"This is the dialectic-there is a very short distance between high art and trash, and trash that contains an element of craziness is by this very quality nearer to art." -Douglas Sirk #BOTD

Still feel like "Musk and his crew of incels destroyed a bunch of stuff they didn't understand and thereby hastened the deaths of millions of children" did not get the public attention it warranted.

You may not need to watch BLMABG all the way through, but goddam. The first 15 mins are essential

Thank you for that obvious correction, which I've been hoping for. Have also been wondering how these guys pay their taxes, if they skipped the grade-school lessons on how to calculate percentages. Or am I . . . naive??

Articles about Jared Kushner's diplomatic role with Iran that mention Kushner has received billions from the Saudi government (2/28-4/19): NYT: 5 of 58 WashPost: 1 of 43 WSJ: 0 of 40 AP: 0 of 26 CNN Wire: 0 of 18 NY Post: 0 of 17 Chicago Tribune: 0 of 4 LA Times: 0 of 4 Boston Globe: 0 of 2

Lourie's GORGO was the only monster movie I can remember that my mom actually liked. She obviously identified with the, um . . . well, I don't want to give the plot twist away.

what’s funny about this is that tarantino wrote this “ezekiel 25:17“ for the film. it isn‘t actually in the bible. publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/hegseth-bo...

Last month the Trump FCC announced a "ban" on all foreign made routers (almost all of them), demanding ambiguous favors from manufacturers if they wanted to continue doing business in the U.S. Netgear is the first to gain approval. Did they agree to bribes? Backdoors? who knows! 🗽💩

The effective federal corporate income tax rate: 1950: 50% 1990: 25% 2020: 13% Stop asking "but how we will pay for it?" Restore the corporate tax rate. That is how we will pay for it.

Here's the thing: Democrats already know who can win. They know which policies are popular with voters and which candidates are vocally in support of those policies. They're going to throw a billion dollars into trying to prevent those candidates from becoming the nominee.

"At some point if the ship doesn’t turn around, maybe it will start taking on water or listing badly or hit an iceberg, or perhaps the iceberg has been there all along and is named Donald Trump."

give jd vance some credit. he couldn't get regime change in iran, but he did in hungary.

♥️

"Sanders leading the anti-AI charge is a critical mission. The Democratic Party and the country desperately need a leader who isn’t afraid of being portrayed as a Luddite or anti-business and will therefore forcefully air concerns about the proliferation of AI." newrepublic.com/article/2086...

A video of Alex Pretti reading out the final salute of an unnamed veteran he cared for until the end of his life in the ICU, posted to Facebook by his son.

Even Rosemary didn't want people talkin' shit 'bout her Baby

it's incredible that as long as you do the right amount of bigotry you can just rob the country blind and enough people will not care, even though those same people will be filled with incandescent rage if someone uses food stamps to buy a 12 pack of diet coke

Again, the first Tea Party rallies in April 2009 -- heavily promoted in advance by Fox News -- only had about 300,000 attendees across 750 cities, but the media treated it like the Second American Revolution. There will be multiple *individual* No Kings rallies today that have more people at them.

This is a nationwide phenomenon. The centrists and normies are more viciously angry than the socialists and anarchists, who gave up long ago on the illusion of a working system. Would encourage leftists of all stripes to take it seriously, welcome them in while they’re receptive.

Somebody tell me why LOVE CRAZY is not universally regarded as a timeless classic. Also: DESIGN ART MARKERS! They were great! I still miss them!

Whut th--?!?!? (Although I do wish he had been "advising" the Dubs back in 2021 when they took Moody over Trey Murphy III)

My distinguished colleagues @charlielargent.bsky.social and @thejoedante.bsky.social inform me that TCM will be airing the following concise rebuttal directly across from tonight's SOTU address:

Archie Goodwin had a habit of tacking an extra twisteroo onto the end of his Creepy Classic adaptations ("Tell-Tale Heart," "The Damned Thing," etc.). As a result, when I eventually read the originals, I would always think "Hey! They cut off the ending!"

