Reading archive 2026-07-16

CIA Officers Can Sense the Threat Within: A survey reveals concern among the rank and file that Trump-administration meddling is undermining intelligence work.

The Timidity of America’s Top Generals: Deference to civilian power is part of the job but can go too far. - "Seen one way, Caine's studious deference to civilian authority is an appropriate correction from the generals in charge of America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, who were famously strident about what they thought the wars should be about and how they should be run. Top officers such as Caine serve at the pleasure of the president and can be relieved anytime; their jobs are to provide military counsel, not to shape preferred outcomes. 

"But looked at another way, Caine and other generals are being overly timid and deferential, in part because Pete Hegseth demands it. The secretary of defense has forced out more than 20 generals and admirals, including some of the most respected career officers in the forces: Caine's predecessor, Air Force General C. Q. Brown Jr.; two other members of the Joint Chiefs; and, most recently, Army General C. D. Donahue. Meanwhile, Hegseth has promoted less experienced officers. He has offered no explanation for each individual ouster, and the dismissals have fed a sense among his senior commanders that he prizes fealty and acquiescence over competence and experience."

Believe the Hype About Teen Takeovers: Outdoor street parties are turning into violent rumbles in D.C. and other large cities. - "If takeovers are ultimately about apps that help teenagers outwit their elders, better tech may be all we need. If takeovers are a symptom of deeper problems in the current generation of teens, they are likely to continue, even if under a different name."

An agonizing interview failed to end the GOP’s Marx problem: Colorado's GOP nominee for governor says things that are beyond peculiar.

The 10-mpg RV has met its all-electric successor: Millions of Americans venture into the great outdoors in RVs, and new technologies aim for fuel efficiency and automation.

Waymo really wants to operate in D.C. But does D.C. want Waymo?: The D.C. Council is weighing legislation that would allow driverless vehicles to carry paying passengers in the city.

Scientists probe sharp drop in Chesapeake Bay’s crab population The species faces many threats, including a reduction of underwater grasses that shelter young crabs, experts said.

Federal panel urges changes to Trump plan to fence Lafayette Square: The Commission of Fine Arts will “probably” support the plan, its Trump-appointed chairman said, but wants to see more design options first. - "Commission members on Thursday suggested that some of the design ideas presented were unnecessarily ornate. James McCrery II, a member of the commission who served as the first architect for Trump’s planned White House ballroom before wrangling with the president over its size, suggested simply replicating the existing fence that goes around the White House grounds. 

"'Just let it be a fence,” McCrery said. 'I think that the White House fence is a very good model.'"

As Democrats battle over the future, a swing-state lawmaker wants a new focus: A freshman lawmaker from Michigan says liberals cannot afford to argue over ideology and must reconnect with the “drowning” working class. - "'There is this debate around philosophy inside the Democratic Party that actually isn’t real for me. It’s not real for me and my district. It makes for great talk on a 24-hour news channel, but what we really need to do is to make sure people are safe, that people can afford their groceries, that they can afford their utilities,' she said. 'What’s capturing the political conversation is this debate around the democratic socialists versus the moderates. That’s a conversation about philosophy when people are drowning.'"

Reflecting Pool peeling probably caused by application flaws, experts say: President Donald Trump has blamed vandals, but a Washington Post analysis finds that the peeling tracks closely with stages of the renovation process. - "The pool, which holds approximately 4 million gallons of water, has long had problems with algae and leaks. In 2012, it completed a two-year, $34 million renovation that shored up its floor support system to prevent the pool from sinking. For that project, contractors poured new, tinted concrete for the bottom of the pool and utilized a hydrophilic joint sealing strip, Hydrotite, from the New Jersey company Sika. In June, CNN reported that Sika declined to work on Trump’s renovation after being asked to do so, saying that the quick time frame and the color change made the project 'unfeasible.' Sika did not respond to a request for comment."

The 2026 World Cup Was a Distinctly American Contradiction: “For just a few seconds, we can let ourselves share in this moment together”

Reading archive 2026-05-28

How Metro's cameras helped solve 3 recent gun crimes: In March, Metro General Manager Randy Clarke credited Metro’s safety in part to the cameras throughout the system.

Prosecutors say ex-CIA official stole $40 million in gold bars from agency: The former senior employee, who allegedly kept the gold in his Virginia home, is also accused of lying about his military and educational background.

How to stay happy in a relationship, according to long-married couples: It’s okay to go to bed angry, and other surprising marriage advice.

A couple died on Hajj pilgrimage. A law and foundation carry on their legacy.: The Don’t You Worry (Wurie) Act regulates travel service providers in Maryland.

Trump’s approval plunges among his White working-class base: In a striking shift, White voters without college degrees who voted to reelect Trump by a huge margin are now net-negative on his job approval. - "Dombrowski, the janitor, barely follows politics. She grew up poor with factory worker parents who taught her that Republicans were for rich people — not families like theirs who struggled and saved money by making their own clothes. 

"But she put her faith in Trump when he ran for president in 2016, opting for an outsider over Clinton and her decades in politics. 

"Now she trusts no one, believing politicians 'want your money and give you fake promises.' 

"The musical instrument company where she works, Conn Selmer, is shifting jobs overseas — even though the owner, Trump donor John Paulson, has echoed the president’s calls to keep manufacturing in the United States."

Texas School Police Pepper-Sprayed, Tackled and Tasered Students: School officers across the state turned to heavy-handed tactics on children, often in response to minor misbehavior, our investigation shows.

‘We Have Not Seen Ugly Yet’: Paxton versus Talarico is already awful.

John Cornyn Lost With His Boots Off: Like fellow Republicans exiled by the president, he still accepted Trump’s claim to inhabit the will of the party. - "Cornyn, like so many of his fellow soon-to-be-ex-politicians, staked his survival on the hopeless tactic of trying to beat Trump's team in a contest over who loves Trump more. Overcoming Trump's hold on the rank and file is not easy, but the method his victims have chosen-essentially to beg for Trump's mercy, and then not receive it-saps them of their dignity without meaningfully increasing their odds of political survival."

America Is Missing Out on the Ultimate Mosquito Weapon: Bring on the lasers.

Trump, the Wages of MAGA Sin, and the Dream of Flipping Texas Blue: Ken Paxton is the embodiment of MAGA rage and corruption. Can James Talarico win by transcending Paxton’s Trumpy acrimony?

Reading archive 2026-02-06

Good news: We saved the bees. Bad news: We saved the wrong ones.: Honeybees have never been in danger of extinction. But scientists are finding that they can accelerate the demise of native bee populations.

Ron Wyden Only Talks Like This When The Spies Do Something *Real* Bad: No, I don't know what they did. But I have a lot of experience with the senator

The Means-Testing Industrial Complex - "The CBO conservatively estimates that these rules will strip Medicaid coverage from over 7 million people. For millions of working Americans this maze of new rules will mean losing their life-saving health insurance and financial ruin. For Mark Begor, Equifax, and other government contractors, this maze of new rules means profit.

...

