Reading archive 2021-07-31

In D.C., high-profile crimes spur hard conversations: ‘Walk a mile in my shoes’

When will the summer coronavirus surge peak? It will get worse before it gets better, experts predict.

Reading archive 2021-07-30

Opinion: In vaccine-resistant Alabama, hospitals face a two-front war

These self-described trolls tackle climate disinformation on social media with wit and memes: Environmental activists, researchers, lawmakers and others are haunting corporate social media feeds to push back against greenwashing - "Oil and gas companies spent decades privately researching the effects of global warming and adapting their businesses, extensive research has shown. Publicly, giants like Shell, BP, ExxonMobil have sown climate change denial and portrayed themselves as allies of the environment while knowingly acting against its interests, said Genevieve Guenther, founder of the advocacy group End Climate Silence."

CDC study shows three-fourths of people infected in Massachusetts covid-19 outbreak were vaccinated but few required hospitalization

Opinion: Is D.C. wasting money on violence reduction programs? - "If recent events were not enough justification for such spending, the numbers should be: D.C. has seen about a 10 percent increase in the year-over-year homicide rate for the past three years. There’s only one problem. That same data shows that the city’s violence interrupter programs, one run by the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, and Cure the Streets, run out of the Office of the D.C. Attorney General, aren’t doing what they claim: preventing violence. Rather, they may be merely dispersing it, spreading the killings to nearby areas that previously did not have any."

China built the world’s largest facial recognition system. Now, it’s getting camera-shy.

Opinion: The Chesapeake Bay’s menhaden are in trouble

Trump to acting AG, according to aide’s notes: ‘Just say the election was corrupt + leave the rest to me’

Disney blasts Scarlett Johansson over Black Widow streaming lawsuit

Reading archive 2021-07-29

What is happening to the District’s personal income tax base?

FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE: Wildfires need fuel to burn. A key way to get rid of that fuel is to set it ablaze, very carefully.

Latino museum backers are pushing for a prime spot on the National Mall. But a turf war is looming.

jonetta rose barras: DC budget politics - "Initial passage this week of the Homes and Hearts Amendment Act by an 8-to-5 vote was declared a victory by lawmakers and advocates, many of whom are employed at nonprofit organizations that could benefit directly from the infusion of additional cash. There are more than 11,000 nonprofit corporations in the city, according to the DC Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO). In 2018, they outnumbered restaurants."

Reading archive 2021-07-28

Simone Biles said she got the ‘twisties.’ Gymnasts immediately understood.

Where was Caeleb Dressel? Question looms after U.S. 4x200 relay misses medal.

Pac-12 Leaders Suggest Realignment Response as SEC Growth May Compromise CFP Expansion: Texas and Oklahoma's imminent move to the SEC is only the beginning. The Pac-12, while comfortable with its core group, is also listening to expansion suitors of its own.

Republicans voice opposition to Jan. 6 investigation as police officers call for accountability - "The Capitol Police Board controls security at the Capitol. On Jan. 6, the board consisted of the House sergeant-at-arms, Paul D. Irving, who was hired under Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), and the Senate sergeant-at-arms, Michael Stenger, who was hired in 2018 when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was majority leader."

China hosts Taliban leaders as U.S. withdraws troops from Afghanistan

Our democracy is under attack. Washington journalists must stop covering it like politics as usual. - "As a model, they might have to swallow their big-media pride and look to places like Harrisburg, Pa., public radio station WITF which has admirably explained to its audience why it continually offers reminders about the actions of those public officials who tried to overturn the 2020 election results. Or to Cleveland Plain Dealer editor Chris Quinn’s letter to readers about how the paper and its website, Cleveland.com, refuse to cover every reckless, attention-getting lie of Republican Josh Mandel as he runs for the U.S. Senate next year."

Illegal cannabis growers are stealing water amid California’s drought, officials say - "In a recent sting in Antelope Valley in northern Los Angeles County, federal, state and local law enforcement officers disrupted hundreds of allegedly illegal marijuana cultivations in the area. They arrested 131 people and seized 65 vehicles, including two water trucks. Authorities recovered $28,000, 33,480 pounds of marijuana and dozens of firearms. Nineteen people were charged with water theft."

"You might not like it, but it’s smart politics.": 'Twas the savvy style that led the political press astray. By the time Trump showed up, they were too far gone to realize it. - "Recently someone else asked me for three or four changes in political journalism that might begin to right this ship. (Emphasis on begin to…) To wind this up, here is what I told him: Defense of democracy seen as basic to the job. Symmetrical accounts of asymmetrical realities seen as malpractice. 'Politics as strategic game' frame seen as low quality, downmarket, amateurish, silly— and overmatched. Bad actors with a history of misinforming the public seen as unsuitable sources and unwelcome guests."

