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 2025-12-11

Hundreds quarantined as South Carolina measles outbreak accelerates: A state epidemiologist said the spike in cases came in the wake of Thanksgiving travel and a lack of vaccinations. At least 16 cases were traced to a church.

Democrats face a mess in Texas: A late shuffle in the primary race could cost the party a Senate seat.

Tim Walz is crumbling, along with his 2028 hopes: The Minnesota governor tries to answer for social services fraud on his watch.

How antisemitism is entering mainstream culture: Celebrities demanding the release of a convicted Palestinian terrorist signals a deep problem.

Republicans will regret ceding this issue to the left: New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani explained due process in a video. Kristi Noem didn’t like that.

Why these red state Republicans are resisting Trump’s efforts to expand GOP power: Republicans hold a 40-10 advantage in the state Senate but may still reject Trump’s pressure. ‘Hoosiers are very independent.’

Lawmakers launch bipartisan, last-minute bids to force vote on ACA subsidies: Either of the efforts would need the support of nearly all House Democrats to succeed.

Military admits ‘mistake’ in viral arrest of U.S. civilian in Japan: Kareem El, a civilian from Washington, D.C., visiting Okinawa, was held by U.S. military police for declining to provide identification.

D.C.’s Anita Bonds won’t run again, further shaking up 2026 elections: D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At Large), 80, says it’s time for “new energy” as the 2026 election cycle promises to bring change to the city’s leadership.

Why a Democratic upset in Miami should worry Trump: How a Democrat won the mayor’s race for the first time since 1997.

Texas midterms point to ideological corners, not swing-state issues: Next year’s contests seem destined to produce a congressional delegation of staunch conservatives and liberals, as determined by primary voters.

At the first stop on his affordability tour, Trump mocks affordability: What was supposed to be a speaking tour to connect with Americans struggling with higher prices and stagnant wages was instead a greatest-hits campaign speech. - "'Let me tell you, Black people love Trump,' he said, and then added: 'They know a scam better than anybody.'"

Trump order to keep Michigan power plant open costs taxpayers $113m: Critics say JH Campbell coal-fired plant in western Michigan is expensive and emits high levels of toxic pollution

A Kansas town chose cruelty. Now it mourns as the mayor faces voter fraud charge and deportation.

‘Deeply demoralizing’: how Trump derailed coal country’s clean-energy revival - "The cuts have deepened existing mistrust in government, known colloquially as Appalachian fatalism, yet many of those interviewed by the Guardian blame Washington politics generally rather than Trump.

"'This party has taken away that funding from Appalachia illegally: that’s the stone-cold fact. But by the time those facts reach communities on the ground, it’s just so muddy. I think some are asking questions about why training is being shut down and why they didn’t get their Snap [food assistance] benefits, but where they’ll find the answers is the big issue,' said Hannah." [ed. note: they'll blame everyone but themselves]

Church displays Nativity scene with baby Jesus in zip ties, ICE agents

Reagan judges surface as unfiltered assessors of Trump

Reading archive 2025-11-17

Phillips Collection will sell O’Keeffe and other masterpieces, sparking backlash: After months of internal debate, the D.C. museum is forging ahead with an auction of artworks by Georgia O’Keeffe, Georges Seurat and others.

How the FBI’s massive search for the D.C. pipe bomber stalled: Agents on the Jan. 6 investigation scoured sales at Foot Locker, Home Depot, Lowe’s and other stores in a frustrating search for the culprit.

Federal agent shoots at car during D.C. chase, police say: The shooting marks the second time in a month that a Homeland Security agent has shot at a car while patrolling with D.C. police.

A great nation is reduced to fanciful hoping: America used to borrow for emergencies. Now it is mired in a perpetual debt emergency.

Trump faces heat from MAGA base on ‘America First’ agenda, Epstein: MAGA leaders erupted over the president’s assertion that the U.S. needs foreign workers. That rift and others have raised GOP concerns about enthusiasm ahead of the midterms.

The rise and importance of Secret Congress: (Shh, don't talk about it) [ed. note: from 2021] - "The core of the Secret Congress theory is that on highly salient issues, lawmaking is dominated by the question of which party controls which chambers and by how slim their majorities are. Under these circumstances, polarization is high and compromise is rare. Congress is prone to gridlock, and when solutions pass, they pass on a near party line."

