What's This?

 (Art courtesy of Daisy)

It’s been four birthdays now since I officially retired from journalism so it seems like a good opportunity to reflect on what I am doing here.

Also, since a number of new subscribers have recently showed up (thank you!), they may rightfully wonder what this newsletter is all about.

Why, for instance, do I continue to sort through the news every day, sifting through hundreds of stories to link to two or three dozen of them? Well, I originally started doing that in 2020 at the request of friends who felt starved for an interpretation of the confusing early days of the pandemic.

And it quickly became apparent to me that being a journalist isn’t really the kind of career you can simply retire from. You may stop having an employer and getting paid for the work, but you’re still a journalist by temperament and outlook.

And you don’t lose your hunger for the news or for reporting it to people.

But there’s more to it than that. Once freed from the 9 to 5 responsibilities of a formal workplace, I also felt free to return to the original role that drew me into this line of work in the first place 57 years ago.

It was the story-telling. I like to tell stories, true stories.

When we are doing our work the right way, that’s what journalists do. And though I may be retired, something tells me that we in the U.S. need truth-telling right now more than ever.

So that’s the main reason I do this. To do my part in helping to counter the lies and disinformation and conspiracy theories that are polluting our public dialogue and driving us toward a place most of us really do not want to go.

Of course I’m far from perfect myself, so I’ll make mistakes from time to time but when that happens I’ll try to correct them quickly. Tell me whenever you notice something.

And most of all, thanks for sticking with me!

(The artist is my nine-year-old granddaughter.)

LINKS:

• Sudan paramilitary group says it has seized presidential palace and Khartoum airport amid clashes with army (Guardian)

• The Downside of Success? It Can Lead to Failure — Research on both basketball and business teams suggests that successful teams tend to rely too much on the stars (WSJ)

• The Narcissists Who Endanger America (Atlantic)

• The lessons from America’s astonishing economic record — The world’s biggest economy is leaving its peers ever further in the dust (Economist)

• Tech Layoffs Reveal America’s Unhealthy Obsession With Work (Wired)

• How One Mother’s Love for Her Gay Son Started a Revolution (New Yorker)

• Liz Cheney says Greene should lose security clearance for defending suspect in Pentagon docs leak (NBC)

• The Airman Who Gave Gamers a Real Taste of War (NYT)

• Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones tells GOP to 'stop using God to justify bigotry' (USA Today)

• The Tennessee Expulsions Are Just the Beginning — Red states are trying to make their own rules. (Atlantic)

• Politics Rooted in Protest Fuels ‘the Justins’ of Tennessee (NYT)

• Thousands of Outraged Christians Demand Tennessee Republican's Resignation (Newsweek)

• White House Republican hopefuls including Donald Trump will descend on Indianapolis for the annual NRA conference, highlighting the gun lobby's continued political potency even as the US reels from the latest spate of mass shootings. (Reuters)

• Whitmer signs gun safety bills in wake of school shootings (The Hill)

• Abortion Is Back at Supreme Court’s Door After Dueling Orders on Pill (NYT)

• Washington judge smacks down Kacsmaryk, upholds abortion pill (MSNBC)

• DeSantis, on cusp of presidential campaign, defies national abortion sentiments with signing of six-week ban (CNN)

• In 2014, one of Texas billionaire Harlan Crow's companies purchased properties on a quiet residential street in Savannah, Georgia. It wouldn't be noteworthy if it weren't for the fact that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his relatives were on the other side of the deal. ProPublica unearths the first known instance of money, not just luxury vacations and superyacht splendor, flowing from Crow to Thomas. [ProPublica]

• Schumer takes on AI rules (The Hill)

• A future 'God-like AI' could destroy humans or make them obsolete if not properly contained, a prolific AI investor warned (Insider)

• It sounds like science fiction but it’s not: AI can financially destroy your business (Guardian)

• OpenAI’s red team: the experts hired to ‘break’ ChatGPT (Financial Times)

• 4 takeaways from Biden’s trip to Ireland (CNN)

• Russia, China FM attend high-level conference on Afghanistan (AP)

