Reading archive 2023-06-29

LGBTQ vets ejected from the military still fight for benefits — and honor

At his first Pride parade, a ‘recovering bigot’ told people: ‘I am sorry!’

Reading archive 2023-06-28

Bowser proposal to toughen D.C.’s approach to crime draws resistance: Council members and others appeared to oppose the measure that would make it easier to detain youths before trial  - "'These unacceptable crime increases are occurring amid the backdrop of significant decreases in MPD sworn staffing and despite historic and unmatched investments in violence intervention and prevention,' Appiah said in the draft of her testimony, using an abbreviation for the D.C. police department. 'It’s time to pivot.'"

Historic Black church in Annapolis suffers $100,000 in vandalism damage: Police are investigating the incident at Fowler UMC as a possible hate crime

Hundreds of Md. parents protest lessons they say offend their faiths: A crowd of mostly Muslim and Ethiopian Orthodox parents wants the state’s largest school system to exempt their kids from LGBTQ content [ed. note: what a bunch of shitbags]

NUTRITION SCIENCE’S MOST PREPOSTEROUS RESULT: Studies show a mysterious health benefit to ice cream. Scientists don’t want to talk about it.

Reading archive 2023-06-27

Man carves love note into Colosseum in latest case of tourist misbehavior

The plant protein that could push meat off your plate

Supreme Court rejects theory that would have meant radical changes to election rules

Sean Hannity’s desperate attempt to spin the new Trump tape - "Biden wasn’t accused by a highly credible source, he was accused by someone who spoke with a highly credible FBI informant. This allegation depends entirely on a claim made by an executive in Ukraine who spoke with the informant several years ago. It was reported to the FBI in 2020 while the Justice Department was run not by Merrick Garland but by William P. Barr."

Reading archive 2023-06-25

Opinion  Sheldon Whitehouse was right all along: The Supreme Court is corrupt - "Whitehouse explained that dark-money groups such as the Federalist Society, led for years by Leonard Leo, put together a list of acceptable high court nominees from which President Donald Trump picked three justices. A closely aligned entity, the Judicial Crisis Network, spent millions to help get the justices confirmed (while donating to Senate Republicans to guarantee their support). Leo and others in dark-money groups filed amicus briefs to advance their agenda. And then Leo set up cozy connections between the billionaire donors and the justices for 'hospitality' from their “friends.” Leo arranged Alito’s fishing jaunt and helped set up Thomas with billionaire Harlan Crow. If you put together billionaires, dark money and 'phony front groups,' you wind up in a 'whole new world,' he argued."

Opinion  Putin looked into the abyss Saturday — and blinked - "The speed with which Putin backed down suggests that his sense of vulnerability might be higher even than analysts believed. Putin might have saved his regime Saturday, but this day will be remembered as part of the unraveling of Russia as a great power — which will be Putin’s true legacy."

As revolt in Russia subsides, U.S. and allies brace for what comes next: Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s extraordinary showdown with Vladimir Putin has dealt a serious blow to the stability of the Russian regime, observers say

Opinion  Dictators’ dark secret: They’re learning from each other

Opinion  America’s Asian allies are quietly joining forces to confront China - "'The Chinese have basically now, through a process of confrontation, helped us organize our allies on multiple layers,' U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel told me in an interview. 'Xi does not get enough credit for all the work he has done to contain China, and I’m willing to give it to him.'"

A century ago, this star ‘female impersonator’ made men swoon

Reading archive 2023-06-23

After Taliban bans opium, a guilt-racked commander winks at harvest

As D.C. eyes Commanders, tension with the city’s other pro teams simmers

Reading archive 2023-06-22

The Fox Newsiverse gets its revenge on one of Trump’s primary foils

House votes to send articles of impeachment against Biden to committees: Rep. Lauren Boebert surprised her Republican colleagues with the measure

Supreme Court rules against Navajo Nation request for water rights

In ‘Cancer Alley,’ a key Biden climate push draws fire from environmentalists: EPA proposes handing regulation of carbon storage to state officials in Louisiana. Activists fear the risks, and the chance it could perpetuate the fossil fuel industry. - "Mayor Leroy Sullivan, who is Black, said environmental and racial justice advocates would also complain if the state blocked carbon capture and Texas was successful in luring industry and its jobs there. Sullivan himself was heavily burned in an explosion at the CF Industries plant where he was working 23 years ago. But he said the community doesn’t have a choice but to trust local oil and chemical companies if they are to make progress."

Reading archive 2023-06-21

ProPublica asked about Alito’s travel. He replied in the Wall Street Journal. Questioned about an undisclosed fishing trip hosted by a GOP billionaire, the Supreme Court justice instead shared his rebuttal in a rival media outlet — before the investigative journalists could publish their scoop

Opinion  Trump’s confession on Fox News should prompt Democrats to step up

Israeli settlers rampage through Palestinian village after Hamas shooting

Reading archive 2023-06-20

We’re building roofs all wrong. A different approach could save money and lives.

