Midnight in America

Tonight at one minute to midnight is the deadline to avert a government shutdown. But there doesn’t appear to be much hope that a last-minute deal to prevent that will occur.

So it’s come down to this. A tiny band of right-wing extremists is about to bring the government to its knees.

Millions of public sector employees will be adversely affected. The international image of the U.S. will take a hit. Damage to the economy seems inevitable. Air travel will almost surely be disrupted. Those dependent on many types of public support payments will go without. There will be human suffering on many levels.

Eventually, some sort of deal will have to be reached in order to restart operations, and it is virtually certain that will have to be a bipartisan agreement in Congress. This, at a time the only thing Congress can seem to agree on is to not agree on anything at all.

I’ve never been more discouraged by the state of our democracy. The system is broken. The fringe has taken over — nut cases like Matt Gaetz are in control. A would-be dictator the extremists worship leads in the polls. And as a result, America is about to close up shop.

HEADLINES:

• New York City in state of emergency as torrential rain floods subways, roads and basements (CNN)

• New York City: State of emergency declared over flash flooding (BBC)

• Vulnerable Republicans Try to Head Off Blame for Shutdown (NYT)

• Gaetz’s takedown mission: ‘He wants Kevin’ (Politico)

• Gaetz war against McCarthy could leave Dems playing kingmaker (CNN)

• Hard-liners plot to replace McCarthy with one of his deputies as shutdown looms (WP)

• Dianne Feinstein: Death of a ‘political giant’ (SFC)

• The Legacy of Dianne Feinstein (New Yorker)

• Whom will Newsom pick to replace Dianne Feinstein? Here are some possibilities (LAT)

• Court rejects Donald Trump’s bid to delay trial in wake of fraud ruling that threatens his business (AP)

• UAW announces new strikes at GM and Ford plants, spares Stellantis citing ‘momentum’ in talks (CNBC)

• With UAW strikes set to expand, Trump says fight won't matter because automakers will be 'out of business' (Yahoo)

• Biden Announces New Student Loan Forgiveness Plan: Who Qualifies (Newsweek)

• Supreme Court takes on social media: First Amendment fight over 'censorship' is on the docket (USA Today)

• Homes "unaffordable" in 99% of nation for average American (CBS)

• The dairy industry is trying to outlaw plant-based “milk” labels—again (ArsTechnica)

• Inflation in the euro zone fell to its lowest level in two years in September, suggesting the European Central Bank's steady diet of interest rate hikes was succeeding in curbing runaway prices albeit at a growing cost for economic growth. (Reuters)

• In Texas, guns are everywhere, whether concealed or in the open (WP)

• ‘Mind-boggling’ sea creature spotted off Japan has finally been identified (Science)

• Brad Gerstner says AI will be bigger than the internet, bigger than mobile (CNBC)

• The A.I. Wars Have Three Factions, and They All Crave Power (NYT)

• Could ‘The Terminator’ really happen? Experts assess Hollywood’s visions of AI. (WP)

• Trader Joe’s Adds New Fitting Rooms Where Customers Can See How Food Will Look In Their Mouth (The Onion)

 

The Messenger

Joe Biden gave an important speech Thursday at the dedication of a library named after John McCain, but I wonder how many of the millions of people who needed to hear it were listening.

The president spoke of the threats facing American democracy not from abroad but right here at home.

He accurately identified the MAGA wing of the Republican Party as an extremist movement based on authoritarian, not democratic principles. He recounted the statements by Trump and his supporters that foretell an end to democracy if they become the law of the land.

Biden’s words were forceful but his delivery was flawed. He undermined his message by repeatedly noting that his comments weren’t “hyperbole.” Overuse of a word like that is never a good idea.

He spoke the truth but stylistically he blew it, and that’s a pity. Because his warning was most certainly not hyperbole.

***

Not everything in politics is political; some things are personal. Both Cindy McCain and Joe Biden broke down as they recalled their feelings for John McCain, who died five years ago from brain cancer.

