12 Native American words that you use daily without even knowing it
July 5, 2026
10 ways to improve things
Robert
Reich - 1. Subject Supreme Court
justices to term limits. Limit the terms of justices to 18 years, after
which time they must move to courts of appeals or district courts. Justices
already on the high court can remain only until they’ve been there for 18
years. Those who are beyond this limit must immediately move to other courts.
(Another reform is to expand the number of justices, but FDR tried this and it
proved so politically unpopular that he had to abandon it.)
2. Prevent conflicts of interest. End the exemption
of the president and vice president from conflicts of interest laws. Require
all federally elected officials to put their investments into blind trusts.
Prohibit all trading of specific shares of stock.
3. Stop a president from using the Justice Department.
Prohibit a president from having any involvement in decisions about whom to
prosecute. Require congressional review of any pardons or commutations.
4. End gerrymanders. Require states to create
independent commissions to draw congressional district lines.
5. Revive voting rights. Reenact Section 2 of the
Voting Rights Act (which barred voting practices or procedures that
discriminate on the basis of race, color, or ethnicity) and Section 5 (which
required jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination in voting to
obtain federal approval before changing any voting laws or procedures).
6. Protect press freedom and independence. Amend the
Sherman and Clayton antitrust acts to bar large corporations, or any person
already owning major media, from purchasing major media networks or platforms.
7. Protect the freedom of inquiry. Bar the executive
branch from conditioning research or other educational grants to universities
on any ideological litmus test. Researchers should be free to pursue truth.
8. Get big money out of politics. Establish public
matching funds for small-dollar donations for all federal elected offices.
Encourage states to grant corporate charters only on condition that
corporations refrain from political activity (as Hawaii has done and Montana is
considering, and hopefully California will do). Pursue a constitutional
amendment to reverse Citizens United and establish Congress’s authority to
limit big money in politics.
9. Tax large aggregations of personal wealth. Enact a
wealth tax. Eliminate the “stepped-up basis at death” rule that allows large
fortunes to be transferred from one generation to the next without paying taxes
on capital gains.
10. Eliminate the Electoral College. Pursue a constitutional amendment to eliminate the Electoral College and base the selection of president and vice president on whichever ticket wins the overall popular vote. In the meantime, seek a compact among states (and the District of Columbia) to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote.
The decline of socializing
Axios - Americans are spending less time socializing than they did 20 years ago — and the trend cuts across every generation, Axios' Erica Pandey writes from the new American Time Use Survey.
- Our growing isolation is a fundamental shift in the way we live with implications for everything from what we believe to how long we live.
🚨 Average time spent socializing per day has fallen from 45 to 35 minutes over the last 20 years.
- The decline is steepest among young people: 15- to 24-year-olds went from spending an hour a day hanging out with others to 35 minutes.
Sociologists and psychologists point to several trends driving this phenomenon in what Substack writer Derek Thompson dubbed "The Anti-Social Century."
- We're all on our smartphones, often interacting through screens instead of face-to-face. Teens spend an average of 4.8 hours a day on apps like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, according to Gallup.
- The shift to remote work — and life — during the pandemic has persisted.
- Longer-term trends are reshaping daily life in ways that make retreat easier. Homes are bigger and more comfortable, with larger TVs. Most restaurants are on food delivery apps, making it easier than ever to stay in.
☕ Also contributing to the trend is the decline of gathering spaces, Axios' Avery Lotz writes.
- In a 2025 report, University of Colorado Boulder researchers uncovered widespread closures of all kinds of hangout spots — from libraries to coffee shops to museums — in the last decade or so.
- Churches are also shuttering at unprecedented rates, Axios' Russell Contreras reports. Share this story.