"With governments entirely reliant on Equifax to administer life-saving benefits to millions of low-income Americans, steep price hikes quickly followed. The New York Times uncovered that in many places, the toll paid to Equifax for the Work Number doubled, then tripled, and more than quadrupled in only a few years. Local, state, and federal agencies have helplessly watched their public funds raided, boxed in by the dual forces of means-testing requirements and unconstrained market power.

...

"Again, new work requirements for Medicaid highlight the profits to be made from adding complexity to the safety net. Since Georgia implemented work requirements in 2020, they have spent twice as much on Deloitte consultants and administrative costs as on healthcare for people. As the other 55 states and territories are now forced to join Georgia and implement new work requirements, millions will lose their healthcare and Deloitte will cash in."

James Comer Gives Dems an Unexpected Gift: The House Oversight Committee swung at Clinton but might have hit Trump. [ed. note: dragging an ex-president in front of Congress sets a precedent that Trump doesn't like]

Tulsi Gabbard is showing why her job shouldn’t exist: Trump’s director of national intelligence is making worse the problems with the ill-conceived role.

What Democrats are demanding in exchange for funding ICE: Republicans have criticized Democrats’ proposals as “a ridiculous Christmas list” but say they’re willing to negotiate.

Trump shares, then deletes video depicting Obamas as apes: Tim Scott, the sole Black Republican in the Senate, called it “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”

Bollywood Embraces a Taj Mahal Conspiracy Theory: The internet and a new film have breathed life into old conspiracy theories about one of the world’s most famous landmarks. - "The film’s promotional materials promised to 'reveal the untold history' of the landmark. It doesn’t. What it has done instead is rehash discredited claims that once were relegated to the fringes of the internet, giving prominence to efforts to inflame sectarian tensions.

...

"[P.N. Oak, inventor of this lie] also published numerous other books claiming that Christianity and Islam were in fact offshoots of Hinduism and that many physical landmarks of those faiths, including St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and the Kaaba in Mecca, were originally Hindu temples. 

"Oak didn’t disguise his intentions. Born in the British colonial era (and having fought on the Japanese side in World War II), he founded the Institute for Rewriting Indian History, which sought to recast the nation’s history as one of conquest and colonization of its true Hindu identity."

Reading archive 2025-08-09

Studying bank deposits, Sandra Grimes found a deadly CIA traitor: Ms. Grimes, who has died at the age of 79, helped reveal that Aldrich Ames was selling secrets to the Soviets. Her book about the case was adapted into an ABC miniseries.

Birds kept dropping dead. A D.C. biologist cracked the case.

Reading archive 2025-07-14

Tariffs give the U.S.’s only native caffeinated plant a shot at stardom: Yaupon, a holly, may be little-known outside Indigenous groups, but that may soon change thanks to tea and coffee tariffs.

The CIA reveals more of its connections to Lee Harvey Oswald: New documents show an officer known only as Howard managed a Cuban group that interacted with Oswald in the months before the JFK assassination. - "He said a plausible theory was rogue CIA officers created the conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy, unknown to the agency, and that 'the CIA covered it up not because they were involved, but because they were trying to hide the secrets of that period.' He said many in the CIA were angry with Kennedy after he withdrew support for the agency’s Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 as well as for his gradual move toward peace with the Soviet Union after the Cuban missile crisis of 1962."

Putin took Trump for granted. He’s going to pay for his mistake.: After the president’s startling, welcome shift on Ukraine, there’s more to do.

Budget woes jeopardize plan for costly new D.C. Archives building: Supporters of new building discouraged as D.C. mayor’s spending plan envisions more affordable option to house Duke Ellington’s birth certificate, Frederick Douglass’s will and other pieces of history.

Two men sentenced in killing of D.C. girl, ending years of prosecutions: In all, eight men and one woman, most convicted of murder, have been sent to prison for the 2018 shooting of 10-year-old Makiyah Wilson, a crime that stunned the city.

Where D.C. Council Ward 8 candidates stand on key issues: The four candidates, all Democrats, were asked questions on issues such as the redevelopment of RFK Stadium, housing and policing in the ward.

A clinic blames its closing on Trump’s Medicaid cuts. Patients don’t buy it.: A clinic in rural Nebraska has become a political flash point after tying its looming closure to Trump’s law cutting Medicaid. - "Down the road on the town’s main street lined with American flags, Kerri Kemp said she didn’t like the Medicaid cuts either. The 47-year-old got Medicaid coverage after Nebraska voters chose to expand eligibility for the program in 2018, adopting an optional part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. But it was hard to document all her work as a bartender, county worker and rancher, and recently she’d struggled to submit the paperwork. Now she is uninsured. 

"Work requirements could make it harder to qualify when they take effect in 2027, just after the 2026 midterms. But Kemp, a lifelong Republican and Trump supporter, doesn’t hold that against Trump and suggested he might change course. 'I really think he’s gonna do something,' she said." [ed. note: perfect, no notes]

Reading archive 2025-07-11

California awaits disaster relief as GOP offers full support to Texas: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), during a trip to South Carolina this week, highlighted the plight of Los Angeles-area communities still reeling from January’s devastating wildfires. - "President Donald Trump and other Republicans have so far withheld the funds, with many arguing that Newsom and other Democrats in the deep-blue state have mishandled the fires and should be forced to rescind liberal policies in exchange for aid. 

"But now deadly floods have struck ruby-red Texas — and the Republican response is much different, with Trump and others promising unfettered and prompt federal support in the months and years to come. 

"The contrast underscores the extent to which the Trump administration treats blue and red states differently, whether in disaster response or in targeting liberal areas for aggressive immigration enforcement."

Why homeowners are suddenly rushing to install rooftop solar: Republicans’ tax and spending law could cut installations in half, experts project.

He seeded clouds over Texas. Then came the conspiracy theories.: Cloud seeding couldn’t have caused the floods that killed more than 100 people, experts say. But rumormongers suggested a link to one company’s work.

Tennis fans deserve better than John McEnroe: You cannot seriously think John McEnroe is good on television. When will network executives be ready to move on?

A band of innovators reimagines the spy game for a world with no cover

Conservatives are asking Trump for another big tax cut: Fresh off passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” some anti-tax advocates hope to push the administration to change how taxable capital gains are calculated.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s wife files for divorce: As Ken Paxton tries to unseat Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in one of the most closely watched primaries in the country, state Sen. Angela Paxton said Thursday she filed for divorce “on biblical grounds.” 

Senate committee blocks money for plan to keep FBI headquarters in D.C.: Sen. Chris Van Hollen persuaded colleagues to restrict cash for a new FBI campus only in Greenbelt, Maryland, creating a roadblock --- for now --- to moving the bureau to the Reagan building in downtown D.C.

Firings without explanation create culture of fear at Justice Dept., FBI: Widespread, abrupt terminations have left Justice Department and FBI employees wondering if they will be next, people familiar with the matter say.

Trump Loves ICE. Its Workforce Has Never Been So Miserable.: A “mission impossible” deportation campaign has left many employees burned out and morally conflicted. - "At ICE's Homeland Security Investigations division, which has long focused on cartels and major drug-trafficking operations, supervisors have waved agents off new cases so they have more time to make immigration-enforcement arrests, a veteran agent told me. 'No drug cases, no human trafficking, no child exploitation,' the agent said. 'It's infuriating.' The longtime ICE employee is thinking about quitting rather than having to continue 'arresting gardeners.'"