Global network of sadistic monkey torture exposed by BBC

YouTube removes Robert F Kennedy Jr video featuring bizarre claim that polluted water makes children transgender: RFK Jr was previously banned from Instagram for spreading vaccine misinformation

Reading archive 2023-06-19

‘Drag Me to Dinner’s’ Bianca Del Rio on how to throw a dinner party

Opinion  How Republicans are wasting their House majority - "Republicans are doing none of that. They’re passing 'messaging bills,' the message of which seems to be, 'Have you ever wondered what an episode of 'Hannity' would look like in the form of legislation? Well, here you go.'"

Reading archive 2023-06-17

Trump visit to Cuban landmark in Miami thrilled some. Others felt rage.

Ja Morant’s harshest punishment will outlast his suspension - "Celebrity culture is an infection, not a phenomenon. It ensures people will always enable the worship of false gods at the expense of humanity."

Reading archive 2023-06-16

What Gen Z wants in the workplace - "Despite the severe loss of jobs during the pandemic, Gen Z actually has more opportunities than any group of recent graduates going back to before the Great Recession. Companies are often competing for them, instead of the other way around, and that, combined with the exigencies of the time they were born into, lends a certain empowerment. As Bianca Alvarado, a 23-year-old junior publicist at a marketing firm in Los Angeles who spent months looking for a job after graduation, said: 'People my age don’t take any bulls---. … We’re doing our best to rise above all the mistakes of past generations and fix things more urgently.'"

America’s unlikeliest abortion clinic has opened in its reddest state

Reading archive 2023-06-15

After No Mow May, Should You Do a Slow Mow Summer?: No Mow May is a start, but there’s much more you can do to help pollinators.

Reading archive 2023-06-14

Six convicted in trial over 2018 killing of 10-year-old girl in D.C.: During a three-month trial, prosecutors argued that Makiyah Wilson was struck by a stray bullet after gang members fired blindly into a courtyard - "The jury found Cobbs, the youngest defendant, not guilty of 24 of the 25 charges, convicting him only of conspiracy to commit a crime of violence. Kevin McCants, Cobbs’s attorney, said his client was 'pleased' with the verdict. 

"Still, Cobbs — the only one on trial allowed out during the proceedings — faces narcotics and gun possession charges in Maryland after being arrested a month after the murder trial began." [ed. note: STOP LETTING THESE FUCKERS OUT ON BAIL!]

Reading archive 2023-06-12

Opinion  Roberts isn’t an institutionalist. He’s a weather vane. - "If political opinion 'tester' explains Roberts’s past compromises and the shift from Shelby to Milligan, he should be viewed not so much as an institutionalist (who would protect the jurisprudential integrity of the court and insist on abiding by the highest ethical standards) but as an unprincipled politician, trying to prevent his radical colleagues from sinking the court and the Republican Party when he suspects blowback to decisions from the court’s right-wing majority. 

"In that sense, Roberts has become the worst sort of results-oriented judge. Rather than legal consistency, respect for precedent or even a judicial philosophy, he’s become the quintessential weather vane. How much can the public tolerate? How far must he let his conservative colleagues drift before the court falls into political oblivion?

"Roberts’s transformation from the umpire calling balls and strikes to the stadium manager (how do we excite the fans but keep them from rioting?) underscores the need for a complete restructuring of the court. If the court’s decisions are now the result of radical ideology tempered only by Roberts’s political barometer, then it cannot be considered a court at all. It’s a purely political body. A political response — expanding the court — would be in order. At the very least, the justices should serve limited terms."

Why have many Reddit communities gone private? The blackout, explained.

Even a Damning Federal Case Can’t Break the GOP’s Devotion to Donald Trump: An insurrection, a couple impeachments, and now a shocking second indictment aren’t enough for Republicans to jump ship and risk antagonizing the MAGA base. - "Meanwhile, besides familiar Trump critic Senator Mitt Romney, the GOP messaging has been clear: Attempting to hold Trump accountable is worse than the former guy allegedly doing crimes."

American musician detained in Russia on drug charges

The impossible challenge of telling Trump fans the truth - "'I think the government acted responsibly,' Barr told Bream. 'They gave him every opportunity to return those documents. They acted with restraint. They were very deferential to him and they were very patient. They talked to him for almost a year to try to get those documents, and he jerked them around. They finally went to a subpoena. And what did he do? According to the government, he lied and obstructed that subpoena. And then they did a search and they found a lot more documents.' ...

