You Cannot Be Syria

Assad Falls, Baseball's Bronx Bombshell

More than five decades of brutal leadership by the Assad family came to an end in a historic blink of an eye. But the fall of Syrian regime in thirteen days was connected to a chain reaction of global events—beginning with the October 7th attack—that rube goldberged their way to a new era in Syria. Even in the Arab world that just weeks ago was welcoming Assad back into the fold, the latest turn of events comes as a shock. No one can be quite sure how things in the newly freed Syria will play out, but for now, Syria's former President Bashar al-Assad is in Moscow with his family after Russia granted them asylum on what a Kremlin source calls ... wait for it ... "humanitarian grounds." What we do know is that the fall of Assad is bad news for Putin and the latest piece of really bad news for Iran. David Leonhardt in the NYT (Gift Article) on Iran’s Very Bad Year. "Most questions about Syria’s future don’t have clear answers. Will the Islamist rebels who have taken over the country create a harsh Taliban-style government? Or do the rebels’ recent hints of moderation point toward something gentler? The situation remains uncertain. But one implication of President Bashar al-Assad’s downfall seems clear: It caps a remarkably bad year for Iran."

+ "When Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel on October 7, 2023, he intended to deal a decisive blow against a powerful nation-state—and he succeeded. But the state his attack has devastated turned out not to be Israel, but Iran, his key sponsor." Eliot A. Cohen in The Atlantic: Khamenei Loses Everything.

+ "As Hemingway once wrote of bankruptcy, the collapse of autocratic regimes tends to happen gradually and then suddenly—slowly, and then all at once. This is not just a literary metaphor. A tyrant’s followers remain loyal to him only as long as he can offer them protection from their compatriots’ wrath." Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Syrian Regime Collapsed Gradually—And Then Suddenly. "Many of the regime’s defenders abruptly stopped fighting. Assad vanished. The scenes that followed today in Damascus—the toppling of statues, the people taking selfies at the dictator’s palace—are the same ones that will unfold in Caracas, Tehran, or Moscow on the day the soldiers of those regimes lose their faith in the leadership, and the public loses their fear of those soldiers too."

+ BBC: What just happened in Syria and who's in charge?

+ "People around them were asking 'what's your name' and 'how old are you?', but they could not even answer those questions." BBC follows crowds to the liberated Saydnaya military prisonwhere thousands were killed over the years.

+ Israel, US and Turkey launch strikes in Syria to protect interests.

+ Photos: See the fall of Damascus after Syrian rebels topple Assad's regime

+ And here's the latest from The Guardian.

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Talking Out of School

"While her family slept, Madi had texted a friend that she planned to overdose on her anxiety medication. That information shot to the school’s head counselor, who sent it to the police. When Ms. Cholka and the officer reached Madi, she had already taken about 15 pills. They pulled her out of bed and rushed her to the hospital." The NYT (Gift Article) on surveillance technology that is put on student Chromebooks to altert schools when students mention self hard. Spying on Student Devices, Schools Aim to Intercept Self-Harm Before It Happens. "Millions of American schoolchildren — close to one-half, according to some industry estimates — are now subject to this kind of surveillance, whose details are disclosed to parents in a yearly technology agreement. Most systems flag keywords or phrases, using algorithms or human review to determine which ones are serious. During the day, students may be pulled out of class and screened; outside school hours, if parents cannot be reached by phone, law enforcement officers may visit students’ homes to check on them."

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Healthcare Hitman

"Luigi Mangione was picked up in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after an employee called the cops, multiple law enforcement officials tell CNN. He had multiple fake IDs and a gun with a suppressor, the officials say. He was also in possession of a document railing against the health care industry." Suspect in custody for UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing.

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The Bronx Bombshell

"Fifteen years, $765 million, no deferred money. The numbers of Juan Soto's contract with the New York Mets, agreed to Sunday night in a deal that sets a new standard for the largest contract in professional sports history, tell a story. A baseball-loving phenom from the Dominican Republic arrived in the big leagues at 19 years old, thrived instantaneously, bet on himself by turning down a $440 million contract offer two years ago and now emerges with a record number of dollars and years -- and reminds the sports world of the endless possibilities when extreme talent meets a free market. It's not the only story, though. This is as much about the Mets as it is Soto -- about a franchise that for its 63-year existence has lived in the shadow of its pedigreed neighbor." How Juan Soto's deal with the Mets transforms baseball. (Juan Soto is now only a few hundred million short of qualifying for a Trump cabinet spot.)

+ Zach Kram digs into the numbers. Calling Juan Soto’s New Contract Record-Breaking Doesn’t Do It Justice.

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Extra, Extra

Bird Watching: "The national milk supply must be tested for bird flu under a federal order announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture." (Science-backed health directives... Enjoy them while you can.)

+ Life in Opposite World: Trump lays out sweeping early acts on deportation and January 6 pardons, says Cheney and other members of the January 6 Committee ‘should go to jail.' Adam Kinzinger, one of those committee members responds: "Let me be clear: we did nothing wrong. The January 6 Committee's work was driven by facts, the Constitution, and the pursuit of accountability—principles that seem foreign to Trump. If Donald wants to pursue this vindictive fantasy, I say bring it on ... We aren’t afraid of the truth, but I suspect you are."

+ Penny for Your Thoughts: "Prosecutors said Penny acted recklessly and negligently by restraining Neely in a chokehold for so long, even after Neely stopped moving ... His defense has said he was acting to protect others from a threat." Daniel Penny acquitted of criminally negligent homicide after more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed."

+ Accounting Eras: "On the heels of news that Taylor Swift‘s just-completed Eras Tour grossed more than $2 billion, now it’s being reported that the superstar handed out $197 million of that haul to tour employees as bonuses on top of their regular salaries."

+ New Normal: PopSci is out with their 37th annual Best of What's New awards.

+ Hoop Troop: "No stories in my career have sloshed around my head as persistently as those about the Lady Jaguars. I have tried to keep tabs of their lives, mostly through the thin strands and curated footprints of social media. I have thought of the persistent myth that people in the United States can rise above their inherited lot through dedication and hard work. The more clinical truth is that most of us are echoes of our parents, winners and losers of a genetic, economic and even geographic lottery system." The excellent John Branch tracks down the subjects of a story that has stuck with him over the years. A A juvenile court judge had assigned a group of girls to Carroll Academy, where they were placed on the basketball team. NYT (Gift Article): What Ever Happened to the Lady Jaguars?

+ Getting the Picture: Here are the Top 25 News Photos of 2024.

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Bottom of the News

"Ellen Oredsson of the blog How to Talk About Art History explains in one post that 'cultural values about male beauty were completely different back then. Today, big penises are seen as valuable and manly, but back then, most evidence points to the fact that small penises were considered better than big ones.'" Why Aren’t Classical Statues Very Well-Endowed? Because of the statue of limitations?