Reading archive 2026-07-07

The only bias uncovered in the White House’s Smithsonian report is its own: A White House report alleges radical bias at the National Museum of American History. But the assembled evidence reveals a large and vibrant institution carrying out its mission.

Democratic factions vie to pick Platner replacement before he leaves Maine race: Potential candidates and their backers moved quickly to gain an edge in the contest over who would replace Graham Platner if he exits the key Senate race.

Trans people are fleeing red states for Seattle. The city can’t keep up.: Since the 2024 election, a nonprofit has helped 1,500 trans people settle in Seattle — more than 20 times the 70 people it aided before the election.

U.S. gave Tehran details on Iranian asylum seekers, lawsuit alleges: The claim, outlined in court papers, contends information shared with Iran could jeopardize the lives of pro-democracy protesters, religious minorities and LGBTQ people.

Ex-girlfriend of Graham Platner says he removed condoms without consent during sex: The campaign for the Democratic Senate candidate in Maine called the allegation “categorically false and politically motivated.” - "In a statement in response to questions about Fifield’s allegation, Platner’s campaign called the claim 'categorically false and politically motivated.' The statement noted Fifield supported now-Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh when he was accused of sexual assault before his confirmation."

Rahm Emanuel to tell Israel its alliance with the U.S. cannot ‘survive as it has been’: In a Tel Aviv speech Wednesday, the presidential prospect plans to warn that Israel faces a “dead end” without change, a move reflecting Democratic pressure.

How Lizzo Became One of Pop Culture’s Great Flops: The singer is experiencing a new form of downward mobility—and she’s not alone.

With Graham Platner, Democrats Got Drunk on the Beer Test: He said there wouldn’t be any more scandals, but a new Politico report threatens to end his Senate campaign in Maine. - "Dan Moraff, one of the strategists who helped select and vet Platner, 'wants his candidates to back Medicare for All and characterize the Israel-Hamas conflict as a genocide, but beyond that, doesn't believe voters care about detailed proposals,' The Wall Street Journal reported last month. Having a policy agenda that could fit comfortably on a Post-it note without omitting any important details certainly speeds up the process. Platner, indeed, has boiled down nearly all political problems to the perfidy of sinister oligarchs. Whatever the merits of this worldview, it does not demand much knowledge."

A Huge Escalation in Trump’s Smithsonian Meddling: A White House report details what the administration wants to change in museums—and suggests that a crackdown could be coming. - "The administration's reading, for Smithsonian staff, is frustrating. The report, for one thing, relies on several museum exhibitions as examples of the activist tilt, but some are either no longer on view or were not at all influenced by the current director. 'Girlhood (It's Complicated),' a frequent subject of criticism for its discussion of transgender youth, closed more than three years ago. 'Many Voices, One Nation' and 'American Democracy,' which the document repeatedly points to as examples of the institution's recent leftward slant under Hartig, both opened nearly a decade ago, more than a year before Hartig was appointed as director."

Prepare for Airplane Purgatory The chances of getting stuck for hours in a grounded plane are soaring.

Small-Dollar Campaign Donors Are Hurting the Political System: The problem with donation mobs - "Perhaps smalligarchy, for all of its flaws, is better than oligarchy. The argument goes that it is still less corrupting to the souls of politicians to raise money from the masses instead of cultivating major donors. Liberated from intimate dinners with plutocrats, legislators should have more time on their hands to do honest work. But the pursuit of small donations shapes candidates' behavior too. To earn these dollars, politicians must attract attention and attain some degree of virality through extreme social-media posts or catchy performances in committee hearings or cable news. Because giving is an emotional response, maximizing donations requires appeals to anger, fear, and disgust (thus explaining the hysterical register in which most political fundraising emails are written). Getting likes on TikTok and Instagram may not be as morally suspect as backroom dealing, but it can be just as time-consuming-and is likely more divisive. 

"The best thing that can be said of the rise of small donors is that they have almost completely counterbalanced the rise of super PACs. Yet they are further weakening the Democratic and Republican parties. Each major party finds that the candle has been burned at both ends: ultrarich donors are able to set up independent committees to boost whichever candidates they like, while rank-and-file donors can sustain candidates who are hostile to the party apparatus and seek to expropriate it for their own faction. Parties have seldom exercised less control over candidates, and thus over policy. (The Supreme Court recently decided a case, National Republican Senatorial Commission v. FEC, striking down hard limits on expenditures made by political parties on behalf of their candidates, which will helpfully bolster the parties even if the further loosening of spending rules offends reformer types.)

...

"There is a more fundamental problem too. There is now a vicious feedback loop powered by the attention spans and contributions of small donors-politicians have an incentive to make angry, extreme, or norm-breaking statements, while news (and news-adjacent) outlets have an incentive to cover them. It is not the only cause of polarization. But the loop should be broken, not set to spin faster."

The Problem America Refuses to Address: In the age of the trillionaire, inequality remains a defining challenge.

Reading archive 2026-05-05

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She dreamed of a natural birth in Mexico. Now, she believes she was drugged.: In a complaint filed with Mexican prosecutors, Jennifer Nosek alleges that her midwife, Heather Baker, caused her baby’s death.

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

Reading archive 2026-03-09

As D.C.’s mayor race heats up, stark contrasts emerge in the two front-runners: With a Democratic primary in June, Kenyan R. McDuffie and Janeese Lewis George remain the leading contenders in the race to succeed D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser.

Israeli officials are growing concerned: A bombing campaign nearing its military goals in Iran leaves the hardest questions unanswered. - "A second concern expressed by the Israeli official was maintaining good relations with the United States at a time when Americans in both political parties are voicing growing concern about the alliance. 'We won’t drag the U.S. into an endless war,' the official said. 'Israel is a reliable ally,' not a burden, he argued."

