A note to readers  —  I have been uncharacteristically silent these past ten months.  I had thought that silence would soon be coming to an end, but I'm afraid I must tell you now that fate has decided on a different course for me.  —  In August of last year, I underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor in my abdomen.

CNN's Anthony Bourdain dead at 61  —  New York (CNN)Anthony Bourdain, a gifted storyteller and writer who took CNN viewers around the world, has died.  He was 61.  —  CNN confirmed Bourdain's death on Friday and said the cause of death was suicide.  —  “It is with extraordinary sadness …

Justice Dept. Seizes Times Reporter's Email and Phone Records in Leak Investigation  —  WASHINGTON — Federal law enforcement officials secretly seized years' worth of a New York Times reporter's phone and email records this year in an investigation of classified information leaks.

Trump will ask athletes who kneel during anthem to recommend people for pardoning  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump says he wants to meet with NFL players and athletes who kneel during the National Anthem so they can recommend people they think should be pardoned because they were treated unfairly by the justice system.

Under Trump, “America First” Really Is Turning Out to Be America Alone  —  From trade to the Iran deal to NAFTA, the President has created the highest level of tension between the U.S. and its allies in decades.  —  The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was less than forty-eight hours away …

Trump says he is likely to support ending federal ban on marijuana … President Trump said he likely will support a congressional effort to end the federal ban on marijuana, a major step that would reshape the pot industry and end the threat of a Justice Department crackdown.

Mueller Adds Obstruction Charge on Manafort and Indicts His Right-Hand Man  —  WASHINGTON — The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, brought new obstruction charges on Friday against President Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and added allegations against a close associate …

Des Moines DREAMer dies within weeks after being sent back to Mexico's violence  —  Editor's note: This column has been updated from the original online version with a statement from ICE.  —  Manuel Antonio Cano Pacheco should have graduated high school in Des Moines last month.

Trump's bedtime story: “The Book”  —  It's not true President Trump doesn't read.  It's just exceptionally hard to get him to do it.  —  So the workarounds by savvy aides have become legendary in the West Wing.  Many of them revolve around the briefing binder that goes …

Scoop: Michael Wolff is back with “Fire and Fury” II  —  After torching the White House with “Fire and Fury,” Michael Wolff is coming back for more:  —  Wolff tells me he has signed with the same publisher, Henry Holt, for a sequel — although he says it's unclear what that means …

U.S. officials prepare to thwart Chinese spying at Singapore summit  —  WASHINGTON — China may not have a seat at the table during President Donald Trump's upcoming nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but U.S. officials say they are preparing to counter the Chinese spies …

The internet was supposed to save democracy.  I asked 4 tech optimists what went wrong.  —  After Cambridge Analytica, social networks look less like a savior than a menace.  —  The internet was supposed to save democracy.  —  The web, and in particular social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter …

Romney: Trump will be reelected in 2020  —  DEER VALLEY, UTAH — Republican Senate candidate Mitt Romney bluntly predicted here on Thursday evening that President Donald Trump would win reelection in 2020.  —  Addressing a group of major GOP donors, Romney — who bitterly collided …

Bourdain  —  I've had a leasehold on davidsimon.com for years now.  People smarter than I am told me that even if I had no sense of its use at present, I should throw a few shekels down in case.  But until recently, I saw no reason to do much of anything with the site.  —  My ambivalence rests on a couple basic ideas: