The Washington Post

Things you should see and know. Curated by Julia Carpenter.

[washingtonpost]

(Photo: Jonathan Ernst/ For The Washington Post)

Without Judith Jones, the world may never have known about the life of Anne Frank or the cuisine of Julia Child. 

The legendary editor rescued Frank’s personal journal from a publisher’s reject pile and introduced her first-person account of the Holocaust as “The Diary of a Young Girl.” 

She also spent months trying Child’s recipes that filled the pages of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” 

Jones died today at her summer home in Walden, Vermont. She was 93.

Read more here: Judith Jones, cookbook editor who brought Julia Child and others to the table, dies at 93

[washingtonpost]

Trystan Reese and his partner, Biff Chaplow, were already seasoned parents when they decided last year that they wanted another child. 

Years earlier, they had adopted Chaplow’s niece and nephew after his sister was no longer able to take care of them.

However, this time around things would be different.

After trying for several months, Reese, a transgender man, got pregnant. And just weeks ago, he gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

Their family’s story — and their willingness to go public with it — reflects a shift in public attitudes about pregnancy and parenting in transgender men as social stigmas have started to chip away and advocacy groups have campaigned for greater acceptance.

(Photo: Biff and I/Facebook)

A number of transgender men have gone through successful pregnancies in recent years — and throughout history, for that matter — some of them long after beginning hormone replacement therapy.

Check out the rest of the story: Transgender man gives birth to baby boy. ‘Love is possible,’ he says. So is ‘being a loving family.’

[washingtonpost]

Pssst: America’s private colleges have an idea to stop, and even reverse, their big annual increases in tuition. They say it would help ensure financial aid goes to the students who need it most.

All they want is for you to trust them.

(Photo: Butch Dill/AP)

However, the issue is more complicated than that. The federal government bans consultation about prices and discounts among competitors in any industry. Meaning that schools can’t talk to each other about tuition costs, but here they say, is where the issue is.

That’s because of a self-destructive cycle in which they vie for students by offering bigger and bigger discounts they can’t afford — including to families that may not need them. This pushes up the sticker price for everybody else, shifts money away from students who need it most and threatens the survival of the smallest and most heavily tuition-dependent private schools.

If they could talk to each other, leaders of these private colleges say, they could rein in those discounts.

Check out the rest of their plan: Colleges say they could lower tuition — if only they could talk to each other about it

[washingtonpost]

(Photo: Katherine Frey/ The Washington Post) 

This is the northern part of the Bears Ears National Monument, a territory in dispute between politicians who want to mine and drill the land and conservationists who want to preserve its natural splendor. 

President Obama designated it as a monument in December, in an effort to protect its archaeological sites and land considered sacred by Native American tribes. However, President Trump, at the request of Utah public officials, has been considering a reversal of that decision — as some Utah residents regard the designation as a federal intrusion.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended Trump to revise the existing boundaries of the monument and Congress dictate how parts of the area should be managed. 

[washingtonpost]

Happy Monday!

We know news can be hard to follow. The Washington Post covers a significant part of what happens every day around the world and we want to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. 

So how about a little news quiz to find out if you were paying attention this past week! We have questions about criminal gangs, the National Scout Jamboree and the West Wing drama. Have you been paying attention?

Reblog your answer to let us know how many you got right!

Check it out: News quiz: The big rant, a giant jamboree and more

[washingtonpost]

On Wednesday afternoon, while paddling through a week that began with press secretary Sean Spicer’s resignation and was pockmarked by Donald Trump dogging his attorney general, the White House launched a hopeful tradition: letters from children to the president, read aloud in the daily press briefing.

Four hours later, the term #PickleTruther was teeming on Twitter, and things had gotten really weird.

White House incoming press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during Wednesday’s briefing. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

“My name is Dylan but every body calls me Pickle,” Wednesday’s letter began.  Pickle had a few questions for the president. From sharing his birthday plans to asking about the President’s financial status, ‘Pickle’ expressed his admiration for the current occupant of the White House.

