Category: linkdump

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(I recently “unstuck” the 1965 Project Index so that it no longer appears at the top of this blog. I have been sidetracked by several other things, and I haven’t had time to post on this topic for a good while. But I continued my explorations into 1965 — especially on the musical side and eventually will return to posting about it. The sad fact about writing is that often long stretches go by when you are unable to write about the things you want to write about. This is one of such times).

The doorman fallacy. Coined by Rory Sutherland to refer to conspicuous jobs in a company which seemingly provide no value, but which “strips away the true complexity of what a doorman provides.” :

If that’s the entirety of the job, a technological solution can easily replace the doorman, reducing costs. However, this strips away the true complexity of what a doorman provides.

The role is multifaceted, with intangible functions that extend beyond just handling the door. Doormen help guests feel welcome, hail taxis, enhance security, discourage unwelcome behaviour, and offer personalised attention to regulars. Even the mere presence of a doorman elevates the prestige of a hotel or residence, boosting guests’ perception of quality.

When you ignore all these intangible benefits, it’s easy to argue the role can be automated. This is the doorman fallacy – removing a human role because technology can imitate its simplest function, while ignoring the layers of nuance, service and human presence that give the role its true value.

I have been shocked and outraged at how the state education board is adopting an anti-Islamic social studies curriculum. The article includes many statements by protesters:

“Slavery existed for thousands of years before Islam,” said Sarah, an 11-year-old softball player who did not provide her last name. “It is unfair to label slavery as Islamic without also discussing the Christian role in the slave trade to the Americas.”

Equally shocking is the extent to which the State of Texas has undermined academic freedom at Texas state universities. Professors are fired for ideological reasons, leadership is micromanaging curriculum decisions and a lot of courses are removed from GenEd classes simply because they have mentioned some topic that Texas politicians disagree with.

Political entanglements in universities is hardly new. When I taught in Albania, I saw how universities were undermined by politicians. And states have regularly tried to reign in departments that were too out there. But academic freedom used to be cherished in the Texas university system. In the 1980s and 1990s these ideological skirmishes were rare even in Texas. The flagship state universities (University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M) were regarded as mainstream universities — especially UT Austin.

What undermined this bedrock of higher education? First, the increasing use of adjunct professors has undermined the tenure system. It’s harder to achieve full time teaching status, much less have tenure. Second, the state in general has been strangled by reactionary thinking. In 2024 alone, Trump beat Kamala Harris by almost 14 percent. Greg Abbott has successfully implemented an ideological agenda, and Ted Cruz has managed to fend off challenges for his Senate seat. You can get away with lots of things in Texas that would be practically impossible anywhere else.

For the moment private universities in Texas (like Trinity, Rice, SMU and Southwestern) have preserved their academic integrity, but then again, you become dependent on your funders. I often wonder what choices I would have made if I were entering the university today as a student. My National Merit scholarship probably wouldn’t have been enough to pay for my tuition, and my parents would have had trouble affording to send me even to state universities.

Over time I have come to appreciate that low-cost universities offer good alternatives to elite universities; instructors are often just as dedicated and competent. That is simply the result of the oversupply of PhDs. That said, when everybody is struggling to get full time hours and when you can’t do research to produce knowledge and your department is setting controls on what you can teach, how effective can a teacher be? And how conducive to learning can a community college class be?

Here’s NPR’s look at the new TV season. I am most looking forward to the Different World reboot (loved the original show) & Cupertino (made by Robert and Michelle King of the “Good Wife/Good Fight”). Also, looking forward to HBO’s Gilded Age (due next year) and wish some streamer would stream Canada’s “Son of a Critch” (the funniest show I watched last year). When I get a moment, I can’t wait to watch PT 2 of Netflix’s “100 Years of Solitude”(also outstanding).

Here’s Slick (YT), a promising satirical web series about PR companies helping fossil fuel companies. I watched the first episode which was hilarious.

RobWords does a deep dive (YT) into the logic of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet (W). Let’s see if I remember it: Romeo Oscar Bravo Echo Romeo Tango – Juliet Alpha Mike Echo Sierra — November Alpha Golf Lima Echo. Wow, even though I tried memorizing it, I tripped several times — and I was writing, not speaking. Also, I see they have code words for numbers and punctuation marks. I guess I should also remember my email address: India Delta India Oscar Tango Papa Romeo Oscar Golf Romeo Alfa Mike Mike Echo Romeo AT Golf Mike Alpha India Lima Stop Charlie Oscar Mike.

HARTMAN REPORT: Trump:

— announced that he’d taken the oil,
— then that he’d taken the money from the sale of the oil and put it in a bank with the country that had given him a free 747 jet,
— hired traders with bribery records,
— refused to publish the contracts,
— put his own hand-picked cabinet members in charge of both the disbursements and oversight, and
— then sent Bessent to Congress to say, “No” when asked if we could please, please know where it’s all gone.

He quotes Elizabeth Warren:

“There is no basis in law for a president to set up an offshore account that he controls so that he can sell assets seized by the American military. That is precisely a move that a corrupt politician would be attracted to.”

To my amazement, I’ve just learned that the milestone Up Series British documentary recently released 70 Up. I have blogged about the series several times already, and my anticipation for 63 Up could not be matched. Even though it was released in 2019 in UK, it did not reach the US except at limited screenings at city museums. I bought my ticket well in advance in 2020, and I know the precise date of it: Friday March 13, 2020.

Maybe that date doesn’t ring a bell, but it definitely was historic. That was the week when most corporations and governments decided to close their doors because of the uncertainties surrounding the COVID epidemic. I had bought tickets for 63 Up well in advance. That same week, my office closed, and so did schools, sporting events and international travel was halted. As luck would have it, the museum announced that it was closing on Saturday March 14, leaving the March 13 movie date untouched.

I drove into the city to go to the museum. Maybe 20 people were there, and as far as I could tell, few of them were steeped in the lore of the movie as I was.

I first watched the Up Series after I signed up for Netflix’s DVD service. (7 Up was one of the first movies I rented!). Immediately after that I rented 7+7Up, 21 Up, 28 Up, 35 Up, 42 Up and 49 Up. One of the most amazing things about the 42 Up movie is that it included a running commentary by the director himself. one of the movies ( 42 Up) is that the DVD included DVD commentary from the director — both about techniques, details about the filming and the ethical questions posed by the documentary itself.

I was aware that the birth dates for many of the participants was 7 years ahead of mine (actually it was 8; they were mostly born in 1957). While watching the documentary, I found myself marveling at the similarity of sentiments being expressed by the younger versions of these participants. But of course, these people were older than me, and so 56 Up was the first movie that I watched when the participants were older than I was.

That event was memorable for me. I brought along my friend Dora (who had not seen any of the other series, but I had told her about). At the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the movie hall was packed; there was not an empty seat, and I could not control my excitement. When the movie finally started, there were all sorts of surprises and updates. When one of the participants who had dropped out of the series reappeared, the crowd erupted into spontaneous applause. I realized then that this was not an ordinary movie audience, but a large number of people were people like me who had stumbled upon the series and enthusiastically savored each revelation. These were my people, I remember thinking.

Probably by now people have forgotten about 70 Up or the rest of the series. But for me it is a milestone and an omen or even a warning about what the future holds in store for me and the rest of humanity.

LIAR IN CHIEF: When T accuses CNN/MSNOW/POLITICO of “Fake News,” it’s important to remember that T said that Obama was not born in USA — and continued repeating essentially the same falsehood for 5 years even after T’s lie was quickly exposed. T’s political career was essentially launched by lying, and it’s obvious that T will do everything to try to vilify those who try to report events accurately.

QUOTE:…(I)t’s not a coincidence that the last 5 recessions, and 7 of the last 8, have happened under Republican presidents. Look ’em up: December 1969, November 1973, January 1980, July 1981, July 1990, March 2001, December 2007, February 2020. Only the 1980 one happened under a Democrat (Jimmy Carter). In fact, you can go back to 1953 and add 4 more recessions, all of which happened during GOP presidencies. That’s 10 out of 11 in the postwar era. Trump is responsible for one of them, and admittedly it was not entirely his fault. It was pandemic-driven. But if Leon Cooperman and Gary Shilling are right and he presides over another one, it will be entirely on him. He may have driven the country into the ditch, but at least he will have exploded the “we need a businessman” myth with a force no liberal Democrat could ever hope to. (MIchael Tomasky on the upcoming Trump recession).

John Oliver does a deep dive into the Brazilian election (YT) which happened last weekend. Son of right-wing leader Bolsonaro apparently did very well, leading to a likely resurgence of right-wing nationalism in Brazil (and continued deforestation of the Amazon rainforests).

Study: Using AI reduces your ability to persist at hard things.

Last night I had a crazy dream that I was sleeping outside and several snakes were slithering around me. One was really close, and I realized that I was stuck and defenseless. Upon waking, I went to YouTube to see if anyone had talked about depicting yourself from snakes. Wes Kingfisher did a 15 minute talk about the topic and put my mind to rest. (YT) It turns out that Wes is actually an AI creation designed to sell books (which I’m guessing are also AI-generated). Oh, well.

Trump and company are adept at doing things so outrageous and amoral that ordinary people are stunned into silence. In the past 24 hours, Trump’s secretary of defense has announced that they will livestream video of a public execution, Trump will allow the purchase of Russian-produced diesel fuel and Trump threatens more punishments against the International Criminal Court.

Laura Miller on the sweater detective TV genre.

I remember eating at this Kyiv MacDonalds in January 1998 — about 1 or 2 months after it opened. Lines were absolutely mobbed at Ukraine’s first McD, and it was close to the city’s center — right across from the city’s main metro stop. At the time, many Ukrainians didn’t view it as anything special (they still preferred their Varenyky) , but over time this restaurant has survived multiple Russian attacks and become another symbol of Ukrainian resilience.

WHY TRUMP HELPS PUTIN. “Trump’s craving to stride the world side by side with Putin has been evident for many years. But Putin’s criminality and barbarity were obstacles. Now Trump has decided to move past that. Vlad is his man. Abandoning Ukraine is not a bothersome price for Trump to pay. He and Putin have been like lovers kept apart for too long. With just over two years left in his reign of madness and facing a likely drubbing in the midterms, Trump has resolved to make his dream a reality. They can be together. That was always the plan. That was always the destiny. Trump has gotten what he wanted. So, too, has Putin.” (DAVID CORN)

Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed responds to a hostile question about his Muslim faith and turns it into a teachable moment. (YT) He reminds us that JFK faced similar hostility about his Catholic faith… Frankly I am stunned by the extent of anti-Muslim attitudes in my own state of Texas — mainly emanating from the Republican side.

