2025-09-13 03:48:45
Charlie Kirk's assassin has been apprehended. It turns out that he doesn't represent half of America. In fact, if he represents anything, it's the intersection of three American trends: The wide and easy availability of high-powered guns, the increase of politically-motivated hate speech (starting from the top), and the scourge of online radicalization happily powered by social media companies. All three elements of this unholy trinity have only accelerated this week. I shared my take on this yesterday: This is U.S. But it probably won't matter what Kirk's killer did or didn't believe, as the broader meaning and battle lines associated with his act were being instinctually etched into our alternate realities before we even learned what he etched into his bullet casings.
+ "The assassination of a high-profile political figure like Charlie Kirk marks a continuation of the trend toward lone-actorviolence, rather than the emergence of organized political conflict or even partisan conflict. The U.S. has a concentration of serious violence in individual attacks without a partisan motivation or trend. The perpetrators and victims of school shootings, racially motivated assaults, and targeted killings of political leaders, corporate executives, and public officials are not partisan or even coherently political. Because the murders are not motivated by a shared political agenda, they are a manifestation of the U.S.’s unique vulnerability to individualized violence in a polarized, heavily armed society." Politico Magazine: 10 Political Violence Experts on What Comes Next for America. (Alternate link here.) "The radicalization pipeline runs through a handful of American tech companies that remain almost entirely unregulated. If lawmakers were willing to curb the algorithms that amplify conspiracy theories, disinformation and hate, they could weaken the pipeline feeding violent extremism. After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, that may be the single most immediate lever left to pull. The question is whether America has the will to pull it before the violence grows worse."
+ NYT (Gift Article): ‘Civil War’ Mentions Surge Online After Kirk Assassination. "The talk of civil war came largely from Republican lawmakers, right-wing media personalities and conservative podcasters, according to a review by The Times. Some questioned whether America was already engaged in a civil war over its values, while others called for violence after Mr. Kirk’s death."
+ Garbage Day: Charlie Kirk was killed by a meme.
+ Here's the latest from CNN and NBC.
"In a historic ruling, the Supreme Court voted 4 to 1 to convict ex-President Jair Bolsonaro of conspiring against democracy and attempting a coup in the wake of his 2022 election defeat. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison. Barring a successful appeal, which is unlikely, Mr. Bolsonaro will become the first coup leader in Brazilian history to serve time in prison. These developments draw a sharp contrast with the United States, where President Trump, who also attempted to overturn an election, was sent not to prison but back to the White House." NYT (Gift Article): Brazil Just Succeeded Where America Failed. Needless to say, not everyone in America sees Brazil's justice as a success. "In short, the Trump administration has sought to use tariffs and sanctions to bully Brazilians into subverting their legal system — and their democracy along with it. In effect, the U.S. administration is punishing Brazilians for doing something Americans should have done, but failed to: hold a former president accountable for attempting to overturn an election."
+ Today on Fox, Trump explained that he thinks America should be more like China and have really quick trials, even the following day. (I'm sort of with him as long as this applies to insurrection cases...)
"Startup founder Marty Kausas was at the office Sunday. Where else would he be? Kausas, 28 years old, recently posted on LinkedIn that he put in three 92-hour weeks in a row. He went on vacation once, he said, but flew home early because he was too stressed about work. His goal is to build a $10 billion company in 10 years." (In that case, his hourly rate will still be pretty good.) WSJ (Gift Article): AI Startup Founders Tout a Winning Formula—No Booze, No Sleep, No Fun. (That basically sounds like life over 50.)
What to Comedy: I had never heard of comedian Jordan Jensen before I saw her debut Netflix special. She is unique and fantastic. Loved it. Jordan Jensen: Take Me With You.
+ What to Watch: Robin Wright and Olivia Cooke star in The Girlfriend on Prime, a binge-able thriller (sort of a love triangle between a woman, a man, and his mom).
Nuclear Power: "The change, pushed through along party lines, lowered the existing 60-vote threshold for considering a group of presidential nominees to a simple majority, weakening the ability of individual senators to block nominees they find objectionable." Breaking Precedent, G.O.P. Changes Rules on Nominees. (This move is known as the the nuclear option.) Speaking of changing the rules of the game. Missouri Legislature passes new Republican-drawn congressional map.
+ Memphis in the Meantime: Apparently, when it comes to domestic troop deployments, Chicago is out, Memphis is in. Trump announces National Guard will be deployed in Memphis to fight crime.
+ Where You From? "It can take days or weeks for ICE or someone’s attorney to track down their birth records. 'The idea that it’s going to be done in a Home Depot parking lot is ludicrous.'" The Atlantic (Gift Article): How Do You Prove Your Citizenship?
+ There Allies the Problem: "In recent months, some European governments have talked about buying more locally-produced equipment, nervous about depending on U.S.-made weapons. President Trump has also angered Denmark by talking about annexing Greenland, a Danish territory." WSJ (Gift Article): A U.S. Icon Loses Out to European Rival in Rush for Air Defenses. It turns out attacking allies is bad for business. And for everything else. Bloomberg (Gift Article): America’s Friends Will Never Trust the US Again. "For the sake of argument, ignore factors such as honor, credibility, ideals and values for a moment and think only in terms of realpolitik and the looming contest with communist China. Even and especially then, Trump’s de facto policy of contempt for allies seems bonkers."
+ Welcome Splat: "Returning workers described the trauma of seeing armored vehicles and armed agents rolling in, and of being handcuffed and shackled at the ankles by the immigration officials. 'I will never visit the United States again.'" Freed From U.S. Detention, South Korean Workers Return Home to Tearful Cheers.
