Reading archive 2026-07-27

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

...

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

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

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

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

Reading archive 2026-07-06

6 surprising tips for how to hydrate better: Experts share the latest thinking on how to make sure you’re consuming the water your body needs while avoiding health risks.

Iran’s regime survived the war and is now savvier, ruthless and more hard-line: After months of strikes by the U.S. and Israel, the Iranian regime has emerged emboldened, contradicting Trump’s claim of accomplishing “regime change.” - "Those in charge now, experts said, are part of a postrevolutionary cohort who are less extreme in their religious views but equally ruthless in their willingness to use brutal force to maintain control. 

"Their understanding of the United States has less to do with the hostage crisis of 1979 than their front-row view of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conflicts that went on for years but ended with the United States having achieved few of its core aims. 

"The new group’s more sophisticated grasp of American pressure points may account for Iran’s strategy of launching retaliatory strikes against Persian Gulf allies of the United States, as well as its halting of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which yielded major economic leverage."

How Metro got its groove back: Ten years ago, WMATA was in dismal shape. Now, people are lining up to rep the transit system with pride. - "A plan initiated by WMATA and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the DMVMoves initiative, would instead have the three jurisdictions agree to contribute a total of $460 million annually, and grow 3% each year. Virginia included its share in its budget and Maryland pledged to do so next legislative cycle; the agency is waiting for D.C. to do the same."

As Christians are attacked in Israel, government shows little concern: Christians are being targeted by hostility and violence and say their attackers feel emboldened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. - "When an earlier wave of harassment targeting Christians made headlines in 2017, Itamar Ben Gvir, then a settler activist and lawyer, gave a radio interview to defend spitting at Christian monks and churches as 'an ancient Jewish tradition.'"

Air Force major arrested in uniform at U.S. Capitol had protested Trump before: After holding an anonymous hunger strike last year, Maj. Jason Watson decided not to hide his identity at his recent protest.

White House report accuses Smithsonian museum of ‘extreme political activism’: The 162-page report on the National Museum of American History marks an escalation of President Donald Trump’s criticism of the Smithsonian museums.

Inside the secret AI war between Silicon Valley and China: American tech firms say rivals are forcing their chatbots to act as tutors to make Chinese AI smarter.

Europe wants tourists out — except this kind: Restrictions on short-term rentals and other limitations are turning international travel into a luxury.

Pete Buttigieg’s Ordeal Is a Frightening New Form of Political Harassment: People considering a role in public life should not have to worry about the risks to their children.

Why Everyone Is Suddenly Talking About ‘Universal Basic Capital’: The policy could provide a much-needed hedge against a future AI dystopia—but only if it’s designed the right way. - "If the U.S. government owned huge portions of, say, OpenAI and Anthropic, it would have a strong incentive to do everything in its power to make sure those firms were financially successful. That might mean gutting labor or safety standards that would delay the technology's rollout, ignoring anticompetitive acts, or providing favors in the form of cheap loans or lucrative government contracts. If the AI sector turned out to be a bubble, as many fear, the companies could likely count on a government bailout. 'The federal government is really the only entity powerful enough to be a real check on these companies,' Samuel Hammond, the chief economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, a center-right think tank, told me. 'If they become joined at the hip, that check goes away. It can easily become a form of regulatory capture.'

"These problems could be avoided with carefully constructed restrictions to mitigate conflicts of interest. Norway, for instance, has been a global leader in the transition away from fossil fuels and toward green energy despite the fact that its fund is seeded by oil revenues. But America isn't Norway. Although Sanders calls for the wealth fund to be managed by an 'independent commission,' the idea of a massive new state-run enterprise maintaining operational independence from political actors in the Trump era is laughable. (Just this week, the Supreme Court ruled that the president could remove the leaders of "independent agencies" at will.) A sovereign wealth fund would functionally hand Trump a giant pot of money that he could use to enrich himself and his family, hand out favors to political allies, and force business leaders to bend the knee. It would also give him control over how the technology is developed and deployed. This would radically alter the balance of power between Washington and Silicon Valley. Earlier this year, Anthropic refused to allow the U.S. military to use its technology for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons. That kind of decision would no longer be possible if the government owned a controlling stake in the company. 'We've already seen what happens when Trump is able to tell TV stations who they should have as a late-night host or how to run their news shows,' Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told me. 'Do you really want to see what happens when we give him the power to run large chunks of corporate America?'"

The Capital Is a Mess: Chain-link fences, construction cranes, armed guards, and portable toilets everywhere

How Britain Became as Poor as Mississippi: A case study in self-sabotage - "The country's downward slide has been consistent in one respect: As Britain has become more and more aware of its diminishment, it has retreated ever more fully into a defensive crouch. Politics have become zero-sum, descending into fights over who has robbed whom. Suspicion has fallen, above all, on immigrants, whom both major parties have turned against. There is still an enduring strain of British exceptionalism, quieter and more understated than the American version, which suggests that by retreating inward, Britain can make itself great again. Astonishingly, or perhaps predictably, it is growing stronger as the country's problems get worse.

...

"Britain suffers from a housing crisis significantly worse than America's. The problem cannot even be blamed on zoning, because Britain does not have a zoning regime to speak of. Rather, every attempt to build is a painful, ad hoc negotiation with local government councils and NIMBY residents. As a result, housing costs per square foot are among the highest in Europe. In the words of one report, 'Our housing stock offers the worst value for money of any advanced economy.' France has roughly the same population as the U.K., but almost 50 percent more homes. And yet, since the financial crisis, the U.K.'s rate of housing production has only fallen."

Reading archive 2026-04-16

Boys killed in shooting near Northeast DC convenience store were visiting new food truck

Police arrest teen in connection with graffiti at elementary school that referenced Sandy Hook

Amid ‘constant' data center noise, Sterling residents also worry about health impact: A study done for an environmental group shows emissions from the center could have severe health consequences.

Trump tests loyalty of Christian supporters as erratic behavior escalates: The president maintains his hold on the Christian right, but his bluster, fight with the pope and portrayal of himself as a Jesus-like figure strain that bond.

Why Democrats are failing to reach young voters like me: Some in the party don’t understand the attention economy or how to communicate.

Prosecutors add terrorism charge in new D.C. pipe bomb indictment: Brian Cole Jr. is accused of placing explosives near the RNC and DNC headquarters the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. - "During the first two hours of his FBI interview in December, Cole denied placing the pipe bombs and said he was a Trump supporter. After being told that lying to federal agents could be charged as an additional crime, Cole admitted that he planted the bombs out of frustration with both political parties and 'denied that his actions were directed toward Congress or related to the proceedings scheduled to take place on January 6,' prosecutors said."

Reading archive 2026-03-11

Ed Martin faces disciplinary proceedings over actions as D.C. U.S. attorney: The senior Justice Department official faces disciplinary proceedings over a letter he sent to Georgetown University’s law school about its DEI practices.

After Iran assault, Russians say U.S. can’t be trusted in Ukraine talks: As Washington focuses on its push to topple Iran’s government, delaying talks on Russia’s war in Ukraine, some in Moscow say the Kremlin must achieve its goals militarily.

Teacher’s aide pleads guilty to forcing autistic boy to eat hot sauce: “He deserved it,” she allegedly said. The case highlighted scrutiny of how the District’s schools treat students with disabilities. - "Imani K. Davis, 30, agreed Monday to plead guilty to misdemeanor assault in a deal that could leave her with a clean record. Under the agreement, a D.C. Superior Court judge could dismiss the charge if Davis stays out of trouble and completes community service before her July 22 sentencing hearing, court records show." [ed.. note: WHAT!?]

DC study suggests $10 congestion toll for downtown; Bowser, city administrator oppose plan: A 2021 study proposes charging drivers a $10 toll to enter parts of downtown Washington during peak traffic hours, but city leaders say they oppose the it.

Islamic schools excluded from Texas’s $1 billion voucher program: Advocates warn a similar effort is unfolding in Florida, threatening to shut out thousands of Muslims from benefiting from the national movement to allow public money to be spent on private schools.

Democrats ask what happened to millions earmarked for Trump’s library: ABC, Meta, Paramount and X reportedly agreed to pay at least $63 million in settlements with the president. The original fund was dissolved last year.

Pentagon bars press photographers over ‘unflattering’ Hegseth photos: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s staff took issue with images taken in a rare briefing last week and decided to shut out photographers from two subsequent news conferences.

The Federal Real Estate Maintenance Backlog Is Over $50 Billion: A new report showcases the US federal government’s efforts to climb out of a real estate hole decades in the making.

Inside the Plan to Demolish and Rebuild a Swath of Trump’s Washington

Reading archive 2026-01-26

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

These very hungry microbes devour a powerful pollutant

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

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

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

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

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

Reading archive 2025-12-11

Hundreds quarantined as South Carolina measles outbreak accelerates: A state epidemiologist said the spike in cases came in the wake of Thanksgiving travel and a lack of vaccinations. At least 16 cases were traced to a church.

Democrats face a mess in Texas: A late shuffle in the primary race could cost the party a Senate seat.

Tim Walz is crumbling, along with his 2028 hopes: The Minnesota governor tries to answer for social services fraud on his watch.

How antisemitism is entering mainstream culture: Celebrities demanding the release of a convicted Palestinian terrorist signals a deep problem.

Republicans will regret ceding this issue to the left: New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani explained due process in a video. Kristi Noem didn’t like that.

Why these red state Republicans are resisting Trump’s efforts to expand GOP power: Republicans hold a 40-10 advantage in the state Senate but may still reject Trump’s pressure. ‘Hoosiers are very independent.’

Lawmakers launch bipartisan, last-minute bids to force vote on ACA subsidies: Either of the efforts would need the support of nearly all House Democrats to succeed.

Military admits ‘mistake’ in viral arrest of U.S. civilian in Japan: Kareem El, a civilian from Washington, D.C., visiting Okinawa, was held by U.S. military police for declining to provide identification.

D.C.’s Anita Bonds won’t run again, further shaking up 2026 elections: D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At Large), 80, says it’s time for “new energy” as the 2026 election cycle promises to bring change to the city’s leadership.

Why a Democratic upset in Miami should worry Trump: How a Democrat won the mayor’s race for the first time since 1997.

Texas midterms point to ideological corners, not swing-state issues: Next year’s contests seem destined to produce a congressional delegation of staunch conservatives and liberals, as determined by primary voters.

At the first stop on his affordability tour, Trump mocks affordability: What was supposed to be a speaking tour to connect with Americans struggling with higher prices and stagnant wages was instead a greatest-hits campaign speech. - "'Let me tell you, Black people love Trump,' he said, and then added: 'They know a scam better than anybody.'"

Trump order to keep Michigan power plant open costs taxpayers $113m: Critics say JH Campbell coal-fired plant in western Michigan is expensive and emits high levels of toxic pollution

A Kansas town chose cruelty. Now it mourns as the mayor faces voter fraud charge and deportation.

‘Deeply demoralizing’: how Trump derailed coal country’s clean-energy revival - "The cuts have deepened existing mistrust in government, known colloquially as Appalachian fatalism, yet many of those interviewed by the Guardian blame Washington politics generally rather than Trump.

"'This party has taken away that funding from Appalachia illegally: that’s the stone-cold fact. But by the time those facts reach communities on the ground, it’s just so muddy. I think some are asking questions about why training is being shut down and why they didn’t get their Snap [food assistance] benefits, but where they’ll find the answers is the big issue,' said Hannah." [ed. note: they'll blame everyone but themselves]

Church displays Nativity scene with baby Jesus in zip ties, ICE agents

Reagan judges surface as unfiltered assessors of Trump

Reading archive 2025-12-10

Texts, calls offer insight into mom accused of killing her young kids: Prosecutors say the messages prove Catherine Hoggle is now competent to stand trial. A state forensic psychiatrist says she’s not.

The dangerous rise of Buddhist extremism: ‘Attaining nirvana can wait’: Still largely viewed as a peaceful philosophy, across much of south-east Asia, the religion has been weaponised to serve nationalist goals - "The monks leading these violent movements seem driven not by a pursuit of nirvana, but by a quest for dominance in this one. Their actions, I came to understand, were shaped in part by historical forces such as colonialism, which introduced racial hierarchies and privileged certain religions over others. Economic inequality compounded these tensions, compelling the public to seek solace in religion and, in turn, granting monks disproportionate social and political influence. What emerged was a pattern that mirrors other parts of the world: violent nationalist movements gaining momentum at the expense of minorities, with those in power weaponising a sense of victimhood to consolidate control."

Here’s why your hair turns gray, and what you can do about it: Genetics and age shape the process, but you may have some control over it, too.

This one gadget could give China a back door into the U.S. power grid: Energy companies, cybersecurity experts and lawmakers warn that U.S. dependence on Chinese inverters that can be manipulated remotely is a growing security threat.

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s boyfriend has had a weird month: Brian Glenn is trying not to get caught in the middle of the breakup between his partner and his president.

Something Ominous Is Happening in the AI Economy: The last time so much wealth was tied up in such obscure overlapping arrangements was just before the 2008 financial crisis. - "A single company, OpenAI, is simultaneously a major source of revenue and investment for several cloud companies and chipmakers; a close financial partner to Microsoft, Oracle, and Amazon; a significant customer for Nvidia; and a leading investor in AI start-ups. And yet the company is projected to generate only $10 billion this year in revenue—less than a fifth of what it needs annually just to fund its deal with Oracle. It is on track to lose at least $15 billion this year, and doesn’t expect to be profitable until at least 2029. By one estimate, AI companies collectively will generate $60 billion in revenue against $400 billion in spending this year. The one company that is making a lot of money from the AI boom, Nvidia, is doing so only because everyone else is buying its chips in the hopes of obtaining future profits."

Reading archive 2025-12-09

Meet the Woman on a Mission to Photograph Every Species of Hummingbird in the World: In less than a decade amateur photographer and Hummingbird Spot founder Carole Turek has photographed more than 250 hummingbird species, including one that was long considered extinct.

Why the Passenger Pigeon Went Extinct: And whether it can, and should, be brought back to life a century after it disappeared. - "(Audubon himself dismissed those who believed that 'such dreadful havoc' as hunting would 'soon put an end to the species.')"

Former FBI agents sue agency for firings over kneeling for George Floyd in D.C.: The 12 agents said they made a “tactical” decision to kneel during the June 4, 2020, demonstration in hopes of de-escalating a confrontation with an angry crowd.

The ‘solar’ in these solar roofs is invisible. Are they worth the price?: Solar roof tiles use the same basic technology as solar panels but are designed to be integrated into roofs and mimic traditional roofing materials.

A marriage gap is growing — and it could spell disaster: The “war on boys” could be resulting in some women shunning marriage. [ed. note: an absolute gallup that does not offer evidence for its conclusions]

Religious leaders say they’re observing a hidden trend among younger Americans: Religious affiliation has been dropping among young people for decades, but examples abound of surging interest on college campuses and in cities like D.C. - "'We are raised in this world where information is everything and yet it could be meaningless and false. … In a world of fake news, what is real?' said Murray. 'People are turning to a book that has been unchanged for 2,000 years and that’s where we are finding peace and purpose and truth.'" [ed. note: lol]

Police investigation faults Nancy Mace for profanity-laced airport tirade: The report found the congresswoman turned a “minor miscommunication” by police into a “spectacle.”

Democrat Crockett enters Senate race in Texas; Allred switches to House run: The last-minute candidate scramble comes in a race for a seat they are trying, against the odds, to flip from red to blue

Reading archive 2025-10-16

We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly: Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy - "Russell Vought embodies the radicalization of the conservative movement; his example captures how far removed from democratic politics the Trumpist Right is. Vought is convinced to be fighting a noble war against a vast leftist conspiracy that has supposedly taken over the country and is destroying the nation. He dreams of a comprehensive 'counter-revolution' and believes that any measure, regardless of how extreme, is justified in this struggle against the 'leftist' enemy. But if you only listened to The Daily, you wouldn’t get any of that."

Engineers turn fish biology into a breakthrough microplastic laundry filter:  Inspired by the filter feeding mechanisms of basking sharks and manta rays, a startup called Cleanr has developed a filter that traps over 90% of microplastics released in each wash cycle.

Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction: The Washington Post reviewed leaked audio from four off-the-record lectures the tech investor delivered in San Francisco over the past month that fused beliefs about religion and technology.

Trump’s new foreign aid plan eyes $50 million for Greenland’s polar bears: Documents reviewed by The Post show the administration may invest significantly in protecting vulnerable wildlife, proposals that stunned critics of its moves to gut foreign assistance.

8 takeaways from the Spanberger and Earle-Sears debate in Virginia: Republican Winsome Earle-Sears talked over Democrat Abigail Spanberger in a chaotic debate in the Virginia governor’s race that touched on trans students, Trump and more.

