THE WALLS “A will women “LOSE IN ON TRUMP = _ JHE Sa a eC eo Pt ae eh NASA% test of its plan ~ to save humanity from. - an ‘extinction event’ Ts) 6 . re Le ae ee tect) ‘ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT MATTERSBuild wealth. Spend wisely. Cut taxes. Retire rich. Kiplinger's YOUR MONEY’S WORTH podcast gives you expert advice and guidance to help you: « invest for growth and income, slash taxes, save for retirement, + make the most of your money, and much more. Get it. Kiplinger.com/podcast | Apple | Google Play | Spotify | Overcast | RSSContents 3 Editor’s letter For many years now, work has taken up a greater and greater part of Americans’ mental space. First there was the era of cor- porate retreats and endless evangelizing about turing your cor porate team into an entrepreneurial powerhouse. Then there was “hustle culture,” the idea that having just one job couldn't pos- sibly be enough. And now, there is the latest wrinkle, the “bring. your whole self to work” movement, which The New York ‘Times’ Pamela Paul wonderfully skewered last week (sce Best Columns: Business, p.38). It's the natural evolation of the idea that life should be centered on the workplace. With fewer outlets for face-to-face self-expression—also known as “social life”— it was probably inevitable chat the next step in the transforma- tion of work was moving life wholesale to the office. Let the of- fice make room, the thinking goes, for all the psychic yearnings, the politcal discussions, the oversharing, the angst, and the aspi- zation that we no longer have space for in our personal life. But what is the “whole self” that we are supposed to bring to the office? I'l venture a guess, and it’s not exactly the private self that we used to value. Its the online self, the Twitter self, the Facebook self the brash and too-loud self that we have learned to construct in 280-character posts and glossy Instagram images. That self is increasingly both puffed-up and diminished. Pusfed- up in obvious ways, diminished because itis stripped of nuance, empathy, doubt, and restraint. “Bring your whole self to work,” like so many slogans of corporate life, ends up meaning practi- cally the opposite of what it says. The personal relationships we build at work can be among the most important relationships of ‘our lives. But lke other relationships, they develop in their own way and at their own pace. Under pressure to reveal ourselves immediately and relentlessly, the natural human impulse will al- ways be to fake it, and cut off exactly those Mark Gimein ns that make up a full life. Managing editor © Controversy of the week 7 The US. ata glance Putin calls for a mass mobilization; NASA’s space defense test; Iran's hijab protests A flood of investigations is finally catching up to Teamp Hurricane slams into Florida; Arizona judge restores an 1864 abortion 8 The world at a glance ‘The pound plummets; potential sabotage at Nord Stream pipeline RTS LEISURE ecu star Mr loher 10 People 23 Books 31 Food {onasnmrnrrca Will Smith's daughter How mental Three of America’s best [omen rentals shaves her head to make a seveals psychiatry new restaurants; a perfectly | Snnom Smyenansanysanyyscon statement; Wenner’s rock- Seasonal roast chicken and-roll days 24 Author of the week 08 Womens Homes ond Nae ‘The dog-cognition expert humbled by a puppy Art & Music ‘When America became the art 11 Briefing ‘The unprecedented wave ‘of asylum seekers arriving 26 in the US. Protests against government repression rack Tebrat. (5) 32 Travel ‘Senor eto ti apr Bay Fut ope Ware one "anoingaector nee Rents Compba “VP Consumer Marteting Global ‘Spends na rece Parachuting into Bangkok without a plan; the appeal of rail bikes 12 Best US. columns ae ot Are 400 daily deaths BUSINESS tc mange Noth Ameer really he end of Covid?, _SUPETPOWer Seaes ts ace tore ° . fur deep border divisions 28 Film Dowemerstbearmarke, | Serio, Un" 12 Best international io basa worried retailers start sales columns, a early Rosen es re ees 37 Making money raft; who should own, Bonds may offer a good Vist us at ThaWeek com. South Africa's diamonds deal for savers; thelowrrate For eustmer service goto 16 Talking points rmortgage trap ‘ThoWeok.comiservice. AbBlack mermaid; home 38 Best columns Renew a subscription at runs without steroids, Watt TThecrimerrdden cannabis RenewTneWeek.com or ge 8 nother painful recovery Smith business; your whole sell at GiveTheWeek com for Puerto Rico ‘n0) nal the wovkplaee ‘THE WEEK October 720224 NEWS The main stories... Cornered Putin escalates Ukraine war What happened ‘The Kremlin ordered a major escalation of the Ukraine war this week, calling up 300,000 conscripts and staging sham ref erendums in occupied regions of Ukraine so it could annex and claim them as Rus- sian soil. Aer five days of voting during hich residents reported soldiers going door to door with guns, Russian officials said resident in the Zaporizhzhia, Kher- son, Luhansk, and Donetsk regions had shown as high as 99 percent support for joining Russia The vote was widely dismissed as a farce. “They're doing it in their Russian syle, just for pi said Serhiy Ivaschenko, a Ukrainian of ficial in Kherson. Russian Present Vladimir Putin was expected to announce the regions’ annexation this week, and Russias parlia- ‘ment may take up formal annexation legislation next week Border crossings were flooded as more than 250,000 men fled Russia Co escape conscription (see International columns, p15). Numerous attacks on enlistment offices were reported, and the U.S. warned Americans living in Russia to leave or risk being forced into the army. Meanwhile a top Kremlin oficial echoed nuclear threats made by Putin, who has signaled that any attack on the annexed territories will be seen asa direct attack on Russia. “I have to remind you again, for those deaf ears who hear only them- selves,” said Dmitri Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council, “Russia has the right to use nuclear weapons if necessary.” ‘White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the