This 'Third Place'

Occasionally, a new acquaintance or reader will ask me what I am trying to accomplish by publishing here on Substack every day, 365 days a year. It’s a good question, one I ask myself on a regular basis.

This project started during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. At that time, like virtually everyone else, I found myself isolated, unable to see friends or relatives, dependent on social media to connect with others.

In my case, the pandemic coincided with several other factors to deepen my sense of isolation. After more than a half-century living in San Francisco, I left the city. And due to a series of serious health incidents, including a stroke, I was forced to retire after a long career in journalism.

During my illnesses, I spent many weeks in medical institutions, including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, rehab centers and ultimately an assisted living complex.

Once Covid hit, my isolation became extreme, as I could no longer leave my room to socialize or eat meals with the other residents. I began to wilt like a flower without sunlight or water.

My family saved me. I left that place and move in with my oldest daughter and her family.

And I started writing these short daily essays.

At first I published them on my personal page at Facebook. People responded from all over the world and very soon I hit the limit of 5,000 friends. Given my 55-year career in journalism, many of these Facebook friends asked me for my thoughts not only on Covid but on the news of the day beyond the confusions of the pandemic.

In response, I started sifting through the headlines in various authoritative news sources to provide a kind of virtual news broadcast via the social network. That eventually grew from ten or twenty headlines to forty or fifty and on some days up to ninety stories per day.

But I found Facebook (now called Meta) limiting because it is extremely difficult to include links to the news stories I aggregate, which I want to do so readers can see for themselves why I have chosen those particular stories for inclusion.

Meta also seems to punish people who try to include links, because whenever I used workarounds to make the headlines clickable, my traffic there fell close to zero.

At the urging of readers and friends, I moved my operation here to Substack, which provides the ability to link directly to the sources I cite, plus a subscription option for those who wish to support my work.

Although I do this work for free, I really appreciate (and also need) the financial support of paid subscribers to continue doing it over the long term. Thank you to those who recognize that and sign up for a paid subscription.

It costs roughly 19 cents a day.

***

Although the pandemic is largely behind us now, thankfully, the damage at disrupting our social interactions has been done. Too many people, due to age or illness or force of habit, remain confined to their homes or continue to engage in very limited social interactions.

One of the many fascinating pieces listed below today comes from the Atlantic and is titled “We Really Should Hang Out More Often.” The author notes that one thing missing from too many people’s lives is a “third place” outside of the office and home. Of course, thanks to the pandemic, those two places became just one for most people anyway — the office nowadays *is* the home.

In addition, retired or jobless people have no office to begin with, which from a socializing perspective is part of the problem.

Cafes, coffee houses, public squares, churches, golf clubs, community gathering centers all try to provide that third place for the people who take advantage of them.

But many people cannot or choose not to do so. My Substack page is meant to serve as a sort of third place for anyone who cares to visit, any day of the year. The opinions here are simply mine and truly fallible — feel free to support or oppose them and post comments below. I love comments and don’t need to feel I am right all the time.

So that’s about it. Welcome!

Today’s Headlines (51):

1. Russian troops tortured and executed a village mayor and her family, Ukrainian officials say (CBS)

2. The horrors of Putin's invasion of Ukraine are increasingly coming to light (CNN)

3. Reports of atrocities emerge from Ukraine as Russia repositions its forces. (NYT)

4. zRussia faces global outrage over bodies in Ukraine’s streets (AP)

5. Russia says footage in Ukraine's Bucha was 'ordered' to blame Russia (Reuters)

6. Will Putin ever be held responsible for the atrocities we’re seeing in Bucha? (Guardian)

7. Apparent war crimes reported in Ukraine (Axios)

8. Zelensky condemns Russian forces, calls for help investigating alleged atrocities (WP)

9. In a Kyiv Suburb,‘They Shot Everyone They Saw’ (NYT)

10. Global outrage spread at civilian killings in north Ukraine, including evidence of bound bodies shot at close range and a mass grave found in areas retaken from Russian troops, as fighting raged on in the country's south and east. (Reuters)

11. Biden calls to put Putin on trial for war crimes over Russia killings in Ukraine (CNBC)

12. War Crimes Watch: Hard path to justice in Bucha atrocities (AP)

13. The Horror of Bucha — Russian invaders are now treating the entirety of the Ukrainian population as combatants, as dirt to be cleansed. (Atlantic)

14. The atrocities are no aberration. This is Russia's way of war. (Max Boot/WP)

15. The Kremlin said it categorically denied any accusations related to the murder of civilians in Bucha and said Ukrainian allegations on the matter should be treated with doubt. (Reuters)

16. UK military intelligence says heavy fighting continues in Mariupol (Reuters)

17. US seizes yacht owned by oligarch with close ties to Putin (AP)

18. ‘This Is True Barbarity’: Life and Death Under Russian Occupation (NYT)

19. Military conscripts in the Russian-backed Donbas region have been sent into front-line combat against Ukrainian troops with no training, little food and water, and inadequate weapons, people in the separatist province told Reuters. The new accounts of untrained and ill-equipped conscripts being deployed are a fresh indication of how stretched the military resources at the Kremlin's disposal are. (Reuters)