Trump pledged to make D.C. ‘safe and beautiful.’ His administration cut $40M in homeland security funds. The Trump administration cuts to grants in D.C. and 11 states geared toward anti-terrorism and other emergency responses has been paused by a federal judge while they are being challenged in court. - "'You complain about public safety in the District of Columbia, and what are you doing? Defunding their police,' said Richard S. Madaleno Jr., who is the chair-elect of the region’s Homeland Security Executive Committee, an arm of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments that helps local jurisdictions prepare for emergency situations."

Under pressure to curb crime, D.C. Council examines school absences: New legislation would direct D.C.’s Department of Human Services to investigate thousands of truancy reports.

Smithsonian visitors arrive to locked doors as federal shutdown continues: Across the National Mall on Sunday, tourists hastily rearranged plans as they realized D.C.'s downtown attractions had run out of money to operate.

Is it America’s fate to decline and fall? Here’s what history says.: The American experiment will soon turn 250. Is its time running out? - "Broadly speaking, the Athenian spirit is associated with golden ages. When civilizations were open to influences from merchants and migrants, and when they let people experiment with new ideas and innovations, they prospered. This required tolerance of pluralism and surprise, as well as institutions and norms to restrain rulers’ arbitrary use of power."

Reading archive 2025-09-23 pt 2

Democrats think they can win a government shutdown. That's a lousy bet.: While there are reasonable arguments for a shutdown, it’s a fight Democrats would most likely lose.

Why Democrats are making Obamacare central to their shutdown strategy: Democratic leaders have given Republicans an ultimatum on support for federal funding to avoid a government shutdown.

Trump’s tariffs, deportations and climate change are making groceries more expensive

World’s first AI-designed viruses a step towards AI-generated life: Scientists used artificial intelligence to write coherent viral genomes, using them to synthesize bacteriophages capable of killing resistant strains of bacteria.

Black Christians confront Charlie Kirk’s religious legacy: Conservative evangelicals’ embrace of Charlie Kirk’s legacy is forcing some Black Christians to reconcile the activist’s divisive comments on race with the Christian values of tolerance and empathy.

Why Democrats are holding firm on conditions ahead of shutdown: The minority party is using its limited leverage, hoping to convince Americans that GOP spending priorities are the real danger.

The chilling reason the military is silent now: This is what happens when you purge the JAGs.

Harris book draws blowback from Shapiro, Buttigieg. Here’s what’s in it.: The same people criticizing what she said about them in her new book about the 2024 campaign could be among those she faces in 2028 if she runs again.

Man charged with hate crime in killing of trans woman in D.C.: Edgar Arrington, 38, was arrested in North Carolina last week in connection with the killing of a 28-year-old transgender woman. - "A tipster told investigators the shooter had tried to 'holler' at Johnson, then became enraged upon learning she was transgender, court records show. One witness recalled overhearing someone telling Johnson “no disrespect but you are a male” in the moments before her death, while another said the gunman hurled homophobic slurs at Johnson before shooting her."

D.C. changes tenant laws to spur investment in affordable housing: The D.C. Council passed a law tightening eviction laws and overhauling the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, all intended to attract housing investment.

Senators call on Congress to roll back flights at National Airport: Citing Washington Post reporting, Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine say cutting the number of flights could reduce safety risks.

Eleanor Holmes Norton faces mounting pressure to retire: Donna Brazile, a veteran political strategist and close confidante of D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, joined a growing chorus calling on the 88-year-old not to seek another term in Congress.

House votes for D.C. police chases, against city’s input on judges: The bills passed — one with bipartisan support — despite universal opposition among top D.C. elected officials as the GOP tightens its grip on the nation’s capital.

Reading archive 2025-09-23 pt 1

The Age of Corporate Capitulation Won’t Work: Donald Trump came for Jimmy Kimmel. Disney folded immediately. It’s not just bad morals. It’s bad business. - "With the exception of Paramount, which was recently sold to an owner aligned with that machine, each of these institutions would have been better served by fighting back. Not only because it was the right thing to do, but because it’s more likely to work. The Trump presidency is built on projecting an air of absolute power, but it’s deceptively weak in many ways. Trump is the most unpopular president of this century. His polling, by any normal standard, is terrible. His coalition of right-wing influencers has fractured over the Epstein files and conspiracy theories linking Israel to Kirk’s killing. Trump is elderly, seemingly in poor health, and increasingly out of touch. His cult of personality is the only thing holding his frayed administration together. 

"This is not, in other words, a regime too powerful to be resisted; it’s only playing one on TV. Speed and the appearance of inevitability are its strongest allies. Anything that slows it down or exposes its limitations is a threat. Any resistance that articulates a case against it openly and publicly is another threat. It can’t risk looking bogged down, looking constrained, or looking like it’s forced to plead a case. The moment that paper-thin perception of invincibility fails, the whole bogus facade becomes in danger of collapse. This is why Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s full-throated assault on Trump’s plan to send federal troops into Chicago seemed to genuinely rattle the administration, which has mostly responded with avoidance. It’s why even the tepid resistance Harvard has offered to Trump’s attempts to force it to submit to him has left it in a stronger position than its more subservient peers."

Threatened by Trump, Canada tries to make up, team up with Mexico: Canadians mused last year about a U.S.-Canada trade deal that cut out Mexico. Prime Minister Mark Carney is visiting President Claudia Sheinbaum to mend ties.

I’m a former creationist. Here’s why ‘follow the science’ failed.: The moment I finally admitted that Darwin was right didn’t feel liberating. It felt like grief.

An exemplary survey of race portends trouble for the Smithsonian: President Donald Trump singled out “The Shape of Power” for criticism, but the show was a success.

One of the rarest birds in the world finds a city sanctuary in Hong Kong

He got an entire country running on clean energy. Can he do it again?: Ramón Méndez Galain helped Uruguay decarbonize its grid in just five years, with 98 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources.

Solar tax credits are ending. Here’s why that could be good for solar.: It could force the industry to address the issues that have made installing solar more expensive in the U.S. than elsewhere in the developed world.