admin- istration had warned Russians “at very high levels” that their use of a nuclear weapon would bring “catastrophic consequences.” What the editorials said Putin's desperate gambits “amount to an admission that his inva- sion has been a disaster,” said Bloomberg. His “sham” referendums and military call-up are meant to show strength, but instead expase “the weak position he finds himself in” as his battered, demoralized army is driven back and runs short of men and materiel. The U.S. and Europe must “redouble their commitment” to Ukraine, and put Putin on alert “that any attempts to escalate the conflict would bea grave mistake.” Patin’s mobilization “has turned into a debacle,” said The Washington Post. Tens of thousands of fighting-age men “are running forthe exits,” and the chaos and anger the call-up has sparked threatens to upend the compact that underlies Putin's rale: Citizens agree to “stay out of politics in exchange for the government not interfering in their daily lives.” As the cost ofthis war hits home, Russians are “snapping out of lethargy and asking questions that they hadi for a long time.” Putin is “the lone reason for this war,” and if it continues to go badly, “he might pay the price.” What the columnists said Putin's escalation “is a losing strategy,” said Joshua Yaffa in The ‘New Yorker. Even if he gets more solders on the ground, it will take months, and they'll be undertained and unmotivated. Annex- ation and nuclear threats won't deter Ukraine from a battle they see as “existential” or the West from supplying its valiant army with weapons. If this escalation fails, a panicked Putin may find himself ina situation “where nothing but the nuclear option remains.” Putin’s use of a tactical nuclear weapon is “improbable,” said James Nixey in CNN.com, Russian military leaders have “plenty ‘of checks and speed bumps in place"—and they know how severe the consequences would be. In any case, U.S. and European leaders can't “go wobbly” in the face of Putin’s threats. They're right to fear “a weakened and humiliated Russia.” But they should fear even more “a strong and emboldened one” that has succeeded in nuclear blackmail. “Patin isin trouble,” said Marlene Laruelle in The New York Times. Cracks have opened inthe euling elite in the face of battle- field humiliation, and “previously loyal figures have begun to mut- ter about the regime's failings.” Having doubled down in Ukraine, Putin must find a way to achieve “a military result chat can be framed as at least a partial victory.” A coup is unlikely inthe short term, but in coming months, Russia’ czar “may discover thatthe ‘ground beneath his fet has started to shift.” It wasn't all bad When he was 22, Mike Huss took an overnight job as a janitor at lone Elementary School near Sacramento—the same school held attended as a child. Eventually, he earned an education degree and become a full-time faculty member. Now, after 14 years as a janitor and 19 a8 a toacher, hes bean pro: moted to principal. While students sometimes forget the details of their lessons, Huss says, they'll always, remember how a teachor made. them feel. "Teachers don't realize they have that power, they impact a student’ life forever.” At 49, Ray Ruschel knows he's an unusual sight at the "North Dakota college where he studies business manage- ‘ment. But when he found out that the two-year school hhad a football team, he decided to try out anyway. "I got to ‘thinking about it” Ruschel says, “And I decided, ‘Why not?” “The defensive lineman, who competes against players 30, ‘years his junior is now the ‘oldest college football player in the country. Teammates say the Army veteran also serves as their mentor, teaching them ‘there's more to life than win- ning. Ruschel says his oppo- ents sometimes mistake him for a coach—until he steps onto the fleld, “That always makes me laugh,” Ruschel says. “And No age limit then, I play harder” 1m Kenneth Johnston had always ‘admired 18th-century abolitionist Harriet Tubman, wha traveled the Underground Railway to help free former slaves. In July, the 61-year ‘ld Philadelphian departed from "Now York City, for a 400-mile trek along the route Tubman followed to Ontario, Canada, Ata stop in Auburn, N.Y, Johnston visited ‘Tubman's grave and met with her great-great grandniece. Next, Johnston intends to trek along a 4,000-mila slave trail from 19 Louisiana. Johnston says he has iteasy; the slaves didn’t have the benefit of his hiking geer. "Their journey was more rugged.” “THE WEEK October 7,2022 lluswation by Howard Mewiliam, "Cover phate ro ety.and how they were covered NEWS 5 NASA tests space defense with asteroid collision What happened NASA completed a planetary defense test against a *mass extinction event” this week by crashing a small spacecraft into an egg shaped asteroid called Dimorphos to nudge ici a new orbit. Ie wil take two months co determine if the crash ofthe rerigeratorsize ‘spacecraft at 14,000 mph successfully shifted the asteroid into a new cours, with astrono- mers using telescopes on all seven continents to chart its path, Located about 7 million miles fom Earth, Dimorphos is 525 fect across and orbits a larger asteroid, Didymos. Part ‘Of NASA’ Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART, the $300 mission is the frst step of a program to develop the means to deflect asteroids and comets that could cause massive , When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recenty flew 50 migrants to Martha's Wh y were Vineyard, said Bonnie Kristian, progressives were repulsed by what they saw as an “unscrupulous” exploitation of desperate people. Conserva- $0 divided on 3 ena eae nt at IMMigration — = “national crisis.” Why is there such a git in perception about immi gration? On a basic level, conservatives generally prefer orden, and Bonnie Kristian feel an “instinctive unease” when they se tens of thousands of people The Daily Beast overwhelming border officials and streaming into the country. “This is indeed a crisis” to them, and they