Reading archive 2026-01-30

Don Lemon arrested by federal officials in connection with church protest: The former CNN host was taken into custody in Los Angeles.

As ‘Heated Rivalry’ takes off, the NHL faces questions about inclusion: The hit show about a romance between two professional hockey players has brought new fans to a sport that has struggled to welcome the LGBTQ+ community.

Virginia Democrats seek emergency halt to ruling that blocks redistricting: A motion filed with the Virginia Court of Appeals on behalf of House Speaker Don Scott argues that a circuit court judge is interfering with the democratic process.

Tulsi Gabbard’s appearance at Fulton County FBI raid raises questions: Lawmakers called for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to explain the presence of the country’s top spy agency official at a domestic law enforcement action in Georgia.

Attending a Protest

The New Shadowbanning Panic: Is TikTok censoring users on behalf of the Trump administration?

What Tearing Down Housing Projects Did for Kids: Bringing rich and poor together has major benefits. - "There is another process that improves neighborhoods around poor children, both by bringing higher-income peers nearer to them and by reducing the violence they are exposed to. This process often occurs without explicit governmental intervention or cost. The problem is that it is regularly dismissed as gentrification, a phenomenon that is not usually cheered. The most common objection to gentrification is that it results in displacement of incumbent residents. The empirical evidence for this is weaker than conventionally assumed. One paper examining children who received Medicaid benefits in New York City from 2009 to 2015 found no elevated rates of moving for those in gentrifying neighborhoods. The HOPE VI study suggests that gentrification should improve outcomes for kids, so long as it actually improves social integration."

America Can Have the Oil: Venezuela’s riches were squandered, souring many on national stewardship.

Battles Are Raging Inside the Department of Homeland Security: Officials overseeing Trump’s mass-deportation campaign are fighting one another for power.

Why the moral corruption of MAGA is so deadly

Heartwarming: Miserable Man Frustrated In Ultimately Insignificant Way

Pluralistic: Sorry, eh (13 Jan 2026) - "I'm sorry. As a technology writer, I'm supposed to be telling you that this bet will some day pay off, because one day we will have shoveled so many words into the word-guessing program that it wakes up and learns how to actually do the jobs it is failing spectacularly at today. This is a proposition akin to the idea that if we keep breeding horses to run faster and faster, one of them will give birth to a locomotive. Humans possess intelligence, and machines do not. The difference between a human and a word-guessing program isn't how many words the human knows."

At Yosemite, Rangers Are Scarce and Visitors Have Gone Wild: After the Trump administration’s cuts, workers at the national park are spread too thin to stop people from littering, flying drones and cliff-diving.

A cloud of fear hangs over Minnesota immigrant communities: Even citizens are afraid to go outside

Gingrich: Time for ‘national conversation’ about immigrants living in country illegally who ‘obey the law’

Reading archive 2026-01-29

How Battlefield Tech Was Used in Minneapolis: Our reporter Thomas Gibbons-Neff, who deployed twice to Afghanistan as a Marine and later was our Kabul bureau chief, looks at the battlefield technology used for an immigration arrest at a home in Minneapolis. [ed. note: video]

The powerful tools in ICE’s arsenal to track suspects — and protesters: Biometric trackers, cellphone location databases and drones are among the surveillance technologies that federal agents are tapping in their deportation campaign. [ed. note: horrifying]

Removal of flags for fallen Danish soldiers at U.S. Embassy sparks backlash: There was no malicious intent in removing the flags, said a State Department spokesperson, who added that the flags had been replaced.

Anthropic Is at War With Itself: The AI company shouting about AI’s dangers can’t quite bring itself to slow down.

If You Tax Them, Will They Leave?: A California wealth-tax proposal makes a high-stakes bet on billionaire psychology.

The Program That’s Turning Schools Around: The key to closing the achievement gap may lie outside the classroom.

Russia’s top diplomat rejects key part of deal to end war with Ukraine: Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismisses security guarantees demanded by Ukraine for any deal, once again saying the current regime in Kyiv should end. - "It is precisely the lack of high level officials in the Abu Dhabi talks that show they aren’t serious, said European Union foreign policy head Kaja Kallas, noting that the Russian delegation consisted of military and intelligence officials."

Trump faces fresh MAGA blowback for efforts to ‘de-escalate’ in Minnesota: The president’s response to widespread public dismay over the shooting death of another Minnesotan has put him in a bind with his own base.

Handling of Pretti investigation has some prosecutors on verge of quitting: Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis, frustrated by the response to the shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, have suggested they could resign en masse.

I’ve reported on UFO sightings for decades — and come to this conclusion

What the Neocons Got Right: David Brooks on moral collapse, the limits of politics, and what the neocons got right about America. Plus: Another ICE shooting in Minneapolis and Netflix’s Death by Lightning. - "And so what you have in the Trump administration is people with the same profile as the Dartmouth Review crowd: They went to elite schools, but they hated what they found there. That's Steven Miller, who went to Duke. That's Pete Hegseth, who went to Princeton. That's J. D. Vance, who went to Yale Law. Now, you can go down the list. It's Elon Musk and Donald Trump went to Penn. And so these are not pro-conservative. These are oppositional nihilists who hate the liberal establishment. And I found it easy, when I was saying college, to be more conservative than my professors but still have reverence for their learning. But these people do not have reverence for learning; they just want to offend the bourgeoisie. And so that's what it's become. And then they've produced spawn of young people who just think, That's cool. That's edgy. And of course, you have to up the dosage when you're giving people edgy nihilism - it just has to get worse and worse and worse. And as Richard Weaver, a philosopher from the 1950s, said, The problem with the younger generation is they haven't read the minutes to the last meeting. And so you get a group of people who, when they see fascistic behavior, don't understand where that eventually leads." [edit: also a bit on Reconstructions vs. modernization in the 1880s via Death by Lightning]

A case that lets billionaires spend big on elections never reached Supreme Court: While Citizens United became shorthand for unlimited political spending, a less-recognized campaign finance case made super PACs a reality. - "'SpeechNow, building upon the terrible flaws of Citizens United, has created a road map for billionaires and wealthy special interests to spend unlimited amounts of money to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens,' attorney David Kolker, who unsuccessfully argued the SpeechNow case on behalf of the FEC, told The Washington Post in an interview. 'This distorts our democratic process.'"

Why this Democrat refuses to retaliate against Trump’s GOP redistricting: Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson sank Democrats’ plan to pick up a congressional seat in Maryland, despite the rank-and-file tide seeking an aggressive fight against Trump.

America’s plan to protect pedestrians failed. A young woman’s death reveals why.: U.S. officials encouraged cities to adopt Vision Zero to save lives. Driver opposition and a lack of money derailed it.

The deadliest roads in America: The number of pedestrians killed by vehicles in the United States has surged amid neglect and lack of investment by transportation authorities.

Reading archive 2026-01-27

Maryland is getting a Sphere — and wasting millions in public subsidies: Wes Moore is wrong to compel Wizards and Caps fans to enrich the owner of the Knicks and Rangers. - "The deal announced recently to bring a smaller version of Las Vegas’s Sphere to Maryland’s National Harbor in 2030 includes almost $185 million of tax breaks, government-backed loans and incentive programs from the state and Prince George’s County.

"But the Las Vegas location, which is about three times bigger, was built without any government subsidies and pays property taxes."

Colorado has wolves again for the first time in 80 years. Why are they dying?: A controversial reintroduction program is off to a messy start.

Small study shows a promising path toward HIV cure: Antiretroviral drugs that prevent HIV and keep it in check have been transformative, but a cure has been a long-sought goal.

A 3-year-old’s lost life leads to reform in police pursuits in Md.: The Prince George’s County Council has passed a bill named after Zoey Rose Marie Harrison, who was killed in a police pursuit crash.

ICE would still operate in a partial government shutdown: Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be able to continue its operations due to $75 billion in funding from a 2025 GOP law.

What to know about the deadly Nipah virus, amid outbreak in India: Some airports in Asia are on alert after confirmed cases in West Bengal of Nipah virus, which has no cure. South Asia sees outbreaks nearly every year.

