So I read something...: New York

A European rule could devastate American farmers: Lawmakers should stand up to this attempt to regulate American business. - "The increased costs would be felt throughout the supply chain. Farm profits would be squeezed, grocery bills would increase, and rural communities would be hit first and hardest. When a small farm goes under, it doesn’t just hurt one family; it hurts local businesses that buy from that farm and the equipment dealers that sell to it." [ed. note: shouldn't have pissed off Europe then]

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Reading archive 2026-05-05

With gas prices so high, how much will you actually save with an EV?: Gas prices are expected to remain high because of the Iran war, increasing the cost advantages of switching to electric vehicles over gas-powered cars.

Multiple D.C. Police Leaders Face Termination Over Crime Data Manipulation

Indie music has been invaded by fake fans and cynical viral campaigns. Here’s how deep it all goes

They thought their disabled daughter was safe. A pregnancy revealed her rape.: She’s blind and can barely speak, and her family is suing her group home, caregivers and state agencies. “The whole system failed Kamryn,” her mother says.

5 things mosquito experts do every summer to avoid getting bitten: Looking for pest prevention strategies that work? Researchers share how they prevent mosquito bites and keep the bugs at bay on their properties.

U.S. mission to reopen Strait of Hormuz will be temporary, Hegseth says: The defense secretary says the ceasefire holds despite Iranian attacks on U.S. forces. He said the United States would call on allies to take over the mission to reopen the waterway.

For a Time, the U.S. Protected Democracy: A requiem for the Voting Rights Act - "Like previous VRA-related decisions, Callais was 'narrow,' in that it did not strike down the law itself. But although the edifice built at great expense-by Fannie Lou Hamer, by John Lewis, by the bloodied limbs of Mississippi sharecroppers and Alabama marchers-has not been entirely bulldozed, only the facade remains. The VRA has not been dealt a "blow"; the decision did not merely defang it. The law is dead, and no matter what happens in the coming elections, politics in America has been forever changed. For most of the nation's history, the former Confederate states have worked hard to minimize the political influence of Black residents in particular. Now they have full cover to do so again."

Europe Without America: The Iran war has given European leaders new impetus to plan for self-defense. - "The Trump administration didn't bother making specific requests of its European allies for the war against Iran. Instead, each day brought new, conflicting signals. At first, the message was that the United States and Israel could handle it. Then Trump lashed out on social media, saying that allies 'should have been there.' But the Trump administration never told key European partners what specifically it wanted from them in Iran, multiple European officials told me. The Pentagon spokesperson told me that the administration 'has been consistently and repeatedly clear about the demand signal to allies to contribute to addressing a threat that affects Europe as much as America and our Middle East allies. The notion that the Department did not convey these requests widely and clearly is demonstrably false.'"

Why Stocks Keep Going Up: The boom is not as untethered from reality as it may look.

The One Tax the Rich Can’t Escape: New York’s proposed pied-à-terre tax is unlikely to chase anyone away. - "There is also a harder truth underneath the political rhetoric. Blue cities cannot keep taxing their way out of their budget problems. The differentials between high-tax and low-tax states are now too large, and the mobility of the rich too real, for that playbook to keep working. Cities like New York have to get serious about the cost side of their budgets-about efficiency, productivity, and what they spend. The revenue side alone cannot close the gap. A pied-à-terre tax is a useful tool if it is used smartly, but it is not a substitute for running the city well.

"None of this means the idea of taxing the rich is wrong. The inequality that has built up in this country has reached levels that are corrosive to the economy and to the fabric of our cities. But income taxes and wealth taxes cannot do the job at the city or state level. They have to be levied at the national level, where there is no state line to cross. Local governments should tax what cannot move, which means fixed assets and real estate above all. A pied-à-terre tax is one version of that idea, and there are others. For cities like New York, the lesson is straightforward. Stop trying to tax what the rich can carry with them, and start taxing what they want to keep."

The End of Cigarettes Is Coming The U.K. is phasing out smoking.: How long will Americans tolerate tobacco—and other vices?

The Iran War’s Ramifications Have Only Just Begun: U.S. goals haven’t been met, but the war will cause long-term disruptions.

Micah Lasher, Child Magician The race for New York’s Twelfth District keeps getting more interesting.

Making America’s Houses Bigger May Have Been a Mistake: Millennials are abandoning the idea of living in a giant home.

All the Sad Young Chinese Professionals: China’s urbanites are learning the price of prosperity.

She dreamed of a natural birth in Mexico. Now, she believes she was drugged.: In a complaint filed with Mexican prosecutors, Jennifer Nosek alleges that her midwife, Heather Baker, caused her baby’s death. - "The couple also allege that after their son’s death, Baker [the midwife] urged them not to tell the police that she was a midwife or that they’d paid her but to identify her only as a friend. Lemos [the father], worried that an open investigation would delay the release of their son’s body, agreed. There was no autopsy, and the baby’s death certificate says he died of perinatal asphyxia, a condition in which a fetus or infant fails to get enough oxygen."

