The interim President of Venezuela is Charles Grodin’s oilman from the 1976 King Kong

Maduro was taken first to the USS Iwo Jima.

Coffee with Stephen Stills & Neil Young ☕🎂 📷 Henry Ditz, 1970

William Randolph Hearst & Marion Davies play croquet on the grounds of his 50,000-acre estate, Wyntoon. 📷 Peter Stackpole, 1935

www.powells.com/book/open-ve... When I was working in Mexico amd South America in late 90’s and early 2000’s this was my guide for why the US was hated. It was history I had not learned as a US student.

Try weighing Trump’s hands, motherfuckers

One of the only members of Congress to take Elliott Abrams to task was Ilhan Omar, which is part of the reason you’re seeing a coordinated attack on her and on Somali-Americans and an attempt to oust her from office. Clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EGr...

Two Musicians | James Weeks

I get all the FIFA jokes but giving the Nobel Peace Prize to Machado, who is cheering all of this on, is significantly worse

Iran Contra encore

'Gurnard's Head, Winter.' (1949) Wilhelmina Barns-Graham was a vital component of the St Ives school, arriving in Cornwall in 1940 just as Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo and Barbara Hepworth were transforming the small fishing town into an unlikely hot-bed of British modernism.

A newcomer to #Caturday. I've heard about this sassy gal from others but today was the first time meeting her.

Elliott Abrams specifically wants this, as does his network. It didn’t begin in Trump term two. Began with Iran-Contra and continued through multiple admins, including Bush and also Biden, who installed Abrams as an advisor in 2023. Same horrible people with same horrible plans for a half century.

Well this is just useless. No condemnation for an illegal invasion and kidnapping a head of state. All moral legitimacy down the fucking toilet

Jury nullification has a chance to do the funniest thing.

Maurice Denis spent most of his summers in Perros-Guirec on the Pink Granite Coast of Brittany - this work (1925) shows Port-Blanc harbour a little further along the coast, it is painted with his characteristic joie de vivre.

*Curb Your Enthusiasm theme plays*

One more lovely take of Audrey on location near Saint-Tropez, France. Photo by Terry O’Neill, 1966.

War is stupid, remember this

The Port of Le Havre, Night Effect - 1873 https://botfrens.com/collections/41/contents/8223

Max Ernst, Birds above the Forest (Oiseaux au-dessus de la forêt), 1929 https://botfrens.com/collections/14377/contents/1134961

In Belgium, ICIJ media partners @tijd.be and @knack.be found that Binance, a central subject of ICIJ’s #CoinLaundry reporting, has stopped cooperating with the Belgian police and judicial authorities in criminal investigations. Learn more about their story:

Exquisite film

Louise models an “evening gown of beige silk lace over rose beige satin” for a fashion photo by Eugene Robert Richee, 1928.

I thought living through 1984 and 2001 was mind blowing—now it’s 2026! Is there any future left?

Self Portrait | Henri Matisse

“Last winter [the Trump administration] cut off funding to Princeton’s climate model on the grounds that the results it was generating were causing ‘a phenomenon known as climate anxiety.’” —Bill McKibben (@billmckibben.bsky.social) https://go.nybooks.com/3YQBZ2b

The genocide in Cambodia killed around 2 million people. The U.S. -- and Henry Kissinger in particular -- helped facilitate genocides in there, in East Timor, and also Bangladesh theintercept.com/2023/05/23/h...

Absolute cretins.

What I eat and avoid gift link wapo.st/4piAKUk

Colonel Blimp

Interior, 1940 https://botfrens.com/collections/48/contents/16993

In 2026, the oligarchs will seek to use the celebration of America’s anniversary to strengthen their grip on the economy and government. Taking inspiration from Thomas Paine, @nicholsuprising.bsky.social writes that we must reject these new monarchical elites. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

From Meta to Google to xAI, a team of researchers are using open-source intelligence to map the growth of America’s AI datacenters. @evystadium.bsky.social breaks down how Epoch AI’s map works. Full story by @mjgault.bsky.social here: www.404media.co/researchers-...

A good soul

We’re living in the future: Boris Bilinsky’s 1927 poster for Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, set in 2026

Comprehensive critique of fintech enshittification bellacaledonia.org.uk/2025/12/31/t...

Arshile Gorky, The Leaf of the Artichoke Is an Owl, 1944 https://botfrens.com/collections/14377/contents/1135724

The Tolbooth, Kirkcudbright https://www.wikiart.org/en/samuel-peploe/the-tolbooth-kirkcudbright

The law of unintended consequences

Welcome to the Public Domain, AS I LAY DYING (1930) 📖 🧠 William Faulkner’s groundbreaking modernist novel uses multiple narrators & stream-of-consciousness storytelling to reshape American literature. Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai... #PublicDomainDay #PublicDomain #CopyrightFree

'Australia's annual Duck Fashion Show.' www.onlygoodnewsdaily.com/post/austral...

Meandering into the new year

The post is real, their intent is loud and clear. Are you going to keep lying to yourself, or are you gonna wake up and do something about it?

Henri Matisse, Flowers in front of a Window, 1922.

This Date In Manka Bros History - Jan 1, 1943: Harry Manka addressed the troops in Europe and promised to bring down Hitler through ‘The Power Of Cinema.’ (Later he amended that to ‘The Power Of Cinema’ and ‘A Massive Ground Invasion.’) mankabros.com #hollywood #WorldWarII #worldwar2 #ww2 #satire

The great documentarian Frederick Wiseman was born on this day in 1930. Though some of his films are more than 50 years old, they all feel especially timely. crookedmarquee.com/the-comfort-...

"The dildo of consequences rarely arrives lubed"