City of Champions

On a warm Friday night with family members I made my way into San Francisco where a few blocks apart the San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors were about to play games before raucous packed stadiums.

The city’s streets were churning with fans in excited anticipation, many dressed in the teams’ colors — black and orange and blue and gold.

There isn’t a prettier baseball stadium anywhere than Oracle Park set on McCovey Cove in the Bay; or, following the city’s edge a ways south and to the west, a basketball venue more luxurious than the Chase Center.

As we were eating hot dogs and cheering and generally enjoying the luxury of the club level at the baseball game, we like everyone else were also monitoring the Warriors’ progress. It was a sports fan’s paradise — two games at once. As the Warriors prevailed, the final seconds of that game were displayed on Oracle’s giant screen in center field, and a sustained lusty cheer erupted from the baseball crowd.

In the end the Giants lost in extra innings despite a dramatic comeback with two outs in the 9th, but the fans went home happy anyway, chanting “W-A-R-R-I-O-R-S” on their way out of Oracle. 

In sports you can be partisan and teardown the opposition but in the end it’s only a game — although you might have trouble convincing the multi-billion dollar franchise’s executives of that.

And though I may be wrong about this, it’s hard to think of any metropolitan center with a greater success rate in the three major U.S. sports than San Francisco. Just since 2010, the Giants have won three World Series; the Warriors three NBA championships, barely missing two others, and the 49ers have played in two Super Bowls.

If you’re keeping track, that’s ten appearances in 36 total events — 27.8 percent of the total, with six wins — 16.6 percent — for one fanbase. Locally, there is also the Oakland A’s baseball team, with many past trophies, and until recently the Raiders in football.

I suppose some other places, L.A. for example, can make their case as a town of champions, but then I just have to think of my original hometown, poor Detroit.

Since 2010 the three top sports teams have won no championships. In fact the Lions have never appeared in a Super Bowl. The Tigers did play in one World Series but lost it in four straight to — the Giants.

TODAY’s HEADLINES (32):

1. Moscow Moves to Russify Seized Ukraine Land, Signaling Annexation (NYT)

2. Ukraine's Zelenskiy says Donbas region has been completely destroyed (Yahoo)

   1. The White House is working to put advanced anti-ship missiles in the hands of Ukrainian fighters to help defeat Russia's naval blockade, officials said, amid concerns more powerful weapons that could sink Russian warships would intensify the conflict. (Reuters)

3. Ukraine Will Fight Until All Russian Forces Expelled, Military Intelligence Chief Says (WSJ)

4. Millions rushed to leave Ukraine. Now the queue to return home stretches for miles (NPR)

5. West rushes more aid as Mariupol teeters and fighting rages (AP)

6. Hooked on Cheap Oil, Hungary Resists an Embargo on Russia (NYT)

7. Biden hails Nordic move into NATO as proof of unity against Russia (WP)

8. In a sign of Russia's urgent need to bolster its war effort, parliament said it would consider a bill to allow Russians over 40 and foreigners over 30 to sign up for the military. (Reuters)

9. Ukraine says giant Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant can't supply Russia (BBC)

10. The War in Ukraine Is Getting Complicated, and America Isn’t Ready (Edit Bd/NYT)

11. Big Tech companies like Google and Salesforce have made strides in reducing the carbon emissions from their products, through efforts such as using recycled aluminum and planting trees. But, as Bill McKibben writes in an incisive piece today, these companies may have missed “perhaps the most important source of corporate emissions”: the money they keep in banks, some of which is lent to the fossil-fuel industry, and subsequently produces huge amounts of carbon. (New Yorker)

12. Liberals Never Cared About Substantive Criminal Justice Reform, They Just Liked Slogans — An uptick in murders and a full-blown media panic has all but killed reform efforts. It’s important to understand this quick and cynical backlash never had anything to do with “data.” (Adam Johnson/The Column)

13. The Buffalo shooting suspect's online footprint prompts questions about red flags (NPR)

14. Police: Chicago shooting leaves 2 people dead, 7 wounded (AP)

15. ‘We are awash in guns’: Police superintendent addresses mass shooting on Near North Side (Chicago Tribune)