Until yesterday, it was not widely known publicly that it was Biden who introduced the McCains to each other at a reception in Hawaii. As Senators in different parties, the men forged a friendship and working relationship based on mutual respect for their differences.

How much we could use that kind of civility in politics now…

HEADLINES:

• Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a trailblazer in U.S. politics and the longest-serving woman in the Senate, dies at 90 (NBC)

• Biden previews 2024 message by warning that Trump’s movement is a threat to American democracy (CNN)

• Biden impeachment inquiry: Democrats say GOP doing Trump's bidding (ABC)

• AOC accuses Republicans of fabricating Biden impeachment evidence (Guardian)

• The Republicans Driving Congress Toward a Shutdown (NYT)

• Shutdown odds grow as Senate, House advance separate spending plans (Reuters)

• U.S. government starts notifying federal employees a shutdown may be imminent (WP)

• How a government shutdown could cause chaos at airports (CBS)

• Democrats dismiss McCarthy calls for Biden to deal on government shutdown (The Hill)

• Suicide bombings rip through two mosques in Pakistan, killing at least 57 (Reuters)

• Will a Judge’s Fraud Ruling Dismantle Trump’s New York Empire? (NYT)

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs law to raise minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour (AP)

• Gen. Mark Milley, the outgoing chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he is taking appropriate measures to ensure his safety after Trump suggested he is a traitor who deserves to be executed. [HuffPost]

• The embarrassing GOP debate was a race to the bottom for the Republican Party (The Hill)

• Donald Trump skipped the GOP debate again. This time, his rivals took him on directly (AP)

• Suicide ‘everywhere’ among Afghan women, UN official tells Security Council (SCMP)

• Taiwan unveiled its first domestically developed submarine, though it won't enter service for another two years. (Reuters)

• Scientists spotted the deepest-living octopus in the sea. Researchers released video of one swimming off the Hawaiian coast this month. (WP)

• How a Tiny Crew Struck a Blow Against China With a Wooden Boat and a Knife (WSJ)

• In favour of simple writing (Economist)

• Flying over Sanibel Island one year after Hurricane Ian provides dramatic views (FMNP)

• ChatGPT users can now browse internet, OpenAI says (Reuters)

• Mark Zuckerberg reveals Meta AI chatbot, his answer to ChatGPT (Cointelegraph)

• Amazon launches its Bedrock generative AI service in general availability (TC)

• CIA’s AI director says the new tech is our biggest threat, and resource (Politico)

• Rethinking the Luddites in the Age of A.I. (New Yorker)

• Tech bros like OpenAI's Sam Altman keep obsessing about replacing the 'median human' with AI (Insider)

• Hollywood Writers Reached an AI Deal That Will Rewrite History (Wired)

• Why the AI Race Is Getting Weird (The Information)

• Will AI kill our creativity? It could – if we don’t start to value and protect the traits that make us human (The Conversation)

• Cities across Northern California are turning to A.I. chatbots to answer residents’ questions and take in service requests about issues like potholes and graffiti (SFC)

• Generation Derek: Born Between 5:04 And 5:05 P.M. On April 9, 1980, Meet The Generation That’s Just One Guy (The Onion)

 

The Music Stopped (Afghan Report 68)

(Ever since the Taliban came to power in 2021, an Afghan friend of mine has been sending me reports of conditions in his country. I am keeping his identity secret for his safety.)

Dear David:

Three years ago, before the government fell to the Taliban, a group of my friends and I would often go out for fun on our days off. We played cards and football and listened to music and danced. This made us happy.

Once the Taliban came the fun stopped. We did not go anywhere for the first year and our entertainment was limited to just volleyball. After a year, one day we decided to go out again and refresh our souls. We knew that the Taliban had banned playing cards so we did not do that. But we turned on the car’s MP3 player and danced for a few moments. 

But then the Taliban arrived in their Ranger and told us harshly that this would be the last time we would hear the music. We got into the car and headed home. 

Young people used to gather and play football, cricket and volleyball in the afternoons in places where there are no residential houses and there is open space. Now that can be dangerous. A month ago, several Taliban came to one of the fields where young men were playing football and warned that if they kept playing during the call to prayer rather than go to the mosque for prayer, they would be tortured. 

