Reading archive 2025-07-07

Shooters emerged from car in D.C. slaying of congressional intern: Police say they’re trying to enhance video of the incident that left one dead and two others injured.

I’m a gastroenterologist. Here’s why I tell my patients to eat this one fruit.: Kiwis can boost your gut health. They may also lower triglycerides and cancer risk.

Do you need a measles vaccine booster? Here’s what to know.: The answer depends on when you were born, your vaccine records and whether you plan to travel internationally.

How this group got Trump to sign a pro-environment executive order: The "Make America Beautiful Again” executive order will establish a council tasked with preserving public lands, wildlife and drinking water supplies.

Did Canada just change how we think of Trump’s 2024 election?: Perhaps Trump’s win wasn’t about Trump at all

Trump’s big bill will snuff out Kansas hospitals and eviscerate Medicaid. Jerry Moran just shrugs.

Wall Street Worries as Crisis-Level Deficits Become the Government’s Default Mode: New legislation could push federal debt into dangerous territory—without an emergency requiring it

Debacle in the desert: will the Athletics’ $1.75bn stadium on the Vegas Strip ever be built?

How ‘Love Island USA’ forced a star’s exit after racist posts resurfaced: Cierra Ortega was quietly dumped from the villa after posts resurfaced of her using an Asian slur.

Russian minister found dead, likely of suicide, authorities say: Roman Starovoit found dead in his car with a gunshot wound on the same day he was relieved of his job as Russian transportation minister by President Vladimir Putin.

CVS was so worried about shoplifting that it stole its own soul: My local pharmacy’s products are now encased in glass, and the whole thing makes me very nervous.

Trump World’s Wizard of Oz Problem: Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon don’t speak for Trump or his base. So why do people think they do? - "Few jobs in Trump world are more farcical than the position of 'architect' of 'America First': There are no MAGA intellectuals, just Trump and opportunistic ideologues attempting to hitch their pet projects to his brand. The self-styled thought leaders of the Trump movement are merely political entrepreneurs trying to appropriate the president for their own purposes and to recast his chaotic and idiosyncratic decisions as reflections of their personal worldview."

The Most Perverse Part of the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ :The Republican megabill could be setting America up for the worst energy-affordability crisis since the 1970s. - "Blackouts and grid outages will become more frequent. Power-intensive industries such as AI and manufacturing will struggle under the weight of higher energy costs. China will solidify its dominance over clean-energy supply chains. 'Just think of Trump's own priorities: lower energy prices, becoming an AI superpower, reindustrializing America, outcompeting China,' Princeton's Jenkins said. 'Getting rid of these credits hurts all of those goals.' But there is one priority missing from that list: owning the libs. 

"Partisan polarization around clean energy has grown so extreme since the passage of the IRA that Trump and many other Republicans apparently see destroying it as an end in itself."

What Really Happened to Malaysia’s Missing Airplane: Five years ago, the flight vanished into the Indian Ocean. Officials on land know more about why than they dare to say.

Reading archive 2023-09-20

‘Ari, don’t die’: Shooting of 10-year-old D.C. girl described in court - "According to the documents, on Dec. 19, 2021, when Gregory was 17, he was charged as a juvenile with five offenses, including possession of a prohibited weapon, carrying a pistol without a license and resisting arrest.

"Two months later, he pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of ammunition without registration. In exchange for those pleas, prosecutors in the D.C. attorney general’s office agreed not to charge Gregory with any additional crimes related to this arrest, including a carjacking offense, and agreed not to seek secure detention.

...

"That was not Gregory’s first gun possession case. In 2018, when he was 14, he was arrested for armed robbery, according to the documents. D.C. prosecutors dismissed that case about a year later. No information was provided as to the reason for the dismissal."

