Everything is Broken

 Late Friday from the New Yorker:

With today’s extraordinary, televised fight in the Oval Office between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky, we all saw clearly something that has been unfolding over the past couple of weeks: the United States of America has switched sides in the war between Russia and Ukraine. The country is no longer on the side of Ukraine. — Susan B. Glasser

There is no precedent or conventional way of thinking that can explain what Trump is doing. That we’ve never before experienced such a shocking violation of our national integrity and shared values is a gross understatement.

Forgive me for this but I feel that no label — felon, traitor, fascist — is strong enough to describe a man who has revealed himself to be a puppet of America’s worst enemy, Vladimir Putin.

But even more shameful than that, which we’ve suspected for years, is that he acted in our name as an ungracious host to an honorable, war-weary guest speaking in broken English and asking for our help. The abuse heaped on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by the tag-team of Bully-in-Chief and his Vice-Bully embarrassed everyone who witnessed it.

Trump and Vance are an international disgrace. It’s my view that they deserve eternal condemnation.

This is not what America about — or is it? That’s the question Americans need to decide next.

HEADLINES:

• Europe Rallies Around Zelensky After Explosive White House Meeting (NYT)

• Zelenskyy says ‘crucial’ for Ukraine to have Trump’s support in lengthy statement following Oval Office argument (Guardian)

• Contentious Trump-Zelensky meeting threatens U.S. support for Ukraine (WP)

• Why Aren’t We in the Streets? (New Yorker)

• Trump, Vance go off on Zelensky in contentious Oval Office spat (The Hill)

• Tears and shock in Ukraine and Europe after heated meetingTears and shock in Ukraine and Europe after heated meeting (WP)

• At Least Now We Know the Truth (Atlantic)

• Live updates: Trump and Vance call Zelenskyy ‘disrespectful’ in Oval Office meeting when pushed for US security commitment (AP)

• Trump to make English official US language, White House official says (Reuters)

• Trump administration retreats in fight against Russian cyber threats (Guardian)

• Mass Layoffs Begin at NOAA, With Hundreds Said to Be Fired in One Day (NYT)

• Trump fires hundreds working on weather forecasts, satellite data and radar systems (WP)

• Military-Tech Startups Vie for Billions as Hegseth Shakes Up Pentagon Spending (WSJ)

• Five former defense secretaries denounce Trump’s ‘reckless’ Pentagon firings (WP)

• Trump’s EPA Is Trying to Seize Billions From Habitat for Humanity and United Way (Daily Beast)

• Tariff threats and uncertainty could weigh on consumers, drag down US economy, government report suggests (AP)

• Office Closures and Relocations Part of Trump’s Plan for Large-Scale Layoffs (NYT)

• Trump officials start dismantling civil rights offices (WP)

• 'Maybe I'll just resign': Federal workers told BI they’re frustrated and scared for their jobs after mass DOGE email (Business Insider)

• Inside the Collapse at the NIH (Atlantic)

• The US Has Never Imported So Much Food (Bloomberg)

• Pope Francis on breathing machine after suffering sudden respiratory episode (CNN)

• The Social Security Administration is planning a massive reorganization that will involve "significant workforce reductions," it told employees. [HuffPost]

• Microsoft is shutting down Skype (Verge)

• Inside the Taliban's surveillance network monitoring millions (BBC)

• OpenAI Unveils A.I. Technology for ‘Natural Conversation’ (NYT)

• RFK Jr. Vows To Make Measles Deaths So Common They Won’t Be Upsetting Anymore (The Onion)

TODAY’s SOUNDTRACK: 

Bob Dylan - Everything is Broken

Being Clever

In a scene near the beginning of the 2003 film Love Actually, the British prime minister, played by Hugh Grant, gathers his cabinet ministers to prepare for an upcoming meeting with the American president, a buffoonish character played by Billy Bob Thornton, and says, “We shall, of course, be clever.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if Keir Starmer, the current PM, was drawing on that cinematic set-up in his meeting yesterday with Donald Trump. With a dramatic flair, Starmer pulled out a signed letter from King Charles III inviting Trump to visit Windsor Castle.

