Reading archive 2022-01-12

‘Crime tourists’: An international spree targets D.C. area’s wealthy Asian residents: A string of burglaries in the suburbs revealed a crime trend with worldwide reach

The Big Lie’s Long Shadow: How a network of conspiracy peddlers has made the GOP thirsty for major electoral change.

Reading archive 2022-01-11

Four reasons you’re seeing empty grocery store shelves: The omicron surge, extreme weather and record December sales are among the reasons that toilet paper aisle is looking shaky again

‘Succession’ star Brian Cox spares no one — including himself — in his new memoir.: ‘Putting the Rabbit in the Hat’ is spiky, opinionated and in its own way, inspiring

How the FBI Discovered a Real-Life Indiana Jones in, of All Places, Rural Indiana: A 90-year-old amateur archaeologist who claimed to have detonated the first atomic bomb was also one of the most prolific grave robbers in modern American history.

Trump’s Next Coup Has Already Begun: January 6 was practice. Donald Trump’s GOP is much better positioned to subvert the next election. - "Trump and his party have convinced a dauntingly large number of Americans that the essential workings of democracy are corrupt, that made-up claims of fraud are true, that only cheating can thwart their victory at the polls, that tyranny has usurped their government, and that violence is a legitimate response.

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"'The last time America saw middle-class whites involved in violence was the expansion of the second KKK in the 1920s,' Pape told me.

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"Other things being equal, insurgents were much more likely to come from a county where the white share of the population was in decline. For every one-point drop in a county’s percentage of non-Hispanic whites from 2015 to 2019, the likelihood of an insurgent hailing from that county increased by 25 percent. This was a strong link, and it held up in every state.

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"The Justice Department has filed suit to overturn some provisions of the new Georgia law—but not to challenge the hostile takeover of election authorities. Instead, the federal lawsuit takes issue with a long list of traditional voter-suppression tactics that, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland, have the intent and effect of disadvantaging Black voters. These include prohibitions and “onerous fines” that restrict the distribution of absentee ballots, limit the use of ballot drop boxes, and forbid handing out food or water to voters waiting in line. These provisions make it harder, by design, for Democrats to vote in Georgia. The provisions that Garland did not challenge make it easier for Republicans to fix the outcome. They represent danger of a whole different magnitude."

Memes, lolz and intel incels: behind the scenes in the NSA hacker corps: When whistle-blower Edward Snowden leaked a vast cache of highly sensitive files revealing the National Security Agency’s programme of mass surveillance, the Washington Post’s Barton Gellman was one of his handlers. Seven years on, the three-time Pulitzer Prize winner continues to decipher the cryptic cloak-and-dagger world of digital espionage in his new book, Dark Mirror. Here, he exposes the inner workings of America’s intelligence hegemon, its pervasive and perverse culture of toxic masculinity and asks again: who watches the watchmen?

Reading archive 2022-01-10

A tiny town’s mining past brings movies, tourists and environmental problems: Though the remnants of its coal legacy lead to contaminated runoff and flooding, Madrid, N.M., doesn’t want them to completely go away

Trump calls GOP senator a ‘jerk’ after he rejects former president’s false claims of widespread election fraud: Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said on Sunday that the 2020 election was “as fair as we have seen.”

Turkmenistan’s leader wants to extinguish the country’s ‘Gates of Hell’

White House allies split over inflation plan as Biden trains attacks on corporate greed: The administration has blamed large companies for price increases but some question that approach

Climate change is helping invasive species take over trout habitats in Montana

Reading archive 2022-01-08

In Baton Rouge, there’s a $100 million football coach and everyone else: While LSU pays Brian Kelly millions, Baton Rouge residents -- and even LSU students and employees -- scrape by.

U.S. plans to discuss missile deployments with Russia as part of effort to defuse Ukraine crisis

Reading archive 2022-01-07

Burned rubber, doughnuts and smoke. Unruly car meets, street racing disrupt roads and mobilize police.

