The Hero & The Jerk

While growing up, none of us in my generation learned about Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the Quaker girl from the Midwest who was in fact one of our greatest national heroes. We didn’t know that she had cracked German codes during World War I, helping the Allies to win that terrible conflict, then returned to her role as codebreaker to play a key role in defeating the Nazis in World War II.

In between the wars, she briefly received some press attention for helping authorities bust major gangsters, including Al Capone, but I don’t recall ever hearing about that in my childhood either.

One reason her work was ignored is that an egomaniacal publicity seeker named J. Edgar Hoover had claimed all the credit in the high-profile mobster arrests. We all learned Hoover’s version of the mobster wars and how his G-men had brought the criminals to justice.

Another reason was sexism. Women almost never got the credit they deserved for heroic deeds in the first 70 years of the 20th century; the men holding power in every sector of public life, including the press, made sure of that.

Not that Elizebeth worried too much about such matters herself. A modest person, self-contained, she didn’t much like the limelight.

But her crowning achievement — cracking ever more sophisticated German codes during World War II — remained completely hidden, secret from my generation when we were growing up largely because all of those involved, including Friedman, had to sign pledges that they would never speak of their work as long as they lived.

Friedman kept that pledge. She died in 1980.

Meanwhile, the insufferable Hoover was not required to sign any such pledge so he again took all the credit for busting the German spy rings during the war, embellishing his legend as well as that of his beloved FBI and ignoring the true heroes.

Only when long-classified records of the war-time code-breaking work done by Elizebeth and the small unit she created were declassified in 2000 did her role finally begin to come out into the open.

Even then, it took a sustained effort by a few scholars and activists, mostly women, to begin to get Elizebeth Smith Friedman a modicum of the posthumous credit she so richly deserves.

Ultimately, though. history has a way of evening out the playing field, doesn’t it? Engulfed by scandal at his death, today J. Edgar Hoover is widely remembered as a monumental jerk, although he does have a building named after him. Meanwhile, Elizebeth’s legacy has only recently started emerging but she already has a couple of reading rooms named in her honor.

This is an example of revisionist history that is very much worth knowing. I again commend Jason Fagone’s The Woman Who Smashed Codes as one of the sources for those who wish to know more.

HEADLINES:

• Biden stuns allies with border wall bombshell (The Hill)

• Israel 'at war' as Hamas gunmen launch surprise attack from Gaza (Reuters)

• Trump endorses Jim Jordan for House speaker (CNN)

• Liz Cheney warns of Jim Jordan taking over as House Speaker (MSNBC)

• To the World, McCarthy’s Exit Is Just Another Example of U.S. Disarray (NYT)

• Trump allegedly discussed US nuclear subs with foreign national after leaving White House (ABC)

• Judge Blocks Trump From Secretly Transferring His Money (Newsweek)

• US jobs growth surges past expectations with 336,000 new posts (FT)

• Extreme heat, wildfires and drought have decimated the harvest in Spain, which supplies half the world’s olive oil. U.S. retail prices have grown 12.5% this year. (WP)

• People working on climate solutions are facing a big obstacle: conspiracy theories (NPR)

• Millions of children are displaced due to extreme weather events. Climate change will make it worse (AP)

• Narges Mohammadi wins the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting the oppression of women in Iran (ABC)

• Pakistani minister defends decision to expel Afghans. (Reuters)

• Amnesty International asks Pakistan to keep hosting Afghans as their expulsion may put them at risk (AP)

• ‘Patience’ and dialogue with Taliban only way forward: Afghanistan mission chief (UN)

• Opposition to Ukraine Aid Becomes a Litmus Test for the Right (NYT)

• Mira Murati, the young CTO of OpenAI, is building ChatGPT and shaping your future (Fortune)

• AI firms working on “constitutions” to keep AI from spewing toxic content (Ars Technica)

• Remember That Letter Calling for a Pause on AI? It Didn't Work (Gizmodo)

• The very strange ways AI might be coming for you (Politico)

• Chatbot Hallucinations Are Poisoning Web Search (Wired)

• Pumpkin Makes A Roll For It (The Onion)

 

Autumn Harvest

 

The Challenge

 “One way of thinking about science is that it’s a check against the natural human tendency to see patterns that might not be there. It’s a way of knowing when a pattern is real and when it’s a trick of your mind.” — Jason Fagone, The Woman Who Smashed Codes

***

One of the fascinating things about acquiring knowledge in any field is that even as you find out something new and useful, it may help shine the light of insight into something else altogether.

