Wednesday, July 14, 2021

All You Need


When companies that depend on subscribers try to find new ones, they often approach those who subscribed in the past.

In other words, their former subscribers.

The reason they do this is the odds of a renewal are much higher from that group than from a list of potential first-timers.

Although this may seem like an odd analogy, I believe the same is true thing is of our social lives, i.e., for most of us it's going to be easier to renew former friendships than make new ones.

Of course, sometimes there are unresolved issues with former friends (and lovers). Disagreements, fights,  the collapse of companies or living arrangements, bitter breakups, relocations, any number of factors might be the explanation for your decoupling back then.

More often you just drifted apart and neither of you can recall a reason.

Maybe the pandemic has opened up a new window into this process for many of us, whereby we rediscovered old friendships partly as an antidote to the sudden impact of loneliness and isolation in our lives.

In my case, I started posting lengthy essays to Facebook, and subsequently added daily news summaries and story-song lyrics as well. Of course I know that Facebook is a terrible environment for doing this -- very few people want to use this platform for extended visits during their daily routine.

Plus I don't even like Facebook for many, many reasons. Today's lead headline is but one.

But in the process of posting here I've not only made new friends I have reconnected with dozens of others. I treasure those connections -- especially those reconnections -- beyond expression.

They've enriched my life, given me renewed energy and are helping to re-vitalize me as a story-teller.

If it's happening for me if can happen for you, not necessarily in the same way or by the same vehicle. You do not have to spend hours each day creating massive media packages and long essays that probably only a handful of people will actually read start-to-finish.

You can choose more efficient methods, like placing a phone call to an old friend or meeting up with a neighbor.

You can conquer any loneliness and isolation you may feel one friend at a time.

Once you get started it may be hard to stop, and perhaps that is a good thing. I've threatened to stop doing my thing here a hundred times but it still gives me too many rewards.

And the ROI (return on investment) is better than any alternative.

If you are reading this you are by definition my friend, at least virtually. Your "likes" and 💜's sustain me. Your comments stimulate me. Criticism make me reconsider my opinions. Suggestions of links cause me to enlarge my search for the stories that matter.

Together we are getting better at this way of connecting in real time. Nobody's making any money, except Mr. Zuckerberg, but that's okay.

Money won't buy him, you or me love. All you need is love.

***

THE HEADLINES:

* Reporters Reveal 'Ugly Truth' Of How Facebook Enables Hate Groups And Disinformation  (FRESH AIR/NPR) 

* Prices rise 5.4 percent in June over last year, largest spike since 2008, as economy continues to recover (WP)

* Monthly Payments to Families With Children to Begin -- The Biden administration will send up to $300 per child a month to most American families thanks to a temporary increase in the child tax credit that advocates hope to extend. (NYT)

* The new child tax credit could lift more than 5 million kids out of poverty. Can it help them learn, too? (WP)

* Biden Hosts Meeting on Gun Violence Prevention -- President Biden met at the White House on Monday with leaders including Attorney General Merrick Garland and New York’s Democratic mayoral nominee, Eric Adams, to discuss ways to combat rising gun violence. (Reuters) 

* Biden calls passing voting legislation ‘a national imperative’ (WP)

* Wildfires Explode as Heat Wave Scorches the West for Another Day (NYT)

* Wildfires torch homes, land across 10 states in U.S. West (AP)

 

* It's Summer, And That Means The Mysterious Return Of Glacier Ice Worms -- On mountaintop glaciers of Alaska, Washington and Oregon, billions of tiny black worms are tunneling upward to the barren, icy surface. What lures them, and how do they survive the frozen depths? (NPR)


* Last week, Gov. Greg Gianforte withdrew Montana from a bipartisan coalition of more than two dozen states committed to upholding the goals of the Paris climate agreement. But he now wants federal assistance to deal with the climate impacts at Montana's door. [HuffPost]

* Judge presses Trump-allied lawyers on 2020 election fraud claims -- U.S. District Court Judge Linda V. Parker said she would rule on a request to discipline the lawyers in coming weeks for filing a suit seeking to overturn Michigan’s results. (WP)

* Trump Organization Strips Weisselberg of Roles After Indictment -- The removal of Allen Weisselberg from dozens of subsidiaries could signal a looming shake-up in former President Donald Trump’s family business. (NYT) 


* Gov. Gavin Newsom will not have a “D” next to his name to identify him as a Democrat on the recall special election ballot. (Politico)

* Fresno is making major strides to relocate its homeless population living along the city’s freeways into housing. (Fresno Bee)

* MAJORITY OF BOUDIN RECALL MONEY COMES FROM ONE BIG CORPORATE PAC -- Records show very limited grassroots support; it's just one big-money group organized to attack progressive causes and candidates. (48 Hills)



* The Food and Drug Administration added a new warning for the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus shot after a handful of people developed Guillain-Barre syndrome following vaccination. But the GBS cases are extremely rare and the immune system's attack on nerves may also be a side effect of other infections and shots. Here's everything you need to know. [HuffPost]

* Responding to SOS, Afghan commandos caught in fierce Taliban attack (Reuters)

* Video shows 22 Afghan commandos executed by the Taliban (CNN)

* Taliban surge in north Afghanistan sends thousands fleeing -- In Camp Istiqlal, family after family, all from the Hazara ethnic minority, told of Taliban commanders using heavy-handed tactics as they overran their towns and villages — raising doubts among many over their persistent promises amid negotiations that they will not repeat their harsh rule of the past. (AP)

* Latin America Unrest Forces Biden to Confront Challenges to Democracy Close to Home -- U.S. influence began waning in the region over the past decade, as successive administrations turned toward fighting terrorism in the Middle East. (NYT)

* Ex-DEA informant linked to Haiti assassination

One of the Haitian-American men arrested on suspicion of taking part in the assassination of Haiti's president last week had been an informant to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, a DEA official said. (Reuters)


* Six months into his presidency, Biden’s administration has not released a single person from Guantanamo Bay, even though 11 of the 40 men still there have been cleared for release. It’s been hard to discern exactly what the administration plans to do with Guantanamo — and how fast. [HuffPost]

* Everyone Has a Tipping Point’: Hunger Fuels Cuba’s Protests (NYT)

* Medieval French Coins Unearthed in Poland? A Mystery Begins -- Could a scavenger hunter’s find be a part of the lost booty once extorted by Vikings to spare Paris from ruin? A full-scale excavation may tell. (NYT)


* Our Favorite Presidents You’ve Never Heard Of (NYT)



* Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit the longest homer ever recorded in an all star game and Shohei Ohtani was the winning pitcher as the American League defeated the National League 5-2 in the midsummer classic played in Colorado. (Fox)

* ‘It Was Fine,’ Says Man Following Visit With Only People On Earth Who Love Him (The Onion)

***
"Can't Buy Me Love"
The Beatles


[Verse 3]
Say you don't need no diamond rings
And I'll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of things
That money just can't buy
I don't care too much for money
Money can't buy me love
Ow!

[Verse 4]
Say you don't need no diamond rings
And I'll be satisfied
Tell me that you want the kind of things
That money just can't buy
I don't care too much for money
Money can't buy me love

[Chorus]
Can't buy me love, love
Can't buy me love

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Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Who Tells Your Story

(Photo: David Weir and Howard Kohn on "The Today Show" 1975)

At the top of today's list is a piece by Times media critic Ben Smith about all of the positive things happening in the news business, especially on a local level.

This offers a dose of hope at a time when "hopeful" and "journalism" are two words infrequently found in juxtaposition. But enough people in enough places are sensing opportunity in the crisis that besets our industry to take note of the trend.

All news is local and all news is personal. It just revolves around different people in different places day by day. That's called a news cycle; you could also say everything comes around again sooner or later.