Others had questions as well.

Was it odd that the notebook paper, which theoretically arrived in the mail, didn’t seem to have the crease marks one would see on a letter folded into an envelope? Was it unusual that a young child would have spelled “people” and “friend” correctly, but then mixed up “how”? What kind of 9-year-old would request a birthday party themed around a 71-year-old man?

Read the rest of the story and check out the letter: Did a 9-year-old called ‘Pickle’ really write that letter to Trump? Yep, he’s real.

[washingtonpost]

Only a year ago, candidate Trump presented himself as a social liberal seeking to move the Republican Party left on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.

“People are people to me, and everyone should be protected,” he told The Washington Post in a May 2016 interview.

But circumstances have been changing since Trump entered the White House.

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The President announced on Wednesday that openly transgender members of the military would not be able to serve in any capacity. 

Trump’s tweets on the issue delivered yet another a victory to the political right — including many House Republicans whose support he needs for his policy agenda — while surprising many Republican LGBT activists who had hoped he would end the culture war within the party.  

Read the rest of the story: ‘It’s not my thing’: A history of Trump’s shifting relationship with the LGBT community

[washingtonpost]

Anti-Muslim discrimination is common and on the rise — and so, too, are expressions of support for Muslims, according to a new study on one of the United States’ fastest-growing religious minorities.

“Overall, Muslims in the United States perceive a lot of discrimination against their religious group, are leery of President Donald Trump and think their fellow Americans do not see Islam as part of mainstream U.S. society,” the study’s authors wrote. 

People attend the Islamic Society of North America annual convention in Chicago on June 30. Muslim Americans pointed to recent attacks against Muslims as evidence of increased Islamophobia. (Nova Safo/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

A large majority — 75 percent — said there is a lot of discrimination against Muslims in the United States. Nearly three-quarters said Trump is unfriendly toward Muslims, compared with just 4 percent who said that of President Barack Obama in 2011. And about two-thirds said they don’t like where the nation is headed.

Most of the estimated 3.35 million Muslims living in the United States are immigrants or the children of immigrants. And nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they think the American public does not consider Islam a part of mainstream society.

Read the rest of the story: Discrimination against Muslims is increasing in U.S., Pew study finds

[washingtonpost]

(Photo: Calla Kessler/ The Washington Post)

Six-year-old Kamille has Smith-Magenis syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that can cause delayed speech. Two years ago, her mother, Antoinette, enrolled her at St. Coletta in D.C., a school where each of the 250 students is intellectually disabled, and most require multiple types of therapy. 

The school relies on funding from Medicaid to employ physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists. Cuts to Medicaid would affect schools across the District, but St. Coletta would be especially hard-hit. 

Staff members wonder whether their Medicaid dollars could be at risk.

Read more here: Fear of Medicaid cuts looms at school that serves students with disabilities

[washingtonpost]

As a public school third-grade teacher, Teresa Danks has grown accustomed to getting creative when it comes to providing supplies for her classroom.

But when her husband joked about begging in the streets to raise money for supplies, she took it seriously. 

Teresa Danks (Jonathan Roark)

Recent cuts to Oklahoma’s education budget have made Danks frustrated with the system, which is why she decided to do anything in her power to still deliver the level of education needed.

Danks said she had never panhandled before and wanted to act quickly before she changed her mind. After picking up a poster board from a nearby QuikTrip, she laid it on the hood of her car outside and scrawled a message: “Teacher Needs School Supplies! Anything Helps. Thank You.” At the bottom, she added a smiley face.

Within 10 minutes, she had collected $32. One person stopped to hand her a bottle of water. Another wanted to tell her how much her own teachers had meant to her.

“I went from being nervous and awkward to being overwhelmed, not only with the small donations of cash but just the words of encouragement,” Danks said.

Read the rest of the story: A teacher’s solution to buy school supplies for her classroom: Panhandling

[washingtonpost]

“Girls Trip” is confirming what we already knew: movies starring black women can crush it at the box office.

