David Weir: 2022-07-03

Saturday, July 09, 2022

Our Big Problem: An Open Letter

We live in an age of fake news. Not the type Donald Trump complained about — that was the actual news. Trump just didn’t like it.

No the fake news stories I’m talking about are in fact the products of propagandists who treat our democracy as if it were a reality TV show where they can control the plot, the characters and the outcome.

They circulate works of fiction like Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. From a propaganda perspective, this ploy seems to be working. Millions of people believe the Big Lie despite zero evidence. Thousands of them were willing to take the extreme step of storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 in support of it.

Fake news of this sort is very, very dangerous. It not only can cause violence and mayhem, as we have seen, it can destroy our entire way of life.

Living in the 21st century United States with its highly developed mass media turning us into passive consumers of information as opposed to critical thinkers is a recipe for living a life of denial.

Although we came seriously close to losing our democracy, millions of Americans don’t accept that interpretation of our recent history and seem likely to repeat the mistakes that brought us Trump in the next election cycle.

Too many Republican candidates and state officials still believe the Big Lie. That makes them — whether they realize it or not — a threat to our democracy. It’s time for any honest Republicans who have survived the Trump barrage of propaganda to wake up and notice what is going on.

You can still vote for Republicans, just not any who believes and spread the Big Lie. Vote for somebody like Liz Cheney, a true patriot, if she chooses to run for president or Mitt Romney, for example. Otherwise, if you vote for an election denier, you become part of our Big Problem in America and you will be on the wrong side of history.

And your descendants will never forgive you.

Friday, July 08, 2022

Memoir as Journalism: Investigating Your Own Past

(Image by David Weir)

Should you want to write a memoir, how to begin?

There’s no need to be a professional writer but it might help to think like an investigative reporter. First organize your personal records. These are going to be valuable assets for your project.

Grade-school report cards, college financial aid letters, tax returns, bank statements, tax bills, car maintenance records, even simple receipts can tell a story. When was it that you had that tire blowout on the freeway exactly? You remember the exit sign but which tow company came to help, with that nice man who turned out to know your cousin?

Records tell stories, you just have to allow them to speak.

An even more powerful treasure trove of your past lies in the letters, journals, photos, tapes and videos you've stuffed in an old box in the garage somewhere. Fifty times you almost threw them away; fifty times you didn't.

Now you're seriously contemplating your history they are suddenly five hundred times more valuable than they were yesterday.

Most of the letters were addressed to you from someone else among your family members, friends, or associates. But you also have of your own letters, like those you wrote overseas that your sister saved for you.

Pay attention to the language usage in these letters. Look at the stamps and the postmarks. Note the dates. In stories, certain details matter.

And there is your college application essay, your first job application cover letter, an angry “Letter to the Editor” of the local newspaper. Your own writing is always a window into your prior self -- how you presented yourself to the world back then, and how you used language to express your feelings.

As you ply through this mass of material, act as if you are conducting a forensic analysis, as if your former self were somebody alien to you now. The reason I say this is you need to try and be as objective about yourself as possible in this process.

It should be as if you are writing a biography of another person.

Photographic evidence is particularly revealing. Note the expressions, the body language, who stands next to whom, what's in the background, which smiles are natural and which are forced. Who snapped that photo?

Every picture tells not one but many stories. Much of what you are seeking can be glimpsed through the lens of cameras past but you have to be able to see it.

Beyond old physical records and most of us don't have many, you have a great tool in your computer. Your grandmother didn't have that when she wrote down her memories. So take advantage of it. More and more digitized history is available, as various efforts to catalogue the past and bring it online proceed here and there.

And of course there is original web content itself. Stories about you or your company that appeared here and there. More photos. More citations. If you published something, look up your name at academia.edu. You might be surprised how many scholars have cited your work.

For the past 25 years or so, there's the Wayback Machine hosted by the non-profit Internet Archive. You can familiarize yourself with how to use it or there are articles to help guide you, Tips for Using the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine in Your Next Investigation.

While there is the frustration of dead links, you can sometimes find workarounds for that issue. For instance, try locating the author of any article you seek -- authors tend to maintain their own clip files apart from the web.

And when researching family history, please don't overlook obituaries. Many details of the lives of even people you knew well only appear in print at the end of their story.

