Reading archive 2026-07-27

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

...

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

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

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

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

Reading archive 2026-04-27

Trump officials hire ‘deportation judges’ with less training, experience: The president is remaking courts to clear a backlog of asylum cases. Hires include an attorney for Jan. 6 rioters and a lawyer who championed Minneapolis ICE raids. - "Asylum rejections more than doubled to 82,371 last fiscal year, which ran from Oct. 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2025. The percentage of asylum cases granted by judges plummeted to less than 5 percent in February, compared with 48 percent in the same month in 2024 under Biden, according to TRAC."

Trump steps up a campaign against teaching English to immigrant kids The administration plans to dissolve the office that supports English instruction. - "Regardless of your opinion on illegal immigration, it’s a good idea to help these kids become as proficient in English as possible. Particularly if you support President Donald Trump’s executive order designating English 'the official language of the United States.'" [ed. note: from Jim Geraghty of the National Review]

Mood in Russia turns bleak as war in Ukraine drags on and economy suffers: With the war in its fifth year, talks stalled and sanctions biting deeper, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ratings are falling and citizens are voicing despair.

Idaho lawmakers, deadlocked over ‘rat apocalypse,’ blame city transplants: Lawmakers have spent hours debating a surge in rodents menacing Boise-area gardens and kitchens and threatening agriculture and public health.

Trump’s idea to ‘just buy’ bankrupt Spirit Airlines draws GOP backlash: The president said this week that bailing out the airline would save jobs, but his administration is divided.

The Trump-class battleships are a waste of time and money: The firing of Navy Secretary John Phelan reflects Pentagon tensions. - "It’s unfortunate that the administration is misallocating so many defense resources because U.S. defense needs are urgent — and deserve more funding, if not necessarily 50 percent more."

Democrats are closer than you think to upending the electoral college: The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact going into effect is suddenly plausible.

D.C. aims to counter rise in domestic violence amid spate of high-profile cases: Mayor Muriel Bowser and U.S. Attorney Janine Pirro introduced a bill that would boost penalties as women are more likely to experience domestic abuse in D.C. than in any state. - "Experts point to massive amounts of job loss in the region — D.C. has had the highest unemployment rate in the country for months, according to federal data. Intensifying federal immigration enforcement that has contributed to a climate of fear and stress in immigrant communities has also been a factor, with prevalence of guns in the city making matters worse for those already living with abuse."

Walking near a D.C. school raises the chance of being hit by a car, data shows: A Washington Post analysis of accident data shows pedestrians near schools are 24 percent more likely to be hit than elsewhere in the city. - "'We want safe streets across the District of Columbia,' McDuffie said during a recent interview with the 'Dream City' podcast. 

"But, he said, he would eliminate 'predatory' traffic cameras in some lower-income areas that lead to repetitive fines levied against local residents.'"

‘Michael’ Is a Vain Account of the Man in the Mirror: After an overlooked legal settlement spurred extensive reshoots, the new Michael Jackson biopic’s selective memory adheres to its subject’s self-mythologizing

Theft Is Now Progressive Chic: In some left-wing corners of the commentariat, moral rectitude is out. Flagrant disregard of the social contract is in.

Israel Could Have What It Most Wants in Lebanon: It just has to give up territorial ambitions and work with the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah.

Texans Will Decide if Jesus Was a Lefty: James Talarico is trying to sell a novel brand of Christian politics in a deep-red state.

How Netanyahu Hurt America’s Jews: The Israeli prime minister’s focus is, as always, on himself and his near-term political needs. The plight of American Jews is simply not his concern. - "Beyond Netanyahu's overt interference in American politics, he's also impeded repeated U.S. diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israel-Palestine question. Although Israeli recalcitrance on moving toward a viable two-state solution has often been matched or exceeded by the Palestinian Authority, there is no question that Netanyahu's continued support for expanding settlements in the West Bank and his lack of serious engagement in peace talks have further alienated Democrats. In the past, even when Israeli leaders disagreed with the United States, they would try to avoid open provocations. Bibi, it seems, goes out of his way to frustrate the U.S. Not surprisingly, every Democratic president who has dealt with Netanyahu directly-Clinton, Obama, Biden-appears to loathe him."

The Iran Talks Are Making India Feel Small: Modi styled himself a global leader but can’t seem to get ahead of events in the Middle East.

Reading archive 2026-04-08

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading archive 2026-03-26

Neither tattoos nor slurs are slowing this Senate candidate down: The controversial Democrat is still piquing Mainers’ interest by channeling their frustrations. - "That’s if Platner can pull off his big ideas. Anger might be enough to win the primary in June. But it will be difficult to persuade working Mainers to replace the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee with a junior senator who thinks he can deliver universal health care without raising their taxes." [ed. note: Senate Approps doesn't do anything anymore, though, lol]

Politicians are trying to make life cheaper. Economists are appalled.: Republicans and Democrats are pitching ideas intended to address affordability, but experts warn the proposals could cause other problems.

