Reading archive 2026-08-24

The White House Freak-Out Over Natalie Harp: The West Wing’s explosive response to a fleeting jab didn’t kill the story. It enabled days of coverage.

It’s Low-Calorie and Packed With Protein. Is It Healthy?: Welcome to the golden age of ultra-processed health foods.

Ossoff’s ‘Natalie’ Moment: The Georgia senator’s latest viral moment reveals much about Trump—and plenty about Ossoff himself.

A rare blue tree frog is drawing loads of spectators to a Virginia park: “Is he a prince in disguise?” Nature enthusiasts are flocking to Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria to catch a glimpse of the unusual amphibian.

To get the national debt under control, start with the retirement state

Why we should stop eating lettuce, cyclospora or not: Lettuce makes us sick, wastes resources and has minimal nutritional value. Why are we still consuming it? - "So, on one side of the ledger we have 1.7 million annual cases of food poisoning, $3.7 billion and 3 billion pounds of rotting lettuce. On the other we have, basically, an excuse to kid yourself into eating blue cheese dressing."

Some Texas conservatives are breaking ranks and pledging to vote Democratic: Republicans who are angry at Gov. Greg Abbott’s refusal to block data centers are giving his Democratic challenger hope for an upset.

Secret White House bunker undercuts Trump’s ballroom lawsuit, ex-officials say: The White House already has a nuclear-proof facility buried deep underground and built in secret after 9/11.

Mount Pleasant residents say 'hell no' to trees of heaven: This invasive species is spreading through the District. Some residents are taking matters into their own hands.

D.C. Coating Roads To Help Cool City: District transportation officials are rolling out an experiment, treating stretches of roadway with a coating meant to reduce the air temperature.

In candid interviews, National Guard members speak out about D.C. deployment - "An estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the D.C. deployment at its current level costs about $3 million per day. The Pentagon estimates extending the deployment until 2029 will cost an additional $1.4 billion. A total cost estimate by the nonpartisan watchdog Project on Government Oversight for the deployment is around $3.4 billion.

How one billionaire’s crusade against homelessness became Trump’s playbook: Long before Silicon Valley embraced Trump, Joe Lonsdale wanted to remake government and shift the nation’s approach to homelessness. Now, his friends in the White House are listening. - "He uses the term “boldness” so frequently that it might come off as a joke — or to critics, as a caricature of a tech billionaire drunk on his own Kool-Aid.

"But in Lonsdale’s growing influence, detractors see something more insidious: a powerful person interfering far beyond his purview. 

"'These guys don’t have interesting ideas; they have little-boy fantasies,' said Paul Barrett, a New York University professor and a former deputy director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at NYU Stern School of Business. 'These tech guys are part of an illiberal tradition that is truly corrosive. … [Lonsdale] wants to create an environment where his mythological meritocratic heroes can thrive and everyone else can go f--- themselves.'"

Nevada sues over federally mandated reduction in Colorado River water use: In the first legal challenge to a long-awaited federal plan to stabilize the dwindling Colorado River, Nevada alleges that federal officials violated the law and failed to consider the economic effects of the cuts.

Reading archive 20226-08-21

Maine farms contaminated with PFAS get new purpose: More than 60 Maine farms have been identified as having unsafe levels of PFAS chemicals in their soil and water, largely from municipal sludge spread on farms as fertilizer for decades.

More D.C. kindergarteners have vaccine exemptions

Update: NATO’s Operations Continue as Russia Escalates in Romania - "On July 30, a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile crashed in Poland. Days later, an explosive drone carrying Semtex and PETN was discovered at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport, which U.S. intelligence attributed to Russia. Romania has had repeated drone incursions, including three Russian drones shot down in July, another drone shot down by a Spanish F-18 on August 16, and two more incidents today, including the drone carrying an explosive near the Neptun Deep gas project. Three days ago, what is suspected to be a Russian Banderol missile entered Moldova and exploded in a field. And earlier today, Finland reported another suspected Russian aircraft violating its airspace."

How a failed project could help solve the world’s biggest energy need: Former SpaceX engineers think a long-dormant nuclear reactor experiment is key to meeting the power needs of data centers.

Seeking to flip Senate, Democrats are running ads to criticize their own: Democrats seeking Senate seats in some swing states are taking aim at their party — and even supporting Republican policies.

CIA staff exodus leaves new retirees waiting months for benefits: The spy agency is swamped by what it calls an “unprecedented number” of retirements as the Trump administration aims to shrink its workforce. - "The CIA has a tradition of treating its retirees well, former officials said. Among the reasons: Angry ex-employees with heads full of secrets are a target for adversary intelligence services. 'We are creating a massive [counterintelligence] risk,' said the official who left last fall."

Ukraine Planned to Swarm Moscow Airports With AI-Guided Drones: The stalled operation, code-named “M&Ms,” sought to isolate Russian elites and force Vladimir Putin to negotiate a truce.

The ‘Resistance’ Won: The much-derided movement was right about Trump’s nature, and how to defeat him. - "What discredited resistance politics in liberal eyes is that it was closely associated with institutional procedures that were deemed to have ultimately failed to restrain Trump. Mueller's investigation ended anticlimactically. Neither impeachment drew enough Republican support to remove Trump from office. Somewhat similarly, conservatives have sometimes claimed that the Russia investigation and first impeachment helped Trump politically by drawing to his side Republicans who resented the overreach. 

