Saturday Headlines

HEADLINES:

• Houthi rebels say Israeli airstrike killed their prime minister in Yemen's capital (NPR)

• Trump seeks to cut $5bn in congressionally approved foreign aid (Al Jazeera)

• Appeals Court Finds Many Tariffs Were Issued Illegally (NYT)

• Trump administration plans big immigration enforcement operation in Chicago as soon as next week (CNN)

• Newsom: Crime is a larger problem in GOP-led areas than Democratic-led ones (WP)

• UC system says Trump's proposed budget cuts could 'devastate' scientific research (SFGate)

• Ukraine’s Fight Is Far From Over (Atlantic)

• Israel declares Gaza City a combat zone, says bodies of 2 hostages recovered as it expands the war (CBS)

• First Google, Now Microsoft: Tech Staff Are in Revolt Over Gaza (WSJ)

• Why the Texas Democrats’ Walkout Worked (NYT)

• The bigger story behind the mass exodus of CDC leadership (Vox)

• Massive CDC walkout erupts amid internal chaos (Axios)

• My workers voted for Trump. Now they’re absorbing the impact. (WP)

• Detainees report alleged uprising at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’: ‘A lot of people have bled’ (Guardian)

• US withdraws from key UN human rights report, draws criticism from rights advocates (Reuters)

• China welcomes Modi as Trump’s trade war draws rivals into détente (WP)

• Thailand's Constitutional Court dismissed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office for an ethics violation after only a year in power, in another crushing blow to the Shinawatra political dynasty that could usher in a new period of turmoil. (Reuters)

• Simpler models can outperform deep learning at climate prediction (MIT)

• AI is teaching students in Virginia. I’m concerned. (WP)

• ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Is Getting an A.I. Glow-Up. Cue the Pitchforks. (NYT)

• Scalpers Jack Up Price Of Colorado Rockies Ticket To $11 (The Onion)

Follow Your Arrow

The culture wars dividing Americans have long been represented partly as a case of country vs. city. Small town values vs. big city life. That is an over-simplification, of course, but most stories are simplifications.

We tell stories to ourselves all the time about the city-country conflict, but the ones I prefer are about mutual respect and tolerance, even in some cases new levels of understanding.

So naturally I like the story of country singer Kacey Musgraves, who grew up in a small town in Texas before migrating to Nashville in pursuit of her dreams.

Once in Music City, she met members of the LGBTQ community, which in her own telling broadened her awareness of the human experience.

In response, she wrote a song called “Follow Your Arrow” (lyrics below), which was initially banned from country stations and made her an outcast of sorts within the music industry.

But the song caught on, became a hit, and now is a personal anthem at her sold-out shows all over the country.

So this is the kind of story I like. Of course, for every story of tolerance and acceptance there is one of intolerance and discrimination.

But if we as a society are going to move forward we have to celebrate the former and reject the latter.

HEADLINES:

• Trump ends Secret Service protection for Harris (BBC)

• C.D.C. Standoff: Kennedy’s Push to Fire Director Devolves Into Chaos (NYT)

• CDC in crisis: who are the top officials resigning or being forced out? (Guardian)

• CDC Bosses Quit With Doomsday Warning About ‘Deadly’ RFK Jr. (Daily Beast)

• Closure of Florida’s ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ immigration detention center can proceed, judge says (AP)

• UK and EU summon top Russian diplomats after strikes hit British Council and EU offices in deadly attack on Kyiv - as it happened (Guardian)

• Russian Drones Are Flying Over U.S. Weapons Routes in Germany, Officials Say (NYT)

• Trump, Gabbard fired top CIA Russia expert days after Alaska summit (WP)

• An ICE raid breaks a family — and prompts a wrenching decision (LAT)

• A Blueprint for Military Takeovers (Atlantic)

• White House seeks to use Chicago-area military base for ‘sanctuary cities’ crackdown (Guardian)

• Mystery surrounds $1.2 billion Army contract to build huge detention tent camp in Texas desert (AP)

• Judge blocks Kari Lake, tasked to dismantle VOA, from firing its director (WP)

• UN says Gaza famine expanding, 10 more die from hunger amid Israeli siege (Al Jazeera)

• The Perverse Consequences of the Easy A (Atlantic)

• Shooter who opened fire on Minneapolis Catholic school posted rambling videos (WP)

• 911 centers are so understaffed, they’re turning to AI to answer calls (TechCrunch)

• Nvidia Sales Jump 56%, a Sign the A.I. Boom Isn’t Slowing Down (NYT)

