Reading archive 2026-05-01

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"But it didn’t."

Reading archive 2026-04-08

Why D.C.’s ‘teen takeovers’ have become a political lightning rod: The large, sometimes-unruly weekend gatherings have spawned arrests, a stricter curfew and alternative events, but long-term solutions are elusive. - "Bonds said she believed the government was doing 'about as much as we can.' Government, she said, could not replace family support or redirect all the teens who might be thinking of going to a 'takeover' to instead attend city-sponsored events."

Driver convicted in fatal Rock Creek Parkway crash that led to repeat offender law: A D.C. jury found Nakita Walker guilty of involuntary manslaughter and other charges for the collision that killed three people and inspired the city’s Steer Act.

Trump’s labor plan is a massive 401(k) greed grab for Wall Street: The Labor Department wants to give Wall Street firms greater access to a lucrative market — your 401(k).

Trump agrees to suspend attacks for two weeks if Iran opens Strait of Hormuz: The president said he had received a 10-point proposal from Iran that formed a “workable basis” for negotiations. But Israel said the ceasefire “does not include Lebanon.”

‘This is an apartheid regime’: Critics decry Israel’s new death penalty law: Celebrations in the Israeli parliament mark the passing of legislation intended to apply to Palestinians only. - "The new law means that military courts in the occupied West Bank, which solely try Palestinians, will, by default, impose the death sentence on anyone found guilty by Israel’s legal system of carrying out an unlawful killing of Israelis when the act is defined by the court as 'terrorism'. 

"Conversely, any Israeli citizen charged with an unlawful killing in the occupied West Bank – such as the seven Palestinians killed during a spike in settler violence that has followed the start of the Israel-United States war on Iran – are tried in Israel’s civilian courts. 

"Conviction rates for Palestinians tried in military courts run to 99.74 percent. In contrast, the conviction rate from 2005 to 2024 for Israelis tried for crimes committed in the West Bank is about 3 percent."

I’m an American living in Europe. It’s leaving the U.S. — fast.: Europeans are hedging against coercion in security, trade, education and everyday life.

This simple springtime activity is surprisingly good for your brain: Gardening isn’t just a hobby: It can challenge your brain and help reduce your stress levels, two factors that may help stave off cognitive decline.

A casket cartel tries to bury the competition: An Oklahoma couple has run afoul of a state law protecting funeral-home operators.

Hormuz traffic at standstill, strikes reported in Gulf amid fragile Iran ceasefire: With Trump and Iran each claiming victory, but still far apart on key issues, the two-week agreement raises the prospect of respite after nearly six weeks of war.

The Iran ceasefire was a TACO Tuesday, and thank goodness: Trump gets to act like his bloodcurdling threats worked, but he’s giving up far more than Tehran did.

Trump to discuss leaving NATO in meeting with alliance’s leader, White House says: The president, long a NATO skeptic, has been especially angry at alliance members in recent weeks for declining to take part in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Reading archive 2025-07-29

The Belated Voices Against The U.S.-Israeli Genocide of The Palestinians: Why did the onset of famine, and not any of the previous 21 months of collective slaughter, not compel them to speak out? [ed. note: this is a joke. The Democratic Party has no power to stop anything that is happening anywhere, never mind Gaza. What has happened in the past six months is proof of the effort the Biden administration put into keeping Bibi under control.]

5 common tomato problems and how to solve them: Expert advice on keeping summer tomato drama to a minimum

Does your city have too much of one kind of tree? That can be a problem.

The U.S. military is investing in this Pacific island. So is China.: New U.S. radar sites are designed to keep China in check. But Chinese developments, some with questionable connections, could create vulnerabilities. - "Analysts say it’s unclear what approach the Trump administration will take to the Pacific. The U.S. DOGE Service canceled the final months of a contract for some U.S. security assistance in Palau."

The guerrilla campaign to save a Texas prairie from ‘silent extinction’: “This is a war between us and the developers, and nobody’s calling uncle or throwing up white flags.”