GOP plans to replace Obamacare have failed. Here’s what lawmakers propose now. Lawmakers are racing toward a mid-December deadline, with Republicans hoping to present side-by-side legislation with Democrats’ plan to extend ACA subsidies. - "Many health economists have panned Trump’s plan, saying it is likely to create a 'death spiral' in the ACA marketplaces. Healthy people would be prone to drop coverage, using the subsidies to pay out of pocket for whatever limited health care they need, leaving sick people behind and causing premiums to skyrocket."

GOP-led Epstein probe in House creates political friendly fire for Trump: The Republican side of the committee investigating Epstein has kept pushing out troves of emails and documents, and Trump’s name keeps coming up.

On edge in small-town America: In a divided nation, one Wisconsin village feels everyday life begin to fray.

In shift, Trump says House should vote to release Epstein files: It is unclear whether the Senate would take up the measure if the House passes it. Trump would also need to sign the legislation to compel the release of the documents.

The first glimpse of post-Trump MAGA has arrived: With a push from Marjorie Taylor Greene, Donald Trump acquiesces over the Jeffrey Epstein files.

How the Epstein story keeps growing: Trump’s demand to investigate Democrats is political malpractice.

Trump defends Tucker Carlson for interviewing white nationalist Fuentes: “You can’t tell him who to interview,” Trump said about the former Fox News host and Nick Fuentes, a far-right activist who once called Adolf Hitler “awesome.”

Would your partner pass the ‘bird test’? It’s complicated, experts say: Two relationship experiments are flying high on TikTok — but they aren’t exactly foolproof.

Child poverty soars in Britain as working families struggle to keep up: Across Britain, families who once felt solidly middle class are losing their footing as rents, child care costs and food prices outpace wages.

Man fatally shot by D.C. police in Foxhall Road NW area: The shooting was reported in a house in the 4400 block of Reservoir Road NW.

Teen shot five people near Howard University during homecoming weekend, police say: Kaevaughn Dudley, 17, was arrested Friday and charged as an adult with assault with intent to kill.

The Right Is Now Transvestigating Charlie Kirk and His Wife, Erika: Transphobia truly impacts us all.

Japan tourism and retail stocks slide after row with China over Taiwan

Shocked by Trump’s profiteering? Here’s some perspective.: There are periods in American history when graft was the rule, not the exception.

How DHCD Forfeited $35 Million in Federal Assistance for Affordable Housing and Bailed Out a Well-Connected Developer: DHCD Director Colleen Green failed to disclose the loss of funding when asked during a D.C. Council hearing earlier this year.

Reading archive 2025-05-12 pt 1

Ruben Gallego’s tough talk in Pennsylvania visit adds to 2028 chatter: Democrats are hoping to tap into the Arizona senator’s playbook to win back working-class voters far beyond his home state.

More alternatives to knee replacement surgery are emerging: Physicians caution that the treatments aren’t permanent fixes, but they may work well for some.

RIP American innovation: Why destroy the funding that made the United States a leader in technology and invention? - "Giving out grants for what might look frivolous or wasteful on the surface is a feature, not a bug, of publicly funded research. Consider that Agriculture Department and NIH grants to study chemicals in wild yams led to cortisone and medical steroids becoming widely affordable. Or that knowing more about the fruit fly has aided discoveries related to human aging, Parkinson’s disease and cancer."

Democrat Spanberger: No right-to-work repeal in Virginia, but maybe ‘reform’: Gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger (D) told a Richmond TV station she would not sign a repeal of right-to-work; GOP rival Winsome Earle-Sears doesn’t believe her.

Attorney general’s brother vies to lead D.C. Bar, upending contest: Bar elections have drawn triple the turnout of a typical cycle with weeks left to vote, animated by the candidacies of two lawyers connected to Trump appointees.

Trump claims prices are down. Here’s what the data actually shows.: While prices for certain goods have declined, inflation remained elevated even before tariffs show up in the data.

There are big, ugly problems at the center of the House budget bill: Republicans have created impossible restraints on their tax-and-budget package.

Biden goes public in attacking Trump — and defending himself: His appearances come amid Trump’s attacks, critical books and residual anger from Democrats.

This is the view from Kyiv: President Donald Trump’s turn toward Moscow hasn’t changed the moral calculus for Ukraine.

Plagiarizing Independent Journalists Is Part of Mainstream Media’s Business - "Plagiarism is shockingly common in mainstream media, especially at the New York Times."

Japan Threatens Their Nuclear Option in Trump’s Trade War - "America’s largest foreign holder of US Treasuries has always been loath to even consider the notion of selling the immense amount of US debt they hold, but Trump has upended every kind of precedent imaginable, and now the financial world’s nuclear option has firmly been put on the table."

The Conclave Just Did the Unthinkable: What an American pope means for the Catholic Church and the world

Trump’s Inevitable Betrayal of His Supporters: Trump never meant to keep his promises. His voters are starting to notice.

Just Don’t Call Her Unqualified: Jeanine Pirro, Trump’s nominee for U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., is a real prosecutor. She’s also a real MAGA partisan.

Reading archive 2025-03-31

The Truth About Trump’s Greenland Campaign: When the president talks about security in the Arctic, he’s talking about climate change. - "As polar ice melts away, superpowers are vying for newly open shipping routes in the Arctic Ocean and largely unexplored mineral and fossil-fuel reserves. Arctic warming could pose a direct threat to America's security interests too: Alaska could have new vulnerabilities to both China and Russia; changes in ocean salinity and temperature might interfere with submarine detection systems; the extremes of climate change, including permafrost thaw in Russia, could drive economic instability, social unrest, and territorial claims."

Why DOGE Could Actually Increase the Deficit: Some of Musk’s haphazard cuts will produce tiny savings in terms of salary while forfeiting much larger ones down the road, costing the government money.

Pete Hegseth says U.S. is making Japan a 'war-fighting' base to deter China: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also stressed the need for the U.S. and Japan to accelerate the strengthening of their military capability as the region faces a more assertive Beijing.

Two Republican senators wrestle with how to handle DOGE cuts: Both of Alaska’s Republican senators have pushed to rescind cuts they argue would hurt the state. But they have split over how to persuade Trump to change his mind.

Something worse could be coming for the economy than a recession: Trump’s tariffs are making stagflation a real risk for the United States for the first time since the 1970s.

How to use your voice to reduce your stress and feel calmer: Vocal and breathing exercises can be powerful tools for soothing oneself or others

Trump’s threat of towering tariffs on European booze is sobering: Wine and spirits can be markers of national and regional identity — which could make a coming trade fight between the U.S. and Europe much more emotional.

Why I and thousands of my fellow Gazans say Hamas’s tyranny must end: We Gazans are risking our lives to rid ourselves of Hamas’s oppression. This may be our only chance.

AP photojournalist steals the show at court hearing on Trump exclusion: Staffer Evan Vucci put an exclamation point on the argument for access to the White House press pool.

ICE detains Harvard researcher from Russia who protested Ukraine war: Kseniia Petrova’s visa was revoked as she returned to Boston last month. She fears deportation to Russia because of her opposition to its invasion of Ukraine. - "According to a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Petrova 'was lawfully detained after lying to federal officers about carrying biological substances into the country. A subsequent K-9 inspection uncovered undeclared petri dishes, containers of unknown substances, and loose vials of embryonic frog cells, all without proper permits. Messages found on her phone revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs.'"

What the science says about multivitamins, magnesium and 7 other supplements: Spoiler alert: Many claims about the benefits of supplements aren’t backed by strong data.

White House Weighs Helping Farmers as Trump Escalates Trade War: The Trump administration has discussed providing financial aid for farmers who may be subject to retaliation by America’s trading partners. - "The Commodity Credit Corporation is a key U.S.D.A funding vehicle: It supplies the money for federal programs to support farm incomes, stabilize commodity prices and respond to natural disasters. While its finances are complicated, the entity may borrow up to $30 billion from the Treasury Department."

Reading archive 2024-09-04

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/09/03/forest-park-chicago-blue-line-train-shooting/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/09/03/us-marines-attacked-turkey/

Opinion See my video of a Kharkiv cemetery. Now tell me Ukraine shouldn’t strike back.: Washington feared Putin would escalate. Now that he’s done so, it’s time to respond.

A louder voice in fighting abortion bans: Men in red states: More men are speaking out in defense of reproductive rights because of harrowing experiences that wives or partners have suffered when a pregnancy went awry. - "'The silver lining of Dobbs is that it forced people to talk about what was stigmatized and shrouded in mystery — miscarriage, fetal anomalies, stillbirth,' she said. They’re now realizing the range of scenarios that can be directly impacted by state bans 'and the end of this illusion that you can separate elective abortion from emergency abortions.'"

