Sunday Morning Reading

Looking ahead, looking back, yet always looking in this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

It’s Sunday. It’s the Sunday after the U.S. election that will change everything. In my opinion those changes will make life worse not better. The one thing that won’t change is my curiosity and sharing that in Sunday Morning Reading.

I cranked out a Thursday edition of Sunday Morning Reading this week to share some terrific writing in the aftermath of the election. I’m going to once again share a couple of those titles here, for the record, but also because they are worth re-reading now, and perhaps also later.

John Gruber’s thoughts post election are special, as is his piece How It Went.

Ken White of PopeHat fame’s piece And Yet It Moves is also worth re-reading and re-sharing. Excellent.

David Todd McCarty’s So, That Happened is also worth re-visiting.

Now on to some new stuff to share.

A series I had been sharing links to for awhile never really escaped my radar, but for some reason didn’t get mentioned as much here. Ellis Weiner and Steve Radlauer’s excellent serial The Split has come to an end. Conceived as a meditation “about what a country modeled entirely on red state ‘values’ would be like,” it has been a fantastic journey through 52 chapters. I’m sorry to see it come to an end. You can find the final chapter here and all of The Split here.

Over at Beardy Guy Musings, Denny Henke advises that we Remain Calm. But Prepare. Good advice.

Rachel Maddow reminds us that America has had its share of bad guys in the past in Dead Last.

Jeff Jarvis asks and answers Why Are Liberals So Infuriated with the Media?

Matteo Wong ponders The Death of Search in a world racing to embrace AI harder and harder.

Finally Frank Landymore tells us that a Physicist Says There’s Another Universe Hiding Behind the Big Bang. You can read the original essay Landymore refers to by Neil Turok here. Intriguingly not only does it exist in this theory but it is moving back in time. I’m sure not alone in wishing somehow we could do that either here or there.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. You can also find me on social networks under my own name.

America Had A Choice. America Chose Wrong

Sharing some thoughts of mine and others while trying to process this awful change.

America had a choice on November 5, 2024. America chose wrong. Donald Trump, the decaying orange convicted felon/child rapist who stole state secrets and tried to overturn his 2020 election defeat was reelected to be President and Commander-in-Chief of the United States. We can’t say we weren’t warned.

I’m still reeling a bit, alternating between shock, grief, and trying to find my way to process what I believe marks the end of America two years shy of its 250th birthday. Oh, sure it’ll still show up on a map, have a flag, and command a place in the world. But it will never be the same. No more defiantly claiming this is not who we are. In an act of national lunacy, this is who we’ve chosen to be. Sorry. That’s how I see it. You don’t invite a criminal into your home and stand in surprise when he steals the silver.

But back to the processing.

One of the things I do is read and share writing and subjects I think are worth your time. Typically that appears in my Sunday Morning Reading column here on the Wicked Stage. Today, I’m sharing some reading that has helped me through a couple of sleepless nights and very gray moods under very gray skies. Some seeks solace and understanding. Some might feel vindictive and angry. As I said, processing.

I hope you take the time to read this writing from some very thoughtful thinkers.

First up is Scattered Thoughts On The Worst of Days by Ian Dunt. Helpful words from overseas.

David Todd McCarty is trying to make sense of things in the aftermath of a catastrophe in So, That Happened.

Mark McKinnon pens An Open Letter to My Daughters. It’s meant as some words of solace. I’m not sure I’m there yet. One day, maybe. But I’m saving this for my granddaughter to read down the road.

Charles Pierce writes With The Election of Donald Trump, America is About to Get Exactly What It Wants.

James C. Nelson is a vet from a distinguished military family. He comes in hot with I Will Fly My Flag No Longer.

Finally, Ken White of PopeHat fame writes down some thoughts in And Yet It Moves. Damn good. Here’s a quote:

Are Americans inherently good, freedom-loving, devoted to free speech and free worship, committed to all people being created equal? That’s our founding myth, and isn’t it pretty to think so? But a glance at history shows it’s not true. Bodies in graves and jails across America disprove it. We’re freedom-loving when times are easy, devoted to speech and worship we like with lip service to the rest, and divided about our differences since our inception.

