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)