Isn't it a Pity

Many years ago, I gathered seaglass from beaches around the Bay Area and got pretty good at recognizing the best tides for finding it.

One section of Ocean Beach just south of San Francisco yielded a steady harvest of the blue, green, brown and white specimens, and there was another nice spot on one edge of Angel Island.

What I liked about seaglass was how it had been smoothed and polished by the waves, sand, sun and transformed into something resembling jewels from what had once been considered trash.

You might say that that is the way of all garbage, indeed of all life. After all, from a biological perspective, the sum total of all of our ancestors and all other organic life forms is a few inches of compacted topsoil clinging to the surface of a planet hurtling its way through space.

Wherever we are headed, we’re all going there on the same flight. 

As much as we try to see ourselves as distinct individuals, we also are part of a much larger unit. And our own sharp edges and rough places will get smoothed over by time just like pieces of glass, whether we like that or not.

We could still add up to something nice, something pretty.

But for now, bad political winds have shattered us into jagged shards of glass, all too good at cutting each other rather than coming together. We’ve broken into tribes of one; even families have shattered. We are like a thousand rough pieces more than any kind of perceivable whole.

Acts of random cruelty outnumber the ever-present acts of kindness. Extremes dominate. Hate is on the loose. Killers on the road. Isolation rules. Collectivity is disparaged. There is no common square to be found, only acres and acres of silence.

As a result, there can be no “us” at this moment in America.

Isn’t that a pity?

HEADLINES:

• Why finding the suspected CEO killer is harder than you might think (CNN)

• Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO spotlights complex challenge companies face in protecting top brass (AP)

• Appeals court upholds nationwide TikTok ban (WP)

• TikTok’s loss is Meta’s win (Yahoo)

• TikTok’s future uncertain after appeals court rejects its bid to overturn possible US ban (AP)

• Naval Academy can consider race in admissions, federal judge rules (WP)

• China Steps Up Trade War With US (Bloomberg)

• Elon Musk spent $277M backing Trump and other Republicans, filings show (WP)

• How South Korea’s army was rattled by president’s martial law order (Financial Times)

• Opposition Grows to South Korea’s President as He Faces Impeachment (NYT)

• South Korea's ruling party leader said President Yoon Suk Yeol needs to be removed from power for trying to impose martial law. Yoon was already grappling with controversies before this week's crisis crushed his approval ratings to a record low 13%. (Reuters)

• Syrian rebels challenge Assad regime on two fronts as new uprising emerges in south (CNN)

• Inside the Sprawling Military Zone Israel Uses to Control Gaza From Within (WSJ)

• Breakingviews: Months of chaos will cripple France for years (Reuters)

• Russia’s LGBTQ+ community is living in fear following new laws and court rulings, activists say (AP)

• Jack Sawyer's words come back to haunt him after fourth consecutive loss to Michigan (SI)

• Amazon Makes Big, Bold Push Into AI — Leaves Experts Amazed (Forbes)

• Trump Names David Sacks as White House AI and Crypto Czar (Bloomberg)

• AI infiltrates the rat world: New robot can interact socially with real lab rats (TechXplore)

• OpenAI launches full o1 model with image uploads and analysis, debuts ChatGPT Pro (VentureBeat)

• AI friendships claim to cure loneliness. Some are ending in suicide. (WP)

• Nursing Home Hosts Depressing Walker-Decorating Contest (The Onion)

LYRICS:

“Isn't It a Pity”

George Harrison

Isn't it a pity now isn't it a shame
How we break each other's hearts
And cause each other pain
How we take each other's love
Without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity

Some things take so long but how do I explain
When not too many people
Can see we're all the same
And because of all their tears
Their eyes can't hope to see
The beauty that surrounds them
Isn't it a pity

Isn't it a pity isn't it a shame
How we break each other's hearts
And cause each other pain
How we take each other's love
Without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back

Isn't it a pity 

Preemptive Pardons

As Trump’s inauguration draws closer, the dread about what he intends to do is growing among many in government, media and political circles. Trump’s repeated vows to extract “revenge” against his perceived political enemies, have been echoed loudly by his choice for FBI director, Kash Patel.

Patel is an incompetent, right-wing extremist hack. He is a rabid Trump loyalist who is obsessed with the imaginary “deep state,” and has listed the names of the people he thinks inhabit this fictional entity.

A psychiatrist might well label him delusional, yet he is Trump’s choice to run the most powerful law-enforcement agency in the country.

All of this is relevant in the context of what I and other have been warning may be a slide into an authoritarian state under Trump, and I’ll explain why.

Democracy depends not only on a set of constitutional laws and procedures; it also relies on an agreed-upon set of norms as to how to implement those laws and procedures. The genteel process of certifying the electoral votes of the states is one example of those norms — and the one Trump actively tried to subvert in 2020, leading to the January 6th riot.

Other norms involve the perceived and real independence of the Justice Department and the FBI from Presidential interference, which are now threatened by Trump’s nominations, including Patel.

Another set of norms is involved with Presidential pardons. That brings us to Joe Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter, which has led to widespread criticism by both Republicans and Democrats.

Biden’s excuse for violating his previous promise that he would not pardon Hunter is that his criminal cases have been so poisoned by the politicization of his transgressions by Trump’s MAGA minions that a pardon was the only way to end the subversion of justice in this matter.

Now, with Patel’s nomination raising alarm bells about revenge investigations likely to be brought against the likes of Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, Jamie Raskin and other prominent Trump critics, there is growing pressure on Biden to preemptively pardoning them before Trump’s team can open investigations and possible prosecutions against them next year.

Such a broad-based use of the presidential pardon power by Biden would be unprecedented and would definitely violate the spirit of the pardon authority granted to the chief executive. That power has traditionally been more related to notions of clemency and redemption than prophylactic political expediency.

One can understand the fear of Democrats given the threats made by Trump/Patel, and it seems likely that Biden may act in response. However, if he does so, this will be a critical weakening of democratic norms by a Democrat, albeit indirectly, in response to the existential threat posed by Trump.

That’s how it goes on the slide toward authoritarianism. It can happen here, and this is one of the ways how.

***

Meanwhile, it has been amusing, in a twisted sort of way, to follow the Pete Hegseth drinking saga. There have been numerous reports of him getting inebriated and behaving badly, especially with unwanted sexual advances toward women. His own mother castigated him for this, although she now insists he’s a “new” man.

How “new” he may be is up for debate. If, as some have suggested, he is on the road to sobriety now, it is worth noting that a central tenet of AA and other substance abuse programs is that the recovering addict should start small in taking on new relationships or responsibilities during the initial stages of their recovery.

In Hegseth’s case, assuming he is committed to remaining sober going forward, he would ideally start by accepting a lesser position at a small non-profit organization, say, and work his way gradually up to a huge job like Secretary of Defense as he refrains from drinking over time.

Hegseth has reportedly blown his chances to manage two small non-profits in the recent past, largely due to his drinking problem. In a case like his, no competent alcohol-abuse counselor helping him would advise that he take the Pentagon job cold-turkey.

That would be a recipe for disaster.

Then again, Hegseth himself has thrown the sobriety scenario under the bus by his statement that he would be willing to “give up drinking” in return for Senate approval of his nomination.

Oh no! It would seem that Pete hasn't;t even stopped yet and therefore hasn't even gotten on the 12-step treadmill, folks. He’s apparently not ready yet to even admit that he is powerless in controlling the beast.

For a man with a drinking problem, that’s not a good sign.

HEADLINES:

• The Immigrants Most Vulnerable to Trump’s Mass Deportation Plans Entered the Country Legally (New Yorker)

• Here’s what happened the last time Trump moved federal jobs out of D.C. (WP)

• Musk, on Capitol Hill, says ‘get rid of all credits’ (Politico)

• DOGE’s Big Ideas Include Ending Remote Work and Daylight Saving Changes (WSJ)

• Bezos says he is ‘very optimistic’ about Trump’s plan to roll back regulations (Guardian)

• Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth said, if confirmed as secretary of defense, he would be willing to give up alcohol. Reporters have surfaced troubling allegations about Hegseth's alcohol abuse and behavior in and outside of the workplace. [HuffPost]

• Pete Hegseth’s history with alcohol shadows Pentagon selection (WP)

• Bitcoin tops $100,000 as big rally sparked by Trump election win rolls on (AP)

• Billionaire Jeff Bezos said he is “proud” The Washington Post ended its tradition of endorsing presidential nominees, suggesting it was a brave but necessary choice for the paper. The decision prompted a wave of resignations at the paper and some 250,000 readers canceled their subscriptions, or about 10% of the paper’s paying customers. [HuffPost]

• The Dangerous Precedent of Biden’s Pardon (NYT)

• Hunter’s pardon isn’t the issue. What matters are pardons for everyone else. (WP)

• Syrian rebels capture key city of Hama in fresh blow to Assad (Reuters)

• U.S. Students Posted Dire Math Declines on an International Test (NYT)

• 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes off Northern California (AP)

• Ancient DNA sheds light on how dogs and humans bonded in Americas (WP)

• Nearly 500 journalists walk out at 'The Guardian' and its sister paper (NPR)

• The UC Berkeley Project That Is the AI Industry’s Obsession (WSJ)

• OpenAI is charging $200 a month for an exclusive version of its o1 ‘reasoning’ model (Verge)

• The abject weirdness of AI ads (TechCrunch)

• Hospital Sends Man Home With Loaner Dad While His Worked On (The Onion)

 

On the Hit List

High on Donald Trump’s list of “enemies within” are any media outlets that dare to produce content he dislikes. That is the way the minds of would-be dictators work. It is how Putin thinks, or Kim Jung-un or any of the others Trump admires.

You might hope that after almost 250 years of a free press that a large majority of Americans would support this bedrock institution of democracy but they don’t. Public opinion of media is at or near an all-time low, and audiences are abandoning outlets like MSNBC (down 47 percent since the election) and both the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, which lost hundreds of thousands of subscribers over pre-election endorsement controversies.

More and more local publications go out of business every week. The economics of publishing are already fragile, and extremely vulnerable to various forms of pressure from a hostile Trump administration.

To help make this concrete, the kinds of stories will go untold in the future if Trump succeeds are many and varied. Axios co-founder and CEO Jim VandeHei lists a few examples in his excellent piece, “Why Reporting Matters.”

“Too many seem ready to dismiss anything produced by what they call legacy media. We're playing with fire here. Torch all networks, all newspapers, all news sites with trained reporters, and you're left with little to police government, the powerful, the corrupt, or foreign wars. Random tweeters aren't equipped to invest the time, money or meticulous care to reveal:”

1. What The Boston Globe did with a monumental investigation of sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Church abuse scandal — courageous reporting that led other denominations to root out molestation of kids.

2. What the Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica did with their "Lawless" series, exposing rampant sexual assault in Alaska's rural communities. Many citizens now have police protection and newfound safety.

3. What Eric Eyre, then of the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail, did by overcoming well-funded opposition and exposing the superhighway of opioids to depressed towns in coal country. "Follow the pills and you'll find the overdose deaths," his series began.

4. What The Wall Street Journal did by uncovering failures of the U.S. exit from Afghanistan, documenting volunteers' rescues of stranded civilians, and the Taliban's success in outwitting and outwaiting the world.

5. And what Mississippi Today did by exposing the state's rampant welfare fraud, provoking criminal charges — and now a furious legal effort by the ex-governor to expose the sources of the nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom.

This is, of course, merely a tiny sampling of what honest professional journalists bring us every day. Trump has made it clear that he intends to try and snuff out this kind of reporting — which keeps the powerful to account for their actions — if he can.

It will be up to the of us who care to resist him and fight to preserve a strong, free press. The upcoming battle over the First Amendment is really over the soul of America. 

(This is one of many pieces I plan to publish on the subject.)

HEADLINES:

• Why reporting matters (Axios)

• FBI Warns Americans to Start Using Encrypted Messaging Apps — It's all about protecting against China, but there's the added benefit of protecting against Trump. (Gizmodo)

• Gunman at large after UnitedHealthcare CEO fatally shot in ‘brazen targeted attack,’ police say (CNN)

• France government collapses again after prime minister forced out (USA Today)

• South Korean lawmakers submitted a bill to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after he declared martial law only to reverse the move hours later. We look at what is next, how investors are reacting and the international backlash to Yonn's decision. (Reuters)

• South Korea just gave Donald Trump a warning — if his opponents are listening (MSNBC)

• Trump and the GOP will have a historically tiny House majority. What that means. (WP)

• Supreme Court hears challenge to law banning gender-affirming care for trans kids (NPR)

• Australia is banning social media for people under 16. Could this work elsewhere — or even there? (AP)

• Montana lawmakers cross the aisle to block a trans bathroom ban in the state capitol (NPR)

• How painful will Trump’s tariffs be for American businesses? (Economist)

• China’s Trade Reprisals May Extend to Minerals Like Rare Earths (Bloomberg)

• America’s Role Reversal: Working-Class Blacks Make Gains While Whites Fall Back (WSJ)

• What makes the US truly exceptional (Financial Times)

• 30,000 Ukrainian Attack Drones To Hammer Russian Strategic Targets (Forbes)

• ‘With brain preservation, nobody has to die’: meet the neuroscientist who believes life could be eternal (Guardian)

• Film Study: How Michigan’s Wink Martindale tricked Ohio State into running the ball (UM)

• Berkeley Wants to Create a Cultural District Where Artists Can Afford to Live (KQED)

• Missing woman may have fallen into sinkhole while searching for cat (WP)

• Google’s new generative AI video model is now available (Verge)

• Watch: Tesla Optimus robot catches high-speed tennis balls with new hand upgrade (IE)

• The Furious Contest to Unseat Nvidia as King of A.I. Chips (NYT)

• Nation’s Mumblers March On Washington Demanding Something Or Other (The Onion)

 

The Revolution Will Be Texted

When I heard that martial law had been declared in South Korea, my first thought was of Donald Trump’s coziness with Kim Jong-un. A whole lot of what is happening around the globe right now is in anticipation of Trump’s return to power.

So I turned on CNN, only to see clips of massive crowds of South Koreans rushing around madly like dancers in a mosh pit. Each and every person seemed to be looking down at their phone. Naturally they were bumping into one another, but as near as I could see, there was no violence and nobody got hurt.

Meanwhile, I suspect somebody was getting the message, because before you could say 무슨 일이야?, the martial law order had been rescinded and democracy restored.

It’s a good thing too because the police or military guys dressed up in hyper-elaborate camouflage outfits looked comically uncertain whether or how to intervene. Nobody was breaking the law — they were all just working their phones. If there is such a thing as a cellphone revolt, this was it, with a lot of intense screen time as the crowd imposed its will on the authorities.

Almost as soon as it started it was over. The whole thing subsided just like an old iPhone loses power when its battery runs out.

***

In one of those desultory moods that periodically occur, I went outside to sit in the sun. Everything seemed quite still around me until a sudden motion caught my eye. It was a hummingbird, drab in color at first, then bright green when splashed by the sun, working its way through one of the many sprigs of lavender growing in our yard.

As I watched, this tiny, determined creature flew from place to place around the property, visiting the various clumps of lavender as well as other flowering bushes, then soaring up to a tree and back down again, at speeds approaching 50 mph, making itself momentarily invisible in case any predator should be also observing its flight pattern along with me.

Anyway, it was putting on a show. A thought came into my mind — what is the average life expectancy of a hummingbird? * It can’t be that long, comparatively, but this particular hummingbird certainly seemed to be making the most of its time on earth. 

This shook me out of my melancholy. Maybe If a hummingbird can do it, why can’t I?

* The average life expectancy of a hummingbird if 5 years, though some live to 10 or beyond.

HEADLINES:

• South Korea president backs down from martial law order after MPs vote to block it (BBC)

• What on Earth is Happening In South Korea? (NPR)

• Pete Hegseth's drinking worried colleagues at Fox News (NBC)

• Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon, was forced out of top roles at two veterans groups due to "serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct," the New Yorker reported. [HuffPost]

• Trump Considers DeSantis for Defense Secretary as His Support for Hegseth Falters (NYT)

• What Kash Patel, Trump's FBI pick, has said he wants to do to reshape the bureau (AP)

• Musk and Ramaswamy Are Making a Big Mistake (Atlantic)

• No more daylight saving time? Musk, Ramaswamy muse on ending clock changes. (WP)

• Hunter pardon reignites talk of rogue Biden impeachment push (Axios)

• Supreme Court to weigh bans on puberty blockers, hormones for trans teens (WP)

• A Republican state lawmaker in Michigan said gay marriage should be "illegal again," claiming that his position "is not remotely controversial, nor extreme." [HuffPost]

• Why America’s economy is soaring ahead of its rivals (Financial Times)

• Israel’s Netanyahu ordered to take stand in his corruption trial after repeated delays (AP)

• Afghan women 'banned from midwife courses' in latest blow to rights (BBC)

• The Billionaire, His Mystery Wife and College Football’s Wildest Recruiting Saga (WSJ)

• Japan's growing bear attack problem. (Reuters)

• Certain names make ChatGPT grind to a halt, and we know why (Ars Technica)

• ChatGPT’s search results for news are ‘unpredictable’ and frequently inaccurate (Verge)

• ChatGPT turns two: how the AI chatbot has changed scientists’ lives (Nature)

• Amazon announces Nova, a new family of multimodal AI models (TechCrunch)

• Report: Majority Of Utah Jazz Players Have Never Heard Of Themselves (The Onion)

A Wrinkle in Time

Largely overlooked and ignored during the frenetic run-up to the election was an expose' in the Guardian titled Revealed: the US government-funded ‘private social network’ attacking pesticide critics.

I bookmarked this piece when it appeared in late September because I knew it might well prove relevant later on, and sure enough that time has arrived. Allow me to explain.

Donald Trump’s decision to nominate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as his health czar is justifiably controversial for many reasons, principally because RFK Jr. has espoused numerous crackpot conspiracy theories and may prove particularly dangerous if he imposes his anti-vaccination views on the agencies trying to protect the pubic health.

But RFK Jr. is on much more solid ground when it comes to his concerns about pesticide residues in the food supply. Ironically, if his nomination is rejected by the Senate, it will most likely be due not to his nutcase conspiracy theories but to the well-financed agrochemical lobby, which brings us right back to that piece in the Guardian.

The article reveals the existence of a private portal used by the industry and its allies in government to maintain detailed profiles of anyone they deem anti-pesticide, including:

• “(A) wide range of personal information about hundreds of individuals from around the world deemed a threat to industry interests, including the US food writers Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman, the Indian environmentalist Vandana Shiva and the Nigerian activist Nnimmo Bassey. Many profiles include personal details such as the names of family members, phone numbers, home addresses and even house values.”

• “The profiling is part of an effort – that was financed, in part, by US taxpayer dollars – to downplay pesticide dangers, discredit opponents and undermine international policymaking, according to court records, emails and other documents obtained by the non-profit newsroom Lighthouse Reports.”

• “More than 30 current government officials are on the membership list, most of whom are from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).”

• “Mounting scientific evidence has linked some pesticides to a host of health risks, including leukemia, Parkinson’s, and cancers of the bladder, colon, bone marrow, lung, blood cells and pancreas, as well as reproductive problems, learning disorders and problems of the immune system. The concerns about various documented health impacts have led multiple countries to ban or otherwise restrict several types of pesticides.”

If he is confirmed over industry objections by the Senate, Kennedy could potentially do some good in the area of regulating pesticides. At this point, that would represent a small glimmer of light in the very dark scenario of what’s to come during Trump’s time in power.

And don’t get me wrong. I think Kennedy’s nomination is a disaster, one of many in Trump’s incoming cabinet. But there could be some silver linings, and I’m looking for them.

There is much, much more in the excellent Guardian article for anyone who wishes to become better informed on the issue of pesticide regulation. Also, long leading the field in honest, accurate information about agrochemicals is the non-profit Pesticide Action Network.

(Note: My apologies to novelist Madeleine L'Engle for appropriating the title, A Wrinkle in Time, from her excellent young adult science fantasy novel. Imitation is, after all, a sincere form of flattery.)

HEADLINES:

• South Korea president declares emergency martial law (CNN)

• White House defends pardon of Hunter Biden amid backlash (BBC)

• Biden’s Pardon of Hunter Further Undermines His Legacy (New Yorker)

• Pursuing justice or getting even? (Politico)

• Tensions Rise Among Russia’s Elite as Economic Growth Slows (NYT)

• 40 Years Later: Demand Justice for Bhopal (PAN)

• Pete Hegseth’s Secret History (New Yorker)

• Amid worry about Trump, calls for career Justice Department staff to stay (WP)

• Long a ‘Crown Jewel’ of Government, N.I.H. Is Now a Target (NYT)

• H5N1 Bird Flu Concerns Grow. Are COVID-19 Mistakes Being Repeated? (Forbes)

• Trump said he intends to nominate Charles Kushner, his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s billionaire father, to be the next U.S. ambassador to France. [HuffPost]

• Lake-effect snows continue to bury Northeast after Thanksgiving weekend (WP)

• Israel Builds Bases in Central Gaza, a Sign It May Be There to Stay (NYT)

• Elton John says he has lost his eyesight (CNN)

• Space traffic is crowding Earth's orbit. (Reuters)

• World Labs’ AI can generate interactive 3D scenes from a single photo (TechCrunch)

• AI Reveals Stunning Secrets Hidden in the Sun’s Atmosphere (SciTechDaily)

• This manga publisher is using Anthropic’s AI to translate Japanese comics into English (Technology Review)

• Ads might be coming to ChatGPT — despite Sam Altman not being a fan (TechCrunch)

• Study: Overuse Of Hair Detangler Giving Rise To Product-Resistant Supertangles (The Onion)

LYRICS (Excerpt)

“Love’s the Only House” by Martina McBride

'Cause the pain's gotta go somewhere
Yeah, the pain's gotta go some place
So come on down to my house
Don't you know that

Love's the only house big enough for all the pain in the world
Love's the only house big enough for all the pain

(Songwriters: Buzz Cason / Thomas Stevenson Douglas) 

Winter Nights

(‘Sunset’ by Daisy)

The image above was painted by my ten-year=old granddaughter after I mentioned to her that the sunsets these winter nights are so dramatic and wide in the southwestern sky that it would be difficult to capture them. 

She is not one to back down from a challenge.

As for the political situation, a piece in the Guardian this morning captures how 50 percent of the electorate are feeling: ‘People feel drained’: anti-Trump Americans face temptation to tune out.

This too will pass. There are those among us who are not the types to back down from a challenge.

And the top link below describes the coming challenge succinctly: An authoritarian state.

HEADLINES:

• A Constitutional Crisis Greater Than Watergate — Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel threatens to turn the FBI into an instrument of personal presidential power. (Atlantic)

• Patel has publicly mused about targeting journalists, government officials (WP)

• Syrian rebels push towards Hama as government forces launch counterattacks (Al Jazeera)

• Rebels Seize Control Over Most of Syria’s Largest City (NYT)

• Biden Pardons Son (WP)

• Trump threat of 100% tariffs against Brics nations raises trade war fears (Guardian)

• What Trudeau told Trump at Mar-a-Lago (Politico)

• Trump selects Lebanese billionaire Massad Boulos as Middle East adviser (Financial Times)

• Russia’s plunging currency spells trouble for its war effort (Economist)

• Study shows mountain lions are changing to adapt to human recreation (WP)

• Michigan Stuns Ohio State—and a Flag-Planting Fracas Follows (WSJ)

• The earliest known ‘country’ recording has been found. The singer? A Black man. (WP)

• Scientist Explains How Climate Crisis Would Be Averted If Greta Thunberg Just Tried A Little Harder (The Onion)

Another Domino Falls

I would never think of defending the legacy of J. Edgar Hoover, who did more than his share of evil while building the FBI into the federal government’s top law-enforcement agency. But I did gain a new appreciation for the nuances of his half-century in power from the Pulitzer-Prize- winning biography by Beverly Gage titled G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century.

