Reading archive 2026-06-11

How D.C. lawmakers avoided deep cuts to child care and social services: The outstanding deficits in popular programs have led some advocates and lawmakers to suggest raising taxes on the wealthy — a move opposed by the mayor.

A majority of D.C. residents are unhappy about the city’s direction. We asked them why.: Some of the most common concerns are crime, the cost of living, the economy and concern about federal control.

An obscure race to control the D.C. Democratic Party comes with high stakes and controversy

Oil executives warn White House that gas prices will get worse: Grim predictions add to the problems of a president already facing a sharp rise in inflation.

How Joyce Beatty Saved the Kennedy Center: The Ohio congresswoman tells us why she's hopeful about a judge's ruling that zapped Trump's name from the building—and what she expects to happen next.

Solo dissents are uncommon. Justice Kagan just made her first.: Justice Elena Kagan’s first solo dissent came nearly 16 years after she joined the Supreme Court bench.

Musk’s Starlink hooked rural customers. Then came the price increases.: The billionaire’s satellite internet service is a lifeline to many, but some users who face higher prices say Starlink has amassed too much power.

Reading archive 2025-08-21

Israeli government official arrested in Nevada in internet crimes against children sting Tom Artiom Alexandrovich was released and returned to Israel after being charged with luring a child for a sex act

Is the U.S. Ready for the Next War?: With global conflicts increasingly shaped by drones and A.I., the American military risks losing its dominance.

There is no ‘Trump doctrine’ in foreign policy. Just chaos

Republicans want to rig the midterm elections. Will they succeed?

A Right-Wing Influencer Tried to Be a Tradwife. It Almost Broke Her.

US Attorney Pirro's office admits grand jury refused ICE interference charges — twice: Federal prosecutors told a judge they had failed twice to secure an indictment against Sidney Lori Reid for allegedly assaulting an FBI agent during an ICE arrest.

Factories from GE to Kraft Heinz lose immigrant workers, stressing those who remain

Ghislaine Maxwell’s transfer to a ‘country club’ prison is outrageous

Trump says he has ‘solved’ 7 conflicts. Here’s what to know about them.: As Trump pushes for a peace deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he says he has ended a growing list of conflicts. In some of them, his role remains contested.

Limits of Trump’s diplomacy clear as Moscow balks at Ukraine plan: Moscow has resisted a Putin-Zelensky summit and security guarantees for Ukraine. Trump claims that the Kremlin’s position has changed, leaving analysts puzzled. - "'Some still imagine that, in exchange for land, the Kremlin might accept security guarantees for Ukraine, tolerate the presence of peacekeepers, or even acquiesce to the continued arming of Kyiv,' [Boris Bondarev, a former senior Russian diplomat who resigned over Putin’s Ukraine invasion] wrote. 'This is fantasy. It will not happen.'"

PorNO! How age verification exposed the power of friction in the internet age: Introducing Scrappy theory, a convoluted bastardisation of nudge theory - "The success of this approach reminded me of nudge theory. Without banning porn, the policy initiative has significantly reduced access. Over time, this ought to constrain the industry. But rather than nudging users towards preferred behaviour, this legislation has created a friction that disinclines them from exhibiting non-preferred behaviours. It reminds me of Scrappy-Doo, perpetually imploring the gang to 'lemme at ‘em!', yet constantly being held back. Like Scrappy, feeling the finger on his collar as he raises his fists, British pornophiles have been restricted from destructive behaviours because the incentive to do action A (visit PornHub) is offset by the deterrent of action B (create PornHub account)."

MAGA erupts after Israeli official charged in child sex ring flees U.S.

Reading archive 2025-07-16 pt 1

My health and my politics walk into a doctor’s office …: My palliative care doctor and I have almost nothing in common. We’re still learning from each other. - "Her response included a touch of humor. 'I appreciate hearing more about how you were raised and how you view our standing in this life and beyond. But I guess it leaves me wondering, how is this working out for the world? And what happens to moral people when they die? If nothing happens after we die, what’s the point of striving for justice and caring about others in this life? Might as well be selfish, greedy, live the good life and then die.'" [ed. note: what are the morals of someone who strives for justice and cares for others in expectation of heavenly rewards? That makes the moral atheist a significantly greater person.]

Airplanes are loud and may damage your hearing. Here’s what helps.: Even if you are on a flight free of crying babies, the engine noise can be substantial.

Are a few people ruining the internet for the rest of us?: Why does the online world seem so toxic compared with normal life? Our research shows that a small number of divisive accounts could be responsible – and offers a way out

Nursing homes struggle with Trump’s immigration crackdown

From Food Aid to Dog Chow? How Trump’s Cuts Hurt Kansas Farmers.: Kansans created Food for Peace, for 70 years a font of rural income and pride. Now at least one grain broker is trying to sell grain that once fed the world as dog food.