FBI takes over investigation into town hall attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar: In a video from the event, a man walks up and sprays what appears to be a liquid at the Minnesota Democrat — who is a frequent target of Trump — before he is taken away by security.

Your Leaders Were Lying. Now The People Are Driving: The depravity of ICE, the enthusiasm of Republicans and the cowardice of Democrats is breaking through hypernormalization

Here’s How Many ICE and CBP Agents Allegedly Preyed on Children: Apparently the institutions are riddled with accused sex criminals.

Inside the shadow war between Russia and Ukraine that exploits teens: Vika, 18, needed a job. Then came an offer for $2,500 to make a simple delivery that seemed too good to be true.

Museum curator, 77, learns Gen Z slang and goes viral: ‘Honestly, she ate’: “Look how bro glazed it,” said Alison Luchs, the National Gallery of Art’s deputy head of sculpture, pointing to a 16th-century Italian plate.

ICE agents blocked from entering Ecuadorian Consulate in Minneapolis, ministry says: Law enforcement is generally prohibited from entering consulates or embassies without permission. Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry said it had filed a formal diplomatic protest.

Americans should not trust ICE. Kristi Noem isn’t the only reason.: Assume this loutocracy’s statements on its deportation mania are lies until proven otherwise. - "Policing is a hard, dangerous profession. Done well, it demands of its practitioners discipline and judgment, and deserves from society a respect approaching reverence. The current administration, by erasing the distinction between police work and military operations — by allowing marauding ICEmen to pose as police — has grievously wounded the dignity of policing."

A Reckoning for the Tech Right: Silicon Valley’s top CEOs have been noticeably silent after the Minneapolis shooting.

Donald Trump Can Be Stopped: The president’s retreat in Minneapolis is a stinging defeat for the national conservatives.

Never Fight Alone: Anyone who would denigrate the service of our NATO allies clearly never spent a day in uniform.

South Carolina Is America’s New Measles Norm: The state’s measles outbreak could soon be bigger than West Texas’s. Are the two connected?

Minnesota Proved MAGA Wrong: The pushback against ICE exposed a series of mistaken assumptions. - "If the Minnesota resistance has an overarching ideology, you could call it "neighborism"-a commitment to protecting the people around you, no matter who they are or where they came from. The contrast with the philosophy guiding the Trump administration couldn't be more extreme. Vice President Vance has said that 'it is totally reasonable and acceptable for American citizens to look at their next-door neighbors and say, 'I want to live next to people who I have something in common with. I don't want to live next to four families of strangers.'' Minnesotans are insisting that their neighbors are their neighbors whether they were born in Minneapolis or Mogadishu. That is, arguably, a deeply Christian philosophy, one apparently loathed by some of the most powerful Christians in America."

...

"The federal surge into Minneapolis reflects a series of mistaken MAGA assumptions. The first is the belief that diverse communities aren't possible: 'Social bonds form among people who have something in common,' Vance said in a speech last July. 'If you stop importing millions of foreigners into the country, you allow social cohesion to form naturally.' Vance's remarks are the antithesis to the neighborism of the Twin Cities, whose people do not share the narcissism of being capable of loving only those who are exactly like them."

Reading archive 2026-01-27

How bad is your stove for your health? Look it up.

The ‘one-legged stools’ holding up a fragile economy: The U.S. economy is growing, but economists worry that its strength is too narrowly focused.

Outrage over ICE has spilled into typically apolitical online spaces: Fury over Alex Pretti’s killing has flooded forums for golfers, cat lovers and bourbon aficionados, reflecting a growing outrage over the Trump administration’s crackdown.

Trump’s Head-Scratching Turn Toward China: The president’s very personal approach to diplomacy poses real threats to American security. - "Although a hard line on China was a centerpiece of Trump's first term, he has gone soft in his second. The president has removed nearly all of the tariffs that he imposed on Chinese imports last year, and he has loosened controls on the sale of advanced American semiconductors to China-over the objections of national-security experts-on the condition that Nvidia coughs up a cut of its sales to the U.S. government. Trump also hailed his October 2025 summit with China's leader, Xi Jinping, as a meeting of the 'G2,' or 'Group of 2,' a flattering nod to the idea that the United States and China are the two most powerful countries in the world."

How the Bernie Goetz Shootings Explain the Trump Era: A notorious event in 1984 divided New Yorkers in ways that feel extremely familiar four decades later. - "White Americans in particular were offered a Faustian bargain during the Reagan '80s: accept a thinner safety net, a harsher economy, and a more unequal society - but in return, receive the emotional satisfaction of seeing the 'right' people punished by an ever-expanding criminal-justice system, and the tacit assurance that if they happened to visit their own frustrations on someone who did not look like them, that same system would protect them."

Reading archive 2026-01-26

Should you drink bottled water or tap? The answer may surprise you.: If you’re concerned about microplastics, PFAS and lead, there are certain ways to make your drinking water safer.

China fires top general in shocking purge of senior military command: The downfall of Zhang Youxia, China’s most senior uniformed official, marks an unprecedented concentration of military power under Xi Jinping.

Senate Democrats to block government funding after second fatal shooting in Minneapolis: The move could force a partial government shutdown next weekend. Lawmakers are set to vote on spending bills this week but may look to split Homeland Security from other agencies.

‘Unconquerable’: What a visit to frigid Ukraine convinced me: AI-powered air defense could counter Moscow’s greatest advantage — and keep Kyiv in the fight.

After 80-year bond, Germans find breaking up with the U.S. is hard to do: To many Germans, Americans were saviors after World War II, and they feel especially hurt over President Donald Trump’s disdain for Europe and traditional alliances.

Five people were shot outside a D.C. bus. It remained stopped, doors open.: Passengers pleaded with the operator to drive away from the shooting or close the bus doors, but he said he couldn’t, according to two passengers on the bus.

Elusive orchid plays key role in plan to bring bird back after 30 years: Once widespread throughout the Southeast, populations of the red-cockaded woodpecker shrank drastically amid rapid development and other threats.

Trump brushes off concerns about Witkoff’s interactions with Russians as leaked transcript roils Washington

Kilowatts or connections? Trump’s favored nuclear start-ups soar to riches.: Founders of politically connected nuclear companies that have never built commercial reactors are becoming billionaires. - "Valar declares on a company webpage that 'holding the spent fuel from [its] system for five minutes gives the equivalent radiation exposure to receiving a CAT scan.' Nuclear engineers were appalled by his claims."

Climate change, aging farmers endanger Japan's 'Rolls-Royce of pearls'

In Houston suburbs, Abbott’s attacks on CAIR unnerve Muslim residents: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) designated CAIR — a Muslim advocacy and civil rights group — a “foreign terrorist” group, along with the Muslim Brotherhood.

These very hungry microbes devour a powerful pollutant

Humans killed millions of vultures. Now people are paying the price.: As vultures vanished, dogs multiplied, and rabies spread. Humans are living with the consequences.

The common vaccines that can prevent chronic disease or some cancers: In addition to cancer, a growing body of research has shown that vaccines can reduce the risk of developing dementia and heart conditions.

She’s torn between her love for Trump and her work with migrants: A conservative woman detects a lack of empathy — and a broken promise — in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

‘Heated Rivalry’ is a hit in Russia, where LGBTQ+ content is heavily censored: Russian audiences connected deeply with character Ilya Rozanov, whose country would never fully accept him or allow him to live openly in a relationship with another man.

Hard Times in the Delta as Farmers Consider Letting Crops Rot: Prices for nearly every major U.S. crop are below what it costs to grow them. But a drop in rice prices means another blow to farmers in Mississippi’s agricultural belt.

Reading archive 2026-01-23

A Year Inside Kash Patel’s F.B.I." Forty-five current and former employees on the changes they say are undermining the agency and making America less safe.

Reading archive 2026-01-22

Jasmine Crockett is daring Democrats to rethink electability. Some aren’t sold. ‘I get that I’m not a traditional candidate. And that’s exactly why I’m going to win,’ the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas said.

How to bike safely through the dark winter months: Buy lights, wear reflective clothing and pay attention to your tires while riding in the cold, experts say

This obsession has held Iran back for a half-century: Time and again, idealism untethered from reality has brought ruin to Iran.

The Five Farcical Principles of the ‘CBS Evening News’: Tony Dokoupil and Bari Weiss’s new broadcast has been one debacle after another. Let’s try to make sense of it all, with or without whiskey. - "[Bari Weiss] isn’t a conservative! She just independently thinks her way to conservative conclusions over and over again. If you’re a rich white man convinced that pronouns and trans athletes are the greatest threats facing America today, Weiss is there to assure you not just that you’re right, but also that your bile is proof of your intellectual fearlessness."

‘Blood in the water’: Bari Weiss’s chaotic first three months in charge of CBS News: Weiss is embroiled in her first major controversy as editor in chief as her handpicked anchor takes evening news show

Inside Tony Dokoupil’s chaotic first week as the CBS Evening News anchor

The Old World Order is Dead Unipolarity was given, not taken - "A quieter camp pointed out that the United States was generally doing a lot—not all it could, but a lot—to make its leadership attractive to the other major powers: providing security, yes, but also shouldering a good share of global burdens in many fields while also linking its economy and society to the rest of the world. This approach, a few observers noted, managed to satisfy the range of potential powers who could actually undermine the United States and its order. One prominent theory noted that since the Second World War, the United States had engaged in practices of self-binding—generally asking for less than it could have taken and giving more than it needed to in order to make its leadership more attractive to others than the alternatives open to its rivals. For this group, there was an ongoing process of ratifying the U.S.-led order that relied on Washington realizing that its power conferred influence but its right to rule relied on the acquiescence of (most) other leading powers.

...

"The unipolar world, what was left of it, has died—of suicide, not murder. As I wrote several years ago, 'the most successful blow to American primacy came not from external balancing, as realists long predicted, but from the free choice of American voters.' Twice, now, in fact."

A New Memoir Blasts Kamala Harris for Being Offensive, Ideologically Obsessed: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro discusses the strange questions he received during his vice-presidential vetting.

The Great Crime Decline Is Happening: All Across the Country Even cities with understaffed police departments have made record gains. - "But only one theory can match the decline in its scope and scale: that the massive, post-pandemic investment in local governments deployed during the Biden administration, particularly through the American Rescue Plan Act, delivered a huge boost to the infrastructure and services of American communities-including those that suffered most from violent crime. That spending may be responsible for our current pax urbana."

Reading archive 2026-01-21 pt 2

What to know about Syria's main Kurdish-led force and its deal with Damascus after days of clashes: The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are set to merge into the Syrian army after suffering major setbacks

Trump’s Attack on Democracy Is Faltering: One year into the president’s second term, the country’s institutions and civil society are still checking his authoritarian impulses. - "Trump's malice and incompetence alienates voters, who then publicly voice their discontent, encouraging other political actors and institutions to see him not as a crusading avatar of national destiny but as a weakened figure. The law firms that caved early to Trump have suffered from a loss of talent and business, a development that may encourage other firms to fight back. Many news organizations have continued their aggressive reporting on the administration despite threats to the freedom of the press."

Reading archive 2026-01-21 pt 1

Trump’s Golden Age of Culture Seems Pretty Sad So Far: The president’s party has total control of government—but not what Americans care about.

The Levers Trump Isn’t Using: He is dominating a lot of news cycles but failing to advance lasting policy change. - "Perhaps Trump's most lasting influence will be opening the door for future presidents to approach the executive as he has, pursuing governing strategies rooted in capricious personalism. Still, for all the action of the past year, Trump has not been acting like a president. That has not only undermined the character of our constitutional system; it has also meant that he is getting less done than all the sound and fury might suggest."

America’s Would-Be Surgeon General Says to Trust Your ‘Heart Intelligence’: Casey Means thinks improving health is a spiritual project.

Trump Exhaustion Syndrome Americans can’t seem to keep up. - "At least for now, a year into Trump's second term, the country seems to have settled for the illusory safety of the fetal crouch."

Trump’s Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw: Will Republicans in Congress ever step in?

The Military Is Being Forced to Plan for an Unthinkable Betrayal: Attacking an ally would be a perversion of everything the armed forces have been trained to do.

‘Looksmaxxing’ Reveals the Depth of the Crisis Facing Young Men: The most narcissistic corner of the internet is having a moment.

Something Is Wrong With Russia’s Children: As violence has come to surround Russian youth, many seem to have become more violent themselves. - "For years, children in Russia have watched their country massacre Ukrainians and condemn hundreds of thousands of its own citizens to injury and death at the front. As violence has come to surround Russian youth, many seem to have become more violent themselves. Last year, the number of juvenile crimes in the country surged by 18 percent. Authorities also reported an uptick in 'serious and especially serious' crime. 'There is no positive ideology for children in a country fighting a murderous war,' Ilya Barabanov, a Russian journalist, told me. Instead, the war has amplified worldviews that encourage brutality."

Europe Has a Bazooka. Time to Use It. - "This is exactly the kind of situation that the instrument was designed for. Europe, however, seems too timid to use it. Mr. Bessent has scoffed that Europe’s most forceful weapon is the 'dreaded European working group,' suggesting it will never get around to using the instrument. Europe seems in no hurry to prove him wrong."

Trump takes aim at Canada after Carney’s Davos speech: Mark Carney said middle powers such as Canada could build a new order in an era of unfettered great powers, without directly mentioning Trump or the U.S.

At Davos, a European backlash to Trump: The surreal clamor over Greenland provoked by Trump has shadowed proceedings in Davos, heightening fears of an emerging rupture between the U.S. and Europe. - "A few years ago, Europeans in Davos would muse about “decoupling” from China. Now, von der Leyen spoke of 'de-risking' in an environment made volatile by the continent’s most important ally and partner. Trump’s Greenland gambit, analysts say, threatens the integrity of the NATO alliance and many of the underpinnings of the transatlantic relationship. E.U. leaders are expected to meet this week to mull consider a response, including invoking an 'anti-coercion' mechanism that could lead to sweeping reprisals against the U.S. and U.S. companies. Even European far-right leaders in countries like France and Germany — figures who have found plenty of common ground with Trump and the MAGA movement — have denounced the White House’s Greenland rhetoric."

ICE targeted off-duty police officers in Twin Cities, local police say: The police chief of one Minneapolis suburb said all of the officers who had been stopped there by Immigration and Customs Enforcement were people of color.

Trump administration admits DOGE accessed personal Social Security data: A DOGE employee signed an agreement to share Social Security data with the aim of overturning election results in certain states, according to a new court filing.

Lindsey Halligan out as U.S. attorney following pressure from judges: One federal judge in Virginia sought applications for her replacement. Another called her use of the U.S. attorney title a “charade.”

Message to Trump and the GOP: Pro-life voters are watching: A “flexible” approach to reducing abortion will have a cost in the midterms.

Trump team touts a coming economic revolution as voters fear job losses: President Donald Trump wants America to lead on artificial intelligence at almost any cost, but he must contend with a skeptical public.

Federal officials launch ICE operation in Maine and begin arrests: “Everyone is on high alert,” Portland Mayor Mark Dion said. His city and nearby Lewiston have seen an influx of migrants and asylum seekers in recent years.

Pentagon moves to cut U.S. participation in some NATO groups: The planned reductions to parts of the alliance’s force structure and some advisory groups mark the Trump administration’s latest move to scale back military investment in Europe’s defense.

Reading archive 2026-01-20

To Their Shock, Cubans in Florida Are Being Deported in Record Numbers: Cubans had long benefited from legal privileges unavailable to immigrants from other countries. President Trump has changed that.

Americans Are Turning Against Gay People

Trump says U.K. ‘stupidity’ on Chagos Islands justifies Greenland demands: The United Kingdom agreed to grant Mauritius sovereignty over the archipelago, one of whose islands hosts a U.K.-U.S. military base.

Would Trump abandon Taiwan? This deal is slightly alarming.: The announcement of a U.S.-Taiwan trade agreement had a potentially ominous undercurrent.

Indiana judge and his wife injured in shooting at their home, police say: Lafayette police said Judge Steven P. Meyer of Tippecanoe County Superior Court and his wife, Kimberly, are in stable condition. The shooter remains at large.