Sunday, March 29, 2026

Reading archive 2026-03-29

He took Pelosi’s lectern on Jan. 6. Now he’s running for office.: Adam Johnson has rarely voted and embraces his role as clown prince of Jan. 6. Floridians will decide whether a man who tried to upend democracy can help lead one.

Pentagon prepares for weeks of ground operations in Iran: If President Donald Trump approves the plans, such an effort would mark a new phase of the war that could be significantly more dangerous to U.S. troops than the first four weeks.

Land by Georgia swamp, once slated for a mine, will become a wildlife area: The state plans to buy about 4,000 acres near Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from a conservation group, which acquired the land to halt a proposed titanium mine.

NYC’s newest hobby is cleaning up trash and documenting the filth: In a city long vexed by excess garbage, volunteer cleanup clubs are increasingly filling the gaps.

Monday, December 29, 2025

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]

Monday, November 24, 2025

Reading archive 2025-11-21

FBI fired veteran employee for displaying Pride flag, lawsuit says: David Maltinsky, who worked at the bureau for 16 years and was training to become a special agent, says he was fired for displaying a Pride flag given to him by the FBI.

Tensions between renters and homeowners challenge Mamdani housing plan: The incoming New York City mayor’s plan relies on higher density in places where some neighbors oppose it. He is scheduled to meet Friday with the president.

Defuse political tension in your family with one simple question: A common misperception is fueling political arguments. But new research shows it’s possible to correct it, in ourselves and our political foes.

U.S. pushing Ukraine to sign peace deal by Thanksgiving or lose support: The U.S. is sending “signals” that everything could be off the table if Kyiv does not quickly sign a proposal, which was drawn up by special envoy Witkoff.

Former GOP staffer charged with fabricating anti-MAGA assault

Corruption probe close to Zelensky stokes E.U. unease over Ukraine aid: A scandal, involving kickbacks at Ukraine’s state nuclear power company, has revived concerns about European money being siphoned off by graft instead of helping fight Russia.

These salacious affairs are great for gossip and terrible for America: Olivia Nuzzi’s sordid tale of infidelity is a bad look for journalism ethics.

A New Era of Crony Capitalism: Washington hasn’t seen graft like this for at least a century.

Famous writers at New Yorker are up in arms after fact-checker’s firing: The media company dismissed four employees, including a fact-checker at the 100-year-old magazine, for “extreme misconduct.” Many of its famous writers are outraged.

The Stories We Tell Ourselves About the American Revolution: Ken Burns unpacks the Revolutionary War—and explains why history doesn’t repeat, even if human nature never changes

Thursday, September 11, 2025

Reading archive 2025-09-11

‘Prolific alien invaders’ threaten waters in the West: Zebra mussels are now in the upper Colorado River system, and the minuscule mollusks can wreak massive damage. - "The mollusks’ westward sweep recently crossed a feared Rubicon when Colorado discovered zebra mussels in its portion of the Colorado River system, an imperiled lifeline to 40 million people. 'This news is devastating,' a water manager on the state’s arid western side said. 'From irrigation to drinking water, the ramifications cannot be underestimated or overstated.'"

Poland downs drones in its airspace, becoming first NATO member to fire during war in Ukraine

National Guard documents show public ‘fear,’ veterans’ ‘shame’ over D.C. presence: Internal documents reviewed by The Post show how domestic missions rooted in politics risk damaging Americans’ trust in the military. - "In another update, the Guard indicates troops 'continue efforts to restore and beautify public spaces across the District” and have “cleared 906 bags of trash, spread 744 cubic yards of mulch, removed five truckloads of plant waste, cleared 3.2 miles of roadway, and painted 270 feet of fencing.'

"Those statistics may be among the most consequential takeaways of Trump’s use of the military in D.C., Dempsey said, and should prompt scrutiny of whether this mission was ever necessary in the first place.

"'That is such a suboptimal use of military training that we should all be asking, 'Why are they here?'' Dempsey said. 'If they’re picking up trash, they’re not here for a security emergency. There’s no clearer metric than that.'"

I’ve battled backyard wasps for two years. Guess who won?: I’ve tried pesticides both natural and synthetic, as well as DIY remedies, but nothing has worked. So I turned to the experts for advice. - "'I wish organic insecticides were safe and more effective, but the truth of the matter is, snake venom and ricin are organic, and both are highly deadly,' Lamp’l says. Vinegar can be lethal to frogs, toads and lizards, he adds. 'Organic gives people peace of mind, but it’s really a misconception.'

...

"'People think anything laboratory-made is bad and anything natural is good, but that’s not necessarily true,' Brown says. 'Water is a chemical, and naturally derived products from plants like pyrethrins are chemicals too. A pesticide is a pesticide, whether it’s made in a laboratory, comes from a plant, or is soap and water.'"

Democrats fight over how to defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins: The emerging Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in Maine embodies a stark choice in a party trying to remake itself.

On the brink of a devastating canal collapse, a GOP district waits for Trump’s help: In an era of federal staffing and spending cuts, a small Washington state irrigation district is desperate for a lifeline.

Texas’s Pete: James Talarico is young, well spoken, and eager to talk with Republicans—exactly what some Democratic dreamers think they need to finally turn the state blue.

