Reading archive 2025-05-29

A gene could be key to growing rice, and feeding billions, in a hotter world: Researchers say they can improve rice harvests and grain quality by essentially turning off a temperature-sensitive gene found in some common rice varieties.

The way to end the Gaza war has been clear for nearly a year: Every day he delays, Benjamin Netanyahu harms both Palestinian civilians and his people. - "What triggered the UAE diplomatic rebuff was an incident on Monday in which extreme Israeli nationalists chanted slogans and attacked Palestinians in the courtyard of the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem."

DOGE Days - "Then came a reality check about RIF rules, which turned out to be brutally deterministic:

"Tenure matters most—new hires were cut first 

"Veterans' preference comes next; vets are protected over non-vets 

"Length of service trumps performance—seniority beats skill 

"Performance ratings break any remaining ties 

"These reduction-in-force rules–which stem from the Veterans' Preference Act of 1944–surprised me and many others. Unlike private industry layoffs that target middle management bloat and low performers, the government cuts its newest people first, regardless of performance. Anyone promoted within the last two years was also considered probationary—first in line to go."

Trump Melts Down at ‘Why Do You Always Chicken Out’ Question: The president also lashed out at the reporter who asked about Wall Street’s new nickname for his trade war.

The Pedestrians Who Abetted a Hawk’s Deadly Attack: A zoologist observed a Cooper’s hawk using a crosswalk signal as a cue to ambush its prey.

The Debt Is About to Matter Again: When interest rates outpace growth, very bad things can happen.

What Are People Still Doing on X:? Imagine if your favorite neighborhood bar turned into a Nazi hangout. - "(To be clear, white farmers have been murdered in South Africa, which has one of the world's highest murder rates, according to Reuters. But there is no indication of a genocide. In 2024, eight of the 26,232 murders nationwide were committed against farmers. Most murder victims there are Black.)"

RFK Jr.’s Worst Nightmare: The candy convention was a celebration of everything that the health secretary believes is wrong with our food. - "There's a question, too, of whether there are even enough fruits and vegetables in the world to supply the food industry with enough natural dye to serve the massive U.S. market."

How to Disappear: Inside the world of extreme-privacy consultants, who, for the right fee, will make you and your personal information very hard to find

The Coming Democratic Civil War: A seemingly wonky debate about the “abundance agenda” is really about power. - "Most perversely, NEPA and similar laws have become a way to stop efforts to address climate change. The environmental movement was created during an era when activists saw their highest priority as preserving nature by stopping construction. In the era of global warming, however, preserving nature requires building new infrastructure: green-energy sources, pipelines to transmit the energy, and new housing and transportation in cities where density allows for a less carbon-intensive lifestyle. But environmental groups have not, for the most part, altered their desire to stop building, nor have they reconsidered their support for laws that freeze the built environment in place."

American Realignment: The country is sliding from an era of politics forged by social connections at the neighborhood level to one where cultural and ideological polarization dominates.

A New Concept for Fighting Climate Change: A growing number of climate activists are taking up a fresh idea as a rallying cry and a legal strategy: Nature, in all its manifestations, is alive.

The ‘Man-Eater’ Screwworm Is Coming: After a decades-long campaign to beat the parasites down to Panama, they’re speeding back up north.

The Era of DEI for Conservatives Has Begun: In an effort to attract more right-leaning faculty, some elite universities are borrowing tactics long used to promote racial diversity.

The New Dark Age: The Trump administration has launched an attack on knowledge itself. - "Commercial flight, radar, microchips, spaceflight, advanced prosthetics, lactose-free milk, MRI machines - the list of government-supported research triumphs is practically endless. To the extent that private-sector research can even begin to fill the gap, such research is beholden to corporations' bottom line. Exxon Mobil knew climate change was real decades ago, and nevertheless used its influence to raise doubt about findings it knew were accurate.

...

"In his view, this stems from the administration's ideological discomfort with the facts of this world, and the conclusions scholars draw from them. 'It turns out that when you pay close attention to these issues, you don't end up where they end up,' he added. 'So they've had to manufacture their own facts, and they're attacking the places that have the facts on the ground and the reality of history.'"

Reading archive 2025-05-28

D.C. police chief reassigns youth division leaders, stoking discontent: Some fear that the abrupt transfers, related to a dispute about overtime costs, could undermine the goal of helping troubled children and curbing juvenile crime.

Police body cam shows man fire at officers before one fatally shoots him: Footage released by Fairfax County police shows the moments leading up to a fatal police shooting during a traffic stop in April that left a man dead.

Within Pete Hegseth’s divided inner circle, a ‘cold war’ endures: At the Pentagon, personality conflicts persist and inexperience reigns, fueling internal speculation about the defense secretary’s long-term viability in Trump’s Cabinet.

D.C. queer bar vandalized in suspected hate crime during WorldPride: Sinners and Saints, D.C.'s only bar dedicated to queer and trans people of color, was broken into during Black Pride weekend.

At Veterans Affairs, plan for sweeping cuts tanks morale: The government’s second-largest agency, serving some of America’s most vulnerable citizens, is set to lose 83,000 employees under Trump administration cutbacks.

A big Trump administration cutback went nearly unnoticed: About 32,000 low-paid AmeriCorps service workers lost their jobs over a few days in April.

A ‘Blue Wave’ is building. It won’t look the same as the last one.: Donald Trump is president again, but the parties have changed since the 2018 midterm election. - "In 2024, Republicans saw the electoral college bias they had benefited from in Trump’s previous races practically disappear. If Republicans continue to gain ground with minority voters living in urban cores of solidly blue states, while losing White voters in the battleground states, they could find themselves at a systemic disadvantage in the next presidential election due to the current quirks of American politics."

I’m an oncologist. Here are 11 science-based ways to reduce your cancer risk.: About 40 percent of cancer cases are considered preventable. Try these lifestyle changes to stay healthy.

The Colorado River is running low. The picture looks even worse underground, study says.: The Colorado River Basin has lost twice as much groundwater since 2003 as water taken out of its reservoirs, according to a study based on satellite data.

Bowser bets on business-friendly D.C. budget while cutting some programs: Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) is betting on her ‘growth agenda’ to keep business in D.C., while council members are concerned about cuts to services for the needy.

Bowser to replace D.C. Streetcar with ‘next generation streetcar.’ It’s a bus.: The system, proposed in the early 2000s, never got beyond one line that opened in 2016.

GOP rejects ‘millionaire tax’ pitch, advancing breaks for rich Americans: Legislation moving through Congress includes breaks for the upper and middle classes as the House rebuffs President Donald Trump’s suggestions.

Exempting tips from taxes could hurt employees, critics say: Some worker advocates and labor law experts call it a gimmick that could incentivize employers to keep base pay low and reclassify some salaries as tips.

Terry Bradshaw calls possible Steelers signing of Aaron Rodgers ‘a joke’: The Hall of Famer says the enigmatic former Packers and Jets quarterback should go “chew on bark” and “stay in California,” not Pittsburgh.

Here’s how much international students contribute to the U.S. economy: International students contributed $44 billion to the U.S. economy in the 2023-2024 school year. Their loss could hurt more than just universities’ bottom line.

These Are the College Majors With the Lowest Unemployment Rates — and Philosophy Ranks Higher Than Computer Science: An analysis of employment data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that some humanities majors rank higher than STEM majors in employment prospects.

Behind the Curtain: A white-collar bloodbath

Paris Votes to Make 500 More Streets Car-Free: With the passage of a referendum Sunday, Mayor Anne Hidalgo will amplify her ambitious moves to challenge car dominance and expand pedestrian access.

The 21st Century Red State Murder Crisis - "The excuse that sky high red state murder rates are because of their blue cities is without merit. Even after removing the county with the largest city from red states, and not from blue states, red state murder rates were still 20% higher in 2021 and 16% higher in 2022.

...

"Many of the states accused of “defunding the police,” like California, New York, and Illinois, actually spent the most on policing. California spent the most on policing at $634.53 per resident. New York spent the third most at $539.92. And Illinois came in sixth place at $471.26. Eight out of 10 states spending the most on policing are blue states, joined by red states Alaska and Florida. And those blue states aren’t just blue, they’re the bluest of states—California, New York, Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Minnesota."

