Civil War

If we are going to have a new civil war in America, it won’t necessarily start with states sending their militias to attack each other. It will start with a cynical action like the one by the Florida governor to ship undocumented immigrants from the Mexican border to places like Martha’s Vineyard.

It will start with the right-wing governor in Texas and his party making it legal for private citizens to become bounty hunters enforcing draconian laws against abortion.

And it will start with enough election deniers in place in enough swing-state countries to steal an election the way Donald Trump wanted them to in 2020.

In other words, it will only because of the extreme provocations of the extreme right-wing authoritarian movement taking root in certain parts of this country.

The leaders in the sections of the country still under reasonably civil control like California will then feel they have little choice but to copy the bad law in Texas by passing an equally bad one on the west coast allowing private citizens to enforce gun laws.

Until recently, red and blue states have been attacking each other with relatively benign measures like travel bans, but things are escalating right now. The lies and conspiracy theories flourishing on the right have taken root and that means trouble.

This is how it starts.

LATEST LINKS:

• After migrants arrived in Martha's Vineyard, a community gathered to welcome them (NPR)

• With shameful Martha’s Vineyard stunt, DeSantis dishes out cruelty with a smirk (Miami Herald)

• Raymond Dearie: Special master named to review seized Trump files (BBC)

• Latest batch of subpoenas spells out sweeping scope of Justice Dept.’s Jan. 6 probe (WP)

• The Divider review: riveting narrative of Trump’s plot against America (Guardian)

• Donald Trump said Americans will not “stand” for indictments against him for top secret documents he took from the White House — and warned criminal charges could trigger “big problems” never before seen. Even if he is indicted, Trump emphasized that would not stop him from running in 2024. [HuffPost]

• Democrats Buoyed by Abortion and Trump, Times/Siena Poll Finds (NYT)

• President Joe Biden’s popularity has improved substantially from his lowest point this summer, but concerns about his handling of the economy persist, new polling shows. This suggests Biden and Democrats overall are gaining momentum two months ahead of the midterm elections. [AP]

• Georgia 2020 election inquiry may lead to prison sentences, prosecutor says (WP)

• Evidence is building that a wave of women voters might be the difference-maker if Democrats are to keep their Senate majority and stem their expected losses in the House of Representatives in the November 8 midterm elections. Wisconsin is one of several states where voter registrations among women have surged since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. (Reuters)

• Trump openly embraces, amplifies QAnon conspiracy theories (AP)

• Taliban Torture and Execute Hazaras in Targeted Attacks (Amnesty)

• U.S., Suriname in Talks Over Afghans Stuck in Kosovo (WSJ)

• Germany takes control of Russian-owned refinery amid energy crisis (Reuters)

• Putin concedes China has ‘questions and concerns’ over Russia’s faltering invasion of Ukraine (CNN)

• Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping: An increasingly unequal relationship (BBC)

• Ukrainian authorities found a mass grave containing 440 bodies in a northeastern city recaptured from Russian forces, calling it proof of war crimes carried out by the invaders in territory they had occupied for months. (Reuters)

• An indigenous tribe and a team of scientists help condors soar again (WP)

• As Wildfires Grow, Millions of Homes Are Being Built in Harm’s Way (NYT)

• The Mosquito fire on Wednesday became California’s largest blaze of 2022. (Cal Today)

• Oceans rise, houses fall: The California beach dream home is turning into a nightmare (USA Today)

• Book ban efforts surging in 2022, library association says (AP)

• Reality Of Fatherhood Never Truly Dawned On Man Until He Held Newborn Son’s Hospital Bill (The Onion)

Secrets and Lies

One of the common questions journalists get asked is how we get people to tell us things, especially the things it would be in their best interest not to disclose. Although it rarely satisfies people, I often answer that question in the simplest way possible: “We ask.”

The fact is most people want to talk to you when you are doing a story, even if they probably should not do so. Asking simple, open-ended questions is the easiest way to get information.

That’s because most people most of the time don’t lie. That is something I determined over time — under ordinary circumstances the average person doesn’t lie.

On the other hand, when people are ashamed or feeling guilty about something, they may lie compulsively.