Just How Bad Would an AI Bubble Be?: The entire U.S. economy is being propped up by the promise of productivity gains that seem very far from materializing. - "Generative AI would not be the first tech fad to experience a wave of excessive hype. What makes the current situation distinctive is that AI appears to be propping up something like the entire U.S. economy. More than half of the growth of the S&P 500 since 2023 has come from just seven companies: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. These firms, collectively known as the Magnificent Seven, are seen as especially well positioned to prosper from the AI revolution.

...

"Many experts believe that a major reason the U.S. economy has been able to weather tariffs and mass deportations without a recession is because all of this AI spending is acting, in the words of one economist, as a "massive private sector stimulus program." An AI crash could lead broadly to less spending, fewer jobs, and slower growth, potentially dragging the economy into a recession. The economist Noah Smith argues that it could even lead to a financial crisis if the unregulated "private credit" loans funding much of the industry's expansion all go bust at once."

The Abundance Delusion: I mean, what even is a Democrat at this point? - "Wonks who value the existence of the subway understand that more revenue-like, say, the millions of dollars annually that come from rider fares-means more resources for ride improvement and policing, which increases ridership, which in turn keeps the entire system alive. More honest wonks will even admit that a slight barrier of entry improves the ride dramatically for most people. But the far left fundamentally does not care about this. Ideologically, its adherents do not believe that an amazing transit system that only an overwhelming majority of people can afford is preferable to a grossly degraded system that everyone, technically, can access. This belief extends to roads, housing, schools, everything." [ed. note: a glimmer of a compelling argument in what otherwise boils down to "you need an authoritarian to get things done"]

The Epstein Letter Is Real, and It’s Bad: The president’s initial strategy of denying that the document exists leaves him with few options now that it has been made public.

Fear of Losing the Midterms Is Driving Trump’s Decisions: The specter of investigations and impeachment has fueled many of the president’s most dramatic actions.

New York NIMBYs Turn Against Democracy: Local lawmakers want to preserve their power to block housing. Does what voters think matter at all? - "An official at the city's Department of Housing Preservation & Development noticed that the members of one Queens community board habitually asked residents testifying at its meetings how long they had lived in the neighborhood, especially if they appeared to be of a different race or social standing. As a result, newcomers were implicitly discouraged from attending any meetings at all."

Kamala Harris explains why it wasn’t her fault: In an excerpt from her new memoir, she casts plenty of blame, including at the Biden White House. - "The Atlantic published an excerpt from Harris’s memoir on Wednesday morning, and the section suggests that the subtitle of her forthcoming book should be 'Why Nothing that Happened Last Year Was My Fault.'"

FBI leaders allege in lawsuit they were unlawfully fired over political loyalty: The former acting director says a Trump administration official asked a series of questions, including “Who did you vote for?”

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Reading archive 2025-08-19

Now it is the Old World’s turn to rescue the United States: As Trump met with European leaders on Ukraine, Churchill’s words from days long ago came to mind.

Maine police officer arrested by ICE agrees to voluntarily leave the country: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says a Maine police officer arrested by immigration authorities has agreed to voluntarily leave the country

Sherrod Brown raises $3.6 million in 24 hours for Senate campaign: The total includes $3 million raised by Brown’s campaign, and about $600,000 raised by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Ohio Democratic Party.

People Are Trying to ‘Deprogram’ Their MAGA Parents Through Book Clubs: Divisive politics have led people to go “no contact” with their right-wing parents. Some hope reading together could help bridge the gap.

The Only Plausible Path to End the War in Ukraine: Has the Trump administration misread Moscow? - "Ultimately, the diplomatic problem the Trump administration faces is how to persuade Russia to accept an independent and sovereign Ukraine. All the signs from Moscow are that it has not backed off from a maximalist position. The only plausible way to end the war is to create a battlefield reality that convinces Putin that he cannot make more gains, that he will pay a massive price for continuing the war, and that this reality is unlikely to change. That means that the United States and its allies need to, paradoxically, get serious about arming Ukraine for a protracted conflict and putting pressure on Russia. That is the only way to create the conditions for successful negotiations to end the war."

The Mainstreaming of Zohran Mamdani: Which flavor of socialism would the mayoral candidate bring to New York City? - "DSA's national political platform, rewritten when Mamdani was an assemblyman, is a gumbo of left-wing positions, many of which sit miles from the political mainstream. The organization would free all inmates from prisons and jails and decriminalize the drug trade, prostitution, and squatting in unoccupied homes. DSA endorses cutting police budgets 'annually towards zero,' disarming cops, and decertifying their unions."

A Nation of Lawyers Confronts China’s Engineering State: As the Chinese economy surges forward, the U.S. has lost its capacity for physical improvement. - "How did America lose so much productive capacity to China and end up in such a vulnerable position? Think about it this way: China is an engineering state, which treats construction projects and technological primacy as the solution to all of its problems, whereas the United States is a lawyerly society, obsessed with protecting wealth by making rules rather than producing material goods. Successive American administrations have attempted to counter Beijing through legalism levying tariffs and designing an ever more exquisite sanctions regime while the engineering state has created the future by physically building better cars, better-functioning cities, and bigger power plants.

