Our Generation

One experience common for Baby Boomers when we were kids is that we were subjected to those ridiculous air raid drills at school, where we were taught to dive under our desks and shield our heads — as if that would save us in a nuclear attack.

All serious looks at Bob Dylan’s writing, including Martin Scorsese’s “No Direction Home” recognizes this as a decisive influence in the poet’s formative years. He uses footage from those drills to drive the point home and Dylan confirms it in interviews.

Even though we were kids, we knew it was absurd at the time, yet the adults piled it on with more stuff like Disney’s “Our Friend the Atom,” a blatant attempt at pro-nuclear-power propaganda in 1957. What a pathetic joke that one was.

Almost as soon as he arrived in Greenwich Village and started singing in nightclubs, Dylan was mixing his recurrent nightmares about World War III into his songs.

These were the early days of the anti-war movement, which — though focused on the Vietnam War — always reflected elements of anti-nuke sentiment as well.

As youngsters, we intuited but were never actually told by our government how close we had repeatedly come to nuclear war until the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. But based on declassified documents, my own youngest son, who just happens to be named Dylan, wrote in a paper last year that President Eisenhower threatened to drop the bomb on China on more than one occasion in the fifties. (Dylan W is finishing up his master’s degree in history.)

Meanwhile, in Bob D’s main song on the topic (reprinted below) the key generational line is “I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours.” I’ve riffed on that idea many times over the years. We all felt like outsiders in a world where the rulers seemed willing to indulge in mutually assured destruction — all that was left for us to do was to comfort each other.

Of course we all had nightmares of ending up, dazed and alone, wandering in a post dystopia. Our solutions — drugs, casual sex, rock ‘n roll, escapism all, or activism, protest music, community organizing, crusading journalism — all blended together as options.

It was somehow assumed that one had to be either a hippie and tune out or a radical and tune in, so of course many of us decided we would instead be both at the same time — hippie-radicals.

That’s when things became dicey and our generation started to spin out violent strike forces like the Weather Underground. Few of us actually supported violence but most of us harbored violent resentment and anger at those Dylan branded as the “Masters of War.”

We also struck out against racial injustice, misogyny, homophobia — hate of all kinds, by advocating love for each other. Other poets besides Dylan spun out their solutions: “Love is All You Need,” etc.

And when it came to love, Dylan seemed somewhat cynical but always ambivalent, with his haunting “Love is Just a Four-Letter Word,” that his once-lover Joan Baez turned into a classic, or the ever-so-tender “Just Like a Woman.”

The truth? Relationships between Baby Boomers have always been complicated. It’s almost as if we can’t be apart but we can’t be together — we tended to have more relationships over our lifespans than previous generations, but our breakups drove divorce rates to record levels as well.

The one label older people tagged us with that I utterly reject is that we were somehow the ultimate “Me Generation.” That simply was not the case, despite the occasional narcissist in our ranks.

No, the truth is that we were and remain the “We Generation.” 

I ain't lookin' to compete with you
Beat or cheat or mistreat you
Simplify you, classify you
Deny, defy or crucify you
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you

We ran in a flock. And we’re still hoping to end up in each another’s dreams.

Today’s Headlines (40):

1. Russia targets port city of Odesa (CBS)

2. Firefighters battled blazes in Odesa after Russian missiles pounded the Ukrainian port, and Ukraine said Russian forces were pummeling a steel works in Mariupol where at least 100 civilians were still holed up. (Reuters)

3. Biden concerned Putin has no way out of war (USA Today)

4. Putin preparing for long war in Ukraine - US spy chief (BBC)

5. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that trade at the country's ports was at a standstill and urged the international community to take immediate steps to end a Russian blockade to allow wheat shipments and prevent a global food crisis. (Reuters)

6. In Speech, Putin Shows Reluctance in Demanding Too Much of Russians (NYT)

7. VIDEO: Putin Says Invading Ukraine was “Inevitable” (Reuters)

8. Russia’s invasion upends a shared World War II history with Ukraine. (NYT)

9. Thousands more civilians have been killed in Ukraine during nearly 11 weeks of war there than the official U.N. death toll of 3,381, the head of the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country said. The World Health Organization's European chief said that at least 3,000 people had died because they had been unable to access treatments for chronic diseases. (Reuters)

10. Biden signs Ukraine lend-lease act into law, expediting military aid (WP)

11. German officials are quietly preparing for any sudden halt in Russian gas supplies with an emergency package that could include taking control of critical firms, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Germany and Qatar have hit difficulties in talks over long-term liquefied natural gas supply deals amid differences over key conditions, including the duration of any contract. (Reuters)