For deeper forensic analyses, you want to probe legal files, including criminal and civil cases, divorce judgements, adoption papers and bankruptcy filings. Property records from the assessor and recorders offices are public records you can obtain.

If this all sounds scary, just give it a try. The clerks in most agency offices prove helpful.

Do not overlook the Freedom of Information Act, which allows you to find out what data government agencies collected and maintained about you. You may think only of intelligence agencies like the FBI and CIA but most FOIA files are far more mundane, but perhaps relevant to what you need to know.

Most states have some sort of sunshine laws; in California it's known as the California Public Records Act. There are non-profit organizations that can help you draft letters of inquiry and interpret the results when the agency in question sends you the records you requested.

But all of this record-seeking is only one aspect of investigating your life. It is other people who hold the majority of the information you with to know locked away in their memories.

To help them unlock those memories, you need to perfect your interviewing techniques. Fortunately there are many available resources to help you with this, from YouTube videos to journalism classes or some friendly retired reporter, lawyer, investigator, insurance adjuster, historian or homicide inspector.

Many people know how to obtain information through casualconversation.

And conversations can be the fun part of all this. Like fossil fuels stored in the rocks beneath our feet, the memories locked in the brains of others need to be mined and released.

Just try not to be a reckless brain surgeon and try not to pollute the planet in the process.

The key to all of this, at the end, is to think like an investigator.

NOTE: An earlier version of this essay appeared on my personal blog and Facebook a year ago.

LATEST LINKS (46)

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving leader, died hours after he was shot while campaigning for a parliamentary election, shocking a country in which political violence is rare and guns are tightly controlled. Abe sought to reinvigorate Japan with bold economic policies and strong armed forces. (Reuters)
The US supreme court is turning the constitution into a suicide pact (Guardian)
Comey and McCabe, Who Infuriated Trump, Both Faced Intensive I.R.S. Audits (NYT)
Cipollone reaches deal to give transcribed interview to January 6 committee Friday (CNN)
The Trump White House’s top lawyer, Pat Cipollone, is reportedly set to appear before the House Jan. 6 committee behind closed doors Friday. Cipollone, according to former Trump administration officials, was among the most forceful voices telling Trump on Jan. 6 that his actions that day could expose him to criminal prosecution. [HuffPost]
Where Jan. 6 prosecutions stand, 18 months after the attack — More than 325 guilty (Politico)
Graham’s relationship with Trump comes back to bite him (The Hill)
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigns after mutiny in his party (CNN)
Boris Johnson’s downfall was his own making (Politico)
U.S. basketball star Griner admits Russian drugs charge but denies intent (Reuters)
Ukraine’s Herculean Task: Helping Millions Whose Homes Are in Ruins or Russia’s Hands (NYT)
Ukrainian forces raised their national flag on a recaptured Black Sea island in a symbol of defiance against Moscow, but Russian forces consolidated gains in eastern Ukraine and probed the defenses of potential new targets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was on the Indonesian island of Bali preparing for a G20 gathering that will be his first face-to-face meeting with the fiercest critics of his country's invasion of Ukraine. (Reuters)
Ukrainians cling to life at front line: ‘We are patriots’ (AP)
Russia Is Using a Secret Network to Steal Ukraine Grain (WSJ)
Russia likely re-constituting troops with aim of taking full control of Donetsk (NHK)
Ukraine war: 21,000 alleged war crimes being investigated, prosecutor says (BBC)
Afghanistan: Taliban Execute, ‘Disappear’ Alleged Militants (HRW)
The global cost-of-living crisis is pushing an additional 71 million people in the world's poorest countries into extreme poverty, a new report published by the U.N. Development Programme has warned. (Reuters)
Fruit becomes a luxury in Erdoğan’s Turkey as inflation threatens re-election bid (Financial Times)
Democratic alarms sound over DeSantis’s new elections overseer (WP)
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a rising Republican star, has been careful not to nurture growing speculation that he will make a presidential bid in 2024. But there are signs that he could be preparing for a White House run even as he campaigns for another term as governor in November's midterm elections. (Reuters)
No, DeSantis Isn’t Worse Than Trump (Politico)
Dems want to tax high earners to protect Medicare solvency (AP)
People have started using legally risky tactics to get abortion pills. Abortion bans have taken effect or are pending in 26 states since the Supreme Court got rid of abortion rights. (WP)
BA.5, now dominant U.S. variant, may pose the biggest threat to immune protection yet (NBC)
Beijing city tightens Covid vaccine requirements as cases grow nationwide (CNBC)
How the Gates Foundation plans to beat malaria without the vaccine (Politico)
Democrats race to clinch deal on climate, energy with Manchin (WP)
With Rising Book Bans, Librarians Have Come Under Attack (NYT)
Whole Woman’s Health, the biggest independent abortion provider in Texas, announced Wednesday that it is closing its current clinics and relocating all services to New Mexico following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. [HuffPost]
Texans are seeing what a post-Roe world looks like. The GOP may regret it. (WP)
Thyroid Problems Linked to Increased Risk of Dementia (Neuroscience News)
The Shrinking of the Middle-Class Neighborhood (NYT)
Cities Aren’t Built for Kids — But they could be. (Atlantic)
A passing star shifting Neptune’s orbit could wreck the solar system (New Scientist}
Biologists’ fears confirmed on the lower Colorado River (AP)
The Great Salt Lake in Utah is drying up faster than ever, posing a huge threat to the economy and environment alike. The Utah Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Geological Survey said in a joint statement Tuesday that this marks the second time in less than one year that the lake plummeted to historic low levels. [HuffPost]
Researchers can now explain how climate change is affecting your weather (NPR)
Yellowstone floods reveal forecasting flaws as world warms (AP)
Whales Return to Antarctic Feeding Areas for First Time in Decades (WSJ)
Meet Meraxes Giga, a Ferocious Dinosaur With Teeny Arms Like T. Rex (Gizmodo)
Apple will soon make it easier for you to block government hacking. — “Lockdown Mode” is designed to stop your iPhone from accepting attachments or previewing links used to spread military-grade spyware. It should be widely available this fall. This spyware may have been used to hack devices in as many as 150 countries, Apple said. (WP)
Canadian swimmer says she was drugged at world championship event (Guardian)
'Yu-Gi-Oh!' creator Kazuki Takahashi found dead (NPR)
1 in 3 Californians understand their pet’s health insurance more than their own, survey reveals. (The Conversation)
Logo Of Singing Jalapeño Has Pain Behind Eyes (The Onion)

