The World at Play

Among the options for ways to learn about and experience the larger world, travel is the best choice. If you go to enough places on several continents you begin to develop an appreciation for the diversity of human choices and conditions.

If you cannot travel, you can read books, watch films and try to meet those in your community who come from different countries and backgrounds. There also are ethnic restaurants, festivals and parades.

And then there’s sports, which brings me to the World Cup.

In our house there is a hand-drawn wall chart listing every matchup for all the teams playing in this year’s World Cup competition. My grandchildren drew it and filled in their predictions for all the games before the first match had been played.

Five of them did this by debating the merits of each squad from around the world, based on their knowledge as soccer players themselves and as fans.

We’ve had the games playing on TV all weekend. At one point, I found myself sleepily watching the match between Australia and Türkiye broadcast in Spanish with my 15-year-old granddaughter, who is fluent in French.

We both understand just enough Spanish to sort of follow the commentary, which was exuberant and fast-paced.

For those uninterested in the World Cup, or in sports generally, I can understand the irritation at all the hype.

But then again, this is the whole world coming together to play games and cheer their teams on in peace, not war, which is a lot better than the alternative.

HEADLINES:

• Iran and US agree deal to end war as Israel says its forces will stay in Lebanon (BBC)

• U.S. and Iran reach deal to extend ceasefire and open strait (Axios)

• U.S.-Iran deal explained: What we know — and what remains unresolved (CNBC)

• Trump Claims Strait Will Be ‘Permanently Toll-Free’ Under Agreement With Iran (NYT)

• Trump Celebrates While America Capitulates (Atlantic)

• A deal is only the beginning of the end of the US-Iran war (Economist)

• So Much for Leaving Abortion Up to the States (Atlantic)

• The White House UFC fights are a spectacle. And a reflection of America. (WP)

• Hospitals See Diseases Resurge as Vaccinations Decline (NYT)

• Congress has lost its grip on funding the government (WP)

• Russia Is Rich in Ballistic Missiles. Ukraine Is Short of Ways to Stop Them. (NYT)

• Pilot and 11 skydivers dead after Missouri plane crash, officials say (CNN)

• Trump at 80: A President ‘Really Uncomfortable’ With Aging (NYT)

• As UFOs go mainstream, the jury is out on what the existence of alien life might mean for religion (AP)

• Germany and Japan Are Rearming Again, 80 Years After World War II (NYT)

• Why American Christianity Ended Up Like This (New Yorker)

• US asks Anthropic to block global access to top AI models: Why it matters (Al Jazeera)

• The World’s Leading Deepfake Expert No Longer Trusts His Own Eyes (NYT)

• Why it’s nearly impossible to build a robot without China (Japan Times)

• For centuries, math has been a human endeavor. Does AI mean it’s over? (WP)

• The skills people still perform better than AI, according to workplace experts (AP)

• Study: Crying Not Linked To What You Said But The Way You Said It (Onion)

 

Mattering

I’m not sure that I ever fully appreciated it at the time — in fact, I’m quite sure I didn’t — but during the years that one of my chores was to drop my kids off at school or camp it actually was a privilege.

Like all adults trying to balance responsibilities, I probably complained about it on occasion, and it certainly could be stressful when we were running late.

But it was a privilege because it was one of my opportunities to play an essential role in our social ecosystem. 

Believing that your role matters is not always the easiest thing to achieve in American culture. Years later, when the kids were grown, I missed it. And I started feeling rather inessential. 

Retiring from work made everything worse, as my professional responsibilities, once deemed by many as weighty and significant, melted away just like those parental duties.

And it was that point that I started pondering how much I ever did matter in the larger scheme of things.

Early in 2020, just as the pandemic was arriving and I was recovering from a stroke, I moved into an assisted care facility. At the time it seemed like the only option left for me. 

Nothing against the staff members in there, most of whom were terrific, or the residents, but every minute I spent in that place my hope was evaporating and my spirit was being crushed.

But in the end I was one of the lucky ones who escaped. My family rescued me and that’s why I can tell this little story today.

As I woke up one recent morning, it was obvious that the heat wave had finally broken. Fresh cool air swept in from the ocean. 

As I drank my first cup of coffee, my 12-year-old granddaughter appeared. Her parents were busy and she asked if I could give her a ride.

Without hesitation, I grabbed the car keys.

HEADLINES:

• Trump says US-Iran deal to be signed on Sunday as Tehran casts doubt on timing (BBC)

• Iranian foreign minister says deal with U.S. “never been closer” (Axios)

• Israel carries out air strikes on Lebanon, state media says, as Iran claims deal with US near (BBC)

• The U.S. and Iran Might Actually Have a Deal (Atlantic)

• What’s the deal on the Iran-U.S. peace deal? (Reuters)

• Judge Blocks National Parks From Removing ‘Negative’ Signs (NYT)

• Congress has lost its grip on funding the government (WP)

• America Has a Credit Card Problem, Just Not the One You Think (WSJ)

• Ariana Grande tells White House to stop using her music (CNN)

• Americans Are Reaching a Financial Breaking Point (Nation)

• The Supreme Court Hands a Surprising Death-Penalty Defeat to Alabama (TNR)

• DNI Gabbard Reveals Evidence of U.S. Taxpayer-Funded Global Biolab Program (DNI)

• Global HIV prevention declined drastically after Trump aid cuts, U.N. finds (WP)

• Hegseth Loses His Holy War (Bulwark)

• We’re replaying the Civil War, but the turf this time is the US government (Reveal)

• An Honored Canadian Journalist on the Importance of Investigative Reporting (NYT)

• A Court Has Ruled That Google Is Liable for False Statements Generated by AI Overviews (Wired)

• Anthropic cuts off Fable 5 and Mythos 5 access following government order (Verge)

• Battery breakthroughs will lessen AI’s demand on the electricity grid (WP)

• This Ford exec used Claude to build her family a ‘chief of staff’ (BI)

• Olive Garden Unveils New ‘We Invented Spaghetti’ Slogan (Onion)