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)
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)
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