Reading archive 2025-04-01

Trump voters in the federal government are torn over his job cuts: A majority of these voters said they agree in concept with the cuts. But many in interviews said they are overwhelmed by the breakneck pace of changes and concerned about their impact on government services. - "Trump-voting federal workers in interviews said they want to see the Trump administration eliminate waste, fraud and abuse but don’t see themselves as part of that problem."

Massive layoffs, purge of leadership underway at U.S. health agencies: The move comes after Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s announcement of a sweeping reduction of the Department of Health and Human Services.

D.C. Council to vote on measure to close some meetings to the public: The bill would make it easier for legislators to meet with the mayor privately and allow them to close meetings to the public to discuss negotiations, among other measures. - "Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) defended the overall premise of the change, but he also proposed an amendment that would limit the scope of the emergency bill to apply just to the council and narrow the scope of the exception for 'confidential negotiations' to economic development negotiations and discussions about federal government relations."

Elon Musk visits the CIA to discuss DOGE cuts CIA: Director John Ratcliffe invited the billionaire to the spy headquarters in Langley, Virginia, on the same day that a federal judge blocked the agency from firing 17 employees in DEI roles. - "Foreign spy services are constantly trolling for personnel who have been laid off by intelligence agencies on the chance that they, whether disgruntled or out of financial need, might be duped or lured into working for them."

Why did Cory Booker spend the night speaking on the Senate floor?: The New Jersey Democrat is speaking in protest of the Trump administration’s policies. He is not delaying the Senate from a vote, so it is not a filibuster.

Former D.C. Council member, expelled after bribery charge, seeks reelection: Trayon White, who has pleaded not guilty to a federal bribery charge, is seeking his seat back after the D.C. Council removed him from it in February.

Grandson accused of killing 87-year-old retired doctor in her Potomac home: The suspect, Spencer Dillon Hamilton, 27, was ordered by a judge Monday to undergo a psychiatric exam

Another ‘shock’ is coming for American jobs: Millions of workers will need to shift careers. Our country is unprepared.

Taking a closer look at vitamin D’s role in gut health: Health-care providers often recommend meeting your vitamin D requirements through food rather than sun exposure.

E.U. weighs targeting big U.S. tech firms in response to Trump tariffs: European officials are worried that measures against companies like Google and Meta could escalate the trade war, but they say Trump has shifted the goalposts.

Reading archive 2025-03-07

She hoped Trump’s victory would change her life, but not like this: Ryleigh Cooper is normally more focused on motherhood than politics. Then came DOGE. - "Trump, at a campaign stop an hour and a half south of her, had promised to make IVF free. She knew that from a video clip she saw on TikTok. And she had believed him.

"She also believed him when he said that Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for the next Republican administration that suggested mass cuts to the federal workforce, was not his plan." [ed. note: lol ffs]

Young men in Africa's Sahel flock to Islamist jihad forces: As Africa’s Sahel region has replaced the Middle East as the epicenter of jihadism, young men are flocking to the cause. They don’t always like what they find.

Civilians in Africa’s Sahel join militias as Islamist extremism surges: The advancing tide of Islamist extremism has prompted the rise of pro-government militias. The result has been a vicious cycle of escalating violence.

How Russia's Wagner Group advances Putin's aim of influence in Africa: Soldiers from the Wagner Group have helped Vladimir Putin advance his aim of restoring Russian power in Africa. But on the ground, they’ve learned hard lessons.

US military presence withdraws from Africa as foreign threats rise: At a time when Africa is convulsed by various threats and American interests could be at risk, U.S. influence is in retreat.

A new generation of military officers is seizing power: As many Africans sour on the West, a new generation of military officers is seizing power, vowing to build strong and sovereign nations. But at what cost?

Military juntas target critics and media, exiling democratic forces: Military strongmen have silenced their critics and muzzled the media, threatening, arresting and exiling those who speak out for democracy. A few still dare.

Post-election stock rally dissolves as trade policy bewilders investors: The Nasdaq composite index has fallen more than 10 percent from its December peak. The S&P 500 now sits below its level on Election Day.

Trump tells Cabinet that they, not Musk, should ‘go first’ in cutting workers: The meeting represented the outpouring of weeks of building tensions between the head of DOGE and President Trump’s top political officials.

Trump property purge to include national park visitor centers, museums: Those and other properties would close under budget cuts proposed by the administration.

At the National Arboretum, D.C.’s most famous eagle couple is expecting: The eaglet, or eaglets, could hatch in early April.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett ignites anger on the right after ruling against Trump: Conservative allies of President Donald Trump called Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett “evil,” a “closet Democrat” and a “DEI hire.”

Trump’s plan to downsize government could put downtown D.C. up for sale: As we await a revised list of properties the GSA deems “non-core,” a critic ponders the fate of Washington’s historic landscape. - "It is virtually impossible that America can recoup its investment in these properties if they are sold off rapidly and at this scale. Such a sale probably would turn the government into a renter rather than an owner, with rental rates set by anyone rich enough to buy the properties. The potential for corruption is unprecedented."

How To Build A Thousand-Year-Old Tree: A set of experimental techniques and technologies that might seem harmful to trees is actually helping ancient forests survive. - "Maintaining a supply of dying wood, and exploiting trees’ ability to exist in a state of spooky half-death, is critical for the unique communities of inhabitants that depend on it. Columns of dead and decaying tree matter called 'tree soil’ are the single most important nutrient resource for deadwood-loving insects and can remain supported in 'deadwood chimneys' by the rest of the living trunk, Harris explained. 'That’s where we get the beetles,' he said."

How a Trump effort to cut environmental red tape could backfire: The White House is revoking its own authority to oversee implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act — and leaving a bureaucratic mess in its wake. - "In an echo of the Trump administration’s refrain that extraordinary measures are required to curb government inefficiency, the unraveling of CEQ is intended to “expedite and simplify the permitting process” for important projects, according to Trump’s executive order. But experts who spoke to Grist anticipate that it will have the opposite effect."

Tesla’s Fortunes Fall as Musk Rises in Trump World: CEO’s politics erode brand’s appeal among some core buyers of electric vehicles; ‘I used to idolize the guy’

Butterflies in the U.S. are disappearing at a ‘catastrophic’ rate: The number of butterflies in the contiguous United States declined by 22 percent this century, a collapse with potentially dire implications. - "David Wagner, a University of Connecticut entomologist not involved in the study, said butterflies act as a 'yardstick for measuring what is happening' among insects broadly. He called the new findings 'catastrophic and saddening.'"

Inside U.S. spy agencies, workers fear a cataclysmic Trump cull: Firings and mass disruptions could harm intelligence collection on foreign threats and future recruiting, current and former officials say. - "The elimination of DEI programs is particularly painful to some intelligence officials, who see pragmatic virtue in a more diverse workforce. For years, spy chiefs have spoken of a lack of analysts with the necessary language skills and cultural backgrounds to understand foreign societies — and undercover operatives with the physical features to work clandestinely in Africa, Asia or the Middle East."

