Reading archive 2022-08-30

Opinion  We made thousands on this website. But we’re still happy it’s shutting down.

Opinion  Why my child and I traded Arizona for a more tolerant New York City

Opinion  In Alabama, a new battle brews over women’s birthing rights

How experts are trying to save wood turtles in the D.C. region: The reptiles were nearly wiped out, and researchers are working to track and protect them

D.C. Council’s business measures could be factor in at-large race

A decade after Fukushima disaster, foes of nuclear power reconsider

Pentagon expands use of seas to send weapons to Ukraine

Truth Social faces financial peril as worry about Trump’s future grows: Payment disputes and a dwindling audience have fueled doubts about the former president’s Twitter clone

American University reaches tentative agreement with striking workers: Earlier in the day, many first-year students walked out of convocation to show support for staff

Inside the ‘wild, wild west’ of Virginia’s marijuana market: THC-infused pies, Tupperwares of bud: Businesses are making it work in the unregulated gray market

Ukraine lures Russian missiles with decoys of U.S. rocket system

Gene editing could revive a nearly lost tree. Not everyone is on board.: Saving the American chestnut could restore a piece of history, resurrect a lost ecosystem and combat climate change. But critics say it would come at a cost. - "At Purdue University, researchers have attempted to tweak the genes of ash to survive the emerald ash borer, a beetle from Asia that has destroyed tens of millions of trees across 30 states since first identified in Michigan in 2002."

Their ancestors came to America. After Dobbs, they want out.: The curtailing of abortion rights and general political turmoil have made many in the U.S. see dual citizenship as an escape hatch

A melting glacier, an imperiled city and one farmer’s fight for climate justice: A Peruvian farmer is suing one of Europe’s biggest emitters. The case could set a precedent for holding polluters accountable for harm to the planet. 

THE AMAZON, UNDONE: A FAILURE OF ENFORCEMENT: Deforesters are plundering the Amazon. Brazil is letting them get away with it. - "The violent and lawless erasure of the Amazon is perhaps the world’s greatest environmental crime story. Scientists warn that the forest, seen as vital to averting catastrophic global warming, is at a tipping point. But in Brazil, home to about 60 percent of the Amazon, nearly one-fifth has already been destroyed. And virtually no one, law enforcement officials say, has been held accountable."

Reading archive 2022-08-25

Record rain is hitting drought-stricken areas. That’s not good news.: A warmer climate is driving precipitation to higher extremes in both flooding and drought

Trump’s secret papers and the ‘myth’ of presidential security clearance: Unlike U.S. intelligence officials, presidents are not ‘read in’ or ‘read out’ of classified matters, complicating any potential prosecution, experts say

Archives asked for records in 2021 after Trump lawyer agreed they should be returned, email says

Redacted Mar-a-Lago search affidavit to be released by noon Friday: The judge who approved the search warrant for Trump’s home said the redacted version of the affidavit should be public

Person detained after jumping fence of Chicago FBI office and throwing rocks

Reading archive 2022-08-24

Opinion: Republicans should be wary of JD Vance

Ex-detective pleads guilty to misleading judge in Breonna Taylor case

Battle for Kyiv: Ukrainian valor, Russian blunders combined to save the capital

There’s a water crisis. Why do we still have lawns?: An American dream meets a changing landscape

Two killed, three others injured in Truxton Circle area shooting

Virginia researchers work to track and learn about eastern kingsnake

Biden to cancel up to $10,000 in student loans, $20K for Pell recipients: The president is also extending a pause on federal student loan payments through Dec. 31

Video captures 130-foot superyacht sinking off southern coast of Italy

Reading archive 2022-08-23

As many as one in six U.S. tree species is threatened with extinction: Some 100 native tree species could die out amid an onslaught of invasive insects, a surge in deadly diseases and the all-encompassing peril of climate change

After decades in GOP, Colo. senator says: ‘We need Democrats in charge’: Kevin Priola writes there is ‘too much at stake right now’ in two-page letter explaining decision to change parties

Man charged in shooting deaths of two landscapers in Alexandria - "Rose had been released from law enforcement custody in neighboring Arlington County several months earlier, after prosecutors dropped drug and weapons charges against him. The move came after a judge suppressed evidence in the case, ruling that police had illegally searched Rose’s bag. Rose had missed probation hearings in D.C. this year related to a 2019 firearms offense to which he had pleaded guilty."

Reading archive 2022-08-22

In new election, Big Tech uses old strategies to fight 'big lie’: How well companies enforce their rules will be critical in fight against 2020 election-rigging claims, according to experts

Officials: Woman posing as stranded motorist kills student in Alabama forest; officers find encampment, 5-year-old with shotgun: While investigating the shooting, officials discovered an encampment in the woods and were confronted by a 5-year-old boy armed with a loaded shotgun, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said

“An Unusual $1.6 Billion Donation Bolsters Conservatives”

The casualties of California legalizing pot: Growers who went legal: A blue state’s taxes and regulation have boosted corporate producers, leading to the near-death of the small cannabis farmer

The TVA is dumping a mountain of coal ash in Black south Memphis: A convoy is trucking the contaminant through a community already burdened with pollution to dump it in a landfill

These puffy helmet caps are the next big thing in NFL player safety

Deshaun Watson is the star the NFL deserves: A cynical, empty narcissist

‘It’s a rip-off’: GOP spending under fire as Senate hopefuls seek rescue: A cash crunch at campaigns and the NRSC set off a panic as GOP candidates emerged from bruising primaries playing catch-up in polls and advertising

Walker, criticizing climate law, asks, ‘Don’t we have enough trees around here?’

Chinese leader asked Biden to prevent Pelosi from visiting Taiwan: The trip exposed tensions between the House Speaker and administration officials, who had warned of China’s potential response. Pelosi felt the trip was an important statement to make. - "Yet Biden himself has at times made comments on Taiwan that have put Chinese officials on edge. He has not always struck the delicate balance that the United States’ 'strategic ambiguity' requires when it comes to the question of Taiwan’s defense. In May, while making his first presidential trip to Asia, Biden told reporters the United States would defend Taiwan militarily if China attacked."

A Republican who says Trump lost looks to put Colorado’s Senate race in play: Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet faces a tougher-than-expected reelection race after Republicans nominate businessman Joe O’Dea over an election denier

Scientists debunk myth that Yellowstone wolves changed entire ecosystem, flow of rivers

Reading archive 2022-08-21

My final column: 2024 and the dangers ahead: Before signing off, Margaret Sullivan offers advice to her fellow journalists on how to cover a perilous election

Beto O’Rourke’s risky quest for votes in deep-red Texas: On a road trip to find untapped votes, the Democratic challenger for governor faces armed protestors, shouting matches and a stolen catalytic converter.

A Putin ally’s daughter was killed near Russia’s capital: What to know

Car explosion kills daughter of Putin ally Alexander Dugin, Russia says

A Russian soldier’s journal: ‘I will not participate in this madness’

Reading archive 2022-08-18

Why Does Rhode Island Ave Keep Flooding?

Allen Weisselberg, longtime Trump executive, pleads guilty to tax fraud

Pa. Senate race no longer tossup as Fetterman memes zero in on Oz’s wealth: The social media spat comes as new predictions show that the tight race is drifting in Fetterman’s favor

In Ukraine, a Russian mercenary group steps out of the shadows

Manti Te’o, victim of a catfishing hoax, hopes he’s still an inspiration

US shows China military might with 'training missions' after tension over Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan trip

Reading archive 2022-08-17

Want to 'save the bees'? Skip the honeybee hives and grow native plants: People have embraced the 'Save the Bees' slogan — but few understand which bees need saving

Democrats face first test in bid to defeat DeSantis: The Florida primary vote offers a lens into Democrats’ strategy against a rising star of the Republican Party

Reading archive 2022-08-16

Five takeaways from The Post’s examination of the road to war in Ukraine

Road to war: U.S. struggled to convince allies, and Zelensky, of risk of invasion - "But Paris and Berlin remembered emphatic U.S. claims about intelligence on Iraq. The shadow of that deeply flawed analysis hung over all the discussions before the invasion. Some also felt that Washington, just months earlier, had vastly overestimated the resilience of Afghanistan’s government as the U.S. military was withdrawing. The government had collapsed as soon as the Taliban entered Kabul.