As it happened, Smith's article hit my inbox just as I was chatting with my old friend and writing partner Howard Kohn about new interest in our Rolling Stone years by various parties. We both get contacted by writers, producers, students, historians and old friends on a regular basis.

Recently, a study of the magazine's half-century-plus of publishing named our article, "The Inside Story" of Patty Hearst and the SLA as the biggest scoop in its storied history. That's fine by us -- just tell it, please, to our grandchildren, who see us as anything but the picture of cool.

We agree that as we've aged, like almost everyone else we know, we've become far less inhibited about telling our own stories. When we were younger there were our careers to consider, not to mention the concerns of others, including our bosses and the people we wrote about.

Many, many lawsuits, death threats, awards and acclamations since, all that remains really is our collective memory and the ability to tell a story that more or less conforms to the known facts. Because much like the fish that got away, some of our feats grow in size with the fuzzy benefit of hindsight.

This much is true: I really made only one real friend in high school but he was a doozy. When Howard, who grew up on a farm outside Bay City, where I lived as well, also won a scholarship to attend the University of Michigan, our friendship continued down in Ann Arbor.

He  is the person who convinced me to give journalism a try when I was foundering in school as an unsuccessful math student. He'd already figured out that it was his passion and he sensed that it might be mine as well.

Together we achieved things we never could have separately, at least I could not have at a young age. But Howard was instinctively a great reporter and writer from the start. Everyone who got to know him as early as age 16 could tell that.

In person, he's the silent but deadly type who speaks softly but wields a massive hammer as an investigative wordsmith. There are a trail of bad guys out there who can testify to that.

Many decades after our work at Rolling Stone and in many other venues beyond, both together and apart, we remain friends. And you know, if it came right down to it, I'd trust him to tell my story, and that is what friends are for.

(Note: Thanks to Laurie Sigillito for pointing me to the good news about news piece. As CEO of the Local News Network, she is part of that good news!)

***

Continuing my inexplicable bingeing, I watched "High Strung Free Dance," starring Juliet Doherty, with Harry Jarvis, Jane Seymour, Thomas Doherty (no relation to Juliet), Ace Bhatta, and Kika Markham (Netflix 2019). 

In case you think you wouldn't normally be interested in a movie about the world of dance, give this one a try. It is as emotionally satisfying a film about creativity, love, betrayal, and resilience as I can imagine.

And the dancing is pretty terrific as well.

THE HEADLINES:

* 5 Pieces of Good News About the News -- in the United States, there’s a generation of ventures growing up in the cracks in the media sidewalk, fueled by a new sense of mission in American journalism and by the sheer quantities of money, private and nonprofit, floating around. < https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/11/business/media/good-news-media-sites.html > (NYT)

* In D.C. visit, Egypt spy boss claims U.S. agreed — in writing — to jail American activist. <https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/12/egypt-spy-boss-jail-american-498983?fbclid=IwAR17hQd6Yba7HN22b6mG6R2rZ9Evwtb7E5bDdktV4QQG2Mm9Aex8xoFgH-s> (Politico)

* Governments World-Wide Gorge on Record Debt, Testing New Limits --An enormous pile of savings makes it possible for nations to borrow heavily at low cost. Encouraged by new economic thinking, they are doing just that, defying worries about inflation and sustainability. (WSJ)

* Untethered to reality, Trump lies over and over about the 2020 election at CPAC (CNN)

* Trump handily won the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday as attendees overwhelmingly said they would like to see him run for another term in the White House in 2024. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) came in second with 21% of the votes and former Vice President Mike Pence received zero percent. [HuffPost]

* This Christian movement wants a nation under God’s authority and is central to Trump’s GOP (WP)

* Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office and state police are investigating fundraising scams linked to lies that the 2020 election was rigged. State residents can be assured Joe Biden’s victory was legitimate, and should be wary of those pushing lies, warned a report backed by GOP lawmakers.[HuffPost]

* Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) slammed some of his GOP colleagues for comparing the Biden administration’s latest COVID-19 vaccination campaign to Nazism. “This is outrage politics that is being played by my party and it’s going to get Americans killed." (CNN)

* Death Valley hit 130 degrees over the weekend, and more than 31 million people were in areas under excessive heat warnings. It’s climate change. (California Today)

* Bootleg Fire in Oregon Scorches 143,000 Acres as Heat Wave Continues in the West (NYT)

* Firefighters working in searing weather struggled to contain a Northern California wildfire that continued to grow and forced the closure of a major highway, one of several large blazes burning across the U.S. West amid another heat wave that shattered records and strained power grids. California officials asked all residents to reduce power consumption quickly. [AP]

* California And Other Parts Of The West Broil And Burn Under Triple-Digit Temperatures (NPR)

* Heat Wave Spread Fire That ‘Erased’ Canadian Town -- Busloads of residents went to tour the charred town of Lytton, British Columbia, this week and found it almost unrecognizable. (NYT)

* Another ‘red tide’ left 15 tons of dead fish on Tampa Bay’s shore, and experts warn of more destruction (WP)

* Florida Breaks Annual Manatee Death Record In First 6 Months Of 2021 (NPR)

* The drought is pummeling many of California’s varied agricultural industries particularly hard, as farmers and ranchers contemplate a future without — or with much less — water. (California Today)

* Texas police arrested Hervis Rogers, a 62-year-old Black man who waited seven hours in line to vote despite voter suppression efforts during the 2020 presidential primaries. Rogers faces two felony counts of illegal voting for casting ballots before he’d fully completed his parole for a previous crime. His attorney said Rogers was unaware he was ineligible to vote and his prosecution should raise concerns. [HuffPost]

* Thousands of Cubans marched on Havana’s Malecon promenade and elsewhere on the island to protest food shortages and high prices amid the coronavirus crisis, in one of the biggest anti-government demonstrations in memory. Many people tried to broadcast the protest live but authorities shut down internet service. [AP]

* How Local Guerrilla Fighters Routed Ethiopia’s Powerful Army -- A scrappy force of local Tigrayan recruits scored a cascade of battlefield victories against the Ethiopian military, one of Africa’s strongest. (NYT)

* Haitian police say assassination suspect wanted to be president (WP)

* Florida resident detained as key suspect in Haiti killing (AP)

* Afghan special forces moved in on Taliban, only to find they had melted away (Reuters)

* Afghan special forces move to clear Kandahar (Reuters)

* After weeks of speculation, President Biden officially named Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles as U.S. ambassador to India, unleashing a scramble to replace him as leader of one of the world’s most diverse cities. (California Today)

* More Power Lines or Rooftop Solar Panels: The Fight Over Energy’s Future -- The president and energy companies want new transmission lines to carry electricity from solar and wind farms. Some environmentalists and homeowners are pushing for smaller, more local systems. (NYT)

* Pandemic-driven hunger is making the world more unequal (WP)

* Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was horrified to see attendees at CPAC cheering that the U.S. hadn’t reached its vaccination goals. "I mean, they are cheering about someone saying that it’s a good thing for people not to try and save their lives." (CNN) 

* State of emergency begins in host city Tokyo as Games near (Reuters)

* British Players Face Racist Abuse After Defeat (WSJ)

* As England fails to bring it home, a soccer-mad nation copes with a near-miss (WP)

* The Battle For The U.S. Senate Will Be On Display During Baseball's All-Star Game (NPR)

* Shohei Ohtani Isn’t the Best Two-Way Player Since Babe Ruth. He’s Better. (WSJ)

* The World Health Organization issued new recommendations Monday on human genome editing, calling for a global registry to track “any form of genetic manipulation” and proposing a whistle-blowing mechanism to raise concerns about unethical or unsafe research. (AP)

* The Uneven Odds for Promotions With Hybrid Work -- Those who prefer—or need—to work from home may find co-workers in the office benefiting more.  (WSJ)

