Paint no sunshine
Virginia’s Supreme Court has invalidated the redistricting voters approved last month—meaning to take the House, Democrats must now win the national popular vote by four points. / Talking Points Memo
Most Americans would like to do away with the Electoral College, and a blue wave in November could finally make it happen. / Vox [$]
One weird trick Virginia Democrats could use to overturn the state Supreme Court’s redistricting decision is to lower judges’ mandatory retirement age. / The Downballot
See also: “The bigger the age gap between people and their politicians, the weaker the population’s confidence in democracy.” America has a gerontocratic crisis. / Harper’s
A group of physicians just inserted a document into the Congressional Record concluding Trump’s cognitive decline has rendered him unfit for office. / The Grim Historian
Among the collateral damage of the US-Iran conflict are the 20,000 or so seafarers trapped in the Strait of Hormuz—who are running low on provisions. / The Wall Street Journal [$]
A Minesweeper-themed Strait of Hormuz simulation shows winning isn’t an option and all you can do is try and minimize the effects of the closure. / Gizmodo
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After Del Monte shuttered a plant that processed a third of California’s cling peaches, farms may end up destroying 420,000 peach trees to make room for other crops. / Fortune
Scientists say climate change has made it “more likely than not” that the Atlantic current that’s the primary source of warmth for northern Europe could shut down. / Yale E360
Related: There’s a 70% chance that a powerful El Niño will arrive by June, one with the potential to break records set in 1877. / Futurism
Following bipartisan backlash, US Border Patrol says plans to build Trump’s wall through Big Bend National Park have been scrapped. / The Texas Tribune
In a new survey, while some creative industries—including advertising—push the use of AI, others—such as publishing—discourage it. / Blood in the Machine
“I am not really scared of AI, because I know it cannot do what I can do. What I am afraid of is the people who think that AI can do my job.” How literary translators are enduring AI. / The Guardian
See also: In wartime and conflict, a writer feels caught between languages. “In the aftermath of the massacre, English felt like a burden.” / Los Angeles Review of Books
Holding onto your childhood literature, whether or not you have children, “can help anyone to see and hear with fresh eyes and ears.” / The Atlantic [$]
What a social timeline for a David Bowie diehard might have looked like in the glam rock heyday of 1972-1973. / Andrew Womack
“The more meme-ready the work, the better the trophy.” What is a Bob Ross painting worth? / Bloomberg [$]
A link correction from last week: “Call it a reverse Turing Test.” To avoid accusations of using AI, some writers are inserting typos or “aggressively casual language” into their work. / The Wall Street Journal [$]