So I read something...: January 2023

"When Musk took over, Twitter had just a 20 percent compliance rate when it came to Indian government takedown requests. When the billionaire took the company private, some 90 percent of Twitter India’s 200 staffers were laid off. Now, the Indian government’s pressure on Twitter appears to be gaining traction.

"A key difference may be Musk’s other business entanglements. Musk himself has his own business interests in India, where Tesla has been lobbying, so far without luck, to win tax breaks to enter the Indian market."

Russia-affiliated journalist paid for Quran burning in Sweden

Timothy Snyder Twitter thread: "In defeating Russia’s armed forces and exposing Russia’s weakness, the Ukrainians have both made a larger war in Europe far less likely, and gotten China’s cat’s paw under control."

Arizona Republicans exempt lawmakers from the state’s open-records law: After Ginni Thomas’s emails and the work of the Cyber Ninjas go public, GOP legislators retreat into secrecy

Rush Limbaugh’s Toxic Legacy: The more unpleasant side of Limbaugh does not appear in his new posthumous book, but it is hard to not think about its influence. - "No matter his supposed philanthropy, Limbaugh never really concealed the fact that he was far more interested in making money than in effecting social change. Asked by 60 Minutes what he was trying to do with his show, Limbaugh replied that he was ultimately 'trying to attract the largest audience I can and hold it for as long as I can, so I can charge advertisers confiscatory advertising rates. This is a business.' Asked by the host if he was therefore 'in it for the money,' Limbaugh replied that of course he was in it for the money. In Radio’s Greatest of All Time, he similarly notes that when his critics 'examine this program, none of them do so in terms of the career aspect of it' but instead 'look at me as a political figure who happens to be on the radio.' Limbaugh was selling a product, not waging a policy crusade."

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-25

Dolphins just spotted in New York City’s Bronx River: ‘Had me shocked’: ‘This is great news — it shows that the decades-long effort to restore the river as a healthy habitat is working,’ NYC Parks posted on Twitter.

Metro says relationship with regulator is untenable, needs ‘mediation’: Transit agency says Washington Metrorail Safety Commission takes arbitrary actions against Metro, while commission officials say Metro continues to ignore oversight and safety protocols - "Metro’s own records showed a train operator who was supposed to have eight hours of operation with a training instructor had just nine minutes, he said."

Metro plans summer safety work as tensions resurface with regulator: Washington Metrorail Safety Commission members said Metro should have fired or removed an operator for lying during an investigation - "Safety commission staff members presented commissioners with reports of several incidents over the past few months, including a July 16 incident in which a track inspection crew on the Red Line had to rush from the path of a speeding train. Surveillance footage showed the train operator had been flagged to slow at the preceding station and by rail operations control. When asked why the operator didn’t slow, he told investigators he was distracted by a passenger who raised him on the emergency intercom about a weapon onboard.

"Vehicle data showed the intercom was never activated. Metro’s investigative report, according to the safety commission, recommended 'low' level punishment and indicated the transit agency docked his personnel record.

"'Is this appropriate for putting roadway workers at risk and then lying about it?' asked Commissioner Robert Lauby, a former chief safety officer for the Federal Railroad Administration." [ed. note: JFC]

For Ukraine, what’s so special about Germany’s Leopard 2 tanks?

Why conservatives are accusing the Xbox of being ‘woke’: The criticism comes after the brand said this month it’s rolling out updates to improve the energy efficiency of the video-game consoles

‘I felt like we were in “Goodfellas’’’: How George Santos wooed investors for alleged Ponzi scheme: Accounts gathered by The Post detail how Santos used lavish dinner, inflated credentials to pitch Harbor City securities

Opinion Biden’s devious plan to break the MAGA fever just might work - "To the extent there’s an economic base to backlash politics, these programs may well counter that. They will accelerate accessible noncollege work opportunities in exactly the kinds of places left behind by deindustrialization." [ed. note: the extent of the economic basis of backlash politics is small]

North Texas youth pastor, high school coach and volunteer firefighter among 46 arrested in commercial sex sting, Homeland Security says: Among those arrested were a volunteer firefighter, youth pastor, high school teacher, football coach and the director of operations for a large hospital network.