She helped him flee a rally, then learned he was a right-wing provocateur: Jake Lang, a pardoned Jan. 6 rioter, jumped into a stranger’s car after he was driven from his anti-immigrant march in Minneapolis by a large counterprotest.

The White House wanted an ICE spectacle. It backfired.: The shooting of Renée Good in Minneapolis may mark a turning point in public opinion.

I found the most complete protein. It’s not meat.: The most “complete” protein is probably one you’re already eating.

Officials showed off a robo-bus in D.C. It got hit by a Tesla driver.: The automated vehicle display was part of a push from the White House to advance automated driving.

These prophets of economic doom are worried about another collapse" The current investment boom is triggering déjà vu for some economists and traders who successfully predicted past economic crashes.

This company says it has produced the Holy Grail of batteries: New batteries in electric vehicles could store more energy, charge faster and last longer, while lowering fire risk

Colorado’s wolves in the political crosshairs as Trump targets the state: A program to reintroduce the predators is essentially blocked, with Colorado leaders saying the state is being punished for jailing election denier Tina Peters.

"What Is Going to Happen?": How to reject a new normal.

Reading archive 2026-01-16

Democrats see narrow path to retaking the Senate. Watch these states.: Republicans are still clear favorites to retain control of the chamber in the midterms. But Democrats say they are more hopeful about the odds of a big upset.

Trump Cabinet secretaries conspired to violate Constitution, judge says: “The Cabinet secretaries and ostensibly, the president of the United States, are not honoring the First Amendment,” U.S. District Judge William Young declared. - "The 2025 trial revealed the machinery behind the Trump administration’s campus crackdown. Senior administration officials directed personnel at DHS who normally analyze transnational criminal networks to instead produce reports on students involved in pro-Palestinian protests, one official testified."

The Commanders’ new stadium could evoke memories of RFK: The first conceptual renderings of the new stadium, unveiled Thursday morning, showed a sweeping roof, a grand colonnade and plenty of callbacks to RFK Stadium.

John Calipari: How to stop the chaos of college sports: A sustainable model for the NCAA should address the transactional era of athletics.

Congressional Republicans might finally jump off the hamster wheel: Maybe Trump has at last gone too far for GOP legislators tired of going nowhere. - "Hassett predicted that Trump’s 2017 corporate tax cuts would produce a $4,000-$9,000 increase in average household incomes. That has not happened. Early in the pandemic, he predicted it would soon wane. It did not. Writer Steve Chapman, who calls Hassett 'a master of opportunistic amnesia,' notes that no states had gas prices averaging as low as $2 when Hassett said prices are 'below $2 a gallon in a lot of places.'"

CEO of D.C.’s newest hospital resigns less than a year after it opened: Anthony B. Coleman’s departure will mark the latest turnover of management at Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center in Southeast Washington.

In D.C. mayoral bid, Lewis George pledges universal child care, social housing: D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George unveiled her mayoral campaign platform at a launch party, including policies on housing, jobs, education and public safety.

I just set my farm on fire. It was thrilling.: This has been my winter of living dangerously, and my experiences have boosted my sense of well-being.

An injured NFL team, a power substation and a theory that won’t fade: A viral online theory for the San Francisco 49ers’ injuries is disputed by scientists but has some players’ attention. - "But tracing it to the opening of Levi’s is dubious because the 49ers started practicing next to the substation in 1988, three decades before Levi’s Stadium opened. From 2001 to 2014, the 49ers ranked below average in injuries, according to Aaron Schatz, a veteran NFL analyst who tracks injury reports."

Trump’s anti-climate agenda won’t just hurt the planet, but American incomes too: In this week’s newsletter: US earnings would be 12% higher without the climate crisis, a study reveals – and the hotter the world gets, the greater the economic losses

Democratic Bosses Are Launching a Remake of the 2028 Calendar: States are jockeying for an early spot and a greater say in the nominee.

Elizabeth Warren’s Abundant Mistakes: Her critique of moderate Democrats is a mischaracterization of her opponents within the party. - "At one point in her speech, for instance, Warren claimed that Donald Trump 'is trying to push out the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board and complete his corrupt takeover of America's central bank-so that it serves his interests, along with his billionaire friends'.' Is it true that Trump's billionaire friends would benefit from undermining central-bank independence? The billionaires don't seem especially excited about this aspect of Trump's power grab." [ed. note: in fact, rich people hate inflation, because it makes their money worth less]

America Has Entered Late-Stage Protein: This has gone too far.

MAGA’s Jewish Intellectuals Helped Create Their Own Predicament: The nascent effort to contain the spread of anti-Semitism is years overdue.

Rubio Won; Liberty Lost: Is it really a win when the regime you detest stays in place?

UPenn faculty condemn Trump administration’s demand for ‘lists of Jews’: Groups say EEOC demand for names and personal details echoes dark history and threatens safety and civil rights

Suspect arrested in predawn fire that left parts of Mississippi’s largest synagogue in charred ruins: Jackson Fire Department rules arson at Beth Israel Congregation, the city’s only Jewish house of worship.

Suspect in Mississippi synagogue fire laughed as he confessed to his dad, authorities say - "Pittman appeared in federal court on Monday afternoon via video conference, accompanied by a public defender. He affirmed to the judge, Andrew Harris, that he was competent and sober. Pittman appeared to be leaning back in his chair, gazing away from the camera. When the judge asked him if he understood his rights to an attorney, Pittman responded, 'Yes sir, Jesus Christ is Lord.'"

Trump's Tangled Web of Deal-Making, Policy and Riches

Reading archive 2026-01-15

Supreme Court Backs Police Entry Without Warrant in Emergencies Montana officials defended the actions of law enforcement officers who did not have a warrant when they responded to a possibly suicidal Army veteran. - "In response to the ruling, the Constitutional Accountability Center, which had filed a brief in support of Mr. Case’s position, expressed concern that the court’s decision would do nothing to prevent officers from using emergency aid as a pretext for home intrusions." [ed. note: a unanimous, naïve decision]

Authoritarianism Is Climate Policy: The Trump administration’s imperialist, repressive rampage is a classic response to escalating crisis. - "The new EPA policy, which explicitly rejects lives saved as a lesser concern than business profits, exposes this line of thinking. You’ve heard it before, though. Fighting climate change would be too costly, so the narrative goes. Costly to whom? Not fighting climate change is already very costly to everyone else, whether in terms of affordability or lives lost."

Trump’s Fantastical Geopolitics: The White House’s aggressive posture is already pushing other countries to seek strength in numbers. - "The most glaring example of this involves Trump’s recent escalation of claims to Greenland, which threatens to remake the image of the United States into that of a rogue nation. His language vowing to get it one way or another, easy or hard, echoes gangland dialogue from Hollywood more than it does traditional diplomacy. And it threatens to finally break Washington’s relationship with Europe, transforming it from an increasingly wary alliance to something much more situational and potentially distant.

...

"Another example, both more obscure and surprising, comes with the news that Saudi Arabia, an oil power that Trump has courted heavily, has been in talks to acquire Chinese-made fighter jets for its air force, and has struck a strategic mutual defense pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan. Under the current president, Washington has shown a willingness to sell the Saudis virtually whatever weapons their hearts desire, including the United States’ most advanced fighter airplane. The problem is that Trump’s erratic and aggressive behavior has made them nervous like everyone else. 

"The urge to hedge is an ominous sign for a United States that is in the midst of an extremely foolhardy geopolitical paradigm shift—one that weakens its commitments and interdependence with long-standing allies in Europe and Asia in favor of the fantastical notion that by dominating the Western Hemisphere, America will be just fine, if not even better off."

Teen killed in Maryland parking lot where he went to trade coat for gun: Two suspects, 16 and 20, were ordered held without bond this week in Montgomery County District Court.

Why your power bill is spiking faster than a nearby data center’s: As electricity prices climb, an unusual disconnect is emerging between what regular people pay — and what data centers pay. - "According to a report from Harvard University earlier this year, utilities often sign special contracts with data center customers that place them outside standard pricing agreements. 'I’m not even sure if data centers are paying the 'commercial' price,' said Peskoe, one of the authors of the report. 'We were finding across states the way data centers were coming online in many states was through these secret contracts.'"

