I had trouble sleeping so I got up much too early Sunday morning. After some puttering around, and a cup of coffee, I tuned into CNN for a minute only to discover that the new year had already arrived in Sydney.
I further learned that it would also soon be the new year in Tokyo and Seoul. On and on it would go around the globe throughout Sunday with fireworks, champagne and merry-making until all eight billion of us had welcomed in 2024.
Then again, what were we celebrating? In addition to two horrible wars, half of us on this planet live not under democracy but authoritarianism. And 2024 could well be the year that those of us living in the U.S. join that half.
In case you’ve been napping, Donald J. Trump is poised once again to claim the presidency and he has promised that on ”day one” he intends to be a dictator.
Those, as we say in my business, are the facts.
So if you are like me and don’t really relish the prospect of losing our democracy, what are you — what are we — going to do about this?
In the modern era, dictators don’t often arrive via coups; mostly they are elected. Trump’s idol Putin is an example and he’ll be re-elected in 2024.
Trump will be too unless those of us who oppose him figure out how to prevent that from occurring.
We have ten months and a few days until the election that one way or another will change the future for us, our children and grandchildren for ever and ever and ever, amen.
So let’s hope that’s enough time to figure this out.
HEADLINES:
Russia retaliates against Ukraine after 24 killed in border city (CNN)
Ukraine, Stalled on the Front, Steps Up Sabotage, Targeting Trains (NYT)
Israeli strikes in central Gaza kill at least 35 as Netanyahu says war will continue for months (AP)
How the costs of Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza are mounting (WP)
North Korea says it will launch three new spy satellites in 2024 (BBC)
City of Tijuana getting ready to receive large caravan of migrants (Yahoo)
U.S. border officials on track to process over 300,000 migrants in December, the highest monthly tally on record (CBS)
U.S. oil production hit a record under Biden. He seldom mentions it. (WP)
Would Keeping Trump Off the Ballot Hurt or Help Democracy? (NYT)
With more 14th Amendment challenges to Trump expected, will US Supreme Court step in? (ABC)
Led by Trump, GOP candidates take polarizing stances on race and history (WP)
Wild turkey population is declining rapidly, puzzling scientists (Yahoo)
The climate future arrived in 2023. It left scars across the planet. (WP)
A year of discovery (Axios)
How Did Companies Use Generative AI in 2023? Here’s a Look at Five Early Adopters. (WSJ)
AI Detects Unusual Signal Hidden in a Famous Raphael Masterpiece (ScienceAlert)
Area Dog’s Rock Bottom Same As His Peak (The Onion)
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