The following day, after the call to prayer at  sunset, the Taliban came to the playground with two Ranger cars and took five players away with them. Since then, no one dares to play ball during and after the sunset call to prayer.

Having fun, of course, is an essential part of human life. But in Afghanistan, the entertainment choices of young people are limited to sports and video games. Sometimes even these activities are disrupted by the Taliban. Very radical Muslims like the Taliban are against any kind of worldly pleasures and believe that this world is a bad place for Muslims. In other words, it is a Muslim version of hell. 

In their belief it is the world after life that is full of pleasures and wells of wine. Therefore, no matter how much they suffer here, they think that they will find their reward in the world after death. 

HEADLINES (30 second read)

• The Fraud Ruling Against Trump (NYT)

• Republicans face growing urgency to stop Trump as they enter the second presidential debate (AP)

• The Republican debate is fake (Vox)

• Senate moves forward on bipartisan short-term deal to avert shutdown (WP)

• Senator Menendez Pleads Not Guilty to Bribery Charges (NYT)

• One of the most intense El Niños ever observed could be forming (WP) 

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a law prohibiting schools from banning books because they highlight race, sexual orientation or other protected characteristics, a rebuttal to efforts in Florida and other GOP-led states to severely restrict students’ reading materials. [HuffPost]

• Target To Close Stores In 4 States, Including NY, Citing Theft, Organized Retail Crime (DV)

• U.S. Accuses Amazon of Illegally Protecting Monopoly in Online Retail (NYT)

  A federal judge has struck down a pending Texas law that would have effectively restricted drag performances, deeming it unconstitutional. [HuffPost]

• Michigan State officially fires coach Mel Tucker for cause (ESPN)

• More than 100 people were killed in a fire at a wedding party in Iraq. (Reuters)

• Inside the vast digital campaign by Hindu nationalists to inflame India (WP)

• Hollywood studios can train AI models on writers' work under tentative deal (WSJ)

• Writers celebrate WGA deal after getting 5% pay bump, streaming bonuses and protection against AI using their work as they can now return to their jobs after 148-day strike: Full summary of terms released (DM)

• Hollywood writers to begin returning to work today after WGA leaders vote to end strike (WP)

• Florida Students Reveal How ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Made Them Straight (The Onion)

 

Circling Like a Kite

Today I’m reprinting my very first Substack post from November 2021.

Welcome to my daily news commentary. I’ve been publishing these for years at Facebook (aka Meta) but am moving to Substack as of today.

I’ve been a journalist for 50 years, writing and editing at Rolling Stone, Salon, Wired Digital, Mother Jones, California, New York and many other publications. I’ve also authored or co-authored four books and taught journalism at Stanford, U-C Berkeley and San Francisco State. I co-founded the Center for Investigative Reporting in 1977 and was executive director there for many years.

Perhaps this new platform will allow me to connect with a larger audience, because that is why in the end I write:

To connect.

***

The news headlines this week are dominated by the global climate change summit at Glasgow, the biggest city in my immediate ancestral past. My mother was born in the nearby village of Eaglesham, ten miles to the south, in 1915.

Her father was a tool and die maker at the locomotive factory in Glasgow. He migrated to the U.S. to take a job advertised by Ford Motor Company in Detroit, and that's how I came to be born in the Motor City just after World War Two.

My grandfather was good with his hands. I'm not. (I can't even type properly.)

The only things I can wrangle like a tool and die maker are words.

***

For anyone paying close attention to the news, these are days of high anxiety. In conversations with numerous friends, I am sensing that watching the cable TV news shows is only making everything worse.

In that context, I should explain that what I try to do every day. I sort the headlines, aggregating them into a virtual news show.

I started doing this at the urging of various friends who are fed up with the existing newscasts, especially in broadcast formats.

Most days I scan a dozen or so of the major newspapers and news services to collate any the stories that are important for informed people to know about. If there is a summary to go with the headline I include that, but it is not necessary to track down the actual article unless you want to follow the links.

