Reading archive 2025-03-04

Transgender troops will be removed from U.S. military, Pentagon says: The previous Trump administration effectively banned transgender people from joining, but the new memo says currently serving transgender troops will be discharged.

Maryland revives years-long debate over whether to charge kids as adults: Efforts to end the practice of criminally charging juveniles as adults have failed for more than a decade. Now, the General Assembly is considering a compromise bill. - "Black Maryland voters were more likely to say teens accused of assault should be treated as adults than White Maryland voters (65 percent vs. 56 percent), while similar majorities of both supported charging teens as adults for the other crimes, the poll found."

‘You are not alone’: U.S. Forest Service chief’s blunt goodbye message to workers: Forest Service Chief Randy Moore wrote the email after thousands of agency employees were fired amid President Donald Trump’s effort to downsize the government.

How to Win a War Against Reality - A review of Steve Benen, “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past” - "How is it possible to gaslight at least half the nation? Benen concludes the Republican tactic has four components. First, the Republicans simply don’t care about reality. Second, they have absolutely no shame about lying and sticking to their lie. Third, the most egregious liars are surrounded by those who aid and abet them in their mendacity. At best they shrug off the lies; at worst they repeat them. And finally, Republicans repeat their lies ad nauseum and at the top of their lungs, believing that if something is repeated often enough, loudly enough, it will stick. 'Taken together, a picture emerges of a Republican Party that’s grown reliant on a brute-force rhetorical strategy, taking developments that unfolded in recent memory and replacing them with a politically advantageous alternate reality.'"

‘US sided with Russia, North Korea & Iran’ – Ukraine reacts to Trump's military aid freeze

China, Mexico and Canada to retaliate after Trump imposes new tariffs: The nation’s top three trading partners are rolling out levies on a wide range of products – including soybeans, meat and grains – in the escalating trade war.

James Carville: It’s Time for a Daring Political Maneuver, Democrats

HOW MY DAD RECONCILED HIS GOD AND HIS GAY SON

Trump’s speech to Congress has the ingredients for a blistering event: The president addresses restless lawmakers Tuesday after six weeks of working aggressively to slash their power.

How to lose the 21st century, in three easy steps: Trump is throwing away what could have been the next great American century. - "More than anything else, President Donald Trump loves winning. Yet he has already positioned America to lose the 21st century, in three simple steps: 

1. Alienate your friends. 

2. Destroy your business environment. 

3. Slaughter your golden goose (i.e., science and research)."

Trump official floats new approach on GDP, as economy poised to slow sharply: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says government spending should be separate from economic growth, echoing comments from Elon Musk days earlier.

H5N1 is spreading. America is not ready.: New infections in animals should heighten concern of human H5N1.

A European army is no longer optional: As Trump turns from Europe toward Russia, European leaders need to bolster defenses, quickly. - "Bergmann argues that creating a European army would not require changing the E.U. treaty, but it would definitely require changing the European mindset. It was once considered unthinkable that European countries would merge their militaries. But it was also considered unthinkable that the United States might abandon Europe in the face of Russian aggression. Given that the latter contingency now appears distressingly likely, it’s high time for Europeans to put aside concerns about national pride and work together to save their continent from the looming menace of Russian aggression."

With his nation at war, Winston Churchill dressed in a wartime onesie: Churchill wore his “siren suit” to state dinners and news conferences, and the world delighted in his political and sartorial statement.