16. Biden’s approval dips to lowest of presidency (AP)

17. Oklahoma Legislature Passes Bill Banning Almost All Abortions (NYT)

18. Oklahoma’s Legislature gave final approval to another anti-abortion bill that providers say will be the most restrictive in the nation once the governor signs it. The bill, which Vice President Kamala Harris deemed "outrageous,"would prohibit all abortions from the time of fertilization, except to save the life of a pregnant woman or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest that has been reported to law enforcement. [AP]

19. A generation of LGBTQ advocates hopes the clock isn’t ticking backward (WP)

20. Trump's bid to control election offices hits first battleground (Politico)

21. Ginni Thomas pressed Ariz. lawmakers to help reverse Trump’s loss, emails show (WP)

22. Trump’s Alternate Reality Hits a New Crazy Note with Dr. Oz (Politico)

23. The bipartisan House committee investigating the events that led up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack said it is turning its attention to Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) with new evidence that he led a Capitol tour the day before the deadly insurrection. Democrats said in the days after the riot that they saw GOP lawmakers leading "reconnaissance" toursof the building. [HuffPost]

24. Sri Lanka closes schools, limits work amid fuel shortage (AP)

25. VIDEO: White House Health Officials Warn of Rising Virus Cases (White House)

26. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers issued a "final and non-negotiable" order to all female presenters on TV channels to cover their faces on air. [AP]

27. S&P 500 Enters Bear-Market Territory as Selloff Deepens (WSJ)

28. Chinese researchers find secret forest in massive sinkhole — The Guangxi region in south China, inside a previously unexplored hole that’s roughly 630 feet deep and spans 176 million cubic feet. (WP)

29. Scientists discover 'ghost' fossils beneath a microscope (CNN)

30. Octopuses torture and eat themselves after mating. Science finally knows why. (LiveScience)

31. Employee Wishes He Had Enough Job Security To Voice Opinion (The Onion)

TODAY’s LYRICS:

“Give Me One Reason”

Sung and Written by Tracy Chapman

Give me one reason to stay here
And I'll turn right back around
Give me one reason to stay here
And I'll turn right back around
Said I don't want to leave you lonely
You got to make me change my mind

Baby I got your number
Oh and I know that you got mine
You know that I called you
I called you many times

You can call me baby
You can call me anytime, you got to call me
Give me one reason to stay here
And I'll turn right back around
(You can see me turnin')
Give me one reason to stay here

And I'll turn right back around
(You can see me turnin')
Said I don't want leave you lonely

You got to make me change my mind
I don't want no one to squeeze me
They might take away my life
I don't want no one to squeeze me

They might take away my life
I just want someone to hold me
Oh and rock me through the night
This youthful heart can love you
Yes and give you what you need
I said this youthful heart can love you

Oh and give you what you need
But I'm too old to go chasin' you around
Wastin' my precious energy
Give me one reason to stay here

Yes and I'll turn right back around
(You can see me turnin')
Give me one reason to stay here
Oh I'll turn right back around
(You can see me turnin')

Said I don't want leave you lonely
You got to make me change my mind
Baby just give me one reason
Oh give me just one reason why

Baby just give me one reason
Oh give me just one reason why I should stay
Said I told you that I loved you

And there ain't no more to say 

The Danger of Anecdote

One of the major services writers can provide in any society is to craft narratives, fictional and factual. Any newsstand or bookstore is crammed with both genres — novels and journals, stories that are made up and stories that purport to be real.

The problem with the real stories is they depend heavily on who is telling them, and the process used to gather the facts they cite.

That of course is what journalists do — we gather and report the facts as best we can. In that work, our honesty and integrity is vital.

Our methodology is designed, much like the scientific method, to eliminate non-factual elements so that we can support our narratives with solid documentation.

We strive for as much transparency as possible so that any reader can evaluate the accuracy of our work.

But while we are hard at work at doing these things, other narratives crafted by less scrupulous actors frequently enter the public square. These fictional narratives are pushed by special interests, often moneyed interests that have an agenda independent of any concern for what the truth of the matter might be.