• They helped the CIA in Afghanistan. Now they’re suffering in America. (WP)

• Send Tucker Carlson to Moscow (Politico Mag)

• Russia’s elite units gutted by Ukraine war, U.S. leak shows (WP)

• What China’s Falling Population Means for Its Future (Bloomberg)

• India is estimated to have 1.4 billion people. It’s set to become the most populous country this month, but U.N. experts can’t say exactly when. China has had the most people in the world for centuries, but its population is shrinking. That could have huge social and economic consequences. (WP)

• The Mirror Test Is Broken — Either fish are self-aware or scientists need to rethink how they study animal cognition. (Atlantic)

• Across Indonesia and Malaysia, which produce 85% of the world's palm oil, growers are ramping up replanting after a decade of letting estates grow older, an ageing trend that threatens to tighten supply of the commodity that accounts for nearly 60% of global vegetable oil. (Reuters)

• They fled Jim Jones only to be killed in their Berkeley home (SFGate)

• NRA Convention Food Vendor Held Up At Gunpoint By 19th Customer In A Row (The Onion)

TODAY’s LYRICS

“Neon Moon”

Songwriter: Ronnie Dunn

When the sun goes down on my side of town
That lonesome feeling comes to my door
And the whole world turns blue
There's a rundown bar 'cross the railroad tracks
I got a table for two way in the back
Where I sit alone and think of losing you

I spend most every night
Beneath the light 
Of a neon moon

Now if you lose your one and only
There's always room here for the lonely
To watch your broken dreams
Dance in and out of the beams
Of a neon moon

I think of two young lovers running wild and free
I close my eyes and sometimes see
You in the shadows of this smoke-filled room
No telling how many tears I've sat here and cried
Or how many lies that I've lied
Telling my poor heart she'll come back someday

Oh, but I'll be alright
As long as there's light 
From a neon moon

Oh, if you lose your one and only
There's always room here for the lonely
To watch your broken dreams
Dance in and out of the beams
Of a neon moon

Jukebox plays on, drink by drink
And the words of every sad song seem to say what I think
And its hurt inside of me, ain't never gonna end

Oh, but I'll be alright
As long as there's light
From a neon moon

Oh, if you lose your one and only
There's always room here for the lonely
To watch your broken dreams
Dance in and out of the beams
Of a neon moon

Come watch your broken dreams
Dance in and out of the beams
Of a neon moon
Oh, watch your broken dreams
Dance in and out of the beams
Of a neon moon

'Awash' in Crime?

 In the early morning hours of April 4th in San Francisco, someone murdered well-known tech executive Bob Lee.

Almost immediately, the media headlines erupted:

“San Francisco is awash in violent crime.” 

That the data indicated otherwise didn’t stop the well-known criminologist and expert in all matters, Elon Musk, from tweeting: “Many people I know have been severely assaulted. Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately.”

Even though it is commonplace these days for such tragedies to be politicized, this was extraordinary. Then again, in San Francisco just last year, right-wing forces succeeded in getting the progressive D.A. Chesa Boudin recalled for supposedly being “soft on crime.”

Meanwhile, in the Lee case, police investigators were making progress but kept quiet about two important clues they had discovered. Lee had been stabbed multiple times before he staggered to his death — likely indicating the killer knew his victim — and they had recovered the murder weapon.

Yesterday, the police made an arrest. The suspect is another tech exec, named Nima Momeni, who knew Lee and had been with him in a car when they got into an argument that ended with Lee getting stabbed. Lee also reportedly knew Momeni’s sister.

More questions remain in the case, including the possible motive and reason for their argument. 

But none of those details will prove that San Francisco is awash in violent crime.

Because it isn’t. 

