Visions of Manhood

Looming over this year’s election is the historical question of gender roles. If Kamala Harris wins, she will become our first female President, four years after becoming our first-ever female Vice President.

That also means that men’s monopoly over the nation’s top job will have ended after a reign of 235 years. In addition, it will mean that Doug Emhoff will become the nation’s first First Gentleman, ending women’s monopoly in that role.

Emhoff already has been the first-ever Second Gentleman for the past 3-and-a-half years, of course. And under the scenario of a Harris victory, Tim Walz will become the first man to serve as Vice President to a female President.

I mention all of this stuff, which is completely obvious to everyone, because it bears repeating. It is a remarkable series of role reversals we are expecting and hoping this society to embrace when the culture wars raging around us are already threatening to tear the country in two.

The old guard is not going down without a fight. Donald Trump and JD Vance are running an openly sexist campaign against and Harris and Walz, labeling her a “childless cat lady” and circulating crude sexual innuendos while less directly, by extension, questioning Walz’s manhood.

As the father of three women and three men, and the grandfather of three girls and five boys, I object. Both genders, as well of those of mixed genders and sexual orientations, are fully capable and worthy of playing any role of leadership our society offers and should be encouraged to do so.

***

One of the features of digital services like Shutterfly or Facebook that I appreciate is the algorithm that resurfaces old content. And because I have been posting text and photos for many years now, there are a great number of memories out there to re-encounter when they resurface.

Such was the case yesterday when an old photograph showed up in my inbox; it was taken on a device I no longer possess from a trip I can barely remember. I believe my younger kids and I were staying at a motel with a pool outside of Sacramento, visiting one of my older daughters and her first child, a boy.

In the photo, a much more vigorous and younger version of me is holding my grandson, who looks to be about one-and-a- half. Next to us is one of my sons, who was about 13 at the time. He is quietly and intently looking at his tiny nephew, with a mixture of awe, disbelief and perhaps envy.

There’s a great deal of literature these days about how to be a good parent, especially how to raise good young men. These are important ideas that I take seriously. There is the ancient scourge of “toxic masculinity,” which in the better half of our hearts we wish to eradicate.

Meanwhile, our concept of what is means to be a man has been changing radically for decades now.

We want our boys to have a lot of qualities at the same time, some of which may be in conflict. We want them to be a special kind of manly, both strong and vulnerable, independent but relational, driven but sensitive, self-aware yet self-confident, loving yet resilient, intellectual and physical. It’s a lot to handle.

***

Today the baby in that old photo is a senior in high school and thinking about college; the boy in the photo is going on 30 on track to be a nurse. He is gifted in taking care of people.

I am an old man who thinks about the future — a lot.

HEADLINES:

• The Fed’s Preferred Inflation Gauge Stays Cool, Keeping a Rate Cut Imminent (NYT)

• Selling America: The Army’s fight to find recruits in a mistrustful, divided nation (WP)

• Trump’s Awful Arlington Cemetery Scandal Takes a Dark and Ominous Turn (TNR)

• Trump Suggests Gold Star Families to Blame for Arlington Cemetery Controversy (Rolling Stone)

• Decision on Georgia election board threatens Kemp’s détente with Trump (WP)

• Abortion, assisted suicide and crime will be on ballots this fall (AP)

• Britain 'deeply concerned' by Israel's operation in occupied West Bank (Reuters)

• The Unequal Effects of School Closings (ProPublica)

• These monkeys use names to communicate with each other, study finds (CNN)

• United Nations to Begin Polio Vaccine Campaign in Gaza (NYT)

• Israel strikes aid convoy organized by U.S. humanitarian group, killing 5 (WP)

• Israel Turns Up the Heat on Hezbollah (WSJ)

• Controversial California bill to prevent AI disasters heads to Newsom despite pushback from Big Tech (Yahoo)

• Mushroom-Powered Robots Take a Trip (Hackster)

• Are AI-created recipes hard to swallow? (BBC)

• AI 'hallucinations' can lead to catastrophic mistakes, but a new approach makes automated decisions more reliable (LiveScience)

• Amazon is developing a new version of Alexa with generative AI. (Reuters)

• Single Voice Emerges From Whirlwind Of Chaos In Man’s Head To Suggest He Eat Oatmeal Raisin Cookie (The Onion)

 

State of Play

Waiting on Kamala Harris’s big interview with CNN last night, it occurred to me that I really should write a post called “Thursday Nights in America” to capture the ups and downs of this year’s presidential campaign.

