Reading archive 2023-12-21

Aaron Rodgers Dangled Hope for a Historic Comeback. All the Jets Got in Return Was Failure.: Rodgers seemed to convince the Jets he could return from Achilles surgery faster than any player in NFL history. Believing him cost the Jets their season. - "To be clear, nothing about this is surprising. Since it will not happen this season, Rodgers will most likely return to football activities with no restrictions at offseason practices in April, which puts him almost exactly in line with the recovery timeline the medical community he so resents considers typical for athletes returning from Achilles surgery. The update here is that the 40-year-old quarterback is not a medical marvel, and the 1 little extra percent of inspiration, it turns out, was less relevant to Rodgers’s return than the rates at which fibroblasts release collagen proteins and at which those proteins organize themselves into the tightly packed bundles that make up a strong tendon. What a shock."

Is climate-friendly flying possible? Biden administration places a big wager.: Billions of dollars in new tax credits aim to cut jet emissions -- but experts worry the benefits are exaggerated

Wild ‘super pigs’ from Canada could become a new front in the war on feral hogs - "The wild pigs in Canada are unique because they were originally crossbred by humans to be larger and more cold-hardy than their feral cousins to the south. This suite of traits has earned them the name “super pigs” for good reason. Adults can reach weights exceeding 500 pounds, which is twice the size of the largest wild pigs sampled across many U.S. sites in a 2022 study."

Reading archvie 2023-12-29

Learning to sleep like a bear could save your life: Blood clots, bed sores, bone loss — there is a whole host of ailments bears and other hibernating animals appear to avoid. So doctors and veterinarians are probing their deep-sleep ability.

A terminally ill fan hoped to meet Dolly Parton. She surprised him with a call.

Reading archive 2023-12-20

Opinion  The dressing-room encounter that made me get real about aging - "We know by a certain age the great palace lies of the culture — if you buy or do or achieve this or that, you will be happy and rich.

...

"We are so physically vulnerable in older age. We have caught each other a lot, have come through some periods of darkness and unsurvivable losses, but friendship makes it all a rowing machine for the soul. We can take it, as long as we feel and give love, and laugh gently at ourselves as we fall apart."

A baroness’s lies bring Britain’s covid spending scandal to a boil

GOP voter-fraud crackdown overwhelmingly targets minorities, Democrats: Black and Hispanic people made up more than 75 percent of defendants and Democrats nearly 60 percent in a controversial push by Republicans to prosecute election cheating, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by The Washington Post - "But the election integrity units established or expanded in six states after Trump’s loss obtained only 47 convictions during a period in which tens of millions of votes were cast, and the units overwhelmingly targeted minorities and Democrats for prosecution, according to a first-of-its-kind analysis by The Washington Post of nearly every prosecution.

...

"Of the 115 cases that have been resolved as of mid-December, 42 ended in dismissal, acquittal or dropped charges — nearly the same as the number of guilty verdicts. 

"All of the convictions occurred in Florida, Texas and Ohio, while units in Virginia, Georgia and Arkansas failed to obtain a single guilty verdict, despite allocating dozens of staffers and millions of dollars to ferret out voter fraud.

...

"One was Nathan Hart. Hart, a White man and convicted sex offender from Tampa, said he was at the DMV in March 2020, when a worker hired by the local county asked him if he wanted to register to vote. He explained he had a felony conviction, Hart said, but the worker encouraged him to apply, saying that the state would let him know if he didn’t qualify."

WRITTEN IN THE WOOD

ANCIENT WARNING OF A RISING SEA - "A recent report from the International Monetary Fund found that coping with global warming will cost the Seychelles about 30 percent of its gross domestic product. The country is wealthier per capita than any other African nation, thanks largely to an economy fueled by carbon-intensive international travel. But its small size still leaves it short on the resources and expertise needed to protect against rising sea levels, surging ocean temperatures, intensifying rainfall and escalating heat. 