20. Hungary’s hard-line leader declares victory in election as war rages in neighboring Ukraine (NBC)

21. Hungary’s Orban popular at home, isolated abroad after win (AP)

22. Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy made a surprise appearance at the 2022 Grammys on Sunday night, appearing via pretaped video from a Kyiv bunker to offer a plea to all those watching around the world. "Tell the truth about the war on your social networks and TV. But not silence," Zelenskyy said. [HuffPost]

23. Ukraine Is the First Real World War — In World War Wired, virtually everyone everywhere can observe the fighting at a granular level, participate in some way or be affected economically. (Thomas L. Friedman/NYT)

24. Release of Ukraine Intelligence Represents New Front in U.S. Information War (WSJ)

25. Ukraine war threatens to deepen Russia’s demographic crisis — Conflict has forced skilled workers to flee, compounding the impact of low birth rates and pandemic deaths (Financial Times)

26. Putin embarked on what he calls a "special operation" in Ukraine partly to counter the expansion of the NATO alliance. But he may soon have a new NATO neighbor. (Reuters)

27. Will the Ukraine War Push Countries Toward Renewable Energy? Yes—and No (WSJ)

28. ‘It’s a radical change’: The prospect of Finland joining Nato draws nearer (Financial times)

29. A Watergate prosecutor says the 457-minute gap in Trump's White House call logs could be masking 'incalculably worse' behavior than Nixon's (Business Insider)

30. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, said the seven-hour gap in former President Donald Trump's White House phone log seems to be "suspiciously tailored" to the period when the assault took place. Raskin said lawmakers were still missing key information. [HuffPost]

31. The world must demand the Taliban stop restricting girls’ education (WP)

32. ‘Fighting Was Easier’: Taliban Take On a Treacherous, Avalanche-Prone Pass — After overthrowing the government, the Taliban are now trying to save what’s left of the roads they spent years blowing up, with none more critical than a two-mile-high pass through the Hindu Kush. (NYT)

33. US military deploys Patriot anti-missile system to Philippines (NHK)

34. Jupiter’s Moon Europa Could Be Pulling Oxygen Down Below the Ice To Feed Life (SciTechDaily)

35. ‘It’s now or never’: World’s top climate scientists issue ultimatum on critical temperature limit (CNBC)

36. No obituary for Earth: Scientists fight climate doom talk (AP)

37. The Sierra Nevada snowpack, which provides a significant portion of California’s water supply, has fallen to a seven-year low. (CalMatters)

38. NYC mayor uses 'Don't Say Gay' law to recruit LGBTQ Floridians with billboard campaign (Politico)

39. Eyes on Inflation, Shoppers Cut Back on Staples (WSJ)

40. Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has built a 9.2% stake in Twitter, a regulatory filing shows, sending the micro-blogging site's shares soaring 26% in premarket trading. The Silicon Valley billionaire said recently he was giving "serious thought" to building a new social media platform. (Reuters)

41. These are the ultra-wealthy donors pouring money into the Chesa Boudin recall battle (SFC)

42. Ron DeSantis’s repulsive war on Disney will soon face a reckoning (WP)

43. With students in turmoil, US teachers train in mental health (AP)

44. Efforts to ban books jumped an 'unprecedented' four-fold in 2021, ALA report says (NPR)

45. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) described a deadly mass shooting in Sacramento as a “horrendous act of gun violence” in a statement issued hours after six people were killed and 12 injured in a downtown entertainment district Sunday. The massacre, which took place in the early hours of the morning, occurred in a section of the city filled with bars and restaurants. [HuffPost]

46. Sacramento police said that multiple shooters were involved in violence in which six people were killed and 12 were wounded but the suspects remain at large. (Reuters)

47. Nearly 20 percent of California community college students say they have experienced homelessness in the past year. (Guardian)

48. Millions of families can now research their history with 1950 US census records (CNN)

49. How Everyone Got So Lonely — The recent decline in rates of sexual activity has been attributed variously to sexism, neoliberalism, and women’s increased economic independence. How fair are those claims—and will we be saved by the advent of the sex robot? (New Yorker)

50. We Really Should Hang Out More Often — What we miss when we don’t have places for serendipitous, productivity-free socializing (Atlantic)

51. Old Vegetarian Rambling On About Days When Menus Only Had One Non-Meat Option (The Onion)

 

The Crypto Puzzle

First, an update on Chesa Boudin, San Francisco’s embattled District Attorney. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the wealthy donors trying to get him recalled include several tech investors, most notably Ron Conway. They have been pouring money to the extent that the pro-recall camp has a ridiculous war chest of $2.7 million.

Remember this is an off-year, midterm election with only one issue on the ballot — whether or not to recall Boudin.

The young DA has been able to raise $1.05 million in his defense, much of it in the form of small donors contributing an average of $74 each, as he explained at the event I covered last Saturday. He also has a couple large tech contributors of his own.

One factor behind the tech figures opposing Boudin is his department’s lawsuits against two of the gig economy companies — DoorDash and Handy — seeking to reclassify their workers as employees with benefits rather than independent contractors. If those lawsuits succeeded, the massive profits enjoyed by the gig economy companies would be trimmed, adversely affecting their hyper-wealthy backers like Conway.

