Reading archive 2026-04-30

Gun found during fight in Blake High School parking lot, police say: A short time later, a young man was taken to an area hospital with a gunshot wound. Police have not said if that victim is a student or not.

Trump administration seeks access to medical records of millions of federal workers

A D.C. mayoral hopeful’s close ties to unions are drawing new scrutiny: A complaint alleges Janeese Lewis George’s campaign is improperly sharing staff with unions tied to an independent expenditure committee backing her. The campaign denies it.

On chaotic day, Johnson navigates multiple internal revolts in House: Over hours on and around the chamber’s floor, the speaker and fellow Republican leaders cajoled holdouts on a surveillance bill, DHS funding and farm policy.

The invisible force making food less nutritious - "Ultimately, Myers said, the best way to protect human health is for people to stop releasing so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which not only depletes the nutritional value of crops but leads to escalating heat waves, intensifying floods and lengthening droughts that hurt food production around the globe."

Maine Gov. Janet Mills drops out of race to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins: The primary had become a referendum on the Democratic establishment.

The terrible Michael Jackson movie exposes a central cultural question: The film is indefensible. The impulse to see it is deeply human.

An Untapped Energy Goldmine Is Buried Beneath the US—and No, It’s Not Oil: Massive lithium reserves in eastern states could replace 328 years of U.S. imports, according to new research by the U.S. Geological Survey.

As Saudis pull funding, LIV Golf seeks investors to continue: The Saudis spent billions backing the upstart PGA rival and luring top stars, but the league never found its footing. - "The financial scale of LIV’S failed effort was enormous. The PIF’s total investment is projected to surpass $6 billion, according to figures from Money in Sport, with the PIF spending at a rate of roughly $100 million per month in recent years. Tournament purses and bonuses alone are expected to approach $2 billion, while many top players received nine-figure signing deals. LIV’s U.K.-based entity reported losses of $461.8 million in 2024, and the overall venture was widely viewed as losing hundreds of millions annually."

Russia scales back Victory Day plans as Ukraine’s military reach expands: Moscow is reducing the footprint of its foremost annual military parade amid a wave of Ukrainian drone attacks inside Russia.

The Real Fight for the Smithsonian: Its museums, more than any others, shape the nation’s narrative. No wonder the country argues about it.

‘We Are Learning to Bully Back’: How Europe got Trump to cave on Greenland

The Sports Conspiracy That’s Too Easy to Believe: When the 49ers lost in the playoffs, some fans embraced a theory about electromagnetic waves instead of facing reality.

The Real Reason ICE Agents Wear Masks: Face coverings may work less to protect federal agents from danger than to make it easier for them to do unconstitutional things. - "It is not 'doxxing' federal agents for the public to know who they are. We are supposed to know who they are, because that is how we hold them accountable. This is why police officers wear visible badge numbers and name tags. The responsibilities they are given are not compatible with anonymity.

...

"According to an analysis by Alex Nowrasteh at the Cato Institute based on data from last year, "law enforcement officers who don't work at ICE or Border Patrol have a death rate 6.3 times higher than that of immigration enforcement officers." In fact, the report found, immigration agents are at no greater risk than regular people: 'The chance of an ICE or Border Patrol agent being murdered in the line of duty is about one in 94,549 per year, about 5.5 times less likely than a civilian being murdered.'

...

"On Sunday, ProPublica revealed the names of the two agents involved in the Pretti shooting: Border Patrol officer Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez. Suffice it to say that two Hispanic Americans killing a white person trying to prevent them from harassing or deporting other Hispanic people, on the orders of Stephen Miller - a Jewish American whose ancestors fled pogroms in Eastern Europe - is a uniquely grotesque expression of the American melting pot in action."

Stop Meeting Students Where They Are: What I learned when I finally started assigning the hard reading again.

How America Lost Control of the Seas: Thanks to decades of misguided policy choices, the U.S. has an astonishing lack of maritime capacity.

Feudalism Is Our Future: What the next Dark Ages could look like - "In 2008, desperate for cash, Chicago privatized its parking meters, selling off the rights to all the revenue for 75 years to a group of investors led by Morgan Stanley. A 'true-up' provision in the contract requires the city to compensate investors for lost revenue when meters are taken out of service—a provision that weighs on decision making whenever the city considers projects that would eliminate meters or favor mass transit over cars. The rights to operate toll highways have been sold off by some jurisdictions to private companies, including foreign ones. The fine print in the contracts often prevents improvements to adjacent roads on the grounds that such enhancement would create undue competition. Private prisons generally put a quota clause into their agreements. States and municipalities may be hoping, as a matter of policy, to reduce their prison populations, but the beds in private prisons must be filled regardless."

Reading archive 2026-04-29

An ingenious way to sidestep the dismal Senate filibuster: Restrain the president, revive Congress, honor Madisonian principles. What’s not to like? - "Today’s Senate Republicans are mostly oblivious of — or, worse, indifferent about — how they appear. In 2024, they solemnly warned that if they did not win control of the Senate, 2025-2026, Democrats would degrade it by abolishing the filibuster. In 2025, however, Senate Republicans, in lockstep with House Republicans, crammed most of the president’s agenda into a single bill that they passed on a party-line vote using the parliamentary maneuver called “reconciliation,” which prevents a bill from being filibustered."

Colombians are divided over the fate of hippos linked to Pablo Escobar

The great Black GOP exit from Congress: Republicans squandered Trump’s gains with African Americans in 2024.

Alleged gunman at correspondents’ dinner led Christian group in college: Ex-classmates who knew Cole Tomas Allen, 31, at the California Institute of Technology say they were shocked by a message in which he appeared to use biblical teachings to justify violence.

So Nobody Is Going to Pay Taxes Now?: America actually needs a tax base. - "While tinkering with marginal rates, Democrats have threaded deductions, credits, and exemptions into the tax code, engaging in 'submerged' policy making, as Cornell's Suzanne Mettler describes it. Tax expenditures are easier for Congress to pass than spending programs, and they're easier to target at low-income households. Still, Americans don't really understand these policies. Two in three claimants of the home-mortgage-interest deduction say it doesn't do much for them. (The deduction can reduce a family's tax bill by as much as $15,000 a year.) Two in three people with a 529 college savings plan believe that they have never used a government program. The more tax breaks a person receives, the less likely they are to report that Uncle Sam has improved their quality of life, Mettler has found. Yet such initiatives cost the government hundreds of billions of dollars.

...

"Wages for hourly employees have crawled, while the paychecks of investors and executives have soared. At the same time, the wealth of investors and executives has skyrocketed, with the taxman scarcely tapping these fortunes at all. As the law professor Ray Madoff has observed, Amazon has paid Jeff Bezos a salary of roughly $82,000 a year since the late 1990s, 'low enough to make him eligible to claim the child tax credit (which he did!).' From 2014 to 2018, his net worth climbed by $99 billion, just 0.98 percent of which went to public coffers, whereas many middle-class families fork over 25 percent of their earnings. Plus, again, the cost of living has become brutally high. Even households making six figures are struggling to afford child care, rent, groceries, health insurance, summer camp, and student-loan debt."