Science
NPR - After Trump's reelection, an increasing number
of U.S. scientists are seeking job opportunities abroad. An analysis by
the journal Nature revealed that in the first quarter of 2025, U.S. scientists
submitted nearly a third more international job applications than in the same
period in 2024. In March 2025, a survey of more than 1,600 scientists in the
U.S. found that 75% were considering leaving the country. These departures are
partly a response to changes the Trump administration made to federal funding
for scientific research in the U.S.
Even potato chips are a problem
The
Guardian - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
has upgraded a recall of several popular brands of potato chips to its most
serious level because of the risk of salmonella contamination. Manufacturer Utz
issued a voluntary recall in May for varieties of its Zapp’s and Dirty potato
chips products, citing the possible presence of salmonella in dry milk powder
sourced from a third party used to make a seasoning ingredient. An estimated
650,000 bags of chips with best by dates ranging from 27 July to 31 August were
believed to be affected.
National parks another victim of Trump
The Guardian - This weekend, hundreds of thousands more will pour into national parks across the country to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US, looking to connect with nature and experience part of the nation’s shared heritage. “There is nothing so American as our national parks,” Franklin D Roosevelt said during a 1934 radio address, championing how the mountains, glaciers, lakes and trees had been pulled from “private exploitation”.
But as the US memorializes its history, the hundreds of
places safeguarded by the National Park Service (NPS) face an uncertain future. Protections and federal support for parks
have eroded under the Trump administration, which has cut millions of dollars
from the NPS budget and slashed staffing levels. Overcrowding in nature areas
has threatened ecosystems and increased hazards for visitors, while extreme
conditions fueled by the climate crisis create more dangers for the landscapes
and those who love them.
The
Hill - A federal appeals court
reversed a lower court’s order requiring the National Park Service (NPS) to
restore signs and exhibits that were removed by the Trump administration. The
1st Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday halted the ruling, which would have
restored park materials that the administration says were purged as part of the
administration’s effort to get rid of materials that “disparage” Americans.
Middle East
MS Now - (Not) war and (not) peace: The Iran war has entered a new phase centered on the fight to control the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. has already failed to achieve the goals that Trump set at the outset of ending the Iranian regime or restricting its nuclear capabilities, argues political science professor Nicholas Grossman. But the conflict isn’t over, either, despite an ambiguous memorandum of understanding that didn’t resolve the core issues. Both countries have made conflicting claims about what the agreement means, and attacks have continued. But time is on Iran’s side as the U.S. and other countries could soon run out of oil reserves. Read more.
July 4, 2026
White nationalism parades in DC
Sam Smith - One of the things that pleased me as a DC native was how we handled ethnic variety better than much of the rest of the country. I was an advisor to Marion Barry when we were both in our 20s and assisted the late Julius Hobson. I later figured out that one big factor was that whites and blacks in DC found issues in common, including unwanted freeways and much wanted home rule.
DC was way ahead of much of America on ethnic issues, which is one reason I didn't move to my also beloved Maine until my seventies. And a major reason I was so shocked to see the film today of hundreds of white nationalists parading in my home town.
It has long bothered me that the media hasn't given DC credit for its handling of ethnicity, and it still troubled me to see the white nationalist demonstration. This is not the DC I lived in.
Polls
—The average cost of healthcare has doubled—4.2 million Americans lost ACA coverage—3.8 million Americans lost Medicaid coverage—Nearly 500 hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes have closed
Meanwhile. . .
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ordered Thursday that the federal government does not have to return signs to national parks and monuments by the end of this week, including ones on climate science and Indigenous history in places like Acadia National Park. Federal officials were ordered last month to restore the signage by July 3, including dozens of Acadia’s displays on warming oceans and Wabanaki heritage.
Voting
Newsworthy News - The Supreme Court just wiped out one of the last brakes on big money in elections, giving political parties and their donors far more power over who runs — and who wins.
The Court struck down federal limits on how much parties can
spend in direct coordination with their candidates, in a 6–3 ruling along
ideological lines.
Republican committees and the Trump Justice Department
argued the limits violated free speech, and the federal government refused to
defend its own law.