After reading an obituary of NPR reporter Noah Adams, I learned about the special 75 minute special he did from 1998 about Jonestown, Father Cares: The Last of Jonestown. Honestly I can’t remember if I have listened to it already. About a decade ago I listened to lots of audio footage from Jonestown on Archive.org (which this NPR report must have made heavy use of). It’s some of the most chilling and saddest things I’ve ever heard. (Not linking to the original audio recordings; don’t want to give people nightmares. Just listen to the NPR report ). Better yet, check out the excellent book Undaunted: Surviving Jonestown, Summoning Courage, and Fighting Back by former congresswomen Jackie Speier.

Why Smart people believe the myth that natural gas is clean.In 2012 I did a deep dive into natural gas with a post “Natural Gas is Not Lobster”. Although it’s probably out of date (and skip the first section which is more about general issues), but my analysis and discussion is still on point. Indeed, I suspect that the extraction of methane gas has accelerated, making this more of a problem today than it was in 2012. (See also my Climate Change Cheatsheet 2026 Edition).

Globe Trekker Nostalgia

I have always been a fan of this crazy travel show called Globe Trekker (W), this long-running show (200+ one hour episodes) which usually was on PBS at random hours. Eventually I got the hint and started reserving the DVDs from the public library. Each episode was delightful and revelatory and fun as hell. I could never travel to all these places, but the DVD adventures offered a vicarious and educational thrill like no other.

The show had about 20 presenters, with 4 or 5 primary ones. From the start Ian Wright and Justine Shapiro did the most of the shows — (Wright was the zany comedian while Justine Shapiro was the scholarly type). Later they had the beautiful and funny Megan McCormick and several others who were all as fun to watch.

The best thing about the show is that the tourist spots and adventures were so random and unexpected. It started out as a practical show about tourism, but over time it just involved adventures and meeting interesting people. It’s easy to compare it to the equally interesting Rick Steves adventures, but Steves was modest, affable and well-informed. In contrast, the Globe Trekker shows were about serendipity and experiencing the thrilling adventures as young adults and the people you met along the way.

This YouTube playlist I created provides about 40 full episodes — enough to give you a taste of the show. It’s worth seeking out the DVDs for the higher video and sound quality –although I should warn you, most of these episodes came from the 1990s and 2000s which were still just getting the hang of high definition.

I am thrilled to learn that some of the main people behind the show are hosting a video podcast, Our Looney Planet with Ian & Justine which goes behind the scenes. I can’t wait to watch the episodes starting with the first episode with special guest Megan McCormick!

Over the last year I’ve been impressed by how great SNL in London (available on Peacock and YT) has been. It’s much better and fresher than NY SNL. Other SNL Stuff:

• Did you know a random person who won a contest hosted SNL in 1977 (details) She was 80 years old.
• Girlfriends Talk Show Part 1 and Part 2.
• UK Sketches: Italian plumber with princess problems (YT) Every Pug deserves a best friend. (YT)

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Here’s a NYT tracker of lawsuits against Trump. I remain puzzled why there are no lawsuits about emoluments.

Preliminary estimates suggest that the European heatdome/heatwave has caused 20,000 premature deaths.

An EV expert surveys recent advances in EV battery technology. (YT) Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) is significantly cheaper, and all cars are switching. It’s been around for a while, but it is being scaled up. China’s LFP has significant overcapacity in LFP battery. There are some new battery technologies (Sodium-ion, Lithium Manganese-Rich (LMR)Lithium-Air), but LFP is still going to dominate over the next decade.

I have actually tuned in to several FIFA World Cup games this year. Fun and exciting.

Highly recommend Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, a sleeper historical drama, starring Tom Hanks.

ROB REINER HAS A SURPRISE CAMEO! Surprised & Delighted to see Rob Reiner playing “George Washington” in a caustic political comedy sketch on Larry David’s new show. Have no fear. I predict within 24 hours it will be on YT and social media everywhere.

Becoming Human — a website that compiles information about the earth and the emergence of life and humanity on this planet. Related: The PBS Eons show, which is about the fossil record, paleontology and ultimately climate science. I am frighteningly ignorant about this subject despite my curiosity. Here’s a complete YT playlist. Sadly watching these episodes through the PBS app is awful because of the mandatory intros. (You would think that they would show only once or twice and never again, but no, for a 10 minute segment, you get 1 minute of promos). The YT playlist when played in a browser with an ad blocker is going to be less painful.

GENEVIEVE GUENTHER: What is more incompetent than pushing energy sources that underlie the high prices of food, electricity, housing, and health care? Coal, oil, and methane gas are expensive sources of energy whose pollution makes food scarcer, home insurance increasingly unaffordable, and collectively costs us $700 billion in health care bills annually. What was the point of the wars in Venezuela and Iran, but illegally securing oil reserves as payback for the American oil companies that gave him money during the campaign? What is more corrupt than the gutting of American science, once the jewel of the world, and destroying our capacity even to predict the weather for farmers, so that you can try to hide your lie that climate change is a “hoax”? What is more selfish and indeed criminal than knowingly destroying the only world we have for America’s children? (LInk). Guenther is a climate activist who wrote a great book (Language of Climate Politics) that combines climate science with rhetorical analysis.

Occasionally I go to FB just to see what the algo wants to suggest for me In the past minute I just scrolled past 3 Spice Girls vid shorts. Help, I can’t resist.

