This skirt is messing Obama up.

Barack Obama "is really messed up. I'm giving him some time because this beautiful skirt that my stylist Meredith Koop picked out that is my favorite portrait of my mom. He didn't know it existed until just a few minutes ago. I've had a few weeks to settle down"
- Michelle Obama pic.twitter.com/YbjPXRy0OS

— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) June 16, 2026

"Lately, it seems that many women — perhaps especially white millennial ones — are indulging in the same fantasy."

"According to endless social-media posts and group-chat messages, Adult life sucks lately. I’m opting out. It’s as if a generation raised on the dream of the girl boss has become disillusioned by the promise that hard work will get us anywhere (and to be fair, there’s no guarantee that it will). Struggle is for chumps! 'I’m just a girl,' and I don’t want to learn about balancing my checkbook or filing expense reports or how to parallel park. The 2020s have been a weird time for womanhood. (Then again, when hasn’t it?) Greta Gerwig’s record-smashing Barbie, more phenomenon than movie, and Taylor Swift’s mind-bogglingly profitable Eras Tour had women spending collective billions to proudly and unapologetically relive their sparkly, pink-tulled girlhoods. Fashion has trended toward the young and feminine, too: : ribbons and bows, beads and sparkles, mary janes and ballet flats. By the end of 2023, Isabel Cristo wrote in this magazine, 'The market [had] conspired to sell us one thing, rendered every which way, and that thing was: girl.' Ours is a time in which 'the only way to have fun [it seems, is] by turning away from adult womanhood wholesale and toward a breezy, bright alternative. Instead of politics, can I interest you in some blissful, childlike ignorance?'"

Writes Shannon Keating, in "Confessions of a Recovering Baby Woman On the enduring fantasy of being 'just a girl” — and how I finally decided to get a grip and grow up" (The Cut).

Panorama at 5:09 a.m.

"Last Friday Kuzovkov protested outside the Russian embassy in Berlin with a satirical painting of Putin and Joseph Stalin."

"It depicted a tiny Putin sitting on Stalin’s lap. He also stuffed a Russian flag into a bin during the protest, which was staged on the Russia Day national holiday.... On Saturday Kuzovkov posted a painting on Telegram showing [Chechen leader Ramzan] Kadyrov and his teenage son, Adam, as pigs. His work included sexually explicit images of Kadyrov that suggested the Chechen leader was gay. He also mocked Apti Alaudinov, the commander of Chechnya’s Akhmat special forces unit...."

From "He made Putin look grotesque. A gunman shot him dead in a car park/Two Belarusians have been arrested over the killing of Robert Kuzovkov in Poland. The case may be murkier than it first appears" (London Times).

  

They had to know this would happen: "Trump’s $14m 'American flag blue' reflecting pool turns green with algae."

I'm reading the news in The London Times.

[E]xperts who warned that the dark blue colour would absorb more sunlight than the original light grey concrete and become a perfect environment for algae to bloom were quickly proven correct... This week workers appeared with bottles of hydrogen peroxide that they poured into the 6.75 million gallon pool. Officials said that this would work with the new ozone-injected nanobubble filtration system that was supposed to combat the growth of algae... “This is some six-and-a-half million gallons of water we’re talking about here, so that’s a lot of bottles of anything that you’d have to add,” Steve Goodale, a pool maintenance expert.... “But the hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizer itself, in the same way that the nanobubbler system is, so the two systems are essentially the same thing, just a different approach to it.”

I hope they fix it, but for now, it's at least embarrassing.

Sunrise.

Talk about whatever you want in the comments.

JD Vance gets a word in edgewise on "The View."

It's not easy, but he keeps his cool and maintains a friendly manner even as the women try very hard to put on the pressure: 

Whoopi Goldberg asks JD Vance why the Trump Administration is "stigmatizing" black people.

*JD Vance asks for specific examples*

Whoopi: "Ummmm Uhhhhh Ummmm" pic.twitter.com/mPPon5eprX

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 16, 2026

"Politicians’ constant compulsion to blame the gap between policy victories and political support simply on poor communications, or worse, poor 'messaging,' is a bit too pat..."

"... both self-serving and self-exonerating. If only they knew about all the great things I’ve done! But Biden — who, by late in his term, 'had become among the most inaccessible presidents in modern history,' Timothy Naftali of Columbia University writes — did himself few favors on that front. 'He did not just fail to tout his achievements; he seldom even tried,' Michael Kazin, a historian at Georgetown, complains.... In her memoir, Jill Biden reimagines her husband’s communications struggles as something between a mistake and a virtue. 'While Joe was in office, I think he and I both erred on the side of silence, dignity and letting news cycles run their course,' she explains.... 'We were trying so hard to reassure everyone that we didn’t take the time to acknowledge that he looked very unwell in that debate, to say to the public: 'Yes. That was bad, no doubt.'"

