Gathering the daily news is a lot like cooking dinner. As long as all the ingredients are on hand, you’ve done it so many times before that you can let your muscle memory take over right up until tasting time.
That’s when it’s handy to have a helper on hand, perhaps a grandchild, to make sure you’ve got the balance just right — not too sweet, not too sour.
Actually, come to think of it, this metaphor sucks because the news is never very sweet. In reality, it’s always deathly sour. It may be spicy at times, but that’s a preference not an obligation.
But when it comes to the daily news dish, I straight-up need to add a disclaimer: I don’t make the news, I just report it. It’s not of my doing; it’s not even of my nature. I’m not a particularly gloomy person, nor earnest, nor do I unduly obsess over the problems of the world.
In point of fact, I’m an ordinary guy who likes sports, sweets, jokes and friends. I actually think the world is a pretty funny place. (Ask my grandkids.)
Alas, I’m mainly known for eating raw carrots, collecting random items like seagrass, mixing metaphors, and failing to use cliches properly.
So if I could really cook the news for you, I can assure you that it would be a lot tastier and sweeter than it is on its own.
Mine would be more like dessert.
Today’s News (42):
Ukrainian Soldiers Lay Down Arms at Mariupol’s Azovstal Steel Plant (WSJ)
Ukraine's soldiers trapped in Mariupol evacuated (BBC)
Ukraine ends bloody battle for Mariupol, evacuates fighters in steel plant (WP)
Mariupol fighters in Russian hands; both sides claim wins (AP)
Surrender of Mariupol Leaves ‘Heroes’ to Face Putin’s Twisted Justice (Daily Beast)
Putin sees no threat from NATO expansion, warns against military build-up (Reuters)
Talks to end Ukraine war on hold as both sides trade blame (BBC)
War Crimes Watch: Targeting schools, Russia bombs the future (AP)
Russia is losing. That might make Putin more dangerous. (Edit Bd/WP)
‘The stakes here are now massive’: Turkey is threatening to block NATO membership for Sweden and Finland (CNBC)
One military analyst had a brutally frank message for viewers of Russian state television: The war in Ukraine will get much worse for Russia, which is facing a mass mobilization supported by the United States while Russia is almost totally isolated. (Reuters)
Former Russian colonel criticizes the country's invasion of Ukraine on state television (CNN)
Financial support for Ukraine falling short, says Yellen (Financial Times)
What It Would Take to See the World Completely Differently — The marine biologist Rachel Carson saw immense value in helping the public cultivate a sense of wonder. (Atlantic)
Buffalo Suspect Planned Attack for Months, Online Posts Reveal (NYT)
The 'Great Replacement' conspiracy theory isn't fringe anymore, it's mainstream (NPR)
The white gunman accused of a racist rampage at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket planned to keep killing at a second location if he escaped the first scene, the police commissioner said. Authorities investigated the massacre of Black people as a hate crime and act of domestic terrorism. The troubled gunman's legal purchase of an assault-style rifle raises new questions about so-called red flag laws. And the continuing rash of American mass killings shows "you can't even go to the damn store in peace," as a Buffalo resident put it. [AP]
The Buffalo Shooting Was Not a Random Act of Violence (Edit Bd/NYT)
Buffalo suspect: Lonely, isolated -- and a sign of trouble (AP)
Only 22 saw the Buffalo shooting live. Millions have seen it since. (WP)
What Do Most Mass Shooters Have in Common? They Bought Their Guns Legally. — From 1966 to 2019, 77 percent of mass shooters obtained the weapons they used in their crimes through legal purchases. (NYT)
The suspected gunman who opened fire in a California church on Sunday, killing one person and injuring five, is a Chinese American man believed to have targeted Taiwanese congregants in a “politically motivated hate incident,” the Orange Country sheriff said. [HuffPost]
FBI opens hate crime probe of shooting in Dallas’ Koreatown (AP)
Key lawmaker warns at UFO hearing: ‘Unidentified aerial phenomena are a potential national security threat’ (CNN)
Congress dives into UFOs, but no signs of extraterrestrials (AP)
The military's UFO database now has info from about 400 reported incidents (NPR)
Pentagon vows 'rigorous scientific analysis' of UFOs (Politico)
The U.S. Air Force said it had conducted a successful test of a hypersonic weapon, which flew at five times the speed of sound. The test was conducted on Saturday off the coast of Southern California when a B-52 bomber released an Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon. (Reuters)
Imagine a statehouse full of Marjorie Taylor Greenes and Steve Kings, and local school boards and county commissions packed with people angry about everything. That's Idaho, living the dream of a Republican Party totally aligned with extremism. HuffPost's Christopher Mathias takes us on a tour. [HuffPost]
The number of people officially listed as disappeared in Mexico has risen to more than 100,000, government data showed, as family groups called on authorities to do more to find victims of violence linked to organized crime. (Reuters)
How the current COVID surge gives us a glimpse of the future (SFC)
FDA clears COVID booster shot for healthy kids ages 5 to 11 (AP)
As New Covid Variants Drive Fifth Wave in South Africa, Virus Becomes a Fact of Daily Life (WSJ)
How Vaccine Misinformation Spread Through The Parenting World (NPR)
North Korea on brink of Covid-19 catastrophe, say experts (Guardian)
Elon Musk says Twitter deal ‘cannot move forward’ until CEO details bots (WP)
After bad-mouthing Twitter last week and helping send stock prices — and company value — down, Elon Musk said a lower purchase price for Twitter is “not out of the question.” Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal attempted to explain how the platform deals with spam accounts — a concern Musk raised to justify putting the deal on hold — but Musk did not seem interested, replying with the poop emoji. [HuffPost]
Potentially Alive 830-Million-Year-Old Organisms Found Trapped in Ancient Rock (ScienceAlert)
Could people breathe the air on Mars? (Yahoo)
Man Arriving Late Forced To Use Excuse He Was Saving For Leaving Early (The Onion)
Today’s Lyrics:
“If You Ever Have Forever In Mind”
By Vince Gill
Songwriters: Troy Harold Seals / Vince Gill
You're climbing mountains, I'm on a hill
You're always running I'm standing still
You live for the moment, no future no past
I may be a fool to love by the rules and want it to last
If you ever have forever in mind
I'll be here and easy to find
If your heart isn't ready to lay down with mine
If you ever have forever in mind
The music has ended still you want to dance
I know that feeling, I can't take that chance
You live for the moment no future no past
I may be a fool to love by the rules, I want it to last
If you ever have forever in mind
I'll be here and easy to find
If your heart isn't ready to lay down with mine
If you ever have forever in mind
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