Thursday, July 07, 2022

The Next Time

Things can get so heavy that every now and again it’s necessary to take a break and at least pretend they might get back to normal someday. In that context, let’s imagine a presidential race in 2024 between two governors who couldn’t be more representative of the differences between their parties — Gavin Newson, the Democrat from California, and Ron DeSantis, the Republican from Florida.

They are currently positioning themselves as the possible presidential nominees next time around, and because of Joe Biden’s low approval numbers and the gathering legal storm facing Donald Trump, it is increasingly unlikely that we will see a rerun of the 2020 battle between those two.

Given how divided the country is, voters would no doubt welcome a generational turnaround from the two old men in favor of Newsom (54) vs. DeSantis (43). That would do nothing to reduce the divisions that plague us, of course, but at least the faces would be new.

If it happened and was a free, fair election, untainted by the voter restrictions and suspicious state and county officials busily being installed by the GOP, it would be a relief. But those are big “ifs.”

It’s too soon to predict whether either governor would run, let alone who would win if they did, but the mere prospect is a bit of a breath of fresh air given the torpid atmosphere of American politics.

And for one day, I prefer to think about that race instead of the coming apocalypse.

***

Today is my oldest son’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Dr. Peter T. Weir!

Wednesday, July 06, 2022

Giving It All Away (One Metaphor, Many Meanings)

To be honest, doing what I did over the last week, which was produce the five-part series called “Give It Away,” took a lot out of me, and not just as a writer.

Reliving such an intense piece of my history was deflating.

Several people have asked me why I chose that name, beyond the fact that the Chili Peppers song with that title happened to be playing when I first arrived at the HotWired office.

There are a number of reasons.

The main difference between the stories we published at HotWired and all of those I’d published up until that time was that at HotWired we didn’t charge for them — we just gave them away.