The philosophy here is to snack on the news, not gorge on it. I'd rather spend the bulk of my own time on music, film, books, art and with friends virtually and physically. As opposed to developing a news addiction.

It is possible to be a serious person without being an unhappy one -- at least I hope so. While we need to know what is going on, we don't need to obsess on it. So I'll gather the crap into one long list so you don't have to.

HEADLINES (1 minute read)

• Supreme Court rejects Alabama’s bid to use congressional map with just one majority-Black district (NBC)

• Judge rules Donald Trump defrauded banks, insurers as he built real estate empire (AP)

• FTC and 17 states sue Amazon on antitrust charges (CNBC)

• Hunter Biden sues Rudy Giuliani, attorney Robert Costello for "hacking" laptop data (CBS)

• California governor signs law requiring gender-neutral bathrooms in schools by 2026 (CNN)

• Biden urges striking auto workers to 'stick with it' in picket line visit unparalleled in history (AP)

• As government shutdown looms just days away, no agreement is in sight (WP)

• Congress is moving into crisis mode as time runs short to avoid a government shutdown (AP)

• Money for Ukraine at Center of Senate Bid to Avert Shutdown (NYT)

• Congress faces ticking shutdown clock (The Hill)

• Is the Hollywood writers’ strike over? The provisional deal explained (Guardian)

• The WGA strike might be ending, but Hollywood’s bigger problems aren’t (CNN)

• Little-noticed result of the Hollywood strikes: a blow to political campaigns (Politico)

• ‘Are You OK?’ San Francisco Residents Say They Most Certainly Are. (NYT)

• Trump warned that media organizations he believes are “corrupt and dishonest,” like NBC News and MSNBC, will “pay a big price” if he returns to the White House next year, and questioned whether they deserve “free” access to U.S. airwaves. [HuffPost]

• Michael Wolff’s ‘The Fall’ is a dishy look at the decline of Fox News (WP)

• War has arrived in Crimea (Economist)

• Hungry and exhausted Armenian families jammed roads to flee homes in the defeated breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, while the United States called on Azerbaijan to protect civilians and let in aid. (Reuters)

• In the age of AI, computer science is no longer the safe major. (Atlantic)

• CIA Builds Its Own Artificial Intelligence Tool in Rivalry With China (Bloomberg)

• AI girlfriends are ruining an entire generation of men (The Hill)

• LLMs are surprisingly great at compressing images and audio, DeepMind (VB)

• Signal’s Meredith Whittaker: AI is fundamentally ‘a surveillance technology’ (TC)

• Historians Reveal Original Draft Of Constitution Included 593 Mentions Of Spiders (The Onion)

 

News Links

 HEADLINES (1 minute read)

• Sen. Bob Menendez faces growing calls from Democrats to resign after being federally indicted (CBS)

• Senate Democrats put McCarthy in shutdown squeeze (The Hill)

• Here's How a Government Shutdown Could Affect You (Time)

• Trump and Biden’s Michigan visits will present competing strategies for winning union voters (CNN)

• As Trump Prosecutions Move Forward, Threats and Concerns Increase (NYT)

• The Supreme Court hears a civil rights case straight out of a right-wing fever dream. (Vox)

• Why America Has a Long-Term Labor Crisis (WSJ)

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bills to bolster protections for LGBTQ people (USA Today)

• DeSantis' early missteps hobbled his US presidential bid. (Reuters)

• Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin will be eager to interfere with the 2024 U.S. presidential election. [HuffPost]

• On Day 146, Screenwriters Reach Deal With Studios to End Their Strike (NYT)

• Russian Black Sea Fleet commander seen at meeting after Ukraine said it killed him (NBC)

• Italian Mafia boss Messina Denaro dies of cancer months after capture (Reuters)

• Manila vows to remove barrier placed by China's coast guard at a disputed site

• As disasters spike, U.S. and China face mounting calls to forge a climate deal (WP)

• Why Europe’s far-right parties are going from strength to strength (Economist)

• Taliban weighs using US mass surveillance plan, met with China's Huawei (Reuters)

