That's the sunrise.Tonight is the full moon — the blood moon. Meade was out just after nightfall, getting moon video, with the hooting of barred owls:
Write about whatever you want in the comments.
March 2, 2026
"Iran’s democratic opposition groups — monarchists and republicans, secular and religious minorities, leftists, liberals, and every ethnicity — are united..."
"... on four foundational principles: Iran’s territorial integrity; individual liberties and equality of all citizens; separation of religion and state; and the Iranian people’s right to decide a democratic form of government.
Many Iranians, often despite facing bullets, have called on me to lead this transition. I am in awe of their courage, and I have answered their call. Our path forward will be transparent: a new constitution drafted and ratified by referendum, followed by free elections under international oversight. When Iranians vote, the transitional government dissolves.... A free Iran would extend [the Abraham Accords] by immediately recognizing Israel and pursuing a broader regional peace framework linking Iran, Israel and our Arab neighbors in cooperation rather than conflict.
I suggest calling the agreement the Cyrus Accords, for Cyrus the Great, the benevolent ancient Persian ruler whom Thomas Jefferson cited as an inspiration...."
Writes Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the last shah of Iran, in "Thanks to President Trump, the hour of Iran’s freedom is at hand/Our path forward is a new constitution followed by free elections under international oversight" (WaPo).
"Mr. Clean was first devised in the mid-1950s, when Procter & Gamble commissioned a commercial artist, Richard Black, to create a marketing character..."
"... for a new detergent-based household cleaner. The company envisioned a bald man with a nose ring, a nod to the genie-like powers of a product that cleaned 'like magic.'
Mr. Black, who died in 2014, drafted two sketches of a strong, smiling genie: one with a nose ring, and one with an earring.
Procter & Gamble chose the second one...."
A retrospective:
At Straight Dope, there's skepticism: "Its a marketing ploy to draw attention to a brand that has been taken for granted. He will come out of retirement"/"Yeah, like when Mr. Peanut 'died' a few years ago."
Another close call for Florida man.
"Missing Florida man found over a week later trapped in shoulder-deep mud/Local crews rescued Andrew Giddens, 36, near a borrow pit after he faced freezing weather without food or water" (The Guardian).
Here's the sheriff's office video, which refers to the substance — in scare quotes — as "quick sand."
Deputy Derrick Holmes of the sheriff’s office in Florida’s Putnam county spotted Giddens’ abandoned car on 23 February relatively close to a sand plant belonging to Vulcan Materials Company.... Vulcan employees, meanwhile, had not stopped looking for signs of Giddens when one spotted him during the early evening of 25 February in shoulder-deep mud by what is known as a borrow pit.... Giddens was alert and could talk, but the worker who had found him could not get to him because he was surrounded by “unstable” ground, the sheriff’s office said.... The elaborate [rescue] operation took about three hours, with rescuers needing to be careful to not become stuck in the mud themselves....
"In the before times, I was very wary of candidates whose quest for the presidency seemed too insistent and all-consuming..."
"... who had been nursing the dream for too long and clinging to it too tightly. I worried that such single-mindedness erased any space for subtlety, for introspection, for ambivalence, for the crucially instructive mess of an unscripted life.
And would voters relate to it? Part of what drew many Democrats I know to Barack Obama was that he seemed to be working through decidedly mixed feelings about his quest for the presidency — as most well-adjusted people would be. Part of what drew many Republicans I know to George W. Bush was that he seemed less comfortable on the campaign trail than on his ranch.... Newsom seems entirely unrestrained and wholly immodest, his confession of a 960 on his SAT notwithstanding.... But Newsom’s strut is working for him.... [I]f the Newsom way is looking like the surest path to a post-Trump future, I’m happy to head in that direction."
There's no sure "path to a post-Trump future." To pose the problem in those terms frames the real problem: Democrats have made hatred of Trump their central issue. Get some substance of your own! You still have to be something that the people want. That was true in "the before times," and it's true now.
Writes Frank Bruni, in "Will a Peacock Like Gavin Newsom Fly?" (NYT).
A classic clip from "the before times":
"Retirement Plan."
An Oscar-nominated short, by John Kelly:
And here's David Sedaris brilliantly admiring it, in "The Dream of Finishing One’s To-Do List in 'Retirement Plan'/In John Kelly’s animated short film, narrated by Domhnall Gleeson, nothing’s off limits when it comes to thinking about the future—particularly when there’s so much left to do" (The New Yorker):
March 1, 2026
Sunrise — 6:12, 6:25, 6:33, 6:35.
We had a nice little snow yesterday afternoon, as you can see in Photo #4, the one with the sun popping. My favorite in this set though is #1. I love the "lake smoke." Photos ##2 and 3 speak for themselves with those loud colors. #2 is what I call a broiler. I like the bumpy embers. In #3, the bumps have smoothed out and cooled off.Write about whatever you like in the comments.
And here's Meade's view, with the sun really popping:
"I think that rock has been purposely dialed down in the culture.... All I know is I saw the gravity shift...."
"This gets wizard behind the curtain, right? Somebody's going to say, 'Well, how do you know who was the wizard behind the curtain?' All I know is I saw the gravity shift. Okay? If you were at MTV or around MTV in 1997–98, suddenly they decided rock was out—right when rock was still very, very high up—and it was replaced by rap. They immediately changed their standards and practices. Things that weren't allowed were suddenly allowed; people were waving guns. Okay, so some people assert that the CIA was involved in all that—again, above my pay grade—but I saw it happen. I did witness it happen. And of course great music came out of it. So it's not like a barren wasteland where something was pushed in to replace something else. Qualitative things and great artists came in, but there was this overt shift. I saw it happen. And then now... rap seems to be waning in terms of its cultural influence. Pop is completely dominant. Rock is probably the most dominant ticket-selling thing in the Western world, and yet there's almost no representation of rock in culture. So why do we have that schism? I think they purposely dialed down the ability of rock stars to have a voice in the culture...."
Says Billy Corgan:
"[Trump] said he would be willing to negotiate but that if Iran was not serious, he would order an overwhelming military attack."
"He did give diplomacy a chance, but ultimately, he was not willing to simply put a fresh coat of paint on Obama’s disastrous nuclear deal; he wanted serious indications that Iran was committing to giving up its quest for a nuclear weapon. When it was clear they were not, he followed through on his threat. Many past presidents have said that 'all options are on the table' with regard to Iran. Trump meant it...."
Writes Philip Klein in "Donald Trump Wasn’t Bluffing on Iran" (National Review).
From the comments over there: "How Barack Obama must feel now, having tried sucking up to the Ayatollah, then bribing him (as did Biden later), and now finally realizing, after mocking Trump and denouncing Trump and lying about Trump, that the president who will be remembered as being truly consequential, is Trump. Sleep well, President Obama. Trump got him."
Which causes another commenter to quote this:
"When a spectator shouted that banning clapping was 'undemocratic,' the mayor countered that 'clapping for some and not all is not democratic'..."
"... and that 'we have to allow for people to feel safe to say what they feel.' The mayor’s attempt at enforcing her idea of civility only prompted more shouting, after which she said: 'I’m not going to argue. If I hear any more clapping or disruption from the crowd, I will have to unfortunately have you all removed.' 'Do it now! Do it to me!' David Reed, 77, a Takoma Park resident, yelled, according to the city’s video recording of the meeting. More applause followed. 'You’re not the dictator of the council!' Paul Huebner, 75, a retired project manager, shouted. 'This is outrageous!'... The kerfuffle prompted a robust discussion among the lawmakers about civility and First Amendment rights that spilled into subsequent meetings and online discussions over the next two weeks...."
From "A mayor ordered no clapping at a city meeting. Applause did not follow. The Takoma Park, Maryland, mayor’s order that people not clap during a public meeting led to insults and even a poll" (WaPo).
From "A mayor ordered no clapping at a city meeting. Applause did not follow. The Takoma Park, Maryland, mayor’s order that people not clap during a public meeting led to insults and even a poll" (WaPo).
It's funny that the mayor used the word "democratic" to refer to responding to every person and every idea equally. It strikes me as the very opposite of democracy. In democracy, people choose, we express favoritism, and the person that gets the most support obtains power to impose it on others.
"Across Iran crowds took to the streets, playing music, honking car horns and cheering. Fireworks were set off and residents applauded at their windows."
"Raha, 42, who lives in the capital, said she had spent 'years' dreaming of news of the leader’s death, 'but it was nothing like the dreams I had imagined. I’m laughing, crying and shouting. The killer of my dreams, the killer of my youth, the killer of Iran’s most beautiful children is no longer breathing... I feel exhausted, like a soldier who has fought for hours and is suddenly told that the enemy is dead. I want to sleep for days — a deep, heavy sleep.' Alireza, 42, who also lives in the city, was similarly thrilled after US-Israeli missile strikes hit Khamenei’s compound on Saturday. 'I wish that in those moments when his residence was attacked and the rubble fell on him, he stayed alive for a few minutes — that he suffered, that he felt pain — remembering all the suffering he gave to millions of Iranians over all these years,' he said."
February 28, 2026
Sunrise — 6:07, 6:29, 6:31, 6:35.
When the sunrise photographs do not include the sun, it's either because no photo with the sun was among the best photos in the set or because the sun failed to pop. It's back there behind the clouds, we can trust, but the clouds are blocking the popping. Today was one of those days when the clouds won out. They seemed thin and wispy enough that we couldn't know until a few minutes after the sunrise time, and we waited out the time in the bitter cold.Write about whatever you want in the comments.
"Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran..."
"... but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang of bloodthirsty THUGS. He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do. This is the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country. We are hearing that many of their IRGC, Military, and other Security and Police Forces, no longer want to fight, and are looking for Immunity from us. As I said last night, 'Now they can have Immunity, later they only get Death!' Hopefully, the IRGC and Police will peacefully merge with the Iranian Patriots, and work together as a unit to bring back the Country to the Greatness it deserves. That process should soon be starting in that, not only the death of Khamenei but the Country has been, in only one day, very much destroyed and, even, obliterated. The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!At Truth Social."Thank you for your attention to this matter."PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP"
"When do we send them an airmail message?"
Question answered: February 28, 2026.
Nearly 20 years later.
"I might be a Democrat, but in this specific case, the president is absolutely correct to do these kinds of actions."