"One Republican who doesn't seem to believe either of these arguments is Trump. The president has worked hard to ensure that no such humiliations recur during his second term, by stacking the Justice Department with loyalists, firing inspectors general en masse, purging the armed forces of "woke" officers, and generally eliminating any potential source of independence within the federal government. 

"Trump himself does not seem to think that the investigations that were avidly followed by resistance liberals did nothing to restrain his actions during his first term, or that they helped him shore up partisan support. And the absence of any such processes in his second term has not made Republicans in Congress feel freer to criticize the president. To the contrary, their fealty is more absolute than ever.

...

"Like the Republican critics of resistance politics, progressive ones depicted it as substituting legal tactics for electoral victories. Yet the resistance was never limited to cheering on Mueller or hoping to persuade Republicans to convict the president of high crimes and misdemeanors. Resistance themes inspired the Democrats' political message during Trump's first term. And that message landed. Democrats retook the House in the 2018 midterms, despite a hot economy, and then defeated Trump's reelection effort. Joe Biden, a link to a bygone era of civility and bipartisanship, ran in 2020 on a message of restoring the soul of America. He won. 

"Once in office, however, Biden ceded his domestic agenda to progressives who believed in Sanders's vision of transformational change. They believed that only overturning the neoliberal order, handing control of domestic policy to neo-Brandeisians and climate hawks, and giving unions almost every policy they demanded would allow Democrats to regain the trust of working-class voters. This theory, not the resistance, failed. Biden's support collapsed within his first year, and Kamala Harris's half-hearted efforts to distance herself from her unpopular boss were too little, too late."

An Unsettling Glimpse Into the GOP’s Future: James Fishback lost badly in Florida but showed that there’s support for bigotry among the young.

Donald Trump Effectively Just Told Iran to Get a Nuclear Weapon: He may also have blurted out classified information about North Korea.

Reading archive 2026-08-06

Norway became a global salmon behemoth. Now it's facing the consequences

Maine’s Democratic Senate candidate touts his rural appeal. His hometown has mixed feelings.: In Allagash, a hamlet of some 200 people near Canada, residents are sharply divided over Troy Jackson.

Attack ads portraying progressive candidate as sexist roil key Michigan Senate race: The candidate’s barbed wit sparked attack ads that portray him as disrespectful to women. He says that’s a racist trope.

Loomer’s Ukraine reversal deepens split in Trump’s ‘America First’ movement: Influential MAGA blogger and former Kyiv critic Laura Loomer expects to visit the president to advocate for the U.S.-Ukraine alliance.

How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking: Flock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems.

My company’s drones hit Russia — and showed what the Pentagon doesn’t know: Modern war rewards speed and redundancy, not perfect weapons from a single supplier.

After big win, left-leaning slate seeks to flex power in D.C.’s Democratic Party: A group of left-leaning candidates, Free DC Slate, won 36 of 48 seats up for grabs on the D.C. Democratic State Committee.

I befriended my neighborhood crow. You can, too.: Reflections — and expert tips — on building bonds with corvids.

Reading archive 2026-07-27

Police vetted dubious allegation only after Buttigieg was separated from children: The Michigan attorney general’s office is investigating how the accusation that prompted the ex-Cabinet secretary’s separation from his 4-year-old twins was handled.

Amid Trump’s unpredictability, a region rises to face China: Governments across the region are assuming more responsibility for their countries’ security. - "No single development is transformative on its own, nor do these arrangements amount to a NATO-style mutual-defense pact. Instead, governments are building a flexible web of overlapping partnerships, logistics planning and intelligence sharing. The result is a more connected, resilient region, better able to respond in a conflict. 

"This restructuring reflects two converging judgments. The first is that Chinese bullying is no longer episodic. Under leader Xi Jinping, Beijing has combined military pressure on Taiwan, maritime coercion against Japan and the Philippines, and economic retaliation against other neighbors. Isolated disputes increasingly look like a broader campaign to bend the region to China’s will.

"The second judgment concerns American predictability. President Donald Trump’s transactional approach to alliances and preference for personal diplomacy with Xi have raised doubts about Washington. The U.S. remains Asia’s indispensable military power. Yet allies are increasingly unwilling to rely on American guarantees alone. Instead, they are investing more heavily in one another and assuming greater responsibility for their own security."

A desert town may run out of water. Others could face the same fate.: An Arizona community nearly dried up and imposed strict limits, and its crisis may be a glimpse of the West’s future.

Napa’s Groundwater: Past, Present, and Future, by Arya Adhye

Ukraine is teaching Russia a lesson. The U.S. should take notes.: Ukrainian drones and rockets have punished underprotected Russian assets on Crimea.

The states that need immigration most? You’d be surprised.: The policy that would help rural states most is one their voters and officials are most likely to resist. - "Employers in rural states have struggled for years to attract and retain workers. Now many of the tightest labor markets in the country are in some of the most rural places. North and South Dakota currently have the two lowest unemployment rates in the nation. These lower numbers reflect not just lower job turnover and better skills matches than the rest of the country, but also difficulty in finding workers. As the latest numbers collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed in December, North and South Dakota each had about two job openings for every unemployed worker.

