Give It Away, Circa 1995

During my long chaotic career as a journalist, I landed at the bleeding edge of new media several times, including late in 1995. This was a few years after leaving the non-profit Center for Investigative Reporting followed by two-year stints at Mother Jones, New West/California and KQED, as well as a few months helping a tiny group of entrepreneurs launch the web-based magazine Salon.

One afternoon, I took a tour of the warehouse headquarters of Wired magazine down in Soma courtesy of one of the magazine's editors who knew me from my years teaching at the U-C Berkeley.  I was instantly entranced by the office culture: Casual dress, computers, rock music and a few dogs here and there.

But the real attraction lay on the other side of a common kitchen area where HotWired was located. This was the online side of the nascent Wired publishing empire, and I knew it was getting funding from some of the corporations we had been unsuccessfully courting when I was EVP at KQED.

HotWired presented a striking scene. Row after row of 20-somethings sat working on laptops perched on doors balanced over sawhorses, with the Chili Peppers blasting and a whiff of marijuana in the air. A couple former interns of mine stood up to greet me and showed how they were designing content for a whole range of websites.

Right after I left the office, I made a call home to say, "I've just found the next place I want to work." My next move was putting the word out on my network -- if anyone heard of a job at HotWired, throw my name into the mix.

It took several weeks but the call eventually came from HotWired offering me a job as producer of what would be the web's first daily political news site, called The Netizen.

Although the starting salary was barely half what I'd previously been making, and I did have the needs of a new family at home to consider, I accepted the offer without hesitation and said I could start the next day.

On day one, I was introduced to a small staff of producers and designers with very little journalism experience. They were smart, highly motivated and ready to invent something cool.

I quickly hired two of the brightest young journalists (and former students) from Berkeley I knew and set out to work with the engineering team -- the head of which I knew from Mother Jones, as we set a crash course to build The Netizen.

If memory serves, we launched the website in something like 28 days. Our timing was perfect.

It was a presidential election year, so we hired three experienced political writers as our correspondents and they fanned out across the campaign trail to cover the re-election effort of incumbent Bill Clinton and his Republican challengers, including the eventual nominee, Bob Dole.

I was given complete editorial independence for the operation, which quickly attracted a very large audience among the early adopters then flocking to the web. Day after day we published smart, snarky takes from all sides of the political spectrum with a decidedly Libertarian streak, in accordance with the dominant philosophy of the staff writers and columnists I was managing.

For me this was refreshing -- new ideas sprouted daily, young staffers were quickly growing into experienced journalists, and we were able to generate controversy almost without trying.

Email was still new and the messages from readers that poured in upon publication included some that were outright abusive, often misogynistic, which disturbed me and was a harbinger of things to come. But other than that, I loved the chaotic two-way communication cacophony of the web.

Free to say whatever they wanted, readers blasted off at our writers in a way traditional journalists would never have tolerated. After all, we were used to being the last word on a topic, not the first. But everyone handled it in good spirits at The Netizen as we quickly rocketed into position as one of the leading news sites anywhere on the web.

It felt like I was a helping guide a ship heading toward outer space.

(To be continued)

***

THE HEADLINES:

* Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine shows promise against Delta variant in lab study (Reuters)

* Judge Throws Out 2 Antitrust Cases Against Facebook -- The decisions were a major blow to attempts to rein in Big Tech. The judge said one of the complaints, from the Federal Trade Commission, lacked facts and gave the agency 30 days to refile it. (NYT)

* Arizona county will replace voting equipment, fearful that GOP-backed election review has compromised security (WP)

* Citing Delta Variant, L.A. County Urges Residents To Wear Masks Inside Again --The recommendation comes regardless of vaccination status, public health officials said. (HuffPost)

* Red Cross: Indonesia faces virus catastrophe (AP)

* California will ban state-funded travel to Arkansas, Florida, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia in response to anti-L.G.B.T.Q. legislation in those places, officials announced on Monday. (California Today)

* Trump’s Lawyers Make Late Bid to Fend Off Charges Against His Business -- An indictment against the business, the Trump Organization, and a top executive, Allen Weisselberg, could come as soon as this week in Manhattan. (NYT)

* NY prosecutors to indict Trump Org insider - but not Trump, sources say (Reuters)

* As Portland, Ore., copes with unprecedented heat, illnesses spike and roads buckle (WP)

* Australian virologist Danielle Anderson, who worked at the Chinese lab near where the coronavirus was first discovered, cast doubt on speculation that the disease leaked from the lab. She said she arrived there in November 2019, around the time a report said Wuhan scientists fell ill from a COVID-19-type illness. "If people were sick, I assume that I would have been sick — and I wasn't," she said. [HuffPost]