Rubio’s claim that it’s ‘a lie’ that people have died from foreign-aid cuts: The secretary of state rejected convincing evidence documented in news reports and by disease modelers. - "Nichols said the death toll would not be so high if the administration had pursued a deliberate policy to phase out funding over a 12-month period, as that would have permitted contingency planning. 'It’s true that other countries are cutting back on humanitarian spending. But what makes the U.S. approach so harmful is how the cuts were made: abruptly, without warning, and without a plan for continuity,' she said. 'It leads to interruptions in care, broken supply chains, and ultimately, preventable deaths. Also, exactly because the U.S. is the largest provider of humanitarian aid, it makes the approach catastrophic.'"

Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2025 - "But prisons do rely on the labor of incarcerated people for food service, laundry, and other operations, and they pay incarcerated workers appallingly low wages: our 2017 study found that on average, incarcerated people earn between 86 cents and $3.45 per day for the most common prison jobs.  In at least five states, those jobs pay nothing at all. Moreover, work in prison is compulsory, with little regulation or oversight, and incarcerated workers have few rights and protections. If they refuse to work, incarcerated people face disciplinary action. For those who do work, the paltry wages they receive often go right back to the prison, which charges them for basic necessities like medical visits and hygiene items. Forcing people to work for low or no pay and no benefits, while charging them for necessities, allows prisons to shift the costs of incarceration to incarcerated people — hiding the true cost of running prisons from most Americans."

Reading archive 2025-05-27

Ukraine’s drones disrupt Russia with airport closures, internet blackouts: As Ukrainian drones strike deep into Russian territory, they are disrupting day-to-day life and reminding Russians that the war is not confined to the trenches.

Veterans recoil at Trump plan to end Afghans’ deportation protection: The administration claims conditions in Afghanistan have markedly improved under Taliban rule. Those who fought in the war say that’s “laughable.”

They gathered to turn ‘pain into purpose.’ Then gunfire shattered their peace.: In an instant, a reception at the Capital Jewish Museum dedicated to bettering the world ended in unfathomable violence, with the killing of a young couple.

FBI to investigate leaked Dobbs opinion, D.C. pipe bombs, deputy director says: Deputy Director Dan Bongino said the FBI will push resources into investigating the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion and the 2023 discovery of cocaine at the White House.

Bowser promises emergency bill to expand D.C. youth curfew: Large groups of unruly teenagers have swarmed some neighborhoods, notably the city’s Wharf area, angering residents and business owners.

Five killed in D.C. over long holiday weekend, police say: A 16-year-old boy and a man struck by a stray bullet were among those killed between Friday night and Monday afternoon, police said.

Reading archive 2025-05-23 pt 2

A Kansas family farm, barely getting by, grapples with Trump’s cuts

America Is In A Late Republic Stage Like Rome History suggests republics don’t last more than 250 years. - "A great deal of confusion has come into this debate because people use terms like artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) interchangeably. Large language models are a part of AI, but not, in my view, the most important part. 

"Much of what they do is, in a sense, fake human discourse and allow us quickly to generate texts that seem human, though they’re not generated through human intelligence. This is a toy, really. It’s a toy that allows you to generate books in seconds. It allows you to generate images in seconds. But what these things are is essentially fake human content. There’s some use for this. It probably poses a mortal threat to search of the variety that Google pioneered. But that’s not what matters about AI. 

"What matters about AI is its ability to do scientific research on a scale never before possible, and because of the harnessing of enormous computational power, to discover and design, for example, new viruses. It’s the power of the scientific AI that should worry us.

...

"I abandoned atheism, which is a form of faith in itself, in two steps. First, through historical study, I understood that no society based on atheism had been anything other than disastrous. In fact, the correlation between repudiation of religion and extreme violence is very close. The worst regimes in history engaged in anti-clerical activity, the Bolshevik regime, or say, Mao’s regime in China, not to mention the Nazis, who turned against Christ as they identified him, not wrongly, as Jewish." [ed. note: I object to this correlation asserted as causative - authoritarians seek to topple competing centers of power, by they civic, social, religious. After reading his wiki, he's kind of a fraud]

Reading archive 2025-05-23 pt 1

What we know about the man arrested in the D.C. Jewish museum shooting: The 31-year-old from Chicago is accused of killing a young couple who worked at the Israeli Embassy.

Clean energy dollars are gushing to red states. Now GOP senators are in a bind.: The Trump tax bill passed by the House would wipe out hundreds of billions of dollars for solar, wind and other projects in Republican districts. - "The measure, according to a group of Princeton University researchers called the REPEAT Project, would drain more than $1 trillion from the U.S. economy in less than a decade, when factoring in private investment and spin-off spending the subsidies drive. The average annual household electricity bill would be pushed up more than $270 after 10 years, the group found. 

"The Trump administration has argued that curbing renewable energy to unleash more fossil fuels will lower utility rates, but many industry analysts warn otherwise. Plans for new gas plants have been beset by long delays and soaring costs amid shortages of materials and supply chain challenges. More than 80 percent of the new electricity added to the power grid in 2024 came from solar panels and industrial batteries that store the energy they capture, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a federal agency."

The findings — and scientific problems — in White House ‘MAHA Report’: Parts of the “MAHA Report” contradict scientific consensus.

Trump’s tax bill plan adds to federal debt, prompting investor backlash: Rising bond yields could eventually mean higher borrowing costs for consumers.

‘No tax on tips’ could backfire amid growing tip fatigue: The legislation has implications for those who give gratuities and those who pocket them, with the potential to leave both sides feeling shortchanged.

In Australia, everyone has a hot take about the mushroom murder trial: Mycology and forensics are the subject of conversation across Australia as Erin Patterson stands trial, accused of murdering three relatives with a beef Wellington. - "Prosecutors have said the poisoning was deliberate and have put forward as evidence that Patterson traveled to known death cap mushroom locations before the lunch; that she disposed of a food processor used to prepare the mushrooms; and that she reset her phone afterward. They also say Patterson told a number of lies, from the false cancer diagnosis she allegedly used to lure people to the lunch to the origin of the mushrooms she served."

Ukraine scrambles to overcome Russia’s edge in fiber-optic drones: Ukraine pioneered the use of small drones on the battlefield. But in Russia’s Kursk region, Moscow’s fiber-optic cables helped turn the tide.

OpenAI’s Ambitions Just Became Crystal Clear: But when you promise the world a revolutionary new product, it helps to have actually built one.

Trump Is Crushing the Netanyahu Myth: The Israeli leader and his allies bet everything on Trump. But he’s just not that into them. - "The third-rate pro-government propagandists on Channel 14 might not have seen this coming, but Netanyahu should have. His dark worldview is premised on the pessimistic presumption that the world will turn on the Jews if given the chance, which is why the Israeli leader has long prized hard power over diplomatic understandings. Even if Trump wasn't such an unreliable figure, trusting him should have gone against all of Netanyahu's instincts."

Biden’s Age Wasn’t a Cover-Up. It Was Observable Fact.: The story about the former president getting old is getting old.

The Trump Administration Is Tempting a Honeybee Disaster: Bees are dying. Federal funding cuts aren’t helping.

The Decline and Fall of Elon Musk: The Tesla innovator becomes the latest government employee to lose his job. - "Ayushi Roy, a former technologist at the General Services Administration who now teaches digital government at Harvard Kennedy School, told us that Musk has achieved at least some of his goals: cutting the federal workforce and traumatizing the employees who remain. But, she said, he has largely failed to build anything that's made government more efficient."

An Awkward Truth About American Work: Direct-selling schemes are considered fringe businesses, but their values have bled into the national economy.

Modi’s Escalation Trap: A counterterrorism policy designed to burnish a strongman’s image risks setting off new rounds of conflict.