The Fescue Fighters: A toxic grass that threatens a quarter of U.S. cows is spreading. Can it be stopped? - "Between the cells in fescue grows an endophyte, a fungus living symbiotically inside the grass. The endophyte is what makes the fescue robust against drought and overgrazing, but it’s also what makes it toxic. When scientists engineered a version of fescue without the fungal endophyte, in 1982, its hardiness disappeared and ranchers saw it die out among their winter pastures. Farmers learned to live with the health impacts of the toxic version, and today it remains the primary pasture grass across 37 million acres of farmland.

...

"And Patrick D. Keyser, the center’s director, says native grasses significantly outperform fescue in climate resiliency. Fescue, he says, wants it to be 73 degrees and rainy every other day. 'Think Oregon or Scotland,' he said. Native warm-season grasses in the fescue belt, on the other hand, can go weeks with blistering heat and drought without a problem. 'To them, the worst climate projections that we’re getting really aren’t a big deal. From a resiliency standpoint, they absolutely win.'

...

"Saving money matters in the fescue belt. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, 60 percent of farms in Texas County, Missouri, run a deficit, and every state in the fescue belt loses money on agriculture, except for Illinois, which is largely a crop state."

Reading archive 2025-07-28 pt 2

The Sea Slug Defying Biological Orthodoxy: Symbiosis may be more important to evolution than scientists once thought.

The Worst-Kept Secret of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Trump turned a far-right fantasy—ethnic cleansing in Gaza—into U.S. policy. He needs to reject it. - "One of the more poorly kept secrets of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that many of those involved would prefer to take all the land and have the other side disappear. A 2011 poll found that two-thirds of Palestinians believed that their real goal should not be a two-state solution, but rather using that arrangement as a prelude to establishing 'one Palestinian state.' A 2016 survey found that nearly half of Israeli Jews agreed that 'Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel.' A poll in 2000, conducted during negotiations toward a two-state solution, found that only 47 percent of Israelis and 10 percent of Palestinians supported a school curriculum that would educate students to 'give up aspirations for parts of the 'homeland' which are in the other state.'"

Tomato Season Is Different This Year Come fall, Americans will once again be stuck with flavorless grocery-store tomatoes. Because of tariffs, they’ll also be more expensive.

Pick tomatoes at color break: Ripening off the vine extends harvest, quality with no taste difference

Why China Won’t Stop the Fentanyl Trade: The opioid that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year has become a source of political leverage that Beijing won’t easily give up. - "From one standpoint, China's actions are easy to understand. Its leadership is behaving as many other rational state actors would exploiting the power it possesses over a strategic competitor. But the grisly truth is that, in this case, China's power derives from mass death. Chinese leaders continue to use American lives to forward their political aims, rather than taking the small steps necessary to save them. That choice is one of the starkest demonstrations that the regime's priority of narrow self-interest over the global good won't be changing anytime soon."

Trump’s Ukraine Policy Deserves a Reassessment: The president is easily caricatured—but there are better ways to explain his choices.

A Democrat for the Trump Era: Jasmine Crockett is testing out the coarse style of politics that the GOP has embraced. - "Through her hearing-room quips and social-media insults, she's become known, at least in MSNBC-watching households, as a leading general in the battle against Trump. The president is aware of this. He has repeatedly called Crockett a 'low-IQ' individual; she has dubbed him a 'buffoon' and 'Putin's hoe.' Perhaps the best-known Crockett clapback came last year during a hearing, after Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia made fun of Crockett's fake eyelashes. Crockett, seeming to relish the moment, leaned into the mic and blasted Greene's 'bleach-blond, bad-built, butch body.' Crockett trademarked the phrase which she now refers to as 'B6' and started selling T-shirts."

When It Feels Good to Root for a Bad Guy: The film Eddington inspires an uncomfortable empathy for its most twisted character.

The Mistake Parents Make With Chores Shooing young children away from the kitchen and the laundry can have a lasting effect.

Reading archive 2025-02-03 pt 2

Criminal records of Jan. 6 rioters pardoned by Trump include rape, domestic violence

A Taliban highway could lead to the future. But it’s stuck in the past.: Taliban officials have a plan to turn one of the country’s remotest corners into a global trade hub by linking the Afghan heartland with China.

Are conservatives being ‘de-banked’?: Trump is threatening the financial regulatory system to help his crypto backers in Silicon Valley.