• Biden’s meltdown in the debate with Trump? A Thursday.

• Trump’s triumphal speech capping off his party’s campaign? A Thursday.

• Harris’s even more triumphal speech capping off her party’s convention? A Thursday.

You almost could bookmark that night in your week as the only one you needed to pay attention to for this year’s campaign highlight reel.

That brings us to last night, yet another Thursday. Anticipation was running high, especially at CNN where the anchor of the “Inside Politics” show, Dana Bash, would be sitting down with Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, for a chat.

Even Donald Trump sounded excited. “Dana Bash of CNN has a chance at greatness today," Trump wrote. "If she gave a fair but tough interview of Comrade Kamala Harris, she will expose her as being totally inept and ill suited for the job of President, much as I exposed Crooked Joe Biden during our now famous Debate. How cool would that be for Dana and CNN???”

The result had to be a bit of a letdown, at least for Trump, because Harris was articulate, polished and determined in the interview. She fit well into that iuniquely descriptive term “presidential” in tone and manner.

Her answers on policy were not particularly original or detailed, which I found regrettable, but then again this race is unlikely to hinge on policy

It’s much more likely to hinge on character, and on that score, Harris seems to be an honorable person. You can judge the character of her opponent for yourself.

One more thing. The next big moment in the campaign is the Harris-Trump debate occurs on September 10th. And this time, guess what, that is a Tuesday!

HEADLINES:

• Harris explains in interview why she’s shifted her position on key issues since her first run for president (CNN)

• Harris’s lead widens in new post-DNC poll as pressure rises (Independent)

• Devastating Fox Poll Should Be “Alarming” to Trump (TNR)

• Trump takes sexist Harris attacks to ‘whole other level’ on Truth Social (Guardian)

• US intelligence helped stop terror plot targeting Taylor Swift concert, CIA deputy director confirms (CNN)

• Army says Arlington National Cemetery worker was 'pushed aside' by Trump aides (NPR)

• US Army rebukes Trump campaign for incident at Arlington National Cemetery (CNN)

• 24 hours of Trump: QAnon tributes, crude attacks and hawking pieces of his suit (WP)

• Marijuana Is Too Strong Now (Atlantic)

• Xbox is changing and it’s confusing everyone (Verge)

• Russia-Ukraine energy war roars back into action after mediation fails (WP)

• U.S.-Made F-16 Crashed in Ukraine, Killing Pilot (WSJ)

• Israel kills one of most wanted West Bank commanders as operation continues (WP)

• As the world focuses on Gaza, the West Bank has reached boiling point. (CNN)

• The East Rises in Germany, and So Does Political Extremism (NYT)

• There’s a China-Shaped Hole in the Global Economy (WSJ)

• CIA official: Predictions Afghanistan would become a terrorist launching pad after U.S. exit 'did not come to pass' (NBC)

• Afghanistan goes back to war — against women (WP)

• OpenAI and Anthropic agree to let U.S. AI Safety Institute test and evaluate new models (CNBC)

• Apple Is in Talks to Invest in OpenAI (WSJ)

• Trump Calls Out Arlington National Cemetery For Hazard-Filled Fairways (The Onion)

 

Another Summer's End

This essay is from the end of August 2011.

The day after tomorrow, my seventh-grader sees the end of her summer as school starts up again. 

Today, in anticipation of all that, we decided to harvest the onions we've been growing in the flower boxes out front. She pulled them out of the soil, clipped the roots, cleaned off the dirt and washed them.

