On the Road (Again)

 Late Thursday afternoon I did something I hadn’t done since long before the pandemic — I drove a car. It had been over three years and I wondered what it would be like after such a long layoff.

One of the reasons I stopped driving is my vision had become so bad by 2019 that it seemed hazardous to navigate San Francisco’s crowded narrow streets, especially at dusk. More than once, somebody dressed entirely in dark clothes had darted in front of my car on a skateboard or bicycle and I’d barely avoided hitting them.

My job was only four blocks away from my apartment so I could walk to work. My kids were all grown up and off at college. The coming of ride-sharing apps — Lyft, Uber, etc. — gave me options when I really needed to get somewhere.

So I just stopped. And sold my car.

Fast forward to this week and all of a sudden I started again. What changed in the interim? Eye surgery, the removal of cataracts in both eyes.

As it turned out, my first time back in the driver’s seat was to get to an appointment with my eye doctor. The news I got was not unexpected — my vision now is 20-20 and there is no need for glasses for driving, reading or anything.

The distance from home to doctor’s office was just under four miles and it took roughly a half hour each way in the late afternoon traffic. The appointment was over in 15 minutes.

For me, this experience took me back about 60 years when I first got a driver’s license in Michigan. It was a powerful experience then and it was similarly powerful on Thursday.

And no, I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything about driving. Muscle memory took care of that.

The News (31):

1. ‘A severe chilling effect’: abortion bans will inhibit doctors’ advice to patients, experts fear (Guardian)

2. Draft Opinion Overturning Roe Raises a Question: Are More Precedents Next? (NYT)

3. Memories of pre-Roe America, from people who were there (WP)

4. Inside the 1970s Abortion Underground (Politico)

5. Louisiana lawmakers advance bill that would classify abortion as homicide (NBC)

6. Alito’s draft ruling is a warning to LGBTQ Americans (WP)

7. Inside the unprecedented Supreme Court revelation with a POLITICO reporter who broke the story (Politico)

8. Putin’s Forces Battle in East Ukraine to Feed His Hunger for a Victory (NYT)

9. Pentagon: most Russian forces left Mariupol (AP)

10. How millions of Russians are tearing holes in the Digital Iron Curtain (WP)

11. The European Commission has proposed changes to its planned embargo on Russian oil in a bid to win over reluctant states, three EU sources told Reuters. The tweaked proposal includes giving Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic more time to adapt to the embargo, and help with upgrading their own oil infrastructure. (Reuters)

12. Chinese Tech Giants Quietly Retreat From Doing Business With Russia (WSJ)

13. U.S. Intelligence Helped Ukraine Strike Russian Flagship, Officials Say (NYT)

14. Ukraine prosecutors: 223 children killed in Russia's invasion (NHK)

15. Ninth journalist killed in Mexico this year as violence against media soars

    Murder of veteran Luis Enrique Ramírez – found in bag beside road – brings estimated death toll of journalists in president’s term to 34 (Guardian)

16. A drought so bad it exposed a long-ago homicide. Getting the water back will be harder than ever (LAT)

17. VIDEO: Sandstorm Blankets Baghdad (AP)

18. Wildfires burning through New Mexico could get worse this weekend. (WP)

19. Massive amount of water found below Antarctica’s ice sheet for 1st time (CNN)

20. Huge solar flare captured in stunning NASA image as it fires off from the sun (LiveScience)

21. U.S. regulators strictly limited who can receive Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine due to the ongoing risk of rare but serious blood clots. The Food and Drug Administration said the shot should only be given to adults who cannot receive a different vaccine or specifically request J&J’s vaccine. [AP]

22. Residents of Beijing fretted over dozens of new COVID cases reported daily and over the possibility of more restrictions on movements as China's leaders threatened action against critics of their zero-COVID policy. Meanwhile, the spread of COVID in compounds that have been sealed off for weeks is baffling Shanghai residents.(Reuters)

23. Nearly half of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide, survey finds (NPR)

24. U.S. Hiring Stayed Strong in April Despite Headwinds (WSJ)

25. The U.S. jobs market continues its strong comeback from the pandemic (NPR)

26. Inflation Eclipses Historically Strong Wage Gains (WSJ)

27. New San Francisco ad blasts Chesa Boudin over drugs. There's just one problem. It’s a lie. (SFGate)

28. An interview with Rodney King’s daughter on the 30th anniversary of the riots, (NPR)

29. On social media, Richard Whitehead is a warrior for the American right. He's praised extremist groups and called for public executions of government officials deemed disloyal to former President Donald Trump. He also trains U.S. police officers. Read our special report on the police trainers with far-right ties. (Reuters)

30. Then-President Donald Trump asked his defense secretary, Mark Esper, if the U.S. could fire missiles into Mexico to destroy drug labs run by cartels, keeping the military action secret, Esper writes in an upcoming memoir about his time in the White House. Esper previously recounted a moment when Trump urged his top military officials to order troops to shoot protesters who demonstrated after the police killing of George Floyd. [HuffPost]

31. Mother Trying Her Best To Project Same Amount Of Insecurities Onto All Her Daughters (The Onion)

Crime in the Streets

About 20 years ago I had dinner with a friend at a restaurant downtown one evening when my car, which was parked in a metered space along The Embarcadero, got broken into. The thieves got away with my laptop, files, address book, some photos, etc., before fading into the night.