* Months before collapse, condo president warned of growing damage (WP)

* A new report found that California’s white and black populations are declining, while its Asian and Hispanic populations continue to grow. (San Francisco Chronicle)

* It’s Some of America’s Richest Farmland. But What Is It Without Water? -- A California farmer decides it makes better business sense to sell his water than to grow rice. An almond farmer considers uprooting his trees to put up solar panels. Drought is transforming the state, with broad consequences for the food supply. (NYT)

* NSA surveillance program exposed by Snowden still raises privacy concerns, member of privacy watchdog says (WP)

* There’s only one drug designed to treat postpartum depression. Why does Kaiser Permanente make it so hard to get? (KQED)

* America’s workers are exhausted and burned out — and some employers are taking notice (WP)

* Peering Under Vermeers Without Peeling Off the Paint -- High-tech scanning techniques used by geologists, planetary scientists, drug companies and the military are revealing secrets of how artists created their masterpieces. (NYT)

* Nine years after Greek art heist, stolen Picasso found, police say (WP)

* Californians are fueling Austin’s housing boom. (San Francisco Chronicle)

* China's unprecedented crackdown on its internet sector (Reuters)

* Why Young Adults Are Among the Biggest Barriers to Mass Immunity -- Many young adults are forgoing Covid vaccines for a complex mix of reasons. Health officials are racing to find ways to change their minds. (NYT)

* Suicidal crises, mental fatigue: Kids grapple with reentry (AP)

* After airstrikes and drone attacks, the U.S. and Iran near a breaking point (WP)

* Biden Faces Intense Cross Currents in Iran Policy -- The airstrikes the president ordered on Iranian-backed militias show how he has to navigate between using force and pursuing diplomacy to revive the nuclear deal. (NYT)

* Undeclared conflict? America's battles with Iran-backed militia escalate, again (Reuters)

* Top U.S. general says security in Afghanistan deteriorating (AP)

* Mysterious Phone Calls From Miami Condo Rubble Puzzle Family--Myriam and Arnie Notkin have been missing since the Surfside building collapsed, but calls kept coming from their landline. (HuffPost)

* ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ at 50: The tender yet terrifying movie that never lost its flavor (WP)

* Man Putting Huge Amount of Pressure On Self To Excel At Completely Meaningless Activity (The Onion)

***

"Give It Away"

Red Hot Chili Peppers

What I've got you've got to give it to your mamma
What I've got you've got to give it to your pappa
What I've got you've got to give it to your daughter
You do a little dance and then you drink a little water

What I've got you've got to get it put it in you
What I've got you've got to get it put it in you
What I've got you've got to get it put it in you
Reeling with the feeling don't stop continue

Realize I don't want to be a miser
Confide w/sly you'll be the wiser
Young blood is the lovin' upriser
How come everybody wanna keep it like the kaiser

[Chorus:]
Give it away give it away give it away give it away now
Give it away give it away give it away give it away now
Give it away give it away give it away give it away now
I can't tell if I'm a kingpin or a pauper

Greedy little people in a sea of distress
Keep your more to receive your less
Unimpressed by material excess
Love is free love me say hell yes

I'm a low brow but I rock a little know how
No time for the piggies or the hoosegow
Get smart get down with the pow wow
Never been a better time than right now

Bob Marley poet and a prophet
Bob Marley taught me how to off it
Bob Marley walkin' like he talk it
Goodness me can't you see I'm gonna cough it

[Chorus]

Lucky me swimmin' in my ability
Dancin' down on life with agility
Come and drink it up from my fertility
Blessed with a bucket of lucky mobility

My mom I love her 'cause she love me
Long gone are the times when she scrub me
Feelin' good my brother gonna hug me
Drink my juice young love chug-a-lug me

There's a river born to be a giver
Keep you warm won't let you shiver
His heart is never gonna wither
Come on everybody time to deliver

[Chorus]

What I've got you've got to give it to your mamma
What I've got you've got to give it to your pappa
What I've got you've got to give it to your daughter
You do a little dance and then you drink a little water

What I've got you've got to get it put it in you
What I've got you've got to get it put it in you
What I've got you've got to get it put it in you
Reeling with the feeling don't stop continue

Realize I don't want to be a miser
Confide w/sly you'll be the wiser
Young blood is the lovin' upriser
How come everybody wanna keep it like the kaiser

Give it away give it away give it away give it away now [x3]

Give it away now [x20]
Give it away...
Nooow

-30-

Reverberations

China Camp, California.