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-24

House GOP eyes Social Security, Medicare amid spending battle Republicans have pledged to cut spending and balance the budget, triggering a delicate conversation on the future of Americans’ benefits

Monday, January 23, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-23

Former top FBI counterintelligence agent Charles McGonigal charged with violating Russia sanctions

Ukraine live briefing: Germany’s tank decision coming ‘soon,’ defense minister says, as Poland pushes to send Leopards

What is the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary entity in Ukraine?

Ruben Gallego announces run for Ariz. Senate seat held by Kyrsten Sinema: The congressman’s entry could make a three-way race in the battleground state in 2024; it’s unclear if incumbent plans to run for reelection - "Gallego, who oversaw the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s campaign fundraising arm last cycle, has been critical of Democrats’ late outreach to the community and their adopting language that does not resonate with a majority of Hispanic voters, like the term 'Latinx.'"

Earth’s inner core seems to be slowing its spin: This isn’t the beginning of the end times. Instead the findings stoke debate about how the core influences some of the most fundamental parts of our planet. - "The same thing appears to have happened in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the study authors at Peking University in China suggest it may represent a 70-year cycle of the core’s spin speeding up and slowing down."

The spectacular collapse of Deion Sanders' Prime Prep Academy

Sunday, January 22, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-22

Ala. landfill has burned for nearly 2 months, forcing people from homes: Amid complaints of mounting health impacts, the governor this week declared a state of emergency over the inferno - "And after ongoing confusion over who exactly should be keeping tabs on a private landfill that was designed to accept only 'green' waste, such as vegetation and tree stumps, but in the past had been found to have tires and other potentially harmful materials on-site."

Takeaways from Sundance’s secret Brett Kavanaugh documentary: Director Doug Liman announced his new documentary at the festival. Then new tips began pouring in.

Opinion Downtowns are lifeless. It’s a once-in-a-generation chance to revive them.

Opinion Russians are living in a frightening, distorted reality

Opinion Hug an election denier

‘There is no plan. There’s nothing’: Florida Democrats in despair over future: More than two months after humbling midterm losses in a longtime battleground, Democrats are in a state of disorder and pessimistic about 2024

Attacks on U.S. Jews and gays accelerate as hate speech grows on Twitter

Saturday, January 21, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-21

Opinion Was leaking the Dobbs opinion the perfect crime? It sure looks that way.

Biden aides want to force GOP to abandon debt limit threats: White House officials see enormous downsides to either negotiating with Republicans on spending limit or trying to resolve impasse unilaterally

Three active-duty Marines with intelligence jobs charged in Jan. 6 breach: Rare arrests of active U.S. military members highlight challenge of policing extremist ideologies in the ranks

It's Time to Stop Saying "Native Plant Nazi"

DEPOLITICIZING THE WILDLIFE GARDEN: I welcome human immigrants to my community, but my botanical preferences are for natives. Some people think the two concepts are mutually exclusive. Here’s where they’re wrong.

FALLEN LEAVES ARE EVERYTHING

The Cult of Bike Helmets: The history—and danger—of a modern safety obsession.

One Woman Is Holding Politicians Accountable for Nasty Speech. It’s Changing Politics.: She was a Republican appointee, religious Mormon and grandmother of ten. Then she began to wonder: what if politicians got rewarded for resisting contempt?

Honey bees are not in peril. These bees are.: Want to save the bees? First, throw out most of what you know about them.

Reading archive 2023-01-20

Trump warns GOP about efforts to cut Social Security, Medicare

Under oath, Trump is confronted with his ‘hoax’ hyperbole - "A bit later he again claimed that climate change activists had stopped using the term 'global warming' because 'it wasn’t working' rhetorically. In reality, Republican consultant Frank Luntz recommended that conservatives adopt the term 'climate change' to blunt the implications of 'global warming.'"

