The Franchise

When my generation was growing up, people couldn’t vote until we reached the age of 21. Accordingly, my first time was in 1968, one of the most chaotic election years in U.S. history up until then. Two major figures, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, the latter of whom was a leading candidate for president, were assassinated.

Demonstrations in Chicago during the Democratic convention turned violent that summer when the city’s notorious strongman mayor, Richard Daley, dispatched his police force. I knew a number of the demonstrators who were beaten in the ensuing confrontations.

At that point, the country felt as if it might come apart.

I was initially among those who doubted whether voting even mattered, but I voted anyway. And over the ensuing decades, in election after election, I have voted again and again.

Sometimes the candidates and measures I supported won; sometimes they lost. Gradually over the years, I developed a deep respect for the process, even though it has been weakened by dark money and the purveyors of extremist propaganda.

Maybe that’s why I hold out a ray of hope that a majority of voters will continue to reject election deniers in upcoming elections, helping to preserve the integrity of the voting process.

Because once we no longer trust that our votes will be counted accurately and honestly, we no longer will believe this is a democracy, however imperfect.

The cruel irony, of course, is this is exactly what has happened to those who buy the myth that the 2020 presidential election was stolen — that Trump did not lose — even though there is absolutely no shred of evidence whatsoever that that was the case.

Such is Trump’s stain on history. He lied and cheated and then, when he lost anyway, he sold his supporters the big lie that the other side had been the cheating side.

Thanks to this tyrant, we now stand at a crossroads. With this in mind, every citizen should vote accordingly.

(An earlier version of this essay appeared one year ago.)

Read also: “The Warnings About Trump in 2024 Are Getting Louder” (New Yorker).

HEADLINES:

• The Biden-Xi summit could be the last chance to stabilize U.S.-China relationship (CNBC)

• Israeli Forces Have Limited Time in Gaza, U.S. Officials Say (NYT)

• Israel agrees to humanitarian pauses, but gulf with U.S. remains (WP)

• War threatens to unravel Gaza’s close-knit society (AP)

• Israel-Hamas war live: US says ‘far too many’ Palestinians have died as Gaza’s health ministry says toll is over 11,000 (Guardian)

• Intense Protests Again Shut Down Midtown Manhattan Streets (NYT)

• Pentagon: Defense aid packages for Ukraine getting smaller (Independent)

• Taliban success emboldens Pakistani militants, and deadly attacks surge (WP)

• FBI seizes NYC Mayor Eric Adams' phones in campaign investigation (ABC)

• Speaker Johnson navigates 'mission impossible' to avoid shutdown, without clear plan (NPR)

• House Republicans Clash Over Spending Days Ahead of Shutdown Deadline (NYT)

• Manchin’s retirement a buzzkill for Senate Democrats’ 2024 hopes (The Hill)

• A temporary Senate rule change could finally end Tuberville's military blockade (NPR)

• Batteries of the future: How cotton and seawater might power our devices (BBC)

• The 20 farming families who use more water from the Colorado River than some states (Desert Sun)

• Migrants are showing up at the U.S. southern border in historic numbers (NPR)

• AI could cause ‘catastrophic’ financial crisis, says Yuval Noah Harari (Guardian)

• Jim Harbaugh suspended three games by Big Ten amid sign-stealing investigation (WP)

• This New Breed of AI Assistant Wants to Do Your Boring Office Chores (Wired)

• The AI Debate Is Happening in a Cocoon (Atlantic)

• Generative AI still mostly experimental, say executives (Reuters)

• We’re not ready for a major shift in visual journalism (Poynter)

• Tech Disrupted Hollywood. AI Almost Destroyed It (Wired)

• Christian School Anatomy Textbook Shows Female Reproductive System Wearing Long Denim Skirt (The Onion)

 

Friday Links

 HEADLINES:

• Israelis agree to four-hour pauses to let people flee Gaza (Reuters)

• Tens of Thousands Flee Northern Gaza Strip, as Israel’s Invasion Advances (NYT)

• Netanyahu rejected ceasefire-for-hostages deal in Gaza, sources say (Guardian)

