Sunrise — 6:08, 6:30, 6:32.

Enjoy an open thread. Write about whatever you want.

Here's Meade's contribution:

"For four months... the Chicago-based artist Bethany Collins woke up every day before dawn, brewed coffee and sat down at her dining table to copy out Herman Melville’s 'Moby-Dick' (1851) with a nib pen."

"Writing in midnight blue acidic ink on onionskin paper, she made her way through the book’s 900-plus pages 10 at a time. The resulting work, 'Or, the Whale, Vol. I-III,' is housed in three black clothbound binders. 'It felt ritualistic,' says Collins, 41, of the project, 'like meditation.'"

From "Why One Artist Transcribed All 900-Plus Pages of ‘Moby-Dick’ by Hand/For Bethany Collins, Herman Melville’s novel is rife with centuries-old political anxieties that still resonate today" (NYT).

If you were to do a similar art project, based on someone else's writing, what book would you choose?

This sort of thing has been done before. In 1974 the conceptual artist Allen Ruppersberg copied "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by hand. Collins acknowledges this inspiration.

We've also heard that Hunter S. Thompson typed out "The Great Gatsby" and "A Farewell to Arms." I don't think he presented that as conceptual art.

"Mr. Hell moved to New York at the age of 17 determined to be a poet. But New York 'wasn’t the bohemian paradise I’d fantasized it was going to be...'"

"'Everybody was really competitive, even though there was nothing to win.' Disillusioned, he turned to music. 'I thought, as long as I’m going to be here, I might as well be in some profession where I can make a living,' he said with a laugh.... Like many old tenement apartments, Mr. Hell’s has its bathtub in the kitchen.... 'I love my apartment. I have no complaints about it'.... And his needs have evolved along with the neighborhood. 'Now I have an apartment where they actually keep the heat on, I can get the most fantastic food within walking distance, I’m central to all the stuff I love to go to in Manhattan, and I don’t want to go out on the weekends because it’s such a frenzy of college kids and bridge-and-tunnel people and tourists.... But I don’t want to go out anyway. I have everything I need right here.'"

From "Richard Hell/The punk-rock icon and writer has spent more than 50 years in his East Village tenement apartment" (NYT)(gift link, because you'll want to see the photographs, you voyeur, you).

I love articles like this — a real person in their natural habitat. It gets my "interior decoration" tag, but it's so much more interesting than those words make it sound.  

"What is the approximate number of shipwrecks underwater on earth (from the entirety of human history)?"

My question to Grok today. Inspired by news reports.

Let me know what your answer was before you clicked for more.

I'm really enjoying the Como Brothers covering Beatles songs.

Lots more here.

"Both John and Ken ran great races, but not good enough. Now, this one, must be PERFECT!"

"My Endorsements within the Republican Party have been virtually insurmountable! It is such an honor to realize and say that almost everyone I Endorse WINS, and wins by a lot, especially in Texas! I will be making my Endorsement soon, and will be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE! Is that fair? We must win in November!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP."

At Truth Social, this afternoon, the day after the Texas primary, where neither John Cornyn nor Ken Paxton got enough votes to avoid a runoff.

I assume that Trump is talking to both men and stating the condition that he won't endorse them unless they promise they'll drop out if he picks the other guy. 

And I assume Trump's main concern is simply that a Republican win, but is that Cornyn or Paxton? I'll withhold my opinion. Here's a poll:

Which Republican is more likely to beat Talarico in the Texas Senate race?

Cornyn

Paxton

 

pollcode.com free polls

Is it possible for an American to maintain good health while spending $65 a month on food?

I'm reading "The Fantasy of a Comfy Retirement Has Always Been a Mirage" (NYT), which begins:

On Thursday, a woman named Sharon from Minnesota called into C-SPAN’s “open forum” to express her despair about the cost of living. “I’m 65 years old. I’m legally blind. I’m on disability. I went to my doc, and I lost 28 pounds in the last year. I did not need to lose 28 pounds. I did not try to lose 28 pounds. I lost the 28 pounds because I cannot afford to eat anymore,” Sharon explained, speaking clearly even though she sounded near tears. Because of Trump administration cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the high cost of groceries, gas and electricity, Sharon only allows herself $65 a month for food....