+ Sucking the Marrow Out of Murrow: "CBS' new corporate owner has taken a series of concrete steps to address the concerns of the news division's sharpest critics — particularly President Trump and his allies." CBS shifts to appease the right under new owner. (And that new owner, Skydance, is making a move for WarnerBros. So CNN could be next.)
+ Frank Talk: "'September '77, Port Elizabeth weather fine. It was business as usual, in police room 619,' go the opening lines of singer Peter Gabriel's famous anti-apartheid anthem from 1980 about murdered South African activist Steve Biko. Apartheid police always maintained that the Black Consciousness Movement leader died after accidently hitting his head against his prison cell wall." Believe it or not, that's not true. South Africa reopens inquest into death of Steve Biko. (Denzel Washington and Kevin Kline star in an excellent movie about Biko: Cry Freedom.)
An awesome look at an old school internet site that is still thriving. At 20, Techmeme has never been hotter.
+ "At a warehouse in an industrial corridor of downtown Los Angeles, a handful of technicians are hunched over their brightly lit workstations, tinkering with saxophones, violins, and pianos." This shop fixes student instruments for free. Now, a music legend is chipping in. (The program was featured in the award winning doc: The Last Repair Shop.)
+ California’s first solar-covered canal is now fully online. (This makes so much sense that's it's almost unbelievable that it actually happened.)
+ Conductor Jumps Onto Tracks to Save Teen Who Fainted.
+ Wired: Crispr Offers New Hope for Treating Diabetes.
+ NYT Mag (Gift Article): How a Group of Students in the Pacific Islands Reshaped Global Climate Law.
+ Man, 34, has tooth implanted in eye to restore his vision. "Brent Chapman can see again after doctors pulled out one of his teeth, flattened it, drilled a hole in it, placed a lens inside and implanted the tooth in one of his eyes." (Great news for his vision. Really bad news for his next visit to the dental hygienist.)
+ The wedding crasher mystery solved after four years.
2025-09-12 03:33:48
Let's review. America is a gun maniacal society where there are few limits when it comes to getting weapons of war into the hands of citizens. America has a uniquely disturbing school shooting problem, and so far, none of those shootings, no matter how devastating, have altered the long term trajectory of selling increasingly deadly guns. We have decided as a nation that the need for these guns outweighs the cost of nearly 50,000 gun related deaths a year. The tone of our political exchanges is heated, terrible, and often violent. This starts right at the top, with regular incitements of and praise for violence against opponents, and even the making fun of victims of heinous crimes. This violent rhetoric has not abated, even as we've suffered a recent series of politically motivated attacks. With a focus on engagement and the bottom line, our social networks encourage divisiveness, hate, and fear of the other. It's so bad that the hate, violent rhetoric, and dangerous conspiracy theories being directed toward our fellow Americans immediately increased after the latest political assassination; the bile spewing long before a suspect was apprehended—with everyone within thumbs-reach of a connected device weighing in on the broader meaning of one shot fired by one person before we even knew who that person was. And instead of tamping down this social networkization of American discourse, many of our virality-starved so-called leaders adopt it, bringing the often anonymous venomous hate speech once limited to the dark basement of the internet onto the floor of the Capitol. If you tasked a super-computer powered AI with developing an environment conducive to political violence, it's hard to imagine it could do much better than American humans have done on their own. Like other acts of murder, political or otherwise, featuring a high-powered weapon shot across a school campus, the latest example is another tragic, and in some ways inevitable, chapter in one of America's longest running stories. Because of our reaction to it, from the Oval Office to the bubbling social media cauldron of misinformed rage it mirrors, it's also sadly predictive of more violence to come.
+ "It doesn’t know what side of the aisle you’re on or what your ideology might be, who your allies are or what your vision for the future includes. It doesn’t know what brand of media you consume or how many ardent followers you have. Political violence doesn’t know and doesn’t care about such things. Like an infectious disease, it simply – and efficiently – finds more and more victims. It isn’t picky about who they are." Charlie Kirk’s killing is a tragic marker of the indiscriminate nature of political violence.
+ George Packer in The Atlantic: The Tragedy of Charlie Kirk’s Killing. "No one should feel anything but horror and dread at the murder of Charlie Kirk. And no one should use the killing of a man known for his defense of free speech to muzzle others or themselves from speaking the truth about the perilous state we’re in."
+ Packer's take makes obvious sense. Trump, unsurprisingly, has another view. "For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world’s worst mass murderers and criminals. This kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we’re seeing in our country today, and it must stop right now. My administration will find each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it, as well as those who go after our judges, law-enforcement officials, and everyone else who brings order to our country." Predictably, "Trump’s list goes back to the 2017 shooting of Steve Scalise, but omits the shootings of two Democratic legislators at their homes earlier this summer. It does not mention the 2020 attempted kidnapping of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, or the brutal attack on former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in 2022 (which Trump has used as a punch line to mock the victim)." The Atlantic (Gift Article): Trump’s Dangerous Response to the Kirk Assassination.
+ Trump Orders Flags Half-Mast for Kirk, but Didn’t for Melissa Hortman. (Gun violence is so prevalent in America, maybe we should just leave them at half-mast...)
+ Here's the latest on the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk and the hunt for the perpetrator, from the NYT and CNN.