What Trump Got Right in the Middle East: He put business front and center and politics to the side. - "Trump may well understand that with the Democratic Party likely divided on Israel for the next generation, his Jewish and evangelical-Christian supporters have nowhere else to go. This puts him in a position of power relative to the Israeli prime minister one that must surely make Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders very uncomfortable. Making them still more uncomfortable will be the fact that everyone who mattered seemed to be in those meetings in the Gulf. Everyone, that is, except them.

...

"Historically, America has attracted capital because it can be counted on to follow the rule of law, crack down on public corruption, and support the kinds of independent and quasi-independent regulatory bodies that give investors peace of mind. Trump and his administration have been working hard to weaken all of this. For a president who claims to understand the private sector as well as he does, seeking deals while simultaneously undermining the conditions that make America a great investment will be counterproductive in the end." [lol duh]

Who is to blame for Biden’s gamble to run for president?: Press corps and party leaders were not responsible for failing to stop the presidential campaign.

The Democrats Are Having a False Reckoning Over Joe Biden: Party elites are considerably more responsible for their woeful state of affairs than the former president. - "Prominent Democrats speaking out about all this a year ago would have been meaningful. Today, it means nothing. Denouncing Biden’s run now ⁠that he’s a political nonentity⁠—out of office and perhaps very near death⁠—isn’t taking a brave stand against the internal culture of the Democratic Party. It’s a reflection of it: a wholly cost-free and substantively empty way for opportunists to perform independence from the party now that the coast is clear and there are no toes of consequence to step on. Biden ran again, and is being condemned for running again, for the very same reasons.

...

"Party hopefuls looking for ways to mark themselves as different from the rest of the pack today have other, better options. The best way to demonstrate a measure of real independence from the Democratic Party is to tell the truth about what really ails it: wealthy, clueless donors; an approach to public policy incommensurate with the scale of the challenges the country faces; a quasi-religious faith in the virtues of bipartisanship; a related and willful blindness to the depths of the Republican rot beyond Donald Trump; and a blindness, just as consequential, to the structural features of our federal system that will continue pulling governance to the right. All are much deeper problems than Joe Biden’s ego and those who chose to flatter it. All will be much more difficult to resolve. But if Democrats are looking for a reckoning, there are quite a few to be had in that mix."

Trump’s road to failure in Ukraine: For all the president’s efforts, peace has only gotten further away.

How DOGE’s grand plan to remake Social Security is backfiring: The agency is abandoning an initiative aimed at preventing fraud, the latest example of a failed effort by Elon Musk’s disruptive cost-cutting team.

The massive wind farm that could transform this Brooklyn neighborhood: Sunset Park moves ahead with plans for a “just transition” after the Trump administration lifts a stop-work order on the Empire Wind energy project.

Reading archive 2025-05-22

Zoning for Alley Lots

Two Israeli Embassy staffers killed in shooting near Jewish Museum in D.C.: Israeli officials named the victims as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. Police said a suspect, “tentatively identified” as Elias Rodriguez, was in custody.

The Future of Black History Lives on Donald Trump’s Front Lawn [ed. note: dude reviews, in 2025, NMAAHC - lol welcome to the party I guess?]

Police suspect teen died after accidentally shooting herself on video: D.C. police said they believe a 14-year-old girl was filming a video for social media when the gun she was handling accidentally discharged.

Reading archive 2025-05-21

Man fatally shot on sidewalk near D.C. elementary school track meet: No students were hurt in the afternoon gunfire; a second homicide in D.C. was the seventh in eight days.

Teens who fled youth detention were involved in D.C. shooting, police say: The three juveniles, one of whom was arrested, are accused of using a rifle to rob and wound a man in the District after absconding from a facility in Pennsylvania.

The conspiracy theory that broke Dan Bongino: Trumpism is built on conspiracy theories — but it’s never Trump who’s accountable when they implode. [ed. note: Bongino was an Epstein truther who now claims, after seeing the file, that it was indeed suicide, but his former listeners aren't having it]

6 ways to fight mosquitoes, according to hardcore experts An Everglades wildlife biologist, adventure-travel pros and entomologists share their best strategies

Teens who fled youth detention were involved in D.C. shooting, police say: The three juveniles, one of whom was arrested, are accused of using a rifle to rob and wound a man in the District after absconding from a facility in Pennsylvania.

Accused of making Metro less safe, watchdog relents on self-driving trains: Local leaders say the commission, created to address dysfunction at Metro, needs to be reformed.

How a scientist who studies ‘super agers’ exercises for a longer life: Cardiologist Eric Topol, 70, spent years researching healthy aging. Now, he lives by what he’s learned. - "When I saw all the evidence, I became totally convinced. Resistance training and grip strength have extraordinary correlations with healthy aging."

Reading archive 2025-05-20

As a Ukrainian American, I’ve been preparing for this betrayal My father taught me how resistance movements can persevere despite overwhelming odds.

As ‘Around the Horn’ ends, Tony Reali debates what went wrong: Canceled by the network, an ESPN staple ends this week. Its longtime host is still trying to understand why — and what’s next.

Plant-based meat has a problem. It may need more meat.: Blind taste tests show several blended meats are outperforming conventional meat, in addition to 100 percent plant-based products.

The New York Post judges The Fact Checker: After a scathing editorial, we re-examined three fact checks to see if they stood the test of time.

More say Metro is safe from crime, especially higher-income riders: A Washington Post-Schar School poll finds a spike in positive views about crime on Metro is driven by riders making more than $200,000 a year.

Five people fatally shot in D.C. in six days, police say: The killings appear to narrow the gap between the number of homicides this year and the number last year at this time.

How Colin Jost Became a Joke: The “Weekend Update” host knows exactly what he’s doing.

Shutting Down Salman Rushdie Is Not Going to Help: Two recent flare-ups over commencement speeches show how difficult—and necessary—truly defending free expression is.

‘We’re Definitely Going to Build a Bunker Before We Release AGI’: The true story behind the chaos at OpenAI - "Near the end of last year, the six largest tech giants together had seen their market caps increase by more than $8 trillion after ChatGPT. At the same time, more and more doubts have risen about the true economic value of generative AI, including a growing body of studies that have shown that the technology is not translating into productivity gains for most workers, while it's also eroding their critical thinking."

The Myth of the Poverty Trap: We know how to end extreme poverty. Why haven’t we done it? - "Unpack that a little bit, right? I mean, if you take it a little bit too literally than it's meant to be, it presumes that the guy doesn't know how to fish in the first place. Maybe, actually, he did know, and what he needed was a fishing rod. It presumes that the lake isn't getting overfished, right? Maybe there are tons of people out there fishing, and the big issue is sort of overextraction of natural resources, and we definitely should not be teaching more people to fish, right? It presumes, as you said, right, that we're good at teaching people how to fish. Maybe we're not. Maybe it's hard, and it's not something that we know how to do well. So there are all these sorts of assumptions baked into it, and that's why it's important to test. And you go out and test it, it actually doesn't."

New clues point to why colorectal cancer is rising in young people: Scientists identified a link between colorectal cancer and a toxin in the gut. Eating more fiber may help reduce your risk.

Local leaders say they’ll pay $5.6 billion to automate Metro: But a regional sales tax proposal to foot the bill doesn’t have enough support, D.C. lawmaker says.

We all have hemorrhoids. Here’s how to keep them happy.: Eating a fiber-rich diet and spending minimal time on the toilet may help prevent painful hemorrhoids

Gen Z users and a dad tested Instagram Teen Accounts. Their feeds were shocking.: Meta promised parents it would automatically shield teens from harmful content. Tests by young users and our tech columnist found it fails spectacularly on some important dimensions.

Reading archive 2025-05-19

Easily distracted? How to improve your attention span

An Efilist Just Bombed a Fertility Clinic. Was This Bound To Happen?: Read on to find out what exactly 'efilism' is. - "In 2006 the South African philosopher David Benatar published Better Never to Have Been, arguing that existence itself is harm, because, according to him, the absence of pain is always good while the absence of pleasure matters only to someone forced to miss it. His book supplied the term antinatalism and the asymmetrical equation that sustains it: any new birth inevitably adds suffering to the ledger.