"'We are suffering, but we are not the ones damaging,” Ernesta says." [ed. note: then ban tourism]

Milankovitch (Orbital) Cycles and Their Role in Earth's Climate

Why Milankovitch (Orbital) Cycles Can't Explain Earth's Current Warming

Watch ‘Failure at the Fence’: The Washington Post and ‘Frontline’ examine how Hamas breached Israel’s security barrier on Oct. 7

Reading archive 2023-12-19

Release of five wolves in the Colorado mountains begins first-of-its kind state reintroduction effort: Paws on the ground come after three years of planning

Why does mold on my walls come back, even after cleaning with bleach?

It’s time to start planning for the next thousand years: Climate change desperately needs “cathedral projects.”

Egypt under growing pressure as displaced Gazans crowd the border

America’s best example of turning around a dying downtown - "Young professionals are the main group moving in, especially because all the units are rentals. But empty nesters, judges, athletes and even a few young families have also leased properties so they can be near museums and Cleveland’s sports stadiums. For the first time in years, a yellow school bus makes a daily stop at the square to pick up kids living there. 'We’re a neighborhood church again,' said Rev. Stephen Blonder Adams, senior pastor of Old Stone Church, which has been on the square since 1820. His blessing of the animals is a hit with all the dog owners living by the square.

...

"Some cities have not used this concentrated 'node' approach. D.C.’s map of buildings slated for conversion, for example, shows a scattering of sites. That should be reconsidered in 2024. A denser population attracts grocery stores, coffee shops and pocket parks, among other amenities."

The nation’s capital, built on water, struggles to keep from drowning - "The African American museum was built on the lowest and last spot then available on the Mall. Engineers had expected to hit water, but the forces of nature they disturbed put the project in immediate peril."

New D.C. police training aims to defuse crisis situations without guns

Running short on Ukraine air defenses, U.S. looks to Japan: Tokyo is preparing a significant policy shift in its defense export rules that would allow Washington to transfer additional Patriot missiles to Kyiv

Judge again turns over Rep. Perry’s phone records to DOJ Jan. 6 probe: A federal judge turned over 75 percent instead of 90 percent of records the FBI seized from Perry’s phone, after a U.S. appeals court set a new precedent defining limits on Congress’s immunity from criminal investigation

Reading archive 2012-12-18

How America's harshest immigration law failed: Alabama tried to kick out its undocumented immigrants with the harshest law in the country. Two year's later, the law's in ruins and the immigrants remain. [ed. note: from 2013]

He’s Deeply Religious and a Democrat. He Might Be the Next Big Thing in Texas Politics.: James Talarico confounds Fox News hosts, fights the culture wars by quoting scripture, and has fellow Democrats talking about his statewide future.

The Six Myths Kissinger Created About Himself — That Everyone Fell For: His actual record on China policy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Israel finds large tunnel adjacent to Gaza, raising new questions about prewar intelligence: The army said Sunday that the tunnel facilitated the transit of vehicles, militants, and supplies in preparation for the Oct. 7 attack.

Opinion  Netanyahu is picking a fight with Israel’s best friend: Joe Biden - "'During World War II, Churchill would often howl over policy differences with FDR but never in public. Netanyahu is no Churchill,' Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told me. 'Biden may be the most Zionist president in American history and Netanyahu should be kissing his a--, not kicking it.'"

How a Capitals, Wizards move to Virginia could impact Alexandria, D.C.

Journalist who broke story on decomposing babies in Gaza is shot, injured

Israel’s assault forced a nurse to leave babies behind. They were found decomposing.: A nurse at al-Nasr hospital was caring for premature babies. Then he faced the most difficult decision of his life. - "Then the IDF delivered an ultimatum, al-Nasr director Bakr Qaoud told The Washington Post: Get out or be bombarded. An Israeli official, meanwhile, provided an assurance that ambulances would be arranged to retrieve the patients. 

"The nurse, a Palestinian man who works with Paris-based Doctors Without Borders, saw no choice. He assessed his charges and picked up the strongest one — the baby he thought likeliest to bear a temporary cut to his oxygen supply. He left the other four on their breathing machines, reluctantly, and with his wife, their children and the one baby, headed south.

...

"When Al-Mashhad aired the report, it blurred the remains. The channel gave an unaltered copy of the video to The Post, which verified that it was recorded inside al-Nasr’s neonatal intensive care unit by comparing it with images of the facility from before the war. 

