For those looking for metaphors about the future of AI and government's ability to regulate it, well, here it is...

SCOOP: The Pentagon asked the White House today for more than *$200 billion* for Iran war supplemental, sources say Some in WH think Congress won't support b/c it's so big Will tee up giant battle in Congress My last story for WaPo: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

You can't see listeria. I ran a farm for 15 years, and no matter how well you know me or how many times you've been to my farm you have NO IDEA about my farm practices. Knowing your farmer does not protect you against food-borne diseases. Don't drink raw milk.

This is a first: I flew to an airport to eat burgers from a vending machine. I lived to tell the tale. Gift link: wapo.st/47CF1fh

Whether or not you plan to try the new McDonald's Big Arch, you gotta read the review by @timcarman.bsky.social. Nobody's better at not-so-fine dining. Gift link. wapo.st/4rRd23J

The review nobody asked for, but everyone is writing. I’d love to hear your thoughts too, if you’ve tried the Big Arch. Gift link: wapo.st/4rRd23J

As the laid off Middle East News Editor, I concur. Management eliminated the positions of every single staff correspondent and bureau chief in the Middle East.

The Post identified seven restaurants that received "notice of suspect documents" letters from DHS. Immigration attorneys tell me that many more letters are likely on the way. The DHS enforcement could lead to hundreds of workers leaving the local industry. Gift link: wapo.st/4aK22z1

Despite an objection from Harrison Suarez, one of the two co-founders of Compass Coffee, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia today approved the sale of many of Compass’s assets to Caffe Nero.

Compass Coffee is expected to have a new owner following Thursday’s bankruptcy auction. Gift link: wapo.st/3OBaF69

Papa Johns has introduced a new pan pizza. Emily Heil and I did a taste test to see how it compares to the pan offerings at two other chains, including the ur-pie at Pizza Hut. Gift link: wapo.st/4aAJBLT

When it opened more than a decade ago, Compass Coffee was one of DC’s feel-good business stories. Now the company’s in bankruptcy. I plotted out how it went from one to the other. Gift link: wapo.st/3MihGbs

As @postguild.bsky.social assesses the damage from last week’s layoffs, it turns out between 44% and 47.5% of the newsroom has been axed. It “may have been the biggest one-day wipeout of journalists in a generation.” washingtonian.com/2026/02/09/a...

My sweet dog doesn’t believe in reading, just snuggles.

Our food environment is making us fat and sick. But RFK Jr.'s ideas about fixing it are mostly either bad (more beef tallow!) or ineffective (eliminate food dyes!). But it doesn't matter. Ozempic can do what regulations can't: change our food supply. (gift link) wapo.st/4qHLzAR

Oh look. This package near the top of The Washington Post homepage is a collaboration between International and Sports (and ties directly to the U.S. political moment), two desks we hear are about to be obliterated by what could be some of the worst layoffs in the history of the paper.

Homeland Security’s sweeping deportation campaign marks a sharp break from the agency’s post-9/11 mission. “DHS has now become an immigration department, and that’s not what it was founded for,” said a former senior DHS official.

Trump threatens Insurrection Act >>

The Washington Post Guild is alarmed and appalled by federal law enforcement’s search and seizure of reporter Hannah Natanson’s property and personal devices. Hannah is a valued member of our union whose work covering the federal workforce has been essential (1/3)

Yesterday I documented how DHS lies all the time and suggested you not trust their claims, in case you did.

This news had been expected for a few weeks now. The future of Compass is quite uncertain after its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Gift link: wapo.st/3YnvZxQ

“RNC Chairman Joe Gruters described being shocked by Trump’s eating habits when they traveled together during the campaign. While flying to a campaign event, according to Gruters, Trump consumed french fries, a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburger, a Big Mac and a Filet-O-Fish.”

Good read on the existential challenges facing local restaurants. The danger with enacting a pileup of rules on our local businesses is that while each requirement may be well-intentioned, the cumulative effect suffocates the business.