Trump’s Vietnam Agreement Bodes Poorly for Future Trade Deals

The Ruthless Ambition of Stephen Miller

FEMA removed dozens of Camp Mystic buildings from 100-year flood map before expansion, records show

How the rightwing sports bro conquered America

For Hard-Right Lawmakers, Trump’s Shift on Epstein Is Just the Latest Breach: Right-wing Republicans have also criticized the president’s stances on Iran and Ukraine, hinting at a broader fraying of his political coalition.

WHY MANY AMERICAN GARDENS ARE FULL OF MULCH?

American Father and Vlogger Tricked Into Front Line Combat by Russia: The Texas man is the latest in a string of Americans lured to Russia by propaganda, yet confronting a reality that is altogether different than the utopia they were sold.

Human Collapse: Russia Moves to Conceal Severe Demographic Crisis: Russia has begun to restrict access to data relating to demographic statistics in a sign that they are likely to reveal a deteriorating population situation.

D.C. Ward 8 voters return indicted Trayon White to office after expulsion White beat opponents ANC Chair Salim Adofo, attorney Mike Austin and public servant Sheila Bunn for the seat.

Democrats have only one escape route Unifying behind platitudes isn’t the way out of irrelevance. Making voters choose is.

Inside the Silicon Valley push to breed super-babies: Investors say genetic prediction services for embryos, used by Elon Musk and others, are a trust fund for future children. Many scientists are skeptical. - "But the paper laying out that breakthrough, published last year in the peer-reviewed journal F&S Reports, is fundamentally flawed, according to Stanford’s Yatsenko and Aleks Rajkovic, chief genomics officer at the University of California at San Francisco Health Center for Clinical Genetics and Genomics. It excluded results that didn’t fit its thesis, Yatsenko said, and both scientists said that by using Orchid’s own lab to check those results, its authors didn’t adhere to ideal scientific practice. Orchid said that the paper’s findings had been verified by independent labs and that there were 'zero discrepancies' in the results."

You might be fooling yourself about peanut butter, plus 5 other protein mistakes: Are you eating enough protein at breakfast? Most people aren’t.

DOJ hits states with broad requests for voter rolls, election data: Election clerks in both parties, already facing harassment and lawsuits over Trump’s false 2020 election claims, worry about efforts to examine voting machines.

Reading archive 2025-05-12 pt 2

Elon Musk’s Most Alarming Power Grab: Can anyone stop his space-based internet?

Trump Finally Drops the Anti-Semitism Pretext: The latest letter to Harvard makes clear that the administration’s goal is to punish liberal institutions for the crime of being liberal.

Europeans Have Realized Their Error: The urge to say I told you so is strong these days throughout the Baltics.

The Impossible Plight of the Pro-Tariff Liberals: They finally got the Democratic Party to listen to them. Then came Trump’s second term. - "Last May, the Biden administration announced tariffs on a handful of Chinese goods in 'strategic sectors,' including 25 to 50 percent tariffs on batteries, solar panels, medical supplies, semiconductors, and certain steel and aluminum products, and 100 percent tariffs on electric vehicles. The restrictions represented what is sometimes called a 'targeted tariffs' approach, rooted in the belief that a select few industries are important enough to be protected from foreign competition, even at the cost of higher prices. If China were allowed to totally dominate solar panels, semiconductors, and cars, then the U.S. would end up reliant on a geopolitical adversary for its energy, military, and transportation infrastructure. And if the government stood by while industry after industry experienced a second China shock, the economic and political consequences would be severe."

The Godfather of the Woke Right: A 2011 book by Pat Buchanan shows the deep roots of today’s right-wing illiberalism.

Musk’s fury over a Tesla investigation foreshadowed his war on Washington: The book “Hubris Maximus” details Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s contempt for regulators charged with overseeing his companies. - "It wasn’t just being hung up on; Musk’s demeanor and attitude and his unconvincing argument — a repetition-filled script — had left Sumwalt thoroughly unimpressed. There simply wasn’t enough evidence to demonstrate that Autopilot, a suite of driver-assistance features with a catchy name, was the transformative and revolutionary system with the lifesaving capabilities Musk touted; in this particular instance, it was at the center of a fatal crash, a high-tech calamity that safety investigators could examine to uncover new findings about the intersection of technology, driver distraction, and speed."

Reading archive 2025-05-07

DOGE aims to pool federal data, putting personal information at risk: The goal — a centralized system with unprecedented access to data about Social Security, taxes, medical diagnoses and other private information — would create a multitude of vulnerabilities, experts say.

U.S. pushes nations facing tariffs to approve Musk’s Starlink, cables show: Some countries have turned to the satellite internet firm in conjunction with trade talks, State Department staffers wrote. The U.S. has a strategic interest in countering Chinese internet providers, but Musk’s role complicates the picture.

Powered by potatoes: Endurance athletes are chasing speed with spuds: More ultramarathoners and cyclists are turning to potatoes as a mild, carbohydrate-packed fuel option.

Smithsonian National Museum of African Art delays LGBTQ Pride exhibit: “Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art” was originally scheduled to coincide with the WorldPride celebration in Washington. The museum postponed it until next year, citing a funding shortfall. - "“This exhibition was on a very ambitious schedule to meet WorldPride and we did not have enough time to secure all the private sector funds we had hoped to due to shifts in the fundraising environment,” Mitchell wrote." [ed. note: I do not believe you]

His D.C. tenants lived in squalor for years. Now he owes $6.8 million.: D.C.’s Office of the Attorney General sued Adolphe Edwards in 2022. Nearly 100 tenants are owed rent refunds, the office said.

GOP senators buck Trump’s pick for D.C. U.S. attorney, imperiling bid: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), facing reelection in 2026, objected to Ed Martin’s support for Jan. 6 Capitol rioters who assaulted police. Other Republicans kept mum.

Former D.C. officer again charged with sex trafficking of teen girls: Linwood Barnhill Jr., once imprisoned for prostituting underaged girls, has committed “remarkably similar crimes” since his release in 2020, a prosecutor said.

Makers of clothes, beer and more on what tariffs really mean for you: A brewer, decorator, fabric manufacturer and biotech executive on the administration’s strategy.

How the Democrats can crush the 2026 midterms: Can the Democrats repeat their success of 2018 in 2026?

America just surrendered to foreign lies: By shutting down this agency, we are allowing disinformation by our enemies to spread unchecked. - "When the Trump administration shut down Voice of America in March, it silenced one of the few sources of accurate information in countries without a free press. What’s worse is that American defenses against foreign disinformation are being eliminated as well. Not only is the United States no longer serving up the truth, it’s allowing our enemies to propagate false information around the world with no pushback.

...

"Until it was shut down, the Global Engagement Center had unique capabilities to counter these efforts. It was able to convene interagency meetings and work with military and intelligence experts to uncover — and then publicize — the propaganda machines behind these stories. No other office in the U.S. government had the combination of expertise, information and authority to defend against information warfare."

Ignore restaurant lobbyists. Respect the will of Washingtonians.: Plus letters on other D.C. issues such as pedestrian safety, RFK stadium and more.

The MAHA-Friendly App That’s Driving Food Companies Crazy: Yuka and other apps are influencing shoppers’ purchasing habits; ‘There are a lot of opinions out there’ - "Yuka gives Tru drinks a score of 43 or 48 out of 100—'poor'—in part because they contain stevia and erythritol, sweeteners that Yuka says carry risks. [CEO of Tru, Jack] McNamara said he doesn’t fully agree with Yuka’s methodology, which deducts points for drinks that aren’t water, but he takes the app’s input seriously." [ed. note: there's nothing wrong with stevia]

Pakistan claims to have downed Indian warplanes, vows response to strikes: India’s military said the strikes were in retaliation for a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir. Analysts warned that the risk of escalation is rising.

People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies Self-styled prophets are claiming they have "awakened" chatbots and accessed the secrets of the universe through ChatGPT - "'We know from work on journaling that narrative expressive writing can have profound effects on people’s well-being and health, that making sense of the world is a fundamental human drive, and that creating stories about our lives that help our lives make sense is really key to living happy healthy lives,' Westgate says. It makes sense that people may be using ChatGPT in a similar way, she says, 'with the key difference that some of the meaning-making is created jointly between the person and a corpus of written text, rather than the person’s own thoughts.'"

Reading archive 2025-04-30 pt 1

Federal workers required to report their daily location, email says “Unlike the ‘5 bullets’ this is not a strong encouragement. All employees are required to submit this daily information,” read an email to election commission staff.

Republican Medicaid cuts could mean ‘Armageddon’ in D.C., official says: House Republican proposals to slash government spending on Medicaid could devastate the insurance program that covers 40 percent of District residents. - "Federal Medicaid payments for states are based on a formula that considers average per capita income, but in D.C., the rate was fixed in 1997 when the District teetered on the edge of financial collapse. Then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Thomas M. Davis III, a GOP congressman from Northern Virginia, brokered a deal that said the federal government would pay 70 percent of Medicaid costs and the District 30 percent.

...

"The arrangement recognized that the District’s tax revenue is limited by the amount of tax-exempt federal property within its borders and the inability to levy a commuter tax on people who work in the District but live elsewhere, said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District’s nonvoting representative."