A Mediocre Public-School Education for Just $40,000 a Pupil: How New York City’s education budget became an untouchable money pit - "As New York City becomes more expensive to live in, fewer families with children live there. The education budget nonetheless continues to go up, hurting taxpayers and diverting funds from other important services. This makes the city even more expensive to live in, and leaves young families even more squeezed, causing even fewer children to live there. The situation stems from the commendable liberal impulse to devote extensive resources to public education. But what's the point of public education without a public to educate?"

Anthropic’s Little Brother: OpenAI is racing to catch up to its greatest rival.

Why Did Trump Pardon the Former Honduran President? Follow the Tech Bros.: With Roger Stone taking a victory lap for having come up with the idea in the first place.

Untangling the Issue of Circling Roots

Physiology and root development of container-grown urban trees in response to root-shaving, root-washing, and root-slicing at planting - "Among the root modifications examined, root-shaving provided the optimal combination of improved root development while minimizing adverse effects to tree stress and crown dieback. Moreover, our results suggest that trees that are historically known to be difficult to transplant as bare-root stock are poor candidates for extreme root disturbance procedures such as root-washing when produced as container-grown trees."

What Would a Fiscal Crisis Look Like? - "Already, the U.S. is facing consequences from excessive debt. Excessive borrowing was a key driver of the recent surge in inflation and subsequent rise in interest rates, and real incomes are lower today than they otherwise would be as a result of the “crowd out” of past investment. Meanwhile, the cost of interest on the debt grew to roughly $1 trillion last year, which is more than the federal government spent on defense and about as much as it spent on Medicare. These high interest payments leave fewer resources for new spending initiatives and tax cuts. And with debt at 100% of GDP, the U.S. has less fiscal space than any time in history in case of another war, pandemic, or recession. A fiscal crisis would substantially worsen most or all of the costs of debt."

Cato Study: Immigrants Reduced Deficits by $14.5 Trillion Since 1994 - "The best way to balance the budget is to reduce spending—particularly on wealthy retirees—but rather than hinder our efforts to control deficits, immigrants are helping."

Global Trade Is Leaving the US Behind: The US’s retreat from the global economy is likely to make America less influential, less resilient, less secure, and poorer over the long term, as economic integration deepens elsewhere and other governments set new standards in trade agreements.

More Photos Emerge of Meals on Navy Ships As Pentagon Denies Shortages

This Scammer Used an AI-Generated MAGA Girl to Grift ‘Super Dumb’ Men: A med student says he’s made thousands of dollars selling photos and videos of a young conservative woman he created using generative tools. He’s not alone.

Is the tide turning for Ukraine in war with Russia?: With the EU approving a €90bn loan for Ukraine, a surprise visit from Prince Harry, and data suggesting Russian troops made almost no territorial gains in March – are there reasons for optimism in Kyiv?

Iran caused more extensive damage to U.S. military bases than publicly known: U.S. bases and equipment across the Middle East came under attack — including from an Iranian F-5, despite American air defenses — and repairs could cost billions of dollars.

They Were Michael Jackson's 'Second Family.' Now They Say He Abused Them.: The Cascio siblings are suing Mr. Jackson's estate after standing by him for years as he faced accusations of child molestation.

Farmers are bleeding money under Trump —but are doubling down on their support anyway

Reading archive 2026-04-28

Researchers say remote Lake Superior island’s wolves are thriving as packs prey on moose

Clean energy pushes fossil-fuel power into reverse for ‘first time ever’

An AI trained on 13,000 virtual worlds just projected our renewable energy future: It beat the International Energy Agency's forecasts—and it says 2°C is still on the table

Why Trump’s ballroom can’t host the White House correspondents’ dinner: The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is an independent celebration of press freedoms. - "Let us also note the irony that the current president has barred Associated Press reporters from White House events and that his Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, threatens the independence of television journalists with metronomic regularity. But now Trump wants to host at the White House a dinner supposedly celebrating the press’s freedom from government coercion."

Ukraine took Russia’s best punch. It wants to teach Europe what it learned.: The country’s fighters gave the continent's defense chiefs a blunt message: You forgot how to fight. We can help.

A Trump-branded nuclear power project thrilled investors. Then came the crash.: Corporate drama and a stock plummet at Fermi America are raising questions about the sustainability of the wider artificial intelligence boom.

UAE to leave OPEC amid Hormuz oil crisis, a blow to Saudi Arabia: The departure weakens the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, long criticized by Trump, as the global economy reels from the Iran war energy shock.

MAHA’s Perfect Villain: Glyphosate highlights the movement’s horseshoe politics and has nothing to do with vaccines.

The Age of American Caesarism: The legal right spent decades empowering the presidency. Now it must reckon with the system it helped create. [ed. note: a conservative attempts and fails to reckon honestly about how the conservative legal movement endangers the republic]

The Pentagon May Not Be Telling Trump the Full Picture About the War: Vice President Vance is worried that the U.S. is running low on weapons. - "Pentagon leaders' positive portrayals present an incomplete picture at best, people familiar with intelligence assessments told us. According to those internal estimates, Iran retains two-thirds of its air force, the bulk of its missile-launching capability, and most of its small, fast boats, which can lay mines and harass traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. At least in terms of resuming stalled maritime commerce, 'those are the real threat,' one person told us."

Reading archive 2026-04-27

Trump officials hire ‘deportation judges’ with less training, experience: The president is remaking courts to clear a backlog of asylum cases. Hires include an attorney for Jan. 6 rioters and a lawyer who championed Minneapolis ICE raids. - "Asylum rejections more than doubled to 82,371 last fiscal year, which ran from Oct. 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2025. The percentage of asylum cases granted by judges plummeted to less than 5 percent in February, compared with 48 percent in the same month in 2024 under Biden, according to TRAC."

Trump steps up a campaign against teaching English to immigrant kids The administration plans to dissolve the office that supports English instruction. - "Regardless of your opinion on illegal immigration, it’s a good idea to help these kids become as proficient in English as possible. Particularly if you support President Donald Trump’s executive order designating English 'the official language of the United States.'" [ed. note: from Jim Geraghty of the National Review]

Mood in Russia turns bleak as war in Ukraine drags on and economy suffers: With the war in its fifth year, talks stalled and sanctions biting deeper, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ratings are falling and citizens are voicing despair.

Idaho lawmakers, deadlocked over ‘rat apocalypse,’ blame city transplants: Lawmakers have spent hours debating a surge in rodents menacing Boise-area gardens and kitchens and threatening agriculture and public health.

Trump’s idea to ‘just buy’ bankrupt Spirit Airlines draws GOP backlash: The president said this week that bailing out the airline would save jobs, but his administration is divided.

The Trump-class battleships are a waste of time and money: The firing of Navy Secretary John Phelan reflects Pentagon tensions. - "It’s unfortunate that the administration is misallocating so many defense resources because U.S. defense needs are urgent — and deserve more funding, if not necessarily 50 percent more."

Democrats are closer than you think to upending the electoral college: The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact going into effect is suddenly plausible.