In some small way I’m selfishly hoping sharing this might help me as much as you. Good reading.

Sunday Morning Reading

Reading things more intensely this weekend with grandchildren in mind.

We’re on the road again, this time to celebrate my granddaughter’s first birthday. It was quite a fun day, but also one that brings everything that’s going on socially and politically into a different perspective. This week’s Sunday Morning Reading will be all politics if that gives you a clue. No apologies for that.

Above I said a different perspective. Different isn’t accurate. Intensified is probably more to the point, because if my grandchildren had never arrived I’d be feeling and vote the same way in this election. As I’ve said many times before I’m voting for her and my grandson’s futures. They will be voting age before anything in this dire moment will have a chance at being put right again.

Enough of the soapbox. Here’s this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

McKay Coppins tells us that “Democraccy lives in the people” in This Is Not The End of America. Hopeful? Yes. IMHO missing the point given the real reasons we’re at this moment.

Proving my point, to a degree, is this piece from Nathan J. Robinson called It’s Going to Take A Constant Fight to Perserve the Historical Record, linking to a Wall Street Journal article by Andrew Restuccia and Rebecca Ballhaus telling us that America’s Top Archivist Puts A Rosy Spin on U.S. History-Pruning the Thorny Parts. If you can’t face the past, or the current moment, the future is always in doubt.

J. Michael Luttig pens an editorial in the NY Times saying My Fellow Republicans, It’s Time To Say ‘Enough’ With Trump. He’s correct.

Why Are LIberals Infuriated with the Media? Jeff Jarvis tells us what he thinks. I largely agree.

Natasha MH wonders if it is still possible for adults to break bread without breaking apart in Hanged, Drawn and Quartered for Dinner.

Anne Applebaum offers some closing thoughts On Vermin. Here’s a quote:

This campaign has had a purpose. It has prepared Americans – even serious, establishment historians, or members of the Wall Street Journal editorial board – to accept what comes next.

And finally this week, David Todd McCarty asks If Trump Wins, Is It Game Over? It won’t be game over. But the rules will be vastly different and too many won’t be allowed to play.

Time to play with my grandchildren.

Sunday Morning Reading

Jokers to the left and right, but things feel increasingly unfunny.

Time for some Sunday Morning Reading as we continue treading water until the election on November 5th and prepare for the aftermath here in the U.S. There’s more tech and culture in this week’s edition than politics, but that’s here too. Hard to avoid it.

Speaking of politics, this article from Leah Feiger, Meet the Far-Right Constitutional Sheriffs Ready to Assert Control if Trump Loses, should remind us that this election isn’t just about one fascist. It’s about quite a few of them, already in power.

Take a look at We Are Willing Lord, But What, If Anything, Is Needed?, by David Todd McCarty. It’s a fascinating, very human discourse on attempting to find a way through the madness we’re mired in. And it’s not just about politics.

There was a big kerfuffle when the LA Times owner chose not to make an endorsement in this year’s election. There was a much larger one when Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos did the same with the Washington Post. Cowardly moves by both men who got where they are by not being cowards. Funny how money can change a guy. Many of those working for the papers are upset, some have quit, some are making their views known, including Alexandra Petri, the humor columnist for the Post. Check out It’s Fallen To Me, The Humor Columnist, To Endorse Harris For President.

On the AI beat this week, there’s more discussion about just how much, and what type of energy will be needed to power all of these Artificial Intelligence moves. Adele Peters takes a look in Google and Amazon Are Betting On ‘Advanced’ Nuclear. This Critic Warns It’s Not Ready.

Speaking of AI, Adobe seems to have put their foot in their mouth. Again. Jess Weatherbed reports that Adobe Execs Say Artists Need To Embrace AI Or Get Left Behind. Sadly, I think there’s truth in what Adobe is saying.

