Reading archive 2025-05-13

A new fully charged EV battery in five minutes: Are China's swap stations the future of electric cars?

Trump promised U.S. dominance. Instead, energy companies are faltering.: Oil and gas firms are reeling, and major renewables projects are getting shelved as Trump’s policies rattle energy investors and executives.

MSNBC in five words: ‘I could not agree more’ Searching for dissent and debate on the cable news home for liberal America. - "No matter how it’s produced, television is a medium ill-equipped to cover Trump. My advice? Read newspapers."

What Pennsylvania factory workers say about Trump’s tariffs now: Business is flourishing at this furniture maker, but even here workers want certainty — and lower prices.

How you can shop for money-saving appliances if Trump ends: Energy Star Researchers and policy experts explain why Energy Star has been so successful and what we could do in its absence. - "If Energy Star dies, it would mark the demise of one of America’s most popular government programs — championed by industry associations, environmental groups, and Republicans and Democrats alike."

Land under the country’s largest cities is sinking. Here’s where — and why.: The movement is slow — sinking on the scale of millimeters per year in the United States — but the effects accumulate over years.

Why the Toupee Is Making a Comeback With Millennial Men: Long the butt of sitcom jokes, toupees—now called “hair systems”—have leveled up in recent years, and a growing number of balding men prefer the affordable flexibility they offer to the invasive risk of a transplant.

These Internal Documents Show Why We Shouldn’t Trust Porn Companies - "Stewart became afraid to leave her house. She recalled sending notes to Pornhub pleading that it take down the video, explaining that she was a minor and was shown being raped. Nothing happened, she said. 'I even posted comments on the video saying, 'I’m underage, take this video off,' and got no responses from anyone ever,' she told me."[ed. note: jfc]

Scientists in a race to discover why the Universe exists

Youth pleads guilty in juvenile court to fatally beating D.C. disc jockey: Authorities say the 16-year-old and a teenage companion attacked the man during a spate of street robberies in October; the victim died after weeks in a coma. - "At the time of the robberies, Superior Court officials said, the teen had five other robbery or assault cases that were pending."

Young teens arrested in carjacking of Capitol Hill aide: The gun was placed against the victim’s chest in the Navy Yard area, police say.

China Called Trump’s Bluff: There is a lesson here for anyone Trump threatens. - "'The consensus from both delegations is that neither side wanted a decoupling,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced at a press conference in Geneva, as if the whole thing had been one big misunderstanding. The decades of China allegedly 'ripping off' the United States were apparently forgotten, along with China's insolence in retaliating and the supposed need for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on Chinese imports. The administration isn't even pretending that it forced China to pay any special price for its defiance. It is memory-holing the entire 'do not retaliate' episode and moving on as if the point this whole time was to get along better with Beijing."

Retirement Is the New Resistance: The Democrats waging war on their gerontocracy

The Terrible Optics of ICE Enforcement Are Fueling a Trump Immigration Backlash: The president was elected, in part, on a pledge to crack down on immigration. But he may be overinterpreting his mandate.

Who Counts as Christian?: A new initiative will necessitate that the Trump administration makes difficult judgment calls about the faith. - "Or consider the case of an Episcopalian church in Sacramento whose rainbow Pride flag was stolen and burned: Would this task force agree that the attack was an act of aggression against the congregation qua Christians? The church's priest certainly thought so."

Md. woman who allegedly drove through festival to get to work will remain jailed: Kai Deberry-Bostick, 28, of Laurel, was charged with second-degree assault and resisting arrest.

RFK Jr. bathes in polluted D.C. creek on family outing: The health secretary reports on a Mother’s Day outing.

White South Africans arrive at Dulles as refugees under Trump order: The arrival of about 50 Afrikaners under allegations of racial discrimination restarts a U.S. refugee program that has been suspended for all other groups. - "On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said that it will end temporary protected status for Afghans."

ChatGPT Is Everywhere — Why Aren't We Talking About Its Environmental Costs?: In this op-ed, politics editor Lex McMenamin explains why using AI to search "how to be sustainable" could be accomplishing the opposite. - "McMillan Cottom categorizes artificial intelligence as 'mid' tech — hardly the technological revolution worth the amount of waste and environmental damage it’s meting out: '[Most] of us are using [AI] for far more mundane purposes. AI spits out meal plans with the right amount of macros, tells us when our calendars are overscheduled, and helps write emails that no one wants. That’s a mid revolution of mid tasks.'"