I first realized something as amiss when I returned to the car after dinner to find it unlocked. I never left the car unlocked, even when outside of my house for five minutes, never.

When I saw my briefcase was missing, I panicked and tried to think of who to call. Before I could think of anyone, my cellphone rang and it was a stranger who had found the contents of my briefcase (absent the laptop) blowing across a street on the south side of the city.

“I was with my wife walking the dog when we saw your stuff,” he told me. “I said to her, ‘that’s someone’s life flying around out there; we gotta gather it up’ and she helped me get it all. That’s how I found your number.”

Grateful, I drove to his address and reclaimed my personal items.

But the laptop and the briefcase were long gone, so I went to an electronics store, Fry’s, in Palo Alto with one of my students from Stanford and purchased a new laptop for $2000 and a case to carry it in.

A few days later I was talking with San Francisco’s D.A., Terence “Kayo” Hallinan and told him what had happened.

“All too typical,” he sighed. “Happens every night. The only shot you’ve got at finding your laptop is from the guys selling stolen goods in the Tenderloin. If they have it they probably would sell it back to you for about a hundred bucks.” 

He told me when and where to go.

I went there but of course had no luck recovering my stolen computer. After that I put away this whole bad memory with lots of others; it only popped up again a few nights ago as I listened to the current D.A., Chesa Boudin, explain how he is trying to deal with the car and store break-ins that still plague the city, two decades later.

He explained that there are organized gangs who carry out these crimes, most of them are from outside of San Francisco. They come in, make their move and then sell whatever they can steal to fencing operations. Everything ends up back on the street.

Lately I’ve noticed the current stolen goods market is along Mission just north of the 24th Street Bart station. Vendor after vendor is selling the pilfered goods — mainly packaged toiletries like toothpaste and shampoo still in their original containers laid out on tables or blankets alongside the busy thoroughfare.

Boudin described his frustration at trying to work with police and other law enforcement officials to interdict such operations. By the time the items get to the street sellers, the trail leading back to the gangs robbing Walgreen’s or the car thieves is cold.

Such crime is and long been endemic in San Francisco and other major cities. I had my car broken into at least six times during the years I lived in the city. At first I reported the crimes, until I realized that there was virtually no chance prosectors or the police would ever catch and convict the perpetrators.

Organized crime rings do occasionally get broken up by the FBI, or DEA or other federal or state investigators, but only rarely. The criminals usually stay one step ahead of the cops, which is why we need social programs addressing the root causes of crime — poverty, education, discrimination and addiction services — as advocated by progressive officials like Boudin.

I wish more of my fellow voters realized that until the vicious cycle of poverty gets broken, such crimes waves will continue as well. So don’t blame officials trying to reform the system. Listen to them instead.

TODAY’S NEWS (41):

1. What overturning Roe v. Wade could mean for the rest of the world (NPR)

2. Which states would restrict or protect abortion rights if Roe v. Wade is struck down? (CBS)

3. Roe leak may impact how Supreme Court decides gun rights, climate and immigration cases this spring (CNN)

4. Panic turns to strategy in White House pursuit to protect abortion (WP)

5. Once Close Allies, Roberts and Alito Have Taken Divergent Paths (NYT)

6. It’s Chief Justice Roberts’ Court, but does he still lead? (AP)

7. How the reversal of Roe v. Wade could impact the transgender community (NPR)

8. Louisiana Republicans advance bill that would charge abortion as homicide (WP)

9. Abortion Pills Stand to Become the Next Battleground in a Post-Roe America (NYT)

10. Advocates worry other rights at risk if court overturns Roe (AP)

11. In midterm battlegrounds, both parties try to weaponize abortion (NBC)

12. President Joe Biden referred to the Trump-led “MAGA” crowd as “the most extreme political organization” in “recent American history.” The comment came in response to a question about the Supreme Court’s draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, which, as written, also attacks landmark LGBTQ civil rights cases. “This is about a lot more than abortion,” Biden said. "What are the next things that are going to be attacked?" [HuffPost]

13. America’s Blue-Red Divide Is About to Get Starker (Atlantic)

14. Attacks on Mariupol steelworks intensify as Russia looks to end standoff; fate of Ukraine’s Donbas in the balance (CNBC)

15. Besieged Mariupol steel plant in ‘critical’ situation, official says (WP)

16. U.S. Intelligence Is Helping Ukraine Kill Russian Generals, Officials Say (NYT)

17. U.S. denies providing Ukraine intel specifically to target Russian generals (CBS)

18. Russians steal vast amounts of Ukrainian grain and equipment, threatening this year’s harvest (CNN)

19. Russia Announces Three-Day Cease-Fire For Civilians To Evacuate Mariupol Steel Plant (NBC)

20. Russia targeting Ukraine’s rail system, officials say (WP)

21. UNHCR: Over 5.7 million have fled Ukraine (NHK)

22. When Russian troops retreated from Ukraine’s Bucha they left reminders of their deadly occupation for all the world to see. As prosecutors begin the work of identifying those responsible for alleged atrocities, Reuters has examined the aftermath of Russia’s hasty retreat – and found vital clues to the identities of individual soldiers and military units present during the bloody occupation. (Reuters)

