Reading archive 2024-03-11

Opinion  Katie Britt’s big fail shows why the GOP can’t connect with women

Katie Britt’s defense of sex-trafficking anecdote compounds its problems: And now the victim herself is criticizing Britt - "The main problem here is that, in addition to Jacinto’s story not involving Biden, the United States or even the border, it also doesn’t involve the cartels.

...

"(You could even make a case that, to the extent U.S. immigration policy is involved at all, the anecdote reinforces the need for an accessible asylum process for victims like Jacinto.)"

How to Organize Your Fridge

Opinion  What happened to Katie Porter? A lesson for Democrats.

The California Senate race wasn’t ‘rigged’ either

Trump mocks Biden’s stutter again, drawing outrage - "'I learned so much from having to deal with stuttering. It gave me insight into other people’s pain, other people’s suffering. It made me understand that everyone, everyone has something they’re fighting to overcome — and sometimes trying to hide,' Biden said."

Trump’s freewheeling speeches offer a dark vision of a second term: A close examination of one appearance in Rock Hill, S.C., offers an anatomy of a signature rally by the former president

Soaring mobile-home rents anger Arizona voters: Rising costs are giving some conservative voters another reason to back Trump and reducing other voters’ enthusiasm for either candidate

FanDuel to replace D.C.’s troubled sports gambling app this spring

Black college athletes can send a message to Ron DeSantis by staying away

Democrats hope IVF issue might topple key Republican in Pa. swing seat: Rep. Scott Perry (R) says he supports in vitro fertilization -- but he backed a bill declaring embryos people, and Democrats want voters to know it

Biden effigy beaten, kicked at Kansas county GOP event, drawing outrage

S.C. rep says she was ‘shamed’ as rape victim when asked about support for Trump: Nancy Mace was asked to square her support for Donald Trump with her comments as a victim of rape

Reading archive 2024-03-10

Opinion  The ‘Barbie’ speech wasn’t made for the real world. This one is.

Killings by police brought reforms. Fear of crime is unraveling them.: Some changes were rolled back after complaints that police are too restricted. Officials say other changes amount to fine-tuning.

Less money, less house: How market forces are reshaping the American home: Major homebuilders are prioritizing narrower houses with fewer doors, windows and cabinets. Median homes sizes are at a 13-year low.

DC auditor points to lagging performance by some crime-fighting agencies - "'The Pathways Program works with mostly young men who have committed crimes, to work with them to try to steer them in the right direction. So that program is touching people’s lives. But we don’t know if it’s successful. The District is not collecting data on recidivism. It’s not collecting data on employment. So folks are being given services, but we don’t know the impact,' Patterson said."

Reading archive 2024-03-07

Behind F1's Velvet Curtain: If you wanted to turn someone into a socialist you could do it in about an hour by taking them for a spin around the paddock of a Formula 1 race. The kind of money I saw will haunt me forever. - "The great irony of the other side is that they need journalism. The petrochemical companies, deeply powerful institutions, need journalists to write about all the things they attach themselves to that are not being a petrochemical company."

Opinion  Biden’s opportunity to break with Netanyahu has arrived

Sweden finally joins NATO in expansion spurred by Putin’s Ukraine war

Navy demoted Ronny Jackson after probe into White House behavior: Trump’s former physician and GOP ally is now a retired captain, not an admiral

Scientists say they’re closer to reviving mammoths. What could go wrong?: The plan to bring back the woolly mammoth — or at least a version of it — is ambitious but raises hairy questions

For the first time in centuries, a gray whale is spotted in New England

As D.C. leaders brace for ‘tight’ budget, council chair broaches tax hike: Phil Mendelson (D) warned of likely cuts to programs and a potential tax increase to overcome a deficit in the range of $600 million to $800 million

Reading archive 2024-03-06

Opinion  How Oct. 7 is forcing Jews to reckon with Israel

A socialist writer skewered the Formula One scene. Then her article vanished.: Editors for Road & Track aren’t saying why they yanked Kate Wagner’s story from the website shortly after it published

D.C.’s Kingman Island, once a ‘pile of dredge waste,’ is reborn

Squashing lantern flies isn’t enough. Here’s how to kill them.: For years, officials asked people to crush invasive spotted lantern flies. But as the pest continues to spread, some researchers say it’s time to send in the birds.