I guess people have forgotten that Trump started the pandemic by refusing to test and bringing in tens of thousands of people in crowded airports. and then stole PPE from blue states. and then suggested bleach or UV light might cure it. and then tried to kill Biden with it. and then

It costs $130 + a $35 facility fee to obtain a passport and an extra $30 for a passport card. In California, fees for certified copies of vital records are between $18 and $31 each. How is the SAVE Act not a poll tax?

Aaaaack--can't say. This is the first I've heard of it. Most of the casting took place during the '88 writers' strike when I was sitting on my thumbs

Re: Cap, I endorse this idea. (Although "Star-Spangled Man with a Plan," which occasionally veers into camp, is still pretty much of a rouser. And if you ax me, Joe Johnston's first Cap movie is still one of the best Marvels.) BTW, the Spidey cartoon theme is in the credits of the first Raimi!

"These Companies—Palantir, AT&T, Deloitte—Have The Biggest ICE Contracts As DHS Funding Under Fire." This story has a bit of details re: the types of services these companies provide to ICE (No paywall) www.forbes.com/sites/tylerr...

Hey everyone. Potentially the biggest story in the country, right here. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Doctors say that vaccines protect children from dangerous diseases. A nepo baby who barbecues dogs and snorts cocaine off toilet seats says that vaccines make children vulnerable to 5G radiation. For busy parents, it can be hard to know who to trust.

Children/By the million/Wait for Alex Chilton/To come 'round

Hi attorneys! Want to not be able to get to sleep tonight? Here's Judge Rakoff (probably the single most well-respected judge in SDNY) saying that the use of AI destroys both attorney-client privilege and work-product privilege.

Stunned to learn that the late Bud Cort's real name was . . . Wally Cox! www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/m...

Although I never got to meet her, the first spec script I ever sold was one I wrote as a vehicle for Catherine O'Hara. Everything she did was kissed by genius. This one hurts.

"I'm coming to Boston and I'm bringing hell with me." --Homan in February "Do I expect violence to escalate? Absolutely." -- Tom Homan in March "I actually thought about getting up and throwing that man a beating right there in the middle of the room" -- Homan in July, referring to a D congressman

to the extent that there is a “carrot” to trumpism it is the same carrot that slaveholders offered to lower class white men: “you can be an overseer”

All you're plugging is a goddam toilet

FINALLY tracked a copy down at the B&N in Emeryville. Borderlands says they have an order in but it hasn't arrived. And yes, I read (and dug) TCS a few weeks back, courtesy of our good friends at Weightless Books.

Has anyone in the greater Bay Area seen a print copy of the new F&SF on sale, and if so would you kindly tell me where? (And btw, "Corporate Soul" is legit!)

General reminder of the words of proud son of Virginia, Major-General George H Thomas. The "Rock of Chickamauga". Who, unlike Lee, stayed loyal to the Union. Post-war he had views on 'Lost Cause' and the damage it would do to America, unchecked. A “counterfeit varnish of patriotism” he called it.

Dean Martin, born Dino Paul Crocetti, son of Italian immigrant Gaetano Crocetti Frank Sinatra, son of Italian immigrants Antonino Sinatra and Natalina Garavanta Merry Christmas to everyone except Stephen Miller and his enablers and handlers

Of course you should read everything Doctorow posts, but you should ABSOLUTELY read what he posted today: pluralistic.net/2025/12/16/k...

THREE THE HARD WAY. Soundtrack constantly recaps whatever just happened in case you wander in late.

it is the worst of all worlds. a "unitary *presidency*" insulated from judicial or congressional power and a weak president unable to do the job of governing

thinking more about this: it is highly ironic that at the same time that it serves as a test case for the "unitary executive," this administration is all but being led by two subordinate officials with no immediate political accountability.