Is brown rice actually healthier than white rice?: Recent concerns over the health risks of eating brown rice are mostly overblown. - "Christian Scott, the lead author of the Michigan State study and a postdoctoral research associate at the university, said the average American adult would need to eat more than three servings of brown rice — one-and-a-half cups — 'every day for years' to be at an increased risk of developing health problems from the arsenic in rice."

In Virginia, a gay GOP candidate is proving difficult for MAGA to accept: John Reid, set to be the GOP’s candidate for lieutenant governor, has been spurned by members of his own party.

Pass the D.C. budget fix: House GOP leaders should stop stalling and see that the District gets its money back.

How to get more of a nutrient that might help your memory: A deficiency of choline, which is related to B vitamins, might increase the risk of Alzheimer’s and cognitive decline.

Read The Atlantic’s Interview With Donald Trump: A conversation with the president about executive power, Signalgate, and 24-karat gold [ed. note: I mean, the guy thinks he sent Javelins to Ukraine. It's nuts.]

DOGE Was Bad. Schedule F Will Be Worse.: An executive order will convert 50,000 government employees into de facto political appointees who serve only at the president’s pleasure.

American Panopticon: The Trump administration is pooling data on Americans. Experts fear what comes next. - "A worst-case scenario is easy to imagine. Some of this information could be useful simply for blackmail - medical diagnoses and notes, federal taxes paid, cancellation of debt. In a kleptocracy, such data could be used against members of Congress and governors, or anyone disfavored by the state. Think of it as a domesticated, systemetized version of kompromat - like opposition research on steroids: Hey, Wisconsin is considering legislation that would be harmful to us. There are four legislators on the fence. Query the database; tell me what we've got on them."

Russia Is in Demographic Free Fall. Putin Isn’t Helping.: The Russian president is enacting one of the world’s most extreme natalism programs—and one of the weirdest.

The Liberals Who Can’t Stop Winning: Trump isn’t the only reason Canada’s center-left has stayed in power.

Trump Is Paving the Way for Another ‘China Shock’: The MIT economist David Autor helped fracture the old free-trade consensus. But he thinks that what’s replacing it is even worse. - "Autor: Absolutely not. I think the Trump folks are asking the right question. But they've come up with just about the worst answer. It's a classic case of fighting the last war. They're looking over their shoulder, wishing we hadn't made the mistakes we made 20 years ago. But what they are doing now is just compounding the errors. 

"The jobs that we lost to China 20 years ago: We're not getting those back. China doesn't even want those jobs anymore. They are losing them to Vietnam, and they aren't upset about it. They don't want to be making commodity furniture and tube socks. They want to make semiconductors and electric vehicles and airplanes and robots and drones. They want those frontier sectors. 

"As it happens, those are the sectors we've actually held on to. But we could lose those too. We could lose Boeing. We could lose GM and Ford. We could lose Apple. We could lose the AI sector. These are the parts of manufacturing that generate good jobs but also so much more than that. They are where innovation occurs, where the big profits are, where technology and military leadership come from. And those are the sectors that we stand to lose next."

Why China Won’t Give In to Trump Xi Jinping, like his American counterpart, needs to be the top dog.

Can You Really Fight Populism With Populism?: The American left’s favorite double act hopes it has the key to rallying the anti-Trump resistance—and timid Democrats.

Why My Firm Is Standing Up for the Constitution: Big Law should remain independent rather than have the government dictate who it represents.

Republicans Are Right About Soda: Public-health groups are tying themselves in knots over a GOP crackdown on the sugary drink. - "Nowhere is the Republican Party's about-face on soda more stark than in West Virginia. In July, the state removed its soda tax. And now, less than a year later, it is pushing forward with a SNAP soda ban as part of an effort to decrease consumption of 'ultra-processed crap that barely qualifies as food,' Republican Governor Patrick Morrisey said late last month. Banning the use of SNAP funds to purchase soda has become so popular because it combines the 'Make America healthy again' focus on America's diet problems with the conservative desire to reform the welfare state."

What Jonathan Haidt Thought When He Watched Adolescence: “The internet is just not a good place to let your child roam free 24/7.” - "Direct one-to-one communication is great. It's very important to separate the internet from social media. One-to-one synchronous interaction is great. What's not healthy is any sort of one-to-many performance, especially when it's asynchronous, because that's where the girls in particular get sucked into perfectionism and careful editing and carefully thinking through every word. It's posting that seems to especially have a bad effect on teen girls."

Iran’s Negotiating Position Gets Worse and Worse: Events have forced the Islamic Republic to negotiate with the United States.

