5.10.2025

Solving all our problems by make-believe

Mexico sues Google over Trump's renaming of Gulf of Mexico


Mexico can still call that body of water the Gulf of Mexico on their maps, just like Italy calls Florence Firenze on theirs, Austria calls Vienna Wien on theirs, Germany calls Munich Müchen on theirs, and so on,

We could change the name of Greenland to Trumpland on our maps and — see? — no problem there. We could change the name of China to Amazonia (Amazon is already taken) and before you know it, everyone would be subscribing to Amazonia Prime.

It's easy if you just pretend.

5.09.2025

Bringing new meaning to the word, disaster

New FEMA head says he will 'run right over' staff who resist his changes

"I, and I alone in FEMA, speak for FEMA. I'm here to carry out the president's intent for FEMA," Richardson, who was most recently assistant secretary for DHS' office for countering weapons of mass destruction, told the staff.

Sometimes it's just too much

Columbia Journalism Review editor fired after insisting on ethics, deadlines: report

Chan (pictured) is the former editor of the Texas Tribune and also worked for the Los Angeles Times and New York Times.

A fond farewell

Up to 1,000 transgender troops are being moved out of the military in new Pentagon order


Klinger. It worked.

5.08.2025

Origins



"Poor John Dennis. In 1709, the playwright devised a novel technology to simulate thunder to accompany his drama Appius and Virginia. The play flopped and was promptly booted out of the theatre. To add salt to the wound, Dennis’s thunder-generating technique was stolen and inserted into a staging of Macbeth. He accused the producers of ‘stealing his thunder’, birthing the phrase that has long outlived his work."

Chimney cam

Watch Live Chimney Cam: Conclave Votes to Elect New Pope


Ain't the internet grand?

Running up the numbers

Federal judge blocks Trump administration from removing migrants in Massachusetts

The filing comes as numerous outlets have reported the Trump administration is exploring sending migrants to Libya despite long-standing State Department warnings about conditions in the country. CNN also reported Wednesday that an Air Force flight was being arranged from Texas to Libya.

The U.S. government has taken to grabbing people wherever they can find them and dumping them wherever they can dump them, never mind sorting them out. It's just numbers that count. 

5.07.2025

Where we are now

Literacy Statistics 2024- 2025

  • On average, 79% of U.S. adults nationwide are literate in 2024. 21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2024.
  • 54% of adults have a literacy below a 6th-grade level (20% are below 5th-grade level).
  • Low levels of literacy costs the US up to 2.2 trillion per year.
  • 34% of adults lacking literacy proficiency were born outside the US.

Shaken, not stirred

Michelangelo meets James Bond: high-tech in Sistine Chapel to keep conclave secret

Other security measures to make sure no one is eavesdropping or trying to get information out reportedly include film on the window to block cameras on drones and special tiles to block signals from cellphones, which are banned anyway.
Also, nearby cell towers will be shut down. No chance of a Signal chat (DOD take note).


5.06.2025

He just wants more parades…

Trump declares national holidays to celebrate WWI, WWII victories

“Therefore, I am hereby declaring a National Holiday in celebration of the Victories of World War I, where the Armistice was signed on Novegmber 11, 1918, and World War II, where the Victory date was May 8, 1945.”

…and a place in Washington sort of like Red Square (Golden Square?) to march the troops and the missiles through.

He could use one of his golf courses but it would spoil the grass.

Yes but…but…

Trump changes his tune on the economy

At first, the president suggested tariffs will “make us rich” — similar to sentiments he’s expressed when touting his economic policy. But in the next turn, he suggested that American children, for example, do not need as many toys and that Americans do not need to spend as much money on “junk we don’t need.”

Hey, nothing is forever. Maybe a month or two would be nice, but…

The coins are imaginary but the money is not

Trump’s meme coin business racks up fees as buyers jump at the chance for access to the president

“You don’t really care about what happens to the price. You only care that there is continuous volume,” said Nicolai Søndergaard, a research analyst at the blockchain analytics firm Nansen. “Because the more volume there is, that means more trades and therefore more fees for you.”

Everything is for sale in Trumpworld, including thee, me, and them. 

5.04.2025

Try as it might…

 …the New England weather can't quite kill spring.




Voice of…Maybe

US court halts ruling ordering Voice of America employees back to work

The U.S. Agency for Global Media placed over 1,000 employees on leave and told 600 contractors they would be terminated after the agency abruptly shut down the broadcasts in March under a directive from Trump.

U.S.station, National Public Radio, is aso on the block.  Silence, apparently, is the new news.

Does anybody ask them?

Keeping Russian control of Crimea? Crimean Tatars respond

"Throughout the years of the occupation of Crimea and Russian aggression, we have relied on the United States. In the minds of most Ukrainians and certain residents of Crimea, the US has always been a leader in protecting human rights and a bastion of democracy. And now we are experiencing a U-turn, such commercial pragmatism," he says.