• A.I. Is Coming for Culture (New Yorker)

• The AI cheating panic is missing the point (WP)

• Man Entering Fog Of Insanity Asked If This His First Time At Dave & Buster’s (The Onion)

LYRICS: “Follow Your Arrow” by Kacey Musgraves

If you save yourself for marriage, you're a bore
You don't save yourself for marriage, you're a horrible person
If you won't have a drink, then you're a prude
But they'll call you a drunk as soon as you down the first one

If you can't lose the weight, then you're just fat
But if you lose too much, then you're on crack
You're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't
So you might as well just do whatever you want

So, make lots of noise (hey)
Kiss lots of boys (yup)
Or kiss lots of girls, if that's something you're into
When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight
Roll up a joint, or don't
Just follow your arrow wherever it points, yeah
Follow your arrow wherever it points

If you don't go to church, you'll go to Hell
If you're the first one on the front row, you're self-righteous son of a-
Can't win for losin', you'll just disappoint 'em
Just 'cause you can't beat 'em, don't mean you should join 'em

So, make lots of noise (hey)
Kiss lots of boys (yup)
Or kiss lots of girls, if that's something you're into
When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight
Roll up a joint, or don't
Just follow your arrow wherever it points, yeah
Follow your arrow wherever it points

Say what you think (say what you think)
Love who you love (love who you love)
'Cause you just get so many trips 'round the sun
Yeah, you only, only live once

So make lots of noise (hey)
Kiss lots of boys (yup)
Or kiss lots of girls, if that's what you're into
When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight
Roll up a joint, I would
And follow your arrow wherever it points, yeah

Follow your arrow wherever it points 

Thursday Mix

HEADLINES:

• C.D.C. Director Resists Ouster as Other Officials Resign (NYT)

• Denmark summons top US diplomat over alleged Greenland influence operation (BBC)

• Trump extends control over Washington by taking management of Union Station away from Amtrak (AP)

• National Guard called in to deal with ‘crime emergency’ in DC are now picking up trash outside the White House (Independent)

• D.C. judges and grand jurors push back on Trump policing surge (DC)

• Judge blocks administration from deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia until at least October (ABC)

• Immigration advocates alarmed over detention of Daca recipient: ‘No legal basis’ (Guardian)

• DHS moves to bar aid groups from serving undocumented immigrants (WP)

• US deportation flights hit record highs as carriers try to hide the planes, advocates say (AP)

• How to End Gerrymandering (Slate)

• Trump imposes 50% tariff on India as punishment for buying Russian oil (Guardian)

• Trump’s Coercion Is Not the Way to Deal With India (Foreign Policy)

• Flag burning has a long history in the U.S. — and legal protections from the Supreme Court (NPR)

• Top Florida official says ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ will likely be empty within days, email shows (AP)

• The US Is Unprepared for the Next War (Military.com)

• FEMA employees put on leave after criticizing Trump administration in open letter (WP)

• UN official says 'all hope is gone' if Israeli offensive on famine-stricken Gaza City goes ahead (AP)

  Protesters occupy Microsoft office as company reviews its work with Israel's military (NPR)

• At least 2 children killed and 17 people injured in shooting at Minneapolis Catholic school Mass (CNN)

• Young people can't find jobs. What should they do? (BBC)

• Simple chemistry helps explain the origin of life, new study suggests (WP)

• The A.I. Spending Frenzy Is Propping Up the Real Economy, Too (NYT)

• AI’s Big Leaps Are Slowing. That Could Be a Good Thing. (WSJ)

• We tested which AI gave the best answers without making stuff up. One beat ChatGPT. (WP)

• “The discoloration on the president’s hand is superficial and no cause for worry—in fact, it is probably one of his healthiest anatomical regions,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt (The Onion)

 

Big City Crime Is Personal

NOTE: The following events took place in 2011 in the Mission District of San Francisco. With big-city crime becoming such a political hot button again, and Trump sending the National Guard into our cities, it’s worth remembering that each violet crime is a tragedy — for everyone involved.

***

August 31, 2011

Life & Death

Last night, after I had dropped my kids off at their Mom's and parked my car and walked home, something awful happened.

I was writing, as usual, in the front room of my apartment when I heard five gun blasts from a pistol right out front. The blasts were so loud, I knew they were from a serious weapon, probably a 45 caliber.

The explosions set off the automated alarm at the corner store. As I ran out front to see what had happened I first glanced left, toward the store, because of the alarm. Not long before, one of my kids had walked there to buy some treats for himself and his siblings, as all three of them have done countless times over the years.