But the Chronicle piece also reported some better news for Boudin. Recent polling by his campaign has the public evenly split on his recall despite the funding disparity — 44 percent for, 44 percent against, an 12 percent undecided.

***

On to today’s main topic. So what exactly is cryptocurrency? Recently, the New York Times tried to help answer that question with “The Latecomer’s Guide to Crypto.” 

Among its findings:

• “Crypto” refers to the entire universe of technologies that involve blockchains — shared databases that store and verify information in a cryptographically secure way. Blockhains power digital currencies like Bitcoin, but also serve as the base layer of technology for things like NFTs, web3 applications and DeFi trading protocols.

• Another major feature of blockchains is that they’re typically public and open source, meaning that unlike a Google spreadsheet, anyone can inspect a public blockchain’s code or see a record of any transaction.

• Many blockchains still perform cryptocurrency transactions, and there are now roughly 10,000 different cryptocurrencies in existence, according to CoinMarketCap.

• The crypto market is currently valued at about $1.75 trillion or roughly the size of Google. Much of the crypto market consists of overvalued, overhyped and possibly fraudulent assets.

• Most merchants still don’t accept crypto payments, and hefty transaction fees can make it impractical to spend small amounts of cryptocurrency on daily living expenses.

• Nevertheless, crypto wealth and ideology is going to be a transformative force in our society in the coming years.

• Right now, many of the successful applications for crypto technology are in finance or finance-adjacent fields. For example, people are using crypto to send cross-border remittances to family members abroad and Wall Street banks using blockchains to settle foreign transactions.

• The crypto boom has generated vast new fortunes at a clip we’ve never seen before — the closest comparison is probably the discovery of oil in the Middle East.

• The divide between the world’s pro-crypto and no-crypto zones could end up being at least as big as the divide between the Chinese internet and the American one, and maybe even more consequential. El Salvador is going full-crypto; China has outlawed all crypto trading.

• Crypto is an organized technological movement, armed with powerful tools and hordes of wealthy true believers, whose goal is nothing less than a total economic and political revolution.

If all of this is just too weird for your taste, I can recommend another article, which is an annotated guide to the Timespiece. In it, a dozen or more experts attempt to translate the Times piece into something more closely resembling English — and common sense.

Good luck with both of these.

Today’s Headlines (56):

1. Bodies of 'executed people' strewn across street in Bucha as Ukraine accuses Russia of war crimes (CNN)

2. Bodies with bound hands, close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture lay scattered in a city on the outskirts of Kyiv after Russian soldiers withdrew from the area. Ukrainian authorities on Sunday accused the departing forces of committing war crimes and leaving behind a “scene from a horror movie.” (AP)

3. Sec. Blinken says we cannot become 'numb' to Putin's war crimes, vows 'accountability' (Fox)

4. In Ukraine, New Reports of War Crimes Emerge as Russians Retreat From Kyiv Area (WSJ)

5. Zelenskyy accuses Russia of genocide; missiles slam into port city of Odesa. (CNBC)

6. Ukraine accuses Russia of civilian 'massacre'; Russia denies this (Reuters)

7. 410 civilian bodies found near Kyiv (AP)

8. Here's what a CNN team on the scene of a mass grave in the Ukrainian town of Bucha saw (CNN)

9. EU prepares more sanctions against Russia after apparent atrocities near Kyiv (Financial Times)

10. Russia in Broad Retreat From Kyiv, Seeking to Regroup From Battering (NYT)

11. Zelenskyy: Troops shell retreating Russians (AP)

12. Russia pulls back from Kyiv in major shift — The move shows Russia can’t achieve its original targets, analysts say. (WP)

13. Secret intelligence has unusually public role in Ukraine war (AP)

14. Images show thick plumes of smoke over Odesa as Russian sea and air missiles strike Ukraine's most important port city (Business Insider)

15. Russia hits an oil processing plant near the port city of Odesa (NPR)

16. Brutal fight at war’s epicenter in eastern Ukraine (WP)

17. Video shows Russian missile strike on Ukrainian fuel depot (CNN)

18. How Putin could be prosecuted for Ukraine war crimes (Reuters)

19. How Kyiv Has Withstood Russia’s Attacks — Russia has more troops and more firepower. Why has it failed to seize the capital? (NYT)

20. New migrants on U.S.-Mexico border: Ukrainian refugees (WP)

21. Across US, faith groups mobilize to aid Ukrainian refugees (AP)

22. Blasts heard in Russian city of Belgorod near border with Ukraine (Reuters)

23. Drug shortages persist in Russia after start of Ukraine war (AP)

24. Hungary’s hard-line leader faces tough election as war rages in neighboring Ukraine (NBC)

25. Putin Reminds the World He Still Wields a Powerful Economic Weapon (NYT)

26. Is Putin banking on an endless war? (CNN)

27. Ukrainian Reuters contributor Maksim Levin killed covering war (Reuters)

28. Hungarians vote on giving pro-Putin PM Orban a 4th term (AP)

29. With Ukraine Invasion, Hungary’s Leader Softens His Embrace of Russia (NYT)

30. Russia war could further escalate auto prices and shortages (AP)

31. Russia steps up offensive in eastern Ukraine (NHK)

32. Why Russia is trying to encircle Ukraine's east (BBC)

33. The War in Ukraine Is Also a Climate Problem — Russia’s invasion threatens to unravel decades of scientific collaboration in the Arctic. (Atlantic)