As the heat descends, we found our way to the beach.

Recently I searched through my massive gmail account archive, which covers more than 16 years, looking for documents that might jog my memory about the sequence of certain events long past.

One message that popped up was the daily news summary from the N.Y. Times in 2012 and except for Covid, the headlines bore a striking resemblance to today's. It was a reminder that even though the details vary daily, the larger patterns remain.

The same is true in our personal lives, with the exception that the details are deeply personal. The news is what happens to everyone else. Whereas the huge perturbations of births, deaths, marriages, divorces, new jobs, lost jobs, illnesses, moves, legal matters and love reverberate within us like tuning forks.

To me love is the most fascinating life event -- why it happens when it does, between whom, why and how. Almost always, in my case, it came suddenly and without warning. I met someone and my entire world suddenly changed from black-and-white into color.

It reverberated.

I couldn't always act on the impulse when this happened but my instincts told me this was somebody I simply had to get to know better, regardless of the consequences.

Left to our own natures, we can and do love many people. But we can only fall in love so many times (social norms restrict the number). It is also highly possible and not uncommon to fall in love with somebody you've known a long time, but only now see in a fresh new light. 

That all depends on the circumstances and what happens next. Does she feel it too?

These types of thoughts come to me whenever friends consult me on matters of the heart, which happens surprisingly often. As the pandemic restrictions are lifting, there is a new spirit in the air for single people, I think, whether or not they are conscious of it.

For example, one friend told me he is excited about what he anticipates is happening with somebody he's getting close to even though he has no idea whether it will work out, or how.

All I could offer by way of experience is this is the best moment -- when you start to believe it can happen but you're not sure. Every day feels bursting with potential.

I suppose that's one of the meanings of "living in the moment." Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is  only an idea, today you are here and so is she. My advice: Go for it, dude!

It's magic.

And that reminds me that I, too, am single.

***

Among the current crop of books I'm reading is "1491" by Charles C. Mann, thanks to a friend who loaned it to me. It describes the vast, rich indigenous world that existed when Columbus arrived in the Americas.

Europeans were oblivious to this world as they dabbled in trade and other interactions along the coasts of the Americas, but the germs they carried quickly spread inland, wiping out entire civilizations at least as advanced as anything in Europe and in many ways far more advanced.

In recent decades the ruins of these cultures have started to gain more prominence among academics and the scope of what our ancestors unwittingly destroyed by pandemic is dawning on us.

Reading such a book at a sheltered beach in the north bay that has its own little-known history prior to the arrival of the Europeans and the Chinese for whom it is named is instructive. Coastal Indians, the Miwok, were hunters and gatherers here who harvested acorns from the local oaks, fished and gathered seafood from the bay. 

But by the 1880s this site was a Chinese shrimp fishing settlement of about 500 people; the ruins that remain are from that era.

Today the area is a playground for local families sporting kayaks, boogie boards, beach tents, girls laughing in the gentle waves and folding chairs, in one of which sits a white-haired man in a Giants baseball cap reading a book titled "1491."

THE HEADLINES:

* Dispossessed, Again: Climate Change Hits Native Americans Especially Hard -- Many Native people were forced into the most undesirable areas of America, first by white settlers, then by the government. Now, parts of that marginal land are becoming uninhabitable. (NYT)

* The hottest day of an unprecedented and dangerous heat wave scorched the Pacific Northwest on Monday, with temperatures obliterating records that had been set just the day before. Seattle hit 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 Celsius) by evening — well above Sunday’s all-time high of 104 F (40 C). (AP)

* Canada sets record temperature of over 114 degrees amid heat wave, forecasts of even hotter weather -- Even in Vancouver, parks, beaches and pools have been flooded with residents eager to cool off. The high temperatures in the region have been blamed on a “heat dome” sitting over western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. (WP)

* Americans’ Hunger for the World’s Goods Drives Global Recovery (WSJ)

* Spread of Delta variant prompts new coronavirus restrictions worldwide (WP)

* The Delta variant is prevalent among new coronavirus cases in California. (Los Angeles Times)

* The Delta variant will cause 'very dense outbreaks' in these five states, expert says -- Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Wyoming (CNN)

* At least half of Mumbai's minors have COVID-19 antibodies (Reuters)

* Australia battles several clusters in new pandemic phase (AP)

* The Department of Justice accused Georgia of intentionally discriminating against nonwhite voters in a lawsuit attacking GOP laws that embrace Trump's lies about the election. “There are many things open to debate in America,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “But the right of all eligible citizens to vote is not one of them." [HuffPost]

