Joint Custody of History

The tawdry spectacle of the disqualification hearing for D.A. Fani Willis continues down in Fulton County. Georgia. This of course is in the election subversion case against Donald Trump and his allies.

Friday’s many additional hours of testimony did nothing, in my opinion, to demonstrate any kind of conflict of interest in the case that would disqualify Willis.

The judge indicated he will issue his decision in the next two weeks

***

Most of the time, I’m the oldest guy in the room, so when it comes to memories, mine reach back the furthest. So it is a refreshing experience this week to hang out with my sisters, who remember things that I don’t.

It is also nice to be just a character in the memory of others as opposed to the being an aged family patrician and the sole custodian of the now-distant past.

I was almost 30 when my first child was born, and almost 60 when my first grandchild was born. That’s a lot of rings in the tree for me to try and recall when my descendants ask me specific questions.

Besides, the way I tell a tale is *my* way, not necessarily with any higher quotient of accuracy than anyone else who was there at the time — yet I’m the only one around. And of course, the more distant in the past an event occurred, the more our individual versions are likely to diverge, which brings me to the phenomenon of memory consensus.

Within families, communities, countries, cultures — even on a species level — we ultimately tend to reach some sort of consensus about the past, though historians, ideologues, contrarians and poets continue to debate

And as much as I enjoy telling my descendants stories about my youth, I’m acutely aware from my journalism career that for a more well-rounded narrative, other sources ought to be interviewed. My version is only that — mine.

Then again, to the victors go the spoils, and nothing spells victory over historical memory better than outliving the others. So as we each add in more rings to our personal family trees, the story at some point becomes ours alone to tell…though a joint family memoir would no doubt do a better job than any of us could ever have done alone.

As the saying goes, there’s your version, my version and then there is the truth and none of us is lying.

(This is from March 2022.)

Thanks to Journal of the Plague Years for reprinting my essay, “Accountability Denied.”

HEADLINES:

• Crowds chant defiance as they bid farewell to Navalny (BBC)

• Israel’s killing rage (Al Jazeera)

• Japan’s population crisis was years in the making – and relief may be decades away (CNN)

• Arizona bill would make shooting and killing migrants on property legal (NBC)

• Border Crackdowns Won’t Solve America’s Immigration Crisis (WSJ)

• U.S. prescription drug market in disarray as ransomware gang attacks (WP)

• Trump seeks delay of trial on mishandling classified documents (Reuters)

• Haley wants Trump legal cases ‘dealt with’ before election (Politico)

• Nikki Haley can’t win the Republican primary with 40%. But she can expose some Trump weaknesses (AP)

• Trump Is Broke as Heck and Completely “Embarrassed” by It (TNR)

• Judge hears closing arguments in Fani Willis disqualification hearing (The Hill)

• Journalist Catherine Herridge held in contempt for not revealing source (WP)

• Elon Musk Sues OpenAI and Sam Altman for Violating the Company’s Principles (NYT)

• The Mindblowing Experience of a Chatbot That Answers Instantly (Wired)

• Alphabet Faces ‘Clear and Present Danger’ of Falling Short in AI (Bloomberg)

• Google's Gemini flop raises the question: What exactly do we want our chatbots to do, really? (Business Insider)

• Zelensky Challenges Putin To Settle Ukraine War On The Dance Floor (The Onion)

 

Friday Links

 HEADLINES:

• IDF open fire on Gaza aid truck, killing over 100; Overall, 30,000 Gazans dead, Palestinian Health Ministry says (The Hill)

• Putin threatens nuclear response to NATO troops if they go to Ukraine (WP)

• Middle East crisis live: Biden says killing of more than 100 Palestinians near aid trucks will complicate ceasefire talks (Guardian)

• Republicans used to back Ukraine. Then came middle fingers in Alabama. (WP)

• The US is bracing for complex, fast-moving threats to elections this year, FBI director warns (AP)

• Texts reveal shadowy role witness played in defense attorney’s push to disqualify Willis from Trump case (CNN)

• Revealed: ‘extremist’ Trump economist plots rightwing overhaul of US treasury (Guardian)