"Brazil’s Supreme Court has found former president Jair Bolsonaro guilty of attempting a military coup to stay in power after his 2022 election loss, a plot that included plans to assassinate President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the man who defeated him, in a case that has roiled this young democracy and strained its relations with President Donald Trump."
"The kingdom is betting that sunshine can transform its economy and bolster its coffers. It needs electricity for new tourism resorts, factories and AI data centers. Green energy could also squeeze more value from the fossil fuels that made the kingdom rich. Saudi Arabia burns oil to generate electricity; embracing alternatives frees up barrels for export. The spread of glass across the desert is one of the starkest illustrations yet of how the plummeting cost of Chinese-made solar panels and batteries is changing how the world generates power, even as the U.S. takes aim at renewables." WSJ (Gift Article): Oil Giant Saudi Arabia Is Emerging as a Solar Power.
"Gallant, sleeveless and heavily tattooed, began slowly smoothing a white sheet atop his model’s shoulders. He wore pink pants and a belt holding massage oil. A German man dressed in black lit the blanket covering his recipient on fire; orange flames danced briefly and went out. Voilà: blanket warmed. A Hungarian woman in a white jumpsuit began spreading a green substance onto a man’s bare back. Harris perched like a dancer in her hammocks, tilting toward her model’s shoulders, a beatific expression on her face. Music like a synthetic sunrise began playing. It was hard to tell who was winning." The New Yorker: Rivals Rub Shoulders in the World of Competitive Massage.
Cane Unable: "Subtropical oceans across the planet, including regions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, have surged to record levels of warmth, and that may be having the counterintuitive effect of contributing to fewer tropical storms." This helps explain why people in San Francisco have been sweating through some very unusual (and unwelcome) humidity. More importantly, it seems to be impacting hurricane season. WaPo (Gift Article): It’s the typical peak of Atlantic hurricane season. Where are all the storms?
+ Give and Rake: "The problem with evaluating this administration’s economic agenda is that Trumponomics is about Trump far more than it is about economics. There is no clear theory of growth steering the U.S. economy, just one man’s desire to colonize every square inch of American attention and experience, which happens to include international markets. Trumponomics, then, is best understood as Trump’s formula for controlling everything around him, rather than an ideology with a telos. That formula has three main components. The first is declaring an emergency to justify intervention. The second is making threats to force private actors to do his bidding. The third is demanding tribute." The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Era of Step-on-a-Rake Capitalism.
+ Train Wreck: NYT "These events were the latest display of how Mr. Trump is using the negotiations over trade to pursue his agenda, despite the diplomatic, political and economic consequences for America’s closest allies." (Gift Article): In South Korea and Japan, Fury at U.S. Fuels Backlash Over Trade Deals. Meanwhile, after the administration made a big show of arresting South Korean workers at a Georgia plant, they asked them if they wanted to stay in the country and train American workers. WaPo (Gift Article): Trump offered to let S. Korean detainees stay, train U.S. workers, Seoul says.
+ Consequences? "The emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment." Peter Mandelson was fired as UK ambassador to the US because of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Bloomberg (Gift Article) with the backstory. UK Ambassador Told Epstein ‘I Think the World of You,’ Emails Reveal.
+ Negotiate a Complis: "A former Mossad officer captured the sentiment among Israeli security experts, and no doubt many exhausted Israeli citizens, who are desperate for an end to the war but unsure how to find any lasting peace with Hamas: 'The targets are evil. The world is a better place without them. The timing is political and stupid.'" When You Try to Kill the Negotiators, Negotiations End. (It's worth considering that Netanyahu wanted just that outcome.)
+ Single Handed: A single exercise session may slow cancer cell growth, new study shows. (I'm beginning to think exercise is pretty good for you.)
+ Can You Hear Me Now? "It’s been a long time coming but Spotify is finally getting lossless audio. Rumors have been circulating about a high-fidelity offering since as early as 2017. In 2021, Spotify claimed it was 'coming later this year.' And by May of 2024 it was 'almost ready.'" I'll believe it when I hear it. Although, they waited so long, my ears might be too old to notice the difference.
+ Achieving Flo State: Polly Holliday has died at the age of 88. You might not recognize the name. But those of a certain age will definitely remember her most famous tagline. Kiss my grits.
"The thoroughbred mare, known for donning a pink Hello Kitty face mask while racing, was once dubbed 'the shining star of losers everywhere.'" Horse famed for losing every single race is mourned.
2025-09-11 03:20:59
Democracy is gonna need a bigger boat. The story of the administration's decision to use military force against a speedboat purportedly carrying drugs is not only a shot across the bow of the laws and norms that govern the use of military force, it's also indicative a much broader sea change in the way soldiers are being deployed against civilians. John Duffy, a retired Naval officer who commanded two warships, explains why the peremptory strike on a speedboat is a warning to all who serve. And all Americans. "For decades, the U.S. military and Coast Guard have intercepted drug shipments in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific under a careful legal framework: Coast Guard officers would tactically control Navy ships, invoke law enforcement authority, stop vessels, and detain crews for prosecution. The goal is not execution; it is interdiction within international law. This week’s strike ripped up that framework. The people on board were not given the chance to surrender. No evidence was presented. No rules of engagement were cited. The administration claimed authority to kill on suspicion alone ... What happens abroad does not stay abroad. A government that stretches legal authority overseas will not hesitate to do the same at home. The same commander-in-chief who ordered a strike on a boat in international waters has already ordered National Guard troops into American cities over the objections of local leaders. The logic is identical: redefine the threat, erase legal distinctions, and justify force as the first tool. Today it is 'traffickers' in the Caribbean. Tomorrow it will be 'criminals' in Chicago or 'radicals' in Atlanta." A killing at sea marks America’s descent into lawless power.