Climate change
Inside Climate News - The number of accidents involving releases of dangerous chemicals rose by 57 percent between 2021 and 2025, from 83 to 131, according to an analysis released Monday by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit that works with former government officials.
Injuries or deaths from accidents also rose, from 60 to 89
over the same five-year period, the analysis found. Incident reports released
by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB), an independent agency that investigates
chemical accidents, show that more than 650 accidents occurred between April
2020 and May 2026, with 103 resulting in fatalities, 355 causing injuries and
314 doing “substantial property damage.”
Close to 150 million people live within 3 miles of these
facilities. Historically underserved and overburdened populations, including
people who identify as Black and Latino, are at greatest risk of exposure to an
accidental release.
Donald Trump
Trump: If we pass the SAVE Act, Republicans won't lose an election for 100 years.
“A generation after we fought and won the cold war against the menace of communism, there is now a resurgence of the communist menace in our land, including from newcomers to our country who embrace ideas totally opposed to our way of life and our great success.”
He described communism as a greater threat to American liberty than the first and second world wars and the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks. “It’s the enemy of the constitution,” he declared. “Above all, it’s the enemy of July 4th, 1776 … Communism is the exact opposite of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It’s death, tyranny and the pursuit of evil.”
JD Vance
Headline
USA - JD Vance pulled in as much as $7.4
million during 2025 from royalties on his bestselling book combined with
returns from investments and his venture capital enterprise, the Wall Street
Journal reported after reviewing his most recent financial disclosure.
The vice
president keeps drawing considerable sums from “Hillbilly Elegy” while also
profiting from a portfolio that includes real estate holdings and exchange
traded funds, Tuesday’s federal filing showed.
Donald Trump’s
2025 haul vastly outpaced what his vice president brought in. The president
made more than $1 billion through cryptocurrency transactions alone per his own
disclosure. Vance filed 17 pages of financial information compared to Trump’s
927 page submission.
July 3, 2026
Meanwhile. . .
InfoGram - Donald Trump is going to lift the ban on mailing handguns directly to homes. That helps GrabAGun, the online gun store his son has a stake in. He’d rake in billions.
MS NOW - Trump is scheduled to fly to South Dakota on the $400 million jet gifted by the government of Qatar, just one high-profile part of the grubbiest presidential cash grab in 250 years of American history. He is clearly pleased that the plane was ready in time for the country’s semiquincentennial celebration.
|
Tucker Carlson
Headline USA - Popular podcast host Tucker Carlson has long dismissed questions about whether he would ever seek public office. But this week, he hinted at a major political move, though don’t expect to see his name on the ballot.
Speaking with the Columbia Journalism Review in an interview published Wednesday, Carlson said he plans to “help build a third party,” just months after publicly breaking with President Donald Trump over the U.S.’s involvement in the Israel-Iran war.
“I’m going to help build a third party. There should be a good-faith effort to figure out what benefits the country,” Carlson said. During the same interview, Carlson insisted that he still has no interest in seeking public office.
Word
Katty Kay - Thomas Jefferson had finished his draft
of the Declaration of Independence, but then had to sit in a boiling hot room
for the entire day, while 50 of his peers critiqued his writing. He apparently
hated it and later wrote of how the other men had "mangled" his words.
Governor Newsom's different stands on billionaire tax
Deep
State Tribunal - Governor Gavin Newsom called for a
federal “true minimum tax on billionaires,” saying the richest should at least
pay the same tax rate as their workers. He set a threshold at $100 million in
wealth. He also urged restoring corporate rates to pre-2017 levels and closing
a practice where the wealthy borrow against stock portfolios without triggering
taxes on gains. He paired this with a push to tighten inheritance rules to curb
what he called a looming aristocracy.