Republican Liz Cheney says she will vote for Kamala Harris this election: “Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump but I will be voting for Kamala Harris,” Cheney said Wednesday at Duke University.

House Democrats ask Trump if he illegally accepted $10 million from Egypt: A recent Washington Post article detailed a now-closed Justice Department investigation spurred by intelligence from 2016 indicating that the Egyptian president sought to give Donald Trump money.

This bird came back from extinction - now scientists in an aircraft are teaching it to migrate: Extinct in central Europe for 300 years, 36 northern bald ibis are following an ultralight aircraft on their long-forgotten migration route from Austria to Spain

The GOP has transitioned from climate denial to climate misrepresentation, experts say: Why denying the science of climate change is no longer politically tenable.

How ancient healing hot springs could fuel a clean energy future: One hot spring town shows how Japan could turn its underground cauldron of heat into clean energy — without risking its centuries-old tradition of public baths.

What to do with your old jacket rather than throwing it out: Repair services and programs that allow you to fix or trade in your old gear can extend the life span of your products and keep them out of landfills.

Behind the campaign to make Metro cool again: Pandas on a train? Men in finance? A more confident Metro is having some fun.

When 5 teen girls allegedly beat her son to death, she kept his casket open: As the trial in the 2023 beating death of Reginald “Reggie” Brown begins, his 90-year-old mother, Annie Mae Brown Mouton, seeks “justice.”

Tees up, trees down: NPS’s plan for Rock Creek Park Golf Course needs a rethink

How China extended its repression into an American city

An au pair, a husband’s affair and a double homicide: A Fairfax County jury will decide whether Juliana Peres Magalhães is guilty of second-degree murder in a double homicide in the main bedroom of her adopted home.

Trump appears to have misled Gold Star families on troop deaths in Afghanistan: Trump frequently suggests, as he did in a TikTok filmed at Arlington Cemetery, that an 18-month period without hostile-fire deaths took place entirely in his presidency. - "At a political rally on June 26 that year, weeks before the collapse of the Afghan government, Trump bragged that he had made it difficult for Biden to change course. 'I started the process. All the troops are coming back home. They couldn’t stop the process,' he said. 'Twenty-one years is enough, don’t we think? Twenty-one years. They [the Biden administration] couldn’t stop the process. They wanted to, but it was very tough to stop the process.'"

John McCain’s son says he will support Kamala Harris in November: Jimmy McCain said he changed his voter registration from independent to Democrat and expressed outrage over an altercation at Arlington Cemetery involving Trump campaign staff.

Opinion One urgent reason the justices need a credible ethics code? Ginni Thomas.: And you thought she couldn’t do any more to cast disrepute on the Supreme Court. - "And Thomas’s email was not just some generic note of appreciation. It was to praise First Liberty for its fierce, and deep-pocketed, fight against … wait for it … proposals to reform the Supreme Court and strengthen ethics enforcement against the justices."

Jury convicts last people charged in the fatal shooting of Makiyah Wilson: Ten-year-old Makiyah Wilson was killed and four others were injured in the July 16, 2018, shooting in Northeast Washington.

Police ID man they allege tossed gun that went off, killing a D.C. officer: Police said they are seeking Tyrell Lamonte Bailey, 27, on a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm.

Murderer whose life sentence was commuted by Trump convicted of domestic violence: Davidson, who was convicted in the murder of a federal law enforcement officer in 1990, shared an attorney with Donald Trump Jr.

Opinion A new way to treat customers? Annoy them until they go away.: To keep loiterers away, stores bombard passersby with annoying messages and ‘anti-vagrancy music.’ They end up annoying everyone.

Reading archive 2024-06-02

Maryland diner turns leftover bacon grease into soap to save money: Sam Delauter makes his great-grandmother’s Great Depression soap recipe using bacon grease from his diner that he used to throw away

Basic training in Ukraine is barely covering the basics, commanders say: Ukrainian commanders in the field say they are bracing for most of the new troops under a new conscription law to arrive with poor training.

Why restaurants are so loud, and what science says we can do about it

Opinion How an outrageous smear of U.S. troops wound up in history books: Remarkably, the propaganda has come into academic vogue on both sides of the Pacific.

Biden’s cease-fire plan tightens political squeeze for Netanyahu in Israel: Hostage families are calling for an immediate cease-fire deal, while far-right Israeli politicians are threatening to collapse Netanyahu’s government if it’s accepted.