So how do you tell when someone is lying? Well, one way is to ask simple questions you already know the answers to. In investigative stories, people lie to cover up crimes, to avoid accountability and to distract you from the trail of evidence that might lead you to the truth.

And they lie even when they don’t have to.

So as a reporter you devise tests by mixing in questions that should be easy to answer truthfully if the person is being honest. There seems to be a psychological mechanism involved that causes a person to lie about little things when they’re already working hard to cover up the big things.

One lie leads to another, so to speak.

All of this requires a certain amount of discipline on the journalist’s part. So you have to avoid falling into the trap of lying yourself. When I am involved in journalism ethics seminars, one issue that often comes up is whether it is okay to misrepresent yourself in order to get a story.

I don’t think it is okay. Working “undercover,” some journalists have uncovered huge scandals, I realize, but in my opinion that happens at the cost of a greater goal. We are supposed to be about the truth — not just getting big stories — so if we get information by misrepresenting ourselves we are subverting one of the core values that legitimize out work.

It’s not that we have to be squeaky-clean in everything do as journalists, but we have to be able to look a judge and jury in the eye and say we believe the information we gathered is accurate and that we gathered it in legitimate ways, not by subverting the truth ourselves.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t tricks we can’t use ethically, and one of the main ones is the “truth test” that I have described above. Trick someone into a lie and there’s a good chance you’ve discovered a liar.

That’s one step in a process. You still have to discover the truth. So you keep asking questions.

LATEST LINKS:

• As Ukraine firepower thunders forward, Russian troops fleeing to the border (USA Today)

• Russian forces are demoralized and degraded — now we just have to ‘drive the enemy out,’ Ukraine says (CNBC)

• Zelensky Visits a City Just Miles From the Front, Underscoring Ukraine’s Gains (NYT)

• As Ukraine advances, Putin backs further into a corner (WP)

• China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin Showcase Deepening Ties (WSJ)

• China's exporters – the last reliable pillar of the world's second-largest economy as it struggled with the pandemic, weak consumption and a property crisis – are warning of hard times ahead as softer overseas markets force them to shed workers, shift to lower-value goods and even rent out their factories. (Reuters)

• In Pakistan’s Record Floods, Villages Are Now Desperate Islands (NYT)

• Catastrophic floods in Pakistan have submerged large swaths of farmland, swallowed whole villages and turned some communities into islands ― and the water likely will take approximately three to six months to fully recede. Authorities said the floods have killed at least 1,314 people, including 458 children. [HuffPost]

• Pakistan’s Flood Losses Deal Crushing Blow to Ailing Economy (WSJ)

• Near-total abortion ban takes effect in Indiana (Guardian)

• McConnell pours cold water on Graham's abortion ban (CNN)

• Florida's DeSantis flies dozens of "illegal immigrants" to Martha's Vineyard, escalating tactic against "sanctuary destinations" (CBS)

• Biden approval rises sharply ahead of midterms (AP-NORC)

• Democrats Now Have a 71% Chance of Winning the Senate. What’s Behind Democrats’ Improvement In Our Congressional Forecasts? (538)

• How Ken Starr’s Moralism Helped Give Us Donald Trump (Politico)

• Trump warns of 'problems' like 'we've never seen' if he's indicted (Politico)

• 'Yes, in God's Backyard': Berkeley Church Spearheads New Approach to Affordable Housing (KQED)

• Patagonia founder hands company to trust to tackle climate crisis (Financial Times)

• US moved online, worked more from home as pandemic raged (AP)

• Forget Bill Gates’ strategy: This is the best Wordle starting word according to MIT researchers (CNBC)

• The rule-breaking paper microscope that costs $1.75 to make (CNN)

• Four things whales can teach us about life (BBC)

• Ken Starr’s Family Finds Note Ordering Them To Frame Monica Lewinsky For His Death (The Onion)

 

Witness to History

When I reread my old news clips, it’s like looking through window back in time.

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In my early 20s, two of the topics of most concern for me were racism and pollution. There was nothing particularly unique about this; along with the Vietnam War, those were the issues that animated my entire generation as we poured into the streets to protest the things we wanted to change in our society.