Writes Carlos Lozada, in "The Verdict on Biden Is In" (NYT).

Raindrops on purple water.

"The comments express widespread skepticism and disbelief regarding the claim that the FBI thwarted an attack targeting a UFC event at the White House."

"Many commenters question the credibility of Kash Patel and the administration, suggesting the story is fabricated or exaggerated. There is also criticism of the administration's motives, with some suggesting it is a distraction or a ploy to justify security measures like a ballroom. Overall, the sentiment is one of distrust and ridicule."

That's the automated summary of the comments section at The Washington Post article, "FBI thwarted attack targeting UFC event at White House, director says/People have been taken into custody in connection with the alleged planned attack on the UFC event Sunday that President Donald Trump attended, FBI Director Kash Patel said."

ADDED: I think there are always threats against the President, so the question is why are we hearing about this one? It seems rational to assume it's because it serves the administration's political interests. Nothing happened that we saw, so it wasn't like the Correspondents' Dinner incident. So... I'm skeptical too.

"Her famous dad was mostly absent for the first six years of her life, but she still manages to write about him with the sort of girlish affection..."

"... that many daughters reserve for their fathers. Things weren’t always so pretty. Her father was raised in a brothel in Peoria, Ill., where he witnessed the constant terror of violence and rape. His father was a pimp. His grandmother, who raised him, ran the family sex business. But Pryor escaped, using comedy as an outlet for his trauma...."

Writes Lauretta Charlton, in "Richard Pryor’s Daughter Grapples With a Flawed Father and a Hateful Word/Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor’s new book, 'Something We Said,' is at once a memoir and a history of a racial slur" (NYT).

It sounds as though the book expands on Pryor's TED Talk from 2019. Pryor, the daughter, became a history teacher, and she had an experience with a student quoting a line from "Blazing Saddles" — which her father co-wrote — and saying the "n-word" as part of the quote. She asked "Why not connect [Richard Pryor's] legacy with her own by becoming a foremost scholar of the n-word?"

Here's the TED Talk:

Side note: I'm reading about Richard Pryor's contributions to the "Blazing Saddles" script and see that he was especially pleased with this line:

"In the country’s wealthiest enclaves, like New York City and Miami, concealment has become the defining aspect of the contemporary kitchen."

"What began with 'appliance garages' and refrigerators and dishwashers that look like cabinets has evolved into a far more ambitious practice of disguise, with custom millwork and technology obscuring everything from sinks and cooktops to electrical outlets and small appliances."

I'm reading "In New Luxury Kitchens, Everything Is Hidden — Even the Sink Camouflaging the fridge is just the beginning for high-end kitchens" in The New York Times, which often lets its adoration of wealth show.

I'm blogging this because I love to use my tag "seen and unseen" and because I find this photograph — "a marble island with a retractable countertop that conceals an induction stovetop and sink" — hilarious:

It looks like a sarcophagus.

Now, how rich are the people who get things like that installed in their homes?

Sunrise.

Talk about whatever you like in the comments.

"I even talked to her. I have a habit of joking and saying, ‘Nobody dies on my shift.’ And I told her, 'Duda [Eduarda], nobody dies on my shift.' Even though I wasn’t on my shift there."

Said a nurse named Rayza Dias, quoted in "Bungee jumper who plunged from 130-foot bridge without a cord was still alive when she was found, nurse reveals" (NY Post).

From the comments over there: "I just don't get how not one but two [actually, three] bungee 'professionals' can literally be carrying a jumper across the platform and fail to notice there is no bungee cord attached to the jumper! Then again, how can a jumper fail to notice there is no bungee cord attached to themself? BTW, does anyone know how common it is for jumpers to be carried and tossed off the platform vs. jumpers walking the platform and diving off it on their own steam?"

"Keep a constant watch on the doubtful voters, and from time to time have them talked to by those in whom they have the most confidence."

Wrote Abraham Lincoln, in an 1840 letter, quoted by Ben Wikler, in "My State Was a 'Democracy Desert.' This Is How We Turned It Around" (NYT)(gift link)

"My State" = Wisconsin. Ben was chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party from 2019 to 2025. 

He continues: "There’s a name for that approach today: 'relational organizing.' It starts with the recognition that people will be more open to a new message if they trust the messenger. So if you want to build a movement, build trust. Seek to do this outside of your own political bubble, because the people who are most apt to change their minds about politics are generally the people who are the least interested in it. Your goal should be to join or build a group that engages voters who don’t live, sleep, eat and breathe politics — in a barbershop, at a fish fry or at a farmers’ market."