LINKS:

• Arrest made in SF killing of Bob Lee — tech exec’s alleged killer also worked in tech (Mission Local)

• Bob Lee murder – news: Cash App founder’s possible ties to accused killer Nima Momeni revealed after arrest (Indepredent) — San Francisco DA slams Elon Musk as ‘reckless and irresponsible’ after tech executive arrested for Bob Lee murder (Independent)

• Ukraine war: Pentagon leaks reveal Russian infighting over death toll (BBC)

• FBI arrests suspect in connection with intelligence leaks (CNN)

• Documents leaker worked on military base, friend says (WP)

• It Has Finally Become Clear What Elon Musk Wants Twitter to Be (Slate)

• There's a "morale crisis" at Meta (Axios)

• Court preserves access to abortion pill but tightens rules (AP)

• Appeals court refuses to decide if Trump can be shielded from rape accuser’s defamation suit (NBC)

• Special counsel focuses on Trump fundraising off false election claims (WP)

• New legislation from House Republicans aims to prevent local district attorneys from pursuing charges against former presidents, in yet another show of support for Donald Trump, who faces the possibility of criminal charges in Georgia and was arraigned in Manhattan last week. [HuffPost]

• The Problem America Cannot Fix — The public supports many sensible gun measures, but flaws in our democracy make us unable to adopt them. (Atlantic)

• E.P.A. Lays Out Rules to Turbocharge Sales of Electric Cars and Trucks (NYT)

• What Kind of Mind Does ChatGPT Have? (New Yorker)

• Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on jumping into the generative A.I. race with new cloud service (CNBC)

• Scientists Broke a Major Computer Design Barrier — And It Could Change Tech As We Know It (Inverse)

• The Dangerous Rise of ‘Front-Yard Politics’ (Atlantic)

• Taliban share rare, months-old audio from reclusive leader (AP)

• North Korea fired what might be a new model of ballistic missile, triggering a scare in northern Japan, where residents were told to take cover, though there turned out to be no danger. (Reuters)

• Japan’s population drops by half a million in 2022 (CNN)

• Lonely Cry for Action as China Locks Up Japanese Citizens on Spy Charges (NYT)

• China eyes building base on the moon using lunar soil (The Hill)

• Russia's most prominent opposition leader, Alexei Navalny is grappling with a mystery ailment in jail that could be some sort of slow acting poison, as he has lost 8 kg in weight in just over two weeks, his spokeswoman said. (Reuters)

• Wild creature — considered extinct in Wales for 400 years — found destroying a garden (Miami Herald)

• Taking a lesson in evolutionary adaptation from octopus, squid (Harvard Gazette)

• Noom Guarantees Refund For Customers Who Fail At Developing Full-Fledged Eating Disorder In 2 Months (The Onion)

Musk v. NPR

In one of many bizarre moves since taking control of Twitter, Elon Musk labeled NPR as a state-controlled mediaorganization — a designation previously reserved for the propaganda organs of authoritarian regimes.

Although he now appears to be backtracking on that decision, NPR has suspended using Twitter as a social media platform in response.

Musk appears to be poorly informed and generally ignorant about how media organizations operate, especially those he perceives as not aligned with his personal right-wing ideology.

But to focus on the facts here, barely one percent of NPR’s revenue comes from the U.S. government, rendering it incidental. The vast majority of the network’s income comes from individual and corporate donations, foundation grants and licensing fees from member stations.

Part of the confusion here comes from the phrase “public media” often used to describe NPR, PBS, CPB and the various other community-supported media companies. The primary difference between these companies and private sector entities like ABC, NBC, CBS and the New York Times is they are non-profit organizations.

Having worked in both the private and public media sectors, I can attest that government officials and agencies are not able to exert much influence over media coverage in either one through any funding mechanism I’m aware of.

Government advertising — like that of the U.S. Army — can be a source of revenue for the private sector companies. And I suppose the occasional grant by a government agency like NIH may indirectly help promote coverage of health issues, say, in the non-profit sector.

But that doesn’t mean that any of the recipient outlets will necessarily skew the slant of their news coverage to align with the funders’ preferences. The editorial process of determining the framing and perspective of individual stories is a far more complicated matter than a simple A-to-Z.

So, rather than slandering the hard-working journalists at NPR, a substantial number of whom have been aid off during the current recession, perhaps Elon Musk should take a basic course in media literacy.

Or at least glance at NPR’s tax forms.