"This creates a political and economic paradox. The policy most likely to help many of these states gain the workers they need is also the one many of their voters and elected officials are most likely to resist: more legal immigration."

Judges accused of denying Sikh student points in national civics contest: His parents and a congressional caucus questioned the results after the teen’s answers were rejected. [ed. note: guess what the three finalists look like]

Trump’s insult-laden speech to press dinner draws mostly stunned silence: The president addressed a smaller, heavily secured gathering Friday as his administration intensifies its legal and rhetorical attacks on journalists.

Zeus’s Law: Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey - "The Trojan War is challenging to turn into a film, not just because of the scale involved and the inevitable risk of camp and corniness, but because the characters are so unlikeable in the the original. Indeed, one joy of the classics is the insight it gives into a culture that was very alien, and in many ways repulsive. It’s not our culture, and our worldview is instead shaped by a different eastern Mediterranean civilisation."

The last shall be first and the first last: All you need is love: how the Christian revolution shaped our world - "The #metoo scandal played a part in the Great Awokening, the radical shift in values that began around 2013, spurred by social media, and especially focussed among America’s elites. The social justice theory of intersectionality is just the latest sub-strand of western thinking that owes its origins to Christianity, a hierarchy of victimhood that could be best summed up as 'The last were to be first, and the first were to be last.'

...

"Christianity’s revolutionary message lies at the heart of our cultural assumptions, especially on the – theoretically more secular – political left. Angela Merkel opened up Germany’s borders to Middle Eastern refugees for this reason 'The daily message was: Love your neighbour as yourself. Not just German people. God loves everybody.'" [d. note: interesting Christian apologia]

Marco Rubio wants to defend America — from largely imaginary threats: The secretary of state picks enemies that, unlike Russia or Iran, probably won't push back. - "A 2025 study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that left-wing violence in the U.S. has been rising in recent years but remains very low: 'In the past decade … left-wing attacks have killed 13 victims, compared with 112 and 82 victims for right-wing and jihadist attacks, respectively.' The highest-profile recent cases of leftist violence were the horrifying killings of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, but in neither instance has evidence emerged linking the suspect to antifa or any other group. 

"The U.S. government should battle violent extremists of all persuasions — not just leftists. Unfortunately, Trump pardoned the Jan. 6, 2021, rioters, who committed the most serious act of political violence in modern U.S. history."

The Social Security Reckoning Is Finally Coming: Senators elected this November will be in office when America’s most popular federal program is on track to run out of money.

Reading archive 2026-07-24

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

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

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

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

...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading archive 2026-06-30

The all-natural way to fix the Reflecting Pool: Enlisting nature to help clean up the algae would be more patriotic than tossing in chemicals. - "I’ll be crystal clear: I don’t know if this approach would work. What I do know is that the current strategy has not survived contact with reality, and unless we try something different, we will fail, over and over again. 

"The United States isn’t known for learning quickly from its mistakes. There’s an apocryphal line from Winston Churchill that Americans will always do the right thing, after they’ve tried everything else."

Iran’s leverage over Strait of Hormuz snarls Trump’s push for a deal: The U.S. president is set on bringing gas prices down and reaching a nuclear deal, but Iran has little incentive to cede its newfound power to control shipping traffic.

As war stalls, Putin concedes he never cut a deal with Trump in Alaska: Putin just admitted the Anchorage summit didn’t yield a plan to end the war in Ukraine — perhaps because he needs a real deal now.

Trump is using a $500M no-bid contract to build his White House ballroom: The secret agreement was routed through a White House office that typically handles repairs and furnishings and is exempt from competitive bidding requirements.

American agriculture is broken: Fixing it will require much more than the new farm bill can deliver - "Cheap cash crop exports also carry economic risk, as witnessed by China’s plummeting purchases of US soyabeans amid a trade war. The idea that the US should continue to spend billions of dollars bailing out farmers who are still being incentivised to keep producing a crop that their largest buyer no longer wants (China is actively moving towards more food independence) makes zero sense."

A Watergate Every Week J. D.: Vance contends that the scandal would be “a 12-hour news story” today. He’s probably correct, but the lesson isn’t what he claims.

A Long-Standing Theory of Childbirth Is a Myth: Delivering a human baby is not uniquely difficult.

Reading archive 2026-06-29 pt 2

Trump allows dairy farms a path for migrant labor, upsetting anti-immigration camp: President Donald Trump was expected to announce the expansion of a guest-worker program to the dairy industry at a Wisconsin event. Instead, the news came out in a press release. - "However, Van Orden, a Trump ally who also took credit for persuading the White House to expand the H-2A program, said the policy announcement was delayed because it wasn’t ready in time for Trump’s visit to Wisconsin." [ed. note: lol that's never stopped him before]

What a ‘mansion tax’ did to Los Angeles: Taxes that narrowly target the rich are not the best way for cities to broadly help the poor. - "Any tax will create some combination of two outcomes: new revenue and changed behavior. Which of these results is stronger depends on how the tax is designed. 