...

"The engineering state is effective at making military goods too. China produces about 80 percent of the world's consumer drones, which can easily be adapted for the battlefield. China has approximately 200 times the shipbuilding capacity of the United States; according to the Government Accountability Office, many classes of U.S. Navy ships are delayed by up to three years. Last December, then National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said bluntly that the United States will experience 'exhaustion of munition stockpiles very rapidly' if it were ever to face the Chinese military. America has lost the productive capacity to sustain a major war. American manufacturing output has never recovered to its highs from 2008; the manufacturing workforce has shrunk by a million people since then."

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Reading archive 2025-07-03

Congressional intern from Massachusetts killed in D.C. shooting: Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a 21-year-old rising senior at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, worked for Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas.

‘Beautiful’ coal and ‘ugly’ solar? See these projects for yourself.: Trump likes to make an aesthetic case for fossil fuels. See how coal, oil and gas projects compare to solar and wind.

Paramount betrays ‘60 Minutes’ and the rest of us: Parent company caves to baseless suit by Donald Trump.

The Republican shift against American pluralism: From race to same-sex marriage, Republican voters are turning against inclusion. - "Saying that 'everyone is welcome' has become a political statement in the way that 'science is real' has become one. Not because these statement themselves are political or even particularly controversial. No, they are now tainted with politics because they reject the right’s rejections of both objectivity and pluralism."

A Big, Bad, Very Ugly Bill: “Beautiful” it is not.

A Classic Childhood Pastime Is Fading: Kids on bikes once filled the streets. Not anymore.

Canada’s Terrible New Freedom: This Canada Day, Trump is fueling a very different kind of nationalism.

What a ‘Spiral of Silence’ Can Do to a Democracy: Protests show people they are not alone in caring about an issue.

They Didn’t Have to Do This: By passing Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, congressional Republicans have talked themselves into an incomprehensibly reckless plan.

Twenty-Four Hours of Authoritarianism: Donald Trump had a very busy Tuesday. - "None of these moves is a one-off. All follow what has become standard practice in the second Trump term. The president has declared a new order in which the supporters of his insurrection have been vindicated and freed from any consequences for their crimes, the president claims sole authority over the government's powers of spending and regulation, and these powers are to be used only to punish his enemies and reward his friends."

New York Is Hungry for a Big Grocery Experiment: Small towns have tried public grocery stores. How would they fare in a major city?

Trump’s Betrayal of Ukraine: Bridget Brink, the former ambassador to Ukraine, on that country’s war with Russia, America’s betrayal of Ukraine, and why she resigned - "The United States has built, since 1945, an extraordinary system of peace and security embracing much of the planet. It is a system from which many countries benefit, but Americans too. That Americans do not need to learn a second language in most cases; that they can travel about the world with a feeling of security; that when they do business, they do business under legal systems that are often inspired by the American example; that when they travel as tourists or students or in any capacity, they can put down a credit card, and if they have a dispute, have that credit card dispute adjudicated, usually under American law - all of those things that we take for granted as we move about a world that is ever more accommodating to the American way of life and to American interests, all of that is one of the prizes for the American investment in global peace and security."

Friday, May 23, 2025

Reading archive 2025-05-23 pt 1

What we know about the man arrested in the D.C. Jewish museum shooting: The 31-year-old from Chicago is accused of killing a young couple who worked at the Israeli Embassy.

Clean energy dollars are gushing to red states. Now GOP senators are in a bind.: The Trump tax bill passed by the House would wipe out hundreds of billions of dollars for solar, wind and other projects in Republican districts. - "The measure, according to a group of Princeton University researchers called the REPEAT Project, would drain more than $1 trillion from the U.S. economy in less than a decade, when factoring in private investment and spin-off spending the subsidies drive. The average annual household electricity bill would be pushed up more than $270 after 10 years, the group found.

"The Trump administration has argued that curbing renewable energy to unleash more fossil fuels will lower utility rates, but many industry analysts warn otherwise. Plans for new gas plants have been beset by long delays and soaring costs amid shortages of materials and supply chain challenges. More than 80 percent of the new electricity added to the power grid in 2024 came from solar panels and industrial batteries that store the energy they capture, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a federal agency."

The findings — and scientific problems — in White House ‘MAHA Report’: Parts of the “MAHA Report” contradict scientific consensus.

Trump’s tax bill plan adds to federal debt, prompting investor backlash: Rising bond yields could eventually mean higher borrowing costs for consumers.

‘No tax on tips’ could backfire amid growing tip fatigue: The legislation has implications for those who give gratuities and those who pocket them, with the potential to leave both sides feeling shortchanged.

In Australia, everyone has a hot take about the mushroom murder trial: Mycology and forensics are the subject of conversation across Australia as Erin Patterson stands trial, accused of murdering three relatives with a beef Wellington. - "Prosecutors have said the poisoning was deliberate and have put forward as evidence that Patterson traveled to known death cap mushroom locations before the lunch; that she disposed of a food processor used to prepare the mushrooms; and that she reset her phone afterward. They also say Patterson told a number of lies, from the false cancer diagnosis she allegedly used to lure people to the lunch to the origin of the mushrooms she served."

