Reading archive 2024-09-06

The Russian Propaganda Attack on America: Sometimes money is more effective than weapons. - "What’s really going on here is that the Russians have identified two major weaknesses in their American adversaries. The first is that a big slice of the American public, especially since the ascent of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, has an almost limitless appetite for stories that jack up their adrenaline: They will embrace wild conspiracies and 'news' meant to generate social conflict so long as the stories are exciting, validate their preexisting worldviews, and give them some escape from life’s daily doldrums. 

"The other is that more than a few Americans have the combination of immense greed and ego-driven grievances that make them easy targets either for recruitment or to be used as clueless dupes. The Russians, along with every other intelligence service in the world, count on finding such people and exploiting their avarice and insecurity. This is not new. (The United States does it too. Money is almost always the easiest inducement to treason.) But the widespread influence of social media has opened a new front in the intelligence battle."

Rock Creek Park golf course overhaul gets final approval: The National Park Service’s plan to overhaul the public golf course in Rock Creek Park received final approval Thursday from the National Capital Planning Commission.

Why Trump’s word salad answer on child care policy matters: Donald Trump and JD Vance were asked in separate events about child care policy. Vance’s answer was ridiculous. Trump’s was worse. - "The former president doesn’t know or care about public policy, and he routinely has trouble faking it. Those expecting him to have meaningful governing plans — on any issue — are going to be disappointed."

Dulles Greenway owners can’t raise tolls. The fight is just starting.: The private toll road has frustrated local leaders for decades. Lawmakers disagree about its future.

Trial begins for teen girls charged in fatal beating of Reggie Brown: A D.C. prosecutor said the five teens charged in the fatal beating and stomping of Reginald Brown were on Georgia Avenue “looking for a victim.”

Unions scorn Biden’s 2 percent raise for feds as ‘mystifying’ setback: Federal workers are disappointed with President Biden's 2 percent pay raise proposal, which is below inflation and military pay hikes.

Tensions rising again at D.C. community health center as more staff leave: Unity Health Care faces provider shortages as union talks continue, raising questions about the network’s ability to keep treating vulnerable patients.

Russian military officers accused of pre-invasion cyberattack on Ukraine: The attack, known as WhisperGate, also targeted computer systems associated with 26 NATO countries, including a U.S. government agency located in Maryland.

Inside Tenet Media, the pro-Trump ‘supergroup’ allegedly funded by Russia: Even some of the right-wing stars hired by the group last year wondered why it existed. Now, a new federal indictment claims it was a propaganda front. - "The news that some of the right’s biggest online stars had, apparently unwittingly, taken millions from the Kremlin provoked a wave of schadenfreude from their critics. On X, never-Trump conservative writer Christian Vanderbrouk, quipped that Tenet’s stars managed to see conspiracy theories everywhere — yet never questioned why a mysterious Belgian was paying them to prop up a little-watched YouTube channel."

In historic case, father of 14-year-old school shooting suspect charged with murder: Colin Gray, the father of the suspected Apalachee High School shooter, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder and cruelty to children.

As Jimmy Carter nears 100, he is buoyed by Harris’s run for president: As Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday approaches on Oct. 1, he is talking more and delighting in the momentum behind Vice President Kamala Harris, his family said.

D.C. lobbyists battle over future of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine: Critics say Kyiv is attacking religious freedom in its efforts to break the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s ties with Moscow. Ukraine says it’s acting in self-defense. - "The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, or UOC-MP, has deep historical ties to the Russian Orthodox Church, which many U.S. and Ukrainian officials say has been an instrument of Russian foreign policy. The war has brought the church’s deep sympathy for Russia into stark relief, and Ukraine has launched criminal proceedings against dozens of UOC clergymen for allegedly assisting Russia, including collecting intelligence on the Ukrainian military and on the movement of weapons, according to Ukraine’s Security Service.

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"Pavlo Unguryan, a Ukrainian evangelical leader, met with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on several occasions earlier this year, while evangelical and Baptist chaplains have provided witness testimony about Russia’s closure of Christian churches outside the Russian Orthodox faith in the territories it has seized in Ukraine. They also provided documentation on the killing and jailing of evangelical and Baptist priests there, as well as the jailing and torture of Catholic priests. A spokesperson for Johnson did not respond to a request for comment. In a public Q&A at the Hudson Institute on July 8, Johnson spoke of how he met “multiple times” with Ukrainian religious leaders and pastors and said Russia had targeted them “specifically.”"

Following Trump’s train of thought as it derails on a child care question: Trump sought out an applause line as if it were the sole exit in a flame-filled room.