* Wolf pups have been spotted again on Michigan's Isle Royale, a hopeful sign in the effort to rebuild the predator species' population at the U.S. national park, scientists said Monday. (AP)

* In 2001, the movie “Legally Blonde” cemented Reese Witherspoon’s status as a Hollywood star for her portrayal of Elle Woods. Today, Elle remains an emblem for challenging stereotypes and embracing female empowerment in the face of misogyny. (NYT)

* Creativity may be key to healthy aging. Here are ways to stay inspired. (WP)

* Treasury Phasing Out All Bills Except $1s and $100s As Income Inequality Renders Middle Currencies Irrelevant (The Onion)

***

"Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story"

Performed by the Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton
Written by Lin-manuel Miranda
Let me tell you what I wish I'd known
When I was young and dreamed of glory
You have no control
Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?
President Jefferson
I'll give him this, his financial system is a work of genius
I couldn't undo it if I tried
And I've tried
Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?
President Madison
He took our country from bankruptcy to prosperity
I hate to admit it
But he doesn't get enough credit for all the credit he gave us
Who lives, who dies, who tells your story
Every other founding fathers' story gets told
Every other founding father gets to grow old
And when you're gone, who remembers your name?
Who keeps your flame?
Who tells your story?
Who tells your story?
Who tells your story?
I put myself back in the narrative
(Eliza)
I stop wasting time on tears
I live another 50 years
It's not enough (Eliza)
I interview every soldier who fought by your side
(She tells our story)
I try to make sense of your thousands of pages of writings
You really do write like you're running out of time
I rely on Angelica
While she's alive, we tell your story
She is buried in Trinity Church near you
When I needed her most, she was right on time
And I'm still not through
I ask myself, what would you do if you had more time
The Lord, in his kindness
He gives me what you always wanted
He gives me more time
I raise funds in D.C. for the Washington Monument
(She tells my story)
I speak out against slavery
You could have done so much more if you only had time
And when my time is up, have I done enough?
Will they tell your story?
Oh, can I show you what I'm proudest of?
(The orphanage)
I established the first private orphanage in New York City
(The orphanage)
I help to raise hundreds of children
I get to see them growing up
(The orphanage)
In their eyes I see you, Alexander
I see you every time
And when my time is up
Have I done enough?
Will they tell your story?
Oh, I can't wait to see you again
It's only a matter of time
Will they tell your story? (Time)
Who lives, who dies, who tells your story? (Time)
Will they tell your story? (Time)
Who lives, who dies, who tells your story?

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Monday, July 12, 2021

Free Julian Assange


Point Pinole, CA.

Sitting on a windy beach along the northeastern shore of San Francisco Bay, munching on nuts, dried fruits and cheese, I thought about the new wave of innovation about to emerge in the city I love roughly 25 miles to the southwest of here.

Yesterday I predicted a new boom now that the pandemic is subsiding. Rents did come down a bit for a bit, and that, combined with the choice in live together in group hosting, should allow the latest 20-something migrants a window to launch their ventures.

They will encounter a large community of older entrepreneurs already in place in the Bay Area; some of whom will be willing to hep them.

They'll need capital, office space, developers, business plans, and marketing expertise. Most of all, they'll need the advice only older entrepreneurs can give.

But they also -- each and every one of them -- will need a story.

As one who has relishes such stories, I'm waiting for that. Everybody has a story; everybody has a dream. Maybe their's will come true.

***

The top issue I need to address today is the continued persecution of whistle-blower Julian Assange by the Biden administration. The case against Assange, who is living in England, involves U.S. government secrets he published thanks to a source, Army intelligence officer Chelsea Manning, who was prosecuted and imprisoned for her role.

S.F. Chronicle writer Bob Egelko has written a thoughtful analysis of case against Assange, which is based in a terrible piece of legislation, the 1917 Espionage Act.