Let me explain.

Taking a vacation from the endless news cycle recently, I’ve been exploring the remarkable life and accomplishments of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, arguably the greatest American codebreaker in our history.

As a self-taught cryptanalyst, she deciphered enemy codes during World Wars I and II; in between, she helped the Treasury Department take down gangsters including Al Capone.

Journalist Jason Fagone’s book quoted above is an entertaining and informative biography of this extraordinary woman’s story, but there also is a PBS documentary series,  The Codebreaker, that I highly recommend.

Anyway, the quote above about understanding the difference between patterns, real and imagined, can be applied to thinking about an entirely different matter than cryptology — and that is the abundant conspiracy theories that pollute so much of public life in our era.

From the anti-vaccination pronouncements of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to the ‘Stop the Steal’ nonsense fostered by Donald Trump, a sizable portion of the public buys into these baseless theories that are demonstrably false.

And that not only is the difference between science and “tricks of the mind,” it is precisely what sets real journalism aside from the junk too many consume on Fox News and other purveyors of propaganda.

"So little was known in this country of codes and ciphers when the United States entered World War I, that we ourselves had to be the learners, the workers and the teachers all at one and the same time," Elizebeth said of her work.

That is an accurate summation of the state of the under-informed American public today. So little is known of the facts of our world that we all need to become learners, workers and teachers at the same time. That’s why we desperately need to bring back real, honest journalism to help us do what the codebreakers did — save our democracy from an imminent authoritarian threat.

HEADLINES:

• House devolves into angry round of retribution following McCarthy’s ouster (CNN)

• Vote to oust McCarthy is a warning sign for democracy, scholars say (WP)

• Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as House speaker could cost the GOP its best fundraiser heading into 2024 (AP)

• GOP senators: McCarthy’s collapse will lead to turmoil, shutdown (The Hill)

• House GOP quietly panics over how to escape its self-inflicted mess (Axios)

• Mike Pence's former chief of staff said he thinks Matt Gaetz’s real reason for wanting to be in Congress was less about policy and more about access to underage aides. “To say he came as a fiscal crusader, it’s more likely he came here for the teenage interns on Capitol Hill, to be honest,” Marc Short said. [HuffPost]

• Biden administration waives 26 federal laws to allow border wall construction (ABC)

• September of extreme warmth has climate scientists alarmed (NBC)

• This year is on track to become the hottest on record, with the global mean temperature to date 0.52 degrees Celsius higher than average, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said. The global temperature for January-September is also 1.4C higher than the preindustrial average. (Reuters)

• While simulating brain development in a lab, researchers found genes that interfere with key steps in that process and could lead to autism. (WP)

• America’s nonreligious are a growing, diverse phenomenon. They really don’t like organized religion (AP)

• Twitter Is at Death’s Door, One Year After Elon Musk’s Takeover (Rolling Stone)

• Turning to Street Vending, New Migrants Find a Competitive World (NYT)

• Japanese firms are leaving Tokyo for the sticks (Economist)

• 80 Countries Condemn Diktats Against Women In Afghanistan: Report (NDTV)

• Russian missile strike kills 50, Ukraine says, in one of the war's worst attacks on civilians (NBC)

• Why Africans are losing faith in democracy (Economist)

• Anthropic Makes OpenAI Look Cheap (The Information)

• The Defects of Human and Artificial Intelligence (WSJ)

• ChatGPT will ‘help us with extremely hard problems’ in the future, says OpenAI’s chief tech officer (CNBC)

• Generative AI Has Ushered In the Next Phase of Digital Spirituality (Wired)

• Getty Images CEO Craig Peters has a plan to defend photography from AI (Verge)

• “My client Commander Biden asks that you respect his privacy at this time.” — Meatball Jones, Esq., Pit Bull (The Onion)

Follow the Words

Every now and then, while monitoring the dozens of news sources I check daily, an article catches my attention because it adds perspective to the news in ways others do not.

In this week’s New Yorker, one such essay, “Trump’s Bloody Campaign Promises,” by David Remnick cautions that we ignore the former President’s escalating rhetoric of violent rage at very great risk.

It may be tempting to write off Trump’s words as simply campaign hyperbole, but Remnick compares Trump’s speeches to those of Rodrigo Duterte, the former President of the Philippines, who rose to power by promising to execute those whom he deemed a threat to law and order. 

After taking office, Duterte made good on his threats to the extent that human-rights groups estimate the resulting death toll at ten thousand people.