...

"Readers of my work will know that Mosher’s tirades fascinated the Sandy Hook gunman Adam Lanza whose own YouTube videos riffed on efilism. He would eventually come up with his own, related, ideology called 'eulavism,' which instead of being just against life, was against values. 

"Bartkus cites Lanza as an inspiration."

EU leaders relieved after centrist beats pro-Trump rival to Romanian presidency

In pro-military Nebraska, a lawmaker’s stand over Hegseth tests the GOP: Rep. Don Bacon has called for the embattled defense secretary’s ouster. Back home in Omaha, his principles resonate — but only so much.

I have seen the future of AI. It’s in Western Pennsylvania.: The region’s energy and know-how powered the Industrial Revolution. It’s following the same playbook now. [ed. note: fracking shill from the Washington Examiner]

Reading archive 2025-05-16

Afrikaner resettled by Jewish-affiliated group denies antisemitism claims: Charl Kleinhaus, one of about 60 Afrikaners resettled as refugees under an executive order, said his social media posts were being taken out of context. - "In one post, he responded to video of a scuffle between Israeli police and Christians by writing that 'Jews are untrustworthy and a dangerous group.'"

This is what happens when we have a morally lost president: What’s needed more than anything at this moment is to make our leaders moral again.

26 hours and 33 failed amendment votes: This is Democrats’ masterclass in resistance: In the marathon committee session, Democrats showed how best to challenge Republicans on Medicaid.

Democrats: Save Medicaid but don’t defend it Democrats should push for change in the system. Oregon offers a model. - "Expansions in coverage, such as the Affordable Care Act, which I support, use public subsidies to make health care more affordable for individuals — which is not the same as reducing the cost of care. This simply gives more people access to the same inefficient and unsustainable system, which siphons billions of dollars away from health care to enrich private-equity investors and the shareholders of giant pharmaceutical and insurance companies."

Ed Martin publicizes ethics probe he says was wrongly disclosed: The former D.C. U.S. attorney nominee revealed he faces a legal disciplinary review in an all-office goodbye email, while claiming his confidentiality was violated.

Congress upended D.C.’s budget months ago — and still hasn’t fixed it: D.C. officials say if Congress does not pass legislation restoring the city’s 2025 budget, they will be forced to cut $400 million over the next five months. - "Congress most dramatically exercised its power over D.C. in the 1990s when it set up a control board to run the city’s finances as the District was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and plagued by fiscal mismanagement. But those who remember those austere days say it’s hardly a comparison to the present: The financial control board was set up to help turn the city around financially — its approach was 'paternalistic,' said Yesim Sayin, an economist who heads the D.C. Policy Center. 

"Now, 'this is pure harm,' D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said of the House holdup."

An isolated, angry Fetterman is yet another challenge for Democrats: Sen. John Fetterman increasingly goes it alone, worrying some fellow Democrats as they struggle to push back against Trump and retake the majority.

Supreme Court rules totality of circumstances must be considered in police shootings: The Supreme Court ruled that the totality of circumstances must be considered when determining whether a police shooting is justified, not just the seconds before an officer opens fire. - "The broader standard is likely to make it easier for victims to prove allegations of excessive force in court."

Comey under investigation for ‘threat’ to Trump on social media, officials say: The Trump administration accused the former FBI director of insinuating a call to violence in his Instagram post, which he denied.

Big U.S. cities grew in 2024, reversing covid-era population declines: Census Bureau data found most major cities increased in population, reversing a downward trend sparked by pandemic deaths and people fleeing for smaller towns. - "Demographers say immigrants are critical to sustaining the labor force, contributing to the tax base and compensating for the growing number of older Americans. Without such an influx, the United States could begin to resemble countries like Germany and Japan, which have among the world’s highest share of people over 65."

Russia takes hardline stance in Istanbul talks, meeting ends quickly: After dangling the possibility of attending, Trump says he will stay away but wants to meet with Putin, further weakening the Istanbul talks.

As Republicans weigh Medicaid work requirements, Georgia offers a warning: Only a small number of people were enrolled in the state program, and administrative costs exceeded spending on medical care. - "Just 12,000 of the nearly 250,000 newly eligible Georgians ultimately received Medicaid, the public health insurance program for the poor and disabled, well short of the state’s initial 50,000 goal. Administrative costs far outpaced spending on medical care. Some who do work had a tough time proving it to state officials — or their work, such as caring for ailing relatives, didn’t qualify."

Trump’s Legal Strategy Has a Name: And it has been deployed by would-be autocrats around the world. - "The pattern I have seen as I've studied democratic backsliding globally is what I call "court-baiting." To undermine public support for the judiciary, political leaders adopt policies that are popular but very likely illegal. Many courts then rule against the executive, and the executive uses their unpopular decision to condemn the judiciary writ large. Court-baiting is a potent strategy because it puts judges in a lose-lose position: Either strike down a popular policy and face public backlash, or allow the policy and erode legal limits on executive power. Such tactics are tailor-made to undermine judges' legitimacy, because elected leaders can claim to represent the "will of the people" and thus democracy when the courts block popular policies. Even when losing, these would-be authoritarians win."

Trump’s Third-Term Ambitions Are Very Revealing: The president sees the Constitution as an obstacle to be surmounted, not a repository of values that he must respect. - "More than a century ago, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. articulated what legal theorists call the "bad man" theory of law. The bad man, Holmes wrote, does not want to know what his obligations are. He wants to know only what will happen if he engages in a given course of action. If an action causes no adverse consequences to him - if he can get away with it - then the law provides no reason not to do it, even if someone with a different sense of law would regard that action as unlawful."

Trump’s Tactical Burger Unit Is Beyond Parody: Happy Meal Team Six

The Darker Design Behind Trump’s $400 Million Plane: Through Qatar’s gift of a luxury jet, Trump has escalated American soft corruption to a garish new extreme. - "Qatar needs to do this because there are many good reasons to be suspicious of Qatar, and no grassroots pro-Qatar constituency exists in the United States. The Gulf country hosts America's largest military air base in the Middle East, which is of interest to war planners but largely unknown to U.S. citizens. There are no American stans of Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, no college students hoisting Qatari flags on campus, no steady stream of English-language best-selling books that tout the country's virtues or vices."

America Is Having a Showboater Moment: The Trump administration talks tough on crime but shrugs off the work of real law enforcement. - "Governments that imprison indiscriminately and ignore due process have been known to post extraordinarily low murder rates: In the late 2000s, Syria's dictatorship reported a criminal-homicide rate half that of the United States. Eliminating crime isn't difficult if you eliminate freedom."

The Day Grok Told Everyone About ‘White Genocide’ What in the world just happened with Elon Musk’s chatbot? - "Ever since Elon Musk bought Twitter and renamed it X, the platform has crept further into the realm of the outlandish and unsettling. Porn spam bots are rampant, and Nazi apologia - which used to be extremely hard to find - frequently goes viral. But yesterday, X managed to get considerably weirder. For hours, regardless of what users asked the chatbot about - memes, ironic jokes, Linux software - many queries to Grok were met with a small meditation on South Africa and white genocide. By yesterday afternoon, Grok had stopped talking about white genocide, and most of the posts that included the tangent had been deleted."

An Eerily Familiar 20th-Century Hoax What happened when a mega-famous evangelist went missing?

Reading archive 2025-05-15

D.C. may have dodged deepest Medicaid cut. Officials are still worried.: D.C. officials are cautiously optimistic after a lobbying and public pressure campaign, but they say other Medicaid changes still pose a threat. - "The bill would require states to recertify beneficiaries’ eligibility every six months, causing some D.C. residents to lose their coverage or have gaps in coverage, and would impose work requirements with few details on how tracking and enforcement would work, she said."

After ICE visits, D.C. restaurants fear labor shortage: Last week’s sweep leads to immigrant workers quitting, no-showing or taking time off, restaurant owners say. - "If the White House is genuinely interested in bolstering American businesses, [Geoff] Tracy said, the administration 'could simply implement an E-Verify requirement for all U.S. employers — which would save them from having to do time-intensive I-9 audits.'" [ed. note: Chief Geoff!]