It was patently obvious, to British observers at least, that Starmer was playing to Trump’s ego by assuring him that this was a rare honor befitting a great leader, as Trump fancies himself to be. Starmer’s tone was bitingly condescending in classic British fashion, a point lost on the narcissist Trump as he reveled in this moment of flattery with the international press conveniently on hand to witness it.

Starmer was clearly trying to stay on Trump’s good side and hopefully avoid the damaging tariffs Trump has leveled on other allies like Canada and Mexico; while also attempting to firm up U.S. security commitments to Europe, and especially to Ukraine.

Trump, whose fantasies include becoming the first American king, appears to have taken the bait, at least for now. But the meeting with Starmer turned mildly antagonistic when Trump allowed Vice-President J.D Vance to repeat his criticism that the UK and various European nations don’t conform with Vance’s right-wing extremist interpretation of free speech.

“We’ve had free speech for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom, and it will last for a very, very long time,” Starmer said. “ In relation to free speech in the UK, I’m very proud of our history there.”

This too reminded me of a scene in Love Actually, where Hugh Grant rebukes Billy Bob Thornton to the delight of his British underlings.

If only all of this Trump crap were a movie, we’d have something to look forward to — the ending.

HEADLINES:

• Trump, Zelenskyy hold high-stakes summit amid tensions over peace talks with Putin (ABC)

• Starmer plays royal card as he tiptoes around the madness of King Donald (Guardian)

• Five key takeaways as Donald Trump hosts UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Al Jazeera)

• US and UK in talks on trade deal that could spare Britain from tariffs (Financial Times)

• Trump says US will impose additional 10% tariff on China (BBC)

• Trump's commitment to Europe and Ukraine are a top focus in talks with British leader (NPR)

• Judge halts mass firings of federal workers at some agencies (CNN)

• Trump’s biggest power grab just reached the Supreme Court (Vox)

• Judge orders Trump administration officials to give sworn testimony on DOGE (Politico)

• Jobless claims spike, in worrisome sign for the US labor market (CNN)

• Ultimatum to federal workers raises tensions between Musk, White House staff (Reuters)

• Behind the scenes, GOP senators including Lindsey Graham challenge legality of Trump’s aid cuts (WP)

• One Word Describes Trump (Atlantic)

• Stanford Freezes Hiring as Schools Face Trump Funding Threat (Bloomberg)

• US universities curtail PhD admissions amid Trump science funding cuts (Nature)

• Grad School Is in Trouble (Atlantic)

• Most banned books feature people of color and LGBTQ+ people, report finds (Guardian)

• Transgender troops will be removed from U.S. military, Pentagon says (WP)

• Americans’ trust in media at lowest point in 5 decades: Survey (The Hill)

• The American press corps has never had to contend with a determined autocrat in this country, and it shows. "So now is the moment," HuffPost's S.V. Date writes. "Either we will help the nation meet it, or we won’t." [HuffPost]

• Senate GOP squirms over U.S. vote with Russia (Axios)

• Neo-Nazis targeted a majority-Black town. Locals launched an armed watch. (WP)

• Amazon Unveils Alexa+, Powered by Generative A.I. (NYT)

• OpenAI’s GPT-4.5 is better at convincing other AIs to give it money (TechCrunch)

• A self-taught AI robot can already bunny hop a bike better than we do (SingleTracks)

• Advancements in Chinese humanoid robotics simply mindblowing (ECNS)

• Harvard’s insect-inspired spring robot jumps 23 times its length for faster rescue (Interesting Engineering)

• Nvidia’s Profit Jumps 80% as Company Rides Tech’s A.I. Boom (NYT)

• Democratic Leaders Stand Real Still In Hopes No One Notices Them (The Onion)

A Different Me

"Must be a different you,
To be a me with you.”
-- Nada Surf

Nowadays, most of the time I am what I appear to be — an older gentleman who politely observes social norms and rarely gets into trouble. I generally think before I speak or act, and so am a model of discretion.