Fusion energy is a reason to be excited about the future: It’s been a long road, but recent advances mean we’re closing in on a game-changing technology.

Ted Cruz again fails to navigate the right’s fury

Ted Cruz grovels to Tucker Carlson over Jan. 6 ‘terrorist attack’ remark

Opinion: ‘Red Wolves’ remains the best choice for the new name for the Washington Football Team

Opinion: The rise of a pro-democracy media

Biden breaks his silence: Inside his decision to forcefully denounce Trump

A historic Black church says D.C. is trying to push it out of Shaw. The church’s tenants say it’s a slum lord.: Both the church and the residents contend they are victims of gentrification

Reading archive 2022-01-05

The Radicalization of J.D. Vance: As he runs for the Senate, the ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author has gone from media darling to establishment pariah. Is his new, fiery, right-wing persona an act? Or is something more interesting going on?

Citing danger to freshwater, scientists say we need to put brakes on road salts

Since Jan. 6, the pro-Trump Internet has descended into infighting over money and followers: Far-right influencers and QAnon devotees are battling over online audiences in the power vacuum created by Trump’s departure from office

Maryland, Virginia drivers speeding through D.C. are ignoring the city’s tickets: A regional transportation planning body is trying to nudge the District, Maryland and Virginia toward dealing with the disconnect

Reading archive 2021-12-22 through 2022-01-04

Mexico’s wheat fields help feed the world. They’re also releasing a dangerous greenhouse gas.

‘JFK’ at 30: Oliver Stone and the lasting impact of America’s most dangerous movie: Oliver Stone defied Washington, Hollywood and history itself to make his controversial JFK drama. Its legacy endures.

Long before embracing Trump’s false election claims, Rep. Scott Perry promoted groundless theories

Opinion: This Christmas, LGBTQ Catholics are once again wondering whether we belong

Trump’s newest business partner: A Chinese firm with a history of SEC investigations: Shanghai-based Arc Capital, an investment firm that has been the target of probes by securities regulators, is at the center of the deal to take Trump’s media venture public.

Hong Kong tears down ‘Pillar of Shame’ sculpture honoring Tiananmen victims

Pregnancy apps have become a battleground of vaccine misinformation: How the What To Expect site managed to clean up its big anti-vaccine problem

Pablo Escobar’s personal photographer confronts the drug lord’s complicated legacy

A year ago, Fox News considered a breakup with Trump. 2021 changed those plans.: Going into 2022, the network’s alignment with Trump has it grappling with a pair of potentially catastrophic lawsuits. But its ratings are on top again.

The mob killing of a factory manager in Pakistan comes amid surge in anti-blasphemy violence: This religious crusade is rapidly gaining popular support and could threaten the country’s stability

In their shared sea, Ukraine and Russia already risk direct conflict every day

How Ted Koppel’s trip to ‘Mayberry’ turned into one of 2021’s most striking moments of TV: The veteran newsman and “CBS Sunday Morning” contributor explains how a seeming puff piece about “The Andy Griffith Show” turned into an unsettling snapshot of an angry America - "What started with those general questions wound up evolving into one of the most striking TV segments of the year, as Koppel was visibly taken aback by the fierce nostalgia for a time and place that literally never existed — and how it connects to the misinformation that has infiltrated America’s politics."

A respiratory therapist fought on covid’s front lines. The last wave broke him.

Takeaways from HBO Max’s Harry Potter reunion: tears, nostalgia and a curious lack of J.K. Rowling

Taliban cracks down on more rights while demanding Western aid: Women must have male escorts on long taxi rides, and election commissions are shut down

BBC faces backlash after Dershowitz analyzes Maxwell case, despite accusation from alleged Epstein victim

Militaries are among the world’s biggest emitters. This general wants them to go green.

This tree has stood here for 500 years. Will it be sold for $17,500?