D.C. firefighter shot, says he gave up on 911 and called his own station for help: He survived, with a bullet still in his chest, after others who heard the gunfire called 911 and medics arrived. A 17-year-old suspect has been charged as an adult.

A shutdown would give Trump more power over federal spending: Congress is racing toward a government shutdown deadline, and Democrats worry the White House could have more control over spending either way.

The U.S. promised fliers better passenger rights. What happened?: The Transporation Department has rescinded a proposal to expand compensation for flight cancellations and significant delays.

How a complete stranger tried to steal my dead father’s home: In the midst of my grief, I learned I was also the victim of deed fraud.

Reading archive 2025-07-22

In D.C., a toddler died of hunger and thirst. Why didn’t anybody save her?: The District’s child welfare agency was aware of Ebony Washington’s troubled history as a parent. And for months, relatives feared her daughter Kemy was in peril. Then tragedy struck. - "And he had another reason for not calling CFSA, he said: As a child, he had spent time in foster care, and he was determined to spare Kemy the emotional tumult that he had endured, landing in a stranger’s home.

...

"He had chosen not to call CFSA when Kemy was alive, but he said he doesn’t dwell on that now."

House largely grinds to a halt over Epstein files: Republicans on the House Rules Committee, fearing Democrats will introduce amendments related to Epstein, continue to oppose allowing any legislation to reach the floor.

Detention of two Italians at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ sparks backlash at home: Lawmakers called for Italy’s conservative government to do more to secure the repatriation of two nationals held at the new facility in Florida’s Everglades.

Regional Invasive Species & Climate Change Management Challenge: Do Not Sell! Ornamental invasive plants to avoid with climate change

Fighting Invasive Plants: The Ones We’ve Got and Those We Think Are Coming Experts want to combat new species of plants that are moving around within the United States, and coming from around the world, before they get a foothold.

Becoming Earth: Experimental Theology - "We humans emerge, walk around as if we were one thing, willingly oblivious to our true nature, and then we dissolve in order to emerge again in a wholly different form. Dissolution and reunification, forever and ever, amen."

Reading archive 2025-07-16 pt 1

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

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

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

Nursing homes struggle with Trump’s immigration crackdown

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

Trump’s Vietnam Agreement Bodes Poorly for Future Trade Deals

The Ruthless Ambition of Stephen Miller

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

How the rightwing sports bro conquered America

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

WHY MANY AMERICAN GARDENS ARE FULL OF MULCH?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading archive 2025-07-09

Think you’re cleaning your water bottle enough? Wrong.: Here’s how often you should be cleaning your water bottle, and how to do it correctly.

To Save Nature, Make It Sacred: Beyond science and policy, the key to protecting Earth’s most vulnerable ecosystems may lie in the human capacity to treat certain places as sacred. - "The lake’s sacrosanct status does not rest on formal enforcement or economic incentives but on a moral orientation that has become embedded in the community’s relationship to place. Visitors care for the lake of their own accord; threat of punishment is not required."

Chesapeake Bay is stagnating. Here’s what could help.: This big pollution problem isn’t quite solved.

If Emanuel runs, he’ll bet on candor defeating the ‘culture police’: The former mayor of Chicago talks about what ails the Democratic Party, and how to cure it.

D.C. Democrats tarnish themselves by resisting ranked-choice voting: Initiative 83 would make the election system fairer. The D.C. Council should fund its implementation.

Canadian troops arrested in alleged plot to seize part of Quebec: The suspects are accused of stockpiling an extensive arsenal and conducting military-style training while building an anti-government militia, police said.

Reading archive 2025-06-13

Secret Russian Intelligence Document Shows Deep Suspicion of China: Russia’s spy hunters are increasingly worried about China’s espionage, even as the two countries grow closer.

Southern Baptists to Vote on Effort to Overturn Same-Sex Marriage: Motivated by their success in reversing Roe v. Wade, conservative Christian activists have a new target in Obergefell v. Hodges. They see early signs of promise. [ed. note: the voted overwhelmingly to do just that]

Former DOGE engineer says federal waste and fraud were 'relatively nonexistent'

D.C. pest control company exposed people to toxic chemicals, lawsuit says: The D.C. attorney general’s office also alleges the company operated without and submitted fake licensing credentials.

Deputy U.S. marshal shoots man near convention center in downtown D.C.: The wounded man was in surgery Thursday, according to authorities, who said the deputy “perceived a threat” before firing. The incident is under investigation.

Florida farmers now plowing over perfectly good tomatoes as Trump’s tariff policies cause prices to plummet

Why Chinese Fans Are Hiring Detectives for a Dead Kenyan Lion: When their favorite wild lion was killed, a tight-knit group of Chinese fans half a world away launched a global campaign for justice — via billboards in New York to private investigators in Kenya. [ed. note: left unmentioned is that the campaigns were in New York City and London because nothing of the sort is allowed in China]

D.C. is removing bike lane barriers for the first time, calling them ugly: Local officials say they spent hundreds of hours on a project that was unraveled in a few days.

Teen convicted in D.C. killing is not receiving court-ordered therapy: A judge last year ruled that the girl, 16, should be placed in a long-term treatment facility, but so far the city’s youth agency has not complied, her lawyer says.

Reading archive 2025-05-23 pt 2

A Kansas family farm, barely getting by, grapples with Trump’s cuts

America Is In A Late Republic Stage Like Rome History suggests republics don’t last more than 250 years. - "A great deal of confusion has come into this debate because people use terms like artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) interchangeably. Large language models are a part of AI, but not, in my view, the most important part. 

"Much of what they do is, in a sense, fake human discourse and allow us quickly to generate texts that seem human, though they’re not generated through human intelligence. This is a toy, really. It’s a toy that allows you to generate books in seconds. It allows you to generate images in seconds. But what these things are is essentially fake human content. There’s some use for this. It probably poses a mortal threat to search of the variety that Google pioneered. But that’s not what matters about AI. 