...

"Each side was convinced it was right but was willing to proceed as if it might be wrong.

"Over the next several months, the Americans strove to show the Western Europeans and others that they were still willing to search for a peaceful resolution, even though in the back of their minds, they were convinced that any Russian efforts at negotiation were a charade. 'It basically worked,' Sullivan said of the administration strategy."

Reading archive 2022-08-15

Dulles solar farm would be the nation’s largest at an airport: It would be among a growing number of airports to install solar arrays on otherwise undeveloped land

Giuliani is target in Georgia criminal probe of possible interference in 2020 election, lawyer says: Former lawyer to Trump expects to be in Atlanta to testify before grand jury, lawyer says.

Brexit is Boris Johnson’s singular achievement. How well is it working? - "It has signed trade agreements with more than 70 countries for a total value of $929 billion, the government says. 

"Almost all the deals simply replicate the trade arrangements Britain had as a member of the E.U."

D.C. had a plan to end chronic homelessness. Why isn’t it working yet?

French bulldog taken at gunpoint in D.C. has been found dead: Police said Bruno was found in neighboring Prince George’s County. He was identified by his microchip.

Opinion  Leaving with nuclear secrets would be Trump’s dumbest, scariest stunt yet

Liz Cheney’s political life is likely ending — and just beginning

The curious timing of Trump naming two allies to access his records

In America’s fastest-growing metro, a rising fear water will run out

Reading archive 2022-08-12 through 2022-08-14

Charlottesville hired a Black police chief to heal. Then it fired her.: The city hoped to become a model of racial reconciliation after the ‘Unite the Right’ rally, but that remains elusive five years later

National Archives counters Trump’s baseless claims about Obama records - "'As required by the [Presidential Records Act], former President Obama has no control over where and how NARA stores the Presidential records of his Administration,' the statement said."

Activision Blizzard is using ‘Diablo IV’ to argue against unions

Trump’s secrets: How a records dispute led the FBI to search Mar-a-Lago

Reading archive 2022-08-11

FBI: Armed man tried to breach Cincinnati field office, sparked chase and shootout: SR-73 shut down, lockdown in place for buildings in area

With Feds Circling, Trump Asks Allies: Who’s ‘Wearing a Wire’?: As the investigations heat up, the former president and his advisers are pointing fingers — and looking for “rats”

Hyperbolic GOP claims about IRS agents and audits

Opinion  Gay men can fight monkeypox ourselves — by changing how we have sex

Historians privately warn Biden that America’s democracy is teetering: When Biden met with historians last week at the White House, they compared the threat facing America to the pre-Civil War era and to pro-fascist movements before World War II

What if the ancient Greeks and Romans actually had terrible taste?: Antiquities reproduced in vivid color, now on view in ‘Chroma’ exhibition at the Met, may look garish to modern eyes

Beto O’Rourke confronts heckler laughing during speech on Uvalde shooting: The Democratic candidate for Texas governor lashed out, telling the heckler: ‘It may be funny to you ... but it’s not funny to me’

What Is Really Unprecedented Is the Criminality: Republican outrage to the raid on Trump is telling. - "While it is factually true that there is no history of a former American president being raided by the Feds, these observations implicitly treat the FBI’s behavior as the source of the historic break. The reason Donald Trump is the first former president to be treated like a criminal is that he is the first former president who is a criminal.

...

"If a Trump prosecution risks setting off some deeper crisis in the system, that is because Republicans formed a loyalty to a man who rose to his position by flouting the law."

In the Ukraine war, a battle for the nation’s mineral and energy wealth

FBI searched Trump’s home to look for nuclear documents and other items, sources say: Attorney General Merrick Garland wouldn’t discuss the search but said he personally signed off on asking a judge to approve it

Reading archive 2022-08-10

Simmering threat of violence comes to fore with search of Trump property: Calls from right for militant action in response to FBI raid span mainstream and extremist circles

A victory at whose expense? Climate activists grapple with political compromise.