How New York drove a steak through the heart of Texas: A long-simmering regional beef over an iconic American food is heating up again. - "Simple justice demands giving credit where it’s due. The steaks aren’t 'Texas strips,' because they arrived from Texas about as chewy as a cowboy’s boot. And they shouldn’t be 'New York strips,' because New Yorkers contributed nothing to the process but their pieholes. They are 'Kansas City strips,' in honor of the city where the beef got its flavor and the men in bloody aprons who popularized the cut."

Which oil do you cook with? The answer can impact your health.: Extra-virgin olive oil has the most scientific evidence for its health benefits. But avocado and high-oleic vegetable oils are also good for your health.

How North Carolina football landed a coaching legend in Bill Belichick

Reading archive 2025-02-12

Record gift to American U. from professor will benefit education school: The university said the donation is its largest-ever gift from an individual.

Nearly 30,000 federal workers in Kansas City brace for layoffs: The federal government is by far Kansas City’s largest employer and a major economic engine. Experts warn the region’s economy will feel the pain when jobs disappear

Transcript: GOPers Shocked to Learn Their Own Voters Are Angry at Musk: An interview with political scientist Elizabeth Saunders, who argues that Republicans facing voter dissatisfaction with Elon Musk’s trail of destruction need to rein him in before it’s too late.

With Trump and Musk driving U.S. policy, Kansas farmers have been played for suckers

The Trump administration’s most dangerous misstep: The CIA chief wants more spycraft. So why is he showing agents the door? - "The CIA last week sent buyout offers to its case officers around the world, and as you’d expect, some of the best of them are looking for work elsewhere. Meanwhile, the agency meekly agreed to turn over data identifying its recent hires to Elon Musk’s auditors (and whatever foreign spies can hack their systems). Perhaps worst of all, the U.S. DOGE Service commissars reportedly gained access to Treasury payments data that might reveal the agency’s deep-cover officers and the assets they recruit."

Teen rejects plea deal in D.C. murder case, will head to trial: Charges stem from the Jan. 26 fatal shooting of 14-year-old Myron Smith during an attempted robbery.

Church teacher pleads guilty to molesting four girls — two during prayers: In Montgomery County, Maryland, Ervin J. Alfaro-Lopez, 34, faces up to 25 years in prison and deportation.

As possible cuts and buyouts loom, federal workers rally near the Capitol: With a deferred resignation offer and possible cuts looming, federal workers held a demonstration near the U.S. Capitol. - "'We are not going to go down without a fight,' said Transportation Security Administration officer Johnny Jones, who traveled from Fort Worth. 

"Jones, 46, left his corporate job for a career in public service in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, he said. 'I took about a 60 percent pay cut to come work for the government.'"

U.S.-China trade war hits small and midsize businesses especially hard: Many smaller businesses can’t afford to move manufacturing out of China while remaining competitive, experts say.

An insurance crisis was already brewing in L.A. Then the fires hit.: The Los Angeles wildfires could threaten California’s already unstable insurance market, which carriers have been fleeing as disasters multiply.

California’s insurer of last resort runs out of money to pay L.A. fire claims: In the aftermath of the fires, the FAIR plan will get a $1 billion bailout — the latest indication that California’s home insurance market is on shaky footing.

The electric future of snowmobiling: From power sports to watercraft, battery-powered recreation could save millions of allons of gasoline - and cut back on noise, fumes and pollution

Jordan, home to millions of Palestinians, fears Trump’s Gaza proposal: The push by Trump has turbocharged a reckoning over Jordan’s reliance on U.S. aid and revived existential questions over the country’s identity. - "If the United States were to cut aid to Jordan permanently, it would have 'dire consequences for the economy and human security,' said Dima Toukan, a nonresident scholar at the Middle East Institute. However, if the king were to compromise and accept Trump’s proposal, he risks energizing the growing opposition to his rule. In recent days, opposition figures from across the political spectrum have suggested that Jordan turn instead to China, Russia and wealthy Arab states for financial support and strategic alliances."

Reading archive 2025-02-07

China’s Trump Strategy: Beijing Is Preparing to Take Advantage of Disruption

Layoffs hit contractors and small businesses as Trump cuts take effect: Health centers, after-school programs and independent-living facilities are among those announcing hiring freezes, furloughs and layoffs.

The White House’s wildly inaccurate claims about USAID spending: Eleven out of 12 claims about the agency’s work are misleading, wrong or lack context. - "Polls consistently reveal that Americans believe that it is about 25 percent of the federal budget — and that a majority believe it should be more like 10 percent. In reality, foreign aid is less than 1 percent of the budget.

...

"About two-thirds of U.S. foreign assistance funds in fiscal year 2018 were obligated to U.S.-based entities, CRS said. For instance, food aid must be purchased in the United States and by law must be shipped on U.S. carriers. With the exception of some aid given to Israel, all military aid must be used to purchase U.S. military equipment and training — meaning foreign military aid in reality is a jobs program in the United States."

Recall of USAID’s global workforce causes havoc and distress: Employees stationed overseas are struggling to navigate the sudden upheaval, having received little clear information from the Trump administration. - "'You find yourself in a foreign country, in all likelihood a place you moved to despite the terrorism or security risks, and you’re being treated as if you’re somehow an enemy of the state,' one USAID official told The Washington Post. 'That’s not even the worst of it. You know that your career matters far less than the lives of those you were trying to help, and … a lot of them are going to die without American aid.'"

Ultra-efficient AI won’t solve data centers’ climate problem. This might.: Despite DeepSeek’s AI efficiency gains, data centers are still expected to gobble up huge amounts of U.S. electricity.

As Trump wages war against the federal bureaucracy, some workers fight back: Undergirding a fight formed in group texts and between cubicles is a conviction that nonpartisan civil servants provide a necessary check on Trump’s power.

Democrats, don’t save Trump from himself: Republicans have the votes. The minority party ought not give them a single one. - "Clearly, there is no hope of good-faith negotiation with Trump, or with Johnson. Republicans control the House, Senate and White House. Let them pass a 2025 spending bill on their own. Let them raise the debt ceiling on their own. Let them enact Trump’s entire agenda on their own. They have the votes. Democrats ought not give them a single one.

...

"In truth, Democrats have almost no ability to stop Trump, but they do have the power, and the obligation, to stand in lockstep opposition to what the president is doing. Some of them might argue that the only way to protect certain programs, and the vulnerable people who need them, is to cut a deal with Trump and Republicans. But Trump has demonstrated abundantly that he will try to use unconstitutional means to kill off those programs regardless of what Congress does."

When the arsonist demands praise for his firefighting skills: Donald Trump is great at creating problems — and then pretending to fix them. - "Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum committed to station 10,000 Mexican troops along the border. Apparently, Trump was unaware that Mexico had already deployed 15,000 troops there, per Mexican defense ministry data, so he declared victory. Likewise, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to spend $1.3 billion on border investments, a commitment the Canadian government announced back in December. Trudeau also offered some meaningless gestures such as a “fentanyl czar” and '24/7 eyes on the border.'"