This week news broke about location surveillance issues and how our easily our smartphones can be tracked via ad tracking data. Yes, we’ve heard that for awhile, but if you check out this article from Brian Krebs called The Global Surveillance Free-for-All In Mobile Ad Data and this from Dan Goodin called Location Tracking Of Phones Is Out of Control. Here’s How To Fight Back, you’ll be thinking about this anew.

Iceland Embraced A Shorter Work Week. Olesya Dmitracova lets us know how it turned out. Spoiler alert: Better than predicted.

I keep talking about treading water, waiting for the election, Natasha MH talks about The Waiting Game in a broader context.

McNeal is a new play, by Ayad Ahktar on Broadway that tackles AI and creativity. Alexander Alter takes a look at How ‘McNeal,’ a Play About A.I., Lured Robert Downey Jr.to Broadway. There’s some fascinating semiotics with Ironman in this role of a writer embracing AI.

Sunday Morning Reading

The days are getting longer and things are getting scarier in this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

We’re getting closer to Halloween, Dia De Los Muertos, and perhaps the more frightening of the days ahead, Election Day in the U.S. With just three editions of Sunday Morning Reading to go before whatever tricks, treats, and horrors might befall us on or after the votes are tallied, enjoy the somewhat frightening reading ahead.

Aimee Ortiz takes a look at how Halloween has turned into a retail bonanza in Halloween’s Mutation: From Humble Holiday to Retail Monstrosity.

For some every day is fraught with peril. Philip Ogley wonders Why Do We Find It So Hard To Get Through the Day?

Approaching Dia De Los Muertos, David Todd McCarty remarks on turning his father’s passing into a celebration in We Called Him Papa.

Artificial Intelligence continues to be the dominant ghost story in tech with ups, downs, and promises everywhere. So far, most tech promises make good hype, but not necessarily good products. Matteo Wong thinks delivering on promised deadlines for superintelligence might be the truly scary part in The AI Boom Has an Expiration Date.

Could copyright law be a part of the solution to the horror story that is gun violence? Robin Buller takes a look in Mass Shooting Survivors Turn To An Unlikely Pace for Justice—Copyright Law.

Perhaps the scariest story linked in this week’s edition is Franklin Foer’s What Elon Musk Really Wants. There’s no trick, and there’s certainly no treat in what this madman aims to do.

Equally, if not more frightening is this piece from back in July from George Michael called An Anti-Democratic Philosophy Called ‘Neoreaction’ Is Creeping Into GOP Politics. I would say it’s moved from a creep by creeps into a gallop by goblins.

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Paul Rosenberg examines Fighting Demons: The New Apostolic Reformation Is Waging A Holy War Against Democracy.

Paolo Bacigalupi takes us on a little science-fiction journey into what a future shaped by climate change might look like in Azalea: A Science-Fiction Story. A great piece. I’m just not so sure we can call what we’re living through science-fiction anymore.

Sunday Morning Reading

Fears rise as the election nears in this week’s Sunday Morning Reading

Time for some Sunday Morning Reading, with more than a dash of politics, culture, and tech mixed together and served up for your pleasure.

Why Do Politicians Lie? My $.02 is because they can and not enough of us seem to care. Bill Adair takes a look at What I Didn’t Understand About Political Lying.

Michael Moore thinks Joe Biden should use the immunity and powers granted the office of the presidency by the Supreme Court in his final days to take care of some business. I may not agree with everything on Moore’s list, but check out what he thinks in Bucket List Joe. I do agree with the principle though.

The election is just around the corner and having served previously as an election judge I know first hand the anxiety election workers up and down the chain are feeling. The New York Times Editorial Board takes a good look at the stakes for those folks, paid and volunteer, in The Election Will Need More Heroes.

The Atlantic, famous for not endorsing a presidential candidate each and every election, has endorsed Kamala Harris. The endorsement is no surprise. Endorsements are choices and Trump has increased their pace of doing so. Check out The Case for Kamala Harris.

Life is a gamble and sometimes you need to go all in. Natasha MH pushes her chips forward with Into the Battlefield Armed with a Toothbrush.