'BIZZARRE': Senator John Fetterman calls out his fellow Democrats who don't agree with the U.S. and Israel's strike on Iran:
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 28, 2026
"I'd like to remind my colleague over in the House that Iran massacred 30,000 of their own people... This war is not about the Iranian people. It's about… pic.twitter.com/jL7D49PKX3
Fetterman is a little brain damaged, and I like the ring of truth in the unusualness of his expression. I like: "And now, here we are right now."
Up until now, I had been distracted from the existence of Keith Olbermann.
I imagine there are people who think the main problem in the world today is to figure out what happened in the past that had to do with Jeffrey Epstein. Still, there are others who get off pretending they believe it is. Some of them pose as highly amused by this phony baloney belief of theirs. They use cutesy words like "warfightery" to nudge you in the ribs. Don't you get how funny they are?"Operation Epic Fury" because
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 28, 2026
"Operation Epstein Diversion" didn't sound warfightery enough
"I love Trump."
@gbnews A schoolboy in Iran screams that he loves Donald Trump after the President launches strikes across the country. #Iran #USA #DonaldTrump #GBNews ♬ original sound - GB News
"Just clarifying, I made this tweet at 5am while playing speed chess, eating mozz sticks.... I didn't mean 'WW3' literally I was being semi-comedically glib."
Everybody's a comedian.
If you "don't know of a 280 character way of describing whatever this is," there is always the option of saying nothing. I can't copy the tweets of the sayers of nothing, and they can't go viral, but thanks to everyone who's quietly contemplating the situation and hoping for the best.
Just clarifying, I made this tweet at 5am while playing speed chess, eating mozz sticks & listening to live updates on the scale of the damage & breadth of countries already getting attacked. I didn't mean "WW3" literally I was being semi-comedically glibhttps://t.co/YhE9AKWFcg pic.twitter.com/4hGYR8h8Ol
— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) February 28, 2026
Screenshot, in case Benz has the sense to delete it:
Glenn Greenwald reanimates Charlie Kirk to oppose the war in Iran.
Charlie Kirk, in June of 2025, explaining why a massive US war against Iran, and an attempt to facilitate regime change, as pushed by people like Lindsey Graham, is "pathologically insane":pic.twitter.com/nusMqOWOUM
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 28, 2026
"The Iranian regime, to be clear, deserves no sympathy. It has wrought misery since its revolution 47 years ago — on its own people, on its neighbors..."
"... and around the world. It massacred thousands of protesters this year. It imprisons and executes political dissidents. It oppresses women, L.G.B.T.Q. people and religious minorities. Its leaders have impoverished their own citizens while corruptly enriching themselves. They have proclaimed 'Death to America' since coming to power and killed hundreds of U.S. service members in the region, as well as bankrolled terrorism that has killed civilians in the Middle East and as far away as Argentina. Iran’s government presents a distinct threat because it combines this murderous ideology with nuclear ambitions. Iran has repeatedly defied international inspectors over the years. Since the June attack, the government has shown signs of restarting its pursuit of nuclear weapons technology. American presidents of both parties have rightly made a commitment to prevent Tehran from getting a bomb...."
But "Trump’s Attack on Iran is Reckless," in the estimation of The Editorial Board of the NYT (gift link).
There's a link on "massacred" that goes to another NYT article: "How Iran Crushed a Citizen Uprising With Lethal Force" (gift link).
But "Trump’s Attack on Iran is Reckless," in the estimation of The Editorial Board of the NYT (gift link).
There's a link on "massacred" that goes to another NYT article: "How Iran Crushed a Citizen Uprising With Lethal Force" (gift link).
"Eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard terrible people."
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2026
Transcript:
A short time ago, the United States military began major combat operations in Iran. Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world.
February 27, 2026
"I had not spent a lot of my life hanging out with Republicans, and what I imagined they were talking about was exactly the opposite."
"Now I'm in an administration surrounded by immensely talented people who are immensely idealistic. I always imagined Republicans would get together thinking about how to screw the poor and reduce taxes on the rich, but they're actually narrowly focused on how do we solve these big problems and make our country work. The level of idealism that I see at every level in the White House and in my agency is inspiring. And then the level of capability—the competence of the people I'm surrounded with...."
And a bit earlier in the conversation:
Moon in the afternoon.
The moon rose at 1:22 p.m. today. It's a waxing gibbous moon at 85.3% illumination. Beautiful.
Video by Meade.
"We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba."
"The Cuban government is talking with us, and they're in a big deal of trouble. As you know, they have no money. They have no anything right now. But they're talking with us, and maybe we'll have a friendly takeover of Cuba. We could very well end up having a friendly takeover of Cuba.... We've had a lot of years of dealing with Cuba. I've been hearing about Cuba since I'm a little boy, but they're in big trouble. And we could very well—something could, I think, very positive for the people that were expelled or worse from Cuba that live here. You know, we have people living here."
"But even with 20/20 hindsight, I saw nothing that ever gave me pause."
"We are only here because he hid it from everyone so well for so long. And by the time it came to light with his 2008 guilty plea, I had long stopped associating with him."Said Bill Clinton, in his opening statement.
As someone who grew up in a home with domestic abuse, not only would I not have flown on his plane if I had any inkling of what he was doing—I would have turned him in myself and led the call for justice for his crimes, not sweetheart deals. pic.twitter.com/0rX8cat5Pu
— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) February 27, 2026
RFK Jr. is on a "national BBQ tour."
