Reading archive 2025-06-11

House votes to repeal D.C. laws on noncitizen voting, police discipline: The District’s tumultuous year in Congress continues this week, with dozens of Democrats joining Republicans in the repeal votes. - "And of the D.C. police discipline law repeal, Norton said that while Republicans regularly seek to repeal local legislation, 'what is different about this bill is it also overrides the long-standing wishes of the D.C. police department.' For years before the reforms, police chiefs said they lacked enough power to permanently fire officers accused of crimes or violating department rules. A 2017 Washington Post investigation and 2022 D.C. auditor’s office report both found that the department was routinely forced to rehire officers it sought to terminate, in some cases for alleged misconduct as serious as physical and sexual violence."

Want to lower your risk of dementia? Here’s what the science says.: Key lifestyle changes can improve your brain’s health.

Do Not Try to Get Your Kid Into the Pop Culture You Like: GQ culture director Alex Pappademas makes the case to shut up, “unless you’re specifically asked for recommendations, which chances are, you will not be.”

Inside the digital hunt for a child sex abuser: The Secret Service used video clues, web searches and diaper serial codes to find a man who will spend life in prison for sex abuse and sharing child sex videos.

Most people aren’t following this important dietary advice. Are you?: Eating seafood is good for your brain, eye and heart health. But 90 percent of adults aren’t eating enough. - "According to health authorities, the following fish are so high in mercury that you should avoid them altogether: 

King mackerel (different from Atlantic mackerel) 

Shark 

Marlin 

Orange roughy 

Swordfish 

Tilefish 

Bluefin and bigeye tuna" 

[ed. note: healthiest types listed as salmon, Atlantic mackerel, sardines, anchovies, rainbow trout, mussels, oysters]

Ukraine’s ‘Operation Spiderweb’ hit at least 12 planes, visuals show: A Washington Post analysis of videos and satellite imagery offers insight into the damage from Ukraine’s brazen drone strike attack.

You are hardwired to blindly trust AI. Here’s how to fight it.: Decades of research shows our tendency to treat machines like magical answer boxes. No wonder AI nonsense keeps showing up in court filings, news articles and a White House report.

A salt crisis is looming for U.S. rivers: The biggest source of salty freshwater in D.C. and other major northern inland cities is an overapplication of road salt to thaw winter ice, which runs off into rivers or the ground.

Carl Nassib, gay NFL pioneer, honored by Smithsonian: The league’s first openly gay player, Nassib now has a jersey hanging in the National Museum of American History.

Janelle Monáe hopes to ‘be a refuge’ during her WorldPride show: The genre-crossing singer will perform with Grace Jones at the Anthem on Thursday, June 5.

The Cause of Alzheimer's Might Be Coming From Within Your Mouth [ed. note: the bacteria that causes gum disease can infect your brain, yikes]

Scientists Developed a Kind of 'Living Concrete' That Heals Its Own Cracks - "The researchers designed a bespoke lichen using cyanobacteria that fix carbon dioxide and nitrogen from the atmosphere, and a filamentous fungus that attracts ionized calcium and promotes the precipitation of large amounts of calcium carbonate – the material that makes eggshell, sea shells, coral, and chalk."

Empty desks How the District’s failure to curb truancy in middle schools fueled the biggest youth crime surge in a generation.