A bit or two on tech and AI that I found interesting this week. Apparently we’re running out of data to train these AI engines on, and we’re also running out of space in data centers to do that environment crushing work. Check out Microsoft Azure CTO: US Data Centers Will Soon Hit Size Limits from Reed Albergotti.

And on a frightening note, apparently Silicon Valley Is Debating If AI Weapons Should Be Allowed To Decide To Kill. Margus MacColl explores this tricky issue, which really shouldn’t be a tricky issue.

There’s also apparently slippage in the great gold rush to Artificial Intelligence as everyone chases a less than Holy Grail of turning these data crunching engines to machines that can reason. Gary Marcus says that LLMs Don’t Do Formal Reasoning-And That Is A HUGE Problem. For the investors, shareholders, and suckers perhaps. I’m guessing the rest of us are just fine with that.

The two hurricanes that hit the U.S have caused so much damage and for those suffering that has been multiplied by the political BS that has followed. Who would have thought that on the ground Neo-Nazi’s showed up to “help” but. more to the point, use the disasters and their aftermath as recruiting tools? Tawnell D. Hobbs, Jennifer Levitz and Joe Barrett explore When The Hurricane-Relief Worker Turns Out To Be a Neo-Nazi. Who would have thought it? Anyone who has read a history book.

Sunday Morning Reading

Halloween is around the corner and the election is nearing. Sunday Morning Reading is full of scary politics and a tech ghost story.

There’s one month to go prior to the election that will decide the fate of the U.S. and possibly the world. After today that’s four more Sundays for Sunday Morning Reading. Fair warning those four Sundays will have more than a normal dose of politics in the mix. That said, enjoy this week’s edition of Sunday Morning Reading.

Politics has infected everything and in my opinion in the worst ways imaginable. Nothing points this up like the storm around the storm recovery from Hurricane Helene. Juliette Kayyem in The Atlantic tells us The Fog of Disaster Is Getting Worse, and she’s correct. Perhaps a better way for journalism to cover this beyond just complaining would be to do what Chantal Allam and Joe Marusak did in the Charlotte Observer and tackle each bit of disinformation, (which I prefer to call lies) head on in Helene Fact Check: Here Are The Rumors and the Reality in Western North Carolina.

The mythical swing voter has become larger than myth. Parker Malloy in Dame tells us The Real Swing Voters Aren’t Who You Think.

Phillip Bump usually nails it. He does so again in Trump and His Allies Are Not Planning To Concede Another Election Loss. Nothing is over on November 5th.

LZ Granderson in The Los Angeles Times also nails it in Trump Blames Immigrants As If That Were A Policy Position. It’s Just Racist. I’m losing hope we’ll ever recognize that we’ve recognized this and don’t seem to care.

Trump and his delusional followers couldn’t be this close to turning the clock back unless they had help from our transparently corrupt Supreme Court. Bill Blum takes a look at the awful immunity decision in John Roberts and the Second Coming of Dred Scott.

Speaking of the Supreme Court, Andy Kroll, Andrea Bernstein and Ilya Marritz take a look at why We Don’t Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right’s Supreme Court’s Supermajority.

Joyce Vance is worried that even if Trump loses he won’t face any consequences in Trump Must Be Tried. She’s right to worry.

And the final link on the politics beat is and is not about politics, but it is about endings. Sunita Puri looks at how promises at the end of life, like Jimmy Carter’s to stay alive to vote one last time, can affect our last days in Death Has Two Timelines.

The WordPress saga continues and it seems to get muddier with each clarifying new chapter. Dave Winer says WordPress Has a Greater Destiny. I agree with his premise. I think those screwing things up do as well. In a competition between destinies unfortunately everyone loses.

I’m preparing some thoughts on the new iPhones and Apple releases for later this week. I won’t have to write much about the new Camera Control after reading José Adorno’s piece Apple’s Biggest Hardware Change On the iPhone 16 Is A Huge Disappointment. I feel much the same.

