Reading archive 2026-08-31

Meet the ex-Republicans running as Democrats in the midterms: In races across the country, former GOP politicians are leaning into their pasts.

Tree removals at East Potomac golf course raise alarms

Trump officially plans for civilian federal pay freeze in 2027: The alternative pay plan that the White House issued this week carves out exceptions to give larger raises to federal law enforcement and military personnel.

Kelly Clarkson’s last talk show episode showed why she broke the daytime curse: “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” which ended after seven years, signed off with an hour centered on music — and fans.

With shutdown looming, House leaders aim to quickly pass funding bill: House lawmakers are poised to vote this week on a Senate-passed measure to fund U.S. agencies through Dec. 11, avoiding a federal shutdown before the midterms.

Daniel Lurie, San Francisco’s quiet radical: While his party debates abolishing prisons and owning grocery stores, Democratic Mayor Daniel Lurie is cleaning up his city.

South Carolina turns into a historic Senate race: Darline Graham’s unapologetic honesty helped set up all-female clash.

Trump’s bullying has backfired: Might he try persuasion instead?

RFK Jr. once again proves his critics correct: As a measles outbreak kills in Pennsylvania, the HHS secretary spreads falsehoods about the MMR vaccine.

Months after primary, Lewis George is returning to public stage with D.C. forums: The democratic socialist in line to lead D.C. knows people are pinning their hopes on her. Here’s what she says she’ll do about it. - "Still, he thinks she will have to make some tough choices to get to [72,000 new homes in five years]. 'If you talk to capital right now, they largely don’t want anything to do with D.C. from a housing standpoint,' due in part to the difficulty in collecting rent and having a timely eviction process, he said, adding that making business-friendly changes could upset her base."

Pirro’s special grand jury probing D.C. schools, city oversight of youth: The unusual investigation appears to have a broad scope. Prosecutors have contacted D.C. Public Schools personnel to question them about truancy and graduation rates.

Dispute offers new details on settlement that followed notorious Dupont Circle killing: The estate of Robert Wone says former defendants in a wrongful-death suit have failed to make agreed payments that help fund a scholarship in his name.

The Crisis for Democrats in Michigan: The Senate election presents liberals with a grim choice. - "What's more, El-Sayed has already said that he intends to use his victory as a platform to reshape the party. Him winning could invite a future in which the United States has not just one party that is open to bigots but two."

Reading archive 2026-08-10

I treat brain fog. Here are 6 surprising causes many people overlook.: Brain fog has become an important part of the conversation for many conditions, including perimenopause and hypothyroidism.

When America’s budget will break, disastrously - "Medicare’s budget-busting makes Social Security’s look modest by comparison. Of the projected $138 trillion budget shortfall over the next 30 years, $109 trillion is from Medicare. Rising health care costs, combined with an aging population receiving far more in benefits than it ever paid in taxes, spells fiscal Armageddon. The Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund goes insolvent in 2033."

Eleventh-hour primary upsets muddy the race for control of Congress: Unexpected winners have complicated both parties’ paths to control of the House and Senate.

A crime reporter was picked for jury duty and left with more than he expected: The trial in a D.C. courtroom brought together jurors from across the city for five days.

GOP lawmakers move to scrap D.C.’s motorcycle helmet law as road deaths rise: One sponsor calls motorcycles a “symbol of freedom.” Safety experts say scrapping the helmet mandate would come at a deadly cost. - "In states without universal helmet laws, 51 percent of motorcyclists killed in 2023 were not wearing helmets, according to federal safety data. In states with such mandates, just 10 percent of motorcyclists killed had no helmet."

Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia defence pact technically same as NATO's Article 5, Turkish minister says

Cruise ship helps stranded skiff and crew in Southeast Alaska as Zuckerberg yacht stands by

Reading archive 2026-08-09

Democratic voters who used to back Susan Collins aren’t so sure anymore: “When she voted for RFK Jr., I totally lost it,” one former Collins voter said.

Unemployment improved — because thousands of workers disappeared. Where did they go?: The percentage of American workers ages 25 to 54 declined this year, and that’s not a good sign for the economy, experts say.