Are seed oils bad for you? Here’s what the evidence actually tells us.: RFK Jr. and his “Make America Healthy Again” supporters argue that they’re toxic, but most studies indicate otherwise. - "But if we take a bird’s-eye view of the body of evidence, it leads to a clear conclusion: Seed oils are more likely to be beneficial than harmful, but the effects are small enough that it probably doesn’t matter very much if you use them or you don’t.

...

"I’m on record blaming obesity and disease on processed foods, but trying to find specific ingredients that are harmful is a fool’s errand. It’s the food in total — nutrition-challenged, calorie-dense, ubiquitous, designed to be overeaten — that’s the problem. So, if you’re sautéing your vegetables in canola oil every day, you’re fine. If you’re eating Nacho Cheese Doritos (second ingredient: seed oil) every day, you might not be fine, but the oil isn’t to blame."

Walmart warns it will raise prices within weeks because of tariffs: The retail giant’s operating income increased in its first quarter since the Trump administration started a trade war.

U.S. preparing to relax big-bank capital rules: Current requirements punish holdings of safe assets such as Treasurys, banks say. Regulators will soon propose easing requirements.

Don’t be fooled. This is the calm before the AI storm.: The lull in the artificial intelligence revolution, thanks to cultural lag, is just temporary.

GOP tax bill on track to add more than $2.5 trillion to U.S. deficit: The figure is expected to intensify a national debate over spending and tax levels as President Donald Trump tries to push the legislation through Congress.

A Commanders stadium at RFK will actually cost taxpayers $6 billion

Commanders stadium plan is somehow even worse for DC taxpayers than we thought - "Whatever the final tally, the main takeaway is: Josh Harris gets to pay only $1 a year in rent for a huge tax-free swath of public land, while keeping all revenues from the stadium and other development he builds there, even as the district pays to build everything from parking garages to the stadium’s foundation. And the council — where Ward 3 representative Matthew Frumin has now declared himself “could be for it, could be against it,” leaving the overall body leaning slightly no but with several potential swing votes — only has until July 15 to vote it up or down in one indigestible lump, as the term sheet includes a clause declaring that if the council “materially changes” the terms, then the whole agreement is null and void. Mayor Bowser clearly wants to railroad this thing through before anyone takes a closer look — which makes sense, because on closer look this thing is a dumpster fire."

Silicon Valley Braces for Chaos: The center of the tech universe seems to believe that Trump’s tariff whiplash is nothing compared with what they see coming from AI. - "The tech industry admittedly doesn't 'think very hard about how bad things could get,' Conrad told me. 'Our job is to raise this,' he said, pointing upward to raise the ceiling on how prosperous and enjoyable society can be. 'Your job' - media, banks, elected officials, the East Coast - 'is to protect the floor.'"

Trump’s Real Secretary of State: How the president’s friend and golfing partner Steve Witkoff got one of the hardest jobs on the planet - "Witkoff has faced a precipitous learning curve, though he seems largely unbothered by the long history of American diplomatic failure in the Middle East, in particular. Like Trump, he is very much the transactionalist, and sees Ayatollah Khamenei and Vladimir Putin, among others, not as cruelly Machiavellian authoritarians captured by deeply felt and deeply antagonistic ideologies, but as clever negotiators, like so many real-estate lawyers he once faced in business, looking for the best possible deal. He appeared to interpret Putin's desire to meet with him not as a display of dominance but as a sign of the Russian leader's sincere interest in peace."

The Cynical Republican Plan to Cut Medicaid: Work requirements set up a thicket of paperwork that leads eligible Medicaid recipients to lose their insurance. That’s the point. - "We know how Medicaid work requirements play out because the policy has been tried at the state level. Arkansas, for example, implemented work requirements in 2018. Researchers found that they utterly failed to encourage more employment among the Medicaid population. The work requirements instead forced Medicaid recipients to navigate endless, complex paperwork demands that many of them couldn't understand or keep track of, causing them to lose their Medicaid eligibility. The bulk of the savings came from denying coverage to eligible Americans, not able-bodied adults who don't want to work."

Reading archive 2025-05-14

Manufacturing is thriving in the South. Here’s why neither party can admit it. Both parties are afraid to confront the real story behind manufacturing losses. - "A big missing part of the story: Interstate competition. The Rust Belt’s manufacturing decline isn’t primarily about jobs going to Mexico. It’s about jobs going to Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. To put it in college football terms, the traditional Big Ten has been losing out to the Southeastern Conference. In 1970, the Rust Belt was responsible for nearly half of all manufacturing exports while the South produced less than a quarter. Today, the roles are reversed, it is the Rust Belt that hosts less than one-fourth of all manufactured exports and the South that exports twice what the Rust Belt does."

Gabbard fires leaders of intelligence group that authored Venezuela assessment: The director of national intelligence fired top officials weeks after their group authored an assessment contradicting President Donald Trump’s legal rationale for deporting alleged Venezuelan gang members. - "'Anything that reduces its independence because policymakers don’t like the independent conclusions it reaches, is the definition of politicization they are decrying. Mike and Maria are unbelievable leaders and IC professionals, not political actors,' wrote Panikoff, now at the Atlantic Council think tank."

Their adopted pig charmed the world. Then their romance crumbled.: Esther the Wonder Pig’s dads pick up the pieces after her death, and a messy breakup.

The Republican squirm is in full swing: Amid a series of extraordinary Trump gambits in recent days, Republicans are straining -- hard -- to avoid passing judgment. - "Trump and his top aides have floated suspending habeas corpus, pushed to accept a $400 million airplane from Qatar and sought to unilaterally lower prescription drug prices. All of these are legally dubious, and the first two are especially extraordinary."

‘Original Sin’ indicts the ‘cover-up’ of a steeply declining Joe Biden: Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s new book is an investigative account of loyalists and family members who shielded the diminished president from full public view. - "The result of more than 200 interviews, the book is a damning account of an elderly, egotistical president shielded from reality by a slavish coterie of loyalists and family members united by a shared, seemingly ironclad sense of denial and a determination to smear anyone who dared to question the president’s fitness for office as a threat to the republic covertly working on behalf of Trump.

...

"'No one thought that the Harris campaign had been without error,' they write. 'But for the most knowledgeable Democratic officials and donors, and for top members of the Harris campaign, there was no question about the father of this election calamity: It was Joe Biden.'"

D.C. man charged with murder in beating death of 18-month-old girl: Police said they responded to a report of a child in cardiac arrest in September, but an autopsy found she had numerous head and bodily injuries.

As U.S. pardon attorney, Ed Martin says he will review Biden pardons: In a news conference on his final day as interim U.S. attorney for D.C., Martin also attacked local judges and city officials’ “sanctuary city” policies.

White House eased China tariffs after warnings of harm to ‘Trump’s people’: The president has backtracked repeatedly on his tariff policies, creating a whiplash with downsides and few clear benefits so far. - "'It’s been completely insane,' Michael Strain, an economist at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank, said of Trump’s tariff policies. 'When I step back from the euphoria over easing tariffs with China, what I see is the tariff rate is five times as high as when Trump took office. And we seem to have gotten nothing out of it at all.'"

Buttigieg, eyeing a presidential run, says ‘maybe’ Biden hurt Democrats: The former Biden administration official was in Iowa, where he warned in his highest-profile public appearance since leaving government not to ‘hang back’ against President Donald Trump.

Democrats pull off an upset in Nebraska, electing Omaha’s first Black mayor: Voters denied Republican Mayor Jean Stothert a fourth term in a race overshadowed by President Donald Trump’s agenda in Washington — the latest test of attitudes in a political battleground.

Weight-Loss Drugs Aren’t Really About Weight: To figure out who will benefit most, doctors should consider a particularly toxic kind of fat.