What if what is true is what you want to be true?First stop on my national BBQ tour, I visited Terry Black’s to EAT REAL FOOD. pic.twitter.com/AYmIPmMAz3
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) February 26, 2026
Hegseth succeeds in pressuring Scouting America — AKA the Boy Scouts of America — to rid itself of DEI.
"No more DEI. Zero."
The Department of War has officially put Scouting America on notice.
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) February 27, 2026
It’s time to get back to basics — and DoW is leading the charge. pic.twitter.com/EnY9mvaFLX
From the Department of War:
Headline that I wish wasn't literal: "Needy Caterpillars Vibrate to Complex Rhythms to Communicate With Ants."
It's just a Smithsonian article about some damned thing actually caterpillars do to con ants:
They found that the caterpillars with the most significant myrmecophily, or relationship with ants, communicated signals with exceedingly regular timing and particularly intricate rhythms very similar to those that ants employ. On the other hand, the caterpillars with weak or zero myrmecophily had simpler and less regular rhythms....
Great. Good for the caterpillars and I hope the ants are digging the good vibrations.
I want the article — about human beings — that would fit that headline if only it were metaphorical. Clearly, we the People are the ants, and the needy caterpillars are politicians.
"[O]ne server... has watched diners grapple with a layered dessert consisting of honeycomb semifreddo covered in a tundra of shaved Comte cheese"
"'We get a lot of people who will take a couple bites and be like, "Well, I just thought it was way too much cheese,"' he says. 'I will have sat there and watched you just scoop right off the top, which is quite literally all cheese.' Now, he provides a bit of gentle parenting, making sure diners reach their spoons to the bottom of the dish and get semifreddo in each bite. In a world of Yelp Elites and TikTokers and Beli-trackers and, yes, restaurant critics like myself, it makes sense to leave nothing open to interpretation. Only, interpretation is half the fun...."
From "It’s time to retire the restaurant monologue/When did dinner out start to feel like a TED Talk?" (Eater).
Have you misinterpreted any food lately?
Have you provided fun through food interpretation? All I can think of is the David Sedaris diary entry where he talks about a restaurant's use of foam: "I had a foie gras soup that looked as if it had been pissed on. Hugh had sea urchins, the shells emptied out and filled with what looked to be dirty bubble bath... [S]hould the trend continue, you’d never again be able to tell if the waiter had spit in your food." From "Theft by Finding" (commission earned).
"These people are kinda crazy" — JD Vance adds a "kinda" to Trump's "These people are crazy."
Trump:
JD:
Assess the difference "kinda" made:
Is the California open primary going to produce 2 Republican candidates for Governor?
Some headlines from the last few weeks: "Democrats' fear rising that too many candidates in governor's race could lead to a Republican victory," "Another poll shows two Republicans leading governor’s race. Should CA Dems fret?," "The Nation’s Most Democratic State Might Elect a Trump-Friendly Governor," "California’s Governor Race Is a Democratic Nightmare, But There’s One Easy Fix," "Are too many Democrats running for governor in California? Republicans see an opportunity," "Crowded California governor’s race creates opening for Republicans," and, my favorite, "Commonsense reform: preventing an 'only in California' cluster f*ck."
February 26, 2026
"Trump’s goalposts are infinite."
I'm listening to the NYT "Daily" podcast, "Inside the Operation to Take Down Mexico’s Biggest Drug Lord" (transcript and audio at Podscribe).
Natalie Kitroeff, the host for "The Daily" says: "I’m just curious if we know at what point President Trump is going to be satisfied with the progress that Mexico is making. Like, do we know if this move to take out El Mencho might have appeased Trump and bought the Mexican government some time?"
Jack Nicas, the Mexico City bureau chief for the NYT, says: "I think Trump’s goalposts are infinite. And the strongest evidence of that is that less than 24 hours after the Mexican government killed El Mencho, probably the single biggest achievement that the government has had in the cartel war in years, Trump posted online, quote, 'Mexico must step up their efforts on cartel and drugs.'
"A federal judge on Thursday declined to halt construction of the ballroom President Trump plans to build over the demolished East Wing of the White House..."
"... concluding that the lawsuit, as filed, focused on the wrong questions about the president’s authority.... Judge Richard J. Leon of the Federal District Court in Washington wrote that the group that had filed the lawsuit could amend the claim to focus more squarely on the president’s power to make sweeping changes to the building without input from Congress.... The National Trust for Historic Preservation... argued that left unchecked, Mr. Trump could redevelop the White House beyond recognition, using funds from entities seeking access or a business edge. The argument appeared to resonate with Judge Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush.... Asked to list any other time a president had marshaled private funds to carry out a significant White House renovation without approval from Congress, Mr. Roth cited the installation of a swimming pool by President Gerald Ford and the construction of a tennis pavilion during Mr. Trump’s first term. 'The ’77 Gerald Ford swimming pool? You compare that to tearing down and building a new East Wing?' Judge Leon replied. 'C’mon, be serious.'..."
"It’s a small amount, not too gory. But white people think it’s scary."