* The doomed Florida condo building where nine people are known dead and 150 remain missing was days away from beginning $9 million in repairs. But it's unclear if the work would have addressed the catastrophic failures that led the 40-year-old beachfront tower to pancake in on itself. Rescuers are working around the clock, but no one has been found alive since Thursday, the day of the collapse. [AP]

* Tensions between landlords and tenants are rising as evictions return in full force in Memphis, a preview of what’s to come in the United States. (WP)

* Days after reemerging from his country club hideout for a revenge rally, Donald Trump issued an unhinged statement furiously denouncing two of his staunchest allies — Bill Barr and Mitch McConnell — after Barr told an interviewer that Trump's election claims were "bulls**t." [HuffPost]

* Helping Drug Users Survive, Not Abstain: ‘Harm Reduction’ Gains Federal Support -- Overdoses have surged during the pandemic. Now, for the first time, Congress has appropriated funds specifically for programs that distribute clean syringes and other supplies meant to protect users. (NYT)

* New York prosecutors could file charges as soon as this week against the Trump Organization following today's scheduled last-ditch attempt by Trump lawyers to talk their way out of trouble. The probe reportedly centers on employee fringe benefits that ducked tax laws. [HuffPost]

* Crossing the Red Line: Behind China’s Takeover of Hong Kong -- One year ago, the city’s freedoms were curtailed with breathtaking speed. But the clampdown was years in the making, and many signals were missed. (NYT)

* Hong Kong says it will ban all passenger flights from the U.K. starting Thursday as it seeks to curb the spread of new variants of the coronavirus. (AP)

* U.S. Carries Out Airstrikes in Iraq and Syria -- The attacks were against weapons storage facilities used by Iranian-backed militias that the Pentagon said had conducted drone strikes against places in Iraq where American troops, spies and diplomats were located. (NYT)

* Republicans are pushing legislation to ban public schools from teaching about systemic racism and white privilege. Teachers just want to teach the truth, explains Sarah Ruiz-Grossman. [HuffPost]

* 'Stop denying racism, start dismantling it,' U.N. rights chief says (Reuters)

* Johnson County, Iowa, Renames Itself After A Different Johnson -- The county was first named after a slave-owning former vice president who had no connection to Iowa. Now it will be named for Lulu Merle Johnson: the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in the state. (CNN)

* 20 million Americans still don’t have enough to eat. A grass-roots movement of free fridges aims to help. (WP)

* Thousands of Prisoners Were Sent Home Because of Covid. They Don’t Want to Go Back. -- Criminal justice advocates say the pandemic offers a case study for a different type of punitive system in America, one that relies far less on incarceration. (NYT)

* In Silicon Valley, experts and businesses envision a future in which fires are detected by artificial intelligence that dispatches firefighting drones to knock them down. (San Jose Mercury News)

* A New Era Dawns In College Sports, As The NCAA Scrambles To Keep Up -- Laws take effect this week in seven states that allow college athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness. It opens the door for collegians to make money off endorsement deals. (NPR)

* NCAA leaders recommend allowing athletes to profit off their personal brands (WP)

* Amish put faith in God’s will and herd immunity over vaccine (AP)

* Thing With Old Girlfriend Works With New Girlfriend (The Onion)

***

"Can't Take My Eyes off You "

Song by Frankie Valli

Songwriters: Bob Crewe / Robert Gaudio

You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like Heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much
At long last, love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

Pardon the way that I stare
There's nothin' else to compare
The sight of you leaves me weak
There are no words left to speak
But if you feel like I feel
Please let me know that it's real
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you

I love you, baby
And if it's quite alright
I need you, baby
To warm the lonely night
I love you, baby
Trust in me when I say
Oh, pretty baby
Don't bring me down, I pray
Oh, pretty baby
Now that I've found you, stay
And let me love you, baby
Let me love you

You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like Heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much
At long last, love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off you

-30-

Connecting Anew

The global media have been been filled with warnings that the delta variant of Covid-19 is striking both vaccinated and unvaccinated populations from Australia to Bangladesh.

If this were a B&W newsreel, you'd be watching crowds of distressed people fleeing the scourge with a deep-voiced narrator specializing in dramatic tones, as opposed to my tinny, hunt-and-peck keystrokes.

Alas, the variant is here in the U.S. as well but so far it is not causing major problems.The business and science press has radiated confidence that the big vaccine makers will prove capable of developing booster shots that can handle whatever curves the variant throws at us, but still...

