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.