POSTS:

• NPR quits Twitter after being falsely labeled as 'state-affiliated media' (NPR)

• PBS leaving Twitter after NPR departure (The Hill)

• Elon Musk BBC interview: Twitter boss on layoffs, misinfo and sleeping in the office (BBC)

• Elon Musk says he’s sleeping on a couch at Twitter and that his dog is in charge (WP)

• Elon Musk says he’s cut about 80% of Twitter’s staff (CNN)

• Mass Layoffs and Absentee Bosses Create a Morale Crisis at Meta (NYT)

• ‘We have to move fast’: US looks to establish rules for artificial intelligence (Guardian)

• Stiff EPA emission limits to boost US electric vehicle sales (AP)

• Hounded by baseless voter fraud allegations, an entire county's election staff quits in Virginia (NBC)

• Judge blasts Fox News over ‘missing’ evidence, orders investigation (WP)

• Fox attorneys in libel case reveal dual roles for Murdoch (AP)

• Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) efforts to transform the New College of Florida into a conservative beacon are being compared to fascism by the school’s director of the applied data science program, who issued a scathing rebuke while announcing his resignation. [HuffPost]

• North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed two transgender athlete bans into law, effectively prohibiting transgender girls and women from joining female sports teams in K-12 and college. At least 19 other states have imposed restrictions on transgender athletes. [AP]

• In Tennessee, second expelled Black Democratic lawmaker is reappointed (WP)

• Tennessee governor signs order on gun background checks (BBC)

• Tennessee expulsions prompt Senate Democrats to call for DOJ inquiry (WP)

• A 19th-century anti-sex crusader is the “pro-life” movement’s new best friend —

  Anthony Comstock, the 19th-century scourge of art and sex, is suddenly relevant again thanks to Donald Trump’s worst judge. (Vox)

• The Shocking Lack of Science in the Ruling Banning a Common, Safe Abortion Drug (Mother Jones)

• Daniels’s lawyer submits complaint against Trump lawyer to N.Y. panel (WP)

• Trump asks to delay sexual assault trial following historic indictment (CNN)

• California Economy Is on Edge After Tech Layoffs and Studio Cutbacks (NYT)

• Soaring ambition, secrecy made China susceptible to lab accidents (WP)

• Feinstein’s condition sparks concern she won’t return to the Senate (Politico)

• ‘All the doors are closed to Afghans’: from fall of Kabul to limbo in Mexico (Guardian)

• UN tells Afghan staff to stay home after Taliban bans women from working with the organization (CNN)

• Over 1 million girls barred from Afghanistan schools as rules sap economy (Nikkei Asia)

• Russia moves to tighten conscription law, pressing more men to fight (WP)

• Russia jamming U.S. smart bombs in Ukraine, leaked docs say (Politico)

• Ukraine war live updates: Zelenskyy slams ‘beasts’ in gruesome beheading video; Kremlin calls footage ‘terrible’ (CNBC)

• Wagner Group can only afford to throw soldiers into Bakhmut's 'meat grinder' for another 2 months before it runs out of men, Ukrainian commander says (Insider)

• Iran has used earthquake relief flights to bring weapons and military equipment into Syria, nine Syrian, Iranian, Israeli and Western sources said. (Reuters)

• Over 2,000 Indiana residents ordered to evacuate after fire ignites at recycling plant (ABC)

• Prince Harry to attend King Charles' coronation without Meghan (CBS)

• Global warming could be juicing baseball home runs, study finds (NPR)

• San Francisco Realtor Shows Couple Earning Under 6-Figure Salary Around Neighborhood’s Best Tent City (The Onion)

 

Headlines Today

POSTS:

• Pentagon leak traced to video game chat group users arguing over war in Ukraine (Guardian)

• Leaker of damaging U.S. intelligence files was reportedly administrator of a Discord chat room (Yahoo)

• Egypt secretly planned to supply rockets to Russia, leaked U.S. document says (WP)

• Behind the Political Expulsions in Tennessee — How Republican super-majorities in state legislatures are undermining the democratic process. (New Yorker)

• Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg sues Rep. Jim Jordan over House probe of Trump investigation (CNBC)