"The remains, still hooked up to respirators, bear little resemblance to bodies. They appear as piles of rotting flesh, bones protruding, body parts difficult to make out. Soiled-looking diapers remain wrapped around their middles."

The issue isn’t Hitler. The issue is the right’s shift since 2015.

THE CHANGING FACE OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE SPORT: How race, politics, culture and money are shaping which kids abandon tackle football -- and which keep risking its toll.

Reading archive 2023-12-17

Meet the woman working to stop the far-right creator money machine: Nandini Jammi is fighting to defund right-wing influencers like Alex Jones

Opinion  Biden can go over Netanyahu’s head

Trump quotes Putin condemning American democracy, praises autocrat Orban: Trump also called Jan. 6 defendants ‘hostages’ and again demonized immigrants as ‘poisoning the blood of our country’ - "In the speech, Trump also repeated his own inflammatory language against undocumented immigrants, by accusing them of 'poisoning the blood of our country' — a phrase that immigrant groups and civil rights advocates have condemned as reminiscent as Hitler in his book 'Mein Kampf,' in which he told Germans to 'care for the purity of their own blood' by eliminating Jews."

Biden’s support of Israel could come at a cost to U.S. foreign policy: America’s partners and allies are increasingly frustrated that the United States isn’t using enough leverage to protect Palestinian lives - "In its efforts to woo the Global South away from Moscow and China, Washington has called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a colonial war of aggression. Yet for many, Israel’s war on Gaza looks virtually the same. 'Israel was attacked, and it has a right to self-defense,' Daalder said. 'But it is doing so in a territory it occupies, and which the entire world thinks is occupied territory. On the one hand, we’re trying to get other countries to oppose what Russia is doing in Ukraine, while on the other hand we’re trying to have them support what Israel is doing in Gaza.'"

Ron DeSantis wanted to change the way campaigns were funded. Then the fights started.: With just weeks to go before the Iowa caucuses, the GOP candidate’s bold strategy is now in tatters and its top architect has resigned

James Biden’s dealmaking caught on FBI tapes in unrelated bribery probe: While Joe Biden campaigned in Mississippi, his brother planned to build a powerful consulting business -- a deal that brought him to the periphery of a federal case

Opinion  In the West Bank, I saw how peace will require confrontation with Israel - "For settlers, obstructing Palestinian statehood is part of the mission, Yehuda Shaul, a leading Israeli expert on settlements, told me. He noted that back in 1980, Matityahu Drobles, who was then head of the World Zionist Organization’s settlements department, stated his goal bluntly in a broad plan. 'Being cut off by Jewish settlements, the minority [Arab] population will find it difficult to form a territorial and political continuity,' he wrote at the time. 'The best and most effective way of removing every shadow of a doubt about our intention to hold on to Judea and Samaria forever is by speeding up the settlement momentum in these territories.'

...

"The violent settlers almost always go unpunished. From 2005 to 2022, 93 percent of the 1,597 investigations opened by the Israeli police into cases where Israelis were said to have harmed Palestinians were closed without indictment, according to Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din; only about 3 percent led to convictions."

Reading archive 2023-12-16

NATURE, UNDAMMED: The largest-ever dam removal is underway, a milestone in the nation’s reckoning over its past attempts to bend nature to human will

Klamath River reclaims its channel through a stunning canyon following dam removal

The Warriors tolerated Draymond Green’s fire. Now a dynasty burns.

Florida sex scandal tarnishes GOP power couple and party’s credibility

Opinion  There will be a day after in Gaza. Here’s what it can look like.

Congress approves bill barring presidents from unilaterally exiting NATO

Killing of USAID contractor in Gaza fuels internal protest: The death of Hani Jnena and his young family has intensified calls within the Biden administration to hold Israel’s military accountable for the war’s toll on humanitarian workers

Inside the mad dash to buy your Walmart and Amazon returns: Americans are lining up in parking lots around the country to dig through bins of returned Amazon, Target, Kohl’s and other goods

CIA admits to losing dozens of informants around the world: NYT [ed. note: from 2021]

Opinion  Could the local news crisis get any worse? Look at Scranton.