Reading archive 2024-05-15

Angela Alsobrooks wins Maryland’s hotly contested U.S. Senate primary The Prince George’s County executive defeated a three-term congressman and now shoulders the responsibility of holding the deep-blue state’s seat against popular two-term former governor Larry Hogan (R).

How to Prevent a Lost Phone From Ruining Your Life - 

Duo Mobile: The best two-factor authentication app. Duo Mobile is free, available on both Android and iPhone, and easy to use, and its security features are better than those of other two-factor authentication apps.

1Password: The best password manager. Newbies will appreciate 1Password’s plain-language security recommendations and colorful interface, while the technically inclined will appreciate its advanced features and security.

D.C.’s secret garden: A vacant lot in Temperance Alley has been transformed into a thriving garden, farm and community gathering space — for now.

Who is Angela Alsobrooks, winner of Md.’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary?: The projected winner of Maryland’s high stakes Democratic U.S. Senate contest will take on popular former governor Larry Hogan (R) in November.

Woman who plotted to destroy power grid with neo-Nazi leader pleads guilty: Sarah Beth Clendaniel faces up to 35 years in prison on conspiracy and firearm possession charges, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Japan, famously polite, struggles to cope with influx of tourists: Huge numbers of visitors are causing chaos at popular spots like Mount Fuji and Kyoto, leading to some extreme measures to tamp down the crowds.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico shot and gravely injured: Robert Fico was shot five times, an act of violence that left Slovakia’s populist leader “fighting for his life” and the country reeling.

As Hamas returns to the north, Israel’s Gaza endgame is nowhere in sight: American and Israeli officials are offering increasingly blunt assessments about Hamas’s resilience and Netanyahu’s failure to plan for postwar Gaza.

Reading archive 2024-04-09

The deeply silly, extremely serious rise of ‘Alpha Male’ Nick Adams: Meet the Trump-backed raconteur who is teaching America’s young men the art of being hard to deal with

D.C. police arrest 16-year-old in fatal shooting of teen at Metro station: The victim, Avion Evans, was the second of two 14-year-old boys slain within 33 hours in the District last week

How to (responsibly) let your cat outside: Giving your house cat a taste of freedom doesn’t have to imperil local wildlife

D.C. vacant-property owner to pay $1.8 million for tax evasion, AG says: The long-vacant property at 1000 C St. NE has been viewed as a nuisance to the surrounding community

D.C. Public Library’s HR director resigns after ethics probe into doula work - "According to BEGA, Graves earned $7,200 to $12,000 per year working as a doula and aided in three to five births per year. In 2021 and 2022, she made about $98,000 and $144,000 at Blackstone, a Los Angeles-based contractor providing such services as security and food service. She had a salary of $148,000 in her D.C. government job, records show."

The Arizona Supreme Court just upended Trump’s gambit on abortion: On Monday, Trump declined to support a national abortion ban, seeking to neutralize the political issue. A day later, Arizona’s ban gave it new life.

Opinion  I’m Jewish, and I’ve covered wars. I know war crimes when I see them.

She was fleeing with her grandson, who was holding a white flag. Then she was shot

Russian trolls target U.S. support for Ukraine, Kremlin documents show

Love the Tidal Basin’s cherry blossoms? Thank this guy and his team.

Opinion  The U.S. has a powerful new alliance — thanks to China

Opinion  Ahead of state visit, an ‘epic’ shift in Japan’s defense posture

Reading archive 2023-12-19

Release of five wolves in the Colorado mountains begins first-of-its kind state reintroduction effort: Paws on the ground come after three years of planning

Why does mold on my walls come back, even after cleaning with bleach?

It’s time to start planning for the next thousand years: Climate change desperately needs “cathedral projects.”

Egypt under growing pressure as displaced Gazans crowd the border

America’s best example of turning around a dying downtown - "Young professionals are the main group moving in, especially because all the units are rentals. But empty nesters, judges, athletes and even a few young families have also leased properties so they can be near museums and Cleveland’s sports stadiums. For the first time in years, a yellow school bus makes a daily stop at the square to pick up kids living there. 'We’re a neighborhood church again,' said Rev. Stephen Blonder Adams, senior pastor of Old Stone Church, which has been on the square since 1820. His blessing of the animals is a hit with all the dog owners living by the square.

...