"This is where things went wrong. Measure ULA’s goal was to raise revenue, but it was written like a tax to change behavior. Revenue-maximizing taxes tend to have low rates and broad bases. ULA had the opposite. It applied a high rate (transfer taxes rarely exceed 2 percent) to a very narrow base (just 4 percent of the city’s sales are over $5 million). The narrow base was a political advantage but a fiscal liability. It made ULA’s revenue reliant on a small group of people who, precisely because they weren’t everyday owner-occupants, could avoid the tax by choosing not to sell.

When the tax took effect, higher-end sales plunged, and stayed down. Measure ULA, which was projected to raise up to $1.1 billion annually, has averaged just one-third of that. It has also diminished other local revenue. In California, property can’t be reassessed unless it changes hands, so ULA, by reducing transactions, is depressing the local property tax revenue that supports schools and other services."

This voter ID law would spell trouble from Florida to Texas: The Save America Act has a worthy goal. But states can run elections on their own. - "The bill’s design prefers IDs that Democrats tend to have more than Republicans do. It privileges passports, which Democrats own at higher rates than Republicans, and removes concealed carry licenses as permissible ID in several states. The bill also adds paperwork for married women who change their names, who are disproportionately Republicans. And it ends online voter registration for rural — mostly Republican — voters. If Republicans are hoping to gain an electoral edge with this bill, they are sorely mistaken."

Vanilla Ice Knows When America Was Great: To celebrate the country’s 250th birthday, the rapper wants to transport us to another decade. - "A drug-fueled downfall ensued, culminating in a nearly lethal dose of heroin and other substances after a day of jet skiing on July 4, 1994. He told journalists that he'd felt like a 'sellout' who'd been marketed as a pretty-faced simpleton, when really he was a survivor from the streets. 'I've faced a lot of adversity,' he told me. 'Probably more than any person to ever play a record or become a musician.'" [ed. note: l o l]

‘Rush Project at Request of POTUS’: Money once used for crucial national-park repairs is now financing Trump’s redecorating projects.

Reading archive 2026-06-20

The Biden Verdict Is in. It Isn’t Pretty.

Ukraine Bombards Moscow With One of the Biggest Drone Attacks of the War: The attack, which shut down the capital’s airports for several hours, was part of an escalating campaign to bring the conflict home to Russians.

Farmers backed Trump. Now some say they’re losing patience.: Rural approval of the president falls to a new low amid rising bankruptcies and trade uncertainty, and some farmers accuse the GOP of making a hard business harder.

Flesh-eating maggot outbreak puts Trump administration response under scrutiny: The New World screwworm spread from southern Mexico to Texas in two years when the administration cut staff and funding.

A young mother couldn’t accept she was dying, until her grandpa appeared to her: A physician tells the story of her 28-year-old hospice patient and the transformative conversation no one else could hear.

A dying woman’s vision comforts her hospice nurse daughter: Kelley Clem has seen patients experience end-of-life dreams and visions but was still astounded when her mother had one.

The profound meaning and mystery of deathbed visions: As Shirley was dying, she kept seeing the grandmother she’d lost long ago.

Reading archive 2026-06-07

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading archive 2026-05-18

Disease, Drought, Climate Change — And the Joy of Fighting Back: On my Virginia farm, I have a front-row seat to the grim consequences of a warming planet. But I’m not surrendering.

So, you got bit by a tick. Here’s exactly what to do next.: Experts explained what to do if you find a tick attached to your skin, including how to remove it and document it, and when to seek medical advice.

6 tick-borne diseases that should be on your radar: With tick season in full force, here are the most common diseases they spread in the U.S., where they most commonly occur and the symptoms to watch for.

I lead a Jewish school. Mamdani’s first veto is astonishing.: Amid rising antisemitism, New York's mayor stopped a safeguarding move for schools. [vetoed a bill banning protests near schools, the case this guy is mad about was a real-estate sale for settlement land in the West Bank]

Georgia’s top Republican fears a repeat of the GOP’s 2022 Senate blunder: Gov. Brian Kemp (R), the popular Georgia governor, has endorsed a Senate candidate he believes has broad appeal. But his more MAGA rival is gaining steam.

Trump has no good military option to ‘finish the job’ in Iran: Trump would be wise to ignore hawkish advice and try to forge a deal with Tehran.

ICE agent charged in shooting of immigrant during Minneapolis crackdown: County prosecutors issued a warrant for the arrest of the agent, who faces felony assault charges. The victim was one of three people shot during January’s crackdown.

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]

Reading archive 2026-05-04

The quest to save Outer Banks homes

Poisonous black rain falls in Russia as Ukraine strikes oil facilities: Residents of Tuapse, on the Black Sea, complained of an inadequate government response and coverup of what they say is a huge environmental and health disaster.

Iran fires on U.S. ships in Strait of Hormuz, in threat to ceasefire: The attacks followed the passage of U.S. warships and merchant vessels through the waterway despite Iran’s threats against attempts to “interfere” in the strait.

The fall of an African nation shows what Putin’s promises are worth: Jihadists are kicking Russia out of Mali. The U.S. should move in.

Bethesda bakery owner loses nearly $25,000 in phone spoofing scam, warns other small businesses: Susan Limb says she had no idea a phone number could be spoofed to look exactly like her bank's phone number.