Why a child’s stuffed bunny is blowing up a political race — and the internet: Many seemed reluctant to take sides in an Ohio congressman’s divorce, but then came the allegation he had withheld his daughter’s sleep buddy.

Trump keeps making threats. The world has stopped flinching.: The president’s bombast has ceased to rattle world leaders, who have seen him fenced in by courts, rebuffed by Congress and strung along by Iran.

How predatory trade schools drained $300 million from the GI Bill and cheated veterans: The institutions defrauded Veterans Affairs while cheating thousands out of career training, with some offering training on how to grow grass and make fake rocks, a Post investigation found.

Ukraine fails to halt Russian barrage as Zelensky blames partners for ‘horrific casualties’: U.S.-made systems are Kyiv’s only means to shoot down ballistic missiles, and Ukraine says it has run out of interceptors. Seventeen Ukrainians died overnight.

Virginia boy’s death comes as more children are getting hurt on e-scooters: Over two days in the D.C. area, a 9-year-old was killed on an e-scooter and a 5-year-old was seriously injured, police said.

Trump officials say public transit is unsafe, but their data says otherwise: A new federal dashboard shows that New York and Washington have relatively low rates of serious crimes.

Now the midterms begin in earnest. Ask candidates three questions.: Those seeking House or Senate seats should be asked by voters to make a trio of vital commitments.

Japan’s guilty pleasure: A tribute to the largest battleship ever built: Why the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Yamato, sunk in 1945, still captures the country’s imagination.

Felony record didn’t stop fraudster from fleecing GI Bill of $1.5 million: The self-described former drug dealer says he faced no background check before he won approval to enroll veterans in his school for police dog handlers.

Veterans in this GI Bill scam played along as trade schools pocketed millions: Prosecutors went after “ghost” school operators but rarely pursued students who enrolled just to collect housing subsidies, a Post investigation found.

Budget battle erupts in D.C. over opioid settlement money

Union Station overhaul takes new direction as Trump administration scraps approved expansion plan

Reading archive 2026-07-24

The report oil companies are worried about: Climate attribution science: New report says our ability to tie weather damages to climate change is improving. - "The reason the report has stirred up controversy ahead of its release is that the fossil fuel industry views it as a threat. The industry has faced a large number of lawsuits accusing it of everything from fraudulently misleading the public to being responsible for financial damages from weather events. It’s those latter suits that make this report a threat. By presenting attribution as normal science that we’re increasingly confident in, it raises the prospect that courts will allow the scientific evidence developed by the field to be used as evidence in the courtroom."

Here’s how your peanut butter jar — and nearly everything else — can be recycled: There’s a way to fix the American recycling system. It involves AI-powered sensors and massive machinery.

Road deaths up sharply in the nation’s capital, despite goal of reaching zero: D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser pledged to eliminate traffic deaths in the city. More than a decade later, they still haven’t gone down.

The U.S. saw the first ‘China Shock.’ Now the world gets the sequel.: Trump’s tariffs have helped stem the flow of inexpensive Chinese goods to the U.S., but European factories are suffering under a flood of imported cars and tech. - "Still, many Chinese companies manage to escape U.S. tariffs by shipping their U.S.-bound goods via countries such as Vietnam or Mexico, where they undergo a bit of final processing that masks their country of origin. U.S. imports this year from Vietnam, Mexico, Thailand and Cambodia are all up significantly.

...

"Chinese carmakers already can produce roughly twice as many cars each year as they can sell in China and are adding capacity for an additional 5 million vehicles, according to economist Brad Setser of the Council on Foreign Relations. With Chinese consumers tapped out, Chinese carmakers are accelerating their move into foreign markets."

Red wolves, once nearly wiped out, had a spring baby boom in North Carolina: The births are a boon to efforts to revive the species, which was once nearly hunted to extinction.