Then we sliced them and sauteed them in olive oil with canola spray, dusted them with salt and garlic powder, and served them over white rice with seaweed, butter and soy sauce.

Such small domestic tasks, for her and me, cement our days when we are alone together. The rest of the time, I am interviewing startup CEOs, blogging, and communicating with clients, while she is devouring one of the books on her summer reading list.

This afternoon, we walked the dogs around Bernal Hill. On the southeast side there is a large blackberry patch, so we took the dogs there today and picked a bunch of the berries.

With the city laid out below us like a giant Lego construction set, and the sky its bluest of blues, and with a breeze from the west cooling what otherwise was a layer of warm air, both of us picked and ate berries and offered some to the dogs.

One dog likes the blackberries and gulps them happily. The other likes to smell them but declines to eat them.

Afterward, as we descended the hill, we compared fingers. Both hers and mine were red with juice from the berries, but mine were darker because the berry-loving dog had licked hers.

We passed a mail truck on the way down. I explained to her the difference between UPS, USPS and FedEx.

She told me that until recently, she had never noticed the arrow in the FedEx logo. That gave me an excuse to go into one of my talks about her future.

She wants to study art and to become an artist. Her portfolio of drawings is growing; I often proudly publish bits of her work and show them to friends.

But, of course I worry about what choices she may make. Being an artist does not strike me as a particularly sustainable future in an ever-more difficult economy.

And I don't think 12 is too young an age to discuss practicalities, particularly when she is perhaps one of the more practical of my children. Evidence of that includes her bank account, which due to her many small jobs like dog-walking is more robust than anyone else’s in the family.

In fact, she often extends loans to the rest of us and charges no interest. (Note to self: I should explain the concept of interest to her.)

But what I chose today to talk about when she mentioned the FedEx arrow was the role artists play in branding for companies. I explained how designers come up with concepts like colors and symbols and branding icons, such as arrows or the Nike swoosh.

"Maybe that's how you can pay your bills while you pursue your passion for art," I suggested, hopefully.

That might sink in, who knows. Each of our conversations of this type is loaded by my awareness of our extreme age differential (51 years). My ability to exert influence over her choices has to be expedited just in case I am not around long enough to still be her consultant when it matters most.

Although that prospect sometimes makes me sad, it also adds some determination and purpose to each and every conversation of this sort.

Maybe later on she will remember some of the details of this day, the onions, the blueberries, the arrow, or what I said. That’s the hope, anyway.

(Note: The girl in this story is now a 25-year-old graduate student studying for a master’s degree in art and industrial design. The storyteller is immensely proud of her.)

HEADLINES:

• Democrat Kamala Harris leads Republican Donald Trump 45% to 41% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll published today. (Reuters)

• Israelis unleash deadly assault on West Bank: 'This is a war for everything' (USA Today)

• Is a New Palestinian Movement Being Born? (Atlantic)

• What the survival of seeds reveals about Earth’s future (WP)

• The American Dream Feels Out of Reach for Most (WSJ)

• Mongolia Twists The Knife Further Into Vladimir Putin (Forbes)

• Harris and her running mate Tim Walz will sit today for their first joint television interview since they accepted their nominations. CNN's Dana Bash, who co-anchored Joe Biden's June 27 debate against Trump, will conduct the interview in Savannah, Georgia. (Reuters)

• Trump Finds a New Media Foe in ABC News as Debate Drama Mounts (WSJ)

• Trump staffers reported over altercation at Arlington cemetery during photo op (Guardian)

• Trump’s argument of electoral inevitability adds an ally: God (WP)

• Trump erupted in a tirade on social media after special counsel Jack Smith announced that a grand jury had reindicted the former president on four charges related to his efforts to undo the 2020 election result. [HuffPost]

• Trump’s Ugly, Shameless New Offer to RFK Jr. Hands Dems a Big Weapon (TNR)

• Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz campaign together in Georgia, a state that Democrats narrowly won in 2020 and could play a decisive role in this year's election. (Reuters)