In an exceedingly rare accomplishment for comedies, the movie earned an estimated $30.8 million over the weekend.

The R-rated comedy from director Malcolm D. Lee features friends heading to the Essence Festival and stars four black women: Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah and Tiffany Haddish.

A scene from “Girls Trip.” (Michele K. Short/Universal Pictures)

The movie’s success comes as debates about diversity in Hollywood continue to gain steam. And the past couple of years have shown that although Hollywood traditionally undervalues movies with black and female leads, it is only to their peril.

“Hidden Figures”, with a cast led primarily by black women, was the highest grossing film of all the movies nominated for Best Picture in the 2017 Oscars.

Check out the rest of the story: ‘Girls Trip’ shows — yet again– that movies starring black women can crush at the box office

[washingtonpost]

Exactly one month from today, a total solar eclipse will sweep across America, casting millions of people into temporary darkness. It will be the biggest astronomical event America has seen in years.  One astronomer has said it will be the “most photographed, most shared, most tweeted event in human history.”

  This combination photograph shows the beginning to the end (reading each row left to right, starting with the top one) of a total solar eclipse as seen from the beach of Ternate Island, Indonesia, on March 9, 2016. (Reuters)

The eclipse will occur across the continental United States on Aug. 21. The 70-mile-wide, 3,000-mile-long swath that lies directly in the shadow of the moon is called “the path of totality.” For this eclipse, it will start off the coast of Oregon and sweep across the country to South Carolina. Here’s the path it’s expected to follow:

  (Denise Lu/The Washington Post)

Read the rest of the story: A total solar eclipse is happening Aug. 21, and here’s what you need to know

[washingtonpost]

President Trump’s frequent trips during the winter to his Florida property, Mar-a-Lago, sparked protests from nearby residents, ethics watchdogs and some elected officials.

But here’s something that’s mostly escaped public attention: The trips are also bad for sharks.

Blacktip sharks are seen migrating along the southeast Florida coast. (Stephen M. Kajiura)

Granted, Trump has expressed his distaste for sharks more than once, so he probably wouldn’t lose sleep over disrupting research on the ocean’s top predator. On July 4, 2013, he fired off multiple tweets denigrating the ancient species, writing, “Sharks are last on my list — other than perhaps the losers and haters of the World!”

Stephen M. Kajiura, a professor of biological sciences at Florida Atlantic University, has conducted an aerial survey for the past seven years to record the abundance and migration patterns of blacktip sharks.

The aerial surveys involve a low flying plane that takes off from an airport included in the no-fly zone activated when President Trump is in Mar-a-Lago.

“He has no idea that he’s doing it, but it does mean a significant reduction,” Kajiura said, hastening to add that he’s “not complaining” but does believe it represents the first time there has been “a direct imposition on data collection by a visiting president.”

Because the president traveled to the property seven times over the course of his first 11 weeks in office, it reduced the number of surveys that the marine biologist could take during that period by one-third.

Read the rest of the story: Trump’s love of Mar-a-Lago is bad news for sharks

[washingtonpost]

(Photo: EPA/Jason Bean/Reno Gazette-Journal)

After nearly nine years in prison, O.J. Simpson will soon be a free man. Again. A four-member parole board in Carson City, Nev., voted unanimously to curtail his 33-year prison sentence for kidnapping and armed robbery, stemming from a confrontation over sports memorabilia in Las Vegas in 2007. 

(Photos: Sal Veder and AP, File)

Simpson rose to prominence for his athletic talent and record-breaking football career. He became the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single season. After the 1979 season, he retired from football and was later inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, beginning careers in acting and football broadcasting.

(Photo: AP/ Joseph Villarin, File)

In 1994, Simpson became embroiled in controversy and media scrutiny after he was accused of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend Ron Goldman. The two were found stabbed to death in Los Angeles near Brown’s condominium. Police treated Simpson as a person of interest, and after failing to turn himself in, began a low-speed pursuit of him along Interstate 405 in California, while he was riding in the backseat of a white Ford Bronco SUV.

