This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** Dinging. Buzzing. Notifications. Alerts. Reminders. These punctuate modern life, ruining our attention spans and leaving us feeling tired, burned out, and depleted of our energy. We watch our screens, wishing we weren’t, and it seems like we’re powerless to look away from the constant swirl of content. But there’s a better way of living if we were willing to fight for it. In a world of six-second videos, most of us don’t have the attention span to read the books we want or write the stories that float around in our heads, but it’s possible to restore the focus and creativity we’ve lost. Based on my own experience before and after getting rid of my smartphone, the question isn’t how to do it. We all know we’re unhappy spending hours a day looking at the bright pixels of social media and Netflix, mindlessly consuming. The question is whether we have the strength to make our lives harder on purpose, to be bored sometimes, and to experience the doldrums of life. Then we can become creative and curious again. As a homeschooled kid, I’d get my schoolwork done early, usually by lunch. That way, I’d have hours before the other kids got home from school to play with my siblings on the empty neighborhood streets. Eventually, we got bored of our scooters and bikes. We craved something new and exciting, so we lashed a bowl-shaped bamboo chair someone had thrown in the trash to wheelie boards we’d gotten for Christmas the previous year. The resulting vehicle allowed one kid to be pulled behind another by a rope — like a street tube that could be flung down the driveway and pulled around and around. It was dangerous. It was janky. It was extremely fun. One day while we were playing with it on the street, a pedestrian stopped. She must not have seen all the DIY flourishes because she had the audacity to ask, “Where can I get one of those for my kids?” You couldn’t buy that death trap anywhere. It was concocted out of toys, trash, and duct tape using a creative streak born out of sheer boredom and a zero-dollar budget. Our best ideas come during times of silence, reflection, and nothingness. When we’re consuming content, whether social media or streaming services, we’re thinking about how to get what we want, to get a dopamine fix, to feel something. Sometimes, we don’t even want what we’re getting, but we’re too locked into the cycle to break out of it. You can’t read that book you’ve been wanting to crack open for years when you’re used to short videos riddled with ASMR and horse hoof cleaning. When I was working as an editor of a daily newspaper, I’d get emails constantly. I had an Apple Watch that would let me know about new notifications. I’d get texts throughout the day, Facebook notifications, beeps, pings, and warnings about new OS updates. I wrote for my job, but I never wrote for fun. I never read magazines or books. Who had the time or the mental willpower? At the end of a long day, it was just easier to put on “The Office” again or watch a new show on Apple TV. Then my wife and I got rid of our TV in hopes that we and our children would spend less time in front of it. We saw how even a few minutes of screen time affected our daughter’s behavior and our own. But it wasn’t until after I traded my iPhone for a Light Phone, which has only the most basic apps and an e-ink screen, that I started seeing changes in how I was able to focus. I also made a point not to use my computer after normal work hours, barring job-related emergencies. Suddenly, it was possible to read magazine articles at night, even if it took several days to get through one. It was easy to listen to albums all the way through. I started calling people more to connect with them and hear their voices. Without all the noise of modernity, the constant distractions, I also started finding time to write fun stories, to build a novel in my head and start to write it on paper. Our deepest thoughts thrive in the quietness of our minds, I have found. By filling our heads with endless streams of videos, podcasts, songs, clips, reels, streamers, edits, and movies on demand, we leave no room for ideas to flourish. We don’t spend time thinking because we don’t have to anymore. When we’re addicted to the feeds and the algorithms, we’re the pedestrian who walks by a good idea and says, “How can I have that?”  It’s not technically difficult to start your new life. Get rid of your TV or hide the power cord, get a dumb phone or severely limit the capacity of your smartphone, stop filling your head with other people’s stuff, and wait for your mind to reset itself. The transition from consumer to one who is creative and curious takes time. It’s not an easy switch to flip, and the fight is difficult to maintain. I can actually feel my attention span being sapped after using certain sites. It turns out that switching topics every five seconds isn’t good for us. The intellectual costs of our age are staggering: How many poems will never be written? How many songs will never be sung? How many great books will go unread? How many short stories will go unpublished? With AI use increasing, our collective creative slump is only going to get worse. Thankfully, we hold the power to take back our ability to create and build our focus back. We just need to work for it. And that’s harder than it has ever been. *** Brendan Clarey is the deputy editor of Michigan Enjoyer. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

'Means extinction'

Bone Age arrived like a prehistoric oddity in a decade of robots and muscle heroes, inviting kids to snap together skeletal beasts and build wild Stone Age machines in a toy aisle crowded with louder worlds. The post Toy Stories: Bone Age appeared first on The Retro Network.

CNN Anchor: On Fifth Thought, Our Teleprompter May Have Gotten That Terror Attack A Skosh Wrong

The nearly complete 90-million-year-old fossil sheds light on its strange anatomy, like stubby arms and large thumb claws.

And why brain transplants aren’t an option.