From a consumer point-of-view, this was great. Now you would be able to read whatever you wished and not have to pay for it.

But from a journalist’s perspective, this was a nightmare. How would we ever be able to make a living going forward?

I didn’t know the answer but I was determined to find it if there was one. Accordingly I spent the next quarter century inside various companies trying to discover a business model that could sustain my profession in a time of profound change.

For a while I thought the the market valuations of our new media companies might yield enough money that it would trickle down to those of us were worker bees as opposed to those who always seem to profit — the people at the top, the owners and investors.

But that didn’t happen. Rather, some of us who tried to cash in on the stock markets lost much more than we gained. Some even lost their life savings or their houses when they chose the “exercise and hold” option. That, BTW, that one of the worst ideas on the planet.

Paywalls appeared for a while to be a solution and most media companies still use them, but those simply frustrate people who can’t (or don’t want) to pay and so they ultimately drive people away. Most sites cannot build a large enough audience by charging for their content to sustain a business anyway. That is why they frequently offer you special deals — like 99 cents for 6 months or the like.

The bottom line is that none of these models actually work for the great majority of companies striving to provide actual journalism to their communities.

So why does this matter, you might ask. Many industries have been disrupted in the digital age — what’s so special about media organizations?

Nothing, I suppose, except that they may be our last best hope to preserve any real form of democracy. Without strong reporting to keep our government and private institutions accountable, mischief and danger will inevitably take root in the shadows.

Without sunlight there is only darkness and in 2022 America it’s already late in the day.

Our nation is awash in conspiracy theories, disinformation, and outright lies like the Big One about the 2020 election being stolen and these lies are systematically undermining what I hold most precious about our society.

It’s a little like a mixture of the fable of the “Boy Who Cried Wolf” and “Plato’s Cave.” The shadow of the wolf is at the door but there aren’t enough journalists left to convince people to even look outside.

And I’m not sure they would believe us anyway. Because journalists have lost our credibility with too many of our fellow citizens.

To be blunt, I am afraid that we’ve all but given away our best defense against an authoritarian future.

That is why I called my series what I did.

And by telling these stories, I’m still hoping we won’t (give it away).

NOTE: Speaking about giving stuff away, I deeply appreciate those of you who subscribe to my newsletter. If you know someone who might appreciate this service, please invite them to subscribe, free or otherwise.

Tuesday, July 05, 2022

Top New(s) Links

Here are the links to my five-part series “Give It Away” about working at HotWired/Wired Digital in 1995-7 at the dawn of the web. I’m publishing the links as a package in case anyone wants to forward the series to friends or save it for future reference. If I decide to write a memoir, this will be the style of writing I will employ.

Give It Away, circa 1995: Joining the Digital Revolution
Give It Away.2: At Ground Zero of the Digital Revolution
Give It Away.3: Up With the Dot.Com Bubble
Give It Away.4: The Beginning of the End
Give It Away.5: The Ending
***
Onto the mews. Gun violence dominated America’s birthday.
TODAY’s LINKS (36):