That's the act the Nixon administration used against Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon papers case. 

Those of us in the press who spend our careers digging out just the sort of government secrets that Ellsberg and Assange brought into public view consider them heroes not villains.

The Biden administration prides itself as being a friend of the press, in stark contrast to the previous president who branded us "the enemy of the people."

Well if he's not our enemy but our friend, he should drop the case against Assange and allow him to live his life in peace. After all, he may not be a journalist but all he did was what we do.

And we win awards for that.

(Note: Thanks to Joel Kirshenbaum for alerting me to Egelko's excellent piece.)

***

THE HEADLINES:

* When it comes to whistle-blowers like Julian Assange, Biden's actions look a lot like Trump's (San Francisco Chronicle)

* Death Valley Hits 130 Degrees as Heat Wave Sweeps the West -- Temperatures were broiling from Utah to California as another “heat dome” led Western states to set up cooling centers and issue motel vouchers. (NYT)

* Heat wave blankets U.S. West as fires rage in several states (AP)

* ‘Fear on top of fear’: Why anti-gun Americans joined the wave of new gun owners (WP)

* The Big Question of the 2022 Midterms: How Will the Suburbs Swing? -- Democrats and Republicans are already jockeying for a crucial voting bloc that soured on Donald Trump, tilted to Joe Biden and now holds the key to the second half of the president’s term. (NYT)

* Yes, the delta variant is taking over. But the vaccines still work. (Monica Ghandi/ WP)

* Tech Companies to Buy Covid-19 Vaccines on Behalf of Taiwan (WSJ)

* On This German Farm, Cows Are in Charge. Or at Least Coequals. -- The cows don’t have to produce milk. The pigs sleep late. No animal on this former dairy farm serves a human need. Their only purpose is to live peacefully — and provoke questions about how we eat. (NYT)

* Afghan forces clash with Taliban near Kunduz (Reuters)

* Iran cheers U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan — but fears what could follow -- The resolution of one long-standing aim for Tehran, the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, is unleashing another challenge: what to do about the Taliban. (WP)

* U.S. Defends Detention of Afghan at Guantánamo Despite Pullout -- In the first Guantánamo habeas corpus case under the Biden administration, the government said U.S. forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan did not erode its detention authority. (NYT)

* The Jan. 6 Capitol attack was, in fact, a violent insurrection (Editorial Board/WP)

* Global Tax Overhaul Gains Steam as G20 Backs New Levies -- The approach marks a reversal of years of economic policies that embraced low taxes as a way for countries to attract investment and fuel growth. (NYT)

* U.S. Treasury's Yellen to push development banks to step up climate financing effort (Reuters)

* Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic crew safely back from space, ushering in a new era (WP)

* Filmmakers, activists call for climate efforts in Cannes (Reuters)

* Broadway, and the rest of  New York’s cultural life, is on the cusp of a vibrant rebound (WP)

* At the All-Star break, the San Francisco Giants have the best record in Major League Baseball at 57-32 (.640). They also have hit the most home runs (132). (MLB.com)

* Italy beat England in a penalty shootout for the European Championship in futbol. (NYT)

* Shy Balloon Spends Entire Party Floating In Back Corner Of Room By Itself (The Onion)

***

How It Started

S.S.T. Band, SEGA / Runblebee
That's how it started
It could not do, it could not do
It could not do, it could not do
The lies inside you, it would not do
That dwells inside you, it could not do
That lives inside you, it should not do
That dwells inside you
It could not, could not, could not do
That's how it started
That's how it started
That's how it started
That's how it started
It could not do, it could not do
It could not do, it could not do
The lies inside you; you, you;
That dwells inside you
It could not do, that lives inside you
It should not do, that dwells inside you
It could not, could not, could not do
That's how it started

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Sunday, July 11, 2021

San Francisco Starts Up Again



“There’s no other city in the world that is so global, being so intimate.” -- Santiago Corredoira Jack, Veon Group 

______


Today's top story comes from my long-time neighborhood news source, Mission Local:

"Older tech workers may be leaving San Francisco, but the young and hungry — including those with startup dreams — are moving in."