The Roman Way to Trash a Republic: When you’re the emperor Augustus, they let you do it. - "He took control of the government gradually but completely, with the support of those wealthy aristocrats who valued fortune above principle and with the complaisance of a population exhausted by conflict and disillusioned by a system that favored the rich and connected. Perhaps most salient for us today, Augustus consolidated his power with the institutional blessing of the Senate."

Grover Norquist Can’t Believe What He’s Hearing: Is the GOP about to raise taxes?

The Force That Holds Trump’s Coalition Together: Traditional Republican elites tolerate the authoritarianism because they want the tax cuts. - "Randy Barnett, a right-leaning libertarian law professor at Georgetown, posted on X a few days ago a list of 'bullets we dodged' by avoiding a Democratic-run government that, he believes, would abolish the filibuster, establish single-payer health care, and fulfill other liberal goals. The president might be claiming the power to whisk any person he chooses to a Central American Gulag without due process, but at least he isn't doing something as horrific as Medicare for All."

Reading archive 2025-01-03

Black MAGA ends 2024 among the year's biggest losers: Despite efforts to curry favor with Trump this year, Black MAGA figures were snubbed or dropped altogether - "The new critique of politicians of color like Donalds, Scott and Robinson should be, Smith argued, 'are these people performing like minstrels?' Or 'are these people actually political negotiators who are putting themselves at the table of power at whatever means necessary in order to deliver some results, some critical results, to Black America?'"

Trump Voters Are in for a Rude Awakening: He sold them countless, often conflicting fantasies. In 2025, he’ll face political reality.

In blow to Democrats, federal appeals court strikes down net neutrality: The Biden administration’s FCC had considered its reinstatement of the rules on internet service providers a signature accomplishment. - "Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior counsel at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, said Title II authority would allow the FCC to revoke authorizations of certain foreign-owned internet service providers deemed national security risks; to mandate cybersecurity standards for broadband providers; to prohibit interconnection between broadband providers and data centers controlled by non-U.S. owners where a national security threat is found; and to better address outage reporting."

The countries of Southeast Asia work together to quash dissent: The countries of Southeast Asia are helping each other intimidate and extradite exiled government critics, according to a Post analysis of cases in the region.

Memo to Musk: Overhauling government isn’t rocket science. It’s harder.: The Elon Musk-headed ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ offers two fibs in four words. [ed. note: the whole thing is gold]

How an antacid for the ocean could cool the Earth: A new technology promises to remove carbon from the atmosphere and prevent ocean acidification.

Trayon White, facing bribery charge, apologizes to D.C. as he is sworn in: Leaving the stage after the ceremony ended, White did not respond to reporters who asked him to be specific about what he was apologizing for.

Brazil eliminated daylight saving time. It’s having second thoughts.: Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s former president, promised a “permanent” end to clock confusion. Climate change could scupper that plan.

Who is Tommy Robinson, and why does Elon Musk want him freed?: Elon Musk’s interventions in European politics continued this week with his calls for the release of jailed British far-right extremist Tommy Robinson.

One Kind of American Dream: The Year in Hawk Tuah and Crypto Memecoin: Haliey Welch helped define the year in culture, for better or worse. But it remains to be seen what the future holds for her—and celebrity cryptocurrency ventures in general—now that she’s embroiled in a memecoin scandal.

The Hawk Tuah Memecoin Rug Pull Is The Apotheosis Of Bag Culture - "The structure of the Haliey Welch Media Ouroboros is typical of the large-scale economics of bleeding-edge social media, and I'd argue that she could only have successfully pivoted into a position where she has a lot of money and a chance at permanent fame in 2024 because of A) the rapid decay of traditional media (and even new media, thanks to Elon Musk buying and hollowing out Twitter), and B) the relatively modern phenomenon of the wide acceptance and praise of bag-chasing nihilism."

Hawk Tuah and the Zynternet: Plus, for some reason, some thoughts about the debate - "Over the last ten years or so, a broad community of fratty, horndog, boorishly provocative 20- and sometimes (embarrassingly) 30-somethings--mostly but by no means entirely male--has emerged to form a newly prominent online subculture. This network is adjacent to the “sports internet” of 40something dads and the “hustle internet” of Miami crypto bullshit and the “reactionary internet” of trad influencers, but is its own distinct community with its own distinct cultural referents--college sports, gambling, light domestic beers, Zyn nicotine pouches--and influential personalities and media outlets, among them Dave Portnoy, Pat McAfee, Antonio Brown, and Call Her Daddy, in addition to dozens of minor podcasters and hey-fellow-kids content creators who nearly all work for sports-betting concerns."

Reading archive 2024-12-10

Construction company allegedly polluting Anacostia River given $1 billion by DC government: The company was first cited for environmental law violations in 2015, yet continued to receive significant government contracts.