Said Ratthee Rueangpisansin, the events and marketing director of a Thai restaurant in NYC, speaking about pig blood as a soup ingredient. He's quoted in "Will Americans Get Over Their Fear of Eating Animal Blood? The ingredient — a staple of cuisines around the world — is increasingly showing up on restaurant menus and in cookbooks in the U.S."
I hate to purport to speak on behalf of all "white people," but I think it's not that we're afraid. We're disgusted.
People eat blood around the world in all kinds of ways: from France’s rich, gamy sauces and Spain’s morcilla to Swedish blood pancakes, British black pudding and the chocolate-laced blood sweets of Italy; in sausages and stews throughout Southeast Asia; in the wobbly slabs of blood tofu that are a key element in China’s hot pots and soups. Yet in the United States, most blood from slaughterhouses is processed into animal feed and fertilizer. In this era of nose-to-tail dining, when we pat ourselves on our sustainable backs for every ear, liver or trotter we dare to eat, why do we routinely pour the most vital part of the animal down the drain?
It's not down the drain. It's into animal feed and fertilizer. But maybe there is some wonderful stuff we the white people of America are missing out on.
"The Clintons are likely to be asked why, long after Maxwell had been publicly accused of trafficking girls with Epstein in 2009, she was still welcome at events with the couple."
"In 2010, Maxwell attended the wedding of the Clintons’ daughter, Chelsea, and in 2013 was a guest at the Clinton Global Initiative conference. The former president Clinton also attended a dinner with Maxwell in Los Angeles as late as 2014, according to reports.... Speaking to Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney-general, Maxwell said Bill was 'my friend, not Epstein’s friend.' She said: 'President Clinton liked me, and we got along terribly well. But I never saw that warmth with Mr Epstein.'"
From "The questions Bill and Hillary Clinton need to answer about Epstein files
The couple will be questioned, starting on Thursday, over pictures with the paedophile and emails to Ghislaine Maxwell. What will they have to explain?" (London Times).
From "The questions Bill and Hillary Clinton need to answer about Epstein files
The couple will be questioned, starting on Thursday, over pictures with the paedophile and emails to Ghislaine Maxwell. What will they have to explain?" (London Times).
"A lot of people have a misconception that the Boomers are drinking less... It’s not because the Boomers are drinking less, it’s because there are less Boomers."
Said Jon Phillips, a Sonoma County wine manufacturer, quoted in "California winery owner gives hottest take yet on why industry is dying" (NY Post).
Why wouldn't the next generation step up as consumers of wine?“[Boomers] were the people that were really responsible for joining wine clubs and Gen X that came after Boomers just weren’t really into wine to the same level that the Boomers were into wine,” [Phillips] said.
Gen X never wants to do anything. Phillips is waiting for Millennials and Gen Zs to mature into the wine-drinking way of life. I guess I should hope he's disappointed.
"It begins with one — one frog...."
I found the Portland Frog Brigade via this NY Post column, "Dems ditched American heroes for adults in frog suits and tiresome De Niro — all we can do is pity them."
The frog suits made me think of Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals," #6: "A good tactic is one your people enjoy."
But the column says we should pity these people. It quotes Rep. Maxine Dexter of Oregon:
"Tonight I defy Trump and his authoritarian project by standing in joyful, radical, peaceful resistance with the Portland Frog Brigade. We answered with frog costumes, dancing, singing and joy when Trump wanted us to cower in fear."
I did think frogs were a right-wing mascot — I'm thinking Pepe the Frog — but it's 10 years since Pepe's heyday and people of all persuasions are entitled to a frog of their own. I think the hippie vibe is a good move — costumes, dancing, singing, joy.
"For almost the entirety of her married life, she has had to answer questions about her husband’s action."
"She has supported him throughout. There is no reason for her to have to suffer this last indignity. She has nothing to do with it. It is infuriating. She is a global icon, a trailblazer for women. It is heartbreaking that she has to do this."
Said Patti Solis Doyle, a former top aide to Hillary Clinton, quoted in "For Hillary Clinton, an Epstein Deposition Is the Latest ‘Stand by Your Man’ Moment/The former first lady, senator and secretary of state had no dealings with Jeffrey Epstein but is once again under pressure to answer for the actions and relationships of her husband" (NYT).
Said Patti Solis Doyle, a former top aide to Hillary Clinton, quoted in "For Hillary Clinton, an Epstein Deposition Is the Latest ‘Stand by Your Man’ Moment/The former first lady, senator and secretary of state had no dealings with Jeffrey Epstein but is once again under pressure to answer for the actions and relationships of her husband" (NYT).
Should "a trailblazer for women" vouch for a man who has abused women? But maybe what Hillary knows is that no abuse was involved within Bill's relationship to Jeffrey.
Mr. Clinton had a relationship with Mr. Epstein years before Mr. Epstein’s sex crimes conviction. The former president took four trips on Mr. Epstein’s private jet in 2002 and 2003 and appears in photographs in the files released by the Justice Department. But Mrs. Clinton did not. She has said that she “cannot recall ever speaking to Epstein,” and that she met Ghislaine Maxwell, his longtime associate, only a few times. During the period when Mr. Clinton was building the Clinton Global Initiative and interacting with Mr. Epstein and Ms. Maxwell, Mrs. Clinton “was busy being a U.S. senator,” said Ms. Doyle, who worked for her at the time. “She was not involved.”