I’m from Nebraska. Here’s what wealth-tax advocates don’t realize.: Farmers will be hit hard by any levy that taxes asset value. - "Most of the proposed wealth taxes target billionaires, but the government is unlikely to limit itself to such high earners for long. Implementing a wealth tax would require an extensive new administrative bureaucracy. With that infrastructure in place, the temptation to extend the levy to people further down the income ladder would be too great. Washington has never seen a tax it didn’t want to expand." [ed. note: this is both a Slippery Slope argument and not true]

Saudi nuclear deal in doubt as Trump adds new condition regarding Israel: A day after the agreement was signed, the president laid out a new requirement: that the Saudis normalize relations with Israel.

House GOP is seeking to restrict D.C. from raising taxes: The House Oversight Committee passed a measure to restrict the District’s ability to change its tax code. - "George Derek Musgrove, history professor at University of Maryland at Baltimore County and co-author of Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital, says that while Republicans have long meddled in District affairs, he sees a shift in recent years: 'It’s straight up, let’s punish this Democratic enclave. Let’s starve them of money so they can’t do anything.'"

Why is Zelensky firing top leaders as Ukraine’s outlook improves?: Amid battlefield gains, President Volodymyr Zelensky removed popular officials in a major shake-up. - "But other factors also are likely in play in Zelensky’s shake-up, analysts said, including Fedorov’s emerging role as an anti-corruption force inside the military. 

"As minister, he had nudged defense contracts into open bidding and ordered audits of who was being paid what. In a country where reports of corruption in weapons procurement have generated scandals for years, that made him popular with the public and dangerous to many suppliers."

How D.C.'s "humanure" became garden gold

Why Japan wants to create its first modern spy agency since World War II: President Donald Trump’s push for Japanese self-reliance aligns with the long-standing desire of conservatives in Tokyo to build intelligence capabilities.

A Teen Reporter Searched for His Community in the Epstein Files. Adults Freaked Out: An Instagram post turned one California student newspaper into a free-speech flash point. The students say they were just doing their homework.

Every era gets the ‘Odyssey’ it deserves: Here’s how to prepare your brain for Christopher Nolan’s new adaptation.

What 700 readers taught me about ‘The Odyssey’: You emailed me in droves asking for the missing text in a column about a movie version of a poem. That’s how much we all care about stories.

Trump’s plan to paint the Eisenhower could damage the stone — and the law: The administration’s proposal risks harming both the historic building and the system of reviews that protects structures like it. - "Ordinarily, the General Services Administration would have to follow the law and solicit input from experts and the public, but Trump’s lawyers have written a Trojan Horse into this case, claiming the GSA has ceded those responsibilities and requirements to the White House, to which the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act do not apply."

Howard University unenrolls hundreds of freshmen days before move-in: The school says the 502 affected students failed to meet payment deadlines. Many students said they communicated forthcoming scholarships and financial aid to Howard.

Evangelists say they are heeding a biblical command to preach on flights: In-flight evangelists have preached sermons and busted out guitars in recent years. Some travelers lament that they “can’t even walk away.”

Knives are out for Vance in the GOP. His allies say it’s a coordinated ‘op.’: The vice president has faced a barrage of attacks recently that are unusual for their intensity and how early in the political calendar they are taking place. - "Critical posts poured in from prominent commentators including Ben Shapiro, Marc Thiessen and Batya Ungar-Sargon, as well as online right-wing influencers and little-known X users whose anti-Vance posts quickly gained traction. Some of the users who pledged to oppose Vance and support Rubio in 2028 had profiles that strongly suggested they aren’t American voters and are based in other countries." [ed. note: it's the Israelis]

9-year-old boy killed in crash in Northern Virginia while riding e-scooter: The boy was not wearing a helmet when he was struck by a minivan in the Herndon area of Fairfax County, according to police.

Reading archive 2026-07-15

I Bought the $3,000 Fitness Suit That Electrocutes You. I’m Sending It Back: Celebrities like George Clooney have praised the expensive Katalyst suit. For me, it derailed my other exercises and made me reassess my obsession with fitness and efficiency.

With death of Lindsey Graham, Israel loses key backer as its isolation deepens: The senator represented a foreign policy consensus on U.S. support for Israel that has begun to collapse under President Donald Trump.