23. Americans Are Missing a Key Stratum of Modern Knowledge — To understand how climate change is altering our planet, it helps to know a little Earth science. (Atlantic)

24. Afghans who want teen girls back in school have new allies: Taliban-affiliated clerics (NPR)

25. Climate change is putting the Jamestown settlement at risk. — The Virginia site was added to the list of the country’s most endangered historical places yesterday. It’s battling rising water levels and increasingly frequent, damaging rains. (WP)

26. A collection of foresters, scientists and land managers will plant 200,000 first-year giant sequoias in an effort to rebuild the forest. (San Francisco Chronicle)

27. Why soil is one of the most amazing things on Earth (BBC)

28. If you've had omicron before, are you safe from infection by the new variants? (NPR)

29. Nearly 15 million deaths related to covid-19, WHO estimates (WP)

30. WHO Says 15 Million Have Died From Pandemic, With Highest Toll in India (WSJ)

31. Coronavirus far deadlier than official count, WHO estimate suggests (Financial Times)

32. Fed issues biggest rate hike in 22 years (CNN)

33. Fed Makes Biggest Interest Rate Increase Since 2000 as High Inflation Persists (NYT)

34. Digital-Ad Giants Google, Facebook, Amazon Come Down From Pandemic Highs (WSJ)

35. Rising interest rates in US will hinder foreign economies (AP)

36. Stock Selloff Accelerates as Dow Drops More Than 3% (WSJ)

37. Dow plunges 1,100 points as Wall Street sell-off accelerates (WP)

38. The Bank of England raised interest rates to their highest since 2009 at 1% to counter inflation now heading above 10%, even as it sent a warning that Britain risks falling into recession. British private-sector growth slowed to its weakest pace in four months in April as businesses raised prices on the broadest basis since at least the late 1990s, a closely watched survey showed. (Reuters)

39. Why Biden is in Danger of Replicating Woodrow Wilson’s Propaganda Machine (Politico)

40. Oath Keeper details pre-Jan. 6 planning, pleads to seditious conspiracy (WP)

41. HR Director Reminds Employees That Any Crying Done At Office Must Be Work-Related (The Onion)

 

Beyond Abortion

Within a matter of months, women in about half of the United States may be breaking the law if they decide to end a pregnancy. This will be, in large part, because Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is surprised that there is so little written about abortion in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787. As it happens, there is also nothing at all in that document, which sets out fundamental law, about pregnancy, uteruses, vaginas, fetuses, placentas, menstrual blood, breasts, or breast milk. There is nothing in that document about women at all. Most consequentially, there is nothing in that document—or in the circumstances under which it was written—that suggests its authors imagined women as part of the political community embraced by the phrase “We the People.” —Jill Lepore, from “Why There Are No Women in the Constitution” (New Yorker)

***

The elephant in the room given Samuel Alito’s draft decision is everything we’ve accomplished during the 235 years since the Constitution, imperfect as it was, was written. 

Because in the immortal words of the great Loretta Lynn, “a lot of things have changed since way back then.”

The problem with Alito’s draft is it is worded so broadly that it could reach into corners of our personal lives far beyond the right of a woman to choose whether to have an abortion.

Basically what’s at stake here, to be only mildly hyperbolic, is the entire scope of the social progress that we in the U.S. have made since the nation’s founding — or at least the past fifty years. It has taken sustained, committed efforts by many activists — labor, civil rights, feminist, environmental justice, LBGTQ, disabled and many others — to achieve a more humane and inclusive society for all of us.

But now those cherished rights are threatened by the reactionary backlash of angry, frightened white supremacists who are the driving force behind the agendas of the Supreme Court, too many red-state governments and the entire pro-Trump faction of the Republican Party.

So the question is will it only be Democrats, liberals, progressives who will stand up and oppose this blatant attempt to send us backward in time? Back to before marriage equality? Back before poor black people could vote in the South? Or will Republicans and conservatives wake up to the dangers and speak out against this slide toward authoritarianism before it’s too late.

The path toward a more democratic future was already cloudy given the depredations of Trump and the January 6th mob. But the lessons of the past are clear. We have to fight for our rights once again if the forces of ignorance, discrimination, hate and violence are not to prevail.