I wonder if the members of Congress will be satisfied with the assertion that to be a member of Congress is to be too busy to get into mischief.
February 25, 2026
With 4 Supreme Court Justices in attendance at the SOTU, Trump called the tariff opinion "unfortunate" and "disappointing."
He didn't condemn the Court or even say it got the law wrong. Here's the transcript (NYT). You can see that he accepts the Court's role in saying what the law is, and he's processed the loss and has moved on to finding new ways to win:
"The first duty in life is that we all strike a pose... I struck a pose, I put a mask on, and at times my face grew into it, becoming someone I couldn't even recognize.""
Newsom attributes the line —"The first duty in life is that we all strike a pose, and the second duty no one's really figured out" — to Oscar Wilde.Two-faced California Governor Gavin Newsom says that he's been wearing a "mask" for years.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 25, 2026
NEWSOM: "I put a mask on, and at times my face grew into it…"
What a strange, little man. pic.twitter.com/HawZxCDqk6
Did Oscar Wilde say that? In "Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young." he said, "The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible. What the second duty is no one has as yet discovered." "Strike a pose" is Madonna:
But who doesn't mix up Oscar Wilde and Madonna?
"These people are crazy, I’m telling you. They’re crazy. Amazing. Terrible. Boy, oh boy."
From the SOTU transcript (NYT): "All Democrats, every single one of them, voted against these really important and very necessary massive tax cuts. They wanted large-scale tax increases to hurt the people instead.... Countries that were ripping us off for decades are now paying us hundreds of billions of dollars.... Everybody knows it. Even Democrats know it. They just don’t want to say it.... As we speak, Democrats in this chamber have cut off all funding for the Department of Homeland Security. It’s all cut off — it’s all cut off.... They have closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and murderers.... We have no money because of the Democrats.... All voters must show proof of citizenship... and this should be an easy one and by the way it’s polling at 89 percent including Democrats, 89 percent.... Both Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly agree on the policy.... And the reason they don’t want to do it.... They want to cheat..... But surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will.... These people are crazy, I’m telling you. They’re crazy.
Amazing. Terrible. Boy, oh boy.... Democrats are destroying our country.... Dangerous repeat offenders continue to be released by pro-crime Democrat politicians again and again...."
I don't agree with this precise statement of what has happened to John Roberts, but, clearly something has happened.
What do you think?Left: John Roberts after his nomination.
— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) February 25, 2026
Right: John Roberts today.
It isn’t the aging that stands out.
You can see the extinguished husk of his soul.
This is a man that knows he sold out, and that the Court of John Roberts will be remembered as a stain on American History. pic.twitter.com/JzNfTCyv2D
"The idea is that our ancestors evolved to associate the scent of alcohol with ripe, energy-rich fruit."
"In ancestral forests, faint whiffs of fermentation would have been a useful signal of easy calories. A taste for ethanol, at low concentrations, would therefore have given these early primates an evolutionary advantage. If the hypothesis is true, this helps explain our own fondness for the stuff. During years where fermented fruit is abundant, the chimpanzees of Ngogo, in the north of the national park, spend more time travelling to distant areas of their home territories than usual. It is tempting to think that the booze is making them more adventurous. However, Maro believes it is more to do with the sugar providing a burst of energy...."
From "Wild chimpanzees 'would fail human sobriety tests'/Chimps love naturally fermented fruit — so much so, they register alcohol levels that would get a human banned from operating heavy machinery" (London Times).
Trump delivered a very long SOTU last night. Did you watch? Really?
It was too late for me, but I watched. Until I didn't.
It's an unnecessary formality, very stiff and awkward, but Trump made it his own. Hunched over the lectern and with his hair coming unglued, he boasted of achievements and called out individuals in the audience, who were, in his view, either fantastic or horrible. We're in a grand struggle between good and evil, don't you know? I dropped out at some point because sleep had a greater claim on me, as it did on some members of the audience. But Trump was still fully inflated, and the video remains. But there's something about watching it live that keeps you going, and once it's dead, you don't really care, do you?
February 24, 2026
"The Grapes of Wrath tortoise enters the chat."
Tubagoat writes, on the mildlyinfuriating subreddit, after ugly_duckling_5 — commenting on a post about a woman who gave an overlong answer to the question "How was your day?" — said:
"I'm lost on talking about your day for 45 minutes. Reminds me of books where the author spends an entire chapter describing a wall."
Classy-girl-93 follows up: "At least the tortoise was going somewhere."
How New York City really looks in the snow.
My son Chris happens to be sojourning in NYC in the midst of the big blizzard, which doesn't seem too overwhelming.
He sends these pictures, which make things look more amusing than calamitous:
Hey, that's a cop car!
Hey, that's a cop car!Gavin Newsom requests that we spare him our fake fucking outrage.
So Gavin's playing a major role in the normalization of "fuck." That's one of the ways he's like Trump. I'm starting a "Newsom is like Trump" tag. You'll see. But I need to call attention to his use of the word "spare," which we were just talking about, here, 3 days ago, after the father of the gold-medal-winning figure skater said "I spared no money, no time." Compare that to Newsom's "Spare me your fake fucking outrage." "I spared no money" means I held no money back. And "Spare me your fake fucking outrage" means don't give me any of your FFO — hold it all back.You didn’t give a shit about the President of the United States of America posting an ape video of President Obama or calling African nations shitholes — but you’re going to call me racist for talking about my lifelong struggle with dyslexia?
