Weekend edition—Hillary’s trolls, Israel’s nukes, America’s porn

[Quartz - qz.com]() Quartz Daily Brief sponsored by Good morning, Quartz readers! This weekend many in the US—politicians, citizens, and noncitizens alike—will still be recovering from president Donald Trump’s dizzying roller-coaster ride on immigration policy. It started last week, when after months of back-and-forth on a widely popular policy that shields some 800,000 young immigrants from being deported, the president abruptly decided to [end it](. But a few days later, on Thursday, the Trump ride was off again on news that he had [hammered out a deal]( with Democrats to revive it. In the following hours, he zigzagged on the issue, saying there was [no deal]( then [asserting its terms](. What’s the verdict on the agreement to protect Dreamers—as the beneficiaries of the program are called—and more importantly, on Trump’s positions on immigration? Who knows? His declarations on the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), were just a compressed version of his flip-flopping on immigration since he took office. For months, pundits have been delving into each contradicting tweet and pronouncement to search for deeper meaning. In their analysis, Trump has gone from [draconian enforcer]( to the long-lost hope of [legalizing the status]( of millions of undocumented immigrants in the US, to the [biggest obstacle]( to achieve immigration reform, and back again. His positions swing so quickly, that they can sometimes render an analysis obsolete before it’s even published (as has happened with a couple at Quartz). More than tracking presidential policy, following Trump’s statements is like watching the opposing sides in the US’s contentious immigration debate duke it out in the mind of a single individual. And perhaps that’s how we should read it. Trump is just channeling the competing factions that have been fighting for decades over how the US should treat immigrants. To be sure, as president, he has great influence over that debate. But, regardless of what he tweets, the issue is far from settled. Remembering that the most recent thing Trump said on immigration is unlikely to be his final word, or matter much at all, would bring a dose of sanity to presidential tea-leaf reading—and perhaps some comfort to shell-shocked Dreamers. —Ana Campoy Quartz announcement We're [offering free international shipping]( on the first edition of our book, but that won't last much longer. There are only a few copies left that will qualify, so if you've been procrastinating, we recommend you [order]( while it's still on us. Five things on Quartz we especially liked Good news—Tesla intentionally makes some of its cars worse. During Irma, Tesla revealed a secret: the batteries in its cheaper, 60-kilowatt cars could be remotely updated to perform like what they actually are: the same hardware that’s in the more expensive, 75-kilowatt cars. Some cheered the company’s preemptive generosity, while others were confused and angered. Dan Kopf explains why [artificially curbing the battery power]( of otherwise identical cars actually make Teslas more accessible, and environmentally friendly, for everyone. What happened to the trolls. Earlier this week Hillary Clinton released her book on the 2016 US presidential election. Immediately, trolls flocked to her page on Amazon, deluging the book with one-star reviews. Then, within a day, [900 such reviews disappeared](. Thu-Huong Ha looks at what happened, and analyzes the trail left behind by the trolls. A cultural history of graph paper. The [soothing squares of a grid]( have an enduring psychological appeal. Ancient Egyptians used the grid to sketch out hieroglyphs; Thomas Jefferson used commercial graph paper to draw plans for the Virginia Capitol; and today, stressed-out consumers are seeking refuge from chaotic reality in the simplicity of luxury notebooks. After all, as Meg Miller writes, “In times of anxiety, our impulse is to find a way to break down an overwhelming situation into simpler, more solvable parts.” A seven-word motto can help you overcome your fear of failure. A lot of people shy away from trying new things—from fitness regimens to new careers—unless they know they’ll succeed. During a session with a personal trainer who goes by the nickname The General, [Kira Bindrim discovered]( a simple phrase that helps ease insecurity: “I want to see if you can…” In a world that tends to emphasize achievement, Bindrim writes, it’s liberating to be reminded “that there’s honestly no harm in taking a stab at something.” A gritty new show about porn is also about what makes America great. The Deuce’s portrayal of [New York City’s 1970s underworld]( of sex work and pornography is, “a critique of capitalism and an understated ode to multiculturalism,” writes Adam Epstein. He lays out a compelling thesis about the worldview that creator David Simon has expressed throughout his TV career. Sponsor content by Ray Dalio Ray Dalio, one of the world’s leading investors and entrepreneurs, discusses how radical transparency and algorithmic decision making are changing workplace culture in his [new TED talk]( “How to build a company where the best ideas win.” [Advertisement] Five things elsewhere that made us smarter Everybody deserves a second chance—until they don’t. Michelle Jones is an accomplished historian who produced an award-winning academic paper behind the bars of an Indiana prison, where she was serving time for murder. She’s recently been released after two decades of incarceration, and soon after started a Ph.D program. It was supposed to be at Harvard—who initially accepted her application, but then rescinded the offer. [Eli Hager at The Marshall Project]( explores the complicated tale of the redemption of an unusual scholar. A mathematician unearths an agricultural crisis in progress. Iraki Loladze’s first love is numbers, but in 1998, when he helped biologists at Arizona State University suss out a weird problem they couldn’t explain without his expertise, he found a new passion. In [an approachable piece]( outlining a complex subject, Politico’s Helena Bottemiller explains how this mathematician came to posit that global warming may be slowly sapping crops of most of their nutrients—and why he’s struggling to get people to listen. No one wants to work in unfriendly skies. A career in air travel used to be a glamorous and desired gig. Sharp uniforms, free trips to exotic destinations, great benefits, and even better wages brought troves flocking to the industry. No longer. Jeff Friedrich, a former flight attendant himself, now an associate editor for Slate, explains how 9/11, globalization, consolidation, shockingly low entry-level wages, and ever-increasing costs to entry are all [contributing to an industry-wide problem]( Millennials would rather work at the Gap then on an airplane. How Israel got its nukes. Israel never thought its’ pursuit of nuclear energy would succeed, but former prime minister Shimon Peres shows just how it did. With spy novel élan, [Peres recounts the clandestine effort]( to ask France for what no other nation had ever given before—the material and expertise to build a nuclear reactor—even as he constantly walked the line of abject failure. Tablet magazine has this exclusive excerpt from Peres’ posthumous autobiography. Luxembourg has big plans for outer space. The tiny European nation has no national space agency and limited research capabilities, but it has big plans to become an international (galactic?) hub for mining minerals, metals, and other resources on celestial bodies. In the Guardian, [Atossa Abrahamian explores]( the tiny tax haven’s enormous ambitions, and explains why Luxembourg just might be perfectly suited to realize them. Our best wishes for a relaxing but thought-filled weekend. Please send any news, comments, up-ranged Teslas, and airplane snack packs to hi@qz.com. You can follow us [on Twitter here]( for updates throughout the day, or download[our apps for iPhone]( and[Android](. Enjoying the Daily Brief? Forward it to a friend! They can [click here to sign up.]( Want to receive the Daily Brief at a different time? [Click here]( to change your edition. To unsubscribe entirely, [click here](. Quartz | 675 Avenue of the Americas, 4th Fl | New York, NY 10011 | United States