Oakland vs. the A's: The inside story of how it all went south (to Las Vegas)

Reading archive 2023-06-23

After Taliban bans opium, a guilt-racked commander winks at harvest

As D.C. eyes Commanders, tension with the city’s other pro teams simmers

Reading archive 2022-06-06

Why High Turnout In Georgia Doesn’t Mean Voting Restrictions Haven’t Had An Effect

Jan. 6 attack part of ‘extremely well-organized’ conspiracy, Cheney says

Man drowns as Arizona police watch: ‘I’m not jumping in after you’

A liberal D.A. finds voters’ moods have changed even in San Francisco

U.S. and South Korea respond to North Korean launch with 8 missiles of their own

Rays players make ‘faith-based decision’ to shun Pride Night logos

Most, but not all, Rays show their LGBTQ+ support With rainbow-colored logos added to their jerseys and caps for Pride Night, players had to make a choice about opting in. - "Adam, chosen by team officials to speak for the players who opted out, said it was primarily a matter of religious beliefs and not wanting to encourage the 'behavior' of those in the LGBTQ+ community. 

"'A lot of it comes down to faith, to like a faith-based decision,' Adam said. 'So it’s a hard decision. Because ultimately we all said what we want is them to know that all are welcome and loved here. But when we put it on our bodies, I think a lot of guys decided that it’s just a lifestyle that maybe — not that they look down on anybody or think differently — it’s just that maybe we don’t want to encourage it if we believe in Jesus, who’s encouraged us to live a lifestyle that would abstain from that behavior, just like (Jesus) encourages me as a heterosexual male to abstain from sex outside of the confines of marriage. It’s no different. 

"'It’s not judgmental. It’s not looking down. It’s just what we believe the lifestyle he’s encouraged us to live, for our good, not to withhold. But again, we love these men and women, we care about them, and we want them to feel safe and welcome here.'" [ed. note: lol these broken people]

Woodward and Bernstein thought Nixon defined corruption. Then came Trump.

Reading archive 2022-04-05

Opinion: Hey, Tucker Carlson, are you still rooting for Russia over Ukraine?

Sarah Lawrence sex-cult trial shows devastated young lives: Lawrence Ray is accused of manipulating and abusing his daughter’s college friends and others he brought into his circle

‘Aggressive’ fox caught on U.S. Capitol grounds after biting attacks: A congressman was among those who got nipped: ‘Probably my most unusual day on the Hill in 10 years’

Robert White challenges Trayon White’s signatures in D.C. mayor’s race

What Do Cities Lose When They Lose Pro Sports?: In negotiations between the Oakland Athletics and city officials over the future of the A’s in Oakland, more is on the line than just baseball

Reading archive 2021-07-18

Great Salt Lake is shrinking fast. Scientists demand action before it becomes a toxic dustbin - "Salt Lake City residents paid one of the lowest water rates of major US cities, according to an analysis by Circle of Blue, a nonprofit advocating for responsible stewardship of water resources. A family of four using a 100 gallons a day paid $32 a month in 2018 -- about half of what New Yorkers paid, a third of what Atlantans paid and a quarter of what San Franciscans shelled out that year. Among the major cities, only Memphis residents paid less."

Fox News’s embarrassing blunder in the White House briefing room

‘A propaganda tool’ for Trump: A second federal judge castigates attorneys who filed a lawsuit challenging the 2020 results - "'A law license does not confer unbounded prerogative to file objectively legally frivolous lawsuits, built on . . . a conspiracy theory derived largely from a pillow salesman, aimed at undermining a legitimate presidential election,' he argued during Friday’s hearing."

Why the CEO of Impossible Foods thinks he can eliminate all animal-based meat in 15 years: Bacon made of fungus, 3-D printed steaks and ‘meat’ made of air — the future for this new food category is promising but turbulent - "Cultivated meat is complete vaporware. Don’t hold your breath. The fact is that the economics of animal cell cultures as a food production system in no conceivable way can compete with the current industry. If you could use cultured cells to make any reasonable replica of an animal tissue, which would you do: Sell it for $5 a pound as meat, or sell it for $1 million a pound to treat people with muscle-wasting diseases?"