What all of this underscores for me is that those of us who are vaccinated should be enjoying our freedom to mingle and party to the fullest extent possible while we can.

Life is good, life is short, don't miss any chance to see family and friends. Or connect with those you haven't seen for a long while.

I did just that one night recently when four of us gathered for an evening of dinner, conversation and memories. We'd worked together 25 years ago but I'd only seen one of them since then until now.

Maybe the pandemic is helping all of us to explore connections old and new; I hope so.

My three former colleagues have all accomplished many things over the years, publishing books I didn't know about and traveling the world. Being with them was beautiful. 

For me it was the latest reminder of how good it is to be alive and free. On the way to the reunion, my Lyft driver told me he is deeply religious (Christian) and that he had attended a peace rally before work that day in Oakland.

He lamented that we're all too much caught up in ourselves; that if we could be just a little bit more thoughtful of each other, a little less selfish and a little more generous with our spirits, the world would become a much better place.

He also said he strongly believes families should take care of their elders and not park them away in nursing homes, especially during pandemics.

When we arrived at my destination, it turned out that the GPS had guided us to an incorrect stop, a short ways from where I needed to go. I said I could find it from there but the driver insisted on turning around, searching for the correct address, and double-checking before allowing me to get out.

"God Bless You," he called after me.

Talking about formal religion is not my thing, as I've said many times, but I have never lost my respect for people who do adhere to spiritual beliefs -- of any kind actually.

With the Lyft driver, who BTW happened to be Asian-American, I mentioned to him the many acts of generosity and kindness I've experienced from poor Muslim families in Central Asia, as well as from Hindus, Buddhists, Shinto, Parsis, Jews, Catholics, Protestants, atheists, agnostics and adherents to fringe religions.

Finding faith seems to be a human urge that is universal. My own version is private; I don't talk or write of it. But if appreciating the intricate ecology of life on the planet, and treasuring that with a desire to preserve it counts as a religion, well you can sign me right up.

***

Sunday something came over me and I started watching romantic movies again for the first time in weeks. "Definitely, Maybe," and "Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong."

Maybe there's something in the air...

THE HEADLINES:

* Delta Covid variant may be edging race against vaccines -- Analysis: research suggests ‘scarily fleeting’ contact could infect, and that places with high jab rates are susceptible (The Guardian)

* Sydney, Australia, Is Placed Under Full Lockdown to Curb Outbreak -- Australian officials instituted a strict two-week lockdown for Sydney and surrounding areas on Saturday, to fight an outbreak of the coronavirus Delta variant. It is Sydney’s first full lockdown since early 2020. (AP)

* India Has Undercounted Covid-19 Deaths, Families and Experts Say-- Statisticians and health experts estimate India’s Covid-19 death toll far exceeds one million, compared with the official count of more than 390,000—an undercount that undercuts the understanding of how big a threat new variants are. (WSJ)

* Covid Update: Crowds Flee Dhaka in Advance of Bangladesh Lockdown (BBC)

* South Africa expected to tighten Covid rules as third wave gathers pace (The Guardian)

* Are coronavirus vaccines effective against variants? (NHK)

* Pope Francis compares work of U.S. priest whose ministry affirms LGBTQ people to the work of God (WP)

* How 165 Words Could Make Mass Environmental Destruction An International Crime (NPR)

* How Deceptive Campaign Fund-Raising Ensnares Older People -- Older Americans, a critical source of political donations, often fall victim to aggressive and misleading digital practices. A broad Times analysis points to the scope of the problem. (NYT)

* Prominent Nicaraguan opposition leaders and journalists flee an escalating government crackdown (WP)

* The Apple-Microsoft Tech War Reignites for a New Era -- The battle over App Store rules has renewed tensions between the rivals and could overshadow the rise of augmented and virtual reality applications. (WSJ)

* As variant rises, vaccine plan targets ‘movable middle’ (AP)

* 108 degrees in Portland, 102 in Seattle: Heat wave shatters records (WP)

* How Do You Help Girls Thrive In School? There's A Surprising Answer -- A new study finds that girl-centric programs may not be the only effective way to boost girls' school performance in low-income countries. (NPR)

* Biden’s Push for Equity in Government Hits Legal and Political Roadblocks -- No part of President Biden’s agenda has been as ambitious as his attempt to place concerns about equity squarely at the center of the federal government’s decision-making. (NYT)

* Transgender rights, religion among cases justices could add (AP)

* Want kids to learn math? Level with them that it’s hard. (WP) * Drought woes in dry US West raise July 4 fireworks fears (AP)

* The Unlikely Survival of the 1,081-Year-Old Tree That Gave Palo Alto Its Name -- A redwood tree called El Palo Alto has long served as the 120-foot-tall symbol of Palo Alto, but a project to help it thrive has been delayed. (NYT)

* Case files on 1964 civil rights worker killings made public (AP)

* Tennis Instructor Mentoring Young Player Sees Potential In Parents’ Income (The Onion)

***

"Connection"

The Rolling Stones

Mick & Keith

Connection, I just can't make no connection.
But all I want to do is to get back to you.

