April 2, 2026
"Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year. Pam did a tremendous job..."
"... overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900. We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future, and our Deputy Attorney General, and a very talented and respected Legal Mind, Todd Blanche, will step in to serve as Acting Attorney General. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP"
Trump, at Truth Social.
Trump, at Truth Social.
The spin at the NYT: "The firing of Ms. Bondi, 60, ends a turbulent 14-month tenure as attorney general in which she tried desperately to appease a boss who demanded unimpeded control of the Justice Department to pursue politically motivated investigations against targets of his choosing, even when prosecutors warned that there was no evidence to do so.... Yet Mr. Trump remained annoyed by Ms. Bondi’s inability to secure indictments of people he referred to as 'scum' during a speech in the department’s Great Hall about a year ago.... He has also complained about her shortcomings as a communicator and TV surrogate — a role he thought would suit her talents.... In mid-March, five Republicans on the House Oversight Committee blindsided their own leadership — and Ms. Bondi — by joining Democrats to vote to subpoena her to testify under oath behind closed doors about the Epstein case...."
The spin at The Daily Mail: "Trump's reasoning for the sudden dismissal comes in part because the President believes Bondi tipped off Eric Swalwell about the FBI's efforts to release investigative documents related to his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy."
"Earlier this year, Musk said that SpaceX was focused on building a 'self-growing city' on the moon..."
"... which could be achieved in less than 10 years. He said SpaceX planned to start building a city on Mars within five to seven years, 'but the overriding priority is securing the future of civilisation and the Moon is faster.'"
"My law clerks would be wasting 30, 45 minutes, an hour, developing a chronology of events. This thing does it instantaneously.... I’m not strictly relying on an AI tool. … It’s just an extra set of eyes."
Says Xavier Rodriguez, a federal judge in Texas, quoted in "Judges are increasingly using AI to draft rulings and prepare for hearings/A study found over 60 percent of surveyed judges have used AI in their work, even as some experts worry AI’s unreliability could compromise their authority" (WaPo)(gift link).A study found over 60 percent of surveyed judges have used AI — that is to say, over 60 percent admitted to researchers that they've used AI. I've got to wonder what percent have used AI. How was the question asked? Was it "Have you used AI?"? Because what does "use" mean? Maybe things that aren't really substantive don't count. Maybe it doesn't count if you only rely on things you — that is, your clerks — have double checked.
"When I once interviewed him, he had an orchestra playing live for us. He had the kind of paintings Spain would go to war with [Italy] over."
Said Antonio Mascolo, a journalist in Parma, quoted in "Thieves steal works by Cézanne, Renoir, Matisse in less than 3 minutes/Four masked men are believed to have forced their way through an entry gate, grabbed the paintings and escaped by climbing a fence, Italy’s Carabinieri said" (WaPo).
The museum is The Magnani Rocca Foundation museum in the town of Traversetolo. It was not well guarded. We're told the paintings might be worth $10 million total.
The paintings are Renoir’s “Fish,” Cézanne’s “Cup and Plate with Cherries” and Matisse’s “Odalisque on the Terrace.” Will we miss them?
The paintings are Renoir’s “Fish,” Cézanne’s “Cup and Plate with Cherries” and Matisse’s “Odalisque on the Terrace.” Will we miss them?
Hey, remember the old "Renoir Sucks at Painting" Instagram account?
"For as this appalling ocean surrounds the verdant land, so in the soul of man...."
That's the precise point, 1 minute and 10 seconds in, where I clicked off the audiobook.
ADDED: I prompt Grok: "Here's a short, enigmatic blog post, but I think anyone, using AI, can now easily discover what book is being talked about."
The answer makes me laugh out loud:
The answer makes me laugh out loud:
"You can feel it in your chest!"
But did he really feel it or was he faking his moongasm?That was much more affecting than I expected. pic.twitter.com/641gB4OAbU
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) April 1, 2026
A viewer demanded I touch the grass behind me to prove it wasn’t CGI on a green screen. pic.twitter.com/XRDJhluMBY
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) April 2, 2026
April 1, 2026
"In the tiny town of Castlewood, S.D., where everyone knows the Noems, the prevailing sense was that people can’t help but feel bad for Bryon Noem after a tabloid photo leak."
I'm blogging the NYT article, "In South Dakota, Neighbors Feel Sorry for Kristi Noem’s Husband," written by Shawn McCreesh.