And unfortunately these false narratives sometimes overwhelm the truth by sucking the oxygen out of the room, undermining democracy in the process.

Such is the situation in San Francisco, where the high-profile corrupt attempt to recall D.A. Chesa Boudin culminates with a special election in June. Wealthy, right-wing interests have falsely injected fictional narratives about rising crime rates into the debate over Boudin’s recall.

In fact, serious crimes are not rising and remain rare, particularly for a metropolitan area of that size. San Francisco is and has always has been a relatively safe city to move around in, unless you are a gang member or a drug dealer, the two groups most often both the victimizers and the victims of the violence that does occur.

In that context, today there is an excellent piece of journalism in The Bold Italic deconstructing a cheap hit-job against Boudin by a trashy sheet calling itself the San Francisco Standard. Although this all may seem as too “inside baseball” for non-journalists, I urge you to read it, both for the particulars but also as a cautionary tale of how misinformation drives political debate in too many instances.

Just read it and make your own judgement. It’s the top clip listed below.

Today’s News:

1. We Need to Talk About How Dangerous This Reported Piece on DA Chesa Boudin Is to San Francisco — The San Francisco Standard’s recent display of one-sided journalism is fuel for xenophobia and creates a lack of trust in hyperlocal news (The Bold Italic)

2. Looking at a number of polls on the recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, voters appear to lean toward voting “yes” on the recall.But how reliable is that data? An analysis of the polls in greater detail finds that the surveys with the highest percentage support for the recall were sponsored by pro-recall organizations. While they appear to have credible approaches to getting a representative sample of San Francisco voters and getting the mood of the city before Election Day, election results don’t always mirror the outcome of polls preceding voting. See the numbers. (SFC)

3. Biden says Finland and Sweden have 'full, total, complete backing' of US as they seek to join NATO (CNN)

4. Turkey to block Sweden, Finland NATO bids over 'home to terrorists' claims (Fox)

5. Moscow dismissing top commanders, UK says (CNBC)

6. Moscow said that 1,730 Ukrainian fighters had surrendered in Mariupol over three days, including 771 in the past 24 hours, claiming a surrender on a far bigger scale than Kyiv has acknowledged since ordering its garrison to stand down. (Reuters)

7. Russia Uses Surrender in Mariupol to Portray Ukrainians as Terrorists (NYT)

8. VIDEO: Deteriorating Conditions in Mariupol Raise Fears of Disease (Reuters)

9. Kharkiv's mayor says it's time to move out of the city's subway stations (NPR)

10. Can Ukraine Win? Five Scenarios for the War’s Next Phase (WSJ)

11. China in Talks With Russia to Buy Oil for Strategic Reserves (Bloomberg)

12. Russia claims it's using new laser weapons against Ukraine (Engadget)

13. In Ukraine, Gruesome Injuries and Not Enough Doctors to Treat Them (NYT)

14. In brutalized Bucha, a psychologist helps heal hidden wounds (WP)

15. Russia's laser weapon claim derided as propaganda (BBC)

16. Pro-war Russians are increasingly critical of the Ukraine conflict (WP)

17. Midterm Stakes Grow Clearer: Election Deniers Will Be on Many Ballots (NYT)

18. When Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate contest is finally decided, it will come down to a thing Republicans love to hate — mail-in voting, which is still being counted and could prove decisive for either Trump-backed Mehmet Oz or hedge fund billionaire David McCormick. The race was still too close to call, with Oz holding a slight lead. Donald Trump thinks he should declare victory anyway. Oz also had the support of Fox News host Sean Hannity. [HuffPost]

19. Trump taints Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary with fresh fraud lies (CNN)

20. Heavy falls in European and Asian stock markets followed Wall Street's worst day since mid-2020, as stark warnings from some of the world's biggest retailers underscored just how hard inflation is biting. A rare double-whammy has hit investors this year - steep slumps for both stocks and bonds. (Reuters)

