Reading archive 2025-12-16

Is your lamp the right size? There’s an equation for that. You don’t need to be a math whiz to choose a lamp. You just need to consider function and know a bit about proportion.

She was MAGA’s favorite conspiracist. Then she dug into Charlie Kirk’s killing.: Candace Owens rose to prominence as a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist. Her latest claims have infuriated some of her former allies. - "Pool, for his part, said Owens’s defection on Israel and claims about Kirk are a “nihilistic” grab for attention from a person with a history of shifting her opinions to propel her career. Owens is adopting the conventions of true-crime storytelling, Pool said — foreshadowing, cliff-hangers and questions that never get answered — to tap into an appetite for conspiracy thinking on the right and the left."

Some Republican lawmakers call for mass expulsion of American Muslims: Comments from Rep. Randy Fine and Sen. Tommy Tuberville reflect a brazen Islamophobic sentiment being voiced by some in the party. - "Mitchell [ed. note: CAIR spokesman] expressed frustration with both parties for not doing more to formally sanction members for Islamophobic rhetoric. He said a double standard exists, pointing to a House censure on a bipartisan basis of Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), a Muslim Palestinian American, for comments following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel." [ed. note: lol maybe ask Jill Stein for help???]

Hunt for Brown University gunman starts anew as tension rises: Authorities released a person of interest and provided video and still images of a different man they want to locate.

How Much Water Do AI Data Centers Really Use?: The AI industry’s use of water and its effects on an increasingly parched world are more complicated than people think.

Can Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Affect Gender Identity?: Some scientists see it as a question worth exploring. But others say it’s dubious — and fodder for right-wing prejudice. - "To be sure, the number of 18- to 24-year-olds who self-identify as transgender in the United States nearly quintupled between 2014 and 2022, increasing from 0.59 percent to 2.78 percent, according to a national survey run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The largest increase was among White transgender men. But while Kennedy and Jones see a chemical culprit, and still others suggest social influences may play a role, Hayes and Roepke remain skeptical that these increases reflect anything more than a cultural moment wherein transgender people feel more comfortable revealing or exploring their gender identity.

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"The sex-determining process doesn’t always happen so neatly, however: The SRY gene can show up on the X chromosome, for instance, resulting in a genetic female with testes. If the SRY gene doesn’t work in the usual way, then a genetic male might develop a uterus and fallopian tubes. Some genetic males don’t have the working receptors needed to respond to male sex hormones called androgens — of which testosterone is the most common — or have only a partial ability to respond, which means that they can develop typically female or sexually ambiguous genitalia. (People whose anatomies are not typically male or female may be intersex, which is distinct from being transgender.)"

The Largest and Bloodiest U.S. Battlefield in 2025? Somalia: At least 87 drone strikes, raids and other U.S. military engagements have hit Somalia this year, by far the most ever. And it's likely an undercount

Ukraine could gain NATO-like security assurances in US-proposed Russia peace deal

University of Maryland president cleared of plagiarism allegations: University of Maryland President Darryll Pines was cleared of plagiarism allegations after an independent review, though the review did find his papers lifted some texts.

HBCU president sues professor who accused her of plagiarism and racism: A former University of Maryland Eastern Shore professor says she was illegally pushed out at the historically Black college because she is White.

What the new Purple Line looks like in action

‘Kind of embarrassed’: In Vance’s hometown, I saw patience running thin: Middletown’s regard for its most famous son was more subdued than I’d expected.

Chicago has lost its mind: The city’s fiscal situation is dire, and Mayor Brandon Johnson is determined to make things worse.

Jimmy Lai and the end of Hong Kong: The fate of the former British colony is a warning to any nation that cuts a deal with China.

Trump’s Top Aide Acknowledges ‘Score Settling’ Behind Prosecutions: In interviews with Vanity Fair, Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, said President Trump "has an alcoholic's personality," called JD Vance a "conspiracy theorist" and concluded that Pam Bondi "completely whiffed" the early handling of the Epstein Files.