During Wednesday’s Morning Joe, a news package from MS NOW reporter Britt Miller played and decried the capture of Venezuela dictator Nicolas Maduro for putting pressure on the communist regime in Cuba. She ignored the anti-communist protests against the continuing Castro family-influenced government, as she predicted another Bay of Pigs fiasco. Miller’s report also highlighted former Obama Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, nicknamed by Rahm Emmanuel as “Hamas,” as a premier policy expert. Miller’s report came amidst the recent military action in, first, Venezuela and then Iran, which the MS NOW report based solely on regime change.   On Wednesday’s Morning Joe, a news package from MS NOW's Britt Miller decried the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro for putting pressure on Cuba. She ignored the anti-communist protests against the Castro-influenced government, as she predicted another Bay of Pigs. pic.twitter.com/P04yXRv4Tw — Nick (@nspin310) March 11, 2026   Miller introduced pushback to possible Cuba operations with “policy experts,” who happened to be just Ben Rhodes, who spent his airtime with similar talking points from the Iran conflict: MILLER: Like operations in Iran and Venezuela, Trump is pushing for regime change through a possible deal with the Cuban government. But policy experts are questioning why now. RHODES: And they’re actually not even identifying some threat that they're trying to eliminate. There's no nuclear weapons in Cuba or missiles. It just seems to be settling a very old score for the United States. It is an interesting stretch to have the only policy expert on a story against actions in Cuba be Ben Rhodes. Policy experts was actually plural. Then Miller’s report did not fully give background on the history of Cuban persecution under Fidel Castro and, now, Castro-affiliated governments.  Here’s the only reference to Cuba and Fidel Castro being bad actors: After Fidel Castro's revolution, Cuba's relations with the Soviet Union grew stronger, stoking U.S. fear while on the brink of nuclear war. Generations were torn apart under Castro's rule as families escaped to the US. Miller then turned to blame the current Cuban crisis on Trump removing former Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro: Today, Cubans are suffering with high inflation, food shortages, power outages and a worsening energy crisis after the US captured ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and cut off Cuba's access to Venezuela's oil. The only interviewee in favor of actions in Cuba, Marcel Felipe of the American Museum of Cuban Diaspora, said he and many Cuban-Americans were “very, very excited.” Miller turned that into: "But not all Cuban Americans are hopeful a regime change will mean better days ahead." To end her piece, Miller went back to Rhodes to "scrutinize" Trump’s entire foreign policy and complain about international law: Was the Venezuelan operation legal? No. Was the Iran war legal? No. Is there any kind of legal basis to be strangling an island with sanctions and kind of demanding that the government change itself? No. And so I think what people around the world see is the United States that is no longer in any way bound by international law. Muammar Gaddafi couldn’t be reached for comment. In Miller’s final trick, she alleged the operation could turn out like the Bay of Pigs: (...) his talk of removing the Castros from power echoes a long US History of trying to reshape Cuba, including the CIA effort to overthrow Fidel Castro during the disastrous bay of pigs invasion in 1961.(...). The package’s reliance on Rhodes and a downplaying of the Castro aligned communist government of Cuba actions should make some reflect on the production of this hit. The transcript is below. Click "expand": MS NOW’s Morning Joe March 11, 2026 7:28:34 AM Eastern (...) MIKA BRZEZINSKI: The focus right now is on Iran, but the Trump Administration seems to also be setting the stage for regime change in Cuba. MS NOW Reporter Britt Miller has that part of the story. [Cuts to video] BRITT MILLER: As the US-Israel war with Iran rages in the Middle East, President Trump is setting his sights on another target: Cuba. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It may be a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover. It wouldn't matter because they're really in there down to, as they say, fumes. MILLER: Like operations in Iran and Venezuela, Trump is pushing for regime change through a possible deal with the Cuban government. But policy experts are questioning why now. BEN RHODES (Fmr. Obama Dep. National Security Adviser): And they’re actually not even identifying some threat that they're trying to eliminate. There's no nuclear weapons in Cuba or missiles. It just seems to be settling a very old score for the United States. MILLER: After Fidel Castro's revolution, Cuba's relations with the Soviet Union grew stronger, stoking U.S. fear while on the brink of nuclear war. Generations were torn apart under Castro's rule as families escaped to the US. President Obama later easing travel restrictions to Cuba and removing the country from the state sponsors of terrorism list. But nearly 70 years later, the Castro family still exerting power even after Fidel Castro's death.  Today, Cubans are suffering with high inflation, food shortages, power outages and a worsening energy crisis after the US captured ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and cut off Cuba's access to Venezuela's oil. MARCELL FELIPE (Chair of American Museum of Cuban Diaspora): Well, like everybody else here in Miami and on the island, everyone is very, very excited. Cubans are going through the difficulties that they're going through. So, the fact that now there is a horizon makes people hopeful that the pain is going to be short lived, it's going to be temporary, and it's going to lead to something much, much better. MILLER: But not all Cuban Americans are hopeful a regime change will mean better days ahead. LADY: We haven't seen him do anything else for Venezuela. He's dropped it. Now it's Iran and now it's Cuba. So it's like a little boy that has a new toy. MILLER: However, the Trump Administration is making it clear this is no game as the DOJ aims for criminal charges against Cuban leaders. FELIPE: Well, you know, the criminal charges is something that this community has been asking for the last 30 years. MILLER: As Trump continues to tighten his grip on Cuba, his approach to foreign policy is being scrutinized. RHODES: Was the Venezuelan operation legal? No. Was the Iran war legal? No. Is there any kind of legal basis to be strangling an island with sanctions and kind of demanding that the government change itself? No. And so I think what people around the world see is the United States that is no longer in any way bound by international law. [Cuts back to live] MILLER: And while the president's move for regime change in Cuba appears to be diplomatic for now, his talk of removing the Castros from power echoes a long U.S. history of trying to reshape Cuba, including the CIA effort to overthrow Fidel Castro during the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. Back to you.