Small SUVs are now the country’s cleanest cars. Really.: New compact SUVs now create less pollution, on average, than sedans, thanks to the rapid rise of small electric SUVs.

D.C. officials say their more aggressive approach to crime is working: District officials say their choices helped restore law and order in the city after a year that saw a generational spike in violence.

China reveals its playbook for dealing with impending Trump trade war: Beijing is responding to Biden administration actions decisively and swiftly — a warning to Donald Trump that it will play hardball this time, analysts say.

Russia’s elite sound the alarm on the economy amid high interest rates: Squeezed by Western sanctions and astonishingly high interest rates, Russia’s businesses fear bankruptcies as Putin pushes ahead with the Ukraine war.

Pro-lifers should start a fight over RFK Jr.: Kennedy would oversee many right-to-life issues as secretary of health and human services.

Killer whales bring back wearing salmon hats, but it’s not for fashion: Two orcas from the Pacific Northwest were spotted with dead salmon on their heads, an act first documented in the 1980s. Scientists aren’t sure what it means.

Musk’s politics hadn’t seeped into Tesla. Then he axed its eco car of the future.: Once one of America’s most outspoken voices on the threat of climate change, Elon Musk now argues these existential risks have been overstated. This shifting stance could influence Trump and help the Tesla CEO’s businesses.

The GOP’s top priority for 2025: Repeal the laws of arithmetic: Republicans are reinventing math to justify extending pricey Trump tax policies.

He was suicidal and needed help. A 15-year-old girl pushed him to kill himself on a live stream.: The death of a Minnesota man offers a case study into how a sadistic online group has used the messaging app Discord to find and torment vulnerable people.

This seaside town will power thousands of homes with waves: Wave energy has been untapped so far, but an experiment could unlock its potential in the United States.

Democrats, reeling from election losses, cast blame on each other: The internal ideological divisions burst into public view after Donald Trump beat Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race.

The owl hunters: The deadly campaign to save an icon of the Pacific Northwest - "'You can’t be sitting front row to an extinction and not want to do something about it,' she said."

Reading archive 2024-10-03

D.C. to have two holiday markets after management dispute upends tradition: For nearly two decades, Michael Berman’s small company operated the hugely popular DowntownDC Holiday Market. Now he’s setting up a competing event.

Man charged in cold-case sexual assaults in D.C.’s Georgetown area: Police say they’ve linked Ernesto Ramon Mercado to six home invasions in which victims were sexually assaulted between 2008 and 2012, including an attack in College Park, Md.

How Joe Biden lost his grip on Israel’s war for ‘total victory’ in Gaza: A conflict the White House once hoped to moderate has gone from “over the top” to out of control. - "Biden’s overriding concern was preventing an all-out conflagration in the region. Yet as he sought a path for long-term peace and stability for Israel, Biden was undermined at every turn by Netanyahu’s conduct of the Gaza war, his refusal to consider establishment of a Palestinian state, and the territorial ambitions of his right-wing government in the occupied territories.

...

"Secret U.S. diplomacy had cooled tensions with Iran, and Biden was pushing an ambitious, legacy-driven agenda that he believed would not only advance his regional goals but stem China’s global ambitions. It included establishment of normal relations by Saudi Arabia with Israel, in exchange for a state for Palestinians and a strategic U.S.-Saudi partnership. A trade corridor, rivaling Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, was planned to connect India to countries in the Persian Gulf and beyond."

Opinion Mormon voters in the West can save the GOP from Trump: By defeating the former president, they can protect the Constitution they believe to be divinely inspired.

Escalating contest over South China Sea disrupts international cable system: China’s effort to dominate the disputed waterway is taking a toll on the network of underwater cables that provide essential internet connectivity in Asia.

Opinion The U.S. has an opportunity to help rebuild Lebanese sovereignty: Israel’s decapitation of Hezbollah has created a security vacuum.

Dockworkers’ union suspends strike, ports reopen on East and Gulf coasts: The International Longshoremen’s Association agreed to 62 percent raises and will continue bargaining over other issues to finalize a deal.

Liz Cheney rallies with Harris, implores nation to reject ‘depraved cruelty’ of Trump: The two appeared together in Ripon, Wis., a small city that is known as the birthplace of the Republican Party.

Reading archive 2024-07-25

The Breathtaking Emptiness of J.D. Vance: How a Hillbilly Superstar Becomes the Thing He Once Loathed

William & Mary lands $100 million gift to expand marine sciences school: Philanthropist Jane Batten’s donation, the largest in William & Mary history, will fund the university’s coastal and marine sciences school.