Nationals-Padres game suspended after shooting outside Nationals Park

Reading archive 2021-07-14

China fixates on Florida condo collapse as disasters unfold at home - "In June, a gas pipeline explosion in a Hubei market killed 25 people and injured more than 100. A few days later, a seven-story building collapsed in Hunan province, leaving five people dead. On June 25, a day after the Surfside disaster, a fire tore through a martial arts school in Henan province, killing 18 students — most of them children. 

"These incidents were heavily censored on Chinese social media platforms amid calls from President Xi Jinping to maintain 'political stability' in the lead-up to the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary celebrations in early July. The Henan fire didn’t make the front page of the provincial Henan Daily newspaper or break the top 50 topics discussed on Weibo."

After Stephen A. Smith’s rant about Shohei Ohtani, his ESPN co-workers led the pushback - "Smith also deliberately mispronounced the names of several Nigerian men’s basketball players on Monday’s episode following the national team’s exhibition upset of Team USA, for which he also apologized Tuesday."

Ken Starr helped Jeffrey Epstein with ‘scorched-earth’ campaign, book claims: Book by Miami Herald journalist details extraordinary efforts by special prosecutor who hounded Bill Clinton to aid sex trafficker

How Tucker Carlson became the voice of White grievance

The Moral Collapse of J. D. Vance: Instead of a truth-teller in his own community, Vance as a candidate has become a contemptible and cringe-inducing clown. - "But what makes Vance so awful is that he knows better. His intentional distancing from his earlier views shows that he is fully cognizant of what a gigantic fraud he’s become.

...

"Instead of a candidate who’s willing to speak hard truths to his people, Ohioans now have a native son who has returned to weaponize their resentment and cultural dysfunctions. His ambition is fueled by the money of others who would never deign to live in the Midwest. And like other populist charlatans, he has convinced himself that he should be anointed to lead the rubes out of their misery."

Who’s Actually Responsible for the “Culture War”? Is it really the liberals? - "There are political ramifications to swift leftward shifts on various cultural issues that the Democrats should reckon with as David Shor and others have argued. There are also real social and cultural ramifications. It can create social strife for culturally conservative Americans to feel uncomfortable expressing their views at home or in the workplace for fear of being chastised—or worse—over issues they have little familiarity with. 

"All of this is absolutely correct. 

"But when it comes to the actions of politicians, the aggressive, top down Culture War is being driven overwhelmingly from the right. And the shift rightward among Republican politicians on culture war issues is as dramatic—if not more so—than the leftward shift among Democratic voters on policy."

Top U.S. General Said Trump Preached ‘Gospel of the Führer’

Joint Chiefs chairman feared potential ‘Reichstag moment’ aimed at keeping Trump in power

Reading archive 2021-06-09

'Sorry you had to see that' -- How baserunning has become an embarrassing problem in Major League Baseball - "Our players today, for all their talent and greatness, are confused far too often on the bases. In spring training 2019, Yankees manager Aaron Boone, during infield drills, instructed his players that when the Yankees are in the field, if there's an infield fly rule, his fielders should consider intentionally letting the ball drop because it might totally confuse the runners on the other team. They might not know what to do, and they might run themselves into another out.

"A couple of weeks later, on Opening Day against the Orioles, the Yankees had runners on first and second with one out when Gary Sanchez hit a towering popup -- infield fly rule, batter is out automatically -- that Orioles catcher Jesus Sucre dropped. Luke Voit, the runner on second, got confused and took off for third -- even though he didn't have to go anywhere. He was tagged out in a rundown for a double play."

A mom was charged for posing as her middle school daughter in class. She says she ‘proved’ security flaws.

A doctor falsely told lawmakers vaccines magnetize people: ‘They can put a key on their forehead. It sticks.’

Save your skin: How you shower matters more than when, dermatologists say

As home prices soar in unlikely places, the most vulnerable residents pay the price: New York City transplants are bringing a housing boom — and growing inequality — deep into the Hudson Valley

D.C., Md. hospitals will require employees to get vaccinated against covid-19

On 'Sour,' Olivia Rodrigo Is A Lowercase Girl With Caps-Lock Feelings

A bakery lost a client when it made rainbow Pride cookies. So others bought every item in the shop.