D.C. aims to counter rise in domestic violence amid spate of high-profile cases: Mayor Muriel Bowser and U.S. Attorney Janine Pirro introduced a bill that would boost penalties as women are more likely to experience domestic abuse in D.C. than in any state. - "Experts point to massive amounts of job loss in the region — D.C. has had the highest unemployment rate in the country for months, according to federal data. Intensifying federal immigration enforcement that has contributed to a climate of fear and stress in immigrant communities has also been a factor, with prevalence of guns in the city making matters worse for those already living with abuse."

Walking near a D.C. school raises the chance of being hit by a car, data shows: A Washington Post analysis of accident data shows pedestrians near schools are 24 percent more likely to be hit than elsewhere in the city. - "'We want safe streets across the District of Columbia,' McDuffie said during a recent interview with the 'Dream City' podcast. 

"But, he said, he would eliminate 'predatory' traffic cameras in some lower-income areas that lead to repetitive fines levied against local residents.'"

‘Michael’ Is a Vain Account of the Man in the Mirror: After an overlooked legal settlement spurred extensive reshoots, the new Michael Jackson biopic’s selective memory adheres to its subject’s self-mythologizing

Theft Is Now Progressive Chic: In some left-wing corners of the commentariat, moral rectitude is out. Flagrant disregard of the social contract is in.

Israel Could Have What It Most Wants in Lebanon: It just has to give up territorial ambitions and work with the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah.

Texans Will Decide if Jesus Was a Lefty: James Talarico is trying to sell a novel brand of Christian politics in a deep-red state.

How Netanyahu Hurt America’s Jews: The Israeli prime minister’s focus is, as always, on himself and his near-term political needs. The plight of American Jews is simply not his concern. - "Beyond Netanyahu's overt interference in American politics, he's also impeded repeated U.S. diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israel-Palestine question. Although Israeli recalcitrance on moving toward a viable two-state solution has often been matched or exceeded by the Palestinian Authority, there is no question that Netanyahu's continued support for expanding settlements in the West Bank and his lack of serious engagement in peace talks have further alienated Democrats. In the past, even when Israeli leaders disagreed with the United States, they would try to avoid open provocations. Bibi, it seems, goes out of his way to frustrate the U.S. Not surprisingly, every Democratic president who has dealt with Netanyahu directly-Clinton, Obama, Biden-appears to loathe him."

The Iran Talks Are Making India Feel Small: Modi styled himself a global leader but can’t seem to get ahead of events in the Middle East.

Reading archive 2026-04-24

The Post Tries to Regroup: After announcing major cuts, the paper is delaying layoffs and attempting to hire back former staffers.

Trump Started a War With D.C.'s Cyclists. It’s Part of a Bigger Car-Centric Agenda.: The portion of the bike lane is safe for now thanks to court intervention, but it’s emblematic of a broader push against bike infrastructure across the country.

After a GOP loss in Virginia, a push to make D.C. square again: On the heels of a redistricting referendum, a Georgia congressman proposed a bill to return parts of Northern Virginia to the District.

Elon Musk’s near-daily online posts about race are turning off some fans: The billionaire posted 850 times on the topic in recent months, almost triple the rate for the previous two years.

What the Michael Jackson movie leaves out: “Michael” was reshot to exclude scenes that would have addressed the 1993 sexual abuse allegations against Jackson.

Reading archive 2026-04-23

Is the Day of the Data Center About to Be Over?: Marco Arment's Setup as the Canary in the Coal Mine—or, Rather, as the 50 Mac Mini Server Farm Vastly More Efficient than the NVIDIA-Powered Cloud-Bound Hyperscalers...

Three foods you can make in 5 minutes that taste better than stuff in the store: These homemade foods are cheaper and yummier than what you can buy at the supermarket and can reduce the amount of packaging and processed food in your life.

The unflattering secrets revealed so far in Elon Musk’s latest legal feud: Hundreds of court filings have revealed cringey texts, emails or private diary entries of Musk, Sam Altman, other OpenAI founders and other public figures.

Trump team defends redistricting push as GOP faces limited gains: After a Virginia vote pushes seats toward Democrats, Republicans turn to Florida and the courts to claw back an edge. - "'If you’re going to pick a fight, at least win it,' Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary for George W. Bush, said on X. 'The other side will always fight back. All this was foreseeable and avoidable. We should not have started this fight.'"

Bowser, Pirro slam D.C. Council after new delay on emergency youth curfew: While council members advanced a long-term version of a youth curfew, they couldn’t reach consensus on an emergency measure that would allow it to take effect immediately.

D.C. police arrest man in killing that prompted Amber Alert for boy: Authorities were searching for Royce Hawkins after his mother was fatally shot in an alley Tuesday night in Northwest Washington.

After stolen cars from DC ended up in Africa, 6 charged in vehicle-theft ring

Reading archive 2026-04-22

Trump got his regime change in Canada. Now he may regret it.: Canada's prime minister secures a parliamentary majority and a stronger political hand. - "There’s the costly need to satisfy Quebeckers, brilliantly leveraging their inextinguishable separatist inclinations for more and more privilege, and historically standing in the way of an oil pipeline to the east. Add, now, Alberta’s malcontents, a minority (for the time being) that, wishing for a pipeline to anywhere, is pushing its own separatist cause. And, too, the Indigenous who, like Quebeckers, must constantly and expensively be placated but who, note, also play a vital role of opposition in a way that no party in Parliament actually can. First Nations here are able to challenge laws about resources, the environment and, most problematically, property title on the basis of treaties not respected and Indigenous rights that Canada is legally obliged to respect."

Scoop: NSA using Anthropic's Mythos despite blacklist

The Tech Oligarch's Republic: A look at the Palantir manifesto, a logical conclusion of the War on Terror - "You will notice the summarized thesis of The Technological Republic is one that will line Palantir's pockets while presenting that fleecing as a strategic imperative, even a moral one. That much is par for the course for the military-industrial complex. But because Palantir is talking about AI dominance, embracing its perspective creates a national-security dependency on AI purveyors and on the providers of the interfacing tier between the government and AI, like Palantir's Maven Smart System. That is not par for the course for the military-industrial complex, which has for seven decades operated as a self-dealing partnership, not a dominance battle. The February clash between Anthropic and the Defense Department is the result of the discomfort that goes along with the dawning AI dependency."

D.C. lawmakers punt another vote to extend emergency youth curfew: While council members advanced a long-term version of a youth curfew, they couldn’t reach consensus on an emergency measure that would allow it to take effect immediately.

DC Council passes permanent youth curfew on first vote, sets second vote: An 11 p.m. curfew for those under 18 passed 8-5 in the first vote. It still requires a second vote and congressional review to become law.

2-year-old boy found safe after mother is shot to death in Northwest DC: The child was reported missing after his mother was shot to death in an alley during an argument.

Federal judge’s order allows popular D.C. bike lanes to remain: The Federal Highway Administration argued that the 15th Street lanes should be removed to improve traffic in preparation for celebrations of America’s 250th anniversary.

Is having separate bank accounts hurting your marriage?: Joint accounts are becoming less common. But couples who don’t pool their resources can end up erecting a wall in their relationship.

You’re probably washing your pants wrong. Here’s how to do it right.: Air-drying pants or using a no- or low-heat dryer setting is the best way to make sure they keep looking good and last a long time.