21. Stocks Wobble as Bear Market Looms Over S&P 500 (WSJ)

22. A growing number of banks and economists, including the CEOs of Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, say we could be heading for a recession in the next year. (WP)

23. Militant attacks hurt Pakistan relations with Afghan Taliban (AP)

24. An Indian State Banned Alcohol. The Drinking Moved to Nearby Nepal. (NYT)

25. Why China's freaking out over Biden’s Asia trip (Politico)

26. Top Biden health officials sound warning on rising covid infections (WP)

27. Haven’t had COVID yet? It could be more than just luck (The Conversation)

28. N. Korea won’t accept help to stave off coronavirus crisis, experts fear (WP)

29. Mozambique confirms first wild poliovirus case in 30 years (Guardian)

30. New Twitter policy aims to pierce fog of war misinformation (AP)

31. Bill Would Force Breakup of Google’s Ad Business (WSJ)

32. President Joe Biden is invoking the Defense Production Act to combat an ongoing shortage of baby formula, requiring companies to give supplies to formula manufacturers before any other customer. [HuffPost]

33. The migration patterns of endangered humpback whales have changed so much that they are now hanging around in San Francisco Bay. (San Francisco Chronicle)

34. Abortion-friendly states prep for more patients if Roe falls (AP)

35. The States Will Soon Be at Each Other’s Throats Over Abortion (Politico)

36. ‘It’s Perfect Outside,’ Announces Sweating Woman Slowly Losing Consciousness In Middle Of Heatstroke (The Onion)

Today’s Lyrics:

“Bitter Sweet Symphony”

Song by The Verve

Songwriters: Keith Richards / Mick Jagger / Richard Ashcroft

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life
Tryna make ends meet, you're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah

No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
But I'm a million different people 
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
(Have you ever been down?)

Well, I've never prayed but tonight I'm on my knees, yeah
I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah
I let the melody shine, let it cleanse my mind, I feel free now
But the airwaves are clean and there's nobody singin' to me now

No change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no
(Have you ever been down?)
I can't change, oh, no
I can't change, oh

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life
Tryna make ends meet, tryna find somebody then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah

You know I can change, I can change
I can change, I can change
But I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
And I'm a million different people
From one day to the next
I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no

I can't change my mold
No, no, no, no, no,
I can't change my mold, no, no, no, no
It's just sex and violence, melody and silence
It's just sex and violence, melody and silence
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
Been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Ever been down
Have you ever been down?
Have you ever been down?

Have you ever been down? 

Top Thursday 36

 Thursday News

1. The Battle for Azovstal: A Soldier’s Story (NYT)

2. Amnesty says Ukrainian captives from the Azovstal plant must get Red Cross access (CNN)

3. Putin takes Mariupol, but wider Donbas victory slipping from reach (Reuters)

4. War crimes trial for Russian soldier in Ukraine adjourned until Thursday after he pleads guilty (CNN)

5. The U.S. State Department announced the launch of a new program to capture and analyze evidence of war crimesand other atrocities allegedly perpetrated by Russia in Ukraine, as Washington seeks to ensure Moscow is held accountable for its actions. (Reuters)

6. Finland, Sweden file official applications to join NATO amid Russia-Ukraine war (Fox)

7. Peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have stagnated, officials said, with both sides trading blame and Moscow indicating a return to talks may be difficult. (Reuters)

8. Google's Russian subsidiary to file for bankruptcy after bank account seized (Reuters)

9. Global economic tremors complicate Western leaders’ Russia sanctions (WP)

10. The suspect arrested in connection to a shooting at a Korean hair salon in Texas last week had “delusions” about Asians, according to his girlfriend. [HuffPost]

11. Biden, Calling on Americans to ‘Take on the Haters,’ Condemns Racist Rhetoric After Buffalo Massacre (NYT)

12. Primary wins show potency of Trump’s false stolen election claims in GOP (WP)

13. What the Primaries Reveal About the Future of Trumpism (Atlantic)

14. Doug Mastriano, a far-right state senator who attended the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and has been at the center of efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, won the Republican primary for governor in Pennsylvania. Mastriano was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, who thanked him for his commitment to the lie that Trump didn’t lose to President Joe Biden. [HuffPost]

