It's Mourning in the Middle East
Was October 7 a tragic and sickening crime against humanity that would have caused a dramatic response from any country? Yes. Has the Netanyahu government gone too far in its response? Yes. Did the widespread, pressurized antisemitism that was uncapped after October 7 begin before Israel even responded at all? Yes. Did campus and other protesters who tore down hostage posters betray their serious naivety about the threat of terror groups like Hamas as they betrayed the victims of the October 7 attacks who came from an area filled with liberals, desirous of peace with their neighbors in Gaza and across the broader Middle East? Yes. Did the unequal and often heinous treatment of Palestinians create an environment in which terror groups like Hamas could thrive? Yes. Is Israel held to a different standard than other democracies? Yes. Has the Iranian regime been a consistent threat to Israel, America, and its own citizens? Yes. Is keeping that regime from having nuclear weapons and further spreading terror a worthy goal? Yes. Has the war in Iran been mismanaged and potentially counterproductive? Yes. Are these issues much too complicated to be debated in a newsletter blurb, let alone via dueling T-shirts on a concert stage? Yes. Could I go on and on? Yes. Will readers be enraged by these simple, obvious statements? Yes. Is there something that still unifies people on all sides of this issue? Yes. Today is a day to mourn. “Israelis mourned at the site of the Nova Music Festival, as well as at bomb shelters, intersections and in communities targeted on Oct. 7, 2023. On that day — the deadliest in the country’s history — militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, destroyed much of Gaza and drove most of its 2 million residents from their homes.” Israelis mourn Oct. 7 attack as Palestinians in Gaza languish in ruins of the war it sparked.
+ Are the contradictions created by one of history’s longest festering wounds felt by Jews in synagogues and sitting at dinner tables across the world? Yes. Are those contradictions also felt by families who survived the Oct 7 attack and are only now moving back? Yes. “For a family moving back to a kibbutz on the border, in what many would consider a bold act of Zionist commitment, to simultaneously plan a possible future outside Israel might seem like an enormous contradiction. But it’s no more of a contradiction than that embodied by our many friends who have served hundreds of days in the reserves since October 7, fighting in Israel’s longest war, losing friends and risking their own lives, only to reach the same conclusion we have: If this government stays, they’re out.” Amir Tibon in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Three Years After October 7, I Moved Back to Nahal Oz.
+ Have the children of Gaza been the victims of both Hamas and Israel? Yes. Pulitzer Prize winner Mosab Abu Toha in The New Yorker: Back to School, in Gaza. (Alt link.) “My nephews study in a big tent surrounded by bombed-out houses. They have no access to chairs or desks, so they sit on the dirt.”
+ Could Bibi, who built his entire brand on being strong on security, possibly survive the first election following the worst security failure in Israel’s history? Yes. David Remnick in The New Yorker: Will Netanyahu Escape His Reckoning? (Alt link.) “What is astonishing—politically, morally, strategically—is that Netanyahu has any chance at all. Within days of the Hamas attack on Israel, the worst disaster in the history of the state, it was all but a given that he would soon be out of power.” (Does the story of a candidate who should have no chance of winning again—politically, morally, strategically—but who still does have a chance to win sound familiar? Yes.)
+ Ronald Brownstein in Bloomberg (Gift Article): Netanyahu’s Oct. 7 Legacy Is Isolation. “The Hamas terror attack on Israel, three years ago today, horrified the world. But the indiscriminate ferocity of the Israeli response under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has almost completely eclipsed the initial atrocity in shaping global attitudes toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Regardless of who wins this month’s Israeli election, will we be done discussing this painful issue? Sadly, no.
Balance of Power
“Mr. Trump intended the attack on Iran as another demonstration of the American military’s extraordinary power, following the successful bombing raid on three Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 and the seizure of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela from his bed in Caracas in January. But rather than enhance American power, the war has constrained it. The closing of bases in the Middle East and limiting the use of one in Britain have, at a minimum, vastly complicated the logistics of projecting power.” David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt in the NYT (Gift Article): Trump’s Retreat: From the Gulf to Britain, American Forces Pull Back.
+ I wrote about this issue yesterday. Bombers Away. “While small devices have been used to defeat larger enemies since David aimed his slingshot at Goliath, it would have been hard to imagine, even just a few years ago, a drone threat chasing B-1 bombers off of an American base. But times and tech have changed.”