As if the political moment wasn’t harrowing enough, Halloween is also around the corner. Angela Watercutter tells an intriguing tale that weaves tech (TikToK), a haunted house, the cops and a rolled up rug in her backyard in She Asked TikTok If Her House Was Haunted. Then The Cops Came.

Sunday Morning Reading

Social Media, AI, and exoskeletons are all in this week’s Sunday Morning Reading

It’s Sunday. It’s a morning. Time for some Sunday Morning Reading with a bit of history, some looking forward on social media, and as usual, a mix of reading on AI and politics. Around here it’s always free for your reading pleasure.

Speaking of free, some say The Best Things In Life are Free. Not always. At least according to Natasha MH.

Molly White has some more than interesting thoughts about social media and how we use it. Check out POSSE: Reclaiming Social Media In a Fragmented World. Also check out Dave Winer’s Making The Social Web Really Work for his thoughts on POSSE and this discussion.

On the AI front Mike Elgan takes on a New AI Trick: ‘Synthetic Human Memories.’ I’m not sure if we’ll measure that in gigabytes or what.

Continuing on the AI front, Karen Hao takes a look at Sam Altman’s consolidation of power as OpenAI (and others) keep making moves behind the scenes that I doubt any LLM will ever be able to summarize. Check out OpenAI Takes Its Mask Off.

While we’re talking the Internet behind the scenes, Emma Roth gives us an explainer on what’s happening at WordPress in The Messy WordPress Drama, Explained. Hint: It’s always about the money.

Politics and the coverage of it continues to ratchet up anxiety levels. Dan Fromkin wonders What If The Media Has The Election All Wrong? At this point I don’t think they or we would have anyway of knowing.

Peter Wehner walks us through The Republican Freak Show, listing out most of the freaks most are already familiar with. It’s a good summary of the lineup, but as the cliché goes, it’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Speaking of MAGAt freaks, it’s one thing to be given a presidential pardon. It’s another to keep on committing crimes. Check out Trump Gave Them a Second Chance. They Could Not Stay Out of Trouble by Kenneth Vogel and Susanne Craig.

Here’s a couple of interesting reads that provide some necessary historical context. First up Paul Rosenberg takes a look at Who Created “The Constitutional Sheriff” Myth. Hint: It’s Not in the Constitutio n. Also check out The Fire of The Grand Dragon by Phil McCombs. The piece dates back to 1991. It’s not dated or old. It should serve as a reminder that what we’re seeing out in the open these days has been smoldering under cover for as long as most people keep conveniently forgetting.

Here’s one more for some history and context: Blake Lindsey and Taylor Malone take a look at The Wide Awakes: The 1860 Election Was Influenced By Young People Advocating Against Slavery.

And to close this out this week, issues surrounding the Right to Repair are always stewing around, but they are not hot button these days. Unless you’re a Paralyzed Man Unable to Walk After Maker Of His Powered Exoskeleton Tells Him It’s Now Obsolete. Check out the piece by Frank Landymore.

Sunday Morning Reading

There’s no crying in baseball or politics, but there’s always reading on a Sunday Morning.

Time for a little Sunday Morning Reading from a week that was wacky. Politics continues to resemble anything other than politics, new iPhones and Apple software were released, the Chicago Cubs finally quit teasing their fans and dropped out of contention for the playoffs, and everything we associate with this weird world just seems to keep getting weirder.

Things may be weird, and it may feel like It’s enough to make you wish for winter and to curl into a cocoon and isolate yourself. Instead check out Jessica Stillman’s piece This Is What 8 Hours of Social Isolation Does to Your Brain and Body (It’s Not Pretty.)

While we’re talking health, Dave Winer penned this piece, Health Is Nothing To Screw With. Damn straight.

David Todd McCarty looks at how the insignificant details of life can add up to big answers in All Things Great And Small.

Turning the page, (oh, how I want to turn so many pages) to politics check out Jay Willis on how Political Betting Could Soon Be Legal — and It’s the Last Thing This Election Needs. Bet on it.