• Congressional 'Gang of 8' gains access to Trump, Biden and Pence documents (NBC)

• Popular handgun fires without anyone pulling the trigger, victims say (WP)

• Drug Company Leaders Condemn Ruling Invalidating F.D.A.’s Approval of Abortion Pill (NYT)

• The decision of U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a former anti-abortion activist, to invalidate the federal approval of abortion pill mifepristone contains two arguments that could lay the groundwork for a nationwide ban on the medical procedure. Top Republicans, including former Vice President Mike Pence, celebrated the controversial ruling, which over 400 of the pharmaceutical industry’s top executives said ignores science. [HuffPost]

• Anti-abortion advocates are using junk science to usurp the will of the American people (CNN)

• The Democrats Need to Destroy Clarence Thomas’s Reputation (TNR)

• Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee urged Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate the bombshell ProPublica report that Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted and failed to disclose 20 years’ worth of lavish gifts and luxury travel from a billionaire GOP megadonor. "If the Court does not resolve this issue on its own, the Committee will consider legislation to resolve it," the letter states. [HuffPost]

• How AI Will Revolutionize Warfare —The new arms race in technology has no rules and few guardrails. (Foreign Policy)

• 4 ways that AI can help students (The Conversation)

• Biden Administration Weighs Possible Rules for AI Tools Like ChatGPT (WSJ)

• How ride-hail companies use data to pay drivers less (Marketplace)

• Uber Accused of Charging People More If Their Phone Battery Is Low (Vice)

• Elizabeth Holmes loses bid to delay imprisonment; judge recommends Texas prison (SJMN)

• Taliban Release 2 Afghan Activists Amid Growing Concern Over 'Arbitrary Arrests' (VoA)

• ‘Screw the Rules’ — An American State Department official risked his life and career to save Afghan lives. (Atlantic)

• UN food agency says $800 million urgently needed for Afghanistan, warns of ‘catastrophic hunger’ (France24)

• Russian forces pressed attacks in eastern Ukraine with air strikes and artillery attacks, with several cities in the Donetsk region under bombardment. Ukrainian forces repelled several attacks, Kyiv said, as the Russian military kept up its effort to take control of Bakhmut. (Reuters)

• Utah’s Great Salt Lake is bouncing back after record lows. As of last week, the lake had risen three feet in a little more than five months and will probably continue to rise as snow melts. (WP)

• Wordle players should try this new daily puzzle from the New York Times (PC Gamer)

• Boss Encourages Employees To Take Short Mental Breakdowns For Every Hour Of Work (The Onion)

 

Hit the Pause Button!

 After studying the issue at some depth, I’ve come to agree with leading researchers in artificial intelligence (A!) that taking a six-month pause in the further development of this life-altering technology is the right thing to do.

As they state in their open letter, “Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable.”

We cannot be confident of that at present.

One of the most persuasive cases I’ve seen for this pause is a lecture by UC Berkeley’s Stuart Russell, who explains in depth what we know and don’t know yet about this technology and why it would be premature to just proceed blindly before evaluating the potential consequences.

While AI may be capable of helping us achieve great things, like ending poverty globally and resisting climate change, we also could inadvertently destroy all human life on the planet.

A six-month pause will not be enough time to get all the answers we need to achieve the former while avoiding the latter, but it might at least help us better frame the questions. Some serious government regulation will be needed here — think of the nuclear power industry — and at the moment AI is essentially unregulated.

We’re at a critical juncture in the debate over how to proceed. The experts are right. We need to catch our collective breath, develop a complex regulatory scheme, and educate ourselves as to how this technology can enhance — not destroy — our humanity.

Thanks to John Jameson for pointing me to Russell’s lecture. Links below.