Destination Unknown
“A 16-year-old solo hiker had to be rescued Saturday from a mountain near Vancouver after getting stranded while following a route he had planned with the help of AI.” Artificial intelligence may not be good at everything, but this story proves it’s definitely got metaphors down. We are headed to an uncertain destination on a map created by people talking about technologies we don’t understand. Stephen Witt on the guy who might have the most say when it comes to mapping the route forward. He’s the Most Powerful Engineer on Earth. Here’s Why He Thinks A.I. Is Going Great. “The phone call, which had the feel of an orchestrated publicity stunt, was a public declaration of Mr. Trump’s resistance to A.I. regulation. But where others saw the president taking a forceful stand, I saw Mr. Huang engineering the president. The input was shameless public flattery: in the phone call, Mr. Huang called Mr. Trump “sir,” praised Mr. Trump’s intellect (“You know so much about A.I.,”) and stoked Mr. Trump’s bottomless need for validation. (“Did you hear that? Thousands of people are clapping for you.”) And the output? Little regulation on A.I. and freedom to export some of Nvidia’s hardware to China, and whatever else Mr. Huang wants. This situation worries me. Mr. Huang is the most capable individual I have ever met — but, I fear, A.I. is more capable still.”
Doge Day Afternoon
“Colin O’Brien was the chief security officer at the United States Institute of Peace. Mostly that meant keeping the institute’s 400 employees, scattered across 28 difficult countries, safe from harm … Now, on this late afternoon of March 14, 2025, the threat was right here, in Washington, D.C. Three young men from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were trying to argue their way into the institute building—a building that housed an institute that should have been far removed from the politics of the day.” WSJ (Gift Article): Michael Lewis on the Lone Security Guard Who Resisted DOGE.
Extra, Extra
Roll the Calls: “The Federal Communications Commission is considering a request by a conservative group to loosen rules on political robocalls, including those with artificial intelligence-generated voices, before November’s midterm elections.” (On the plus side, the robocalls might take my mind off all the unsolicited texts.) We could be talking about a lot of calls. Can $1 billion power Republicans to victory in the midterms?
+ Run It Off? “The program is part of a growing effort around the country to help cancer patients exercise, as the benefits of doing so become increasingly clear.” It Can Keep Cancer in Remission. Why Is No One Talking About It? (The more we learn about exercise, the more we learn how beneficial it is. Don’t tell my pilates teacher I admitted that.)
+ The Republika Srpska Midterms: “The engagement is the latest example of Trump advisers profiting from far-right politicians abroad who have sought favor from the U.S. president while bucking the international community.” Amid Midterm Crunch, Trump Advisers Took Time to Help Russia-Aligned Government. (At this point, many GOP candidates probably wish Trump would campaign in some remote country.)
+ Ad Nauseam: Trump will not reimburse federal government for taxpayer-funded advertisements. “Following bipartisan backlash to the more than $10 million spent on what the White House dubbed ‘Patriotic Ads,’ Trump announced Monday on Truth Social that his super PAC would cover the cost of the ads. But White House officials clarified on Tuesday to POLITICO that the president’s post did not mean the PAC would pay for the spots that had already aired.” (Seems like a long way of saying taxpayers paid for the initial ad buys, but the ads weren’t effective, so there won’t be any new ads. Those are ones Trump will pay for…)
+ The Apprentice’s Sorcerer: “Surgeons have long trained on an apprenticeship model: they observe others at work before operating themselves, and eventually master the techniques well enough to instruct a peer. The American surgical pioneer Dr. William Stewart Halsted called it ‘see one, do one, teach one.'” Can AI be the next apprentice that gets trained? Can Artificial Intelligence Learn the Art of Surgery? Plus, Utah will become first state to let AI examine patients and prescribe medication without direct human oversight. (At this point, I just need occasional help choosing between Sativa and Indica…)
+ Do it With Mirrors: “Scientists Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for untangling mysterious mirror images in molecules, a discovery that has been used to develop countless drugs and transformed modern medicine.” (Dammit, I just had that exact same idea this morning!)
+ You Are Here: “On Monday night, it was our understanding that Christa was brain dead and that life support would be removed the next day … But on Tuesday, to the shock of everyone … Christa woke up and began talking.” Christa Pike’s first words after surviving execution: ‘Where am I?’
Bottom of the News
“The annual event involves contestants putting their heads through a horse collar, known as a braffin, and distorting their faces before a team of judges.” (I think I might try this instead of Pickleball.) I competed at the World Gurning Championships and nearly passed out. I must’ve been hideous.