Trump’s promised manufacturing boom is a bust so far: Manufacturing employment has declined every month since April, when the president said tariffs would bring factories “roaring back.”

Vance’s Greenland meeting ends with ‘fundamental disagreement’: Diplomats from Denmark and Greenland agreed to set up a “high-level working group” after the White House talks, but said there was little consensus so far.

Senate blocks Venezuela war powers bill after Vance breaks deadlock: The vote failed after two Republicans withdrew their previous support under intense pressure from the Trump administration.

Native Americans are being swept up by ICE in Minneapolis, tribes say: Tribal leaders say Indigenous people have been stopped, questioned, harassed and, in some cases, detained solely on the basis of their skin color or names.

Who used the Maduro raid to earn $400K? The pool of suspects is alarming.: A bet on government action by a government actor is always a bet against the public interest.

Illinois finally abandons its ban on new nuclear plants: Gov. JB Pritzker (D), eyeing 2028, reverses his opposition and follows progressive public opinion.

The agony of knowing your millions don’t buy respect: “Members Only,” a Netflix reality series about Mar-a-Lago-adjacent socialites, is not good. But it reveals the insecurities of the very rich.

‘Some Foreign Influence Will Be Hard to Reverse’ China will remain a player in Latin America long after Maduro. - "The defining paradox of Trump's confrontation with China is that, since returning to the White House a year ago, he has worked to dismantle many of the same institutions the U.S. used to advance its cause in the 20th century."

A Different Type of ‘Muscle Memory’: Repeated exercise, or wasting, can change the way key genes work.

Denmark’s Army Chief Says He’s Ready to Defend Greenland: Danish forces are moving to the island to show NATO—and Trump—that they’re serious about security. - "Rasmus Jarlov, a Danish lawmaker, told me that the Trump administration has yet to articulate a single objective on Greenland, aside from acquiring it. 'That's the challenge we have,' Jarlov said. 'And, of course, since they already have full access, it's a little hard to improve.'

"'But," the lawmaker added with a laugh, 'we're willing to try.'"

Trump Is Risking a Global Catastrophe: His irrational fixation on Greenland could lead to widespread conflict.

Jeff Bezos Needs to Speak Up" The raid on a Washington Post reporter’s home is deeply troubling. - "In his second term, Trump has learned to apply this pressure more pointedly. He has made it plain that owners of large media firms should expect much friendlier regulatory treatment if they bring to heel the journalists they employ. What makes this tactic so deviously effective is that many influential media outlets are just a tiny portion of their owners' business interests. The Ellisons own CBS News, but CBS News is a speck in their financial portfolio. Losing audience share for 60 Minutes because the show relinquishes its independence would be an insignificant financial setback, but losing the administration's approval for the Ellisons' merger bids would be catastrophic."

Putin’s Explosive Message to Trump: The Oreshnik missile that struck Lviv carried a political payload. - "As evidenced by new sanctions on Russian oil, the seizure of Russian tankers, and the continuing flow of American weapons to Ukraine, Putin has repeatedly overplayed his hand with the president of the United States. What's worse for Putin - and possibly for the world - is that this Trump is on the warpath. Most of his recent press conferences have included references to bombing or regime-changing one country or another (the list now includes a NATO country, too). This is not the real-estate or cryptocurrency Trump. This is Trump with guns-a leader whose doctrine boils down to 'ICE for Americans. Delta Force for everyone else.'"

Reading archive 2026-01-14

Smithsonian submits files to White House after funding threat The White House had threatened to withhold the Smithsonian’s funding if it did not send more documentation on its exhibits and operations.

These prosecutors spent years on cases. Then Trump granted pardons.: The president’s clemency acts have eroded faith among Justice Department employees that their work will result in accountability, some prosecutors say.

In Secret Testimony, Republicans Derided Trump’s Stolen Election Claims: The testimony, part of the derailed Georgia election interference case, makes clear how dismissive some senior Republicans were of claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

How to make the midterms slightly less disgusting: Divided government would be good outcome next fall.

World’s fattest parrots set for mating bonanza after bumper berry crop: After a four-year hiatus, conservationists in New Zealand are relieved that the flightless kākāpo is once again breeding. Fewer than 300 of the parrots exist. - "The parrots were once abundant in New Zealand, but dwindled after the arrival of Polynesian settlers around 700 years ago, who hunted them for meat and feathers. The arrival of European settlers accelerated their demise by clearing forest habitats and introducing deer and possums, competing with them for forest resources."

Trump makes obscene gesture, mouths expletive at Detroit factory heckler: “As far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever,” the heckler told The Post after a video captured Trump twice mouthing “f--- you” and raising his middle finger.

FBI executes search warrant at Washington Post reporter’s home: The search came as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified government materials.

Thom Tillis wants you to know something: ‘I’m sick of stupid’: The North Carolina Republican has been at the forefront this month of staking out anti-MAGA ground and criticizing Trump’s aides. [ed. note: Thom Tillis is deeply insincere, very stupid, or both]

A casino bill is a bad bet for Virginia Democrats: Few issues have divided Democratic lawmakers as sharply as the proposed Tysons casino.

After fleeing the Taliban, they felt safe in America. A shooting in D.C. changed everything.: “Most of all, I wanted freedom. I’m so scared I won’t get it.”

A Romance That Actually Takes Sex Seriously: Heated Rivalry understands how relationships develop through physicality.

How the Supreme Court Broke Congress: In the name of protecting the balance of powers, the Court is radically refashioning that balance. - "The citizens and commentators shouting from the sidelines that Congress must act, fix itself, and reclaim its intended role are not wrong. But they miss that the Court has made doing so nearly impossible. The practical result is a Congress caught between paralysis and policing, mostly incapable of translating collective judgment into law and, when it does manage to do so, vulnerable to having its most significant accomplishments - civil-rights enforcement, voting protections, campaign-finance reform, administrative authority - erased by judicial decree. The judiciary, long conceptualized as a check on legislative excess, is now defined by its own excess against legislative charge.

...

"The Roberts Court has hollowed out these dynamic sources of congressional constitutionalism. Its voting-rights and campaign-finance decisions have weakened the electoral systems that make Congress responsive to the public. Statutes of this genre, to borrow from the former Yale Law School dean Robert Post, should be thought of as "wholesome legislation that nourishes democratic legitimacy"-measured legislative judgments about the guardrails and ground rules necessary to preserve elections as channels of representation, and public faith in them as such. In dismantling this scaffolding, the Court has left Congress more detached from its electorate, diminishing its claim and role as a representative authority."

The Islamic Republic Will Not Last: But the opposition has to start working together if something better is to follow.

The Biggest Myth About Trump’s Base (And Why Many Believe It): The MAGA faithful aren’t deserting their leader. - "The obvious conclusion is this: These purportedly pro-Trump figures do not actually speak for Trump or his supporters. Trumpism is not neo-isolationist or neoconservative, pro-restraint or pro-intervention. It is not pro-worker or pro-billionaire. It is whatever Trump says it is. According to YouGov, two weeks before American forces snatched Maduro, Republican support for invading Venezuela stood at 43 percent. Today that number is 74 percent. 'America First' and 'Make America Great Again' are slogans, not deeply held governing philosophies. They are branding - and Trump is the brand."

Reading archive 2026-01-13

Trump is trying to change how the midterm elections are conducted: Many of these endeavors go far beyond typical political persuasion, challenging long-established democratic norms.

You’re the reason your home is disorganized. Here’s how to fix that.: Sixteen pieces of tough love from professional home organizers.

New federal spending bill for D.C. seeks to prevent repeat of 2025’s $1B cut: The House and Senate appropriations bill also boosts funding for a D.C. scholarship program and includes $90 million in police funding.

Congress agrees to fund Voice of America, bucking Trump shutdown order: The Trump administration has tried to eliminate funding for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA. Appropriators in Congress have had other ideas.

EPA says it will no longer consider health costs in pollution regulations: The EPA weakened emissions standards for new power plants and said it would no longer consider the economic impacts of public health in rule making.

