Not Safe for Work

Is leaving the answer? Plus, the Hollow Men

My dad lost his entire family in the Holocaust before spending four years as a Partisan fighting the Nazis. So maybe I shouldn't have been surprised at his reaction in 2018 when I brought him a copy of Jason Stanley's book, How Fascism Works. He took one look at the cover and said, "Vhat, you don't think I know how it verks?" I wonder how he'd react to this week's news that Jason Stanley is joining the very popular Timothy Snyder and his wife Marci Shore in leaving Yale for the University of Toronto. Stanley explained that he chose to move after seeing how Columbia University handled political attacks from Trump. "When I saw Columbia completely capitulate, and I saw this vocabulary of, well, we’re going to work behind the scenes because we’re not going to get targeted — that whole way of thinking presupposes that some universities will get targeted, and you don’t want to be one of those universities, and that’s just a losing strategy ... I just became very worried because I didn’t see a strong enough reaction in other universities to side with Columbia." I share Stanley's concern about Columbia's capitulation. But is leaving the country less of a capitulation? How is a one-way ticket abroad different from obeying in advance? Isn't pushing experts on fascism out of major universities the very goal of the Trump's strategy when it comes to academia? And, where does it leave those of us who have been quite publicly sharing the work of these academics for a long time, including during the current democracy slide? Aren't we (and the pit in my stomach) left feeling more concerned and less strong than before? And isn't that an example of how fascism works? Later in his life, my dad wrote his own book called, Taking Risks, in which he chronicled his years with the Partisans, blowing up Nazi trains, disrupting German supply lines, and saving civilans, as well as his years living in America—where he moved after that iteration fascism had been defeated. His book could have just as accurately been titled, How Fighting Fascism Works.

2

Hollow Be Thy Name

Yes, what's happening in America over the past few months depends on the capitulation of the opposition. But it depends to a much greater degree on the capitulation of those in power. As George Packer writes in The Atlantic (Gift Article): It takes a special talent to betray an entire worldview without missing a beat: The Hollow Men. Packer uses the Ukraine issue as his core example, as those long determined to defend that country specifically, and democracy generally, were paraded in front of the cameras to declared why Trump's switching of sides was actually good. "When a leader requires his underlings to say what they know isn’t true ... it’s a test of loyalty and a show of dominance. Ritualized humiliation is essential to an authoritarian regime. Trump forces aides, advisers, and the friendly press that he allows into the room to utter absurdities on his behalf in order to bind them closer to him, and thereby frees himself from any restraint." We're of course seeing the very same thing when it comes to the Signal scandal. Everyone knows how bad and how dangerous it was. How many members of the GOP are saying so? If they won't stand up and admit the reality of this disaster, when will they stand up?

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Crash Test for Dummies

A driverless car getting into a deadly accident is going to be really hard to wrap our heads around. Until we compare it with the number of human caused accidents that cause the same unfortunate outcome. ArsTechnica: After 50 million miles, Waymos crash a lot less than human drivers. (After what seems like driving 50 million miles among those human drivers, that doesn't seem all that surprising.)

4

Unaccompanied Diner

"Reservations for solo dining in the United States have risen by 64 percent since 2019, according to data from OpenTable, and 21 percent from 2022 to 2023, according to Resy. The increase in eating alone is probably even greater, given that many people simply walk in." Do these trends mean that dining alone is any less stigmatized? NYT (Gift Article): Why Is Dining Alone So Difficult? (I love dining alone. But that includes dining alone from strangers.)

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Extra, Extra

Bombshell: The fallout from the Signal scandal (and the refusal to admit it's a scandal) continues. NYT (Gift Article): Signal Chat Leak Angers U.S. Military Pilots. "'The whole point about aviation safety is that you have to have the humility to understand that you are imperfect, because everybody screws up. Everybody makes mistakes,' said Lt. John Gadzinski, a former Navy F-14 pilot who flew combat missions from aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf. 'But ultimately, if you can’t admit when you’re wrong, you’re going to kill somebody because your ego is too big.'" Plus, Israel, who supplied some of the intel has complained privately to U.S. officials that Waltz’s text has become public. And, Private Data and Passwords of Senior U.S. Security Officials Found Online. And, Mike Waltz's Venmo account showed his contacts — even after bombshell report on secret Signal chat. (There's one other aspect to the story worth noting. The guys who thought it would be cool to plan an attack on Signal and lie about afterwards are the same guys who now make decisions about who to bomb and when to bomb them.)

+ RFK'Od: "The Trump administration Thursday announced a major restructuring of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that will cut 20,000 full-time jobs." If only those firings were merit based... Some measles patients in West Texas show signs of vitamin A toxicity, doctors say, raising concerns about misinformation. Oh, and remember how Fentanyl addiction was the big issue causing us to close borders and harangue Canada. Well, "the Department of Health and Human Services has abruptly canceled more than $12 billion in federal grants to states that were being used for tracking infectious diseases, mental health services, addiction treatment and other urgent health issues."

+ Vax Attacks: Stat: Vaccine critic’s apparent selection to head HHS autism study shocks experts. "The apparent choice of David Geier — who does not have a medical degree and who was disciplined by the State of Maryland’s Board of Physicians for practicing medicine without a license — to conduct a study looking for the link that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long asserted exists, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, struck many as a surreal choice." (Meanwhile, measles is like...)

+ Tariffs, Ands, and Buts: If tariffs are supposed to make America great, why are American companies taking hits every time a new one is announced? GM, Ford stocks reel after Trump announces 25% auto tariffs on foreign-made vehicles, certain parts. (Don't worry. Not all US carmakers are being hurt.)

+ We Need to Have a Tuft Conversation: "An international student in a graduate program at Tufts University was taken into federal custody on Tuesday outside an off-campus apartment building, according to the university’s president and an attorney representing the student." You may not agree with her positions. And the Gaza protests that helped elect Trump may have been among the most counterproductive in history. But thinking that is different from wanting someone arrested. And as Timothy Snyder explains: "If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary."

+ No Mas Hamas: "Thousands of Palestinians marched between the wreckage of a heavily destroyed town in northern Gaza on Wednesday in the second day of anti-war protests, with many chanting against Hamas in a rare display of public anger against the militant group."

+ Duke It Out: Don't worry. Some universities are fighting back against powerful entities. HBO's 'White Lotus' went 'too far' using Duke apparel in scene, school says.

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Bottom of the News

"The scene was impressive, except in one way: This man absolutely sucked at gambling. I’d been with Vegas Matt—the YouTube tycoon whose millions of followers salivate over his every bet—for only a few hours. He’d already lost close to $30,000. His four-figure slot machine deposits had gone bust, an unyielding blackjack jet had hoovered up his teetering stacks of chips, and his rare victories had been reinvested into more audacious, ill-fated propositions. There was no way he’d end the night with dignity, yet here he was, perched at the baccarat table, trying to get even." Slate: The Biggest Loser. "He built an empire of men addicted to watching him lose enormous sums of money." (Oh man, these viewers would have friggin loved watching my stock portfolio this month!)

+ A babysitter in Kansas who was asked by a child to check for monsters under their bed was stunned to discover a man hiding there.

+ Of using AI in artful creation, Miyazaki once said, "If you really want to make creepy stuff, you can go ahead and do it, but I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself." So he's probably not to psyched that ChatGPT is turning everything into Studio Ghibli art.