A GOP lawmaker supported an immigration crackdown. Her husband paid a price.: The situation cost Idaho state Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld and her husband most of their income and highlights an escalating split in the party.

The secret to making chores so fun that you look forward to them: Strategies such as a points system, timed challenges and even “the poop rule” can lend some excitement to mundane tasks such as decluttering or mopping the floor.

An island depends on him to run the ferry. Who will do it after Terry?: Terry Laird, following in the footsteps of his father and uncle, has spent his adult life keeping the people who live on a tiny Chesapeake Bay island connected.

About pain and other ailments: "What wound did ever heal but by degrees?" - Othello (William Shakespeare)

Reading archive 2026-04-29

An ingenious way to sidestep the dismal Senate filibuster: Restrain the president, revive Congress, honor Madisonian principles. What’s not to like? - "Today’s Senate Republicans are mostly oblivious of — or, worse, indifferent about — how they appear. In 2024, they solemnly warned that if they did not win control of the Senate, 2025-2026, Democrats would degrade it by abolishing the filibuster. In 2025, however, Senate Republicans, in lockstep with House Republicans, crammed most of the president’s agenda into a single bill that they passed on a party-line vote using the parliamentary maneuver called “reconciliation,” which prevents a bill from being filibustered."

Colombians are divided over the fate of hippos linked to Pablo Escobar

The great Black GOP exit from Congress: Republicans squandered Trump’s gains with African Americans in 2024.

Alleged gunman at correspondents’ dinner led Christian group in college: Ex-classmates who knew Cole Tomas Allen, 31, at the California Institute of Technology say they were shocked by a message in which he appeared to use biblical teachings to justify violence.

So Nobody Is Going to Pay Taxes Now?: America actually needs a tax base. - "While tinkering with marginal rates, Democrats have threaded deductions, credits, and exemptions into the tax code, engaging in 'submerged' policy making, as Cornell's Suzanne Mettler describes it. Tax expenditures are easier for Congress to pass than spending programs, and they're easier to target at low-income households. Still, Americans don't really understand these policies. Two in three claimants of the home-mortgage-interest deduction say it doesn't do much for them. (The deduction can reduce a family's tax bill by as much as $15,000 a year.) Two in three people with a 529 college savings plan believe that they have never used a government program. The more tax breaks a person receives, the less likely they are to report that Uncle Sam has improved their quality of life, Mettler has found. Yet such initiatives cost the government hundreds of billions of dollars.

...

"Wages for hourly employees have crawled, while the paychecks of investors and executives have soared. At the same time, the wealth of investors and executives has skyrocketed, with the taxman scarcely tapping these fortunes at all. As the law professor Ray Madoff has observed, Amazon has paid Jeff Bezos a salary of roughly $82,000 a year since the late 1990s, 'low enough to make him eligible to claim the child tax credit (which he did!).' From 2014 to 2018, his net worth climbed by $99 billion, just 0.98 percent of which went to public coffers, whereas many middle-class families fork over 25 percent of their earnings. Plus, again, the cost of living has become brutally high. Even households making six figures are struggling to afford child care, rent, groceries, health insurance, summer camp, and student-loan debt."

A Mediocre Public-School Education for Just $40,000 a Pupil: How New York City’s education budget became an untouchable money pit - "As New York City becomes more expensive to live in, fewer families with children live there. The education budget nonetheless continues to go up, hurting taxpayers and diverting funds from other important services. This makes the city even more expensive to live in, and leaves young families even more squeezed, causing even fewer children to live there. The situation stems from the commendable liberal impulse to devote extensive resources to public education. But what's the point of public education without a public to educate?"

Anthropic’s Little Brother: OpenAI is racing to catch up to its greatest rival.

Why Did Trump Pardon the Former Honduran President? Follow the Tech Bros.: With Roger Stone taking a victory lap for having come up with the idea in the first place.

Untangling the Issue of Circling Roots

Physiology and root development of container-grown urban trees in response to root-shaving, root-washing, and root-slicing at planting - "Among the root modifications examined, root-shaving provided the optimal combination of improved root development while minimizing adverse effects to tree stress and crown dieback. Moreover, our results suggest that trees that are historically known to be difficult to transplant as bare-root stock are poor candidates for extreme root disturbance procedures such as root-washing when produced as container-grown trees."

What Would a Fiscal Crisis Look Like? - "Already, the U.S. is facing consequences from excessive debt. Excessive borrowing was a key driver of the recent surge in inflation and subsequent rise in interest rates, and real incomes are lower today than they otherwise would be as a result of the “crowd out” of past investment. Meanwhile, the cost of interest on the debt grew to roughly $1 trillion last year, which is more than the federal government spent on defense and about as much as it spent on Medicare. These high interest payments leave fewer resources for new spending initiatives and tax cuts. And with debt at 100% of GDP, the U.S. has less fiscal space than any time in history in case of another war, pandemic, or recession. A fiscal crisis would substantially worsen most or all of the costs of debt."

Cato Study: Immigrants Reduced Deficits by $14.5 Trillion Since 1994 - "The best way to balance the budget is to reduce spending—particularly on wealthy retirees—but rather than hinder our efforts to control deficits, immigrants are helping."