34. Taliban bans drug cultivation, including lucrative opium (Reuters)

35. Taliban clamp down on drugs, announce ban on poppy harvest (AP)

36. Jamie Raskin: Gap in Jan. 6 White House logs of 'intense interest' to select committee (Politico)

37. New laws let visitors see loved ones in health care facilities, even in an outbreak (NPR)

38. Shanghai asks entire city to self-test for COVID as frustration grows (Reuters)

39. Covid cases rise in Shanghai as millions remain in lockdown (Guardian)

40. How long covid is accelerating a revolution in medical research (WP)

41. Masks Come Off, Mandates Loosen as Firms Relax Covid Protocols (WSJ)

42. Pakistan in political turmoil as leader dissolves parliament (AP)

43. Garland Faces Growing Pressure as Jan. 6 Investigation Widens (NYT)

44. 6 people dead, 12 injured in Sacramento mass shooting (CBS)

45. April's sky brings dance of 4 morning planets: See Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn. (Space.com)

46. The handshake in space that brought hope to the world (BBC)

47. Russian space chief: Sanctions could imperil space station (AP)

48. Why isn't Earth perfectly round? (LiveScience)

49. The Human Genome Project pieced together only 92% of the DNA – now scientists have finally filled in the remaining 8% (RawStory)

50. House Votes to Decriminalize Cannabis (NYT)

51. New U.S. Census Records Reveal a Time Capsule of Life in 1950 (WSJ)

52. Native American tribe gets its land back after being displaced nearly 400 years ago (CNN)

53. Whatever You Write, There You Are — These nine nonfiction authors set out to investigate the outside world and ended up finding themselves. (Atlantic)

54. The Latecomer’s Guide to Crypto (NYT)

55. An annotated guide to “The Latecomer’s Guide. (various)

56. Art Museum Guard Bravely Throws Body In Front Of Camera Flash (The Onion)

 

Chesa Boudin Strikes Back

 On a warm, sunny afternoon this past Saturday, several dozen people squeezed into the back yard of a modest home in the Glen Park neighborhood of San Francisco to listen to a 41-year-old idealist fighting to save his political life.

Embattled District Attorney Chesa Boudin is often labeled as one of most progressive DAs in the country, with an agenda that includes reforming the criminal justice system, prosecuting police misconduct cases, and attacking the root causes of crime.

All of that might normally play well inside the 49-square-miles of traditionally progressive San Francisco, but it has drawn the fierce opposition of major right wing forces all across the country, from big Republican donors to Fox News commentators, especially Tucker Carlson.

That opposition has successfully financed the collection of enough signatures to mount an unusual and expensive recall effort to drum Boudin out of office in a special off-year election barely halfway through his four-year term this June. 

At the Glen Park gathering, Boudin, who is a well-spoken, slight man with a neatly trimmed beard and receding hairline, appealed to a crowd of mostly baby boomers to help him ward off this national reactionary assault on their collective progressive ideals and policies. 

Serious crime rates are down on his watch but Boudin also faces the usual local opposition from the police union and certain reactionary elements of the political establishment. That, combined with the national GOP drive, has him behind in the only poll I’ve seen to date, which was funded by the pro-recall forces.

But the DA also has another problem, one stubbornly familiar to anyone who thinks about why we never seem to achieve much real progress on the long-term problems that plague our society.

And that is that voters rarely act in their own long-term interest because short-term issues always seem to find a way to dominate the operative narrative of the moment. 

Thus Boudin is confronting an electorate that is openly upset at a rash of non-violent street crimes such as car thefts (mainly for parts like catalytic converters), drug overdoses and homelessness — social problem he is virtually powerless as a prosecutor to do anything about — but which dominate conversations in cafes around the city.

Increasing numbers of San Franciscans are fed up with the mess in the streets and having to worry about having their cars getting broken into at night. This disquiet is partially fed by the changing demographics of a city that over the past 15 years has become home to the largest Silicon Valley firms, as well as startups and their legions of workers who are much better paid than the struggling artists and writers and singers and dreamers and immigrants who traditionally have been attracted to the city.

Accordingly, Boudin may now find it difficult to find enough support from voters in a low-turnout, off-year election when so many seem to be more worried about punishing the current cast of petty criminals than doing something about preventing them from becoming criminals in the first place. 

The cruelest irony, of course, is that unless the types of reforms Boudin is trying to implement come to pass, the endless poverty-crime cycle everybody hates will continue unabated into a future when the current residents’ children are then the ones being victimized.

In addition, when it comes to the present tense, the DA cannot prosecute criminals who are not apprehended by the police and there are indications the San Francisco Police Department is, shall we say, not trying overly hard to make arrests in the types of crimes that are upsetting local residents right now.

That’s probably because Boudin pursued the (unsuccessful) prosecution of a police officer in a misconduct case recently and he has also engaged in a well-publicized spat with the police chief over the use of a woman’s DNA collected from a rape kit to charge her in an unrelated property crime.

Boudin successfully argued that the use of the DNA was a violation of the woman’s constitutional rights — certainly a bedrock issue for anyone concerned with preserving our democracy in this age of authoritarian impulses here and around the world. But it may also be another example of an issue that is too abstract to connect with most voters’ short-term attention spans.