There are two winners in Iran. Neither one is America.: Oil disruption benefits Russia, as does less U.S. aid for Ukraine. And Iran distracts from China. - "While Trump has been bombing various countries, imposing tariffs, discouraging foreign students from coming to America and cutting research funding, China has been making massive investments designed to dominate the industries of the future. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute reports that China now leads the United States in research on 66 of 74 frontier technologies, including artificial intelligence, superconductors, quantum computing and optical communications. China is already manufacturing roughly 70 percent of the world’s electric vehicles, 80 percent of smartphones, 80 percent of lithium-ion batteries and 90 percent of drones. Last year, roughly half of all vehicles sold in China were EVs or hybrids. The comparable figure for the U.S. is 22 percent — and it is likely to decline after Congress repealed the EV tax credit."

D.C.’s most apolitical official is on the hot seat — with $180M on the line: The brewing conflict in D.C. government stems from a vote by Republicans in Congress to block a city tax policy and the revenue it raised.

Reasons you should get a colonoscopy earlier than recommended: The official recommendation is to start colorectal cancer screening at age 45, but should you go earlier if you’re concerned? An oncologist explains.

Gen Z Lives in the Archive: Is cultural time actually continuous? - "In Plato’s dialogue, 'Ion,' he describes how inspiration works: the first poet was inspired directly by the muse, like an iron filling attached to a lodestone. The subsequent generations of poets are like iron fillings attached to that first filling. The force of inspiration is still present, but it is exerted indirectly and weakens with every generation. Thus, the influence of the original impetus wanes until, presumably, we culturally reset and reconnect to the magnetic source directly. Gen Z finds itself in a state in which the fillings have all been scattered on the ground, perhaps experiencing some ambient attraction from the lodestone, but unable to really connect with it. 

"Can this state of affairs create vital popular music? It appears not. The results seem to be avant garde Adderall brain slurry—100 Gecs and nettspend and hyperpop—for a tiny, cultured minority. The masses just keep listening to Taylor Swift on repeat. And for those of you who want to object by saying, 'No, no, you have to hear my cousin’s noise rock project. It’s really going somewhere, doing something new,' I say, 'That’s exactly what I’m talking about.'"

After a decade of missteps, Corpus Christi careens toward water catastrophe: City officials expect to reach a “water emergency” within months and run out of water next year. That would halt jet fuel deliveries to Texas airports, hike gas prices and trigger a local economic disaster without precedent, former officials say. - "The region’s largest industrial users, which collectively consume the majority of the region’s water, remain exempt from emergency curtailment. These multi-billion-dollar refineries, petrochemical plants and liquified natural gas facilities are built to run at a steady rate and can’t simply throttle down production in accordance with water availability. They consume large volumes of water primarily in cooling towers to prevent excessive heating and explosions.

...

"'It’s a surprise to me that none of those refineries and industries down there have their own desal plants,' said [former assistant energy secretary with the Obama administration Charles] McConnell, who worked 31 years for the chemical manufacturer Praxair in Houston. 'They’re using municipal water, for Christ’s sake!'

...

"A facility of that scale, he knew, would require railcars full of pretreatment chemicals, create a mountain of sludge waste every day and consume a tremendous amount of electricity. But he didn’t see serious plans for any of that, he said. 

"He dug deeper into the desalination boom and quickly saw what was going on: Politicians and businessmen had oversold their water supply, he said, and were scrambling for more as shortages approached. But none of them had any idea what they were doing, Serna remembered thinking as he reviewed the applications. 

"'I’ve been trying since 2020 to let them know how catastrophic this is going to be,' he said in an interview at his home. 'They’ve acted with a profound ignorance.'"

Losing the War on Truth: Iran and what to make of it

‘Nazi heaven’: Inside Miami campus Republicans’ racist group chat - "The conversations included some of the campus’ top conservative leaders: the county GOP secretary, FIU’s Turning Point USA chapter president and the former College Republicans recruitment chair."

Reading archive 2025-07-27

‘Buckingham Nicks,’ the missing link of the Fleetwood Mac saga, is back: Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham’s 1973 album prefigured their pop triumphs in Fleetwood Mac but was lost in the streaming era. That changes Sept. 19.

The Harry Potter play goes big on special effects — and fan nostalgia: Now on tour, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” has the gang all grown up with kids — who are well-versed in their parents’ lore.

Toddler shot and wounded in Southeast D.C., police say: The 1-year-old girl’s injury was described as non-life-threatening.

Walgreens manager sentenced for role in robberies that shook Chinatown: The Walgreens, located at Seventh and H streets NW, was robbed seven times between July 2023 and February 2024.

Trump visits the Federal Reserve in escalation of pressure campaign: The president visited the central bank as the White House criticizes an extensive $2.5 billion renovation project.

Denied federal flood relief, a Maryland town is left on its own: The residents of Westernport, Maryland, overwhelmingly voted for Trump. But after FEMA denied its aid request, the town feels like the president has turned his back on them.

The 12 days that turned back the clock on Iran’s nuclear program: Israeli and American assessments agree Tehran’s infrastructure to finish a bomb is shattered.

Trump’s tariffs are promoting free trade — in Canada: Politicians and industry leaders have long pushed to remove barriers to interprovincial trade. Trump’s tariffs are giving the effort new momentum. - "With few exceptions, alcohol producers in one Canadian province are prohibited from selling directly to consumers in another. Vintners in British Columbia, for instance, can often more easily sell their merlots to oenophiles in other countries than within their own."

An American mega-influencer flew to Lithuania. Then the chaos began.: The streamer IShowSpeed drank pink soup in the Baltics and marveled at cars in China. Are his tours propaganda, or just good advertising? - "Speed’s lighthearted visits to China, Saudi Arabia and other countries have drawn criticism as propaganda exercises that promoted the countries in ways they wanted, rather than reckoning with their more complicated reality.

...

"Speed’s sprint through the Baltics drew frustration from some locals, including in Latvia, where he did a backflip at the Freedom Monument honoring soldiers killed in the country’s 1918 war for independence and sung to fans from the balcony of the nation’s ailing public radio station. One journalist there wrote that the moment — in which 'an unregulated content creator [was] peacocking at the home of Latvian broadcasting' — offered a foreboding symbol of how modern media had changed."

The last wholesalers of Union Market: In a changing D.C. neighborhood, these business owners are still holding on.