Global Trade Is Leaving the US Behind: The US’s retreat from the global economy is likely to make America less influential, less resilient, less secure, and poorer over the long term, as economic integration deepens elsewhere and other governments set new standards in trade agreements.

More Photos Emerge of Meals on Navy Ships As Pentagon Denies Shortages

This Scammer Used an AI-Generated MAGA Girl to Grift ‘Super Dumb’ Men: A med student says he’s made thousands of dollars selling photos and videos of a young conservative woman he created using generative tools. He’s not alone.

Is the tide turning for Ukraine in war with Russia?: With the EU approving a €90bn loan for Ukraine, a surprise visit from Prince Harry, and data suggesting Russian troops made almost no territorial gains in March – are there reasons for optimism in Kyiv?

Iran caused more extensive damage to U.S. military bases than publicly known: U.S. bases and equipment across the Middle East came under attack — including from an Iranian F-5, despite American air defenses — and repairs could cost billions of dollars.

They Were Michael Jackson's 'Second Family.' Now They Say He Abused Them.: The Cascio siblings are suing Mr. Jackson's estate after standing by him for years as he faced accusations of child molestation.

Farmers are bleeding money under Trump —but are doubling down on their support anyway

Reading archive 2026-04-07

'She has a lot of remorse' | Woman found not guilty of murder, guilty of lesser charges in deadly 2023 Rock Creek Park crash: Nakita Walker was facing of three counts of second-degree murder, but instead was convicted on involuntary manslaughter charges.

Wisconsin Supreme Court back on ballot after years-long fight for control: The state’s high court, which liberals will control either way, could take up cases on abortion, redistricting and election disputes in coming years.

Democrats are turning Republicans’ arguments against them in midterm races: Republicans won in 2024 by promising to cut the cost of living, but high gas prices are frustrating voters and providing a potent line of attack ahead of this year’s elections.

Why Is the New York Times Laundering the Reputation of a Sleazy AI Startup That’s Selling GLP-1s via a Dishonest Dumpster Fire of Fake Doctors, Phony Before-and-After Pictures, and Other Glaring Red Flags?: "It's just an automated GLP-1 prescription mill." - "Dr. Jonathan Slotkin, a neurosurgeon, hospital executive, and investor called the NYT‘s profile of Medvi a 'transcript of a Silicon Valley fever dream' and a 'byproduct of regulatory lag and consumer desperation.'"

London music festival canceled after Britain bans headliner Kanye West: The move comes after days of mounting controversy over past antisemitic statements made by the rapper, now known as Ye.

Epic winter drought creates a bleak situation for farmers — and your food: If rainfall shortages and record heat continue, the effects may ripple throughout the U.S. food supply, with the cost of beef already surging.

The heat pump water heater payoff: Here’s how to crunch the numbers: What I learned about what to buy, how to save and what to avoid before plugging in a heat pump water heater.

The Real Intelligence Failure in Iran: A costly quagmire was predictable. Trump went to war anyway.

Trump Is Putting America’s Weaknesses on Display: What China can learn about the limits of American military capacity

Reading archive 2026-02-04

Stephen King’s The Shining, If the Hotel Had Possessed Wendy Instead of Jack

The Evolutionary Brilliance of the Baby Giggle - "Indeed, this idea — that laughter is primarily social, less about comedy and more about connection — holds true for adults as well, and has been underscored by research showing that laughter overwhelmingly occurs in the company of others and typically follows banal remarks in conversation, rather than in response to jokes or punchlines. 

"The signature belly laughs seen in the video above are involuntary, bursting forth during genuine, uncontrollable amusement. This type of laughter is driven by the brain’s limbic system, structures crucial for emotion, memory and motivation. But by 6 months, our lab has found, infants can intentionally produce a laugh. This ability comes not from the limbic system but from the brain’s language areas and emerges at the same time as babbling. Six-month-olds will deploy laughter to prolong a game of peekaboo or to signal a desire to join in."

Texas Democrats taste victory, then turn on each other: Days after their win in a state Senate race, reports of a racially charged comment roil the U.S. Senate primary contest.

As cold-stunned invasive iguanas fall from trees, Floridians scoop them up for killing: These cold-blooded reptiles’ nervous systems shut down when temperatures dip into the 40s and below. This time, that meant killing season.

Choose your crisis, Congress: Six paths to fiscal disaster: The national debt is nearing $39 trillion. Dire consequences are coming.

Trump, in an Escalation, Calls for Republicans to 'Nationalize' Elections: The comments, made on a conservative podcast, follow a string of moves from his administration to try to exert more control over American elections.

What a swing House district in Colorado shows about Republicans’ immigration fallout in the midterms

Kansas Legislature Passes Trans Bathroom Bounty, Drivers License Revocations: “They're using very overtly anti-democratic measures to pass all this stuff because they know that it's unpopular.”

These Trump voters 'formed a suicide pact' and Republicans are panicking: ex-GOP operative

‘They Voted For Trump, And Now They’re In Tears’—Now Rural Farmers Say Tariffs & Costs Are Pushing Them Toward Bankruptcy

St. Peter police chief intervened and got federal agents to release resident, sources say

Donald Trump vowed to unleash U.S. oil. A year later, low prices are squeezing Texas producers.