It wasn’t always the case. Much of my career as an investigative journalist, for example, was based on the kind of risk-taking that led to some dicey moments.

When Howard Kohn and I wrote the first part of our three-part series of stories about Patty Hearst and the SLA in Rolling Stone in 1975, we found ourselves at the center of what can only be described as a media hysteria. The series of proofs at the top of this post date from a celebration we had in Jann Wenner's office at 625 Third Street in San Francisco on the first night of mass media coverage of our scoop.

At that age (28), I felt free to be reckless. My first death threat came over the phone from a woman who was the girlfriend of one of the SLA "soldiers" then imprisoned for assassinating Oakland School Superintendent, Marcus Foster. (The motive for this murder of the first black superintendent in Oakland history was such a twisted mess that no one of rational mind could possibly explain why these people killed this decent man.)

By the time that threat came in, those associated with the SLA had killed a number of innocent people besides Foster. Besides the death threat, we were getting all sorts of interesting phone calls. 

Among the worst was a conference call from Bill Kunstler and Lenny Weinglass, leftist attorneys and heroes of mine, who told us we would "never publish again" if we went ahead with publishing our stories. 

Then, the head of the FBI’s San Francisco office said he would “cut (us) off at the knees” if we didn’t show him our next draft before we published.

Both turned out to be empty threats.

Then, a much more intriguing call came -- from people who said they were those who had eluded the police and the FBI when Patty and her three closest companions (Bill and Emily Harris and Wendy Yoshimira) were captured. Without divulging the details. Howard, Jann and I determined that these guys were the people they claimed to be.

Their call dictated the terms of how we would get the information they wanted to give us. It was to be found in an envelope taped under the pay-telephone on a corner under a freeway in downtown San Francisco.

We all looked at one another in Jann's office and agreed I would be the one to fetch this potentially valuable package. Jann's secretary drove me in a van to the appointed place, and I then walked across the street in the open to retrieve the package. Anyone from any number of hidden vantages could have easily blown me away, and of course these guys had the weaponry to do so.

I remember being vaguely surprised at the lack of any gunfire when I reached the booth and located the manila envelope. The hardest part was walking back to the van, because any SLA soldier watching would know for sure by now that I was me.

That walk across Fifth Street back to the van and Jann's secretary was uneventful. No shots rang out, no bullets ripped into my flesh. We high-tailed it out of there, and back to the office. Unfortunately, the "communication" turned out to be worthless rhetorical crap; and I don't remember whether Howard and I even used it in Part Two of our series that October.

But, in a strange way I always knew I wouldn't die that day. So I suppose that “reckless” in those years meant ignoring death threats. There’d be more of them, along with legal threats, more hate from the PC crowd and so forth. It all went with the territory when I was young and strutting my stuff.

Later on, being “reckless” would come to be much more about feelings and women, wine, and writing. But that’s a story for another day.

HEADLINES:

• Techno-Fascism Comes to America (New Yorker)

• The anti-Trump resistance begins to wake in earnest (WP)

• The Trump administration sets the stage for large-scale federal worker layoffs in a new memo (AP)

• Trump says Mexico, Canada tariffs will start March 4, plus additional 10% on China (CNBC)

• Chief Justice John Roberts pauses order for Trump admin to pay $2 billion in foreign aid by midnight (CNN)

• Elon Musk’s business empire is built on $38 billion in government funding (WP)

• As G.O.P. Eyes Medicaid Cuts, States Could Be Left With Vast Shortfalls (NYT)

• Trump 2.0: an assault on science anywhere is an assault on science everywhere (Nature)

• Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos says opinion pages will defend free market and ‘personal liberties’ (AP)

• Breaking the News (Journal of the Plague Years)

• Breaking with decades of precedent, Donald Trump's White House kicked a HuffPost reporter out of the pool of journalists set to follow the president on Wednesday, insisting on the ability to choose which reporters cover him. [HuffPost]

• High-level power struggle between Musk and Trump-appointed Cabinet secretaries intensifies (WP)