15. Dow Drops More Than 1,000 Points on Cost Concerns (WSJ)

16. Netflix lays off 150 employees amid subscriber decline (NPR)

17. UK inflation jumps to 40-year high of 9% as food and energy prices spiral (CNBC)

18. Can Elon Musk Just Walk Away From Twitter? (WSJ)

19. Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security official in the Trump administration who later turned into one of the former president’s critics, has quit the Republican Party, saying the GOP can’t be saved. He has also admitted to writing the 2018 “Anonymous” op-ed in The New York Times. [HuffPost]

20. U.S. watchdog details collapse of Afghan security forces (WP)

21. ‘A red light blinking’: Watchdog thrashes Trump, Biden administrations for Afghanistan failures (Politico)

22. Afghanistan: The secret girls school defying the Taliban (BBC)

23. Running out of petrol, medicines and foreign reserves, once-booming Sri Lanka is in a mess. And the measures needed to pull its economy out of the unparalleled crisis are likely to bring even more pain. (Reuters)

24. U.S. Gun Production Triples Since 2000, Fueled by Handgun Purchases (NYT)

25. African scientists and technology could drive future black hole discoveries (The Conversation)

26. The world's oceans in 2021 grew to their warmest and most acidic levels on record, while melting ice sheets helped push sea levels to new heights, the World Meteorological Organization said. Oceans saw the most striking extremes as the WMO detailed a range of turmoil wrought by climate change in its annual 'State of the Global Climate' report. (Reuters)

27. Pollution caused 1 in 6 deaths globally for five years, study says (WP)

28. UC Davis scientists recently found that California's redwood trees have two different types of leaves, which help them acclimate to both wet coastal and drier mountainous areas. (Cal Today)

29. UN floats plan to boost renewables as climate worries mount (AP)

30. Poor Countries Face a Mounting Catastrophe Fueled by Inflation and Debt (NYT)

31. Drought and soaring food prices from Ukraine war leave millions in Africa starving (NPR)

32. Debt suffocates African nations’ ability to respond to climate change (Financial Times)

33. Heat wave hits India's wheat output, power supply (NHK)

34. Tooth from Laotian cave sheds light on enigmatic extinct humans (NBC)

35. With Plunging Enrollment, a ‘Seismic Hit’ to Public Schools (NYT)

36. Man Figured Drug Addiction Would Take Up A Lot More Free Time (The Onion)

Cycle 42 News Soup

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):

1. Ukrainian Soldiers Lay Down Arms at Mariupol’s Azovstal Steel Plant (WSJ)

2. Ukraine's soldiers trapped in Mariupol evacuated (BBC)

3. Ukraine ends bloody battle for Mariupol, evacuates fighters in steel plant (WP)

4. Mariupol fighters in Russian hands; both sides claim wins (AP)

5. Surrender of Mariupol Leaves ‘Heroes’ to Face Putin’s Twisted Justice (Daily Beast)

6. Putin sees no threat from NATO expansion, warns against military build-up (Reuters)

7. Talks to end Ukraine war on hold as both sides trade blame (BBC)

8. War Crimes Watch: Targeting schools, Russia bombs the future (AP)

9. Russia is losing. That might make Putin more dangerous. (Edit Bd/WP)

10. ‘The stakes here are now massive’: Turkey is threatening to block NATO membership for Sweden and Finland (CNBC)

11. 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)

12. Former Russian colonel criticizes the country's invasion of Ukraine on state television (CNN)

13. Financial support for Ukraine falling short, says Yellen (Financial Times)

14. 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)

15. Buffalo Suspect Planned Attack for Months, Online Posts Reveal (NYT)

16. The 'Great Replacement' conspiracy theory isn't fringe anymore, it's mainstream (NPR)

17. Republicans are bringing extremism to the mainstream (WP)

18. 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]

19. The Buffalo Shooting Was Not a Random Act of Violence (Edit Bd/NYT)

20. Buffalo suspect: Lonely, isolated -- and a sign of trouble (AP)

21. Only 22 saw the Buffalo shooting live. Millions have seen it since. (WP)

22. 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)