The EPA’s shock and awe deregulatory push learns from past mistakes: The EPA aims to push its rules changes into court as fast as possible to cement the administration’s agenda with final judgments before Trump leaves office. - "In addition, the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the size of government may be slowing down its deregulatory agenda, simply because there are not enough people on staff to do the work."

Congressional staffer allegedly stole 240 cell phones from government: Officials say Christopher Southerland had the phones shipped directly to his Maryland home before selling them.

Once-revered trans activist Ruby Corado sentenced for defrauding government: A federal judge ordered the founder of Casa Ruby to serve 33 months in prison, pay more than $900,000 in restitution and report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Why you should consider a jumping spider as your next pet: If we can get beyond our fears, spiders, beetles, caterpillars and other creepy-crawlies can make for fine family companions.

Trump picks up the phone and calls Sen. Elizabeth Warren: The unlikely conversation came after years of antipathy between the two politicians, including the president’s derogatory use of the nickname “Pocahontas” to describe her.

Trump’s Shrinking Coalition: The president can no longer present himself as anti-system, because he has become the system.

The YIMBY Hero Everyone Is Shouting At: Scott Wiener—a pro-trans Zionist who wants California to allow more homes—has an extreme tolerance for pushback. - "In Democratic cities, people demand 38 meetings and three dozen environmental assessments before tearing down a crack den to build a nursery for sad orphans. Voters, Wiener argues, want politicians who are 'willing to break glass to get those things done.'"

The Hole in Trump’s Rationale for Acquiring Greenland: The office dedicated to countering China and Russia in the Arctic has been axed.

Big Oil Knows That Trump’s Venezuela Plans Are Delusional: The president’s thinking is stuck in the 1980s.

Reading archive 2026-01-12

New NASA head appears to slow controversial Discovery shuttle move: Jared Isaacman, the new NASA administrator, signaled he was open to offering other spacecraft to Texas instead of the one housed at the Smithsonian. Opponents of the transfer welcomed his comments. - "The Smithsonian said in September that it had been approached by the Office of Management and Budget to work with NASA to prepare for the relocation of Discovery within 18 months. The Institution cautioned the transfer would require 'significant disassembly' of the shuttle that they feared 'will destroy its historical value.' Along with NASA, the institution estimated the move would cost from $120 million to $150 million. Sen. Cornyn’s office has called the estimate 'purposefully overblown' and accused the Smithsonian of going outside of its purview in raising concerns."

California is adding a supplement to tortillas. RFK Jr. calls it ‘insanity.’: California now requires corn masa flour to contain folic acid to reduce birth defects among Latinos. Some conservatives oppose it, citing government overreach. - "The new requirement is part of national effort to add folic acid, already required in other types of flour, to corn masa. Alabama’s version of the law takes effect in June, and lawmakers in Florida, Georgia and Oklahoma are considering similar legislation.

...

"Since the start of those efforts, the rates of neural tube birth defects for White women and other groups dropped 40 percent, but remained high for Latinas, studies have found."

Exxon CEO calls Venezuela ‘uninvestable’ without ‘significant changes’: At Trump meeting with oil executives, he vows they will spend $100 billion. The companies worry the numbers don’t add up. - "'It would be like going to Brazil, taking them over for their cattle, and then flooding the American beef market with it,' he said. 'That’s the analogy we see in the oil and gas business.'"

The Iranian regime is caught in a death spiral: Tehran tamps down the unrest again, but the protesters will be back.

D.C. police arrest man in death of officer hit by car while on duty: Jerrold Coates, 47, was charged with second-degree murder, two weeks after Officer Terry Bennett was fatally injured while aiding a stranded motorist

Former D.C. officer sentenced to 27 years in sex trafficking of teen girls: The case marks the second time in a decade that Linwood Barnhill Jr., now 59, was ordered imprisoned for recruiting underaged girls to be sex workers.

Suspect arrested after fire damages Mississippi’s largest synagogue: The suspect is facing an arson charge in the state, and the FBI and ATF are considering opening a federal case, Jackson’s chief fire investigator said.

Running deficits larger than during the Great Depression is reckless: A bipartisan group of House members are rallying behind a welcome and reasonable target for 2030.

Eyes are on Gorsuch as Supreme Court weighs rights of trans athletes: The conservative justice has provided the key swing vote on recent cases involving gay and transgender rights

A powerful force has been holding back the housing market. It’s finally easing.: The U.S. housing market recently reached a key milestone that could lead to more buying and selling.

Scientists are inventing treatments for devastating diseases. There’s just one problem. Genetic therapies could be used to treat hundreds of diseases. The path to patients is tricky.

Smithsonian removes Trump impeachment text as it swaps his portrait: A Trump official previously complained about a caption beside his National Portrait Gallery photo mentioning his impeachments and the U.S. Capitol insurrection.

Hundreds of Iranian protesters feared killed; U.S. considers military strikes: Trump administration national security officials were preparing to meet on potential responses, including a range of military options.

Ukraine’s ex-commander in chief, envoy to Britain and maybe next president: Gen. Valery Zaluzhny’s distance from Kyiv, possibly an attempt to sideline his political ambitions, has left him at a safe remove from tensions back home. - "Ukrainian law prohibits presidential elections under martial law, and democracy experts have noted the seeming absurdity of Putin complaining that Zelensky has stayed in office beyond the normal length of a term because of a war that Russia started, while Putin rewrote Russia’s constitution to eliminate term limits and has long won elections widely derided as neither free nor fair."

Reading archive 2026-01-09

Blistering report says D.C. police lost public trust by working with ICE: A D.C. Council committee accused the Bowser administration of not being transparent enough. The mayor says outrage about ICE should be directed at the feds.

Police arrest 20-year-old following fatal 5-car collision in downtown D.C.: D.C. police said the driver had fled a traffic stop before the crash. - "Magistrate Judge Dorsey G. Jones denied the request, citing the fact that Matthews was already on probation for two 2024 cases involving gun and drug charges. He pleaded guilty twice to carrying a pistol without a license, court records show." [ed. note: sounds like police gave chase]

Why some people are wired to help strangers, and what their brains reveal: One striking finding is altruistic kidney donors tend to have a larger amygdala, a part of the brain critical to processing emotions.

Tell alarmists this secret about voter ID: Despite the wild reactions voter ID sparks on the left and right, what if it’s actually no big deal?

A president who treats Washington like his chew toy: Trump’s triumphal arch will be harder to undo than his gilding of the Oval Office. - "Trump has the terrible strength peculiar to people who are incapable of embarrassment, and cannot fathom that they look ridiculous."

Mercosur deal: French farmers roll tractors into Paris: Scores of tractors were driven into Paris in protest over an EU deal that would create the world's largest free-trade area. Some farmers fear they will be undercut with cheaper goods from South America.

Trump vs. Every Member of Congress: The president could face a notable defeat on the House floor today.

A High-Seas Gambit Humiliates Putin: Trump has pushed Russia out of Latin America and seized tankers while conceding nothing in Europe.

Change May Be Coming to Iran: Trump’s ouster of Venezuela’s president has the Islamic Republic on edge and the opposition energized.

First the Shooting. Then the Lies.: The Trump administration has perfected the smear campaign.

A Jan. 6 Rioter Returned to the Capitol Seeking Forgiveness: Pamela Hemphill, who said she rejected President Trump's pardon for her role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, apologized to a Capitol Police officer who was assaulted during the mayhem.

The Constitutional Case against Exclusionary Zoning: America is suffering from a severe housing shortage. A crucial tool may lie in the Constitution.

DC council moves to crack down on rat infestations with new legislation: DC's new RAT Act targets the city's exploding rat problem, aiming to streamline agency responses and hold property managers accountable.

The Collins D.C. Council Report: Vaccinations, Public Charter School Board Appointments, An At-Large Council Member Selection Process, and Business in the Soul of the City

Reading archive 2026-01-08

The Smithsonian Faces New Pressure to Submit to Trump’s Will: The institution, long regarded as independent, is facing a White House deadline to hand over records about its content and will see turnover that could reshape its governing board.