• After a month of bombardments, as much as a third of Gaza City is damaged (NPR)

• Google’s Open Culture Collides With the Israel-Hamas War (NYT)

• Feds bust high-end brothel network used by elected officials (CNN)

• Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin says he will not seek reelection (WP)

• Envelopes with fentanyl or other substances were sent to several elections offices (NPR)

• Biden and Xi meeting set for next week as US hopes to halt downward spiral in relations (CNN)

• Democrats' new abortion battle plan: Rush to get it on ballots in 2024 (Axios)

• The Republican presidential debate was a televised temper tantrum (Guardian)

• Hollywood’s strikes are both now over as actors reach deal with studios, return to work with writers (AP)

• A new study updates Turing’s theory on how animals get their spots and stripes (CNN)

• Why covid-19 did not harm rich economies as badly as first thought (Economist)

• Climate Change Is Causing Severe Drought in a Volatile Mideast Zone, Study Finds (NYT)

• After living in Pakistan for years, thousands of Afghans have gone into hiding to escape a government order to expel undocumented foreigners because they fear persecution under a Taliban administration in their homeland, rights activists say. (Reuters)

• The FDA approved a new drug for weight loss, Zepbound, an injectable medication with the same ingredient as the diabetes drug Mounjaro. (WP)

• Reducing pesticides in food: Major food manufacturers earn an F grade (CNN)

• How artificial intelligence will transform fame (Economist)

• The Supreme Court created mayhem on guns. Here’s how it could fix the mess. (WP)

• The Outrage Over Michigan's 'Sign-Stealing' Is Hypocrisy At Its Finest (SI)

• With the power of AI, you can be mediocre, too (TechCrunch)

• 7 fascinating use cases of AI in finance (VentureBeat)

• University Builds Robot-Designing AI, Churns Out Designs in Seconds (Tom’s)

• Fisher-Price Smartphone Toy Teaches Children To Screen All Calls Assuming It’s Debt Collectors (The Onion)

Bad Night, Good Night

Wednesday night’s GOP debate was like a comedy skit, except the jokes were all bad. Maybe that was because Tuesday night was a very bad night for the MAGA extremists who control the Republican Party. It was a very good night for Democrats.

Voters delivered a message in Ohio, Kentucky and Ohio, and it was that a clear majority of them do not want their rights taken away from them by politicians.

Abortion should be a bedrock right, according to majorities in states red and blue. Overturning Roe v. Wade, which is what the Trump-packed Supreme Court did last year, was a serious over-reach by conservatives and it is having long-lasting impacts at the ballot box.

All of which should spell good news for Democrats in the 2024 elections. But the Democratic Party has a problem in that regard and it has to do with who will be at the head of the ticket.

There is a season for everything (so says the Bible) and this may be the season for Democratic leaders to listen to the public opinion polls. Those polls indicate that voters do not want Joe Biden to run for re-election.

There is a widespread perception that Biden is too old for the job. And many people blame him, probably unfairly, for inflation that has driven up the cost of basics — food, gas, housing.

The complicated causes of inflation can be debated (economists love to do that) but Biden’s age is not debatable. Should he step aside, perhaps younger candidates like Gavin Newsom or Gretchen Whitmer would emerge and stand a better chance at winning the seven or so swing states that will determine who wins the Presidency next November.

HEADLINES:

• Actors’ union reaches tentative deal with Hollywood film and TV studios, ending historic strike (CNN)

• Even Trump realized his testimony in New York was a mistake (MSNBC)

• Outcome of Trump’s fraud trial could have ‘seismic’ impact on his business (CNN)

• House votes to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib over her Israel-Hamas rhetoric in a stunning rebuke (AP)

• Top takeaways from 2023 election results — and what they mean for 2024 (WP)

• Election 2023 results: Democrats pick up wins on Ohio abortion ballot measure, Kentucky governor's race and Virginia Legislature (CBS)

• How Abortion Lifted Democrats, and More Takeaways From Tuesday’s Elections (NYT)

