(This is an excerpt from 2007.)
Today I was thinking that I maybe should be in the salvage business -- rescuing the castoffs of this throwaway society, restoring them, and preserving them as artifacts.
I’ve been collecting things for at least half a century. Old bottles, coins, stamps, magazines, books, photos, postcards, baseball cards -- the list goes on — not to mention the memories they evoke.
Today’s find was this old portable typewriter -- the laptop of its time. I used to work on a machine like this, and in fact, I still had one until recently, when in a weaker moment I discarded it.
Thanks to one of my neighbors, it didn’t get far. And today, following the local custom of putting whatever you don’t want anymore out on the sidewalk for anyone passing by to claim, I now have retaken possession of this portable Remington.
It makes that old comforting sound that a century ago came from the open windows in Rudyard Kipling’s compound in India, as he pounded out his stories on tropical nights.
Or Conrad, Hemingway, Faulkner, all warm-weather writers, take your pick. For many decades, this was the sound of literature and the sound of journalism. Even as recently as the Watergate scandal of 1974, the signature film made of Woodward and Bernstein’s legendary reporting that ended Richard Nixon’s presidency, closes with a sequence of headlines typed on an old manual typewriter.
Relics. If I ever write a memoir, I should do it on this. On second thought, strike that, but its photo might make a good book cover.
HEADLINES:
Trump administration National Security Strategy claims Europe facing “civilizational erasure” within 20 years (CBS)
A 19th Century Strategy Can’t Solve 21st Century Problems (Forbes)
Donald Trump’s bleak, incoherent foreign-policy strategy (Economist)
Trump can’t save Hegseth now — no one can (The Hill)
Video of Boat Strike Shows Survivors Waving Before Fatal Follow-Up Attack (NYT)
Democrats call for Pete Hegseth’s resignation amid scrutiny over deadly boat strikes and Signalgate: ‘a disgrace to the office he holds’ (Guardian)
Why US actions in Venezuela could backfire across the globe (The Hill)
New Orleans residents in fear as immigration crackdown descends on their city (BBC)
‘Creating fear and chaos’: ICE officials target Somali neighborhoods, scoop up U.S. citizens in sweep (MPR)
Grand jury declines to charge Letitia James after first case dismissed (BBC)
Accused DC pipe bomber told FBI he believed the 2020 election was stolen, sources say (CNN)
Suspect in DC pipe bomb case said to have confessed in interviews with investigators (AP)
Supreme Court hands Trump a victory in fight over Texas congressional map (WP)
The Supreme Court just made gerrymandering nearly untouchable (Vox)
‘Constitutional hardball’: National gerrymander battle turns the heat up in Missouri (Politico)
Supreme Court’s Texas Map Ruling Could Be Good News for California (TNR)
What Putin and Modi got out of Delhi meeting (BBC)
Kash Patel Yelled at FBI Agent to Be the Designated Driver for His Girlfriend’s Drunk Friend: Report (Yahoo)
Netflix to acquire Warner Bros. studio and streaming business for $72 billion (AP)
Netflix has reportedly won a contentious bidding war to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery’s film and TV studios and the HBO Max streaming service. The news of the potential deal is a major blow to the Ellison family, which had submitted a rival bid for the company. [HuffPost]
The World Cup draw comes to Washington, with Trump as the star (WP)
You Had to Be There (Atlantic)
Mark Kelly Says This ‘Exciting’ Scientific Find Raises Questions Of Life Beyond Earth (HuffPost)
New York Times Sues A.I. Start-Up Perplexity Over Use of Copyrighted Work (NYT)
When Chatbots Break Our Minds (Atlantic)
Transformative AI is coming, and so are the risks (Axios)
Before Your Doctor Uses AI to Record Your Visits, Ask These Questions (WSJ)
ChatGPT started the AI race. Now its lead is looking shaky. (WP)
Vatican Formally Recognizes First Gen Z Demon (Onion)
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