• Taiwan Watches Trump Undercut Ukraine, Hoping It Won’t Be Next (NYT)

• Egg prices could jump another 41% this year, USDA says, as Trump's bird flu plan unveiled (AP)

• A month into this presidency, Trump's administration has dropped all pretense about focusing on the future by using the powers of the state to attack his political opponents and media organizations that don’t conform to the president’s agenda, HuffPost's Igor Bobic writes. [HuffPost]

• DOGE to cancel government contracts that help veterans, records show (WP)

• Social Security Administration Could Cut Half Its Workforce (American Prospect)

• US strikes a deal with Ukraine that includes access to its rare earth minerals (AP)

• Trump proposes selling $5 million ‘gold cards’ to wealthy immigrants (WP)

• The National Archives is nonpartisan but has found itself targeted by Trump (AP)

• An antiaging pill for dogs is one step closer to approval. The FDA certified the “reasonable expectation of effectiveness” of a lifespan-extending pill for dogsfrom Biotech start-up Loyal. (WP)

• Foul play not suspected as actor Gene Hackman, wife and dog found dead in home, sheriff says (ABC)

• Humanoid robot rentals emerge, signaling a future where ‘every household could own a humanoid robot’ (Global Times)

• Trump posts A.I. video offering splashy vision of Gaza after his takeover plan (WP)

• Amazon unveils Alexa+: Smarter, more conversational and free for Prime members (ABC)

• More than 1,000 musicians join forces on silent album to protest AI law (WP)

• Report: You Live In An Embarrassing Country (The Onion)

 

The Non-Collaboraters

Federal employees across all agencies are being yanked around by Trump and Musk as if by a pair of two-year-olds throwing a fit. 

The resistance to their antics by some inside the government is admirable. There have been multiple cases of principled people resigning rather than complying with orders they consider unconstitutional, immoral or both.

On the other hand, if we are losing bravest and most principled officials, what are we to make of those who choose to stay?

For one thing, these are real people like you and me with obligations and responsibilities, and who may not have alternative ways to jump into new jobs or the means to pay their bills going forward.

Traditionally, federal jobs have paid less than those in the private sector but have been more secure. If as appears to be the case, DOGE is repurposing the government to function like a giant private company, that will cause great harm far beyond the federal workforce.

The reason modern governments propagate so many rules and regulations is to restrain advanced, unfettered monopoly capitalism from inflicting great damage to the environment, the economy and the support systems that help millions of people get by.

Accordingly, the dismantling of the social safety networks will make all of our lives immensely more difficult. Then again, that may be the goal of those bent on replacing democracy with an authoritarian state.

The road to tyranny will be littered with the sacrifices of many fine and decent people who gave up their jobs rather than be part of an evil plan by two men who give two-year-olds a bad name.

HEADLINES:

• Zelensky Says There’s a U.S. Minerals Deal—but Many Details Are Unresolved (WSJ)

• House Passes Budget Bill: Trump Touts ‘Big First Step’ For Mike Johnson (Forbes)

• 21 DOGE staffers resign, saying they won't help 'dismantle' public services (NPR)

• ‘It’s a Psyop’: Inside Elon Musk’s Empty Ultimatum (Atlantic)

• Musk’s latest stunt suggests DOGE is running out of ideas (WP)

• Nearly 40% of contracts canceled by DOGE are expected to produce no savings (AP)

• Judge Questions Constitutionality of Musk’s Cost-Cutting Operation (NYT)

• As DOGE seeks personal data, experts warn that potential misuse could affect everyday Americans (WP)

• The End of Children (New Yorker)

• Why the Left Should Embrace Pronatalism (Atlantic)

• A federal judge in Seattle blocks Trump’s effort to halt the refugee admissions system (AP)

• T-Day Is Coming. What Will Tariffs Do To The Economy? (Investopedia)

• Americans Are Expecting Higher Prices. That Could Unnerve the Fed. (NYT)

• After Meeting Donald Trump, France's Macron Reveals The Endgame In Ukraine (NDTV)

• Germany, dodging a bullet, now faces a hostile U.S. (WP)