If you’re like me you might believe that the only thing more troubling than our politics is how our media covers it, check out Jeff Jarvis on How They Have Failed Us.

One of this week’s horror stories in politics was the Mark Robinson story. No one should be surprised by his actions or the rush to resuscitate what should be a dead campaign. David French says MAGA Wants Transgression. Mark Robinson Is The Result.

95% of what this political moment is all about is race and racism. We’re never going to learn the right lessons in my lifetime. Dustin Arand in Ellemeno learned one. Read What Two Racist Jokes Taught Me About The Nature of Bigotry.

Bots are everywhere. Some are taking your reservation for dinner. As Dwight Silverman asks (he gets the h/t for this piece) what happens when a bot working for you gets a bot on the other end of the line? Check out When You Call A Restaurant, You Might Be Chatting with an AI Host by Flora Tsapovsky.

As has become predictable one of the best places to read about Apple’s new software each year is MacStories. Their reviews are excellent. Check out Federico Viticci’s iOS and iPadOS 18: The MacStories Review. Check out their other reviews as well.

Closing out with baseball, Paul Sullivan looks at the fitting end to the Chicago Cubs season. Why fitting? Because the Cubs started their hero of yesteryear who turned into essentially a guaranteed loss each time he took the mound this season. There’s no crying in baseball. There shouldn’t be this much sentimentality either. Check out A Day In The Life of Wrigley Field At The End Of A Lost Summer for the Chicago Cubs.

Sunday Morning Reading

Fall is creeping in and things are creeping me out.

The world continues its whirl, the vultures continue circling, and down here on the ground we keep working hard to turn the tide on the ignorant before it’s too late. Still, it’s time to sit down, breathe and enjoy if you can some Sunday Morning Reading.

Perhaps you aren’t aware of the Second Circuit of Appeals decision rejecting the Internet Archive’s fair use defense. You can check out info on the decision here. Reading beyond that check out Matthew Ingram’s post The Second Circuit’s Decision in the Internet Archive Case is Bad. It is bad news for all of us. As a side note, Matthew has recently struck out on his own and you might want to check out his writing on The Torment Nexus. It promises to be a great place to read about issues in the intersection of technology, media, and, well…life.

Politics, or what passes for it these days, continues to dominate much of our attention even as it gets darker and more stupid with each passing day. Springfield, Ohio found itself the unwelcome center of the political world with all of the talk about eating pets and immigration. Isabel Fattal has a very good piece in The Atlantic titled The Springfield Effect. FWIW I don’t think Springfield is going to catch a break anytime soon, but then neither are the rest of us.

Voting is just around the corner, but the discussions and machinations around it now dominate our lives all the time. Check out Eli Saslow’s 3 Georgia Women Caught Up in a Flood of Suspicion About Voting.

Sanewashing is just a new name in a long line of new names for ignoring the crazy, idiotic, and dangerous ways of the decaying orange convicted felon/child rapist and his followers. Parker Malloy tells us Why The Atlantic’s Critique of Sanewashing Doesn’t Hold Up. There’s a link to the Atlantic piece in Malloy’s article. When a thing becomes a thing to criticize it becomes just another excuse for ignoring the truth.

There’s sadly a chance of some sort of carnage, physical or psychic, post-election. Certainly there will be political casualties. Perhaps that’s why we should read Ian Rose’s piece The Hidden Value of Vultures. Let’s hope the vultures doing the cleanup are only feasting on those who caused the mess.

Karen Hao takes a look at Microsoft’s Hypocrisy on AI when it comes to Microsoft working with fossil-fuel companies while purporting to fight climate change.

In a world full of what feels like willful ignorance, Daniel R. DeNicola takes a look at Plato’s Cave and the Stubborn Persistence of Ignorance.

Elizabeth Laura Nelson has a very poignant piece called Friends for 16 Years. Lovers for One Night. Don’t let moments and opportunities pass you by.

Before you clear your palette and move on to whatever you move on to, take a brief trip along with NatashaMH to Bangkok City in When The World’s Your Oyster.