"Some cities have not used this concentrated 'node' approach. D.C.’s map of buildings slated for conversion, for example, shows a scattering of sites. That should be reconsidered in 2024. A denser population attracts grocery stores, coffee shops and pocket parks, among other amenities."

The nation’s capital, built on water, struggles to keep from drowning - "The African American museum was built on the lowest and last spot then available on the Mall. Engineers had expected to hit water, but the forces of nature they disturbed put the project in immediate peril."

New D.C. police training aims to defuse crisis situations without guns

Running short on Ukraine air defenses, U.S. looks to Japan: Tokyo is preparing a significant policy shift in its defense export rules that would allow Washington to transfer additional Patriot missiles to Kyiv

Judge again turns over Rep. Perry’s phone records to DOJ Jan. 6 probe: A federal judge turned over 75 percent instead of 90 percent of records the FBI seized from Perry’s phone, after a U.S. appeals court set a new precedent defining limits on Congress’s immunity from criminal investigation

Reading archive 2023-09-19

Pennsylvania rolls out automatic voter registration: The Commonwealth became the 24th state to make voter registration an automatic part of getting a driver's license or identification.

Pinto releases plans to tackle crime as violent summer ends: Package of plans released Monday drew criticism from D.C. judges concerned about the legality of proposed searches

 At Japan’s dementia cafes, forgotten orders are all part of the service

D.C. Area Gets Tens Of Millions In Funding For ‘Tree Equity’

Are electric cars really better for the environment? - "In 2020, building the world’s wind turbines, solar panels, EVs and other clean-energy infrastructure demanded 7 million tons of minerals, estimates the International Energy Agency. Roughly half of this was destined for batteries and EVs. 

"The oil, gas and coal industry, by contrast, extracted the equivalent of 15 billion metric tons in 2019. And the industry will need to extract it year after year to keep supplying energy. Clean-energy technology can use these materials for decades or, if recycled, in perpetuity."

Opinion  This is what taking on election deniers really looks like

Ray Epps, subject of Tucker Carlson's Jan. 6 conspiracy theories, charged by DOJ: Epps, a former supporter of Donald Trump, is set to enter a plea agreement. He told the Jan. 6 committee that the conspiracy theories about him ruined his life.

Betting inside a poke shop, he put D.C.’s sportsbook under attack - "'It’s pretty safe to say this has been the worst rollout of legal sports betting in the United States,' said Dustin Gouker, a veteran of gambling media and a former correspondent for The Post. 'It is the punchline of a joke at this point.'

...

"In 2019, amid the national rush for states to set up sports betting operations, the D.C. Council gave the Lottery near-total control over online and in-person sports betting within District lines and awarded the Greek gaming company Intralot a five-year, $215 million no-bid contract to run GambetDC. Advocates for the deal argued that skipping the usual bidding process would allow for a quick rollout and give the District a head start competing for local customers with Maryland and Virginia, both of which had yet to legalize sports betting.

"Before the Council approved the contract, The Post reported that many of Intralot’s subcontractors had little experience with sports betting but extensive ties to City Hall. The Council approved the deal in a contentious 7-5 vote.

...

"After assurances that GambetDC’s accelerated rollout would give the District a competitive advantage, D.C. bettors never took to the app. Along with its clunky interface, GambetDC imposes a 'vigorish' — the sportsbook’s advantage baked into its odds — that’s roughly twice the industry average, according to the prices posted on GambetDC and other sites. 'I tell any sports bettor to never use Gambet,' said Matt Phillips, a local betting analyst with Next Level Sports and Entertainment. 'It’s not beneficial if you want to win money.'

...

"As bad as GambetDC’s standard prices are, its oddsmaking is often worse. Alex Monahan, co-founder of the odds tracker OddsJam, said D.C.’s sportsbook has “approximately three times as many inefficiencies” in its odds compared with national operators. In other words, a savvy customer could win frequently enough to overcome GambetDC’s hefty house edge."

Reading archive 2023-01-19

Opinion  The America trap: Why our enemies often underestimate us - "Americans, British and French during World War I and for decades afterward assumed that Bolshevism posed the greatest threat to liberal democracy. But Bolshevism proved less easily exported than both its proponents and its opponents believed. Ostracized by the rest of Europe, the Soviet Union turned inward to wrestle with the transformation of its society. When democracies fell in the 1920s and ’30s, they fell to the Right, not the Left.

...

"The phenomenon of a single power fighting two full-scale wars on land and sea, financing and producing enough military equipment for itself and its allies, while at the same time also raising its people’s standard of living, was so unprecedented that Hitler could be forgiven for not having anticipated it. He admitted to the Japanese ambassador, soon after declaring war, that he did 'not know yet' how 'one defeats the USA.' He soon came to regard the war with America as 'a tragedy, illogical, devoid of fundamental reality.'"

‘Environmental racism’ and the mysterious cars rusting in D.C. woods: “They don’t have cars in the woods of Rock Creek Park,” said advocate Nathan Harrington. “I don’t see why we should.”

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says Ukraine could be an ‘inflection point for the Western world’: ‘The only thing that matters for the future of the world is how this thing plays out’

A New Jersey sports bettor tells all and issues a warning: Don’t do it | Opinion

Supreme Court Still Doesn't Know Who Leaked Draft Abortion Ruling: Eight months later, an investigative team hasn't yet identified who leaked the draft of the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade.

Reading archive 2022-12-27

How to Weatherize Your Home

ENERGY STAR Rebate Finder

Rep.-elect George Santos acknowledges ‘résumé embellishment’ but answers little on finances: The Long Island Republican was pressed to address questions about whether he fabricated his biography and why he reported skyrocketing wealth

Opinion  For Cassidy Hutchinson, ‘I don’t remember’ wasn’t good enough

Opinion  The grand strategy behind Japan’s defense buildup - "Japan’s steps toward rearmament, for Green, show that the post-World War II period of Pax Americana is 'completely different from anything ever seen in history.' Unlike the British Empire or the Roman Empire, it has been 'based on building up former adversaries as power centers that had their own agency.' Now, 'Japan is choosing, not being forced by America, but is choosing to reinforce the international order that America helped to create after the war.' 

"But at the same time, he said, the fact that Japan is making this 'rather desperate' decision should be cause for American humility. Washington is losing the capacity, on its own, to back up the security commitments it has made around the world. That is the paradox of Japan’s strategic transformation: Its defense of the American system is itself a sign of that system’s heightened vulnerability."

Southwest draws regulatory scrutiny as thousands more flights canceled: The carrier’s disruptions upended holiday travel plans for tens of thousands of air travelers

‘Moorish American national’ charged with trying to take mansion [ed. note: from 2013]

Moorish Americans take over a rural gun range, sparking a strange showdown: Members of the group, part of the extremist “sovereign citizen” movement, believe they are immune from dealings with U.S. legal systems

With forests in peril, she’s on a mission to save ‘mother trees’

Taiwan extends mandatory military service to combat Chinese threat

Growing vaccine hesitancy fuels measles, chickenpox resurgence in U.S.: Anti-vaccine sentiment has increased since the pandemic, driven by politicization around the coronavirus vaccine

Police dismissed Black leaders’ claims of a serial killer. Then a woman escaped.

Kentucky hits grim milestone: 6 pediatric flu deaths in 2022 and no end to season in sight

As Russia bombs Ukraine’s infrastructure, its own services crumble

Reading archive 2022-07-10

Climate change: 'Sand battery' could solve green energy's big problem

U.S. Vet Fighting with Ukrainian Forces: 'It's a 1916-Type Artillery War'

Three-star general who mocked Jill Biden is suspended

For these runners, the only way forward is backward

Abe’s ruling coalition secures big election win in Japan after his killing

Reading archive 2022-07-09

A one-source story about a 10-year-old and an abortion goes viral

Abe assassination resurfaces Japan’s complex legacy in China, South Korea

Trump considers waiving claim of executive privilege for Steve Bannon: A letter from Trump may clear the way for Bannon to testify before the House select committee probing the Jan. 6 attack

Reading archive 2022-07-08

Shinzo Abe, former Japanese leader, is assassinated by gunman

Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter is in peril: Talks with investors have cooled in recent weeks and Musk’s camp believes it can’t confirm Twitter’s claims about spam accounts

Opinion  The worst virus variant just arrived. The pandemic is not over.

Big fish sightings are spiking. Climate change may be the cause. - "The fish 'aren’t growing larger, they are relocating to new environments,' said Francisco Werner, director of scientific programs at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries."