Ukraine scrambles to overcome Russia’s edge in fiber-optic drones: Ukraine pioneered the use of small drones on the battlefield. But in Russia’s Kursk region, Moscow’s fiber-optic cables helped turn the tide.

OpenAI’s Ambitions Just Became Crystal Clear: But when you promise the world a revolutionary new product, it helps to have actually built one.

Trump Is Crushing the Netanyahu Myth: The Israeli leader and his allies bet everything on Trump. But he’s just not that into them. - "The third-rate pro-government propagandists on Channel 14 might not have seen this coming, but Netanyahu should have. His dark worldview is premised on the pessimistic presumption that the world will turn on the Jews if given the chance, which is why the Israeli leader has long prized hard power over diplomatic understandings. Even if Trump wasn't such an unreliable figure, trusting him should have gone against all of Netanyahu's instincts."

Biden’s Age Wasn’t a Cover-Up. It Was Observable Fact.: The story about the former president getting old is getting old.

The Trump Administration Is Tempting a Honeybee Disaster: Bees are dying. Federal funding cuts aren’t helping.

The Decline and Fall of Elon Musk: The Tesla innovator becomes the latest government employee to lose his job. - "Ayushi Roy, a former technologist at the General Services Administration who now teaches digital government at Harvard Kennedy School, told us that Musk has achieved at least some of his goals: cutting the federal workforce and traumatizing the employees who remain. But, she said, he has largely failed to build anything that's made government more efficient."

An Awkward Truth About American Work: Direct-selling schemes are considered fringe businesses, but their values have bled into the national economy.

Modi’s Escalation Trap: A counterterrorism policy designed to burnish a strongman’s image risks setting off new rounds of conflict.

What Trump Got Right in the Middle East: He put business front and center and politics to the side. - "Trump may well understand that with the Democratic Party likely divided on Israel for the next generation, his Jewish and evangelical-Christian supporters have nowhere else to go. This puts him in a position of power relative to the Israeli prime minister one that must surely make Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders very uncomfortable. Making them still more uncomfortable will be the fact that everyone who mattered seemed to be in those meetings in the Gulf. Everyone, that is, except them.

...

"Historically, America has attracted capital because it can be counted on to follow the rule of law, crack down on public corruption, and support the kinds of independent and quasi-independent regulatory bodies that give investors peace of mind. Trump and his administration have been working hard to weaken all of this. For a president who claims to understand the private sector as well as he does, seeking deals while simultaneously undermining the conditions that make America a great investment will be counterproductive in the end." [lol duh]

Who is to blame for Biden’s gamble to run for president?: Press corps and party leaders were not responsible for failing to stop the presidential campaign.

The Democrats Are Having a False Reckoning Over Joe Biden: Party elites are considerably more responsible for their woeful state of affairs than the former president. - "Prominent Democrats speaking out about all this a year ago would have been meaningful. Today, it means nothing. Denouncing Biden’s run now ⁠that he’s a political nonentity⁠—out of office and perhaps very near death⁠—isn’t taking a brave stand against the internal culture of the Democratic Party. It’s a reflection of it: a wholly cost-free and substantively empty way for opportunists to perform independence from the party now that the coast is clear and there are no toes of consequence to step on. Biden ran again, and is being condemned for running again, for the very same reasons.

...

"Party hopefuls looking for ways to mark themselves as different from the rest of the pack today have other, better options. The best way to demonstrate a measure of real independence from the Democratic Party is to tell the truth about what really ails it: wealthy, clueless donors; an approach to public policy incommensurate with the scale of the challenges the country faces; a quasi-religious faith in the virtues of bipartisanship; a related and willful blindness to the depths of the Republican rot beyond Donald Trump; and a blindness, just as consequential, to the structural features of our federal system that will continue pulling governance to the right. All are much deeper problems than Joe Biden’s ego and those who chose to flatter it. All will be much more difficult to resolve. But if Democrats are looking for a reckoning, there are quite a few to be had in that mix."

Trump’s road to failure in Ukraine: For all the president’s efforts, peace has only gotten further away.

How DOGE’s grand plan to remake Social Security is backfiring: The agency is abandoning an initiative aimed at preventing fraud, the latest example of a failed effort by Elon Musk’s disruptive cost-cutting team.

The massive wind farm that could transform this Brooklyn neighborhood: Sunset Park moves ahead with plans for a “just transition” after the Trump administration lifts a stop-work order on the Empire Wind energy project.

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Reading archive 2025-04-14

Ja Morant dares the NBA to punish him, knowing it won’t pull the trigger: The league wants the Grizzlies star to learn a lesson, but its weakness has taught him that the outrage is only pretend.

Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change.: Air pollution fell substantially as the city restricted car traffic and made way for parks and bike lanes.

She’s been D.C.’s mayor for a decade. Here’s how her vision changed the city.

Detransition, maybe: A Moroccan influencer announced he was no longer transgender. What did it mean?

The nurse in the NYC subway: As subway assaults rise and calls for safety increase, a psychiatric nurse must decide who is a risk.

