To Persistence

 

If you were to ask me the one trait that characterizes the best investigative reporters I’ve worked with, it would be persistence bordering on stubbornness. To get the kinds of stories others miss requires an unwillingness to give up just because the process becomes difficult.

By the same token, muckrakers often encounter resistance inside their own media organizations, because investigative stories take a long time, consume resources, and raise all sorts of internal concerns including legal issues.

So staying the course requires a certain type of individual, one that sadly is becoming more scarce in today’s media environment. There still are great stories being produced here and there but they are rarer now.

But this Thanksgiving I’m grateful for the ones who remain.

***

Like many older people, the pandemic enforced an unwanted disruption of my so-called “golden years.” I couldn’t go anywhere or see anyone and the only color that readily comes to mind for those months is “gray.”

Some of that gloom has lifted now, as in measured steps I am getting out a bit and seeing a few people now and then.

But the world has changed and I am no longer as sure how to navigate it as I was in the past. I no longer live where I lived for 17 years, work where I worked for 7 years, or drive a car.

On Wednesday I decided to walk southeast through the hills to the pharmacy where a prescription was waiting for me. I was uncertain of the route, and Google seemed uncertain as well.

I’d never walked the route before and it was challenging. Google claimed the walk should take me about 18 minutes but in the end with many course corrections it required an hour and a half. Along the way, I got booted out of a construction site I’d inadvertently stumbled onto and barely avoided getting hit by a bicyclist on what I’d presumed was a walking path.

He, at least, was apologetic. And I figure pedestrians must have become scarce commodities during the worst of the pandemic.

***

THURSDAY’S HEADLINES:

• Japanese ambassador meets senior Taliban official (NHK)

• For Afghan Refugees, a Choice Between Community and Opportunity — In resettling thousands of displaced Afghans, the Biden administration must weigh their need for support against the needs of the U.S. labor market. (NYT)

• Shooting of black jogger Arbery - defendants found guilty (BBC)

• Best friends at 9, they were separated when they fled the Nazis. Now, 82 years later, they finally hugged again. (WP)

• Scientists warn of new Covid variant with high number of mutations — The B.1.1.529 variant was first spotted in Botswana and six cases have been found in South Africa (Guardian)

• A Claim of Herd Immunity Reignites Debate Over U.K. Covid Policy — Neil Ferguson, a leading epidemiologist, said the country had almost reached a state of herd immunity as it settled into a new normal of about 40,000 cases a day. Other experts disagreed. (NYT)

• Raging inflation may force Fed’s hand on rates (Politico)

• The Pandemic Is Ending With a Whimper (Atlantic)

• Pentagon will track unexplained airborne objects using new intelligence group (WP)

• At least 31 migrants dead after vessel sinks in English Channel (WP)

• Peng Shuai and the High Stakes of Business in China (New Yorker)

• Rescuing the Afghanistan girls' football team (BBC)

• CIA director warns Russian spies of ‘consequences’ if they are behind ‘Havana Syndrome’ incidents (WP)

• U.S. invites Taiwan to democracy summit (NHK)

• The swine bomb: is 2021 the year wild hogs take over the world? (Guardian)

• Hertfordshire Bronze Age axe hoard found by 13-year-old girl detectorist(BBC)

• The Lab-Leak Theory Meets Its Perfect Match (Atlantic)

• Franklin Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up a week to goose the economy. Chaos ensued. (WP)

• Climate change causing albatross divorce, says study (BBC)

• Readers review Adele’s 30: ‘so powerful’ or a ‘depressive black hole’? (Guardian)

• Study Finds Average Squirrel Lives Through Human Equivalent Of 7 Action Films Every Day (The Onion)

The Torture of Uncertainty

 

Afghan Conversation #18

NOTE: Ever since the Taliban took over power in Afghanistan, I have been exchanging messages with a young friend who lives in Helmand Province. This is our 18th conversation to date. We are keeping his identity secret in order to protect his safety.

***

Dear David:

When we last spoke, my little brother was being escorted by smugglers across the border to Iran. What followed was a harrowing week of not knowing whether he was safe, or even alive. 