Everything is going in the wrong direction.
The doctor wants to give me more injections.
Giving me shots for a thousand rare infections
And I don't know if he'll let me go

Connection, I just can't make no connection.
But all I want to do is to get back to you.
Connection, I just can't make it, connection
But all I want to do is to get back to you.

My bags they get a very close inspection.
I wonder why it is that they suspect them.
They're dying to add me to their collections
And I don't know if they'll let me go

Connection, I just can't make no connection.
But all I want to do is to get back to you.
Connection, I just can't make no connection.
But all I want to do is to get back to you.

What We Don't Know

This post-pandemic window -- or eye of the storm should the delta variant drive us all back into isolation this fall -- is a moment for our better angels to shine.

Many people I speak with feel we have an opportunity to put our lives, our companies, our communities back together in better form than before Covid struck.

It is a new chance to be kind to a stranger. Just the little things, for starters.

Larger challenges await us. But baby steps in the right direction matter.

***

Since I'm constantly presenting a forceful defense of journalists (as opposed to the "media"), I should explain why.

Reporters gain credibility for the stories they uncover . That's how they get a rep, win awards, and field calls from competitive media organizations wanting to hire them.

So that's fine for the individual journalist. It's called a career.

But society as a whole has a much broader interest in its journalists. Although we get honored (or reviled) for the stories we've done in the past, our main value is what we may do in the future.

It's what we don't know collectively as citizens that makes journalists valuable. Because reporters become good over time at finding out things that otherwise might remain hidden.

We have very specific methodologies for doing this, many of which I've discussed here in the past.

But discovering things is one step, disclosing them is another, and this how and why we sometimes get in trouble.

Certain people react badly to the types of revelations investigative reporters provide. Not only those accused of wrongdoing; also those whose worldview, political persuasion, faith or proclivity seems threatened in the process.

Among the reactions reporters get used to handling are lawsuits, denunciations by politicians, and death threats.

Those go with the territory.

But just as we remain most valuable for what we have not done yet, i.e., for what we don't know; reporters are not the best types of people to threaten.

Because to us that means the threatener knows something they don't want the rest of us to know.

And for a reporter that is called motivation.

***

THE HEADLINES:

* Remote Work Is the New Signing Bonus --Workers are trading jobs, enticed by the guarantee of flexible schedules and continued work from home.  (WSJ)

* Where Did the Coronavirus Come From? What We Already Know Is Troubling. -- Even if the coronavirus did not emerge from a lab, the groundwork for a potential disaster had been laid for years, and learning its lessons is essential to preventing others. (NYT)

* U.S. Catholic bishops say there will be ‘no national policy on withholding Communion from politicians’ (WP)

* Engineer found structural damage years before Florida building collapsed (Reuters)

* Biden vows ‘sustained’ help as Afghanistan drawdown nears (AP)

* How AI Is Taking Over Our Gadgets -- AI is moving from data centers to devices, making everything from phones to tractors faster and more private. These newfound smarts also come with pitfalls. (WSJ)

* Trump Organization Could Face Criminal Charges in D.A. Inquiry -- An indictment of the Trump Organization could mark the first criminal charges to emerge from an investigation by the Manhattan district attorney into Donald J. Trump and his business dealings. (NYT)

* With Trump Holding Rallies Again, The Shadow 2024 Republican Campaign Continues-- On Saturday in Ohio, the former president holds his first rally since leaving office. Meanwhile, other top potential GOP presidential candidates are running versions of shadow campaigns. (NPR)

* Trump Aides Prepared Insurrection Act Order During Debate Over Protests -- Trump never invoked the act, but fresh details underscore the intensity of his interest last June in using active-duty military to curb unrest. (NYT)

* Derek Chauvin briefly addressed the family of George Floyd for the first time on Friday, offering them his condolences before his sentence for murder was delivered. (AP)

* Derek Chauvin is sentenced to 22 and a half years for murder of George Floyd. (NYT)