• Judge blocks Texas law that gives police broad powers to arrest migrants who illegally enter US (AP)

• The Supreme Court just handed Trump an astonishing victory (Vox)

• Democracy’s appeal is slipping as nations across the world hold elections, a poll finds (AP)

• Mitch McConnell's decision to step aside as Senate Republican leader raises questions about whether the chamber long known for being slow and deliberative will be swept up in the heated populism of Donald Trump. (Reuters)

• The House approves a short-term extension to avoid a shutdown. (AP)

• A huge wealth transfer means millennials are poised to become ‘the richest generation in history’ (CNBC)

• Scientists get closer to solving chemical puzzle of the origin of life (WP)

• Fast-Spreading Wildfires in Texas Panhandle Prompt Evacuations (NYT)

• Where Did Covid Come From? (WSJ)

• Google CEO Pichai says Gemini's AI image results "offended our users" (NPR)

• Will Apple create a better AI? Questions abound as Tim Cook hints at what’s to come. (MarketWatch)

• SEC is investigating OpenAI's communications, including Sam Altman's (Axios)

• Generative AI Challenges Copyright Law (Atlantic)

• Man’s Body Running Out Of Ideas To Convince Him He Full (The Onion)

Accountability Denied

 “Justice too long delayed is justice denied.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

When he wrote those words in his Letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963, King was referring to a very different context from yesterday’s Supreme Court announcement that it will take up the issue of presidential immunity — eventually. 

In this case, what is at stake is not whether the defendant — Donald Trump — will get his measure of justice but whether we the people will get ours.

That’s because the leisurely pace at which the court is proceeding with this case almost certainly means it will not be able to go to trial until after this November’s election.

And that is unacceptable.

Because if Trump should win that election, this opportunity to adjudicate his role in the Jan. 6th insurrection will never come to be. And our democracy will suffer irreparable harm.

Given that regrettable prospect, I’ve come up with a new truism:

“Accountability too long delayed is accountability denied.” 

HEADLINES:

• Worries about political extremism or threats to democracy have emerged as a top concern for voters and an issue where Biden has a slight advantage over Trump ahead of the November election, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. (Reuters)

• McConnell will step down as the Senate Republican leader in November after a record run in the job (AP)

• Supreme Court to decide Trump immunity claim, further delaying election subversion trial (CNN)

• Judge won’t delay Trump financial penalty but lets sons temporarily remain atop company (WP)

• No matter how much Trump rails against the courts. He still needs to figure out what to do about the judgments against him while he appeals them. And at this point, he doesn’t appear to have the cash on hand. [HuffPost]

• Illinois judge kicks Trump off primary ballot (BBC)

• In testimony, Hunter Biden calls GOP impeachment inquiry a 'charade' based on 'MAGA-motivated conspiracies' (NBC)

• US Congress leaders work toward spending deal to avert Saturday government shutdowns (Reuters)

• Schumer: Negotiators ‘very close’ to deal to avoid shutdown (The Hill)

• The Government Really Is Spying On You — And It’s Legal (Politico)

• U.S. wants Israeli written assurances on using U.S. weapons in Gaza by mid-March (Axios)

• China Deals Major Blow to Russia with Payments Ban (Newsweek)

• 'Devastating' Texas wildfires spark disaster declaration, nuclear plant partial evacuation (ABC)

• Lead-Tainted Applesauce Sailed Through Gaps in Food-Safety System (NYT)

• Kellogg CEO under fire for suggesting cereal as a money-saving dinner (WP)

• Our ancient animal ancestors had tails. Why don't we? (AP)

• How the Media Industry Keeps Losing the Future (NYT)

• Some Intelligent Civilizations Will Be Trapped on their Worlds (Universe Today)

• The future of AI video is here, super weird flaws and all (WP)

• Google CEO says Gemini AI diversity errors are ‘completely unacceptable’ (Verge)

• Elon Musk is going to war with Google (Business Insider)

• Apple is halting its highly secretive electric car project. Staff were told yesterday that “Project Titan” is winding down so they can focus on artificial intelligence efforts. (WP)

• Woman Passed Out In Hot Yoga Class Must Have Achieved Nirvana (The Onion)

Michigan as Microcosm?