• MAGA Panics Over Election Disaster: 'We're Getting Crushed' (Newsweek)

• Democratic strategist David Axelrod, who worked in former President Barack Obama's administration, walked back remarks suggesting Biden should reconsider his bid for reelection after a set of troubling polls. “It’s overreacting to say I told him to drop out,” Axelrod said. [HuffPost]

• Israel's ground forces in the Gaza Strip aimed to locate and disable Hamas militants' vast tunnel network beneath the enclave, the next phase in an Israeli offensive that has killed thousands of Palestinians. (Reuters)

• Families flee past tanks as Israel begins to storm Gaza City (Guardian)

• Reoccupying Gaza ‘Not the Right Thing to Do,’ White House Tells Israel (NYT)

• US warns Israel against reoccupying Gaza after war (BBC)

• Americans divided over Israel response to Hamas attacks, AP-NORC poll shows (AP)

• This year is "virtually certain" to be the warmest in 125,000 years, European Union scientists said, after data showed last month was the world's hottest October in that period. (Reuters)

• Cancel Culture Cuts Both Ways (Atlantic)

• AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li: ‘I’m more concerned about the risks that are here and now’ (Guardian)

• Humans vs. robots: Study compares 27 humanoid robots with humans to see who is superior (TechXplore)

• White House Staff Panicking After Unstoppable Commander Biden Bursts Through Oval Office Window (The Onion)

 

Authors

During lunch with a friend at a local cafe on Tuesday, I mentioned what my main concern as a writer is about artificial intelligence.

She urged me to write an essay about it so here it is.

I’m not really worried about students using AI to cheat on writing assignments. Because anyone who would do that does not have enough skill or self-confidence to ever become a professional writer anyway. They are simply the latest generation of plagiarists, who have always been with us, just like the bad shadows of our better selves.

And in its current form, any AI-composed article is mediocre at best.

Of course, as it iterates, chatbot technology will improve but that is not of concern to me either.

What disturbs me is not all the machine writing that will soon clog the digital landscape, but the people who will read it.

Why am I worried about the readers?

Historically, during the long reign of the Age of Gutenberg, there has been some measure of a finite limit to the volume of writing in the world.

Those limits have expanded dramatically in the Internet Era, when anyone can publish a blog. But, generally speaking, the best writing usually still rises to the top, like cream in a cup of coffee.

There are many more good readers than good writers — by orders of magnitude, actually.

So in this time when more and more of the “writing” that floods the market will inevitably be AI-generated, I’m worried that too many readers will grow accustomed to mediocrity, and that will cloud their appreciation of excellence.

That would only further shrink the options for truly talented writers to make a living, which is already a daunting task.

After all, even cream curdles when left untouched for too long.

And that, my friends, is what we are worried about.

HEADLINES:

• Abortion Rights Fuel Big Democratic Wins, and Hopes for 2024 (NYT)

• Abortion rights triumph again in Ohio (MSNBC)

• Virginia Democrats gain control of General Assembly, dealing a blow to Youngkin (WP)

• Kentucky Governor Election Results 2023: Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear wins (NBC)

• A month into war, Israel envisions an ‘overall security’ role in Gaza indefinitely (AP)

• U.S. struggles to exert influence as war rages in Gaza (NBC)

• Israel Says It Has Split Gaza Strip in Two in Drive to Isolate Hamas’s Leadership (NYT)

• Trump Plots Against His Enemies (Atlantic)

• Terrifying Reports About Trump’s Plans for a Second Term Have One Bright Spot (Slate)

• Team Trump Mulling Deploying Military to Streets on Day 1 if Elected: Report (Daily Beast)

• Some Democrats worry Biden’s team is ignoring political warning signs (WP)

• ‘Everything is parched’: Amazon struggles with drought amid deforestation (Guardian)

• After planet’s hottest October, U.S. temperatures are spiking in November (WP)

• Eight Books That Explain How the World Works (Atlantic)

• Greenland’s ice shelves hold back sea level rise. There are just 5 left. (WP)

• The Singularity Is Less Than 10 Years Away, Says AI Veteran (DeCrypt)

• OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shrugs off Elon Musk in AI arms race (VentureBeat)

• Behold ‘Grok,’ Elon Musk’s AI chatbot with a ‘rebellious’ streak (CNN)

• Tech Start-Ups Try to Sell a Cautious Pentagon on A.I. (NYT)

• An AI just negotiated a contract for the first time ever — and no human was involved (CNBC)

• Department Of Transportation Reduces Commute Times By Adding Highway Nitro Strips (The Onion)

 

The Stakes

The most recent spate of polls suggest that Joe Biden would lose to Donald Trump in most of the key swing states if the election were held today, but that those results would be reversed should Trump be convicted of a crime.

In that case, the polls suggest, Biden would win handily.

And it’s worth remembering that the election is exactly one year from today, the first Tuesday in November.

As the various wheels of justice grind on, Trump has made clear that if he should win re-election, he will carry out what in plain terms would be a coup, establishing himself as an authoritarian leader like Vladimir Putin and pardoning himself from all crimes.

That, in a nutshell is what is at stake in the 2024 election. Those who care about democracy better hope for a conviction.

How we have landed in this situation after nearly 250 years of democratic rule is a complex matter. The potential remedy is simply a case of the rule of law.

HEADLINES

• Trump defiant at NY fraud trial, judge threatens to cut off testimony (Reuters)

• On The Stand, Trump Admits To Adjusting Property Valuations (HuffPost)

• Trump's attorneys in his civil fraud case double down on criticism of judge's clerk (ABC)

• Donald Trump looks terrifyingly electable (Economist)

• Trump Leads in 5 Critical States as Voters Blast Biden, Times/Siena Poll Finds (NYT)

• Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis potent challengers to Biden in swing states, poll shows (Guardian)

• Biden losing Arab-American voters in swing state (BBC)

• As Gaza death toll soars, secrecy shrouds Israel’s targeting process (WP)

• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) thinks it’s time for Israel to move on from Benjamin Netanyahu, saying the Israeli prime minister has proven incapable of handling the issue of Palestinian sovereignty. Meanwhile, Sanders called for an end to Israel's relentless bombing of Gaza, but noted that calling for a permanent cease-fire wouldn't be realistic. [HuffPost]

• Israeli forces cut off north Gaza to isolate Hamas as Palestinian deaths surpass 10,000 (AP)

• Israeli troops encircle Gaza City with civilians still inside (Today)

• Vladimir Putin has decided to run in the March presidential election, as the Kremlin chief feels he must steer Russia through the most perilous period in decades, six sources told Reuters. Putin has already served as president for longer than any other Russian ruler since Josef Stalin. (Reuters)

• The Inevitable Fall of Putin’s New Russian Empire (Foreign Policy)

• Afghans fleeing Pakistan lack water, food and shelter once they cross the border, aid groups say (AP)

• What the Golden Gate Is (Finally) Doing About Suicides (NYT)

• ‘Are you sitting down?’ The windfall that transformed NPR 20 years ago. (WP)

• OpenAI introduces custom AI assistants called “GPTs” that play different roles (Ars Technica)

• Chatbots May ‘Hallucinate’ More Often Than Many Realize (NYT)

• AI and the Erosion of Human Cognition (Psychology Today)

• Concerning New Study Finds Nation’s Poverty Growing Faster Than Officials Can Build Prisons (The Onion)

 

Investigating Your Own Life

(This essay is adapted from my course “Memoir as Journalism” for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at SFSU.)

So you want to write a memoir, or just create a bit of a record for after you’ve completed your earthly adventure? One way is to investigate your own past. How to begin?

First you should access and organize your own personal records. These are going to be extremely valuable assets in your research. And it's here that packrats have an inherent advantage, although many of them may need help organizing their stuff.

Grade-school report cards, college financial aid letters, tax returns, bank statements, tax bills, car maintenance records, even simple receipts can tell a story. When was it that you had that tire blowout on the freeway exactly? You remember the exit sign but which tow company came to help, with that nice man who turned out to know your cousin?