• 'People will starve' because of US aid cut to Sudan (BBC)

• ‘Technofossils’: how humanity’s eternal testament will be plastic bags, cheap clothes and chicken bones (Guardian)

• An unknown illness kills over 50 people in part of Congo with hours between symptoms and death (AP)

• Renowned physicist warns of unseen dangers in farming technique: 'Single biggest destructive force on the planet today' (Yahoo)

• Measles case count hits 124 in ongoing West Texas outbreak (CNN)

• Idaho Woman Violently Removed From GOP-Led Town Hall After Criticizing Lawmakers (Truthout)

• Drinking tea has a surprising health benefit. Brewing most types of teas absorbs heavy metals like lead, cadmium and arsenic, a new study found. That naturally filters the dangerous contaminants from water. (WP)

• DeepSeek rushes to launch a new AI model. (Reuters)

• Apple Vows to Build A.I. Servers in Houston and Spend $500 Billion in U.S. (NYT)

• New York Times goes all-in on internal AI tools (Semafor)

• Report: Average Male 4,000% Less Effective In Fights Than They Imagine (The Onion)

TODAY’s VIDEO: 

Sissy Spacek & Levon Helm-Coal Miner's Daughter 

He Would Be King

 

When Donald Trump referred to himself as the king last week, he did so in his usual manner, which allows his supporters to say he was simply joking. Of course, the problem with that claim is that Trump doesn’t have a sense of humor. 

But I do. And Trump’s fantasy of his own self-proclaimed royalty reminded me of a classic Rudyard Kipling short story from 1888 called “The Man Who Would Be King.”

In Kipling’s tale, an hustler named Daniel Dravot hatches a plan to convince the natives in a remote corner of Afghanistan called Kafiristan that he is a king, and initially his scheme seems to be working.

But when the people of Kafiristan figure out he is not a king, they summarily execute him. His fate is confirmed when a companion shows up at office of the journalist-narrator (based on Kipling himself) with Dravot’s severed head still wearing his crown.

I visited the village at the heart of Kipling’s story, Camdesh, some 82 years after he wrote the story. “Kafir” is an Arabic word meaning “nonbeliever” and the word was still in common use in Afghanistan during my time there.

But the region that had been known as Kafiristan in Kipling’s time had been since renamed by Islamic conquerors as Nuristan, which means “land of light.” Otherwise, not a lot had changed there since Kipling’s time.

The people I met there were uninhibited and unimpressed by outsider pretenses. They loved hashish and dancing wildly around bonfires. It’s been 55 years since my visit, but I suspect that if Trump somehow showed up in Camdesh tomorrow, he'd end up just like Daniel Dravot.

HEADLINES:

• Trump appointees appear to contradict Musk for first time in pushback to OPM email (CNN)

• Trump backs Musk as he roils the federal workforce with demands and threats (AP)

• US personnel office walks back email ultimatum from Musk to workers (Guardian)

• The Obvious Inefficiency of Elon Musk’s New Order (Atlantic)

• Judge blocks Department of Education, federal personnel office from sharing data with DOGE (NBC)

• How Elon Musk’s DOGE bros cut down USAID (WP)

• Despite rumors of a massive immigration sweep in Los Angeles, numbers don’t add up (LAT)

• In Trump’s Alternate Reality, Lies and Distortions Drive Change (NYT)

• USDA Faces Lawsuit Over Purge of Climate Change Information (Bloomberg)

• Peace must not mean surrendering Ukraine, Macron says alongside Trump (BBC)

• U.S. sides with Russia against Ukraine war resolution (WP)

• U.S. Wins Backing for U.N. Resolution on Ukraine War That Doesn’t Blame Russia (WSJ)

• U.S. and European Allies Split Sharply at the U.N. Over Ukraine (NYT)

• The right-wing media machine is hitting a wall (WP)

• Starbucks asks office workers to stay at home as it announces 1,100 job cuts (Financial Times)

• As Facebook Abandons Fact-Checking, It’s Also Offering Bonuses for Viral Content (ProPublica)