A major Colorado River decision looms. Here’s how it will affect millions.: With the river in freefall, federal officials plan to intervene, possibly imposing large cuts to water usage in seven states. Effects would be felt beyond the West. - "If [Doug Kenney, director of the Western Water Policy Program at the University of Colorado] were 'king for a day,' he said, he would simply calculate the percentage gap between water supplies and demand, and then reduce everyone’s allocation by that amount — sharing the pain of shortfalls equally across the basin.

"But as long as the Law of the River guarantees certain water rights and prioritizes certain users, Kenney said, it will be hard to create a political appetite for that kind of solution."

Pennsylvania Republicans won on lowering prices. Then came the Iran war.: Two Republicans who unseated House Democrats in 2024 after promising to lower the cost of living are fighting to keep their seats amid rising prices.

Reading archive 2026-07-09

90 percent of U.S. adults have this syndrome — but most have never heard of it: New guidelines may soon make the disorder known as CKM syndrome a common diagnosis.

How Mitch McConnell’s absence complicates the Senate’s business and war funding: The 84-year-old’s health issues are affecting the business of Congress, which returns from recess Monday and faces a Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government for fiscal 2027.

Graham Platner’s small hometown in Maine will never see him the same way: Residents of Sullivan, Maine, are left to ponder what it means to enter the maelstrom of national politics, and what might be exposed along the way.

Democratic Party fissures are shaping Michigan’s crucial Senate primary: The race is the next, and perhaps biggest, battle between the Democrats’ warring factions. - "[Absul El-Sayed's] answer to almost every policy question was a promise to blow up a political system in which he says corporate and special interests call the shots."

Multistate outbreak of foodborne parasitic illness reaches Virginia and Maryland

Alexandria's former power plant site set for waterfront transformation

Democrats Became Great by Fighting the Left: In the DSA era, liberals need to remember their history and fight for their values. - "All of this has centrist Democrats feeling a tad nervous. Some of their concerns are political. Working-class voters in Michigan and Pennsylvania may not go for the faculty-lounge notions swirling around the keffiyeh-sphere: open borders, defund the police, defund the Pentagon, punish Israel, oppose support for Ukraine, tear down prisons. One successful DSA candidate, Darializa Avila Chevalier, refused to answer when asked repeatedly whether murderers should serve prison time, a question most voters would not find hard to answer.

...

"When I am listening to the progressive wing, I'm always reminded of a sentence in Richard Weaver's 1948 book, Ideas Have Consequences: 'The trouble with the contemporary generation is that it has not read the minutes of the last meeting.' Everything the progressives are proposing has been tried before again and again, with terrible results. Rent control? Tried. Nationalizing industry? Tried. Concentrating power in order to pursue one faction's idea of justice? Tried."

What Trump Has in Common With the Far Left: If the president fears communism, maybe he should stop mimicking its worst elements.

What Is the Point of Patriot Front?: The masked men who were in Washington on July 4 are both unserious and threatening. - "Cross-pollination between Patriot Front and even more extreme neo-Nazi organizations has already happened. Before going to Patriot Front, Kieran Patrick Morris had attempted to join the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi accelerationist group whose members have been accused of several murders and terrorist plots. Another member, Ian Michael Elliott, once trained at a jiu-jitsu gym affiliated with the Wolves of Vinland, a Virginia-based white-nationalist group. 

"Having several hundred members is tiny in the grand scheme of politics, but it's still notable on the extremist fringes. If nothing else, Patriot Front offers sympathetic groups intent on violence a valuable pool of potential recruits."

The Foreign-Policy Debate Democrats Need to Have: The Biden administration focused on adapting American power to a dangerous new world. Progressives are calling that vision into question. - "Biden's approach to Russia and China was more confrontational and competitive than those of his Democratic predecessors. His administration armed Ukraine, through the largest American security-assistance effort since the World War II-era Lend-Lease Act, and provided Ukraine with extensive intelligence to help it fight Russia. At the same time, the Biden administration pursued a policy of managed competition with China. This meant that Washington limited the export of advanced semiconductor chips, regulated U.S. investment in Chinese firms, pushed diplomatically to limit the number of military bases China maintained globally, and deepened its alliances-even as it pursued high-level diplomacy to prevent this competition from escalating into conflict."