…. Newsom
opposes a California ballot initiative that would charge a one-time 5% tax on
residents with over $1 billion in net worth, payable starting in 2027. The
state’s nonpartisan review says the measure could raise tens of billions but
might cut future income tax revenue if high earners leave. Newsom argues a
national approach is harder to dodge than a state tax. That stance invites
charges of mixed messages and political maneuvering from critics on both sides. Newsom has warned that some billionaires
already left California over the proposal, taking tax payments with them.
Climate change
The
Guardian - The scorching heat blanketing much of
the US this week would have been “virtually impossible” if not for the climate
crisis, researchers have found, warning that the high temperatures could
threaten Independence Day celebrations and World Cup matches this weekend.
“The climate
the country has today is fundamentally different to the one it had when the
founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence,” said Theodore
Keeping, extreme weather and wildfire researcher at Imperial College London, in
a press release.
The analysis
from World Weather Attribution, an international consortium of climate
researchers, comes as a high-pressure system, or heat dome, brings hot and
humid conditions to a large swath of the central and eastern United States, as
well as southern parts of Canada.
….The mercury
is expected to soar in the US capital of Washington DC, as thousands gather to
celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country.
World Cup
matches will also be affected. France’s match against Paraguay in Philadelphia
on Saturday is expected to see levels of extreme heat that a global players’
union has previously said should trigger the delay or postponement of games,
and a Miami game between Cape Verde and Argentina scheduled the day before is
also expected to be played in potentially dangerous heat and humidity.
It’s an urgent
warning showing that the world must immediately begin the swift drawdown of
greenhouse gas pollution, said Friederike Otto, professor of climate science at
the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, in the release.
“When a
historic Fourth of July celebration is disrupted, and World Cup matches are
played in conditions that are unsafe for players and fans, it shouldn’t take
another scientific study to wake people up,” she said.
“Climate change
is here; it’s already impacting the things we enjoy in our everyday lives, and
it will continue to get worse the longer we drag out the inevitable transition
to net zero emissions.”
The Guardian - The scorching heat blanketing much of the US this week would have been “virtually impossible” if not for the climate crisis, researchers have found, warning that the high temperatures could threaten Independence Day celebrations and World Cup matches this weekend.
“The climate the country has today is fundamentally different to the one it had when the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence,” said Theodore Keeping, extreme weather and wildfire researcher at Imperial College London, in a press release.
The analysis from World Weather Attribution, an international consortium of climate researchers, comes as a high-pressure system, or heat dome, brings hot and humid conditions to a large swath of the central and eastern United States, as well as southern parts of Canada.
….The mercury is expected to soar in the US capital of Washington DC, as thousands gather to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the country.
World Cup matches will also be affected. France’s match against Paraguay in Philadelphia on Saturday is expected to see levels of extreme heat that a global players’ union has previously said should trigger the delay or postponement of games, and a Miami game between Cape Verde and Argentina scheduled the day before is also expected to be played in potentially dangerous heat and humidity.
It’s an urgent warning showing that the world must immediately begin the swift drawdown of greenhouse gas pollution, said Friederike Otto, professor of climate science at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, in the release.
“When a historic Fourth of July celebration is disrupted, and World Cup matches are played in conditions that are unsafe for players and fans, it shouldn’t take another scientific study to wake people up,” she said.
“Climate change is here; it’s already impacting the things we enjoy in our everyday lives, and it will continue to get worse the longer we drag out the inevitable transition to net zero emissions.”
NPR - It’s still unclear what will happen in Washington, D.C., where President Trump has made the anniversary a major focus. NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas tells Up First. Capitol Police said they'll decide this morning whether the public can attend the Capitol Fourth concert and fireworks. Forecasts call for temperatures near 102 degrees, with a heat index as high as 113. A couple of days ago, Trump mentioned at a public event that he plans to deliver a “really long” speech on the night of the Fourth, when it is expected to be nearly as hot as it will be during the day.