I've avoided blogging this story until now because I too felt sorry for Kristi Noem's husband. What a cruel invasion of a person's privacy!
“Must be A.I.,” a burly cattle rancher named Kevin Ruesink said as he inspected pictures of his neighbor Bryon Noem that had been published by The Daily Mail on Tuesday morning.... The rancher squinted at them with a mixture of suspicion and pity. “I grew up playing ball with Bryon,” he said. “I’ve never known him to be part of stuff like that. I don’t believe that at all.”...
In response to multiple requests for an interview, Mr. Noem wrote in a text message on Tuesday: “I will at some point. Today is not the day. I appreciate your heart.”
While the pictures of Ms. Noem’s husband with what appear to be enormous inflated balloons under his spandex shirt ricocheted across the internet, becoming a political punchline for her many, many enemies, the reaction back on the proverbial ranch was a little more … tenderhearted....
As the yard signs in my neighborhood say: Kindness is everything.
Another newspaper expressed puzzlement over the statement "I appreciate your heart." But the statement was made to the NYT writer Shawn McCreesh, whose article earned that sentiment.
"Key Justices Skeptical of Limiting Birthright Citizenship."
A majority of the Supreme Court appeared skeptical of President Trump’s efforts to limit birthright citizenship during arguments on Wednesday. Key conservative justices raised doubts about the constitutionality of the president’s executive order that would end automatic citizenship for children born on U.S. soil to undocumented immigrants and some temporary foreign visitors.
But in an argument that lasted more than two hours, several of the court’s conservative justices also asked tough questions of a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the legal challenge, making the outcome of the legally complicated and hugely consequential case not fully clear....
Here's the live chat that happened on SCOTUSblog. Excerpt from the end:
"The delicate problem is restoring a sense of historical truth to the place to better convey a deeper understanding of who Monet really was. I don’t want it to become Disneyland. We’re not going to put in things that did not exist."
Said Alain-Charles Perrot, director of the Maison et Jardins de Claude Monet, quoted in "For the love of Monet: record crowds threaten impressionist’s centenary/In Giverny, up to a million visitors are expected this year but can the village balance the artist’s legacy with the pressures from mass tourism?" (London Times).
Giverny, now with its bus parks and columns of art pilgrims flowing over Monet’s green Japanese bridge, became the epicentre of the modern mania for impressionism soon after la Maison Monet was opened to the public in 1980. A recent social media-era surge was compounded when Emily strolled... over the water lily bridge... the Netflix series Emily in Paris.
Critics are often rude about the “Monetisation” of the art world, referring to its merchandise, immersive shows and the way the impressionists as a brand have eclipsed that of other art movements. “Claude Monet has become the sacred and milk cow of the art world,” Marianne magazine noted.
"The best experiences I’ve had have been going to swingers’ parties held in the West End and stately homes in the countryside, but you don’t find out the venue until hours before..."
"... either through the WhatsApp group or posted on the event’s socials. It’s way better than a nightclub. You might live in the middle of nowhere and have big, bold or boring lives, but on this night you get to be with 150 people who are all up for it.... The next party I’m going to has... [a rule that] if your outfit isn’t good enough, you have to take it all off at the door. There are body painters inside who can make anyone look good — they even do vajazzling. I remember being at a party where a beautiful blonde girl got out of a taxi wrapped in a silver cloak. She passed through the entrance hall, shrugged off the cloak, and walked into the party completely naked. I also have a friend who has been going for years and always does the same joke — when he gets in, he strips to nothing but a codpiece and walks around going, 'This is so embarrassing — no one told me there was a dress code.'"
"Father God, dispatch your angels to encamp all around them."
Video going viral of kids going to their pastor’s home asking for prayers after seeing something upsetting. pic.twitter.com/RHlcAwLTbI
— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) March 31, 2026
"President Donald Trump plans to sit in on Wednesday’s Supreme Court hearing on birthright citizenship, making him the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the nation’s highest court."
It’s not the first time Trump has considered showing up for a high court hearing. Last year, Trump said that he badly wanted to attend a hearing on whether he overstepped federal law with his sweeping tariffs, but he decided against it, saying it would have been a distraction....
“I’m going,” Trump said, when the upcoming arguments in the birthright citizenship case were mentioned. To a follow-up question clarifying that he planned to go in person, Trump said, “I think so, I do believe.”
He sat in court when they were trying him for those crimes they convicted him of. He knows how to sit in court.
From the transcript of the press conference:
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