Lab-Leak Payback Has Begun: Indictments, subpoenas, and debarments are hitting American scientists embroiled in the controversy over COVID’s origins. - "A better, more comprehensive system remains a worthy goal. Shortly after President Trump took office, his administration took a few half steps in that direction. Last May, the president issued an executive order meant to limit and track all research that involves the potential enhancement of dangerous pathogens. 'This is an historic day-the end of gain-of-function-research funding by the federal government,' HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told reporters at the signing ceremony; NIH director Jay Bhattacharya said gain-of-function work would 'go away forever.' Yet Ebright and others told me that this project has stalled out. The Office of Science and Technology Policy had been placed in charge of revising the rules on this research by the end of last summer and implementing a national strategy for tracking all gain-of-function research before the end of last year. Those deadlines came and went. No such policies were put in place. (In response to a request for comment on this delay, the White House said that the administration 'continues to implement our updated framework to govern, limit, and track dangerous gain-of-function research across the United States.')"

Nigel Farage’s ‘I Have a Crooked Dream’ Speech: The British populist leader makes a Trumpian gamble.

Reading archive 2026-06-11

How D.C. lawmakers avoided deep cuts to child care and social services: The outstanding deficits in popular programs have led some advocates and lawmakers to suggest raising taxes on the wealthy — a move opposed by the mayor.

A majority of D.C. residents are unhappy about the city’s direction. We asked them why.: Some of the most common concerns are crime, the cost of living, the economy and concern about federal control.

An obscure race to control the D.C. Democratic Party comes with high stakes and controversy

Oil executives warn White House that gas prices will get worse: Grim predictions add to the problems of a president already facing a sharp rise in inflation.

How Joyce Beatty Saved the Kennedy Center: The Ohio congresswoman tells us why she's hopeful about a judge's ruling that zapped Trump's name from the building—and what she expects to happen next.

Solo dissents are uncommon. Justice Kagan just made her first.: Justice Elena Kagan’s first solo dissent came nearly 16 years after she joined the Supreme Court bench.

Musk’s Starlink hooked rural customers. Then came the price increases.: The billionaire’s satellite internet service is a lifeline to many, but some users who face higher prices say Starlink has amassed too much power.

Reading archive 2026-06-07

Democrats’ midterm ‘blue wave’ dreams face an icy challenge: Negative partisanship rules as voters mildly like their own party but detest the opposition.

Flesh-eating screwworm found in Texas, sparking fears for U.S. cattle: The parasite was found in a 3-week-old calf decades after it was largely eradicated in the U.S. Authorities said the risk to humans is low.

The four Republicans who broke with Trump on Iran and now face his wrath: There are still hurdles before Congress could force the president to end hostilities, but the House resolution reflects lawmakers' growing impatience, including within Trump's own party.

Archbishop removes D.C. priest as exorcist for saying UFOs are demons: Monsignor Stephen Rossetti had been an archdiocesan exorcist in Washington for nearly two decades.

China’s Economy Is Taking Everyone Down: American and Chinese workers are paying a high price for all the cheap goods.

Political dynasties carry new baggage as voters vilify the elite: Family names have long given candidates a boost. In the era of No Kings, they can also make for an easy attack.

The Left Needs to Rediscover Its Patriotism: A left that rejects a hopeful, empathetic love of the United States can never win the country to its side.

The Real Problem With the Democrats’ Ground Game: Democratic organizers are hesitant to admit when get-out-the-vote efforts don’t work. One group is trying to change that.

Red Tape Isn’t the Only Reason America Can’t Build: The failure to deploy rural broadband has become synonymous with excessive bureaucracy. The real story is more complicated. - "The lesson of rural broadband is that some government failures are due not to procedural excess, but to giving up on regulatory tools that might antagonize Big Business. ... It's tempting to think that America can learn how to build again without having to wage difficult battles against powerful corporate interests, simply by eliminating bureaucratic red tape. But if efficient building were really so easy, we'd already be doing it."