+ The "U.S. military personnel crossed a fundamental line the Department of Defense has been resolutely committed to upholding for many decades—namely, that (except in rare and extreme circumstances not present here) the military must not use lethal force against civilians, even if they are alleged, or even known, to be violating the law." Just Security: The Many Ways in Which the September 2 Caribbean Strike was Unlawful … and the Grave Line the Military Has Crossed.
+ "Many legal specialists, including retired top military lawyers, have rejected the idea that Mr. Trump has legitimate authority to treat suspected drug smuggling as legally equivalent to an imminent armed attack on the United States. Even if one accepted that premise for the sake of argument, they added, if the boat had already turned away, that would further undermine what they saw as an already weak claim of self-defense." NYT (Gift Article): Boat Suspected of Smuggling Drugs Is Said to Have Turned Before U.S. Attacked It.
+ Again, it's important to understand that this is not just a debate about how we handle suspected drug smugglers. It’s a warning about how the military is deployed, and against whom. That's why what's happening in DC is part of the same story. WaPo(Gift Article): National Guard documents show public ‘fear,’ veterans’ ‘shame’ over D.C. presence. "The National Guard, in measuring public sentiment about President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of Washington, D.C., has assessed that its mission is perceived as 'leveraging fear,' driving a 'wedge between citizens and the military,' and promoting a sense of 'shame' among some troops and veterans." (How do we have access to internal National Guard documents? Someone accidentally sent them to the Post.)
"More than a dozen Russian drones entered Poland overnight, prompting NATO to scramble fighter jets to shoot them down in what Western officials described on Wednesday as a dangerous escalation of the war in neighboring Ukraine. It was the first time in the history of NATO that alliance fighters had engaged enemy targets in allied airspace." NATO Says It Scrambled Fighter Jets to Shoot Down Russian Drones Over Poland.
+ Alexander Vindman: "This episode underscores how destabilizing Trump has been. He has acted as a friend to America’s enemies and a threat to traditional allies. His actions have emboldened Putin, who has doubled attacks on Ukraine and escalated against NATO. Meanwhile, the administration’s wasteful diversion of U.S. military resources is undermining deterrence and defense." Putin saw Trump's red carpet as a welcome mat to do whatever he pleases.
"'It’s Joe and Jill’s decision.' We all said that, like a mantra, as if we’d all been hypnotized. Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness. The stakes were simply too high. This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision. Many people want to spin up a narrative of some big conspiracy at the White House to hide Joe Biden’s infirmity. Here is the truth as I lived it. Joe Biden was a smart guy with long experience and deep conviction, able to discharge the duties of president. On his worst day, he was more deeply knowledgeable, more capable of exercising judgment, and far more compassionate than Donald Trump on his best. But at 81, Joe got tired." The first excerpt of 107 Days by Kamala Harris in The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Constant Battle.
"Lucas Shaw hit the jackpot with his latest investment. The 27-year old account manager in Ohio used some of the gains to splurge on his fiancée’s custom engagement ring, which has three diamonds totaling 3.5 carats on an 18-karat gold band. The money will also help pay for their wedding. Shaw’s windfall didn’t involve Big Tech stocks or crypto. It was thanks to the hottest investment among individual traders these days." Meme stocks? Crypto? Nope. The Hot Investment With a 3,000% Return? Pokémon Cards.
Charlie Kirk Shot: "Shots were fired at an event for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem, just north of Provo, according to a statement from the school ... Videos circulating online appear to show Kirk recoiling after a shot was heard, with blood pouring from his neck. A suspect is in custody." Here's the latest from CNN and NBC.
+ Tackling the Block: "Protesters blocked roads, lit blazes and were met with volleys of tear gas on Wednesday in Paris and elsewhere in France, heaping pressure on President Emmanuel Macron and making new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's first day in office a baptism of fire." French police clash with ‘Block Everything’ protesters while Macron installs a new prime minister. And from NBC: "Their joint day of unrest adds to the country’s political turmoil, after the collapse of centrist President Emmanuel Macron’s government earlier this week in a similar backlash over proposed budget cuts and broader anger at the political class." 'Block Everything' protests sweep France, intensifying pressure on Macron. Here's more from The Guardian.
+ Blind Rage: "The U.S. Department of Education has halted funding for programs that support students with combined hearing and vision loss in eight states." Why? Too woke. Programs for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push.
+ Book Club: "Two things are converging here: A conspiratorial crowd is getting the kind of evidence it craves, on an internet that supercharges conspiratorial speculating. At the same time, this is happening in a media ecosystem that makes it easier than ever for people to ignore, dismiss, or spin evidence to justify their prior viewpoints. The birthday book is not just a test of Trump’s influence but also a test of the power of our current, broken media ecosystem, as well as a rare look at what happens when conspiracy theorists actually get what they want." Charlie Warzel in The Atlantic (Gift Article): You Really Need to See Epstein’s Birthday Book for Yourself. (Amazing that some of the contributors to this book support efforts to ban other books.)
+ Preet My Shorts: "You should decline Mr. Pulte’s invitation to join his retaliatory harassment of Senator Schiff. Instead, Mr. Pulte’s misuse of his position should be investigated by a nonpartisan Inspector General to determine whether Mr. Pulte’s conduct should be referred to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation." Schiff lawyer told Justice Department it should investigate Pulte for probing mortgages of Trump opponents. (Schiff's lawyer in this matter happens to be Preet Bharara.)