Gabbard and White House 'lying' about intel on Russian interference in 2016, ex-CIA official says: "We definitely had the intel," Susan Miller, who helped oversee the 2017 intelligence assessment of Russia's efforts in the 2016 election, told NBC News.

‘Commanders Saw Us as Expendable’: A Russian Soldier’s View of the War: Mikhail Simdyankin wasn’t prepared for the reality of Moscow’s brutal war machine in Ukraine when he enlisted, lured by propaganda and a big sign-on bonus

The World Has Too Much Steel, but No One Wants to Stop Making It: A global plunge in prices, led by increased production from China, and U.S. tariffs threaten steel manufacturing, which has long been a symbol of national might.

Reading archive 2025-06-11

House votes to repeal D.C. laws on noncitizen voting, police discipline: The District’s tumultuous year in Congress continues this week, with dozens of Democrats joining Republicans in the repeal votes. - "And of the D.C. police discipline law repeal, Norton said that while Republicans regularly seek to repeal local legislation, 'what is different about this bill is it also overrides the long-standing wishes of the D.C. police department.' For years before the reforms, police chiefs said they lacked enough power to permanently fire officers accused of crimes or violating department rules. A 2017 Washington Post investigation and 2022 D.C. auditor’s office report both found that the department was routinely forced to rehire officers it sought to terminate, in some cases for alleged misconduct as serious as physical and sexual violence."

Want to lower your risk of dementia? Here’s what the science says.: Key lifestyle changes can improve your brain’s health.

Do Not Try to Get Your Kid Into the Pop Culture You Like: GQ culture director Alex Pappademas makes the case to shut up, “unless you’re specifically asked for recommendations, which chances are, you will not be.”

Inside the digital hunt for a child sex abuser: The Secret Service used video clues, web searches and diaper serial codes to find a man who will spend life in prison for sex abuse and sharing child sex videos.

Most people aren’t following this important dietary advice. Are you?: Eating seafood is good for your brain, eye and heart health. But 90 percent of adults aren’t eating enough. - "According to health authorities, the following fish are so high in mercury that you should avoid them altogether: 

King mackerel (different from Atlantic mackerel) 

Shark 

Marlin 

Orange roughy 

Swordfish 

Tilefish 

Bluefin and bigeye tuna" 

[ed. note: healthiest types listed as salmon, Atlantic mackerel, sardines, anchovies, rainbow trout, mussels, oysters]

Ukraine’s ‘Operation Spiderweb’ hit at least 12 planes, visuals show: A Washington Post analysis of videos and satellite imagery offers insight into the damage from Ukraine’s brazen drone strike attack.

You are hardwired to blindly trust AI. Here’s how to fight it.: Decades of research shows our tendency to treat machines like magical answer boxes. No wonder AI nonsense keeps showing up in court filings, news articles and a White House report.

A salt crisis is looming for U.S. rivers: The biggest source of salty freshwater in D.C. and other major northern inland cities is an overapplication of road salt to thaw winter ice, which runs off into rivers or the ground.

Carl Nassib, gay NFL pioneer, honored by Smithsonian: The league’s first openly gay player, Nassib now has a jersey hanging in the National Museum of American History.

Janelle Monáe hopes to ‘be a refuge’ during her WorldPride show: The genre-crossing singer will perform with Grace Jones at the Anthem on Thursday, June 5.

The Cause of Alzheimer's Might Be Coming From Within Your Mouth [ed. note: the bacteria that causes gum disease can infect your brain, yikes]

Scientists Developed a Kind of 'Living Concrete' That Heals Its Own Cracks - "The researchers designed a bespoke lichen using cyanobacteria that fix carbon dioxide and nitrogen from the atmosphere, and a filamentous fungus that attracts ionized calcium and promotes the precipitation of large amounts of calcium carbonate – the material that makes eggshell, sea shells, coral, and chalk."

Empty desks How the District’s failure to curb truancy in middle schools fueled the biggest youth crime surge in a generation.

Reading archive 2025-06-06

What really keeps mosquitoes away? Probably not your lavender plants.: A fact-based look at scented plants, essential oils and other mosquito repellents.

As Trump taunts Springsteen, these Republicans stick with The Boss: Trump is beefing with Bruce Springsteen. But some GOP figures are standing by the Jersey icon.

These publicly funded homes for the poor cost $1.2 million each to build: D.C. apartment buildings exemplify a national trend, as the costs of affordable housing approach and sometimes exceed $1 million per unit in cities that also include San Francisco and Chicago. - "Another tax-credit project in Southeast Washington, the Ethel, cost nearly $800,000 per unit, all 100 of which are one-bedrooms. Bowser has claimed it as a signature accomplishment. The architect touts the detailing of its facade and the developers are set to walk away with an $8.5-million fee, records show. 

"Next door, the same developers built the Park Kennedy, for mostly market-rate tenants, at a per-unit cost of about $350,000, records show."

Chinese propaganda surges as the U.S. defunds Radio Free Asia: Beijing expanded its state propaganda, including to the persecuted Tibetan and Uyghur minorities, as RFA pulled back.

Jake Tapper is the reason America is doomed SFGATE columnist Drew Magary is sick of the face of CNN using his platform to tell us about year-old news - "Tapper is less a journalist now than he is one of the many prominent media figures eager to profit off the Trump news industrial complex."

Trump administration races to fix a big mistake: DOGE fired too many people Across the government, officials are rehiring federal workers who were forced out or encouraged to resign.

Reading archive 2025-05-05

10 ducklings hatch in rooftop nest at D.C.’s Planet Word museum: A live webcam captured the moments they emerged from their eggs. All are fine.

Wild stats about America’s place in the world, plus what people actually ask AI: This week, we dive deep into new datasets from the World Bank and artificial intelligence researchers at Anthropic. - "Anthropic might dispute this, but the queries paint a disorienting picture of a world where teachers turn to chatbots to churn out educational materials, students press-gang those same bots into answering those same materials, and then teachers go back to the chatbots to create academic scoring systems and rubrics and to 'evaluate and score academic writing.'"