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) February 23, 2026
Spare me your fake fucking outrage,… https://t.co/ABNZJQJLcj
I've thought about it a lot, and "spare" is not a contronym (AKA a Janus word). It does not belong with the notorious "cleave" and the king of confusion "sanction."
"Man accidentally gains control of 7,000 robot vacuums."
"Sammy Azdoufal just wanted to steer his DJI Romo with a gaming controller" (Popular Science).
While building his own remote-control app, Sammy Azdoufal reportedly used an AI coding assistant to help reverse-engineer how the robot communicated with DJI’s remote cloud servers. But he soon discovered that the same credentials that allowed him to see and control his own device also provided access to live camera feeds, microphone audio, maps, and status data from nearly 7,000 other vacuums across 24 countries. The backend security bug effectively exposed an army of internet-connected robots that, in the wrong hands, could have turned into surveillance tools, all without their owners ever knowing. Luckily, Azdoufal chose not to exploit that....
Extremely humbled.
Background: "FBI Director Kash Patel defends partying with U.S. Olympic ice hockey team/Videos of Patel celebrating in Italy went viral Sunday night, prompting criticism and questions about his judgment during a critical time for the FBI" (WaPo)(gift link).For the very concerned media - yes, I love America and was extremely humbled when my friends, the newly minted Gold Medal winners on Team USA, invited me into the locker room to celebrate this historic moment with the boys- Greatest country on earth and greatest sport on earth.…
— Kash Patel (@Kash_Patel) February 23, 2026
The video:
Meanwhile: "U.S. women’s hockey team declines Trump’s State of the Union invitation/The players 'were honored to be included and are grateful for the acknowledgement,' according to a team statement that cited previously scheduled commitments" (WaPo).A source sent me this video of FBI Director Kash Patel partying with the US Men's Olympic Hockey team. pic.twitter.com/egjmdhOAF6
— William Turton (@WilliamTurton) February 22, 2026
That's putting it very politely.
This is also polite, articulate silence:
February 23, 2026
"Some viewers may have heard strong and offensive language during the BAFTA Film Awards 2026."
"This arose from involuntary verbal tics associated with Tourette syndrome, and was not intentional. We apologise for any offence caused by the language heard."
Said a BBC spokesperson, quoted in "BBC faces backlash after racial slur shouted during BAFTA awards by attendee with Tourette syndrome/The host, Alan Cumming, acknowledged the 'strong and offensive language' several times during the Sunday show and thanked the audience for their understanding" (NBC News).
Said a BBC spokesperson, quoted in "BBC faces backlash after racial slur shouted during BAFTA awards by attendee with Tourette syndrome/The host, Alan Cumming, acknowledged the 'strong and offensive language' several times during the Sunday show and thanked the audience for their understanding" (NBC News).
Here's the occurrence of the hurling of the notorious epithet (and I will delete any comments that write it out):
"In the not-too-distant past, most people probably would have at least grudgingly accepted a regime in which prosecutors and law-enforcement agents sorted through materials from a sprawling investigation..."
"... and made public only those portions needed to properly handle a case. The additional information that might interest us, and perhaps even help improve society, would remain secret. Federal prosecutors could generally be trusted to focus on their narrow criminal enforcement mission and to not abuse the tools given them for that limited purpose. No longer.... [S]o much of the raw investigative material in [the files] — untold layers of hearsay, unverified accusations and vague circumstantial connections — ought not be released for the public to pick over.... When materials collected in a criminal investigation get released in bulk for public consumption, the justification for the coercive and privacy-invading tools we give investigators gets a lot weaker...."
Writes former federal prosecutor Daniel Richman, in "The Epstein Files Should Never Have Been Released" (NYT).
Writes former federal prosecutor Daniel Richman, in "The Epstein Files Should Never Have Been Released" (NYT).
"This didn’t seem to be just an operation to capture 'El Mencho,' but to exterminate him, to use lethal force to bring him down."
"In the criminal underworld, such actions are not simply overlooked. The reaction is what we’re seeing now: narco-terrorism, blockades, and fires in grocery stores across Mexico."
Said security expert David Saucedo, quoted in "Expert’s chilling warning after killing of cartel boss 'El Mencho' sparks violence across Mexico" (NY Post).
"I imagine that had they survived, Rob and Michele would be more heartbroken than furious."
"I do not think they would have wanted to see their son castigated as he has been.... Even in conversation with me, a person they had dined with only a few times, Rob and Michele Reiner recognized the depth of their son’s suffering as a call for their own compassion, and they recognized that Nick’s behavior was often outside his control.... The law proposes that he either knew, or could not know, right from wrong. But psychotic logic does not translate this way.... [H]is crime is itself his punishment; the horror of awakening to one’s own psychotic acts exceeds any third-party punishment. Under the Trump administration, aggressive 'justice' and judgmental positions that ignore scientific expertise are in fashion.... His case will be heard in California, where, one can hope, understanding of human suffering can still sometimes outstrip rageful cruelty. Nick Reiner’s parents were not vengeful people; no one need be vengeful on their behalf."