D.C. leaders push back on U.S. DOT proposal to ban city traffic cameras: The proposal could cost D.C. more than $100 million and strike at the heart of traffic safety efforts.

Can AI do your job? See the results from hundreds of tests.: Comparing how AI systems and humans did on real work assignments shows how close tools like ChatGPT really are to taking jobs away from people.

U.S. vows to control Venezuela oil sales ‘indefinitely’: The move comes as officials struggle to persuade U.S. firms to invest in expansive drilling operations there. - "Using taxpayer-funded cash subsidies to incentivize oil companies to pump abroad would be unprecedented, industry analysts say. But the White House faces a steep challenge persuading firms to drill in a politically and economically unstable country that has burned them in the past by expropriating assets worth billions and then leaving U.S.-built oil infrastructure to rot."

The McMansion Got a New Look This Year. Enter: the McModern: The mass-produced version of the American dream is sleeker and more private than ever - "Whatever does make the cut determines the building’s massing. 'If you look at McMansions, the form follows the function, and the function is the accumulation of amenities,' says Wagner. 'It’s the interiorization of the city into a single building.' Amenity proliferation represents a more extreme definition of contemporary luxury living, she adds. 'The mindset of the rich in America is that they have no obligation to social life,' Wagner says. In other words, they want to create a space where everything is at their fingertips and there’s no need for them to mix with the outside world.

"This 'castle doctrine,' Wagner calls it, finds its roots further back in history, as does the showiness of the mass, scale, amenities, and views offered by McModerns. At the front, these homes are screened for privacy with plants or behind gates. 'After a maze of gardens or pathways, when you finally step into the entrance and foyer, you want the money shot,' says Ippolito. Once inside, 'you want to design glimpses of it through all the windows as you pass the house.'"

Why is crime plummeting in the most liberal places in the world?: Plus: less has changed than people expected in 1998, falling American death rates, and more

Eleanor Holmes Norton’s longtime staffer to run for her seat in Congress: Trent Holbrook, who most recently was the congresswoman’s senior legislative counsel, joins a crowded field hoping to serve as D.C.’s nonvoting delegate.

Why D.C.’s next council member will be chosen by lawmakers, not voters: In an unprecedented situation, the D.C. Council will select an interim member to serve until a special election is held. How exactly to proceed is causing infighting. - "Council member Kenyan R. McDuffie (I-At Large) resigned from the council effective Monday to set up a mayoral run. D.C. law says it is up to the council to select an interim replacement, but the law is vague on exactly how lawmakers should go about choosing their new colleague."

Five years after Jan. 6, officers describe the toll of defending the Capitol: In his first day in office, Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people in the Jan. 6th Capitol riot. The country has moved on, but for some the day still looms large.

Senate passes bill to block further military action in Venezuela: Though largely symbolic, the vote was a rare assertion of Congress’s role in using lethal force after the stunning raid to capture Nicolás Maduro.

Tony Dokoupil Eats Heaps Of Shit In First Week As CBS News Anchor - "The key to Weiss's professional success has always been her self-absorption, her ability to convince herself, and those in positions of wealth and influence, that her own strange perspective is the dominant one."

Pardon my coup: Accurate political journalism requires a bias toward democracy - "Donald Trump and his supporters do not believe in the fundamental aspect of democracy: the legitimacy of the opposition. Members of the MAGA tribe are authoritarian in their wielding of power. They have a weak, at best, commitment to free speech and expression. They believe in the unrestricted use of military power. And their leader is a liar and a cheater who has teased countless times to remain in power beyond his last term in office."

The Military Isn’t MAGA: The Trump administration attempts to silence veterans. - "When criticizing the leader becomes a crime, being a criminal becomes an obligation."

The Giant, Voracious Sea Lions That Humans Cannot Stop: Killing the protected animals may be the only way to stop them from eating too many of the Pacific Northwest’s endangered salmon.

The Friend-Group Fallacy: Many people yearn for a crew, but having one is not actually the norm.

Reading archive 2026-01-06

Disgust Over Jan. 6 Is No Longer Bipartisan

Officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6 say their struggles linger, 5 years after the riot

This is Europe’s secret weapon against Trump: it could burst his AI bubble - "First, Dutch company ASML commands a global monopoly on the microchip-etching machines that use light to carve patterns on silicon. These machines are essential for Nvidia, the AI microchip giant that is now the world’s most valuable company. ASML is one of Europe’s most valuable companies, and European banks and private equity are also invested in AI. Withholding these silicon-etching machines would be difficult for Europe, and extremely painful for the Dutch economy. But it would be far more painful for Trump. 

"The US’s feverish investment in AI and the datacentres it relies on will hit a wall if European export controls slow or stop exports to the US – and to Taiwan, where Nvidia produces its most advanced chips. Via this lever, Europe has the means to decide whether and by how much the US economy expands or contracts. 

"Second, and much easier for Europe, is the enforcement of the EU’s long-neglected data rules against big US tech companies. Confidential corporate documents made public in US litigation show how vulnerable companies such as Google can be to the enforcement of basic data rules. Meanwhile, Meta has been unable to tell a US court what its internal systems do with your data, or who can access it, or for what purpose."

How Walmart And Pepsico Rigged Prices And Supercharged Food Inflation

‘Their first instinct was to loot’: how Trump’s acolytes are plundering the Kennedy Center - "Democrats on the committee said they obtained documents that suggest the national cultural centre is being operated as a 'slush fund and private club for Trump’s friends and political allies', resulting in millions of dollars in losses and a significant deviation from its statutory mission."

A Horseshoe Theory of Trump: His economic approach combines libertarianism and authoritarianism. - "Trump's economic management combines two theoretically incompatible tendencies. It is at once libertarian, because the state is doing less to protect consumers and workers, and authoritarian, because the government sometimes lawlessly interrupts the workings of the free market in service of the personal and ideological interests of Trump and his allies. This makes MAGA economics a seemingly impossible hybrid: libertarian authoritarianism.

...

"Authoritarianism and libertarianism are commonly thought of as opposites-two poles on a political spectrum. It is a sign of Trump's distinctive political genius that he has managed to combine the two concepts. By tearing down generally applicable restraints on corporate behavior while selectively exerting direct influence to reward his allies and punish his critics, he has managed to preserve all the flaws of the old Republican economic approach while introducing new ones that are even worse."

Trump Seizing Greenland Could Set Off a Chain Reaction: After Venezuela, Europeans are taking the president’s threats seriously. - "A Danish lawmaker, who spoke with us on the condition of anonymity to address the security situation candidly, said that the very notion of the U.S. invading Greenland-both mounting an invasion and defending against it-is absurd. The island is nearly four times the size of France and is mostly ice. The lawmaker told us that Danes are particularly baffled by Trump's designs on Greenland because he could accomplish all of his security objectives by working with Denmark, a committed U.S. ally. During the Cold War, there was even a nuclear-powered U.S. base built under Greenlandic ice. 'If the Americans want another military base, just say where,' the lawmaker said. 'If you want a radar, you can put it up.'"

Trump’s ‘American Dominance’ May Leave Us With Nothing: The president’s moves in Venezuela foretell a new global system. - "If America is just a regional bully, after all, then our former allies in Europe and Asia will close their doors and their markets to us. Sooner or later, 'our' Western Hemisphere will organize against us and fight back. Far from making us more powerful, the pursuit of American dominance will make us weaker, eventually leaving us with no sphere, and no influence, at all."

You Won’t Believe Who Trump Told About Venezuela Attack Ahead of Time: Here’s a hint: it wasn’t Congress.

The data center rebellion is here, and it’s reshaping the political landscape As the buildout of AI infrastructure alarms communities, it is fast emerging as a potent electoral issue across the political divide - "Many of the neighbors fighting the project in Sand Springs voted for Trump three times and also backed Republican Gov. J. Kevin Stitt, who implores tech firms to build in his state."

Emails outline potential cuts affecting thousands of FEMA disaster responders: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has said she wants to reduce FEMA’s staff by half. Drafted plans show how it can happen.