These 6 Republican ‘red lines’ could complicate Trump’s policy plans: “Some of these are clearly in conflict,” one former Republican aide said.

Prosecutors decline to charge officer who fatally shot man in February: Authorities say Surafel Zerihun was brandishing a knife when he tried to carjack a woman in D.C. after ramming his vehicle into a police cruiser.

Teen killed, another wounded in Petworth shooting, D.C. police say: The shooting left Laverne Wright, 64, mourning her grandson, who turned 18 in January, and stunned residents in the Petworth neighborhood.

Robbers are taking more headphones, D.C. police say: Three teenagers were arrested in bike trail cases, according to police.

Youngkin trims $900 million from Virginia budget to hedge Trump actions: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) made clear he supports President Trump’s tariffs and cuts to federal jobs and spending, but took money from colleges to cushion impact.

Spat over gay nominee aims Virginia GOP ire at unusual target: Youngkin: Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) faces criticism within his party for a messy week-long drama over John Reid, the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor who has refused to drop out.

Bowser urges action to prevent D.C. Medicaid cuts: ‘This is a real threat’: D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, city officials and healthcare providers Friday outside Children’s National Hospital in Northwest D.C. to amplify the voices of those who would most acutely feel cuts and to urge residents to take action. - "'If we want a cleaner, safer and stronger city,' Bowser said, 'we cannot undercut the safety net services that help us support public safety.'"

D.C. pushes Park Service to keep Rock Creek Parkway’s rush hour lanes: The District is siding with commuters who say the reversible system is necessary and against those who deem the nearly century-old arrangement unsafe.

How to get a good night’s rest, according to NASA sleep scientists: “Is it easier to fall asleep in low gravity?” and other spaceflight questions, answered by two NASA sleep scientists.

This billionaire could unify the Democrats against Trump: JB Pritzker might not be the party’s choice in 2028, but he’s crucial for the Trump resistance. - "'Do-nothing Democrats want to blame our losses on our defense of Black people, of trans kids, of immigrants — instead of their own lack of guts and gumption,' Pritzker said in his New Hampshire speech. 

"Similarly, in a March speech to activists with the Human Rights Campaign, a group that advocates LGBTQ+ rights, the governor said, 'I know that there are transgender children right now looking out at this world and wondering if anyone is going to stand up for them and for their simple right to exist.'

"He continued: 'Well, I am. We are. We will.'"

Weren’t F-16s supposed to change things for Ukraine? I answered your questions.: David’s live chat with readers started at 12 p.m. ET on Monday. Submit your questions now.

Trump envoy praises fraudulent Russian referendums as real: A possible Trump-backed Ukraine-Russia deal, pushed by Steve Witkoff, hinges on letting Russia keep territory it seized.

‘At this point, we are a liberal democracy in decline’: A conversation with scholar Larry Diamond about the state of U.S. democracy.

Who’s Afraid of Gen Z’s Squeaky-Clean, Backflipping Bro?: Benson Boone has charmed his way to the top—and that really seems to bother some people.

Inside Mike Waltz’s White House Exit: Signalgate was the national security adviser’s most glaring mistake. But his problems ran deeper.

Fox and Frenemy: Trump may lash out at the network. But the two will always make up.

The Missing Part of Trump’s Minerals Math: Without demand from clean energy, the U.S. market for rare earth, graphite, and lithium will falter. - "Under the Biden administration, the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office put up a $102 million loan to back the facility. The State Department, intent on competing with China to court mineral-rich African countries, had laid out a 10-year strategy for strengthening U.S. ties with Mozambique, from which Syrah obtains ore to refine. (The plan included improving transportation infrastructure, for instance, which would help get those rocks to port.) And the nation's landmark climate-infrastructure law, the Inflation Reduction Act, was set up to redirect mineral supply chains away from China: Its electric-vehicle tax credit gave a major bonus for cars with batteries composed of American-made minerals.

...

"Already this year, companies have scrapped plans for nearly $8 billion worth of clean-energy projects, most of which were factories for batteries and electric vehicles, according to a Canary Media analysis of data from the research group E2. In his attempt to fulfill his campaign pledge to 'terminate' what he called the 'Green New Scam,' Trump appears to be jeopardizing the domestic supply of minerals for the military and industries he supports.

"'The administration is clearly worried about rare earths from a defense and aerospace perspective, and I've seen battery-industry players that are, in their rhetoric and advocacy in Washington, distancing themselves from EVs and selling themselves as strategic technology for grid resiliency and defense,' Seaver Wang, a researcher at the Breakthrough Institute, a think tank focused on policy around climate technology, told me. 'But we know EVs are like 80 percent of the demand.' (According to the International Energy Agency, electric-vehicles will account for 80 percent of global battery capacity in the future.)

''Meanwhile, China is following its own logic, in which it controls more variables. In March, the Financial Times reported that "at least half of China's 34 provincial-level governments, including those of top resource-producing regions such as Xinjiang, have announced increased subsidies or expanded access for mineral exploration" over the past year. Even outside China, Beijing sets the prices for global contracts. When financiers determine the price for a ton of lithium, they turn to where those prices are set, which thanks to China's dominance is typically in Asia. That means the price of a deal between a Tesla factory in Texas and a lithium mine in Quebec is ultimately determined by how much of the metal China is selling in a place like Vietnam. 

"The U.S. could find a way around that, Datta told me, by building an alliance with other producers and establishing an integrated market for contracts, with countries such as Australia, Brazil, and Canada, that could set prices for selling materials to battery makers in Europe, South Korea, and Japan. That's what the Biden administration aimed to do; the electric-vehicle tax credits treated allies that had free-trade agreements with the United States as domestic sources. For those countries, U.S. minerals were supposed to offer a less risky alternative to China. But now, Datta said, 'we've pissed everyone off, and all these countries are looking to hedge away from the U.S.'" [ed. note: devastating]

Reading archive 2025-05-01

House inaction leads D.C. mayor to order spending freezes, prepare furloughs: Cuts could include furloughs of government employees and the closure of certain government facilities — except for schools, homeless shelters or health care facilities.

