Among Ourselves

‘Is he all there? Like, mentally? Yeah I think so’. — Phil and Stu talking about Alan in “The Hangover”

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They say that men will try to relive their childhood through their sons. That women will try to recreate their’s through their daughters. 

So what about everyone else?

IDK about that, but attending my grandson’s little league games in the heat of San Jose this past week has been a stark, blunt reminder for me of our common mortality whether we are parents or grandparents or not. That is ironic, I suppose, or maybe not.

The boys are beautiful and so are the girls — their future girlfriends rooting for them or pretending not to — in the stands. I love all of them.

They are all perfect in my eyes. Their energy is limitless and their possibilities endless.

Then again, San Jose is in the center of Silicon Valley, the home of the extremely dangerous fantasy that technology can solve anything. 

Technology or the money it generates cannot solve any of the things that will soon matter most to these kids — their biological differences, their emotional impulses, whether they can hit the next pitch or not, or who they fall in love with, when or why, or any of the mistakes they will certainly all be making. 

But we will always love them. And that’s the good news.

TODAY’s (mostly bad news) LINKS:

1. A stunning moment in American history decades in the making will reshape politics (CNN)

2. Push to Overturn Roe v. Wade Was 50 Years in the Making (WSJ)

3. Demonstrations spread across the country as Roe v. Wade falls (WP)

4. Abortion Ruling Poses New Questions About How Far Supreme Court Will Go (NYT)

5. A devastating blow to women’s rights in America (Edit Bd/ Financial Times)

6. The Constitution Is Whatever the Right Wing Says It Is (Atlantic)

7. ‘We’re done’: Chaos and tears as an abortion clinic abruptly shuts down (WP)

8. The woman who brought down Roe vs. Wade wants to take abortion battle to California (LAT)

9. Justices go against public opinion on abortion, guns (WP)

10. Roe v Wade: The world reacts to US abortion ruling (BBC)

11. Fall of Roe will have immediate economic ramifications, experts say (Axios)

12. The Ruling Overturning Roe Is an Insult to Women and the Judicial System (Edit Bd/NYT)

13. When the Supreme Court Takes Away a Long-Held Constitutional Right (New Yorker)

14. Abortion foes, supporters map next moves after Roe reversal (AP)

15. In 1978, Jamaica Kincaid published a spare short story in The New Yorker titled “Girl.” Consisting of one long run-on sentence, the story offers a brief but illuminating portrait of its young subject’s life. (New Yorker)

16. Biden signs bipartisan gun control bill into law (CBS)

17. Biden confronts a bombshell that could define his presidency (WP)

18. The lonely chief: How John Roberts lost control of the court (Politico)

19. Russia will soon exhaust its combat capabilities, Western assessments predict (WP)

20. Ukraine Retreats From Embattled City, as Russia Grinds On (NYT)

21. Horror on Oslo Pride day as gunman goes on deadly rampage at gay bar (Reuters)

22. With war, Kyiv pride parade becomes a peace march in Warsaw (AP)

23. More aid arrives in Afghanistan in boost to quake relief efforts (Al Jazeera)

24. Taliban calls for release of frozen funds after deadly earthquake (Reuters)

25. New study solves long-standing mystery of what may have triggered ice age (Phys.org)

26. Juul can keep selling its vaping products in the U.S. — for now (NPR)

27. Baby deer born at Kashima Shrine delight visitors (NHK)

28. Mystery deepens as owners say Hong Kong floating restaurant has not sunk (Guardian)

29. Report: Thinking About Way You Look All The Time Burns 5,000 Calories An Hour (The Onion)