Sick of smelling her neighbor’s legal pot, this woman sued - "Secondhand marijuana smoke contains many of the same cancer-causing toxins as secondhand tobacco smoke, said Brooke Hoots, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologist."

CIA director holds secret meeting with Zelensky on Russia’s next steps: High-level visit by Burns comes at critical juncture in war and as government in Kyiv airs concern about durability of U.S. support

Native American tribe in Va. reclaims big parcel of its homeland: The Rappahannock Indians once dominated the area of Fones Cliffs, a unique rock formation in Virginia’s Northern Neck

Trees have long protected Sacramento. Storms turned them to ‘carnage.’

Thursday, January 19, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-19

Opinion The America trap: Why our enemies often underestimate us - "Americans, British and French during World War I and for decades afterward assumed that Bolshevism posed the greatest threat to liberal democracy. But Bolshevism proved less easily exported than both its proponents and its opponents believed. Ostracized by the rest of Europe, the Soviet Union turned inward to wrestle with the transformation of its society. When democracies fell in the 1920s and ’30s, they fell to the Right, not the Left.

...

"The phenomenon of a single power fighting two full-scale wars on land and sea, financing and producing enough military equipment for itself and its allies, while at the same time also raising its people’s standard of living, was so unprecedented that Hitler could be forgiven for not having anticipated it. He admitted to the Japanese ambassador, soon after declaring war, that he did 'not know yet' how 'one defeats the USA.' He soon came to regard the war with America as 'a tragedy, illogical, devoid of fundamental reality.'"

‘Environmental racism’ and the mysterious cars rusting in D.C. woods: “They don’t have cars in the woods of Rock Creek Park,” said advocate Nathan Harrington. “I don’t see why we should.”

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says Ukraine could be an ‘inflection point for the Western world’: ‘The only thing that matters for the future of the world is how this thing plays out’

A New Jersey sports bettor tells all and issues a warning: Don’t do it | Opinion

Supreme Court Still Doesn't Know Who Leaked Draft Abortion Ruling: Eight months later, an investigative team hasn't yet identified who leaked the draft of the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-18

Opposition to Pope Francis spills into view in wake of Benedict’s death - "Pell had spent more than a year in solitary confinement after being found guilty of assaulting two teenage choirboys in his home country of Australia. But that conviction was overturned by the country’s top court in 2020. When he returned to Rome, he reclaimed his platform among conservatives, who celebrated what they saw as his vindication." [ed. note: lol the conservative lion of the Vatican, a kiddy diddler? Suprise!]

New D.C. lawmaker fights to bring answers in 13-year-old’s killing: Thirteen-year-old Karon Blake was fatally shot less than a week after D.C. Council member Zachary Parker was sworn in.

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-17

China’s first population decline in 60 years sounds demographic alarm

Top U.S. general meets Ukrainian counterpart near edge of war zone: It was the first in-person meeting between Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Valery Zaluzhny. Milley shared his impressions of a Ukrainian unit training with U.S. troops, aides said.

Former commander in Russia’s Wagner Group seeking asylum, Norway says

Transgender woman killed in D.C. ‘just wanted a chance at life’: Jasmine ‘Star’ Mack was killed Jan. 7. Advocates say they believe she is the first transgender person in the country to be violently killed this year.

D.C. Council overrides mayor’s veto of controversial new criminal code: Law enforcement leaders had expressed concern about the bill, which reduces some maximum sentences and allows for jury trials in nearly all misdemeanor cases

D.C. Council is rewriting the criminal code. Not everyone is happy.: Police and court officials say some proposals would strain a court system that is already stretched thin - "Doug Buchanan, a spokesperson for the D.C. courts, said in a statement that the Superior Court anticipates more than 20 judicial vacancies by the end of 2023 and that the court is 'stretched to the limit.' He added that 'without swift and immediate action from Federal lawmakers to address the ongoing judicial vacancy crisis within the DC Courts, our ability to sustain an even greater workload than we are currently enduring is not feasible nor is it realistic.'"