If you’ll recall, it was Wednesday night last week when I talked to him for what I thought might be the last time. By four o'clock on Thursday, he was approaching the border. If caught, he might be arrested, which would likely result in severe harm. I knew that when the Iranian police detain someone, they will not refrain from violence. They’ve shot many people and broken many arms and legs with the butts of their rifles. Recently, as the number of Afghan refugees seeking to reach Iran has gone up, the torture has also increased. 

My brother called me before he knew whether he would get across the border. After our call ended, I checked my Facebook news feed. Two passenger cars in the west of Kabul, where my other brother and millions of others Hazara live, had been blown up by bombs. As common as this is, it’s always unnerving, and of course added to my anxiety – which by now has grown to include a new fear for the fates of both brothers.

I tried to reach my older brother in Kabul, but his phone was off. I tried his roommate, who told me my brother had left with a friend at noon, but he didn’t say where he was going. He said that he would call my brother's friend and get back to me. Half an hour later, he called to say that my brother's friend’s phone was also off. 

I became even more anxious. I tried to distract myself by reading books but that didn’t work. Every ten minutes I would dial his number again, to no avail.. Finally, at eight o'clock, he called me to say he was ok, and for a brief moment in time, I was able to breathe easily again. 

But before long, I returned to worrying about my younger brother. I tried to sleep but couldn’t. Every so often, I would dial his number, but his phone was off. I remained tortured by fears of the unknown. Had he been detained? Was he suffering terribly? Was he alive? 

Finally at 11 o’clock the next morning I reached the smuggler to ask about my brother. He said they had crossed the border into Iran, but were later caught and were now on their way back to Afghanistan. 

Every day here is full of anxiety and disappointment. Worry that something horrible will happen to our family in this country full of malignant events. Disappointed that we are trapped in this hellish country forever.

***

END NOTE: I am publishing these conversations not just to tell my friend's story but to highlight the conditions faced by millions of Afghans, particularly Hazaras and others in the Shia minority. Our hope is that this type of publicity will result in much greater pressure on the Taliban by the international community to respect the human rights of all Afghans.

***

Wednesday’s Headlines:

• Biden authorizes use of strategic oil reserves to combat high U.S. gasoline prices (WP)

• U.S. jobless claims hit 52-year low after seasonal adjustments (AP)

• Covid deaths in Europe to top 2 million by March, says WHO (Guardian)

• Afghan Refugees in Pakistan ‘Sent To Fight’ Syrian War (TOLO News)

• The United Arab Emirates has held talks with the Taliban to run Kabul airport, going up against Gulf rival Qatar in a diplomatic tussle for influence with Afghanistan's new rulers, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. (Reuters)

• Taliban sends hundreds of fighters to eastern Afghanistan to wage war against Islamic State (WP)

• My return to Afghanistan — BBC’s Yalda Hakim, who was born in Afghanistan, has returned for the first time since the Taliban seized power 100 days ago. (BBC)

• Chinese Official Accused of Sexual Assault Played Key Role in Setting Up Beijing 2022 Olympics (WSJ)

• Jan. 6 investigators subpoena Proud Boys, Oath Keepers as probe turns to domestic extremismhttps://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/23/january-6-subpoena-proud-boys-oath-keepers-523255 (Politico)

• China steps up crackdown on celebrity information — The Chinese government has cited effeminate men as an example of abnormal aesthetics, apparently taking issue with the popularity of feminine-looking male idols.(NHK)

• Contending With the Pandemic, Wealthy Nations Wage Global Battle for Migrants — Covid kept many people in place. Now several developed countries, facing aging labor forces and worker shortages, are racing to recruit, train and integrate foreigners. (NYT)

• D.C. records 200th homicide this year as U.S. cities see a rise in killings (WP)

• Dancing on the edge of climate disaster (Financial Times)

• Russia staged military drills in the Black Sea, south of Ukraine, and said it needed to sharpen the combat-readiness of its conventional and nuclear forces because of heightened NATO activity near its borders. Ukraine staged exercises of its own near the border with Belarus. (Reuters)