12. Nearly Encircled, Ukraine’s Last Stronghold in Luhansk Resists Russian Onslaught (WSJ)

13. The ripple effects of Russia's war in Ukraine are changing the world (NPR)

14. Alito's home draws latest abortion-rights demonstration after Roe opinion breach (Politico)

15. GOP bets midterm voters will care more about inflation than abortion (WP)

16. Yellen: Banning abortion would be ‘very damaging’ to U.S. economy (Politico)

17. Predictions for a Post-RoeAmerica (Atlantic)

18. 3 journalists have been killed over 3 days in Mexico (NPR)

19. Ex-Facebook moderator in Kenya sues over working conditions (Guardian)

20. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is working to fix a baby formula shortage resulting from supply chain problems and a recall ordered after two infants died from bacterial infections, the White House said. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said there's no strategic Enfamil reserve to offset low national supplies. [HuffPost]

21. Gas prices climb to new high, putting Biden in a fresh bind (WP)

22. Marcos presidency complicates US efforts to counter China (AP)

23. Philippines election: torture survivors from Marcos era in shock after son’s win (Guardian)

24. China is on the hunt for 'Earth 2.0' with proposed space telescope (Space.com)

25. House Panel to Hold Public Hearing on Unexplained Aerial Sightings (NYT)

26. NASA reveals 1,600-foot asteroid will make ‘close approach’ to Earth in six days (NY Post)

27. NASA's InSight lander records 'monster earthquake' on Mars (ABC)

28. Pandemic gets tougher to track as COVID testing plunges (AP)

29. Bodies surfacing in Lake Mead recall mob’s time in Las Vegas (NBC)

30. Earth given 50-50 chance of hitting key warming mark by 2026 (AP)

31. Environment ministry to look for more areas to reintroduce endangered birds (NHK)

32. Ecuador prison riot leaves 43 dead in latest bloody episode (Guardian)

33. QAnon Joins Vigilantes at the Southern Border (NYT)

34. Inside the sales machine of the ‘kingpin’ of opioid makers (WP)

35. Pensions’ Bad Year Poised to Get Worse (WSJ)

36. Afghans still adjusting to US: New life, new struggles (AP)

37. How to Quit Intensive Parenting (Atlantic)

38. Buckingham Palace announced Queen Elizabeth will not be attending the state opening of Parliament, revealing that the 96-year-old monarch is experiencing "episodic mobility problems." This will be only the third time that the queen has missed the ceremony. [HuffPost]

39. Prince Charles delivers Queen’s Speech for the first time (CNN)

40. Dad Delivers Annual State Of The Lawn Address (The Onion)

TODAY’s LYRICS:

”Talkin’ World War III Blues”

By Bob Dylan

One time ago a crazy dream came to me
I dreamt I was walkin' into World War Three
I went to the doctor the very next day
To see what kinda words he could say
He said it was a bad dream
I wouldn't worry 'bout it none, though
Them old dreams are only in your head

I said, hold it, Doc, a World War passed through my brain
He said, nurse, get your pad, this boy's insane
He grabbed my arm, I said ouch
As I landed on the psychiatric couch
He said, tell me about it

Well, the whole thing started at three o'clock fast
It was all over by quarter past
I was down in the sewer with some little lover
When I peeked out from a manhole cover
Wondering who turned the lights on

Well, I got up and walked around
And up and down the lonesome town
I stood a-wondering which way to go
I lit a cigarette on a parking meter
And walked on down the road
It was a normal day

Well, I rung the fallout shelter bell
And I leaned my head and I gave a yell
Give me a string bean, I'm a hungry man
A shotgun fired and away I ran
I don't blame them too much though
They didn't know me

Down at the corner by a hot-dog stand
I seen a man, I said, 'howdy friend'
I guess there's just us two
He screamed a bit and away he flew
Thought I was a Communist

Well, I spied a girl and before she could leave
I said, let's go and play Adam and Eve
I took her by the hand and my heart it was thumpin'
When she said, hey man, you crazy or sumpin'
You seen what happened last time they started

Well, I seen a Cadillac window uptown
And there was nobody aroun'
I got into the driver's seat
And I drove down 42nd Street
In my Cadillac
Good car to drive after a war

Well, I remember seein' some ad
So I turned on my Conelrad
But I didn't pay my Con Ed bill
So the radio didn't work so well
Turned on my record player
It was Rock-A-Day, Johnny singin'
Tell your Ma, tell your Pa
Our loves are gonna grow ooh-wah, ooh-wah

I was feelin' kinda lonesome and blue
I needed somebody to talk to
So I called up the operator of time
Just to hear a voice of some kind
When you hear the beep
It will be three o'clock
She said that for over an hour
And I hung up