The Debate That Will Determine How Democrats Govern Next Time: Did the party lose in 2024 despite Joe Biden’s economic approach, or because of it? - "The term neoliberalism is infamously hard to define and, on both the left and the populist right, often devolves into a catchall meme for everything bad in the world but the long-standing bipartisan consensus that it describes is real and meaningful. Starting in the late 1970s, leaders in both parties embraced free trade, disavowed large-scale public investment (sometimes called 'industrial policy'), favored market-friendly solutions to big social problems, and backed away from antitrust enforcement. Underlying those choices was a belief that free markets should largely be left to their own devices to maximize economic growth. The central economic disagreement between the parties was over tax rates and the size of the social safety net."

What the U.K. Deal Reveals About Trump’s Trade Strategy: The United States is settling for a tiny fraction of what it could have achieved through traditional free-trade agreements. - "If the U.K. deal is a model for deals yet to be struck with other nations, Trump will have little to show for the chaos and disruptions that his tariffs have unleashed - especially when compared with what America could have had instead."

Reading archive 2025-05-13

A new fully charged EV battery in five minutes: Are China's swap stations the future of electric cars?

Trump promised U.S. dominance. Instead, energy companies are faltering.: Oil and gas firms are reeling, and major renewables projects are getting shelved as Trump’s policies rattle energy investors and executives.

MSNBC in five words: ‘I could not agree more’ Searching for dissent and debate on the cable news home for liberal America. - "No matter how it’s produced, television is a medium ill-equipped to cover Trump. My advice? Read newspapers."

What Pennsylvania factory workers say about Trump’s tariffs now: Business is flourishing at this furniture maker, but even here workers want certainty — and lower prices.

How you can shop for money-saving appliances if Trump ends: Energy Star Researchers and policy experts explain why Energy Star has been so successful and what we could do in its absence. - "If Energy Star dies, it would mark the demise of one of America’s most popular government programs — championed by industry associations, environmental groups, and Republicans and Democrats alike."

Land under the country’s largest cities is sinking. Here’s where — and why.: The movement is slow — sinking on the scale of millimeters per year in the United States — but the effects accumulate over years.

Why the Toupee Is Making a Comeback With Millennial Men: Long the butt of sitcom jokes, toupees—now called “hair systems”—have leveled up in recent years, and a growing number of balding men prefer the affordable flexibility they offer to the invasive risk of a transplant.

These Internal Documents Show Why We Shouldn’t Trust Porn Companies - "Stewart became afraid to leave her house. She recalled sending notes to Pornhub pleading that it take down the video, explaining that she was a minor and was shown being raped. Nothing happened, she said. 'I even posted comments on the video saying, 'I’m underage, take this video off,' and got no responses from anyone ever,' she told me."[ed. note: jfc]

Scientists in a race to discover why the Universe exists

Youth pleads guilty in juvenile court to fatally beating D.C. disc jockey: Authorities say the 16-year-old and a teenage companion attacked the man during a spate of street robberies in October; the victim died after weeks in a coma. - "At the time of the robberies, Superior Court officials said, the teen had five other robbery or assault cases that were pending."

Young teens arrested in carjacking of Capitol Hill aide: The gun was placed against the victim’s chest in the Navy Yard area, police say.

China Called Trump’s Bluff: There is a lesson here for anyone Trump threatens. - "'The consensus from both delegations is that neither side wanted a decoupling,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced at a press conference in Geneva, as if the whole thing had been one big misunderstanding. The decades of China allegedly 'ripping off' the United States were apparently forgotten, along with China's insolence in retaliating and the supposed need for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on Chinese imports. The administration isn't even pretending that it forced China to pay any special price for its defiance. It is memory-holing the entire 'do not retaliate' episode and moving on as if the point this whole time was to get along better with Beijing."

Retirement Is the New Resistance: The Democrats waging war on their gerontocracy

The Terrible Optics of ICE Enforcement Are Fueling a Trump Immigration Backlash: The president was elected, in part, on a pledge to crack down on immigration. But he may be overinterpreting his mandate.

Who Counts as Christian?: A new initiative will necessitate that the Trump administration makes difficult judgment calls about the faith. - "Or consider the case of an Episcopalian church in Sacramento whose rainbow Pride flag was stolen and burned: Would this task force agree that the attack was an act of aggression against the congregation qua Christians? The church's priest certainly thought so."

Md. woman who allegedly drove through festival to get to work will remain jailed: Kai Deberry-Bostick, 28, of Laurel, was charged with second-degree assault and resisting arrest.

RFK Jr. bathes in polluted D.C. creek on family outing: The health secretary reports on a Mother’s Day outing.

White South Africans arrive at Dulles as refugees under Trump order: The arrival of about 50 Afrikaners under allegations of racial discrimination restarts a U.S. refugee program that has been suspended for all other groups. - "On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said that it will end temporary protected status for Afghans."

ChatGPT Is Everywhere — Why Aren't We Talking About Its Environmental Costs?: In this op-ed, politics editor Lex McMenamin explains why using AI to search "how to be sustainable" could be accomplishing the opposite. - "McMillan Cottom categorizes artificial intelligence as 'mid' tech — hardly the technological revolution worth the amount of waste and environmental damage it’s meting out: '[Most] of us are using [AI] for far more mundane purposes. AI spits out meal plans with the right amount of macros, tells us when our calendars are overscheduled, and helps write emails that no one wants. That’s a mid revolution of mid tasks.'"

Reading archive 2025-05-12 pt 2

Elon Musk’s Most Alarming Power Grab: Can anyone stop his space-based internet?

Trump Finally Drops the Anti-Semitism Pretext: The latest letter to Harvard makes clear that the administration’s goal is to punish liberal institutions for the crime of being liberal.

Europeans Have Realized Their Error: The urge to say I told you so is strong these days throughout the Baltics.

The Impossible Plight of the Pro-Tariff Liberals: They finally got the Democratic Party to listen to them. Then came Trump’s second term. - "Last May, the Biden administration announced tariffs on a handful of Chinese goods in 'strategic sectors,' including 25 to 50 percent tariffs on batteries, solar panels, medical supplies, semiconductors, and certain steel and aluminum products, and 100 percent tariffs on electric vehicles. The restrictions represented what is sometimes called a 'targeted tariffs' approach, rooted in the belief that a select few industries are important enough to be protected from foreign competition, even at the cost of higher prices. If China were allowed to totally dominate solar panels, semiconductors, and cars, then the U.S. would end up reliant on a geopolitical adversary for its energy, military, and transportation infrastructure. And if the government stood by while industry after industry experienced a second China shock, the economic and political consequences would be severe."

The Godfather of the Woke Right: A 2011 book by Pat Buchanan shows the deep roots of today’s right-wing illiberalism.

Musk’s fury over a Tesla investigation foreshadowed his war on Washington: The book “Hubris Maximus” details Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s contempt for regulators charged with overseeing his companies. - "It wasn’t just being hung up on; Musk’s demeanor and attitude and his unconvincing argument — a repetition-filled script — had left Sumwalt thoroughly unimpressed. There simply wasn’t enough evidence to demonstrate that Autopilot, a suite of driver-assistance features with a catchy name, was the transformative and revolutionary system with the lifesaving capabilities Musk touted; in this particular instance, it was at the center of a fatal crash, a high-tech calamity that safety investigators could examine to uncover new findings about the intersection of technology, driver distraction, and speed."

Reading archive 2025-05-12 pt 1

Ruben Gallego’s tough talk in Pennsylvania visit adds to 2028 chatter: Democrats are hoping to tap into the Arizona senator’s playbook to win back working-class voters far beyond his home state.

More alternatives to knee replacement surgery are emerging: Physicians caution that the treatments aren’t permanent fixes, but they may work well for some.

RIP American innovation: Why destroy the funding that made the United States a leader in technology and invention? - "Giving out grants for what might look frivolous or wasteful on the surface is a feature, not a bug, of publicly funded research. Consider that Agriculture Department and NIH grants to study chemicals in wild yams led to cortisone and medical steroids becoming widely affordable. Or that knowing more about the fruit fly has aided discoveries related to human aging, Parkinson’s disease and cancer."

