adventurer and China’s ‘Bat Woman’ are under scrutiny as coronavirus lab-leak theory gets another look (WP)

* CDC director urges teens to get vaccinated (WP)

* Stimulus Checks Substantially Reduced Hardship, Study Shows -- Researchers found that sharp declines in food shortages, financial instability and anxiety coincided with the two most recent rounds of payments. (NYT)

* Ballot reviews consume Trump as he touts falsehood of stolen election -- The former president has rebuffed calls from some advisers to drop the matter, instead fixating on an ongoing Republican-commissioned audit in Arizona and plotting how to secure election reviews in other states. (WP)

* Florida woman Audrey Ann Southard-Rumsey, who is accused of pushing down a police sergeant with a flagpole and threatening to hunt down House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during the Capitol riot, has been arrested. Southard-Rumsey was captured in video clips yelling at police: “Last friend, last bullet. What’s it going to be?” [HuffPost]

* Jan. 6 riot caused $1.5 million in damage to Capitol. U.S. prosecutors want defendants to pay. (WP)

* Justice Dept. secretly obtained New York Times reporters’ phone records during Trump administration (WP)

* A “communications platform” former President Donald Trump launched in early May as a means to reach his followers is shutting down after usage tanked. A Trump adviser told The Washington Post that the former president was upset that people were mocking his blog instead of reading it. [HuffPost]

* QAnon Has a Disturbing Takeover Plot to ‘Eliminate’ Elected Officials (Vice)

* Donald Trump is getting worse -- He is "more obsessed than ever with the 2020 election." (CNN)

* Talk of Trump 2024 run builds as legal pressure intensifies (AP)

* A 20-Foot Sea Wall? Miami Faces the Hard Choices of Climate Change. -- A proposal to construct barriers for storm surge protection has forced South Floridians to reckon with the many environmental challenges they face. (NYT)

* Heritage dispute engulfs site chosen for Amazon’s new African HQ (Reuters)

* The Castle fire, which burned in Sequoia National Park last year, destroyed one tenth of the world’s mature giant Sequoias. (Visalia Times-Delta)

* Shrinking giants: North Atlantic right whales getting tinier (AP)

* Farmers Are Feeling The Pain As Drought Spreads In The Northwest (NPR)

* A third climate activist member was elected to the board of Exxon Mobil, raising the stakes for the company amid criticism it has done little to address the growing threat of climate change. Exxon had largely been able to push its own choices to fill out the company’s 12-member board, and the outcome reflects a defeat for its leaders. [HuffPost]

* Fires Sink Iran’s Largest Warship and Ravage Big Refinery -- The double fire raised suspicions that Iran was once again a sabotage target, as diplomacy to resurrect the nuclear deal advanced. (NYT)

* Armed Low-Cost Drones, Made by Turkey, Reshape Battlefields and Geopolitics (WSJ)

* President Biden announced during his visit to Tulsa, Okla., that he had asked Vice President Harris to lead the Democratic Party’s efforts to protect and expand voting rights. (AP)

* Can Biden’s conciliatory side survive the GOP’s assault on democracy? (WP)

* NASA Is Returning To Venus -- The space agency's new administrator, Bill Nelson, announced two robotic missions to the solar system's hottest planet. “It will be as if we have rediscovered the planet," said NASA scientist Tom Wagner. [AP]

* Paxton Smith, a Texas high schooler tasked with delivering the valedictorian address at her graduation ceremony, ditched her school-approved speech and delivered a takedown of her state’s new abortion ban. “I refuse to give up this platform to promote complacency and peace, when there is a war on my body and a war on my rights,” said Smith. [HuffPost]

* Rural counties in Northern California and the greater Sacramento area have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the state, causing virus cases in some places to rise. (Los Angeles Times)

* Biden announces international COVID-19 vaccine sharing plan (AP)

* Nature Filmmaker Accused Of Staging Scene Where Bird Uses Tiny Fork To Twirl Worm Up Like Spaghett (The Onion)

***

"What Did We Know?"

