No News is Good News

Tuning Out, Weekend Whats, Feel Good Friday

How should a news addict react to a moment in time when the news seems mostly bad and increasingly overwhelming? I'm asking for a friend. It could be temporary, but ratings and anecdotal accounts suggest some people are tuning out. Here's Ginia Bellafante in the NYT (Gift Article): The Liberal New Yorkers Who Say They’re Tuning Out the News. "These were high-information voters who mainlined political coverage through every available 21st- century platform; a month ago they would have been able to give you the over-under on statehouse races in rural Ohio. But now they questioned whether consuming so much news was good for them, whether it was really a civic virtue or something to be fought like any other addiction." (Does one limiting news intake even read an article about tuning out the news? Those are the kinds of questions one asks to avoid the very real conundrum he faces.) Believe it or not, I've always advised readers to do as I say not as I do and try to be informed without being overwhelmed. As I wrote in my book, breaking news is breaking us. News notifications in particular benefit no one except the senders:

"The notion that you need to know about world events right when they happen is a marketing creation of media brands. And yet, those news stories mingle in the same lock screen with the personal reminders and calls from your mom. The stuff that has something to do with you is now almost impossible to distinguish from the stuff that doesn’t. Trust me, that news alert can wait until later. Like most things on the internet, it can wait until never. You’re not Batman. You’re not going to do anything about the news alerts, so they can wait. As a general rule, you don’t need to be immediately notified of any breaking news that’s happening more than about eighteen feet from where you are right now. At most, your alerts should only cover your locality. Even Bruce Wayne only covers Gotham."

(There's a big difference between being informed and being inundated. There's really no point in spending all day swimming in content that distresses and depresses you. Especially when you still have me to do that...)

+ Susan Glasser in The New Yorker: "Donald Trump has already so thoroughly owned the news cycle that I’m not sure anyone even recalls that Joe Biden is still President ... One of the themes of this year’s campaign was the apparent mass amnesia among many Americans of just what the Trump Presidency was like. Every day since Trump won has been a crash course in remembering: the cryptic all-caps social-media posts at all hours, containing major government announcements; the erratic decision-making that stuns even his most senior advisers; the casual shattering of norms, rules, and traditions, any one of which would have provoked days of controversy for another politician. Scandals were endemic to the first Trump Presidency. But this many? In just the first two weeks of an incoming Administration? No, there is no precedent." Benjamin Franklin famously described America as "a republic, if you can keep it." These days it feels more like "a republic, if you can take it.")

2

Indecent Exposure

"On OnlyFans, sex traffickers have a 'unique niche' in which to privately conduct their business, said Catheline Torres with the U.S.-based National Human Trafficking Hotline, which helps survivors of trafficking and exploitation. Reuters identified 11 cases of women who told authorities or filed lawsuits saying they had been forced to perform sex acts on OnlyFans. But experts including Torres say the true prevalence of sex trafficking on the platform is nearly impossible for outsiders to assess." Enslaved on OnlyFans: Women describe lives of isolation, torment and sexual servitude. This is one segment in a 5-part series from a Reuters investigation: OnlyFans Exposed.

3

Logger Rhythm

"There is a mix of physical factors — heavy equipment and, of course, the massive trees ... Couple that with steep terrain and unforgiving weather and the rural aspect of the work, and it leads to great danger." The NYT (Gift Article) takes you to southwestern Oregon and Inside the Deadliest Job in America. (The next two most deadly jobs are performed by roofers and news curators.)

4

Weekend Whats

What to Doc: "YouTube astrologer Katie Griggs rose to fame as the face of Kundalini yoga and reinvented herself as Guru Jagat, attracting followers — including celebrities and fee-paying devotees — with promises of prosperity, physical health, and spiritual fulfillment. Breath of Fire offers a multi-decade examination of the corruption within Kundalini yoga and a portrait of a misguided guru and master manipulator, spotlighting the uneasy nexus of the American dream, self-invention, and fanatical ideology." Check out Breath of Fire on Max. It's a really interesting look into what drives cult leading narcissists and their followers.

+ What to Watch: August Wilson's excellent play The Piano Lesson has been turned into a movie that's getting excellent reviews and is available now on Netflix.

+ What to Binge: I've suggested Industry on Max before. But I just sat on the couch as my wife binged all three seasons. So here's a reminder to check out this very well-reviewed series that doesn't seem to get as much hype as it deserves.

5

Extra, Extra

Who's Got Next? With the Matt Gaetz for AG saga in the rearview mirror, Florida's former attorney general Pam Bondi is the next nominee. She's way more qualified than Gaetz. But she is also an election denier who has done Trump favors in the past. What to know about Pam Bondi, Trump's second AG pick. And from WaPo: Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general, is a longtime loyalist. That will be apt description for just about anyone he appoints to anything. Meanwhile, Trump's New York hush money sentencing paused indefinitely.

+ Missile Testing: Putin says Russia will use new missile again in 'combat conditions.' "Russia's use of the Oreshnik capped a week of escalation in the war that also saw Ukraine fire US and British missiles into Russia for the first time. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for world leaders to give a 'serious response' so that Putin 'feels the real consequences of his actions.'"

+ Bumper to Bumper Thumpers: "Texas’ education board voted Friday to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms."

+ Land, Oh: "The latest vote count shows that Donald J. Trump won the popular vote by one of the smallest margins since the 19th century. But Mr. Trump claims a 'powerful mandate.'" NYT(Gift Article): The ‘Landslide’ That Wasn’t.

+ Bite Me: "Mosquitoes do a superb job of spreading diseases like malaria – now researchers have shown it's possible to hijack these pests and distribute vaccines via mosquito bite. In human trials, these mozzie-borne vaccines proved around 90% effective." Vaccines have successfully been delivered via mosquito bite.

+ For Whom the Bell Tolls: "Customers who try to scan a boarding pass before their group is called will hear a two-note sound and be turned away."American Airlines to shame boarding line cutters with new technology.

+ Home Games: There have been a series of robberies targeting the homes of professional athletes when thieves know they're playing games. NBA joins NFL in urging caution to players about home security.

6

Feel Good Friday

"For Frank, the voyage is largely a way to express his gratitude for still being alive and having the ability to take on the physical challenge, almost a decade after a car accident left him with 14 broken bones and nearly paralyzed. He had been hiding in a pile of leaves to surprise a friend when a carful of teens drove through the pile without knowing he was there." Canoeist is paddling the 6,000-mile Great Loop out of gratitude for life.

+ NPR has a timely series about people finding common ground even if they don't share the same political views. It's the divisions that bring some together in a county in Washington state ... You can sword-fight at this club. But no politics allowed ... They disagree about a lot, but these singers figure out how to stay in harmony.

+ ESPN: 'Run, Forrest, run!': How good a football player was Forrest Gump?

+ Vox: Innovators, thinkers & changemakers working to make the future a better place.

+ Freddie Freeman grand slam ball to be auctioned. Could bring 'life-changing money' for Venice family.

+ Dog left for dead on road; couple empty wedding fund to save her.

+ Emperor penguin released at sea 20 days after waddling onto Australian beach.

+ The Bay Area’s most charming coffee popup is in this family’s driveway.

+ Ray Ratto on the season's first snow game. Steelers-Browns Was a Miserable and Majestic Classic of Bad-Weather Football.