How the Caribbean could turn a plague of seaweed into fuel and fertilizer: Sargassum seaweed is a problem throughout the Caribbean. But scientists are exploring the opportunities it may offer.

simulacra for bootlickers

‘It’s just not sustainable’: D.C. restaurants pushed to the brink: In the wake of wage hikes and government layoffs, some owners say they can’t keep treading water. - "Full-service restaurants, Greenbaum says, were built on a decades-old model in which diner tips offset part of labor costs. Voters upended that model without understanding how it would affect the restaurants they love.

"'Why is that not understandable how catastrophic that is?' she asks. 'Unless you think that we’re all lying and we make a ton of money.'" [ed. note: WHY AM I DIRECTLY SUBSIDIZING YOUR LABOR COSTS?]

How Much Trouble Are DC Restaurants Really In?: A restaurant association survey found 44 percent of full-service casual restaurants are likely to close this year.

How a trade war becomes a shooting war: Trump and Xi, take note: The United States and China risk falling into a trap over tariffs.

Don’t look at your 401(k), they said. I looked.: The myth of the 401(k) is that we are all in charge of our own destinies. What does that matter now?

Trump charmed Bill Maher. The comedian’s fans don’t find it funny.: After a decade of trading insults, Trump and Maher enjoyed a White House dinner. Liberals continue to wrestle with whether to engage the president as they oppose him.

Trump’s tariffs war is sparking uncertainty for North Carolina farmers: “It’s always been a guessing game here on the farm, but I think it’s more of a guess now than it’s ever been in my lifetime,” one North Carolina farmer said last week.

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Reading archive 2025-04-08

Israel walks back its account of the killing of 15 medics in Gaza after video seems to contradict it

Trade Will Move On Without the United States: The tariffs will destroy another pillar of American power and leave a vacuum for others to fill. - "The results are unlikely to be what the administration anticipates. Some foreign companies may indeed respond to the tariffs by building factories in the U.S. to maintain their presence in a crucial market. But many others are simply too small, or too integrated into existing supply chains, to make that move. Where the millions of American workers will come from to screw together iPhones or make car parts is also a mystery, especially given the president's opposition to large-scale immigration. Factories in the U.S. are already struggling to find workers; the manufacturing sector has hundreds of thousands of vacant openings.

...

"Other countries long accepted U.S. leadership because they saw Washington as a proponent of global economic progress. The role Trump is choosing for the United States is not that. He may eventually roll back tariffs for those countries that negotiate with him, and he may even see this as a show of kingpin-like strength: Trump has already said that he'd be willing to reduce duties on China in return for a deal involving TikTok. But the erratic and arbitrary nature of the policies, and the willingness to exploit U.S. economic might to extort concessions, will undermine American standing nearly everywhere."

Why America’s Oligarchs May Regret Their Obedience: Putin’s Russia shows what happens when billionaire businessmen choose to back a strongman. - "Putin's regime offers a stark illustration of how democratic institutions can be hollowed out. Some of Trump's recent moves contain echoes of Kremlin strategy: canceling institutional checks in favor of loyalist appointments, attacking lawyers who work for opponents, demolishing independent agencies, feeding popular delusions of imperial greatness by threatening neighbors. The reforms of Musk's DOGE outfit are set to shift public goods into private hands."

Here Are the Places Where the Recession Has Already Begun: Towns near the Canadian border are suffering. - "He cannot buy feed from another supplier; there aren't any nearby, and getting it from farther away would be more expensive. When he got the delivery, he stared at the tariff for a while. Shouldn't his Canadian supplier have been responsible for paying it? 'I'm not even sure it's legal! We contracted for the price on delivery! If your price of fuel goes up or your truck breaks down, that's not my problem! That's what the contract's for.'

"But the tariff was legal, and it was Gilbert's responsibility." [ed. note: lol eat shit]

The Cabinet Secretary Who Wants His Cookies Freshly Baked: The unusual requests made of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s staff are raising concerns all the way to the White House.

Defying the Courts Will Backfire: The public has not responded kindly to other politicians who have tried this in the past.

Trump Has Already Botched His Own Bad Tariff Plan: Once you’ve said you might negotiate, nobody is going to believe you when you change your mind and say you’ll never negotiate. - "The key to making it work was to convince businesses that the new arrangement is durable. Nobody is going to invest in building new factories in the United States to create goods that until last week could be imported more cheaply unless they’re certain that the tariffs making the domestic version more competitive will stay in place. (They’re probably not going to do it anyway, in part because they don’t know who will be president in four years, but the point is that confidence in durable tariffs is a necessary condition.)"

Wall Street Blew: It Investors discounted everything Trump has ever said about trade and tariffs. We’re all going to pay for that mistake. - "The U.S., for instance, buys agricultural products and basic manufactured goods from developing countries that don't have a big appetite for Boeing airplanes or Microsoft software. So those countries typically take the dollars they earn and buy U.S. government bonds, knowing that their money will be safe, instead of purchasing American goods. That creates a trade deficit, without anything sinister behind it. But for Trump, any trade deficit means that Americans are being played. And Trump hates few things in this world more than feeling that he's been played."