"One of the bizarre dynamics that has been exposed since the indictment came out is that Trump supporters theorize that their own assessment of the law (adopted from Trump, Hannity and other loyalists) is somehow more robust than the assessment of the Justice Department or of people like Bill Barr. Because Trump has been so effective at convincing his supporters that the legal system is out to get him — a belief that Barr himself helped to bolster! — the former president’s self-serving claims about the case are accepted by default."

Reading archive 2023-06-09

Welcome to the D.C. queer bar where consent rules: As You Are has developed a loyal and diverse LGBTQ clientele since opening its doors last spring. They come for a sense of safety and community they say they can’t find anywhere else.

‘We Need to Start Killing’: Trump’s Far-Right Supporters Are Threatening Civil War: Within minutes of Trump’s indictment, supporters lit up social media platforms with violent threats and calls for civil war.

What’s actually in all that smoke you’re breathing

Opinion  In the House, a spectacular flameout

Saudi crown prince threatened ‘major’ economic pain on U.S. amid oil feud: After President Biden vowed to impose ‘consequences’ on Saudi Arabia for slashing oil production last year, Mohammed bin Salman privately threatened to sever ties and retaliate economically, according to a classified U.S. intelligence document.

Reading archive 2023-06-08

This county backed every president since 2000. What about 2024? [ed. note: Door County, WI]

Reading archive 2023-06-07

Opinion  We must give Tucker Carlson an exit ramp

Opinion  CNN’s Chris Licht showed the problem with anti-woke centrism

Reading archive 2023-06-05

U.S. military releases video of near-collision with Chinese destroyer

Electric vehicles appeal to conservative buyers sick of gas guzzlers: A few red counties in Texas are experiencing higher-than-average EV growth, as drivers tire of gas prices and chase the latest tech

New research finds surprising science behind bumble bee superfood - "It's the spines. This is the conclusion of two new papers, led by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, showing that the spiny pollen from plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae) both reduces infection of a common bee parasite by 81-94% and markedly increases the production of queen bumble bees."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tests the conspiratorial appetite of Democrats: One of the most famous living descendants of the most famous American political dynasty shows early strength against Biden in polls - "Kennedy’s invitation to speak at a golf club in Indianapolis came from the First Principles Forum, a group founded to seek a 'return to civil discourse,' according to the program. Previous speakers have included conservative podcasters Matt Walsh, who refers to himself as a 'theocratic fascist' on Twitter; Candace Owens, the founder of a group aimed at helping Blacks 'escape from the Democratic plantation'; and Charlie Kirk, the founder of the right-wing group Turning Point USA. ...

"As he spoke, Kennedy offered a unified narrative of American deception, connecting covid and the Bay of Pigs, the collapse of mom-and-pop stores and federal investment in mind-control research. The common theme was a quest for profit at the expense of the middle class, driven by the corruption of intelligence and regulatory agencies. 

"The pandemic, he argued, originated at a U.S.-funded lab in China — a point of disagreement within the U.S. government — in a program he suggested was possible because of the 2001 Patriot Act, which he then claimed passed only after two holdout Democratic senators, Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont and Tom Daschle of South Dakota, were threatened with death." [editor's note: the man is unwell]

I Let My Lawn Grow for No Mow May—Here’s What Happened: Last spring, I much-needed break from lawn upkeep, and an up-close view of nature I might not otherwise have seen. Here's why I'm doing No Mow May again this year.

Taming the Wild

Transform your yard into an owl kingdom: Whooo doesn't love owls?

Robot Passes Turing Test for Polyculture Gardening: UC Berkeley’s AlphaGarden cares for plants better than a professional human

Reading archive 2023-06-04

Arizona’s water troubles show how climate change is reshaping the West

Phoenix area can’t meet groundwater demands over next century: A new report amounts to a chilling warning for a region that has been a development hot spot for new residents and high-tech businesses

Reading archive 2023-06-03

Behind-the-scenes videos of Tucker Carlson were leaked. Was it a crime?: Federal investigators are probing the videos as a possible hack of Fox News. But a lawyer for a former Deadspin journalist under investigation says his client used publicly accessible information.

The new Duggar doc is the cold, hard ‘reality TV’ we needed all along ‘Shiny Happy People’ focuses on the intense religious anxiety that lay just beneath the camera-friendly quirkiness of the Duggar family

Reading archive 2023-06-01

Biden shows growing appetite to cross Putin’s red lines: Despite warnings that arming Ukraine will start a world war, President Biden continues to push the Russian leader’s limits — a strategy that brings risk and reward

Opinion  In a deep red Florida county, a student-teacher revolt shames the right - "Meanwhile, Alyssa Marano, a math teacher who has resigned, rejected the oft-heard charge of LGBTQ indoctrination of students. 'No one is teaching your kids to be gay,' she told the room. 'Sometimes, they just are gay. I have math to teach. I literally don’t have time to teach your kids to be gay.'"