Pentagon considers diverting Ukraine military aid to the Middle East: A shift would highlight the growing trade-offs required for the U.S. to sustain its war with Iran as the conflict depletes the military’s critical munitions. - "Separately, the Pentagon notified Congress on Monday that it intended to divert about $750 million in funding provided by NATO countries through the PURL program to restock the U.S. military’s own inventories, rather than to send additional assistance to Ukraine, according to two U.S. officials.

"The first official said it was unclear whether European countries providing their funds for the initiative to bolster Ukraine understood how the money was being spent."

Bigotry among young conservatives has Republicans on edge: Many Republicans dismiss such party members even as white supremacists like Nick Fuentes gain popularity, but there’s growing unease at their presence in the rank and file.

Reading archive 2026-02-13

What Alcohol Does to the Body: From the moment you take a sip, drinking starts to influence your biology. Here’s an inside look.

Consumers and businesses paid nearly 90% of Trump tariffs in 2025, new analysis found

Using a law deployed against mob bosses, D.C. files suit against a landlord: The suit, filed by D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, claims the landlord and two of his family members enriched themselves while leaving tenants in squalid, unsafe conditions.

How to make sure the Stalinist in the Kremlin faces a grim future: Crippled by his Ukraine misadventure, Vladimir Putin is surely defining success down.

The Epstein Emails Show How the Powerful Talk About Race: The files reveal the disgraced financier’s interest in “race science.”

Zelensky Makes His Pitch to Trump: Ukraine’s president calls on his most powerful ally to not squander the chance to make peace.

This Is How a Child Dies of Measles: When your family becomes a data point in an outbreak [exemplum]

John Oliver Keeps Pushing the Rock Up the Hill: As ‘Last Week Tonight’ launches its 13th season into an atmosphere of division and anti-information, its host explains how the show has changed—and why they keep making it

Reading archive 2026-02-09

 Killers without a cause: The rise in nihilistic violent extremism: “The message is there is no message.”

The AI boom is so huge it’s causing shortages everywhere else: The $700 billion AI spending spree has few precedents. Good luck finding an electrician or a reasonably priced smartphone.

Another ludicrous canceling of a name from the past: Shaming the dead is an asinine culture warriors’ pastime. Now it’s the great diarist Samuel Pepys’s turn. - "It is notable that the ire of activists never seems to be directed at Karl Marx, whose repeated use of the most objectionable racial slurs in his personal correspondence is curiously overlooked. Meanwhile, protesters in Portland, Oregon, in a 2020 demonstration that organizers called an 'Indigenous Day of Rage,' tore down statues of former presidents Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt."

Ice dance will incorporate queer culture unlike in any other Olympics: Officials asked teams to open their millennial playlists and skate their first program to music from the ’90s.

Will Texas elect a Democratic senator?: James Talarico, a liberal minister-in-training, fights an uphill battle to capture a GOP Senate seat in deep-red Texas.

The unflinching hosts of ‘I’ve Had It’ aren’t backing down: Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan have emerged as effective political commentators.

American Milk Has Changed: A dramatic increase in fat content is causing pains in the dairy industry.

Reading archive 2026-02-06

Good news: We saved the bees. Bad news: We saved the wrong ones.: Honeybees have never been in danger of extinction. But scientists are finding that they can accelerate the demise of native bee populations.

Ron Wyden Only Talks Like This When The Spies Do Something *Real* Bad: No, I don't know what they did. But I have a lot of experience with the senator

The Means-Testing Industrial Complex - "The CBO conservatively estimates that these rules will strip Medicaid coverage from over 7 million people. For millions of working Americans this maze of new rules will mean losing their life-saving health insurance and financial ruin. For Mark Begor, Equifax, and other government contractors, this maze of new rules means profit.

...

"With governments entirely reliant on Equifax to administer life-saving benefits to millions of low-income Americans, steep price hikes quickly followed. The New York Times uncovered that in many places, the toll paid to Equifax for the Work Number doubled, then tripled, and more than quadrupled in only a few years. Local, state, and federal agencies have helplessly watched their public funds raided, boxed in by the dual forces of means-testing requirements and unconstrained market power.

...

"Again, new work requirements for Medicaid highlight the profits to be made from adding complexity to the safety net. Since Georgia implemented work requirements in 2020, they have spent twice as much on Deloitte consultants and administrative costs as on healthcare for people. As the other 55 states and territories are now forced to join Georgia and implement new work requirements, millions will lose their healthcare and Deloitte will cash in."

James Comer Gives Dems an Unexpected Gift: The House Oversight Committee swung at Clinton but might have hit Trump. [ed. note: dragging an ex-president in front of Congress sets a precedent that Trump doesn't like]

Tulsi Gabbard is showing why her job shouldn’t exist: Trump’s director of national intelligence is making worse the problems with the ill-conceived role.