Opinion  The U.S. can’t afford to wait to fully embrace the world’s most effective weapon - "To rapidly mature its technological capabilities, as well as expand its access to world-class technical talent, the department must create pathways for experienced commercial innovators to put on the uniform. In short, the United States should establish a new form of elite technical reserve duty."

D.C. Council passes public safety overhaul following historic crime spike

Casa Ruby founder charged with fraud, laundering of pandemic relief funds

Want to electrify your home? It might need this upgrade first.

The improbable U.S. plan for a revitalized Palestinian security force

Where will Nikki Haley’s supporters go now that she dropped out?: We talked to nearly 40 Haley voters in four Super Tuesday states about how they would vote in a Biden-Trump rematch

Reading archive 2024-03-04

We Can Do Better Than Dandelions

Return of Trees to Eastern U.S. Kept Region Cool as Planet Warmed

A Different Take on Monarch Butterfly Populations

Why a Clover Lawn Isn't Helping All That Much

In Israeli-occupied Hebron, Palestinians describe living in ‘a prison’ - "The Israeli military blocked off the house in Hebron with razor wire earlier this month, penning in about 20 members of the extended family. Idris said he doesn’t know why. The Israel Defense Forces said it was not aware of razor wire being placed outside his home or others on the street.

...

"'Let me tell you something: These people, Arabi, is not good,” a soldier said in broken English as he tried to block a Post journalist from filming. 'Hamas sharmuta,' said another, using the Arabic word for whore."

Lauren Boebert doesn’t want to lose the House: A messy divorce and flagging popularity upended her personal life and threatened her political future. Can the MAGA Mean Girl start over without changing?

Longtime Trump executive pleads guilty again, this time to perjury charges

D.C. Housing Authority director says agency’s troubles worse than imagined: Executive Director Keith Pettigrew has said a scathing HUD report understated the agency’s problems

Inside the D.C. Council’s turn away from progressive crime strategies

Foreign tourist is gang-raped in India as violence against women persists

Reading archive 2024-03-02

How RFK Jr. hiring a bird smuggler threw his environmental group into turmoil

Offensive comments by N.C. Republican stand out even in Trump’s party: Mark Robinson is favored to win the Republican nomination for governor in a battleground state, even as some see serious liabilities for November

Opinion  Food convoy carnage distills what’s gone terribly wrong in Gaza - "After the savage first months of fighting, humanitarian assistance was finally beginning to flow smoothly early this year, with more than 200 trucks a day distributing aid, according to U.S. officials. But in late January, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir told police to allow demonstrators to close the main border crossing at Kerem Shalom to protest Hamas’s refusal to release all hostages."

In the Amazon, a new way to live off nature (How solar power is changing life deep in the Amazon)

The zombie CVS, a late-capitalism horror story: How one Washington, D.C., drugstore got spun by the culture wars into a symbol for America’s shoplifting panic

The private chats and chance encounters that shape Joe Biden’s thinking: After conversations with his grandchildren, fellow churchgoers and Delaware neighbors, the president brings their worries to the Oval Office

Trump Media co-founders sue company, alleging a scheme to dilute shares: The case could complicate a long-delayed bid by the owner of Truth Social to go public — and deliver former president Donald Trump a financial lifeline

Putin threatens nuclear response to NATO troops if they go to Ukraine

Republicans used to back Ukraine. Then came middle fingers in Alabama.

Reading archive 2024-03-01

Thousands of millionaires haven’t filed tax returns for years, IRS says: About 125,000 notices will be sent to high-income earners, including 25,000 people with income more than $1 million, the tax agency said

Opinion  Biden needs to tell Israel some difficult truths. Only he can do it.

Top foreign policy voice wants Biden to go over Bibi’s head: Richard Haass had a somewhat radical idea for the president. And he pitched it to top aides.

Hunter Biden gives House Republicans the rebuttal they didn’t want

U.S. prescription drug market in disarray as ransomware gang attacks: Millions of Americans have been affected by delays in obtaining medicine or having to foot the bill without insurance