Well, the doctor interrupted me just about then
Sayin, Hey I've been havin' the same old dreams
But mine was a little different you see
I dreamt that the only person left after the war was me
I didn't see you around

Well, now time passed and now it seems
Everybody's having them dreams
Everybody sees themselves walkin' around with no one else
Half of the people can be part right all of the time
Some of the people can be all right part of the time
But all of the people can't be all right all of the time
I think Abraham Lincoln said that
I'll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours
I said that

Our Lives, His Voice: Bob Dylan

 Rewatching “No Direction Home,” Martin Scorsese’s epic 2005 documentary about Bob Dylan’s early career, requires stamina but is worth it. Not only does it contain dozens and dozens of tracks from his concerts in the early sixties, it contains the most extensive interviews he has ever given as well.

If you love Dylan’s music, which I do, the live footage of his performances is priceless. But whether you like it or not, the way he talks about his life and career bring us as close to an understanding of what we as a generation tried to do collectively as we are ever likely to get.

The unanswerable question is how and why this skinny, scruffy, raspy-voiced poet from Hibbing, MN, emerged at exactly the right place, Greenwich Village and right time, 1961, to issue a series of clarion calls for an entire generation.

He was and is by far our most authentic voice. He wrote and sang like a man possessed of some supernatural ability to channel the emerging spirit of the largest generation of humans to ever crowd our way onto the planet. 

Meanwhile, just like many of the rest of us, Dylan has lived out his personal life and his career as a series of acts, changing and adapting to a world that’s never seemed quite as stable as the one our parents envisioned for us. Through multiple marriages and relationships, he’s somehow raised six kids, just like me, while stubbornly staying as far out of the limelight as his superstardom has allowed.

To this day, Dylan’s greatest songs give me chills and make the hair stand up on the back of my neck. His music, more than any other, helps me remember who I am. 

Somehow he became us — or we became him — I’m not sure which. Or maybe it’s both. 

He doesn’t know either — his modesty is not false. Like he said, he was just a song and dance man. He didn’t try to be a leader or the face of a generation. But he became that anyway and the world is a better place because of it.

Bob Dylan will turn 81 in a couple of weeks.

News Headlines:

1. Both Sides Harden Positions on Anniversary of Nazi Defeat in Europe (NYT)

2. Russia’s Putin blames West for war in Ukraine in Victory Day speech (BBC)

3. For Vladimir Putin, the sinister cult of victory is all that is left (Guardian)

4. Ukraine is rebuilding cities as fast as Russia destroyed them (WP)

5. Putin accuses the West of backing threats of 'nuclear war,' provoking Ukraine conflict (Fox)

6. Ukrainian officials said heavy fighting was underway in eastern Ukraine and warned people to take cover from expected missile strikes as Moscow marked the anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two. Here are quotes from Putin's televised speech. (Reuters)

7. Putin defends Ukraine invasion during speech, doesn’t escalate conflict (WP)

8. White House says 20 internet companies will provide effectively free internet to millions of Americans (Yahoo)

9. What will COVID look like this summer? Health experts say the virus won't be endemic, yet. (USA Today)

10. If Roe Falls, Is Same-Sex Marriage Next? (NYT)

11. Will Brown v. Board of Education be next to fall? (Politico)

12. NPR reporter says ‘leading theory’ on SCOTUS leak is conservative clerk (The Hill)

13. Hundreds of Suicidal Teens Sleep in Emergency Rooms. Every Night. (NYT)

14. Facing a new climate reality, southern California lawns could wither (WP)

15. Coral reefs provide stunning images of a world under assault (AP)

16. TikTok May Be More Dangerous Than It Looks (Ezra Klein/NYT)

17. Tech Shares Lead Declines as Stocks Extend Selloff (WSJ)

18. No shelter from the inflation storm (Politico)

19. Stocks fell again and the dollar rocketed to a new two-decade high as worries about higher interest rates and a tightened lockdown in Shanghai deepened investors' fears that the global economy is headed for a slowdown. China's export growth slowed to single digits, the weakest in almost two years, while imports barely changed in April. (Reuters)

20. Wall Street’s losses worsen as markets tumble worldwide (AP)

21. Bitcoin value drops by 50% since November peak (BBC)

22. ‘I Want to Meet With the Taliban’: Tales of Trump’s Head-Scratching Diplomacy (Politico)

23. Marcos Jr poised to win Philippine presidential election (Financial Times)

24. Monster black hole might have executed a magnetic 'flip' (Space.com)

25. Here's a Glimpse at a Future Hothouse Earth if Greenhouse Gasses Aren't Curbed (ScienceAlert)

26. Discoveries shed new light on the day the dinosaurs died (WP)

27. Man Sleeps Through His Stop On Elevator (The Onion)

TODAY’s LYRICS:

“Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”

By Bob Dylan

When you're lost in the rain in Juarez, and it's Easter time too
And your gravity's down and negativity don't pull you
Just don't put on any airs when you're down on Rue Morgue Avenue
They got some hungry women there and they'll really make a mess outta you

Now if you see Saint Annie, please tell her thanks a lot
I cannot move, my fingers they are all in a knot
I don't have the strength to get up and take another shot
And my best friend, the doctor, he won't even tell me what it is I've got

Sweet Melinda, the peasants call her the goddess of gloom
She speaks good English and she invites you up into her room
And you're so kind and careful not to go to her too soon
And she steals your voice and leaves you screaming at the moon

Up on Housing Project Hill it's either fortune or fame
You must pick one or the other, neither of them are to be what they claim
If you're lookin' to get silly, you better go back to from where you came
Because the cops don't need you, and man, they expect the same

Now all the authorities, they just stand around and boast
How they blackmailed the sergeant-at-arms into leaving his post
And picking up Angel, who just arrived from the coast
Who looked so fine at first, but left looking just like a ghost

I started out on Burgundy, but soon hit the harder stuff
Everybody said they'd stand behind me when the game got rough
Yea, but the joke was on me, there was nobody even at my bluff
I'm going back to New York City, I do believe I've had enough

Ben Fong-Torres: The Real Deal

 Of all the talented people I got to know in my years writing for Rolling Stone, nobody was more impressively and consistently professional than Ben Fong-Torres. He was the ultimate reporter and editor, a smart, skilled story-teller with an eye for detail, all the while remaining honest, witty and utterly incorruptible in a sector (the music business) where corruption was rampant. 

Now his personal story has been told in “Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres” on Netflix. Director Suzanne Joe Kai got access to the right amount of celebrity moments, historical footage, and contemporary interviews to capture the man with all his complexity and integrity.

The clips from his conversations with Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Paul McCartney, Bob Weir and Elton John in the early years of the magazine are priceless and enduring proof of his skill as an interviewer.

When the magazine moved from San Francisco to New York in 1977, Ben was among those of us who stayed behind. He has remained an active member of the Bay Area entertainment and media community — and a local treasure — ever since.

In addition to all of that, Ben is a true pioneer. He’s the Asian-American kid who some tried to ridicule who ended up as the coolest guy on the entire block — at the center of the universe of the rock ‘n roll revolution.

Today’s News:

1. 60 feared dead in Russian bombing of Ukrainian school (CNBC)

2. Jill Biden pays surprise visit to Ukraine (AP)

3. Russian Pullback Seen Near Kharkiv, Despite Victory Day Push for Gains (NYT)

4. U.S. Senate to vote Wednesday on abortion rights bill, Schumer says (Reuters)

5. Russia’s Grave Miscalculation: Ukrainians Would Collaborate (NYT)

6. Ahead of a Victory Day without victory, Putin faces a choice over whether to launch all-out war (WP)

7. US announces sanctions against Kremlin-controlled media companies and bans Russia from using some American consulting services (CNN)

8. Viewpoint: Putin now faces only different kinds of defeat (BBC)

9. Women, children evacuated from steel plant after being trapped for weeks (WP)

10. Ukrainian fighters at besieged Azovstal plant vow to fight till the end (Reuters)

11. Volunteers rescue elderly Ukrainians from front lines as the clock ticks and Russians advance (WP)

12. Russia continues attacks in Ukraine's east and south (NHK)

13. CIA director says China ‘unsettled’ by Ukraine war (Financial Times)

14. Detailed ‘open source’ news investigations are catching on (AP)

15. Tech Industry’s Epic 2-Year Run Falters (WSJ)

16. Abortion Rights and the Courts (New Yorker)

17. Michigan AG refuses 'draconian' 1931 abortion law (Politico)

18. Abortion bans 'will be swift' if Roe v. Wade is overturned: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (ABC)

19. Where Does the Anti-Abortion Movement Go After Roe? (NYT)

20. After leak, religious rift over legal abortion on display (AP)

21. Congress Set to Clash on Abortion Following Draft Opinion on Roe v. Wade (WSJ)

22. A 49-year crusade: Inside the movement to overturn Roe v. Wade (WP)

23. Supreme Court justices 'misled the Senate,' Gillibrand said (Politico)

24. The lucky few to never get coronavirus could teach us more about it (WP)

25. U.S. Presses Taiwan to Buy Weapons More Suited to Win Against China (NYT)

26. Researchers spot a rare type of dragonfish at 1,000 feet deep (NPR)

27. How climate scientists keep hope alive as damage worsens (AP)

28. The World Has No Choice but to Care About India’s Heat Wave (India)

29. Global scramble for metals thrusts Africa into mining spotlight (Reuters)

30. In Kabul, he worked as a senior official. Now he makes $15 an hour. (WP)

31. Taliban divisions deepen as Afghan women defy veil edict (AP)

32. Area Man Self-Conscious About All The Wrong Things (The Onion)

TODAY’s LYRICS:

“Ballad of a Thin Man”

Bob Dylan

You walk into the room with your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked and you say, "Who is that man?"
You try so hard but you don't understand
Just what you will say when you get home
Because something is happening here but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

You raise up your head and you ask, "Is this where it is?"
And somebody points to you and says, "It's his"
And you say, "What's mine?" and somebody else says, "Well, what is?"
And you say, "Oh my God, am I here all alone?"
But something is happening and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

You hand in your ticket and you go watch the geek
Who immediately walks up to you when he hears you speak
And says, "How does it feel to be such a freak?"
And you say, "Impossible!" as he hands you a bone
And something is happening here but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

You have many contacts among the lumberjacks
To get you facts when someone attacks your imagination
But nobody has any respect, anyway they already expect you to all give a check
To tax-deductible charity organizations

Ah, you've been with the professors and they've all liked your looks
With great lawyers you have discussed lepers and crooks
You've been through all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's books
You're very well-read, it's well-known
But something is happening here and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you and then he kneels
He crosses himself and then he clicks his high heels
And without further notice, he asks you how it feels
And he says, "Here is your throat back, thanks for the loan"
And you know something is happening but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

Now, you see this one-eyed midget shouting the word "Now"
And you say, "For what reason?" and he says, "How"
And you say, "What does this mean?" and he screams back, "You're a cow!
Give me some milk or else go home"
And you know something's happening but you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

Well, you walk into the room like a camel, and then you frown
You put your eyes in your pocket and your nose on the ground
There ought to be a law against you comin' around
You should be made to wear earphones
'Cause something is happening and you don't know what it is
Do you, Mr. Jones?

Leaks That Matter

 To my way of thinking, one of the least important questions from this past week’s news cycle is who leaked the Supreme Court draft decision. Once Chief Justice Roberts confirmed that the draft was authentic, the questions of who leaked it and why became basically irrelevant.

Of course, there may be some concerns in the legal community over the propriety of the leak and the need to preserve the confidentiality of the Court’s process but those strike me as of little concern to the rest of us.

As a journalist, I thought the leak was a good thing on many levels. And having been part of many such leaks in the past, I assume that the parties involved both at the Court and at Politico, which broke the story, did what we do in such cases to obscure their points of contact.

Encrypted apps, burner phones, dumb computer terminals and third parties may all have been involved.

In any event, the reason I think the leak is good, probably for everyone actually, is we need more transparency when it comes to the Court. The days that it can remain a black box while taking controversial, life-changing decisions are gone.

No other branch of government, not even the intelligence sector of the executive branch, wields so much power in secret.

In addition, if any of the justices were having second thoughts about how the decision would play out in public, now they know, and presumably still have time to reverse, modify, or narrow their decision.

For that reason, this leak probably was a trial balloon sent up by one of the anti-abortion justices.

In any event, congratulations to Politico for a rare good day for journalism and democracy. 

TODAY’s NEWS:

1. Turning Tables on Russia With West’s Arms, Ukraine Goes on Offense (NYT)

2. Ukraine lays out demands for peace talks as West braces for escalation (WP)

3. Women and children evacuated from Mariupol plant; Ukrainian forces pursue counteroffensive around Kharkiv (CNBC)

4. As war grinds on, the definition of victory remains murky (WP)

5. The War in Ukraine, as Seen on Russian TV (NYT)

6. Facing heavy casualties, Ukraine and Russia race to resupply (WP)

7. One Village at a Time: The Grinding Artillery War in Ukraine (NYT)

8. Pentagon will buy Ukraine laser-guided rockets, surveillance drones (WP)

9. Intel leaks show US success in Ukraine — but come with risks (The Hill)

10. In battered Kharkiv, zcold, dark basements are the last safe refuge (WP)

11. St. Louis seeking to boost population with Afghan refugees (AP)

12. Taliban decree orders women in Afghanistan to cover their faces (CNN)

13. Afghanistan’s Taliban order women to cover up head to toe (AP)

14. A Fight Over America’s Energy Future Erupts on the Canadian Border (NYT)

15. Coronavirus wave this fall could infect 100 million, administration warns (WP)

16. Liberty No More — If Roe v. Wade is overturned, the very definition of what it means to be American will change for women and girls in the United States. (Atlantic)