I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary to me. It’ll happen to you! (This is a famous quote from the Simpsons by the Grandpa Simpson character)

Here are 2 compilations of Muppets acknowledging that they are puppets: (First, Second ). “A puppet is controlled by a person whereas I am an actual talking frog.” Here’s a fascinating video (YT) about the technical tricks Jim Henson did to make them do incredible things, like ride a bicycle.

NYT commenter about data centers: ” Data centers are not inherently toxic or irredeemably thirsty. The “water problem” is fundamentally an engineering choice dictated by local water pricing vs. local electricity pricing. When facilities are built with closed-loop systems or air-cooling, their direct local water impact drops close to zero. The friction occurs when large facilities rely on municipal drinking water and evaporative cooling in regions that lack the surplus water infrastructure to support them. So advocate for proper regulation of the construction of data centers. That is helpful. Opposing AI in general, based on water demands, is not well founded.”

Funny sitcom moments:

Frazier: I told Lilith she looked fat in the dress?

Norm: What is your punishment.

Frazier: I’m not getting any.

Norm: You got off easy.

Frazier: No, I’m not getting any.

Norm: You got off easy.

NETFLIX RECOMMENDATION: “Raise Hell: Life & Times of Molly Ivins” is a delightful look at this Texas journalist, columnist & humorist — and how such an odd bird arose in conservative Texas. I laughed and laughed and laughed the whole time (The answer is that she came from an extremely wealthy Houston family, attended Ivy League schools and could drink alchohol better than any (male) politician. I had the great privilege to see her talk at SXSW 2004 where she was hilarious! (More)

Philadelphia Story (1940). “Everyone had enormous fun on the movie. The days and nights were sweltering that summer of 1940, but nobody cared. Cary got along very well with Kate Hepburn. She enjoyed him pushing her through a doorway in one scene (so she fell over backward) so much that she had him do it to her over and over again. There was a scene in which she had to throw Cary out the door of a house, bag and baggage, and she did it so vigorously he fell over and was bruised. As he stood up, looking rueful, Kate said, “That’ll serve you right, Cary, for trying to be your own stuntman.” (Cameraman Joseph Ruttberg)(Here’s that lovely scene YT)

People speculate about the Boss is Coming Over for Dinner sitcom trope.

NOT A JOKE! Musicians are alarmed that Trump is announcing tariffs on brass musical instruments. FYI, my nephew Donnie Nagle plays tuba and trombone for U. of North Texas. Those instruments are not cheap!

Here’s a 20 minute introduction to hieroglyphics. Here’s a longer tutorial by British Museum Ilona Regulski. (YT)

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(Sorry, I was very late posting this social media linkdump. I forgot)

Nataliya Gumenyuk on what it was like as a Ukrainian to report on U.S. politics:

Today, it’s not just MAGA voices who demonize state institutions but also Silicon Valley libertarians. One of the leaders of the U.S. labor movement recalled to me a private conversation she had had in 2017 with Peter Thiel, the billionaire tech entrepreneur, venture capitalist and prominent libertarian thinker. For a while, she couldn’t understand why libertarians — or more broadly, radical free-market ideologues — were in such denial about climate change. But then it became clear: The climate crisis is not something even the wealthiest individuals or most powerful corporations can tackle on their own. It demands large-scale state intervention and international cooperation, which runs counter to their ideological rejection of collective governance and public regulation.

What I see now in the U.S. is a profound inability to discuss seriously how the state can serve the public good. This conversation is still ignored, even by mainstream media, or is considered extreme. Proposals for universal health care — common in many industrialized democracies globally — are framed by many as radical or unaffordable. Efforts to cancel student debt are portrayed not as social policy but as moral hazard.

…

… There is still so much to admire in the country: the openness, the scale, the energy. But many Americans seem to live in timelines that never quite align with the present: Silicon Valley gazes into an unknowable future, while MAGA supporters are locked in conversations about a mythical past that never truly existed.

A powerful taboo still holds: Few dare voice the idea that problems might be solved not by individuals or the market but collectively, through society and the state. The decline of local institutions — unions, public schools — is real. And while many I’ve met speak longingly of better days, they often can’t say when those days existed, only that they’re gone. It’s as if the ability to speak meaningfully about the present has been lost — making it harder to imagine a future grounded in real needs, shared purpose and equality.

(This great essay comes from The Dial, an online zine devoted to personal reporting from around the globe. )

On YouTube I’ve been watching this insane Australian spy-comedy called Danger 5. (View the Full Series here).

Two TV shows. Watched Season 1 of For All Mankind, which is some of the best TV I’ve seen in ages. (Really compelling stories and characters). The great thing about it is that it’s not really about NASA and the moon, but about personal dreams and political ambitions. Also Deadloch, which is a crazy Tasmanian detective mystery involving lots of lesbian characters. Outrageous, lots of plot twists and outrageous comedy, great characters and genuine surprises at the end. (Also, the plots are so convoluted, but I don’t care; I’m just there for the ride). Update: Season 2 of Deadloch was equally inspired and hairy. Season 2 of For All Mankind has become more conventional, less interesting.

