Pen Pals

There’s data on everything, even friendship. According to Pew, the average American has roughly 3-5 close friends. Using a different definition, Meta (Facebook) allows each of us to acquire up to 5,000 ‘friends’ and probably at least a few of them would become real ones if we ever actually met them.

Every now and then, I meet somebody with whom my instinct says there is the distinct possibility for a deeper connection. The way life goes, that connection may or may not happen but the instinct remains.

Even as we discover new friends, we may reject others. Especially of the Meta variety. Maybe there's a lesson from Meta'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 storm cloud that might break at any second. There were no wishes for more money or food or fame or success of any kind. Only thoughts about the people I love and how I wished there could be more of them.

It may sound silly or corny but whether we’re talking about 1 or 4 or 5,000, they are real connections and that's one of the reasons I write.

HEADLINES:

• Vance poses immigrants as ‘greatest threat’ to US and Europe in CPAC speech (Guardian)

• Europe’s closest ally is in bed with its worst enemy. Now what? (CNN)

• Exclusive: US refusing to co-sponsor UN motion backing Ukraine ahead of war anniversary, diplomats say (Reuters)

• Russia asked US for Nato withdrawal from eastern Europe, says Romania (Financial Times)

• Xi Jinping wants the private sector to thrive again (Economist)

• The Real China Trump Card (Foreign Affairs)

• With Trump’s Prostration to Putin, Expect a More Dangerous World (NYT)

• In Russia, dozens are being subjected to compulsory psychiatric treatment because of their political views, according to lawyers and human rights groups - a trend they say has gathered pace since the start of the war in Ukraine. (Reuters)

• The Trump Administration Trashes Europe and NATO (New Yorker)

• Who Is Running the United States, Musk or Trump? (Atlantic)

• President says feds should ‘take over’ governance of D.C. (WP)

• Trump Kicks Off Legal Chaos by Revealing Elon Musk Actually Runs DOGE (TNR)

• Former CMS head warns DOGE acting too quickly (The Hill)

• Trump comes close to the red line of openly defying judges, experts say (WP)

• Trump loyalist Kash Patel is confirmed as FBI director by the Senate despite deep Democratic doubts (AP)

• Many of Trump’s early actions are unpopular, Post-Ipsos poll finds (WP)

• Zuckerberg deeply unpopular among U.S. adults in new survey (Axios)

• Lawyers helping migrant children facing deportation ordered by Trump administration to "stop all work" (CBS)

• RFK Jr. targets transgender protections at HHS (WP)

• Trump has endorsed a House budget plan that will include cuts to Medicaid — after previously insisting it wouldn't "be touched." However, the safety net cuts noted in Speaker Mike Johnson's budget are opposed by some members of his own party. [HuffPost]

• New York Gov. Hochul will not remove Mayor Eric Adams (CNBC)

• Robert De Niro’s Politically Charged Answer Leaves ‘Late Show’ In Eerie Silence (HuffPost)

• Texas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We Did (ProPublica)

• A Mississippi judge ordered a newspaper to remove an editorial. Press advocates are outraged (AP)

• Intelligent Life May Be More Likely to Exist on Other Planets Than Previously Thought, Scientists Say (Smithsonian)

• Seal is found wandering streets of New Haven, becomes local celebrity (WP)

• AI-designed chips so weird that 'humans cannot really understand them' — but they perform better than anything we've created (LiveScience)

• Apple Unveils New Lower-Priced iPhone With A.I. Features (NYT)

• Group Of People All Smoking Cigarettes Outside Building Must Have Just Finished Sex Together (The Onion)

Abandoning Ukraine

It’s often been said that Donald Trump loves dictators, so when he used that term yesterday to describe President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, you could be forgiven for thinking he was paying him a compliment. 

But of course he was not. He was outraged that Zelenskyy had called him out for operating in a “disinformation bubble,” so he fired back with the worst insult he could muster.

This rhetorical exchange of insults is the kind of thing that characterizes Trump’s presidency; he will sink to any level in his quest to carry out his agenda, which —when it comes to foreign policy — is imperialism, pure and simple.