17. Midwest Abortion Providers Scramble to Prepare for a Post-Roe World

    With federal protections imperiled, advocates expect a dramatic influx of interstate “refugees” seeking care. (New Yorker)

    By Peter Slevin

18. CNN poll: The Supreme Court’s draft opinion on Roe v. Wade hasn’t shaken the midterm landscape (CNN)

19. G.O.P. Lawmakers Recast Abortion Stance, Wary of Voter Backlash (NYT)

20. Supreme Court leaks are good, actually. Let’s have more of them (SFC)

21. Battle Over Abortion Threatens to Deepen America’s Divide (NYT)

22. Google’s cloud group forms Web3 team to capitalize on booming popularity of crypto (CNBC)

23. Scientists Follow a 'Yellow Brick Road' in a Never-Before-Seen Spot of The Pacific Ocean (ScienceAlert)

24. The two largest reservoirs in California are already at ‘critically low levels’ and the dry season is just starting (CNN)

25. ‘Record after record’: Brazil’s Amazon deforestation hits April high, nearly double previous peak (Guardian)

26. What Chimpanzees Taught Me About Motherhood (WSJ)

27. A surging glow in a distant galaxy could change the way we look at black holes (Phys.org)

28. Sick Man Slowly Becoming Enthroned In Used Tissues (The Onion)

On the Road (Again)

 Late Thursday afternoon I did something I hadn’t done since long before the pandemic — I drove a car. It had been over three years and I wondered what it would be like after such a long layoff.

One of the reasons I stopped driving is my vision had become so bad by 2019 that it seemed hazardous to navigate San Francisco’s crowded narrow streets, especially at dusk. More than once, somebody dressed entirely in dark clothes had darted in front of my car on a skateboard or bicycle and I’d barely avoided hitting them.

My job was only four blocks away from my apartment so I could walk to work. My kids were all grown up and off at college. The coming of ride-sharing apps — Lyft, Uber, etc. — gave me options when I really needed to get somewhere.

So I just stopped. And sold my car.

Fast forward to this week and all of a sudden I started again. What changed in the interim? Eye surgery, the removal of cataracts in both eyes.

As it turned out, my first time back in the driver’s seat was to get to an appointment with my eye doctor. The news I got was not unexpected — my vision now is 20-20 and there is no need for glasses for driving, reading or anything.

The distance from home to doctor’s office was just under four miles and it took roughly a half hour each way in the late afternoon traffic. The appointment was over in 15 minutes.

For me, this experience took me back about 60 years when I first got a driver’s license in Michigan. It was a powerful experience then and it was similarly powerful on Thursday.

And no, I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything about driving. Muscle memory took care of that.

The News (31):

1. ‘A severe chilling effect’: abortion bans will inhibit doctors’ advice to patients, experts fear (Guardian)

2. Draft Opinion Overturning Roe Raises a Question: Are More Precedents Next? (NYT)

3. Memories of pre-Roe America, from people who were there (WP)

4. Inside the 1970s Abortion Underground (Politico)

5. Louisiana lawmakers advance bill that would classify abortion as homicide (NBC)

6. Alito’s draft ruling is a warning to LGBTQ Americans (WP)

7. Inside the unprecedented Supreme Court revelation with a POLITICO reporter who broke the story (Politico)

8. Putin’s Forces Battle in East Ukraine to Feed His Hunger for a Victory (NYT)

9. Pentagon: most Russian forces left Mariupol (AP)

10. How millions of Russians are tearing holes in the Digital Iron Curtain (WP)

11. The European Commission has proposed changes to its planned embargo on Russian oil in a bid to win over reluctant states, three EU sources told Reuters. The tweaked proposal includes giving Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic more time to adapt to the embargo, and help with upgrading their own oil infrastructure. (Reuters)

12. Chinese Tech Giants Quietly Retreat From Doing Business With Russia (WSJ)

13. U.S. Intelligence Helped Ukraine Strike Russian Flagship, Officials Say (NYT)

14. Ukraine prosecutors: 223 children killed in Russia's invasion (NHK)

15. Ninth journalist killed in Mexico this year as violence against media soars

    Murder of veteran Luis Enrique Ramírez – found in bag beside road – brings estimated death toll of journalists in president’s term to 34 (Guardian)

16. A drought so bad it exposed a long-ago homicide. Getting the water back will be harder than ever (LAT)

17. VIDEO: Sandstorm Blankets Baghdad (AP)

18. Wildfires burning through New Mexico could get worse this weekend. (WP)

19. Massive amount of water found below Antarctica’s ice sheet for 1st time (CNN)

20. Huge solar flare captured in stunning NASA image as it fires off from the sun (LiveScience)

21. U.S. regulators strictly limited who can receive Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine due to the ongoing risk of rare but serious blood clots. The Food and Drug Administration said the shot should only be given to adults who cannot receive a different vaccine or specifically request J&J’s vaccine. [AP]