30 minute vid reel (YT) of Ad Genius Joe Sedelmaier’s Funniest TV Commercials. (NYT Obituary)

I’m pretty amazed that a substantial amount of the Prairie Home Companion radio show is on Archive.org

Climate Scientist MICHAEL MANN on the American petro-state: “America has now become a petro-state, right up there with Saudi Arabia and Russia. And by that, I mean one of a handful of countries where our policies are almost entirely dictated by an entrenched fossil fuel industry. One can see the United States openly collaborating with Russia and Saudi Arabia to do everything they can to scuttle global climate action because it’s a threat to their business model. So Americans have to recognize—as uncomfortable as it is—that we are now a bad actor in this space. And by “we” I mean the administration that represents us internationally. There are many good folks in the US, obviously, who are very unhappy with the current regime and what they’re doing. But as far as the rest of the world is concerned, they look at the United States as a bad actor that they’re going to have to work around.

“Consequently, we’re going to see Europe and other countries take the lead in fighting climate change. We’re actually going to see China, of all things, taking far more leadership in this area than the United States. And that allows the Chinese leadership to present themselves as similarly taking the high road when it comes to human rights, its treatment of ethnic minorities like the Uyghurs, the surveillance state and all of their sort of hegemonic behavior in recent years. So it helps situate China as the true leader in the world, while it helps to diminish the standing of the United States to the rest of the world. …. It’s ironic, isn’t it, that an authoritarian regime like China might be best-situated to act on climate. But because of the top-down structure of their government, their leaders can decide “We’re going to do this” and make it happen. They don’t answer to fossil-fuel industry lobbyists in the way that politicians in the US do.

SUFFS (TONY-AWARD WINNING MUSICAL)ON YOUTUBE/PBS: (YouTube) This amazing/uplifting play retells the turbulent story about the women instrumental in leading protests to obtain woman’s right to vote in USA. Great music, great cast (starring Shaina Taub, who wrote the musical), it’s a moving & entertaining history lesson and raises question strikingly similar to those we face during the Trump era.

According to the PBS website, this musical is available for viewing ONLY in May-June, so watch it before it leaves! I admit being unaware of almost all the events described in this musical, including the reluctance of Woodrow Wilson to push for it.

The PBS streaming app regularly has award-winning plays and musicals: currently it has Kiss Me Kate, Top Hat, etc.

As wonderful as British actor Anthony Head (RIP) was in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he was also terrific as the harsh and narrow-minded Uther Pendragon (father of King Arthur) in the amazing 2008 British series MERLIN. The stories and actors were all first-rate, and it’s streaming now on Amazon Prime. (In that first episode, Head’s character Uther Pendragon will make you want to hate him! — thanks to Head’s performance.

Various intellectuals on Trump’s birthday:

CORY DOCTOROW: “Dear Comrade Trump: On this, the occasion of your 80th birthday, I write to extend my sincere thanks for all the work you have done. After decades of deadlock, you have inspired the world to action! You have done more to de-dollarise the world than any American leader in history. Without you, there would be no way that Ethiopia would be revaluing its national debt in yuan. You have done more to end the global dependence on oil than any leader (except, perhaps, for Comrade Putin). Without you, there would be no way that India would be chucking out its gas hobs and replacing them with induction tops. And, of course, you have done more than any president in history to end American dominance over the internet. Without you, there would be no way the EU would be racing forward with projects such as Eurostack and European Digital Infrastructure Consortium, with whole nations ditching American tech exports like Microsoft Office 365 in favour of free, open, auditable, transparent alternatives running on servers within the EU’s borders. Comrade Trump, you are, at long last, ushering in the post-American world, and a grateful planet salutes you!

****

Siri Hustvedt: Dear Number 47. You’re ageing fast, Mr President, plagued by bruising, memory holes, verbal incoherence and unwelcome fits of sleep. Although plain to many of us who did not vote for you, your age and inevitable death have been invisible in the Magaverse.

Maga magic transformed your real, fat, old man’s body into the spectacular body of fascism, American style: bulletproof, muscle-bound, eternal. The many superhero costumes worn by your 6 January terrorists were testament to that pathetic fantasy of invulnerability, no doubt helped along by the very real carnage of a global pandemic….

…But time is inexorable, the citizens are restless, and your fantasy body is beginning to crack, just as your real body is showing the infirmities that come with 80 years of age.

****

Bill McKibben: On the occasion of your birthday: It was unnecessary to launch a cruel, ridiculous war to convince the world of the benefits of wind energy, solar energy and so on. But you do deserve one small gold trophy as electric vehicle salesman of the quarter. Enjoy.

Pew identifies a new spectrum of American political beliefs.

But it doesn’t take into account the environmental movement which sometimes is embraced across the spectrum… and vilified by some pro-business types. I never fail to be surprised at the complete ignorance of most Americans about the subject of climate change.

(I have created a Climate Change Cheatsheet which gathers my favorite links. But by far the best source of information is the Climate Primer prepared by Kerry Emannuel and MIT.

NYT wrote about this viral tweet about NBA Championship between the NY Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, and I gotta say: it’s brilliant!

(That’s a reference of course to the reservation scene (YT) which is still one of the most memorable and entertaining clips from Seinfeld: )

Robert Reich on the Ponzi scheme that is the SpaceX IPO:

But many of us, if not most of us, with any savings parked in major stock indices (yours truly included) won’t have any choice. We’re going to end up investing in SpaceX whether we want to or not. That’s because the major indices have been rigged.

Normally, major stock indices have a waiting period before they plow their investors’ money into a newly formed company, in order to test whether that company is worth it. But SpaceX has lobbied index funds to change the rules.