Before cutting off a family member, ask yourself these 9 questions: For some, distance is necessary. For others, the harder — and sometimes more meaningful — work is figuring out how to stay.

Why these treatments for one of the deadliest cancers are stirring such hope: Pancreatic cancer has stymied treatment advances for decades. Data from new clinical trials shows promise.

Campus dinners aim to repair Black-Jewish alliance, frayed by the Gaza war: At the Unity Dinners, students engage in word games and frank talk. Pittsburgh will host a dinner this week, with a tour of civil rights sites also on the menu.

Campus dinners aim to repair Black-Jewish alliance, frayed by the Gaza war: At the Unity Dinners, students engage in word games and frank talk. Pittsburgh will host a dinner this week, with a tour of civil rights sites also on the menu.

Reading archive 2026-04-20

The AI people have been right a lot: Try to keep an open mind as the world gets increasingly wild.

Amazon is behind on jobs promised for funding to build Virginia headquarters: The company expected to be nearly halfway to its goal of 25,000 new jobs in the area by 2038. It has created a little more than 7,000. - "The company should have added 11,643 jobs at the site in Crystal City it refers to as HQ2 by the end of 2025, according to the incentive agreement with the state. Instead, it has created 7,159 jobs as of Dec. 31 — which is 28.6 percent of the total goal, instead of the 46.5 percent mark the company expected."

D.C. police sought to arrest Rep. Cory Mills after assault call, records show: The Florida Republican is the focus of a House ethics probe stemming, in part, from the alleged assault.

Woman dead after being struck in DC crosswalk, driver flees - "DC Police say Dawn Ciccone of Northwest DC was in a crosswalk when a 2026 Jeep Wrangler passed drivers in a designated left turn lane, made an illegal turn from the middle lane, and struck her."

‘It’s pissing people off’: Centrist Democrats are livid with AIPAC after primary fiasco: AIPAC spent $2 million attacking moderate-leaning Tom Malinowski in a House special election — and may have handed the race to progressive Analilia Mejia.

How Silicon Valley Humiliated the Democrats: When will they learn? The party remains far too solicitous of an industry that’s rewarded their fealty with four years of Trump and untold damage to democracy.

Outrage over Israeli soldier's vandalism of Jesus statue in Lebanon - "A 2025 report by the Rossing Center, a Jerusalem-based organisation which aims to foster better inter-faith relations in the Holy Land, describes a 'recent surge in overt animosity towards Christianity', putting this down to 'a continued deepening of polarisation and ultra-nationalist political trends'."

As D.C. police search for dirt biker who struck boy, his family seeks change: D.C. police are looking for a dirt bike driver who they say is responsible for striking two children, critically injuring one, in Northwest Washington.

U.S. companies don’t have to take this: China's new rules for businesses send America a message: Be our friend — or else.

These relatives of foreign thugs called America home. No more.: Revoking visas from authoritarians’ kin is overdue.

D.C. curfews are not enough to curb crime. Arrest data shows why.: Youth violence in the District happens on the move. So should prevention.

Here’s what the stock market might have gotten wrong about the Iran war: The surge in optimism contrasts starkly with continued energy supply challenges that threaten long-lasting economic harm — and a market reckoning. - "'There is a disconnect between what the markets look like and what is actually happening in the world,' said Tibor Besedes, a professor of economics at the Georgia Institute of Technology. 'The markets seem to be pricing this as a temporary shock even though people in the oil sector say this will be long term. It is not as simple as opening the faucet to get oil flowing again. I don’t understand why every time news comes out that we might have a ceasefire, the markets react this way. It is like investors do not realize we are still in a war.'"

Gas prices threaten GOP in race that could help determine House control: Gas prices pose a challenge for Republicans in competitive midterm races, even as the president promises an end to the war in Iran soon.

A new foothold for Moscow in Europe after Bulgaria election: After the defeat of Hungary’s Viktor Orban, the victory in Bulgaria by Rumen Radev will install a new pro-Russian voice within the European Union.

Democrat in key race defended guns after mass shooting and insulted Kaepernick: Bob Brooks, a firefighter who appeals to the White working class, engaged with right-wing content. His endorsers in the Pennsylvania House race stand by him.

FBI Director Kash Patel sues the Atlantic for $250M, alleging defamation: The magazine published a report alleging Patel engaged in “excessive drinking" in work settings and had “unexplained absences.”

‘I am a Democrat’: Will Pennsylvania turn on John Fetterman?: The senator bets his career on an independent streak and working with Republicans.

Reading archive 2026-04-19

Ukraine Has Finally Given Up on Trump: Zelensky has written off the United States.

In Angola, love for an American pope but not for an American president: In Luanda, Catholics expressed love and admiration for Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, but not so much for President Trump because of the war in Iran.

Reading archive 2026-04-18

The FBI Director Is MIA Kash Patel has alarmed colleagues with episodes of excessive drinking and unexplained absences. - "He is erratic, suspicious of others, and prone to jumping to conclusions before he has necessary evidence, according to the more than two dozen people I interviewed about Patel's conduct, including current and former FBI officials, staff at law-enforcement and intelligence agencies, hospitality-industry workers, members of Congress, political operatives, lobbyists, and former advisers. Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information and private conversations, they described Patel's tenure as a management failure and his personal behavior as a national-security vulnerability.

...

"Inside the FBI, which had been wounded by a number of scandals, many hoped that Patel could give the bureau a fresh start. But even many of those who had been enthusiastic about his arrival have since been disappointed. Officials said that Patel has been an irregular presence at FBI headquarters and in field offices, and that he has compounded the agency's existing bureaucratic bottlenecks. Several current and former officials told me that Patel is often away or unreachable, delaying time-sensitive decisions needed to advance investigations. On several occasions, an official told me, Patel's delays resulted in normally unflappable agents 'losing their shit.'"

Reading archive 2026-04-17 pt 2

SpaceX Is Basically a Huge Meme Stock: The company may be losing money, but it will soon be the most expensive big stock in the market.

What Viktor Orbán’s Opponents Sacrificed to Beat Him: Hungary offers lessons in defeating right-wing populists. - "In the United States, many of Donald Trump's most fervent critics do something rather different: When the president and Fox News criticize an idea, Democrats declare themselves to be for it. This dynamic not only allows MAGA Republicans to set the terms of the American political debate but also boxes Democrats into backing unpopular policy positions: defunding the police; limiting immigration enforcement, even for criminals; insisting upon allowing the participation of trans women in women's sports. Roger Scruton, the late British conservative philosopher, brought to prominence the idea of "oikophobia" - that is, a feeling of embarrassment about one's home country and of affection for foreign societies that arises as a reaction to xenophobia. This affliction is not uncommon among American Democrats, and it concedes the field of patriotism to Republicans. This is an error that successful anti-populists such as Magyar and Tusk do not fall into."

It’s Not Just Iran. Trump Is Flailing on Multiple Fronts.: The president is on a losing streak, and even some of his aides are dismayed by his choices.