• As Meta gets rid of fact-checkers, misinformation is going viral (TechCrunch)

• German election: Merz's CDU/CSU strives to build coalition (DW)

• Scientists Just Found a Major Problem With Vitamin B12 Guidelines – And Your Brain Might Be at Risk (SciTechDaily)

• Scientists Tested AI For Cognitive Decline. The Results Were a Shock. (ScienceAlert)

• Forgetful Man Playing Fast And Loose With Free Trials (The Onion)

TODAY’s FILM: 

The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

Peripheral Vision

Riding on the bus, I watch the buildings as we pass them by, block by block. Usually, I am the driver, not the passenger, so although I may glimpse the same buildings, it’s only in a peripheral sense. I’m never able to consider their essence. 

Now, as our giant Muni vehicle lumbers by, block by block, I notice the cracks and peeling paint, the defacements, the vulnerabilities of many of these aging structures.

I also see those people on the sidewalks and bus stops with different eyes. As a driver, they are a constant cause for concern. So many elderly, young, distracted, or disabled people populate our sidewalks that I'm constantly worrying about making sure they do not edge out in front of my car.

As a passenger on the bus, these fellow residents become the object of my study. I am no longer their protector, hoping not to inadvertently hurt them, but an observer, curious about their stories.

Everyone has a story. Few get told.

That old woman, bent over at the waist, proceeding along at a pace resembling that of a melting glacier, or that robust man, dressed up as a woman opera singer, or that baby with the bright eyes…

I’m finally really seeing them now.

Whenever we are in a hurry, for reasons good or bad; or whenever we are in an unnatural position of unnatural control (such as being the driver), we miss a lot. 

Our essential selves have no power whatsoever. We are entirely vulnerable to the whims of nature, of human constructs, and (if you prefer) of the gods. We are all passengers on this planet.

Time comes. Time goes. People come. People also go, often quite suddenly, without any warning. Words get spoken. Words remain unspoken. We all underestimate the effects we have on one another. That appears to be our collective fate, which is our greatest sadness.

I am a writer, As long as I can breathe, I hope I also will write. Word by word, I am attempting to tell a story. It's not really my story exactly; it's our story.

NOTE: This is from 2012. My car was in the shop.

Weekend News

 HEADLINES:

• Musk Says Government Workers Must Detail Their Workweek or Lose Their Jobs (NYT)

• Government agencies have no idea what to do about Musk’s email (WP)

• Kash Patel tells FBI staff to ignore Elon Musk request to list their achievements (Guardian)

• How Federal Employees Are Fighting Back Against Elon Musk (NYT)

• Pentagon announces it plans to fire 5-8% of civilian workforce (CNN)

• With Pentagon purge, Trump thrusts military into uncharted territory (WP)

• Thousands of Troops Guard Quiet Texas Border Towns (WSJ)

• In auto-centric Michigan, Trump’s proposed tariffs polarize a community (WP)

• NIH funding freeze stalls applications on $1.5 billion in medical research funds (NPR)

• Researchers warn of troubling factor behind major spike in grocery prices: 'It's a legitimate topic people are talking about' (CoolDown)

• Trump Order Shifts the Financial Burden of Climate Change Onto Individuals (ProPublica)

• Enrique Tarrio follows and insults officers who defended US Capitol on January 6 (Guardian)

• Pope Francis’ Health Has Worsened, Vatican Says (WSJ)

• Shocked by Trump, Europe Turns Its Hopes to Germany’s Election (NYT)

• Germany goes to the polls (EuroNews)

• Israel delays Palestinian prisoner release; moves tanks into West Bank (NPR)

• U.S. Pushes Kyiv to Kill Its U.N. Resolution Marking War’s Anniversary (WSJ)

• Social Security Administration: DOGE Cannot Make Changes to Benefit Payments (Kiplinger)

• Measles Outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico Sicken Nearly 100 People (NYT)

• Salmon seen in California's North Yuba River for first time in almost a century (SFGate)

• Brutality-Desensitization Process Nearly Complete (The Onion)