Whether this young, idealistic DA can overcome the out-of-state, big-money campaign to unseat him under these circumstances remains to be seen. But at least on one sunny Saturday afternoon in Glen Park, he had a genuinely supportive crowd cheering him on and handing in small-dollar checks to help him continue the fight.

NOTE: As a former resident of San Francisco, I have close friends and family members who are working on behalf of Boudin’s effort to defeat the recall and remain in office. 

Today’s Headlines (41):

1. Ukrainian troops have retaken full control of Kyiv region, says deputy defence minister (Reuters)

2. Ukrainian forces take back territory around Kyiv (BBC)

3. Zelenskyy: Mines in wake of Russian retreat keep Kyiv unsafe (AP)

4. Ukraine Assesses Damage After Russian Pullback Near Kyiv (WSJ)

5. Moldova denies Ukraine’s warning that Russian troops are massing on border (Financial Times)

6. As Mariupol Residents Flee, Russian Forces Hunt for Ukrainian Fighters (USA Today)

7. ICRC to attempt new Mariupol evacuation (Al Jazeera)

8. Mariupol Mass Evacuation Falters as Red Cross Judges It Too Dangerous (NYT)

9. West, Russia mull nuclear steps in a ‘more dangerous’ world (AP)

10. Peace in Ukraine will be elusive until one side makes a military breakthrough (Financial Times)

11. Ukraine forces retake areas north of Kyiv as Russians look eastward (Reuters)

12. Russia to halt cooperation over International Space Station (Guardian)

13. Russia accuses Ukraine of rocket attack on oil depot in Russia (BBC)

14. Ukraine denies responsibility for attack on Russian oil depot (TND)

15. Pope blasts Russia’s ‘infantile’ war (The Hill)

16. Why Russia is trying to encircle Ukraine's east (BBC)

17. Poll: Putin's approval rating surges above 80% (NHK)

18. Shaken at First, Many Russians Now Rally Behind Putin’s Invasion — Polls and interviews show many Russians now accept the Kremlin’s assertion that their country is under siege from the West. Opponents are leaving the country or keeping quiet. (NYT)

19. In targeted Russian economy, businesses operate without Western products (WP)

20. Ukrainians Count Dead, Assess Damage After Russian Pullback Near Kyiv (WSJ)

21. Putin is making the same mistakes that doomed Hitler when he invaded the Soviet Union (CNN)

22. Pentagon announces $300M in aerial systems, military weapons for Ukraine (The Hill)

23. As Russian shells fall, a race to get children with cancer out of Ukraine (WP)

24. War in Ukraine Compounds Hunger in East Africa (NYT)

25. Long Delays for Afghan Resettlements Serve as Warning for Ukrainians (WSJ)

26. How the 2024 Election Is Being Stolen (Reveal)

27. Republicans squirm as Trump presses Putin for dirt on Bidens (NBC)

28. Putin’s Ukraine quagmire carries echoes of Soviet failure in Afghanistan (WP)

29. See how almost a quarter of humanity ushered in Ramadan, their holiest month (NPR)

30. Seabed regulator accused of deciding deep sea’s future ‘behind closed doors’ (Guardian)

31. Iran nuclear talks at stalemate over terrorism issue (WP)

32. How 2 Industries Stymied Justice for Young Lead Paint Victims — The U.S. insurance and real estate industries have waged a decades-long campaign to avoid liability in lead cases, helping to prolong an epidemic. The cost for millions of children has been incalculable. (NYT)

33. UK hits record COVID-19 levels; nearly 5 million infected (AP)

34. The sun let out another flare and the photos are stunning (Space.com)

35. The SAT Isn’t What’s Unfair — MIT brings back a test that, despite its reputation, helps low-income students in an inequitable society. (Atlantic)

36. Chesa Boudin’s strategy to remain San Francisco district attorney: Run against the recall (SFC)

37. Will Smith Resigns From Academy After Slapping Chris Rock at Oscars (NYT)

38. ‘Back to the Giuliani era’: Adams’ order to clear homeless camps ignites fury in New York (Politico)

39. Look Up Who Was Living In Your Apartment In 1950 Via Newly Released Census Records (SFist)

40. New U.S. Census Records Reveal a Time Capsule of Life in 1950 (WSJ)

41. Driver Kind Of Bummed To See Other Car He Been Driving Behind For A While Take Exit Off Highway (The Onion)

A Dangerous Midget

Whenever you hear someone conjuring Russia as a major global threat, it’s worth considering how small it actually is, both in terms of population and its economy. By population, it is only the ninth largest country, with about 146 million people, far less than the U.S. (335 million), as well as Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Bangladesh, not to mention the two truly enormous countries — India has 1.4 billion or China has 1.45 billion.

Russia’s population is as large as Germany and France combined, however, and over three times as large as Ukraine’s, with 44 million, but it’s still a relative pipsqueak when you consider that most of the rest of the world is allied against it.

What Putin does have in his favor is the relative neutrality of the two giant powers — India and China, neither of which really wants to get involved in this war. Plus his arsenal of nuclear. chemical and biological weapons, which he seems all too happy to threaten using.