Reading archive 2026-01-26

Should you drink bottled water or tap? The answer may surprise you.: If you’re concerned about microplastics, PFAS and lead, there are certain ways to make your drinking water safer.

China fires top general in shocking purge of senior military command: The downfall of Zhang Youxia, China’s most senior uniformed official, marks an unprecedented concentration of military power under Xi Jinping.

Senate Democrats to block government funding after second fatal shooting in Minneapolis: The move could force a partial government shutdown next weekend. Lawmakers are set to vote on spending bills this week but may look to split Homeland Security from other agencies.

‘Unconquerable’: What a visit to frigid Ukraine convinced me: AI-powered air defense could counter Moscow’s greatest advantage — and keep Kyiv in the fight.

After 80-year bond, Germans find breaking up with the U.S. is hard to do: To many Germans, Americans were saviors after World War II, and they feel especially hurt over President Donald Trump’s disdain for Europe and traditional alliances.

Five people were shot outside a D.C. bus. It remained stopped, doors open.: Passengers pleaded with the operator to drive away from the shooting or close the bus doors, but he said he couldn’t, according to two passengers on the bus.

Elusive orchid plays key role in plan to bring bird back after 30 years: Once widespread throughout the Southeast, populations of the red-cockaded woodpecker shrank drastically amid rapid development and other threats.

Trump brushes off concerns about Witkoff’s interactions with Russians as leaked transcript roils Washington

Kilowatts or connections? Trump’s favored nuclear start-ups soar to riches.: Founders of politically connected nuclear companies that have never built commercial reactors are becoming billionaires. - "Valar declares on a company webpage that 'holding the spent fuel from [its] system for five minutes gives the equivalent radiation exposure to receiving a CAT scan.' Nuclear engineers were appalled by his claims."

Climate change, aging farmers endanger Japan's 'Rolls-Royce of pearls'

In Houston suburbs, Abbott’s attacks on CAIR unnerve Muslim residents: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) designated CAIR — a Muslim advocacy and civil rights group — a “foreign terrorist” group, along with the Muslim Brotherhood.

These very hungry microbes devour a powerful pollutant

Humans killed millions of vultures. Now people are paying the price.: As vultures vanished, dogs multiplied, and rabies spread. Humans are living with the consequences.

The common vaccines that can prevent chronic disease or some cancers: In addition to cancer, a growing body of research has shown that vaccines can reduce the risk of developing dementia and heart conditions.

She’s torn between her love for Trump and her work with migrants: A conservative woman detects a lack of empathy — and a broken promise — in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

‘Heated Rivalry’ is a hit in Russia, where LGBTQ+ content is heavily censored: Russian audiences connected deeply with character Ilya Rozanov, whose country would never fully accept him or allow him to live openly in a relationship with another man.

Hard Times in the Delta as Farmers Consider Letting Crops Rot: Prices for nearly every major U.S. crop are below what it costs to grow them. But a drop in rice prices means another blow to farmers in Mississippi’s agricultural belt.

Reading archive 2026-01-09

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading archive 2026-01-02

Quest for a drug that lowers an artery-clogging particle nears finish line: A clinical trial will soon reveal whether lowering high levels of lipoprotein(a) can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Behold, a Democrat who doesn’t preach from the Church of Progressivism: Rep. Jake Auchincloss has an exemplary way of talking about topics that resonate with centrist voters.

Trump says the job market is booming for U.S.-born. The data doesn’t show it.: Immigrants left the labor force in 2025, but U.S.-born workers aren’t enjoying a jobs boom, according to government data and economists.

He exposed myth of the South’s ‘Lost Cause.’ His death shook Richmond.: William J. “Bill” Martin, director of the Valentine museum in Richmond, died after being struck by a car Dec. 27.

These farmers are cutting pollution and fighting hunger — with bacteria: Mariangela Hungria won the 2025 World Food Prize for her work on microbes that feed plants nitrogen, allowing farmers to slash fertilizer costs and pollution.

Longtime MAGA ally Boebert lashes out at Trump over veto: The Colorado Republican said she hopes Trump’s action on a water infrastructure bill benefiting her district “has nothing to do with political retaliation.”

‘I Was Just So Naïve’: Inside Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Break With Trump: How the Georgia congresswoman went from the president's loudest cheerleader to his loudest Republican critic [ed. note: she claims to hate the toxic politics but still embrace the toxic policy, but they are the same]

What America Might Look Like With Zero Immigration: The Trump administration's efforts to reduce the foreign-born population are being felt in hospitals and soccer leagues and on Main Streets across the country, with hints of what's to come.

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]

Reading archive 2025-10-23

This Post Should Have Been Shorter

Musk doubles down in fight with Trump administration, risking his empire: The tech executive has shown little sign of backing down from a battle over the future of NASA. It has spilled into the Transportation Department, which oversees regulation for Tesla.