How a New Hampshire libertarian utopia was foiled by bears: Seriously, this happened. You should absolutely read about it.

Far-Right Extremists Are Violently Threatening the Trump Search-Warrant Judge: “Let's find out if he has children... where they go to school, where they live... EVERYTHING,” one person wrote on a message board where the judge’s address was posted.

Reading archive 2022-08-09

Roger Waters Explains Labeling Biden a ‘War Criminal,’ Defends China, Russia Over Military Aggression: Waters doubled-down and insisted that Taiwan in part of Communist China in the chat with Michael Smerconish.

Norfolk mother and daughter accused of illegal abortion, burning and burying body

Opinion  Why does the IRS need $80 billion? Just look at its cafeteria.

Salt in water sources becoming worrisome in D.C. region, experts warn

A neighborhood fights to be heard as Dulles planes drown out daily life - "Many residents of Birchwood at Brambleton, an over-55 community, bought and moved into their homes in 2020 and 2021, when air travel at Dulles and airports nationwide was slashed because of the pandemic. Many say they weren’t adequately warned about how loud and disruptive normal plane traffic could and would be. And dozens have united now, forming a group called the Loudoun Aircraft Noise Mitigation Committee, in a desperate push to be heard.

...

"...Loudoun County Planning Commission is considering updating its zoning policies near Dulles by updating its Airport Impact Overlay District, also known as a noise contour map, which designates three zones according to noise impact. The one-mile buffer, which is the farthest zone from the airport on the map, requires a disclosure notice of sound impacts with each property sale. The next-highest noise level requires a disclosure notice as well as acoustical treatment for new residential construction. The zone closest to the airport prohibits new residential development.

"The contours, which would not change noise or flight paths, could have another effect: According to a study cited by the county planning commission, houses requiring disclosure in the highest noise zone could see a 2.9 percent reduction in values. The Loudoun Aircraft Noise Mitigation Committee, which represents about 2,700 homes in the greater Brambleton community, is seeking to block the move both for symbolic and financial reasons. 

"'We don’t want to be zoned in the noisy zone. We don’t want to see our home values diminished because nobody fought for us,' McCulley said." [ed. note: these POSs]

House can view Trump’s tax records, appeals court rules

Secret Service officer assaulted outside White House, agency says

Mar-a-Lago search appears focused on whether Trump, aides withheld items: A lawyer for Donald Trump said agents seized about a dozen boxes on Monday, months after 15 boxes of items were returned

Reading archive 2022-08-08

The Idea That Whites Can’t Refer to the N-Word: It’s long been accepted that the slur shouldn’t be used by white people to refer to black people. What about referring to the word itself?

“I’m necessarily parasitic in a way. I have done well as a parasite. But I’m still a parasite.” - Malcolm Gladwell: America's favorite propogandist: a thread

A closer look at the House Republicans who broke ranks for the marriage bill

GOP nominee for Michigan AG named in election security breach probe: Trump-backed candidate Matthew DePerno was allegedly ‘one of the prime instigators’ of an effort to gain unauthorized access to voting machines

Strangers huddled together under a tree. Then lightning struck.: The blast killed a retired couple from Wisconsin and a bank official from California. A woman raising money for refugees was badly wounded but survived.

After passage of climate bill, long road awaits: Questions loom over impact of $369 billion in new climate spending

FBI searches Trump safe at Mar-a-Lago club, former president says: A person familiar with the investigation said the search was court-authorized, related to the potential mishandling of classified documents.

How a four-day workweek could be better for the climate: Experts say potential benefits depend on a number of factors, including how people choose to spend the extra time off

Reading archive 2022-08-07

After the Fall: What Afghanistan Looks Like Since the Taliban Takeover

Russian men, dying in war, leave many families sad, angry and silent

Two prominent men died on the Titanic. Were they secretly a couple?