Who’s responsible for D.C. violence? Ask the youths closest to it.: Adults ought to stop blaming children for violence and look at themselves

Korean War wall of names is said to be riddled with errors, omissions: Misspellings and other mistakes abound on the wall of names that was unveiled in July

Exxon Knew about Climate Change almost 40 years ago: A new investigation shows the oil company understood the science before it became a public issue and spent millions to promote misinformation [ed. note: from 2015]

Tom Selleck 'stole water for ranch' [ed. note: from 2015]

Saturday, January 14, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-14

House Republicans prepare emergency plan for breaching debt limit: The proposal, still under discussion, would direct the Treasury Dept. to prioritize certain payments if the U.S. hits the debt ceiling

Land Value Tax: Can it Work in the District? - "But to get these benefits from a land value tax, the following must hold true: First, land use practices should be permissive enough to allow for further development. This, as I will show, is also not the case for much of the city, especially in places where density is low. Second, the city should be able to correctly assess land values separately from the buildings that sit on the land. This is currently not the case and getting there will require significant administrative changes and taxpayer education.

... "Thus, while all property tax bills in the District separately report assessment values for the land and the improvement, this split might not reflect the fundamentals, but rather, the assessor’s conclusion based on limited market evidence."

Analysis: Do Bird Feeders Help Or Hurt Birds?

Friday, January 13, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-13

U.S. will begin ‘extraordinary measures’ to stay under debt limit: Treasury warns of ‘irreparable harm’ to global economy as debt limit standoff begins

Burning Man touts sustainability. Now it’s suing to block clean energy.: The organizers of the week-long festival worry a geothermal energy project could damage Nevada desert’s hot springs - "Among the event’s '10 Principles' are civic responsibility and leaving no trace once the party is over. But the BLM recently capped attendance at 80,000, in part because of the amount of trash from eventgoers."

How to report everyday environmental violations and possibly get paid: Filing complaints about idling trucks, illegal dumping and water waste can help the planet and earn you some cash

Sweden finds rare earth deposits that could benefit Western consumers

Scientists inch closer to learning origins of mysterious ‘fairy circles’: No one knows exactly how these circles form. New evidence suggests the plants may be responding to the dehydrated terrain.

A Yorkie was dognapped. A man who hunted al-Qaeda came to the rescue.: Dog thefts — some violent — appear to be on the rise nationwide, but the owner of a Yorkshire terrier and a veteran who hunted al-Qaeda militants in Iraq teamed up to save a dog held for ransom.

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-12

Why top restaurants are getting rid of stoves (and why you might, too): These burners hang on your wall until you need to cook something, echoing a growing trend among professional kitchens.

Hundreds Gather In Brookland To Demand Answers On Shooting Of 13-Year-Old Karon Blake

Survey finds ‘classical fascist’ antisemitic views widespread in U.S. - "'I like to tell my students: Kanye has more followers on Instagram than there are Jewish people in the world. So the extent to which Americans seem to believe these conspiratorial views about Jews is alarming,' [Ilana Horwitz] said. Ye has more than 18 million followers on Instagram alone."

D.C. investigates Adams Morgan business group after years of complaints

California’s Redwood Forests Don’t Mind Wet, Windy Weather: Though some trees may be toppled in storms, experts say that redwood trees, which can live for centuries, are adapted to a wide range of weather events.

Cougars Are Heading East. We Should Welcome Them. - "Scientists estimate a recolonization of the Eastern United States by cougars could reduce deer-vehicle collisions by 22 percent over 30 years, averting 21,400 human injuries, 155 human fatalities and over $2 billion in costs. The return of cougars to South Dakota in the 1990s, for example, reduced costs of deer- vehicle collisions by an estimated $1.1 million annually."