Reading archive 2023-12-15

Plan to move Capitals, Wizards to Virginia draws transportation worries

Opinion  Worst. Congress. Ever. - "Rep. Ralph Norman (S.C.) alleged that Biden is 'cognitively gone,' saying, 'The man is not there. ... He doesn’t know where he is.' And yet at the same time Republicans allege that he is the mastermind of the greatest political scandal in U.S. history."

Losing the NBA would be a stinging blow to Black D.C.

Government shutdown in January looms as Congress looks to head home: House Republicans are attempting to renegotiate a months-old financing deal with little time to spare before government funding expires

She miscarried in her bathroom. Now she’s charged with abuse of a corpse.

Reading archive 2023-12-14

Supreme Court accepts Jan. 6 case that could affect or delay Trump trial Former president would like to push back election obstruction trial in D.C. as he seeks another term in White House

These yard signs offer an inconvenient truth about sea level rise - "After Ike flooded Houston, city leaders placed 25-foot-tall signs in Clear Lake showing how high the water might rise in a Category 4 or Category 5 storm. Neighbors complained the signs would lower their property values, and the city removed them months later."

The brain loves a challenge. Here’s why.: New research suggests we can train our brain to value making an effort and not just the outcome

Why do ‘gate lice’ line up early for a flight? Psychologists explain.: We all know those travelers: The ones who line up before their boarding group is called

How Congress leaned on crime victims to pay for Trump-era tax cuts - "In a statement, the IRS said withdrawals from tax-deferred accounts get taxed, even in sad circumstances, and that questions on appropriate tax policy are better directed to lawmakers." [ed. note: I agree]

There’s a big gap in views on abortion in Michigan — among Republicans: Trump supporters in the state are far more likely to support bans on abortion than are supporters of other candidates.

House passes defense policy bill, a rebuke of GOP’s far-right fringe: Democrats joined Republicans to approve the $886 billion legislation after it was stripped of hard-liners’ demands targeting abortion, diversity and LGBTQ+ rights

Ted Leonsis makes wonderful promises. Ask D.C. what they’re worth.

Development has transformed D.C. These then-and-now pictures show how. - "Sabiyha Prince, a cultural anthropologist, chronicled the demolition and displacement of the Barry Farm community, in Southeast Washington, in a documentary called 'Barry Farm: Community, Land and Justice in Washington, D.C.' She said a city’s disappearing views can make longtime residents feel like a foreigner in their own city."

Reading archive 2023-12-13

Two boys wore suits to school. Classmates joined for ‘Dapper Wednesdays.’

Teacher teared up reading kids’ wish lists, made sure all were granted: One student wanted slippers for their cold feet, another wanted a snack to stave off hunger, a third wanted a gift for their mom

Leonsis, Youngkin to make joint appearance as arena talks escalate: A Virginia plan to move the Capitals and Wizards to Alexandria could be moving ahead, as D.C. introduced an 11th-hour bid to keep the teams in the city.

Monumental, Youngkin announce deal to move Caps, Wizards to Virginia: Renderings show a 20,000-seat arena, practice facilities for the Wizards and Capitals, expanded esports facilities, a performing arts venue, “fan plaza” and more

D.C. sold properties for affordable housing. Half are still vacant.: The District launched ‘Vacant to Vibrant’ in 2018, but the city did not enforce deadlines.

Opinion  American progressives should advocate for Palestine. Why aren’t they?

Our kids have too much stuff: The emotional burden of childhood’s material clutter - "To understand how we got here — drowning in all those stuffed animals and Legos — it helps to look as far back as the late 19th century, he says, when the dynamics of an American family began to shift in significant ways. That’s when the line between family and work split: 'Parents were no longer passing their jobs on to the children, so there wasn’t the same bond over learning a trade,' Cross says. 'Instead, you connect across generations through the gifting process. From the early 20th century on, goods became the things that define relationships between family members, and the way of marking success as a family.' For those privileged enough to indulge, buying things became a love language of sorts."

What happens to Capital One Arena if the Wizards, Caps leave? Ask The Post.