We are now hearing almost identical language from Trump, as he angrily calls for the deaths of shoplifters, migrants, and even his former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—all to the delight of his Zombie-like followers. 

“In the coming year, you will rarely, if ever, hear discussion of policy from Trump,” Remnick writes. “You will hear expressions of rage and impulse. It is tempting to ignore them, to dismiss them as inconsequential, repetitious, corrosive. They are so painful to listen to, both in their hatefulness and in their frequency, that some have argued the media should ignore them entirely, the better to avoid elevating them. But ignoring them will not make them go away.”

As ugly and disgusting as Trump’s words are, we have to keep listening and noting their significance, and redouble our efforts to prevent this dangerous despot from ever again holding power.

HEADLINES:

• Pelosi says interim House speaker McHenry has ordered her to vacate her office in the Capitol building (CNN)

• McCarthy’s Ouster Is Proof, Once Again, That Appeasement Doesn’t Work (New Yorker)

• Republican firebrand Jim Jordan, a Trump ally, becomes first to announce speaker bid (NBC)

• Hardline duo emerge as frontrunners to succeed McCarthy as House speaker (Guardian)

• McCarthy’s Extraordinary Downfall Reflects an Ungovernable G.O.P. (NYT)

• House speaker chaos stuns lawmakers, frays relationships and roils Washington (AP)

• Republicans are sick of Matt Gaetz, and they’re not quiet about it (WP)

• Trump’s Bloody Campaign Promises (New Yorker)

• Trump drops off Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans (Axios)

• Trump Finally Brings His Online Rage to the Courtroom (Daily Beast)

• Trump's words turn violent as pressure on him builds (Axios)

• Giuliani’s Drinking, Long a Fraught Subject, Has Trump Prosecutors’ Attention (NYT)

• Largest healthcare strike in US history underway as 75,000 Kaiser workers walk off job (ABC)

• Sam Bankman-Fried's father and brother, as well as Donald Trump's former spokesman Anthony Scaramucci, are among possible witnesses at the cryptocurrency exchange founder's fraud trial, according to a list read by a prosecutor in court. (Reuters)

• School surveillance tech does more harm than good, ACLU report finds (Guardian)

• The Supreme Court’s Right Flank Is Laying Groundwork To Dismantle Defendant Rights (Slate)

• Meta is planning to lay off employees in the unit of its metaverse-oriented Reality Labs division focused on creating custom silicon, two sources familiar with the matter said. (Reuters)

• What is the future of US-China relations? (Economist)

• With Surge in Attacks, Militants Begin New Era of Bloodshed in Pakistan (NYT)

• Islamic State rising in Balochistan. Pakistan doesn’t have the resources to win this fight (The Print)

• Google is launching a generative AI-enhanced version of Assistant (Verge)

• LinkedIn goes big on new AI tools for learning, recruitment, marketing and sales, powered by OpenAI (TC)

• SoftBank’s Son Says Artificial General Intelligence Will Soon Surpass Humans (WSJ)

• It Clear Which Half Of Couple Forced Into Marathon (The Onion)

 

House Closed

(NOTE: At 2 a.m. Tuesday, my younger kids lost their grandmother. She passed away peacefully with family members at her side. She was 94; her 95th birthday would have been next month. May she rest in peace.)

***

It’s not very often that we witness an unprecedented act in the entire 250-year history of this country but yesterday it happened. The House of Representatives voted to fire its Speaker, Kevin McCarthy.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, the ringleader of that action, gleefully raised money during the proceeding and afterward.

It was a spectacle I won’t soon forget. A Republican Party so riven with factional hatred that it simply squandered its majority and self-destructed before our eyes.

When the rebellious members tried to explain their action, their statements made no sense. They were essentially voting themselves out of power for the sake of illogical principles they couldn’t really articulate.

In the end, Gaetz clearly only cares about the attention he can get when saying outrageous things surrounded by cameras. Don’t get me wrong, I was no fan of McCarthy but Gaetz is a joke, a bad one at that.

And a narcissist a lot like his mentor, Donald J. Trump. 

In fact, this new crisis was only the latest reminder that the Trump era is all about destruction of any sense of order and that’s why Trump is the single greatest threat to our democracy since at least the Civil War.