U.S. flag set ablaze, 23 arrested as thousands protest Netanyahu’s D.C. visit: Thousands protested in D.C. as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress. Though most marched peacefully, there were some clashes with police. - "Outside Union Station, pro-Palestinian protesters set an American flag ablaze, along with an effigy of Netanyahu, and spray-painted the Christopher Columbus fountain and adjacent Liberty Bell reproduction with messages like 'Free Gaza,' 'All zionists are bastards,' and 'Free Palestine.' Police appeared to hit some demonstrators with a chemical irritant at multiple points during the day." [ed. note: burning the American flag is self-sabotage at work]

‘End of the people’s airline’: Southwest abandons open seating after 53 years: The carrier will end its practice of open seating and offer preferred seating with more legroom.

Refrigerating produce in jars looks great, but it can breed bacteria: Fresh produce has various needs, including air circulation, that a sealed jar won’t provide.

Biden the anti-icon: In his televised address, Biden was pragmatic, muted and self-effacing.

‘The Decameron’ is the best apocalyptic ensemble comedy since ‘Clue’: This is the pandemic show no one knew we needed.

‘Childless cat ladies,’ Jennifer Aniston, and Swifties take on JD Vance: Celebrities including Jennifer Aniston and Whoopi Goldberg cite many reasons women don’t have kids. Others are embracing being a childless cat lady like Taylor Swift.

In Vance’s ‘Hillbilly’ home, his story rings true — but not always his message: JD Vance shaped his image in his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” about his roots in rural Kentucky. Many there question his theories about the White working class. - "In fact, many in Jackson say government help is a key lifeline in a distressed region. At Jackson’s city hall, on a downtown street near closed-up storefronts, Mayor Laura Thomas ticked off the recent run of calamities that have required help from federal agencies: After the steep decline of coal-mining came the pandemic and then two successive historic floods in 2021 and 2022."

Opinion How the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling could really backfire: The recent decision could turn the CIA into a political tool once again. - "The Trump decision thus manages to turn the essence of the Nuremberg trials — that “just following orders” is not a defense to a war crime — on its head: It provides absolute immunity for the president, unqualified authority to pardon in advance underlings who follow illegal orders and no legal accountability for obvious criminal activity."

An online army rises, this time on Kamala Harris’s side: A grassroots network of TikTok creators, energized by the new likely Democratic nominee, are using their skill at playful video collages to build Harris a viral political powerhouse from scratch.

Reading archive 2021-11-04

Aaron Rodgers is entitled to stay unvaccinated. He’s not entitled to lie about it.

‘We are in crisis mode’: Museum workers are turning to unions over conditions they say are untenable

A GOP strategist was charged with sex trafficking minors. Then he tried to ‘threaten’ law enforcement, judge says.

Igor Danchenko arrested, charged with lying to FBI about information in Steele dossier

He predicted the dark side of the Internet 30 years ago. Why did no one listen?: Philip Agre, a computer scientist turned humanities professor, was prescient about many of the ways technology would impact the world - "But Agre isn’t available. In 2009, he simply dropped off the face of the earth, abandoning his position at UCLA. When friends reported Agre missing, police located him and confirmed that he was okay, but Agre never returned to the public debate. His closest friends declined to further discuss details of his disappearance, citing respect for Agre’s privacy."

This tribe helped the Pilgrims survive for their first Thanksgiving. They still regret it 400 years later.: Long marginalized and misrepresented in U.S. history, the Wampanoags are bracing for the 400th anniversary of the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving in 1621

Reading archive 2020-03-17

INVISIBLE CENSORSHIP: TikTok Told Moderators to Suppress Posts by “Ugly” People and the Poor to Attract New Users

Limbaugh guest host Mark Steyn: San Francisco faces a COVID-19 shutdown because it's “a big gay town”

How South Korea Is Composting Its Way to Sustainability: Automated bins, rooftop farms, and underground mushroom-growing help clean up the mess.

Reading archive 2020-03-07

Inside the Sanders campaign’s quest to win the Internet

The doubt of a ‘Bernie Bro’: A hard-charging Sanders supporter questions whether his tactics help or hurt

Where Trump border wall rises, these ranchers see defeat

What Were The Makers Of “Joker” Even Upset About?: Joker’s commercial success — and now its critical success — makes the filmmakers’ persecution complex even more absurd.

Reading archive 2019-03-15

Beto O’Rourke’s secret membership in America’s oldest hacking group

49 killed in terrorist attack at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand

The Chesapeake Bay is thriving. Trump’s proposal to slash funding would bring a dramatic backslide, experts say.

Reading archive 2018-04-05

How a black college dance troupe landed a decades-old Fleetwood Mac song on the Billboard charts

Renovate an Arts and Crafts Kitchen

Building Basement Appeal

What really happened at Chappaquiddick? A new movie explores the truth we’ll never know.