feel that “something must be done about this, now.” By nature, progressives are more comfortable with change andl disorder, and see the flood of new arrivals in terms of social justice, freedom, and the American dream. But people on the Left need to understand that the “automatic discomfort” many Americans fel about the chaos at the border cannot be waved away as irrelevant. If the constant, uncontrolled influx of migrants continues, any kind of comprehensive immigration reform will be impossible and there will be “a deeply felt need in American politics” that some politicians will be happy to exploit. [igeempenetbcnlincme eosin Teche ould wll Why college — pirssi text snd mises sid ames Paesky ana Soma Abrams if Far-left administrators and student activists have created an “Us vs. students live ee eae a cian te temp ede by pee in fear seed advan and poe wth hyperintense Pamela Paresky and dents say they frequently self-censor out of fear that their peers will take Use ofthe wrong pronoun or commonplace term—even “picnic” is now deemed racist—can gct a student branded a bigot or transphobe. Campus organizations increasingly cater to students who want t0 avoid those of differen races, sexual orientations, and politcal views. Undergraduates at several colleges, including NYU and Willams Col- lege, have even demanded racially segregated dorms. Campus life has become highly stressful, and administrators need to change course and foster “meaningful relations and psychological well-being,” “Arifcial Intelligence is often referred to as a ‘black box’ We tell it to do -something—read written numbers off a page or predict the next search term You type into Google or make a robot step over an obstacle. And very often, the Al does what you. tell itto do, with a remarkable degree of acouracy and consistency. But unlike a car ora traditional computer program or a spacecraft or a nuclear power plant, you don't know how the Al did what You wanted. There's the interesting question of whether Al is fundamentally incomprehensible. As | See it, this is equivalent to the question of whether Al is actually, literally magic.” ‘Noah Smith in his Substack nowslettor “THE WEEK October 7, 2022, ase ceat rebar macy An Englishman set a record for bar crawling by having a drink at 67 pubs in about 17 hours. "I completely underestimated just how hard it was actually going to said account manager Nathan Crimp, 22. “To drink ‘that much liquid in such a ‘short space of time... twas ‘easily the hardest thing Ive ‘ever done.” The biggest challenge, he said, "was constantly having to go to the toilet” A Spanish “trans-species activist” has had a pair of artificial ears implanted on tither side of his head that allow him to “hear” the ‘weather. Manel de Aguas of Barcolona had the “weather fins” attached to temporal bones in his skull, with circuits that send vibra: tions to his brain carrying information about changes in temperature, humicity, and atmospheric pressure. ‘Wearing the weather fins has “increased my empathy toward nature and all other nonhuman species,” he said. ‘Mountain goats are creat- ing 3 nuisance in Wash- ington’s Olympic National Park due to their yen for the minerals in human pee. Large herds of goats paw and dig areas along trails ‘and campsites where hikers have urinated, in search of the salt and other minerals ‘goats’ numbers—and their digging up of park grounds and sometimes aggressive interactions with people— un using, pters to airlift the ani ‘mals to more remote Inthe North Cascades.“Queen Elizabeth has reigned for 30% of U.S. history.” —Matt Glassman, Ph.D., Georgetown University's Government Affairs Institute ened eid Honor a Royal Legacy Fag ete roe ee ie rem see tend world, As Britain’s monarch, she witnessed the moon landing, the fall of the Berlin Wall, che creation ofthe internet and the London 2012 Summer Olympics in a constantly chan, As countries rose and fell, as prime ministers came and went, Queen Elizabeth II reigned, becoming the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch in history. To pur her 70 years of service in perspective, by one academic’s measure she reigned for 30% of American history In honor of her incredible, unwavering and devored commitment to her country, her quiet leadership and moral support to the British people, and her legacy as one of the world’s most admired women, we now offer you a 2022 Canadian Silver Maple Leaf coin, a token of appreciation for her royal legacy Struck at the prestigious Royal Canadian Mine in a full troy ounce of highly pure 99.99% fine silver, the coin’s obverse features Susanna Blune’s regal portrait of Queen Elizabeth IL 1 Grading ec of or Get the Queen Elizabeth II coin in 99.99% fine silver ... while supplies last! oie, Dicouns ae net redeoablefr The reverse features a maple leaf and the word “Canada.” The coin’s purity, “9999,” is inscribed on both sides. This coin is legal tender in Canada and comes in original Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) condition. Don’t miss out! As numbers are limited, be sure to order your coin today; we only have fewer than 500 left on hand. The events of Queen Elizabeth I's life are worth commemorating. Get your coin today. Coin Specifications: + Official legal tender of ulated * 1 troy ounce of 99.99% pure silve 2022 Canadian Silver Maple Leaf Coin (BU) "+ S&P 38 mm diamecer only fer cates sting te ofr code 1-800-333-2045 Your Insider Offer Code: SML143-01 Stauer, 14101 Southcross Drive W., Ste 155, Dept. SML143-01, Burnsville, MN 55337 www.stauer.com Stauer® | AFForD THE ExTRAORDINARY®14 NEWS A Catholic majority the North Freya McCloments The Irish Times Where children Northern Ireland has lost its Protestant major ity, said Freya McClements. Created in 1921, the same year as the Irish War of Independence, its boundaries were “deliberately drawn to ensure a Protestant majority and, so the theory went, Northern Ireland’ place in the United Kingdom.” ‘A-century lates, the latest census shows that Catholics now oumamber Protestants for the firse