A Trumpworld power struggle muscles Waltz out: Jockeying for influence in the administration, the national security adviser held a losing hand.

Metro officer stabbed ahead of transportation chief’s visit for safety talk: Incident occurred at Navy Yard station

In wake of assault, Metro’s leader tries to win over Trump appointee: The two had a “productive” meeting as feds focus on transit crime, an administration official said.

Man arrested in stabbing of D.C. transit officer at Navy Yard Metro station: The altercation occurred ahead of a visit to the station by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to discuss safety on public transit.

GOP senators voice doubts over Trump D.C. U.S. attorney nominee Martin: Facing a May 20 deadline for Senate confirmation, Ed Martin met with Capitol Hill staffers Thursday as several Republican senators aired concerns.

A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data - "An aide for the Democratic minority on the House Oversight Committee who was not authorized to speak publicly told NPR that the committee is in possession of multiple verifiable reports showing that DOGE has exfiltrated sensitive government data across agencies for unknown purposes, revealing that Berulis' disclosure is not an isolated incident." [ed. note: jfc]

What Parents of Boys Should Know: Daughters tend to receive higher levels of affection and patience at home than sons. But the sons might need it more. - "Whippman cites research by the UCLA psychology professor Allan N. Schore, whose work explains that the brain circuits regulating stress mature more slowly in the prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal periods for boys compared with girls. Schore's findings echo observations made by the British child-and-adolescent psychiatrist Sebastian Kraemer, who in 2000 published an article in The British Medical Journal in which he wrote that 'even from conception, before social effects come into play, males are more vulnerable than females.' From a physiological perspective, Kraemer wrote, boys are born about a month behind girls developmentally. They also tend to be less proficient at regulating their emotions and more affected when things go wrong - and things go wrong, in part, when parents feel overwhelmed by boys' behavior, or when they neglect, intentionally or not, sons' need for affection and attention.

...

"'A wide body of research shows that it is not masculinity itself that makes men violent, but the sense of shame that they are not masculine enough,' Whippman wrote. 'Men who score high on measures for what researchers call masculine discrepancy stress meaning, stress derived from a belief that they fall short of society's standards for manhood are significantly more likely to be violent in a variety of ways, including intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and gun violence.'"

Well, That’s One Way to Address America’s Vaping Problem: Millions of Americans are inhaling e-cigarettes illegally imported from China. Because of tariffs, they’re about to get a lot more expensive.

This Is the Way a World Order Ends: Americans once associated spheres of influence with a cynical, volatile European past. Now Washington is resurrecting them. - "We should never underestimate the power of example in human affairs. In our own time, we are seeing one country and then another flouting what had been a basic rule since the end of World War II: that ownership by one country of territory seized by force from another would not be recognized. President Vladimir Putin of Russia took parts of Georgia in 2008, and in 2014 invaded Ukraine to seize Crimea and part of the Donbas region to further his mission of rebuilding the czarist empire. The peace negotiations under way between Ukraine, which is being abandoned by the United States, and Russia seem almost certain to allow Russia to keep that territory and very likely acquire even more. Israel seems to be maneuvering toward annexing parts of Gaza and maybe even southern Lebanon, while in Africa, Rwandan troops are pushing into neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. China can only be encouraged to think that the world will accept its bringing Taiwan under its rule. 

"A new world order with new rules is taking shape."

Something Alarming Is Happening to the Job Market: A new sign that AI is competing with college grads

Import, Immature. - "Bottled water is, incredibly, Fiji’s single biggest export by a factor of more than two. The United States is Fiji’s single biggest export destination by a factor of more than two. In 2024 we imported about a hundred and forty-two million dollars worth of bottled water from Fiji."

USA's robot building boom continues with first 3D-printed Starbucks

Kilmar Abrego García’s tattoos alone do not prove MS-13 membership, experts say: Several were skeptical of the claim that knuckle tattoos highlighted by President Trump suggest gang affiliation. - "... any discussion about the tattoos and their significance was missing the broader picture on Abrego García’s case, which is centered on his right to due process and the fact that the Trump administration has admitted that it mistakenly violated an immigration judge’s 2019 order that he not be deported to El Salvador."

The 35 definitive rules of train travel: From boarding to riding to getting around town, these are the essentials of train etiquette.

FBI reassigns agents who knelt during 2020 Black Lives Matter protests: Conservatives have pointed to the photo, taken during President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House, as proof that the FBI harbors a liberal agenda. - "The reassignments have angered current and former colleagues, who say that FBI agents are not trained for riot control and that these officers were unjustly punished for trying to defuse a tense situation. Some of those interviewed, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid retribution, said they see it as another example of the Trump administration punishing personnel whom it considers part of the liberal 'deep state.'

...

"FBI leadership reviewed the matter and ultimately concluded that no disciplinary action was necessary 'because there was no violation of policy that they could point to,' the former official said."

Singer Michael Bolton has incurable brain cancer. What is glioblastoma?: The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has been battling glioblastoma, an aggressive and often deadly brain cancer, since late 2023. He plans to keep fighting.

The Diddy allegations are shocking. Were they also business as usual?: Dominate. Intimidate. Silence. It’s a familiar playbook for powerful men in the music industry. The allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs are a disturbing twist.

Reading archive 2024-12-21 through 2024-12-26

"Impossible" success: Quantum teleportation on the internet is set to change the world

Woman rescued from burning car after crashing into D.C. building: The building in Northeast Washington partially collapsed.

Trump wants federal workers back in the office. It may be a tall task.: President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for a return-to-office mandate for federal workers will face stiff resistance and union contracts that guarantee remote work.

Finland seizes ship in probe of undersea cable damage: Damage to the power cable in the Baltic Sea is the latest in a spate of murky disruptions to undersea cables that have put European authorities on high alert.

After backing Trump, low-income voters hope he doesn’t slash their benefits: Voters in the struggling Pennsylvania city of New Castle backed Trump hoping he’d curb inflation. But the incoming president will be under pressure to cut spending.