What Democrats are demanding in exchange for funding ICE: Republicans have criticized Democrats’ proposals as “a ridiculous Christmas list” but say they’re willing to negotiate.

Trump shares, then deletes video depicting Obamas as apes: Tim Scott, the sole Black Republican in the Senate, called it “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”

Bollywood Embraces a Taj Mahal Conspiracy Theory: The internet and a new film have breathed life into old conspiracy theories about one of the world’s most famous landmarks. - "The film’s promotional materials promised to 'reveal the untold history' of the landmark. It doesn’t. What it has done instead is rehash discredited claims that once were relegated to the fringes of the internet, giving prominence to efforts to inflame sectarian tensions.

...

"[P.N. Oak, inventor of this lie] also published numerous other books claiming that Christianity and Islam were in fact offshoots of Hinduism and that many physical landmarks of those faiths, including St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and the Kaaba in Mecca, were originally Hindu temples. 

"Oak didn’t disguise his intentions. Born in the British colonial era (and having fought on the Japanese side in World War II), he founded the Institute for Rewriting Indian History, which sought to recast the nation’s history as one of conquest and colonization of its true Hindu identity."

Reading archive 2026-01-27

How bad is your stove for your health? Look it up.

The ‘one-legged stools’ holding up a fragile economy: The U.S. economy is growing, but economists worry that its strength is too narrowly focused.

Outrage over ICE has spilled into typically apolitical online spaces: Fury over Alex Pretti’s killing has flooded forums for golfers, cat lovers and bourbon aficionados, reflecting a growing outrage over the Trump administration’s crackdown.

Trump’s Head-Scratching Turn Toward China: The president’s very personal approach to diplomacy poses real threats to American security. - "Although a hard line on China was a centerpiece of Trump's first term, he has gone soft in his second. The president has removed nearly all of the tariffs that he imposed on Chinese imports last year, and he has loosened controls on the sale of advanced American semiconductors to China-over the objections of national-security experts-on the condition that Nvidia coughs up a cut of its sales to the U.S. government. Trump also hailed his October 2025 summit with China's leader, Xi Jinping, as a meeting of the 'G2,' or 'Group of 2,' a flattering nod to the idea that the United States and China are the two most powerful countries in the world."

How the Bernie Goetz Shootings Explain the Trump Era: A notorious event in 1984 divided New Yorkers in ways that feel extremely familiar four decades later. - "White Americans in particular were offered a Faustian bargain during the Reagan '80s: accept a thinner safety net, a harsher economy, and a more unequal society - but in return, receive the emotional satisfaction of seeing the 'right' people punished by an ever-expanding criminal-justice system, and the tacit assurance that if they happened to visit their own frustrations on someone who did not look like them, that same system would protect them."

Reading archive 2025-11-20

I love your sweater. Is it made from gay sheep wool?: Grindr organized a fashion show made from the wool of gay sheep. Wait, what?

House votes to undo law allowing senators to sue over Jan. 6 subpoenas: It faces an uncertain future in the Senate, despite most eligible senators saying they won’t sue.

Mystery Fuels Unease in Maine Woods: Who Bought Burnt Jacket Mountain?: An anonymous new owner fenced off beloved trails and put up surveillance cameras in a region with a long tradition of allowing public access on private land.

Why ‘Twin Peaks’ Still Looks Incredible Decades Later: Director of Photography Ronald Víctor García shares all the metaphorical direction Lynch would give him to nail the show's warm vibes.

It’s the ‘most important fish in the sea.’ And it’s disappearing.: If the menhaden decline continues, striped bass could be next to vanish. - "This isn’t a debate over red tape — it’s a fight over who controls the base of the Atlantic’s food chain: the public that depends on a healthy ocean or a private fleet that treats it like an industrial feedlot.

...

"Omega Protein’s dominance, however, is sustained not by biology but by politics. Although it employs fewer than 300 full-time workers, the company wields outsized influence in Richmond. Its lobbyists, including the powerhouse legal and public affairs firm McGuireWoods, have long worked both sides of the aisle — Republicans for their support of commercial interests and Democrats for their emphasis on union jobs — to block conservation efforts."

U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols: The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”

U.S. delivers peace plan for Ukraine, sparking fears of ‘capitulation’: Kyiv’s European partners said they should be involved in proposals for the security of Ukraine and Europe, indicating they hadn’t even been briefed on the plan. - "Special envoy Steve Witkoff is quietly pushing a plan that contains provisions that Ukraine has long opposed, including forcing it to cede strategic territory not yet seized by Russia in the eastern Donbas region and agreeing to significant reductions in the size and effectiveness of its military, according to two people familiar with the negotiations."

As Trump plans backfire, Democrats are ahead in House redistricting fight :After early redistricting wins, Trump faces setbacks over maps for Texas, Indiana and other Republican-led states, frustrating his allies.