 Heading into Tuesday’s primary elections in my original home state, Michigan, both parties were watching for early clues of what could happen in the general election in November.

They weren’t disappointed.

Michigan is a key battleground state that has flip-flopped between Trump and Biden the past two cycles. Also, it presents a demographer’s dream laboratory for the trends shaping the upper Midwest rust belt states.

Moderate Republicans and Independents were watching how much Nikki Haley could cut into Donald Trump’s commanding lead. Suburban women could lead the way in that. Autoworkers are another key group that Trump hopes to attract.

As returns slowly came in, it appeared that Haley would win over a quarter (between 26-27 percent) of the GOP vote, despite hardly campaigning in Michigan at all. That is a bright red flashing light for the Republicans in November because that is potentially a strong anti-Trump minority among voters he will need to convert to beat Biden.

Democrats were watching how many “uncommitted” votes might tarnish Joe Biden’s victory. The state’s influential Arab-American and Muslim-American minorities are angry about Biden’s stance in the Israel-Hamas war and were expected to choose uncommitted as a protest vote against that policy.

As the returns trickled in, the uncommitted vote accounted for just over 13 percent of the Democratic total. That is a bright yellow flashing light for the Democrats, not yet red. that’s because Biden has plenty of time to do something about it, i.e., force an end to the war in Gaza.

But Biden has other problems. Younger voters in the state and elsewhere in great numbers are also opposed to the war, specifically Israel’s unrestrained bombing of Palestinian civilians in its search for Hamas fighters.

So enthusiasm or the lack thereof among young voters could be a factor. Turnout among black voters also is of major concern to Democrats in Michigan.

It will take a while for deeper analysis of all of these factors. As for an initial take on the relative risk to the two front-runners, I would just say look at the math. Trump faces potentially a 26 percent problem; Biden potentially a 13 percent problem.

Then again, it’s a long time until November.

HEADLINES:

• Joe Biden wins Michigan primary despite sizeable Gaza protest vote; Donald Trump easily wins Michigan primary over Nikki Haley (BBC) 

• Oil prices rise as market monitors Gaza cease-fire talks, OPEC production cuts (CNBC)

• The War in Gaza Turned This Longtime Michigan Democrat Against Biden (NYT)

• Jon Stewart says he has a solution to the Gaza conflict (Business Insider)

• Whitmer navigates Michigan ‘minefield’ between Biden and Arab Americans (WP)

• Biden meets with congressional leaders ahead of government shutdown deadline (NBC)

• Senate GOP fears Speaker Johnson headed toward shutdown wreck (The Hill)

• The economy is roaring. Immigration is a key reason. (WP)

• Fertility expert says Alabama's court ruling on embryos is zero science and all politics (CNN)

• Star Witness In Fani Willis Hearing Apparently Backtracks—Says He Was ‘Speculating’ About Relationship Start (Forbes)

• Silent brain changes precede Alzheimer’s. Researchers have new clues about which ones come first (AP)

• Google Has Changed (TNR)

• “The Freaks Came Out to Write” review – how the Village Voice changed American journalism (Guardian)

• The San Francisco hotel that Hunter S. Thompson feared, loathed and loved (SFGate)

• San Francisco Macy’s to close in devastating blow to downtown (SFC)

• Vice.com shutters & BuzzFeed sells Complex – what explains the death of millennial media? (The Drum)

• As Sports Illustrated sputters, its owners throw a party for ‘the brand’ (WP)

• Japan births hit record low and population down by largest margin in 2023 (Japan Times)

• Behind the Curtain: AI's doom or boom (Axios)

• Klarna says its AI assistant does the work of 700 people after it laid off 700 people (Fast Company)

• OpenAI says New York Times 'hacked' ChatGPT to build copyright lawsuit (Guardian)

• Clarence Thomas Announces 50% Discount On All Favorable Rulings (The Onion)

Free Speech, Bias and Truth

The legal challenges presented by laws in Florida and Texas now before the U.S. Supreme Court are not so much free speech cases as political attempts by conservative groups to punish social media platforms for a perceived liberal bias.

