Reading is a vice

Minnesota leaders successfully sue the Trump administration to force it to preserve evidence from the killing of Alex Pretti. / The Minnesota Star Tribune

White House officials continue to spread lies and misinformation about Pretti and his death. / The Guardian

Bills are pending in at least 15 states to stop ICE agents from wearing masks like secret police. / The Verge

In the face of corruption, when is it right for good civil servants to resign? / Marginal Revolution

Experts rate the 10 best and worst foreign policy decisions in US history. / Council on Foreign Relations

Unrelated: Sometimes a cartoon about ordering coffee is not really about ordering coffee. / Bluesky

The White House plans to use artificial intelligence to write federal transportation regulations. / ProPublica

The heads of Google DeepMind and Anthropic agree they would like to see AI development slow down—if only somebody would make them slow down. / Transformer

Nearly a million people are without power in the US after the weekend’s winter storms. / CNN

Ski resorts from Montana to Maine are rolling out steep discounts to entice Trump-exhausted visitors from Canada. / Bloomberg [$]

Middle-income Americans are starting to pay more for health insurance than home mortgages. / The Wall Street Journal [$]

Meet the Cry-Cry Horse, “the perfect mascot for 2026.” Also, some shoes made by Lego and Cros. / Kottke, dezeen

A new exhibit finds Ansel Adams capturing Los Angeles while the United States prepared for World War II. Also, some photos by William Klein. / PetaPixel, Flashbak

A writer briefly summarizes Japan’s historical eras in light of his own eras as a person. / Ridgeline

Adam Kirsch: Telling people to read more books because it’s their civic duty is silly. Instead, tell them reading is a vice. / The Atlantic [$]

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