A staggering scene unfurled before the lenses of the entire world....

I'm reading "France’s prime minister tears into Trump’s attack on Zelenskyy as a staggering show of 'brutality'" (AP), which quotes French Prime Minister François Bayrou"

"On Friday night, in the Oval Office of the White House, a staggering scene unfurled before the lenses of the entire world, marked by brutality, a desire to humiliate, with the goal of making Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fold through threats. President Zelenskyy did not fold and I think we can show him our appreciation."

Meanwhile, at The Washington Post, "Washington now ‘largely aligns’ with Moscow’s vision, Kremlin says/Tension between the United States and Ukraine, laid bare in the Oval Office meeting of Trump and Zelensky, is seen in Moscow as a 'gift.'"

"Flow" is the only movie up for an Oscar that I've seen.

I've blogged about it twice — here and here. 

I didn't watch the Oscars, but somebody who did and knew I only cared about "Flow" gave me this minimalistic update:

Here's a Hollywood Reporter report about what I see was an upset: "Independent Movie ’Flow’ Wins Best Animated Feature in Upset/‘Inside Out 2’ and ‘The Wild Robot’ from powerhouses Disney and DreamWorks were also nominated in the category." 

Things that get my "Trump's masculinity" tag.

I didn't take this interesting photograph, but the person who did doesn't want to be named. The location is the Galleria in Houston, Texas. Closeup:

The size and positioning of the eagle make me uneasy. Does the eagle have large talons?

"It feels worth noting that in this moment, Zelensky decides to call the vice President JD, not Vice President Vance."

Observes Peter Baker in this morning's episode of the NYT "Daily" podcast — "The Fallout From Zelensky and Trump’s Oval Office Meltdown" (audio and transcript at Podscribe).

We hear the recording of Zelensky, with new focus on the dismissive "JD": "What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What? What you, what you, what do you mean?"

Baker continues: "Perhaps history will not note this as an important moment. I noted it."

Yes, the re-listen affected me.

"I also, again, just want to recognize and honor the sex worker community."

"I will continue to support and be an ally. All of the incredible people, the women that I’ve had the privilege of meeting from that community has been one of the highlights of this incredible — of this entire incredible experience."

Said Mikey Madison, quoted in "Mikey Madison wins best lead actress for 'Anora'" (NYT).

Madison also underscored the influence that sex workers had on her performance. To study her character, she read memoirs by sex workers, underlining sections of Andrea Werhun’s “Modern Whore.”... She also... took pole-dancing lessons. The role involved significant nudity and a number of intimate scenes, which Madison said was never daunting to her: “I was always comfortable, and I also think because Ani was too,” she told The Times.

I haven't used my tag "the [blank] community" in a long time, but here we have "the sex worker community." 

Mikey Madison becomes the 10th woman to win an Oscar for playing a prostitute — 12th if you count Donna Reed in "From Here to Eternity" and Jo Van Fleet in "East of Eden." And Madison is the first to win an Oscar for playing a prostitute since the #MeToo movement shook Hollywood to its nonexistent core.

Sunrise — 6:22.

Say what you like in the comments.

"I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Maybe not. Maybe not. Awesome. Awesome, awesome. You've got to make a joke. You know... legalize comedy! Legalize comedy! Come on, legalize it!"

"All this gray — it’s so dark, it’s so gloomy, so ugly. It’s like seeing creativity and art and the colors of my community disappear right in front of my eyes."

Said Richard Segovia, 71, a longtime resident of the Mission District of San Francisco, quoted in "The house color that tells you when a neighborhood is gentrifying/A Washington Post color analysis of D.C. found shades of gray permeate neighborhoods where the White population has increased and the Black population has decreased" (WaPo)(free-access link).

But what does gray mean?

A white woman who owns a home decor company asserts: "It all comes down to this perception of wealth and luxury, this idea that neutrals indicate status.... Black homeownership in D.C. has been shrinking for years, which means the very culture of these neighborhoods has been changing. When we see house flippers try to take color out of a house, or a neighborhood, they’re making it more palatable to mostly White people."

But what's behind all this gray?

"Legally, the lifetime ban is over. His lifetime is over."

Said Jeffrey Lenkov, Pete Rose's lawyer, quoted in an ESPN report that says, "Commissioner Rob Manfred is considering a petition filed on Jan. 8 by Pete Rose's family to have Major League Baseball's all-time hit leader posthumously removed from baseball's ineligible list...."

Here's yesterday's post about Trump's plan to pardon Rose and his statement that "Baseball, which is dying all over the place, should get off its fat, lazy ass, and elect Pete Rose, even though far too late, into the Baseball Hall of Fame!"

"Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain said Sunday that he would work with the leaders of Ukraine and France on a cease-fire plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine...."

"Mr. Starmer told the BBC on Sunday that he had spoken to President Trump by phone a day earlier. 'I’m clear in my mind he does want lasting peace, he does want an end to the fighting in Ukraine'.... The prime minister said that he, Mr. Zelensky and President Emmanuel Macron of France had agreed they 'would work on a plan for stopping the fighting and then discuss that plan with the U.S.' Any peace agreement 'is going to need a U.S. backstop,' Mr. Starmer added, saying that British and U.S. teams were discussing the idea.... Since Friday, European leaders have lined up behind Ukraine and lauded its embattled president. Mr. Zelensky is also set to meet King Charles III later on Sunday."

The NYT reports.

What will Zelensky wear for his audience with the King? He's met with the King twice before — February 8, 2023 and July 18, 2024 — and both times he wore those dark green "wartime" clothes and not a suit.  Zelensky has met with other European royalty —Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia (Sweden), King Harald V, Queen Sonja, Crown Prince Haakon, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit (Norway), King Philippe (Belgium) — and each time, he wore the "wartime" outfit that he was called out for wearing in the Oval Office.

Of course, royalty is a game played through outfits. But Trump has his outfits too. Indeed, questioned about his military getup, Zelensky said that after the war, he could wear a "costume," and by "costume," he meant a suit: "I will wear a costume after this war will finish. Maybe something like yours, maybe something better."

But enough about clothing, what do we think about Europe stepping up to make the peace deal? Who will give Trump credit for making that happen and for, more generally, requiring Europe to take charge of the defense of Europe? Whether the Europeans can close a peace deal is another matter, but they concede in advance that any peace agreement "is going to need a U.S. backstop." Could they, instead, just flow endless money into Ukraine? They've counted on our money for so long.