Fires in the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma polluted the Madison, Wisconsin sunrise.

It was quite lovely:

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"Therefore, I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents..."

"... in order to address this Emergency Situation, and to quickly stop the Democrat Chaos at the Airports. It is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to do it! I want to thank our hardworking TSA Agents and also, ICE, for the incredible help they have given us at the Airports. I will not allow the Radical Left Democrats to hold our Country hostage any longer. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

Trump writes, at Truth Social.

Question: How is he doing this? Answer: It's not easy! But he's going to do it. Perhaps he means: Go ahead and sue me and at least the workers willbe paid until the courts stop me... if they dare.

In other news from the edge of executive power: Trump is putting his signature on U.S. currency.

UPDATE: Trump gets results: "The Senate voted early Friday to fund the Department of Homeland Security except for its immigration enforcement and deportation operations.... The measure, which passed the Senate by a voice vote at around 2:20 a.m., does not include funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Border Patrol..." (NYT).

Trump answers the question "Did the CIA tell you that Ayatollah Jr. is gay?"

"They did say that. I think a lot of people are saying that, which puts him off to a bad start in that particular country. I sort of have to smile to myself when I see people trying to defend the Palestinian regime for women — women for Palestine — but they kill women if... you don't wear a certain cloth all over your face, you have no chance of living. When I look at gays for Palestine  — but they kill gays. The kill 'em instantly. They throw 'em off buildings. And I'm saying, who are the gays for Palestine? They have a significant amount of gays for Palestine. Now... you know, I did very well with the gay vote, okay? I even played the gay national anthem as my walk-off, okay? And I think it probably helped me, but I did great. No Republican has ever gotten the gay vote like I did and I'm very proud of it, I think it's great. Perhaps it is because I'm from New York City, I don't know. But the gay national anthem was my walk-off and I think it probably — but think of it, gays for Palestine, but they kill gays in Palestine. So when they hear that I think probably we can talk about it but it shouldn't be too hard."

If you like Trump answers that contain miscellaneous material, this episode of "The Five" is a feast. If Trump's weave makes you anxious/angry/insane, buckle in.

"It’s easy to look at $3 million in damages ordered to be paid by a company that makes billions every quarter and say, 'does this really matter?'"

"But if only a fraction of one per cent of teenagers in the United States are impacted at this serious level, that ends up being a trillion dollars of damages, not even considering punitive damages."

Said Frances Haugen, quoted in "Facebook whistleblower: Meta now faces a Big Tobacco-style ‘reckoning’ exclusive/In 2021, Frances Haugen revealed her former employer was getting users hooked on damaging social media. Now she tells The Times: 'A thousand flowers will bloom from this'" (London Times).

"They say history doesn’t repeat, but often it rhymes,' she told the Times. 'The rhyming beats between this and tobacco are just too loud for nothing to happen now. All other industries that have had the level of societal impact that Meta has had have faced a reckoning much sooner.... I think Meta understands that if they have to stop serving under-16-year-olds — or maybe even under-18-year-olds depending on how over barrel they end up being — the future of their company is over.... I am not a prohibitionist when it comes to this.... But I believe in the power of negotiation. These platforms have basically felt like they were able to negotiate from a position of strength. Now, they have to sit down at the table and discuss how to provide their services more responsibly."

"Some conservative appellate judges, many of them Mr. Trump’s appointees, have also used vociferous language... to mock their colleagues’ reasoning..."

"... and sound off about what they call the 'woke' agenda and various culture-war issues. The almost satirical style sparked debate across the legal community earlier this month, when Judge Lawrence VanDyke repeatedly used a profanity to refer to male genitalia in a dissent from a ruling on a transgender discrimination case. He wrote that his use of 'indecorous language,' helped 'bear the truth.' Twenty-seven of his colleagues from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit disagreed, admonishing him in their opinion for 'vulgar barroom talk' that 'makes us sound like juveniles, not judges.'"

From "Some Judges See Risks in Fiery Opinions Warning of Threats to Democracy/Federal judges are weighing strategies for how to respond to the high stakes, anonymous threats and politicized atmosphere of the Trump era" (NYT)(gift link).

So what's the big "profanity"? It's the expression "swinging dicks," and it appears 3 times — is that "repeatedly"? — in VanDyke's opinion:

This is a case about swinging dicks.

"I wasn’t sure about 'Wild Thing' at first. On the demo I told the sound engineer to turn off the lights in the studio..."

"... and I just sat on a stool and sang it like a blues guy would. My brother Jon was visiting, and I played the song for him later the same night, and he predicted it would be a smash hit."

Said Chip Taylor, quoted in "Chip Taylor, Writer of ‘Wild Thing’ and Other Classic Rock Hits, Dies at 86/Mr. Taylor, the younger brother of the actor Jon Voight, found success as a songwriter for the likes of Janis Joplin and Juice Newton" (NYT).

"In labs around the world, scientists are using A.I. to search among existing medicines for treatments that work for rare diseases."

"Drug repurposing, as it’s called, is not new, but the use of machine learning is speeding up the process — and could expand the treatment possibilities for people with rare diseases and few options. Thanks to versions of the technology developed by Dr. Fajgenbaum’s team at the University of Pennsylvania and elsewhere, drugs are being quickly repurposed for conditions including rare and aggressive cancers, fatal inflammatory disorders and complex neurological conditions. And often, they’re working.The handful of success stories so far have led researchers to ask the question: How many other cures are hiding in plain sight?"