The Publishing Mystery That No One Wants to Talk About: A minimally speaking autistic man just wrote a best-selling book. Or did he? - "Clinicians quickly came to understand that the method was susceptible to a very powerful "Ouija-board effect": A facilitator could unwittingly deliver subtle and subconscious prompts-gentle pressure on a person's wrist, perhaps-that shaped the outcome of the process. When the typers were subjected to formal "message-passing tests," in which they would be asked to name an object or a picture that they'd seen while their helper wasn't in the room, they almost always failed. Even kids who had produced fluid written work seemed incapable, under those conditions, of saying anything at all.

Reading archive 2026-04-17 pt 1

A New Kind of Hybrid Car Is About to Hit America’s Streets: The car industry says it has an answer for drivers wary of going electric.

If your heart stopped right now, would a stranger save you? It depends on your sex.: Why women are less likely to receive CPR—and less likely to survive

DC Mayor extends juvenile curfew citing weeks of disorderly behavior, violence: The curfew zones were put in place in response to "teen takeovers," large gatherings of kids and teenagers promoted on social media.

D.C. police lieutenant charged with seeking to have sex with a minor: Matthew Mahl, a D.C. police lieutenant, allegedly exchanged sexually explicit text messages with a Maryland detective pretending to be a 15-year-old boy.

How to save money on tree work and still get good results: Even healthy trees need a little branch management from time to time.

Iran says Strait of Hormuz is now open amid push to end war: President Trump welcomed the announcement, but U.S. officials said the naval blockade on vessels leaving from and going to Iranian ports remains in effect.

Nothing ever dies. It merely becomes embarrassing.: OR: the Halo theory of science - "The secret sauce of science is supposed to be falsifiability: it ain’t science unless you can kill it. If I claim that all swans are white, and you show up with a black swan, then I’m supposed to bid a tearful goodbye to my theory and send it to that big farm upstate where it can frolic and play with all the other failed hypotheses. 

"Falsification sounds straightforward until you actually try it. You show up with your black swan, and instead of admitting defeat, I go, 'Hmm, well is it really black? Is it actually a swan? Seems more like a dusky-looking duck to me!' And we publish dueling papers until the end of our days.

...

"This is the situation we appear to be in with many theories in psychology. We can’t say whether they’re 'real' or not. Somewhere out there, the Spartans may live on. But if we’ve been studying something for decades and people look at all the evidence and they still doubt whether it exists at all, we have to admit: that’s cringe. 

"Cringe doesn’t mean wrong! Continental drift was cringe.2 Germ theory was cringe.3 Smallpox vaccination was cringe.4 All of them went from mortifying to undeniable. Maybe truly revolutionary theories must follow that trajectory. If a scientific idea is young and it’s not cringe, it probably has no promise. But if it’s old and it’s still cringe, it probably has no merit."

Another Energy Crisis Is Here. This Time, the Way Out Is Different. - "This is the first energy shock where clean energy is not a moral or long‑term bet, but the cheapest and fastest way for low‑ and middle‑income countries to protect macroeconomic stability, food security, and fiscal space."

This is the scariest question about Putin — and Trump: The Russian president's back is to the wall. That makes him more dangerous.

A Pillar of the Economics Establishment Admits That It Was Wrong: In a new report, the World Bank thinks better of its old free-market absolutism. - "In this context, the World Bank's implicit message to the rest of the world appears to be: Yes, industrial policy can work if done correctly. But please, for the love of God, don't do what America is doing."

Trump Voters Are Over It: A shocking number of the president’s supporters have turned against him.

The DNA Fix for Aging: Everyone’s DNA keeps mutating. Could correcting those errors lead to longevity?

The Quiet Way Authoritarianism Begins to Crumble: Among the many reasons for Viktor Orbán’s defeat was the rural clubs where citizens relearned democratic habits.

Israel Moderates Are Losing the Democratic Party: Their position has become untenable. But liberal Zionists can adapt. - "The theoretical case for a two-state solution remains as sound as ever. The trouble is that the Palestinian side has rejected repeated attempts by Democratic presidents to bring about the birth of a Palestinian state, and that Israel's longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his right-wing coalition do everything they can to subvert such a solution. At some point, supporters of the two-state solution have to take 'no' for an answer. The United States is effectively supporting a one-state solution whose entire strategy rests on an endless cycle of responding to terrorism with military force (a process of periodic attacks that Israel calls 'mowing the lawn') in place of any diplomatic path.

...

"Liberal Zionists can win an intra-Democratic argument against anti-Zionist radicals, but they can't win it while burdened with support for subsidizing settlements and a strategy of endless conflict. The most extreme anti-Zionist activists won't be satisfied with anything short of committing the Democratic Party to Israel's demise. But the most left-wing position in recent Democratic primaries - on Iraq in 2004, on health care in 2016 - has rarely been adopted by the candidate who emerges as the party's eventual nominee."

Reading archive 2026-04-16

Boys killed in shooting near Northeast DC convenience store were visiting new food truck

Police arrest teen in connection with graffiti at elementary school that referenced Sandy Hook

Amid ‘constant' data center noise, Sterling residents also worry about health impact: A study done for an environmental group shows emissions from the center could have severe health consequences.

Trump tests loyalty of Christian supporters as erratic behavior escalates: The president maintains his hold on the Christian right, but his bluster, fight with the pope and portrayal of himself as a Jesus-like figure strain that bond.

Why Democrats are failing to reach young voters like me: Some in the party don’t understand the attention economy or how to communicate.

Prosecutors add terrorism charge in new D.C. pipe bomb indictment: Brian Cole Jr. is accused of placing explosives near the RNC and DNC headquarters the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. - "During the first two hours of his FBI interview in December, Cole denied placing the pipe bombs and said he was a Trump supporter. After being told that lying to federal agents could be charged as an additional crime, Cole admitted that he planted the bombs out of frustration with both political parties and 'denied that his actions were directed toward Congress or related to the proceedings scheduled to take place on January 6,' prosecutors said."

Reading archive 2026-04-15

Some Contemporary Heresies

The Death of a Superman: An entirely avoidable problem is killing dozens of homeless people across the country. why is it being ignored? - "Death in a bin, a police officer told the Toronto Sun, 'would be painful, and it would not be quick.' Canadians learned that the victim’s terrible end had come after a hard life. Crystal Papineau had been kicked out of school, left home at sixteen, and struggled with addiction. And it’s possible that she crawled into the bin not for clothes but to get out of the cold. It was a freezing night, and the shelters were over capacity."

Oil prices may be starting to come down for a worrisome reason: The largest oil shock in history caused prices to surge. Now they're so high that they may be causing "demand destruction." That would mean slower economic growth.

Trump’s reversal on day care upends a bipartisan push to lower costs: Lawmakers and advocates were gaining momentum until the president backtracked on his campaign promise.

Vance praises Trump, while subtly differentiating himself at Georgia event: At a gathering of conservative college students, the vice president expressed respect for Pope Leo XIV and empathized with concerns about high costs of living.

War powers vote will test Senate’s support for Trump’s war with Iran: Some Republicans have expressed concerns about the war as it approaches the two-month mark, saying the administration must make the case for continuing it.

