Please Explain The Scientific Nature Of The Whammy. Tabs, Tues., June 6, 2023

I’m too much of a Scully to believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life. If aliens could defy physics and master interstellar travel, they presumably could avoid having their crafts shot down by puny human technology or noticed by even punier human eyes. (DeBrief)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has predictably blown a racist dog whistle about crime in Baltimore, but he’s had little to say about a mass shooting in his own state. (Baltimore Banner)

Hey, look, a Texas sheriff has recommended criminal charges against members of the DeSantis administration for its human trafficking “stunt.” (Miami Herald)

Newly woke Jennifer Rubin believes recession “fear mongering” is a mainstream media bias that specifically targets Democratic presidents. She backs up her thesis with this Wall Street Journal article that urges calm — we’re far from a recession. (WSJ)

We should move past the lie that the far-Left is equivalent to the far-Right, either morally or in political power. (Talking Points Memo)

I have this bison’s albums from the 1990s, so I can understand the need to commemorate the moment. It’s still dangerous. (Twitter)

Tim Alberta does a good job dismantling CNN head Chris Licht, who wants to win back Republican viewers who’d left the network while maintaining the support of his own journalists. (The Atlantic)

One year into the job, Licht was losing both battles. Ratings, in decline since Trump left office, had dropped to new lows. Employee morale was even worse. A feeling of dread saturated the company. Licht had accepted the position with ambitions to rehabilitate the entire news industry, telling his peers that Trump had broken the mainstream media and that his goal was to do nothing less than “save journalism.” But Licht had lost the confidence of his own newsroom.

CNN’s ratings are circling the drain but on the upside the network has lost all its credibility. (LA Times)

Oregon Democratic state Sen. Mark Meek has introduced an anti-moonlighting bill that would “make it illegal for any statewide elected official to work as a contractor, employee or controlling owner of an outside business while in office.” Former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan no doubt feels very seen. (Willamette Week)

These awesome moms took on the Proud Boys in their California school board. (The Daily Beast)

The Supreme Court is an anti-democratic arm of the American right-wing, and perhaps,with some notable exceptions, this has always been the case. Jeet Heer makes the case for neutralizing the Court’s outsized power. (The Nation)

People are playing pickleball in abandoned Bed Bath & Beyonds. My friend Dick — a retired doctor — explained pickleball to me. It sounds fun, even though there are no actual pickles involved. (Curbed)

I’m actually pretty happy that Drew Barrymore is enjoying such success as a daytime talk show host. (Vulture)

Travel writer Eva Sandoval details how you can live as a mermaid, if just for a few hours. And no, you won’t have to make a reverse-Ariel arrangement with Ursula the Sea Witch. (Lonely Planet)

Sometimes the headline is all you need: Barbie film ‘required so much pink paint it contributed to worldwide shortage’ (The Guardian)

Already planning my next trip to see Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.

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