And, yes, that's how you found out why your uncle had to leave town so suddenly back when you were a kid.

Records tell stories, you just have to allow them to speak.

An even more powerful treasure trove of your past lies in the letters, journals, photos, tapes and videos you've stuffed in an old box in the garage somewhere. Fifty times you almost threw them away; fifty times you didn't.

Now you're seriously contemplating your history they are suddenly fifty times more valuable than they were yesterday.

Most of the letters were addressed to you from someone else among your family members, friends, or associates. But you also have of your own letters, like those you wrote overseas that your sister saved for you.

Pay attention to the language usage in these letters. Look at the stamps and the postmarks. Note the dates. In stories, certain details matter.

And there is your college application essay, your first job application cover letter, an angry Letter to the Editor of the local newspaper. Your own writing is always a window into your prior self -- how you presented yourself to the world back then, and how you used language to express your feelings.

As you go through this mass of material, think as if you are conducting a forensic analysis, as if your former self were somebody alien to you now. The reason I say this is you need to try and be as objective about yourself as possible in this process.

It should be as if you are writing a biography of another person.

Photographic evidence is particularly revealing. Note the expressions, the body language, who stands next to whom, what's in the background, which smiles are natural and which are forced. Who snapped that photo?

Every picture tells not one but many stories. Much of what you are seeking can be glimpsed through the lens of cameras past but you have to be able to see it.

Beyond physical records and let's be frank here, most of us don't have all that many, you have a great tool in your computer. Your grandmother didn't have that when she wrote down her memories. So take advantage of your advantage. More and more digitized history is available, as various efforts to catalogue the past and bring it online proceed here and there.

And of course there is original web content itself. Stories about you that appeared here and there. More photos. More citations. Look up your name at Academia.edu. You might be surprised how many scholars have cited your work. 

For the past 25 years or so, there's the Wayback Machine hosted by the non-profit Internet Archive. You can familiarize yourself with how to use it or there are articles to help guide you. I just unearthed an old article for a friend that brought back memories for her.

While there is the frustration of dead links, you can sometimes find workarounds for that issue. For instance, try locating the author of any article you seek -- authors tend to maintain their own clip files apart from the web.

And when researching family history, please don't overlook obituaries. Many details of the lives of even people you knew well only appear in print at the end of their lives.

For deeper forensic analyses, you want to probe legal files, including criminal and civil cases, divorce judgements, adoption papers and bankruptcy filings. Property records from the assessor and recorders offices are among the public records you can obtain.

If this all sounds scary it isn't. Just give it a try. The clerks in most agency offices prove extremely helpful.

Do not overlook the Freedom of Information Act, which allows you to find out what data government agencies collected and maintained about you. You may think only of intelligence agencies like the FBI and CIA but most FOIA files are far more mundane, but perhaps more relevant to what you need to know.

Most states have some sort of sunshine laws; in California it's known as the California Public Records Act. There are non-profit organizations that can help you draft letters of inquiry and interpret the results when the agency in question sends you the records you requested.

But all of this record-seeking is only one aspect of investigating your life, or what I call Memoir Journalism. It is other people who hold the majority of the information you with to know locked away in their memories.

To help them unlock those memories, try perfecting your interviewing techniques. Fortunately there are many available resources to help you with this, from YouTube videos to journalism classes or  some friendly retired reporter, lawyer, investigator, insurance adjuster, historian or homicide inspector.

Many people have experience obtaining information through conversation.

And conversations can be the fun part of all this. Like fossil fuels stored in the rocks beneath our feet, the memories locked in the brains of others need to be mined and released.

Just try not to be a reckless brain surgeon and try not to pollute the planet in the process.

The key to all of this, in total, is to think like an investigator.