• Lessons from the Cold War on Preventing a U.S.-China Arms Race (Politico)

• CVS, Walgreens and Walmart Fueled Opioid Crisis, Jury Finds (NYT)

• Kevin Strickland, 62, was wrongfully convicted for three murders in 1979 and will be released, a Missouri judge ruled. The ruling came after a three-day evidentiary hearing requested by a Jackson County prosecutor, who said evidence used to convict Strickland had been recanted or disproven since his conviction. [HuffPost]

• Competitive House districts are getting wiped off the map (WP)

• Toxic PCBs detected in deep-sea bivalves (NHK)

• The Department of Defense said it will establish a new group to investigate reports on the presence of UFOs in restricted airspace, after the government released a report in June which said there was a lack of sufficient data to determine the nature of mysterious flying objects. (Reuters)

• VIDEO: Bus Crash in Bulgaria Leaves at Least 45 People Dead (NYT)

• At least four U.C. campuses have resorted to housing students in hotels this fall. (CalMatters)

• NASA hopes to hit an asteroid now in case we really need to knock one away later (WP)

• Attorneys Gary D. Fielder and Ernest John Walker have been ordered to pay nearly $187,000 in legal fees after baselessly challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election in a lawsuit that a federal judge called “defamatory” and a means to foment violence. “This lawsuit has been an abuse of the legal system and an interference with the machinery of government," the judge said. [HuffPost]

• Port backlogs have led to shortages of medical supplies in California and forced some patients to reuse medical tubes. (CalMatters)

• The Conservative War on Education That Failed (Atlantic)

• A global shortage of nitrogen fertilizer is driving prices to record levels, prompting North America's farmers to delay purchases and raising the risk of a spring scramble to apply the crop nutrient before planting season. Farmers apply nitrogen to boost yields of corn, canola and wheat, and higher fertilizer costs could translate into higher meat and bread prices. (Reuters)

• Greenland saw record ice loss from calving icebergs and ocean melt over the last year (WP)

• Failure to vaccinate poor countries fans fears of uncontrolled outbreak (Politico)

• World Chess Championship Forced To Use Salt Shaker After Losing Bishop (The Onion)

  ***

  Wednesday’s Lyrics:

  “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place”

  The Animals

  In this dirty old part of the city
  Where the sun refused to shine
  People tell me there ain't no use in tryin'

  Now my girl, you're so young and pretty
  And one thing I know is true
  You'll be dead before your time is due, I know

  Watch my daddy in bed a-dyin'
  Watched his hair been turnin' grey
  He's been workin' and slavin' his life away, oh yes I know it

  And I've been workin' too, baby (yeah!)
  Every night and day (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!)

  We gotta get out of this place
  If it's the last thing we ever do
  We gotta get out of this place
  'Cause girl, there's a better life for me and you

  Now my girl you're so young and pretty
  And one thing I know is true, yeah
  You'll be dead before your time is due, I know it

  Watch my daddy in bed a-dyin'
  Watched his hair been turnin' grey, yeah
  He's been workin' and slavin' his life away
  I know he's been workin' so hard

  Every day baby (yeah!)
  Whoa!
  (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!)

  We gotta get out of this place
  If it's the last thing we ever do
  We gotta get out of this place
  Girl, there's a better life for me and you
  Somewhere baby
  Somehow I know it, baby

  We gotta get out of this place
  If it's the last thing we ever do
  We gotta get out of this place
  Girl, there's a better life for me and you
  Believe me baby
  I know it baby
  You know it too

Missing the Big Story

One of the things I like about the news is that it doesn’t stick around. It comes and goes rather quickly; once it loses its shock value, it’s a lot like fish — best when fresh; later on not so much so.

But even though the news itself may come and go, the people who bring it to you remain.

Nieman Reports is out with an opinion piece by HuffPost editor-in-chief Danielle Benton that points out that “The press can’t afford to fall into disarray and depression while reporting on the collapsing world around us.”

