D.C. police arrest teen in string of carjackings and robberies: D.C. police said the crimes took place in Southeast and Northeast Washington - "Detectives from the police department’s Carjacking Task Force on Friday took into custody a 16-year-old male from Southeast Washington who they said committed three carjackings in a two-hour span early Wednesday, then a kidnapping and seven robberies over nearly seven hours between 10 p.m. Wednesday and 5 a.m. Thursday."
Teen killed outside McDonald’s in sweet-and-sour sauce dispute, police say - "A 16-year-old girl was charged with fatally stabbing another 16-year-old girl outside a McDonald’s on a busy D.C. nightlife corridor this weekend in a fight a police detective said stemmed from an argument about sweet-and-sour sauce, as the city continues its struggle to quell youth violence.
...
"All summer, D.C. government officials have touted programming designed to keep youths safe and engaged while school is out. The mayor told community members in June that the city had 13,000 slots for camp and 14,000 places for youth employment."
Why you should tell your children about vanishing fireflies - "Shifting baselines is now shorthand for generational amnesia of the natural world. As species decline or die off, our cultural memory of them fades. We might remember the abundance and diversity of our childhood but never imagine the world of our grandparents — or of their ancestors. This phenomenon has already been documented among groups as diverse as bush meat hunters in Africa and birders in the United Kingdom."
3 things to do if you’re caught in an active shooter situation
A deadly tick-borne epidemic is raging.: Dogs are key to ending it. - "Cruz said she has been bitten by ticks before and is aware of rickettsia’s dangers. But she doesn’t worry about dying of the disease. God’s will, she said, shrugging. Like other homeowners here, she said she needs the dogs for protection from burglars. If Coca wants to roam, Cruz said, she will let that continue."
Pope criticizes ‘reactionary’ conservative elements in U.S. Catholic Church
Uproar over Libya-Israel meeting shows limits of regional normalization
Opinion Babies need people, not devices. Stop giving them screen time.
You’re doing it wrong: Recycling and other myths about tackling climate change - "Among the 10 actions Americans were polled on, experts said flying less and cutting out meat and dairy are among the best steps people can take. Most Americans don’t realize that — 51 percent say flying less would make a little or no difference, and about three-quarters say the same for cutting out meat and dairy."
5,000 pilots suspected of hiding major health issues. Most are still flying.
Opinion We need more people learning trades. Something is finally being done about it.
Pentagon protested false Fox News report about fallen Marine, emails show: The network quietly removed the story based on false claims from a congressman but did not apologize or run a correction - "'The allegations originally published turned out to be false, which I suspect Mr. Lee knew in the first place, and was the reason he did not seek comment from the Marine Corps,' wrote Marine Corps spokesman Maj. James Stenger in an email to the Fox executives."
Wisconsin Supreme Court flips liberal, creating a ‘seismic shift’ - "For decades, the most senior member of the court served as chief justice, and under that system a liberal chief justice for years presided over a conservative court. In response, Republican lawmakers scheduled a ballot measure to change the state constitution and voters in 2015 approved allowing the justices to decide who would serve as chief justice. Conservatives on the court chose one of their own to serve in that post shortly after voters signed off on changing the rules. ...
"The decision on whether to step aside is up to Protasiewicz because conservatives on the court in 2011 issued a 4-3 decision that found justices cannot force one another off cases. If Protasiewicz remains on the case, the Republicans could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to remove her from it for having a conflict of interest. Protasiewicz has not signaled what she will do." [ed. note: my how the turn tables]
Overland Park kicks out farmers market vendor over brazenly antisemitic posts
Plan for West End D.C. homeless shelter faces mounting opposition: Shelter opponents have secured the backing of high-powered law firms as the city seeks to open the building as soon as this fall - "'The purpose of this [letter] was to put D.C. on notice of the problems they may face going forward. And if they aren’t addressed, then this would be the prelude to litigation,' he added. 'I don’t know anybody involved in this that is against the homeless shelter. The issue is not whether it’s necessary; the issue is simply where is the best location for that. And the District hasn’t done its job in identifying more appropriate locations for the shelter.'" [ed. note lol this NIMBY bullshit]
D.C. has long struggled with 911 calls. Then 10 dogs died in a flood. - "Last year alone, employees at the Office of Unified Communications sent D.C. firefighters to the wrong address for a report of a newborn in cardiac arrest, canceled a call for service about a child pulled unconscious from a hot car, and mistakenly treated a call about a man who had collapsed as low priority. Though the effect of the delays remains unclear, all three of those people died."
‘I am evil,’ wrote British nurse found guilty of murdering seven babies in her care
How Ukraine is exploiting Biden’s cluster bomb gamble
A tiny Hawaiian bird was nearing extinction. Then the Maui fires came.: With only five left in the wild, a Hawaiian bird called the 'akikiki is the country’s most endangered bird, with the Maui fires posing a new and unexpected threat - "When people — first Polynesians, then Europeans — arrived, they didn’t come alone. A cavalcade of cattle, pigs and goats trampled and devoured native vegetation. Feral cats, rats and mongooses, meanwhile, ate unsuspecting ground-nesting birds."