If you know even a smidgeon about San Francisco's boom-and-bust history, you know that a big-time renewal after the pandemic was bound to happen.

I certainly did and I've been waiting for the evidence to show up. Now it has started.

But I should explain. For the many people who have never given up on life elsewhere to flee to the sanctuary on the coast, San Francisco may seem like a quaint little tourist destination. 

They come, take rides on the cable cars, eat Ghiradelli's chocolate, sourdough bread, visit Chinatown, take photos of the Golden Gate Bridge and buy T-shirts saying "I Left My 💜 in San Francisco."

And that is fine and it is good. We love them for loving our town -- tourism is our biggest revenue-producer.

But those of us who came and stayed here haven't been doing that since the Gold Rush of 1849 just because sometimes we find gold. No. People come here for a more fundamental reason -- to try and make their dreams come true.

Of course it sounds corny and it *is* corny but sometimes what we all need a little more corniness. And the would-be entrepreneurs who come here aren't just settling into a new place -- they are *leaving* another place.

A place where it turned out that their dreams could not come true. They may not come true here either but for those of us wired in a certain way this is our best chance and it is also the end of the line.

Allow me to tell a personal story. Once upon a time there was a boy who grew up in the Midwest, went to a great university there, discovered he could write and that he felt passionately about the injustice and racism and war and environmental destruction all around him.

Not only did he write about those things, he took part in demonstrations, got arrested and wrote about *that* too. When he graduated from college with a degree in journalism, he expected he would easily find a job in his home state, where his professors would recommend him as a promising young leader in his field.

Wrong! He couldn't find a job anywhere despite multiple applications. Finally one of his former professors, probably feeling sorry for him, confided to him what the problem was. 

"The newspaper editors call us to check you guys out before they hire you and there is a blacklist. If you participated in the anti-war and civil rights demonstrations, your name is on it. You'll never get hired around here."

Soon after, he left that place and ended up in San Francisco, where such personal histories were not cause for exclusion but inclusion. What made you a pariah back there gave you street cred here.

Plus here you didn't need the old companies. You could start your own new ones. Or at least you could try to.

Today's entrepreneurs may have very different circumstances and there probably aren't any blacklists anymore but they are still leaving from somewhere to come here because there is no place quite like San Francisco.

Our second headline today is not an article but a book called "The Entrepreneur's Face." Some of today's newcomers may just wish to give it a shot as they set off the next start-up boom in the city by the bay. One of the authors is my friend.

And let me be crystal clear what I am predicting here: A new wave of startups. I don't yet know how they will be different from the dot.com boom and web 2.0 but they will be. For now let's just call it the post-Covid boom.

Welcome to San Francisco.

***

I've got to admit something and that's that I'm on a serious kick of watching romantic comedies again. It started exactly two weeks ago after a long hiatus. By this point I know when this happens what is going on with me.

Hope comes, hope goes, sometimes after it's gone it comes back again. The stars align and I start believing in life and love again. And I love movies that make me laugh and cry at the same time.

They're a lot like real life. They're a lot like real love.

So my latest film crush is "No Strings Attached," with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. Got to watch it multiple times to get this out of my system.

THE HEADLINES:

* Older tech workers may be leaving San Francisco, but the young and hungry — including those with startup dreams — are moving in. (Mission Local)

* The Entrepreneur's Face -- How Makers, Visionaries and Outsiders Succeed" by Jonathan Littman and Susanna Camp (Snowball Narrative Press)

* How to Achieve Sustainable Remote Work -- Companies must move away from surveillance and visible busyness, and toward defined outcomes and trust. (New Yorker)

* Citizens, Not the State, Will Enforce New Abortion Law in Texas -- The measure bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. And it effectively deputizes ordinary citizens to sue people involved in the process. (NYT)