On May 1, for example, the Nasdaq 100 implemented a new “fast entry” rule that will include companies among the top 40 most highly valued companies — which will almost certainly include SpaceX.

Presto! A big chunk of Americans’ retirement savings and pensions (as well as university endowments) will automatically be tied to SpaceX’s market value. At the same time, all that automatic infusion of investment will artificially jack up the value of SpaceX, at least in the short term.

But here’s the real kicker. SpaceX insiders — such as Musk and, reportedly, senior Trump officials — will be able to sell their shares sooner than is usually the case with an IPO, because that’s the way the IPO has been organized. Which means they can enjoy the stocks’ upward tide as the major indices force millions of investors to buy it, and then they can exit SpaceX before the tide goes out.

From a reddit thread about Movie conventions which spoil the scene for you:

• In war films any time someone says what they going to do when they go home, they always die.
• When picking up a gun it makes clicky clicky sounds, even when the real gun just doesn’t.
• Background actors dancing to obviously zero music and trying to do it as quietly as possible while the scene is going on.
• People parking 30+ yards away from where they need to go. Just pull up to the damn house, meet up, murder site, etc.
• Day for night
• This may not apply, but every movie needs to have a scene to address why there is no cell service
• Cars having no rear view mirror or headrests on seats. 
• I like watching people type becuase they aren’t actually typing. Or texting.
• Wilhelm scream. I wish no one had ever told me about it
• A sound designer told me that he often added the sound of crickets in post for a night shot when there was extraneous noise occurring during a scene. From that point I noticed a lot of crickets during night scenes.
• The office ladies podcast busted the “grocery bag” deal – bags of groceries are usually lighter than they’d be in real life, especially the classic paper bad with things sticking out the top – which often includes a baguette and carrot greens

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I probably will write something about Trump’s attack on Iran. I have lots of opinions, none of which are that interesting or well-informed or important. More later.

The acclaimed Iranian director is interviewed on the Daily Show (note: through a translator). Offers perspective of what it is like to try to make movies in a country that forbids him from doing so. (I haven’t seen JUST AN ACCIDENT, but hope to do so in the next week or so). (YT, 20 minutes)

The 1990s TV comedy show provides alternate endings to Gone with the Wind. (YT)

“Donald Trump said he was going after criminals. He said he was going after people who were dangerous to Americans. Well, how is it that these two young men were good enough to perform at the United States Capitol at the invitation of their congresswoman? They were safe enough to tour the White House. And yet, the Trump administration has them sitting in a prison.” (Congressman Joaquin Castro about the detention of two prize-winning teenage mariachi musicians, whose family had applied lawfully on an asylum claim and were arrested when they were required to do a routine check in with ICE). Souce NYT.

PRO PUBLICA REPORT: In 2025 Trump officials dismantled a program to help the US military avoid civilian casualties. “Dismantling the fledgling harm-reduction effort, defense analysts say, is among several ways the Trump administration has reorganized national security around two principles: more aggression, less accountability.”

Interview with Gary Shandling (2 hours!): Part 1 and Part 2. Here’s an outtake from Judd Apatow. Here’s the official Gary Shandling channel.

QUOTE: “Iran was able to advance its nuclear programme to the point where it was before the 12 Day War last June not because of the JCPOA, but because President Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA,” (Laura Rockwood, disarmament expert and former IAEA official). (From Factcheck.org’s analysis).

I spent a good hour reading and re-reading the Wiki article about JCPOA and reminded just how senseless Trump’s withdrawal was. Actually though I think a lot of Republicans and even some Dems deserve blame for not passing a law approving of it. Charlie Rose had two excellent interviews with Iranians about the Iran nuclear deal (here and here)

Here’s a brilliant staging by Jerome Robbins of the opening number (YT) (“Comedy Tonight”) to a Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Roman Forum. Bonus: It’s sung by Jason Alexander). The whole YT channel is replete with classic clips of Broadway numbers, often by the original performers.

Related: Here’s the Hello number from the Book of Mormon (YT)(original cast).

2025 presentation by Mark Z. Jacobson about the hows and why’s of transitioning to Wind Water and Solar (WWS). (YT, 40 minutes long, start at minute 4:30) In one slide, Jacobson estimated based on current trends the year at which each country will achieve a 100% WWS solution. Shockingly, the expected date for USA was the slowest and longest (2148) while China was expected to achieve it in 2048. (These estimates were based on pre-2025 data before Trump even had taken office). Jacobson estimates that the cost for USA to transition 100% to WWS by 2050 was about $6 trillion, but that is dwarfed by the extra cost of Business-As-Usual and the social cost of fossil fuels. The energy-cost-savings payback time to make the WWS transition was 6 years, while the social cost payback (savings resulting from improved mortality from air pollution) was only about 1 year. Startling, fascinating analysis.

BILL MCKIBBEN: “If you’ve been to any of the No Kings protests that have happened so far, you’ll see a lot of people with hairlines like mine, which is to say, scant. People of all kinds are outraged by what’s happening in the country right now, but older people have a particular role to play here…. There have been plenty of presidents in my lifetime I didn’t much like or didn’t agree with politically, but there’s never been any that I thought were fascist, and I think that that’s very clear what we’re now starting to deal with in this country.”

Actually I was at a No Kings protest earlier today.