Study finds mRNA coronavirus vaccines prolonged life of cancer patients: Health records of more than 1,000 cancer patients receiving immunotherapy for lung and skin cancer showed they gained additional benefit after vaccination. - "'RNA preceded DNA evolutionarily, so cells don’t like RNA from the outside world coming in,' said Elias Sayour, one of the authors of the new paper and a pediatric oncologist at University of Florida Health. 'So when that happens, that sets off all the alarms of the human body. The 911 signals we’re in trouble.'"

Trump is ignoring the real threat matrix: A puzzling pivot to the Caribbean increasingly leaves Europe to answer Putin’s aggression on its own. - "'Great-power suicide' is how former CIA director William J. Burns described the self-inflicted damage to national security resources in a recent article for the Atlantic. 'We’ve put at risk the network of alliances and partnerships that is the envy of our rivals. We’ve even gutted the research funding that powers our economy,' he wrote.

...

"This politicization of U.S. intelligence has begun to erode the confidence of partners. The two leaders of the Dutch intelligence agencies told a Dutch newspaper last week that they were reducing the amount of intelligence they shared with the CIA and National Security Agency. 'We sometimes don’t tell things anymore, that is true,' said Peter Reesink, head of the military intelligence agency. 'We are very alert to the politicization of intelligence and to human rights violations,' explained Erik Akerboom, head of the civilian spy agency."

Frustration grows over Trump bailout of Argentina: Republican officials are speaking out, but Trump says cattle ranchers don’t understand how much his policies have helped them.

I want the GOP to keep control of the House. But not this way.: My fellow Indiana Republicans shouldn’t cave to White House pressure to redistrict.

Putin says U.S. sanctions are ‘serious’ but won’t make Russia stop war: President Donald Trump’s sanctions against two of Russia’s largest oil companies come as the European Union passes its 19th package targeting the energy sector.

Russia acquired Western technology to protect its nuclear submarine fleet: Russia secretly used front companies to buy Western technology and erect a surveillance net in the Arctic where its submarines operate, an investigation shows. - "At the center of the Harmony procurement network was a company, Mostrello Commercial Ltd., that was headquartered in Cyprus, which is part of the European Union, but served as a front for Russia’s military industrial complex, accounting for tens of millions of dollars in purchases of sensitive equipment, according to court records and other documents. Russia did not respond to requests for comment."

Reading archive 2025-10-21

‘It broke me’: Inside the FBI hunt for the online predators who persuaded a 13-year-old to die

After Israel’s war halted, who is clashing with Hamas in Gaza?: The Doghmush clan reportedly fought against Hamas in a clash that killed at least 27 people.

My Gaza is ready for peace. Hamas is trying to destroy it.: Trump’s ceasefire created two Gazas: one striving for a better future, the other ruled by fear.

Video shows Hamas fighters executing Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel

Trump’s attempt to gut special education office has some conservative parents on edge: The president called the layoffs a part of cuts to “Democrat programs,” but children across the nation would be impacted.

New English exam sidelines 6,000 truckers, testing U.S. supply chain: The Trump administration withheld $40 million in funding for California, saying the state was not enforcing a language requirement for long-haul drivers.

Government shutdown showcases Mike Johnson’s increasingly bold style: Johnson, nearly two years into his speakership, is taking a hard line in shutdown negotiations.

Rubio promised to betray U.S. informants to get Trump’s El Salvador prison deal: To secure Washington’s access to El Salvador’s most notorious prison, the secretary of state made an extraordinary offer to President Nayib Bukele. - "The deal would give Bukele possession of individuals who threatened to expose the alleged deals his government made with MS-13 to help achieve El Salvador’s historic drop in violence, officials said. For the Salvadoran president, a return of the informants was viewed as critical to preserving his tough-on-crime reputation. It was also a key step in hindering an ongoing U.S. investigation into his government’s relationship with MS-13, a gang famous for displays of excessive violence in the United States and elsewhere."

With a phone call, Putin appears to change Trump’s mind on Ukraine. Again.: It was the latest swing in Trump’s position on the war that often shifts following contact with Putin, who has shown skill in influencing the U.S. president.

In tense meeting, Trump told Zelensky to concede land, meet Putin’s demands: Following the trip to Washington, Zelensky has set up a series of calls and meetings with his main European backers.

Trump keeps getting played by Putin. Will Budapest be different?: A Russia-Ukraine ceasefire might be possible if only Trump would apply more pressure on Putin.

Budapest bust shows pressure works on Putin: Russia blinks again.

Trump says he doesn’t want ‘wasted meeting’ with Putin, delaying summit: The decision came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Trump’s call for a ceasefire contradicted the understandings he reached with Putin.

Climate change is coming for D.C.’s trees, and the city won’t look the same: The Post examined data that shows how the decisions being made now about what trees to plant in place of dying ones will change the city’s treescape.

Travel ban separates Cuban families, divides community loyal to Trump: Cuban Americans trying to bring relatives from the island to the U.S. are seeing their claims rejected. The denials have exacerbated tensions in Florida over Trump’s immigration policies.

Fatal shooting is third D.C. killing in a week: Despite the recent killings, the rate of homicides in Washington has declined substantially over more than two months.

How China weaponized soybeans to squeeze U.S. farmers — and spite Trump: China, the world’s biggest importer of soybeans, has stopped buying U.S. crops to put pressure on Trump ahead of his trade-focused meeting with Xi Jinping.