(Photo: AP Photo/Vince Bucci, Pool, File)

Simpson was acquitted of charges in a lengthy and widely publicized trial that culminated on Oct. 3, 1995, in a jury verdict of "not guilty." Millions of people tuned in to watch or listen to the announcement. The crime remains unsolved, but many saw his nine-year service in prison as a place he should have been since his murder trial.

(Photo: AP Photo/John Locher, Pool, File)

He faced other legal troubles throughout the early 2000s that included arrests, FBI searches and lawsuits. Attention returned to the Hall of Fame running back and former actor for his 2007 ill-fated bid to retrieve sports memorabilia and again, ten years later, when he became eligible for parole. This Sept. 9, 2008, file photo shows O.J. Simpson arriving at the Clark County Regional Justice Center on the second day of jury selection for his trial in Las Vegas. Nevada parole board officials cited good behavior in prison as factors for his upcoming, early release on Oct. 1.

Read more here:  O.J. Simpson granted parole and could be released from prison as soon as Oct. 1

[washingtonpost]

(Paul Schemm/ The Washington Post)

The autumn rains failed and the grass that fed the animals didn’t grow. No rain came this spring, either, and then the livestock began to die. 

Another drought has seized Ethiopia’s arid Somali region, devastating the livestock herders in these already dry lands. 

Even as the government and aid agencies struggle to help them, there is a growing realization that with climate change, certain ways of life in certain parts of the world are becoming much more difficult to sustain.

Read more here:  Climate change threatens an ancient way of life in Ethiopia

[washingtonpost]

The longer humans continue to pour carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the closer we draw to leaving the next generation with an unmanageable climate problem, scientists say.

(Photo: Martin Meissner/AP)

A new study suggests that merely reducing greenhouse gas emissions won’t be enough, and that future generations will have to invest in technology able to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 

If humans immediately began reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by a relatively high rate of 6 percent each year, the researchers estimate that the carbon extraction technology needed to get down to 350 parts per million could cost anywhere from $8 trillion to nearly $18.5 trillion. And if no emissions reductions occur, these costs could rise above $500 trillion through the end of the century.

“Some consequences [of climate change] are already becoming inevitable, but as yet it could be moderate if we begin to reduce emissions rapidly,” said Columbia University climatologist and former NASA scientist James Hansen.

Read the rest of the story: Climate change will force today’s kids to pay for costly carbon removal technologies, study says

[washingtonpost]

‘AMERICAN NIGHTMARE’

Justine Damond reportedly called 911 about a possible assault in the alley behind her home on the southwest side of Minneapolis.

After police arrived, an officer opened fire, fatally striking her.

Her death has been ruled a homicide. Her family wants answers.

Australia native Justine Damond, 40. (Photo: Stephen Govel via Reuters)

Damond moved from Sydney to Minneapolis several years ago and was planning to marry her fiance, Don Damond, in the coming weeks.

“Basically, my mom is dead because a police officer shot her for reasons I don’t know, and I demand answers,” the slain woman's stepson-to-be, Zach Damond, said in a video posted to Facebook. “I’m so done with all this violence. It’s so much bull----. America sucks. These cops need to get trained differently. I need to move out of here.”

“This is clearly a tragic death,” the Minneapolis police chief said in promising an independent investigation. 

Nearly 9,000 miles away, in Australia — where lawmakers have passed some of the world's most restrictive gun-control laws — people were struggling to make sense of Damond's death.

“AMERICAN NIGHTMARE,” blared a headline on the front page of the Daily Telegraph, a Sydney newspaper.

“Why on Earth did U.S. cops kills Aussie who called for help,” the Courier-Mail, an Australian tabloid, asked on its cover.

Damond was the 541st person shot and killed by police in 2017, according to a Washington Post database of deadly encounters with law enforcement officers in the U.S.

Read the rest of the story: ‘AMERICAN NIGHTMARE’: Australians react to fatal police shooting in ‘very risky’ United States