Satanism comes to the 2024 Republican primary

D.C.’s longest-operating hotel, infamous and beloved, to close its doors

After cautious criticism by Biden, Netanyahu rallies Israel’s right wing - "'We respect and cherish the President of the United States,' said Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi in a post on X. 'But we live here … There will be no Palestinian state here. We will never go back to Oslo.'" [ed. note: that is a prescription for occupation and apartheid]

What not to say when people are being laid off: Job cuts are hitting a lot of industries, from media to tech to automotive; think carefully before offering words of comfort

Dow Jones hits an all-time high as investors cheer progress on inflation: Wall Street is hopeful that the Fed is done raising interest rates and that the economy can avoid a recession.

Bridget Ziegler, caught in sex scandal, refuses to quit Florida school post

When Republicans cast doubt on Trump’s intent — and ate their words: The GOP has shrugged at the authoritarian turn in Trump’s rhetoric. History suggests they downplay his provocations at their peril.

Supreme Court will decide access to key abortion drug mifepristone

Bowser’s negotiations draw scrutiny as D.C. could lose Capitals, Wizards

U.S. officials were ‘furious’ about leaks exposing Ukraine war concerns

Republicans grill 4th Circuit nominee on Justice Kavanaugh, ‘right to work’

With sports teams primed for move to Va., downtown D.C. frets its future: Residents and businesses fear a loss of civic pride and economic activity if the Wizards and Capitals depart for Virginia.

Reading archive 2023-12-12

First-time author loses book deal for ‘review bombing’ authors on Goodreads

A man flew to the U.S. with no passport or ticket — and no idea how, he says - "The FBI affidavit said during boarding, crew members noticed Ochigava take a seat, 36D, that was meant to be unoccupied. But they did not see his boarding pass. Some crew members also did a head count for their sections, but did not tally the numbers up across the aircraft." [ed. note: Russian Israeli man, ffs people]

Zelensky warns of guerrilla war as Ukraine aid stalls in Congress: The country’s president is meeting privately with lawmakers before a strategy session with President Biden at the White House

Authorities in D.C. charge 10 people in sweeping carjacking indictment: Half of the defendants were younger than 18 at the time of alleged offenses, but they were charged as adults - "At a news conference with D.C. Police Chief Pamela A. Smith and Assistant Director David Sundberg of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Graves blamed the increase of juveniles involved in such crimes partly on a D.C. law known as the Youth Rehabilitation Act, which allows judges in Superior Court to sentence youths who were ages 15 to 24 at the time of their offenses to shorter prison sentences. And their convictions can be expunged after they are released from prison and don’t reoffend in a specified period of time."

There are reasons for Capitals and Wizards to move. They’re all sad.

Lawmakers vote in favor of plan to bring Capitals, Wizards to Virginia

Higher fares, fewer stations: Metro outlines proposed doomsday cuts: Metro is trying to close a $750 million deficit next fiscal year, saying radical cuts would be needed unless jurisdictions pump more money into the transit system

Ga. poll worker describes harrowing threats in Giuliani defamation trial: Wandrea ‘Shaye’ Moss said her life has never been the same since Rudy Giuliani, the former Trump lawyer, falsely accused her of stealing the Georgia election on behalf of Democrats

I tried, and failed, to install a heat pump. Here’s how to do it right.

D.C. does little when some in supportive housing behave dangerously: Landlords and neighbors say they need better solutions for a minority of permanent supportive housing tenants whose mental health or addiction struggles create problems

Reading archive 2023-12-11

Will going outside in the cold with wet hair make you sick?

How to promote good posture and avoid becoming hunched over Computer use may be accelerating our tendency to become more stooped over as we age

‘From the river to the sea’: Why a Palestinian rallying cry ignites dispute - "Other defenders of the phrase contend that even maximally interpreted, it conveys an inverse of the stated ambitions of leaders of the Israeli settler movement, which has ties to the current Israeli government." [ed. note: fair enough!]