Republican overseeing Alamo renovation ousted after ‘woke’ social media post: Kate Roger, a Republican, has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against state officials after a social media post and PhD dissertation led to her losing the job of overseeing a massive renovation of the Texas landmark.

CDC in turmoil after agency backpedals on debunking vaccines-autism link: The CDC’s website now says health authorities ignored evidence of a potential connection between vaccines and autism, despite dozens of studies showing no link.

What If Aliens Don’t Actually Do Science?: Daniel Whiteson and Andy Warner Consider the Many Forms Inquiry Can Take, In Our World and Others - "To make bread or swords, humans didn’t have to know what was going on at the microscopic level. People all over the globe had fantastically impressive technology long before we had our modern, mathematical, empirical science."

Democrats Finally Realize It Isn’t 2016 Anymore: Members of the left and the center seem to have concluded that, to win elections, each side needs to become more like the other.

Part 1: How I Found Out

Reading archive 2025-10-27

Missing money, staged break-in alleged in AU professor murder trial: In the first week of testimony, Montgomery County prosecutors have alleged financial wrongdoing and a $500,000 insurance policy were behind defendant Jorge Rueda Landeros’s crime.

GOP lawmakers raise pressure on Smithsonian over space shuttle fight: Texas legislators, who want the Smithsonian’s Discovery shuttle moved to Houston, accused the institution of potentially violating anti-lobbying laws. The institution has said the move would break the spacecraft apart.

What happens when a conservative group visits an HBCU homecoming?: Turning Point’s Blexit group is on a tour of historically Black campuses in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s slaying. Howard University students weren’t impressed.

I’m shocked — shocked! — to find that gambling is going on in the NBA: The one thing sports can’t survive are fans who no longer trust the games to be on the level.

A colossal Buc-ee’s broke a small Colorado town: In the fight to preserve Palmer Lake something has already been lost: civility.

Young Republican Messages Highlight a Disturbing Trend - "But clearly to a portion of the young right, the actual substance of what provocateurs have been saying has been worth celebrating — not just their right to say it."[ed. note: National Review]

How Jack Smith’s strongest case against Donald Trump collapsed: Seeking to get the classified-documents case to a jury before the 2024 election, the special counsel made a fateful decision that some in his office saw as a misstep.

Reading archive 2025-07-07

Shooters emerged from car in D.C. slaying of congressional intern: Police say they’re trying to enhance video of the incident that left one dead and two others injured.

I’m a gastroenterologist. Here’s why I tell my patients to eat this one fruit.: Kiwis can boost your gut health. They may also lower triglycerides and cancer risk.

Do you need a measles vaccine booster? Here’s what to know.: The answer depends on when you were born, your vaccine records and whether you plan to travel internationally.

How this group got Trump to sign a pro-environment executive order: The "Make America Beautiful Again” executive order will establish a council tasked with preserving public lands, wildlife and drinking water supplies.

Did Canada just change how we think of Trump’s 2024 election?: Perhaps Trump’s win wasn’t about Trump at all

Trump’s big bill will snuff out Kansas hospitals and eviscerate Medicaid. Jerry Moran just shrugs.

Wall Street Worries as Crisis-Level Deficits Become the Government’s Default Mode: New legislation could push federal debt into dangerous territory—without an emergency requiring it

Debacle in the desert: will the Athletics’ $1.75bn stadium on the Vegas Strip ever be built?

How ‘Love Island USA’ forced a star’s exit after racist posts resurfaced: Cierra Ortega was quietly dumped from the villa after posts resurfaced of her using an Asian slur.

Russian minister found dead, likely of suicide, authorities say: Roman Starovoit found dead in his car with a gunshot wound on the same day he was relieved of his job as Russian transportation minister by President Vladimir Putin.

CVS was so worried about shoplifting that it stole its own soul: My local pharmacy’s products are now encased in glass, and the whole thing makes me very nervous.

Trump World’s Wizard of Oz Problem: Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon don’t speak for Trump or his base. So why do people think they do? - "Few jobs in Trump world are more farcical than the position of 'architect' of 'America First': There are no MAGA intellectuals, just Trump and opportunistic ideologues attempting to hitch their pet projects to his brand. The self-styled thought leaders of the Trump movement are merely political entrepreneurs trying to appropriate the president for their own purposes and to recast his chaotic and idiosyncratic decisions as reflections of their personal worldview."

The Most Perverse Part of the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ :The Republican megabill could be setting America up for the worst energy-affordability crisis since the 1970s. - "Blackouts and grid outages will become more frequent. Power-intensive industries such as AI and manufacturing will struggle under the weight of higher energy costs. China will solidify its dominance over clean-energy supply chains. 'Just think of Trump's own priorities: lower energy prices, becoming an AI superpower, reindustrializing America, outcompeting China,' Princeton's Jenkins said. 'Getting rid of these credits hurts all of those goals.' But there is one priority missing from that list: owning the libs. 

"Partisan polarization around clean energy has grown so extreme since the passage of the IRA that Trump and many other Republicans apparently see destroying it as an end in itself."