• How Not To Destroy the World With AI — Stuart Russell lecture (UC Berkeley)

• Open Letter From Technologists With Plea To Pause AI Training (EMS Now)

Here are some of my previous posts related to this topic:

• The Meaning of Life 2.0 (Or at least of work)

• Data Times

• Some Non-Geeks, Please

• To Be or Not To Be -- Obsolete

• Human Intelligence

OTHER NEWS LINKS:

• DOJ and Pentagon search for source of leaked documents pertaining to war in Ukraine (NBC)

• Leaked Pentagon documents provide rare window into depth of US intelligence on allies and foes (CNN)

• US intelligence leak deals severe blow to Ukraine war effort (The Hill)

• In a divided nation, dueling decisions on abortion pill (WP)

• Health secretary slams abortion pill ruling as 'not America' (AP)

• South Carolina Republican says to ignore FDA abortion pill ruling — “We have, over the last nine months, not shown compassion toward women,” Rep. Nancy Mace said. (Politico)

• Justice Department appeals Texas abortion pill ruling (WP)

• Shooting at Louisville bank leaves multiple people dead, shooter killed (MSNBC)

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) slammed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in an interview, calling Florida’s new concealed carry law clear evidence Republicans “don’t care about our kids.” The two governors have taken swipes at each other before. [HuffPost]

• Ousted Tennessee legislator Justin Jones reinstated after Nashville council vote (NBC)

• ChatGPT vs. Bing vs. Google Bard: Which AI Is the Most Helpful? (Cnet)

• Generative AI will change the world—but won’t put creative jobs at risk (Fast Company)

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman unleashed ChatGPT. Silicon Valley wasn’t ready. (WP)

• The Call to Halt ‘Dangerous’ AI Research Ignores a Simple Truth (Wired)

• Japan government weighs A.I. adoption as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman visits Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (CNBC)

• How mobile phones have changed our brains (BBC)

• The Case for Banning Children from Social Media (New Yorker)

• Leaked Documents Suggest Ukrainian Air Defense Is in Peril if Not Reinforced (NYT)

• Is the Ukraine war boosting or damaging the Russian economy? (Guardian)

• As spring offensive nears, Ukraine is drafting reinforcements (WP)

• The Taliban have banned families and women from restaurants with gardens or green spaces in Afghanistan’s northwestern Herat province (ABC)

• The Afghan disaster: Will America ever learn? (The Hill)

• China May Not Need Western Technology Much Longer (Bloomberg)

• 20 Times Quicker – Ice Sheets Can Collapse Far Faster Than Previously Thought Possible (SciTechDaily)

• History in the making? First-ever April tropical storm could spin up in the Gulf of Mexico this week (USA Today)

• India’s endangered tiger population is rebounding in triumph for conservationists (CNN)

• The Ruling That Threatens the Future of Libraries (Atlantic)

• Tupperware stock plunges after warning it could go out of business (CNN)

• Global shipments of personal computers fell by 29% in the first quarter of 2023 due to weak demand, excess inventory and a deteriorating macroeconomic climate, with Apple taking the largest hit, market research firm IDC said. (Reuters)

• Twitter made the norm-shattering move to block Substack newsletters from circulating on the platform. (Cal Today)

• Area Man Self-Conscious About All The Wrong Things (The Onion)

Religious Convergence

 The guy who drove me into San Francisco Saturday night is Nepali. He has a nine-year-old daughter back there he hasn’t seen for years because he has applied for political asylum here and cannot go back.

He was curious about me and why I was heading to the city, so I told him. It was my youngest son’s 27th birthday and I was meeting him at a restaurant on Potrero Hill, the neighborhood where he lives.

Although I’ve never been to Nepal, I’ve been close — in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, during my years in the Peace Corps.

The driver mentioned that he knows quite a few Afghans, including recent arrivals to the town where we both live, and he said he can always tell them by the distinctive woolen caps that Afghan men favor.

We agreed that the situation is dire in Afghanistan, especially for women and girls, who are being systematically discriminated against by the ruling Taliban. “We have some discrimination against women and girls too in Nepal,” he told me.

“And we have some here in America,” I reminded him, particularly in the form of recent right-wing court rulings on abortion.

“But it’s not as bad as in Afghanistan!” we both said in unison.

He then brought up religion and asked me what I knew about the Sunni-Shia divide among Moslems, explaining that he is Hindu, but has a lot of respect for Buddhism, which makes sense because he comes from the country that was the birthplace of Buddha.

