Thursday, February 25, 2021

Reading archive 2021-02-25

Scientists see stronger evidence of slowing Atlantic Ocean circulation, an ‘Achilles’ heel’ of the climate The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, a system of currents, is weaker than it has been in 1,000 years

Inside a Battle Over Race, Class and Power at Smith College: A student said she was racially profiled while eating in a college dorm. An investigation found no evidence of bias. But the incident will not fade away. - "'This is the racist person,' Ms. Kanoute wrote of Ms. Blair, adding that Mr. Patenaude too was guilty. (He in fact worked an early shift that day and had already gone home at the time of the incident.) Ms. Kanoute also lashed the Smith administration. 'They’re essentially enabling racist, cowardly acts.'"

"Ms. Blair has lupus, a disease of the immune system, and stress triggers episodes. She felt faint. 'Oh my God, I didn’t do this,' she told a friend. 'I exchanged a hello with that student and now I’m a racist.'"

At the mercy of foreign powers: Libyans ousted a dictator, but an ensuing civil war has drawn in Russia, Turkey and others with a thirst for control

Reading archive 2021-02-24

The U.S. Air Force Just Admitted The F-35 Stealth Fighter Has Failed

 - "But bisexual adults are much less likely than gays and lesbians to be 'out' to the important people in their lives, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of survey data from Stanford University. And among bisexual people with partners, almost nine in 10 are married or in a relationship with someone of the opposite sex, Pew found.

"New survey data also released Wednesday from Gallup found that 17 percent of bisexual adults are married to a spouse of the opposite sex, while 1 percent are married to a spouse of the same sex. Meanwhile, 13 percent live with an opposite-sex domestic partner, while 3 percent live with a domestic partner of the same sex."

1 in 6 Gen Z adults are LGBT. And this number could continue to grow.

Life amid the ruins of QAnon: ‘I wanted my family back’: An epidemic of conspiracy theories, fanned by social media and self-serving politicians, is tearing families apart.

Monday, February 22, 2021

Reading archive 2021-02-22

Dean Baquet interview demonstrates why bothsidesism is alive and well at his New York Times

Rush Limbaugh and the Petrification of Conservatism: An extraordinary career for the man, a long defeat for his ideology. [ed. note: Ross Douthat, conservative Roman Catholic OpEd author for NYT]

Solar panels in Sahara could boost renewable energy but damage the global climate – here’s why

‘Allen v. Farrow’: Three takeaways from the searing docuseries’ first episode

Opinion: Iran has taken another American hostage. His ordeal strikes close to home.

Family of 11-year-old boy who died in unheated Texas mobile home sues power companies for over $100 million

History’s deadliest pandemics, from ancient Rome to modern America

 - "Many boys are molested by adults, that’s true. But there are strong signs that children are even more likely to be sexually abused or sexually as­saulted by other children. In one study of 13,000 children age 17 and younger, three-quarters of the boys who reported being sexually victimized said the person who violated them was another child. In a little more than half those assaults, the violator was a girl. Most boys who had been assaulted had never told an adult.

"In 2015, a national survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Pre­vention found that nearly 4 million men (and 5.6 million women) had been victims of sexual violence just in the previous year. More than 2 million of those men were subjected to unwanted sexual contact, and more than 800,000 said they were “made to penetrate” another person — an awkward term that doesn’t show up much in the media or in public debate. It means that a man was either too inebriated to consent or was coerced or threatened into sex."

Sexual Assault Against Boys Is a Crisis: It’s far more common than we think. Here’s why we don’t talk about it.

Thursday, February 18, 2021

Reading archive 2020-02-18

Texas Democrats call for Sen. Ted Cruz to resign after unverified photos purportedly show him traveling to Cancun

Opinion: Texas shows that when you cannot govern, you lie. A lot.

The Helix is a distraction. Amazon’s new headquarters will change more than just its Arlington neighborhood.

Trump-McConnell clash threatens to settle into a cold war as GOP eyes midterms

Rush Limbaugh created the politics that Trump used to win the White House

The grid leaves us powerless - "Would this be happening if Texas, a secessionist state craving freedom from federal oversight, had not insisted on its own grid? When the government began regulating interstate utilities in 1935, Texas kept its power to itself. Now most of the United States is powered by two mega-grids, the Eastern and Western interconnections, while Texas cultivates its own island of electricity. 

"'Texas is the way it is, infrastructurally, because of these cultural biases: stereotypically American values like freedom and independence and the ability to make a quick buck,' says Bakke, by phone. 'And so the whole reason this is happening now is because there’s a certain culture that has existed in Texas for the last 100 years.'"

A mass-casualty event every day: Inside the dark winter of covid-19 in America

Reading archive 2021-02-17

What’s Behind D.C.’s Gentrification Ranking Drop? One Lawyer Suggests Development Appeals Contributed.: The proliferation of Planned Unit Developments is linked to displacement, according to attorney Ari Theresa.

Opinion: CNN’s Chris Cuomo is reminding us why conflicts of interest poison the news

The ‘audacious lie’ behind a hedge fund’s promise to sustain local journalism

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Reading archive 2021-02-16

VERIFY: What are George Washington's ties to slavery?: The first president had a complicated history. The Verify team went to historical experts to break down his views and actions.

Valentine’s Day Giving The Texas Electric Grid The Cold Shoulder

What went wrong with the Texas power grid? - "Ed Hirs, an energy fellow in the Department of Economics at the University of Houston, blamed the failures on the state’s deregulated power system, which doesn’t provide power generators with the returns needed to invest in maintaining and improving power plants. 

"'The ERCOT grid has collapsed in exactly the same manner as the old Soviet Union,' said Hirs. 'It limped along on underinvestment and neglect until it finally broke under predictable circumstances. 

"'For more than a decade, generators have not been able to charge what it costs them to produce electricity,' said Hirs. “'If you don’t make a return on your money, how can you keep it up? It’s like not taking care of your car. If you don’t change the oil and tires, you can’t expect your car to be ready to evacuate, let alone get you to work.'"

The Real Reason for Texas' Rolling Blackouts - "It’s true that Texas has the most installed wind capacity of any state in the country–wind can supply up to 60% of power in the state. But the grid is designed to allow for natural ebbs and flows in power sources, synchronizing when people need more or less power with when wind energy may be lower, like in the winter. ERCOT only plans for around 25% of electricity to be from wind in the winter; natural gas, on the other hand, makes up around half of the state’s electricity generation. 

"'It’s not like we were relying on wind, but we were relying on natural gas, and it failed terribly in that respect,' Rhodes said. 'Yes, we have wind turbines that are iced up, yes, we have wind turbines that are not performing. We don’t typically rely on wind during [the winter], so we built the grid to rely on those other resources, and they didn’t show up, either. We didn’t plan for this.'

"While it may take some time to do a full postmortem on what exactly happened to make conditions so dire this week, this isn’t the first time the Texas grid has frozen up both literally and metaphorically. In 2014, regulators found that wind energy was actually more reliable than both coal and natural gas during an early January cold snap. And in 2011—when Texas’s wind power capacity was one-third what it is now—state regulators ordered ERCOT to make winterizing updates. Since winterization is not mandatory, though, it’s not clear what the utility actually did to upgrade the grid."

There’s an invisible climate threat seeping from grocery store freezers. Biden wants to change that.: New undercover survey suggests leaks of powerful planet-warming gases pervade many supermarkets

Frozen Wind Farms Are Just a Small Piece of Texas’s Power Woes

Trump is the culture war. The culture war is the base. Now what? - "But in the Republican Party of 2021, that’s unacceptable. Republicans aren’t elected to 'do the right thing' or whatever; the expectation among much of the base is that they are there to elevate cultural fights against Democrats. This was the engine for Trump’s rise in the 2016 presidential nominating contest, his willingness to overtly prioritize the rhetoric and battles of conservative media over conservative policy proposals."

Ron Johnson and the emerging hoax-ification of the Capitol riot

On social media, vaccine misinformation mixes with extreme faith: Even with renewed efforts by tech companies, religious-themed misinformation is among the hardest to police

Pizzagate’s violent legacy: The gunman who terrorized a D.C. pizzeria is out of prison. The QAnon conspiracy theories he helped unleash are out of control.

Monday, February 15, 2021

Reading archive 2021-02-15

Eroding trust, spreading fear: The historical ties between pandemics and extremism

Biden is winning Republican support for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan. Just not in Washington. - "Republicans in Congress overwhelmingly oppose the relief bill, casting it as bloated and budget-busting, with some heaping particular scorn on a measure to send $350 billion in assistance to states and cities. Should Biden go ahead without their approval, GOP leaders say, it will prove that his mantra of bipartisanship rings hollow. 

"But to many Republicans at city halls and statehouses across the country, the relief package looks very different. Instead of the “blue-state bailout” derided by GOP lawmakers, Republican mayors and governors say they see badly needed federal aid to keep police on the beat, to prevent battered Main Street businesses from going under and to help care for the growing ranks of the homeless and the hungry."

In Philadelphia, a mass vaccination clinic opened with fanfare, then closes amid rifts of trust

Sunday, February 14, 2021

Reading archive 2021-02-14

Opinion: The beginning of the end of Trumpism - "The fact that only seven Senate Republicans bolted should end the absurd talk that there is a burden on President Biden to achieve a bipartisan nirvana in Washington. If most Republicans can’t even admit that what Trump did is worthy of impeachment, how can anyone imagine that they would be willing and trustworthy governing partners? 

"The case for ending the filibuster is now overwhelming. There are not 10 Republican Senate votes to be had on anything that really matters. 

"All the Republicans who broke with Trump deserve honor and respect. Unfortunately, it’s hard to see how this varied group could either form the core of an alternative kind of Republicanism or be consistent governing partners with Biden."

Opinion: The massive GOP betrayal of our democracy requires a forceful Democratic response - "Now that the vast majority of Senate Republicans voted to acquit former president Donald Trump of inciting violent insurrection, as we all knew they would, Democrats should immediately respond as follows: 

"1. Pass H.R.1 and S.1 with all deliberate speed. 

"2. Be prepared to nuke the legislative filibuster if and when Republicans obstruct it in the Senate. 

"3. Get the package into law as quickly as possible. 

"Those are the House and Senate bills that would expand voting rights, make voting easier in numerous ways and place limits on counter-majoritarian tactics such as voter suppression and gerrymandering, which Republicans are cheerfully escalating in numerous states."

Opinion: Will Senate Republicans allow their louts to rule the party? - "The first of this century’s national traumas is denoted by two numbers: 9/11. One purpose of, and a sufficient justification for, the second impeachment of the 45th president was to inscribe this century’s second trauma in the nation’s memory as: 1/6." [ed. note: George Will]

I work in a nursing home. Here’s why my colleagues are skipping the vaccine.

Opinion: This is how bad McConnell really is - "We witnessed a historic confession of hypocrisy and deceit on Saturday when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) went to the floor after voting to acquit Donald Trump in the former president’s Senate impeachment trial. McConnell said, 'Former President Trump’s actions [that] preceded the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty.' He added, 'Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.' 

"But McConnell said he couldn’t vote to convict because the trial had come too late, after Trump was out office — even though it was McConnell himself who had kept the Senate out for the remainder of Trump’s term.

...

"The next time someone criticizes the Biden administration for a lack of bipartisanship, remember this episode of McConnell’s monstrous hyperpartisanship. The White House will be dealing with a minority leader and a party so lacking in honor, and so willing to disregard the country’s interests, that no reasonable person could expect their genuine cooperation or compromise. McConnell has shown his true colors."

After Ginsburg Dems Must Choose Radicalism or Failure - "The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the rare kind of event that must be radicalizing. 

"There’s no shortage of injustice, real or hypothetical, that has the potential to radicalize people. Ginsburg’s death, which comes just long enough before the election for Republicans to replace her with a reactionary right-wing jurist, requires a radical response if the causes of democracy, equality, and freedom are to have a fighting chance.

...

"There will not be bipartisan cover to save democracy because the Republican Party doesn’t believe in it. There is no more sense in spending months exhorting Republicans to help create political equality in America than there would have been in replacing the civil rights movement with a sandwich board that said 'pretty please.'"

Opinion: Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem. - "The GOP has become an insurgent outlier in American politics. It is ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition." [ed. note: from 2012!!]

Friday, February 12, 2021

Reading archive 2021-02-12

Half of Republicans say that the Capitol violence was mostly antifa’s fault Democrats blame Trump - "That claim gained traction after the Washington Times reported that a facial recognition company had linked several of those photographed in the Capitol to antifa. That report quickly made it to Fox News and to the House floor, where Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) elevated the theory. Unfortunately for Gaetz and Fox, though, the report was entirely incorrect and was ultimately rescinded. The storming of the Capitol wasn’t by antifa activists. It was, as it seemed, by supporters of Trump."

White House suspends senior press aide accused of threatening reporter

Britney Spears' father loses bid to retain control of delegating her investments: The joint conservatorship powers were debated in court Thursday amid intensified scrutiny over James Spears' control of his daughter's estate.

The great nutrient collapse The atmosphere is literally changing the food we eat, for the worse. And almost nobody is paying attention. - "Earlier this summer, a group of researchers published the first studies attempting to estimate what these shifts could mean for the global population. Plants are a crucial source of protein for people in the developing world, and by 2050, they estimate, 150 million people could be put at risk of protein deficiency, particularly in countries like India and Bangladesh. Researchers found a loss of zinc, which is particularly essential for maternal and infant health, could put 138 million people at risk. They also estimated that more than 1 billion mothers and 354 million children live in countries where dietary iron is projected to drop significantly, which could exacerbate the already widespread public health problem of anemia.

...

"Goldenrod, a wildflower many consider a weed, is extremely important to bees. It flowers late in the season, and its pollen provides an important source of protein for bees as they head into the harshness of winter. Since goldenrod is wild and humans haven’t bred it into new strains, it hasn’t changed over time as much as, say, corn or wheat. And the Smithsonian Institution also happens to have hundreds of samples of goldenrod, dating back to 1842, in its massive historical archive—which gave Ziska and his colleagues a chance to figure out how one plant has changed over time. 

"They found that the protein content of goldenrod pollen has declined by a third since the industrial revolution—and the change closely tracks with the rise in CO2. Scientists have been trying to figure out why bee populations around the world have been in decline, which threatens many crops that rely on bees for pollination. Ziska’s paper suggested that a decline in protein prior to winter could be an additional factor making it hard for bees to survive other stressors."

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Reading archive 2021-02-11

For decades Donald Trump bullied Palm Beach to get his way. Now he’s determined to make it his home.

Dozens of former GOP officials reportedly met last week to discuss mounting a new anti-Trump party

Capitol rioters searched for Nancy Pelosi in a way that should make every woman’s skin crawl

The ‘garbage guy’ walks 12 miles a day around D.C. picking up trash: ‘I’ll pick up pretty much anything.’

At Least 9 Far-Right Insurrectionists Have A History Of Violence Against Women: A HuffPost investigation found that multiple men arrested for the U.S. Capitol insurrection have restraining orders against them over domestic violence accusations. Others have faced charges and served prison time for sexual assault. - "Reffitt admitted to police that he put his wife into a chokehold and pulled her to the ground. When the cop asked how long he had choked his wife, Reffitt responded that 'he had trouble remembering but he said not long because he loves her,' according to the police report. 

"Nicole Reffitt confirmed to HuffPost that the physical altercation did happen, although she couldn’t recall specific details. 'Guy has a very high respect for women. He has two daughters. He’s a gentleman when it comes to opening doors. We’re from the South so, you know, he wouldn’t walk through a door before a lady,' she said."

Now out of office, Trump may have to face tax questions: However his impeachment trial ends, Trump faces an IRS decision on a massive refund and may no longer be able to conceal his tax returns

Dead and Alive: Beliefs in Contradictory Conspiracy Theories - "In Study 1 (n = 137), the more participants believed that Princess Diana faked her own death, the more they believed that she was murdered. In Study 2 (n = 102), the more participants believed that Osama Bin Laden was already dead when U.S. special forces raided his compound in Pakistan, the more they believed he is still alive."

Among Latino immigrants, false vaccine claims are spreading as fast as the virus

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Reading archive 2021-02-10

How a sluggish vaccination program could delay a return to normal and invite vaccine-resistant variants to emerge: Experts warn that the current pace of vaccinations won’t just prolong coronavirus restrictions. It could also make it more likely that new variants will infect the previously immune.

Opinion: What happened with New York Times reporter Donald McNeil?

Big Russian hack used a technique experts had warned about for years. Why wasn’t the U.S. government ready?: Hackers got long-term, wide-ranging access to government and private networks by manipulating the software that vouches for those allowed inside.

What’s Behind China’s Crackdown on Its Tech Giants

A majority of the people arrested for Capitol riot had a history of financial trouble: Trail of bankruptcies, tax problems and bad debts raises questions for researchers trying to understand motivations for attack - "The poor and uneducated are not more likely to join extremist movements, according to experts. Two professors a couple of years ago found the opposite in one example: an unexpectedly high number of engineers who became Islamist radicals.

...

"Miller-Idriss said she was struck by a 2011 study that found household income was not a factor in whether a young person supported the extreme far right in Germany. But a highly significant predictor was whether they had lived through a parent’s unemployment."

In wake of Trump calls to state officials, Georgia prosecutors open criminal investigation into efforts to subvert election results

Biden removes Trump appointees from boards that shape the District

‘It was inciting,’ ‘provoked by the president’: What GOP senators said before about Trump’s culpability for the Capitol riot

In self-imposed exile, Trump watches with unhappiness as second impeachment trial unfolds


Monday, February 8, 2021

Reading archive 2021-02-08

Republican Leaders Accuse the National Museum of African American History of ‘Bias’ in Its Display on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: Prominent Black conservatives and lawmakers call the museum’s display a “disingenuous effort.”

Clarence Thomas says a Smithsonian exhibit about him is wrong. (It’s not.)

In America’s ‘Uncivil War,’ Republicans Are The Aggressors - "In his inaugural speech, Biden said, 'We have learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed.' 

"He didn’t quite say why we had learned that democracy is precious, why it is fragile, or who or what it had prevailed against. But the reality is that some Republicans in America are so intent on defeating liberals that they are willing to erode America’s democracy, or even end it, along the way to victory."

Top conservative lawyer says Constitution does allow for Trump impeachment trial

Thousands of maskless Tampa fans flooded the streets, celebrating the Super Bowl win while risking a superspreader event

Uproar over Dominion voting machines in one Ohio county shows Trump’s falsehoods linger

Who Are Tyler And George Shultz In HBO’s Elizabeth Holmes Documentary 'The Inventor?': The whistleblower and his grandfather, former Secretary of State George Shultz, had a falling out over the implosion of the multibillion-dollar health technology company.

Expectant parents fired a cannon to celebrate their baby shower. It exploded and killed a guest.

Parents wanted to opt their children out of Black History Month. A Utah school ‘reluctantly’ let them.

She reported sexual harassment by a former supervisor — and was fired soon after

Saturday, February 6, 2021

Reading archive 2021-02-06

Ocasio-Cortez’s recounting of the Jan. 6 riot was not a ‘hoax’

Former Trump and GOP Aide Charged With Distributing Child Porn: Court documents allege that, while working for Republican senators, Ruben Verastigui distributed, received, and possessed images of child pornography.

Slaying of two FBI agents in Fla. raises questions about intelligence and tactics

How Andrew Gillum’s Marriage Survived a Night of Scandal: The rising Democratic star was found in a Miami Beach hotel with a male sex worker and suspected drugs. To keep their marriage together, he and his wife, R. Jai, had to embrace a new dynamic of “radical honesty” in their relationship.

Reading archive 2021-02-05

Republicans worry their big tent will mean big problems in 2022 elections

After Capitol riots, desperate families turn to groups that ‘deprogram’ extremists

TheDonald’s owner speaks out on why he finally pulled plug on hate-filled site: The Army veteran, a site moderator who owned its domain, watched with growing alarm as racism, threats and QAnon references flourished on the pro-Trump site. His former co-moderators called him a ‘sellout’ who went ‘rogue’ after internal schism.

THE TERRIBLE THINGS I HAVE SAID AND DONE MY ENTIRE LIFE, AND RIGHT UP UNTIL A FEW DAYS AGO, DO NOT REPRESENT ME AS A PERSON

The Manipulative, Little Known Billionaire Who Nearly Ruined The Country's Richest Black Man: The inside story of how Bob Brockman, the secretive billionaire who allegedly masterminded the nation’s biggest tax-evasion scheme, used “Darth Vader” contracts to overcharge auto dealers and financed Robert F. Smith’s private equity empire. - "According to the statement of facts signed by Smith in his nonprosecution deal, Brockman agreed to seed Smith with $1 billion in the 2000 creation of Vista Equity Partners—on the condition that Smith cooperate with him in creating what the DOJ’s indictment refers to as a 'conspiracy and scheme and artifice to defraud.'"

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Reading archive 2021-02-02

Bonus episode: Inside the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency

Betraying Your Church—And Your Party: How Representative Adam Kinzinger, an evangelical Republican, decided to vote for impeachment—and start calling out his church

Why is religion suddenly declining?

As House GOP faces decision on its future, McConnell defends Cheney, rebukes Greene in rare set of statements

Ginni Thomas apologizes to husband’s Supreme Court clerks after Capitol riot fallout

Senate confirms Pete Buttigieg to lead Transportation Dept., the first openly gay person confirmed to a Cabinet seat

D.C. acquires ‘Dave Thomas Circle’ on New York Avenue through eminent domain

Amazon unveils Helix building as heart of campus in Arlington: Architects said their inspiration for the double helix comes from nature’s fondness for the form in everything from DNA to the Milky Way

AOC explains why Republicans can’t just tell her to forget about the insurrection and move on

Sean Hannity is the face of the post-Trump identity crisis at Fox News

After MyPillow CEO starts spouting election misinformation on Newsmax, anchor walks off show: Mike Lindell’s rant made his interviewer visibly uncomfortable, possibly because the channel has been threatened with a lawsuit for airing baseless election-fraud claims

Two FBI agents fatally shot while serving warrant in child porn case, officials say

Trump’s actions described as ‘a betrayal of historic proportions’ in trial brief filed by House impeachment managers