Reading archive 2018-02-28

We studied thousands of anonymous posts about the Parkland attack — and found a conspiracy in the making

Hope Hicks Acknowledges She Sometimes Tells White Lies for Trump

Turkey’s president consoled a crying 6-year-old with talk of her glorious death in future combat

NSA director Mike Rogers’s remarkable comments about Trump’s Russia efforts — or lack thereof

Obama’s secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin’s election assault (from June 2017)

Corker Reconsiders Retirement, but He Must Win Over Trump to Do It

The Foiled Plot to Kick Mitt Romney Out of the [Utah] Republican Party: The Senate candidate's allies believed party activists were trying to change bylaws to exclude him—but a last-minute amendment preserved his eligibility.

North Pole surges above freezing in the dead of winter, stunning scientists

Shocker: Democrats’ predictions about the GOP tax cut are coming true

Trump’s Tax Cuts in Hand, Companies Spend More on Themselves Than on Wages

Trump lashes out at attorney general over alleged surveillance abuses

Sessions pushes back on Trump after 'disgraceful' insult

Clinton says Trump is surrendering to Russia's election meddling

Gus Kenworthy Reveals the Homophobic Messages He Gets Online: ‘Go Die of AIDS'

Cindy McCain sounds off on Trump: ‘We don’t need more bullying, and I’m tired of it’

Reading archive 2018-02-27

Kushner’s overseas contacts raise concerns as foreign officials seek leverage

Security clearances downgraded for Kushner and other White House officials

Parkland shooting survivor's family shops doctored emails with CNN to media outlets

Shooting survivor’s father admits email changes in CNN spat

Reading archive 2018-02-26

The Venezuelan oil industry is on a cliff’s edge. Trump could tip it over.

If this is what conservatism has become, count me out

The GOP's H.R. 620 will gut the Americans With Disabilities Act, pushing disability rights back to 1989: The Republicans' bill would devastate the civil rights of disabled Americans. You need to know about it.

Going Rogue at CPAC: Mona Charen Slams Sexist Hypocrisy and Racism at CPAC; Calls invitation of Le Pen a 'Disgrace'

I’m Glad I Got Booed at CPAC

Trump’s Takeover of Conservatism Is Complete and Total: At this year’s CPAC, the room for criticizing the president was vanishingly small.

Trump: I would have run into school during shooting even without a gun

Employers can’t discriminate based on sexual orientation, court says, dealing loss to Trump administration

Reading archive 2018-02-25

Trudeau's India trip is a total disaster — and he has only himself to blame

House panel releases Democrats’ memo defending FBI surveillance of ex-Trump campaign aide

NRA lashes out at boycott movement as United, Delta and other corporations cut ties

The racist history of the ‘crisis actor’ attacks on Parkland school shooting survivors

Jerusalem's Church of Holy Sepulchre Closes in Protest Amid Row With Israel: After rare move by heads of churches in Jerusalem in protest of legislation to expropriate church lands, ministers postpone debate on bill

Reading archive 2018-02-23

‘Teachers Are Educators, Not Security Guards’: Educators Respond to Trump Proposal

The Case Against Google: Critics say the search giant is squelching competition before it begins. Should the government step in?

Reading archive 2018-02-22

The Boys Are Not All Right

Marco Rubio and the NRA confronted by shooting survivors, grieving parents at tense town hall

What I Saw Treating the Victims From Parkland Should Change the Debate on Guns: They weren’t the first victims of a mass shooting the Florida radiologist had seen—but their wounds were radically different.

Reading archive 2018-02-21

Kushner Resists Losing Access as Kelly Tackles Security Clearance Issues - "It is unclear whether Mr. Kushner would need to review highly classified information. His current portfolio — which includes acting as an intermediary with Mexico, trying to forge Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, participating in an economic dialogue with China and working on revising the North American Free Trade Agreement — seems unlikely to involve major intelligence or national security secrets."