I wrote about the term "relational organizing" back in 2023 — here — based on a WaPo piece the quoted Wikler. I said:

A woman dies and this is how she is remembered? For her "burning hatred for Trump"?

Now, this is just very sad. Imagine dying and that's the headline — how you burned with hate. Thanks, family. Thanks for remembering the hate.

Can you think of any other example of a person of note whose admirers remember them after their death for their burning hatred? I resorted to AI to search for examples of this kind of post-death praise for hating and I couldn't find one example. The closest I came was Muhammad Ali. He "hated" Frazier. Said things like "It's gonna be a killa and a chilla and a thrilla when I get that gorilla in Manila." 

"Greenland is the largest island in the world, but it has fewer than fifty-seven thousand residents, who are mostly scattered..."

"... among settlements and towns along its western coast. Although it belongs to the Kingdom of Denmark, it lies to the west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and is part of North America. The latest articulation of the U.S.’s National Security Strategy, published in November, frames Trump’s imperial ambitions as an extension of the Monroe Doctrine, the assertion by President James Monroe, in 1823, that any attempt by European powers to further colonize the Americas would be treated as 'dangerous to our peace and safety.' Under Trump’s leadership, the N.S.S. says, “we will deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets, in our Hemisphere.'"

Writes Ben Taub, in "Inside the Ludicrous, Deadly Serious Plan to Take Over Greenland/'We want Greenland,' Trump said. Four men sprang into action to make fantasy a reality" (The New Yorker).

Adding tags to this post, I hesitated over whether to use "geography" or "geology" or both. The part about Denmark "owning" or "colonizing" Greenland is obviously geography and not geology, so "geography" is a good tag for this post. But I want to underscore that Greenland is part of the North American continent. To get rid of the politics and human culture and speak of it geologically, Grok pointed me to the Wikipedia article "Laurentia":

Among the celebrities at the UFC Freedom 250 festivities: The Holy Uncle.

Vice President JD Vance hanging out with Pope Leo’s brother, the Holy Uncle, at the UFC Freedom 250 Fight Night at the White House.

This is the greatest timeline in human history. pic.twitter.com/W3xZPkNhtU

— Thomas Hern (@ThomasMHern) June 15, 2026

Those who like to call out Trump for his narcissism got a big disappointment last night as the supposed birthday party was not a birthday party at all.

The event was called UFC Freedom 250, and, true to that name, it turned out to be about the UFC and the United States of America.

3 days before his birthday, Trump had said — quoted at USA Today — "You don't have to wish me happy birthday because I'm not happy about that birthday that I'm having. That's a number that I never thought really too much about. It's not a number I like, but I'm here, nevertheless."

And at that huge event on the White House lawn on the evening of his birthday, last night, I don't think there was even a passing mention of his birthday.

All I am seeing is a spontaneous welling-up of the song "Happy Birthday" in the crowd:

If that was planned, it was planned to seem unplanned. It's entirely unconnected to anything happening in the Octagon.

Trump walked out of the White House with some fanfare, but he was side-by-side with Dana White, and that thwarted the hater's interpretation that Trump expected it to be all about him.

He took his seat ringside and mostly just sat there smiling. At the end, he entered the Octagon, but not to be celebrated. He was congratulating the fighters and giving them a photo-op to celebrate themselves.

Sunrise.

Talk about whatever you want in the comments.

"The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all!"

"I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow! President DONALD J. TRUMP"

Writes Trump, at Truth Social.

Out for the sunrise (and looking at a bird).

Deploying the TR precedent to promote fighting at the White House.

UFC just dropped a killer AI promo for tomorrow’s White House event featuring Theodore Roosevelt boxing 🥊🔥pic.twitter.com/W8wu2yFP6b

— TaraBull (@TaraBull) June 14, 2026

The video, from UFC, quotes from Theodore Roosevelt's idea of "the man in the arena." I've put up the full text of it in the past — here — but it's worth having at your fingertips today, as Trump celebrates his 80th birthday. Does this describe Trump?

Lake Mendota sandcastle.

That was yesterday. Here's what Meade was capturing:

"Everything about 'the Claw' feels tawdry, especially when they turn on the lights, which send bolts of blue and white illumination down the 154-foot interlocking steel arches...."