What Really Happened to Malaysia’s Missing Airplane: Five years ago, the flight vanished into the Indian Ocean. Officials on land know more about why than they dare to say.

Reading archive 2025-06-30

Nancy Mace privately asks Trump aides to unfreeze Mercedes EV funds: The program, set up through President Joe Biden’s climate law, would benefit a Mercedes-Benz plant in South Carolina. - "Roughly 85 percent of the investments unlocked in part by the 2022 law have come in Republican districts, according to an analysis last year by E2, a nonpartisan group."

No bones, no scales, no problem: The first lab-grown salmon sold in the U.S.: Wildtype’s cell-cultivated salmon is the first seafood to earn FDA approval, marking a significant milestone for the alternative protein industry.

Young Republicans are fueling the GOP’s generational divide on Israel: “To be ‘America First,’ the Stars and Stripes must come before the Star of David,” said one 20-year-old conservative. - "'I get most of my information from podcasts, from Twitter, from real-time updates, as things are happening,' he said. 'I feel like older generations typically still rely on cable news and newspapers, whereas either the information is more delayed or it’s more of a manufactured narrative.'"

Man who kicked customs dog at Dulles ordered to leave U.S.: A 70-year-old man pleaded guilty to attacking Freddie the Beagle and was ordered to pay $840 in vet fees.

Mamdani faces Islamophobic attacks from GOP lawmakers, commentators: The latest barrage has included comments from Republicans in Congress, with some calling on the likely Democratic nominee for New York mayor to be ‘deported.’

As indicted ex-D.C. lawmaker seeks election, opponents urge voters to move on: Trayon White Sr., expelled from the D.C. Council in February after a bribery arrest, faces three challengers who all hope the electorate wants someone new.

How park visitors responded when asked to report anti-American signs Most comments reviewed by The Post were positive, though some visitors complained that there were too many mosquitos and “not enough moose.”

Giant crowd at Pride in Budapest defies repressive new Hungarian law: With the support of the city’s liberal mayor, organizers of Budapest Pride took to the streets in defiance of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s effort to ban the event.

Morale craters at State Department as mass layoffs loom: Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called the agency “bloated,” yet as violence spiked in the Middle East, staff say they’ve been asked to work extra hours.

Russia unleashes its summer offensive with an army mired in problems: Russia’s army has vast manpower and equipment advantages over Ukraine, but its progress has been slow and Russian military bloggers blame a culture of military corruption.

The billionaire betting on crypto — and the skeptic betting against him: Michael Saylor earned billions selling company stock to buy bitcoin. Jim Chanos, who famously shorted Enron, is suspicious.

CEOs Are Quietly Telling Us the Truth: AI Is Replacing You: They say AI is just a tool to help workers. But read between the lines, and the message is clear: your job is already on the line.

What the Islamophobic Attacks on Mamdani Reveal: Rather than cement its new multiracial coalition, the MAGA movement seems almost desperate to break it apart. - "Just a few months ago, Trumpists were bragging about the multiracial working-class coalition that got them a second term. Now it's as if they've forgotten that coalition entirely. Or perhaps, at some level, they don't want to keep it intact, because they refuse to recognize those communities as fully American, or even fully human."

The Invisible City of Tehran: Secret spaces are layered beneath the visible ones like the traces of ink on a palimpsest.

The Red State Where Republicans Aren’t Afraid of Trump: Some of the last remaining GOP holdouts hail from the same state.

The Iran-China-Russia Axis Crumbles When It Matters: Beijing likes allies who needle the U.S., but it values stability even more. - "Since World War II, leaders of Western democracies have successfully collaborated in part because they have shared a common worldview. Whether Iran's Islamic theocrats can say the same about Xi, the leader of an avowedly atheist state, or Putin, who now positions himself as the champion of Orthodox Christianity, is another question entirely."

Reading archive 2025-02-17

Elon Musk’s Vision Is Coming Into Focus—and It Looks a Lot Like Neo-Apartheid: Apartheid was, first and foremost, a business plan—one that the South African–born Musk seems to be reworking for the modern age. - "Not that I should need to drive this point home, but for the white media reading who refuse to call Trump out for his obvious racism: White South Africans are not oppressed. Whites make up only 7 percent of the population in South Africa, but they own around 75 percent of the land, a “hangover” from the centuries of white oppression and violence against the indigenous Black population there. The non-landowning, white working class also does very well in South Africa, earning around three times more than similarly situated Black laborers. White folks in South Africa are much better off than, say, white folks in West Virginia."

Reading archive 2024-10-27

 Russian economy overheating, but still powering the war against Ukraine: Putin’s massive spending on the war is overheating the economy, but he has the resources to keep doing it. - "The failure of sanctions is closely watched by autocrats, he said.

"'The big message it sends to the Kremlin and to Beijing and any other autocratic potential troublemaker is that the West isn’t serious. The West is more interested in making money in the short term than in confronting autocrats. That’s the number one message, and that is deeply harmful,' he said."