22. Residents of Beijing fretted over dozens of new COVID cases reported daily and over the possibility of more restrictions on movements as China's leaders threatened action against critics of their zero-COVID policy. Meanwhile, the spread of COVID in compounds that have been sealed off for weeks is baffling Shanghai residents.(Reuters)

23. Nearly half of LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide, survey finds (NPR)

24. U.S. Hiring Stayed Strong in April Despite Headwinds (WSJ)

25. The U.S. jobs market continues its strong comeback from the pandemic (NPR)

26. Inflation Eclipses Historically Strong Wage Gains (WSJ)

27. New San Francisco ad blasts Chesa Boudin over drugs. There's just one problem. It’s a lie. (SFGate)

28. An interview with Rodney King’s daughter on the 30th anniversary of the riots, (NPR)

29. On social media, Richard Whitehead is a warrior for the American right. He's praised extremist groups and called for public executions of government officials deemed disloyal to former President Donald Trump. He also trains U.S. police officers. Read our special report on the police trainers with far-right ties. (Reuters)

30. Then-President Donald Trump asked his defense secretary, Mark Esper, if the U.S. could fire missiles into Mexico to destroy drug labs run by cartels, keeping the military action secret, Esper writes in an upcoming memoir about his time in the White House. Esper previously recounted a moment when Trump urged his top military officials to order troops to shoot protesters who demonstrated after the police killing of George Floyd. [HuffPost]

31. Mother Trying Her Best To Project Same Amount Of Insecurities Onto All Her Daughters (The Onion)

Crime in the Streets

About 20 years ago I had dinner with a friend at a restaurant downtown one evening when my car, which was parked in a metered space along The Embarcadero, got broken into. The thieves got away with my laptop, files, address book, some photos, etc., before fading into the night.

I first realized something as amiss when I returned to the car after dinner to find it unlocked. I never left the car unlocked, even when outside of my house for five minutes, never.

When I saw my briefcase was missing, I panicked and tried to think of who to call. Before I could think of anyone, my cellphone rang and it was a stranger who had found the contents of my briefcase (absent the laptop) blowing across a street on the south side of the city.

“I was with my wife walking the dog when we saw your stuff,” he told me. “I said to her, ‘that’s someone’s life flying around out there; we gotta gather it up’ and she helped me get it all. That’s how I found your number.”

Grateful, I drove to his address and reclaimed my personal items.

But the laptop and the briefcase were long gone, so I went to an electronics store, Fry’s, in Palo Alto with one of my students from Stanford and purchased a new laptop for $2000 and a case to carry it in.

A few days later I was talking with San Francisco’s D.A., Terence “Kayo” Hallinan and told him what had happened.

“All too typical,” he sighed. “Happens every night. The only shot you’ve got at finding your laptop is from the guys selling stolen goods in the Tenderloin. If they have it they probably would sell it back to you for about a hundred bucks.” 

He told me when and where to go.

I went there but of course had no luck recovering my stolen computer. After that I put away this whole bad memory with lots of others; it only popped up again a few nights ago as I listened to the current D.A., Chesa Boudin, explain how he is trying to deal with the car and store break-ins that still plague the city, two decades later.

He explained that there are organized gangs who carry out these crimes, most of them are from outside of San Francisco. They come in, make their move and then sell whatever they can steal to fencing operations. Everything ends up back on the street.

Lately I’ve noticed the current stolen goods market is along Mission just north of the 24th Street Bart station. Vendor after vendor is selling the pilfered goods — mainly packaged toiletries like toothpaste and shampoo still in their original containers laid out on tables or blankets alongside the busy thoroughfare.

Boudin described his frustration at trying to work with police and other law enforcement officials to interdict such operations. By the time the items get to the street sellers, the trail leading back to the gangs robbing Walgreen’s or the car thieves is cold.

Such crime is and long been endemic in San Francisco and other major cities. I had my car broken into at least six times during the years I lived in the city. At first I reported the crimes, until I realized that there was virtually no chance prosectors or the police would ever catch and convict the perpetrators.

Organized crime rings do occasionally get broken up by the FBI, or DEA or other federal or state investigators, but only rarely. The criminals usually stay one step ahead of the cops, which is why we need social programs addressing the root causes of crime — poverty, education, discrimination and addiction services — as advocated by progressive officials like Boudin.

I wish more of my fellow voters realized that until the vicious cycle of poverty gets broken, such crimes waves will continue as well. So don’t blame officials trying to reform the system. Listen to them instead.