And when you measure the size of world’s national militaries Russia does show up in the top five with 1 million in uniform — at fifth place behind China (2.2 million soldiers), India (1.5 million), the U.S. (1.4 million), and North Korea (1.3 million). Putin also has just drafted another 150,000 to support his war effort.

His soldiers’ will to fight, however, is another issue.

But besides the raw numbers of people and soldiers, a salient way to measure any country is by the size of its national economy. The U.S. GDP in 2020 stood at almost $21 trillion, which is fourteen times as large as Russia’s at $1.5 trillion. Nine other countries — China, Japan, Germany, France, South Korea, India, the U.K. Italy and Canada have bigger economies than Russia’s.

Once again, when you consider that this conflict pits Putin against the world economically, you can see how out-resourced he is. That is precisely why the economic sanctions are having such a significant impact on the conflict.

My reason for listing all of these metrics is to try and provide a mathematical context for evaluating Western media coverage of Russia’s actual power. As an empire, it is a relatively minor player, with lots of geography and a heavily militarized population, but nowhere near the economic clout to prevail.

And that, in the end, is essentially why it will not.

Today’s Headlines (60):

1. Ukraine strike on Russian territory reported as talks resume (AP)

2. Video shows helicopters attacking fuel depot inside Russia (CNN)

3. Russian firefighters tackle blaze after fuel depot strike (Financial Times)

4. Russian Strategy in Ukraine Shifts After Setbacks, and a Lengthy War Looms (WSJ)

5. Around 2,000 Mariupol evacuees are on the move as Russia targets Ukrainian city (Fox)

6. Aid convoy attempts to reach besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol (BBC)

7. International Red Cross team was unable to reach Mariupol (CNN)

8. U.S. providing Ukraine with equipment to protect against chemical attacks (Politico)

9. Russia’s War Lacks a Battlefield Commander, U.S. Officials Say (NYT)

10. Russia’s Ukraine war builds on tactics it used in Syria, experts say (WP)

11. Russian troops have withdrawn from Chernobyl, says Ukrainian nuclear operator (CNN)

12. UN nuclear watchdog to head mission to Chernobyl as Russians withdraw from site (Guardian)

13. 'Russian mutants lost this round,' Ukraine says after troops leave Chernobyl (NPR)

14. As Russia drafts young men, some fear ending up on Ukraine’s front line (WP)

15. Could Ukraine 'win' the war? (BBC)

16. Russian gas was still flowing to Europe despite a deadline set by President Vladimir Putin to cut it off unless customers start paying in roubles, Moscow's strongest threat to retaliate for sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine. (Reuters)

17. More Mixed Signals From Russia as Ukraine War Enters Sixth Week (NYT)

18. EU and Chinese leaders met for their first summit in two years with Brussels pressing Beijing for assurances that it will neither supply Russia with arms nor help Moscow circumvent Western sanctions. (Reuters)

19. Russia's ally China tells EU it will pursue Ukraine peace in its own way (Reuters)

20. Last multinational empire, Russia fights to keep its colonies (Fareed Zakaria/WP)

21. VIDEO: U.K. Spy Chief Says Russian Soldiers Have Disobeyed Orders (AP)

22. Zelenskyy calls 2 Ukrainian generals traitorous and strips them of their rank (NPR)

23. 'The last straw': Former oligarch on renouncing Russian citizenship (CNN)

24. Kremlin 'concerned' about U.S. 'complete misunderstanding' of Putin (Reuters)

25. Australia sending armored vehicles to Ukraine (AP)

26. A Nation of Spy-Catchers: Fear of Saboteurs Has Ukrainians on Edge (NYT)

27. Biden to Draw Down Oil Reserves in Bid to Ease Gas Prices (WSJ)

28. Russia war sanctions mean a struggle for Cuban car owners (AP)

29. Russia threatens to fine Wikipedia if it doesn't remove some details about the war (NPR)

30. UN: More than 4.1 million have fled Ukraine, children victimized (NHK)

31. International donors face tough choices as Taliban reneges on promises (WP)

32. I Went To A Secret Underground School For Girls In Afghanistan. It's Happening Again. (HuffPost)

33. Jan. 6 committee member says Jared Kushner interview was 'valuable' (Yahoo)

34. Trump placed at least one call using a White House phone that was omitted from the day's call log during the attack on the U.S. Capitol, The Guardian reported. Phone logs turned over to the House panel investigating the attack show a gap of seven hours and 37 minutes, and new details raise questions about the possibility of the White House tampering with official records. [HuffPost]

35. Pope makes historic apology to Indigenous for Canada abuses (AP)

36. LGBTQ groups sue Florida over the so-called 'Don't Say Gay' law (NPR)

37. Jen Psaki leaving the White House for MSNBC this spring (NPR)

38. Economy added 431,000 jobs in March despite worries over slowing growth (CNBC)

39. Ready for rich world inflation at 11.9 percent? (Politico)

40. Euro zone inflation surged to 7.5% in March, hitting another record high with months still left before it is set to peak, making grim reading for the European Central Bank, which needs to reconcile sky-high prices with vanishing economic growth. (Reuters)