Today, I heard GOP Senator Lankford say on TV that Iran has been attacking Americans for 47 years, so I asked Gemini AI to compare and contrast the scope and severity of Iranian attacks against USA with American attacks on Iran. Here’s a summary — and the actual verbatim answer here.

When some Trump supporter commented on my photo saying that I was ignoring Sleepy Joe’s inflation (a canard, not important now), I replied: “Wow, over the last decade you have explicitly approved of a lawless lying racist tax cheat as president, and the best you could come up with is that “gee, sometimes inflation can be bad”!? Or do you genuinely believe that there is value in ignoring depravity?” And that was my polite response!

RE: “Executive Orders.” I heard this on an Amicus legal podcast discussion with Dahlia Lithwick:  “Margaret Sullivan has a good piece today, just sort of saying, ‘Every time we treat his executive orders as though they’re the law, we fall into the same trap. We report on these as though these things are the law.’ They’re not. I call them letters to Santa. They’re utterly devoid of meaning.” Source (In the same podcast Lithwick and Preet Bharara later ponder this comparison further, agreeing that the “letters to Santa” certainly have real world effects,  but  these letters to Santa could be called  “both law and not law at the same time.” )

Legal scholar and podcaster Dahlia Lithwick said this on a podcast about presidential executive orders: “Margaret Sullivan has a good piece today, just sort of saying, ‘Every time we treat his executive orders as though they’re the law, we fall into the same trap. We report on these as though these things are the law.’ They’re not. I call them letters to Santa. They’re utterly devoid of meaning.”

Happy to see that Virginia passed the National Popular vote compact. As a Texas liberal, I would be elated if enough states voted to adopt it, and  I don’t think support for this necessarily cuts along traditional partisan lines. After all, there are conservatives in Illinois and California who don’t have a voice in presidential election.  The website advocating it has a comprehensive FAQ addressing many common concerns.

Here’s a profile of an incredible 49 year old artist who died recently

Here’s an incredible profile of 49 year old artist Celeste Dupuy-Spencer who died recently. She made vivid and sometimes haunting paintings with political and religious themes. Her paintings were loud, colorful, stylized and loaded with emotion and symbolism. Here’s a longer portrait.

Will Tavlin does a deep dive into how Netflix’s ascendancy has changed the movie industry. Among the complaints is that screenplay writers have too much dialogue explaining obvious plot points so the watcher who is barely paying attention can follow it.

See also:  Previous and Next (View all)

About a month ago, I predicted to someone that Venezuela would be Trump’s Iraq War. There are some differences. For one thing, Venezuela had a presidential election where the presumed winner was never allowed to assume that office. (Hopefully Machado and Gonzales will be able to assist in this transition). Also, the political power of petroleum interests is substantially weaker than it was in 2003. Finally, Trump has much lower international legitimacy than George W. Bush had in 2003. Even if Trump acted honorably in this case, the international community will treat Trump’s words and actions as both dishonest and corrupt. Maybe a President Biden or a President Harris or even a President Haley might have been able to convince the world that this military intervention would restore democracy and benefit the world, it is doubtful that anyone would believe a U.S. president who lies about even the most stupid of things. Nobody will or should believe that Trump/Rubio/Hegseth will play a constructive role in restoring democracy and justice in Venezuela. Instead the rest of the world will be wondering about what corrupt deals Trump made with opposition leaders to further Trump’s private autocratic interests.

(When I said that Trump had lower international legitimacy than George W. Bush did in 2003, that’s saying a lot because most of the world opposed Bush’s 2003 intervention. Sure, oil interests (Halliburton, etc.) was driving that narrative, but at least Paul Bremer and Colin Powell and even Bush himself could “talk the talk” about democracy, freedom, etc. I doubt that Secretary of State Rubio could even do that..)

ELECTORAL-VOTE has compiled a useful (but very long) reference to all the wrong or criminal actions by the lawless lying racist tax-cheat.

What strikes me today is that many Venezuelans are probably happy to have Americans intervene in their country. They have suffered greatly under Maduro and would welcome outside assistance and investment. But unlike Bush’s flawed intervention in Iraq (where Bush still sent lots of economic assistance to restore civil society and rebuild infrastructure), I expect the Trump Administration to send absolutely nothing. Trump is probably the stingiest man alive; as a businessmen, Trump took pride in shortchanging vendors whenever possible; as a politician, Trump took pride in dismantling foreign aid programs and funding for education, science and health care. What happens when Venezuelans realize that the US government under Trump will do absolutely nothing to help rebuild Venezuelan civil society (other than to help American companies buy land and take advantage of the country’s natural resources)? Perhaps V’s neighbors will deliver this kind of assistance; perhaps EU or China will step in. Perhaps nobody will step in, and Venezuela’s society will continue to deteriorate. Regardless, it seems inevitable that Venezuelans will view U.S. actions towards its country with a combination of disillusionment and anger.

Alex Bronzini-Vendor on the decline of English majors and humanities degrees:

The fixation on “wokeness,” however, obscures a much larger and more consequential transformation reshaping the humanities at Harvard and elsewhere. The most serious pressure on Western history—and on the humanities more broadly—comes not from ideological capture, but from the economic priorities of academic institutions.