Reading archive 2021-07-27

"Liberals against retirement 

"For conservative Supreme Court justices, 80 is effectively retirement age. 

"After Anthony Kennedy turned 80, he stepped down at the first convenient moment — in 2018, when a Republican was in the White House and the court wasn’t already welcoming a first-year justice. Warren Burger and Lewis Powell both retired at 79, during Ronald Reagan’s second term. Sandra Day O’Connor left the court at 75, during George W. Bush’s presidency. 

"To put the pattern in its starkest terms, no modern conservative justice has forfeited the chance to be replaced by a Republican president after turning 80. That’s part of the reason that Democratic presidents have so rarely had the chance to flip a court seat: The conservative justices try not to let it happen. 

"Several liberal justices have taken a different approach. John Paul Stevens could have retired at age 80 during Bill Clinton’s presidency but did not. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, having been diagnosed with cancer, could have retired at 81 during Barack Obama’s presidency but did not. And Stephen Breyer, now 82, could have announced his retirement this summer, with Joe Biden in the White House and the Democrats narrowly controlling the Senate, but Breyer has not. 

"There is no one explanation for the pattern. It involves so few people that it may partly be a coincidence. Whatever the reasons, though, it has huge consequences for the country." [ed. note: from NYT The Morning]

 - "As a result, the Soviets crushed countries that didn’t invest in female athletes. And if the West wanted to challenge the Eastern bloc in the medal race, they were going to have to find a way around those pesky amateurism rules, short of providing women with scholarships and other kinds of material support. For American women, the answer was simple: Use child athletes."

Time For The End Of The Teen Gymnast: Girls in gymnastics start very young and specialize very early, but that wasn’t always the case.

Reading archive 2021-07-26

An unvaccinated radio host is sick with covid. His family is ‘elated’ listeners are now getting the vaccine.

In Official Washington, Chasten Buttigieg is a stranger in a (very) strange land

Democrats move to elevate Cheney’s role on Jan. 6 committee, giving her prime speaking slot Tuesday

Reading archive 2021-07-25

‘Complete, dysfunctional chaos’: Oklahoma reels after Supreme Court ruling on Indian tribes - "The Supreme Court’s landmark decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma said prosecution of Native Americans for crimes in the expanded Indian country must be carried out in federal and tribal courts, rather than by state or local officials. It was celebrated across the country by Native Americans last July, who saw it as a historic affirmation of treaties signed with the U.S. government in the 1800s.

"But in the year since, the ruling has upended Oklahoma’s criminal justice system, imperiled convictions in thousands of cases, sowed confusion for police and emergency responders and led to the direct release of more than 50 criminals convicted on charges including second-degree murder and child abuse, state records show."

Reading archive 2021-07-23

Opinion: I live in a Democratic bubble. Here’s why that’s okay.

Opinion: The FBI’s ‘investigation’ of Kavanaugh was laughable

A scandal-scarred Senate candidate wants Donald Trump’s endorsement. Other Republicans worry he’ll give it.

Reading archive 2021-07-22

Study bolsters bats’ reputation as mosquito devourers

Megachurch pastor David Platt warns of a disinformation campaign and takeover attempt at his evangelical church

Pennsylvania decertifies county voting system following private company audit promoted by pro-Trump state senators

Biden administration imposes sanctions on Cuban officials following attacks on protesters

In America’s least air-conditioned cities, brutal heat changes some people’s minds

Reading archive 2021-07-21

‘I’m sorry, but it’s too late’: Alabama doctor on treating unvaccinated, dying COVID patients

You got a coronavirus vaccine. But you still became infected. How did that happen?: The FDA-authorized coronavirus vaccines are exceptionally protective — but they’re not perfect - "At Rockefeller University, where faculty and staff are regularly tested, two out of more than 400 vaccinated employees had breakthrough infections, according to a recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine by Darnell and his colleagues. 

"The two employees developed what Darnell called 'pretty classic covid-19 cases,' which included the loss of sense of smell and taste. Although one woman had high viral levels in her saliva, neither progressed to 'hospital grade' covid. In fact, Darnell said both patients would have been fine without seeing a doctor."