Anti-Puerto Rico comments at Trump rally spur outrage as Bad Bunny supports Harris: The artist’s gesture of support came as a number of speakers at a Trump event in New York made racist and disparaging comments about Puerto Ricans and other Latinos.

Inside the fight for every vote in Montana

Trump says domestic foes worse than Kim Jong Un during meandering Joe Rogan interview: “We have a bigger problem, in my opinion, with the enemy from within,” Trump said after mentioning the oppressive North Korean leader, reprising a phrase that has drawn criticism.

Elon Musk, enemy of ‘open borders,’ launched his career working illegally: Investors in Musk’s first company worried about “our founder being deported” and gave him a deadline for obtaining a work visa.

Elon Musk claims student visa permitted him to work in U.S.: After a Washington Post report and remarks from President Joe Biden, Musk denied working in the U.S. illegally.

Reading archive 2024-09-23

Tech giants fight plan to make them pay more for electric grid upgrades - "Chief among the power company’s concerns, according to the documents, is what will happen if it invests billions of dollars into new grid infrastructure only for the data centers to leave for greener pastures, or for the AI bubble to burst and the facilities to need much less power than initially projected. If the power company spends big on new infrastructure but the power demand it was built to serve doesn’t materialize, other customers — including business and residential payers — will be stuck with the bill, the utility said."

‘Agatha All Along’ star Kathryn Hahn casts an unforgettable spell: As the witch next door in Disney Plus’s ‘WandaVision’ spinoff, the longtime character actress steps into a role worthy of her charms.

Putin wants Russia’s youth to become ultranationalist patriots. Many are all in.

Opinion The U.S. military’s true advantage against any adversary: It’s the NCOs who set the U.S. military apart from the rest of the world.

GOP senator insults Arab American advocate at hearing on hate crimes: Sen. John Neely Kennedy used a hearing about hate crimes to accuse Arab American Institute Executive Director Maya Berry of supporting terrorists.

Russia expels U.K. diplomats; Putin warns against deep strikes with Western weapons: The Russian president issued his sternest warning to date about the use of Western weapons in Ukraine ahead of a meeting of British and U.S. leaders.

The disaster no major U.S. city is prepared for [ed. note: power outage from storm and then heatwave]

Taliban begins enforcing new draconian laws, and Afghan women despair: Afghan religious police wield new power to enforce a ban on women raising their voices in public and looking at men other than their husbands or relatives. - "Some Afghan women blame the outside world for their vanishing freedoms. 'The silence of the world over the last three years will go down as a dark chapter in history,' said Meena, echoing a widespread sentiment in the country that global attention has moved on from Afghanistan." [ed. note: we fought for them for 20 years]

These birds are almost extinct. A radical idea could save them. - "The sihek’s woes started shortly after World War II. Guam was a key battleground between U.S. and Japanese forces. After the war, residents began spotting invasive brown snakes slithering around the island’s trees, probably stowaways from military aircraft or cargo ships. 

"With no natural predators, the snakes proliferated, gobbling up the island’s small animals. Already, the snake has driven nine of Guam’s native forest birds to extinction."

Opinion Decades later, string theory continues its march toward Einstein’s dream: Why we must keep investigating physics’ most tantalizing theory — even without experimental results.

Cars with the most unpaid DC fines go to this impound lot

A survivor to her rapist: ‘I, too, am in prison’: He kidnapped, assaulted and raped multiple women. As activists try to give him a second chance, victims are speaking up about their rights. - "In that courtroom where Hubbard and her best friend from college faced their attacker — yet again — they were devastated that the man who assaulted and degraded them so violently has a real chance of getting out of prison. They now have to wait for the judge’s decision. 

"They were also gobsmacked at the array of help he had there for him — therapists, psychologists, a crusading attorney, anger-management programs."

Satellite footage suggests Russia ICBM launch test was a disaster: The apparent launch failure raised questions about Russia’s military capabilities and put in a dent in the Kremlin’s nuclear saber-rattling.

With nuclear option unlikely, Putin struggles to defend his red lines: There’s a growing realization in the Kremlin that the West is not falling for its nuclear threats and Putin is searching for new ways to enforce his red lines.

As Taliban starts restricting men, too, some regret not speaking up sooner: Beside imposing severe rules on women, new laws require men to grow fist-length beards and bar them from imitating non-Muslims in appearance or behavior. - "Amir, a resident who lives in eastern Afghanistan, said he supported the Taliban up until the latest restrictions. But he now feels bullied into submission by their morality police."

Where the sea wall ends: At a time of fast-rising seas, the ocean is eating away at this barrier island and others like it. But humans, who have held their ground here for over a century, are planning new condos.