Today’s Headlines (53):

1. Poll reveals US supreme court’s abortion position is vastly at odds with public opinion (Guardian)

2. The Supreme Court’s draft opinion on overturning Roe v. Wade, annotated (WP)

3. Leaked draft of Supreme Court ruling signals a seismic shift in American politics and law. (NYT)

4. Kamala Harris Speaks Out On Supreme Court Draft Opinion At Abortion Rights Group Event (NBC)

5. Abortion has long been complicated for Biden. Now, he leads the fight. (WP)

6. Leaked Threat to Roe v. Wade Stuns, Then Energizes Americans (NYT)

7. These companies will help staff in red states bypass abortion bans (CNN)

8. Abortion draft spurs speculation about future of same-sex marriage (WP)

9. A Supreme Court in Disarray After an Extraordinary Breach (NYT)

10. 8 legal reasons to dislike Justice Alito's draft opinion on abortion (NBC)

11. A decision to overturn Roe v. Wade would upend midterms (WP)

12. Overnight, Midterms Get a White-Hot New Focus: Abortion (NYT)

13. The court might never recover from overturning Roe (Edit Bd/WP)

14. As US poised to restrict abortion, other nations ease access (AP)

15. A Canadian official says Americans can get abortions there if Roe is overturned (NPR)

16. If Roe falls, LGBTQ people worry, ‘They’re coming for us next’ (SFC)

17. It's impossible to wall off reversing Roe from landmark marriage and contraception rulings (CNN)

18. Erosion of abortion rights gathers pace around the world as US signals new era (Guardian)

19. Backlash over Supreme Court’s draft abortion ruling offers opportunity for Democrats (Financial Times)

20. The GOP’s Strange Turn Against Rape Exceptions — If Roe v. Wade is overturned, 22 states have abortion bans that would quickly become law. Many of those bans contain no exemptions for rape or incest. (Atlantic)

21. While the main story is that the Supreme Court now has five votes to overturn women’s reproductive rights, the provenance of the leak — of the draft majority opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito — still matters, as it could affect the ultimate outcome of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. There are a very limited number of people who could leak a draft opinion to the press from inside the court: the nine justices themselves, their law clerks and their support staff. Here are the current theories and why they may or may not affect the outcome. [HuffPost]

22. California Republicans turn to 'ostrich strategy' after abortion news (Politico)

23. E.U. proposes ban on Russian oil imports by end of year (WP)

24. Russia’s War Has Been Brutal, but Putin Has Shown Some Restraint. Why? (NYT)

25. Russia attempts to stymie supply of western arms (NHK)

26. The EU proposed its toughest sanctions yet against Russia, including a phased oil embargo, as Ukraine came under further heavy Russian bombardment and nervously monitored large-scale army drills in neighboring Belarus, a close Moscow ally. (Reuters)

27. 600 civilians died in March theater bombing in Mariupol; Zelenskyy says Russian advance halted (USA Today)

28. Evacuees From Mariupol’s Steel Plant Tell of Horrors and Survival (NYT)

29. Ukrainian officials and the U.N. held out hope for more evacuations from the bombed-out steel mill in Mariupol as scores of civilians reached relative safety after enduring weeks of shelling that targeted city’s last pocket of resistance. But Russian forces began storming the plant, where some Ukrainian fighters were still holed up. Meanwhile, the European Union’s top official on Wednesday called on the 27-nation bloc to ban all oil imports from Russia.  [AP]

30. Russia said it had fired two Kalibr cruise missiles at Ukrainian targets from a submarine in the Black Sea and reiterated a warning that it would seek to hit shipments of NATO weapons to Ukraine. (Reuters)

31. Russia steps up attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure (WP)

32. Pope Francis warns pro-war Russian patriarch not to be 'Putin's altar boy' (CNN)

33. Russian TV shows simulation of Britain and Ireland wiped out by a nuke (WP)

34. Russian mercenaries linked to civilian massacres in Mali (Guardian)

35. Covid Omicron Variant BA.2.12.1 Spreading Quickly Across United States; Related Cases Up Nearly 100% In Past Two Weeks (Yahoo)

36. Cognitive Impact of Severe COVID Is Equivalent to 20 Years of Aging, Study Finds (ScienceAlert)

37. The Chinese capital Beijing shut dozens of metro stations and bus routes in its campaign to stop the spread of COVID-19 and avoid the fate of Shanghai where millions of residents have been under strict lockdown for more than a month. (Reuters)

38. Pfizer now hopes to tell U.S. regulators how well its COVID-19 vaccine works in the littlest kids by late May or early June. The company is testing three extra-small doses of its vaccine in children under 5 after two shots didn’t prove quite strong enough. Rival Moderna hopes to be the first to offer vaccinations for the youngest children. [AP]

39. NASA is bringing rocks back from Mars, but what if those samples contain alien life? (NPR)

40. Sun fires off huge solar flare from new sunspot coming into view (Space.com)

41. Several 'Echoing' Black Holes Have Just Been Discovered in The Milky Way (ScienceAlert)

42. Trump flexes and the center shrinks: 5 takeaways from a key primary night (Politico)

43. Biden to sign executive order, national security memo to advance quantum technologies (Fox)

44. Biden: MAGA is the ‘most extreme political organization’ in recent U.S. history (Politico)

45. Gene Therapy Reverses Effects of Autism-Linked Mutation in Human Brain Organoids (SciTechDaily)

46. TurboTax to pay customers $141 million after allegedly steering them away from free services (CNN)

47. Uber’s Revenue Doubles, but Stock Falls After Lyft Warns of Higher Driver Costs (WSJ)

48. Lyft stock plunged 26% after the ride hail company said it would have to spend more heavily to attract drivers and forecast operating earnings less than a quarter of Wall Street targets, reflecting the added costs. (Reuters)

49. Jamestown: America's first English settlement now endangered (BBC)

50. Deaths from Covid. Aging baby boomers. Fewer children. Restrictions on immigration. These factors, not to mention the soaring cost of living, are forcing California — long associated in the public imagination as a destination and place of growth — to confront the fact that it is a shrinking state. For the second time in two years, the California Department of Finance has reported a drop in the state’s population. (Cal Today)

51. Dolly Parton, Eminem and Duran Duran join Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (BBC)

52. Ukraine War, Wordle Help New York Times Draw More Subscribers (WSJ)

53. Study: ‘Hangin’ In There’ Best One Can Now Feel (The Onion)

 

Aborting Democracy

 There is something weirdly tone-deaf about a political party that is focused on ending legal abortion at a time when actual survival issues confront us on all sides.