* Charlottesville removes Confederate statue at center of deadly 2017 protest (Reuters)

* Biden’s effort to rein in corporate powerhouses sets off battle over who holds economic power -- Containing 72 initiatives, President Biden’s executive order is striking in its scope and ambition. (WP)

* Taliban Enter Kandahar City and Seize Border Posts -- The insurgent assaulted a vital city in Afghanistan’s south on Friday, less than 24 hours after President Biden reaffirmed his decision to withdraw from the country. (NYT)

* With an uptick in Covid-19 cases, there is growing alarm. 'We've seen almost an entire takeover in the Delta variant,' one state official says (CNN)

* Covid-19 Pandemic Led to Big Swings in Median Pay (WSJ)

* How We'll Know When The COVID-19 Crisis Is Over (NPR)

* Tears, politics and money: School boards become battle zones (AP)

* Heat-Related Deaths Increase as Temperatures Rise in the West -- Record-breaking heat was expected throughout the West Coast this weekend, days after a deadly heat wave struck Oregon and Washington State. (NYT)

* Death Valley soars to 130 degrees, matching Earth’s highest temperature in at least 90 years (WP)

* G20 warns of risk to global recovery from virus variants (Reuters)

* FDA head urges probe of agency’s dealings with maker of controversial Alzheimer’s drug (WP)

* Smoke, extreme heat pose harsh test for West Coast vineyards (AP)

* The C.D.C. Issues New School Guidance, With Emphasis on Full Reopening -- The guidance acknowledges that many students have suffered from months of virtual learning. (NYT)

* The science of heat domes and how drought and climate change make them worse (WP)

* China’s gene giant harvests data from millions of women (Reuters)

* The public needs more answers on the children lost to Native American boarding schools (WP)

* Oath Keepers Leader Sits for F.B.I. Questioning Against Legal Advice -- In a bold move, Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the right-wing militia group, sat for an interview with federal agents after they seized his phone in May. (NYT)

* Heat, wind spur California fire; evacuation hits Nevada area (AP)

* Did a Cuttlefish Write This? -- Octopuses and squid are full of cephalopod character. But more scientists are making the case that cuttlefish hold the key to unlocking evolutionary secrets about intelligence. (NYT)

* For singer Jakob Dylan, ‘your heart has to be in everything you’re doing, or everything’s pointless’ (WP)

* Giant cat looms over Shinjuku (NHK)

* Giraffes get frozen treats in heatwave (Reuters)

* Warner Bros studio tour expands with DC Universe, Potter -- Batman’s secret cave, Harry Potter’s cupboard under the stairs and the infamous “Friends” apartment are major centerpieces to the huge Warner Bros. studio lot expansion. (AP)

* Mom Sent On Fact-Finding Mission To Read What Parking Sign Down Street Says (The Onion)

***

"San Francisco"

Sung by Judy Garland
Written by Gus Kahn / B. Kaper / W. Jurmann
I never will forget, Mmmm... Jeanette MacDonald
Just to think of her, it gives my heart a pang
I never will forget, how that brave Jeanette
Just stood there in the ruins and sang, and sang...
San Francisco, open your golden gate
You'll let nobody wait outside your door
San Francisco, here is your wanderin' one
Saying I'll wander no more.
Other places only make me love you best
Tell me you're the one in all the golden west
San Francisco, I'm coming home again
Never to roam again...
San Francisco, right when I arrive
I really come alive...
And you will laugh to see me,
Perpendicular, hanging on a cable car
San Francisco, let me beat my feet
Up and down Market Street
I'm gonna climb Nob Hill, just to watch it get dark
From the top of the mark
There's Brooklyn Bridge, London Bridge,
And the Bridge of San Louis Rey
But the only bridge, that's a real gone bridge,
Is the bridge accross the bay
San Francisco, I'm coming home again,
Never to roam again, by gum
San Francisco, I don't mean Frisco
San Francisco, here I come!

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