The future of RFK Stadium should be up to D.C. — not a Montana senator: A Montana senator is blocking D.C.’s hopes for developing the RFK Stadium site. What if the roles were reversed? - "Close your eyes for a second. Imagine the role of Daines being played by, say, Phil Mendelson (D), the chairman of the D.C. Council. 

"Would the good senator from Montana take kindly to an elected official from the nation’s capital using political performatives to block, say, an economic development project in Bozeman? It sounds absurd because it is absurd."

Here’s how rich each candidate is compared with the average American: Trump, Harris, Vance and Walz span a wide range of financial circumstances. Here’s where they fit on the spectrum of American wealth.

Reading archive 2024-09-12

A political condundrum as an indicted Trayon White seeks reelection: Trayon White Sr.’s future as the Ward 8 D.C. Council member is uncertain, especially if he’s convicted of a felony, which would disqualify him from office.

Feds increase security for Jan. 6 in effort to prevent Capitol attack repeat: The decision will give the next electoral count — scheduled for Jan. 6, 2025 — the same level of security accorded to presidential inaugurations and political conventions.

America’s most secret spy agency now has a podcast: The National Security Agency opens up for the first time about its role in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Congressional Republicans try to hide from Trump’s debate performance: They’re not showing the same clear-eyed analysis from Democrats after Biden’s terrible June 27 debate.

Opinion What kind of commander would Harris be? Here’s what colleagues expect.: Harris is “more hard-line than most people think,” says a retired four-star general who has briefed her many times.

This ‘unhinged’ werewolf has already won Michigan’s election season: A middle-schooler’s unconventional ‘I Voted’ sticker won Michigan’s inaugural contest.

Harris puts pressure on Trump in an elusive battleground: North Carolina: The vice president has raised Democrats’ hopes of winning the Tar Heel State, a populous battleground that has been just beyond their grasp since Barack Obama briefly turned it blue in 2008.

Anatomy of a racist smear: How false claims of pet-eating immigrants caught on: How an anti-immigrant rumor spread from a random Facebook post to leadership of the Republican Party and the biggest influencers on social media so quickly.

Reading archive 2024-08-14

Opinion A different kind of remote work: Two jobs, two checks, one mess: Caroline Lian worked two full-time gigs at the same time by juggling remote and in-person days.

Harris faces N.C. voters skeptical of a promised tech boom: As the Democratic presidential candidate makes another campaign visit to the swing state, Biden’s promise of factory jobs hasn’t swayed voters. - "Even if its slow to get going, BEAD is the most exciting thing to happen to the fiber-optics industry in a long time: Its domestic production requirement is set to create a sales boom for made-in-USA equipment."

Opinion Israel is not the only target of Iranian assassination threats: Tehran has been plotting a violent retaliation campaign against the United States for years.

Ohio officer charged with murder after fatally shooting pregnant woman: The indictment marks the first time the officer, Connor Grubb, has been publicly named.

Congress didn’t recognize a race riot. Biden will make the site a monument.: The president will designate the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument on Friday, the White House confirmed to The Post.

Indicted pro-Trump lawyer who leaked emails is removed from Dominion suit: Dominion Voting Systems lawyers say they will also seek sanctions against Stefanie Lambert’s client, former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, in $1.6 billion defamation suit.

The other big shift in the presidential race: Trump was running against Biden on crime, inflation and the border. Now Biden’s out — and those other issues aren’t as potent as they were.

Trump vs. Harris magnifies America’s generational and cultural divides: The candidates, their movements and their rallies embody two very different identities, setting up a stark contrast for voters.

Why Trump keeps talking about fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter: Trump is the “crypt keeper for the 1980s,” a Trump biographer said. Trump has mentioned Lecter while making baseless claims about immigrants.

Reading archive 2024-08-01

Video of fatal SWAT shooting: ‘Listen to mommy ... they’re going to kill you.’: A SWAT officer’s video indicates the man he shot was holding a gun in their Montgomery County encounter. But what exactly prompted officers to go in when they did is unclear.

A long shot for vice president, Pete Buttigieg is suddenly everywhere: In a reshaped race, the transportation secretary has dialed up his role as a key political messenger for the Democratic Party.

Opinion ‘Weird’ does not begin to describe the Trump threat: Sure, there are upsides to this strategy. But Vice President Harris’s team needs to use it with caution. - "As journalist Joe Conason put it, 1930s-era dictators 'were mocked as buffoons in their day, but when they suddenly came to power the joke was no longer quite so funny.' In some sense, Trump’s misplaced vanity, narcissism and ignorance are laughable. But we should never forget that those very qualities make him impervious to shame and contemptuous of social norms and legal restraints."

Gen X and millennials at higher cancer risk than older generations: Cancer rates for 17 of the 34 most common cancers are increasing in progressively younger generations, a large new study shows.

High levels of ultra-processed foods linked with early death, brain issues: Such foods encompass a broad category, including cookies, doughnuts, potato chips, hot dogs, white bread and frozen meals

A list of people freed in prisoner swap deal with Russia: Journalists, including Evan Gershkovich, and political activists were released by Russia for spies and a convicted assassin.

