Supreme Court Again Blocks Republican-Backed Missouri Voting Map

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Supreme Court Again Blocks Republican-Backed Missouri Voting Map (Maria)

The author writes, “The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday once again prevented Missouri from using a congressional map in November that was redrawn to give Republicans an advantage in the midterm elections. It was the second time this week the Supreme Court waded into a dizzying legal fight over Missouri’s congressional map, and came just two months before a general election in which the state’s voters could determine control of the House.”

The Smartest Money on Earth Just Quit Trump’s America. Here’s What Happens to Everyone Who Can’t and the Economic Collapse That’s Coming. (Bethany)

The author writes, “Trump destroyed the US economy, fired the people who’d fix it, and built the whole thing so it survives your ballot. The projection, the human cost, and why the US economy WILL collapse.”

Why Erika Kirk Failed as Turning Point USA’s Leader (Sean)

From Salon: “When Charlie Kirk was alive, his wife Erika had a retrograde role that was easy to understand. She didn’t use the word, but she was a tradwife. … After they married in 2021, she became the evidence that Charlie Kirk was living up to his own beliefs about male leadership — and female submission — at home during the crucial period that he was rebranding himself as an evangelical leader from the secular libertarian he had been. He died a year ago this week, shot to death while speaking at Utah Valley University. While Erika Kirk is still out there preaching marriage and submission, her message doesn’t cohere like it did when her husband was alive. She obviously doesn’t live the tradwife life anymore. As many people have noticed, she seems like she’s doing just fine without a husband to lead her.” 

Russia and North Korea Open the First Road Link Across Shared Border (Reader Steve)

From the Associated Press: “Russia and North Korea opened the first road bridge across their narrow stretch of border Monday, creating a new physical link between the two countries as they expand cooperation. North Korea only shares a 17-kilometer (10.5-mile) border with Russia, a tiny part of its porous northern border that stretches more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) and is mostly shared with China. But Pyongyang and Moscow have hailed the bridge’s opening as yet another key moment in their booming ties. Relations and exchange programs between Russia and North Korea have been flourishing, with North Korea supplying ammunition and troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine in return for economic and military assistance.”

The ‘Manosphere’ Isn’t a Movement. It’s a Multibillion-Dollar Grievance Industry (Reader Jim)

The author writes, “For many years now, a dark question has haunted parents, teachers, the internet, and media institutions: What’s wrong with young men? Why, people ask, are boys so politically extreme, spouting misogynist rhetoric, and increasingly drawn into risky crypto schemes and online gambling? How did they become so lonely, with their depression symptoms often overlooked? … The most common explanation of these interrelated phenomena is that younger men have banded together online under the umbrella of something known as the ‘manosphere,’ usually conceived as an organic right-wing rebellion driving the culture wars. A new study, however, suggests that this is entirely backward: The digital ecosystem that produces red-pilled men is less of a movement than it is a pyramid scheme.” 

Bigger, Hotter Fires Are Slowly Erasing America’s Great Forests (Laura)

The author writes, “On a gentle slope on the western side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where a towering green canopy of ponderosa pines had stood for centuries, wildfires have transformed roughly 1,700 acres into brown, bare shrubland. That forest is gone for good, scientists say. Spiky shrubs and poison oak have replaced the majestic trees. All that is left of the pines are burned logs and dead branches. It’s part of a wider transformation that’s taking place across the Western United States, from Oregon to New Mexico, as bigger and hotter wildfires sweep through forests that have not evolved to survive such high-intensity blazes and a warmer climate. Recent studies estimate that as much as 40 percent of Western conifer forests will turn into shrubland by 2100 as a result.”

The Great Silence: Why Haven’t We Found Any Aliens Yet? (Dana)

From The Guardian: “Given the size and age of the universe, it should be full of species with technology far more advanced than our own. So where are they?”