This January 6th there is plenty of news.
I could write about the threats to democracy, or Covid, climate change, the economy, web.3, NFTs, blockchain, bitcoin, Congress, the midterms, the crises in Kazakhstan, Turkey, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Iran, or any number of other topics.
But I think that I won’t. Instead I think I’ll write about love.
Over the months I’ve been publishing excerpts of my conversations with my young friend in Afghanistan, I’ve often reassured him that people here on the other side of the world really do care about what is happening to the Afghan people — or at least they would care if they knew.
That is my presumption and why I’ve devoted 22 essays to telling the stories he witnesses on a daily basis since the heartless Taliban guerrilla army took over his country.
But I also know it is very difficult for my fellow Americans to think too much about those in a distant land they’ve never visited when there are much more immediate concerns closer at hand.
So the truth of the matter is I don’t know whether beyond a few stalwarts if my fellow citizens actually have the bandwidth to focus on the plight of the Afghan people.
But I do know that Americans care about love. And I know enough about the young couple (Musa and Shirin) my friend wrote about yesterday to confirm that their love is as precious and vulnerable as that shared by any two Americans.
Their situation is complicated by the strictures of Afghan society, including outmoded concepts of a woman’s freedom to love whomever she chooses. But otherwise their love story is familiar.
For many of us, anywhere on the planet, it is not uncommon to feel attracted to somebody when we meet them, but rare that the attraction proves mutual and circumstances converge to make a romance possible.
But when that does happen, it’s like the whole world goes off in a fireworks show — colorful lights streak through the sky and beautiful music fills the world around us.
In the early days of love, when anticipation about what might happen rules our conscious and unconscious thoughts and feelings, every fiber of our being feels like it is on edge.
A lot can and usually does happen after that — some good, some bad. The wonderful highs and joys have to be measured ultimately against the terrible pain of loss and disappointment. And few pains are as distinctly unbearable as a broken heart.
Nevertheless, we all know that some love stories have happy endings and we wish for that for Musa and Shirin.
And that is the way of love all over the planet.
TODAY’s HEADLINES:
We Are Living Through a Democratic Emergency (Atlantic)
Prosecutors Move Quickly on Jan. 6 Cases, but Big Questions Remain — In the year since the assault on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, more than 700 people have been arrested, with little public indication from the Justice Department of how high the investigation might reach. (NYT)
How to avert another US Capitol siege — The burden falls on the Republican party to end its flirtation with extremism (Financial Times)
Instead of being carted off in handcuffs for inciting an insurrection against the United States, or even just being banished for life by the Senate, Trump remains the leader of a major political party and is considering another run for the White House. Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council analyst in the Trump White House, called what he did a "coup." “If we were looking at this overseas, we would say: Absolutely, that’s what it was," she said. [HuffPost]
Trump Cancels Jan. 6 Event, After Allies See It as a Distraction (NYT)
Security still top of mind a year after Capitol attack (Politico)
Recalling Jan. 6: A national day of infamy, half remembered (AP)
Afghanistan Has Become the World’s Largest Humanitarian Crisis (New Yorker)
With covid surging, many college students are confined in isolation and quarantine (WP)
Health tech reaches crossroads in pandemic's third year (Politico)
COVID causes staff shortages at San Francisco schools, city agencies (SFC)
Hong Kong announced a two-week ban on incoming flights from eight countries and tightened local COVID-19 restrictions as authorities feared a fifth wave of coronavirus in the city. (Reuters)
Being a journalist in the U.S. is becoming more dangerous (WP)
Variant Pushes Wall Street Toward Work-From-Home Future (WSJ)
More quit jobs than ever, but most turnover is in low-wage work. (NYT)
McConnell cracks door to Electoral Count Act reform (Politico)
Protesters stormed public buildings in Kazakhstan's biggest city as security forces struggled to impose control after the government resigned in response to popular anger over a fuel price increase. (Reuters)
Kazakhstan’s Government Resigns Amid Unrest Over Fuel Prices (WSJ)
Report: Kazakh president’s home ablaze as protests escalate (AP)
Kazakhstan protests: president threatens ruthless crackdown (Guardian)
Kazakhstan unrest: Internet cut amid fuel protests (BBC)
NFTs move to influence Congress, even if lawmakers have no clue what they are (Politico)
Exploding meteor over Pittsburgh equivalent to 30 tons of TNT, NASA says (WP)
Coho salmon are back in Marin’s creeks, and it’s a good sign for the species’ future. (SFC)
Gandikota: The stunning Indian gorge that resembles the Grand Canyon (BBC)
Republicans Are Moving Rapidly to Cement Minority Rule. Blame the Constitution. (Politico)
PG&E Equipment Is Blamed for Starting Dixie Fire in Northern California (NYT)
Out-of-control rocket stage is tumbling toward Earth (CNN)
Progressive Company Pays Both Men And Women 78% Of What They Should Be Earning (The Onion)
TODAY’s LYRICS (of course)
“That's the Way Love Goes”
Songwriters: Lefty Frizzell / Sanger D. Shafer
I've been throwing horseshoes
Over my left shoulder
I've spent most all my life
Searching for that four-leaf clover
Yet you ran with me
Chasing my rainbows
Honey, I love you too
That's the way love goes
That's the way love goes, babe
That's the music God made
For all the world to sing
It's never old, it grows
Losing makes me sorry
You say, "Honey, now don't worry
Don't you know I love you too?"
And that's the way love goes
That's the way love goes, babe
That's the music God made
For all the world to sing
It's never old, it grows
Losing makes me sorry
And you say, "Honey, don't worry
Don't you know I love you too?"
And that's the way love goes
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