Investigators of War Crimes in Ukraine Face Formidable Challenges (NYT)
Ukrainians take up new positions as Putin proclaims victory in Luhansk (Reuters)
Ukraine ‘forced to withdraw’ from critical city (CNN)
As City Falls, Ukraine’s Last Hope in Luhansk Falls With It (NYT)
Latest Western arms will help Ukraine recapture Lysychansk, Zelensky says (WP)
Dozens of Russian weapons tycoons have faced no Western sanctions (Reuters)
6 dead, dozens wounded in shooting at Chicago Fourth of July parade (Chicago Sun-Times)
Officers Wounded, Masses Scatter After Shooting Near Philadelphia Concert (NBC)
3 dead, 3 critically wounded in shooting at Denmark mall (AP)
A gunman killed 2 people and wounded 3 police officers in Texas (NPR)
Jan 6 Panel Could Make Criminal Referrals Against Trump (NBC)
Cassidy Hutchinson testimony prompts reassessment of Trump legal culpability (The Hill)
America Is in Denial (Mitt Romney/Atlantic)
The Long Path to Reclaim Abortion Rights (NYT)
'I'm terrified I might be here forever': Brittney Griner pens handwritten letter to Biden (CNN)
As inflation grows, so does U.S. housing crisis (WP)
Taiwan sees U.S. trade deal as vital to maintaining its democracy (Politico)
Biden Might Soon Ease Chinese Tariffs, in a Decision Fraught With Policy Tensions (WSJ)
No more whispers: Recession talk surges in Washington (Politico)
Coal Makes a Comeback as the World Thirsts for Energy (WSJ)
Videos of Jayland Walker Shooting by Police Raise More Questions (NYT)
Video released yesterday showed eight police officers in Akron, Ohio, were involved in a shooting that killed an unarmed Black man whose body was found with some 60 gunshot wounds after he fled a traffic stop last week (Reuters)
Hope and despair: Kathy Gannon on 35 years in Afghanistan (AP)
U.S. concludes Israeli fire killed Palestinian American journalist (WP)
A U.N.-appointed mission to Libya said there are "probable mass graves" yet to be investigated, possibly as many as 100, in a town where hundreds of bodies have already been found. (Reuters)
What Is the Origin of COVID-19 Variants Like Omicron? (SciTechDaily)
Sydney floods impact 50,000 around Australia’s largest city (AP)
Fresh evacuation orders were issued for tens of thousands of Sydney residents after relentless rains triggered floods for the third time this year in some low-lying suburbs. We explain why Australia is battling floods again. (Reuters)
The fastest-warming city in America? Reno, Nev. Temperatures have risen 10.9 degrees Fahrenheit, on average, since 1970, according to a new analysis. (WP)
China rejects NASA accusation it will take over the moon (Reuters)
76 Fake Charities Shared a Mailbox. The I.R.S. Approved Them All. (NYT)
Web5 vs. Web3: The future is a process, not a destination (Cointelegraph)
After 40 years, rhinos return to Mozambique (Reuters)
Scientists discover new giant water lily species (BBC)
Two women killed in shark attacks in Egypt’s Red Sea (Guardian)
‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens (The Onion)

Monday, July 04, 2022

New Painting

his piece by Julia will be displayed in a gallery soon.

Give It Away.5 -- The Ending

(Sometime later in 1997)

Along with the arrival of cooler weather and light rain in San Francisco came the final plans for a house-cleaning at Wired Inc. that would result in the removal of scores of people, including the founders Louis Rossetto and Jane Metcalfe.

In their stead, the company was going to be dismantled and sold in pieces. The founders would be rewarded with a fair amount of compensation for their efforts, so they would be fine. Not so much everyone else.

At the top of the hit list was my name. I was to be replaced, naturally, by one of those who was always clamoring for my time in one-on-ones.

On a late afternoon when the sun was going down to the west, strangely there were no meetings on my calendar. It was wide open. I was suddenly summoned to Louis’s office.

I walked in to see three people waiting, none of smiling. Just three senior execs stiff and grim in manner. I was thanked for my service, given a small severance check, and summarily dismissed.

Louis was one of them and he looked sad. But he had nothing to say. This was not of his doing. And that, I suppose, is the end of my story.

I had prepared myself emotionally as much as possible for this moment. I’d packed up my family pictures. As I drove away from 660 Third Street, I started humming an old song by Merle Haggard.

EPILOGUE

Probably our most significant accomplishment during my tenure, Wired News, survived the purge and exists to this day.

And in one of life’s strangely ironic twists, my oldest daughter, Laila, who would soon become an award-winning journalist herself, worked as as an intern at Wired News during the first decade of the new millennium.

None of her colleagues knew that her father had been one of the executives involved in creating Wired News or what that experience had been like, and neither did she.

But I think about this now and then when I see how our society has become divided by conspiracy theories, fake news and the like. Once upon a time a few of us tried to prevent that.

THE LYRICS:

“That’s the Way Love Goes”

Sung by Merle Haggard

Written by Lefty Frizzell and Sanger D. Shafer

I've been throwing horseshoes
Over my left shoulder
I've spent most all my life
Searching for that four-leaf clover

Yet you ran with me
Chasing my rainbows
Honey, I love you too
That's the way love goes

That's the way love goes, babe
That's the music God made
For all the world to sing
It's never old, it grows
Losing makes me sorry
You say, "Honey, now don't worry
Don't you know I love you too?"

And that's the way love goes