America v America, Cursive is Back
Some people make new year’s resolutions. News curators just find new things to add to the list of stuff to worry about. I took the first week of the year off to match my kids’ school breaks, during which I worried alone. Now I’m back, so let’s get you up to speed with a little help from the always interesting Ian Bremmer in Time: The Top 10 Global Risks for 2024. I was a little surprised (and relieved) that a conflict between China and the US didn’t make the list. I couldn’t be less surprised that the first item on Bremmer’s list is the most pressing risk listed by almost everyone I know, from those who work in intelligence, defense, and risk analysis to those who are just paying a bit of attention to the daily headlines. In the age of malignant narcissism, it shouldn’t surprise you that the greatest threat comes from within. The United State vs itself: “The presidential election will deepen the country’s political division, testing American democracy to a degree the nation hasn’t experienced in 150 years and undermining U.S. credibility internationally. With the outcome of the vote close to a coin toss (at least for now), the only certainty is damage to America’s social fabric, political institutions, and international standing. In a world beset by crises, the prospect of a Trump victory will weaken America’s position on the global stage as Republican lawmakers take up his foreign policy positions and U.S. allies and adversaries hedge against his likely policies.” (I’d only quibble with the label. It’s not the United States vs itself. It’s Trumpism vs America.)
+ I can’t promise we’ll be making a habit of it in 2024, but let’s mix in a little positive with the negative. MIT Tech Review: 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2024. (The Apple Vision Pro will launch Feb. 2, which gives you just under a month to say goodbye to your terrestrial family and friends.)
Blowing the Doors Off
“After the end of a news conference in which National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy laid out the probe’s status, she returned to give a piece of positive news: ‘I’m excited to announce that we found the door plug.'” It really wasn’t We who found it. It was Bob, the Oregon schoolteacher. And he didn’t have to look all that far. Missing door plug that detached from Alaska Airlines plane found in Oregon teacher’s backyard.
+ It’s amazing that no one was killed when the door of a Boeing 737 Max 9 flew off mid-flight. It’s also amazing that Alaska Airlines was happy to keep flying the planes until the FAA stepped in and grounded them. And that’s all the more amazing because the plane model had flashed warning signs on three previous flights and was already restricted from long flights over water. Alaska Airlines plane had warnings days before mid-air blowout.
+ An iPhone that was sucked out of the plane and dropped 16,000 feet was found. It was still working, and unlike the airplane, it was still in airplane mode.
Off the Beaten Pathology
There are few things more stressful and depressing than a never-ending trip through the healthcare system with a set of mysterious symptoms that no one can figure out. And few people have told the story of that journey quite like Tom Scocca. My Unraveling: I had my health. I had a job. And then, abruptly, I didn’t.
Taylor Made
“People say to me, ‘Man, it’s been a crazy year,’ Aaron Eanes said. ‘When I say, ‘Actually, it’s not that crazy,’ people look at me funny. It’s because it’s easy when you have a plan. We’re executing that plan.’ Before you run to YouTube and TikTok to research conspiracy theories, no, the plan did not include Taylor Swift.” Love may happen at first sight. But just about everything else is carefully planned, at least when it comes to celebrity careers. NYT (Gift Article): The People Who Brought You Travis Kelce. “A plan was hatched to make the football player ‘as famous as the Rock.’ It began long before you might guess.”
Extra, Extra
No Middle Ground in Middle East: There are a lot of international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. But the key decision makers, Netanyahu’s increasingly fanatical right wing government and the murderous monsters of Hamas who started the war, both have reasons to keep things going. Here’s a great explainer from Tom Friedman on MSNBC. The biggest challenge for the Pentagon (and lot of other defense departments) is trying to keep things from spreading. With each strike, fears grow that Israel, the US and Iran’s allies are inching closer to all-out war.
+ Get Back to Normal, Stat! Congress isn’t normal. Scotus isn’t normal. Depending on the election, the White House is in danger of being dangerously abnormal. But at least the Pentagon is normal. Oh wait… Lawmakers demand answers after Defense Secretary Austin delayed disclosing his hospitalization. The president wasn’t the only one in the dark. The Pentagon’s 2nd in command was not informed of defense secretary’s hospitalization.
+ Absent Minded: When my daughter is absent, her school emails me. And texts me. And calls me. This seems a bit a much, until you consider that “absenteeism has nearly doubled since the pandemic.” ProPublica: Skipping School: America’s Hidden Education Crisis.
+ The Blessing of Cursive: As of this week, cursive handwriting is mandatory in California’s elementary schools. And it’s far from the only state putting education back into students’ hands. More States Require Schools to Teach Cursive Writing. Why?
+ Platform Diving: Casey Newton on Substack’s remarkably offensive decision to keep monetizing Nazis on its platform. Why Substack is at a crossroads. If the decision isn’t reversed, like Casey, I’ll be looking for a new place to host my newsletter.
+ You’ve Got Me Fitting Bricks: “Stacked like conventional cinderblocks and hammered into place, the blocks are a streamlined alternative to constructing buildings out of wood, concrete, and steel.” It only took 11 people to build this Lego-like apartment complex in Florida.
+ Foster Freeze: “For all her cheerleading of gen Z, Foster isn’t above being irritated by them. ‘They’re really annoying, especially in the workplace. They’re like, ‘Nah, I’m not feeling it today, I’m gonna come in at 10.30am.’ Or, like, in emails, I’ll tell them this is all grammatically incorrect, did you not check your spelling? And they’re like, ‘Why would I do that, isn’t that kind of limiting?'” Jodie Foster on beauty, bravery, and raising feminist sons.
Bottom of the News
“Their questions were unique, to say the least: Should I tell the IRS that I left my job to become a full-time dominatrix? Will my bank close my account if I say I’m an escort? If a tax form asks whether you met with customers in your ‘home office,’ does prostitution in your bedroom count as a client meeting?” The prostitute nudging sex workers to file their taxes.
+ “Despite being an avid wildlife photographer, retired postman Rodney Holbrook never expected to capture a Ratatouille-style scene unfolding in his own shed. After regularly discovering that things from the night before had been mysteriously tidied, he set up a night vision camera on his workbench. It captured a mouse picking up clothes pegs, corks, nuts and bolts.”
+ Here’s a look at the Golden Globes winners. I saw about thirty headlines about how terrible Jo Koy’s monologue was, so I watched it. It wasn’t great. But the Hollywood media is making it seem like it was a crime against humanity.