Wildlife-Friendly Landscape Design From Scratch: How to craft a landscape design that benefits wildlife, from blank slate to thriving habitat

The Democrats Show Why They Lost

The Tasks of an Anti-Trump Coalition: Avoid progressive pieties and rebuild an effective democratic majority - "The best-organized Democratic interest groups want to fight Trump on the worst possible issues; the Democrats who want to fight on smarter issues tend to be less organized to fight. Until that conundrum is solved, Democrats are disabled and Trump is empowered.

...

"Trump's project to brand drug cartels as international terrorist organizations has legal implications that Trump supporters refuse to consider. Right now, the cartels have powerful incentives not to commit violence against U.S. citizens or on U.S. territory. Yet Trump is poised on the verge of actions that could change the cartels' calculus and import Mexico's criminal violence north of the border on a huge scale.

...

"His plans to foster voter-ID laws and gerrymandering to disenfranchise Democrats will collide with the new reality of American politics that these measures will harm his prospects more than his opponents': Trump does best among the most disaffiliated Americans, whereas Democrats are widening their lead among those Americans who follow politics closely and vote most often."

Reading archive 2025-02-03 pt 1

Emails detail Saints' assistance to New Orleans Archdiocese in sexual abuse scandal

House GOP nears plan for Trump’s agenda — but may not have the votes: Republicans will attempt a tax and spending bill that will not require substantial budget cuts, but there may be serious math problems ahead.

Justice Department orders FBI purge, review of staff who touched Jan. 6 cases: Leaders appointed by the Trump administration are identifying potentially hundreds of FBI agents for possible termination, said people familiar with the plan.

As DOJ probes FBI’s Jan. 6 work and weighs firings, agents told to detail roles: FBI employees must explain in a questionnaire by Monday whether they were involved in the surveillance, arrest or trial of a Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot suspect.

Musk aides gain access to sensitive Treasury Department payment system: The access — granted by Scott Bessent, Trump’s newly confirmed treasury secretary — comes after the ousting of the agency’s top career official.

Trump opened the ‘valve’ on California water. It will probably be wasted.: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released reservoir water to meet Trump’s recent directive to funnel more water to Southern California. - "Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) called the water releases 'uncoordinated and unwarranted,' writing on X that it’s 'not being directed to LA where the fires are contained. And now, it won’t be available when farmers need it in summer.'"

D.C. sees neighborhood revival in Trump plan to downsize federal footprint: Local and Trump officials are looking to work together to turn obsolete federal buildings into a new neighborhood in Southwest D.C.

How Trump could transform D.C. real estate, from downtown to design: The longtime real estate developer’s campaign pledges and early actions as president portend changes to the District’s physical landscape.

D.C. Council is set to expel Trayon White. Some say that’s an overreach.: As the council appears set to expel White, lawmakers face questions from constituents about acting before his case has been adjudicated, and potentially overriding the will of voters. - "The council was on the verge of removing Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) during a 2019 ethics scandal, but he resigned before the vote. White himself was on the council committee that voted unanimously to recommend expulsion, even though Evans was never charged with a crime."

Ex-Federal Reserve adviser indicted on charge of economic espionage: John H. Rogers is accused of leaking inside information, briefing books from the Fed to two Chinese co-conspirators.

With tariffs and threats, Trump turns on America’s closest allies: Critics warn his posture could embolden China to expand ties to Latin American countries, and Russia to continue advances in Ukraine. - "'We — Americans — do not want to now join [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in trying to pull apart a sovereign country,' Michael McFaul, an ambassador to Russia under President Barack Obama, wrote on Substack. 'Not only would that embolden Putin’s claim in eastern Ukraine … but greenlight [Chinese President Xi Jinping]’s seizing of Taiwan. If we think we need Greenland for national security, Xi can easily argue that he needs Taiwan.' 

"One senior European security official warned that an aggressive approach from Washington could easily backfire. 

"If the United States 'is not going to help Europe with Russia, Europe will not be able to help the U.S. with China,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to speak frankly about frustrations with Washington. 'Better work together.'"

Democrats are in trouble, and a provocative analysis offers ideas to repair the party: A tough new assessment says the Democratic Party needs to reassess the loss of support among groups of voters it has long taken for granted.