Rachel Rose Mitchell

It's been so long since we began.
It seems so long ago
That in the name of loyalty
We started on our own.
Answering the call of a house we once called home,
We knew that we were right.
What did we know?

We swore that we understood this wasn't a game,
But somehow we found ourselves fanning the flames.
Those who cautioned and abandoned us, they were the same.
I saw them turn away.

It's easy to look back and say what we'd do
If only we'd waited, if only we knew
Nothing in this world could make up for what we'd lose,
The price we had to pay.

Oh, what did we know?
We gambled an unknown price.
I don't know where I'm going, but I cannot stay here.
The lights have gone out and it's over.

Though we could ask ourselves "what have we done?"
Maybe our regrets are best left unsung.
Wishing won't absolve us of all that we have won.
And what scares me more than anything...

-30-

If we would choose the past,
We'd probably choose the same.

-30-

Back Then

That's me on the right, circa 1976 in my Rolling Stone days, with my brother-in-law Ty Symroski. It looks like we were at Pt. Reyes.

For You And Me

So we have twin crises -- the pandemic that won't go away and the danger that our democracy may go away.

When faced by situations so overwhelming in their totality, the only option is to face them one piece at a time.

Covid-19 continues to surge in parts of Asia and South America. The potential for an outbreak of crisis proportions in Africa remains a ticking time bomb.

In the words of the public health experts who are raising the alarm, the mutated virus will inevitably find a way to "ricochet" back around the world to us.

That roughly half of American adults remain unvaccinated makes us all vulnerable once the mutated variant shows up here.

The solution to this future crisis is within our grasp: Vaccinate everybody. Use incentives like lottery winnings and beer (see below) if necessary, although those are pretty lame ways to get people to do the right thing, IMHO.

I only wish the other crisis could be resolved by simply buying people off.

Responsible conservatives like Max Boot are raising alarms about an emerging conspiracy by right-wing extremists to steal the 2024 election. That they tried and failed on January 6th is no comfort, because they've figured out to how to do it better next time around.

After extended thought, I've come to the conclusion that the best short-term solution to the U.S. political crisis is to encourage loyal Americans who are Republicans to switch parties. 

Think it over: Your current party believes in preventing their fellow citizens from voting. That kind of party does not deserve to hold power in a democracy. 

A party that manipulates its followers with the lie that the 2020 election was stolen does not deserve to be in power. It was not stolen.

A party that lined up lock-step behind a president who tried to undermine the electoral system by threatening local officials in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan and elsewhere does not deserve to hold power.

A party that labels the pandemic "fake" and holds huge rallies without masks or social distancing while hundred of thousands of fellow citizens are dying does not deserve to hold power.

A party that refuses to expel an incendiary racist like Marjorie Taylor Greene does not deserve to hold power.

The few remaining responsible Republican officials who speak out at the national level -- Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and a handful of others -- invariably face denunciations by the Trump faction that firmly controls their state parties. A party that abandons its true leaders doe not deserve to hold power.

What concerns Boot and other thoughtful conservatives are the moves to install corrupt local officials who will overturn legitimate election results when they do not comport with their wishes.

This, my Republican friends, is not democracy, but neo-fascism. You do not want that kind of blood on your hands.

Do I exaggerate? I'm afraid not.

Do you really want to find out? Please don't.

If enough Republicans refuse to support the direction the party has chosen, we can avoid losing a democracy that has been 245 years in the making.

If you're worried about a temporary period of one-party rule, let me reassure you. We've had that here in California for years now and it's turned out very well for us. I'm no fan of the Democratic Party, but at least its leaders follow the Constitution and the rule of law.

Unlike the despot in exile at Mar-a-Lago.

The choice is yours.