Writes Andrew Solomon, a professor of medical clinical psychology, in "My Hope for Nick Reiner" (NYT).
Writes Andrew Solomon, a professor of medical clinical psychology, in "My Hope for Nick Reiner" (NYT).
"As a kid, I was part of a youth theater repertory... this intense acting coach came to class, and after I performed a scene she told me with this terrible sneer..."
"... that all I’d ever be was funny and charming. It took me until I was 35 to realize that: (1) I wasn’t that charming; (2) I was also a whole lot more than charming; and (3) it takes an especially miserable adult to tell a child what he can and cannot be."
Says "Grant Ginder Read One Novel 7 Times While Writing His Own/James Salter’s 'Light Years' had a big influence on 'So Old, So Young,' his new book about college friends drifting in and out of one another’s lives" (NYT).
I liked his answer to the old question "You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?"
Says "Grant Ginder Read One Novel 7 Times While Writing His Own/James Salter’s 'Light Years' had a big influence on 'So Old, So Young,' his new book about college friends drifting in and out of one another’s lives" (NYT).
I liked his answer to the old question "You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?"
I’m supposed to say Jane Austen, Sophocles and a Finnish novelist no one’s heard of, but actually the literary dinner party I want to attend already happened. It’s the one mentioned in a recent Times article where Joan Didion refused to give Nora Ephron her recipe for Mexican Chicken. I’d die to see that.
"They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school."
Said Hunter College professor Allyson Friedman, at Community Education Council meeting, interrupting a black public school student who was speaking out against the proposed closing of her West Side school.
Quoted in "Hunter College to Review Professor’s ‘Abhorrent’ Remarks at Meeting
A student objected to the potential closure of her New York City middle school. The professor, speaking on a hot mic, said, 'They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school.' The comment was assailed as racist" (NYT).
Quoted in "Hunter College to Review Professor’s ‘Abhorrent’ Remarks at Meeting
A student objected to the potential closure of her New York City middle school. The professor, speaking on a hot mic, said, 'They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school.' The comment was assailed as racist" (NYT).
It was an unwitting interruption. Friedman "was attending virtually and was unaware that her microphone was turned on." She now says she was "'trying to explain the concept of systemic racism' to her child, who was in the room with her, 'by referencing an example of an obviously racist trope....
"I’ve never been able to trace a Wagner that has stayed in only one family since the day the card came out."
"The (Shieldses’) care and respect for their grandfather’s collection — carefully looked after behind closed doors for 116 years — has preserved one of the hobby’s true grails, and the importance of this cannot be overstated."
From "T206 Honus Wagner card sells for $5.1 million after 116 years with same family" (NYT).
From "T206 Honus Wagner card sells for $5.1 million after 116 years with same family" (NYT).
I don't accept the expression "one of the.... true grails." Don't pluralize "grail." There's one holy grail...
.... and if "grail" applies to baseball card trading, everyone seems to have agreed that it's the Honus Wagner card. But it's not as though there's only one. There are 50 or 60s of these slips of cardboard floating about.
The most covered-up look possible is judged by the NYT to be "Most Peek-A-Boo."
Before I encountered this NYT article — "12 Unforgettable Looks at the BAFTAs
Swishy suits, mermaid skirts, skunk feet and more" (gift link) — I had looked at BAFTA fashion pictures and selected this Teyana Taylor dress as my favorite. I loved how extremely covered up it was:
Why focus on the "peek-a-boo"? Yes, there's a slit, but nothing is revealed because there is boot leather hiding the entire leg.
What's exciting about this outfit is the outlandishly extensive coverage.
"I'm not trying to impress you. I'm just trying to impress upon you: I'm like you."
The rare double self-own
— DataRepublican (small r) (@DataRepublican) February 23, 2026
1. He's calling attention to his struggle with a serious disability, dyslexia. We talked about that here, a few weeks ago. He seems to be confessing something that is true, making himself vulnerable and relatable. Of course, he's also exposing his limitations. But his antagonists may screw up trying to take advantage of this.
2. In saying "I'm like you" to what seems to be an audience of black people, he's taking a risk. You can hear warm laughter, as, perhaps, many people relate to him, because they've struggled with exams, for whatever reason. But he seems to be unwittingly expressing the old stereotype about black people — the one right-wing people love to bring up. So, again, his antagonists will screw up trying to exploit what is, from him, only a slight innuendo. I'll bet some of you do it right here in the comments.
His way of bonding with black ppl is to tell them how stupid he is & that he can’t read.
This means my first read on him was correct. He’s been handed so many things & put in high positions he never earned or deserved.
Do you wanna know the craziest part of this footage that will haunt him forever? He’s literally slowing his speech down & talking in a sporadic cadence.
He’s not just TELLING them that they’re all probably stupid & probably can’t read, he’s LITERALLY SLOW-ING-DOWN-HIS-SPEECH to make them understand the words that are coming out of his mouth!!!! As if they’re children!!!! That means he REALLY BELIEVES they’re slow. He’s not just saying it—he didn’t misspeak!!!! He BELIEVES it!!!!
Do ya love it?!?!!Do ya just love it, black ppl?!????
It reminds me of Jesse Jackson's criticism of Obama: "He is talking down to black people." Obama survived. Obama thrived.
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