• America’s War in Afghanistan Devastated the Country’s Environment in Ways That May Never Be Cleaned Up (ICN)

• We carry DNA from extinct cousins like Neanderthals. Science is now revealing their genetic legacy (Phys.org)

• New Study: Older Adults Who Participate in This Leisure Activity Have the Memory of a 20-Year-Old (SciTechDaily)

• Being There — The principal duty of friendship is merely presence. (NYT)

• Does sex still sell in fashion? (WP)

• OpenAI gives ChatGPT a voice for verbal conversations (TC)

• Your Boss’s Spyware Could Train AI to Replace You (Wired)

• Everything you need to know about the government’s efforts to regulate AI (Fast Company)

• The Oppenheimer of Our Age — Sam Altman insists the AI he is creating could destroy us even as he hastens its advancement. (NY)

• The AI ‘Age of Uncertainty’ (VB)

• DNC Concerned After Poll Shows Only 15% Of Americans Have Heard Name Joe Biden (The Onion)

The Palominos

My youngest daughter, Julia, played soccer for a number of years with a group of school friends. They called themselves the Palominos.

The coaches were two of the team Dads; I helped out from time to time.

Although the kids had fun, they didn’t enjoy success on the pitch. And they only rarely scored goals. Very rarely.

After several seasons of this, their all-time record stood at 0-19-1. (That one draw was an occasion for a big team party.)

Between seasons, some of the other parents came to me with an idea. Could Julia’s big brother, Aidan, possibly be convinced to take over the coaching duties of the team?

At the time, Aidan was an All-City soccer star at Balboa High School and also the center back on the San Francisco Seals travel team, but he was also just a few years older than Julia and her teammates. He surprised me when he said he’d give it a go.

He attended a coach’s class taught by a university and got certified. He registered, was finger-printed and issued a license to coach soccer in the city and county of San Francisco.

At the time, a city official told me, he was the youngest coach in the entire city.

He read books, watched videos and discussed the matter with his own coaches. He bought a clipboard, a whistle, practice cones, balls and a rulebook.

Taking a cue from his high school coaches, he made practices mandatory. “To start in games you have to attend practice” was his primary rule. He also instituted a question and answer session at practice.

In this way, he discovered the reason that one girl only took long shots from outside the box because she thought she would be whistled “offside” should she enter the box! There were many things about this game they’d never learned.

He also taught the girls to use their physical assets, whatever they might be. One example: Julia played defense. She was strong but not fast. He taught her to use angles to cut in front of opponents rushing toward the goal and her strength to knock them off the ball. She couldn’t outrun them but she could outsmart them and she was as tough as anyone her age.

Being a coach’s Dad gave me a whole new appreciation for the game and the pressures coaches face — from opponents, parents, spectators, and strangers. It was incredibly challenging emotionally.

One man whose daughter habitually skipped practice shouted at Aidan furiously when he benched her during games. Aidan stayed calm. “I told him the rule,” he explained to me afterward. (It had been all I could do to keep myself from decking the jerk.) 

One opposing coach pulled out an obscure rule stating that meant Aidan couldn’t stand with the team during a game because he was underage. So he stood on the spectator side and used his cellphone to give instructions to one of the Dads who served in his absence. (I’d wanted to kill that jerk too.)

Through all these challenges and many more, the Palominos under his leadership forged a remarkable turnaround. They played better than ever before and began for the first time in their history to win matches.

Lots of matches.

By the season’s end, they’d finished in second place in the league with only one loss and one draw. They outscored their opponents by an average score of 3 to 1.

The other parents had been right. Hiring a kid to coach their kids turned the entire program around. And they were still having fun.

Over the years, I spent many, many hours cheering for my kids when they played sports. They won a lot of games and they lost a lot of games. There were many ups and many downs. But looking back now, the most emotional season of them all by far was the one when Aidan coached Julia and the Palominos.

The girls all called him “Coach.”

Even Julia.

