Imagine having the need to spell this out ...

You'd think undergoing gender affirming hand surgery would make him more sympathetic to trans rights issues.

Hieronymous Bart looks back at The Year In MAGA

Nothing petty or crazy to see here...

<chef's kiss>

human deprivation? check mass suffering? check promises equality but delivers it selectively? check promises security but delivers surveillance? check promises fairness but delivers oppression and democide? check Apparently unfettered Capitalism is just Socialism in disguise!

"The 'lying press' strategy has evolved. It is no longer just about lies. It is about silence. And if we allow the press to be silenced by humiliation, we will find that the only voice left speaking is the one barking the insults." contrarian.substack.com/p/from-fake-...

"If Norman Rockwell were alive today, he would be devastated to see that not only does the problem Ruby Bridges confronted 65 years ago still plague us as a society, but that his own work has been marshalled for the cause of persecution toward immigrant communities and people of color."

In the spirit of the sponsored branding of major buildings (a pet peeve, but never mind) all of the "donors" to this project should get their turn owning their work. I'm sure the companies would be proud to see "The Amazon East Wing", "The Caterpillar East Wing" and so on...

Guess which White House tenant isn't getting his security deposit back? www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

And when they do cover one: - Downplay the scope in the headline - Allude to the real magnitude in the article without mentioning numbers - Add a sidebar link explaining (to one man in particular) that it's not a Size Thing - Move it off the home page ASAP

Far from "draining the swamp", they've managed to transform it into a Superfund Site that'll take decades to detoxify.

"Federal records reviewed by WIRED show that [ICE] is seeking private vendors to run a multiyear surveillance program … Their job: Scour Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms, converting posts and profiles into fresh leads for enforcement raids." www.wired.com/story/ice-so...

If PORTLANDIA got him that fired up, I hope no one shows him ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, or THE WARRIORS, or GANGS OF NEW YORK...

Seriously, if these are your happy meal, “splinters” are probably the least of your worries. Still… this is why we can’t have nice-things-on-a-stick

Today's Top Story: Emperor demands entire world admire his incredibly beautiful new clothes, unbelievably beautiful new clothes like we have rarely seen before and probably won't see again.

Dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson reading from his works in Brooklyn this week. It‘s a shame that - rather than sounding dated - his 40+ yr old anti-racist/anti-fascist verses sound more prescient than ever In 2025.

"The kind of authoritarianism I fear is emerging in the United States ... doesn’t involve the outright criminalization of the opposition or formal martial law. Instead, it depends on perverting the law, modifying and twisting it with the intent of incrementally undermining the opposition ..."

Make sure they bring their checkbooks... "Give me your fat, your rich, Your swaddled classes yearning to spend free, The spoiled refuse of your foreign shore. Send these, the yacht-blessed oligarchs to me, To leave their gifts inside the golden door"

Also from today’s press conference: “Without the United States, everything in the world would die.” We all know he’s no stranger to hyperbole, but this must be the biglyest of his exaggerations to date.

Trump 2025: "I am thrilled to report that the US Space Command headquarters will move to the beautiful locale of a place called Huntsville, Alabama, forever to be known *from this point forward*, as 'Rocket City'." Huntsville 1957: "Hold my beer..."

I had already gotten email from a company that I've ordered tea from in the past saying that today was the last day they would be fulfilling orders from the US. DHL was not delivering US-bound mail for the foreseeable future, and DHL Express was so expensive as to not be an option for small buyers.

A look at a century of radio broadcasting, and how the last few decades have seen a slow but steady takeover by right wing voices that no doubt laid the groundwork for our current state of affairs. www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

World leaders attending the White House summit were encouraged to exit through the gift shop.

The Future (2024): we were promised jet packs! The Future (2025): we were promised handbaskets!

What's that saying about how “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”? "Trickle down" has been a fraud for a century already. Ask Will Rogers...