In a first, scientists find microplastics are building up deep in our brains: A new study shows that microplastics have crossed the blood-brain barrier -- and that their numbers are rising. - "In one study from Ross and other University of Rhode Island researchers, mice were given water laced with tiny polystyrene particles, the same type of plastic that is used in plastic foam and yogurt containers. After just three weeks of exposure, the mice demonstrated cognitive changes — including changes in the brain consistent with early markers of Alzheimer’s."

You could be spreading ‘forever chemicals’ on your garden. Here’s how to protect yourself.: What does the new EPA warning about PFAS-laden sludge in fertilizer mean for home gardeners? Here’s what you need to know.

Thinking Under Fascism: (Feels Like Hearing Under Water)

Extra Extra! Genocide!: The making of the New York War Crimes

Trump threatens to cut U.S. aid to South Africa over land law: Trump’s comments waded into a sensitive racial issue and deepened already sharp divisions between the United States and South Africa. - "Since 1994, the government has sought to redistribute land based on a voluntary 'willing-seller, willing-buyer' system and by paying compensation.

...

"South Africa’s agricultural sector has more than doubled in value and volume since the end of apartheid in 1994, exporting now half of what it produces, he said — not the case in neighboring Zimbabwe, where large-scale land seizures devastated the economy, causing the migration of millions of citizens."

We’re Russian. We know what happens when Big Tech coddles dictators.: Tech companies are complying with dictators’ laws, compromising human rights and freedom of speech.

The Logic of Destruction: And how to resist it

Criminal records of Jan. 6 rioters pardoned by Trump include rape, domestic violence

Reading archive 2024-12-03

Robert Kennedy Jr. despises glyphosate. How should Iowa farmers respond? | Opinion: By combining Kennedy’s passion for a cleaner, healthier world with farmers’ ingenuity and resilience, we can create a food system that works for everyone.

Devon fishermen left feeling 'betrayed' by Brexit: 'Brexit was sold to our fishermen as a golden opportunity, yet the truth is that many fishermen have experienced the complete opposite'

Trump deportation plan could target as many as 1.1 million people in Florida: Miami-Dade in particular could prove ground zero for Trump’s immigration policies. - "The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit research organization, showed in a report earlier this year that an estimated 747,000 undocumented immigrants in Florida paid more than $1.8 billion in state and local taxes in 2022.

"Nationwide, almost $100 billion in federal, state and local taxes come from this shadowy labor force, surpassing the cost of government services received by these workers, the institute concluded."

Canadian Trump fans finally got it: ‘America First’ is ‘Canada Last’: The US president-elect has threatened tariffs and his Canadian followers are having trouble digesting that.

Easing the Biodiversity Crisis One Flowerpot at a Time

The U.S. Is Building an Early Warning System to Detect Geoengineering

Metro prepares to crack down on bus fare evasion: WMATA says new taller, tougher gates caused fare evasion on Metrorail to plummet; now it's turning its attention to Metrobus fare evaders

Reading archive 2024-03-14

After Kavanaugh: Christine Blasey Ford tells the rest of her story: In her memoir, ‘One Way Back,’ Blasey Ford details the chaos that ensued after she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her

Why the ‘colorblindness’ movement is peaking now

Vinegar: An Alternative to Glyphosate?

U.S. moves to save imperiled bird of the West by limiting oil drilling: Protections for the greater sage grouse could also limit renewable-energy development, cattle grazing across 10 states

Want a more sustainable meat for the grill? Try a 13-foot python steak.

Opinion  The Biden-Netanyahu rift goes much deeper than Rafah

Israel acknowledges strike on U.N. facility, says it targeted Hamas commander

Reading archive 2023-08-11

Pollinator myth: Are bees responsible for one third of global food, heightening crisis? More like 7%

Opinion  Meet the Gen Zers with a plan to take the fight to MAGA country

Opinion  The country has come apart. Rural America has a cure.

Does your yard have a ‘hellstrip’? Native plants could help.

A nuisance to some, D.C. pickleballers say they just want more space: The city has responded to surging demand by dedicating more court space; the pickleball lobby secured $750,000 this budget cycle to transform four courts

New D.C. police chief confronts command staff after violent weekend: Pamela A. Smith told commanders at a recent meeting that she wanted more captains and lieutenants away from their desks and in the streets, according to those in attendance

Reading archive 2023-07-10

‘This is a death sentence for me’: Florida Republican women say they will switch parties after DeSantis approves alimony law: 'My fears are that they can take you back to court, and I don’t have the money for an attorney.'