Mamdani’s new tenant advocate wants to seize private property: Socialists keep dreaming of collectivism, as New Yorkers suffer from unserious housing policy. [ed. note: the WaPo editorial board continues to spiral out]

Corporation for Public Broadcasting, gutted of federal funds, votes to dissolve: President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans succeeded this summer in stripping federal funds from public media. Now the 58-year-old organization is gone.

George Conway, critical of Trump, enters crowded Democratic House primary: In an interview, the newly registered Democrat emphasized his opposition to the president, as he seeks to stand out in a packed open race in New York.

Congress has four weeks to dodge another shutdown: Appropriators are rushing to complete full-year spending bills before the Jan. 30 deadline.

Lawmakers battle over how — and whether — Jan. 6 should be remembered: A hidden plaque honoring the police who defended the Capitol during the 2021 insurrection has sparked new fights between Democrats and Republicans.

He was attacked on Jan. 6. Can he make sense of it for the kids he teaches?: Nathan Tate was a D.C. police officer defending the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Now he’s trying to find the lesson in it.

Humans May Be Able to Grow New Teeth Within Just 4 Years: Scientists are on the verge of a dental miracle.

Debunking the AI food delivery hoax that fooled Reddit: A “whistleblower” tried to corroborate his viral post with AI-generated evidence. This is how I caught him. PLUS: Grok's image-generation crisis, and the rapture over Claude Opus 4.5 - "While AI systems are notoriously unreliable at identifying their own outputs, Google Gemini can detect SynthID watermarks embedded in images that it produces."

15 Scenarios That Could Stun the World in 2026: Futurists, political analysts and other forecasters on the possible “Black Swan” events of the new year.

Call Trump's power grab in Venezuela what it is: Corporate media must recognize they're being openly lied to—and report accordingly. - "From a journalist's perspective, however, it’s much more challenging to figure out how to cover a president who you know is actively lying to you. But it’s a challenge we reject at our own peril."

This once iconic oyster industry crashed. Soon, harvesting will begin again.: Florida’s Apalachicola Bay once supplied more than 90 percent of the state’s oysters. But it has been off-limits to harvesting for five years. That changes Jan. 1.

Why smaller houses can lead to happier lives: It turns out asking “Are you happy with your home?” yields a very different answer than “Are you happy with your life?”

Republican Rep. LaMalfa dies, further narrowing GOP’s House majority: The death of the seven-term congressman, coupled with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s vacating her seat Tuesday, means Republicans are likely to face trouble advancing partisan legislation.

Do wind turbines kill birds?: Yes—but only a fraction as many as are killed by house cats, buildings, or even the fossil fuel operations that wind farms replace.

U.S. State That Abandoned Canadian Tourists Tries Again As Canada’s Travel Boycott Hits The Holidays

Reading archive 2026-01-05

Trump Almost Has a Point About the Federal Reserve: The central bank has long abused its power in ways that benefit the financial sector at the expense of everyone else. - "If, however, the Court rules against Trump—as it is widely expected to do—congressional Democrats should not consider the matter of Fed independence resolved. Instead, a future Democratic administration and Congress should pass legislation preserving the Fed’s independent power to set monetary policy, while stripping most other authorities away from the central bank. The logic of central-bank independence simply does not apply to such matters as bank regulation and payment systems, which ought to be subject to democratic control.

...

"Trump’s attacks on America’s bedrock institutions deserve a thoughtful response, not a defensive one. Trump often identifies real problems, even if he offers terrible solutions. The Federal Reserve has abused its independence for decades, substituting its judgment for the law with no mechanisms to hold it accountable. As a spate of recent insider-trading scandals among senior Fed officials demonstrates, the institution can’t even hold its own personnel accountable."

Suspect in Jan. 6 pipe bomb case indicted on federal charges: Brian Cole Jr. was charged with planting explosive devices near the RNC and DNC headquarters on Jan. 5, 2021. He was ordered jailed pending trial.

D.C. police sergeant accused of waving gun in Md. road-rage encounter: Authorities said Sgt. Kaila Crews has been placed on leave by the department after being charged with assault and other crimes in the December incident.

How the Smithsonian’s National Zoo feeds its animals

Progressives, don’t force 20th-century rules on 21st-century workers: Gig work is facing death by a thousand regulatory cuts. [ed. note: Manhattan Institute hack. From comment section: "We need to classify these innocent sounding gig 'apps' as technology monopolies that control large chunks of the labor force, but refuse to follow well established employment practices under Labor Law."]

Evangelicals’ support for Israel is dropping. 1,000 pastors want to reverse that.: Alarmed by anti-Israel sentiment from conservative influencers, the religious leaders traveled en masse to Israel to counter podcasters’ messaging. - "Carlson in recent months has hosted a range of anti-Israel conspiracy theorists. Among them were: amateur historian Darryl Cooper, who implied on the show that Jews’ deaths in the Holocaust were a result of poor Nazi planning, not genocidal intent; Owens, who said Israel is a 'demonic nation' and that it had a role in the killing of Charlie Kirk; and Fuentes, who told Carlson the major roadblock to American unity is 'organized Jewry.' They all frame their comments on Israel as part of an 'America first' agenda that they say has been unfairly framed as antisemitic."

Perennials for the Shady Side

‘Blind Into Caracas.’: Less than 24 hours in, members of the Trump team are celebrating victory. None of them seem to have wondered what happens a day, a month, a decade from now. - "Special horseshit award for Marco Rubio. He claimed that the Trump team couldn’t let anyone in Congress know about the Maduro mission ahead of time, for fear of leaks. And that this caution extended even to the “Gang of Eight” in Congress. These are the select, bipartisan assemblage of leaders who are supposed to be briefed on the most sensitive security matters—and who (in contrast to the Trump team) have had over the decades zero cases of leaking sensitive information before military operations. 

"Rubio knows full well that the most grievous leaks in the Trump era have come either from Trump himself or from Pete Hegseth. (Including the pathetically incompetent WhatsApp Signal group chat.) To be clear, Rubio knows that what he was saying today was false—his claim that elite Congressional intelligence committees cannot keep secrets. But he said it anyway, because it is what Trump wanted to hear. This is what we call lying in normal life." [ed. note: also a couple great comments for understanding just how difficult Venezuala's ultra-heavy crude is to process]

A Criminal Empire: The United States launches a conquest and occupation of Venezuela to extract its oil wealth. The neocon dream is the America First dream

Trump's Critics Are Falling Into an Obvious Trap: The capture of Nicolás Maduro is a show of ambition that calls for an effective response. [ed. note: good critique, no solution offered]

Iranians Have Had Enough: The demonstrations erupting across the Islamic Republic reflect deep economic and political discontent. - "Opponents of the Islamic Republic remain hopelessly disorganized and disunited. Some protesters have chanted slogans in favor of Reza Pahlavi, Iran's exiled crown prince. But Pahlavi remains a divisive figure among anti-regime Iranians. Many reject his claim to leadership. Pahlavi's supporters and top advisers routinely criticize popular domestic dissidents including the Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi, actress Taraneh Alidoosti, and rapper Toumaj Salehi. Earlier this month, Mohammadi was physically attacked by pro-Pahlavi protesters in the northeastern city of Mashhad. 

"Regardless of their politics, all opposition factions have failed to build powerful organizations or lasting networks that could direct the protests. Without such direction, the current protests are likely to lose momentum and fizzle out, just like previous rounds. Even if they were to last, it is far likelier that figures from inside the regime's ranks would take the initiative and wrest power from Khamenei, than that the protesters would succeed in bringing about a change to the regime's basic structures."

Britain Should Have Read the Tweets First The case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah is a test of Britain’s values. - "The situation is deeply embarrassing for Starmer, who welcomed Abd el-Fattah's arrival in Britain so warmly. He now claims not to have known about the "absolutely abhorrent" tweets and is promising to 'review the information failures in this case.' Apparently, despite years of campaigning for this guy, the combined might of the British civil service never thought to search his Twitter handle. If the authorities had conducted even a cursory background check, they would have found opinions such as this (now-deleted) assertion from 2012: 'I'm a racist, I don't like white people so piss off.'

...

"Starmer, a former human-rights lawyer, approaches every problem with an arid obsession with process rather than outcome-as if, when people follow every dot and comma of the rules, nothing bad can happen and no one should complain."