Don’t Make Small Talk. Think Big Talk.: Discover the rewards of discussing deep things.

The Spies Are Shown the Door: Trump has never understood how the CIA’s people work. But he might know how to make them quit.

Trump Is Inheriting an Environmental Disaster: PFAS could be the rare environmental issue that gets addressed this term. - "PFAS weren't a known concern when the Clean Water Act was created, nor were they on anyone's radar when the Safe Drinking Water Act came into force in 1974. By the '70s, however, 3M knew that a PFAS compound it had invented, and sold to DuPont to make Teflon, was accumulating in employees' blood."

Trump’s Assault on USAID Makes Project 2025 Look Like Child’s Play “I have never seen a government action have such an immediate impact.” - "'It's ridiculous," Andrew Natsios, a former USAID administrator, told me. He ran the organization for the first five years of the George W. Bush administration and describes himself as 'the most conservative administrator in the history of the agency.' Natsios has his share of problems with USAID, including his sense that its staff is often unresponsive to political leadership, a critique that Project 2025 echoes. But Natsios, who's now a professor at Texas A&M University, is aghast at the Trump administration's purge of USAID. (He began our conversation by comparing it to the Russian Revolution.) For days, he's been fielding calls from panicked contacts at the agency. 'They are not reviewing each project,' he said. 'They're eliminating entire bureaus, whole programs, simply deleting them without even looking at what they're doing.'"

Reading archive 2025-02-06

Press Secretary Reveals Startling Truth of Elon Musk’s Full Power: Elon Musk is fully running unsupervised around the government.

'Counterintelligence disaster' from Trump's latest order to the CIA: NYT

Gutting USAID threatens billions of dollars for U.S. farms, businesses: U.S. businesses that sold goods and services to USAID are in limbo, including American farms dealing in rice, wheat and soybeans purchased as food aid. - "Nick Levendofsky, executive director of the Kansas Farmers Union, said the funding freeze created further stress for the state’s farmers as they grapple with rising costs, low commodity prices and the potential impacts of tariffs."

Musk’s DOGE agents access sensitive personnel data, alarming security officials: The highly restricted data includes personally identifiable information for millions of federal employees maintained by the Office of Personnel Management. - "The two OPM officials said the level of access granted to DOGE agents means they could copy the social security numbers, phone numbers and personnel files for millions of federal employees. 

"'They could put a new file in someone’s record, they could modify an existing record,' one said. 'They could delete that record out of the database. They could export all that data about people who are currently or formerly employed by the government, they could export it to some nongovernment server, or to their own PC, or to a Google Drive. Or to a foreign country.'"

Justice Dept. says no immediate plans to release names of Jan. 6 FBI agents: The twin lawsuits were filed anonymously in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by FBI agents involved in the Jan. 6 investigations.

Murder trial begins for D.C. rowhouse owner charged in fire that killed 2: Federal and D.C. prosecutors charged James Walker, owner of a Northwest rowhouse that erupted in flames, with murder and civil violations.

The game theory of Trump's tariff threats: Why he’s picking on Canada and Mexico — and why he’s playing a dangerous game.

Virginia lawmakers call on Youngkin to talk to Trump about federal workers: Efforts by the new Trump administration to slash and relocate the federal work force, as well as cut federal spending, could have a dramatic impact on Virginia.

Trump’s crackdown on federal workforce alarms military families: The administration’s blunt exercise of power has proved uniquely disruptive for the numerous government personnel who do remote work to accommodate their spouses’ military careers.

Federal workers: Here’s how to lock down your communications: Tips and apps that can help everyone talk about sensitive topics safely.

DOGE aims to cut $2 trillion in federal spending. Where would you start? - "'The real money is in Social Security, Medicare, defense, veterans and interest, which few people want to touch,' said Brian Riedl, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a center-right think tank. 'Anyone can point out easy, small examples of government waste, and — as bad as they are — they’re essentially budget dust in the grand scheme of our soaring deficits.'"

Elon Musk Wants What He Can’t Have: Wikipedia: Musk and other right-wing tech figures have been on a campaign to delegitimize the digital encyclopedia. What happens if they succeed?

How Trump Lost His Trade War: When the U.S. breaks its treaties, only China wins. - "The United States has suspended its threats against Canada and Mexico in return for border-enforcement measures that Canada and Mexico either were doing anyway or had done before without making much difference in the flow of drugs.

...

"But the president has made clear that so-called friendship with the United States does not ensure anything for America's partners: not trade access, not the security of treaties, not even their territorial integrity and national independence. 

"Friend-shoring imagined extending trade with American allies. Trump-shoring means that today's ally can become tomorrow's enemy, without cause or even warning.

...

"A lesson of Trump's trade war that all the world will hear: Countries such as Canada, Mexico, and Denmark that commit to the United States risk their security and dignity in the age of Trump. Countries such as Vietnam and Thailand that carefully navigate between the two great economic powers without making undue commitments maximize their security and their dignity. 

"To reward non-aligned countries and punish U.S.-aligned ones might seem a reckless, even a perverse, choice by a U.S. president. But that's the president Americans have, and the choice he has made for them."

Pay Attention to the FBI: That’s a whole other crisis brewing. - "It’s really hard to see where they’re going, because Elon Musk is not proceeding from an accurate map of reality.

...

"What he is saying by pardoning these J6 rioters is that If you are on my side, I will come protect you. And I think that will send a clear message to FBI personnel that there are whole categories of people and therefore potential criminal activity that they should not touch, because it gets into the president, his influence, his circle of friends. I think that is just a potentially ruinous development for the rule of law in the United States."

Reading archive 2025-02-05

Republicans quiet as Trump and Musk take the ax to federal agencies: The new administration launched one of its most brazen challenges to Congress’s authority. Many lawmakers offered little pushback.

Greenland bans foreign political funding as Trump seeks control: Its government said the law aims to protect the Danish territory’s “political integrity” and must be seen in light of the geopolitical interests in Greenland.

How Trump could feel the ‘pain’ on his tariffs: Trump says economic pain from his tariffs is “THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID,” but Americans don’t seem to agree.

Trump ordered workers back to the office. They ask, where, exactly?: The clock is ticking for federal workers to return to in-person work, but many say there simply isn’t enough space in their offices.

Another Politician Blames Fall of Rome on Homosexuality

A Penetrating Inquiry – The Suda on Kinaidia (NSFW!)

Welcome to the era of Trump Trad: This president’s aesthetic combines classical architecture and cartoonish virility with WWE alternative reality.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be ... abolished?: With Israel’s Netanyahu alongside, Trump adds Gaza to his list of colonial ambitions.

Elon Musk has your Social Security number. It’s as scary as it sounds.: There is no legitimate reason for the ‘DOGE’ to have access to the federal payment system.

Only in Washington could this fiscal vandalism be called tax ‘relief’: The $10,000 cap on state and local taxes is bad enough. Raising it would just rub SALT in the wound. - "Before 2017, the unlimited SALT deduction made it politically easier to implement the blue model of governance: high taxes to fund Democratic regimes that are substantially funded by contributions from public employees unions. To those unions, state and local tax revenue do not trickle down, they flow down like rivers."

U.S. government officials privately warn Musk’s blitz appears illegal: The billionaire’s DOGE team has launched an all-out assault on federal agencies, triggering numerous legal objections.

D.C. Council expels Trayon White over allegations he took bribes: It was the first time the body has taken that step in its half-century history. White remains eligible to run in a special election to fill his seat.

A tragedy reveals D.C. has run out of sky: National will always be essential but safety demands that air traffic be spread across the region. - "National Airport, built on a small stretch of land that is hemmed in by development on one side and the river on the other, was designed to handle 15 million passengers a year. Today, about 25 million come and go through the airport. And more than 100 helicopters a day fly around and under arriving and departing passenger jets, ferrying VIPs and military officers."

America Can’t Just Unpause USAID: The speed with which the Trump administration took the agency apart will be felt for years to come.

CIA reportedly offers buyouts to entire workforce in latest Trump-era purge: The Central Intelligence Agency offered buyouts on Tuesday, citing aim to bring agency in line with Trump priorities, US media report

Dear Mr. Vice President, Please Take Off Your Apple Watch: An Open Letter To JD Vance From A Former CIA Officer On The Counterintelligence Risks Of Smartwatches

One Response to Trump’s Tariffs: Trade That Excludes the U.S.: A growing number of countries, including American allies, are striking trade deals as the Trump administration erects a higher fence around its global commerce.

There Is No Going Back - "And so the president’s opponents, whoever they are, cannot expect a return to the Constitution as it was. Whatever comes next, should the country weather this attempted hijacking, will need to be a fundamental rethinking of what this system is and what we want out of it."

The New Rasputins: Anti-science mysticism is enabling autocracy around the globe. - "The philosophers of the Enlightenment, whose belief in the possibility of law-based democratic states gave us both the American and French Revolutions, railed against what they called obscurantism: darkness, obfuscation, irrationality. But the prophets of what we might now call the New Obscurantism offer exactly those things: magical solutions, an aura of spirituality, superstition, and the cultivation of fear. Among their number are health quacks and influencers who have developed political ambitions; fans of the quasi-religious QAnon movement and its Pizzagate-esque spin-offs; and members of various political parties, all over Europe, that are pro-Russia and anti-vaccine and, in some cases, promoters of mystical nationalism as well. Strange overlaps are everywhere. Both the left-wing German politician Sahra Wagenknecht and the right-wing Alternative for Germany party promote vaccine and climate-change skepticism, blood-and-soil nationalism, and withdrawal of German support for Ukraine. All across Central Europe, a fascination with runes and folk magic aligns with both right-wing xenophobia and left-wing paganism. Spiritual leaders are becoming political, and political actors have veered into the occult. Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host who has become an apologist for Russian aggression, has claimed that he was attacked by a demon that left 'claw marks' on his body."

Reading archive 2025-01-21

Meta just flipped the switch that prevents misinformation from spreading in the United States: The company built effective systems to reduce the reach of fake news. Last week, it shut them down - "Notably, none of these [now-deactivated changes] actually eliminated anyone’s freedom of expression. Instead, they restricted what the technologist Aza Raskin has termed “freedom of reach.” Fact-checking and down-ranking obviously false stories allowed liars and hoaxsters to express themselves but sought to limit the negative effects of those lies on Meta’s customers.

Knowing Things is Hard - "History is Written by Losers (2013): winners are busy swimming in vaults full of gold, having a nice dinner and drinks, and going to bed with bevies of cute people, losers have time and grudges and writing is cheap. Thucydides, Polybius, Sallust, and Sima Qian were not winners."

Everest Fallacy: a logical error, the confusion of the extreme and the normal.

This school has a problem, and the solution is dead vultures. For real.: “Apparently live vultures are offended and will not return to where their brethren are hanging dead,” a Virginia teacher said.

Ex-spies say suburban D.C. casino would put nation’s secrets at risk: Valerie Plame and more than 100 other former CIA, defense and intelligence figures say a Tysons casino would be a too-convenient temptation.

Trump reinstates plan to strip protections from federal workers: Trump issued several orders Monday aimed at federal agencies, including a return-to-office mandate and a hiring freeze.

We tried a $1,000 trash can for food waste. Here’s what we learned.: Food dehydrators, which dry and grind up food into soil-like grounds, have emerged as a way to keep food waste out of the garbage. Here’s how to use them.

Files detail bid to contain fallout from Tulsi Gabbard meetings with Assad: Trip to Syria in 2017 is expected to be a focus of questions from senators weighing her nomination to be director of national intelligence.

The GOP’s stunning response to Trump pardoning those who assaulted police: Trump has worn his party down, and few events crystallize it like the GOP’s muted — and, in some cases, positive — response.

The push to ‘billionaire-proof’ social media

Trump designated drug cartels as terrorists. Here’s what that means.: Cartels have set off car bombs and beheaded victims. But designating them as terrorist groups could have unforeseen consequences. - "The majority of those arrested carrying fentanyl over the border are U.S. citizens. Most guns used by drug traffickers are acquired from Americans. In theory, U.S. gun dealers could be charged with aiding terrorists under the new measure.

...

"Arturo Sarukhan, a former Mexican ambassador to Washington, said the problem with adding cartels to the terrorism list was the focus on military solutions to the drug crisis. 'You’re just playing whack-a-mole,' he said, noting that cartels simply reconfigure after kingpins are detained or killed. What’s needed is a more sophisticated strategy, he said, including curbing U.S. demand for drugs and choking off cartels’ money."

To get rid of ‘drug-addicted’ rats, Houston police clean up evidence room: The Texas city’s mayor said he will work with the county district attorney to discard drug evidence obtained before 2015 that no longer has any value.

Cheap, smart, deadly. The tech industry pitches a new way to wage war.: Anduril, a weapons start-up with links to President Donald Trump, wants to see the Pentagon invest more in AI-enhanced drones. - "The high-tech [American] missiles that repelled the [Iranian] assault collectively cost hundreds of millions of dollars, military experts said. The weapons Iran fired were much cheaper: Each of its Shahed drones can be made for about $50,000, according to leaked Iranian documents obtained by Israeli newspaper Haaretz. The U.S. response included SM-3 missiles that can each cost $28 million, according to the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a defense industry group.

Reading archive 2025-01-20

California isn’t the only place where insurers are dropping homeowners: Insurance “nonrenewal” rates also have been climbing in Florida, Louisiana and North Carolina, federal data shows --- all states hit hard by climate change.

Forget ‘they go low, we go high’: This influencer wants Democrats to get mean: Meet Suzanne Lambert, the Arlington-based TikTok influencer going viral by being a “Regina George liberal.”

Pressure builds on RFK Jr. as confirmation hearing remains unscheduled: Trump’s pick to lead HHS is facing 175 questions from Elizabeth Warren, skepticism from Mike Pence and delays related to his disclosure forms.

How ‘Mild Bill’ Burns led a covert CIA campaign in Ukraine: Burns’s steadfast efforts mark a key chapter in his decades-long intelligence duel with Putin.