Trump to sign executive order to help dying U.S. coal industry: The president will direct agencies to boost coal leasing, mining and exports. But these steps are unlikely to usher in a coal renaissance. - "The executive order builds on moves the Trump administration has already taken. The Environmental Protection Agency last month began the process of dismantling restrictions on coal plants’ carbon emissions, mercury pollution and wastewater runoff. The Interior Department approved an expansion of a Montana coal mine, and the Bureau of Land Management is considering an 'emergency' lease to mine coal in North Dakota."

Who will tell Trump he’s naked?: The president’s advisers are falling over themselves trying to excuse tariffmageddon.

In the rain-soaked South, storms portend future ‘generational’ floods: Parts of Tennessee received 15 inches of rain. What happens when the next storm is worse?

MAGA Maoism is spreading through the populist right: A new conservative strain dreams of sending the bourgeoise to work the factories. - "But nostalgia is not a plan. It’s a mirror turned backward. Trump is not bringing back the dignity of work — he’s marketing the image of it. His tariffs won’t rebuild Bethlehem Steel. They won’t revive the coal towns. But they will make life more expensive for working people, while feeding the fantasy that somewhere out there, the old America still waits if you can just hurt the right people to get there."

After a Slow Start, High-Speed Rail Might Finally Arrive in America: True high-speed rail has not yet made it to the U.S., but that will change soon. Here are the projects currently being developed.

Ailing historic tree removed from White House grounds: The tree, known as the Jackson magnolia, was attributed to President Andrew Jackson, officials said.

Gun discharged inside backpack at Va. elementary school, police say: Spotsylvania County authorities said a gun went off while inside a third-grader’s backpack at Lee Hill Elementary School on Monday morning. No one was injured.

Palestinian American teen fatally shot by Israeli troops in West Bank village: American citizen Amer Rabee, 14, was fatally shot in the West Bank village of Turmus Ayya. The mayor said he had been picking green almonds with two friends.

44 percent of DC-area restaurants surveyed say they’re ‘likely to close’ by the end of this year

Thursday, September 26, 2024

Reading archive 2024--9-26

Opinion Who is winning in Ukraine? These maps tell the real story.: The next U.S. president will need to address a near stalemate in the ongoing war.

As war widens and costs mount, Israel’s economy is in ‘serious danger’: Tens of thousands of Israeli businesses have closed over the last year and reservists are struggling to juggle careers with military service.

Youth charged in slaying of teen at Brookland Metro deemed incompetent: The teen charged with fatally shooting a 14-year-old at the Brookland-CUA Metro station in April was found incompetent to stand trial and must undergo treatment.

Woman gets 18 years for neo-Nazi plot to shoot up Md. power stations: Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 36, remains a threat to public safety, said U.S. District Judge James Bredar.

Why Donald Trump keeps talking about Kamala Harris’s McDonald’s job: It’s a small biographical detail meant to bolster her middle-class bona fides. But it’s also hard to verify — which Trump is happy to exploit.

Sweeping bill to overhaul Supreme Court would add six justices: The legislation by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is one of the most ambitious efforts to date to remake the Supreme Court following controversies over rulings and ethics.

A cheap, low-tech solution for storing carbon may be sitting in the dirt: Figuring out ways of locking carbon out of the atmosphere, such as by burying wood, is key to stalling the worst consequences of climate change.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams charged with bribery and taking foreign donations: Federal prosecutors accuse the mayor of wire fraud in a years-long scheme to take gifts and donations in exchange for influence and favors.

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Reading archive 2024-08-29

Marijuana Is Too Strong Now: As weed has become easier to obtain, it has become harder to smoke.

D.C. attorney general alleges ‘widespread’ title insurance kickbacks: An AG’s investigation found four Washington-area title insurance companies paid agents for referrals in violation of local consumer protection law. - "He recommends that home buyers insist on an independent title company that isn’t affiliated with their agent."

Decision on Georgia election board threatens Kemp’s détente with Trump: The governor must decide whether to seek the removal of board members who have been praised by the former president for changing election rules with months to go before the vote.

Opinion Don’t yawn at Trump’s dishonorable use of Arlington National Cemetery: The candidate who has repeatedly maligned our soldiers couldn’t resist an illegal publicity stunt. - "Also for the record, it was Trump who negotiated the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and forced the Afghan government to release thousands of jailed Taliban fighters in a prisoner swap. Those decisions helped make possible the Taliban’s swift return to power."

Trump campaign posts video from Arlington Cemetery after alleged altercation: A U.S. defense official said the Trump campaign was told repeatedly that it could not capture photos and video in Section 60, the final resting place of many recent fatalities. - "As president, Trump struck a deal with the Taliban to exchange prisoners and set a timetable to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan. But he criticized the ultimate exit during the Biden presidency, saying the execution was botched."

Army defends Arlington Cemetery staffer ‘pushed aside’ by Trump aides: The employee decided not to press charges, and the service considers the matter closed, officials said.

Vance tells Harris to ‘go to hell’ for cemetery criticism she didn’t give: Trump and his allies are known to flout political norms, but the crass language Vance used to criticize a political opponent Wednesday is particularly unusual in modern politics.

Vance defends telling Harris to ‘go to hell’ for nonexistent cemetery criticism: The GOP vice-presidential candidate said an Arlington cemetery worker pushed aside by a Trump aide does not deserve an apology.

Secret Service detail for JD Vance closes an Alexandria park: Judy Lowe Neighborhood Park, frequented by toddlers, dogs and seniors, is now effectively part of the U.S. Secret Service setup. Some neighbors are bummed.

D.C. officer who took bribes for leaking crash victims’ data sent to prison: Former D.C. police officer Vincent Forrest was convicted at trial this year of bribery, conspiracy and making false statements.

New York county’s ban on wearing masks in public leads to first arrest: Nassau County police said they found a knife on a man they stopped and searched because he was wearing a mask, the first violation of a controversial local law.

24 hours of Trump: QAnon tributes, crude attacks and hawking pieces of his suit: With fewer than 70 days until the election, Trump is zigging and zagging with an arsenal of unfocused broadsides and peripheral pursuits.

Thursday, June 6, 2024

Reading archive 2024-06-06

NYC had a plan to make it hard for cars to enter the city. Here’s why the governor blocked it.: What would have been America’s first congestion pricing experiment has been delayed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, leaving public transit in a financial hole.

Even Sean Hannity can’t get Trump to back away from wanting revenge: Somehow, nine years into the Trump era, even his most fervent media ally thinks the former president requires some mainstream polish.

Biden, world leaders and veterans mark D-Day’s 80th anniversary in France: While the U.S. president’s speech was directed at a global audience, it came against the backdrop of a fierce domestic political battle with his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Opinion More evidence of the idiocy of Vladimir Putin: The war in Ukraine has turned Russia’s biggest company into a massive money loser. - "With spigots to the West turned off and China dragging its heels, the report concluded, according to the Financial Times, that Gazprom will not return to profitability before 2035."

Opinion The Biden immigration order exposes MAGA hypocrisy: The executive order likely won’t survive legal scrutiny, but politically, it’s already doing its job.

Giant Joro spiders are invading the East Coast. Don’t worry, they’re shy.: The arachnids from East Asia are a familiar sight in parts of Georgia and are on the move. Here’s what to know.

Several Pa. House Republicans boo officers who defended Capitol on Jan. 6: Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell were invited to Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives — but several GOP lawmakers booed and some walked out, Democratic lawmakers said.

Senate confirms 2 D.C. Superior Court judges, filling lengthy vacancies: The U.S. Senate confirmed two magistrate judges to the D.C. court’s top ranks this week, reducing the number of lengthy judicial vacancies

Israel used U.S. munitions in deadly strike on U.N. school, experts say: Weapons experts reviewed verified video from the scene and identified the munitions fragments as U.S.-made small diameter bombs.

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Reading archive 2023-01-25

Dolphins just spotted in New York City’s Bronx River: ‘Had me shocked’: ‘This is great news — it shows that the decades-long effort to restore the river as a healthy habitat is working,’ NYC Parks posted on Twitter.

Metro says relationship with regulator is untenable, needs ‘mediation’: Transit agency says Washington Metrorail Safety Commission takes arbitrary actions against Metro, while commission officials say Metro continues to ignore oversight and safety protocols - "Metro’s own records showed a train operator who was supposed to have eight hours of operation with a training instructor had just nine minutes, he said."

Metro plans summer safety work as tensions resurface with regulator: Washington Metrorail Safety Commission members said Metro should have fired or removed an operator for lying during an investigation - "Safety commission staff members presented commissioners with reports of several incidents over the past few months, including a July 16 incident in which a track inspection crew on the Red Line had to rush from the path of a speeding train. Surveillance footage showed the train operator had been flagged to slow at the preceding station and by rail operations control. When asked why the operator didn’t slow, he told investigators he was distracted by a passenger who raised him on the emergency intercom about a weapon onboard.

"Vehicle data showed the intercom was never activated. Metro’s investigative report, according to the safety commission, recommended 'low' level punishment and indicated the transit agency docked his personnel record.

"'Is this appropriate for putting roadway workers at risk and then lying about it?' asked Commissioner Robert Lauby, a former chief safety officer for the Federal Railroad Administration." [ed. note: JFC]

For Ukraine, what’s so special about Germany’s Leopard 2 tanks?

Why conservatives are accusing the Xbox of being ‘woke’: The criticism comes after the brand said this month it’s rolling out updates to improve the energy efficiency of the video-game consoles

‘I felt like we were in “Goodfellas’’’: How George Santos wooed investors for alleged Ponzi scheme: Accounts gathered by The Post detail how Santos used lavish dinner, inflated credentials to pitch Harbor City securities

Opinion Biden’s devious plan to break the MAGA fever just might work - "To the extent there’s an economic base to backlash politics, these programs may well counter that. They will accelerate accessible noncollege work opportunities in exactly the kinds of places left behind by deindustrialization." [ed. note: the extent of the economic basis of backlash politics is small]

North Texas youth pastor, high school coach and volunteer firefighter among 46 arrested in commercial sex sting, Homeland Security says: Among those arrested were a volunteer firefighter, youth pastor, high school teacher, football coach and the director of operations for a large hospital network.