Today's reads span borders both literal and metaphorical.

We follow an Alabama football referee forced to rebuild his life in Mexico after two misdemeanor marijuana charges, explore scientists' audacious plan to save Antarctica's "doomsday glacier" with a massive underwater curtain, celebrate the unsung cafeteria workers who ensure no child leaves school hungry, and revisit Guardian journalists who documented Baghdad's descent from celebration to chaos in 2003.

Happy reading,

Brett

Alfonso "Fonzie" Andrade spent nearly his entire life in Blount County, Alabama, arriving as a toddler and growing up believing he was American. He graduated high school, became engaged to Bralie Chandler, had a son named Glen, and pursued his dream of refereeing football. Two misdemeanor marijuana possession charges and failure to maintain DACA enrollment led to his detention by ICE agents in July 2025. An immigration judge ordered his removal, and he was deported to León, Mexico in November.

Now separated from his family, Fonzie struggles with language barriers and finding work in a country he doesn't know, despite having Mexican heritage. His father was also deported from Alabama years earlier. Fonzie hopes to return legally in four years, though success depends on getting his charges reduced. Meanwhile, Bralie and their son remain in Alabama, communicating through video calls while Fonzie attempts to rebuild his life in León, learning Spanish and exploring potential work as an English teacher or football referee in Mexican leagues.

Read here.

The Guardian deployed both embedded and independent journalists to cover the 2003 Iraq invasion, capturing the arc from "shock and awe" bombing campaigns to deadly chaos. Photographer Sean Smith and reporter Suzanne Goldenberg witnessed Baghdad's bombardment from the Palestine Hotel, while James Meek operated as an unembedded "maverick" journalist gaining easier access to Iraqi civilians. Audrey Gillan embedded with the Household Cavalry's D Squadron, experiencing combat losses firsthand. The coverage documented civilian casualties, including a devastating marketplace bombing and overwhelmed hospital morgues.

After Saddam's statue fell in Firdos Square on April 9, looting and lawlessness erupted across Baghdad. Two young Iraqi architects, Salam Pax (the "Baghdad Blogger") and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, provided insider perspectives that evolved over time. Initially supporting the intervention despite its violence, both believed Iraq would rebuild from the chaos. Abdul-Ahad later reversed his position entirely, stating a decade afterward he would prefer Saddam's dictatorship to the intervention's consequences, believing the regime would have collapsed naturally without such devastating external force.

Read here.

School cafeteria workers across the South carry forward a tradition of feeding children while navigating budget constraints and shifting federal policies. The piece centers on Beulah Culpepper, who worked in Georgia cafeterias for three decades starting in 1950, known for sneaking extra food to hungry students and declaring no child would leave her lunchroom hungry.

Today's cafeteria managers like Stephanie Dillard and Lisa Seiber-Garland face funding cuts, including elimination of farm-to-school grants that connected local farmers with school kitchens. Workers cover lunch balances from their own pockets and find creative ways to provide second meals for students with nothing at home. The Trump administration's health rhetoric around scratch cooking conflicts with simultaneous funding slashes. Meanwhile, initiatives like Tennessee's Chow Bus deliver summer meals to apartment complexes where kids would otherwise go hungry. These workers view their role as ministry rather than mere food service, maintaining relationships with students and ensuring stability amid economic disparities and policy turbulence.

Read here.

Imagine this. You open your phone to an alert. It says, “you spent $236,000,000 more this month than you did last month.”

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Scientists are deploying sensors on Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica to study whether a massive underwater curtain could prevent its collapse. The glacier, nicknamed the "doomsday glacier," threatens to raise global sea levels by two feet if it fails, and acts as a cork holding back the West Antarctic Ice Sheet containing enough water for 17 feet of rise. Warm ocean currents flowing over a rocky moraine are eroding the glacier from below.

The proposed intervention would place a 500-foot-tall, 50-mile-long curtain atop this natural dam to redirect warm water. The project has attracted millions in philanthropic funding as more scientists accept that targeted geoengineering may be necessary alongside decarbonization efforts. Proponents estimate construction costs of $40 billion to $80 billion versus adapting to sea-level rise at $40 billion annually. Critics argue these proposals distract from reducing fossil fuel use and violate environmental protections. The debate reflects growing acceptance that managing climate impacts through engineering interventions may become inevitable as global temperatures continue rising.

Read here, free for LBR Readers.

The Atlantic: Ammon Bundy Is All Alone (Free for LBR Readers)

The Verge: Best gas masks

The New York Times: China’s Disappearing Generals (Free for LBR Readers)