And next year is not looking so good either. wapo.st/4924PTn

For the holidays, I gave myself the gift of boredom. And Tony Bourdain’s stew. Gift link: wapo.st/3L7Srrx

Labor advocates are pushing for a $25 minimum wage in DC, as an antidote to the affordability crisis. It comes after D.C. Council twice overturned the will of voters over tipped minimum wage. The restaurant industry is expected to present fierce opposition to the new initiative. wapo.st/4aBXwmk

Some news today on the D.C. streateries front. wapo.st/44xvDrO

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

A remarkable story about a Hiroshima survivor www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Make it stop! Endless papers pitting low-carb, low-fat, keto, Mediterranean, whatever diets against each other when ALL the differences are just a few pounds. It doesn't matter. No diet ever tested works for long-term, substantial weight loss. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

My colleague @timcarman.bsky.social has a beautiful essay on the music of Chris Whitley, who died 20 years ago www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...

Should a Big Mac knockoff taste like the real thing? Or just steal the architecture of the famous burger? Emily Heil and I have a fun back and forth on the topic. wapo.st/3JOGab2

Numerous restaurant owners say the District’s new guidelines and fee structure will force them to close their streateries. Some Washingtonians won’t miss them. wapo.st/3LXgc5F

I've known Elazar for a couple of years now. He's an exceptional human being and a wonderful food critic. You're in good hands, D.C. www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/11...

Three restaurateurs, three memoirs, three very different perspectives on what makes a successful life, in and out of dining rooms. wapo.st/47wCPX5

"Tim Carman ALMOST makes me want to go to Arby's," my husband says to me this morning. This is why. Terrific piece. @timcarman.bsky.social writes so well about food.. www.washingtonpost.com/food/2025/10...

We interrupt your regularly scheduled scrolling for this lark of a review on Arby's new steak nuggets. wapo.st/3WPNbLL

I had the pleasure of speaking with Mike and Ian from NPR's How to Do Everything. We chatted about whether the Pentagon Pizza Report can actually predict major military actions. www.npr.org/2025/09/30/n...

We didn’t realize how good we had it in 2015. A look at a group of restaurants that helped reshape DC dining. Gift link: wapo.st/3WdFRsH

Some thoughts on last night’s dinner in DC. Gift link: wapo.st/3KezhPU

More than 20 workers have been detained. Countless more have quit, called out of their shifts or scrambled to find alternative ways to get to work. The immigration crackdown in DC has the restaurant industry reeling. Gift link: wapo.st/3VIggIc

I got a lesson in the hard economics of plant-based restaurants. It helps to explain why Eleven Madison Park added meat back to the menu. Gift link: wapo.st/3JRZ7Jj

Some y-o-y data herein. Not great!

The administration argues that its crackdown on crime in DC has been good for restaurants. Numerous owners say otherwise. Gift link: wapo.st/4mzcb4X

Excellent deep dive by Tim Carman and Warren Rojas into the impact on **all this** on DC restaurants this month. contextualize the % opentable drops better than anyone I’ve seen (restaurant week in 2024 was Aug 12-18) but still shows the impact wapo.st/4mzcb4X

What does a lobster roll in Iowa and the White House have in common? Gold! I have thoughts. Gift link: wapo.st/4mgSz5m

When a sandwich is not sandwich: The new symbol for DC protesters. Story for context: www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

For those who enjoy a good, bracing IPA, all jacked up with cascade hops, you owe a small debt of gratitude to Jack McAuliffe, the co-founder of New Albion brewing. He died last month at age 80. Gift link: wapo.st/4fqhtgd

"Genre movies often require a suspension of disbelief — which is just another way to say they require you to dial down your critic — to be fully enjoyed. The same can be said of restaurants." - @timcarman.bsky.social wapo.st/4ff7VEP

The D.C. Council didn't repeal I-82. But council members modified it in a way that, according to labor advocates, subverts the will of D.C. residents who approved the ballot measure with 74 percent of the vote. Gift link: wapo.st/4oqB4kO