A lawmaker’s aide called school-shooting survivors crisis actors. Within hours, he was fired.

‘It’s frustrating’: Women in Mo. bristle at Trump’s words on domestic violence, sexual abuse

Number of U.S. hate groups jumps 20 percent since 2014: watchdog

It’s One Thing For Trump To Like Uranium. It’s Another For Him To Save It.

The right-wing sliming of Douglas High students can’t be ignored. It’s too disgusting for that.

CONSERVATIVES MELT DOWN AS TWITTER ANNIHILATES FAKE ACCOUNTS: Twitter quietly purged thousands of bots overnight—cutting several prominent pundits’ follower counts down to size.

The huge questions about Melania Trump’s immigration history nobody will answer

Why the Parkland students have made pro-gun conservatives so mad

Congresswoman claims most mass shooters are Democrats

Reading archive 2018-02-20

Trump administration dismantles LGBT-friendly policies: Despite Trump’s promise to defend LGBT rights, his health agency has blocked efforts to combat discrimination.

After Florida School Shooting, Russian ‘Bot’ Army Pounced

Trump’s Miss Universe Gambit: For years, he used his beauty pageants to boost business interests abroad. A 2013 contest, in Moscow, may also have helped give him the Presidency.

How The Media Bungled The John Kelly Story

A Beat-Sweetener Sampler: The unreliable narrator's guide to Obama's new team.

What Pokemon Go can teach conservationists about public engagement: In six days, players collected as much data as naturalists had in 400 years

Reading archive 2018-02-19

Conservatives urge Trump to grant pardons in Russia probe: As special counsel Robert Mueller builds his case, relatives of former national security adviser Michael Flynn are among those pressing the president to use his unique legal power and 'put these defendants out of their misery.'

Teachers say Florida suspect’s problems started in middle school, and the system tried to help him

HOW AN ALT-RIGHT BOT NETWORK TOOK DOWN AL FRANKEN

China’s fingerprints are everywhere

University rejects Chinese Communist Party-linked influence efforts on campus

Waking up to China’s infiltration of American colleges

Pennsylvania Court Issues New Congressional Map: New boundaries for Pennsylvania's 18 congressional districts are to take effect starting in the May 15 primary.

Trump spent the weekend tweeting about Russia. He lied, a lot.: Here are the three biggest whoppers from a very long list.

Russian election interference is far from over. I asked 9 experts how to stop it.: “US intelligence and law enforcement officials cannot protect us against threats if our own commander in chief does not acknowledge such threats.”

‘Why aren’t you married?’: In China, gay men and lesbians pair off to keep parents off their backs

THE I-5 KILLER: With the 428th pick in the 1974 NFL draft, the Green Bay Packers selected. . . one of the most violent killers in U.S. history. No one is saying football led Randall Woodfield down his dark path—but did it perhaps deter him from it, at least for a while?

Reading archive 2018-02-18

A former Russian troll speaks: ‘It was like being in Orwell’s world’

The 21st-century Russian sleeper agent is a troll with an American accent

Russia Wanted Trump to Win. And It Wanted to Get Caught.

Florida students plea with Congress: It’s about the guns

Reading archive 2018-02-17

‘When will they love their kids more than their guns,’ an Australian priest asks Americans

A loud, new voice after the latest school shooting: Kids wanting to know why adults hadn’t done more

Russia used mainstream media to manipulate American voters

Reading archive 2018-02-16

One Teacher’s Brilliant Strategy to Stop Future School Shootings—And It’s Not About Guns

Donald Trump, a Playboy Model, and a System for Concealing Infidelity: One woman’s account of clandestine meetings, financial transactions, and legal pacts designed to hide an extramarital affair.

What Mass Killers Want—And How to Stop Them: Rampage shooters crave the spotlight, and we should do everything possible to deprive them of it.

Mueller indicts 13 Russian nationals over 2016 election interference

Reading archive 2018-02-15

Florida school shooting suspect linked to white supremacist group: ADL

THREAD: An open letter to @KitDaniels1776, who is a reporter for @Infowars and a vile maggot.

A former GOP lawmaker’s blunt words on gun control: ‘Republicans are not going to do anything’

Alzheimer's disease reversed in mice, offering hope for humans, new research shows

Reading archive 2018-02-14

The Economy Is Soaring, And Now So Is The Deficit. That’s A Bad Combination.

‘Resist White Supremacy’: A sign. A farm. And the fury that followed.

Inside the world of Silicon Valley's 'coasters' — the millionaire engineers who get paid gobs of money and barely work

Veterans Affairs chief Shulkin, staff misled ethics officials about European trip, report finds

Reading archive 2018-02-13

What’s the immigration status of Melania Trump’s parents?

Applebee’s admits customers were racially profiled

Nixon fired the man investigating him. Will Trump?: Woodward and Bernstein: Are we watching the lead-up to another Saturday Night Massacre?

I thought gay rights were safe. Now I know I was wrong.: According to one survey, Americans are now less comfortable around LGBTQ people than they were the year before. And it's not just a Trump thing.

White House reels as FBI director contradicts official claims about alleged abuser

Preserved roses bring Valentine’s Day sales jolt to Ecuador

In rose beds, money blooms How the rose trade lifted Colombia – and nearly erased an American industry

Reading archive 2018-02-12

First-class travel distinguishes Scott Pruitt’s EPA tenure

Hillary Clinton, a favorite GOP foil, plans discreet 2018 strategy

Pennsylvania Republicans have drawn a new congressional map that is just as gerrymandered as the old one

A televangelist’s flu-season advice: ‘Inoculate yourself with the word of God’

Is the era of hugging over? Some people sure hope so.

INSIDE THE TWO YEARS THAT SHOOK FACEBOOK—AND THE WORLD: How a confused, defensive social media giant steered itself into a disaster, and how Mark Zuckerberg is trying to fix it all.

Reading archive 2018-02-11

Man sentenced to 35 years in fatal stabbing aboard Metro train

After poring over all the evidence, experts declare coffee is (mostly) good for you

Israel carries out ‘large-scale attack’ in Syria after Israeli jet crashes under antiaircraft fire

Reading archive 2018-02-09

In Conversation: Quincy Jones: The music legend on the secret Michael Jackson, his relationship with the Trumps, and the problem with modern pop.

India tried to stop cheating in school — so half a million students just skipped exams

Breaking with tradition, Trump skips president’s written intelligence report and relies on oral briefings

Kelly offers account of Porter exit that some White House aides consider untrue

Reading archive 2018-02-08

George W. Bush: There’s clear evidence Russia meddled in U.S. election

How Nations Recover

Explain the Rob Porter story. Any of it. - "Explain how White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, who reportedly knew of the FBI reports, could assert, in a statement circulated before and after the abuse photos emerged, 'Rob Porter is a man of true integrity and honor and I can’t say enough good things about him. He is a friend, a confidante and a trusted professional.'"

In new statement, Kelly says he was 'shocked' by Porter allegations and condemns abuse: More than 24 hours after issuing a statement defending staff secretary Rob Porter amid abuse allegations, White House chief of staff John Kelly said in a second statement that he was 'shocked' and condemned domestic abuse. - "A senior administration official told POLITICO earlier Wednesday that Kelly and other top White House officials were aware of the allegations, including the 2010 protective order, weeks and in some cases months before they were made public."

Carrier Employees, Soon to Be Laid Off, Feel Betrayed by Donald Trump

‘Like we descended from Hitler’: Coming to terms with a slave-trading past

White House advises government agencies to prepare for shutdown as Congress struggles to pass budget ahead of midnight deadline

The Nunes memo shows the FBI did not eavesdrop on Trump’s campaign - "The FISA order on Page was issued Oct. 21, 2016. That timing proves that the Page warrant didn’t authorize any surveillance of the Trump campaign — because Page and the Trump campaign had parted ways before the warrant was issued. In fact, the Nunes memo makes it appear that the FBI was trying to avoid surveillance on the Trump campaign, even when doing so undermined the effectiveness of a then-months-old investigation into Russian election interference. Although the FBI had been interested in Page for some time, it was not until after the relationship between Page and the Trump campaign ended that the bureau got the FISA warrant."

Reading archive 2018-02-07

Why Trump’s military parade won’t be ‘like the one in France’

Stunning new pictures show the scope of Chinese building in the South China Sea

Beyoncé’s father takes on ‘colorism’: He dated her mother because he thought she was white

Reading archive 2018-02-06

Caesarean Births Could Be Affecting Human Evolution

This simple solution to smartphone addiction is now used in over 600 U.S. schools

Two snowy owls have taken up residence near the Mall

Your Grandma Was a Chain Migrant!: Jennifer Mendelsohn turns the tables on Trump’s anti-immigrant mouthpieces by digging through their genealogical records.

Reading archive 2018-02-05

Republican lawmakers distance themselves from Trump on memo

Inside the FBI: Anger, worry, work — and fears of lasting damage

Trump’s latest stunt is about to blow up in his face - "It is still very possible that President Trump could use the Nunes memo as a pretext to try to quash or constrain special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe. Trump tweeted over the weekend that the memo “totally vindicates” his claim that the investigation is a “witch hunt,” which is an absurd lie in every possible respect, but it shows he’s still mulling a move on Mueller."

This is how Justin Timberlake lost the Super Bowl

Justin Timberlake Just Wasn’t Made for These Times: On his new album, the hermetic ‘Man of the Woods,’ the superstar entertainer just wants to get away from it all. Unfortunately, pop music and what we ask of its stars, has changed radically. And JT can’t keep up.

Boycott the Republican Party: If conservatives want to save the GOP from itself, they need to vote mindlessly and mechanically against its nominees. - "We understand why Republicans, even moderate ones, are reluctant to cross party lines. Party, today, is identity. But in the through-the-looking-glass era of Donald Trump, the best thing Republicans can do for their party is vote against it."

House panel clears release of Democrats’ rebuttal to GOP memo, forcing showdown with Trump

Trump thought the British were protesting their health service. They weren’t.

AN ARCTIC SPY MYSTERY: An arrest in Moscow shakes Norway’s far north

Kimberly-Clark Uses GOP Tax Break to Sucker Punch Wisconsin Workers

Kimberly-Clark to use savings from tax cuts to pay for layoffs

Reading archive 2018-02-02

Leaks, feasts and sex parties: How ‘Fat Leonard’ infiltrated the Navy’s floating headquarters in Asia

A Texas man vowed to forgive whoever killed most of his family. Then he learned it was his son.

Trump has picked a fight with the FBI. He’ll be sorry.

'Weasels and liars': Comey tweets about FBI speaking up amid controversy over memo

Don’t Believe the Liberal F.B.I. - "The most dangerous thing about the release of the Nunes memo is not the memo itself, but Republicans’ shamelessness in using national security processes to deceive the people they’re supposed to serve."

House Republicans Release Secret Memo Accusing Russia Investigators of Bias

Read the Nunes Memo, Annotated

The missile employee messed up because Hawaii rewards incompetence

Reading archive 2018-02-01

What Trump’s address sounded like in eight American living rooms

Early Lead When Brett Favre sees little kids playing football, ‘I cringe.’

Federal government will be unable to pay all bills sooner than expected, due to new tax law

Exclusive: Controversial FBI agent co-wrote initial draft of explosive Comey letter reopening Clinton email probe

Mueller Zeros In on Story Put Together About Trump Tower Meeting

It Was Worse than You Think: The House Intelligence Meeting on the Nunes Memo