The FBI’s Leaders ‘Have No Idea What They’re Doing’: A casualty of Trump’s purge speaks out.

Can San Francisco Be Saved?: Introducing No Easy Fix, a new three-part miniseries from Radio Atlantic, about the widespread addiction and homelessness that threaten the city’s future

Why South Park Did an About-Face on Mocking Trump: The show’s creators once said they had nothing more to say about the president. What changed their minds?

Reading archive 2026-05-01

 I Turned Our Lawn Into a Meadow: And it’s been awesome.

A Catholic case against lawns: Catholic social teaching offers a framework for rethinking the use of outdoor space to nurture the shared flourishing of all creation. - "Lawn culture represents a mindset of control, consumption, and individualism. Lawns reflect not only questions about sustainability and creation care, but they also raise issues about wealth and human dignity and the use of resources that could benefit the common good. Catholic social teaching offers Catholics a framework for rethinking the use of lawn space not only to protect the environment but to nurture the shared flourishing of all creation."

Will labor unions destroy D.C. transit?: Quality is relatively high — at an unsustainable price.

Does drinking water prevent kidney stones? Here’s what experts say." Increased hydration is considered the best way to prevent kidney stones. A new study suggests it’s not that easy. May 1, 2026 at 5:00 a.m. EDT

Trump’s border wall expansion just bulldozed an ancient tribal site: Construction in the Arizona desert damaged an enormous Indigenous ground etching resembling a fish that is thought to be at least 1,000 years old. - "The Department of Homeland Security has issued waivers so that border wall construction does not have to follow laws that protect the environment or Indigenous sites, which normally require extensive study and planning to limit damages."

A long-standing Senate tradition is being quietly undermined: Senate Majority Leader John Thune has resisted Trump’s pleas to kill the filibuster, but Republicans circumvented it in trying to fund immigration enforcement agencies.

Trump’s allies float a specious theory about treaties: Another dubious attempt to justify aggrandizing power in the executive branch. - "The 'unitary executive theory' is an idea percolating in America’s political and judicial debates. Its radicalism includes insistence that the president may unilaterally withdraw the nation from treaties to which the Senate has consented."

America’s obesity problem isn’t about costs. We just love junk food.: Junk food is cheaper than healthful food, but a new study reinforces taste preferences play a bigger role than prices. - "Researchers recruited Type 2 diabetes patients who were at risk of food insecurity. Their average BMI was 36, which is classified as obese. All participants got standard-issue diabetes care information, but one group was also given a 'produce prescription,' a debit card good for $80 per month of fruits, vegetables or legumes. 

"The hypothesis was that access to free produce would improve the diets, and therefore some of the health metrics, of the group that got the prescription. 

"But it didn’t."

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 2026-02-05

Washington Post Lays Off More Than 300 Journalists: The layoffs cut into The Post’s local, international and sports coverage, and reduced its entire work force by about 30 percent. - "Much of [Weill Lewis's] tenure has been tumultuous, including a shake-up of newsroom leadership and scrutiny of his ties to a phone-hacking scandal while he worked for News Corp. Just before the 2024 presidential election, Mr. Lewis announced a new policy from Mr. Bezos ending presidential endorsements by The Post’s editorial board, which blocked a drafted endorsement of the Democratic candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. Hundreds of thousands of Post subscribers canceled their subscriptions in response. 

"In a staff meeting in 2024, Mr. Lewis warned that The Post was in trouble. 'We are losing large amounts of money,' he said. 'Your audience has halved in recent years. People are not reading your stuff.'"

House rejects D.C. tax changes, potentially costing the city $600M in revenue: If passed by the Senate, the measure could lead to a months-long suspension of the city’s tax filing system.