Donald Trump
Alternet - Former Special Counsel Jack Smith told MS NOW in a Thursday interview that he’s lter of classified documents and his actions surrounding the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack.
“After the
Supreme Court grants Donald Trump immunity you filed a superseding indictment.
You’re still ready to bring the case to trial, right?” asked MS NOW anchor
Nicole Wallace.
“Yeah.
Correct,” Smith confirmed without hesitation.
“… We did what geasoning of it, but we looked at the evidence we could no longer use and the evidence we could use … and in this particular case a lot of the evidence was him in his role as a candidate anood prosecutors do and what you’re supposed to do. … we didn’t agree with the [court’s] rd we felt we could go for it.”
Smith added
that Trump’s chances of being prosecuted and convicted are still very good if
his research is presented before a court of law.
July 2, 2026
Donald Trump
Donald Trump: I see my two beautiful sons sitting
there. I think I'm going to give one medal of honor to myself, one to them, and
we'll have a threesome. I'll pick out one of the two. I'll give them the congressional medal of
honor for something. For their genius in hunting and I’ll get one for taking on
Russia, Russia, Russia.
Polls
Independent
- A Reuters/Ipsos survey indicates that 80% of
Americans intend to celebrate July 4th this year. This includes 91% of
Republicans, 76% of Democrats, and 74% of independents. However, one in five
Americans will not be celebrating, and just over half – 57% – primarily see the
day as a break from work or an opportunity to spend time with friends and
family, or simply as another day.
Traditional
festivities remain popular, with 48% of the country planning to attend a
cookout. 16% will prepare red, white, and blue-themed food, drinks, or
desserts. Fireworks displays are also a key part of the holiday for many, with
34% planning to attend a show and 18% intending to set off fireworks
themselves.
Displaying
patriotic symbols is common, as 41% of respondents said they would have an
American flag or bunting outside their homes. This figure rose to 64% among
Republicans, who were also more likely to display the flag regularly throughout
the year compared to independents or Democrats.
Immigrant arrests surge
NY
Times - Federal
immigration officials have detained more than 10,000 people in the last five
days, a major surge that has stemmed from a push within Immigration and Customs
Enforcement to increase arrest rates.
Agency leaders
in recent days ordered top ICE officials to focus more of their officers’
efforts on picking up immigrants they want to deport, according to documents
obtained by The New York Times and interviews with federal officials. ICE
officers have arrested people at check-ins with immigration authorities, during
traffic stops and on the street. The push has apparently yielded results, with
recent arrest numbers roughly doubling from the 1,000 picked up each day
earlier this year.
ICE officials
were told that the White House wanted an increase in arrests, according to
three officials with knowledge of the conversations. One of the officials said
that it was unclear how long the pace could continue, but that ICE officials
had been told that 2,000 arrests a day was the new standard for enforcement.
Climate change
The
Guardian - New
data released on Tuesday showed the first six months of the year were the
hottest ever measured for parts of eight western states.
That data
arrives as a potentially record-breaking heatwave is underway in the east. The
National Weather Service expects temperatures over the 4 July holiday weekend
to approach all time highs from Washington DC to New York with sweltering heat
indexes topping 115F (46C).
This week’s
intense heatwave will affect more than 100 million Americans and will be
intensified by the growing influence of El Niño and a massive drought affecting
45 states. A similarly intense heatwave in recent days pushed temperatures to
their highest-ever level in France, Germany and Denmark, resulting in hundreds
of deaths across Europe.
Across the
western US, numerous wildfires have broken – including in the mountains of
Colorado where a dearth of winter snows remain after a record-warm start to the
year.
“Our communities are feeling the firsthand impacts of severe drought and imminent fire danger,” Jared Polis, the Colorado governor, said at a wildfire briefing on Monday.
Health
Nearly 450,000 New Yorkers are losing health coverage on July 1. They
are among the millions of people expected to become uninsured over the next
year because of federal changes to Medicaid funding. —TIME
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