For this Latino family, voting for Trump was part of preserving their American Dream: But they’re waiting to see whether he keeps his promises.

For Trump’s national security adviser, Afghanistan still looms large: Michael Waltz, a Green Beret lauded for valor in combat, opposed Trump’s 2020 deal with the Taliban as well as Biden’s 2021 pullout. He has warned of the risk of another 9/11.

What the North Koreans took into battle against Ukraine: Weapons and notes left on dead North Korean troops in Russia give Ukraine a glimpse into their mindset — and show how they are quickly adapting to modern war.

Trump readies massive shift in U.S. economy on eve of inauguration: The incoming president and Republican allies are beginning to plot out major changes to federal taxes and spending as they prepare to take control of Washington.

Accidents, not Russian sabotage, behind undersea cable damage, officials say: An emerging consensus among U.S. and European security services holds that accidents were the cause of damage to Baltic seabed energy and communications lines.es to federal taxes and spending as they prepare to take control of Washington. - "Mike Plunkett, a naval expert at security research firm Janes, said that 'aside from a very loud splash, there will also be a lot of noise from the anchor chain paying out through the hawsehole.' He described the chances of three anchor-dropping incidents in the Baltic region since 2023 as 'vanishingly small,' although not zero. But he said it was extremely difficult to prove intentional sabotage."

She waited decades to report her abuse. At 81, police say, he confessed.: For 44 years, she had thought about making the call. When she finally did, she assumed nothing would come of it.

The GOP’s dilemma on Trump’s TikTok flip-flop: The situation previews a series of looming clashes between Trump’s personal interests and lawmakers’ professed principles.

Trump executive order will attempt to end birthright citizenship: The president plans to take at least 10 actions related to the border or immigration, including ramping up deportations and suspending refugee resettlement.

Supreme Court to hear case on opting out of lessons with LGBTQ+ books: Parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, want to be able to opt out of instruction on gender and sexuality that they say goes against their religious convictions.

D.C. police captain alleges he was punished for taking parental leave as a gay man: In a lawsuit, Capt. Paul Hrebenak argues the department treated him differently than colleagues who also took leave.

Scores of career State Dept. diplomats resign before Trump’s inauguration: Trump’s team requested the high-level resignations as the president-elect prepares a sharp break with the Biden administration.

Reading archive 2024-12-11

Bike lanes are consuming our streets and parking spaces: Readers push back against pesky bike lanes in D.C. and around the country.

Bikes deserve just as much of a place in the road as cars: Readers contest Marc Fisher’s column about the real purpose for D.C.’s new bike lanes.

Bowser, GOP lawmakers forge unlikely alliance over return-to-office mandate: Bowser’s first test before emboldened GOP representatives focused on federal workers and funding for inauguration security.

Luigi Mangione ‘had so much to offer’ — now, he is a murder suspect: “As I knew him, he was a creator, not a taker of life,” one former classmate said of the man charged in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Severe pain shaped UnitedHealth CEO murder suspect’s view of health system: Luigi Mangione described his struggles with back issues on Reddit and vented frustration over health-care industry.

Footage shows Mark Gastineau still prickly with Brett Favre over sack: The matter arose in an ESPN documentary, prompting the former quarterback to say “there was no malice on my part” toward the Jets lineman.

Trump’s fake-it-till-you-make-it autocracy: Get rid of all permitting? Unwind birthright citizenship? Easy-peasy, if you pretend the myriad laws preventing such moves don’t exist.

Foster advocacy group disputes that arrested member assaulted Rep. Nancy Mace: The foster advocacy group says the man simply shook hands with the congresswoman.

Progress on inflation stalled in November as prices rose: Prices rose by 2.7 percent annually in November, up slightly from earlier in the fall.

All the light we would rather not see: Light pollution is bad for our health and the environment. But turning off a few switches can help.

The upcoming housing battle that could roil mortgage costs even more: The first Trump administration tried to remove two mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, from government control. The second one might finish the job.

There’s something scarier than rising costs behind Trump’s victory: A broader dissatisfaction with liberal market democracy is churning up authoritarianism around the world. - "The economic interpretation of voters’ embrace of Trump is suspect not just because it is so narrow. For all the polls demonstrating Americans’ grim assessment of the economy, consumers have kept up spending as if they have few worries in the world. For all the gripes about the cost of living, real wages for typical American workers have been rising faster than inflation."

EPA Issues Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Protect Salmon from Chemical Used in Rubber Products: EPA advances process under Toxic Substances Control Act in response to Tribal petition - "For example, there are data showing that 6PPD-quinone is toxic to fish, with coho salmon being the most sensitive species studied to date. However, there are still uncertainties about the potential impacts of 6PPD-quinone on human health, as well as the potential for exposure from other sources of 6PPD-quinone."

RFK Jr. wants fluoride out of drinking water. Oregon shows what’s coming.

How Trump’s tariffs could spark a trade war and ‘Europe’s worst economic nightmare’: European countries could be among those hardest hit if Trump follows through on tariffs. The European Union says it wants to negotiate but is prepared to retaliate.

Ukraine races to develop its own long-range weapons to counter Russia: Troops have demonstrated their skill with long-range drones by hitting deep inside Russia, but experts say they need the punch and power of ballistic missiles, as well.

Afghan blast kills key minister, shocking Taliban: Khalil Haqqani was the acting minister for refugees and a key member of the notorious Haqqani network.

CIA official Asif Rahman pleads not guilty in leak of secret files on Israel: U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ordered pretrial detention for Rahman, 34, finding that he posed a risk to national security.

Report finds ‘substantial evidence’ Trayon White violated D.C. code of conduct: Council members will meet Monday to consider sanctioning White based on the findings — which could result in White’s expulsion from the council.

Susan Smith, who drowned her sons in 1994, is denied parole. Here’s what to know.: Smith spent 30 years in prison for murdering her two sons by driving them into a lake in a case that drew worldwide attention.

Reading archive 2024-07-25

The Breathtaking Emptiness of J.D. Vance: How a Hillbilly Superstar Becomes the Thing He Once Loathed

William & Mary lands $100 million gift to expand marine sciences school: Philanthropist Jane Batten’s donation, the largest in William & Mary history, will fund the university’s coastal and marine sciences school.

U.S. flag set ablaze, 23 arrested as thousands protest Netanyahu’s D.C. visit: Thousands protested in D.C. as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress. Though most marched peacefully, there were some clashes with police. - "Outside Union Station, pro-Palestinian protesters set an American flag ablaze, along with an effigy of Netanyahu, and spray-painted the Christopher Columbus fountain and adjacent Liberty Bell reproduction with messages like 'Free Gaza,' 'All zionists are bastards,' and 'Free Palestine.' Police appeared to hit some demonstrators with a chemical irritant at multiple points during the day." [ed. note: burning the American flag is self-sabotage at work]

‘End of the people’s airline’: Southwest abandons open seating after 53 years: The carrier will end its practice of open seating and offer preferred seating with more legroom.

Refrigerating produce in jars looks great, but it can breed bacteria: Fresh produce has various needs, including air circulation, that a sealed jar won’t provide.