People are literally roasting to death in southern India as the early impacts of climate change kick into medium gear. Not high gear yet — that’s still to come. Just medium gear.

The carnage from the war in Ukraine continues as multiple indications suggest Putin has far grander designs on European expansionism than Kyiv. He continues to threaten to use nuclear weapons if he doesn’t get his way.

Horrific human rights abuses continue in Asia and Africa that could use a spotlight since they are largely ignored right now.

Not to mention inflation and the need to get the economy back in synch post-pandemic.

And then there’s still that pesky little thing called Covid, which continues to sicken mainly Republican (unvaccinated) constituents.

Yet it appears that the best the right-wingers in Congress and on the Supreme Court can do with their time is to make a woman’s right to choose an abortion illegal!

Unfortunately, largely thanks to Trump, we are stuck with a group of six old and middle-aged troglodytes trying to turn back human and humane progress to a more ignorant and primitive time.

More significantly, they are out of touch with something known as democracy. Striking down Roe is anti-democratic.

Let’s be straight about this. Most people in America firmly support a woman’s right to choose. So this ruling, while appealing to religious extremists, will likely prove to be counter-productive with everyone else. Voters do have as an option to throw Republicans out of office, helping Democrats maintain majorities in the House and Senate as soon as this November. 

So when the court’s decision becomes official next month, it’s very possible that the GOP will be kissing any chance of regaining control of Congress this midterm cycle and beyond good-bye.

Trust me. The embattled Democratic Party couldn’t be happier.

***

Speaking of another political controversy caused by the extreme right, you can watch an excellent interview with San Francisco D.A. Chesa Boudin by two of California’s top political reporters, Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos, at an event at KQED last night. There is so much disinformation surrounding Boudin’s extremist-funded recall election that it is refreshing to see a calm, rational discussion of the actual issues involved.

Next up…today’s news (37):

1. 13 states have passed so-called 'trigger laws,' bans designed to go into effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned (CNN)

2. Possible overturning of Roe sends abortion fight to states (AP)

3. Leak of draft opinion on abortion, Roe v. Wade sparks protests at Supreme Court (USA Today)

4. Republicans have delivered on Roe v. Wade. They may regret it. (Charlotte Observer)

5. ‘Betrayal’: Chief Justice Roberts blasts disclosure of draft abortion opinion (Politico)

6. The Conservatives Aren’t Just Ending Roe—They’re Delighting in It (Atlantic)

7. Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade leak: The end of integrity and ethics? (The Hill)

8. Amazon to reimburse U.S. employees who travel for abortions, other treatments — The decision makes the online retailer the latest company to respond to Republican-backed state laws curbing abortion access, helping employees bypass them. (NBC)

9. The original Roe v. Wade decision also was leaked to the press (WP)

10. Roberts Confirms Draft Abortion Ruling, Orders Inquiry (WSJ)

11. Biden blasts ‘radical’ Roe draft, warns other rights at risk (AP)

12. “Our daughters, sisters, mothers, and grandmothers will not be silenced,” Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted less than an hour after Politico reported on the leaked draft opinion it obtained. “The world is about to hear their fury. California will not sit back. We are going to fight like hell.” (Cal Today)

13. After writing “Gender Queer,” a memoir about coming out as nonbinary, Maia Kobabe didn’t think the book would find much readership. Instead, it landed the author at the center of a battle over which books belong in schools, and who gets to make that decision. (NYT Books)

14. Ukrainian fighters: Russian forces storming Mariupol plant (AP)

15. Russian forces fired rockets at the encircled steel works in Ukraine's Mariupol and smoke darkened the sky above the plant, where officials say 200 civilians are still trapped despite evacuations, while the EU prepared to sanction Russian oil. (Reuters)

16. Russia’s Independent Media Defies Kremlin Crackdown (WSJ)

17. Attack in eastern Ukraine kills 10, wounds 15 (AP)

18. Painful Stories Emerge From Mariupol, While Combat Rages to the East (NYT)

19. Three dozen tycoons met Putin on invasion day. Most had moved money abroad. (WP)

20. IDEO: Ukrainians Fleeing Fighting in the East Arrive in Zaporizhzhia (Reuters, AP)

21. Two months after warning that Beijing appeared poised to help Russia in its fight against Ukraine, senior U.S. officials say they have not detected overt Chinese military and economic support, a welcome development in the tense U.S.-China relationship. (Reuters)