Abortion law in Indiana leads to fallout for state, politics: The state, national leaders and activists on both sides are gearing up for long slog over abortion laws

Reading archive 2022-08-05

Opinion  Chinese ambassador: Why China objects to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan - "The Taiwan question is about China’s sovereignty and unity — not democracy. But it is true that Pelosi’s visit has aroused the indignation of the 1.4 billion Chinese people." [ed. note: first, lol of course it's about democracy, and two, lol "Hurting the feelings of the Chinese people"

White House summons Chinese ambassador as crisis escalates: Ambassador Qin Gang was called to the White House after China launched ballistic missiles in response to a visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Amid ‘mixed race’ speech blowback, Orban echoes Trump in Dallas: Viktor Orban addressed U.S. conservatives, who have praised his hard-right stances on migration and homosexuality as he veers toward authoritarianism

Reading archive 2022-08-04

Sandy Hook lawyers say Alex Jones’s attorneys accidentally gave them his phone contents

U.S. prison officials resist making inmates pay court-ordered victim fees: R. Kelly has roughly $28,000 in a prison account while a judge ordered him to pay $140,000 as part of his sentence - "Federal prisoner spending generates more than $80 million a year for the agency — mostly from profits on items like commissary purchases and phone calls, according to the Bureau of Prisons response to a public records request. Those documents also show that the agency earns interest from some accounts."

How abortion rights organizers won in Kansas: Horse parades and canvassing

Parkland shooter’s defense attorneys cry as victims’ parents testify

Cracker Barrel faces blowback after adding Impossible sausage to menu

Opinion  The GOP is sick. It didn’t start with Trump — and won’t end with him. - "Much has been made of the ensuing polarization in our politics, and it’s true that moderates are a vanishing breed. But the problem isn’t primarily polarization. The problem is that one of our two major political parties has ceased good-faith participation in the democratic process. Of course, there are instances of violence, disinformation, racism and corruption among Democrats and the political left, but the scale isn’t at all comparable. Only one party fomented a bloody insurrection and even after that voted in large numbers (139 House Republicans, a two-thirds majority) to overturn the will of the voters in the 2020 election. Only one party promotes a web of conspiracy theories in place of facts. Only one party is trying to restrict voting and discredit elections. Only one party is stoking fear of minorities and immigrants."

Reading archive 2022-08-03

Kansans resoundingly reject amendment aimed at restricting abortion rights

Celebrities use private jets excessively. It’s a climate nightmare.

Phones of top Pentagon officials were wiped of Jan. 6 messages: The DOD is the latest part of the federal government to have deleted official phone communications relevant to investigations into the events of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol

Sen. Johnson suggests ending Medicare, Social Security as mandatory spending programs

Sandy Hook parents confront Alex Jones, say hoax claims created ‘living hell’

How Taiwan reacted to Pelosi’s visit, from ‘welcome’ to ‘American witch’

‘Corn sweat’ is making the air in the Midwest oppressively muggy: Corn contributes substantial moisture to the atmosphere during the heart of summer each year -- some call it “corn sweat.”

A TikTok rival promised millions to Black creators. Now some are deep in debt.: Triller made its name recruiting talent with lavish perks. Now, dozens of influencers are struggling to get paid. ‘We were made to look like fools,’ one creator said.

Reading archive 2022-08-02

Former high-level Russian official who left Putin's government reportedly hospitalized

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lands in Taiwan amid threats of Chinese retaliation

Pelosi lands in Taiwan, defying Chinese warnings of forceful response

What Ayman al-Zawahiri’s killing means for al-Qaeda

Reading archive 2022-08-01

Young guns: Should 18-year-olds be able to buy semiautomatic rifles? In Georgia, two young men who want to be the ‘good guys with guns’ try to decide.

Opinion  Indiana’s cruel abortion bill is a warning of post-Roe reality

Opinion  Jon Stewart shows Democrats how to respond to GOP cruelty

Opinion  3 Senate races show how MAGA candidates are dragging down the GOP

An Oklahoma city’s first openly gay mayor resigned. Then came the fallout.

Germany is firing up old coal plants, sparking fears climate goals will go up in smoke

Hollywood ‘nepo babies’ know what you think of them. They have some thoughts.: Nepotism and Hollywood have gone together since the industry’s beginnings. But a younger generation of fans more attuned to inequality and privilege have put a different kind of spotlight on the kids of famous parents.