* UFO Report Says ‘Unidentified Aerial Phenomena’ Defy Worldly Explanation -- U.S. intelligence officials reviewing dozens of reports of mysterious flying objects found 18 in which the objects displayed no visible propulsion or appeared to use technology beyond known capabilities, according to a report. (WSJ)

* Watershed U.S. UFO report does not rule out extraterrestrial origin (Reuters)

* In Russia, Some of the World’s Biggest Polluters Are Going Green (WSJ)

* Historic heat wave blasts Northwest as wildfire risks soar (AP)

* CEOs Ignore Social Issues at Their Own Peril -- Leaders are more likely to be fired for riling shareholders about social, rather than financial, concerns, a new study suggests. (WSJ)

* New early human discovered at Israeli cement site (Reuters)

* Discovery of ‘Dragon Man’ Skull in China May Add Species to Human Family Tree -- A laborer discovered the fossil and hid it in a well for 85 years. Scientists say it could help sort out the human family tree and how our species emerged. (NYT)

* As many as 50 people are missing after setting out on three-hour car trips this year between Mexico's industrial hub of Monterrey and the border city of Nuevo Laredo on a well-traveled stretch of road local media have dubbed “the highway of death.” (AP)

* The surprisingly durable second act of Liam Neeson (WP)

* The Pandemic Made Our Relationships Stronger -- Despite early fears of a divorce surge, new data shows that after a difficult year couples are more appreciative and committed. (WSJ)

* NOAA designates part of Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan as sanctuary for shipwrecks (WP)

* Pacific Ocean Quarantined After Contact With Carnival Cruise Ship (The Onion)

***

"Every Breath You Take"

Song by The Police

Written by Gordon Sumner

Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you

Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I'll be watching you

Oh, can't you see
You belong to me
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you

Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace
I dream at night I can only see your face
I look around but it's you I can't replace
I feel so cold and I long for your embrace
I keep crying baby, baby please

Oh, can't you see
You belong to me
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take

Every move you make
Every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I'll be watching you

Every move you make
Every step you take
I'll be watching you

I'll be watching you

I'll be watching you

I'll be watching you

I'll be watching you

Whoo, hoo
(Every game you play)
(Every night you stay) I'll be watching you

I'll be watching you
(Every single day)
(Every word you say)
(Every game you play)
(Every night you stay) I'll be watching you
(Every move you make)
(Every vow you break)
(Every smile you fake)
(Every claim you stake) I'll be watching you
(Every single day)
(Every word you say)
(Every game you play)
(Every night you stay) I'll be watching you

-30-

Mitigating the Inevitable

[California's Lake Oroville, the state’s second largest reservoir, has seen a precipitous 190-foot drop in water level from June 2019 to June 2021. (NASA Landsat Program/Twitter)]

What makes global climate change so difficult is it feels too big and overwhelming for us as individuals to have any impact.

But that isn't true.

In our daily lives, we can eat a more climate-friendly diet, including seasonal, local foods; install solar panels, recycle, invest in sustainable technologies, conserve resources and limit our consumption of fossil fuels, among other steps.

As citizens we can support leaders who get it and expel those who don't from office. Organizing efforts by environmental activists have been responsible for much of the progress we've made on the issue; so donating to non-profits who are working on the issue is another option.

But perhaps the most important step we can take is simply talking about it -- not as an apocalyptic inevitability but as a mitigable inevitability. Although it is far too late to stop climate change, we may be able to limit its catastrophic effects on our grandchildren.

In this context, converting government fleets to electric vehicles, promoting the collection of rainwater by agencies, and reducing public waste all will help. If governments mobilize for collective action, there may be ways to better prepare our populations for what is to come.

Explaining the impending crisis to young children is appropriate as long as it isn't done in ways that overwhelm them. After all, they will be dealing with this throughout their lives, so getting used to the tradeoffs early on may spur them to help us find solutions.

Most children instinctively want to make things better; they are our greatest natural resource.

I'm writing these thoughts as summer descends on California, normally a special time, but this year it feels like we are poised on a frightening precipice. The heat promises to be intense, the drought is historic, the forests are dry and the specter of last year's orange skies hangs over everything.

And as pitiably small and inadequate as everything I've described may seem in the face of catastrophic climate change, these steps represent our last best hope.

Future generations deserve at least *that* much from us...right now.