22. Russia planning to annex new areas of Ukraine, U.S. finds (WP)

23. President Biden hopes to spotlight the game-changing impact of arms as he visits a plant in Alabama that builds the portable Javelin anti-tank weapons that have played a crucial role in Ukraine. But his visit is also drawing attention to a growing concern: Can the U.S. sustain the cadence of shipping vast amounts of arms to Ukraine while maintaining the healthy stockpile it may need if a new conflict erupts elsewhere? [AP]

24. Former President Donald Trump reportedly urged top military brass to shoot protesters who flooded the streets in the summer of 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd, according to a new book by former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Esper  recalls Trump asking deputies in a June 2020 Oval Office meeting, “Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?” [HuffPost]

25. As Feinstein Declines, Democrats Struggle to Manage an Open Secret (NYT)

26. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) struggled to back away from one of her most widely derided conspiracy theories suggesting that the Rothschilds, a Jewish banking family, were connected to the wildfires in California in 2018. [HuffPost]

27. FDA leaders: Annual Covid vaccines are likely in our future (Politico)

28. More than 200 sailors moved off aircraft carrier after multiple suicides (CNN)

29. Georgia Jury to Consider Whether Trump Illegally Interfered in 2020 Election (NYT)

30. Elon Musk is in talks with large investment firms and high net-worth individuals about taking on more financing for his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter and tying up less of his wealth in the deal, people familiar with the matter said. Musk said he wants to expand the reach of Twitter beyond the current "niche" until most Americans use the social media platform. (Reuters)

31. Climate scientists say South Asia's heat wave (120F!) is a sign of what's to come (NPR)

32. Heat wave sparks blackouts, questions on India’s coal usage (AP)

33. Astronomers Have Detected The Brightest-Ever Pulsar Outside Our Galaxy (ScienceAlert)

34. Canadian police fatally shoot polar bear that wandered into Quebec community (Guardian)

35. Trees: 'Our 5,000-year-old yew should be revered - not ignored' (BBC)

36. The San Francisco Giants have a coaching staff unlike any other, and their success is forcing the sport to rethink who is qualified to be in a major-league dugout. (WSJ)

37. ‘Nothing Would Surprise Me At This Point,’ Says Man Who Will Be Shocked By 8 Separate News Items Today (The Onion)

Today’s Lyrics:

“Mama He’s Crazy”

Song by the Judds

Written by Kenny O'dell

Mama, I found someone
Like you said would come along
He's a sight and so unlike
Any man I've known

I was afraid to let him in
'Cause I'm not the trustin' kind
But now I'm convinced that he's heaven sent
And must be out of his mind

Mama, he's crazy, crazy over me
And in my life is where he says
He always wants to be

I've never been so in love
He beats all I've ever seen
And mama, he's crazy, he's crazy over me

And mama, you've always said
You better look before you leap
But maybe so, but here I go
Lettin' my heart lead me

He thinks I hung the moon and stars
I think he's a livin' dream
Well, there are men, but ones like him
Are few and far between

Mama, he's crazy, crazy over me
And in my life is where he says
He always wants to be

I've never been so in love
He beats all I've ever seen
Mama, he's crazy, he's crazy over me
Oh mama, he's crazy, he's crazy over me

Live/Work Space

 

Disappearing Pandemic

(NOTE: Here is a draft of the Supreme Court opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade.)

***

On the very day I got my second Covid booster shot, I kept thinking about how much the pandemic has revealed the strengths and weaknesses of our democratic, capitalist society. 

It still seems borderline miraculous to me that the drug industry, much-maligned for plenty of legitimate reasons, nevertheless was able so quickly to come up with the vaccines.

And although there have been glitches and inequities in the distribution of those vaccines globally, here in the U.S. the process has been nearly seamless. 

The shots are free to us, even though we do not have a national health system, because the federal government pays for them. The drug companies have made large profits, but that’s what capitalism is all about.

You can argue that the massive government expenditures in the vaccines and stimulus payments, etc., has led directly to inflation and many economists would agree with you. Inflation sucks, especially for anybody who isn’t scandalously rich, but it is in fact a natural result of the Trump and Biden administrations doing the right thing in a public health emergency.

The investment was worth it, even with inflation, because the bottom line is that for the overwhelming majority of Americans, Covid is no longer a major concern. Don’t forget that we lost a million lives in the process. And sure, the virus keeps mutating, as viruses are wont to do, but only into less lethal if somewhat more contagious forms.

More of my family members have been diagnosed with Covid recently but everybody has recovered quickly. At this point it’s no more of a concern than the flu, i.e., it’s a nasty bug but one should be able to survive it, particularly if one uses common sense and gets vaccinated.

Of course there are still millions of Americans willing to roll the dice and avoid getting the freely available shots. Many of them have been badly misled by scare-mongers, but that also is typical of the free expression characteristic of a democracy.

We don’t shut up the idiots among us as attractive as that prospect might be at times. It is called the First Amendment and it’s not always pretty.

Democracy and capitalism are only ideas, it is true, and quite imperfect ones at that. But they remain pretty much the best we as a species have come up with. I’m as critical of U.S. systems as anyone but what credible alternative is there? 