"What matters about AI is its ability to do scientific research on a scale never before possible, and because of the harnessing of enormous computational power, to discover and design, for example, new viruses. It’s the power of the scientific AI that should worry us.

...

"I abandoned atheism, which is a form of faith in itself, in two steps. First, through historical study, I understood that no society based on atheism had been anything other than disastrous. In fact, the correlation between repudiation of religion and extreme violence is very close. The worst regimes in history engaged in anti-clerical activity, the Bolshevik regime, or say, Mao’s regime in China, not to mention the Nazis, who turned against Christ as they identified him, not wrongly, as Jewish." [ed. note: I object to this correlation asserted as causative - authoritarians seek to topple competing centers of power, by they civic, social, religious. After reading his wiki, he's kind of a fraud]

Reading archive 2025-05-13

A new fully charged EV battery in five minutes: Are China's swap stations the future of electric cars?

Trump promised U.S. dominance. Instead, energy companies are faltering.: Oil and gas firms are reeling, and major renewables projects are getting shelved as Trump’s policies rattle energy investors and executives.

MSNBC in five words: ‘I could not agree more’ Searching for dissent and debate on the cable news home for liberal America. - "No matter how it’s produced, television is a medium ill-equipped to cover Trump. My advice? Read newspapers."

What Pennsylvania factory workers say about Trump’s tariffs now: Business is flourishing at this furniture maker, but even here workers want certainty — and lower prices.

How you can shop for money-saving appliances if Trump ends: Energy Star Researchers and policy experts explain why Energy Star has been so successful and what we could do in its absence. - "If Energy Star dies, it would mark the demise of one of America’s most popular government programs — championed by industry associations, environmental groups, and Republicans and Democrats alike."

Land under the country’s largest cities is sinking. Here’s where — and why.: The movement is slow — sinking on the scale of millimeters per year in the United States — but the effects accumulate over years.

Why the Toupee Is Making a Comeback With Millennial Men: Long the butt of sitcom jokes, toupees—now called “hair systems”—have leveled up in recent years, and a growing number of balding men prefer the affordable flexibility they offer to the invasive risk of a transplant.

These Internal Documents Show Why We Shouldn’t Trust Porn Companies - "Stewart became afraid to leave her house. She recalled sending notes to Pornhub pleading that it take down the video, explaining that she was a minor and was shown being raped. Nothing happened, she said. 'I even posted comments on the video saying, 'I’m underage, take this video off,' and got no responses from anyone ever,' she told me."[ed. note: jfc]

Scientists in a race to discover why the Universe exists

Youth pleads guilty in juvenile court to fatally beating D.C. disc jockey: Authorities say the 16-year-old and a teenage companion attacked the man during a spate of street robberies in October; the victim died after weeks in a coma. - "At the time of the robberies, Superior Court officials said, the teen had five other robbery or assault cases that were pending."

Young teens arrested in carjacking of Capitol Hill aide: The gun was placed against the victim’s chest in the Navy Yard area, police say.

China Called Trump’s Bluff: There is a lesson here for anyone Trump threatens. - "'The consensus from both delegations is that neither side wanted a decoupling,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced at a press conference in Geneva, as if the whole thing had been one big misunderstanding. The decades of China allegedly 'ripping off' the United States were apparently forgotten, along with China's insolence in retaliating and the supposed need for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on Chinese imports. The administration isn't even pretending that it forced China to pay any special price for its defiance. It is memory-holing the entire 'do not retaliate' episode and moving on as if the point this whole time was to get along better with Beijing."

Retirement Is the New Resistance: The Democrats waging war on their gerontocracy

The Terrible Optics of ICE Enforcement Are Fueling a Trump Immigration Backlash: The president was elected, in part, on a pledge to crack down on immigration. But he may be overinterpreting his mandate.

Who Counts as Christian?: A new initiative will necessitate that the Trump administration makes difficult judgment calls about the faith. - "Or consider the case of an Episcopalian church in Sacramento whose rainbow Pride flag was stolen and burned: Would this task force agree that the attack was an act of aggression against the congregation qua Christians? The church's priest certainly thought so."

Md. woman who allegedly drove through festival to get to work will remain jailed: Kai Deberry-Bostick, 28, of Laurel, was charged with second-degree assault and resisting arrest.

RFK Jr. bathes in polluted D.C. creek on family outing: The health secretary reports on a Mother’s Day outing.

White South Africans arrive at Dulles as refugees under Trump order: The arrival of about 50 Afrikaners under allegations of racial discrimination restarts a U.S. refugee program that has been suspended for all other groups. - "On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security said that it will end temporary protected status for Afghans."

ChatGPT Is Everywhere — Why Aren't We Talking About Its Environmental Costs?: In this op-ed, politics editor Lex McMenamin explains why using AI to search "how to be sustainable" could be accomplishing the opposite. - "McMillan Cottom categorizes artificial intelligence as 'mid' tech — hardly the technological revolution worth the amount of waste and environmental damage it’s meting out: '[Most] of us are using [AI] for far more mundane purposes. AI spits out meal plans with the right amount of macros, tells us when our calendars are overscheduled, and helps write emails that no one wants. That’s a mid revolution of mid tasks.'"

Reading archive 2025-03-04

Transgender troops will be removed from U.S. military, Pentagon says: The previous Trump administration effectively banned transgender people from joining, but the new memo says currently serving transgender troops will be discharged.

Maryland revives years-long debate over whether to charge kids as adults: Efforts to end the practice of criminally charging juveniles as adults have failed for more than a decade. Now, the General Assembly is considering a compromise bill. - "Black Maryland voters were more likely to say teens accused of assault should be treated as adults than White Maryland voters (65 percent vs. 56 percent), while similar majorities of both supported charging teens as adults for the other crimes, the poll found."