• Jury finds ex-politician guilty of murder in 2022 killing of Las Vegas investigative reporter (AP)

• Apple Cuts Jobs in Online Services Group as Priorities Shift (Bloomberg)

• Big Tech defends free speech amid government pressure (Axios)

• 'He knows it's not true': Swisher reacts to Zuckerberg's statement over Covid posts (CNN)

• Gunman in Trump assassination attempt saw rally as ‘target of opportunity,’ FBI official says (AP)

• With Dams Removed, Salmon Will Have the Run of a Western River (NYT)

• Ford Joins Harley in Scaling Back DEI Policies Amid Backlash (Bloomberg)

• Toymaker Lego is on track to replace the fossil fuels used in making its signature colorful bricks with more expensive renewable and recycled plastic by 2032. (Reuters)

• Google’s custom AI chatbots have arrived (Verge)

• AI demand could strain electrical grid in coming decade (CNBC)

• AI's race for US energy butts up against bitcoin mining  (Reuters)

• Google Chatbot to Generate Images of People Again Months After Backlash (WSJ)

• Think AI can’t make real music? Listen to this. (WP)

• Thursday Cry Moved Up To Wednesday Due To Scheduling Conflict (The Onion)

The 3 Musketeers of Conspiracy

I suppose there have always been nuts and cranks on the fringes of our political life, but it is hard to recall a more bizarre trifecta of conspiracy freaks than the new team of Trump, RFK Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard. Yesterday, Trump added the other two to his so-called “transition team.”

Each traffics in their own brands of baseless disinformation claims, some of which overlap in Venn digram style; thus their alliance.

Among his many crazed allegations, Kennedy denounces the “CIA's takeover of the American press.”

As collated by NPR, “Wi-Fi causes cancer and "leaky brain," Kennedy told podcaster Joe Rogan. Antidepressants are to blame for school shootings, he mused during an appearance with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. Chemicals in the water supply could turn children transgender, he told right-wing Canadian psychologist and podcaster Jordan Peterson, echoing a false assertion made by serial fabulist Alex Jones. AIDS may not be caused by HIV, he has suggested multiple times. There's no credible evidence for any of these assertions or for Kennedy's longest-running false claims: that vaccines cause autismand are more harmful than the diseases they're designed to protect against.”

Tulsi Gabbard, as reported by the Guardian, spread “a discredited claim about Hillary Clinton that previously saw Gabbard lodge then drop a $50m defamation suit in a new book” as she sought to be named Donald Trump’s running mate.

Gabbard accuses Democrats of making up “a conspiracy theory that [Trump] was ‘colluding’ with the Russians to win the election” in 2016.: “Hillary Clinton used a similar tactic against me when I ran for president in 2020, accusing me of being ‘groomed by the Russians’.”

Gabbard openly spreads Russian talking points against Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself in the war.

“While it is one thing for Gabbard to voice her own views, this becomes rather problematic considering her position as a Commissioned Officer in the US Army Reserve and the potential for her to serve Russian government interests as a useful idiot — a term often attributed to Lenin, and which describes a naïve person who can be used to further a political cause without necessarily properly comprehending it,” argues the Poland-based New Eastern Europe journal.

Meanwhile, of course, Trump is the Conspiracy Theorist in Chief, with his Guinness World Record of tens of thousands of lies, many of which revolve around the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection that he incited.

These three are indeed strange bedfellows.

HEADLINES:

• New federal indictment filed against Trump in federal Jan. 6 case (WP)

• CNN Lands Kamala Harris-Tim Walz Interview, Their First Since Becoming New Democratic Ticket (Deadline)

• Trump Plans to Put Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard on Transition Team (NYT)

• American agents of misinformation: Tulsi Gabbard, Russian propaganda and article 88 (NEE)

• Hundreds of former Bush, McCain and Romney staffers endorse Harris (WP)

• Maryland Senate race in a dead heat, poll finds (Politico)

• Judge orders pause on Biden program that offers legal status to spouses of US citizens (AP)

• Trump and Harris Embody a Stark Partisan Divide on Fighting Poverty (NYT)

• Zuckerberg says Biden administration pressured Meta to censor COVID-19 content (Reuters)

• Why the Telegram app is at the center of founder’s arrest in Paris (AP)

• Lowe's becomes latest company to dial back DEI efforts aimed at LGBTQ groups (NBC)

• Iran’s supreme leader opens door to negotiations with United States over Tehran’s nuclear program (AP)

• Polio Vaccines Arrive in Gaza, but Distributing Them Is the Next Challenge (NYT)

• The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, says the near-term risk of a broader war in the Middle East has eased off slightly after Israel and Hezbollah exchanged cross-border fire without further escalation. (Reuters)

• Ukrainian pilots fly F-16 warplanes in combat for first time in fight against Russia (USA Today)

• Russia warns the United States of the risks of World War Three (Reuters)

• An Idaho man holds the world record for holding Guinness World Records. David Rush owns 181 world records — and counting. (AP)

• Francis Ford Coppola: ‘I Have Nothing Left to Lose’ (Rolling Stone)

• OpenAI could launch 'Strawberry' AI for advanced reasoning (Baha)

• When A.I.’s Output Is a Threat to A.I. Itself (NYT)

• Police officers are starting to use AI chatbots to write crime reports. Will they hold up in court? (AP)

• ‘I’m Trump All The Way,’ Says Man Who Will Die From Mishandling Fireworks Months Before Election (The Onion)

 

Dreaming the Future

(This is a compilation of essays I’ve written over the years on the subject of dreams.)

A while back, a friend of mine told me she had been having vivid dreams that she was in a passionate relationship with one of her work colleagues. When I asked if she had ever told him about her dreams, she said no. She wasn’t sure it would be appropriate to do so.

But she insisted that she had never had such vivid dreams before, so they simply could not be false visions. “I’m already with him in my dreams. It’s so real! How could that be if it’s not going to come true?” 

It must be a vision of her future, she insisted.

That conversation got me thinking. Most of my dreams seem to be set in the past, often the distant past. I’m often starting college all over again or showing up at a new job. Those dreams are usually anxious ones because I can’t find my classes or where the office is — things like that.

Carl Jung wrote that we process our subconscious in our dreams, so that’s how any underlying anxieties are likely to surface when we sleep.

One of my granddaughter’s dreams are a case in point. She says she often relives her most embarrassing moments in dreams. “If I did or said something embarrassing in front of somebody, it happens again in my dreams. I see them and suddenly I can’t help but do it again.”

That makes all kinds of sense to me. But I keep wondering about that other kind of dream, the one where we maybe, just maybe, we actually do see the future. 

So I checked into the topic and according to the Sleep Foundation, some of us (roughly 18-38%) can and do see the future in what are known as precognitive dreams. Also, Healthline reports that Carl Jung himself had some precognitive dreams, though they were of a negative variety — foreseeing his mother’s death and world war in Europe.

But back to my friend who dreamt of a relationship with her colleague. Some months after our conversation, the two of them did become a couple. It turned out he had been having the same kinds of dreams about her.

***

 One of my grandmothers claimed she was psychic. She claimed she could see other people’s thoughts. She was very convincing in this regard, so much so that some of my cousins and I wondered whether we were psychic too. We tried to read each other’s minds, with mixed results. Giving each other enough hints, we could indeed read each other’s minds, sometimes, sort of.

My grandmother was asleep the night my grandfather died in the living room. He was surrounded by his children when he peacefully passed away. At the very moment that happened my grandmother let out a scream in her bedroom. When they rushed in to see what was wrong, she was sitting up in bed.

“It was Alec,” she said. “He came to me to say good-bye.”

***

One of the better pieces I’ve read about the phenomenon of precognitive visions, or dreams about future events was in Psychology Today a few years back.

The article cites research that roughly twice as many women as men report prophetic dreams, which is interesting in itself, and provides some possible explanations for what such dreams may mean and why they occur.