None.

But that’s still no excuse for us to overlook the excesses that our system inevitably produces. Concentrated corporate power inevitably leads to abuses that harm people and the environment. Strong regulation is necessary. Over-regulation strangles creativity. 

Everything, in the end, requires balance. That’s where we come in.

We vote.

Today’s Stories (35):

1. Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade published by Politico (CNN)

2. Russia's war escalates in eastern Ukraine even as Mariupol ceasefire enables evacuations from Azovstal steel plant (CBS)

3. Humanitarian organizations worked to evacuate more civilians from Mariupol, but hundreds of people remained trapped in the Azovstal steel works, the last stronghold of resistance to the Russian siege. People stuck there were running out of water, food and medicine. (Reuters)

4. Ukraine Says It Sank Two Russian Naval Boats, as New Blasts Hit Russian Border Area (WSJ)

5. Pelosi Visit to Ukraine Signals Growing U.S. Resolve Against Russia (NYT)

6. Russia's neighbor Finland will almost certainly apply for membership in NATO, Sweden's Foreign Minister Ann Linde said. The Ukraine invasion has forced Sweden and Finland to review beliefs that military neutrality is the best means of ensuring national security. (Reuters)

7. Putin is inching towards his nukes, threatening to annihilate the world if he fails to capture Ukraine, says foreign affairs expert (Yahoo)

8. Energy ministers from European Union countries were expected to hold emergency talks as the bloc strives for a united response to Moscow's demand that European buyers pay for Russian gas in roubles or face their supply being cut off. (Reuters)

9. Ukraine is the focus, but Russian troops are in several ex-Soviet republics (NPR)

10. How the ‘jack-in-the-box’ flaw dooms some Russian tanks (WP)

11. Ukrainian evacuee recounts terror in the bunkers of Azovstal (Reuters)

12. Mass flight of tech workers turns Russian IT into another casualty of war (WP)

13. Inside China’s Zero-Covid Fortress, Xi Admits No Doubts (NYT)

14. BA.2.12.1 is about 25% more transmissible than the BA.2 subvariant currently dominating coronavirus cases nationwide, according to preliminary research. (WP)

15. Beijing teeters on edge of Covid lockdown (Financial Times)

16. Western officials have largely lost hope that the Iran nuclear deal can be resurrected, forcing them to weigh how to limit Iran's atomic program even as Russia's invasion of Ukraine divides the big powers. (Reuters)

17. The drug trade now flourishing in Afghanistan: Meth (WP)

18. As Iran-Taliban tensions rise, Afghan migrants in tinderbox (AP)

19. Nearly risk-free I bonds to deliver a record 9.62% interest for the next six months (CNBC)

20. Fed to fight inflation with fastest rate hikes in decades (AP)

21. Six months before crucial midterms, Biden faces many challenges (WP)

22. Some Hispanic voters in Arizona and Colorado who usually vote Democrat told Reuters that soaring inflation is causing them to seriously consider voting for Republicans. Even a small loss of support among Hispanics could mean the loss of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate for Democrats. (Reuters)

23. Bidenworld wants to make the midterms more about Trump and hopes Elon Musk helps (Politico)

24. Judge rebukes GOP effort to delegitimize Jan. 6 committee (WP)

25. Saturn's weird moon Titan looks a bit like Earth, and scientists might finally know why (Space.com)

26. Strange Galactic Signal Coming From the Center of the Galaxy Has Potential New Explanation (SciTechDaily)

27. Strange Mars rock type points to extremely violent volcanic eruptions (Space.com)

28. There’s an aquatic jungle off the coast of Northern California, but 95 percent of it has vanished in less than a decade. (Cal Today)

29. Vacuuming carbon from the air could help stop climate change. Not everyone agrees (NPR)

30. Unrelenting heat in India pushes April power demand to record high (Reuters)

31. India heatwave: Scorching temperatures affecting poor the most (BBC)

32. Scientists say they have nailed down the ideal amount of sleep in middle and old age — 7 hours (CNN)

33. Elon Musk Is Right That Twitter Should Follow the First Amendment (Atlantic)

34. The Weirdest Coaching Staff in Baseball Has Made the Giants a Powerhouse

    The San Francisco Giants have a coaching staff unlike any other, and their success is forcing the sport to rethink who is qualified to be in a major-league dugout. (WSJ)

35. Woman Knows To Stay Away From Certain Parts Of Own Psyche At Night (The Onion)

    ***

    Today’s Lyrics:

    “Why Not Me?

    The Judds

    Songwriters: Brent Maher / Harlan Howard / Sonny Throckmorton

    You've been lookin' for love all around the world
    Baby, don't you know this country girl's still free?
    Why not me?

    
    Well, you've finally come down to your old hometown
    Your Kentucky girl's been waiting patiently
    Why not me?

    Why not me on a rainy day?
    Why not me to love your cares away?
    Why not me?

    
    Why not me when the nights get cold?
    Why not me when you're growin' old?
    Why not me?

    You've been searchin' from here to Singapore
    Ain't it time that you notice the girl next door, baby
    Why not me?

    
    Oh you had to see if the world was round
    It's time that you learned how good settlin' down could be
    Why not me?