This has always been true of journalists but the present context is notable because our own profession — journalism — is stuck in a prolonged state of depression from which some may reasonably conclude it will never recover.

The problem is not just that there are very few jobs for reporters and editors; it is also that the world is flooded with disinformation, lies, conspiracy thinking and outright attempts to undermine those who do seek to tell the truth about important matters.

In public life, virtually no one has enough credibility to be respected as an authority on anything any longer. There really are no “experts” left with a few exceptions here and there. 

In addition, the very companies that employ journalists who seek to get to the root of these issues often seem to not have a clue about just how much the world around them has changed, especially the digital world. Or if they do, they don’t know what to do about it.

Thus, these “legacy” media organizations are seen by many people of all political persuasions as part of the problem rather than a solution. When I curate the news, I rely on what are considered the leading journalism organizations I can locate to pass on each day’s headlines.

But at the same time, I am constantly struck by how little any of those organizations are doing about the Big Story themselves. 

Tuesday Headlines

• Afghanistan: Taliban unveil new rules banning women in TV dramas (BBC)

• How Journalism Moves Forward in an Age of Disinformation and Distrust —They say, if you’re going through hell to keep going (Nieman Reports)

• Germany and Netherlands face fresh Covid rules as Austria enters lockdown (Guardian)

• Stubborn Covid surges signal bleak winter (Politico)

• Countries call for net-zero emissions in shipping (NHK)

• Could One Shot Kill the Flu? (New Yorker)

• Release of Trump White House papers key to stopping 'future attacks on democracy,' Jan. 6 panel argues (Politico)

• Barcelona tackles roaming wild boar problem (BBC)

• Nasa to slam spacecraft into asteroid in mission to avoid future Armaggedon (Guardian)

• Work From Home Works Until You Need Time Off (Atlantic)

• The Pentagon needs a new AI strategy to catch up with China (Financial Times)

• White House: About 95 percent of federal workers have complied with vaccine mandate (Politico)

• Why schools are failing children on climate change (BBC)

• ‘Covid has formed the person I am’: young people on how the pandemic changed them (Guardian)

• How many teachers are needed to make universal pre-K possible? (Politico)

• Australia's richest man helps publishers strike deal with Google, Facebook (TRT)

• Remote Work Is Failing Young Employees — Unless carefully designed, pandemic office culture risks hurting the least experienced workers in our organizations. (NYT)

• The U.S. has been added to an annual list of “backsliding” democracies for the first time, with the intergovernmental organization behind the analysis citing election disinformation, voter disenchantment and the coronavirus pandemic among the reasons for the decline. Lies about 2020 election fraud by Trump were “a historic turning point” that's had "spillover effects" in other countries, the report said. [HuffPost]

• Rare Einstein manuscript that ‘almost miraculously’ survived is expected to fetch millions at Paris auction(WP)

• House Panel Subpoenas Roger Stone and Alex Jones in Capitol Riot Inquiry — Investigators summoned five more allies of former President Donald J. Trump as they dug further into the planning and financing of rallies before the Jan. 6 attack. (NYT)

• Children skipping meals in majority of families in Lebanon, UNICEF says (Reuters)

• British Columbia Flood Lifts Lumber Prices (WSJ)

• Poet Robert Bly, anti-war activist and 'men's movement' leader, dies at 94 (NPR)

• Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo engaged in "multiple instances of sexual harassment," used state resources for a book and was "not fully transparent" on the number of COVID-19 deaths at nursing homes, state lawmakers said, summarizing the results of an investigation. (Reuters)

• How organized retail crime is challenging police (SFC)

• Tackling the Information Crisis: Why News is Essential to Sustainability — By bringing newsrooms closer to their communities we can create business models that tie social impact to financial success (Nieman Reports)

• National Park Service Releases Detailed Guide On What Visitors Should Do Upon Encountering Squirrel (The Onion)

 

All News Is Local

 Many years after the fact, a friend who was the top editor at a large metro newspaper reminded me that back in the 1990s I had warned him that various websites, including Craigslist, were going to ruin his company’s business model.

