One of the earliest joys of the Internet in the 1990s was the new-found ability to uncover just how closely connected we all are with others. We previously had no easy way of knowing that stuff. Six degrees of separation were all that separated each of us from presidents, actors, athletes, billionaires and beauty queens.
Alternatively, we found out we were not all that far removed from some pretty nasty characters as well.
We cross paths with new people all the time, online and off, and one of my occasional preoccupations is to wonder how closely we may have been to meeting each other sometime in the past, but didn’t.
Perhaps we passed within a block of each other in some random city years ago -- one of us going one direction, one in another.
We just missed.
The opposite is also true. We may meet someone in some consequential way that sticks in our memory but never encounter them again. We didn’t get to know them, really and we never will. But that one meeting mattered,
This kind of thing has happened to me many, many times, both with famous people and strangers. For example, I met Jesse Jackson twice. Both times I just happened to be standing in a crowd when he walked up and shook my hand.
Other random encounters happened when I was traveling, especially overseas.
Often, one of these one-timers pops up in the news and remind me of when we encountered each other over decades ago.
An example currently in the Senate, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, was a 40ish chair of a House agricultural committee when he questioned a 30ish journalist rather harshly half a lifetime ago.
He had an untamed Midwestern twang and probably assumed the reporter was some city slicker from San Francisco who cared only about the environmental issue he termed the "Circle of Poison," and didn’t care about the plight of farmers like those in Grassley’s district.
They sparred over pesticides but the Congressman seemed shocked when the journalist described his deep concern for the small farmers who were among the primary victims of the multinational agrochemical companies he'd exposed in his book.
That was many years ago now, probably forty. I doubt Grassley even remembers the encounter or knew that the city slicker he met that day was the son of a man who grew up on a very small farm in Canada.
A decade after I appeared before Grassley’s committee, the most significant legislative attempt to date to address the issues I testified about was introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy and it was called “Circle of Poison Prevention Act."
It would have “prohibited the export of pesticides that were not registered for domestic use; were not registered for food use and would not be exported for use on food; or had had the majority of registration canceled.”
The legislation was co-sponsored in the House by Leon Panetta, but it died in committee.
HEADLINES:
UAE warned Netanyahu of major Hamas operation days before Oct. 7 attack, news report says (AP)
UK announces new Israeli settlement sanctions, despite U.S. warning of economic consequences (CNBC)
Delays and Cancellations Persist After Major Disruption at U.K. Airports (NYT)
Israel to close British consulate in Jerusalem after sanctions announced (Guardian)
Saudi Arabia says 73 wounded as Houthis attack civilian and energy sites (Al Jazeera)
Military and intelligence officials discuss smaller presence in the Middle East as US looks for another post-9/11 strategy (CNN)
A Reuters special report looks into how two Israeli brothers are driving a West Bank settler land grab. (Reuters)
Republicans kick off a ‘Trumpapalooza’ of a midterm convention Wednesday in Texas (NPR)
Trump’s Mail Voting Plan Is Coming to a Head. Here’s What to Know. (NYT)
As Social Security fund runs dry, some Republicans say it’s time to raise taxes (WP)
Justice Kavanaugh Blocks Missouri Voting Map Benefiting Republicans (NYT)
Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch is leaving amid tensions with Trump (NBC)
Carney Tells Canadians: Retaliation Against U.S. Tariffs Was Unavoidable (NYT)
The Emerging U.S.-China Détente (Foreign Affairs)
Russia resumed air attacks on Kyiv after a brief halt for the visit of US peace negotiators, killing two people and triggering fires across the Ukrainian capital. (Reuters)
Trump Wants to Exhaust Us. He’s Failing. (Bulwark)
Study: Almost Half the World’s Farmers Are Poisoned by Pesticides Each Year (Mother Jones)
Future Of Jimmy Kimmel’s Late Night Show In Doubt Following Bombshell Report (HuffPost)
Thieves Steal Artworks From Renoir Museum in France (NYT)
Rosanne Cash on the gift her father, Johnny Cash, gave her (NPR)
Olivia Rodrigo Begins A Chart Comeback At The Same Time Her New Single Debuts (Forbes)
This Tiny E-Reader Is the Single Best Piece of Technology in Years (Atlantic)
From dance floor to war: China readies humanoid robots for combat (Japan Times)
Will AI take all of our jobs? (Money Trail)
Health Speculations Swirl After Trump Slumps Over In Saddle Of Runaway Horse (Onion)
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