I'm reading "Joe Rogan called the White House UFC event ‘so America.’ He’s right. The 'Claw' bursting out of the White House grounds is the perfect metaphor for the moment, injecting bloody spectacle into the country’s birthday celebration" in the Washington Post

I'm reading that because it's by the Post's architecture critic, Philip Kennicott. He writes:

[T]he UFC match isn’t about celebrating the foundational myths of American democracy. It inhabits a landscape of darker myths, like the perpetual struggle of the frontier, the faux chivalry and resentments of the Lost Cause, the Darwinian drama of survival in a world of hostile forces, enemies, chaos....

Trump takes pleasure in presiding over conflict. The world comes to him, where he, the perpetual winner, lords over contests, over victories and defeats. You’re fired. You don’t hold any winning cards. You’ve lost the match. For many Americans, there is nothing surreal about this delight in domination. It simply reflects the world they live in, where people are losing all the time, at the gas pump, at dead-end jobs, in marriages that founder on the shoals of stress and poverty....

"The really worst part about being 80 is that you find, at last, you’ve got an understanding of something that might have altered everything in the past, had it come at a time when something could still be altered."

"When you’re young you think that time moves forward. At 80 you know that it doesn’t, it stands still. We’re the ones that move."

Writes Bob Dylan, answering the NYT's question what are the best things and the worst things about being 80, in "Bob Dylan and Liza Minnelli Already Turned 80. They Have Thoughts for Trump." Yes, Bob Dylan responded to a journalistic query on the occasion of Donald Trump's birthday.

Time doesn't move, but the world moves. Bob also says: "The worst thing about being 80 is that you still want to say yes to everything, but the world moves without asking. The old fire in your heart still tells you to do this and that, but your body says we already did it...."

And was time moving in the past? Bob also says: "The best thing about being 80 is that you outlive the clocks that have been chasing you. It’s freedom from that lie that anything was ever under control. You don’t chase the parade anymore. You’re an old king from some vanished country.... You’re not rushing to become anything and you’re not haunted by things that you did. You’re haunted by how little of it really mattered in the way you thought it would."

ADDED: Based on what I quoted, you might find the headline confusing. Bob didn’t say anything about Trump and what’s Liza Minnelli doing there? But the article actually has a bunch of other celebrities — Robert De Niro, Art Garfunkel, Gloria Steinem, and Dionne Warwick. And all of them, including Liza, are shown answering the question “Any advice for the president as he turns 80?” I presume Bob was asked that question too, and he refused to answer. Nevertheless, Bob’s answering of the two questions he did answer – what’s the best thing and what’s the worst thing about turning 80 – is put at the top of the article. So The New York Times wanted to make it about Trump and all the other celebrities went along with that but whatever it is Bob happened to say about aging and time mattered more, and I’m glad The New York Times was able to see that. And thanks to Bob for seeing, once again, that you don’t have to answer the question asked by the one who walks into the room with a pencil in his hand, sees the President of the United States standing naked and asks, How would you advise that man?

"The marble front remained shrouded in white- and blue-striped tarps, with no clear answer on when they would be removed."

I'm reading "At the Kennedy Center, a Name Change Shrouded in Uncertainty/President Trump’s name was removed from the arts institution’s facade overnight on Saturday. Many questions remain, including whether or not it stays off" (NYT).

“I was hoping for a reveal, honestly,” said Katy Bigge, a student at Rutgers University who was visiting Washington with her parents. Her father, Philip Bigge, was squatting on the ground, peering through a crack between the tarp and the building’s front to try to make certain that Mr. Trump’s name was gone. He could not be sure, but he thought he had detected that the letters were missing.

It seems that Trump's name is gone, but now you can't see that it's gone. It's "shrouded." Maybe some day, long in the future, when Trump is worshipped for his grand triumphs, the shroud will be on display, like the Shroud of Turin.  

"[Melinda] French Gates has said she met Epstein once and found him so repugnant that she had nightmares afterwards."

"I ask what had so chilled her. Her demeanour changes rapidly. She looks as if she is about to cry. It is upsetting to witness a woman of such unusual self-possession suddenly lose her poise. She turns away, to look at the lake outside her window, and I can see her attempt to compose herself."

I'm reading "'Have you ever been around someone you just know is evil?' Melinda French Gates on meeting Jeffrey Epstein, giving away billions, and her post-divorce peace," by Sophie McBain in The Guardian and my incredulity is sky high.

You can see her attempt to compose herself? I'm not looking at her. I'm just reading your words. But what I see is some phony-baloney acting. And silly writing. Which continues:

“My heart is racing,” she says after a moment, fluttering her hand over her chest.

Fluttering her hand over her chest? Really? This sounds like a comical drag performance of femininity. I'd like to turn away and look at a lake, but I keep reading: