Old Guys Are Resilient

In the two seasons of the series called “Shrinking,” which is streaming on Apple, Harrison Ford plays a character I can identify with. He’s a grouchy old man in his 70s battling Parkinson’s.

The maddening thing with this disease is it can take different forms with a disquieting number of potential symptoms, both on the motor skill and cognitive levels.

Ford’s character experiences tremors, depth perception impairment, memory lapses, plus moments when he “freezes” and is unable (temporarily) to move.

There also can be balance issues, tiredness, vivid dreaming and a range of other symptoms as the disease progresses.

There are plenty of other characters in”Shrinking,” some better than others. It’s part drama, part comedy and partly a commentary on therapy.

But for those of us battling P.D., the show quite accurately captures what we’re dealing with, day in, day out. And the good part is it profiles resilience.

Resilience — we’re going to need a lot of that to get through the Trump era. In his own twisted way, he has inflicted the equivalent of a political Parkinson’s Disease on the entire nation.

HEADLINES:

• What new weapons on show at huge parade say about China's military strength (BBC)

• Xi, Putin and Kim stand united at Beijing military parade in historic show of authoritarian strength (CNN)

• Trump published an ominous social media post that was directed at the strongman leaders of Russia, China and North Korea ― whom he has all previously lavished praise upon — as the authoritarian trio buddied up in Beijingto mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. [HuffPost]

• China's Xi steals the limelight in a defiant push against US-led world order (BBC)

• Trump says he’s set to order federal intervention in Chicago and Baltimore, despite local opposition (AP)

• L.A. Ruling Complicates Trump’s Threats to Send Troops to More Cities (NYT)

• Pentagon plans for 600 military lawyers to backfill immigration judges (WP)

• One of the most conservative federal appeals courts in the country on Tuesday ruled that Trump cannot use an 18th-century wartime law to speed the deportations of people his administration accuses of membership in a Venezuelan gang. [AP]

• Hegseth Says Boat Strike Is Start of Campaign Against Venezuelan Cartels (NYT)

• More than 1,000 HHS workers demand RFK Jr. resigns (USA Today)

• Florida moves to end all school vaccine mandates, first in nation to do so (WP)

• Harvard Secures a Court Victory in Its Fight With Trump (NYT)

• Epstein abuse survivors speak on Capitol Hill as GOP leadership under pressure (CNN)

• Beyond technology? How Bentley is reacting to the 21st century. (ArsTechnica)

• Wildfire Destroys Buildings in Gold Rush Town of Chinese Camp (NYT)

• The MAGA Influencers Rehabilitating Hitler (Atlantic)

• A judge did not need to curb Google’s power. AI is already doing that. (WP)

• OpenAI Plans to Add Safeguards to ChatGPT for Teens and Others in Distress (NYT)

• I’m a High Schooler. AI Is Demolishing My Education. (Atlantic)

• Tom Friedman’s A.I. Nightmare and What the U.S. Can Do to Avoid It (NYT)

• Kim Jong-Un Arrives At Summit On Slow-Moving, Heavily Fortified Mule (The Onion)