+ Flag Me With a Spoon: "The flag was a message of thanks to President Trump for trying to intervene in Mr. Bolsonaro’s case. It became the defining image of the day’s enormous protests, plastered across social media and newspaper front pages." NYT(Gift Article): A New Symbol of the Brazilian Right: The American Flag. (Trump is worried about people burning the flag when he is torching what it stands for.)
+ Food For Thought: There are more obese children than underweight ones in the world today, new United Nations figures suggested.
+ Math Lesson: "In the wake of those shootings, an industry has emerged to try to protect schools — and business is booming. According to the market research firm Omdia, the school security industry is now worth as much as $4 billion, and it's projected to keep growing."
"In the past we would just deodorize our armpits, but now a huge wave of products are aimed at our most intimate areas. Do these serve a need – or just encourage paranoia?"
+ Australia approves first chlamydia vaccine for koalas. (Unlike humans, all the koalas are planning to get vaccinated.)
+ "I’ve lived in Manhattan. I’ve lived in San Francisco. I’ve lived in Boston, and nothing ever happened to me. I moved to Suffolk County, a senior community, and my neighbor shoots me in the face with a flare." (That would make an unbelievable first line of a novel.)
2025-09-10 02:27:02
It moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. That's Ferris Bueller's famous quote about life. But the same could be said about terrible Supreme Court shadow docket decisions (that are handed down, often unsigned, sans full briefings, oral arguments, or written opinions). The latest one is particularly disturbing, and it's worth stopping and paying attention to what it allows. In response to a complaint that (often masked) federal agents in LA were essentially targeting brown people en masse, "Judge Maame E. Frimpong, of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ... ordered agents not to rely on several factors, alone or in combination, in deciding whom to stop and question in her judicial district, which includes Los Angeles and surrounding areas. The factors were race or ethnicity; speaking Spanish or accented English; presence at a particular location, such as a day-laborer or agricultural site; or performing a particular type of work." Makes sense, because, you know, America. Constitution. Fourth Amendment. Blah, blah. But the SCOTUS majority essentially took the Fifth when it comes to enforcing the Fourth. In her dissent, Justice Sotomayor wrote that the majority "all but declared that all Latinos, U.S. citizens or not, who work low wage jobs are fair game to be seized at any time, taken away from work and held until they provide proof of their legal status to the agents’ satisfaction. Countless people in the Los Angeles area have been grabbed, thrown to the ground and handcuffed simply because of their looks, their accents and the fact they make a living by doing manual labor. Today, the court needlessly subjects countless more to these exact same indignities." Will those countless more be limited to Los Angeles where this complaint was brought? "The majority’s failure to provide an explanation for the ruling means that it is hard to say whether its reasoning applies nationwide or is limited to the Los Angeles area, where the administration has said that the problems flowing from illegal immigration are especially pronounced. But there is little doubt that the ruling will have the practical effect of further emboldening the administration’s uncompromising efforts to deport unauthorized immigrants around the country." NYT (Gift Article): Supreme Court Lifts Restrictions on L.A. Immigration Stops.
+ "In a brief concurrence, Justice Brett Kavanaugh offers a fictional retelling of facts to downplay the disastrous impact of the court’s order. Kavanaugh claims that ICE agents are merely conducting 'brief investigative stops' to 'check the immigration status' of those whose occupations are 'attractive to illegal immigrants.' ... No matter what the justice 'would like to believe,' Sotomayor writes, the truth is that ICE is 'not conducting brief stops for questioning.' Its agents are 'seizing people using firearms, physical violence, and warehouse detentions.' Moreover, Kavanaugh’s position would effectively compel all Latinos 'to carry enough documentation to prove that they deserve to walk freely' at risk of indefinite detention. 'The Constitution,' Sotomayor writes, 'does not permit the creation of such a second-class citizenship status.'" The Constitution doesn't. This court's shadow docket does. Slate: The Supreme Court Just Let ICE Detain Americans Based on Race.
+ "The ruling, on the so-called shadow docket, is yet another in a long string of cases since the spring in which the GOP appointees have allowed the Trump administration’s power grabs. From firing federal workers and agency heads to deporting people to dangerous countries without due process, the court’s majority has waived aside precedent, clear statutory language, and even constitutional protections in order to give this president increasing power. This time, the pesky thing standing in the way was the Fourth Amendment." MoJo: Supreme Court Blesses Racial Profiling by ICE. America is becoming a shadow of itself.
I'm in the wrong business. And not just because this newsletter has no revenue model. I'm selling (or, more accurately, giving away) a product that fewer and fewer people want. I'm not talking about the sharp witticisms, the pithy insights, or the dazzling wordplay. I'm talking about the news itself. "Globally, news avoidance is at a record high, according to an annual survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism published in June. This year, 40% of respondents, surveyed across nearly 50 countries, said they sometimes or often avoid the news, up from 29% in 2017 and the joint highest figure recorded. The number was even higher in the US, at 42%, and in the UK, at 46%. Across markets, the top reason people gave for actively trying to avoid the news was that it negatively impacted their mood." I get it. My mood is destroyed about three minutes into my day. But I'm guessing that the loss of our democracy would bum me out even more. Why more and more people are tuning the news out.