“You were right,” he told me. “We should have listened to you.”

I had been right, but since there was no pleasure in being so about the disaster that had by then befallen the field I love — journalism — we hoisted a mournful drink instead. We were meeting in the aftermath of yet another round of layoffs, or “buyouts” as they were charitably called, in the newspaper industry.

Thus ended many a journalist’s career, as a combination of factors including free web-based content, demographic changes, the lack of community roots, and avaricious owners led to the widespread collapse of the print news industry over the past quarter century.

I later chronicled some of the decline in my years as a blogger/media critic for Bnet and 7x7.

But the decline of a robust press in the big cities was partially offset by the emergence of exciting new web-based publications that attracted large audiences. Meanwhile, it was in the small towns and rural areas that the real damage to a robust local press occurred.

As a result, many communities have been left as virtual “news deserts” with no real coverage at all. Here and there, a few efforts have emerged to counter this disturbing trend. One of those efforts, the Local News Network, is headquartered in Durango, Colorado. I serve on its advisory board. 

The Courier Newsroom is another, also located in at least eight states, including Michigan, Florida, and Arizona. And the family-owned Storm Lake Times in Iowa is yet another.

Some days, such innovative businesses give me hope that a new age of local journalism may be dawning in the heartland to quench the thirst for reliable information in the news deserts that are also home to many of the conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns that are dividing the country politically and threatening our democracy.

Some believe that paywalls are the answer for these new local news companies; I’m not so sure. People are able and willing to pay for only so many information sources, which is one of the reasons so many of our colleagues lost their jobs once the Internet came along.

We may need a new national initiative whereby some sort of an annual content “pass” is available for purchase, sort of like the one you get to visit our national parks. This may seem like a crazy idea, and it probably is, but it might just work if enough powerful forces got behind it.

There are a lot of details that would have to be worked out. How can we possibly determine what is a legitimate press outlet or independent journalist in a world filled with bloggers good and bad, publications real or fake, stories fact-checked and un-fact-checked?

Who gets to decide all this stuff?

Which code of conduct do journalists need to adhere to?

What about censorship, government or private sector? What about Section 230?

There are too many questions to go into in a daily essay but perhaps if my blood pressure recedes enough in the coming months I will flesh out this crackpot idea. Somebody has to start addressing the crisis in journalism.

Anyway, if anyone has a better idea, I’m all ears, as they say.

Thanks to David Bank (re:Courier) and Steve Rhodes (re:Storm Lake) and the folks at LNN for help on this piece. Thanks to Jackie Ross for some of the Afghanistan headlines below.

***

Tim Redmond, one of the talented local journalists still able to operate independently in San Francisco, has published a blistering look at a vicious pro-recall ad in the right-wing-funded battle to unseat progressive DA Chesa Boudin. I’ve linked to the article below.

MONDAY HEADLINES

* Is Delta the last Covid ‘super variant’? (Guardian)

* With poor nations only 5 percent vaccinated, wealthy nations need to look in the mirror (Edit Bd/WP)

* Covid: Huge protests across Europe over new restrictions (BBC)

* European protests against Covid-19 curbs spread to Brussels (Financial Times)

* Riots broke out in cities across the Netherlands, the third night in a row that police clashed with mobs of angry youths who set fires and threw rocks to protest COVID-19 restrictions. There were also clashes in Brussels with police firing water cannon and tear gas at demonstrators throwing rocks and smoke bombs. (Reuters)

* How will the Covid Pills Change the Pandemic? (New Yorker)

* Americans should get boosters ahead of possibly ‘dangerous’ winter spike, Fauci says (WP)

* How COVID shots for kids help prevent dangerous new variants (AP)

* How the U.S. Lost Ground to China in the Contest for Clean Energy (NYT)

* Republicans have fundraising edge in battle for control of US Congress (Financial Times)

* The Dangerous Experiment on Teen Girls — The preponderance of the evidence suggests that social media is causing real damage to adolescents. (Atlantic)