time, 45.7 percent to 43.5 percent. Perhaps that shouldn't be a surprise: After al, just afew ‘months ago, the Catholic party Sinn Fein, which ‘wants Norther Ireland to join the Republic of Ireland, became the largest party in parliament, in Best columns: Europe ‘overtaking the Democratic Unionist Party, which favors staying in the U.K. Yer the census results sill seem to be a watershed. For those pushing for Irish unity, they add “to the momentum which they argue is already building in that direction.” For unionists, “it is another psychological blow. ‘They are already reeling from Brexi, which some feel has effectively severed them from the est of the U.K. A small plurality of 31 percent of North- crn Irish sil identify as “British only,” but that’s down from 40 percent just 10 years ago. “It is.as ifthe very foundations on which unionism stands are crumbling tis feet.” Along with math and history, Polish schoolchil- dren have a new subject this year—shooting, said Kristin Joachim and Raphael Jung. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February frightened many must learn Poles, and over the next few months Education Miniter Premyslaw Czarnck, ofthe rling night to shoot wing Law and Justice party, made it his mision to Kristin Joachim and Raphael Jung Tagesschau.de (Germany) get a law passed reintcoducing military instruction in schools. “History is not over,” Crarnek said. “It repeats itself and you have to fight back.” That's why eighth- and ninth-geaders across Poland are now getting lessons in nile safety and basic defense training, including practice ata shooting range. The new requirement met with predictable push- back from teachers, who said they had neither the ‘manpower nor the time to teach marksmanship, and from psychologists, who said students would be better off learning conflict resolution skills such as “building relationships and negotiating compro- miss.” Yet there has been “no outcry among Pol- ish parents.” Most of them, after al, took military instruction when they were in school—it was only abolished in 2012. Many Polish parents, worried about the latest threats from Moscow, are thrilled that their kids are practicing with guns. One gies mother, who gave her name as Agnieszka, said she thought shooting lessons should be more frequent, “so the children can really master it.” Italy: Neo-fascists at the helm ‘The nco-fascist victory in Italy is “a shock to all democratically minded Europe- ans,” said Florian Harms in T-online (Germany), Brothers of Italy, the far-right successor to a party founded by Mus- solin’s chief of staff after World War I, came in frst in dhis week's elections, with 26 percent. Combined with its coalition partners, the Brothers have an outright ‘majority in parliament. Itranationalist party leader Giorgia Meloni, 45, who once called Mussolini “a good politician,” will become Italy’s first female prime minister. ‘Meloni insists that she is no fascist. But her nationalist pepuistameeeg ae ‘Meloni: The mew face of te far right of government the fact that Brothers of Italy was the only party that could claim outsider status—it alone stayed out of the previ- (us technocratic government of Mario Draghi. ‘The question now is whether Meloni can fast longer than most Italian prime ministers, who often flame out in a year or less. Meloni is different, sid Carlo Bonini in La Repubblica (italy). She openly fires with fascist symbols, while always claiming plausible deni- ability. When erties pointed out that her slogan “God, country, family,” was coined by a Fascist official in 1931, she maintained it was simply shorthand to ized homosexuals and immigrants, and one of her party's leaders ‘was caught giving a fascist salute. We can’t rely on her coalition partners to temper her: They include the farright League, led by the “xenophobic bully” Matteo Salvini, as well as the center-right Forza lala, led by former prime minister and convieted fraud- ster Silvio Berlusconi. With these three at the top, Iralians “have elected a government of political horrors.” No wonder Euro- pean Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has begun hinting about the financial “tools” the EU can use to punish backsliding democracies—as it has done with Poland and Hungary. Meloni party won only by “cannibalizing its allies," said Francesco Verderami in Corriere della Sera (Italy). She was the shiny new thing, the fresh face of the antvestablishment, and she drew votes from the League, which collapsed to 9 percent, just half its share in the 2018 election, and Forza Talia, which took a mere 8 percent. Part ofthat win can be explained by ‘express the three things she loves most. And she can't give up the party’ flame logo, first used by the neo-fascists in 1946, she says, because itis “part of our history.” So fas, though, said The Times (ULK.) in an editorial, she has shown herself to be a “pragmatic conservative.” Her type of identity politics is now mainstream across the West-—Iook at the US.,, with its “Make America Great Again.” Unlike her partners in government—and unlike other European right-wingers such as France's Marine Le Pen and Hungary's Viktor Orban—she has shown “no desire to cozy up to Vladimir Putin.” That's ‘one comfort for anxious Europeans. Don't kid yourselves, said Marco Riccardo Ferrari in Today (Kaly). Italy has always had a predisposition to fascism. Most of us are “populist, nationalist, bigoted, and xenophobic,” and Meloni exploits i all. We can't profess outrage when EU officials threaten our funding. “Europe 48 right to protect itself against us.” ‘THE WEEK October 7, 2022Best columns: International NEWS 15 Russia: Exodus as Russians flee the military call-up Packed airports. Sold-out trains. Lines of cars and scooters stretching. for miles. President Vladimir Putin’. announcement last week of a mobil ‘zation of reservists sent thousands of Russians racing for the borders, said ‘Tea Khurtsilava in Ambebi (Georgia). Nearly half a million had already bolted the country soon after Russia's Feb, 24 invasion of