"Across China, tens of thousands of people tagged as troublemakers like the Yangs are trapped in a digital cage, barred from leaving their province and sometimes even their homes by the world’s largest digital surveillance apparatus. Most of this technology came from companies in a country that has long claimed to support freedoms worldwide: the United States." US tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China. "U.S. companies did this by bringing 'predictive policing' to China — technology that sucks in and analyzes data to prevent crime, protests, or terror attacks before they happen. Such systems mine a vast array of information — texts, calls, payments, flights, video, DNA swabs, mail deliveries, the internet, even water and power use — to unearth individuals deemed suspicious and predict their behavior. But they also allow Chinese police to threaten friends and family and preemptively detain people for crimes they have not even committed."
"The 238-page book, littered with candid photos, drawings and collages, was released on Monday by the House Oversight Committee among the documents turned over by Mr. Epstein’s estate after being subpoenaed by the committee. It offers a vivid portrait of how Mr. Epstein’s lewd and lecherous behavior with young women was both widely known and widely celebrated by people who described themselves as his closest friends and associates." NYT (Gift Article): In Epstein’s ‘Birthday Book,’ a Celebration of His Lecherous Exploits.
+ WSJ (Gift Article): Epstein Birthday Letter With Trump’s Signature Revealed. "Lawyers for Jeffrey Epstein’s estate have given Congress a copy of the birthday book put together for the financier’s 50th birthday, which includes a letter with President Trump’s signature that he has said doesn’t exist." (Guys, I'm beginning to think that Trump hangs around with unsavory people, mistreats women and girls, and lies about stuff when confronted.)
World War Z: "Anti-corruption protests escalated in Nepal's capital Kathmandu today, as government buildings were set ablaze. The unrest was sparked by a social media ban, which has now been reversed by the government. It has now grown into a wider anti-corruption movement that took to the streets on Monday. In total, at least 22 people have been killed in the protests and dozens more injured. As protests raged, Nepal's prime minister, KP Sharma Oli, resigned from his post ... When Nepal’s government blocked access to social media platforms last week, it was following a familiar playbook used by leaders of neighboring countries to tighten control. What was not part of the playbook was the huge backlash that followed." Here's the latest from BBC and NYT. And Rest of World with some more background. In what has come to be known as the “Gen Z protest,” thousands of demonstrators took to the streets.
+ Israel Strikes in Qatar: "A senior Hamas official confirmed to CNN that the group’s negotiators were targeted in Doha. The attack appears to be the first time Israel has launched an operation in Qatar." Israel targets Hamas leadership in Qatar strike. Meanwhile, Netanyahu tells Gaza City residents to leaveas he pledges retaliation for Jerusalem attack
+ Murdoch Master: "Lachlan Murdoch has completed an agreement to secure control of his family’s sprawling media empire for decades to come, the family announced on Monday. The deal ensures that the empire’s various outlets, including Fox News, The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, will remain conservative after his father Rupert’s death." NYT (Gift Article): Inside the Deal Ending the Murdoch Succession Fight. (What, you expected a Murdoch family story to have a positive ending?)
+ Ag Me With a Spoon: "About a quarter of the Texas professors said they have applied for higher education jobs in other states in the last two years, and more than 25% said they soon intend to start searching for out-of-state positions. Of those who aren’t thinking of leaving, more than one-fifth said they don’t plan to stay in higher education in the long-term." That's the result of stories like this one: A&M Dean removed following student complaints over curriculum.
+ Hatchet, Jobs: Wall Street expected a big jobs revision. The reality is even worse. (The Reality is Even Worse is 2025's tagline.)
+ Drug Bust: Over 600 people arrested in operations targeting Sinaloa drug cartel, DEA says.
+ Punch Drunk Gov: NYT (Gift Article): Trump’s Treasury Secretary Threatens to Punch Housing Official in the Face. (Why limit it to just the one official?) While this might read as somewhat funny, the problem is that these folks are sort of in charge of the global economy.
+ Thin is In: Apple is announcing a bunch of new products today including the very thin iPhone Air and Airpods that can measure heart rate. (So they'll be able to tell how excited you are when Siri finally gets decent.) Here's the rundown from The Verge.
"MLB players ... would seem to be a demographic uniquely susceptible to heavy drinking. During the season, big leaguers spend half their time on the road, usually away from their families. They are disproportionately surrounded by other men in their 20s and 30s. Money, for nearly all players, is no barrier. And perhaps most importantly, ballplayers work a stressful, high-intensity job that usually ends late at night. Traditionally, that led players searching for a way to decompress after games to alcohol and nights out." But these days, drinking is even down among baseball players (although it was heavily up among Giants fans during the team's August slump). In addition to the general trend away from from drinking in America, ballplayers seem to be driven by concerns over social media and a preference for weed. (I should have been a ballplayer.) America is drinking less than ever — and the same is true for baseball players.
+ How a Deaf Quarterback Changed Sports Forever By Inventing the Huddle.
2025-09-09 02:54:40
What's your sign? Wait, don't answer that. I don't actually care. I've got enough stress related to what happened in the last five minutes to worry about what's gonna happen in the next five. News is enough of a horror-o-scope for me. But I'm fully aware that many people do care about this stuff. Spanning different levels of affinity and seriousness, a whole lot of people are really, really into astrology, and astrology-related businesses have the dollar signs to prove it. But, in what could be the ultimate sign of the times, your pseudoscience might be based on fake news. Or at least old news. NYT (Gift Article): Your Zodiac Sign Is 2,000 Years Out of Date. "Whether you care about horoscopes or not, you probably know your zodiac sign. You’ve probably known it for most of your life. Zodiac signs were originally based on the stars. But over thousands of years, our view of the stars has shifted. That means, if you account for this shift, your sign might not be what you think." I checked my birthday and my sign remains the same, which leaves me with this horoscope for today. You're feeling great today. That infusion of positive energy came at the perfect time. That's not only wrong today. It's literally never been the case. And yes, I realize it's a little odd to lead the news with a story about horoscopes. But trust me, it's a decent way to enter a new news week. I can't predict the future, but I did read ahead.