* Vancouver Is Marooned by Flooding and Besieged Again by Climate Change (NYT)

* Colombia is pitting two vulnerable groups against each other. At stake is the Amazon. (WP)

* Eight years old and sold for marriage: Desperate Afghan families sell their daughters for cash (MSN) 

* Jobs lost, middle class Afghans slide into poverty, hunger (AP)

* On Helmand’s bleak wards, dying children pay the price as western aid to Afghanistan is switched off (Guardian)

* The United Nations pushed for urgent action to prop up Afghanistan's banks, warning that a spike in people unable to repay loans, lower deposits and a cash liquidity crunch could cause the financial system to collapse within months. (Reuters)

* Hidden books, secret meetings, precious hope: In Afghanistan, girls risk it all for an education (USA Today)

* In Hard Times, Afghan Farmers Are Turning to Opium for Security (NYT)

* The Guardian view on Afghanistan: a fast-developing disaster (Guardian)

* More Americans say they’re not planning to have a child, new poll says, as U.S. birthrate declines (WP)

* Peng Shuai: Chinese tennis star tells Olympic officials she is safe (BBC)

* Can big tech ever be reined in? (Guardian)

* How Tax Credits, Subsidies Have Aided Electric-Vehicle Market (WSJ)

* Why is everyone quitting, and how do I know whether it’s time to leave my job? (WP)

* El Salvador Bitcoin city planned at base of Conchagua volcano (BBC)

* Two Fox News commentators resign over Tucker Carlson's series on the Jan. 6 siege (NPR)

* NASA Prepares to Launch Asteroid Defense Test Mission (VOA)

* Five people were killed and more than 40 injured after an SUV sped through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, knocking down dozens of people including youngsters waving pompoms and a group of 'Dancing Grannies'. (Reuters)

* Adele asked Spotify not to shuffle her carefully-curated album by default. The streaming service listened. (WP)

* Police in California are seeking about 80 suspects who they said swarmed into a Bay Area Nordstrom department store in a coordinated robbery, ransacking as much as they could carry and fleeing in cars they had parked outside. (Reuters)

*Boudin recall ad features paid staffers and a scandal-plagued former DA — Why don't the local media, so happy to attack the DA, fact-check an ad that is blatantly false and kind of ridiculous? (48 Hills)

* Australian small publishers will get a leg up in their fight to secure licensing deals with Google and Facebook after the country's richest person said his philanthropic organization would seek a collective bargaining arrangement for them. (Reuters)

* Biologists Recommend Trees Put Aside A Little Phosphorus For Unexpected Emergencies (The Onion)

***

“Read All About It, Part III”

Song by Emeli Sandé

Songwriters: Adele Emily Sande / Benjamin Alexander Kohn / Peter Kelleher / Iain James / Thomas Andrew Searle Barnes / Stephen Manderson

You've got the words to change a nation
But you're biting your tongue
You've spent a life time stuck in silence
Afraid you'll say something wrong
If no one ever hears it how we gonna learn your song?
So come on, come on
Come on, come on

You've got a heart as loud as lions
So why let your voice be tamed?
Maybe we're a little different
There's no need to be ashamed
You've got the light to fight the shadows
So stop hiding it away
Come on, come on

I wanna sing, I wanna shout
I wanna scream 'til the words dry out
So put it in all of the papers
I'm not afraid
They can read all about it
Read all about it, no oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh

At night we're waking up the neighbors
While we sing away the blues
Making sure that we're remembered, yeah
'Cause we all matter too
If the truth has been forbidden
Then we're breaking all the rules
So come on, come on
Come on, come on

Let's get the TV and the radio
To play our tune again
It's 'bout time we got some airplay of our version of events
There's no need to be afraid
I will sing with you my friend
Come on, come on

I wanna sing, I wanna shout
I wanna scream 'til the words dry out
So put it in all of the papers
I'm not afraid
They can read all about it
Read all about it, oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh

Yeah, we're all wonderful, wonderful people
So when did we all get so fearful?
Now we're finally finding our voices
So take a chance, come help me sing this
Yeah, we're all wonderful, wonderful people
So when did we all get so fearful?
And now we're finally finding our voices
Just take a chance, come help me sing this

I wanna sing, I wanna shout
I wanna scream 'til the words dry out
So put it in all of the papers
I'm not afraid
They can read all about it
Read all about it, oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh

I wanna sing, I wanna shout
I wanna scream 'til the words dry out
So put it in all of the papers
I'm not afraid
They can read all about it
Read all about it, oh

No Time to Choose

(NOTE: This blog will be closed to public access soon. To access my essays, photos, lyrics, news summaries and more please subscribe to my newsletter: <https://davidweir.substack.com/>)

There's nothing like the thought an asteroid hurtling toward our planet on a trajectory that would end life as we know it to remind us that like it or not we are all in this together. 

With that unsettling thought in mind, it's worth noting that Politico has put together a thoughtful article about the lack of a planetary defense system, which is as good a way as any to say that we must still be at a relatively primitive stage of our development as an "intelligent" species.

NASA is as close to a global defense department as we've got and it has recently begun tracking thousands of space objects that at least theoretically have the potential to knock us out for the count. So that is a start -- keeping track.

And NASA has identified 27,000 but as the article documents we have no agency that is responsible for knocking any one of those asteroids off its path of destruction should it target earth, although there is the promising-sounding Planetary Defense Coordination Office buried deep within NASA.

Accordingly, there are those who worry this effort may be too little too late. According to the article:

* “There are three million asteroids and we have not a freaking clue where they are and they are flying around us,” said Danica Remy, president of the B612 Foundation, which is building a database to track near-Earth objects. “We’ve barely made a dent.”

* Concerned Chinese government scientists published a paper this month proposing an “assembled kinetic impactor” delivered by missile to defend against what they call a “major threat to all life on Earth.”

* The Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping program, a venture between the B612 Foundation, Google and Analytical Graphics Inc., is constructing a “Google Maps for space” to track near-Earth asteroids. That should prove helpful.

* Rusty Schweickart, a former Apollo astronaut who co-founded the B612 Foundation and has advocated for a greater role for the United Nations, recently outlined how “the political aspects of the whole issue of planetary defense are very serious.”

Schweickart was referring to the recent experiences we have had with the Covid and all of the divisiveness and disinformation that has arisen as a result of the pandemic. That arguably can raise reasonable doubt about our collective ability to prepare for the much greater existential threat of an asteroid collision.

Others will point to climate change as a much more tangible and immediate threat than asteroids but the same question holds: How can a planet filled up with arguing tribes unite in time to find a common solution?

***

I was pleasantly surprised recently when I wrote about Taylor Swift's hit record and it turned out that lots of people are as interested in pop music as I am. Sometimes, the ebb and flow of the news puts all of us in such a serious mood that we might overlook the sweeter side of life, the side that includes popular art of all forms.

If I were going to write another piece in that spirit it would probably be about Adele's new album "30" -- especially her song "Easy On Me." I love the soaring way she sings the title line -- it's comfort food for a love addict. No one can reach further into the emotional stratosphere with her own voice than Adele.

In any event it's a good week for pop music lovers, regardless of the mayhem in the world around us. If you haven't listened to Adele lately, check her out.

***

SUNDAY HEADLINES:

* Whose job is it to prevent Armageddon? -- Calls grow for a global planetary defense strategy as thousands of near-Earth asteroids are discovered each year. (Politico)

* Weapons tests in space could shut down ATMs and ground your next flight (WP)

* U.S. ‘not as advanced’ as China and Russia on hypersonic tech, Space Force general warns (Politico)

* Afghanistan’s Opium Business Cranks Up as the Taliban Look the Other Way --With drought and international sanctions crippling the economy, farmers are planting more poppies and drug markets are open for business. (WSJ)

* For seniors using tech to age in place, surveillance can be the price of independence (WP)