Ukraine, and now neighboring nations ike Finland, Geor- ‘and Kazakhstan are seeing a new influx. A day after Putin's announce: ‘ment, the Georgian border was chaos, as Russian guards were “blocking men from leaving.” Some of those who stayed told me they planned to refuse service, saying they would be “better off in prison than. in Ukraine.” But that might not be an option. Many of the few thousand demonstrators who dared to protest the call-up last week weren't sent to jail but instead were shipped straight to the military. “The only safe way to hide isto emigrate.” So much for “partial mobilization,” said Antonina Asanova in Novaya Gazeta (Russia, in exile). The Kremlin at first claimed it would call up some 300,000 men, but our sources told us that a secret clause in the decree authorizes drafting 1 million. And ‘hile Putin said only men with prior military service qualified, some of those who got the frst draft notices had never served at all, while others lst saw service decades ago. In Buryatia in Siberia, where a third of the population are indigenous Buryats, recruiters rousted men out of bed at midnight, giving them just am hour to pack and no chance to flee. That was no accident. Viukovo Airport, Moscow, the day after Putin's decree Ethnic minorities are being dispro- portionately targeted—in Crimea, for example, some 90 percent of those called up were Crimean Tatars, ‘And rural regions are required to send “many times more” recruits proportionally than major cities. ‘One minority, though, is claiming to be exempt, said Nadia Klochko in Glavcom (Ukraine). Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said the mobiliza- tion would not apply to his province because too many Chechens had al- ready died in Ukraine. That's because Kadyroy, long a key Putin ally, re- ceruited some 8,000 Chechens as paid mercenaries and sent them. to fight for Russia. Most didn’ come back, and Kadyrov knows that if he tried to call up any more, defiant Chechens would simply “shoot the military commissar and retreat to the moun- tains.” The Chechen strongman's open revole against mobiliza tion isa sign that Putin’s rule is growing shaky. For now, the refuseniks are a small minority of those called up, said Walter Hammerle in the Wiener Zeitung (Austria). But What ifthe trickle “turns into a stream of refugees?” European leaders are bickering about whether to et them in—afer all, there’s no general right to asylum for those evading conscrip- tion, And the tiny Baltic states fear that Russia could slip spies and saboteurs in among the draft dodgers. Europe has already accepted more than $ million Ukrainians since the war began. If the increasingly unstable Putin grows “more radical” we could see our second refugee crisis inside a year Why don’t we own our diamonds? Pedro Mzileni The Sowetan OTL Remote work is killing the city Edward Keenan Toronto Star Will the latese mining disaster finally make South Africans rise up and demand ownership of their country’s mineral wealth? asked Pedro Mzileni The collapse ofa tailings dam last month at a diamond mine in Jagersfontein sent a torrent of sludgy waste rushing across 6 miles of neighbor- hoods, killing at least one person and destroying more than 150 houses. Ie’ a horror thatthe town will take years to recover from, but the mining industry won't be affected at all. For 250 years, international mining conglomerates have made billions in profits from this country’s gold and diamonds by exploiting underpaid Black labor. I started with the “racist polices” of the colon apartheid governments, which allowed companies to pay workers “next to nothing.” But it contin- ued even after apartheid, as the new government co-opted Black leaders to serve on mining boards to give an appearance of progress. The current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, former director of Lonmin mining company, i a “living example of this post-colonial betrayal.” He claims thatthe ‘government can't be responsible for a private com- pany’s failings in Jagersfontein. If thats the case, ies time to “take the mines away from private hhands” and give them back to South Africans Trve been away from Toronto for tree years, said Edward Keenan, and I come back to find it unset- tlingly empty. Oh, sure, the outdoor events ate packed: The Ukrainian Festival on Bloor Street ‘West was a mob scene, and it seemed like the whole cty turned out for the Pet Shop Boys con- cert on the lake, “IF you're out on the weekend, it feels like the city has come roaring back to life” arr the pandemic. During the week, though, i's semi-deserted. That's obviously because many Covidewary Canadians don't wane t0 go into the office to breathe recycled aie with a bunch of other people, so they are still working from home. I get it, But they are killing what makes Toronto a great place to live. Restaurants and shops that rely on ‘commuter business are flailing, and residents are losing contact with one another. We used to chat with co-workers, smile a the coffe shop guy, and people-watch during the morning commute. I-we're all just emailing or Slack chatting from ‘our bedrooms, “what's the point of even being, in the city?” I hope more people realize that w lose something vital when we continue to isolate ‘ourselves. Crowds can be annoying, and nobody wants to get sick. But “density is also what pro- duces vibrancy” —and Toronto is losing its spark. ‘THE WEEK October 7202216 NEWS Eoin Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice ClarenceThomas, has agreed to an interview with the House Jan. 6 committee "to clear up any misconceptions” Thomas, a conservative activist, emailed state lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin with pleas to selectTrump electors in defiance of 2020 election results, and urged then- White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in toxts to overturn “the greatest heist of our history” Pottico Murders in major US. cities have dropped by 4 percent so far in 2022 ‘compared with the same period last year, while thefts