***

The headlines:

* The pandemic is getting worse, even when it seems like it’s getting better. Public health advocates and international organizations recognize the main problem: The global gap in vaccinations. (WP)

* COVID-19 cases rising again, says Americas health agency, but not in North America (Reuters)

* The pandemic fire is still raging. Rich-country leaders must respond. (Editorial Board/WP)

* How the World Ran Out of Everything -- Global shortages of many goods reflect the disruption of the pandemic combined with decades of companies limiting their inventories. (NYT)

* The World Health Organization announced it had authorized the coronavirus vaccine made by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac for emergency use. (AP)

* Offering beer, babysitting and barbershop outreach, White House launches initiatives to boost vaccinations (WP)

* More than 100 scholars have warned that Republicans are putting the nation's democracy in danger by restricting access to voting and perpetuating the fiction that the 2020 presidential election wasn't secure. The statement by the New America think tank urged lawmakers to “do whatever is necessary — including suspending the filibuster — in order to pass national voting and election administration standards that both guarantee the vote to all Americans equally." [HuffPost]

* In a culture-war brawl that has spilled into the country’s educational system, Republicans at the local, state and national levels are trying to block curriculums that emphasize systemic racism. (NYT)

* Biden promises to combat GOP efforts to restrict voting rights (WP)

* Conservative Columnist Warns Of GOP Plot To Steal 2024 Election -- “I hope I am being overly alarmist. I really do,” Max Boot wrote. (WP) 

* Have Three Children? No Way, Many Chinese Say. -- Intense workplace competition, inadequate child care and widespread job discrimination against pregnant women have made childbearing an unappealing prospect for many. (NYT)

* Arizona plans to execute prisoners with a lethal gas the Nazis used at Auschwitz (WP)

* A drought crisis has erupted in the Klamath Basin along the California-Oregon border, with fish dying en masse and farmers infuriated that they have been cut off from their main water source. (NYT)

* Israel opposition says it’s ready to vote on ousting Netanyahu (WP)

* America Has a Drinking Problem -- A little alcohol can boost creativity and strengthen social ties. But there’s nothing moderate, or convivial, about the way many Americans drink today. ( The Atlantic)

* California saw more active shooters than any other state over the last two decades, new federal data shows. Although California has some of the nation’s strictest gun laws, the ranking roughly tracks with population size. (San Francisco Chronicle)

* Dangerously hot conditions are forecast for the Western United States this week. Temperatures could reach as high as 107 degrees in the San Joaquin Valley, and may break daily records in the Fresno area. (California Today)

* Historian Uncovers The Racist Roots Of The 2nd Amendment --  Carol Anderson says the Second Amendment was designed to ensure slave owners could quickly crush any rebellion or resistance from those they'd enslaved. Her new book is The Second. (NPR)

* Handgun sales in California surged 66 percent during the pandemic. (Sacramento Bee)

* The population of Western monarch butterflies that winter in California has been dwindling. So a coalition of conservation groups has hatched a plan: Grow a lot more milkweed. The plant, according to the U.S. Forest Service, is “Nature’s mega food market for insects.” (NYT)

* French Open Fines Tennis Ball For Failing To Answer Media’s Questions (The Onion)

***

"This Land is Your Land"

Woody Guthrie

This land is your land and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
Saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me

I roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
All around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

When the sun come shining, then I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me

This land is your land and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me

When the sun come shining, then I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The voice come a-chanting and the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me

There They Go

Most every day at some point, weather permitting, I sit outside for a while, sipping one of two drinks -- coffee or carbonated water. While out there, I greet the passersby.

These usually include a bumblebee, a hummingbird, a butterfly, several songbirds, a squirrel and the occasional gopher.

Oh, there are humans too: Walkers, joggers, bikers, dog-walkers, skaters, scooters and older folks walking with canes.

I raise my hand in greeting to all; some return the wave and smile, but a surprising number remained glued to their mobile devices as they expertly navigate the area right-to-left or left-to-right, never looking up to check their bearings even for a moment.

This may be that screen addiction you've heard so much about.

Recently I had occasion to witness how a sizable group of children interacted with a single screen when I was the lone adult in a room suddenly filled with nine excited kids -- three 12-14 year olds, three 9-11 year olds, and three 5-7 year olds.

