Extra, Extra
Warning Signal: We’re all using Signal to hide from them only to find that they’re all using Signal to hide from us. Why government workers and military planners all love Signal now. (Too bad someone didn’t tell the brothers from White Lotus about these private sharing apps before it was too late.)
+ Euro Trashing: Stunning Signal leak reveals depths of Trump administration’s loathing of Europe. (European leaders now realize there’s something worse than Trump. Vance.)
+ Inside Job: “The turmoil is leaving many retirees, disabled claimants and legal immigrants who need Social Security cards with less access or shut out of the system altogether, according to those familiar with the problems.” WaPo (Gift Article): Long waits, waves of calls, website crashes: Social Security is breaking down. “What’s going on is the destruction of the agency from the inside out, and it’s accelerating.”
+ Make Expectations Great Again: Americans’ expectations for the economy hit their lowest level in 12 years. (From it’s the economy, stupid, to the stupid economy in a few weeks…)
+ Film Clip: “Israeli authorities released an Oscar-winning Palestinian director who was detained by the army after being attacked by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. He said they beat him in front of his home while filming the assault.”
+ Not a Pretty Portrait: Trump bemoans a portrait of him – but gets a new one from Putin. Putin actually gave Trump a portrait … of Trump. Could the psych ops on this guy be any more obvious? Meanwhile, the same tactics are being used by Trump supporters in the US. An airport, Mount Rushmore and the $100 bill: Inside the GOP effort to venerate Trump while he’s still in office.
+ JuJu Out: “She’s Picasso with the transition Euro-step, a cardinal-and-gold blur in the open court. It’s her signature move, defense turned into offense with force and creativity, skill and fearlessness. Everything JuJu Watkins did before she crumpled to the floor Monday night was ordinary for her and extraordinary for any other player.” A torn ACL tears at the heart of Women’s March Madness. The Painful Ripple Effects of JuJu Watkins’s Injury.
+ Weight Watch: Even as a diehard Giants, I’m pretty worried about Mookie Bett’s mystery illness. “Star Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts’ body is ‘just kind of eating itself,’ he said this week, as a mystery illness has cost him more than 20 pounds and kept him out of action this young 2025 season.”
+ Passing the Sniff Test: “We have all kinds of detection dogs: drug-detection, bomb-detection, termite-detection. Why don’t we have cat-detection dogs? Why aren’t we training dogs to follow the scent trail of lost dogs?” NYT (Gift Article): Lessons From a Lost-Pet Detective Named Kat. (That’s one benefit of owning howling beagles. They’re always pretty easy to find.)