HEADLINES

• Israel Defense Forces escalate attacks inside Gaza (CBS)

• Thousands of protesters gather in DC to call for a cease-fire in Gaza (ABC)

• The futility of ‘destroying Hamas’ (Guardian)

• White House frustrated by Israel’s onslaught but sees few options (WP)

• How democracy dies, right here in America (The Hill)

• Trump leads Biden in 4 key swing states, new polling finds (CNN)

• Trump and allies map out plans to use government to punish opponents if he wins in 2024 (WP)

• Will Abortion Dominate the 2024 Elections? Tuesday Will Offer Clues. (NYT)

• 'Stupid' Eric Trump Walked Into Trap in NY Fraud Case: Michael Cohen (Newsweek)

• Mike Johnson and Mitch McConnell are on a collision course (WP)

• ‘An Existential Threat to American Higher Education’ (Atlantic)

• Washington Post names Will Lewis as new chief executive and publisher (Financial Times)

• Content creators surge past legacy media as news hits a tipping point (WP)

• Afghanistan opium poppy supply plummets 95% after Taliban ban - U.N (Reuters)

• Elon Musk unveils Grok, an AI chatbot with a ‘rebellious streak’ (Guardian)

• 'Mika' becomes world's first AI human-like robot CEO (Fox)

• Britain publishes 'Bletchley Declaration' on AI safety (Reuters)

• Woman In Giddy Honeymoon Stage Of Hating Someone New (The Onion)

 

The We in I

Recently, three other guys and I showed up for what was supposed to be draft night in our fantasy basketball league of 12 teams. Due to some last-minute glitches, we had to delay the draft for a week, but we spent a couple hours together anyway.

The three of them are in their 40s, married with kids, gainfully employed, homeowners, and sports fans.

Just like me, three decades removed.

As they sipped beers, we discussed the settings for our upcoming season. There are options, as determined by Yahoo, and they are way too many. complex and arcane to get into here.

But suffice it to say, they were sufficiently engrossing to keep us occupied over those couple of hours as each of us tried to balance what would be best for the overall league (12 managers) with what we perceived might be best for our own self-interest.

In this way, one-third of the managers were setting the course for the entire league.

It struck me afterward that this exercise is very much like the American experiment with democracy. When each person votes, they have to weigh what is best for the whole against what may be most advantageous for themselves.

But in many elections, fewer than half of the eligible voters actually cast a ballot.

Those who participate are embracing their rights and planting their stake. Those who don’t show up often end up unsatisfied.

Politically, much rhetoric gets expressed over time on this dilemma, so it is relaxing sometimes to explore it in the relatively safe space of fantasy sports.

Meanwhile, I just checked, and so far in our fantasy season, playing by the rules we set that night, three of the four of us are among the top five in the league. (I’m the fourth.)

What is that old saw — use it or lose it? Of course, even when you use it you may lose anyway.

That’s partly the deal with democracy. It’s definitely the deal with fantasy sports.

HEADLINES:

• Israel-Hamas war rages as outcry grows over Gaza crisis (CNN)

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Palestinian Authority president during West Bank trip (CBS)

• U.S., Arab leaders to meet as Palestinian deaths mount (Reuters)

• ‘No place that is safe in Gaza right now,’ UN says; Israeli protestors call on Netanyahu to resign (CNBC)

• Israeli operations uprooted Palestinians in 1948. Many fear a repeat. (WP)

• Netanyahu resists pressure for ‘humanitarian pauses’ after Blinken meeting (Al Jazeera)

• U.N. chief ‘horrified’ by deadly ambulance strike (WP)

• Earthquake in Western Nepal Kills More Than 150 (NYT)

• US officials are concerned that Ukraine is running out of troops and have hinted at peace talks with Russia, report says (Insider)

• Ukrainian troops battle exhaustion (Reuters)

• Muslim Americans helped Biden win Michigan in 2020. Now, his Israel-Gaza response is throwing their support into question (CNN)

• A Tangle of Rules to Protect America’s Water Is Falling Short (NYT)

• Cats use nearly 300 unique facial expressions to communicate, new study shows (USA Today)

• AI is not the problem, prime minister – but the corporations that control it are (Guardian)

• How engineering leaders can use AI to optimize performance (TC)

• Conservative Relative’s Description Of Chicago Clearly Came Directly From Dante’s ‘Inferno’ (The Onion)