Source: TomDispatch
by Frida Berrigan
“Recently, I’ve been turning off my iPhone — all the way off! — for 10 to 30 minutes at a time. I leave it somewhere in the house, while I try to live IRL (‘in real life’): washing dishes, hanging up laundry, or even going for a walk, phoneless. In this hyper-connected world of ours, doing so, even for such a short time, often feels like an enormous act of self-deprivation — no podcasts, no long-distance communication with those I’m closest to, no social media, no para-social relationships, no steps of mine being counted, or micro-health-tracking going on. So much, in other words, missing in action. I’m not a digital native. In fact, I am what they call a late adopter. I didn’t get a cell phone until the fall of 2003. So I remember when it was normal to go about your business without a powerful computer attached to your person.” (06/05/25)
https://tomdispatch.com/a-world-without-iphones/
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“An Anti-Blob Debate on Iran, Gaza, and China | Robert Wright, Curt Mills, and Andrew Day” (06/05/25)
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/68735
Source: ABC News
“A wrongly deported Guatemalan man has been returned to the United States, marking the first time the Trump administration has brought back a deportee based on a judge’s order. The man, who was wrongly deported to Mexico, was returned to the U.S. on Wednesday, according to his lawyer. The return of the man, identified in court filings as O.C.G., is the first instance in which the Trump administration, in the midst of a sweeping immigration crackdown, has brought a deportee back to the U.S. after a judge ordered their return. Last month, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ordered the Trump administration to ‘take all immediate steps’ to return O.C.G. after he was ‘placed on a bus and sent to Mexico,’ a country where he said he was previously held for ransom and raped, according to court filings. … After O.C.G. was sent to Mexico, authorities removed him to Guatemala, where he said he had to remain in hiding until his return, according to court filings.” (06/05/25)
https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-administration-1st-time-returns-wrongly-deported-migrant/story?id=122540257
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“Censoring lawmakers, T-shirts, and seashells.” (06/05/25)
https://www.thefire.org/news/podcasts/so-speak-free-speech-podcast/censoring-lawmakers-t-shirts-and-seashells
Source: RealClearPolitics
by Meredith Sumpter
“Democratic voters in New Jersey must choose a nominee for governor next week from a crowded and contentious field – and polls show no one truly catching fire. The front-runner polls at about 30% of the vote. At least three other candidates can fairly claim that they’re in second place. Two more appear to have double-digit support. Meanwhile, a quarter of New Jersey Democrats remain undecided – and the race just keeps getting more negative. It’s a textbook example of an election that would benefit from ranked choice voting.” (06/05/25)
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2025/06/05/party_primaries_need_ranked_choice_voting__152877.html
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mark Nayler
“China is Spain’s biggest trading partner outside the EU, and the world’s third-largest consumer of Spanish olive oil, behind the US and Europe. It also accounts for 20% of Spain’s pork exports, worth over €1 billion in 2024. In return, Spain has benefited from a substantial increase in Chinese investment since the financial crisis of 2008–10, when Beijing purchased large chunks of Spanish debt. China is now investing heavily in Spain’s rapidly expanding renewables sector. … While strengthening trade relations with China, Spain is also trying to keep a wary US on-side.” (06/05/25)
https://fee.org/articles/spains-balancing-act/
Source: WESH 2 News
“Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez was arrested on Wednesday and faces multiple charges linked to a major Central Florida gambling operation, according to the state attorney general. In a press release, Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office said Lopez engaged in the gambling operation for campaign contributions and personal payments. In total, the organization generated over $21.6 million in illicit proceeds. The attorney general said he used his office to protect the business from law enforcement.” [editor’s note: There shouldn’t be any such thing as an illegal gambling operation; as this case demonstrates, gambling prohibition is just a great way to encourage corruption in “law enforcement” – TLK] (06/05/25)
https://www.wesh.com/article/osceola-county-sheriff-marcos-lopez-arrested/64981236
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave delivers radar on the Democratic Party’s $20 million plan to court young male voters, particularly those who are Gen Z.” (06/05/25)
https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/5334253-rising-june-5-2025/
Source: Persuasion
by Michael Shermer
“The movement was based on flawed understandings of human nature.” (06/05/25)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/why-woke-failed
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The New York Times has just published one of the most insane headlines I have ever seen it publish, which is really saying something. ‘Gaza’s Deadly Aid Deliveries,’ the title blares. If you were among the majority of people who only skim the headline without reading the rest of the article, you would have no idea that Israel has spent the last few days massacring starving civilians at aid sites and lying about it. You would also have no idea that it is Israel who’s been starving them in the first place. The headline is written in such a passive, amorphous way that it sounds like the aid deliveries themselves are deadly. Like the bags of flour are picking up assault rifles and firing on desperate Palestinians queuing for food or something.” (06/05/25)
https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/06/05/zen-and-the-art-of-new-york-times-headline-writing/