D.C. Council votes to raise taxes on the rich

Reading archive 2021-07-20

Where Trump’s Conspiracy Theory About Who Shot Ashli Babbitt Came From

Never mind Sean Hannity. Steve Doocy is the rare host at Fox actually promoting vaccines.: Despite vague words from Hannity, it’s the ‘Fox & Friends’ stalwart who has been unusually loud in his vaccine advocacy, amid pushback from co-hosts.

Hungary’s spyware scandal is a crisis for Europe

On the list: Ten prime ministers, three presidents and a king: Among 50,000 phone numbers, the Pegasus Project found those of hundreds of public officials

U.S. and E.U. security officials wary of NSO links to Israeli intelligence: Officials and analysts say the Israeli surveillance tech firm makes a world-class product, but some suspect a relationship with Israel’s government - "A former member of Israel’s security services said young Israelis who perform their compulsory military service in the intelligence branches see their training the way Americans view college. The government is developing their technological skills with the expectation that they will go to work in the private sector or start companies — but there is also an understanding they will maintain close relationships with the military and the security services, the former official said."

What were the Capitol rioters thinking on Jan. 6? - "If you believe many of the defense arguments made during the past half year, you might conclude that what happened Jan. 6 was a brief eruption of collective madness, and that responsibility for the event is spread so thin that true culpability doesn’t exist."

“I’M GETTING THE WORD OUT”: INSIDE THE FEVERISH MIND OF DONALD TRUMP TWO MONTHS AFTER LEAVING THE WHITE HOUSE: In an hours-long interview with Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker for their book I Alone Can Fix It, the former president repeated his election lies, bashed Mitch McConnell (“he’s a stupid person”), and teased a triumphant comeback. - "'Statistically, it wasn’t even possible that [Biden] won. Things such as, if you win Florida and Ohio and Iowa, there’s never been a loss.' 

"He was referring to conventional wisdom that historically the winner of the presidential election has carried that same trio of states that Trump won. This was one of the traits that had led Trump to the White House on full display: his extraordinary capacity to say things that were not true. He always seemed to have complete conviction in whatever product he was selling or argument he was making. He had an uncanny ability to say with a straight face, things are not as you’ve been told or even as you’ve seen with your own eyes. He could commit to a lie in the frame of his body and in the timbre of his voice so fully, despite all statistical and even video evidence to the contrary.

...

"Trump singled out Justice Brett Kavanaugh, suggesting that he should have tried to intervene in the election as payback for the president standing by his nomination in 2018 in the face of sexual assault allegations. 'I’m very disappointed in Kavanaugh,' he said.

...

"Congressman Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican and former Navy SEAL, also came by, interrupting the interview to tell Trump that life in Palm Beach was obviously agreeing with him. 

"'You look great, sir,' Crenshaw said. 'What’s your secret?'"

Reading archive 2021-07-18

Great Salt Lake is shrinking fast. Scientists demand action before it becomes a toxic dustbin - "Salt Lake City residents paid one of the lowest water rates of major US cities, according to an analysis by Circle of Blue, a nonprofit advocating for responsible stewardship of water resources. A family of four using a 100 gallons a day paid $32 a month in 2018 -- about half of what New Yorkers paid, a third of what Atlantans paid and a quarter of what San Franciscans shelled out that year. Among the major cities, only Memphis residents paid less."

Fox News’s embarrassing blunder in the White House briefing room

‘A propaganda tool’ for Trump: A second federal judge castigates attorneys who filed a lawsuit challenging the 2020 results - "'A law license does not confer unbounded prerogative to file objectively legally frivolous lawsuits, built on . . . a conspiracy theory derived largely from a pillow salesman, aimed at undermining a legitimate presidential election,' he argued during Friday’s hearing."

Why the CEO of Impossible Foods thinks he can eliminate all animal-based meat in 15 years: Bacon made of fungus, 3-D printed steaks and ‘meat’ made of air — the future for this new food category is promising but turbulent - "Cultivated meat is complete vaporware. Don’t hold your breath. The fact is that the economics of animal cell cultures as a food production system in no conceivable way can compete with the current industry. If you could use cultured cells to make any reasonable replica of an animal tissue, which would you do: Sell it for $5 a pound as meat, or sell it for $1 million a pound to treat people with muscle-wasting diseases?"

Nationals-Padres game suspended after shooting outside Nationals Park

Reading archive 2021-07-16

U.S. seeks prison term for first felony defendant to be sentenced in Capitol breach, citing domestic terror threat

Opinion: This historian predicted Jan. 6. Now he warns of greater violence. - "At the moment, Republicans are 'digging themselves ever deeper into becoming a party which only wins by keeping other people from voting, and that’s a downward spiral,' he argued. The way to extinguish the next Reichstag fire is to demand — and require — that Republicans honor the right of all Americans to vote."

Young Cuban activists carry on the fight for freedom started by their parents, grandparents

The Amazon rainforest is the world’s carbon sink. Parts of it now release more carbon than can be absorbed.

The health and climate consequences of the American food system cost three times as much as the food itself: A new report provides a roadmap to creating a post-pandemic food system with greater fairness, fewer adverse climate impacts and better health outcomes.

Reading archive 2021-07-015

A Wyoming bar sold a shirt promoting violence against gay people miles from Matthew Shepard’s murder site - "Sales of T-shirts advocating violence against LGBTQ people at a bar in Wyoming — a state where the murder of a gay college student more than two decades ago inspired hate-crime laws across the country — stopped this month. But only because the shirts sold out.

...

"'In Wyoming, we have a cure for AIDS,' the T-shirt says above the man. Below: 'We shoot [homophobic slur].'"

Homeopathic doctor sold fake vaccine cards and ‘immunization pellets,’ prosecutors say

Biden administration proposes sweeping protections for Alaska’s Tongass National Forest: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to end large old-growth sales, bar road construction on 9.3 million acres of forest in a move that would reverse one of Donald Trump’s biggest public land decisions

A blockbuster document purportedly from the Kremlin raises lots of questions — about itself

‘I Alone Can Fix It’ book excerpt: The inside story of Trump’s defiance and inaction on Jan. 6: Terror at the Capitol, delay at the Pentagon, resistance in the Oval Office and democracy hanging in the balance - "Pelosi could hardly believe it. 'That they, in the middle of the night, would say, 'We still want to [object to] Pennsylvania,' just showed you the total cavalier disregard they had for our country,' she recalled. They weren’t beholden to country, she said, but to Trump, 'this insane person spreading this insanity.' Maybe the House Republicans feared him, maybe they agreed with him, Pelosi said, “or they were just in a cult.'"

Biden seizes on protests with tougher tone toward Cuba

Reading archive 2021-07-14

China fixates on Florida condo collapse as disasters unfold at home - "In June, a gas pipeline explosion in a Hubei market killed 25 people and injured more than 100. A few days later, a seven-story building collapsed in Hunan province, leaving five people dead. On June 25, a day after the Surfside disaster, a fire tore through a martial arts school in Henan province, killing 18 students — most of them children. 

"These incidents were heavily censored on Chinese social media platforms amid calls from President Xi Jinping to maintain 'political stability' in the lead-up to the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary celebrations in early July. The Henan fire didn’t make the front page of the provincial Henan Daily newspaper or break the top 50 topics discussed on Weibo."

After Stephen A. Smith’s rant about Shohei Ohtani, his ESPN co-workers led the pushback - "Smith also deliberately mispronounced the names of several Nigerian men’s basketball players on Monday’s episode following the national team’s exhibition upset of Team USA, for which he also apologized Tuesday."

Ken Starr helped Jeffrey Epstein with ‘scorched-earth’ campaign, book claims: Book by Miami Herald journalist details extraordinary efforts by special prosecutor who hounded Bill Clinton to aid sex trafficker

How Tucker Carlson became the voice of White grievance

The Moral Collapse of J. D. Vance: Instead of a truth-teller in his own community, Vance as a candidate has become a contemptible and cringe-inducing clown. - "But what makes Vance so awful is that he knows better. His intentional distancing from his earlier views shows that he is fully cognizant of what a gigantic fraud he’s become.

...

"Instead of a candidate who’s willing to speak hard truths to his people, Ohioans now have a native son who has returned to weaponize their resentment and cultural dysfunctions. His ambition is fueled by the money of others who would never deign to live in the Midwest. And like other populist charlatans, he has convinced himself that he should be anointed to lead the rubes out of their misery."

Who’s Actually Responsible for the “Culture War”? Is it really the liberals? - "There are political ramifications to swift leftward shifts on various cultural issues that the Democrats should reckon with as David Shor and others have argued. There are also real social and cultural ramifications. It can create social strife for culturally conservative Americans to feel uncomfortable expressing their views at home or in the workplace for fear of being chastised—or worse—over issues they have little familiarity with. 

"All of this is absolutely correct. 

"But when it comes to the actions of politicians, the aggressive, top down Culture War is being driven overwhelmingly from the right. And the shift rightward among Republican politicians on culture war issues is as dramatic—if not more so—than the leftward shift among Democratic voters on policy."

Top U.S. General Said Trump Preached ‘Gospel of the Führer’

Joint Chiefs chairman feared potential ‘Reichstag moment’ aimed at keeping Trump in power

Reading archive 2021-07-13

Trump wrong about officer who shot Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt, law enforcement official says: The former president suggested without evidence that the Capitol Police officer who shot Babbitt was "head of security" for a "high-ranking" Democratic lawmaker.

‘This is really fantastical’: Federal judge in Michigan presses Trump-allied lawyers on 2020 election fraud claims in sanctions hearing

North Carolina Democratic voters yearn for a new type of Senate candidate after years of defeats. Now they have two.

‘I Alone Can Fix It’ book excerpt: Inside Trump’s Election Day and the birth of the ‘big lie’: At the end of a tumultuous day, the defiant president refused to accept the signs that he was losing the White House contest to Joe Biden. “I won in a landslide and they’re taking it back,” Trump told advisers. - "Around 10:30 p.m., with results from most key states still far too close to call, Milley received an interesting call from a retired military buddy who reminded him of his apolitical role as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

"'You are an island unto yourself right now,' the friend said, according to the account Milley shared with aides. 'You are not tethered. Your loyalty is to the Constitution. You represent the stability of this republic.' 

"Milley’s friend added: 'There’s fourth-rate people at the Pentagon. And you have fifth-rate people at the White House. You’re surrounded by total incompetence. Hang in there. Hang tough.'

"In fact, Trump had privately indicated that he would seek to withdraw from NATO and to blow up the U.S. alliance with South Korea, should he win reelection."

William Barr clashes with former Trump appointee from Pa. over handling of election-fraud claims

Cubans, broken by pandemic and fueled by social media, confront their police state

Cubans hold biggest anti-government protests in decades; Biden says U.S. stands with people

Four Iranians charged with plotting to kidnap author living in Brooklyn: Prosecutors say the Iranian government directed followers to kidnap the author to get her back to Iran.

Reading archive 2021-07-12

This Man Documented 5,000 Trees Being Killed By Vines In Takoma Park

People dumped their pets into lakes, officials say. Now football-size goldfish are taking over.

Meet the conservatives who want to fight climate change — their way - "But his rally showed that may be harder than Backer’s optimism lets on. Despite a projected attendance of more than 500, only about 150 were there, huddling in sparse patches of shade. Some of the loudest voices at the event were exactly the ones Backer wants to leave behind: A group of older men jeered the speakers, lustily waving a Trump 2020 flag and signs that read 'There Is No Climate Crisis.'"

An American Kingdom: A new and rapidly growing Christian movement is openly political, wants a nation under God’s authority, and is central to Donald Trump’s GOP

A teen was accused of abuse inside Vatican City. Powerful church figures helped him become a priest. - "'The behaviors were just the expression of a transitory homosexual tendency, of a not-yet-completed adolescence,' Cantoni wrote at the end of the review." [ed. note: how could this organization possibly speak to gay people, or any person, with this broken understanding of sexuality?]

Reading archive 2021-07-09

Whether Republicans Get Vaccinated Has A Lot To Do With If They Watch Fox News … Or OANN

In Maryland, every person who died of Covid-19 in June was unvaccinated. That's not an aberration, experts say

China Has a BIG Plan for Post-U.S. Afghanistan—and It’s Worth Billions

Why do we procrastinate, and how can we stop? Experts have answers.

Reservoirs are drying up as consequences of the Western drought worsen

Reading archive 2021-07-08

Video shows Glenn Youngkin saying he can’t fully discuss abortion or risk losing independent Virginia voters

New study on delta variant reveals importance of receiving both vaccine shots, highlights challenges posed by mutations

You Literally Can't Believe The Facts Tucker Carlson Tells You. So Say Fox's Lawyers - "Now comes the claim that you can't expect to literally believe the words that come out of Carlson's mouth. And that assertion is not coming from Carlson's critics. It's being made by a federal judge in the Southern District of New York and by Fox News's own lawyers in defending Carlson against accusations of slander. It worked, by the way. 

"Just read U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil's opinion, leaning heavily on the arguments of Fox's lawyers: The ''general tenor' of the show should then inform a viewer that [Carlson] is not 'stating actual facts' about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in 'exaggeration' and 'non-literal commentary.''

...

"In sum, the Fox News lawyers mocked the legal case made by McDougal's legal team. She alleged 'a reasonable viewer of ordinary intelligence listening or watching the show ... would conclude that [she] is a criminal who extorted Trump for money' and that "the statements about [her] were fact.' 

"'Context makes plain,' Fox's lawyers wrote, 'that the reasonable viewer would do no such thing.'

"The judge fully agreed."

The climate crisis haunts Chicago’s future.: A Battle Between a Great City and a Great Lake - "In 2013, Lake Michigan plunged to a low not seen since record-keeping began in the mid-1800s, wreaking havoc across the Midwest. Marina docks became useless catwalks. Freighter captains couldn’t fully load their ships. And fears grew that the lake would drop so low it would no longer be able to feed the Chicago River, the defining waterway that snakes through the heart of the city. 

"That fear was short-lived. Just a year later, in 2014, the lake started climbing at a stunning rate, ultimately setting a record summertime high in 2020 before drought took hold and water levels started plunging again. 

"In just seven years, Lake Michigan had swung more than six feet. It was an ominous sign that the inland sea, yoked for centuries to its historic shoreline, is starting to buck."

Reading archive 2021-07-07

Grain Valley family mourning after 45-year-old mother dies from Delta variant

A Dutch journalist exposed the mob and defied death threats. Now he’s been shot in the head.

Haitian President Jovenel Moïse assassinated at his home by unidentified gunmen

Trump told chief of staff Hitler ‘did a lot of good things’, book says

From corporate America to conspiracy theory promotion: How a Minnesota man made a career out of anonymously amplifying dark plots

Des Moines faces extreme measures to find clean water - "Iowa is a national leader in producing corn, soybeans, eggs and pork, and all that agricultural bounty results in enormous amounts of chemical fertilizer and animal waste pouring into waterways. The state's 23 million pigs produce waste that would be the equivalent of 83 million people — more than 25 times the state’s human population, according to University of Iowa research engineer Chris Jones."

Reading archive 2021-07-06

Their neighbors called covid-19 a hoax. Can these ICU nurses forgive them?: For the nurses in the Appalachian highlands who risked their lives during the pandemic, it is as if they fought in a war no one acknowledges.

House Democrats take different approach to economic, national security threats posed by China

The scientists fighting to save the ocean’s most important carbon capture system The population of kelp forests, which help clean the air, has fallen dramatically. That has environmentalists worried. - "The fate of the world’s kelp forests may depend on controlling its sworn enemy — sea urchins — and the Nature Conservancy, an Arlington-based environmental group, says it has a plan. It is touting urchins as a culinary cuisine, hoping to appeal to commercial fishermen who could scoop them out of the ocean. It is also attempting to increase the population of their natural predators, sea stars and growing kelp in controlled environments before releasing the algae back into the sea."

A classic Silicon Valley tactic — losing money to crush rivals — comes in for scrutiny: Facebook’s latest product, a newsletter platform called Bulletin, exemplifies a strategy that some critics think should be illegal - "Asked for comment on Facebook Bulletin, Substack spokeswoman Lulu Cheng Meservey said, 'The nice shiny rings from Sauron were also 'free.''"

Untangling The Long-Armed Mystery Of The Bigfin Squid: The elbowed, spindly appendages of the bigfin squid have long stunned the public. But scientists say there is more to this deep-sea dweller than its ghostly appearance.

A Smithsonian museum turns to art, not science, to hammer home a warning about Mother Nature

He says he helped his country. A decade later, the government accused him of fraud.

Reading archive 2021-07-04

Mark Levin, the Fox News host who won’t stop criticizing other Fox News personalities: ‘I’m an American first,’ says Levin, who also has a popular radio show, ‘and I’m going to tell it like it is.’ - "Levin, who had supported Ted Cruz for president before rallying behind Trump and becoming one of the biggest television cheerleaders for his presidency, lashed out at Fox for giving Trump a platform to spread a disproven conspiracy theory trying to tie Cruz’s father to assassin Lee Harvey Oswald."

July Fourth is Independence Day for two countries. But for one it is hollow.: For the Philippines, independence from the United States came with strings attached.

What to know about Rise of the Moors, an armed group that says it’s not subject to U.S. law - "On its website, the group says 'sovereignty and nationality can be considered synonymous,' and it considers Moorish Americans to be the 'aboriginal people of the land.' In a video Saturday morning, an unidentified member of the group disputed the sovereign-citizen moniker, saying, 'We are not anti-government. We are not anti-police, we are not sovereign citizens, we’re not Black identity extremists.'" [ed. note: they are all of those things]