HEADLINES:

• Kevin McCarthy ousted as House speaker by Republican rebels (FT)

• What Newsom’s relationship with labor says about his Senate pick (Politico)

• Tensions flare between Chicago and White House over migrant crisis (CNN)

• Senators fume after McCarthy jams them on Ukraine aid (The Hill)

• UAW makes new counteroffer to GM; Ford lays off 330 (AN)

• Judge issues gag order in Trump fraud trial after ex-president posts about law clerk (CNBC)

• Trump Could Lose Trump Tower (and Other Properties) in Fraud Case (NYT)

• Trump turns his fraud trial into a campaign stop as he seeks to capitalize on his legal woes (AP)

• US Supreme Court rebuffs lawyers punished after 'woeful' suit backing Trump (Reuters)

• Hunter Biden pleads not guilty to gun, false statement charges (WP)

• he police chief who led a highly criticized raid of a small Kansas newspaper has been suspended, the mayor said. Chief Gideon Cody’s suspension is a reversal for the mayor, who previously said he would wait for results from a state police investigation before taking action. [AP]

• Canadian wildfires reduce air quality in Southwest Florida (WINK)

• Pope Francis opens possibility for blessing same-sex unions (ABC)

• Walmart, Target and Other Retailers Say Shoplifting Is Getting Worse, But Some Experts Disagree (Messenger)

• Which Way Is The Afghan Way? (NDTV)

• Angelina Jolie gets huge shout-out for supporting Afghan women (Geo)

• Let it shine: the unexpected benefits of sun exposure on skin (Guardian)

• Why Big Tech’s bet on AI assistants is so risky (TR)

• New data shows that without intervention, generative AI jobs will continue to cluster in the same big tech hubs (Brookings)

• How AI works, in plain English: Three great reads (Axios)

• Amazon appears to be readying an AI enhanced shopping 
  experience for its customers. (Insider)

• How does AI art make creative directors feel, really? (Drum)

• More than 40% of labor force to be affected by AI in 3 years, Morgan Stanley forecasts (CNBC)

• Federal Government Announces They’ve Hidden Briefcase Full Of Slavery Reparations Somewhere In Continental U.S. (The Onion)

 

Will McCarthy Lose His Gavel?

 This morning the main news is that the House of Representatives will vote on Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s fate today.

In order to survive, he must be able to muster a majority (218) of the chamber’s 435 votes. That could be all Republicans, as happened back in January when he was first elected Speaker.

Or he could receive a combination of GOP and Democratic votes to survive what in Congressional parlance is known by the unfortunate phrase, “Motion to Vacate.”

While it sounds like an invitation to cough up your meal, it is in reality more like a summons to your political execution.

The main architect of this Republican crisis is Rep. Matt Gaetz, who also happens to be a certifiable nut job.

But you could also say that McCarthy is his own worst enemy, that by failing to keep his word on any number of issues he now confronts committing political suicide.

But at the root of the whole mess on multiple levels is the would-be dictator himself, Donald Trump. Ironically, his attention is not on the drama on Capitol Hill but a courthouse in New York City, where he’s been judged guilty of fraud, faces additional charges, and contemplates the complete destruction of his business empire.

Whatever McCarthy’s fate turns out to be today, the country’s fate rests on preventing Trump from regaining the Presidency. Should that happen, in the words of the retiring Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair, “God help us!”

HEADLINES:

• Trump civil fraud trial in New York begins (CNN)

• Garland: I’d resign if Biden asked me to take action on Trump (Politico)

• Matt Gaetz moves to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker, setting up dramatic vote (ABC)

• Democrats can’t really save Kevin McCarthy (WP)

• Inside McCarthy’s Shutdown Turnabout That Left His Speakership at Risk (NYT)

• The fight about America’s near-miss government shutdown is not over (Economist)

• Suspect in girl's abduction from New York state park was found through fingerprints on ransom note, governor says (NBC)

• Don’t Underestimate Gavin Newsom (NR)

• Newsom selects Emily’s List leader to fill Feinstein’s Senate seat (WP)

• GOP senators weigh go-big-or-go-home strategy on Ukraine (Politico)

• Record-breaking, summer-like temperatures expected across Midwest and Northeast this week (NBC)

• The Rise and Fall of Mike Lindell (Newsweek)

• For Supreme Court, ethics have become the elephant in the courtroom (WP)

• A Battered Supreme Court Returns to Confront a Challenging Docket (NYT)

• The Hollywood writers strike is over, but the actors strike could drag on. Here's why (NPR)

• A landmark marijuana bill is headed to the Senate floor (CNN)

• How Google Alters Search Queries to Get at Your Wallet (Wired)

• How is Pakistan dealing with the security threat from Afghanistan? (Al Jazeera)