On November 9, 2024, the Associated Press called Arizona for Donald Trump. Arizona was the last state the media called — four days after Election Day. As Arizona Senate president, I know that kind of delay can’t happen again. Voters deserve timely results, especially in a pivotal battleground state.The outcome of the presidential race became clear in the early hours of election night, November 6. But Arizona’s slow count still invited unnecessary angst — and would have fueled mistrust if the margin had been tighter. It doesn’t have to work this way. That’s why we’re looking at common-sense, bipartisan reforms that improve transparency and speed without compromising integrity.If the governor won’t work with the legislature on meaningful reforms, we will take this directly to the voters in the November general election.Florida shows what’s possible. Over the past few cycles, Florida has counted the vast majority of ballots within hours of polls closing. Races get called, electoral votes get assigned, and the country moves on.Florida didn’t arrive there by accident. The “hanging chads” debacle of 2000 forced the state to rebuild confidence through clearer rules and cleaner procedures. In 2024, more than 3 million Floridians voted by mail, more than 5 million voted early, and more than 2.5 million voted on Election Day. Florida counted 99% of those ballots before midnight. That’s a standard Arizona should meet.So what does Florida do differently?First, Florida keeps clear lanes for voting: vote by mail, early voting, and Election Day voting. Each lane has its own procedures, and voters understand the differences.Second, Florida limits Election Day drop-offs. Vote-by-mail ballots can be returned at early voting locations, but on Election Day they must be delivered to the supervisor of elections — Florida’s equivalent of Arizona’s county recorders — not dropped at every polling place.Third, Florida removes needless envelope handling for in-person early voting. Envelopes belong with vote-by-mail ballots, not in-person voting. Early in-person voters use the same ballots and the same tabulators used on Election Day — they just vote during the early window.Fourth, Florida posts key numbers on election night. Counties must report how many vote-by-mail ballots they have received and how many remain uncounted. That kind of transparency reduces speculation and stops the “How many ballots are still out there?” spiral that frustrates voters across the country.RELATED: The common-sense case for nationalizing US elections Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty ImagesMy team and I — joined by state senators, representatives, and county officials — met with Florida’s secretary of state to discuss how Arizona could adopt similar reforms. I hope Democrats and county officials will join this effort. Election integrity, transparency, efficiency, and certainty shouldn’t be partisan. Too often, they have turned into a Republican-versus-Democrat fight, with the left resisting reforms that would give voters more confidence in the process.Consider a bill my Republican colleagues and I pushed in 2023 and again in 2025. It required voters who held on to their mailed ballots until the Friday before Election Day to meet the same voter ID requirements as other voters when dropping those ballots off. The bill would also have reduced the burden of signature verification on hundreds of thousands of ballots — one major reason Arizona results can take days, even weeks.Both times, it passed the legislature on party-line votes and Governor Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed it. Her veto message offered little justification, claiming only that the bill didn’t “meaningfully address the real challenges facing Arizona voters.”That pattern has repeated. Even with growing support for faster election-night results — including an unlikely endorsement from a columnist at one of Arizona’s major newspapers — the governor and her allies have refused to consider reforms that would deliver timely results and clearer transparency.Arizona voters deserve better than delays and uncertainty. If the governor won’t work with the legislature on meaningful reforms, we will take this directly to the voters in the November general election. If Democrats won’t fix what’s broken, Arizonans will.Republicans in the Arizona legislature have reintroduced bills to reform our system. We should tailor solutions to Arizona, but nobody should fear mirroring a model that works. Florida proves that speed and integrity can coexist.Election integrity, transparency, and timely results aren’t red or blue issues. They’re American issues. Arizona has an opportunity — and an obligation — to deliver results voters can trust, on election night.

Hypocrisy Alert: Mamdani Turns City Hall Into Ramadan Central While Left Demands Christianity Keep Out