23. 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]

24. FBI opens hate crime probe of shooting in Dallas’ Koreatown (AP)

25. Stocks Swing Higher as Tech Shares Rebound (WSJ)

26. Key lawmaker warns at UFO hearing: ‘Unidentified aerial phenomena are a potential national security threat’ (CNN)

27. Congress dives into UFOs, but no signs of extraterrestrials (AP)

28. The military's UFO database now has info from about 400 reported incidents (NPR)

29. Pentagon vows 'rigorous scientific analysis' of UFOs (Politico)

30. 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)

31. 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]

32. 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)

33. How the current COVID surge gives us a glimpse of the future (SFC)

34. FDA clears COVID booster shot for healthy kids ages 5 to 11 (AP)

35. As New Covid Variants Drive Fifth Wave in South Africa, Virus Becomes a Fact of Daily Life (WSJ)

36. How Vaccine Misinformation Spread Through The Parenting World (NPR)

37. North Korea on brink of Covid-19 catastrophe, say experts (Guardian)

38. Elon Musk says Twitter deal ‘cannot move forward’ until CEO details bots (WP)

39. 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]

40. Potentially Alive 830-Million-Year-Old Organisms Found Trapped in Ancient Rock (ScienceAlert)

41. Could people breathe the air on Mars? (Yahoo)

42. 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 

If Signs Could Talk...

 ...this one might help solve a murder.

Recently while driving west along the lower section of University Avenue in Berkeley, a long-abandoned sign caught my eye.

If only signs could talk, I thought.

Forty-seven-and-a-half years ago, on the evening of  December 13, 1974, a 45-year-old bookkeeper named Betty Van Patter was nursing a drink and crying softly after work at that very location, which was a bar called the Berkeley Square.

She had been fired from her job at the Black Panther Party by Elaine Brown, who headed up the party while co-founder Huey Newton was in exile in Cuba. Van Patter, an idealistic supporter and loyal employee of the party, had witnessed irregularities and misuse of cash by party members and had warned Brown that they were illegal and if not stopped could bring unwanted attention from law enforcement authorities.

While she was at the bar, a man walked in and handed Van Patter a note. She got up and followed him out of the door. To this day, no one has identified who that man was.

Later that night, she was spotted at Jimmy's Lamp Post, another bar on Telegraph Avenue nearby in Oakland. The Lamp Post, owned by a cousin of Huey Newton's named Jimmy Ward, was the site of many of the illegal cash transactions Van Patter was worried about.

These many years later, there is not even a sign left at the Lamp Post location. 

Meanwhile, back at the Berkeley Square that December night in 1974, one of Betty's friends arrived and noticed she was missing. He placed a telephone call to the Lamp Post and asked if she was there.

"That party has left," he was told.

That night was the last time any of her friends or family ever heard from Betty Van Patter. Her badly beaten body was found floating in San Francisco Bay over a month later, on January 17, 1975.

No one has ever been charged with her murder.

If signs could talk, the authorities might get a break in the Van Patter cold case. But of course signs don't talk.

People, however, sometimes do. In all likelihood there are still people alive who were at the Berkeley Square or the Lamp Post that fateful night long ago.

Those people saw things and those people know things.

The question is, will they ever talk or will they end up just like the sign?

TODAY’s NEWS:

1. Ukraine can win this war, NATO chief says (CNBC)

2. Ukrainian troops counter-attacking against Russian forces in the country's northeast have pushed them back from the city of Kharkiv and advanced as far as the border with Russia, Ukrainian officials said on Monday. (Reuters)

3. Finland to formally join Nato despite Russian warning (BBC)

4. Ukraine’s Military Regains Ground in Northeast, Targets Another Russian River Crossing (WSJ)

5. If NATO welcomes Finland and Sweden, Putin may head to Moldova (The Hill)

6. Finland President surprised at Putin's 'calm' response to NATO membership news (Fox)

7. Russia runs into more obstacles in Ukraine, on global front (AP)

8. n Rebirth for NATO, Europe Unites in Face of Putin’s Ambition (NYT)

