The Republican budget shifts wealth to the top, with workers paying the price. A new congressional analysis reveals massive tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, while working families are expected to shoulder cuts, tariffs, and rising costs under GOP economic plans. ITEP analysis.
America is a scam
Peace through… by Sharp Little Pencil
The Rot Goes Deeper Than FOTUS: Just winning the next set of elections won’t fix the underlying problems.
West Point Is Supposed to Educate, Not Indoctrinate
DOJ keeps busy suing states for not being bigoted enough
If Blanche Were Here by Sharp Little Pencil
The Court fails transgender youth.
Hard Truths About Immigration by Adam Ragusea, a podcaster/content creator to whom folks usually look for tips on the best way to cook dinner
Congresswoman Kim Schrier (D-WA) questions our Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Asked to flag ‘negative’ National Park content, visitors gave their own 2 cents instead.
World of Ideas
Bill Moyers, the longtime PBS and CBS Journalist and Documentary Filmmaker, dies at 91. “He showed a generation of journalists, scholars, and public intellectuals what it means to speak truth to power.” I have his book World of Ideas and its sequel in my office, at arm’s length.
We Don’t Have To Give In To Smartphones. They haven’t defeated us. Yet. By Jonathan Haidt, Will Johnson, and Zach Rausch
That’s It, The F-Word Is Officially Boring
The unexpected package Mark Evanier received was probably brushing
I Was A Juror On A Murder Trial (possibly related: just this month, I filled out a survey to be on jury duty)
The Hollywood Blockbuster They Forgot To Copyright
Six Miles of Field Goals
Now I Know: The Earth’s Great Bear Coincidence and The Original Slush Fund and How to Watch Golf During a Basketball Game (Maybe) and The Girl With Twin Fathers and The Restaurant With A Rotating Grandma On The Menu
SCOTUS
The Supreme Court restricted the ability of federal judges to issue broad nationwide freezes on executive orders, a significant victory for FOTUS that opens the door for states to at least temporarily enforce his order ending birthright citizenship.
Justice Sotomayor’s dissent, in part. “The Government now asks this Court to grant emergency relief, insisting it will suffer irreparable harm unless it can deprive at least some children born in the United States of citizenship…
“No right is safe in the new legal regime the Court creates. Today, the threat is to birthright citizenship. Tomorrow, a different administration may try to seize firearms from law-abiding citizens or prevent people of certain faiths from gathering to worship. The majority holds that, absent cumbersome class-action litigation, courts cannot completely enjoin even such plainly unlawful policies unless doing so is necessary to afford the formal parties complete relief. That holding renders constitutional guarantees meaningful in name only for any individuals who are not parties to a lawsuit. Because I will not be complicit in so grave an attack on our system of law, I dissent.”
Justice Jackson adds, “The Court’s decision to permit the Executive branch to violate the Constitution with respect to anyone who has not yet sued is an existential threat to the rule of law.”
RENAME
From here and elsewhere: “Henry Johnson of Albany, N.Y., was a genuine war hero — recipient of the Purple Heart, Distinguished Service Cross and Medal of Honor, and the first American to receive France’s highest award for valor. President Theodore Roosevelt called him one of the ‘five bravest Americans’ to serve in World War I…
“This [month], news came that Johnson’s name will be stripped from the U.S. Army fort [in Louisiana] that was named for him, part of the Trump administration’s decision to revert to names that honor military leaders of the Confederate States of America who waged war against the United States.”
Technically, “according to a press release on the Army’s website, the renaming of Fort Johnson will now pay homage to a World War II colonel and Silver Star recipient, James H. Polk, as opposed to [Confederate General] Leonidas Polk.” But this is a sham.
46th District New York Senator Pat Fahy, a Democrat, says that the news “felt like a gut punch.” “It is shameless, and it is it’s, you have to call it what it is. This is clearly trying to whitewash the history, clearly a complete dishonor…
“To help re-stake claim to that legacy, Fahy, Assembly colleagues Gabriella Romero of the 109th and John McDonald of the 108th, along with Republican Senator Jake Ashby of the 43rd district, have introduced legislation that would rename the Patroon Island Bridge after Johnson.
MUSIC
Lalo Schifrin, Acclaimed Composer of ‘Mission: Impossible,’ ‘Mannix’ Themes, Dies at 93
Lou Christie, Lightnin’ Strikes and Rhapsody In the Rain Singer, Dies at 82
In honor of Dr. Demento: The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati
Bobby Sherman, Teen Idol and ‘Here Come the Brides’ Actor, Dies at 81
Best Albums of 2025 (First Half)
Caledonia – VOCES8
Coverville 1535: A Rick Derringer Tribute and Spandau Ballet Cover Story, and 1538: Cover Stories for Air Supply and The Zombies
The Joker – Lady Gaga
MAYBE HAPPY ENDING’s Standbys Sing ‘The Rainy Day We Met’; Hannah Kevitt and Christopher James Tamayo are the standbys for Claire and Oliver
Sour Times – Portishead
Peter Sprague Plays Hurricane Country and A Felicidade featuring Allison Adams Tucker
Big Spender – Sam Phillips
God Almighty’s Gonna Cut You Down – The Jubalaires –
6 Underground – Sneaker Pimps
The Longest Time by Billy Joel, Julien Neel, Dan Wright, Sam Robson, and COVID-era Zach Timson
Defying Gravity – Brittain Ashford
Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, from the Disney film Fantasia 2000
God Only Knows – the Beach Boys
Lassie 1959 Opening and Closing Theme (With the Lone Ranger Snippet)
Book: Daniel de Visé’s ‘The Blues Brothers’
In an online article, I read “Tyler Diaz… played music composed by Charles Francis Johnson, University of Pennsylvania, in 1824 for Lafayette’s visit. This was an exceptional honor for a Black composer.” A Black American composer in the first quarter of the 19th century?
I don’t know this guy at all! More info from here:
The Stones in Our Hands: Misreading 
Welcome to 
Here are the #1 Hot Country Singles for 1965. While I only owned one of the songs on this list – Roger Miller, naturally – I always had a great affection for Buck Owens. I liked to watch him on TV long before he was on Hee Haw. It’s partly a function of the fact that he was on Capitol Records, and I got to read the song list of his albums from the record sleeves of my Beatles albums. I loved that Bakersfield sound.