In these uncertain times, no one could blame you if you occasionally had trouble falling asleep. The problem, of course, is that you need to be well-rested to deal with these uncertain times. There are ways to break out of this particular vicious cycle — but there also are sleep hacks on the internet that aren’t particularly effective. This article from The New York Times offers the latest advice about what works — and what doesn’t. For example, so-called “mouth tape” — with which you tape your mouth shut so that you’re forced to breathe through your nose — doesn’t work. But jotting down a few notes in your “worry journal” a couple of hours before bedtime actually might.

Maybe you’re sleeping OK, but you’re more worried than ever before about flying. This Associated Press story says you’re not alone — and offers some tips that could help. (The story quotes Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants union, who grew up in Corvallis.)

Here’s an Associated Press item that almost falls into the “not really news” category: A new AP poll says that about half of Americans believe that Donald Trump has been a “terrible” or “poor” president during the first 100 days of his presidency. But isn’t that about the same percentage of Americans who voted against him in November?

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is preparing to roll out a new batch of budget proposals as early as next week, the Times reports. In its current state, the proposals call for the elimination of programs such as Head Start, which have long been part of the nation’s safety net. Budget documents reviewed by the newspaper criticize Head Start for using a “radical” curriculum and giving preference to undocumented immigrants. Administration officials also apparently believe that Head Start grooms children to be gay or trans. (I exaggerate, but not too much.)

Speaking of Trump, here’s David Frum writing in The Atlantic about how the president’s economic strategies (although “strategies” seems like too strong a word) could set the stage for a return engagement of stagflation. It wasn’t fun in the 1970s, and it won’t be much fun this time around, either.

If you were even vaguely familiar with some of the key ideas in Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation manifesto that has been the playbook for the Trump administration thus far, you probably haven’t been completely surprised by the first 100 days of Trump’s second term. But wait — there’s more to come from the pages of Project 2025, as David A. Graham reports in The Atlantic.

You will be shocked — shocked! — to learn that Tesla owners in wealthy and liberal Marin County are experiencing crises of conscience over the fact that they still drive Teslas, despite the antics of company CEO Elon Musk and his troupe of groupies taking chain saws to the federal government. It’s worse now that someone in the county is putting index cards on the windshields of Teslas urging their owners to “Stop Elon. Dump your Tesla.” Oh, the humanity! This amusing story from the Times somehow manages to play all of this relatively straight.

How free is the press in the United States? To a large extent, how you answer this question depends on your political views. Writing for Nieman Lab, Joshua Benton explores the implications.

So you think now that you’ve seen “Conclave,” you’re an expert on how the Vatican selects a new pope? Well, maybe: This AP story reports that while the movie got many of the details right, some of its plot twists are far-fetched. (Warning: the story contains some spoilers from “Conclave.”)

“Sinners,” the new horror movie from director Ryan Coogler, won ecstatic reviews and has earned $121.7 million at the box office thus far — a remarkably strong performance for an original R-rated movie. It’s a certifiable hit. But as The Atlantic’s David Sims writes, much of the news coverage of the movie has focused on its $90 million price tag — which suggests that the movie needs to earn $180 million or so to break even. At this point, with its numbers staying strong, the film appears to be a good bet to reach that mark, but Sims argues that focusing so much on the numbers diminishes Coogler’s achievement — creating an original film (a horror film with an R rating, yet) that convinced audiences to get off their couches and go to the theater. (And I will plead guilty to occasionally focusing too much on box-office numbers. I stand chastened.)

With all that, I couldn’t blame you if you needed something fun to watch. Here’s a video of a bear sliding head-first down a child’s backyard playset in Connecticut. You’re welcome.

Go get some sleep. We’ll gather back here again next weekend.