"Epstein had long been a treasured customer at JPMorgan. His accounts were brimming with more than $200 million. He generated millions of dollars in revenue for the bank, landing him atop an internal list of major money makers. He helped JPMorgan orchestrate an important acquisition. He introduced executives to men who would become lucrative clients, like the Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and to global leaders, like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. He helped executives troubleshoot crises and strategize about global opportunities. But a growing group of employees worried that JPMorgan’s association with a man who had pleaded guilty to a sex crime — and was under federal investigation for human trafficking — could harm the bank’s reputation. Just as troubling, anti-money-laundering specialists within the bank noticed Epstein’s pattern of withdrawing tens of thousands of dollars in cash virtually every month. These were red flags for illicit activity." NYT Magazine (Gift Article): How JPMorgan Enabled the Crimes of Jeffrey Epstein. "Tales of greed trumping ethics and morals are older than Wall Street itself, and the story of how and why JPMorgan spent years serving Epstein is a case study in that dynamic. But it is instructive in other ways as well. More than six years after his death in a Manhattan jail cell, where he was awaiting prosecution on federal sex-trafficking charges, mysteries continue to swirl around how Epstein amassed and deployed money and influence on a grand scale."
"Since Trump’s election, China has not stopped spending billions of dollars broadcasting autocratic propaganda, buying space on television networks around the world, and training international journalists. Russia has not stopped using social media and deceptive websites to weaken and divide the U.S. and Europe, to prop up dictatorships in Africa, or to lie about the war in Ukraine. Everywhere American voices disappear, other powers will fill the gap." Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic (Gift Article): America Surrenders in the Global Information Wars.
"Need to ship an international package, get clothes dry-cleaned or download a government tax certificate at 3 a.m.? Want to buy a train or movie ticket, then grab a tray of noodles you can heat and eat? How about a cold draft beer while you’re at it? In Taiwan, convenience stores have you covered. What began as an American innovation has flourished across Asia. In high-density cities with compact apartments, the humble convenience store has been reinvented as a public and civic lifeline. Here in Taiwan, it’s an essential part of daily life." WaPo (Gift Article): How Taiwan took the American convenience store — and turbocharged it. "Customers can pay bills, ship packages, eat a nutritious meal and — in some locations — work out." (I can do all that at home. I just need to get a Slurpee machine.)
The King and His Court: "We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent." That was Justice Sotomayor on today's SCOTUS decision to lift limits on roving immigration patrols in Los Angeles area. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court allowed Trump to fire FTC commissioner without cause.
+ City, City, Bang, Bang: NPR: Trump walks back Chicago 'war' threat, but vows to 'clean up' cities. (Oh cool. He walked back the threat about a war on an American city.)
+ Nepal Protesters Killed: "Police in Kathmandu opened fire Monday on protesters demonstrating against a government ban on social media, killing at least 17 people and wounding 145, officials said."
+ Rxy Business: "The posts are part of a global surge of frauds hijacking the online personas of prominent medical professionals to sell unproven health products or simply to swindle gullible customers, according to the doctors, government officials and researchers who have tracked the problem." NYT (Gift Article): The Doctors Are Real, but the Sales Pitches Are Frauds. (Maybe they can use the same technology to make RFK Jr say something accurate.)
+ Life is Like a Fox of Chocolates: The Department of Defense is now the Department of War ... on Tom Hanks.
+ Howard Empowered: There were a bunch of false rumors that Howard Stern was being fired. He responded with a prank that featured Andy Cohen opening his show on Monday. "What pisses me off is now I can’t leave," Stern said Monday. "I've been thinking about retiring, now I can't." (Phew.)
+ Menace Anyone? Trump’s US Open visit sparks boos and long security lines. (I guess Trump can pretend they weren’t booing him at the US Open, they were just yelling Bruuuuce!) Alcaraz won the men's title convincingly, and Sabalenka took home the women's trophy.
"Inhabitants of an apartment block in Bavaria, southern Germany, who called police to investigate the relentless buzzing of their doorbells late at night were surprised to find the culprit was not a teenage prankster as they had suspected, but a slug."
+ "Neutered dogs, according to John and the American Kennel Association, are disallowed to compete in dog shows (or, per official patois, 'confirmation events') like this one, 'because the purpose of a dog show is to evaluate breeding stock.' 'You’re kidding,” I said. He was not. This was the whole point of Westminster. No genitalia meant no siredom, no balls meant no miracle of provenance, and any act of sterilization would foreclose any possibility that—just like in aristocracy, or eugenics—greatness could beget greatness only in a highly managed, painstakingly selected marriage of prizewinning egg and seed. 'They need their equipment,' John nodded. 'Now, if you can believe this, I knew a guy who had his dogs fixed with implants in his genitals after he got them neutered.'" Mina Tavakoli: A visit to the dog show.