A New Geopolitical Reality Is Here: America’s adversaries are uniting as its own coalition falls apart. - "The Iran war has laid bare a new geopolitical reality. America's adversaries are becoming more coordinated, sharing resources and capabilities in ways that amplify their power, while America's global alliances, long its greatest asset, are neglected and fragmenting. The United States is, in effect, moving toward a world in which it faces more connected opponents with a less cohesive coalition of its own. This is a major shift with profound implications for U.S. national security-and it's one that the Trump administration shows no sign of recognizing, let alone reversing."

Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted?:  New interviews and closely guarded documents shed light on the persistent doubts about the head of OpenAI. - "Yet most of the people we spoke to shared the judgment of Sutskever and Amodei: Altman has a relentless will to power that, even among industrialists who put their names on spaceships, sets him apart. 'He’s unconstrained by truth,' the board member told us. 'He has two traits that are almost never seen in the same person. The first is a strong desire to please people, to be liked in any given interaction. The second is almost a sociopathic lack of concern for the consequences that may come from deceiving someone.'"

Reading archive 2026-04-14

America Looks Like a Paper Tiger: The U.S. showed great tactical capabilities in the Iran war, but Iran emerged the winner at a strategic level.

The Forgotten War That Iran Already Won: Tehran fought for decades to prevent Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Only Losers Play the Madman: Does Trump seem crazy? Sure. Credible, not so much. - "Nobody executes a madman strategy when he feels that he's winning. Strong and successful powers emphasize consistency and predictability. So do powers that hope to be seen as strong and successful. When China's foreign minister speaks to the world, he uses language such as 'China will be a reliable force for stability' and China 'is providing the greatest certainty in this uncertain world.' He understands that true power does not need to boast or yell."

This detox may erase 10 years of social media brain damage, researchers say: Studies show that taking even short breaks could reverse measures of cognitive decline.

Metro hair toucher arrested again for stalking: A DC judge has ordered Bryan Betancur to be held without bond following his stalking charges.

Gov. Spanberger signs bill to end the renewal of Robert E. Lee license plates in Virginia

Record animal sacrifice attempts at Al-Aqsa prompt status quo fears: Record number of attempts by Israeli settlers to smuggle Passover sacrifices into the holy site since 1967 leads to takeover fears.

Trump Desperately Tries to Spin His Massive Surrender in Iran as a Win: Iran has retained control of the Strait of Hormuz—and Donald Trump insists that’s a good thing.

Why high oil prices are good for oil companies — until they aren't - "When oil prices stay consistently above that $90 mark, 'the economy suffers and inflation rises,' Crooks, of research group Wood MacKenzie, says. 'Growth falls. Interest rates may go up. People in the wider economy lose their jobs.'"

These Chimps Began the Bloodiest ‘War’ on Record. No One Knows Why.: A long-running conflict in a Ugandan park may provide clues to the origins of human warfare, and how to avoid it.

Not Even Noise-Cancelling Headphones Can Block This Bicycle Bell: Skoda designed a new bike bell that slips through active noise cancellation using a specific frequency gap that most headphones cannot suppress

'America's Main Street' in DC could get a massive overhaul; here's what leaders propose

A new map is fueling a debate on housing and displacement in D.C.: Critics of the proposed Future Land Use Map say it isn't thinking big enough.

Ye Wants Your Forgiveness. So What?: The former Kanye West is making his bid to rejoin mainstream culture—with mixed results.

How Did Samuel Alito Become This Angry?: A quiet, bookish justice’s personal leanings have become ever more overt.

In Praise of ‘Difficult’ Kids: Feisty children can be exhausting. They also possess a moral fire that deserves cultivating.

Reading archive 2026-04-13

Car with more than $260K in unpaid tickets towed in DC: The Maryland car had racked up nearly 900 unpaid tickets.

Menace on the Streets: E-bikes and e-scooters are remaking the rules of the road. Canada’s cities aren’t ready.

In 1990, a bipartisan Congress passed historic bills. Then it cracked apart.: 36 years ago, a Republican president and Democratic lawmakers produced monumental laws. Now a broken Congress has enabled Trump to undo key parts of that legacy.

A new poll shows the political risk to Israel from the war in Iran: Launching the attack was a big gamble with American opinion that isn’t paying off.

After record highs, Colorado’s legal pot market hits a harsh comedown: Oversupply and competition from other states have helped upend the nation’s first legal cannabis market.

On Africa trip, Pope Leo will face debate over polygamy as Catholicism booms: Leo’s early papacy has been defined largely by his response to President Donald Trump but a 10-day trip, starting Monday, will let the pope focus on spreading the faith. - "In recent years, Africa’s Catholic bishops have become increasingly assertive. They rebelled in 2023 when Francis explicitly allowed priests to offer brief blessings to people in same-sex couples, issuing an official rejection of his ruling on a continent where homosexuality in some nations is punishable by death.

"Now, they are pushing for their own dispensation, pressing the Vatican to embrace pastoral outreach for polygamists — more prevalent in some African nations than anywhere else."

D.C. mayoral candidates want to build more housing — but investors don’t: Plans by Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan R. McDuffie to increase the housing supply and lower costs for renters are different in scope, but they face the same hurdles.

Bowser’s final D.C. budget includes $469M in cuts amid tough fiscal picture: Mayor Muriel Bowser’s $21.2 billion budget proposal would put off pay raises for firefighters and cut a program that boosts early childhood educator pay.

Claude Mythos Is Everyone’s Problem: What happens when AI can hack everything?

What China Just Learned From the Iran War: A blockade of Taiwan would hurt the global economy more than Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. - "The war in Iran has flipped this argument on its head. As seems clear from Tuesday night's truce, an authoritarian regime far weaker than China can use global supply chains as leverage and, in the process, force the U.S. to back away from its threats. By closing the Strait of Hormuz, Iran caused the average price of gas in the U.S. to shoot up by nearly 40 percent, piling political pressure on Trump to end the war as soon as possible. A Pew Research Center poll conducted at the end of March found that gas prices were the biggest concern among Americans when it came to the war in Iran, well above the chance of 'large numbers of U.S. military casualties.'"

A Cancer Treatment That Does More Than Scientists Thought: CAR-T cell therapy, originally developed for cancer, is showing ever more promise as a treatment for autoimmune diseases.

Reading archive 2026-04-08

Why D.C.’s ‘teen takeovers’ have become a political lightning rod: The large, sometimes-unruly weekend gatherings have spawned arrests, a stricter curfew and alternative events, but long-term solutions are elusive. - "Bonds said she believed the government was doing 'about as much as we can.' Government, she said, could not replace family support or redirect all the teens who might be thinking of going to a 'takeover' to instead attend city-sponsored events."

Driver convicted in fatal Rock Creek Parkway crash that led to repeat offender law: A D.C. jury found Nakita Walker guilty of involuntary manslaughter and other charges for the collision that killed three people and inspired the city’s Steer Act.

Trump’s labor plan is a massive 401(k) greed grab for Wall Street: The Labor Department wants to give Wall Street firms greater access to a lucrative market — your 401(k).

Trump agrees to suspend attacks for two weeks if Iran opens Strait of Hormuz: The president said he had received a 10-point proposal from Iran that formed a “workable basis” for negotiations. But Israel said the ceasefire “does not include Lebanon.”