• Sweden’s leader turns to the military for help as gang violence escalates (AP)

• Humane shows off its futuristic 'Ai Pin' wearable (Engadget)

• OpenAI is encouraging people to use ChatGPT for therapy. That’s dangerous. (MSNBC)

• Generative AI will far surpass what ChatGPT can do. Here's everything on how the tech advances (ZDNet)

• AI chatbots let you 'interview' historical figures like Harriet Tubman. That's probably not a good idea. (Insider)

• 24-Year-Old Receives Sage Counsel From Venerable 27-Year-Old (The Onion)

That Kind of Love

One day after thinking and writing about the vital role played by elderly people in our society, I spent some time with my three 20-somethings plus the boys’ girlfriends at a cafe up on Potrero Hill late Sunday morning.

Driving across the Bay Bridge into the city under the bright Western sky, I was thinking about how I’d probably end up composing a companion piece today, this one about young people, their hopes and dreams, an uplifting kind of post.

Yesterday’s story was called “Old Folks;” this one could be called “Young Folks.” I’d like the synchronicity. 

These five are all so fresh and vibrant with their youthful energy, yet they also bear the uncertainties of their demographic — smart, passionate, focused on the future, but worried about the state of the world they are inheriting. They are beautiful and funny, loving and each in their own way artistic, but deeply cynical about wealth and power. They worry about climate change and the rise of hate. They work hard in low-paying jobs and hold varying levels of college debt. They believe they will never be able to afford to own a house. They are not sure yet whether they want to have kids of their own.

But I hope they will.

The neighborhood where we met for brunch pulses with the types of lively restaurants that continue to make San Francisco a very special place, especially for people of their ages.

Sharing a meal out like this is our family tradition, recently renewed, and it is always special and energizing for me. But as it turned out, this time it was also going to be a heartbreaking reminder that all things and all people must pass, as we all of all ages know only too well. 

As we were seated, the kids told me that they’d received word overnight that their maternal grandmother was dying. Their Mom, my ex-wife, had flown back east to be with her during her final hours, and thankfully, she had gotten there in time.

During our brunch, the text message came in that it was now time for the eldest of our three children, Aidan, to step up and say his final goodbye to the lady they have always known only as “Mimi.”

My strong, sweet, empathic son stepped aside to speak quietly into his cellphone with his sole remaining grandparent, or at least to try to. A few minutes later he returned.

“She didn’t say anything back,” he told us, his voice faltering, “but I could hear her breathing. I think she probably heard me.”

His girlfriend placed her hand gently on his arm. He looked away and asked if I had any tissues. I handed him a bunch. We discussed the research that the last sense to go before death was the sense of hearing. 

I thought back over the many years I’d known their kindly, plain-spoken grandmother who’d always put her family first and somehow welcomed me into it after my first painful divorce, when I was clearly broken and trying to start my life over. 

And I also remembered her unrestrained joy at the birth of our children. She’d come out to help.

But also I recalled her frank warning and assessment of my frenetic work/lifestyle of those years trying always to be in at least two places at the same time. “You’re burning the candle at both ends, David. That never works out for anybody.”

And then, much later, I remember how she told me I would always be part of her family even after her daughter and I had broken up, and how much that meant to me, even as I tried once again, unsuccessfully, to move on. And I remember wondering at the time, “What kind of love is this?”

During her final years, after she lost her husband, whom she loved very deeply, she declined into an inconsolable sadness. A darkening cloud of dementia closed in on her, but my kids reported that she always perked up, happy to see them whenever they visited, even when she no longer could remember their names. 

Soon all of that will come to its natural end. “I can’t even imagine visiting with Mimi not there. How can I?” Aidan said. 

None of us had an answer for him. Maybe there isn’t one.

We kept on talking about the world at large at our table, and about our personal hopes and dreams. And also about random things. Then as we parted, after exchanging hugs all around, all five of them smiled gamely for my camera. But by then there weren’t any dry eyes left in our little circle, and we’d pretty much used up my pocketful of tissues.

As I drove away from Potrero Hill, back across the Bay, it suddenly hit me like a bolt of lightening that — of course — I have always known deep in my heart exactly what that kind of love that was, is, and always will be.

The only kind.

