Reading archive 2024-12-13

Tulsi Gabbard is going to hate the DNI job: Tulsi Gabbard might soon learn director of national intelligence isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.

Puritan baby names are back. Is ’90s culture responsible?: We took a look at data going back to the Revolutionary War and found something shocking: Virtue names such as Hope, Charity and Faith are back and bigger than ever!

In Georgia’s capital, a new fury fuels street protests: The ruling Georgian Dream party might have underestimated the depth of the people’s frustration.

Energized by next Trump term, red states move agendas further right: Governors, legislators and attorneys general ready plans for the “perfect storm of conservative policies” coming to many state legislatures and Washington.

Assad lived in quiet luxury while Syrians went hungry: Syria’s ousted leader cultivated a modest image. Footage revealing hidden opulence tells a different story. - "An effusive 2011 Vogue profile of the first lady titled 'A Rose in the Desert' — which was later taken down and mostly scrubbed from the internet — heralded the Assads’ supposed down-to-earth nature, a narrative the family was emphasizing even then."

U.S. citizen found in Syria says he was imprisoned for months: The man, who identified himself as Travis Timmerman, said he had crossed into Syria from neighboring Lebanon months ago on a ‘pilgrimage’ to Damascus. [ed. note: whither Austin Tice?]

D.C. asks for redo of ANC election after college student flagged errors: A sophomore seeking the unglamorous neighborhood advisory role grew suspicious when she only received just one vote - her own ballot.

Gold bar scammer sentenced to five years for attempted theft: Judge calls sentence “measured deterrence” against scams that bilked millions from Montgomery County residents - "'The only real explanation I think that I can see here,' Arora [the defense attorney] said, 'is this is somebody who acted out of immaturity without really weighing the consequences of the decisions that he was making.'" [ed. note: um and greed]

FBI agent accused of rape two years after acquittal for Metro shooting: Eduardo Valdivia, 40, faces two counts of second-degree rape in Montgomery County for incidents at his purported tattoo and photo studio.

How a brutally repressive African country freely raises money in the U.S.: Eritrea’s embassy has helped raise millions of dollars to promote the interests of the cash-strapped country. Its ruling party is under U.S. sanctions.

Lina Khan Goes Out With a Bang: The failed Kroger-Albertsons merger offers the clearest proof yet that the new antitrust movement is breaking through. - "Internal company documents and testimony showed that, in many markets, Kroger and Albertsons view each other as their main competitor. 'You are basically creating a monopoly in grocery with the merger,' one Albertsons executive wrote. Other evidence showed Kroger raising prices on milk and eggs, lowering them only if a nearby store owned by Albertsons did so. (In fact, in the separate trial of Colorado’s challenge to the merger, an executive testified that Kroger systematically raised prices at 'no-comp stores'—that is, stores in towns where there was no competition—and kept prices lower in towns with another grocer.)"