Over the past decade, student demand for the humanities has cratered. Nationally, the share of undergraduates majoring in humanities disciplines has fallen by roughly 25 percent between 2012 and 2020. The number of English majors declined by about one-third between 2013 and 2023. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, humanities degrees fell from 16.8 percent of all bachelor’s degrees in 2010-11 to 12.8 percent in 2020-21—a sharp contraction both in absolute terms and as a share of overall enrollment.

Harvard has not been immune. As of 2022, just seven percent of Harvard freshmen intended to concentrate in the humanities, down from 20 percent in 2012. (Because Harvard must be different, it calls majors “concentrations.”) That figure stood at 30 percent in the 1970s. Harvard’s history department has felt these pressures especially acutely: its number of concentrators plunged by 50 percent between 2011 and 2020.

“I do not understand why you would mass-pardon people who assaulted police officers. I don’t get it. I never will.” (SPECIAL PROSECUTOR JACK SMITH about Trump’s action to mass-pardon 1500 convicted criminals, 33 of which have committed additional crimes — including murder, sexual assault, burglary, aggravated kidnapping, stalking, making terrorist threats) (Source. Also this).

TRULY SHOCKING. An NBC report about the Minneapolis shooting mentioned that last year Trump cancelled Biden’s 2022 executive order to require that federal law enforcement officers wear body cameras. I looked it up — it’s true and horrifying. It’s now clear that the Trump Administration is restricting the gathering of evidence about encounters with federal officers so that citizens must accept unquestioningly whatever version of the truth that these officers provide.

SIGN ON BONUSES FOR ICE?! Wow, did not know that the federal government was using US tax money to pay up to $50,000 as a sign on bonus for people who join ICE. I wonder how much of a sign on bonus you need to offer these people to persuade them not to shoot law-abiding citizens. Update: It looks like the bonus is paid in $10,000 installments over several years(source).

From a profile of Vancouver interviewer Nardwuar:

“What my mom taught me, basically, was who, what, where, when, and how. She also taught me that everyone has a story–you just have to find it. And, most importantly, she taught me that it’s the interviewer’s job to make the interviewee excited to be there.”

(See also the interviews I have conducted. )

Michael Barrett on Elaine May’s 1971 movie, A New Leaf starring herself and Walter Matthau. It was originally a 3 hour movie significantly cut by the studio (eventually resulting in a lawsuit which May lost). Despite this, it was beloved by critics and audiences aslike. Barrett asks:

It’s fair to ask: would a woman executive have tolerated a three-hour comedy? And what about the males who turn in overlong cuts? If Mike Nichols had turned in a three-hour version of The Graduate, it would have been taken away from him. It seems more likely, in this and other films she directed, that May belongs to that list of otherwise male creative geniuses who naturally clash with the commercial system, including Erich Von Stroheim, Orson Welles and Otto Preminger. Rather than demean May’s abilities, such a view pays her a higher compliment when assessing her career as a director, as opposed to a woman director.

Recently it was pointed out to me that David Bowie played Pontius Pilate in Scorcese’s Last Temptation of Christ. Here is that chilling scene where he appeared (YT)

The Guardian: British Grandmother on tourist visa locked up for 6 weeks after husband’s work visa had expired. In unrelated news, the “US saw 4.5m fewer visits from international travellers in 2025; visits from Canada were down by more than 22%, from Germany by more than 11% and from the UK by 15%. The World Travel & Tourism Council, the global body representing the industry, estimated that the decline in international tourism last year cost the US $12.5bn in lost revenue.

I would hardly call myself a world traveler, but I have enough experience in Eastern Europe to know that it’s easy for travelers to mess up on visa regulations. The rules are often confusing and opaque. Once I relied on the English language portion of the Slovak embassy as a reference to that country’s visa policies. Apparently, the rules had changed, but the Slovakian government had not bothered to update the English-language portions of their website. Too bad, foreigners! (That one day delay it caused to my trip still makes me angry 20 years later — I curse the Slovakian government still!)

In the case of the British grandmother, she didn’t have any problems understanding the language. But it often can be difficult to decipher the visa rules even if you do know the language — especially if the foreign government is doing everything to trip up foreign visitors.

HOUSTON COLUMNIST REDISCOVERED: Can’t believe I never knew that longtime Houston columnist Lynn Ashby has been regularly posting columns. Here’s his latest column about the Texas primaries. Here are other columns. Thanks to Ken Fountain for mentioning him in a column about how Fountain got interested in journalism.

HILARY’S SPEECH (reposted verbatim by satirist Andy Borowitz) makes clear what a mockery the GOP subpoena of her was.

As Secretary of State, I appointed a former federal prosecutor, Lou CdeBaca, to ramp up our global antitrafficking efforts. I oversaw nearly 170 anti-trafficking programs in 70 nations and directly pressed foreign leaders to crack down on trafficking networks in their countries. Every year we published a global report to shine a light on abuses. The findings of those reports triggered sanctions on countries failing to make progress, so they became a powerful diplomatic tool to drive concrete action.

I insisted that the United States be included in the report for the first time ever in 2011. Because we must hold ourselves not just to the same standard as the rest of the world but to an even higher one. Sex trafficking and modern slavery should have no place in America. None.

Infuriatingly, the Trump Administration gutted the Trafficking in Persons Office at the State Department, cutting more than 70 percent of the career civil and foreign service experts who worked so hard to prevent trafficking crimes. The annual trafficking report, required by law, was delayed for months. The message from the Trump Administration to the American people and the world could not be clearer: combatting human trafficking is no longer an American priority under the Trump White House.