‘This is an apartheid regime’: Critics decry Israel’s new death penalty law: Celebrations in the Israeli parliament mark the passing of legislation intended to apply to Palestinians only. - "The new law means that military courts in the occupied West Bank, which solely try Palestinians, will, by default, impose the death sentence on anyone found guilty by Israel’s legal system of carrying out an unlawful killing of Israelis when the act is defined by the court as 'terrorism'. 

"Conversely, any Israeli citizen charged with an unlawful killing in the occupied West Bank – such as the seven Palestinians killed during a spike in settler violence that has followed the start of the Israel-United States war on Iran – are tried in Israel’s civilian courts. 

"Conviction rates for Palestinians tried in military courts run to 99.74 percent. In contrast, the conviction rate from 2005 to 2024 for Israelis tried for crimes committed in the West Bank is about 3 percent."

I’m an American living in Europe. It’s leaving the U.S. — fast.: Europeans are hedging against coercion in security, trade, education and everyday life.

This simple springtime activity is surprisingly good for your brain: Gardening isn’t just a hobby: It can challenge your brain and help reduce your stress levels, two factors that may help stave off cognitive decline.

A casket cartel tries to bury the competition: An Oklahoma couple has run afoul of a state law protecting funeral-home operators.

Hormuz traffic at standstill, strikes reported in Gulf amid fragile Iran ceasefire: With Trump and Iran each claiming victory, but still far apart on key issues, the two-week agreement raises the prospect of respite after nearly six weeks of war.

The Iran ceasefire was a TACO Tuesday, and thank goodness: Trump gets to act like his bloodcurdling threats worked, but he’s giving up far more than Tehran did.

Trump to discuss leaving NATO in meeting with alliance’s leader, White House says: The president, long a NATO skeptic, has been especially angry at alliance members in recent weeks for declining to take part in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Reading archive 2026-04-07

'She has a lot of remorse' | Woman found not guilty of murder, guilty of lesser charges in deadly 2023 Rock Creek Park crash: Nakita Walker was facing of three counts of second-degree murder, but instead was convicted on involuntary manslaughter charges.

Wisconsin Supreme Court back on ballot after years-long fight for control: The state’s high court, which liberals will control either way, could take up cases on abortion, redistricting and election disputes in coming years.

Democrats are turning Republicans’ arguments against them in midterm races: Republicans won in 2024 by promising to cut the cost of living, but high gas prices are frustrating voters and providing a potent line of attack ahead of this year’s elections.

Why Is the New York Times Laundering the Reputation of a Sleazy AI Startup That’s Selling GLP-1s via a Dishonest Dumpster Fire of Fake Doctors, Phony Before-and-After Pictures, and Other Glaring Red Flags?: "It's just an automated GLP-1 prescription mill." - "Dr. Jonathan Slotkin, a neurosurgeon, hospital executive, and investor called the NYT‘s profile of Medvi a 'transcript of a Silicon Valley fever dream' and a 'byproduct of regulatory lag and consumer desperation.'"

London music festival canceled after Britain bans headliner Kanye West: The move comes after days of mounting controversy over past antisemitic statements made by the rapper, now known as Ye.

Epic winter drought creates a bleak situation for farmers — and your food: If rainfall shortages and record heat continue, the effects may ripple throughout the U.S. food supply, with the cost of beef already surging.

The heat pump water heater payoff: Here’s how to crunch the numbers: What I learned about what to buy, how to save and what to avoid before plugging in a heat pump water heater.

The Real Intelligence Failure in Iran: A costly quagmire was predictable. Trump went to war anyway.

Trump Is Putting America’s Weaknesses on Display: What China can learn about the limits of American military capacity

Reading archive 2026-04-06

Don’t Mess With the Housewives of Ukraine: My interview with a tank maker provoked fury and memes—including from Zelensky.

How the Left Accidentally Bolstered the Nativist Right: By dismissing the distinction between legal and illegal immigration as bogus, advocates signaled that they would not defend it. - "In his book, The Normalization of the Radical Right, the political scientist Vicente Valentim shows that much of the recent rise in radical-right political behavior reflects not a change in what people believe, but a change in what they feel comfortable expressing. When norms weaken, often after radical-right politicians achieve electoral success, privately held views long kept quiet become publicly acceptable. Valentim's work focuses on Europe, but his analysis applies to America too. Over the past two decades, voters with restrictionist views have sorted into the GOP, making those preferences louder within the party. President Trump did not create this constituency, but he recognized and catered to it more than any modern president before him had. Each taboo he shattered around immigration made it easier for him and his supporters to transgress even more.

"And so, in Trump's second term, under Stephen Miller's newfound influence, the obliteration of the legal/illegal distinction has been formalized much more strongly into policy. The result: an administration now openly attacking legal immigration channels, including by targeting asylum and skilled-worker visas and implementing a visa freeze covering 75 countries. Like so much of the Trump agenda, these attacks are not broadly popular-in fact, polling suggests that support for legal immigration has never been higher-but they appeal to a small though intense nativist minority that no longer feels constrained and that makes up an important part of Trump's core coalition."

The Intellectual Right Is Mad at the Mess It’s Made: Conservatives are criticizing influencers for going too far. - "Bookish conservatives are fond of the tale of Buckley banishing the John Birch Society to the fringes. But that's not the whole story. Buckley walked a fine line, publicly criticizing Welch while otherwise trying not to alienate the society's rank and file, the historian Matthew Dallek argues in his 2023 book, Birchers. Buckley's gripes were more about the group's style and its leaders than its ideology. Birchers were widely derided for being racist and conspiratorial. But Buckley, the genteel conservative, was broadly in alignment with some of the group's views, calling white people "the advanced race" in a 1957 editorial in National Review, supporting Jim Crow segregation, and writing a book defending the Red-baiting propagandist Senator Joseph McCarthy."

Hitler’s Edifice Complex: He was obsessed with adding an expensive new wing to the Reich chancellery, part of his grandiose architectural ambitions for the nation’s capital.

Alleged D.C. pipe bomber might adopt debunked conspiracy theory as defense: Prosecutors said Brian Cole Jr.'s attorneys should be held in contempt for revealing the home address of a former Capitol Police officer who was ruled out as the suspect. - "During the first two hours of his FBI interview in December, the 30-year-old Cole denied placing the pipe bombs and said he was a Trump supporter. After being told that lying to federal agents could be charged as an additional crime, Cole admitted that he planted the bombs out of frustration with both parties and 'denied that his actions were directed toward Congress or related to the proceedings scheduled to take place on January 6,' prosecutors said."

MPD arrests 8 juveniles after multiple fights break out in Southwest

DC student hospitalized after group stomps him, steals Louis Vuitton shoes

Chinese firms market Iran war intelligence ‘exposing’ U.S. forces: The private companies — some with ties to the military — are marketing detailed intelligence on movements of U.S. forces, even as Beijing seeks to keep its distance.

Three men charged with murdering D.C. woman who went missing in 2023: Chyna Crawford, 25, is believed to have been kidnapped before she was killed. Authorities say the new indictments bring the total number of suspects to five.