Of course, that sounds shocking and horrible. I have empathy for Sharon and do not like to see anyone struggling so hard, but I wondered whether it was a least possible to maintain your health while spending only $65 a month. Grok assures me that it is possible. I think we all know what this diet would consist of — lots of oatmeal, rice, beans, potatoes, cabbage, and carrots, along with some apples, bananas, and eggs. It's terrible to allow yourself to lose 28 pounds (that you couldn't spare) before switching to this basic diet or going to a food pantry, but not everyone has enough energy or mental clarity to make the adjustment.

Anyway, to be clear, I'm not saying the government shouldn't help people in this circumstance. On the contrary, I think the country deserves excellent food policy. I'm not a source of advice on what that would be.

Hillary reacts to hearing that Jeffrey Epstein said "Hillary Clinton is much prettier in person."

Watch out! It's an attempted trap:

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A post shared by Mediaite (@mediaite)

"You can't park here."

"I like being a member of the community."

Bill Clinton looking at the Epstein files.

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A post shared by Caroline Baniewicz (@carolinebaniewicz)

ADDED: Here's a reference video — Bill Clinton enjoying something in the Epstein files that his lawyer attempts to remove from his line of sight and his reflexive emotional reaction.

"We can sustain this fight — easily — for as long as we need to..."

"Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo.... We know their ability to shoot versus our ability to defend. That difference gets wider and wider every day.... When we say the throttle's going up, the throttle's going up and it's going to stay on high...."

Pete Buttigieg has a splitting maul.

Instapundit reports on what's in The Atlantic.

And then there's this:

Rugged Lumberjack Pete sits at authentic rustic diner awaiting a heaping breakfast plate of carburetors, while Annie Leibovitz captures him in a moment of deep reflection https://t.co/52OgDhd5we pic.twitter.com/Unz6GxyyQQ

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) March 3, 2026

I know what a splitting headache is, but what's a splitting maul?

"So we're dealing with what we're dealing with right now."

NEW: I asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) about Nancy Pelosi saying in 2011 that President Obama didn't need Congressional approval to bomb Libya, but Dems now say President Trump needs approval to bomb Iran?

Jeffries said Iran is "very different" & told me "I… pic.twitter.com/SkLr1R5wr1

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 3, 2026

"We're dealing with what we're dealing with right now" is an excuse for the ages. "This is different," he begins, and yet he hasn't worked out how it's different. He just needs it to be different. A dangerous move when you're winging it and don't know the facts of the things you're saying are different. There are a few seconds — 0:26 to 0:33 — where Jeffries knows he's in trouble. He mutters the hilarious line, "First of all, I was not in Congress," and shows a flash of shame before resetting with the all-purpose segue "So we're dealing with what we're dealing with right now."

The sky at 4:40 in the afternoon.

We skipped the sunrise. The cloud cover was 100%, so we wouldn't have seen the sun (or the blood moon), and anyway, it was raining a little. We took the morning off, but we got out in the afternoon. It wasn't quite sunset, but the sun was low at 4:40. It's there in the photograph... behind that demonic profile.

And here's Meade's view (from a little earlier in the walk):

Write about whatever you want in the comments.

"The Birthrate Is Plunging. Why Some Say That’s a Good Thing. The political class is worried about the historic drop. But..."

"... the biggest change is among the youngest women, who are the least ready to have children."

Headline at the NYT.

I get the "good thing" interpretation, but it's also a bad thing, isn't it? The older women, with their greater emotional maturity and economic independence, are not only more able to care for children, they are also more able to think through the whole enterprise of child bearing and child care, to weigh the pros and cons and forgo it altogether. Isn't that what is happening?

"I got him before he got me. I got him first."

Said President Trump, quoted in "How Trump assassination attempts played into his decision to attack Iran" (WaPo)(gift link).

At a briefing on the threats in September 2024, U.S. officials told the Trump campaign that Iran had multiple kill teams inside the country. Trump repeatedly asked whether Iran was behind the Butler shooting, and investigators said they could not rule it out.... The would-be assassin at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida... represented himself at trial and was sentenced last month to life in prison.... 

No evidence has connected Iran with the two assassination attempts against Trump in 2024. Trump suggested he sees a connection, telling ABC, “They tried twice.” The White House did not provide evidence to support a connection....

A trial began last week for a Pakistani man, Asif Merchant, arrested in July 2024 and accused of trying to hire hit men to kill a political figure. Last month, a Brooklyn man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for planning to murder an Iranian dissident, working for an Iranian who prosecutors said was plotting to assassinate Trump....

Classic comments from WaPo readers: "And once again, he has an inability to see beyond himself." And: "Of course it’s about him. It’s always about him."