Nostalgia isn’t really my thing. Looking back has its virtue, I know, but the present is perplexing enough and there is always the future to consider. So most of the time I really prefer to look ahead. That’s why I write these daily essays about current events and trends rather than writing a memoir.
But every now and again, something comes up that calls for an exception to the rule.
***
(I first published this a year ago. The title has been updated.)
On Saturday, my co-author Howard Kohn and I returned to the site of the former Rolling Stone office at 625 Third Street in Soma where we wrote our three-part series about the Patty Heart kidnapping 47 years ago.
It was called “The Inside Story” and was our big break. We were both 28 at the time.
Our former colleague, Ben Fong-Torres, wrote a song about the Hearst saga and performed it at a nightclub when we were in attendance.
In Ben’s words:
"I wrote … songs for amusement…at Rolling Stone magazine in the Seventies…at least two (of my) songs were performed. One, to the tune of Bob Dylan's Hurricane (The Ballad of Reuben Carter), celebrated the magazine's big scoop in 1975 on the Patricia Hearst/SLA kidnap and aftermath. I vaguely recall doing the song, with real musicians behind me, on a couple of occasions, including a nightclub, the Boarding House:
Doorbell rang out in the Berkeley night
Into the apartment house they burst
Knocked down Steven Weed with hardly a fight
And made their getaway with Patty Hearst!
Here comes the story of the Rolling Stone
Of David Weir and of Howard Kohn
They found the trail of Patty Hearst
And they wrote about it first."
Although Howard and I have remained close friends and colleagues to this day, and worked on countless projects together over the years, especially in Hollywood, we never co-authored any other major stories after the Hearst trilogy.
And our recent visit to the old office building was one of the first times we have been back there together since the magazine left San Francisco for New York in 1977.
The same building now serves as the local headquarters for Ubisoft, the French video game company.
LINKS:
Fox News, Dominion Defamation Trial Delayed Amid Network’s Push to Settle. (WSJ)
Google Devising Radical Search Changes to Beat Back A.I. Rivals (NYT)
Superintelligence is possible — A University of Oxford professor explains how conscious machines are possible. (Big Think)
A New Approach to Computation Reimagines Artificial Intelligence (Quanta)
AI Tasked With Destroying Humanity Now Trying New Tactic — "Humans are so naive to think that they can stop me with their petty threats and countermeasures." (Futurism)
Of Course This Is How the Intelligence Leak Happened — National-security leaks. Insurrections. Bank runs. Group chats are now the most powerful force on the internet. (Atlantic)
A new kind of leaker: Spilling state secrets to impress online buddies (WP)
Lindsey Graham calls fellow Republican ‘irresponsible’ for defending Pentagon leaker (Guardian)
Russians boasted that just 1% of fake social profiles are caught, leak shows (WP)
Sudan unrest: What are the Rapid Support Forces? (Al Jazeera)
A mass shooting tied to a teen birthday party leaves 4 people dead and a ‘multitude of injuries’ in Alabama (CNN)
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly has been claiming thousands of dollars annually from a shuttered real estate firm (CNBC)
Clarence Thomas should follow the Abe Fortas precedent and resign gracefully (The Hill)
Marjorie Taylor Greene spent $65,000 in campaign funds on home fence — The fence cost $10,000 more than the median household income in her district (Independent)
Tax Me If You Can — The things rich people do to avoid paying up. (New Yorker)
Iowa to spend millions kicking families off food stamps. More states may follow. (WP)
Across the country, abortion rights advocates rally in support of abortion pill access (NPR)
Judge rejects Trump's bid to learn juror names at defamation trial (Reuters)
Trump, facing probes, seeks to assert dominance over GOP at donor retreat (WP)
Taliban Prove to Be Formidable Tax Collectors, Putting Squeeze on Afghans (WSJ)
Afghan diplomat running UN mission in New York despite Taliban's objections, without money (AA)
Ex-MP Atiq Ahmed, brother shot dead on live TV in India (Al Jazeera)
Determined to Flee China, Thousands Take a Long, Dangerous Route to the Southern U.S. Border (WSJ)
There’s new light — and lingering questions — in the mystery of Wuhan (WP)
Cyclist Clearly Loves Signaling Turns (The Onion)
Today’s Lyrics:
“The Older I Get”
Sung by Alan Jackson
Songwriters: Adam Wright / Hailey Whitters / Sarah Turner
The older I get
The more I think
You only get a minute, better live while you're in it
'Cause it's gone in a blink
And the older I get
The truer it is
It's the people you love, not the money and stuff
That makes you rich
And if they found a fountain of youth
I wouldn't drink a drop and that's the truth
Funny how it feels I'm just getting to my best years yet
The older I get
The fewer friends I have
But you don't need a lot when the ones that you got
Have always got your back
And the older I get
The better I am
At knowing when to give
And when to just not give a damn
And if they found a fountain of youth
I wouldn't drink a drop and that's the truth
Funny how it feels I'm just getting to my best years yet
The older I get
And I don't mind all the lines
From all the times I've laughed and cried
Souvenirs and little signs of the life I've lived
The older I get
The longer I pray
I don't know why, I guess that I've
Got more to say
And the older I get
The more thankful I feel
For the life I've had and all the life I'm living still
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