‘You are not alone’: U.S. Forest Service chief’s blunt goodbye message to workers: Forest Service Chief Randy Moore wrote the email after thousands of agency employees were fired amid President Donald Trump’s effort to downsize the government.

How to Win a War Against Reality - A review of Steve Benen, “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past” - "How is it possible to gaslight at least half the nation? Benen concludes the Republican tactic has four components. First, the Republicans simply don’t care about reality. Second, they have absolutely no shame about lying and sticking to their lie. Third, the most egregious liars are surrounded by those who aid and abet them in their mendacity. At best they shrug off the lies; at worst they repeat them. And finally, Republicans repeat their lies ad nauseum and at the top of their lungs, believing that if something is repeated often enough, loudly enough, it will stick. 'Taken together, a picture emerges of a Republican Party that’s grown reliant on a brute-force rhetorical strategy, taking developments that unfolded in recent memory and replacing them with a politically advantageous alternate reality.'"

‘US sided with Russia, North Korea & Iran’ – Ukraine reacts to Trump's military aid freeze

China, Mexico and Canada to retaliate after Trump imposes new tariffs: The nation’s top three trading partners are rolling out levies on a wide range of products – including soybeans, meat and grains – in the escalating trade war.

James Carville: It’s Time for a Daring Political Maneuver, Democrats

HOW MY DAD RECONCILED HIS GOD AND HIS GAY SON

Trump’s speech to Congress has the ingredients for a blistering event: The president addresses restless lawmakers Tuesday after six weeks of working aggressively to slash their power.

How to lose the 21st century, in three easy steps: Trump is throwing away what could have been the next great American century. - "More than anything else, President Donald Trump loves winning. Yet he has already positioned America to lose the 21st century, in three simple steps: 

1. Alienate your friends. 

2. Destroy your business environment. 

3. Slaughter your golden goose (i.e., science and research)."

Trump official floats new approach on GDP, as economy poised to slow sharply: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says government spending should be separate from economic growth, echoing comments from Elon Musk days earlier.

H5N1 is spreading. America is not ready.: New infections in animals should heighten concern of human H5N1.

A European army is no longer optional: As Trump turns from Europe toward Russia, European leaders need to bolster defenses, quickly. - "Bergmann argues that creating a European army would not require changing the E.U. treaty, but it would definitely require changing the European mindset. It was once considered unthinkable that European countries would merge their militaries. But it was also considered unthinkable that the United States might abandon Europe in the face of Russian aggression. Given that the latter contingency now appears distressingly likely, it’s high time for Europeans to put aside concerns about national pride and work together to save their continent from the looming menace of Russian aggression."

With his nation at war, Winston Churchill dressed in a wartime onesie: Churchill wore his “siren suit” to state dinners and news conferences, and the world delighted in his political and sartorial statement.

Reading archive 2025-02-12

Record gift to American U. from professor will benefit education school: The university said the donation is its largest-ever gift from an individual.

Nearly 30,000 federal workers in Kansas City brace for layoffs: The federal government is by far Kansas City’s largest employer and a major economic engine. Experts warn the region’s economy will feel the pain when jobs disappear

Transcript: GOPers Shocked to Learn Their Own Voters Are Angry at Musk: An interview with political scientist Elizabeth Saunders, who argues that Republicans facing voter dissatisfaction with Elon Musk’s trail of destruction need to rein him in before it’s too late.

With Trump and Musk driving U.S. policy, Kansas farmers have been played for suckers

The Trump administration’s most dangerous misstep: The CIA chief wants more spycraft. So why is he showing agents the door? - "The CIA last week sent buyout offers to its case officers around the world, and as you’d expect, some of the best of them are looking for work elsewhere. Meanwhile, the agency meekly agreed to turn over data identifying its recent hires to Elon Musk’s auditors (and whatever foreign spies can hack their systems). Perhaps worst of all, the U.S. DOGE Service commissars reportedly gained access to Treasury payments data that might reveal the agency’s deep-cover officers and the assets they recruit."

Teen rejects plea deal in D.C. murder case, will head to trial: Charges stem from the Jan. 26 fatal shooting of 14-year-old Myron Smith during an attempted robbery.

Church teacher pleads guilty to molesting four girls — two during prayers: In Montgomery County, Maryland, Ervin J. Alfaro-Lopez, 34, faces up to 25 years in prison and deportation.

As possible cuts and buyouts loom, federal workers rally near the Capitol: With a deferred resignation offer and possible cuts looming, federal workers held a demonstration near the U.S. Capitol. - "'We are not going to go down without a fight,' said Transportation Security Administration officer Johnny Jones, who traveled from Fort Worth. 

"Jones, 46, left his corporate job for a career in public service in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, he said. 'I took about a 60 percent pay cut to come work for the government.'"

U.S.-China trade war hits small and midsize businesses especially hard: Many smaller businesses can’t afford to move manufacturing out of China while remaining competitive, experts say.

An insurance crisis was already brewing in L.A. Then the fires hit.: The Los Angeles wildfires could threaten California’s already unstable insurance market, which carriers have been fleeing as disasters multiply.

California’s insurer of last resort runs out of money to pay L.A. fire claims: In the aftermath of the fires, the FAIR plan will get a $1 billion bailout — the latest indication that California’s home insurance market is on shaky footing.