As I watched, a neighbor from across the street who works at the store ran out of his front door and headed there on the run.

But then I looked right. And there on the sidewalk lay a man face down. I immediately dialed 911, and told the operator that a man has been shot, please get here fast, come right away, it's bad, really bad.

As she took down my name and address, I saw his body heave its final sigh and collapse into an awful flatness. 

"He's dead!" I screamed. 

Within seconds, the first responders arrived. I watched as they tried to revive the man. Meanwhile, another neighbor, a young man, distraught and hysterical, ran up and down the street yelling: "No! Oh no!" 

Yet another neighbor, much older, with hair as white as mine, also was on the scene, and looked disoriented and very disturbed. He approached the body as the emergency workers tried to revive it and had to be told to back away.

Soon the area was covered in cops, firemen, all sorts of responders. A woman ran out of her house nearby and screamed "He is my son. Can you save him? CAN YOU SAVE HIM?!" She had to be restrained, sobbing and wailing into the night, one of the most awful sounds I have ever heard. 

As I watched, they gave up and laid a piece of plastic over the man’s body. Then the crying spread as other family members rushed to the street and realized what had happened.

The dead man had been walking his dog. Over the years, I got to know him due to his friendly manner. He was a striking figure -- tall, lean, black, with a fancy hat and the kind of attitude that revealed a sense of humor and an ability to connect with others around him.

He always had a knowing smile, a greeting, a certain way of connecting. "How are the kids?" He'd ask. "They're gettin' big."

He made me feel oriented, in that way, recognized as a part of the neighborhood.

Today, I went down to his relatives' houses, took off my baseball cap and held it over my heart, and told them how sorry I was that he has died. 

Tonight, a memorial is growing outside of my front window. There are many candles, flowers, and lots of empty beer and liquor bottles. I don't understand the empty bottle gestures but pretty clearly all the men around here are getting drunk, and I fear there may soon be more incidents. 

There also have been many people gathering here all day long. And reporters and photographers and undercover police, perhaps thinking that the killers may revisit the scene.

I've read the press reports and talked to the neighbors. I know what the conventional wisdom is. He was a drug dealer — marijuana, perhaps others. He had some problems at home. He was supposedly affiliated with one of the gangs that fight over territory around here, the Norteños and the Sureños.

But I also know he was a friendly man in what at times can seem like a pretty unfriendly place, a place that can be lonely and alienating and scary at times, but the place I also call home.

And I'm going to miss him.

END NOTE: So far as I know, no one was ever charged for this murder. Some people said they saw two teenaged boys running from the scene.

HEADLINES:

• Denmark summons U.S. envoy over report people linked to Trump trying to foment dissent in Greenland (CBS)

• India, US to lose from Trump tariffs as Russia wins (Reuters)

• Fast Times at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Atlantic)

• Reuters and AP demand answers from Israeli officials after airstrikes kill journalists (Axios)

• Trump Orders Major Expansion of National Guard’s Role in Law Enforcement (NYT)

• Judge tosses Trump administration lawsuit against Maryland judges over immigration order (CBS)

• The Natural Endpoint of Trump’s Falsehoods (Atlantic)

• America’s leading physician groups are now openly defying RFK Jr. (Vox)

• Seeking to Control the Fed, Trump Risks Upending a Pillar of the Global Economy (NYT)

• Trump just did the one thing the Supreme Court said he can’t do (Vox)

• Trump says he hopes to meet Kim Jong-un and raises prospect of US taking over some South Korean land (Guardian)

• Scotland's birth rate falls to lowest level since 1855 (BBC)

• Scientists give harsh grades to Trump administration work aimed at undoing a key climate finding (AP)

• Towering dust storm known as a haboob plunges Phoenix into darkness (WP)

• Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announce engagement (BBC)

• Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times (Guardian)

• Apple’s Aversion to Big Deals Could Thwart Its AI Push (The Conversation)

• For $65,000 a year, a teacher-less AI private school comes to Virginia (WP)

• Taylor Swift Hints New Album Could Be About Her (The Onion)

 

Getting Dirty

When it comes to politics or poker, Nate Silver has a pretty good track record. so his latest post here on Substack definitely caught my eye: “Democrats can win the redistricting war.”

I looked through his math at the bottom of the post, but I’m sure enough of my data analysis skills to comment on that, so I’m going to take his word on the numbers.