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-10

Pressure mounts on D.C. police to name resident who killed 13-year-old: Man told investigators he shot boy after seeing him break into vehicles

Rep. Katie Porter announces run for U.S. Senate in California

Pentagon to train Ukraine on Patriot missile system in Oklahoma: U.S. troops will show Ukrainian forces how to use the advanced air defense system at Fort Sill. The training could start as soon as next week.

Corrective Pruning for Deciduous Trees

Police Decry Misinformation, Offer Few Details About Fatal Shooting Of 13-Year-Old - "While answering questions from reporters, Contee — joined by the newly appointed Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and Justice, Lindsey Appiah — shared that the man is not former law enforcement, currently has legal representation, and is cooperating with investigators. Contee also decried posts on social media which appear to be publicizing the photos of residents who live nearby, speculating they could be responsible for Karon’s death.

"'People are making allegations centered around race, and that is wrong,' an agitated Contee said, adding that the man is Black. 'Imagine if it was your picture beside his, if people showed up at your house with half-information? That’s unacceptable.'"

Twitter temporarily bans account for D.C.-area bus system without explanation: The social media app suspended the @metrobusinfo account on Tuesday for about six hours and gave Metro transit officials no explanation

D.C.’s five-year economic strategy: equity and population growth

Lynnette Hardaway, of pro-Trump social media duo Diamond and Silk, dies at 51

‘What madness looks like’: Russia intensifies Bakhmut attack

Monday, January 9, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-09

Once-vibrant gateway to U.S. capital falls on hard times. Some hope to fix it.: With vacancies and foot traffic slow to improve, new station leadership hopes to rescue the transit hub to its glory days

Newport News boy ‘in shock’ after witnessing classmate shoot teacher: Virginia teacher shot allegedly by 6-year-old student on Friday remains in serious but stable condition, according to authorities

George Santos broke campaign finance laws, nonpartisan watchdog says: The complaint against the New York congressman could prompt an investigation by the Federal Election Commission

Ozone layer continues to heal, a key development for health, food security and the planet, U.N. study says: Scientists say strides in shrinking the ‘ozone hole’ offer a path forward on global warming

Reading archive 2023-01-08

Opinion House Republicans shouldn’t neuter the Office of Congressional Ethics

Opinion How did politics get so awful? I blame MTV circa 1992. [ed. note: lol both sides-ing and trying to sweep Gingrich under the rug]

Ana Montes, former U.S. intelligence analyst who spied for Cuba, is released

It’s 2023, and tech is still pushing unsafe products: CES brings a flood of new gadgets with dangerous technology and little vetting - "Companies could choose to make useful, private, repairable products, said iFixit’s Wiens during the Worst in Show announcement, but what is the real purpose of a $200 travel mug with location-sharing capabilities and an irreplaceable battery?

"'We already have thermoses,' he said. 'They’re phenomenally successful. They’ve been around for a very long time.'"

Battle to dethrone Tesla heats up just as Musk is distracted by Twitter: Ford, Kia, Chevrolet and Hyundai are beginning to chip away at Tesla’s hold on the U.S. electric-vehicle market

Saturday, January 7, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-07

Statehouse ‘coup’ — Ohio GOP members bitterly divided by deal with Democrats to elect 'moderate' House Speaker

On Musk's Twitter, users looking to sell and trade child sex abuse material are still easily found: A review conducted by NBC News found dozens of accounts and hundreds of tweets claiming to sell child sexual abuse material. - "CSAM has been a perpetual problem for social media platforms. And while some technology has been developed to automate the detection and removal of CSAM and related content, the problem remains one that needs human intervention as it develops and changes, according to Victoria Baines, an expert on child exploitation crimes who has worked with the U.K.’s National Crime Agency, Europol, the European Cybercrime Centre and Facebook."