And with that deeper understanding, I’m quite sure that Hoover would be turning over in his grave at the news of Trump’s decision to appoint the right-wing zealot Kash Patel as the next director of the FBI.

Hoover was a bizarre, tortured figure to be sure — closeted, paranoid, racist and sexist — but also fiercely protective of the independence of “his” bureau from political interference by the many Presidents who came and went during his 48 years at the helm of the agency whose headquarters building bears his name.

Meanwhile, Trump wants Patel in place to pursue his political enemies, which is precisely the type of thing Hoover, despite his many flaws, did not want the bureau to do. And to a great extent, while he was around he succeeded in avoiding the bureau from being used as a political hit team.

Hoover held the line against all kinds of powerful Presidents — Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, etc., — but he never encountered the likes of Trump, with his insatiable thirst for retribution against his perceived political enemies.

And as for Patel, his right-wing extremism would have upset Hoover as much as the left-wing variety he more publicly railed against. Either extreme, Hoover knew, threatened not only his beloved bureau’s integrity but the future of our democracy.

One thing Hoover and Patel have in common is a willingness to trample all over the civil rights of people like you and me. Hold on to your privacy — this is bound to get ugly.

HEADLINES:

• Stopping the Press (New Yorker)

• Syrian rebels sweep into Aleppo after lightning assault (Financial Times)

• Syrian rebels reach the heart of Aleppo (Reuters)

• Setbacks for Russia, Iran and Hezbollah Turn Into a Catastrophe for Syria’s Assad (WSJ)

• Great Lakes Storm Dumps 2 Feet of Snow on Northeast and Midwest, With More to Come (NYT)

• Trump praises "very productive" Mar-a-Lago meeting with Trudeau (BBC)

• The Big Question: who will be hurt the most by Trump’s tariffs? (Financial Times)

• Trump’s former FDA commissioner warns RFK Jr. could ‘cost lives’ (WP)

• Journalists flock to Bluesky as X becomes increasingly 'toxic' (NBC)

• Googling Is for Old People. That’s a Problem for Google. (WSJ)

• How will Australia enforce its social media ban for teenagers? (WP)

• Zelenskyy says NATO guarantees could end ‘hot phase’ of Ukraine war (Politico)

• Zelensky’s latest Ukraine-Russia war plan is a ‘major concession’ to Putin, says former UK ambassador (Independent)

• How Kristi Noem, Trump’s homeland security pick, became an immigration ‘zealot’ (WP)

• 2 Big Social Security Changes Are Coming in 2025. Here's What to Expect. (Motley Fool)

• Michigan stuns No. 2 Ohio State 13-10 before a massive postgame brawl at midfield (Yahoo)

• How ChatGPT changed the future (Axios)

• Robots can learn new actions faster thanks to AI techniques (Economist)

• OpenAI targets 1bn users in next phase of growth (Financial Times)

• Target Now Offering Snipers To Take Out Other Shoppers For Black Friday (The Onion)

LYRICS

“Not Dark Yet” by Bob Dylan

… Shadows are fallin' and I've been here all day
It's too hot to sleep and time is runnin' away
Feel like my soul has turned into steel
I've still got the scars that the sun didn't heal

… There's not even room enough to be anywhere
It's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there

… Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing, there's been some kind of pain
She wrote me a letter, and she wrote it so kind
She put down in writin' what was in her mind

… I just don't see why I should even care
It's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there

… Well, I've been to London and I been to gay Paris
I've followed the river and I got to the sea
I've been down on the bottom of the world full of lies
I ain't lookin' for nothin' in anyone's eyes

… Sometimes my burden is more than I can bear
It's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there

… I was born here, and I'll die here against my will
I know it looks like I'm movin', but I'm standin' still
Every nerve in my body is so naked and numb
I can't even remember what it was I came here to get away from

… Don't even hear the murmur of a prayer

It's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there