HEADLINES (1 minute read):

• Russian Black Sea Fleet commander was killed in Crimea missile strike, Ukraine says (NBC)

• Writers’ union reaches tentative deal with Hollywood studios to end historic strike (AP)

• Cassidy Hutchinson defends herself in first post-testimony TV interview (CNN)

• Pay for millions of federal workers is at risk with a looming government shutdown (NBC)

• NASA capsule carrying pieces of an asteroid lands in Utah. Scientists will use them to study origins of life.(WP)

• Biden disapproval rating hits highest mark of presidency: poll (The Hill)

• Post-ABC poll: Biden faces criticism on economy, immigration and age (WP)

• New Orleans drinking water in crisis as saltwater intrudes on Mississippi River (Independent)

• One Day on the Border: 8,900 Migrants Arrested, and More on the Way (NYT)

• The Patriot — How General Mark Milley protected the Constitution from Donald Trump (Atlantic)

• He spoke no English, had no lawyer. An Afghan man’s case offers a glimpse into US immigration court (AP)

• Scientists found the most intense heat wave ever recorded — in Antarctica (WP)

• Russia’s Army Learns From Its Mistakes in Ukraine (WSJ)

• Putin Is Worried, So He Turned to Anti-Semitism (Atlantic)

• An inside look at the real Rupert Murdoch (BBC)

• The Candy Factory—I: Inventing “60 Minutes” (New Yorker)

• Birthplace of the atomic bomb braces for its biggest mission since the top-secret Manhattan Project (AP)

• The Animals Are Talking. What Does It Mean? (NYT Mag)

• The vast majority of NFTs are now worthless, new report shows (Guardian)

• The pandemic completely disrupted work habits— Microsoft says it’s a promising sign for its new AI ‘copilots’ (Fortune)

• ‘It’s Like I Can’t Do Anything Right,’ Says Woman Pretty Much Hitting Nail On Head (The Onion)

 

News Deserts

We’ve often considered the state of local journalism in this newsletter. This weekend, the Washington Post published an opinion piece on the issue called “Even $500 million isn’t enough to save local journalism.”

The dollar figure refers to the announcement by 22 donor organizations, including the Knight Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, that they are teaming up to provide more than $500 million to boost local news over five years — an effort called Press Forward.

The need is undeniable. According to Penny Abernathy at Northwestern, newspapers are closing at an average rate of more than two per week, and since 2005, more than one-quarter of U.S. newspapers have vanished.

According to her research, “The contraction has led to the proliferation of ‘news deserts’ — there are 200 counties, home to 70 million people, with no newspaper.”

These are some of the consequences:

• Lower voter turnout.

• Less political competition.

• Declining civic engagement.

• The rise of disinformation and conspiracy theories.

• The erosion of public trust in government.

• The overall decline of democracy.

To this I would add, the emergence of a Zombie Army, tragically, that supports an authoritarian for president.

HEADLINES:

• Ukraine targets a key Crimean city a day after striking Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters (AP)

• Biden to supply Kyiv with long-range ATACMS missiles after months of lobbying (FT)

• Menendez Accused of Brazen Bribery Plot, Taking Cash and Gold (NYT)

• House Republicans eye long-term funding without deal yet to avert shutdown (WP)

• Biden to walk the picket line in Michigan to support UAW strikers (CNN)

• Progress in Hollywood Writers’ Strike Negotiations, but No Deal Yet (NYT)

• The benefits of Afghanistan’s mineral riches may not be so forthcoming (Al Jazeera)

• India stops new visas for Canadians (Reuters)

• Even $500 million isn’t enough to save local journalism (WP)

• Scientists built this listening network to detect nuclear bomb tests. It found blue whales instead (BBC)

• Misinformation research is buckling under GOP legal attacks (WP)

• Cyndi Lauper Slams ‘Senile’ Rolling Stone Founder Jann Wenner (Daily Beast)

• Unusual ‘prehistoric’ creature thought for decades to be extinct miraculously surges back: ‘Incredibly significant’ (Yahoo)

• Biologists in slow and steady race to help North America’s largest and rarest tortoise species (AP)

• Man Has No Idea What To Do With Good Mood (The Onion)