That was fucking fantastic

Simply on a live performance stagecraft-design-camerawork-logistics-direction level, this is ASTOUNDING.

How the Supreme Court Secretly Made Itself Even More Secretive

The idea that the Court should operate entirely in secret is a modern phenomenon. The idea that the Court should be separated from the public is a modern phenomenon. Earlier generations did not accept a powerful, isolated & secretive Court and we shouldn't either 1/6

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

Olivia Dean: "I guess I want to say I'm up here as the granddaughter of an immigrant, I wouldn't be here... I'm a product of bravery and I think those people deserve to be celebrated"

Donald J. Trump @realDonald Trump After a one year review of The Trump Kennedy Center, that has taken place with Contractors, Musical Experts, Art Institutions, and other Advisors and Consultants, deciding between either Construction with Closure and Re-Opening or, Partial Construction while continuing Entertainment Operations through a much longer period of time, working in and around the Performances, I have determined that The Trump Kennedy Center, if temporarily closed for Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding, can be, without question, the finest Performing Arts Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World. In other words, if we don't close, the quality of Construction will not be nearly as good, and the time to completion, because of interruptions with Audiences from the many Events using the Facility, will be much longer. The temporary closure will produce a much faster and higher quality result! Based on these findings, and totally subject to Board approval, I have determined that the fastest way to bring The Trump Kennedy Center to the highest level of Success, Beauty, and Grandeur, is to cease Entertainment Operations for an approximately two year period of time, …. Therefore, The Trump Kennedy Center will close on July 4th, 2026, in honor of the 250th Anniversary of our Country, whereupon we will simultaneously begin Construction of the new and spectacular Entertainment Complex. Financing is completed, and fully in place! This important decision, based on input from many Highly Respected Experts, will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before. America will be very proud of its new and beautiful Landmark for many generations to come. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Donald Trump and Ric Grenell want to do to the Kennedy Center what Donald Trump and Stephen Miller want to do to America: Crush everything about it that is pure and good and remake it in their distorted, hateful image.

For the curious, it’s in this set: EFTA01266498 - www.justice.gov/epstein/file...

Same. Apparently her husband is from Missouri? Festus. Maybe they were wanting to lay low?

Searching thru Epstein files for Kansas City references. This series of credit card statements popped up in the results — it appears Ghislaine Maxwell + her husband + his kids were in KC the month before Epstein’s death. They went to Betty Rae’s and Union Station. 😬

Shocked, shocked to find bad things going on at the company named after one of the tools that a famous fictional villain used to conquer the world and enslave everyone

part of why we are driving ICE absolutely mad is that we are using tactics that do not really permit them to legally arrest us. they cannot operate the way they want to operate when we have eyes on them.

they want to be a secret police and we simply will not let them be secret

i suppose it makes sense but it is completely demoralizing that we live in a moment where there is more video/photographic evidence (often from multiple angles) than ever before and also a durable system in place for propagandists to gaslight or convince others into not believing their eyes

The people shrugging and going along with this are not blameless — I hear a lot of excuses made here in DC for pragmatic capitalists who privately think Trump sucks but see where their bread is buttered. Enough — you are either ok with violent ethnic cleansing campaigns or you’re not

This is deep stuff. In Europe installations known as "Stumbling Stones" are small brass plates embedded into the cobble or concrete to designate a place where Jews lived or work just prior to being killed or deported by Nazis. That we have these markers, in 2026 USA, is incredibly important.

Seeing a bunch of normal ass midwestern moms and dads marching in -20 degrees knowing they might be tear gassed or worse really drives home what a cowardly lot of people the pundit class is

My grandparents would have loved to see the IU win tonight. Missing them fiercely tonight.

Frodo: I wish so much unbelievably stupid shit had not happened in my time Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. This is all exceptionally stupid, though

Local Journalist Index 2025 | Muck Rack Where are the journalists? For the first time, we’ve mapped how many local journalists cover each U.S. county, revealing in stark detail the stunning coll…

"Los Angeles, which has a mere 3.6 Local Journalist Equivalents per 100,000 people..."

From a new report, "Where are the journalists?" muckrack.com/research/loc...

"The data shows that the nation has a shortage of local journalists that is more severe and widespread than previously thought."

A high-up view to the west of downtown Kansas City. There are white rooftops on red brick buildings, a blue sky with hazy white clouds and a meandering Missouri River in the upper right corner.

Haven’t posted in a minute. Officially a downtown resident now! Still settling into my apartment but am v glad to be here! Enjoy the view from the 20-something-ish floor. (I can also see the airport!)

it’s even more demoralizing when the history you’re repeating is history you were around for the first time

New murals from the SpraySeeMo festival

a nation on edge holds its breath as the former host of celebrity apprentice huddles with his advisors, the wrestlemania ceo and the former co-host of fox & friends weekends

It's got electrolytes!

Trump Court Pick Once Called For Bringing Back Literacy Tests In Elections Literacy tests were banned in the 1960s for being racially discriminatory, but such tests “are not a bad thing,” Josh Divine argued in a 2010 college opinion piece.

NEW: Trump's court pick Josh Divine once called for bringing back literacy tests in elections

Literacy tests were banned in the 1960s for being racially discriminatory, but such tests “are not a bad thing,” Divine argued in a 2010 college op/ed. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...

A KCPD car whipped past me where 169 meets 29. Before Barry, two police cars had a truck pulled over. Two more officers had something going on just past Barry on 169 and a police van was heading there when I was at the light. Too bad KCPD doesn’t have open scanner traffic!

Lots of police activity along 169 near Barry tonight. Very unusual. Wonder what’s going on.

Bah, I guess they don’t cover parking for people showing up for the first day. And they say jurors aren’t allowed to park in that garage? But I don’t know how they can police that! You pull a ticket, no one is asking you whether you’re there for jury duty. www.16thcircuit.org/juror-faq

You might call the jury office to ask about it. You might be able to get a parking ticket in one of their garages nearby validated. There is a garage at 12th and Oak that’s super close. I used that one when I covered court stuff.

It’s so frustrating. They really like to push NPs, too. I’m going to schedule my Sept 2026 appointment as I’m leaving the clinic so I don’t have to deal with this next year.

A square cake frosted with light brown frosting is shown, next to a red jar of Biscoff cookie butter. It is on a cluttered countertop.

In other news: baked a cake with my new-to-me stand mixer! Yossy Arefi’s vanilla cake with cookie butter frosting, via NYT Cooking. It’s the best cake I’ve made so far, and omg having a stand mixer makes all the difference w/ frosting.

"Witnessing large-scale systems slowly unravel in real time can be profoundly surreal and frightening. The hypernormalization framework offers a way to understand what we’re feeling and why."