41. Washington, D.C., police found five fetuses at the home of Lauren Hardy, who sat outside as officers brought out coolers. She declined to tell a reporter outside her home what was inside the coolers but said, "People will freak out when they hear." Handy was indicted along with eight others on Wednesday for her alleged role in blocking a D.C. reproductive health care clinic in 2020. [HuffPost]

42. Apple wields its lobbying might against LGBTQ laws (Politico)

43. What if College Were Free? This State Is Trying to Find Out. (NYT)

44. Black youth are feeling the onslaught of distorted teaching that diminishes their history and lived experiences, along with anti-LGBTQ and anti-mask measures. As conservative lawmakers across the country continue to pass bills aimed at stifling teaching and learning, Black students are feeling like collateral damage in a political firestorm.[HuffPost]

45. GameStop wants to make shares more affordable for meme stock lovers (CNN)

46. 1950 census release is a 'genealogy goldmine,' can fill gaps in family trees (Detroit FP)

47. Seven Decades Later, the 1950 Census Bares Its Secrets (NYT)

48. From Russia with money: Silicon Valley distances itself from oligarchs (WP)

49. Scientists finish decoding entire human genome (AP)

50. Human blueprint breakthrough: Scientists publish ‘gapless’ human genome (WP)

51. A naturalist traces the astounding flyways of migratory birds (NPR)

52. First audio recorded on Mars reveals two speeds of sound (PhysOrg)

53. For the first time in California’s 171-year history, a woman has signed a bill into state law. (AP)

54. California voters will get a chance in November to vote on legalizing sports wagering, which could unleash a huge new industry in the state. (Politico)

55. San Francisco predicts that 1 in 3 employees will continue teleworking. Here’s why the city could see revenue drop by more than $64 million next year as a result. (SFC)

56. Amazon workers in NYC vote to unionize, a first for company (AP)

57. ‘A cry for help’: CDC warns of a steep decline in teen mental health (WP)

58. Sleeping with even a little bit of light isn't good for your health, study shows (NPR)

59. Lying Is Its Own Form of Storytelling (Atlantic)

60. NFL Satisfies Outraged Fans With New Overtime Rule That Both Teams Win (The Onion)

TODAY’s LYRICS:

“Go Your Own Way”

Sung by Fleetwood Mac

Written by Lindsey Buckingham

Loving you
Isn't the right thing to do
How can I ever change things
That I feel

If I could
Maybe I'd give you my world
How can I
When you won't take it from me

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way

Tell me why
Everything turned around
Packing up
Shacking up is all you want to do

If I could
Baby, I'd give you my world
Open up
Everything's waiting for you

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day

You can go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day

You can go your own way 

LOST IN THE FIFTIES

 Finally, after 72 years, the official 1950 U.S. Census individual data is being released today (Friday), a fact of little interest to anyone other than genealogists and historians — and me.

The reason such data is kept private for that long is that 72 years was the average life expectancy when the law sequestering census data was passed.

Marc Perry, a senior demographer for the U.S. Census Bureau, calls the old data set a "genealogy gold mine." In 1950, U.S. society was on the brink of transformation. 

New technologies like TV and computers had not yet reached most people, the interstate highway system and air travel were yet to make mass travel accessible, and suburbs were just starting to spring to life.

Everything we think about the 1950s was about to happen.

So the census data is like a black-and-white photograph of a post-war society on the verge of seismic changes, including the sex, drugs and rock n roll revolution of my generation, the baby boomers.

The oldest among us were four in 1950; today those who have survived are 76. As useful as the census data may be to demographers, it can’t really tell our stories.

Only we can do that. There were about 76 million of us born between 1946-1964 and quite a few of us are still left.

That amounts to a lot of stories waiting to be told. Have you started on yours?

To get you in the spirit, here is an excerpt from an essay I wrote on memoir-writing on July 12, 2006:

The first step is to gather together as many old letters, journals, photos, and other resources as you can easily locate.

Then, focus on emotionally loaded moments from your past. Just try to write one scene that captures what it was like to live through one of those moments.

The next day, jump to another emotionally compelling incident and try to write about that. Do this every day for a week.

The moments do not need to connect together, at this point. They can be random scenes from your life.

After a week, this exercise should trigger other memories. These may involve more complexities than the first set of memories. You may also start dreaming about memories, or find they come to you when you're doing something else.

Pay close attention to these randomly accessed memories, these discoveries of what your brain has been storing away for years or decades.

Many memoir writers who follow this method end up discarding their initial wave of memories -- the stories they had thought they wanted to tell, in favor of the more complex, and often less resolved material that floods into the vacuum once they've swept the initial layer of memory away.