China’s cyber army is invading critical U.S. services: A utility in Hawaii, a West Coast port and a pipeline are among the victims in the past year, officials say

Disney World abruptly starts banning third-party tour guides: Dozens of independent guides say they have been issued trespassing orders in recent months

Covert Indian operation seeks to discredit Modi’s critics in the U.S. - "Sumit Ganguly, an expert on Indian diplomacy and national security at Indiana University at Bloomington, said undermining foreign governments and their officials is “routine” work for intelligence agencies around the world. But if Indian intelligence is 'besmirching American critics and civil society organizations, it would be crossing a line reminiscent of KGB tactics during the Cold War,' he said. 'It would be part and parcel of the Modi government’s attitude toward dissent, whether at home or abroad.'"

Jack Teixeira got security clearance despite history of violent threats

Air Force disciplines 15 people in Discord leaks investigation: Jack Teixeira is alleged to have leaked secrets online alone, but superiors failed to stop ‘questionable activity’ they witnessed, investigators found

Reading archive 2023-12-10

Opinion  Actually, people don’t hate the media as much as you think

Opinion  Here’s a realistic path to protecting the Amazon rainforest

Internet sleuths identify lost ‘X-Files’ song, solving 25-year mystery: ‘Staring at the Stars’ was an original country song written at the request of producers, fans discovered

They watched their husbands win the Heisman – then lost them to CTE: For years, Heisman weekend was a chance to remember their husband’s glory. Now it’s a reminder of a sport’s violent toll.

Some states spurn migrants. The Rust Belt wants them. - "In recent months, communities including Detroit; Dayton, Ohio; and Erie, Pa. — all places experiencing population loss — have been working with outside experts on how to transform city services to meet the needs of immigrants. One city, Topeka, Kan., is being even more aggressive, offering legal migrants up to $15,000 to move there."

Ukraine’s Zelensky appears increasingly embattled as U.S. backing wavers

The “Sickening” Story of the Sarah Lawrence Sex Cult: Director Zach Heinzerling on Hulu’s three-part docuseries Stolen Youth, which features firsthand footage and audio of Larry Ray and his young followers: “Each video seemed more horrible than the next.”

What the federal probe into antisemitism, Islamophobia at schools is about

The call of Tokitae: After half a century in a tank, a beloved orca was about to be freed. Then her life ended, and a moment of reckoning began. - "In the water near Tokitae’s pectoral fin, Davis pressed her hand flat against the orca’s side, the place where Davis had always loved to feel that massive heart pumping against her palm. She felt it beat for the last time. In the moment that followed, a low roll of thunder echoed through the stadium — 'as if the sky received her,' she would recall later — and a soft rain began to fall."

Update: Orca abandons body of her dead calf after a heartbreaking, weeks-long journey [ed. note: from five years ago]

Paris Hilton vs. the Crunchy Tradwives: A modern parenting story: There’s nothing unnatural about being a nervous parent who doesn’t know what they’re doing

How Democratic and GOP Senate veterans stopped Tuberville’s military holds: Military veterans from both parties spent months working to find a solution, frustrated over the blockade and its impact on military families

Opinion  The Trump dictatorship: How to stop it

Reading archive 2023-12-09

A harvest of memories: A family reunion. The annual corn harvest. An antique wedding dress. In rural Iowa, an aging couple with diverging politics reflects on the past and what people owe one another in the present. - "As Verna continued driving, now through farmland covered in drying corn crop, she passed solar panels, farm equipment and ethanol plants, all made possible by some combination of government grants, tax deductions, and subsidies. Sometimes she heard complaints about low-income families supposedly abusing safety-net programs like Medicaid. Verna wished her neighbors acknowledged what the government did for them, too. She thought about how the county wouldn’t even have an ambulance service if not for the now-maligned coronavirus relief funding. Nobody seemed to be making that case to voters here."

Trump camp escalates attempt to limit second-term talk from outside allies

Diminutive and mysterious, the Pentagon’s X-37B set to launch again: The space plane has spent the equivalent of 10 years in orbit over seven missions. But what those missions were remains unknown.

Reading archive 2023-12-08

2024 vote could bring electoral college distortions to the forefront: The system empowers a sliver of the U.S. population in a diminishing number of battleground states. And the majority may not even prevail.