Democrat Spanberger: No right-to-work repeal in Virginia, but maybe ‘reform’: Gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger (D) told a Richmond TV station she would not sign a repeal of right-to-work; GOP rival Winsome Earle-Sears doesn’t believe her.

Attorney general’s brother vies to lead D.C. Bar, upending contest: Bar elections have drawn triple the turnout of a typical cycle with weeks left to vote, animated by the candidacies of two lawyers connected to Trump appointees.

Trump claims prices are down. Here’s what the data actually shows.: While prices for certain goods have declined, inflation remained elevated even before tariffs show up in the data.

There are big, ugly problems at the center of the House budget bill: Republicans have created impossible restraints on their tax-and-budget package.

Biden goes public in attacking Trump — and defending himself: His appearances come amid Trump’s attacks, critical books and residual anger from Democrats.

This is the view from Kyiv: President Donald Trump’s turn toward Moscow hasn’t changed the moral calculus for Ukraine.

Plagiarizing Independent Journalists Is Part of Mainstream Media’s Business - "Plagiarism is shockingly common in mainstream media, especially at the New York Times."

Japan Threatens Their Nuclear Option in Trump’s Trade War - "America’s largest foreign holder of US Treasuries has always been loath to even consider the notion of selling the immense amount of US debt they hold, but Trump has upended every kind of precedent imaginable, and now the financial world’s nuclear option has firmly been put on the table."

The Conclave Just Did the Unthinkable: What an American pope means for the Catholic Church and the world

Trump’s Inevitable Betrayal of His Supporters: Trump never meant to keep his promises. His voters are starting to notice.

Just Don’t Call Her Unqualified: Jeanine Pirro, Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., is a real prosecutor. She’s also a real MAGA partisan.

Reading archive 2025-05-09

Uproar over surgeon general pick exposes MAHA factions among RFK Jr. allies: Casey Means, a prominent nutrition advocate in the Make America Healthy Again movement, has been described as insufficiently critical of vaccines.

D.C.-area economy starts to show deep impacts of federal spending cuts: Unemployment claims are rising and consumers are pulling back on spending, sparking worries of an economic slump in the region on par with the one that occurred during the pandemic.

Here’s a smart way to fight ticks, according to a tick expert: Spray shoes with permethrin, an insecticide, once a month, says public health entomologist Thomas Mather, who goes by the nickname “The Tick Guy."

Trump tells Congress to raise taxes on the rich in budget bill: The administration is looking at several ways to bring in new tax revenue, but hiking taxes on the wealthy could complicate Republicans’ legislative strategy. - "The idea is similar to what President Joe Biden and later Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned on during the 2024 race for the White House."

Trump suggests lowering tariffs on China ahead of talks: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to meet with his counterparts in Switzerland this weekend.

Reading archive 2025-05-08

The Huge, Under-the-Radar Shift Happening in the West Bank: Over the past few months, an Israeli military operation has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians in West Bank cities. Some Palestinians fear it may be laying the ground to annex the territory.

At This Humble Used Car Lot, Tariffs are Beginning to Sting: Antonio Austin is trying to hold his car business together as President Trump's tariffs drive up costs - and drive his customers deeper into crisis.

Pro-Palestinian Activists Gave Trump a Boost. They Have No Regrets.: Groups that rallied against Biden and Harris say they’d do it all over again. - "To Democratic leaders, the fact that these activists continue to push the party even after they helped (to some degree) facilitate its loss of power has been a source of immense irritation. While Biden could hardly step outside the White House during his last year in office without being confronted by pro-Palestine activists—and Harris was frequently interrupted by protesters on the campaign trail—it has not gone unnoticed that Trump rarely, if ever, faces a heckle. No demands are being made for him to call for a ceasefire. No threats are being made to ensure that the Arab and Muslim voters who supported his campaign stay home or switch back in 2028. 

"Activists say the reason for this is that they do not have the same juice within the Republican party as they do among Democrats, and have little ability to influence Trump’s policy approach. So they continue to focus on the party where their influence remains. And they feel vindicated by news developments and stray comments, like when Michael Herzog, the former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., said in an interview this week with an Israeli news program that the Biden administration 'never' demanded a ceasefire." [ed, note: they've got no juice with me]

Trump family's net worth has increased by $2.9 billion thanks to crypto investments, new report says - "As the president's investments in crypto have grown, the Securities and Exchange Commission has paused investigations into a dozen crypto companies since his inauguration, a CBS News analysis found."

GOP fight over state and local tax deduction slows Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’: A small band of GOP members representing districts in blue states wants to raise the limit on federal tax deductions for state and local taxes.

Virginia man who bankrolled ISIS erupts in court, gets 30-year prison term: At an explosive sentencing hearing, Mohammed Chhipa denounced the government, and his brother was subdued and arrested by U.S. marshals.

He was filming a prank for TikTok, friends told deputies. A man shot him.: Authorities on Tuesday charged a man with second-degree murder in the death of Michael Bosworth Jr., hours before the Virginia teen’s senior prom.

A killer hid in plain sight for 23 years. This is how police found him.: Eugene Gligor, 45, pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Maryland courtroom to the 2001 murder of Leslie Preer in her Chevy Chase home.

Tourist’s charge of $1,200 for candy leads to police raid, den of illicit goods: Authorities have cracked down on stores selling American candy on London’s Oxford Street, saying some also sell fake or dangerous goods and dodge taxes.

American-born Cardinal Robert F. Prevost is elected pope: The “Latin Yankee,” as he is known in Rome, worked 20 years in Peru’s poorest enclave and even became a naturalized citizen there.

Reading archive 2025-05-07

DOGE aims to pool federal data, putting personal information at risk: The goal — a centralized system with unprecedented access to data about Social Security, taxes, medical diagnoses and other private information — would create a multitude of vulnerabilities, experts say.

U.S. pushes nations facing tariffs to approve Musk’s Starlink, cables show: Some countries have turned to the satellite internet firm in conjunction with trade talks, State Department staffers wrote. The U.S. has a strategic interest in countering Chinese internet providers, but Musk’s role complicates the picture.

Powered by potatoes: Endurance athletes are chasing speed with spuds: More ultramarathoners and cyclists are turning to potatoes as a mild, carbohydrate-packed fuel option.

Smithsonian National Museum of African Art delays LGBTQ Pride exhibit: “Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art” was originally scheduled to coincide with the WorldPride celebration in Washington. The museum postponed it until next year, citing a funding shortfall. - "“This exhibition was on a very ambitious schedule to meet WorldPride and we did not have enough time to secure all the private sector funds we had hoped to due to shifts in the fundraising environment,” Mitchell wrote." [ed. note: I do not believe you]

His D.C. tenants lived in squalor for years. Now he owes $6.8 million.: D.C.’s Office of the Attorney General sued Adolphe Edwards in 2022. Nearly 100 tenants are owed rent refunds, the office said.

GOP senators buck Trump’s pick for D.C. U.S. attorney, imperiling bid: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), facing reelection in 2026, objected to Ed Martin’s support for Jan. 6 Capitol rioters who assaulted police. Other Republicans kept mum.

Former D.C. officer again charged with sex trafficking of teen girls: Linwood Barnhill Jr., once imprisoned for prostituting underaged girls, has committed “remarkably similar crimes” since his release in 2020, a prosecutor said.

Makers of clothes, beer and more on what tariffs really mean for you: A brewer, decorator, fabric manufacturer and biotech executive on the administration’s strategy.

How the Democrats can crush the 2026 midterms: Can the Democrats repeat their success of 2018 in 2026?

America just surrendered to foreign lies: By shutting down this agency, we are allowing disinformation by our enemies to spread unchecked. - "When the Trump administration shut down Voice of America in March, it silenced one of the few sources of accurate information in countries without a free press. What’s worse is that American defenses against foreign disinformation are being eliminated as well. Not only is the United States no longer serving up the truth, it’s allowing our enemies to propagate false information around the world with no pushback.

...

"Until it was shut down, the Global Engagement Center had unique capabilities to counter these efforts. It was able to convene interagency meetings and work with military and intelligence experts to uncover — and then publicize — the propaganda machines behind these stories. No other office in the U.S. government had the combination of expertise, information and authority to defend against information warfare."