The laws in the two southern states were enacted as part of a protest against the social media companies’ moderation of Donald Trump’s “stop the steal” effort in the wake of losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.

Actually, companies like Facebook (now Meta) and Twitter (now X) were simply removing dangerous lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election, not suppressing a point of view.

There was no widespread fraud and the election was not stolen.

Ironically in this matter, it was the Trump team that was trying unsuccessfully to steal the election, but I gather the legislators in Texas and Florida were and are not big fans of irony.

They may also be unfamiliar with the psychological concept of projection. That’s a bit ironic as well because it is what Trump does all the time.

Irony aside, it would seem the Court would have no choice but to reject the states’ laws because in the end the social media companies have the right to moderate content as they see fit.

I don’t know whether Section 230 will come up, but it might. That is the elephant, legally, in the room.

HEADLINES:

• Supreme Court hears landmark cases that could upend what we see on social media (CNN)

• Supreme Court to Decide How the First Amendment Applies to Social Media (NYT)

• Trump appeals New York civil fraud verdict (CNBC)

• Trump’s South Carolina Victory Tells Us Some Important Things About His Weaknesses (Slate)

• Haley’s South Carolina results should be a ‘five-alarm fire’ for the GOP (The Hill)

• Clock is ticking for Trump to post bonds worth half a billion dollars (WP)

• Gretchen Whitmer’s Biggest Electoral Test: Can She Deliver Michigan for Biden? (NYT)

• The informant next door: A quiet L.A. life masked Kremlin ties for FBI source accused of lying about Bidens (LAT)

• Here we go again: Congress faces looming government shutdown deadline (ABC)

• Biden hopes cease-fire, hostage deal to pause Israel-Hamas war can take effect by next Monday (AP)

• Palestinian prime minister, cabinet offer to resign in step toward post-Gaza war overhaul (WP)

• Israeli military presents plan for evacuating Gaza’s population from ‘fighting areas’ (CNN)

• Hamas leader hiding in Gaza, but killing him risks hostages, officials say (WP)

• UN’s Palestinian aid agency ‘at breaking point’ after $450m budget shortfall (Guardian)

• The Spy War: How the C.I.A. Secretly Helps Ukraine Fight Putin (NYT)

• Alexei Navalny accuses ‘corrupt officials’ in London of helping Putin in unearthed interview (Independent)

• Hungary approves Sweden's NATO membership (Axios)

• Biden and Trump to visit US-Mexico border on same day this week (CNN)

• Google aims to relaunch Gemini AI image tool in a few weeks (Reuters)

• Xiaomi’s latest robot dog does backflips off skateboards, costs $3,000 (TechCrunch)

• Navy introduces new robotics warfare rating (Navy Times)

• Being nice to chatbots pays off (Axios)

• I used AI work tools to do my job. Here’s how it went. (WP)

• Exploring Emerging Generative AI Tools (Ore. St. U)

• Shy Brothers In Affluent Suburb Already Feeling Pressure To Become Auteur Filmmakers (The Onion)

 

Remembering Cazzie

Today, rather than focus on the heavier news, I am thinking back to 1964, the year before I entered college at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Sports was my main passion and U-M had a basketball player named Cazzie Russell.

When I saw him play in person I was mesmerized. He was a great ball-handler and seemingly could shoot and score from anywhere. When I joined the staff of The Michigan Daily as a sports writer, I covered him, and interviewed him after he scored his 2,000th point.

This was the era before the three-point shot, or Russell would have racked up many more points than the 27.1 he averaged per game during his three-year college career. His final point total 2,164, is the fifth-highest in school history, but the other four players had four year careers, not three. To this day he is tied for the single-game scoring record at 48, in a game that I covered.

As Wikipedia documents: “Along with Bill Buntin, Russell led the Wolverines to three consecutive Big Ten Conferencetitles (1964–66) and to Final Four appearances in 1964 and 1965, losing in the final game 91-80 to defending national champion UCLA and John Wooden in 1965.”

He also was a star in the NBA for many years.

In person, Cazzie was exceedingly modest, so soft-spoken you had to listen carefully to pick up what he was saying in the boisterous post-game locker room. Overall, he was one of my first true heroes, combining strength with grace, beauty and modesty.

Sort of like poetry in motion.

(This is an excerpt from an essay in February 2021.)

HEADLINES:

• South Carolina voter exit polls show how Trump won state's 2024 Republican primary (CBS)

• Nikki Haley Forges Ahead Despite Another Loss: ‘I Am a Woman of My Word’ (NYT)

• Indicted ex-FBI informant’s lawyers may be trying to help him flee the US, judge says (CNN)

• Trump faces a cash crunch as time runs out to post half a billion dollars in bonds (WP)

• Donald J. Trump Is Racing Against Time to Find a Half-Billion Dollar Bond (NYT)

• As Lebanon teeters on the edge, a war with Israel would be catastrophic (WP)

• Progress made in hostage talks after U.S. presents new proposal, sources say (Axios)

• US, UK strike Houthi sites in Yemen amid surge in Red Sea attacks by the rebels (Politico)

• By bus, car and plane, women journey across Latin America for abortions (WP)

• Hard Lessons Make for Hard Choices 2 Years Into the War in Ukraine (NYT)

• 31,000 Ukrainian troops were killed since Russian invasion, Zelensky says in first official public estimate (WP)

• Why some animals have evolved a sense of humour (BBC)

• A Vending Machine Error Revealed Secret Face Recognition Tech (Wired)

• AI ‘dream girls’ are coming for porn stars’ jobs (WP)

• An AI Chatbot Hallucinates about DEI. Its Trainers Intervene (Econlib)

• AI Is Coming to Your Smartphone. Samsung, Google Take On Apple’s iPhone at MWC Barcelona. (Barron’s)

• Should We Fear the Woke A.I.? (NYT)

• An ‘education legend’ has created an AI that will change your mind about AI (WP)

• Biden Chases Soap Bubble Across Nation (The Onion)

Friendships

As expected, Donald Trump won the South Carolina GOP primary over Nikki Haley Saturday, but by a smaller margin than pre-election polls had indicated.

While the polls predicted a 30-point margin of victory for Trump, the actual margin over Haley was closer to 20 percent.

This apparently means that Trump supporters can be peeled away by direct attacks launched on him by an opponent. That Haley cut into his lead by a third (!) after a comparably short period of attack-mode campaigning may portend good things for Joe Biden and Democrats this fall.

***

According to Google, the average American has about 16 friends, four of whom are "close" friends.  Google doesn't seem to be able to quantify how many friends, including close ones, that we may lose in a lifetime. Facebook, by contrast, allows each of us to have 5,000 ‘friends’ and probably at least a few of us would be close friends if we ever had the chance to actually meet. 

On a vaguely related topic, isn't it convenient that in the comics the characters have those little clouds above their heads? So you can tell what they are thinking even when they are quiet?

I've always wished real life was like that. 

But in a way it is. As anyone who does interviews for a living can attest, if you pay attention to facial expressions, gestures and body language, you can tell a lot about what somebody is thinking, even sometimes what they subconsciously are expressing. Then of course there is what they say -- and don't say. 

All of that is routine but every now and then, I meet somebody and something tells me I've just met a person with whom there is the possibility for a deep connection. The way life goes, that connection may or may not happen but I never forget the instinct. 

Even as we discover the friends we need, we seem to have to reject others. Maybe there's a lesson from Facebook's odd limitation -- that we have to lose somebody in order to let somebody else in. Sort of a serial monogamy type of thing, only 5,000 times over.

For me, these are the types of thoughts that came to me when I was lying semi-conscious after my stroke, with mortality hanging over me like a cloud that might envelop me at any second. There were no wishes for money or food or fame or success of any kind. They were only about the people I love.

It may sound silly or corny but that's why I write the way I do. 

(No headline links today.)