In fact, it’s becoming clear Trump is willing to let Putin absorb the parts of Ukraine Russia occupies as part of his “solution” to end that war. In turn, he expects to have a free hand to pursue his own expansionist agenda with his designs on Canada, Greenland and Panama, for starters.

In Trump’s worldview, both the U.S. and Russia should be free to use their size and strength to expand their empires — international laws, institutions and norms be damned.

The one thing now standing in his way in Europe is the fighting spirit of the Ukrainian people, which has inspired those of us the world over who value freedom over oppression. Now the struggle against Putin’s imperial design — and Trump’s —hangs in the balance.

HEADLINES:

• Who Is Running the United States, Musk or Trump? (Atlantic)

• Journalist describes Trump's movements as a 'regime change' towards authoritarianism (NPR)

• Echoing Kremlin, Trump calls Zelensky a dictator, angering Ukrainians (WP)

• Trump and Zelenskyy trade barbs as US-Ukraine relations sour over the war with Russia (AP)

• Kyiv’s White House wooing implodes as Zelenskyy tells the truth about Trump (Guardian)

• Trump warns Zelenskyy to quickly negotiate war’s end with Russia or risk not having a nation to lead (AP)

• U.S. and Russia Pursue Partnership in a Head-Spinning Shift in Relations (NYT)

• It’s Time for Europe to Do the Unthinkable (Foreign Policy)

• How the world might retaliate against Elon Musk (Axios)

• Trump claims expanded power over independent agencies (NPR)

• Trump order challenges independence of FCC, FTC and financial regulators (WP)

• DOGE’s Reign of Ineptitude (Atlantic)

• Trump Vowed to Clean Up Washington, Then His Team Hired a Man Who Pushed a Scam the IRS Called the “Worst of the Worst” (ProPublica)

• State Dept. orders cancellation of news subscriptions around the world (WP)

• Kennedy Library closes abruptly (Politico)

• Trump administration orders Pentagon to plan for sweeping budget cuts (WP)

• Reciprocal tariffs really mean chaos for global trade (Economist)

• Hamas offers all captives for permanent truce as Israel attacks go on (Al Jazeera)

• Mind-bending stats? Barry Bonds post-MLB career raises more questions about Hall-of-Fame case (Fansided)

• The hottest AI models, what they do, and how to use them (TechCrunch)

• Family Cuts Nursing Home Visit Short So Grandmother Can Get Back To Excruciating Loneliness (The Onion)

LESLIE’s LINKS:

• Elon Musk’s Business Empire Scores Benefits Under Trump Shake-Up (NYT)

• Trump’s attack on Zelensky stirs fear of major U.S. shift on Russia (WP)

• DOGE Claimed It Saved $8 Billion in One Contract. It Was Actually $8 Million. (NYT)

• GOP senators split on Trump’s attacks on Zelensky, reversals on Ukraine (WP)

• Republicans rebuke Trump on Ukraine — gently (WP)

The Patriots Within

 Last week in the essay “What’s Happening Here,” I reported that by targeting FBI agents who worked on the Jan. 6th cases for firing, the Trump administration was on the verge of expelling its top counter-terrorism experts.

I’ve since learned that those experts are among the 6,000 FBI agents who have sued the federal government to prevent their names to be released to the public. In an agreement approved by a judge, the government was ordered not to release the names — for now.

The agents, whose identities are protected in the court filings, argued that if their names fell into the wrong hands, the “national security of the United States would be severely compromised.”

Ironically, the “wrong hands” include the President of the United States, as well as those convicted, then pardoned of crimes in the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6th. Collectively, they represent the gravest danger to our national security. 

We are just one dog whistle away from another violent insurrection, and among our few remaining defenses against that scenario is the continued presence of domestic counter-terrorism experts inside the FBI. 

They are our patriots within.

Of course that brings us to the man with the whistle.

Headlines: 

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy accuses Donald Trump of living in a ‘disinformation bubble’ (Financial Times)

• Elon Musk Is Leading a ‘Hostile Takeover of the Federal Government’ (NYT)

• Trump scores win in suit challenging Elon Musk's cost-cutting powers (Reuters)

• White House says Elon Musk is not in charge of DOGE — legally, anyway (NPR)

• Trump-Musk Threats Darken as Their Anger at Enemies Takes Ominous Turn (TNR)

• Top criminal prosecutor in Washington U.S. Attorney’s office abruptly quits (Politico)

• Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees. One employee suggested he was targeted over his criticism of Elon Musk's companies Tesla and X. [AP]

• Inside the Trump administration’s error-plagued federal firing spree (WP)

• Federal Government Agrees Not to Release List of FBI Agents Involved in Trump Cases (Democracy Docket)

• Thousands join class actions as fired feds weigh options to challenge Trump's moves (Government Executive)

• Trump's firings of independent agency heads put 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent in crosshairs (CBS)

• Trump says he has instructed DOJ to terminate all remaining Biden-era US attorneys (Reuters)

• Republicans consider cuts and work requirements for Medicaid, jeopardizing care for millions (AP)

• U.S. weighs destroying $500 million in stockpiled covid tests (WP)

• Russia and US agree to work toward ending Ukraine war in a remarkable diplomatic shift (AP)

• Trump blames Ukraine over war with Russia, saying it could have made a deal (Guardian)

• Hamas to hand over 4 Israeli hostages' bodies Thursday and 6 living hostages Saturday (NPR)

• Gaza Arab plan may involve up to $20 billion regional contribution, sources say (Reuters)

• EPA is considering blocking states from passing stronger pesticide regulations. Tell them: NO. (PAN)

• Trump’s Kennedy Center Coup Has Christian Nationalism Written All Over It (Daily Kos)

• Leonard Peltier leaves prison after Biden commuted his sentence in the killing of two FBI agents (AP)

• The revolt of the ‘low performers’ (Business Insider)

• Google’s AI Efforts Marred by Turf Disputes (Information)

• China's humanoid robots to take on factory work, household tasks, half-marathon (Global Times)

• How U.S. tech giants' AI is changing the face of warfare in Gaza and Lebanon (AP)

• Numerous Teams Express Interest In Aaron Rodgers Playing Elsewhere (The Onion)

Bullies

(Peppers, 2007)

“You know bullies? You know what a bully is, right? You know the bully, I’ve always ― and I found it throughout my life, a bully is the weakest person. — Donald Trump

It takes one to know one.

What passes for Donald Trump’s foreign policy is built on the presumption that he can get his way through bullying.

It starts with size.

There are various ways to measure the size and strength of the world’s nations, but what has long been the standard measurement is the gross domestic product or GDP, which is one way to gauge the total value of a country's economy.

According to data from 2023 published by the World Bank, the top ten countries by GDP are:

1. United States: $27.3 trillion

2. China: $17.8 trillion

3. Germany: $4.5 trillion

4. Japan: $4.2 trillion

5. India: $3.5 trillion

6. United Kingdom: $3.3 trillion

7. France: $3.0 trillion

8. Italy: $2.3 trillion

9. Brazil: $2.2 trillion

10. Canada: $2.1 trillion

Economists argue about whether GDP is the best way to measure quality of life, but when it comes to global politics, the biggest countries economically are in a position to bully smaller countries, and that is something Donald Trump understands very well.

Leaving aside China for a moment, the US economy is bigger than the other eight countries on this list combined by 4.3 trillion dollars.

So when Trump throws his weight around against them individually or collectively, through tariffs or other weapons, he is in effect trying to bully them into submission.

When it comes to China, the only economy anywhere near as large as the US, Trump knows he has to tread slightly more cautiously, but there too he is testing the Chinese to match his aggressive tariffs..

But as Trump’s surprisingly candid remark about bullies indicates, bullies act out of weakness and if the rest of the countries strike back in a coordinated manner, they can eventually bring the bully to his knees, which Trump ought to know as well.

But unfortunately, by that point a lot of damage will have been done. 

HEADLINES:

• Top Social Security official exits after clash with Musk’s DOGE over data (WP)

• First Test of Trump’s Power to Fire Officials Reaches Supreme Court (NYT)

• Mass firings continue across nation’s health agencies (Politico)

• Why Trump targets AP (Axios)

• Acting archivist, inspector general for National Archives forced out (WP)

• 10 'Richest' Countries in the World (With a Huge Caveat) (Money)

• ‘Stunning Freudian Slip’: Trump’s Hot Take On Bullies Leads To Epic ‘Self Own’ (HuffPost)

• Hundreds of CDC employees laid off in latest round of firings (Today)

• Trump administration tries to bring back fired nuclear weapons workers in DOGE reversal (AP)

• X is blocking links to Signal, a secure messaging platform used by federal workers (TechCrunch)

• America Will Pay Dearly for the NIH’s Mindless War on Wokeness and DEI (Mother Jones)

• ‘Not My President’ rally held in Berkeley, joining many protests across the bay, and the country (Berkeleyside)

• Four top deputies to Eric Adams have resigned, New York mayor says (CNN)

• For Thousands of Workers, the U.S.-Mexico Border Is Just a Commute (WSJ)

• Netanyahu signals he’s moving ahead with Trump’s idea to transfer Palestinians from Gaza (AP)

• US-Russia talks sideline Ukraine and Europe (Al Jazeera)

• Europeans explore troops for Ukraine ceasefire — and want U.S. support (WP)

• U.K., Sweden say troops could head to post-war Ukraine as Trump fuels a European "collective security" drive (CBS)

• What might a European military force in Ukraine look like? (Guardian)

• Ukraine and Russia at War (Reuters)

• Delta plane crashes, overturns in Toronto; all survive, officials say (ABC)

• Watch: Deadly storm hits south-eastern US and Canada (BBC)

• Here's Why Retirees on Social Security Were Just Dealt a Major Blow (Motley Fool)

• English Professor Suddenly Realizes Students Will Believe Literally Anything She Says (The Onion)

Seventeen years ago this week, I published the following piece to my personal blog. There was nothing remarkable about this post, except that it drew a comment from one of my cousins, Dan Anderson. We had been very close as kids, we were the same age, but we diverged as young adults. Whereas Dan joined the military and went to Vietnam, I joined the Peace Corps and went to Afghanistan.

Like many such family ties, ours were strained by that war and the resulting cultural divide. We fell out of touch, rarely speaking for years. But sometime after I started blogging in 2006, Dan got back in touch. He said that it was my writing that brought us back together. 

Bigger Than Us

(photo credit: NASA)

Driving north from San Jose tonight, after a two-day visit to Santa Clara University, where the quality of ideas seem to be much more valued than the sound of money, I was treated to a rare visual treat.

Courtesy of NPR, I know that tonight's eastern sky held the third of three lunar eclipses in this past year, and that this also was the last one until late 2010, almost three years from now.

Our Bay Area skies were cloudy, so I had expected no chance to view this relatively rare event.

But as I crested I-280's last rise and merged eastward onto the 380 connector to Highway 101, there it was! A soft smudge in the eastern sky, nothing like a normal view.

In fact, as this odd image hovered over the broad, well-lighted expanse of SFO, I couldn't help but wonder whether those throughout human history who say they have sighted UFOs or those who claim to have witnessed guiding lights from the heavens may simply have been in the right place at the right astronomical time.

If so, that does not diminish their experience, in my view, but perhaps confirms it. Being there, witnessing that, validates our smallness, as humans, before the awful glory of forces so much grander than ourselves, that none of our conventional beliefs can explain.

Do you believe in magic? Do you believe in God? Can you reconcile the relentless logical beauty of science with the ambiguity of faith in a source not palpable, not reachable, not attainable in our status as mere humans?

To glimpse the awful beauty of something much greater than ourselves raises a conundrum for intellectuals. It rarely is a place we willingly go.

At times, I will be traveling these spiritual paths, and I hope, dear reader, you are willing to stick around for the ride.

1 Comment:

DanogramUSA said...

David,

That was an extraordinary sight from northwestern Ohio, too. As it happens, our sky was perfectly clear last night... enhancing the effect. Living in the country, away from city lights, allows one to see these events in a crystal clear atmosphere sometimes (though it doesn't necessarily give any more clarity to the mind of the limited human observer).

Great idea to explore “spiritual paths”. I'll be reading your reflections with interest.

You may recall that our family had a pet squirrel monkey named “Tommy” for about 3 years in the late 50s. Well, of the many entertaining characteristics that little guy displayed was an utter inability to grasp the concept of clear glass. If we held one of his favorite treats on one side of a glass door, he would sit for the longest time attempting to reach “through” the glass from the other side. It worked every time. Our inability to grasp some of which seems to exist has always teased the human spirit in this way. As Stephan Hawking has described “the very large and the very small” confound us.

Brian Greene has observed that no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to teach a dog calculus – their brains simply aren't “wired” for it. He goes on to make the point that, in a similar fashion, humans may simply not be wired to understand the workings behind what we think we observe and know. We will never know if we stop asking.

Dan

NOTE: Dan Anderson died in the winter of 2019. R.I.P.

This photo is from the 1950s. Dan is second from the left and I’m the cowboy. 

LESLIE’S LINKS:

• Saying ‘women’ is not allowed, but ‘men’ and ‘white’ are OK? I’m (not) shocked (Guardian)

• The Tesla Revolt (Atlantic)

• ‘The US is ready to hand Russia a win’: newspapers on Europe’s Trump shock (Guardian)

• Back Up Everything. Even if Elon Musk Isn’t Looking at It. (NYT)

• Trump under fire for likening himself to Napoleon amid attacks on judges (Guardian)

• As Trump Targets Research, Scientists Share Grief and Resolve to Fight (NYT)

HEADLINES:

• Rubio says "we have a long ways to go" before peace talks over ending Russia, Ukraine war (CBS)

• Stunned Europeans make plans after US announcements on Ukraine (EuroNews)

• European countries will not create one united army, says Poland's Sikorski (Reuters)

• Trump’s Proposal to Expel Palestinians From Gaza Hangs Over Rubio’s Israel Trip (NYT)

• We Might Have to “Shut Down the Country” (New Yorker)

• The destruction of USAID is a canary in American democracy’s coal mine (The Hill)

• An Unchecked Trump Rapidly Remakes U.S. Government and Foreign Policy (NYT)

• Trump moves with dizzying speed on his to-do list. But there are warning signs in his first month (AP)

• ICE struggles to boost arrest numbers despite infusion of resources (WP)

• Judge orders fired head of whistleblower agency reinstated while fight continues over Trump removal (AP)

• Elon Musk’s mass government cuts could make private companies millions (Guardian)

• He’s Spent Years Watching Silicon Valley Take Companies Apart. He Has a Warning for DC. (Politico)

• Global funding freeze leaves anti-terror programs in limbo (WP)

• White House says it has the right to punish AP reporters over Gulf naming dispute (AP)

• The Radical Legal Theories That Could Fuel a Constitutional Crisis (NYT)

• How AI will divide the best from the rest (Economist)

• Older AI models show signs of cognitive decline, study shows (LiveScience)

• Report: It Would Probably Be Nice Having Friends (The Onion)

The Architect, Exposed

 

                                                                        (Freefloat, 2007)

Last night, an important new investigative piece landed from non-profit ProPublica, titled “Trump Official Destroying USAID Secretly Met With Christian Nationalists Abroad in Defiance of U.S. Policy” (ProPublica).

As I pointed out recently in “A Moment for Muckrakers,“ one of the main bulwarks we have left to defend our democracy from the Trump-Musk predatory behavior is what remains of a free and honest press.

There is a place now for investigative reporters, including old and retired ones, to step up and begin to chip away at this runaway wreck of an administration. The ProPublica piece is a good start.

According to reporters Brett Murphy and Anna Maria Barry-Jester, a shady character named Peter Marocco is behind the destruction of USAID. He’s shown sympathies toward the white Christian nationalists, which are an important constituency for the Trump-Musk machine.

I urge everyone to read the piece and come to your own conclusions.

HEADLINES:

• Trump Official Destroying USAID Secretly Met With Christian Nationalists Abroad in Defiance of U.S. Policy (ProPublica)

• Three Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian detainees freed after dispute threatened Gaza ceasefire (CNN)

• JD Vance stuns Munich conference with blistering attack on Europe’s leaders (Guardian)

• Germany's Scholz rebukes JD Vance over hate speech, far right (Reuters)

• Ukraine rejects initial Trump request for half its mineral wealth (WP)

• Zelenskyy: ‘The time has come’ for a European army (Politico)

• Internal documents show how DOGE planned DEI purge — and whom they want to fire next (WP)

• Trump administration begins mass firings across government (NBC)

• Nearly 10,000 fired as Trump and Musk step up government purge (Reuters)

• Trump and His Droids Go For the Jugular (Journal of the Plague Years)

• A payment increase in Social Security benefits is prepared thanks to the COLA (MSN)

• Trump’s federal firings imperil government services from cities to farm towns (WP)

• White House limits AP access to Oval Office, Air Force One indefinitely (The Hill)

• Trump Advancing New Apostolic Reformation’s Christian Nationalist Seven Mountains Mandate (Daily Kos)

• Urgent: Tell EPA NO on preemption (Pesticide Action Network)

• How Bob Dylan broke free (Economist)

• OpenAI Rejects Elon Musk’s Takeover Offer (WSJ)

• Meta’s next big bet may be humanoid robotics (TechCrunch)

• AI Is Infiltrating the U.S. Government (Foreign Policy)

• The Real Problem With DOGE’s AI Plans (Atlantic)

• Man With Fogged-Up Glasses Forced To Finish Soup Using Other Senses (The Onion)

LESLIE’s PICKS:

• Trump-Musk Scandal at USAID Takes Unnerving Turn With Vile Leaked Memo (TNR) 

• Macron calls emergency European summit on Trump, Polish minister says (Politico)

• Hegseth’s Bruising 72-Hour Debut Overseas (NYT)

• US Forest Service and National Park Service to fire thousands of workers (Guardian)

• Trump administration wants to un-fire nuclear safety workers but can’t figure out how to reach them (NBC)

The Breach

Recently, some headlines have suggested that the federal courts may be the “last bulwark” against Trump’s drive to centralize executive power. Others have argued that the state attorney generals are our “last line of defense” to save our democracy.

While these make for dramatic headlines in a scary time, the truth is a bit more complicated, and ultimately, even scarier.

When constitutional scholars talk about “checks and balances,” they usually are referring to the interplay between the three branches of the federal government — the executive, legislative and judicial.

Since all three are now under Republican control, and the GOP is in turn under the sway of right-wing extremists, that is a cause for red-alert alarm bells alone.

But an important additional check on power is our federalized system, which mandates a certain degree of decentralized power-sharing between the states, cities and regional branches of the central government.

It is these distributed layers that are now under assault by Trump’s Justice Department. The seven resignations by prosecutors in the wake of suspending the federal corruption charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams illustrate the direct threat both to local authorities and the traditional independence of U.S. Attorneys in places like the Southern District of New York, or the 9th Circuit on the west coast.

Other Trump initiatives are challenging state power in various ways in blue areas like California, New York and Illinois. The first ICE raids, for example, were by design staged in Chicago. The administration is targeting jurisdictions that have proclaimed sanctuary status protecting immigrants for future mass deportation raids.

There are two great vulnerabilities hampering the ability of local and state authorities to resist the Trump power grab. One is control over the federal purse strings, which now lies with the Republican-controlled Congress, although even that check is now being challenged by DOGE.

To a large degree, cities and states depend on federal funds to finance their programs and to help them recover after the increasingly frequent natural disasters caused by climate change. The scale of events like mega-hurricanes and massive wildfires makes the cost of recovery beyond any state’s capacity — even California with the largest state budget.

The other vulnerability is the frightening rise of right-wing militias now they are free to resume plots like their plan to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic governor. These groups will be emboldened if and when Trump dog-whistles them into action, safe in the knowledge he will pardon them no matter how heinous their acts against his “enemies.”

It is now not difficult to imagine a series of events that could fatally undermine our democracy.

I wish this was all a paranoid fantasy, and I’d more than happy to be wrong about all of this. But should any kind of resistance movement to Trump’s authoritarian oligarchy emerge, I fear the risk of political violence to suppress the leaders of that movement is high.

The true last line of defense is those of us, the American people, who refuse to give up the hard-earned freedoms we’ve achieved over the past 248 years. Unfortunately, it looks like we now will have an extended battle on our hands.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“We’re here, right by your side.” — Ontario (advertisement)

HEADLINES:

• JD Vance attacks Europe over free speech and migration (BBC)

• Vance’s message is simple: drink the Maga Kool-Aid or you’re on your own (Telegraph)

• World leaders expected clarity on Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine. Instead, JD Vance scolded them on immigration and lectured them about censorship (Fortune)

• Vance meets with leader of far-right German party, blasts European leaders (WP)

• NATO is in disarray after the US announces that its security priorities lie elsewhere (AP)

• Judge orders US to restore funds for foreign aid programs (Reuters)

• Trump’s A.G. Just Did Something So Corrupt She Should Be Fired Already (TNR)

• The Justice Department’s recent instruction to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams has prompted a wave of resignations from key federal prosecutors on Thursday, including one attorney who said the order "amounted to a quid pro quo." [HuffPost]

• Federal prosecutors resign after order to drop Eric Adams case (Today)

• Danielle Sassoon’s American Bravery — A conservative prosecutor in New York makes the first bold move against Donald Trump’s rampaging Presidency. (New Yorker)

• Some federal workers given just 30 minutes to leave amid Trump layoffs (Guardian)

• A Consumer Financial Watchdog’s Fate Is Unclear. Here’s What’s at Stake. (WSJ)

• This Watchdog Agency Shielded Troops and Veterans from Fraud. Musk and Trump Just Gutted It. (Military.com)

• Nazi flags can fly in Utah schools, but not pride flags, GOP lawmaker says (Salt Lake Tribune)

• Trump firings cause chaos at agency responsible for America's nuclear weapons (NPR)

• ICE Raids Send Chill Through Migrant Workforces (WSJ)

• The real obstacle for Trump’s campaign against DEI isn’t Democrats. It’s demography (CNN)

• Senate Panel Advances Kash Patel’s Bid for F.B.I. Director Amid Agency Turmoil (NYT)

• Who’s working for Elon Musk’s DOGE? (WP)

• The Erasing of American Science (Atlantic)

• Will Student Loans Be Cancelled If Trump Shuts Down Department Of Education? (Forbes)

• Laid-off Meta employees blast Zuckerberg for running the ‘cruelest tech company out there’ as some claim they were blindsided after parental leave (Fortune)

• Video shows whale gulping up kayaker: ‘I thought I had died’ (WP)

• The damage done when the journalists get the story wrong (Al Jazeera)

• Female protagonists reach parity with men in top-grossing films of 2024 (AP)

• Go ahead and flirt with AI, just don’t fall in love (WP)

• A new study is offering a good reason to stop depending on tools like ChatGPT for everything. [HuffPost]

• Concerned Bartender Takes Away Pete Hegseth’s Security Clearance (The Onion)

ARCHIVAL VIDEO:

Norah Jones — Forever Young at memorial for Steve Jobs

When Stories Cross Paths

One of our biggest projects at the Center for Investigative Reporting in the early years started out based on reporting I’d done for Pacific News Service and Rolling Stone. It was loosely called the “export of poison” and ultimately led to a joint project with Mother Jones called the “Corporate Crime of the Century,” which won a National Magazine Award, plus our book called Circle of Poison.

Going back still further, the way I got started on this reporting track was a humble item indeed — a packet of Kool-Aid in Afghanistan. In the list of ingredients on the back of the packet was cyclamates, an artificial sweetener that had been banned by the FDA as a carcinogen.

I had purchased the Kool-Aid at a bazaar in Kabul while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1969-71, and found it odd that something banned in the U.S. had found its way to one of the poorest countries in the world.

Back in the states, while working as a freelance reporter researching “export of poison” stories, I discovered that another journalist, Stan Sesser, had solved the cyclamate mystery when he published an expose in the Wall Street Journal documenting that U.S. companies had dumped products contain the carcinogen overseas after the FDA ban.

As fate would have it, I met Stan Sesser around the time we formed CIR in 1977. He was teaching journalism classes at U-C, Berkeley and wrote us a glowing letter of recommendation just as we were getting started.

A meticulous reporter who footnoted every allegation in his stories, Stan inspired us during those early years when we shared office space with him in downtown Oakland.

When I got the sad news recently that Stan Sesser had died at the age of 81, I thought back to how that packet of Kool-Aid over fifty years ago had bound our early careers together. It is with the greatest respect that I remember Stan Sesser, a fine journalist, R.I.P.

(The painting on canvas is by Daisy.)

***
On what might otherwise have seemed a dreary afternoon, given the rain outside and the state of the nation, I felt warm and hopeful inside thanks to a space heater I recently purchased and a cup of Philz coffee courtesy of a friend who brought me a 2-lb. bag a couple weeks ago.

These are the perfect conditions for me to write — the weather, the comfort and the feeling of connectedness.

Academics who study these kinds of things contend that there are only a few basic categories of stories in the world. I don’t recall the exact number, but that doesn’t really matter because that only makes it a better subject for academic debate. We can just agree that it is a discrete number that depends on who’s doing the categorizing.

So if the experts are right, any story I attempt to tell you has already been told, possibly millions of times over. A younger writer might get discouraged by this problem but I look at it from another perspective.

The way I see it, when it comes to a good story, it’s all in the telling, and I just told you one.

(Thanks to Susanna for the coffee.)

HEADLINES:

• There’s a Term for What Trump and Musk Are Doing — How regime change happens in America (Atlantic)

• DOGE Is Hacking America — The U.S. government has experienced what may be the most consequential security breach in its history. (Foreign Policy)

• Justice, FBI ousters remove longtime experts from daily threats meeting (WP)

• White House terminates top federal prosecutors amid DOJ, FBI purge (NBC)

• Top prosecutor resigns after being told to drop case against NYC mayor Eric Adams (BBC)

• Musk team kicks off federal layoffs as White House eyes big cuts (WP)

• JD Vance throws down a high-risk gauntlet for America's judiciary (MSNBC)

• Senate confirms RFK Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary (CNN)

• DOGE rips through Education Department, cutting contracts, staff and grants (WP)

• Elon Musk claims to know the net worths of federal employees, raising a fundamental question about how he could have possibly obtained the information in the first place. [HuffPost]

• Trump expected to announce reciprocal tariffs (Guardian)

• Trump’s push for ‘efficiency’ may destroy the EPA. What does that mean for you? (Grist)

• Judge removes key legal hurdle for Trump’s plan to trim federal workforce with deferred resignations (AP)

• Trump Admits He Caved to Putin in Phone Call on Ukraine (TNR)

• Trump says he backs Ukraine, but early concessions to Russia are sparking concerns – especially in Europe, where leaders say talks on ending the war will affect their own security. (Reuters)

• Donald Trump opens the door to Vladimir Putin’s grandest ambitions (Financial Times)

• Hegseth suggests Ukraine should abandon hope of winning all territory back from Russia (AP)

• Israel and Hamas Agree to Resolve Cease-Fire Dispute (WSJ)

• A.P. Accuses White House of Violating First Amendment (NYT)

• Immigrant rights activists vow to disrupt ICE raids in California (LAT)

• NYT’s Eric Lipton on How Musk Empire Benefits as He Slashes Fed. Gov’t; Trump Cryptocurrency Schemes (Democracy Now)

• US Homeland Security says election security personnel placed on leave (Reuters)

• House Republicans shared a broad outline of their plans for the federal budget, using cuts to social programs to help pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts. [HuffPost]

• Federal judge blocks Trump’s order aiming to restrict health care for transgender youth (WP)

• Evacuations issued in Southern California as heavy rain brings threat of debris flows in areas scarred by wildfires (CNN)

• A far-right party is heading for its strongest result yet in Germany’s election (AP)

• The Song Kris Kristofferson Wrote for Carly Simon During Their Brief Romance (American Songwriter)

• Can the Human Body Endure a Voyage to Mars? (New Yorker)

• Elon Musk will withdraw bid for OpenAI’s nonprofit if its board agrees to terms (TechCrunch)

• Google, Amazon-backed Anthropic develops hybrid AI model with reasoning ability (Seeking Alpha)

• AI is evolving so quickly that bank analysts are becoming self-aware (Financial Times)

• AI Agents Are Everywhere…and Nowhere (WSJ)

• OpenAI lays out plans for GPT-5 (Verge)

• How Did DeepSeek Build Its A.I. With Less Money? (NYT)

• Man Allows All Cookies So Website Won’t Be Mad At Him (The Onion)