Monsoon arrived early, delivering much-needed rain to the Southwest: There are still concerns about potential flooding and ‘dry thunderstorms’

Park Service launches massive plan to restore D.C.’s Tidal Basin: Ringed by cherry blossoms, the historical basin’s crumbling sea wall will be repaired and the shoreline re-landscaped

Evidence of firearms in Jan. 6 crowd grows as arrests and trials mount: During a recent Jan. 6 committee hearing, testimony about armed Trump supporters accompanied police radio reports - "Defendants have said as much as well. In video evidence played at his trial, Guy Reffitt of Wylie, Tex., said that as he stood near the front of the mob on the west side of the Capitol, he counted eight firearms carried by five people."

Reading archive 2022-06-21

Investors paid thousands for rare wines. It was a scam, feds say.

Opinion  Texas Republicans want to secede? Good riddance.

Why gas is so expensive in some U.S. states but not others

PolitiFact: Tucker Carlson is wrong. Firearms, other weapons at Capitol on Jan. 6

How Kaliningrad, Russian land ringed by NATO, is tangled in Ukraine war

Japan and South Korea's Attendance at the Upcoming NATO Summit Could Worsen Global Tensions

Oil refineries are making a windfall. Why do they keep closing?: Companies see only headaches on the horizon for refineries, undercutting the White House push to boost production - "The explosion was triggered by a pipe that had not been inspected since 1973. It was so corroded that the pipe’s metal had become thinner than a credit card, according to investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. The board noted that such corrosion had been the culprit in earlier refinery explosions in California and Utah, and “it’s just a matter of time” before another such explosion at a refinery leads to fatalities or contamination of a community."

Why an energy crisis and $5 gas aren’t spurring a green revolution: As high prices move consumers to rethink their attachment to oil and gas, America is struggling to meet the moment - "There are numerous hurdles in the way, as outdated federal rules and local planning disputes slow projects down. In November, for instance, one of the country’s larger clean-energy projects faltered in the Northeast. Maine voters stymied plans for a transmission line that would bring enough clean electricity from hydroelectric plants fueled by dams in Canada to power 900,000 homes in New England.

"The plan was opposed by some local conservation groups that argued the lines would create an environmental menace in Maine’s North Woods and that hydroelectric power is detrimental to fragile aquatic ecosystems. But the most potent opposition came from energy companies heavily invested in fossil fuel, which spent $24 million supporting the ballot initiative campaign to kill the transmission line.

...

"The vote reversed a years-long, multimillion-dollar state approval process during which, Barringer said, environmental concerns were thoroughly considered and mitigated. And voter antipathy toward the project was driven in large part by distrust for the local utility partner on it, Central Maine Power, which has a dismal customer service record and a history of outages."

Document reveals details of 2009 sexual assault allegation against Daniel Snyder

The most common abortion procedures and when they occur

‘There’s nowhere I feel safe’: Georgia elections workers describe how Trump upended their lives: Shaye Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, testified how Trump and his allies fueled harassment and racist threats

Reading archive 2022-03-03

Opinion: The Supreme Court gets a taste of its own medicine

How Putin tried — and failed — to protect the ruble from sanctions: The ruble has plunged after unprecedented sanctions took aim at Russia’s central bank

NATO Issue in Sweden, Finland Pits Anxious Public Against Cautious Politicians

Deep Dive: The U.S. military program to arm Ukraine with Javelin anti-tank missiles

Ukraine jets hit Russian column; Russia has used thermobarics, Ukraine military says

Marine Corps launches new littoral unit that US adversaries reportedly hate

A Russian businessman has put a $1 million bounty on Vladimir Putin's head, calling for military officers to arrest him as a war criminal

Alex Ovechkin in spotlight over Vladimir Putin friendship

In one week of war, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may have veered history in a new direction

The gory online campaign Ukraine hopes will sow anti-Putin dissent probably violates the Geneva Conventions: The Ukrainian government has posted grisly photos and videos of killed and captured Russian soldiers in hopes of undermining the Kremlin’s onslaught. But military-justice experts argue the campaign violates international law.

Trump’s border wall has been breached more than 3,000 times by smugglers, CBP records show

Key Asian nations join global backlash against Russia, with an eye toward China

In Virginia, abandoned coal mines are transformed into solar farms: Six old mining sites owned by the Nature Conservancy will be some of the first utility-scale solar farms in the region — and the nonprofit group hopes the model can be replicated nationwide

Reading archive 2021-04-16

Beloved teacher’s double life revealed after he dies in cartel robbery, sheriff says

Mormon sex therapist faces discipline and possible expulsion from the LDS Church

Japan bets on hydrogen to lift its ambitious carbon-neutral plans