and robberies have increased by about 20 per- cent. The murder rate still remains 30 percent above the level in 2019. ‘The NowYorkTimes Over the past docada, the number of Americans exposed to danger- ‘ous levels of smoke from wildfires in the course of a year has increased 27-fold, according to a new study by researchers in Cali- fornia. Nearly 25 million Americans breathed in unhealthy, smoke-filed air in 2020, when six giant wildfires in California sent ‘smoke drifting as far as the East Coast. Mother Jones Security guards asked crowd members to lower their right arms after they raised them with the ‘QAnon one-finger salute ata Donald Trump rally in North Carolina last week. Photos taken ata rally the with upraised right arms, leading to comparisons to Nazi rallies. The Daly Beast THE WEEK October 7,2022 Talking points The Little Mermaid: What happens when Disney portrays a fantasy mermaid asa Black giel? asked Peter Kunze in The Washington Post. Ie generates a huge backlash against what some cites call ““wokeness* ‘gone awry.” The recently revealed trailer for Disney live-action remake of The Little Mermaid stars Black actress Halle Bailey as the lead character, Ariel. It “prompted a lot of excite- ment” among Black girls awed at seeing them- selves as a Disney princess for the first time, but it “also sparked anger and dismay among fans” who believed Ariel was meant co be white, The trailer received 1.5 million dislikes on YouTube, and #notmyariel and #gowokegobroke trended ‘on social media. The racial backlash echoes the outraged reaction by some fans to new prequel installments of Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings that feature people of color in roles previously held by white actors. Assuming that ‘mermaids, elves, and other fantasy characters must be white isa “failure of imagination" — and a reminder “of the powerful racial politics” involved in the stories we tell our children, Asa Black woman, “I understand the importance of representation” for gils of color, said Angie Speaks in Newsweek. But forcing Black actors Halle Bailey as Ariel: Part ofa new world Can Ariel be Black? “into explicitly white roles” feels like cynical virtue sig- naling that detracts from “arts universal appeal.” Take, for example, House of the Dragon, HBO's Game of Thrones prequcl. Author George R.R. Martin wrote the books based on historical events and the mythology of medieval Eng- Jand and Europe. Instead of staying faithful to the source material, easting decisions now are made to signal “political alle- siance to changing social conventions.” But casting decisions should respond to chang- ing norms, said Erie Deggans in NPR.org. These new films are “a reflection of our muiticultural world,” and “that’s probably what most scares fans who are used to white-centered fantasy.” ‘Those “unhinged” critics are missing an impor tant motivation for more diverse shows and films, said Arwa Mahdawi in The Guardian. “Forgive iy cynicism, but I don’t think Disney is trying to be ‘woke"™—ir’s just reacting to “old-fashioned market forees” in an increasingly diverse country with lots of non-white consumers. “If your reac- tion to litle Black girls feeling included isto di miss it as ‘woke, then there is something deeply ‘wrong with you, Not only are you a bad human, you're also a bad capitalist.” Puerto Rico: Déja vu in the dark Once again, lights went out across Puerto Rico, leaving its 3 million residents stranded withour power and desperate for basic necessities, said ‘The Washington Post in an editorial. Though it was just a Category 1 storm, Hurricane Fiona plunged the island in the dark more than a week ‘ago, and this “latese natural disaster reflects a chronicle of lessons unlearned.” In 2017, the Cat- egory 4 Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. ter- ritory and left many Puerto Ricans without power for nearly 11 months. The USS. spent $3.2 billion to repair the island’s decaying electrical grid and carmarked $10 billion to rebuild it. Five years lates, “a perfect storm of ill will, decrepit infra~ structure, red tape, and official ineptitude” set the island up for another “knockout blow,” which Fiona delivered. About half of Puerto Rico's electrical customers still remain without power, as well as many hospitals and water plants, said Laura Pérez Sanchez in The New York Times. “T'm so tired-—exhausted going up and down,” said Michelle Rivera, 41, after spending da rying water up the stairs to her eighth-Floor San Juan apartment Very understandably, the anger of Puerto Ricans is “boiling oven.” said Kate Aronoff in The New Republic. Just $40 million of the federal funds meant to cebuild Puerto Rico's grid has been spent, and government officials failed to address the fundamental problem of sending electricity from power plants in the island’s south through vulnerable lines over mountains to population centers in the north, Making matters worse, said Alberto Martinez in The Hil, in 2020 Puerto Rico’ electricity was handed over to LUMA Energy, a private U.S.-Canadian consortium. Residents quickly grew to despise the “secretive,” inept company, which “has made litle progress toward fixing structural issues.” “The rot in Puerto Rico runs deeper than its disastrous power company,” said Israel Meléndez ‘Ayala in The New York Times. We're plagued by rampant corruption, with officials installing allies and family members in important government jobs and geting kickbacks for contracts. Nine ‘mayors and a govemor are curently facing cor ruption charges. LUMA has raised my electrical bill from $87 to $242 a month, but for what? ‘We'e tired of being exploited by foreign corpora- tions, and we're tired of dysfunction. And as we sicin the dark yet again, “what is most galling is that it s our own people who rob and abuse ws.”Talking points Judge: Home runs without asterisks Forget what the record books sa; said Matt Calkins in The Seattle Times. If New York Yan- kees slugger Aaron Judge keeps blasting home rus, “he should be considered baseballs single-season home ran king,” When The Week went to pres, Judge had hit a remarkable 60 homers this season— cone shy of the American League record set by another Yankee outfielder, Roger Maris, in 1961. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa hit 70 and 66 home runs, respec: tively in 1998, and Barry Bonds hit 73 homers in 2001. The joy’of watching those hulking sluggers chase one of America’s most “sacrosanct” records ‘was soon marred by strong evidence that they were using performance-enhancing steroids. Play- ers are now routinely tested, and Judge is ciean. If he hits No. 62, it willbe a historic achievement, with no “mental asterisk” attached. “Judge is a baseball player as Michelangelo might have conceived of one,” said David Von Drehle in ‘The Washington Post. The statuesque outfielder, 30, isa V.shaped 6-foot-7 and packs his Yankee pinstripes “with 282 pounds of lean muscle.” His ‘compact swing lashes pitches with “cobra quick ness,” launching homers “with the power of 2 [No cheating: 282 pounds of steroid free muscle howitzer” What a breath of fresh air, said Matthew Hennessey in The Wall Street Joumal. Many fans were turned off by steroid scandals and the impression that today’s stars are “overpaid prima ddonnas,” but most of baseball “is rooting for Judge.” In addition to ‘smashing “the cover off the ball,” he hustles, plays stellar defense, and is by all accounts & sgreat, unselfish teammate. With each home run, Judge is restoring baseball's purity ‘The anticipation whenever Judge steps to the plate recently is palpable, said Larry Fleisher in Forbes. At Yankee Stadium, fans have been standing in cere silence for every pitch, bsinging Judge's “All Rise” nickname to life, But while Judge stirs the hearts of “the sport's romantics,” said Mike Vaccaro in the New York Post, the excitement is simply “nor the same” as in 1998, ‘when McGwire's and Sosa's superhuman shige, caprured the world’s attention. The revelation that it was a fraud perpetrated by drug,-taking cheats “drained much of the joy and the wonder” from home run hitting itself. As spectacular as Judge's season has been, our innocence has been lost, and “it’s impossible” to bring it back. Midterms: The GOP’s policy promises Congressional Republicans have put forward a positive and focused” vision that gives voters a “stark choice” in the midterm elections, said Quin Hillyer in the Washington Examiner. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy last week tunveiled the GOP’ “Commitment to America,” which he described as “a bold conservative vision” for Republican polices if they regain control of the House and possibly the Senate. ‘The plan calls for expanding domestic fossil-fuel production, halting “catch-and-telease” immigra~ tion polices, cutting government spending, and fighting crime. It also promises to fight inflation, defend gun rights, and promote parental control over schools. “McCarthy has the party’ prior ties right,” said Cal Thomas in the Washington Times. Vorers are worried about “an uncontrolled border, violent crime, and a cultural fabric that seems to many conservatives to be falling apart.” ‘MeCarthy’s manifesto is not so much a plat- form as a “one-page list of slogans,” said Karen ‘Tamulty in The Washington Post. it's an obvious attempt to duplicate Rep. Newt Gingrich’s “Con. tract With America,” whose 1994 release pre- _- ceded a dramatic House takeover. But Gingrich’s F contract was an actual “blueprint for govern- ing,” with specific proposals such as term limits and a balanced-budget amendment—and even actual legislation. MeCarthy’s “vague” goals are just platitudes. Want to know how Republicans will curb government spending? Or pay forthe 200,000 cops they pledge to put on the streets? (Gr “protect the lives of unborn children and their rmothers"—the document’ sole reference to abor- tion? McCarthy won't say-—pethaps because he knows the specifics would be highly unpopular. Despite the lack of specifies, the “Commitment” says plenty, said Nicole Hemmer in CNN.com. Unlike the Gingrich “Contract,” chis document makes no attempt to woo independents, and focuses on wedge issues like guns, fossil fuels, and transgender athletes. There's another thing “Republicans made clea,” said EJ. Dionne Jr. in The Washington Post. If they gain power, they'll use it “to harass the Biden administration with one hearing after another.” At the rollout, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was “positively gleeful” in promising investigations into the Afghanistan pullout, Covid's origins, and Hunter Biden. Several Republicans have been speaking of impeaching President Biden just for the fun of it. If you think things are ugly in D.C. now “ust wat.” NEWS 17 Wit & Wisdom “The problem with power is that there is no speaking ‘ruth to it when it holds a the cards.” “Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo.” LG. Well, quoted in Forbes “Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, ‘you will die @ million deaths before they finaly plant you.” ing the dust of daily life off our souls. Pablo Pieasso, quoted in Forbes “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human, freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given ‘ot of ciroumstancas.” ‘Austrian psyehiatist. Viktor Frank, quoted in Aish “Lean think of a more probable alternative universe than the one Joyce Carl Oates, ‘quoted in Bustle Poll watch 44% of Americans approve of Texas and, Florida sending migrants to blue states and cities without prior notice, including 21% of Demo- rats and 75% of Repub- licans. 56% of those who are 65 or over approve of the move, compared with 37% of 18-t0-28-yearolds. 62% of Americans believe that illegal immigration isa problem. 