How false claims about a mass stabbing led to a riot in the U.K. The riot in Southport, England, followed false claims that an immigrant was responsible for the attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class that killed three girls. - "Because of the suspect’s age, his name has not been released by authorities. But he was born in Britain — in Cardiff, Wales — police stressed, and had been living in the nearby community of Banks. The BBC and Financial Times reported that his parents were originally from Rwanda."

Opinion  At NABJ, Trump was both a missile and a mirror: At the convention, Donald Trump was given a forum to attack and degrade us while we listened politely.

Opinion  Harris is playing Trump’s game: Her response to Donald Trump’s bigotry was a missed opportunity to deliver her own message. - "Trump intends to run the only campaign he has ever been capable of running — an attack on multiculturalism and changing demographics. Trump’s argument, reduced to its core, is that the America of his youth is being ruined by immigrants and coddled minorities, and Democrats are too controlled by the cult of diversity to do anything about it.

...

"Whereas it’s actually Trump who is endlessly obsessed with identity — that’s the point. And so a more disciplined response from Harris would have sounded something like: 'I don’t know why he’s talking about me being Black again, or where I grew up, or whatever. It’s kind of strange, this fixation with who belongs and who doesn’t. The vast majority of Americans don’t really define each other by skin color or where their parents came from anymore, but I guess Donald missed all that.'"

Biden, Trump exchange jabs as Russia prisoner swap turns political: The intricate, seven-country prisoner exchange — coming just 96 days before Election Day — was quickly thrust into the nation’s fraught political landscape.

School taught JD Vance to see a divided nation — and to use that division: From fitting in at Ohio State University to feeling like an outsider at Yale Law School, Vance learned how to move between worlds, supporters say. Opponents say he learned to be an exploitative chameleon. - "Nelson also recalled Vance waxing 'vicious' in his critique of Yale’s “elite” culture, but noted he wasted no time in figuring out how to plumb the school’s vast resources, especially its well-connected professors who could provide entree to prestigious summer jobs."

Paul Whelan, a former Marine, showed defiance throughout his detention: He was serving a 16-year sentence after an espionage conviction that the U.S. government called a farce. [ed. note: dude is a POS]

Reading archive 2024-07-24

Trump allies crush misinformation research despite Supreme Court loss: High court ruling green-lighting contact between government and tech companies to stymie falsehoods online hasn’t deterred a GOP campaign against academics, nonprofits and tech industry initiatives aimed at addressing their spread.

WHAT YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT SALMON FROM ITS PACKAGING

Opinion  Libraries can help end the culture wars. That’s why they’re under fire.: Nothing threatens authoritarianism like a quiet place to explore knowledge. - "Many school librarians have quit, exhausted by harassment and even death threats; during the 2021-2022 school year, 35 percent of districts nationwide had no librarian at all."

Harris’s campaign will have to contend with DEI, culture war attacks: In the wake of Biden’s announcement that he would not run for a second term, attacks based on Harris’s racial identity were the most common form of criticism of her on X, according to recent data.

Harris’s ascent fills some Black women with jubilation — and fear: Interviews with more than a dozen Black women revealed excitement as well as concern about Harris’s ability to win at a moment when racism and sexism are palpable.

Scientists find ‘dark oxygen’ being produced from metals on the seafloor: Organisms normally need light to produce oxygen through a process known as photosynthesis.

Sharks test positive for cocaine in Brazil’s drug-polluted waters: Brazilian sharpnose sharks found with cocaine in their livers and muscles highlight the impact of the illegal drug trade on marine life, scientists say.

House GOP leaders ask members to stop making racial attacks against Harris: Almost immediately after President Biden announced Sunday that he was endorsing Harris to replace him on the ticket, Republicans began their offensive against Harris.

J.D. Vance said Kamala Harris has no kids. Stepparents would like a word.: The vice president is stepmother to two children, but that hasn’t stopped her opponents from suggesting she isn’t a real parent.

How ‘carbon cowboys’ are cashing in on protected Amazon forest: A six-month investigation reveals that many carbon credit ventures reap profits from public lands they have no right to and fail to share revenue with those protecting the forest.

Conspiracy theories about Biden’s covid built on years of Trump rhetoric: Top right-wing figures tied together the major news of the past weeks to fuel falsehoods.

Reading archive 2024-03-30

Confronting introduced species: a form of xenophobia?

Half of senior staffers in Congress are so fed up that they may quit: Capitol Hill aides worry that lawmakers have increased their bombast so much that it makes it harder to do their jobs

GOP lawmakers replace trustees at historically Black college in Tennessee - "'Some years, the University of Tennessee even got more than its required funding levels,' Pearson said. 'But Tennessee State University was denied those resources, and because they were denied the resources, there were problems that occurred.'"

China is all in on green tech. The U.S. and Europe fear unfair competition.