_______

Today’s Story List (44):

1. UK spy chief says Putin ‘massively misjudged’ war (CNBC)

2. Ukraine Strikes Inside Russian Territory, Russians Say (WSJ)

3. Zelensky says Russian invasion of Ukraine is at a "turning point" (Axios)

4. Ukrainian forces are preparing for new Russian attacks in the southeast region where Moscow's guns are now trained after its assault on the capital Kyiv was repelled, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. (Reuters)

5. Expect 'even more suffering' in Ukraine, NATO chief warns; intense battles near Kyiv despite Russian pledge (USA Today)

6. U.S. leery of Russian troops’ shift from Kyiv (WP)

7. Russia Steps Up Attacks Amid Reports of Rifts in Moscow (NYT)

8. Heavy fighting rages near Kyiv as Russia appears to regroup (AP)

9. Less than 20% of Russian troops around Kyiv are 'repositioning': Pentagon on Day 35 (ABC)

10. Five weeks into an invasion that has blasted cities into wastelands and created more than 4 million refugees, U.S. and European officials said Russian president Vladimir Putin was misled by his generals about the dire performance of Russia's military. Britain's GCHQ spy chief said Russian soldiers refused to carry out orders. (Reuters)

11. Russian troops deployed to invade Ukraine are undermining their own offensive by rejecting orders and destroying their equipment, including aircraft, according to Jeremy Fleming, the head of British intelligence agency GCHQ. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence officials have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about his forces' poor performance in Ukraine. [HuffPost]

12. Putin’s advisers may be afraid to deliver bad news to him, according to U.S. intelligence (WP)

13. Biden is considering a plan to release up to a million barrels of oil a day from the nation's strategic reserve to help fight dramatic surges in gas prices, according to multiple reports. Gas prices have remained high for the last month amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has disrupted oil and gas deliveries around the world.[HuffPost]

14. US orders biggest ever release from Strategic Petroleum Reserve (Financial Times)

15. Zelenskyy Says Russia Massing Troops In Donbas For New Attacks (NBC)

16. US works to gauge peace prospects as it warns Putin ‘misinformed’ by advisers (CNN)

17. As Russia sees tech brain drain, other nations hope to gain (AP)

18. Germany condemns Putin gas supply 'blackmail' (BBC)

19. How the West Got Russia’s Military So, So Wrong — Good equipment and clever doctrine reveal little about how an army will perform in a war. (Atlantic)

20. Inflation in Germany and Spain reaches record levels, driven by Russia’s war. (NYT)

21. Ukraine says most Russian forces have left Chernobyl nuclear plant (Reuters)

22. Ukrainians in US mobilize to help 100,000 expected refugees (AP)

23. ‘Like Living in a Horror Movie’: A Ukraine Town Dying a Slow Death (NYT)

24. Red Cross prepares for Mariupol evacuations (AP)

25. Evacuation buses en route to Mariupol held at Russian checkpoint (CNN)

26. Ukrainians navigate a perilous route to safety out of besieged Mariupol (NPR)

27. Treasury hits Russia with new sanctions targeting evasion networks, tech (Politico)

28. Putin signed a decree ordering 134,500 new conscripts into the army as part of Russia's annual spring draft, but the defense ministry said the call-up had nothing to do with the war in Ukraine. (Reuters)

29. World is seeing the greatest number of conflicts since the end of WWII, U.N. says (NPR)

30. 'The president will get his way': Congress likely can't stop new Iran nuke deal (Politico)

31. A key inflation gauge sets 40-year high as gas and food soar (AP)

32. Kevin McCarthy is to blame for Madison Cawthorn. He deserves the consequences (Independent)

33. China’s Xi strongly backs Afghanistan at regional conference (AP)

34. Taliban Want to Control Aid Funds, a Red Line for Donors — The Taliban are asserting control over nongovernmental organizations working in Afghanistan, demanding a greater say over who receives aid and the staff NGOs hire, jeopardizing lifesaving deliveries to the Afghan population. (WSJ)

35. China, neighbors vow continued humanitarian aid for Afghanistan (NHK)

36. China’s zero-Covid policy tests small businesses in a make-or-break it year (CNBC)

37. Study finds ivermectin, the horse drug Joe Rogan championed as a COVID treatment, does nothing to cure the virus (Fortune)

38. Biden got his second COVID booster shot, announced a new coronavirus vaccine and treatment website, and urged Congress to continue providing funding to help with the pandemic — all as polling shows the country is losing interest in the 2-year-old public health crisis. “Americans are back to living their lives again. We can’t surrender that now,” Biden said. [HuffPost]

39. C.D.C. to Lift Order Restricting Immigration During the Pandemic (NYT)

40. 'Cannibal' coronal mass ejection will hit Earth at nearly 2 million mph, scientists say (LiveScience)

41. Ghazipur fire: Gasping for air as massive Delhi landfill burns (BBC)

42. Volunteers are working to protect newts that are crossing the Petaluma hills streets by the thousands.(Guardian)

43. 1950 Census data to be unveiled Friday after 72 years under wraps (WP)

44. Study Finds Gap Widening Between Rich Pets And Poor Americans (The Onion)

(Timeless) Lyrics:

“Lost in the Fifties Tonight”

Sung by Ronnie Milsap

Written by Reid Michael Barry / Seals Troy Harold / Parris Fredericke L

Close your eyes, Baby
Follow my heart
Call on the memories
Here in the dark
We'll let the magic
Take us away
Back to the feelings
We shared when they played

In the still of the night
Hold me darlin', hold me tight

So real, so right
I'm lost in the fifties tonight

These precious hours
We know can't survive
But loves all that matters
While the past is alive
Now and for always
Till time disappears
We'll hold each other
Whenever we hear

In the still of the night
Hold me darlin', hold me tight

So real, so right
Lost in the fifties tonight
(One more time it here)

So right

So real, so right

So real, so right
I'm lost in the fifties tonight