Reading archive 2026-03-25

People Who Love Corporate BS Are Bad at Their Jobs, New Cornell Research Confirms: The psychologist behind a new study confirming the link between dumb jargon and dumb decisions explains how to fight corporate BS. - "Here’s how Cornell Chronicle summed up the results: 'Essentially, the employees most excited and inspired by 'visionary' corporate jargon may be the least equipped to make effective, practical business decisions for their companies.'"

Trump showed classified map to passengers on his plane in 2022, memo says: The document offers a snapshot of an early moment in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation and adds new shading to the public understanding of Smith’s probes.

At a Virginia vineyard, volunteers are fighting to eliminate this invasive pest: The invasive insects, which one winery owner called “vampires,” have wreaked havoc across the D.C. region.

Conservative activist convicted in voter-fraud case: In Wisconsin, Harry Wait said he set out to expose the potential for voter fraud. He ordered mail ballots in the names of others — and got charged with felonies.

Partisan brawl in Virginia muddles Spanberger’s message of moderation: The congressional redistricting fight is tainting the governor’s image, one Democrat said: “This should be a flashing red light for Democrats everywhere.” - "Spanberger, who uses saltier language in private meetings than during her carefully controlled public appearances, said in the interview that she told Wittman and the other Republicans they should have spoken up when Trump urged Texas, North Carolina and other red states to rig their districts for the GOP. 'You didn’t give a s--- about fairness,' she said she told the GOP delegation, '… until your singular seat was potentially the one' affected."

'They did not have a chance' | Trial begins for convicted DUI driver who killed three men on Rock Creek Parkway in 2023: Nakita Walker is facing three second-degree murder charges for the deaths of Mohammed Kamara, Jonathan Cabrera, and Olvin Velasquez.

Treason in the Futures: Markets People close to Trump are trading based on national secrets - "But in any case, Trump’s sudden climb-down was startling. Who could have seen this coming? 

"The answer is, the person or people who bought large quantities of stock market futures and sold large quantities of oil futures around 15 minutes before Trump’s announcement."

The Situation: The Enduring Truths of the Mueller Report: There are four of them. - "Mueller made mistakes. There is no doubt about that. That said, the Mueller Report remains the single best account we have of the relationship between Trump and the Russians and the manner in which Trump will deploy power within and from the executive branch. Little that has happened since its release should surprise those who read it carefully."

Canada’s Polite Pogrom: Is a national tolerance for zealotry purging Jews from public life? - "The awkward reality is that a main driver of these incidents is a very Canadian aversion to causing offense: The deference of many politicians and institutions to the views of a rapidly growing minority community is too often leading them to reject another minority community. Although relatively few Canadians hold negative views of Jews, opinion polls have found that such views find greater levels of support within the Canadian Muslim community. From 2001 to 2021, the Muslim population of Canada more than tripled, to about 5 percent of the population. Just 4 percent of non-Jewish Canadians agree that Jews are largely to blame for the negative consequences of globalization, but that figure rises to 28 percent among Canadian Muslims, according to a survey conducted by the University of Toronto sociologist Robert Brym. Similarly, only 16 percent of Canadians believe that it is appropriate for opponents of Israel's policies to boycott Jewish-owned businesses in Canada, but that claim finds support among 41 percent of Canadian Muslims."

‘You Want to Leave Us Alone With Mojtaba?’: I’ve spoken with more than a dozen Iranians since the start of the war. Most are terrified, and some are losing faith in America.