The electric future of snowmobiling: From power sports to watercraft, battery-powered recreation could save millions of allons of gasoline - and cut back on noise, fumes and pollution

Jordan, home to millions of Palestinians, fears Trump’s Gaza proposal: The push by Trump has turbocharged a reckoning over Jordan’s reliance on U.S. aid and revived existential questions over the country’s identity. - "If the United States were to cut aid to Jordan permanently, it would have 'dire consequences for the economy and human security,' said Dima Toukan, a nonresident scholar at the Middle East Institute. However, if the king were to compromise and accept Trump’s proposal, he risks energizing the growing opposition to his rule. In recent days, opposition figures from across the political spectrum have suggested that Jordan turn instead to China, Russia and wealthy Arab states for financial support and strategic alliances."

Reading archive 2025-02-11

What the Democrats’ Musk Whisperer Thinks Now: “We need to make sure that Elon Musk has an allegiance to the Constitution,” Representative Ro Khanna says.

California’s smart and vocal farmers are silent about Trump as he wasted their water | Opinion

‘We’ll all have to go vegan’: Wisconsin dairy farmers fret over immigration crackdown: Business groups warn agriculture sector will collapse without foreign labour

Trumper Who Could Lose Farm Says He Had No 'Time To Research' Before Voting

‘Devastating to my state’: Why Trump’s newest tariff threats promise catastrophe for Kentucky bourbon: Canada is the No. 2 export market for U.S. distillers, after the European Union.

Trump Enrages Christian MAGA By Naming ‘Heretic’ Pastor to White House

Proposal To Stop Minting Pennies Hits Home In Greene County - "Americans for Common Cents, a pro-penny group with Artazn among its backers, stated in a January news release that eliminating the penny will not save the government money. 

"'In fact, such a move would have a significant negative impact on the U.S. Mint’s cost structure. Many overhead expenses at the Mint would remain and would need to be absorbed by other coins, increasing their per-unit costs. Additionally, without the penny, the demand for nickels would rise to fill the gap in small-value transactions,' the news release notes. 

"'Since each nickel costs nearly 14 cents to produce, this shift would drive up overall production expenses for the government. Rather than saving money, eliminating the penny would increase and redistribute financial burdens,' the news release states."

U.S. Travel Association Warns of Economic Tourism Disaster After Thousands of Canadian Tourists Cancel Trips in Protest

Trump’s Gaza proposal frustrates his new Arab American supporters: Whether Trump can keep these new supporters could have implications for key statewide races, but also on the fragile coalition the GOP assembled to gain ground.

Trump administration plans for federal contracts stir worries across Kentucky - "Payments for indirect costs cover items that make basic research possible, Capilouto said, such as building and outfitting labs; research equipment; ventilation, heat and lighting; technology, and graduate students who work in labs."

The Rise of the Selfish Plutocrats: Instead of pursuing philanthropy, many now seek to evade social responsibility. - "In 2021, The Wall Street Journal broke the news that [da Vinci's Salvator Mundi] priceless painting had been kept on private display aboard bin Salman's superyacht, Serene, a 439-foot-long, half-billion-dollar boat that had recently run aground in a navigational accident. A fragile, irreplaceable object of significance to the shared cultural history of all humanity was being kept in a hot, humid environment for the private enjoyment of one royal billionaire and his ultrarich guests. (In another room, Serene was also equipped with state-of-the-art snow machines that could produce four-inch-deep flurries on demand.)"

The Government’s Computing Experts Say They Are Terrified: Four IT professionals lay out just how destructive Elon Musk’s incursion into the U.S. government could be. - "DOGE is many things a dismantling of the federal government, a political project to flex power and punish perceived enemies but it is also the logical end point of a strain of thought that's become popular in Silicon Valley during the boom times of Big Tech and easy money: that building software and writing code aren't just dominant skills for the 21st century, but proof of competence in any realm. In a post on X this week, John Shedletsky, a developer and an early employee at the popular gaming platform Roblox, summed up the philosophy nicely: 'Silicon Valley built the modern world. Why shouldn't we run it?'"

‘A Very Christian Concept’: The faith’s mandate is more arduous than J. D. Vance’s account seems to allow.

Tech layoffs reveal the unintended consequences of mass job cuts: After mass layoffs, tech workers lost trust in their employers. Federal employees may soon face the same fate.

D.C. managed to avoid return-to-office chaos over Navy Yard parking shortage: Local and military officials had been sounding the alarm about a potential parking shortage.

An ICE raid gutted a town in Trump’s first term. Now, fear of a repeat.: Tiny O’Neill, Nebraska, is still recovering from the 2018 raid. It forced some businesses to close and left many residents, especially immigrants, reeling.

In the Trump era, renewable energy isn’t green — it’s ‘dominant’: Clean-energy executives are tailoring their pitches for the president and his political allies. - "One trend the groups are planning to emphasize is that congressional districts that favored Trump in the 2020 election have seen three times as much investment as a result of clean-energy tax credits, according to a Washington Post analysis. In addition, over half of all new clean-energy jobs are in Republican-led districts, according to a separate analysis by Climate Power, an environmental advocacy group.

...

"Spokespeople for [Rep. Marjorie Taylor] Greene and 10 other Republican lawmakers with the most new clean-energy jobs in their districts did not respond to requests for comment."

19-year-old Musk surrogate takes on roles at State Department and DHS: The move illustrates that Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service aides are being asked to fulfill multiple posts at once.

The Chilling Consequences of Going Along With Trump

Trump’s NIH challenges the model that underlies U.S. scientific dominance: The 80-year-old partnership between the federal government and research institutions has made the U.S. the leader in scientific innovation. But now a proposed funding cut threatens the arrangement. - "'At a time of rapid strides in quantum computing, artificial intelligence, brain science, biological imaging, and regenerative biology, and when other nations are expanding their investment in science, America should not drop knowingly and willingly from her lead position on the endless frontier,' Harvard President Alan M. Garber said in a letter to the university community."

The Islamic State has regrouped in Somalia — and has global ambitions: The Post ventured to the front lines of an offensive against the Islamic State in northern Somalia, where foreign fighters are flowing in and cash is flowing out.