HEADLINES (30 second read)

• Gaetz announces plans to oust Kevin McCarthy from House speakership (USA Today)

• Why McCarthy decided to take on his right flank and prevent the shutdown (CNN)

• Shutdown averted: Political winners and losers (The Hill)

• Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office confirmed Sunday night that Laphonza Butler will replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate. (SFC)

• Trump goes to trial in New York before a judge who just ruled he’s a fraud (Politico)

• Stellantis' last-minute bargaining move with the UAW saved Michigan jobs — for now (DFP)

• ‘A lot of catching up to do’: Hollywood writers head back to work (Guardian)

• Lego Is a Company Haunted by Its Own Plastic (Wired)

• Melania Trump Renegotiates Her Very Large Prenup to Protect Her Very Large Son’s Trust (Yahoo)

• Afghan embassy in Delhi to cease operations (Reuters)

• More than 100 dolphins dead in Amazon as water hits 102 degrees Fahrenheit (CNN)

• Decades Later, Closed Military Bases Remain a Toxic Menace (NYT)

• Alien life in Universe: Scientists say finding it is 'only a matter of time' (BBC)

• Artists Are Losing the War Against AI (Atlantic)

• 'Counterfeit people': The dangers posed by Meta’s AI celebrity lookalike chatbots (France24)

• AI Bias: Good intentions can lead to nasty results (Medium)

• 3 ways AI and technology can help you get a job (Fast Company)

• He wrote this film before AI was a hot topic. Now it's all the rage. (NPR)

• Why You Soon Won’t Be Able to Avoid AI—At Work or At Home (WSJ)

• How General AI Will Eventually Reshape Everything (Forbes)

• What They Don’t Tell You About Getting Old (NYT)

• Frat Nutritionists Dare Americans To Swallow More Live Goldfish (The Onion)

Old Folks

Aging has become a political issue, tinged with the ageism that is never far behind. Although I’ve expressed reservations about how late in life government officials should remain in office, I have a lot of respect for many of our older leaders.

Besides, we need them.

In the history of the human race, grandparents are a relatively recent phenomenon. People simply didn’t live long enough to reach that stage of life. These days we routinely do so, and that is a good thing.

One of the benefits older people provide their families and friends is story-telling. Our memories may be imperfect but they reach back many decades to times when conditions were very different. And that matters.

Passing these stories on to succeeding generations brings one of the main benefits of understanding history — how to not repeat the mistakes of the past. 

One of humanity’s greatest failures is repeating the mistakes of the past.

These thoughts occurred to me as I thought about the 99th birthday of our greatest former President, Jimmy Carter, and the passing of one of our prominent elders, Dianne Feinstein at age 90. But also about the 80-something politicians who remain in office — Joe Biden, Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi.

It is okay to remain agnostic on the question of whether they should hold onto their positions of power, but as a society in deep trouble, we really need them to step up if they don’t step aside.

Averting a government shutdown for now was a good first step.

HEADLINES:

• Congress passes stopgap bill to avert shutdown ahead of midnight deadline (CNN)

• House Speaker McCarthy faces ouster threat for avoiding shutdown (Reuters)

• Newsom's complicated choice in replacing Feinstein (Axios)

• Newsom facing competing pressures as he decides on Feinstein successor (WP)

• Feinstein’s body, accompanied by Pelosi, arrives in California on plane from president’s military fleet (CNN)

• What the Writers Won (American Prospect)

• Fulton County prosecutors signal they may soon offer plea deals (CNN)

• Former White House lawyer: Trump has ‘no defenses’ in New York fraud case (The Hill)

• A Revelation About Trees Is Messing With Climate Calculations (Wired)

• The Frantic Race to Protect New Orleans’s Drinking Water (WSJ)

• Putin discusses Ukraine war with top Wagner commander (Reuters)

• China is flooding Taiwan with disinformation (Economist)

• Russia hosts Taliban for talks on regional threats and says it will keep funding Afghanistan (NBC)

• No current talks with Taliban, Afghanistan's Massoud says, promising guerrilla warfare (Reuters)

• Google is betting bigger than ever on AI to sell the Pixel 8 (9to5Google)

• Amazon Invests Billions in AI – and Could Become a Major Play in the AI Race (InvestorPlace)

• ‘AI is transformative for the geopolitical order,’ political scientist Ian Bremmer says (CNBC)

• Walmart experiments with generative AI to help people shop (Axios)

• Open AI exec warns AI can become ‘extremely addictive’ (The Hill)

• The 19 tell-tale signs an article was written by AI (Medium)

• ‘The Creator’s’ vision of AI backlash is already here (WP)

• Elderly Woman Relieved To Know She’s Tackled Last Technological Advancement Of Lifetime (The Onion)