* A Power Struggle Over Cobalt Rattles the Clean Energy Revolution -- The quest for Congo’s cobalt, which is vital for electric vehicles and the worldwide push against climate change, is caught in an international cycle of exploitation, greed and gamesmanship. (NYT)

* Amazon’s Failures to Protect Your Data (Reveal/CIR)

* Biden and aides tell allies he is running in 2024 amid growing Democratic fears (WP)

* Afghan Evacuees Could Wait Years for Chance to Reach U.S.--Albania, Chile and Uganda are among the nations that are temporarily sheltering evacuees seeking to come to America. (WSJ)

* COVID Sure Looks Seasonal Now -- After two years of pandemic waves, we’re finally learning whether the disease has a predictable schedule. (Atlantic)

* VIDEO: Rioters Clash With the Police in the Netherlands Over Covid Measures (AP, Reuters)

* VIDEO: Thousands Protest Covid Measures in Australia (Reuters)

* Ukraine’s doctors pushed to the limit by COVID-19 wave (AP)

* Dutch police detain dozens in a second night of COVID-19 rioting (Reuters)

* Chile on edge as voters lean to extremes ahead of election (Financial Times)

* Inside Fentanyl’s Mounting Death Toll: ‘This Is Poison’ -- While a rise in overdose deaths shows the devastating consequences of the opioid’s spread, less is understood about how the drug has proliferated. (NYT)

* Russia reports record daily coronavirus deaths (NHK)

* Covid: WHO says it is very worried about Europe surge (BBC)

* Malcolm X, Julius Jones and Britney: How documentaries are making an impact (WP)

* America’s Workers Are Leaving Jobs in Record Numbers -- U.S. workers handed in nearly 20 million resignations this spring and summer (WSJ)    

* The Godmother of ‘Plant-Based’ Living -- Frances Moore Lappé, the author of “Diet for a Small Planet,” which was published 50 years ago and spurred a movement toward vegetarianism, looks back on her legacy. (NYT)

* People are talking about Web3. Is it the Internet of the future or just a buzzword?

-- In the Web3 vision of the internet's future, tech giants like Facebook and Google aren't as critical. The internet instead is a peer-to-peer experience built on what's known as the blockchain. (NPR)

* One in three pregnant women may suffer depression (NHK)

* Attempted breach of Ohio county election network draws FBI and state scrutiny (WP)

* The Fraying of U.S.-China Relations (New Yorker)

* Thousands of Afghans evacuated during U.S. withdrawal awaiting resettlement (WP)

* App outage locks hundreds of Tesla drivers out of cars (Guardian)

* Peng Shuai reappears in Beijing, WTA not reassured (Reuters)

* Olympics official warns Peng Shuai case ‘may spin out of control’ as photos of tennis star raise questions (WP)

* Harry Potter 20th anniversary: The UK film locations (BBC)

* First wave of public servants awarded student loan forgiveness through temporary program (WP)

* Is smart tech the new domestic battle ground? (Guardian)

* Single-family zoning preserves century-old segregation, planners say. A proposal to add density is dividing neighborhoods. (WP)

* Taylor Swift makes her lyrics feel like diary pages. We should read them as art. (WP)

* Optimistic Researchers Say There Still Time To Head Off Climate Change Before It Starts Killing Rich People (The Onion)

***

"Easy on Me"

Song by Adele

Songwriters: Adele Laurie Blue Adkins / Gregory Allen Kurstin

There ain't no gold in this river
That I've been washin' my hands in forever
I know there is hope in these waters
But I can't bring myself to swim
When I am drowning in this silence
Baby, let me in

Go easy on me, baby
I was still a child
Didn't get the chance to
Feel the world around me
I had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me

There ain't no room for things to change
When we are both so deeply stuck in our ways
You can't deny how hard I have tried
I changed who I was to put you both first
But now I give up

Go easy on me, baby
I was still a child
Didn't get the chance to
Feel the world around me
Had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me

I had good intentions
And the highest hopes
But I know right now
That probably doesn't even show

Go easy on me, baby
I was still a child
I didn't get the chance to
Feel the world around me
I had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me