9. Blinken says he talked to Turkey's foreign minister, is confident on consensus on Sweden, Finland (Reuters)

10. Sweden, Finland set to participate in NATO military exercises in region (WP)

11. Putin signals acceptance of Finland and Sweden joining Nato (Financial Times)

12. The intentional flooding of a small village north of Kyiv that created a quagmire and submerged cellars and fields, but prevented a Russian attack on the capital, was worth all the sacrifice, residents said. (Reuters)

13. Russia's plummeting male life expectancy (Politico)

14. A Mini-Russia Gets Squeezed by War (NYT)

15. McDonald's selling its Russian business (CBS)

16. 3 Scenarios for How Putin Could Actually Use Nukes (Politico)

17. Grief and Anger Sweep Through Buffalo a Day After a Racist Massacre (NYT)

18. Accused Buffalo gunman followed a long trail to terror, officials say (WP)

19. The teenager charged in the fatal shooting at a Buffalo supermarket was haunted in his writing by the “great replacement” conspiracy theory — a viciously racist view of the world that has been touted by Fox News host Tucker Carlson that white Americans are at risk of being replaced by people of color. The No. 3 House Republican, Elise Stefanik, also echoed the racist conspiracy. The accused shooter had threatened a shooting at his high school in June. [HuffPost]

20. Police: Buffalo gunman aimed to keep killing if he got away (AP)

21. Scrutiny of Republicans who embrace ‘great replacement theory’ after Buffalo massacre (Guardian)

22. Liz Cheney: House GOP enabled "white nationalism, white supremacy and anti-semitism" (Axios)

23. The America That Killed George Floyd (Atlantic)

24. U.S. Surpasses One Million Deaths From Covid-19 — More than two years after recording its first Covid-19 death, the U.S. has crossed a once-unthinkable threshold. The pandemic’s overall toll has been concentrated among the elderly, especially those in nursing homes. Black and Hispanic populations also have experienced disproportionate mortality rates. (WSJ)

25. Pfizer’s Covid Vaccine Protection Against Omicron Fades Just Weeks After Second And Third Doses, Study Finds (Forbes)

26. Studies show Omicron infection in vaccinated people “turbo-charges” immunity (Haiger)

27. Shanghai says lockdown to ease as virus spread mostly ends (AP)

28. Iran-backed Hezbollah has been dealt a blow in Lebanon's parliamentary election with preliminary results showing losses for some of its oldest allies and the Saudi-aligned Lebanese Forces party declaring significant gains. (Reuters)

29. The science of becoming "interplanetary": How can humans live on Saturn's moons? (Interesting Science)

30. One in 6 Americans live in places with significant wildfire risk. (WP)

31. Record-shattering Tonga volcanic eruption sent atmospheric waves zipping around the Earth (LiveScience)

32. Cutting air pollution from fossil fuels would save 50,000 lives a year, study says (WP)

33. Student loan fight heats up as Biden weighs decision (Politico)

34. Former President Donald Trump very briefly referred at a political rally to the racist shooting in Buffalo  — then instantly switched in a wild non sequitur to Afghanistan, where he falsely claimed there was no loss of life. [HuffPost]

35. Independent probe points to Israeli fire in journalist death (AP)

36. Here Comes Luka Doncic. Here Comes Steph Curry. Can’t Wait. (WSJ)

37. 'No Way To Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens (The Onion)

The Killing Grounds

I truly hate having to write about this awful subject. Most news is bad but this is unspeakable.

Here in the U.S., we’re averaging ten mass shootings a week in 2022, or about three every two days. They are so common that it has become difficult for any single incident to break through the membrane of mass apathy that surrounds such matters for longer than a news cycle or two.

A dozen or so victims in Buffalo, a couple dozen in Milwaukee., a few more in Atlanta and yet more at a church in Orange County. Here and there, anywhere really, the rat-a-tat-tat of automatic gunfire cuts down a few more innocents for no particular reason.