Moscow’s war in Ukraine brought harsh tactics against gay Russians at home

Friday, January 6, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-06

Opinion: Optimizing DC’s LED streetlight plans for human and wildlife health and safety

Opinion: New DC streetlight tech can let neighborhoods dim the lights – for the health and safety of all - "In the midst of Houston’s LED streetlight conversion, Rice University researchers challenged 'the common perception that more streetlights lead to fewer crimes… [We find] a much muddier picture, suggest[ing] that crime is a reflection of other neighborhood contexts…. '[C]ities should be cautious in expecting direct reductions in crime with the introduction of more streetlights.'"

An airline said her luggage was in storage. Her AirTag said otherwise.

The turtle moms that ‘talk’ to their eggs before they hatch: Turtles aren’t known for their parental instincts, but the arrau is an exception. The discovery is spurring a race to save the chatty species.

Half of Earth’s glaciers could melt even if key warming goal is met, study says: New research suggests that even at 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial levels, the Earth will lose nearly half of its glaciers

Chesapeake Bay cleanup stalls as blue crabs drop and pollutants remain: Biennial “State of the Bay” report grades it at 32 out of 100, putting a key 2025 goal at risk

Ashli Babbitt’s mother arrested by police on Capitol riot anniversary

The happiest, least stressful, most meaningful jobs in America

The world’s torrid future is etched in the crippled kidneys of Nepali workers: One-third of transplant patients at a center near Kathmandu have been young men who worked abroad in extreme heat

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-05

Twitter said it fixed ‘verification.’ So I impersonated a senator (again).: Elon Musk said Twitter would begin authenticating users who pay $8 for Blue. Our tech columnist was still able to get a checkmark for an impostor Sen. Ed Markey.

Opinion Biden needs allies to keep China and Russia in check. Here’s how to do it. - "Lacking the preoccupation with global security that comes with superpower status, other nations may not see in China the immediate threat to their interests that Washington does. ...

"But by offering the prospect of trade liberalization, the Biden team might change the allies’ calculus on the embargo. In a sign of how that carrot might transform the conversation, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has recently called for a strengthening of trade ties between the United States and Europe. The Biden administration should seize on the idea — and pursue a similar strategy in East Asia. ...

"The trouble is that, with a few exceptions, there is little appetite for freer trade among U.S. politicians. Trump turned the Republican Party in a protectionist direction. The Biden team, for its part, is led by policymakers who interpret Hillary Clinton’s 2016 defeat as a repudiation of globalization by swing-state voters. Following this logic, the administration has done the opposite of offering allies additional U.S. market access. It has combined its tough China strategy with an 'America First' industrial policy that features subsidies for domestic chip manufacturers and homegrown electric vehicles. ...

"This economic nationalism has infuriated allies, especially in Europe. ...

"But it needs to go for a bold choice — as bold, in its own way, as the decision to arm Ukraine or to deprive China of semiconductors. That choice consists of drawing a new distinction between China-centric globalization, which can be justly criticized for its impact on American workers, and other forms of free trade, which the United States should support. ...

"China’s extraordinary rise has affected Americans’ understanding of what trade entails. As well as being the world’s most populous nation, China has grown much faster than the other miracle economies of East Asia, and its growth has relied heavily on manufactured exports. In 1990, China’s merchandise exports accounted for just 1.8 percent of the world’s total. By 2020 the share had rocketed to 14.7 percent. This unprecedented transformation makes the globalization of the past 30 years anomalous. To condemn trade based on evidence from this period is to miss the reality that most experiences of globalization are far less traumatic. ...

"Whereas trade with China involved the near elimination of regionally concentrated industries, NAFTA has fostered beneficial specialization in the making of complex products such as cars and pharmaceuticals across borders. ...

"The innards of U.S. imports underscore this point. When the United States imports something from Mexico, U.S. workers share in the benefit. The average Mexican import — say, a car or a washing machine — is 40 percent U.S.-made, up from just 5 percent before NAFTA. For imports from Canada, likewise, the U.S. content share is 25 percent. In contrast, the average import from China is just 4 percent U.S.-made.