"Don’t get me wrong. Things are dire. But the evidence seems to suggest that loudly calling attention to the fact that the government is run by cackling extremists is not the winning strategy that whoever is running Homeland Security’s social media thinks it is." tinyurl.com/yudz6vcn

The MAGA embed at Columbia is being called a Monitor. The MAGA embed as part of the Skydance merger is being called an Ombudsman. When Stalin had political officers embedded everywhere, they were called Commissars. No reason we shouldn't just use that word too.

Back when DJT was running for his first term, George's story was playing as a musical on Broadway. George told the audience each night that a standing offer of a free ticket had been made to DJT, who could benefit from refreshing his knowledge of this bit of US history. tinyurl.com/yz37j993

TROLLING DEMOCRACY It’s safe to say that President Trump and the Republican Party are deploying a new form of political propaganda, updating a dark art for the platform era ... one that is ruthless, inflammatory and designed for maximum viral reach.

"non-lethal" != harmless "This is at least the fourth incident in which a photographer has been injured by less-lethal weapons while covering the Los Angeles protests. It’s one of several cases where working journalists and photographers have been hurt by law enforcement." tinyurl.com/36nmknkb

"Give me your fat, your rich, Your swaddled masses yearning to spend free, The spoiled refuse of your foreign shore. Send these, the yacht-blessed oligarchs to me, To leave their gifts inside the golden door" www.youtube.com/shorts/2Ual5...

Hey, whatever it takes. Here's a first briefing, to get him up to speed... www.youtube.com/watch?v=klL2...

More evidence that Project 2025 has just been cribbing from Project 1939 all along.

"Data that is collected for one reason should not be repurposed for other uses,” Ms. Xia said. “Combining all that data, even with the noblest of intentions, significantly increases the risk of misuse." www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/t...

Your tax, health & legal data, basically everything the government knows about you, all hoovered in a huge dump along with that of everyone you've ever been connected with, in the hands of bright but morally stunted AI geeks with an unlimited budget and agendas to fulfill. What could go wrong?

He obviously isn't the economic genius he'd like to think he is, but surely he at least knows the Pottery Barn Rule?? tinyurl.com/3breykvn

First they came for the taco trucks, and I did not speak out, because, hey, there’s always halal carts … english.elpais.com/usa/2025-04-...

I just got this in email my favorite Vietnamese coffee supplier. Are we Winning yet?

An old-fashioned song with new-fashioned music. Woody Guthrie's sentiment has never been more timely. www.uncommonfolkmusic.com/download

Hey, remember that time Ike peppered his D-Day plans with emojis and then hit "reply-all" by mistake?? 🪖🤫🪖🤫🪖🤫🪖 Yeah, me neither...

"Some of the president’s allies have welcomed the moves as payback for Democratic congressional investigations of Mr. Trump and Republican political networks." tinyurl.com/4f9k448c

… the decision was not about law—it was about power. A federal judge ruled against the administration. The debate inside Trump’s team was not whether the ruling was legal, but whether they could get away with ignoring it. They decided they could. And they were right. tinyurl.com/423mdptr

So he’s officially governing by “flinging feces at the wall to see what sticks” now… tinyurl.com/vct83nzv

Next they’ll be coming for the Bi-planes… www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum...

Thanks to TK for reminding me of David Jo's reinvention as a blues shouter, channeling Howlin' Wolf with original guitarist Hubert Sumlin. It was thrilling to hear them together, a window into a deep, dark musical past... #musicsky

“There are some people currently at the South Pole that are worried about losing their jobs any day now.” Workers present at the station aren’t able to physically leave until October, and a midseason firing, or loss of funding, would present a unique set of challenges. tinyurl.com/2eh3evh3

RIP David Johansen, the last of the New York Dolls, whose cultural impact far outstripped their commercial success. They rocked my high school world, that's for sure. #musicsky

The Met show is the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to Friedrich in the United States." Quietly, in murmuring evening tones, “Caspar David Friedrich: The Soul of Nature” speaks of a world out of joint. wapo.st/4icxpCX