Metrobus slams into D.C. restaurant, injuring 3 people: Photos showed the bus halfway inside the Balkan restaurant Ambar.

Never subsidize a sports stadium. And definitely not like this.: Jacksonville taxpayers are getting fleeced.

Their tiny church is on the cover of JD Vance’s new book. They don’t know him.: The members of a Methodist church in rural Virginia are excited — if a little confused — that the vice president’s memoir of his path to Catholicism has put them in the spotlight.

On the problem of landscape tarp: How carpeting your soil in plastic sheeting became an industry standard—and why it needs to stop.

Reading archive 2026-04-3

If Congress wants dialogue with Russia, it’s talking to the wrong people: Lawmakers should build ties with Russia’s democratic forces, not legitimize Putin’s enablers. - "To make the meeting possible, Luna had to secure a special exemption from the State Department: All visiting members of the Russian Duma are sanctioned by the U.S. for supporting — and formally authorizing — Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A return visit by U.S. lawmakers to Moscow is being planned for June of this year."

U.S. fighter jet crashes in Iran; search launched for 2 crew members: It’s the first known loss of an American aircraft inside Iranian territory since the war began a month ago.

Reading archive 2026-04-02

Police arrest suspect in gruesome slaying in historic D.C. neighborhood: The killing of Syed Hammad Hussain in his Logan Circle condominium started out as a random robbery, court documents say. - "Police said that hours after the robbery and killing, the second suspect was captured on surveillance video inside a pre-trial release facility in Southeast Washington. There, police said, he was seen adjusting a watch he was wearing that court documents say resembles a Cartier that belonged to Hussain."

Court tosses sentence for former clerk in scheme tied to 2020 election: The Colorado appeals court ordered a new sentence for Tina Peters, a former county elections official convicted for her efforts to boost Trump’s false claims.

Saudi Arabia’s record donation to the National Zoo buys more than an exhibit: In a $51.6 million act of animal diplomacy, the Saudis will fund a habitat for endangered Arabian leopards. - "RITM0260147Countries in the Gulf and their sovereign wealth funds have learned that institutional hesitation tends to fade when dollar amounts are high enough, which is one reason they will makes offers that are triple or quadruple market rates. Ask The Post AI Dive deeper “Among Gulf people with money, in general, people will straight up [say], ‘We don’t care what you really think of us. We can buy you and sell you,’” Koch said."

America Needs to Get Serious About Drones: The new age of war is already here, swarming over Barksdale Air Force Base.

The Real Religious ‘Renewal’ Happening in Gen Z: Some pastors and politicians claim that a Christian revival is afoot among young Americans. Nationwide data tell a different story. - "It's important not to overblow Gen Z's renewed interest in traditional Christianity. Double the number of converts at a college campus or an urban parish, from a small baseline, is not going to stave off broader generational trends. Growing congregations have an incentive to publicize their numbers, which declining ones lack. Conversions, moreover, should be noted alongside their foil. For every Catholic convert, for example, roughly eight Catholics leave the faith. And a proper 'revival' - such as the religious awakenings of the 18th and 19th centuries-is generally understood as emerging in multiple places and galvanizing a statistically significant portion of the population."

The Hardest Job in Europe: Ukraine’s ambassador to Hungary represents a government that has become Viktor Orbán’s primary target.

Coffin nails and the habit that defies burial: There now are so few norms to transgress, for some aspiring renegades smoking must suffice.

Trump endorses Republican plan to end DHS shutdown: The plan would fund ICE and Border Patrol for three years without Democrats’ help while relying on Democratic votes to fund the rest of DHS.

Wartime fuel shortages spawn panic, robberies and killings in Asia: Gas station workers in Bangladesh and Pakistan have been killed by angry motorists.

Catastrophic sewage spill followed years of delay on repairs, Post review finds: A Washington Post investigation reveals that a prolonged environmental review pushed back work on the Potomac Interceptor that was initially proposed in 2018. - "In September 2021, during President Joe Biden’s first year in office, the utility informed the Park Service that the project would probably require removing not three trees, but about 260. The utility promised to replant hundreds of trees, replacing the diameter of those lost, inch-for-inch."

Why Trump Didn’t Predict the Gas-Price Spike: The president doesn’t understand that markets are global. - "Trump wishes for a United States economy walled off from the rest of the world. That's why he loves tariffs so much-and why he refuses to think about what they mean to American producers, who now must pay more for inputs such as aluminum. 

"But with energy, there is no walling off. Most of America's oil and gas is produced in the United States. American imports come overwhelmingly from Canada and Mexico. But American oil can be put on a tanker and sent to Japan or the European Union if the price across the ocean rises. The global process of buying and selling equalizes prices worldwide. Walling off the U.S. would mean America would have to stop exporting and importing oil. Trump does not want to do that. In fact, he endlessly urges other countries to buy more American oil and gas. As he said in his March 31 comments: 'Buy from the U.S.; we have plenty.'"

Lions Led by Donkeys: The U.S. is fighting Iran under the worst wartime political leadership America has ever had. - "There is a reason that even those of us who fully recognize Iran's menace and are pleased with the elimination of much of its military capabilities, and who hope for the eventual fall of this brutal and dangerous regime, find it impossible to advocate for what is, in many ways, a just war. With political leadership so feckless, so dysfunctional, so incapable of planning, so willing to betray friends and allies for short-term advantage, so willing to lie and advocate criminal behavior, our military is simply not in responsible hands. It may yet succeed, and even succeed greatly, but that will be a tribute only to the lions, not the donkeys."

The Autocrat’s Dilemma: Xi Jinping’s ruthless reign in China offers important lessons for aspiring authoritarians. - "Since taking charge of the party in 2012, Xi has steadily dismantled the system that oversaw three decades of explosive growth by concentrating power in his own hands. He has marginalized party elders, tossed out political rivals, and sidelined members of other factions, which has stifled policy debates and removed checks on his power. Many of Xi's moves are purportedly about rooting out corruption, but in a political system rife with graft, this tactic enables him to pick off anyone he wishes. In 2022, Xi packed the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, the country's most powerful governing body, with close associates and political allies. 'Personal loyalty to Xi is his absolute priority and a baseline requirement for being promoted to the top leadership,' Thomas said."

DC is putting rats on birth control: DC Health is using edible birth control bait — and lethal bait — to curb the rat population in parts of the city.

Trump backs off campaign promises to protect Medicare, help with child care: As a candidate, Trump pledged to prioritize child care affordability and preserve Medicare. A spokeswoman argued that the president, in his comments Wednesday, was referring to fraud. - "'We’re a big country,' Trump went on. 'We have 50 states. We have all these other people. We’re fighting wars. It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these things.'"

Reading archive 2026-04-01

Retirees receive six times as much in federal dollars as young people: An analysis from Penn Wharton Budget Model shows that baby boomers and the Silent Generation received an estimated $2.7 trillion in federal outlays last year.

Bike share: Paris has made space for cyclists in a way that I simply have not seen in any other city

D.C. Council overrides Bowser’s veto of police bill, underscoring tensions: The council also postponed a vote on a curfew extension, which the mayor has pressed for after some large youth gatherings ended with acts of violence.