Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

On Saturday, I watched the film "Before Sunset," one of my favorites. The first time I saw it was in the summer of 2004, soon after its release, when my new girlfriend and I went to watch it at the Opera Plaza Theatre on a Monday afternoon.

We had just declared our love for each other the night before, about half a year after meeting in a group therapy session. It was the first serious relationship after my divorce, and I felt that I loved her with all of my being.

We kept our own places but saw each other every day and night for the next year and a half. We took trips to Mexico, Hawaii and New York, where she shopped the second-hand shops on the lower east side for shoes and vintage clothes, and we ate the incomparable lunches at Katz's.

She was a few years younger than me but she didn't want to have kids. Her approach to my three young ones at home was matter-of-fact -- she always talked with them as if they were adults. She was never condescending.

When my youngest at the age of six got into a funk because she couldn't read, my girlfriend researched the issue, bought a gaggle of the appropriate books and told her, "You're going to read these."

She did.

All the time we were together, I could tell that sooner or later I was going to lose her, not to another man but to her ambition to work with people who really needed her help.

Eventually, she did just that, on the other side of the country in New Orleans.

"Before Sunset" is such a romantic story, where a couple meet after a ten-year hiatus and discover they still love each other. It's Hollywood, and the ending is happy.

Even though my own love story didn’t have a happy ending, I still liked the movie.

(From 2021.)

HEADLINES:

• Trump’s $100,000 Visa Fee Spurs Confusion and Chaos (NYT)

• UK recognises Palestinian statehood 108 years after Balfour Declaration — The decision, announced alongside recognition by Canada and Australia, comes as Israel continues its deadly destruction in Gaza. (Al Jazeera)

• Trump Demands That Bondi Move ‘Now’ to Prosecute Foes (NYT)

• Schumer slams Trump pressure on Bondi: ‘Real threat to democracy’ (The Hill)

• News outlets, lawmakers condemn new Pentagon restrictions on journalists (WP)

• California bans most law enforcement including ICE from wearing masks (BBC)

• Sen. Murphy says Trump using presidential power to punish political opponents (ABC)

• This Is the Most Withering Indictment of the Supreme Court Ever By a Sitting Judge (Slate)

• Donald Trump promises ‘important’ announcement on autism findings (Independent)

• Web of business interests shows that Kimmel’s future rests on far more than his jokes (AP)

• Country Legend Calls Out ‘The Regime’ After Jimmy Kimmel Suspension (Parade)

• Trump is breaking US diplomacy, State Department staffers say (Politico)

• Albania’s mischievous AI stunt (WP)

• Minor League Play-By-Play Announcer Just Sounds Like Normal Guy (The Onion)

 

Farmers

Watching a bit of the 40th Farm Aid concert last night, I was reminded of the many stories we did about farming and agricultural issues in the early years of the Center for Investigative Reporting.

We were able to raise grants from foundations to support this work but it was difficult to convince major media outlets to carry our work.

Ever since World War II, the portion of the population engaged in farming had been steadily decreasing until it reached crisis proportions in the 1980s, when Willie Nelson organized the first Farm Aid concert.

From a high of 5.6 million farms in 1950, today we have only 1.88 million. But here and there, new groups of small farmers are attempting to bring back, or perhaps reinvent, the family farm. This nascent trend is one of the many things threatened by the Trump administration.

The combination of ICE raids, tariffs, and foreign aid cuts are undermining farmers, including the small growers of seasonal, sustainable, organic crops. Maybe that’s why at last night’s concert, in addition to the overall good vibe there was an undercurrent of anger.

HEADLINES:

• Big Tech companies, foreign governments scramble after Trump slaps $100,000 annual fee on H-1B visas (CNBC)

• Trump Justice Dept. Closed Investigation Into Tom Homan for Accepting Bag of Cash (NYT)

• Trump threatens to take away broadcasters’ licenses (Reuters)

• Seeing Enemies Everywhere (New Yorker)

• Trump says U.S. military fatally struck another alleged drug-smuggling boat (NPR)

• Trump: ‘It’s no longer free speech.’ The president doubled down on his claims that critical media coverage of him is "illegal." (Politico)

• National parks axe signs about climate, slavery and Japanese internment (WP)

• RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine panel realizes it has no idea what it’s doing, skips vote (ArsTechnica)

• Health Insurance Premiums Could Rise More Than 80% Next Year (Newsweek)

• Defense Secretary Hegseth requires new 'pledge' for reporters at the Pentagon (NPR)

• Bureau of Labor Statistics postpones key data report with no explanation (Axios)

• Social Security chief walks back remark on raising retirement age (The Hill)

• Protesters and Federal Agents Clash Outside an ICE Detention Facility Near Chicago (NYT)

• EPA tells scientists to stop publishing studies, employees say (WP)

• Poland scrambles jets as Russia launches massive aerial assault on Ukraine (CNN)

• Russian military jets fly over Estonia (Reuters)

• Can France’s Palestinian Proposal Change 75 Years of Failed Diplomacy? (NYT)

• Gaza City residents fear permanent removal (Reuters)

• The health benefits of sunlight may outweigh the risk of skin cancer (Economist)

• New book claims superintelligent AI development is racing toward global catastrophe (ABC)

• Fearful Americans Stockpiling Facts Before Federal Government Comes To Take Them Away (The Onion)