2025-09-06 03:04:12
I get it. The drumbeat of bad news these days is so mind-hammering that you're driven to deploy every free minute watching Netflix and Hulu limited series to take your mind off what's happening in the headlines. You're not alone. There's a reason I'm able to recommend new shows to watch every week. But every now and then, a news story comes along that actually reads a lot more like a dramatic series—albeit with a less happy ending than most of them, and one that is probably a little better suited to be a Taylor Sheridan vehicle on Paramount Plus. Here's the setup: "A group of Navy SEALs emerged from the ink-black ocean on a winter night in early 2019 and crept to a rocky shore in North Korea. They were on a top secret mission so complex and consequential that everything had to go exactly right. The objective was to plant an electronic device that would let the United States intercept the communications of North Korea’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong-un, amid high-level nuclear talks with President Trump." Some incredible reporting from the NYT (Gift Article): How a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart. "The shore team swam to the boat to make sure that all of the North Koreans were dead. They found no guns or uniforms. Evidence suggested that the crew, which people briefed on the mission said numbered two or three people, had been civilians diving for shellfish. All were dead, including the man in the water."
I shouted out 'Who Killed the Kennedys' when after all, it was a Kennedy trying to kill you and me. "Some Republican senators, it seems, have begun to fret that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was not being entirely honest when he sought their votes to confirm him as secretary of Health and Human Services. Back in January, Kennedy reassured lawmaker after lawmaker that he would not limit access to vaccines. But today, before the Senate Finance Committee, he aggressively defended anti-vaccine talking points, alarming Democrats and Republicans alike." But, alas, "At least for the time being, Kennedy looks invincible. He knows it." The Atlantic (Gift Article): A Different RFK Jr. Just Appeared Before Congress.
"Since its founding in 2017, Flock, which was valued at $7.5 billion in its most recent funding round, has quietly built a network of more than 80,000 cameras pointed at highways, thoroughfares and parking lots across the U.S. They record not just the license plate numbers of the cars that pass them, but their make and distinctive features—broken windows, dings, bumper stickers. Langley estimates its cameras help solve 1 million crimes a year. Soon they’ll help solve even more. In August, Flock’s cameras will take to the skies mounted on its own 'made in America drones." Forbes: AI Startup Flock Thinks It Can Eliminate All Crime In America. (Imagine seeing that slide in an investment deck.)
+ 404 Media is doing the most extensive coverage of Flock. Their reporting has actually resulted in some policy changes.
What to Book: Culpability by Bruce Holsinger is novel that uses a family saga to "explore a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative."
+ What to Nonfiction: At the end of every Ezra Klein show, the guest is apparently asked: "What are three books you'd recommend to the audience?" The excellent Michael Sippey (an old school blogger type like yours truly) made a cool, simple site that lists all of those (mostly nonfiction) books as they're mentioned. Check out 3Books.net.
+ What to Watch: "From the creator of 'BoJack Horseman' comes this animated comedy about a family over time, following siblings from childhood to adulthood and back again." Long Story Short. The first episode is called Yoshi's Bar Mitzvah, and the Jewish themes, that will be very recognizable to many, continue from there.
Operation Warped Speed: "U.S. employers added just 22,000 jobs in August, according to a report Friday from the Labor Department, while revised figures showed a net loss of jobs in June for the first time since 2020, in the midst of the pandemic." (The job numbers could get even worse when Trump fires more of the people who measure the job numbers.) Also, US Manufacturing Activity Contracted in August for a Sixth Month.
+ Shareholder Value, Not Values: Tech leaders take turns flattering Trump at White House dinner. From Wired: All the President’s Tech CEOs. (For a second, it almost sounded like a televised cabinet meeting. It's shocking how quickly this is what we've become.)
+ Hyundai is Cast: "Immigration authorities arrested hundreds of workers for a major South Korean battery maker at a Hyundai plant in Georgia, U.S. officials said Friday, calling it the largest ever Homeland Security enforcement operation at a single location."
+ Netanyahu Goes There: "Netanyahu has the tacit backing of President Trump for this Gaza City offensive, despite hundreds of former Israeli security officials saying Hamas no longer poses a threat and that it's time to end the war." Israel is blasting through Gaza City neighborhoods.
+ Testosterone Infusion: "It is almost impossible to overstate the inanity of this move. The United States has a Department of Defense for a reason." Tom Nichols in The Atlantic (Gift Article) on the soon to be newly named Department of War. Pete Hegseth’s Department of Cringe.
+ Keg Stand: NYT (Gift Article): Chicago Could Be a Powder Keg. "Its incursion into Chicago may begin with pursuing undocumented immigrants, but with its threat to also deploy National Guard troops or active-duty military to combat crime more broadly in the city — over the objections of Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois — the administration risks provoking large-scale civil unrest." (I doubt the administrations sees this as a risk. They see it as a benefit.)
+ Darth Haul: Darth Vader's lightsaber goes for over $3.6 million at movie memorabilia auction. (Damn. Bad guys are really in vogue these days...)
"On an overcast chilly morning in late August, a group of women gather in a sandy parking lot, nearly all of them sporting a bright orange hat with the letters OLAUG — Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage." At 85, she leads a squad of women who dive deep in ponds for litter.
+ "After the Eaton Fire took his home and nearly his restaurant, Tyler Wells pitched a tent on a regenerative farm—and found a reason to return to Altadena." The Chef in the Tent.
+ WiFi signals can measure heart rate—no wearables needed. (Now if it could just auto-cancel my account once the beating stops.)
+ Teen fishing off New England coast catches huge halibut bigger than him.
+ 'One and done' dose of LSD keeps anxiety at bay. (Imagine what a few hundred doses could do...)
+ The cat mayoral race: meet 11 runners and riders in the most furious – and furriest – election. (This is cute. But the notion that cats are pro democracy is absurd.)