From "Doctors Told Him He Was Going to Die. Then A.I. Saved His Life. Scientists are using machine learning to find new treatments among thousands of old medicines" (NYT)(gift link).

If your dog could talk.

And here's Billy Collins in a similar vein:

"I'm not I'm not upset and I'm not arguing. You are not letting me make an argument. I'm not red in the face, ma'am. I'm not...."

Things escalate quickly about 10 minutes into this viral video:

At 14:40, the lawyer suddenly, puzzlingly announces "I'm a transgender attorney," and later, mid-arrest, the lawyer, apparently a transman, demands, "Get a female officer now. Get a female officer now. Get a female officer now."

But the trans aspect is the least of what is going on here. It's almost too awful to post, but I'm posting it because it's getting a lot of attention elsewhere — with only part of it clipped out — on TikTok and X and with many comments focusing on the trans angle. The problem with this attorney has more to do with interrupting and abusing the judge and, fatefully, throwing the phone and pen on the floor — or, if this is what you see — attempting to put the phone and pen down and missing.

"Did this really happen?"

I asked Grok about this, a sentimental story about a stolen mail-truck getting reconfigured into a library and parked permanently in the forest.

Grok was all: "Yes, this story really happened—it's based on a genuine (and pretty wholesome) incident in Montana.... This matches real-world reports of the event.... It's the kind of charming, low-key tale that spreads because it's quirky and heartwarming...."

I said, "I was going to call bullshit on that. What does that say about me?"

Grok: "It says you're a healthy skeptic..." etc. etc.

Me: "How do you know I'm not a diseased skeptic?"

I didn't read Grok's long answer. I said: "Blah blah blah. You should have just said I'm such a healthy skeptic I'm even healthily skeptical about whether I'm a healthy skeptic."

IN THE COMMENTS: tim maguire wants to know, "Do we stop caring about the theft because it has books in it?" I say, "I'll ask Grok to write a murder mystery where the murderer hollows out the torso and installs a couple shelves and lines up some classic novels — murder mysteries. When the body is discovered, it's deemed so damned sweet that the death is chalked up as natural causes."

Grok complies:

Sunrise — 6:36, 6:59.

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Propaganda from Iran — "One Vengeance for All."

Holy shit, Iran just released this video!

What are we supposed to think about this?pic.twitter.com/Nzp7xKz2B2 https://t.co/ChdbEgrjFa

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 25, 2026

Does this ad mean that Iran — whoever purports to be acting for Iran — has no intention of negotiating for peace or could this be understood as a display of a strength that it has as it prepares to enter negotiations? The strength is its power to undermine America support for the war, and I think there are many Americans who will respond very positively to this ad.

Meanwhile, according to Trump, negotiations are in motion:

🇺🇸🇵🇰 Trump says talks are underway to ease Middle East tensions.

Egypt, Pakistan, and Turkey are leading the push as Gulf countries keep facing Iranian attacks.pic.twitter.com/9D77B38XTD https://t.co/z9oqzT8qyP

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) March 25, 2026

"[Eighth-grade algebra] was removed from middle schools under the rationale that many students — especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds — would benefit from having more time to master foundational math before tackling algebra in high school."

"But the plan didn’t work. The number of students enrolled in advanced high school math declined, and wide racial gaps remained. Meanwhile, many parents enrolled their children in summer and after-school math courses to keep them accelerated, often paying out of pocket. For years, San Francisco 'tried to achieve equity not by raising the floor, but by lowering the ceiling,' said Thomas S. Dee, a Stanford University economist who studied the policy with colleagues.... [Under the new plan] [a]ny eighth grader would be able to enroll in algebra, but high-achieving students would be automatically placed in the course with the ability to opt out — a policy meant to increase access for underrepresented demographic groups."

From "San Francisco Killed 8th-Grade Algebra. Now It’s Set to Come Back. The San Francisco school board approved a plan to restore algebra as an option at all middle schools, more than a decade after it was removed over equity concerns" (NYT).

"Commonly known as 'tree lobster' or 'walking sausage,' the Lord Howe Island stick insect's only known wild habitat is Ball's Pyramid."

"The sheer rock islet was formed more than 6 million years ago by volcanic activity, and at 572 metres it is the tallest volcanic stack in the world."

From "New discovery of rare Lord Howe Island stick insect colonies" (abc.net.au).

Nice photos of Dryococelus australis and of Ball's Pyramid.

"[Melbourne Zoo's phasmid specialist Rohan] Cleave said he was 'really stoked' by the program's new arrivals, which he described as 'beautiful and placid animals' that 'you can't help but fall in love with.'"

"If this happened here there would be uproar, quite rightly. Yet Trump and his cronies can do whatever they like with total impunity, and indifference from the public. What is wrong with Americans?"

A comment on the London Times article "Kristi Noem spent $20,000 on horses for advert that got her fired/The contract for the Department of Homeland Security’s one-minute advert was worth $220 million — more than the budget for this year’s best picture Oscar winner."

Sunrise — 6:41.

We were surprised by the pink. Seemed like it was going to be another one of those all-gray clouds mornings, but that just goes to show.

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