To Carl Jung, such dreams may be “an anticipation in the unconscious of future achievements, something like a preliminary exercise or sketch, or a plan roughed out in advance.”

This makes sense to me from conversations I’ve had with friends about their dreams and my own memory of dreams I have had. Such anticipatory dreams often occur when we are just starting a new job, or preparing to give a major presentation, or on the verge of some other significant event.

Our minds seem to be working out a strategy for us to at least survive that future event, which is clearly causing us some anxiety, and maybe even help us thrive. In the dream, we become hyper-aware of our vulnerabilities — of the possibilities of failure in unanticipated ways.

This type of anxiety about the future is productive on several levels, I suspect, for creative work.

Many writers wake up from dreams with ideas for solving writing dilemmas. If they can shake themselves alert enough to do so, they turn on the light and write the idea down for later use.

Later in the light of day, that idea may seem stupid or foolish or naive, but at other times it indeed turns out to be a flash of brilliance. Either way, it helps inform our future work.

Finally, we may anticipate new relationships in our dreams, whether romantic or otherwise. In that regard, free will is in play. To quote the great Bob Dylan, “I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours.”

HEADLINES:

• Israel-Hamas war latest: Israel launches more strikes on Lebanon, state media and witnesses say (AP)

• Progress made in Gaza ceasefire talks but still work to do on ‘final details,’ US official says (CNN)

• Israel rescues Bedouin hostage held by Hamas in Gaza (BBC)

• Russia launches 'nightmare' deadly drone and missile strikes across Ukraine, Kyiv says (ABC)

• Meet the megadonors pumping millions into the 2024 election (WP)

• Harris and Trump Squabble Over Debate Rules as ABC Matchup Looms (NYT)

• How busing, school desegregation shaped Harris’s views of race (WP)

• Is this thing on? Harris and Trump battle over hot mics at debate. (Politico)

• Jack Smith appeals Judge Cannon decision to throw out Trump case (WP)

• As Kamala Harris Claims Oakland, Berkeley Forgives (NYT)

• The Taliban ban women's bare faces and the sound of their voices in public (AP)

• Two decades in Afghanistan, written with the intimacy of a novel (WP)

• Dashed Hopes and Big Breaks: What It’s Like to Work on Cold Cases (NYT)

• Matching sets of dinosaur footprints found on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean (CNN)

• OpenAI supports California AI bill requiring 'watermarking' of synthetic content (Reuters)

• Boston Dynamics: What We Need In The Emerging Golden Age Of Robotics (Forbes)

• When A.I.’s Output Is a Threat to A.I. Itself (NYT)

• How would we even know if AI went rogue? (Vox)

• Chinese tech giants continue to splurge on AI despite U.S. chip restrictions (Seeking Alpha)

• Will A.I. Ruin the Planet or Save the Planet? (NYT)

• Tim Walz Stuck Inside Football Metaphor For Third Straight Day (The Onion)

 

Magic Numbers

Polling guru Nate Silver said over the weekend that Kamala Harris has opened up a 4 point advantage over Donald Trump nationally.

This lead — 4 percent — is significant because it is at that level that statisticians calculate the Democrat can pull ahead in the seven swing states that will determine the election. 

Accordingly, Silver notes that Harris is starting to edge ahead in six of the seven battleground states.

“She leads in Arizona (46.6 percent to 45.1 percent), Michigan (48 percent to 44.6 percent), Pennsylvania (47.7 percent to 46 percent), and Wisconsin (48.9 percent to 45.5 percent).

“Trump leads in Georgia 47.5 percent to 46.8 percent and the race remains tight in North Carolina, with Harris at 46.8 percent and Trump at 46.5 percent, and Nevada, where Harris edges out Trump 46.2 percent to 45 percent.”

It will be notable if Harris makes further gains in the polls over the coming days, as the “bounce” from her party’s convention continues to kick in.

Silver, founder of the polling service 538, is now on his own, having sold 538 to ABC last year. Meanwhile, 538 has Harris’s lead over Trump nationally at 3.4 percent. And in yet another poll, The Economist reports Harris in the lead by 3 points.

Finally, if the election were held today, NPR now projects that Harris would garner the 270 electoral votes she needs to win.

HEADLINES:

• Israel and Hezbollah trade heavy fire before pulling back, jolting a region braced for war (AP)

• Israel says it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets; militant group launches aerial barrage (WP)

• Not Only for Killing: Drones Are Now Detecting Land Mines in Ukraine (NYT)

• Trump allies try to energize him as he struggles to adapt to Harris (WP)

• Kamala Harris Takes 4-Point Nationwide Lead in New Polling Average (Newsweek)

• Harris’ momentum continues as she ties with Trump in these swing states (NPR)

• Why Harris’s Barrier-Breaking Bid Feels Nothing Like Hillary Clinton’s (NYT)

• Walz wrapped a 24-year military ascent to run for Congress. Criticisms from his past bids are back (AP)

• Australia offers U.S. a vast new military launchpad in China conflict (WP)

• Taliban vice and virtue laws provide ‘distressing vision’ for Afghanistan, UN envoy warns (Politico)

• The movement to diversify Silicon Valley is crumbling amid attacks on DEI (WP)

• The AI Guys Are Driving Themselves Mad (New York)

• Scientists Posit Theoretical ‘Productive Weekend’ (The Onion)

 

Bouncing

The latest cover of The New Yorker depicts a roller coaster with the Democratic ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz going up and the Republican ticket of Donald Trump and JD Vance going down.

The image, by Canadian-born cartoonist Barry Blitt, could not be a more perfect depiction of the nature of the presidential race at this point, emphasis added.

According to the average of recent national polls compiled by 538, Harris held a 2.6 percent lead over Trump on the eve of last week’s Democratic Convention; by the end of the event her lead had grown to 3.6 percent.

In a game of inches, that represents a whopping increase in one week of 38.5 percent. No wonder the Democrats in the cartoon are smiling and the Republicans look frustrated and concerned.

Of course, the outcome of the election will not be decided by the popular vote but by which candidate amasses the most electoral votes, according to the ancient, hoary process known as the Electoral College.

The way in which electoral votes are apportioned currently yields an inherent advantage to the Republican, such that statisticians calculate that the Democrat has to win the national popular vote by about 4 percent to prevail in the all-important Electoral College.

Accordingly, Joe Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by racking up a 4.5 percent advantage in the popular vote.

No matter what happens nationally, it is what happens in the six battleground states that matters more — Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada. And the candidates remain close in all six.

Back to that New Yorker cover image, anyone who’s ever ridden a roller coaster knows that when you’re low you’re gonna be high soon, and when you’re high you’re gonna be low soon.

The bouncing around only stops when the ride is over and this year that is scheduled for November 5th.

HEADLINES:

• Suspect arrested in deadly knife attack in Germany; Islamic State group claims responsibility (NBC)

• Manhunt under way in France after synagogue 'terror attack' (BBC)

• Russian snipers kill Islamist hostage takers (Reuters)

• Ukraine keeps crossing Russia’s red lines. Putin keeps blinking. (WP)

• A reenergized Democratic campaign surges to convention ratings win over Republicans (CNN)

• Harris Faces Challenge of Translating Convention Joy to Fall Momentum (NYT)

• Kamala Harris may rise or fall on whether voters are ready to embrace America’s changing face (LAT)

• NASA picks SpaceX to bring back stuck astronauts, a blow to Boeing (WP)

• Democracy Needs the Loser (New Yorker)

• Now that the Democratic convention is over, Kamala Harris’ policy plans for her presidential run face new scrutiny. (Reuters)

• Endangered lynx makes its first appearance in Vermont in years (WP)

• These New AI Bots Will Do Just About Anything for You (WSJ)

• White Sox Promotion Puts First 9 Fans At Ballpark In Starting Lineup (The Onion)