25% say it isn'ta problem. The Economist YouGov18 NEWS Pick of the week’s cartoons “THE WEEK October 7, 2022 For more political cartoons, visit: www-theweek.com/cartoons.Pick of the week’s cartoons NEWS 19 Russians answer Putir’s call to mobilize... SONECERNAN oe — rougragents ne [ cle orcoure J utes youre | IBLE THUMPING, t ‘AN IGNORANT, REDNECA RACH ‘ autour AVERSA “THE WEEK October 7202220 NEWS Technology Delivery drones just notched a major milestone on their way to the skies above four homes, said Alan Levin in Bloomberg. Earlier this month, an unmanned four rotor copter from a startup called! Matter net became the first to win regulatory permission for a design built “specifically for shipping packages.” The ruling checks only one of several boxes needed before drones can start zipping around neighbor- hoods coast-to-coast, bt it a least means “the agency considers this new type of rotor-powered vehicle to have the equiva- lent reliability of taditional aircraft.” Amazon, Google, UPS, and Walmart have already expanded trials oftheir drone delivery services on a more limited FAA ex- emption to states like California, Texas, and Vieginia They are among the companies betting that drones “will be a technology that transforms how products are delivered to people's homes.” ‘Aerial deliveries could be a boon to the environment, said Freda Kreier in Nature, “In the USS, freight transportation accounts for more than one-third of transportation-elated greenhouse-gas, emissions.” The use of an aerial drone could cut out 84 percent of the emissions produced during the “last mile” of delivery compared with a diesel truck, according to a recent study from Carnegie Mellon University. Automated delivery is also “often faster than waiting for delivery trucks to make the rounds.” “Matternet's drones have shuttled hospital supplies, Special delivery: Drones get nearer to takeoff All this sounds good, said Shira Ovide in The New York Times, but don’t get caught up in the hype. Despite grand promises over the years, drone delivery remains confined to “relatively uncom plicated setings.” Irs still too difficult— and risky—for autonomous copters to “navigate around buildings, electrical wires, trees, other aircraft, and people before landing on the ground or sending packages down from a height.” Plus, the economics don’t yet work. “Drones can’t carry that much,” maxing out at about S pounds per load. Irs usually cheaper to just “stuff one more package on a UPS delivery truck.” Like driverles cars, reliable drone delivery “may never be as wide- spread as technologists imagined.” And anyway, how often do we need “an airdropped item 30 minutes after placing the order?” asked ‘Thomas Black in Bloomberg. Residents in a region in Australia where Google's ‘Wing has been testing have been complaining that the drones are noisy and stressful. Matternet’s approval “underscores how the technology can work in a niche seting.” Matternet has been testing drones to shuttle items between hospitals and to deliver prescription drugs. Those uses seem realistic. “There is a place inthe logistics world for delivery by drone,” but let's keep our expectations grounded, Bytes: What's new tech icumem kere Seabed cameras are great for ‘monitoring underwater ecosystems, s2id Ben Coxworth in New Atlas, but “powering them and retrievi their photos can be challenging.’ To solve the problem, a team at MIT hhas created a camera that requires ro batteries or other outside power. “When sound waves from sources such as animale or watercraft” reach the camera, the pressure of the waves causes vibrations that cre: ie charge. The charge is 2 capacitor, and when there is sufficient energy, the carm- era takes a photo. A computer on the surface retrieves the images by bouncing sound-wave signals from 2 special module in the undersea camera. The system has been tested to work at a maximum depth as reat as 40 meters (131 feet), THE WEEK October 7,2022 New limits on Amazon book retums Amazon is “tightening its e-book return pol- icy” as word of the ease of returning books has gotten out on TikTok, said Adi Robertson in The Verge. “Authors raised concerns about an uptick in returns earlier this yea,” after seeing Amazon take back royalties. It turned out that “BookTok" influencers were “en: ‘couraging people to get ‘free” books by buying and then returning them.” Electronic books could be returned for a week, no questions asked, But after negotiating with the Authors Gaile, Amazon has agreed to limit returns to books in which no more than 10 percent has been read. The bookselling giant will make exceptions, but to get one, you'll need to send a request o customer service, and buyers who “habitually abuse” the return policy could be subject to penalties. Russia‘s growing surveillance powers ‘Aleak of 160,000 documents from a regional office of a Russian regulator offers a window into Russia’s burgeoning surveillance state, said Paul Mozur in The New York Times. Roskomnadzor “was started in 2008 as a bureaucratic backwater witha few dozen em- ployees who regulated radio signals, telecom, and postal delivery,” but has now turned into a powerful surveillance agency. In 2019, Roskomnadzor ordered censorship technology that lets it control much of Russia's internet from Moscow in 2021, it slowed Twitter “to a crawl.” Since the beginning of the Ukraine ‘war, it has been responsible for blocking Face- book, Instagram, and vietual private networks that Russians use to get around censors, More sinisterly, Roskomnadzor has built up dossiers ‘on social media activity, which are now used to guide the harassment and arrest of activists. Apple to build iPhones in India In the latest move to reduce its reliance on China, Apple has started producing it latest model iPhone in India, said Manish Singh in TechCrunch. The iPhone 14s will be built by Foxconn, Apple's most important manufac- ‘uring parte, which has established a plant rear Chennai. Apple has produced the over ‘whelming majority of its devices in China for more than a decade, but “analysts estimate that Apple will um India into a global Phone manufacturing hub by 2025.” By the end of that year, the country could be making a quar- ter of Phones. India has offered lucrative sub- sidies to bring in companies like Foxconn an effort that has been aided by cising tension between Washington and Beijing.