No, Billie Eilish, Americans are not thieves on stolen land: Civilization depends on secure property titles, not sincere apologies. - "It is easy to call land stolen, but what about the innocent purchasers who acquired in good faith in the interim? Are they thieves? Is Eilish a thief because, as the Tongva tribe recently asserted, her $3 million mansion in Los Angeles sits on its ancestral homeland?"

What to know about the rare condition Catherine O’Hara had: The late actor and comedian was born with a condition called situs inversus. Here’s what that means.

As West goes after Russia’s oil fleet, Moscow fears for its war funding: New European measures to crack down on Russia’s shadow fleet could severely hurt its economy at a time when it is looking increasingly vulnerable.

Democrats have an early front-runner: Gavin Newsom’s bet on joyful combat and coiffed charisma is paying dividends.

Gavin Newsom is very similar to Kamala Harris: Two San Francisco local elected officials who successfully ran statewide in CA - "My point, though, is that going from holding statewide office in California to running in a national election is not like the A.F.C. champion going to the Super Bowl. 

"It is hard to win these jobs, and getting them involves a real display of political skill. But that skill is not beating Republicans in elections. It’s catering to Democratic Party insiders and affiliated advocacy groups and generating media buzz and endorsements. And this environment is a bad training ground for developing politicians who are good at beating the opposition party. It’s as if you took the winning team from the Champions League and then sent those players to the N.B.A. Finals on the theory that they’re top-notch athletes. You’re selecting on the wrong thing. And it shows."

Our 2024 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) Models: The races where fundamentals pointed to one outcome, but candidate quality led to another

He lost a pinkie trying to kill a man. From prison, he made things worse.: A case in Maryland involving a former high school wrestling star challenged a judge with a difficult question: Who deserves mercy?

Why this vegan environmentalist thinks meat is the future: A new book argues that people will never give up meat — and that plant-based and lab-grown meat will be the “next agricultural revolution.”

D.C.’s largest office-to-residential conversion is officially underway: A former office in Dupont Circle will become a 15-story, 532-unit apartment building, the kind of transformation that D.C. officials see as key to downtown’s future.

On Greenland, Europe stood up, Trump blinked, and the E.U. learned a lesson: For some in the often fractured E.U., Trump’s retreat on the Arctic territory proves that retaliation — not conciliation — is the answer to his hardball tactics.

ICE surge creates new headache for Maine’s Susan Collins: The most vulnerable Republican in the Senate would not say whether she supported the federal enforcement effort.

On a paradise island in the Pacific, meth and HIV epidemics rage: International criminal syndicates have been using Fiji as a transshipment point for drugs originating in Southeast Asia and Latin America. - "Law enforcement officials, customs agencies, U.N. officials and others who investigate drug syndicates believe that the groups operating in and around Fiji are working with each other, bringing together Chinese triads, Mexican cartels, Australian biker gangs and other syndicates with connections as far away as Nigeria."

Reading archive 2026-01-15

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

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

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

...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading archive 2026-01-14

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

...

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

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

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

Reading archive 2026-01-09

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading archive 2026-01-06

Disgust Over Jan. 6 Is No Longer Bipartisan

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

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

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

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

How Walmart And Pepsico Rigged Prices And Supercharged Food Inflation

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

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

...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading archive 2025-12-29

The MAGA-fication of Nicki Minaj Once an advocate for LGBTQ+ people and immigrants, the rapper has repeatedly praised an administration cracking down on the same people, and the White House is returning the love. - "'Even Drake has his papers,' rapper Azealia Banks wrote on X in September, according to Complex, mocking Minaj for ingratiating herself to Trump. 'Even Cardi B isn’t a 40-year-old immigrant. … Doing dolphin tricks for the barbs in a country she can’t vote in is rusty babe.'"

Russia isn’t winning. Putin wants to fool you.: Putin’s hope is that U.S. will somehow convince itself that Ukraine can’t succeed. Don’t fall for it.

Russia’s economy keeps driving its war, but it could break in 2026: Problems in the oil sector, a possible banking crisis and consumer woes lie ahead for Russia’s economy as prices for Russian oil plummet over sanctions.