The main point he makes is for Democrats to effectively compete with the Trump-led Republican gerrymandering efforts, they’re going to have to play hardball.

That’s exactly what Gavin Newsom is doing with the proposition he has put on the November ballot in California. His move is in direct response to the GOP’s effort to squeeze up to five more House seats out of Texas.

Moral purists will argue Newsom should not sink to Trump’s level in the dirty business of redrawing district maps, but that would be, IMHO, the equivalent of giving into a bully on the playground.

If Silver’s math is right, and I bet it is, the Democrats have more to gain from a fight to the bottom in the House than Republicans.

Taking the high ground is my preferred choice under normal circumstances but nothing about this moment is normal.

In Trump we have a tyrant, a man who will take the all the power he can get unless he is stopped. The California proposition is one way we can put up a roadblock to Trump’s push for an authoritarian state.

HEADLINES:

• Trump vs. Pritzker: A political feud that could trigger a major national crisis (CNN)

• Trump Removes Lisa Cook From Federal Reserve Board (NYT)

• Abrego Garcia fights deportation after ICE arrest (The Hill)

• Some National Guard units in Washington, D.C., now carry firearms in escalation of Trump deployment (AP)

• Florida Cops Turn Traffic Stops Into Deportations (WSJ)

• Trump signs executive order targeting American flag burning (Axios)

• Trump signs orders aimed at ending cashless bail policies (Reuters)

• FEMA staff warn Trump officials’ actions risk a Katrina-level disaster (WP)

• Al Jazeera’s Salama among five Gaza journalists killed in Israeli attack (Al Jazeera)

• Mariam Dagga, AP freelance journalist in Gaza, was killed by an Israeli strike (AP)

• South Korea's Lee at White House for talks after Trump blasts the US ally (Reuters)

• Tariffs push small and midsize toy companies into survival mode (WP)

• Famed economist Paul Krugman argued in his Substack newsletter published on Sunday, it’s “likely” the U.S. “would be heading into a recession” right now, were it not for the massive financial investment that is currently being made in the development of artificial intelligence. If “the AI boom goes bust,” he cautioned, “the odds are high that the US economy will be plunged into a recession.” [HuffPost]

• Che Ahn Is Running for Governor of California. His Mission? Spiritual Warfare & Dominion. (Daily Kos)

• ‘We’re making history’: Rosies answer the call to preserve history (East Bay Times)

• What Happened When Mark Zuckerberg Moved In Next Door (NYT)

• How the Richest People in America Avoid Paying Taxes (Atlantic)

• Supreme Court Ruling Has ‘Bleak Implications’ for Researchers (Inside Higher Ed)

• Critics called out Trump on Sunday after he launched attacks on the media in posts on his Truth Social platform, saying ABC and NBC should “lose their license” or “pay up BIG.” Trump wrote, “Except what is written and broadcast in the Fake News, I now have the highest poll numbers I’ve ever had, some in the 60’s and even 70’s.” None of the polls tracked by RealClearPolling show Trump with anything close to those numbers. He’s 7.8 percentage points underwater on average. [HuffPost]

• A reality check for NPR stations in Trump country (WP)

• China's new mega dam triggers fears of a water war in India. (Reuters)

• The A.I.-Profits Drought and the Lessons of History (New Yorker)

• This new delivery robot will bring the entire grocery store to you (Verge)

• Do AI Companies Actually Care About America? (Atlantic)

• Can the news industry stop AI theft? It might be a long shot. (WP)

• Overwhelmed Archaeologists Struggling To Keep Pace With Glut Of Early Humans Thawed Out By Climate Change (The Onion)

 

Up Through the Cracks

High-schoolers now take the SATs on tablets, like iPads or Chromebooks. No more of that old problem of trying to fill in those little bubbles with a pen or pencil. Kids still use pens and pencils at school, although perhaps for not much longer.

Every generation before us dealt with technological change. It must have been disorienting to older members of tribes when fire was first harnessed, stones became tools and agriculture sprang out of dung heaps.

So it’s probably pointless to complain about screen time, self-driving cars, or even AI. Humans seem doomed to experiment with new technologies that act as extensions of our physical bodies.

They incorporate the useful ones and move on.

It just would be nice if we learned to apply these powerful new technologies in ways that reduced inequalities and disparities rather than increasing them.

Speaking of that, I recently worked with a young journalist who, as part of an after school project, gave cheap, disposable cameras to immigrant kids in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

When the kids turned in their photos, they were not about poverty, sadness or deprivation.