As the children grouped themselves around a large monitor, they loaded on a video game that could only accommodate two players at a time.

The older kids knew how to play the game; the middle tier knew enough to compete; but the youngest group had no clue as to what was going on. Or so I thought.

The oldest boys were determined that everybody should get a fair shot, so they devised a system whereby that could happen.

What amazed me was their patience with the youngest kids, who all got their turns in order, as they struggled to keep up. No one raised his voice as they calmly issued instructions -- "you push this button to go forward, that one to spin, this one to attack."

The elaborately designed virtual set included many unfamiliar elements to me, but one item stood out somewhat incongruently -- a vintage VW van, a classic for my generation. It made me wonder who was the designer behind the game.

We used to criss-cross the country in those vans, joining the larger tribe at Woodstock, Selma, Santa Monica or the Haight-Ashbury. They were essentially a metaphor for "hippie."

As my mind wandered through this distant past, smelling virtual weed in the air, the children around me were navigating the future. Very quickly, I realized, the youngest members had mastered the game.

Then just as suddenly as they'd appeared, the entire group dropped their consoles and raced out of the room, leaving me alone once again. 

As they exited, I thought I heard someone say, "Pizza!"

***

The headlines, with I'm sorry to say, no pizza on the side...

* A frantic warning from 100 leading experts: Our democracy is in grave danger (WP)

* After Dramatic Walkout, a New Fight Looms Over Voting Rights in Texas -- After killing a Republican-sponsored bill to restrict voting in the state, Democrats vowed to oppose any efforts to revive it. Republicans pledged to pass it in a special legislative session. (NYT)

* After defeating restrictive voting bill, Texas Democrats call on Congress to protect rights -- The coordinated walkout jolted the national debate about voting rights, putting the spotlight on Democratic-backed federal voting rights legislation that has been stalled in the Senate. (WP)

* Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the extremist Oath Keepers, was ready for orders from former President Donald Trump on the day of the Capitol insurrection to seize control of the government, according to an indictment against several members. "We want him to declare an insurrection, and to call us up as the militia,” Rhodes was quoted as saying. [HuffPost]

* Now proven against coronavirus, mRNA can do so much more -- The approach that led to remarkably safe and effective vaccines against a new virus is also showing promise against old enemies such as HIV, and infections that threaten babies and young children, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and metapneumovirus. It's being tested as a treatment for cancers, including melanoma and brain tumors. It might offer a new way to treat autoimmune diseases. And it's also being checked out as a possible alternative to gene therapy for intractable conditions such as sickle cell disease. (CNN)

* Covid-19 Prevention Steps Are Keeping Childhood Diseases at Bay -- The disinfecting and hand-washing that became common during the pandemic have also served as powerful tools against childhood ailments such as chickenpox, stomach viruses and strep throat. (WSJ)

* Families losing a loved one to the coronavirus now described a surreal, lonely kind of grief, as the threat from the pandemic lessens in the United States. (NYT)

* Toyota, Honda temporarily halt production in Malaysia due to COVID-19 lockdown (Reuters)

* Japan’s vaccine push ahead of Olympics looks to be too late (AP)

* In Thailand and around the world, dogs are being trained to sniff out the coronavirus in people. So far, the results have been impressive. (NYT)

* Biden set for G-7 boost in push for a global minimum tax on corporate profits (WP)

* Everything’s becoming a subscription, and the pandemic is partly to blame -- Delivery services, socks, razors, gyms, streaming services, and even restaurants and car washes. Some Americans are now signed up for 10 or more. It’s bringing convenience — and a lot of monthly fees. (WP)

* “Australia’s Greta Thunberg” steps up climate change activism --Leading thousands of protest marchers through central Sydney and joining a landmark class action lawsuit aren’t the usual activities for most 14-year-olds. But Australian student Izzy Raj-Seppings has become one of the country's most prominent environmental activists since her tear-stained face made global headlines in late 2019 when she stared down riot police threatening to arrest her outside the prime minister's home. "I think a lot of people look at us and just say, 'oh, they're kids, they don't know what they're talking about." (Reuters)

* The Biden administration on Tuesday suspended oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, reversing a drilling program approved by the Trump administration and reviving a political fight over a remote region that is home to polar bears and other wildlife — and a rich reserve of oil. (AP)

* 'Big risk': California farmers hit by drought change planting plans (Reuters)

* Illinois became the first state to pass a bill that will ban police from deceiving youth suspects during interrogations -- a practice that adds significantly to the risk of false confessions and wrongful convictions. The legislation passed a near-unanimous vote in both chambers. [AP]

* This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 18-hour attack known as the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. At least 300 people died from May 31 to June 1, 1921, as a white mob terrorized Black residents in the Oklahoma city, looting and burning homes. A entire thriving community, at least 35 square city blocks, fell. (HuffPost)

* ‘I Knew That I Couldn’t Stay Quiet’ -- Millions of Americans took part in street demonstrations after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. A year later, first-time protesters reflect on what happened — and what is next. (NYT)

* A Daughter's Journey To Reclaim Her Heritage Language -- Assimilation has a cost. As a third generation Chinese American, Emily Kwong is rediscovering the language her father once knew, and what that means for where she comes from. (NPR)

* Close encounters: Democrats and Republicans unified in taking UFOs seriously (WP)

* Newly Discovered DNA Evidence Suggests Children Could Be Closely Related To Humans (The Onion)

***

"As Tears Go By"

Sung by Marianne Faithful

Songwriters: Andrew Loog Oldham / Keith Richards / Mick Jagger

It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Smiling faces I can see
But not for me
I sit and watch
As tears go by

My riches can't buy everything
I want to hear the children sing
All I hear is the sound
Of rain falling on the ground
I sit and watch
As tears go by

It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Doing things I used to do
They think are new
I sit and watch
As tears go by

-30-

One Girl's Life

                                              (NHK)

Back in 1979, alarmed by rapid population growth, the Communist government of China imposed a one-child policy on families there. Due to a cultural preference for males, that policy led to a severe gender imbalance before it was finally lifted in 2016. 

One of the stories that caught my eye over the weekend illustrates the specific impact that policy had on one girl's life. It was published by the Japanese news service NHK, about a Utah couple -- Brian and Longlan Stuy -- who adopted and raised three baby girls from China. 

As the girls grew up, they became curious about their birth parents, so the Stuys launched a search to see if they could find them.

"In China, when a baby is brought to an orphanage, the details of the child are published in a newspaper," explains NHK's senior Washington correspondent Tsuji Kohei. "The information includes gender, physical condition, date they were handed in and a photograph of their face. If their parents do not come forward within a certain period of time, the babies become available for adoption." 

Kohei interviewed the Stuys for his story. 

"The Stuys' home has piles of Chinese newspapers the couple collected as part of their search for information about their daughters' roots. In one of those newspapers, Brian spotted a photograph of one of his daughters and details of the orphanage."

Brian then flew to China and visited the orphanage, where he was told that his daughter had been left there voluntarily. But the Stuys later discovered that the same story was told to hundreds of adoptive parents about baby girls at orphanages all over China.

The family proceeded to build a database of more than 70,000 faces of babies and matched them to parents through their DNA, which was collected through an outreach program they initiated back in China. 

To date they have been able to identify the birth parents of about 100 children. Virtually all of those parents say they did not give up their babies voluntarily but were forced to abandon the girls due to the one-child policy.

This turned out to be the case for the Stuys' daughter Meilan, who was finally able to meet her birth parents two years ago.

"I had always thought they [willingly] gave me up. I was mad at them and didn't want to be associated with them in any way," she says. "But then the moment you realize that they actually wanted me, I felt guilty because my whole life, I've been trying to paint them as people that didn't want me; bad people. 

"But they were very nice people and they consider me as their daughter."

Although Meilan says the Stuys are her true family, she is grateful that at least now she understands why her birth parents abandoned her.

Meanwhile, this weekend, alarmed by the current low population growth, the Chinese government announced it will henceforth allow three children per family.

***

The news headlines:

* Origin story: the truth behind an international adoption (NHK)

* Facing a demographic crisis, China to allow three children per family (WP, BBC)

* Leading scientist says that without a full investigation of lab leak theory, the world will face ‘covid-26 and covid-32’ (WP)

* Mobile vaccination units hit tiny U.S. towns to boost immunity (AP)

* Doctors prepare to ration care as covid surge leaves Malaysia in ‘total lockdown’ (WP)

* President Joe Biden commemorated those who died serving in the military in Memorial Day remarks at Arlington National Cemetery and urged Americans to honor the fallen by strengthening and protecting the nation's democracy.   "Democracy itself is in peril, here at home and around the world. What we do now -- what we do now, how we honor the memory of the fallen will determine whether or not democracy will long endure." (CNN)

* Biden Aims to Rebuild and Expand Legal Immigration -- Documents show far-reaching efforts by President Biden to remake the immigration system and undo much of his predecessor’s legacy. (NYT)

* Alzheimer’s drug spurs emotional battle as FDA nears deadline for approval -- The drug aducanumab would be the first new Alzheimer’s treatment since 2003, but it is also the latest example of a medication that is passionately supported by patients and advocacy groups but rejected by the FDA’s outside advisers. (WP)

* World stocks set for 4th month of gains, yuan slips (Reuters)

* For DoorDash and Uber Eats, the Future Is Everything in an Hour --Food-delivery apps are betting that widening the range of services they offer will help boost their slim margins. (WSJ)

* Texas Democrats block restrictive voting bill by walking off the floor (WP)

* How the Texas voting bill would have created hurdles for voters of color (WP)

* Efforts to Advance Racial Equity Baked In Throughout Biden’s Budget (NYT)

* Study blames climate change for 37% of global heat deaths (AP)

* Four more indicted in alleged Jan. 6 Oath Keepers conspiracy to obstruct election vote in Congress (WP)

* The Hot New Advantage in Sports: Being Old (WSJ)

* At the one-third mark of the 2021 baseball season (54 of 162 games), the surprising San Francisco Giants have the best record (34-20) in the National League, despite having played ten fewer games at home than on the road. The Oakland A's are in first place in the American League's West Division. Larger crowds are being allowed in stadiums as Covid recedes. (DW)

* Your Body Survived a Pandemic. Don’t Punish It With Diet Fads. -- Don’t let the weight-loss industry shame you into thinking “back to normal” means a return to calorie counting and appetite suppressant lollipops. (NYT)

* Dolly Parton Still Swears by Cheap Makeup -- The cultural icon, pandemic hero and newly minted beauty-brand mogul hates exercise, loves food and is thrilled by cheap makeup. (WSJ)

* Genetically Altered Mosquitoes Target Dengue Fever and Zika (WSJ)

* Climate Experts Say Only Hope For Saving Planet Lies With People Who Save Napkins From Takeout Order (The Onion)

***

"We Are Family"

Sung by Sister Sledge

Songwriters: Bernard Edwards / Nile Gregory Rodgers / Kuro

We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up everybody and sing

We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up everybody and sing

Everyone can see we're together
As we walk on by
(And) and we fly just like birds of a feather
I won't tell no lie

all of the people around us they say
Can they be that close
Just let me state for the record
We're giving love in a family dose

We are family (hey, y'all)
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up everybody and sing (sing it to me)

We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up everybody and sing

Living life is fun and we've just begun
To get our share of this world's delights
(High) high hopes we have for the future
And our goal's in sight

no, we don't get depressed
Here's what we call our golden rule
Have faith in you and the things you do
You won't go wrong, oh no
This is our family jewel

We are family (hey, sing it to me)
I got all my sisters with me
We are family (oh, I can hear you now)
Get up everybody and sing

We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family (get up, get up y'all)
Get up everybody and sing

We are family (I got my sisters with me)
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up everybody and sing (get up and sing it to me)

We are family

-30-