Biden the anti-icon: In his televised address, Biden was pragmatic, muted and self-effacing.

‘The Decameron’ is the best apocalyptic ensemble comedy since ‘Clue’: This is the pandemic show no one knew we needed.

‘Childless cat ladies,’ Jennifer Aniston, and Swifties take on JD Vance: Celebrities including Jennifer Aniston and Whoopi Goldberg cite many reasons women don’t have kids. Others are embracing being a childless cat lady like Taylor Swift.

In Vance’s ‘Hillbilly’ home, his story rings true — but not always his message: JD Vance shaped his image in his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” about his roots in rural Kentucky. Many there question his theories about the White working class. - "In fact, many in Jackson say government help is a key lifeline in a distressed region. At Jackson’s city hall, on a downtown street near closed-up storefronts, Mayor Laura Thomas ticked off the recent run of calamities that have required help from federal agencies: After the steep decline of coal-mining came the pandemic and then two successive historic floods in 2021 and 2022."

Opinion How the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling could really backfire: The recent decision could turn the CIA into a political tool once again. - "The Trump decision thus manages to turn the essence of the Nuremberg trials — that “just following orders” is not a defense to a war crime — on its head: It provides absolute immunity for the president, unqualified authority to pardon in advance underlings who follow illegal orders and no legal accountability for obvious criminal activity."

An online army rises, this time on Kamala Harris’s side: A grassroots network of TikTok creators, energized by the new likely Democratic nominee, are using their skill at playful video collages to build Harris a viral political powerhouse from scratch.

Reading archive 2023-12-16

NATURE, UNDAMMED: The largest-ever dam removal is underway, a milestone in the nation’s reckoning over its past attempts to bend nature to human will

Klamath River reclaims its channel through a stunning canyon following dam removal

The Warriors tolerated Draymond Green’s fire. Now a dynasty burns.

Florida sex scandal tarnishes GOP power couple and party’s credibility

Opinion  There will be a day after in Gaza. Here’s what it can look like.

Congress approves bill barring presidents from unilaterally exiting NATO

Killing of USAID contractor in Gaza fuels internal protest: The death of Hani Jnena and his young family has intensified calls within the Biden administration to hold Israel’s military accountable for the war’s toll on humanitarian workers

Inside the mad dash to buy your Walmart and Amazon returns: Americans are lining up in parking lots around the country to dig through bins of returned Amazon, Target, Kohl’s and other goods

CIA admits to losing dozens of informants around the world: NYT [ed. note: from 2021]

Opinion  Could the local news crisis get any worse? Look at Scranton.

Reading archive 20231129

Opinion  How to end plastic pollution on Earth for good

Businessman accused of bribing Sen. Menendez had deep ties to Egypt: Wael Hana’s extensive ties to the Egyptian government included arranging the shipment of military equipment from the U.S., associates say

Trump tries to embrace Black Lives Matter, a group he previously said ‘hates our country’

Hunter Biden offers to testify publicly before House panel: Escalation of battle with House GOP comes in response to a subpoena for a closed-door session

CIA director pushes big hostage deal in secret meeting with Mossad chief: The meeting in Qatar comes as William Burns takes on a central role navigating the crisis for President Biden

U.S. prosecutors allege assassination plot of Sikh separatist directed by Indian government employee

Elon Musk boosts Pizzagate conspiracy theory that led to D.C. gunfire: The far-right theory motivated a gunman to fire multiple rounds inside the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Northwest Washington in 2016. Musk boosted the theory to his 164 million followers anyway.

A rural post office was told to prioritize Amazon packages. Chaos ensued.

How the suburbs could become 15-minute cities

Reading archive 2023-10-23

Kill ’em or kill ’em: Gianforte tries to bully Yellowstone National Park into more bison slaughter - "To justify its position, the Gianforte Administration hides behind the mostly debunked concern that bison spread brucellosis to cattle — something that happens in reality more with elk, another species the Gianforte Administration likes to kill."

Ukrainian spies with deep ties to CIA wage shadow war against Russia

In D.C. bill, Bowser aims to curb retail theft, drug dealing, police reform

Runaway zebras delighted the nation — and exposed their owner’s dark past: Jerry Lee Holly had a long history of violating animal welfare laws, which experts say should have kept him from ever having the Maryland zebras that escaped in 2021 - "USDA issued warning letters and small fines but did not take Holly’s animals. Even when Florida officials revoked his state licenses, USDA officials let him keep his federal one, allowing him to keep operating."

THE HUMAN LIMIT: WHERE MALARIA IS SPREADING

Reading archive 2023-10-23

How plants communicate with each other when in danger

Opinion  Listen to the Gazans who are seeking a path away from Hamas - "If you doubt there are Palestinians who oppose the terrorist regime that Hamas has created, visit a project called “Whispered in Gaza” online. You’ll hear 25 powerful narratives that were recorded over the past 18 months. The Gazans’ names are changed and their faces drawn by animators, but their message has the unmistakable power of truth."

How the CIA’s top-ranking woman beat the agency’s men at their own game

How did McDonald’s become a new flash point in the Israel-Gaza war?

Spy vs. spy: How Israelis tried to stop Russia’s information war in Africa: This never-before-told tale reveals how covert online battles in the French-speaking Sahel region helped topple governments. - "Three years later, the governments of five former French colonies, including Burkina Faso, have been toppled. The new leaders of two of those countries, Mali and Burkina Faso, are overtly pro-Russian; in a third, Niger, the prime minister installed after a July coup has met recently with the Russian ambassador. In Mali and the Central African Republic, French troops have been replaced with Wagner mercenaries."

Sidney Powell was Trump’s biggest ‘fighter.’ Now she’s a big threat.: Powell, who was angry that Trump didn’t act on her counsel, is the government’s most prominent asset in its quest to convict him

Opinion  Climate change is the catastrophe to end all other catastrophes - "Questions about whether actresses in the last Marvel movie made the same six figures as their male counterparts, or how many Fortune 500 CEOs are women, are irrelevant to the future well-being of most women on this planet. Even our boldest notions of how to improve the status of women — expanding access to education, health care, housing and liberty — will be meaningless if women are swept away in mega floods, buried in landslides or suffocated by wildfires."

RELENTLESS WRESTLER: Jim Jordan is an unyielding combatant, whether grappling on the mat or in the halls of Congress - "Just seven and a half months later their first son, the eventual Congressman James Daniel Jordan, was born on Feb. 17, 1964." [ed. note: shotgun wedding!]

...

"She kept reporting, and in 2019 finally secured an interview with a wrestler named Dan Ritchie, who told a story that showed just what the wrestlers were up against in trying to contradict Jordan. Ritchie revealed that Strauss had molested him, but he had not told a soul until the story broke on that fateful Fourth of July, when he confided in his wife and tried to tell his parents. His wife was comforting. His parents were not. 'Because at the time Jim Jordan was in line for speaker of the House. And we are conservatives. We’re Republicans. My father is, you know, very political,' Ritchie said in Marshall’s report. 'And his concern was, 'How is this going to affect Jim Jordan?''"

Concerns about Jordan’s election denialism flare during failed bid for speaker