New tunnel, Georgetown station among Metro’s expansion proposals: The transit agency is considering six options to alleviate projected crowding and capacity limits that are expected to plague the Blue, Orange and Silver lines

Saving the next P-22 starts with a million ‘hyperlocal’ seeds and a bare-bones nursery

Wild gardens are ‘puritanical nonsense’, say TV gardeners

Honey Bees in North America: Why Getting a Hive Won't "Save the Bees"

TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE FIREFLY: If your habitat sparkles, congratulations! You’re doing something right. If it doesn’t light up with insects twinkling their way through the night, read on to learn how to welcome firefly friends.

Reading archive 2023-06-05

U.S. military releases video of near-collision with Chinese destroyer

Electric vehicles appeal to conservative buyers sick of gas guzzlers: A few red counties in Texas are experiencing higher-than-average EV growth, as drivers tire of gas prices and chase the latest tech

New research finds surprising science behind bumble bee superfood - "It's the spines. This is the conclusion of two new papers, led by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, showing that the spiny pollen from plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae) both reduces infection of a common bee parasite by 81-94% and markedly increases the production of queen bumble bees."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tests the conspiratorial appetite of Democrats: One of the most famous living descendants of the most famous American political dynasty shows early strength against Biden in polls - "Kennedy’s invitation to speak at a golf club in Indianapolis came from the First Principles Forum, a group founded to seek a 'return to civil discourse,' according to the program. Previous speakers have included conservative podcasters Matt Walsh, who refers to himself as a 'theocratic fascist' on Twitter; Candace Owens, the founder of a group aimed at helping Blacks 'escape from the Democratic plantation'; and Charlie Kirk, the founder of the right-wing group Turning Point USA. ...

"As he spoke, Kennedy offered a unified narrative of American deception, connecting covid and the Bay of Pigs, the collapse of mom-and-pop stores and federal investment in mind-control research. The common theme was a quest for profit at the expense of the middle class, driven by the corruption of intelligence and regulatory agencies. 

"The pandemic, he argued, originated at a U.S.-funded lab in China — a point of disagreement within the U.S. government — in a program he suggested was possible because of the 2001 Patriot Act, which he then claimed passed only after two holdout Democratic senators, Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont and Tom Daschle of South Dakota, were threatened with death." [editor's note: the man is unwell]

I Let My Lawn Grow for No Mow May—Here’s What Happened: Last spring, I much-needed break from lawn upkeep, and an up-close view of nature I might not otherwise have seen. Here's why I'm doing No Mow May again this year.

Taming the Wild

Transform your yard into an owl kingdom: Whooo doesn't love owls?

Robot Passes Turing Test for Polyculture Gardening: UC Berkeley’s AlphaGarden cares for plants better than a professional human

Reading archive 2023-05-16

Which fruits and vegetables are best to plant for the environment

Liberals grow fearful Biden may reward GOP for weaponizing debt ceiling: White House spurs concerns among Democratic allies as negotiators weigh new limits on spending in deal with Republicans

Opinion  How I became a ‘Christian nationalist’ [ed. note: author fluffs an issue with defining white Christian nationalism into conclusion that it hardly exists]

Ukraine intercepts missiles as Russia steps up strikes on Kyiv

IRS tests free e-filing system that could compete with tax-prep giants: The prototype program developed by the federal government could be available for a small group of taxpayers by January

Ja Morant’s friends aren’t the problem. His judgment is.

The odyssey of Hunter Dickinson, sponsored by college sports lunacy

Zelensky toured Europe seeking new weapons. Here’s what he came home with.

Reading archive 2023-03-29

92-year-old has grown tomatoes from the same seed lineage since 1965: Sybil Gorby gives away her famous seeds and refuses all payment because she is superstitious about selling from her garden

He came to D.C. as a Brazilian student. The U.S. says he was a Russian spy.: Johns Hopkins graduate Victor Ferreira was unmasked as GRU operative Sergey Cherkasov, according to a federal indictment and Western security officials - "Cherkasov seemed convinced that Russia would face little backlash from the United States for a Ukraine invasion, saying in one message that there were 'no signs indicating that the U.S. is going to provide any but political support to the Ukrainians in case of war.'" [ed. note: bad spy]

Opinion  D.C. needs hundreds more police officers. Here’s how to do it right. - "Starting pay in D.C. jumped from $62,000 to $67,000 — higher than in neighboring counties such as Fairfax in Virginia or Prince George’s in Maryland."