Trump touts authoritarian vision for second term: ‘I am your justice’: The former president is proposing deploying the military domestically, purging the federal workforce and building futuristic cities from scratch - "Trump’s emerging platform marks a sharp departure from traditional conservative orthodoxy emphasizing small government, which was famously summed up in Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address: 'Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.' Trump, by contrast, is proposing to apply government power, centralized under his authority, toward a vast range of issues that have long remained outside the scope of federal control."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/08/22/belarus-us-citizens-leave-embassy/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/china-fiji-police-mou-pacific-islands
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/22/wuhan-doctors-pandemic-china-coverup
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/08/22/foxconn-wisconsin-trump/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/08/22/trump-trade-tariffs/
White House is torn over Joe Manchin’s fury at climate law he crafted: As White House officials weigh how much to give in to his demands, rift grows between president and senator from West Virginia - "One of the most heated debates surrounding the law is how to award a very lucrative tax credit — valued at billions of dollars — to manufacturers of a new fuel called green hydrogen. The fuel can be used to power factories, trucks and planes without creating any carbon emissions. But it requires an immense amount of energy to make. If it is made with polluting energy such as natural gas or coal, researchers warn, producing large amounts of it could ultimately make global warming worse."
Cheating allegations in D.C. Little League put high-powered parents at war
Opinion This is how the U.S. is treating Afghans who helped us
Opinion Argentina’s angry polarization is a warning for the United States
Outrage mounts over flood that killed 10 pets at D.C. doggy day care
Awkward Americans see themselves in Ron DeSantis: But do they like what they see?
For many home-schoolers, parents are no longer doing the teaching - "'They have no oversight, no taxpayer accountability, no academic or curriculum standards,' said Beth Lewis, director of Save Our Schools Arizona, a public school advocacy group. 'We don’t know what kids are learning.' ...
"She pointed to one of her students who wants to be a judge. 'She wants to learn about the Constitution and government. So why should I say, ‘No, you should learn about ancient Egypt.'' [ed. note: it's called general education, and she's not going to be a judge] ...
"Like many parents, Rose found orchestrating school-from-home for her four children during the pandemic maddening. One of her daughters had undergone open-heart surgery, and she wanted to shield the girl from the coronavirus. The public schools were not requiring masks, which scared her. On the other hand, she also opposed mandatory coronavirus testing in school." [ed. note: trying to have it every which way]
Man who threatened Biden shot dead in FBI raid in Utah
Opinion Coal country voters demand nothing from the GOP. That’s what they get. - "More Americans work at the Cheesecake Factory than in the entire coal industry. Trump left coal communities no more prosperous or secure than they were before he took office. He failed coal miners."
Mead has a long history and a future as a sustainable beer alternative
She invited four people over for lunch. A week later, three were dead.
The delicate art of selling safety in a paranoid America
Metro skipped lessons, certified unprepared train operator, report says: The revelations were included in a report from a regulatory agency that highlighted missteps after Metro has spent the past year overcoming obstacles - "The most recent training issue came to light Feb. 9, when a train operator who became certified one month earlier moved a train against the flow of rail traffic while smoke was being investigated. He took the action without permission from Metro’s Rail Operations Control Center or the use of a protection system that prevents collisions, according to the findings of a commission investigation presented Tuesday."
Patients grapple with side effects of popular weight-loss drugs
What we know about the Montgomery Riverfront brawl
Opinion Look at a moth — and find a wonder that’s been waiting all along
The future of East Coast wind power could ride on this Jersey beach town: Many in Ocean City, N.J., oppose a major wind farm to be built off its shores, and they hope to create a template for blocking similar projects on the East Coast - "But in linking East Coast whale deaths to wind project surveys, these groups contradict what leading marine mammal scientists have concluded. 'At this point, there is no scientific evidence that noise resulting from offshore wind site characterization surveys could potentially cause mortality of whales,' the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement."
Is it cheaper to refuel your EV battery or gas tank? We did the math in all 50 states.
D.C. Democrats sue to block ranked-choice voting ballot measure
Two U.S. Navy sailors accused of passing secrets to China
Who remembers the Poles? [ed. note: book review of Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin]
U.S. Attorney Says He’s Focused On The Small Group Of People Driving Most Of D.C.’s Gun Violence
Opinion One of America’s most famous streets is getting its biggest makeover since 1974
Jeffrey Clark is GOP star after trying to use DOJ to overturn election: After trying to use the Justice Department to delegitimize the 2020 vote, Clark has become a rising legal star for Republicans - "Heath Mayo, an attorney and founder of an anti-Trump nonprofit group called Principles First, said Republicans are contradicting themselves by accusing Biden of weaponizing the Justice Department while at the same time pledging to crush the agency’s independence and give the president the power to steer investigations."
Anti-LGBTQ backlash grows across Middle East, echoing U.S. culture wars
Opinion I don’t recognize the intolerant, illiberal country Israel is becoming
Property crime is going viral in D.C., putting shoppers on edge
D.C. Council mixed in positions on RFK stadium, but backs new federal bill
Lifesaving HIV program faces a new threat: U.S. abortion politics
Tuberville’s tales about his father in World War II have false elements
Tick-linked meat allergy may be far more common than previously known
3 humpback whales jump in unison in ‘once in a lifetime’ video
Opinion DeSantis’s dour, odd, pratfalling campaign does have one useful quality - "Although portions of Trump’s base have, Good and Wallach say, legitimate grievances that should be articulated, 'a great deal of his rhetoric and showmanship merely channeled the emotion behind those grievances. The reward for his followers was catharsis, not better political representation in a process geared toward meeting real challenges.'"
The Swedes know the secret to happiness: You are not your stuff
Biden, reversing Trump, won’t move military’s Space Command to Alabama
Opinion Yes, D.C. needs a stadium deal. But not at RFK.
