Reading archive 2024-12-04

U.S. Zoos Gave a Fortune to Protect Pandas. That’s Not How China Spent It.: A Times investigation found that zoos knew conservation money went toward apartment buildings and roads. But they wanted to keep displaying pandas, so nobody looked too closely. - "China has built roads and developed tourism in and around nature reserves, piercing the natural habitat and leaving pandas isolated in ever-smaller populations, Chinese and American scientists have concluded.

"Their report estimated that wild pandas have less territory to roam than they did in the 1980s, before the influx of funds from foreign zoos."

Shots fired in D.C. in confrontations after car tampering: Woman wounded returning to car. Secret Service agent fires in second NW incident.

A bucket mystery: Compost container thefts baffle D.C. residents: The number of buckets stolen since the District program began last year has startled administrators.

Trump’s union-friendly labor secretary choice sparks GOP anxiety: Trump’s nomination of Oregon Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer surprised some because of her record of supporting pro-union measures.

Sledgehammer-wielding burglars smashed into 18 D.C. stores, police say: Police said the shops were targeted in wave of break-ins along a three mile stretch of Wisconsin Avenue between Georgetown and Tenleytown.

Union Station’s Amtrak ridership at 20-year high, but revenue lags: Nationwide, Amtrak ridership has rebounded from the pandemic even as the agency’s finances have not.

Maryland seeks D.C.’s Air National Guard squadron in RFK deal: Maryland senators, reluctant to lose the Commanders stadium to the RFK site in city, set several conditions for backing legislation that could pave the way for a move.

Inside D.C.’s struggle to rein in ticket scofflaws: More cars are being towed than ever, but the city still has more than $1.6 billion in uncollected fines.

Is Kristi Noem ready to run FEMA? South Dakota flood victims doubt it.: Trump has picked Noem as homeland security secretary, a job that includes overseeing federal disaster management. But some residents of her home state say she bungled the response to catastrophic floods in June.

Closing asset loophole can raise $100 billion in taxes, Treasury now says: The new estimate doubles what the agency previously said it could recover by preventing certain large businesses from manipulating the taxable value of assets.

She believed she was an FBI ‘asset.’ The scam drained her life’s savings.

Enter the ‘ether,’ where scammers weaponize your emotions - "'We tell people, 'don’t give out your bank account information or Social Security number,' and that’s all true,' Shadel said. 'But you also shouldn’t be telling a complete stranger about your grandchildren or what your concerns are in life.'"

The banks warned her it could be a con. The scammer’s influence was stronger. - "'Had they just been more personal and descriptive about what a scam could look like, maybe I would have wised up sooner.'

...

"'I never felt that their biggest concern was for my potential losses, although they repeated the word scam but absolutely no context of what that could look like,' Judith said of the banks. 'Rather, they described their institutional losses from other scams and how the individuals came back to blame them. Had they just been more personal and descriptive about what a scam could look like, maybe I would have wised up sooner. "

'Instead, I felt like I was being judged as a crazy old lady." [ed. note: lol they warned you and described what would happen perfectly]

A scammer impersonated a real FBI agent. It cost 13 victims $2.9 million.