Reading archive 2023-03-04

Meet Mary Reynolds, the plant whisperer who dared to be wild

First-ever California offshore wind auction surpasses $757 million in bids

Haley heckled as Trump movement asserts its dominance at shrunken CPAC: The dust-up showed the risks of taking the primary fight to what has clearly become Trump’s home turf

Nikki Haley’s bogus claims about foreign aid dollars - "Instead, she suggests that foreign aid goes directly to governments, especially ones with policies that are at odds with the interests of the United States. That’s wrong. The dirty little secret of foreign aid is that most of it never leaves the United States — and it goes right into the pockets of U.S. companies. Some countries receive direct grants of aid, but those are certainly not 'enemies.'"

‘15-minute city’ planning is on the rise, experts say. Here’s what to know.

Colombia tries a new solution for Pablo Escobar’s cocaine hippos

Why Wildlife Gardeners Need to Become Garden Designers ASAP

Spring Clean Up Doesn't Start at 50 Degrees

Reading archive 2021-11-10

Newsmax tries to assuage furor of conservative hosts over vaccine mandate: On-air stars went from venting anger at their company’s policy to accusing ‘fake news’ of trying to turn viewers against the channel

How the media missed a New Jersey senate candidate’s racist social media posts — until he’d already won.

Opinion: Zillow sent its algorithm to take on the housing market. The housing market won.

Opinion: Liz Cheney got something right — and some things very wrong - "Heroes without context and adversity are not heroic; America is a lesser country when its penchant for self-examination and self-improvement is forgotten."

N.J. man sentenced to 41 months for assaulting officer, stiffest punishment yet in Jan. 6 cases Scott Fairlamb is the first person sentenced for assaulting a police officer in the Capitol attack.

Serious about climate change? Get serious about peat.

Asian lady beetles are swarming the Mid-Atlantic thanks to warm, fall weather: The beetles smell bad, bite and produce a yellow stain if you squish them. And they want to spend the winter in your home.

Reading archive 2021-10-05

Carbon dioxide and oxygen exchange at the soil-atmosphere boundary as affected by various mulch materials

‘Everyone here hated the Americans’: Rural Afghans live with the Taliban and a painful U.S. legacy

Facebook is harming our society. Here’s a radical solution for reining it in.

The NBA’s Anti-Vaxxers Are Trying to Push Around the League — And It’s Working: Conspiracy theories in the locker room. Mask police in the arena. Superstars trying to avoid the shot. After bringing back the culture from Covid, basketball confronts its own civil war - "Irving, who serves as a vice president on the executive committee of the players’ union, recently started following and liking Instagram posts from a conspiracy theorist who claims that 'secret societies' are implanting vaccines in a plot to connect Black people to a master computer for 'a plan of Satan.' This Moderna microchip misinformation campaign has spread across multiple NBA locker rooms and group chats, according to several of the dozen-plus current players, Hall-of-Famers, league executives, arena workers and virologists interviewed for this story over the past week."

The Problem With the Draymond Green COVID Lecture No One Asked For - "Imagine what it must feel like to these medical professionals, after another week of shitty sleep and dealing with very real pandemic PTSD, to hear a man who makes $24 million a year playing basketball offer extemporaneous, poorly researched opinions on why people should feel emboldened to skip the vaccine?"

Reading archive 2021-09-01

‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’ shows there are limits to how much we can (or should) rehab ’90s tabloid figures - "Paula’s plight as an unassuming pawn who’s debased by even the right-wing press for her naivete in going to Clinton’s hotel room during his governorship (where he allegedly asked her for oral sex) is hard to square with the real-life Jones, who showed up at a presidential debate in 2016 in support of Donald Trump."

Why You Should Do Your Spring Planting in the Fall: Conventional wisdom says you should do the same tasks in the same order every year. The director of horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park has a better idea.