Who controls Greenland, and why does Trump want to buy it?: The Arctic island is not for sale, its own government and that of Denmark continue to emphasize.

Maryland lands D.C. fighter jets in football stadium deal: D.C.'s Air National Guard fighter squadron will move under the Maryland National Guard’s authority, a swap negotiated as part of the deal to let the city regain control of the RFK Stadium site.

Inside the RFK bill stunner: Fighter jets and a promise to a D.C. nemesis: One by one, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and her allies tackled objections from the bill’s chief opponents to carve out a last-minute path to a win in the Senate.

Senate adjourns without confirming D.C. judges as ‘vacancy crisis’ persists: Local officials decried the court vacancies as a problem for public safety.

The ‘Carol of the Bells’ comes from Ukraine’s fight for independence: It was a folk song performed across the world as “cultural diplomacy” by an embattled nation being devoured by Russians in 1922.

Insurance is what makes U.S. health-care prices so high: America needs a working marketplace where patients are the primary customers.

For some Latinos, ‘prosperity gospel’ led them to Trump: The set of beliefs has overtaken traditional theologies centered on the poor. Some experts say that helps explain a shift among Latino Christians to Trump.

Green crabs have invaded habitats. Sea otters might be the solution.: A recent study found sea otters are eating thousands of green crabs at a California reserve, reducing the invasive species’ population.

Reading archive 2024-10-25

D.C. AG sues major construction company, alleging pollution of waterways: Fort Myer Construction operates two asphalt plants in the District and is a preferred contractor with the city, with tens of millions of dollars in contracts over the years.

DC Council Passes Bill That Would Bring Thousands Of New EV Stations To The City

Satellite images show major expansion at Russian site with secret bioweapons past: New construction at a military research site near Moscow reveals a specialized laboratory complex designed to research and handle deadly pathogens, experts say. - "State Department officials have ridiculed Russian allegations that the United States is working on biological weapons, alone or with partners. But U.S. officials and experts say Russian scientists may legitimately believe that the threat exists, and thus feel justified in creating and testing new weapons."

Families sue D.C. for ending housing aid in unprecedented case: The city has sought to remove thousands of families from its rapid rehousing program. Officials have blamed years of extensions for creating an unsustainable financial burden.

Jill Biden has upgraded your next White House tour: ‘They weren’t dynamic,’ the first lady says of the old tours. So she helped reimagine the ritual.

Opinion On political endorsement A note from the publisher: [ed. note: "We are returning to our roots, which is to not endorse candidates, except when we do, which is whenever we want, which is not now, because I, William Lewis, am a Rupert Murdoch crony and wide-spectrum dirtbag."]

The Washington Post says it will not endorse a candidate for president Publisher William Lewis explained the decision as a return to the newspaper’s roots. - "The decision not to publish was made by The Post’s owner — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — according to the same sources." [ed. note: bracing gutlessness from a billionaire afraid of what a Trump win could do to his fortunes]

Jill Biden has upgraded your next White House tour: ‘They weren’t dynamic,’ the first lady says of the old tours. So she helped reimagine the ritual.

Poop statue appears on the National Mall to ‘honor’ Jan. 6 rioters: Visitors swarmed the controversial installation, which will be on the Mall until Oct. 30.

Does Ghost-Hunting Gear Work? We Tested Some in a Haunted Place to Find Out.

Why Fleetwood Mac is forever: “Dreams,” by Mark Blake, delves into Fleetwood Mac’s storied past and the enduring appeal of the band’s music.

Finally, a fresh argument against ‘wokeness’: In “We Have Never Been Woke,” Musa al-Gharbi argues that claims to support marginalized people are often little more than elite status competitions.

Meet Ukraine’s top fighting unit — at least that’s what its ad says: Ukraine’s brigades can recruit their own soldiers, and they compete with one another to craft the best advertising campaigns to sell the war.

Canada alleges much wider campaign by Modi government against Sikhs: Canada on Monday ordered six Indian diplomats to leave the country, including India’s top diplomat in Ottawa, Sanjay Kumar Verma, officials said.

In D.C. election, Initiative 83 push for voting changes is biggest wild card: I-83 would allow independents to vote in primaries and change D.C.’s voting method to ranked-choice. The D.C. Democratic Party has emerged as a chief opponent.

Opinion By electing Trump, America would break its closest allies’ hearts: Anxiety levels in Europe over the U.S. election are very high. - "Jørn Brøndal, chair of USD’s Center for American Studies, offered a view that turns 'America First' rhetoric on its head. 'I always saw Trump as an import from Europe,' Brøndal said. 'He’s outside the American mainstream and comes from a right-wing populist tradition in Europe that shows some of the same tendencies.' Brøndal said this before Trump, in the style of 1930s autocrats, spoke of immigrants bringing 'a lot of bad genes in our country right now.'"

North Carolina authorities arrest armed man after threats against FEMA workers: Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office confirms it made the arrest Saturday after learning of threat to Federal Emergency Management Agency employees working on hurricane relief.

Opinion Why Harris’s pitch to Muslim and Arab American voters is failing: Caught in the bind of the Gaza war, the VP failed to cement herself as the choice for this bloc. - "There’s a tendency in liberal circles to accuse these voters of betraying their own interests by supporting Trump or voting third-party. But Muslim and Arab voters aren’t abandoning Harris because they don’t understand what’s at stake. They’re abandoning her because they do." [lol let's see how that goes]

The Most Opinionated Man in America: Mike Solana, a Peter Thiel protégé, has made his Pirate Wires newsletter a must-read among the anti-woke investor class—and a window into what the most powerful people in tech really think.

Reading archive 2024-02-10

Opinion  Why Washington’s sports teams should stay in Washington

Opinion  Does D.C. know what it’s getting for its anti-poverty millions?

D.C. sent $10,800 to dozens of new moms. Here’s how it changed their lives. - "'It’s an internalization of the systems that are incredibly oppressive to folks that are participating in these programs — like if they weren’t able to radically change their life in a year, it’s because it was somehow their fault,' West said. 'You will look at yourself in the end and not say, 'Wow I did these great things,' but instead say: 'I still didn’t live up to what they wanted me to be.''" [ed. note: lol at this progressive nonsense]

You may not be getting the fish you paid for. Here’s how to spot seafood fraud.

D.C.'s RFK Stadium site bill finally sees some action

Ye x Burzum Is Already the Worst Collab of 2024

Who Was “the Old Kanye,” Anyway?: It’s been 20 years since Kanye West released ‘The College Dropout,’ a landmark album littered with clues about the person he was perhaps always destined to become

Can Solar Power and Battery Tech Save the World From Climate Change?: Climate researcher Nat Bullard joins Derek to talk about some of the most promising technologies for clean energy generation - "But you don’t have to squint too hard to see the good news. U.S. and European carbon emissions have actually declined this century. The rate of global deforestation is going down. And investment in clean energy technology—particularly solar and batteries—is smashing records and changing the world."

Reading archive 2024-02-05

Opinion  Another FBI screw-up?

Special counsel questioned witnesses about 2 rooms: FBI didn't search inside Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence: Sources The FBI missed the rooms in their search for classified documents, said sources.

Still Waiting

The 91-year-old Republican suing to kick Donald Trump off the ballot: Norma Anderson, a trailblazing former GOP legislator, is among the Colorado voters who have challenged the Republican front-runner’s candidacy in a case that will be heard by the Supreme Court

Blinken arrives in Saudi Arabia amid a surge in regional violence

J.D. Vance would have upended democracy over right-wing nonsense

Virginia pitches traffic, Metro fixes for planned Caps, Wizards arena

Jay-Z tells Grammys to ‘get it right’ and give Black artists their due

MS-13 members convicted of 2019 murders in Northern Virginia

Metro is likely to avoid extreme cuts. But expect higher fares.: Planned cash infusions from D.C., Maryland and Virginia would prevent doomsday cuts proposed in December

Understanding the D.C. Council’s omnibus crime bill: An initial vote is set for Tuesday on legislation encompassing a host of past proposals to reduce violence in the city

A state pollution tax raised $2 billion. Can it survive the backlash?: Washington state’s ‘cap-and-invest’ program has generated billions to transition to clean energy. But the toll on gas prices has rattled some voters.

Border-for-Ukraine deal on life support as GOP opposition mounts: House speaker calls it ‘DEAD’ while GOP senators start to defect en masse ahead of Wednesday vote

The House GOP’s impeachment Fyre Festival

Reading archive 2023-10-09

Texas Republicans’ internecine fights overshadow special session

How a few bags of dirt could help make the planet more resilient to climate change

Opinion  Did New York magazine fact-check Michael Wolff? - "There’s a theme running through these poorly substantiated passages, too: They tend to swing in favor of Carlson, who distinguished himself as the country’s most dangerous misinformer over his six-plus years as an evening host at Fox News."

Amazon’s Alexa has been claiming the 2020 election was stolen: The popular voice assistant says the 2020 race was stolen, even as parent company Amazon promotes the tool as a reliable election news source — foreshadowing a new information battleground

Flyana Boss ran to stardom. Their next pursuit: Lasting fame.: Flyana Boss, which rhymes with Diana Ross, sprinted into virality over the summer with several TikToks of their song ‘You Wish’

Nearly 1,000 birds died in one day after striking a Chicago building: ‘We’re hosting them as little tourists, and we owe them safer passages,’ one advocate says

The simple, science-backed routine for more youthful skin: No matter your age, taking care of your skin doesn’t have to be expensive

‘Freak of nature’ tree is the find of a lifetime for forest explorer: Tree Hunter TJ Watt found the cedar in British Columbia standing 151 feet tall and about 17 feet in diameter

Reading archive 2003-09-26

Janelle Monáe blossoms at the Anthem: The artist’s lush new album, ‘The Age of Pleasure,’ is rooted in community and celebration

Smithsonian Acquires Major Collection About Enslaved Poet: The National Museum of African American History and Culture has purchased a trove relating to Phillis Wheatley, the first American of African descent to publish a book.

Hundreds of minks were let loose in Pa.: ‘The most friendly infestation’

New D.C. bill would boost upkeep of the city’s forested land: The District owns some 500 acres of wooded natural areas, but some have become overrun with invasive species or dumping grounds for trash

Antisemitism charges swirl after Putin denigrates Zelensky’s Jewish roots

Western officials press Ukraine to hold elections despite war

Opinion  One simple fix for our broken policing system: Hiring more women

TV rarely shows Black experiences at work. ‘The Other Black Girl’ is changing that.: Hulu’s new series ‘The Other Black Girl’ aims to meet the call for Black work-life stories in the media

Russian security, countermeasures, Secret Service: A very D.C. protest: The residents across the street from the Russian Embassy have been in an ongoing battle with their displays supporting Ukraine

How to keep junk snail mail out of your mailbox forever

Most of the world’s wind is over deep water. Floating machines can harvest it.

‘There is life after the Senate. And it’s good.’: Amid the anxiety over Dianne Feinstein, Mitch McConnell and the age of the U.S. Senate, we checked in with lawmakers who chose to step away a while ago.

Addicted to Cool: How the dream of air conditioning turned into the dark future of climate change - "Air conditioning helped spur self-reinforcing cycles of development: Developers offset the cost of central air by building cheaper, flimsier houses, which performed poorly in heat, necessitating artificial cooling, while power companies developed greater capacity that attracted industry and workers, which in turn required more housing and electricity."

Misinformation research is buckling under GOP legal attacks: An escalating campaign, led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and other Republicans, has cast a pall over programs that study political disinformation and the quality of medical information online

Reading archive 2023-07-21

Opinion  Jason Aldean cashes in on the right-wing fantasy of violent retribution - "It might sound as though it’s addressed to urbanites, but they’re not the real audience. It’s not a warning against city people coming to small towns; it’s a dream of how great it would be if they did. Then they could finally get what they deserve."

Opinion  In the House, it’s open season on LGBTQ Americans

Reading archive 2023-07-013

The high plains drought is so bad that Kansas is importing wheat from Europe

Murdoch is realizing that he’s stuck with the monster he created

Russia’s war might have a new casualty: The Putin-Erdogan bond

You might have mice without knowing it. Here’s how to outsmart them.: Mice are adaptable enough to work around your cat’s nap schedule, and fast enough to cover several feet per second

She Steals Surfboards by the Seashore. She’s a Sea Otter.: California wildlife officials are hoping to apprehend a 5-year-old sea otter, who has a knack for riding the waves after committing longboard larceny.

Tracy Chapman, Luke Combs and the complicated response to ‘Fast Car’: Combs’s remake of Chapman’s 1988 hit now dominates the country charts, renewing difficult conversations about diversity in Nashville

Reading archive 2023-03-02

D.C.’s long-term finances at risk as downtown stays sluggish, CFO warns

Fare-free bus program doesn’t have funding, D.C. finance chief says: D.C. Council members said the chief financial officer is removing funding from the program after previously certifying funding. They said they plan to challenge his ruling.

The Fleetwood Mac love saga that inspired ‘Daisy Jones and the Six’

Elon Musk struggles to generate excitement at Tesla: The carmaker’s stock plummeted as Musk pursued Twitter, the social media site he now owns. Now he’s under pressure to rebuild momentum.

Pregnant Russians are streaming into Argentina. Officials are suspicious. - "'The problem is, they’re not coming here to live,' she said. 'They take the passport, and then we find Russian spies in Slovenia with Argentine passports. That’s our fear.'"

G-20 fails to reach consensus on global agenda amid Ukraine disputes: India, which hosted the gathering of the world’s biggest economies, declared afterward that ‘multilateralism is in crisis’

China calls for end of sanctions against Russia, cease-fire in Ukraine

Opinion  Finally, Democrats appear ready to wage war on Fox News

Opinion  Christopher Wray is getting away with doing a lousy job

Walmart’s breakup with H Street hurts. Yet again, it’s not us. It’s you.

Rising thefts at Walmart could lead to price jumps, store closures, CEO says

Reading archive 2022-12-02

Christine McVie Made Fleetwood Mac Fun: Remembering the songwriter famous for “Don’t Stop,” “Everywhere,” and “Little Lies,” who died Wednesday at 79

A state dinner throws everyone off, just a little. And that’s glorious.

Edward Snowden swears allegiance to Russia and receives passport, lawyer says

TSA now wants to scan your face at security. Here are your rights.: 16 major domestic airports are testing facial-recognition tech to verify IDs — and it could go nationwide in 2023

Should you not have kids because of climate change? It’s complicated.: Some researchers have claimed the best thing to do for the environment is to have fewer children. The truth is more complicated.

Reading archive 2022-12-01

KS Supreme Court Justice Stegall leaves KU, cites uproar over conservative campus speaker

Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac singer and songwriter, dies at 79: Her credits include some of the band’s biggest hits, among them “Don’t Stop,” about her crumbling marriage to bandmate John McVie

Prince William’s godmother resigns royal role over treatment of Black palace guest

Where did all the key changes go?

East Potomac Park Is Getting Bike Lanes In December

Officials fear ‘complete doomsday scenario’ for drought-stricken Colorado River

Jerry Jones helped transform the NFL, except when it comes to race: Decades after standing on the frontlines of one of Little Rock’s darkest segregation clashes, the Dallas Cowboys owner has led the league toward new revenue models but has yet to hire a Black head coach

Reading archive 2021-10-18

Demolition has started at McMillan, but the legal saga continues

The Battle for McMillan: Why is the plan to redevelop the site of a decommissioned water treatment plant in Washington, DC so controversial?

McMillan, D.C.’s Most Cursed Development Project, Explained

D.C. approved a development at McMillan in 2014. Will it ever be built?

Northern Virginia Koran tutor convicted of receiving child pornography

Opinion: Joe Manchin’s ugly new demands expose the absurdity of arbitrary centrism - "Niskanen policy director Samuel Hammond calls Manchin’s position 'performative austerity,' and points to a deep perversity. The work requirement is supposed to avoid fostering dependency. As it is, such a requirement is misguided: People need the CTC not because they are unwilling to work, but because children impose additional costs.

"But beyond this, Hammond notes, means testing the program might create more dependency by creating incentives not to strive for a higher income, making it more like the sort of welfare program Manchin fears. 

"'If Manchin is worried about dependency, he should see the value in having the CTC be relatively universal,' Hammond told me. 'Narrowly targeting the credit to the lowest income families risks creating a stigmatizing poverty trap.'"

The WHO has a bold new plan to find covid-19’s origins. China could get in the way.

Opinion: Urban myths about economics have taken root — and the cost is high

The days of U.S. tech companies fighting back against authoritarian regimes are long gone

The Kyrie Conundrum: Kyrie Irving’s stance on the vaccine is a complicated and not very fun thing to talk about, because it’s a story in which two individually messy subjects intersect in compoundingly messy ways

Opinion: Kyrie Irving’s self-pitying refusal to get vaccinated is pathetic and dangerous

In search for coronavirus origins, Hubei caves and wildlife farms draw new scrutiny - "A reporter observed human traffic into Enshi caves, including domestic tourism, spelunking and villagers replacing a drinking water pump inside a cave. Defunct wildlife farms sat as close as one mile from the entrances."

At Alaska’s most popular national park, climate change threatens the only road in and out

‘More immediate, more visceral’ and a lot tougher on Eric Clapton: A plan for reviving Rolling Stone

Netflix fires employee for sharing information about Dave Chappelle’s special amid LGBTQ backlash

D.C. should consider excluding gun offenders from the Youth Act leniency, police chief says - "Five years ago, a Post investigation found hundreds sentenced under the Youth Act went on to commit rapes, robberies and homicides." [ed. note: JFC the My'onna Hinton story is insane]

Eric Clapton Isn't Just Spouting Vaccine Nonsense—He's Bankrolling: It Eric Clapton went from setting the standard for rock guitar to making ‘full-tilt’ racist rants to becoming an outspoken vaccine skeptic. Did he change? Or was he always like this?