Opinion  Meet the Biden impeachment managers: Larry, Moe and Curly

Traffic reporter responds to body shaming email on live TV: ‘I’m not pregnant, I actually lost my uterus to cancer last year,’ Leslie Horton told her viewers after reading the insulting email on the air

Furor over the Ivies — and crickets about Florida

Opinion  Two parties, two wildly different spending solutions, both implausible

Reading archive 2023-12-07

D.C. announces 24/7 ‘real-time crime center’ to monitor CCTV cameras: Police departments across the region will be part of the effort, which comes as the city is experiencing a rise in homicides and carjackings

Penguin parents sleep for just a few seconds at a time to guard newborns, study shows

D.C. police charge two men in August triple shooting in Adams Morgan: Police on Tuesday arrested Renza Nieem Bryant, 37, and Jalonte Thompkins, 32, and charged them each with three counts of first-degree murder, according to court documents

Opinion  How an Ohio senator’s stunt proves the Trump dictatorship theory

Opinion  Liz Cheney reminds us of the stakes

Why extreme weather is making sugar more expensive around the globe

New research undercuts Republican views of racism: Republicans are more likely to say White people experience racism than Black people. That’s not true.

House censures New York Democrat Jamaal Bowman for pulling fire alarm - "'I find it terribly ironic that we are talking about censuring Mr. Bowman, and yet we never censured any of our colleagues who tried to overturn the election on January 6th,' McGovern said."

Washington Post staffers walk out in biggest labor protest in 48 years: The workers say they will cease work for 24 hours to protest deadlocked contract negotiations and the terms of a buyout offer. Management says it will keep the daily news report going.

Trump ‘dictator’ comment reignites criticism his camp has tried to curb

Reading archive 2023-12-06

House Republicans are coming up with innovative ways to avoid scrutiny

D.C. schools bar students from classrooms for missing vaccines: The mandates had not been enforced so now parents are scrambling for medical appointments [ed. note: jfc finally]

Reading archive 2023-12-05

The surprisingly simple way to convince people to go green

Fewer young Americans plan to vote in 2024, Harvard youth poll finds: The potential decline in participation by young voters could hurt President Biden in a potential matchup with former president Donald Trump.

Opinion  Enough with all the fatalism about a Trump dictatorship

Liz Cheney, outspoken Trump critic, weighs third-party presidential run: The former congresswoman says she is determined to stop Trump. Other Trump critics think a third-party candidacy could help him.

Defending his 2020 fraud claims, Trump turns to fringe Jan. 6 theories

Girl pleads guilty to fatal stabbing in dispute over sweet-and-sour sauce: The 16-year-old defendant killed another girl in a fight in D.C. that began over McDonald’s dip, police said

Israel-Gaza war, LGBTQ rights complicate alliances for U.S. Muslims

Festival’s rejection of menorah lighting leads to accusations of antisemitism

Reading archive 2023-12-04

Father arrested after missing Idaho baby and pregnant wife are found dead

Kari Lake struggles to court moderates, imperiling GOP Senate pickup: Lake’s outreach has been met with skepticism after her 2022 gubernatorial campaign resulted in deep-seated resentments

‘Everybody’s daughter’: The rape victim behind Kentucky’s viral abortion ad: Hadley Duvall helped Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear win reelection -- and she’s ready to campaign again in 2024

Howard University renovates affordable-housing ‘jewel’ with Amazon money

What home schooling hides: A boy tortured and starved by his stepmom - "Ginger, the family’s dog, watched the exchange from the living room, wagging her tail as she perched over a Joe Biden chew toy.

...

"But Brock, like his brother, still struggles with the memory of the person he did not help. Honesty is a trait Garvin encourages in his rescued sons, and they say the truth is that they bear some responsibility for what happened to Roman." [ed. note: encourages honesty, loves trump. Square that circle for me]

Trump attempts to spin anti-democracy, authoritarian criticism against Biden: The former president declared his 2024 campaign as a ‘righteous crusade’ against ‘tyrants and villains’

Reading archive 2023-12-03

Oil companies’ unexpected plan to tackle climate change: Saudi Arabia and other big fossil fuel entities sign onto initiatives to cut methane as they try to position themselves as part of the fix for climate change

Hard-right backtrack on spending levels leaves sour taste for colleagues: Fiscal fights have been at the heart of Republican conflict this year, including the debate over the top-line spending level for 2024