The violence is sometimes motivated by racist hate — that stupid “replacement theory” — and other times it seems just random. Yet the question of meaningful gun reform is no longer even seriously debated in this country. As a matter of public policy, the issue is moot. The Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms, and we as a society are unable to muster a consensus to modify that right in any meaningful way.

In some jurisdictions, automatic clips are restricted; convicted felons aren’t supposed to have access to guns, background checks and other restrictions apply in certain cases. But overall, we all know that anyone can get his or her hands on lethal weapons and we seem powerless to prevent the carnage that inevitably results.

Today it’s somewhere else. Tomorrow it may be around the corner. Today the victim is somebody else, tomorrow it may be you or me.

There is no rational reason for the U.S. population to be armed to the teeth. Unlike Ukraine, no enemy will invade us. We have no good reason to be shooting at one another. We are a people in a crazy war with themselves and nobody really seems to want to end it.

Today’s Headlines (38):

1. For Putin, a Nordic Nightmare Is Springing to Life (NYT)

2. Finland, Sweden inch closer to seeking NATO membership (AP)

3. Blinken in Berlin for NATO talks as Finland set to formalize bid (WP)

4. Sweden announces it should "work toward" an application for NATO membership (CNN)

5. Battle rages for Ukrainian region of Donbas (Reuters)

6. Russia is furious that Finland is joining NATO but can’t do much about it (WP)

7. Russian Soldiers Shot Three Brothers and Threw Them in a Grave. One Survived. (WSJ)

8. Ukraine war: Russia's invasion not going to plan, Nato says (BBC)

9. Russian rate of advance 'unlikely to dramatically accelerate' in next 30 days (NHK)

10. Small wins buoy Ukraine; West says Russians losing momentum (AP)

11. G7 warns of global hunger crisis unless Russia lifts Ukraine blockade (Financial Times)

12. It's week 19 of the year and America has already seen 198 mass shootings (NPR)

13. America’s Gun Plague (Atlantic)

14. 10 people are killed and 3 are wounded in a mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store. (NYT)

15. Harris says U.S. 'seeing an epidemic of hate' after mass shooting in Buffalo (Reuters)

16. Buffalo shooting that killed 10 was racially motivated hate crime, officials say (WP)

17. Official: Buffalo gunman had threatened high school shooting (AP)

18. At least 21 people were injured in 3 shootings after a Bucks game in Milwaukee (NPR)

19. With fear and fury, thousands across U.S. rally for abortion rights (WP)

20. Abortion rights backers rally in anger over post-Roe future (AP)

21. A landmark study tracks the lasting effect of having an abortion — or being denied one (NPR)

22. How America Lost One Million People (NYT)

23. Musk, Twitter and his goal of saving ‘all life on Earth’ (WP)

24. VIDEO: Rare Dust Storm Blasts Several Plains States with Powerful Winds (NYT)

25. Medical Mysteries: Her memory was failing and she needed a cane to walk. Her persistence led to a diagnosis.(WP)

26. Parents’ Role When Troubled Adult Children Move Back In (WSJ)

27. Pollsters prepare for major changes after presidential election misses (Politico)

28. A Fracture in Idaho’s G.O.P. as the Far Right Seeks Control (NYT)

29. Election Officials Steel Themselves for Threats as Midterm Season Gears Up (WSJ)

30. The Colorado River is in crisis and getting worse every day (WP)

31. New Restrictions Could Cut Carbon Offsets From Major Rainforests (WSJ)

32. To Survive, Some Afghans Sift Through Deadly Remnants of Old Wars (NYT)

33. In the Taliban’s Afghanistan, control of women begins at home (WP)

34. A Ruling Family on the Run as Sri Lanka Plunges Into Economic Ruin (NYT)

35. Amid global anger, Israel says it will investigate police assault on funeral (WP)

36. North Korea Says Its Covid Outbreak Is Spreading Fast (NYT)

37. Biden plunges into the risky politics of student loans (WP)

38. Man To Continue Slowly Drifting Into Middle Of Restaurant Until Host Redirects Him (The Onion)