All I could think to say was that historically there was a Catholic-Protestant conflict in Christianity and the Middle East is riven by the conflict between Moslems and Jews. Within Islam, the tension between the two sects in our time seems fierce in similar ways.

We agreed that people should just practice whatever religion they want to but never force it on others. If people would only do that, this world would be a much nicer place. 

We shook hands as he dropped me off at the restaurant and I wished him well in his quest for asylum. “It’s been a long fight,” he said. “Seven years.”

***

Such interactions and conversations are not unusual in the highly diverse areas around our big cities in America, especially on the coasts. But they must be exceedingly rare in the rural interior, the small towns that remain predominantly white, Christian and politically conservative.

Then again, that is changing. And that is part of the political tension we face in this country.

America at its very best is a melting pot, where the values of tolerance and inclusiveness prevail. At least that is my belief. 

So Happy Easter, Passover or Ramadan, whatever you may prefer.

Or perhaps all three, none of the above, or … consider this story:

A priest, a minister and a rabbit go into a bar. The bartender asks the priest what he wants and he gives him his order. Then the bartender asks the minister what he wants and he gives him his order. Then the bartender comes to the rabbit and says, “Wait a minute. Aren’t you a rabbit? What are you doing in here?”

“I’m only here because of auto-correct,” says the rabbit.

Weekend News

 

LINKS:

• Democrats slam Texas abortion ruling as Republicans mostly go quiet (CNN)

• Dueling rulings on abortion pill tee up collision between federal judges and FDA(WP)

• Texas judge in abortion pill lawsuit often rules for conservatives (Reuters)

• Rival rulings on medication abortion hypercharge the post-Roe legal war (CNN)

• Texas governor seeks pardon of man convicted of murder in Black Lives Matter shooting (Reuters)

• Intelligence leak exposes U.S. spying on adversaries and allies (WP)

• Leaked Documents Reveal Depth of U.S. Spy Efforts and Russia’s Military Struggles (NYT)

• Pentagon investigating how Ukraine war document marked top-secret appeared online (CBS)

• Justice Thomas Says He Was Advised Lavish Gifts Did Not Need to Be Reported(NYT)

• Who is Harlan Crow, the GOP megadonor who vacations with Justice Thomas?(WP)

• Clarence Thomas’s Billionaire Benefactor Collects Hitler Artifacts (Washingtonian)

• Biden invites ‘Tennessee Three’ Democrats who faced expulsion over gun violence protest to White House (NY Post)

• A dizzying, divisive week in politics spotlights America’s raging battle (WP)

• Georgia Looms Next After Trump’s Indictment in New York (NYT)

• Americans divided over criminal charges against Trump (Reuters)

• In A.I. Race, Microsoft and Google Choose Speed Over Caution (NYT)

• Google CEO on AI, the Future of Search, Efficiency and Battling Microsoft (WSJ)

• Uber's CEO became an undercover boss in a used Tesla and was surprised by how rude some riders can be (Insider)

• U.S. Job Growth Eases, but Extends Its Streak (NYT)

• Attacks in Israel, West Bank kill 3 in worsening violence (AP)

• UN denounces Taliban prohibition on Afghan women aid workers (Financial Times)

• In a Deadly Afghan Mountain Pass, a Tiny Hotel Is a Lifeline (NYT)

• Afghan religious scholars criticize girls’ education ban (AP)

• If You Didn’t See Chaos in Kabul, Where Were You Looking? (Atlantic)

• Suspicions Multiply as Nord Stream Sabotage Remains Unsolved (NYT)

• On the Ukraine menu, leaks and grains (Reuters)

• Russia charges Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich with espionage (CNN)

• Reporting-informed theories of what could be causing the bizarre Havana syndrome illness. (Reveal)

• Long-Lost Letter Shows That Einstein Predicted That Animals Had 'Super Senses' (ScienceAlert)

• Bob Lee killing shows why perception of crime matters — and often contrasts with data (SFC)

• What Did Jesus Do? (New Yorker)

• 25-Year-Old Woman's Biggest Dream Still Being Popular High School Student (The Onion)