Reading archive 2018-01-22

ICE detains a Polish doctor and green-card holder who has lived in the U.S. for nearly 40 years

China to U.S.: It’s your fault we are in the South China Sea

‘If they come for you, they come for me’: A ‘dreamer’ priest faces deportation — and a divided congregation

Under Neoliberalism, You Can Be Your Own Tyrannical Boss: A new study finds an alarming rise in a novel form of psychological distress. Call it “neoliberal perfectionism.” - "Perfectionism makes us scornful of each other, afraid of each other, and unsure of ourselves at best."

TWEET STORM: "The House GOP demands in exchange for DACA an endless list of extreme demands but the worst part is that their bill isn’t even a real solution for Dreamers. Its provisions show the GOP isn't willing to accept them as Americans, at most just criminals on parole. Here’s why:"

Trump voting commission bought Texas election data flagging Hispanic voters

Pennsylvania Congressional District Map Is Ruled Unconstitutional

What if a Healthier Facebook Is Just … Instagram?

Nassar surrounded by adults who enabled his predatory behavior

Reading archive 2018-01-09

Oprah might run for president. We did the opposition research for you.

What the Oprah Boomlet Means for Democrats: Pleas for the entertainer to run for president point to a split over whether to treat Donald Trump as a dangerous anomaly or a particularly extreme Republican.

Oprah Winfrey for President: Have We All Gone Bonkers?

Kansas lawmaker says African Americans are more susceptible to drug abuse because of ‘character makeup’ and ‘genetics.’

What the Men Didn't Say: At the 75th Golden Globe Awards, not one male award winner used their platform to mention the biggest story of the night.

Pakistan Will Try to Make Trump Pay: The country has banked on being treated as too dangerous to fail. But this time could be different.

How Actual Smart People Talk About Themselves: Hint: not by discussing IQ

Why Mickey Mouse’s 1998 copyright extension probably won’t happen again: Copyrights from the 1920s will start expiring next year if Congress doesn’t act.

Fusion GPS founder told Senate investigators the FBI had a whistleblower in Trump’s network

My Quest to Find Air Bud's Grave: You can tell a lot about a society by how it honors its fallen heroes.

The Insane Story Behind Disney's 'Snow Buddies,' The Movie That Killed 5 Puppies

Just How Similar Are Radiohead's 'Creep' and Lana Del Rey's 'Get Free'?

We got a glimpse of Trump negotiating today. It … didn’t go well. - "By the end, Trump sought to clarify things. 'I think a clean DACA bill to me is a DACA bill, but we take care of the 800,000 people,' he said. 'But I think to me, a clean bill is a bill of DACA — we take care of them, and we also take care of security.'

"If anything, the whole mess showed pretty vividly just how utterly disengaged Trump is in the finer details of policy discussions. Which is exactly the perception that he has recently fought against.

"Asked by the New York Times late last month about this perception, Trump bristled. 'I know the details of taxes better than anybody — better than the greatest CPA,' he said. 'I know the details of health care better than most, better than most.'"

Who is the Trump-linked source who led the FBI to treat the dossier seriously?

Steve Bannon leaves Breitbart after blow-up over comments in Trump book

Teen behind London acid attacks begs court for mercy: ‘I really didn’t appreciate the damage’

Net neutrality activists are celebrating as Democratic senators clear key hurdle to voting against the FCC

It’s so hot in Australia that bats’ brains are frying

Reading archive 2017-12-14

Will Women In Low-Wage Jobs Get Their #MeToo Moment?

Verizon Pennsylvania’s Commitment to Have 100 Percent Coverage of High-Speed Broadband by 2015? — A Quadruple Bait-and-Switch

Reading archive 2017-12-04

CVS agrees to buy Aetna in $69 billion deal that could shake up health-care industry

What happened when North Carolina cut taxes like the GOP plans to for the country

After mass shootings, retired military commanders urge Congress to address 'gun violence crisis'

‘I don’t think it’s going to help’: In a pro-Trump area, many voters are skeptical of GOP tax plan

Pakistan is making concessions to religious extremists. What’s the cost?

GAO report sounds alarm about vouchers and students with disabilities

Future wars may depend as much on algorithms as on ammunition, report says.

House and Senate Tax Bills Head to Reconciliation

Charter brags about big speed boost—after saying Title II stalled investment: Charter told investors that net neutrality regs "didn't really hurt us."

Prosecutors say longtime Manafort colleague has ‘ties’ to Russian intelligence

Billy Bush: Yes, Donald Trump, You Said That

Some see echoes of '68 court case in wedding cake dispute

Reading archive 2017-11-28

The Complicated Legacy Of A Panda Who Was Really Good At Sex

America has an internet problem — but a radical change could solve it

‘He’s a little obsessed with me’: Hillary Clinton reflects with raw honesty on Trump and 2016