Ignore restaurant lobbyists. Respect the will of Washingtonians.: Plus letters on other D.C. issues such as pedestrian safety, RFK stadium and more.

The MAHA-Friendly App That’s Driving Food Companies Crazy: Yuka and other apps are influencing shoppers’ purchasing habits; ‘There are a lot of opinions out there’ - "Yuka gives Tru drinks a score of 43 or 48 out of 100—'poor'—in part because they contain stevia and erythritol, sweeteners that Yuka says carry risks. [CEO of Tru, Jack] McNamara said he doesn’t fully agree with Yuka’s methodology, which deducts points for drinks that aren’t water, but he takes the app’s input seriously." [ed. note: there's nothing wrong with stevia]

Pakistan claims to have downed Indian warplanes, vows response to strikes: India’s military said the strikes were in retaliation for a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. Analysts warned that the risk of escalation is rising.

People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies Self-styled prophets are claiming they have "awakened" chatbots and accessed the secrets of the universe through ChatGPT - "'We know from work on journaling that narrative expressive writing can have profound effects on people’s well-being and health, that making sense of the world is a fundamental human drive, and that creating stories about our lives that help our lives make sense is really key to living happy healthy lives,' Westgate says. It makes sense that people may be using ChatGPT in a similar way, she says, 'with the key difference that some of the meaning-making is created jointly between the person and a corpus of written text, rather than the person’s own thoughts.'"

Reading archive 2025-05-06

Trump tariffs set off doubts — even in Rust Belt area he pledged to restore: Many people in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley — a major Rust Belt manufacturing hub in an election-deciding swing state — are skeptical that the president can deliver.

The group chats that changed America

Vulnerable Iowa Farmers Now Face Perils of Trump's Trade War: With high costs and low prices for their crops, soybean and corn farmers were already nervous as they planned for planting season this year. Tariffs aren't helping.

Trump tariffs set off doubts — even in Rust Belt area he pledged to restore: Many people in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley — a major Rust Belt manufacturing hub in an election-deciding swing state — are skeptical that the president can deliver.

From prosperity to austerity: Trump’s tone shifts ahead of tariff impacts: Trump has long promised to unleash a “golden age.” Now he is warning that Americans may have to cut back. - "Former Rep. Justin Amash (R-Michigan), a longtime critic of Trump, posted on social media several weeks ago: 'GOP in 2010: Stop the socialists! GOP in 2025: the conveniences of modern life are overrated. We will reorder the economy and redistribute wealth. Your losses are a small sacrifice for the glory of the nation!'"

Trump demands wartime sacrifices — just not for himself: Americans likely do not have the stomach for such austerity.

Zuckerberg’s new Meta AI app gets personal in a very creepy way: Meta’s chatbot remembers everything, even what you might not want it to.

How do I get rid of my dark circles? Try these simple tricks.: A cold tea bag or spoon can help reduce swelling under your eyes.

Big brands distance themselves from Pride events amid DEI rollback: LGBTQ+ celebrations coast to coast are facing funding shortfalls as corporate sponsors cut back. And even backers are electing to be “silent partners.”

Bowser wants to repeal 2022 law passed by voters on tipped minimum wage: The budget proposal is part of a broader effort to make D.C. more business-friendly in the face of a struggling economy.

The future of Metro is the bus: Forget about expensive new train lines, officials say. Not everyone is happy. - "'We’re spending hand over fist more than other countries in similar economic circumstances, and that’s not purely about the cost of labor or the cost of materials. It’s that … we’ve created an industry of vetoes that are available to anyone who objects,' Dunkelman said. 'Should we lower our aspirations knowing our process is screwed up or should we change the process so we can get more optimal solutions?'"

If you haven’t been worrying about AI, it’s time to start preparing Yes, AI will disrupt society and work, but it’s not doomsday.

Real-Life Conclave Rivals Drama of Movie Version: Infighting, smear campaigns, papal letters from beyond the grave: The conclave is giving the film a run for its money.

"you're so NOT protecting the dolls": On the flattening of conversations like supporting the transgender community and a meditation on the incoming great Millennial pivot. - "But Pedro? That’s different. It’s very political to be photographed in 2025, days after a country rules out a group of people, to articulate support in ways that translates in multiple mediums at an event sponsored by Disney. That is using your platform effectively. That is the least one can do which, like Conner Ives, has resulted in raising tens of thousands of dollars to support the cause. Yes, it speaks to pretty privilege confusing bricks and dolls and, yes, more must be done than donning shirts or else we fall into black squares. Connect the dolls to their dreams! How and why is protection needed? Literally speak up for trans people. Defend them! Love them! Treat them as people! That is what the shirt aspires to but, somehow, it got caught in the modern trap of leftist infighting relating to everything from “Kamala is a cop. All politicians are bad!” to “Millennials are cringe and you should hate them.”: it cheapens intent and blunts action by focusing on purity over potential power, opting for very Democrat half-lifing of movements by over-intellectualizing plurality. “There’s room for everybody: let’s just say that,” Gia Gunn once said."

How M.L.M. world works on Instagram and TikTok - "The main difference between the in-person pitches of the 1970s and the video pitches of the 2020s is that technology makes it a lot easier to lie about the opportunity of a lifetime at scale."

U.S. Chamber of Commerce asks Trump for tariff exclusions to ‘stave off a recession’

Texas’s Crypto-Mining Racket: Public officials are propping up a Texas Bitcoin boom that’s threatening water and energy systems while afflicting locals with noise pollution.

Trump Will Regret Messing With Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers: The president’s bully politics are blowing up on him internationally, and threats to arrest a Midwestern governor will produce domestic blowback.

Just for a second I thought I remembered you: Being compelled to ask yet again, Are friends electric? - "The latest candidate for the canon is Zuckerberg’s claim on a podcast this week (detailed by 404 Media here) that 'the average American has, I think, it’s fewer than three friends, and the average person has demand for meaningfully more. I think it's something like 15 friends or something.' He says that 'people just don't have as much connection as they want,' and suggests technology can remedy the deficit by simulating it. The aim telegraphed by these inept statements is Meta’s hope to replace human friends with chatbot products under the auspices of combating 'the loneliness epidemic.'"

Will China Escalate?: Despite Short-Term Stability, the Risk of Military Crisis Is Rising - "The reelection of U.S. President Donald Trump did little to shake Beijing’s optimism that it can navigate continued threats from the United States, secure a lasting equilibrium, and vie for global supremacy. And Trump’s early second-term actions have strengthened Beijing’s conviction that the United States is accelerating its own decline, bringing a new era of parity ever closer. The perception that China likely does not face an existential threat from the United States has had a stabilizing effect on policy in Beijing, which has responded to Trump’s escalation of trade tensions in April with patience, anticipating that Trump will eventually lower U.S. tariffs in an attempt to reach an agreement."

How to Prepare for the Trumpcession: I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m stocking up on ibuprofen. - "Something stranger than a recession is brewing too. Fewer container ships are leaving Shanghai and Shenzhen. Fewer container ships are docking in Seattle, Tacoma, Los Angeles, and Oakland. The West Coast longshore union is warning of mass layoffs, given the decline in import volume. A link in the supply chain has broken, and I expect others to crack soon: freight haulers, trucking companies, last-mile contractors, delivery drivers."

Don’t Look at Stock Markets. Look at the Ports.: A drop in maritime traffic suggests that the worst is yet to come.

The ‘Significant Risk’ That Republicans Tank the Economy: How the GOP’s indecision in Congress could crash the markets

The U.S. Threat Looming Over Canada: The consequences if Trump followed through on his belligerent rhetoric about a “51st state” would be catastrophic. - "The definitive end of the status quo came with the president's casual comment that he would sell only deliberately downgraded F-47s to allies who purchased American military hardware, 'because someday, maybe they're not our allies.' From that point on, spending on equipment from the American military-industrial complex is a form of national suicide for any country in the free world. Canada could no longer comfortably sit within the American military sphere.