For the most part, today’s young journalists don’t have paper clippings to file away for the future; they have links to websites. Paper clips turn yellow and brown, they flake and fade but they last a half-century; of that I have proof.

Links to digital content may prove less permanent. Many links are broken; many websites disappear. So I imagine today’s generation of journalists will convert their clips into PDFs or some other format in an attempt to preserve them for future use.

Old clips are not just a window on your own past; they capture a broader sense of the context of the times you lived through. As such, they are pieces of the historical record. 

Note to young reporters: There are a lot of relative disadvantages of a journalism career — the pay isn’t great, the jobs unstable, the risks are high — but among the advantages is the opportunity to preserve your work as a witness to history.

They indicate that you were there.

LATEST LINKS:

• U.S. railroad strike averted; Biden calls deal a 'win for America' (Reuters)

• Ukraine moving ‘towards victory,’ Zelenskyy says; troops root out ‘collaborators’ in reclaimed territory (CNBC)

• Rapid loss of territory in Ukraine reveals spent Russian military (WP)

• VIDEO: Videos Track Ukraine’s Stunning Kharkiv Offensive (NYT)

• Ukraine Is Fast Becoming Putin's Waterloo (Newsweek)

• With the war against Russia at a potential turning point, the US and its allies should stay united and apply more pressure. (Bloomberg)

• Ukraine said it was trying to extend its lightning counteroffensive in the east, but pro-Russian officials said they were holding the line for now and U.S. President Joe Biden said the war still looked like a long haul. Vladimir Putin's chief envoy on Ukraine told the Russian leader as the war began that he had struck a provisional deal with Kyiv that would satisfy Russia's demand that Ukraine stay out of NATO, but Putin rejected it and pressed ahead with his military campaign, according to people close to the Russian leadership. (Reuters)

• Accounts of Russian torture emerge in liberated areas. (BBC)

• Inflation Remained Stubbornly High in August, Rattling Consumers and Investors (NYT)

• A federal judge unsealed additional portions of an FBI affidavit laying out the basis for a search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, showing that agents earlier obtained a hard drive after issuing a subpoena for surveillance footage recorded inside the resort. The footage could be an important piece of the investigation as agents evaluate whether anyone has sought to obstruct the probe. [AP]

• Tuesday was another bad day for Senate Republicans’ 2022 chances (CNN)

• Lindsey Graham proposes nationwide 15-week abortion ban — White House says South Carolina senator’s proposed bill ‘wildly out of step with what Americans believe’. (Guardian)

• GOP pollster warns party on total abortion bans (Politico)

• California started a publicly funded website to promote the state’s abortion services, listing clinics, linking to financial help and letting teenagers know they don’t need their parents’ permission to get an abortion in the state. (AP)

• Taliban says 40 rebels killed in northern Afghanistan’s Panjshir (Al Jazeera)

• U.S. to redirect Afghanistan’s frozen assets after Taliban rejects deal (WP)

• Some Hope for Afghans in Need — The Biden Administration has agreed to release $3.5 billion in frozen funds, but will they reach a desperate population? (New Yorker)

• The United States is considering options for a sanctions package against Chinato deter it from invading Taiwan, with the European Union coming under diplomatic pressure from Taipei to do the same, according to sources familiar with the discussions. Taiwan's de facto ambassador in Washington, Hsiao Bi-khim, hosted dozens of international lawmakers who back sanctions on China for aggression toward the island. (Reuters)

• No region is 'immune' as the number of people in 'modern slavery' climbs to 50 million (NPR)

• Russia Secretly Gave $300 Million to Political Parties and Officials Worldwide, U.S. Says (NYT)

• Insurers force change on police departments long resistant to it (WP)

• End of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight - WHO chief (Reuters)

• Risk for Developing Alzheimer’s Disease Increases by 50-80% In Older Adults Who Caught COVID-19 (Neuroscience News)

• Study finds potential link between daily multivitamin and improved cognition in older adults (CNN)

• Passenger trains, grain shipments to be stopped, as railway strike looms (WP)

• Increasing pressures on Colorado River water in New Mexico (AP)

• Sign Warns Visitors Not To Enter Gorilla Habitat Unless They Also Gorilla (The Onion)