He mailed dozens of antisemitic letters. Volunteers helped track him down.: During a time of rising attacks, threats can’t be ignored, security experts, nonprofit leaders and community members told The Post.

JD Vance is ‘walking a tightrope’ on raging Israel debate within MAGA: At Turning Point USA’s conference, the vice president didn’t mention the topic that’s tearing the movement apart.

Heritage staffers quit amid latest strife at conservative institution: “Most of our staff, from our legal and economic centers, are departing immediately,” Heritage President Kevin Roberts wrote in a Sunday night email to staff.

Ask a Vet: Is it ethical to buy a flat-faced dog?: French bulldogs and other brachycephalic breeds come with high price tags and, often, serious health problems.

White House threatens Smithsonian funds in sweeping content review: “American people will have no patience” for any museum that is “uncomfortable conveying a positive view of American history,” read a letter from Trump aides.

Presenting The 2025 Shams Charania Award For Excellence In Divulging Of Information Through Syntax Comprehended By Many - "I find that LLMs produce sentences that are smooth, glib, poreless, smiling, somewhat like a beluga whale. But every busted sentence written by a human is busted in its own way. Each of these sentences is unwittingly an act of resistance against the onrushing techno-homogenization of language. The writer’s own haste, uncertainty, or sloth manifests itself in the syntax. Every time a person begins to write, they are taking a bit of their interiority and, through a wondrous act of inversion, making it legible to the external world."

Abandoning homeownership may be changing how people behave at work and home: What happens when a generation gives up on ever owning a home? New research explores the potential consequences, and what to do about it.

Burning wood emits more than fossil fuels. Here’s how to build a better fire.: A wood-burning fireplace isn’t great for the planet or your health. But there are things you can do to make your fireplace better.

The year Trump broke the federal government: How DOGE and the White House carried out a once-unthinkable transformation of the nation’s sprawling bureaucracy.

How Trump changed my mind on the filibuster: The Senate’s 60-vote requirement is an excuse for aggrandizing executive power. - "The filibuster functions as a brake on radical change when Congress is the center of the political system. When the president is at the center, the benefits are less clear. The costs also become more apparent because the filibuster, as an obstacle to legislating, becomes a pretext for presidential overreach."

New York's Congestion Pricing Is Working. Five Charts Show How

How Israeli covert activities in Syria seek to thwart its new government: Israel is suspicious of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a longtime Islamist militant, and has provided weapons, intelligence and cash to militiamen at odds with his rule.

Why the Fed strategically absorbed some blows from Trump: Facing threats from President Donald Trump, the central bank opted for a low-profile strategy, juggling political pressures and the looming question of how far it can go to defend itself.

Trump’s farmer bailout caps tough year for loyal constituency: Red-state farmers continue to struggle under damaging inflation and the fallout of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, especially with China.

The old-world antisemitism in a Christmas pageant near you: Does the pope mean what he says about zero tolerance of hatred toward Jews?

D.C. customers face nearly 13 percent hike on gas bills this winter: Washington Gas customers in the District, Maryland and Virginia face increases in their bills.

The epidemic of toxic flattery is spreading: What do AI, Trump’s cabinet and the academy have in common? They aim to please.

Pipe bomb suspect admits targeting RNC, DNC headquarters, officials say: Prosecutors said Brian J. Cole told the FBI that he planted the explosives on Jan. 5, 2021, because he was frustrated with the U.S. political system. - "Brian J. Cole, 30, told investigators that 'something just snapped' in him 'because he was unhappy with the response of political leaders on both sides of the political aisle to questions raised about the results of the 2020 election,' according to the filing, which asks a judge in U.S. District Court in Washington to keep Cole in jail pending his trial."

 - "Studies have found that wolves in the Midwest and Canada not only keep deer populations in check, but they also alter deer behavior in ways that help prevent car crashes and save human lives."

Wolves, long feared and reviled, may actually be lifesavers

The real issue strangling America’s electric grid: AI data centers are being blamed for price spikes manufactured in statehouses and D.C. [ed. note: authors are industry hacks who ignore the health costs of coal plants]