They were about beauty, smiling and hope.

It is that most stubbornly positive human emotion — hope — that is worth remembering at times like these. Somehow, like a flower pushing up through a crack in a sidewalk, it always breaks through.

HEADLINES:

• Kilmar Abrego Garcia detained at ICE office in Maryland (ABC)

• Richmond rallies around Rosie the Riveter as Trump cracks down on ‘inappropriate’ memorials (SFC)

• Five journalists among 20 killed in Israeli strike on hospital, Gaza officials say (BBC)

• In Trump’s Second Term, Far-Right Agenda Enters the Mainstream (NYT)

• Trump's redistricting push could bring decades of Republican rule to the US House (Reuters)

• The gerrymandering wars is a flashing warning light for US democracy (The Hill)

• Red vs. Blue: Who’s Next in the Redistricting Fight (WSJ)

• Pentagon plans military deployment in Chicago as Trump eyes crackdown (WP)

• Trump ‘manufactured crisis’ to justify plan to send national guard to Chicago, leading Democrat says (Guardian)

• Chicago leaders denounce Pentagon plans for military deployment in city as unlawful, unnecessary (WP)

• "No authority": Dems flame Trump's proposed Chicago crackdown (Axios)

• New GOP bill is latest push to extend federal control of D.C. police (WP)

• ‘It’s like one day everyone left’: How immigration crackdowns are reshaping America (CNN)

• As Trump Targets the Smithsonian, Museums Across the U.S. Feel a Chill (NYT)

• How to save the American university (Guardian)

• Ukraine and Russia trade drone strikes on Kyiv’s independence day (Politico)

• 8 Women, 4 Bedrooms and 1 Cause: Breaking A.I.’s Glass Ceiling (NYT)

• Salt Lake City Hoping To Boost Tourism By Reminding Visitors They’re Free To Leave At Any Time (The Onion)

 

Sunday Rising

If you’re anything like me, and I suspect you are, you’re having some version of my interlocking nightmare of a future dominated by climate change, AI and authoritarianism. 

Increasingly, these three seem to be converging into a doom scenario we may be powerless to prevent.

At times like this, I try to remember the basics. Be kind. Be hopeful. Be nice — but not to power. This is a time to find ways to stand up to the depredations of the Trump regime. Its power is based on fear-mongering, bullying and exploitation.

Trump is trying to crush hope. One friend lamented recently, “Trump is destroying everything.”

The list is endless: the rule of law, public service, environmental protection, corporate regulation, public broadcasting, foreign aid, public health and much more.

This is not what those critical voters in the swing stakes voted for in the 2024 election when they handed Trump his victory. Those voters can swing back. And Democrats, led by Gavin Newsom and the members of the Texas House delegation, are trying to fight back against Trump’s plan to steal next year’s midterm elections.

Remember that after a sleep-starved night, the sun still comes up, like always. It brings hope. Hope that resistance will build and ultimately bring down the tyrant. You can find and support local points of that resistance.

Then we can get to work again on the existential challenges — mitigating climate change and regulating AGI — that will remain after Trump. 

For starters, anyone can contact their Congressional representatives; click links here for the House or the Senate. Text Gavin Newsom at 916-347-0274.

HEADLINES:

• The redistricting war between Texas and California is about to jolt the midterms (Politico)

• Schwarzenegger’s mission: terminate partisan rigging of California’s electoral maps (Guardian)

• Texas redistricting fight shakes up battle lines for both parties in key US Senate race (AP)

• Initial release of Epstein files raises more questions than answers, top House Democrat says (WP)

• Jerome Powell walks the line between jobs and inflation (Reuters)

• ‘Everyone is coming into fire’: students return to US campuses bruised and changed by Trump’s assault (Guardian)

• No Food, No Water, a Broken Leg: How a Hiker Survived a Harrowing Week in the Wild (NYT)

• Abrego Garcia's attorneys say government trying to coerce him to accept guilty plea or face deportation to Uganda (ABC)

• Trump Gets His Revenge on John Bolton. Who’s Next? (NYT)

• Ukrainian attack suspends Russian oil flow to Hungary and Slovakia (Reuters)

• Frustrated, Trump signals pause in his Ukraine peace effort (WP)

• After Gaza Famine Report, U.S. Is Mostly Silent and Israel Is Defiant (NYT)

• Famine in Gaza City (Reuters)

• HHS is using AI effectively? Someone’s hallucinating. (WP)

• Local Oaf Not Sure What Part Of Counter You Order At (The Onion)