***

THE HEADLINES:

* This time of year, it’s always there — a kind of looming peril that tinges even the most perfect, blue-skied beach days and hikes. It’s the knowledge that at any moment, a fire could spark anywhere in the state and consume hundreds of thousands of acres, level homes and threaten lives. (California Today)

* Likely 'the most extreme and prolonged heat waves in the recorded history' for the Northwest start today (CNN)

* Satellite data shows California’s deserts have lost almost 40 percent of their plants. (Desert Sun)

* The drought is making Sacramento’s water taste like dirt. (The Guardian) 

* House Speaker Nancy Pelosi authorized a select committee to investigate the "many questions" about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and response. Republicans, including those who helped Donald Trump foment the violence, have furiously objected to a probe. [HuffPost]

* Justice Dept. to file lawsuit against state of Georgia over new voting restrictions (WP)

* They Seemed Like Democratic Activists. They Were Secretly Conservative Spies. -- Operatives infiltrated progressive groups across the West to try to manipulate politics and reshape the national electoral map. They targeted moderate Republicans, too — anyone seen as threats to hard-line conservatives. (NYT)

* ‘We can find common ground’: Biden’s faith in bipartisanship is rewarded — at least for now (WP)

* Unauthorized Settlement Creates Stress Test for Israel’s New Government -- The outpost of Evyatar is illegal under Israeli law. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will anger one wing of his coalition if he evicts the settlers, and another if he lets them stay. (NYT)

* Workers seized a McDonald’s in France and turned it into a food bank (WP)

* Under Pressure, a Japanese Official Killed Himself. Now His Story Is Revealed. -- Toshio Akagi told his wife that he had compiled a dossier detailing the pressure he had faced to alter documents at the center of a political scandal. This week, she won her fight to see them. (NYT)

* U.S. bars imports of solar panels linked to forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region (WP)

* Congressional Democrats have approved a measure reinstating rules aimed at limiting climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas drilling, a rare effort by Democrats to use the legislative branch to overturn a regulatory rollback under President Donald Trump. (AP)

* Why Police Have Been Quitting in Droves in the Last Year -- Asheville, N.C., has been among the hardest hit by police departures in the wake of last year’s George Floyd protests. About a third of the force quit or retired. (NYT)

* Afghan government could fall within six months of U.S. military withdrawal, intel assessment says (WP)

* U.S. to Move Afghans Who Aided Troops Outside the Country -- The relocations are meant to place interpreters and others who worked with departing American forces somewhere safe until visas for them to enter the United States are processed. (NYT)

* Roughly 650 U.S. troops are expected to remain in Afghanistan to provide security for diplomats after the main American military force completes its withdrawal, which is set to be largely done in the next two weeks. (AP)

* Texas Republicans, undeterred by a setback in the state House last month, renewed their push to restrict the participation of transgender students in school sports. [HuffPost]

* Rising seas have long pressured Miami coastal properties (WP)

* San Francisco will require all city employees to be vaccinated. Those who refuse will be fired. (California Today)

* U.S. to Search Former Native American Schools for Children’s Remains -- Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced a new initiative that would delve into the records of the federal schools to which Native American children were forcibly relocated for 150 years. (NYT)

* Canada labels the Three Percenters a terrorist entity (WP)

* Britain begins Amazon, Google fake review inquiry (Reuters)

* ‘Dragon Man’ Fossil Skull Found in China Tells Story of Unknown Human Ancestor (WSJ)

* U.S. unable to explain more than 140 unidentified flying objects, but new report finds no evidence of alien life (WP)

* The Truth Has Not Always Been Out There -- Rather than explaining when U.F.O. sightings were really just top-secret planes, the government has sometimes allowed public eagerness about the possibility of aliens to take hold. (NYT)

* What we learned while working from home, and how it can boost employees’ well-being (WP)

* Contractor Informs Biden It’d Be Cheaper To Just Tear Down U.S. And Start Over (The Onion)

***

"(Love is like a) Heat Wave"

Martha and the Vandellas

Whenever I'm with him
Something inside
Starts to burnin'
And I'm filled with desire

Could it be the devil in me
Or is this the way love's supposed to be

Just like a heatwave
Burning in my heart
Can't keep from cryin'
It's tearing me apart

Whenever he calls my name
So slow, sweet and plain
I feel, yeah, yeah, well I feel that burning flame

Has my blood pressure got a hold on me
Or is this the way love's supposed to be

Just like a heatwave (Heatwave)
Burning in my heart (Heatwave)
Can't keep from cryin'
It's tearing me apart

Heatwave
Heatwave

Sometimes I stare in space
Tears all over my face
I can't explain it, don't understand it
I'ain't never felt like this before

But that doesn't mean it has me amazed
I don't know what to do, my head's in a haze

Just like a heatwave (Heatwave)
Burning in my heart (Heatwave)
Can't keep from cryin'
It's tearing me apart

Don't pass up this chance
This time it's a true romance