    Why not me on a rainy day?
    Why not me to love your cares away?
    Why not me?

    
    Why not me when the nights get cold?
    Why not me when you're growin' old?
    Why not me?

    You've been lookin' for love all around the world
    Baby, don't you know this country girl's still free?
    Why not me?
    Why not me?
    Baby, Why not me?

 

Eras Pass...

...Hopes for change live on.

***

News that Kathy Boudin has passed away brought the mixed legacy of the 1960s generation of political radicals back into sharp focus for me. Boudin and her husband David Gilbert were Weather Underground activists who went to prison for their roles as getaway drivers in a botched 1981 Brinks robbery in which two guards were killed. 

News reports indicated that she died of cancer shortly after visiting San Francisco, where her son, Chesa Boudin, is the progressive District Attorney. He is facing a difficult recall election in June. He has often explained that his commitment to reform of the criminal justice system is partly based on the experience of growing up with both of his birth parents in prison.

Instead, he was raised by their friends, W.U. leaders Bill Ayres and Bernardine Dohrn. 

After being released from jail in 2003, Kathy Boudin became an adjunct professor in the social work school at Columbia University in New York City. 

Gilbert was finally paroled just last year. 

Meanwhile, the recall drive against Chesa Boudin is largely funded by wealthy right-wing donors who oppose his progressive policies. During his two years in office, he has made diversion of those guilty of minor crimes a priority and has taken other positive steps to reform the criminal justice system.

Very few people in the civil rights/anti-war circles I met supported the violent policies of his parents or the Weather Underground. But the great majority felt and still feel that the injustices of racism, war, poverty, and inequality need to be addressed and eradicated.

His parents tried to tear down the system with violence. They failed. Their son is trying to peacefully reform the system from the inside and facing long odds.

While the legacy of his parents is decidedly mixed, the commitment of their son is to be admired. Hopefully in his lifetime he will succeed.

But for that, it is going to take the rest of us. 

Today’s News (33):

1. The Psychiatrist Who Believed People Could Tell the Future — After a national disaster, a British doctor began collecting foreboding visions. Soon, they closed in on him. (New Yorker)

2. Evolution Didn’t Wire Us for Eight Hours of Sleep — Chimps sleep nine hours a night. Cotton-top tamarins sleep about 13. What happened to humans? (Atlantic)

3. The long and gruesome history of people trying to live forever (WP)

4. Kremlin Deploys New Troops to Ukraine as Both Sides Gird for a War of Attrition (NYT)

5. Russia struggles under unprecedented wave of hacking, puncturing myth of its cyber-superiority (WP)

6. Russia does not consider itself at war with NATO, blames Kyiv for talks deadlock (Reuters)

7. Western artillery surging to Ukraine will reshape war (WP)

8. Ex-NATO commander: Loss of top Russian officers amid invasion unprecedented in modern history (The Hill)

9. Pelosi, in surprise Kyiv trip, vows U.S. support ‘until the fight is done’ (WP)

10. VIDEO: House Passes Bill to Allow Lending Arms to Ukraine (AP)

11. More than 50 freed as UN confirms Mariupol steelworks evacuation (Guardian)

12. Evacuations from Mariupol plant begin as shelling in east continues (WP)

13. Ukrainian Official Outlines Intentional Ambiguity on Strikes Inside Russia (NYT)

14. In Kharkiv, a 24-hour shift with paramedics amid Russian shelling (WP)

15. ‘I Lost Everything’: Pakistani Airstrikes Escalate Conflict on Afghan Border

    — The airstrikes killed at least 45 people, stoking fears of a violent resurgence of the conflict in eastern Afghanistan, which has become a base for Pakistani militants. (NYT)

16. As the Afghan economy crumbles, small businesses struggle to hang on (WP)

17. US holds high-level talks with UK over China threat to Taiwan (Financial Times)

18. Only 15% of Eligible Californians Have Received Second COVID-19 Booster (SFist)

19. COVID's new Omicron sub-lineages can dodge immunity from past infection, study says (Reuters)

20. Covid-19 Cases Rise in the U.S., With Limited Impact (WSJ)

21. Florida lost 70,000 people to Covid. It’s still not prepared for the next wave. (Politico)

22. Evidence mounts of GOP involvement in Trump election schemes (AP)

23. The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2022 (CNN)

24. How a billionaires boys’ club came to dominate the public square (WP)

25. Wall Street Reluctantly Embraces Crypto (WSJ)

26. China meets banks to discuss protecting assets from US sanctions (Financial Times)

27. How Tucker Carlson Stoked White Fear to Conquer Cable (NYT)

28. Rare Black Moon solar eclipse takes bite out of sun over South America (Space.com)

29. Long-awaited accelerator ready to explore origins of elements (Nature)

30. The origin of life on Earth: Life may not have originated on our planet (WION)

31. Judds, Ray Charles to be inducted into Country Hall of Fame (AP)

32. Kathy Boudin, Radical Imprisoned in a Fatal Robbery, Dies at 78 (SFC)

33. Study Finds Chimpanzees Only Other Animal Capable Of Keeping Lid On Friend’s Affair (The Onion)