TODAY’S NEWS (41):

1. What overturning Roe v. Wade could mean for the rest of the world (NPR)

2. Which states would restrict or protect abortion rights if Roe v. Wade is struck down? (CBS)

3. Roe leak may impact how Supreme Court decides gun rights, climate and immigration cases this spring (CNN)

4. Panic turns to strategy in White House pursuit to protect abortion (WP)

5. Once Close Allies, Roberts and Alito Have Taken Divergent Paths (NYT)

6. It’s Chief Justice Roberts’ Court, but does he still lead? (AP)

7. How the reversal of Roe v. Wade could impact the transgender community (NPR)

8. Louisiana Republicans advance bill that would charge abortion as homicide (WP)

9. Abortion Pills Stand to Become the Next Battleground in a Post-Roe America (NYT)

10. Advocates worry other rights at risk if court overturns Roe (AP)

11. In midterm battlegrounds, both parties try to weaponize abortion (NBC)

12. President Joe Biden referred to the Trump-led “MAGA” crowd as “the most extreme political organization” in “recent American history.” The comment came in response to a question about the Supreme Court’s draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, which, as written, also attacks landmark LGBTQ civil rights cases. “This is about a lot more than abortion,” Biden said. "What are the next things that are going to be attacked?" [HuffPost]

13. America’s Blue-Red Divide Is About to Get Starker (Atlantic)

14. Attacks on Mariupol steelworks intensify as Russia looks to end standoff; fate of Ukraine’s Donbas in the balance (CNBC)

15. Besieged Mariupol steel plant in ‘critical’ situation, official says (WP)

16. U.S. Intelligence Is Helping Ukraine Kill Russian Generals, Officials Say (NYT)

17. U.S. denies providing Ukraine intel specifically to target Russian generals (CBS)

18. Russians steal vast amounts of Ukrainian grain and equipment, threatening this year’s harvest (CNN)

19. Russia Announces Three-Day Cease-Fire For Civilians To Evacuate Mariupol Steel Plant (NBC)

20. Russia targeting Ukraine’s rail system, officials say (WP)

21. UNHCR: Over 5.7 million have fled Ukraine (NHK)

22. When Russian troops retreated from Ukraine’s Bucha they left reminders of their deadly occupation for all the world to see. As prosecutors begin the work of identifying those responsible for alleged atrocities, Reuters has examined the aftermath of Russia’s hasty retreat – and found vital clues to the identities of individual soldiers and military units present during the bloody occupation. (Reuters)

23. Americans Are Missing a Key Stratum of Modern Knowledge — To understand how climate change is altering our planet, it helps to know a little Earth science. (Atlantic)

24. Afghans who want teen girls back in school have new allies: Taliban-affiliated clerics (NPR)

25. Climate change is putting the Jamestown settlement at risk. — The Virginia site was added to the list of the country’s most endangered historical places yesterday. It’s battling rising water levels and increasingly frequent, damaging rains. (WP)

26. A collection of foresters, scientists and land managers will plant 200,000 first-year giant sequoias in an effort to rebuild the forest. (San Francisco Chronicle)

27. Why soil is one of the most amazing things on Earth (BBC)

28. If you've had omicron before, are you safe from infection by the new variants? (NPR)

29. Nearly 15 million deaths related to covid-19, WHO estimates (WP)

30. WHO Says 15 Million Have Died From Pandemic, With Highest Toll in India (WSJ)

31. Coronavirus far deadlier than official count, WHO estimate suggests (Financial Times)

32. Fed issues biggest rate hike in 22 years (CNN)

33. Fed Makes Biggest Interest Rate Increase Since 2000 as High Inflation Persists (NYT)

34. Digital-Ad Giants Google, Facebook, Amazon Come Down From Pandemic Highs (WSJ)

35. Rising interest rates in US will hinder foreign economies (AP)

36. Stock Selloff Accelerates as Dow Drops More Than 3% (WSJ)

37. Dow plunges 1,100 points as Wall Street sell-off accelerates (WP)

38. The Bank of England raised interest rates to their highest since 2009 at 1% to counter inflation now heading above 10%, even as it sent a warning that Britain risks falling into recession. British private-sector growth slowed to its weakest pace in four months in April as businesses raised prices on the broadest basis since at least the late 1990s, a closely watched survey showed. (Reuters)

39. Why Biden is in Danger of Replicating Woodrow Wilson’s Propaganda Machine (Politico)

40. Oath Keeper details pre-Jan. 6 planning, pleads to seditious conspiracy (WP)

41. HR Director Reminds Employees That Any Crying Done At Office Must Be Work-Related (The Onion)