Four conservative radio talk-show hosts bashed coronavirus vaccines. Then they got sick. - "'The vaccine isn’t the problem. Talk radio is,' said Jerry Del Colliano, a professor at New York University and publisher and editor of Inside Music Media, which covers the radio industry. Radio companies, he said, 'are risking the health of their audiences even as anti-vaxxer bloviators continue to die.'

...

"Even as he was receiving state-of-the-art care for cancer last year, Limbaugh maintained a skeptical, conspiratorial pose, falsely dismissing the then-emerging coronavirus as 'the common cold' and saying, without evidence, that it was being 'weaponized' to attack President Donald Trump."

Opinion: I was a combat interpreter in Afghanistan, where cultural illiteracy led to U.S. failure

Oklahoma congressman threatened embassy staff as he tried to enter Afghanistan, U.S. officials say

A 9/11 survivor wanted nothing to do with ‘Come From Away.’ Now she’s seen it a dozen times.

Opinion: Texas shows us what post-democracy America would look like

Reading archive 2021-01-25

After Capitol riot, police chiefs work to root out officers with ties to extremist groups - "'A brand new cadet, first week in the academy, openly bragged that they were part of the Aryan Brotherhood. Another cadet notified us. That is how emboldened some of these folks are right now,' Acevedo, who is police chief at the Houston Police Department, said. 'Needless to say, this cadet is no longer with us. We are looking to see what we failed to check before he entered the academy.'"

The rivers run through it, and Jon Tester wants them protected for Montana

The Biden administration’s Saudi problem

Mitch McConnell’s latest sabotage effort is a scam. He already showed us how.

Dominion voting machine firm sues Giuliani for more than $1.3 billion

Fall is prime tree planting season, but what about next spring’s cicada eruption?

Cicadas Are the Next Plague That Will Keep You Indoors: Brood X is coming this spring.

Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes Is Super Bowl Mythology in the Making: The greatest quarterback of all time is set to face off with the greatest quarterback on the planet. The result could echo throughout NFL history.

Transgender ban lifted. Tubman on the $20. It’s a hard time for conservatives.

Why the right’s machine of opposition is in for some tough times

The Nazification of the Republican Party - "If Republicans can’t permanently dominate this country with a demographically shrinking number of angry white people, they proved they are ready to blow it up, figuratively and literally. Now they want us to rush to forgiveness and reconciliation, and ignore that truth and accountability come first in the achievement of healing."

Reading archive 2020-12-28

At Longwood Gardens, a new meadow for the ages

Biden put Wilmington on the map — but for garden lovers, it was already a destination

For D.C. protests, Proud Boys settle in at city’s oldest hotel and its bar

A Tycoon’s Deep-State Conspiracy Dive: Patrick Byrne, the former head of Overstock, had always been outspoken. Did an affair with a Russian agent push him too far? - "Emory University recently released the results of the most comprehensive analysis to date of people who are prone to conspiracy beliefs. According to the study, the personality profiles most often associated with such beliefs are entitlement, self-centered impulsivity, a sense of being wronged, and elevated levels of depressive moods and anxiousness.

...

"Several times over the summer, Byrne predicted that Barr would soon be making arrests, but they never took place. The Durham report did not appear, either, although a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on Russian election interference was released in August. It mentioned Byrne several times, most significantly as someone Butina seemed to be using to connect with Rand Paul. The report was unequivocal: the Russian government had engaged in 'an aggressive, multi-faceted effort to influence, or attempt to influence' the outcome of the election, and it had done so with the aim of aiding Trump’s campaign. The conclusion of the committee, which is chaired by Rubio, effectively contradicted Trump’s assertion that Russian interference in the 2016 election was a hoax."

Reading archive 2020-10-09

Catching on to Q

D.C. urban gardens flourish in the pandemic as people dig in to ‘fill the isolated life’

The ‘Wolverine Watchmen’ Accused of Targeting Michigan Guv Spooked Their Neighbors ‘THEY WERE MEAN’: Social posts and testimony from neighbors of the men who allegedly plotted against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer point to a disturbing relationship with the far-right.

FBI charges six who it says plotted to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, as seven more who wanted to ignite civil war face state charges

Plans to kidnap Whitmer, overthrow government spoiled, officials say