Felicia Krieg

A still from the film “Phantom Thread” shows a woman from behind in the foreground wearing a lilac evening gown with lace sleeves. She is standing in a walnut-colored wood paneled room with high ceilings. Daniel Day Lewis is in the background, wearing a black suit and staring intently at her dress, almost looking through her.

I just watched “Phantom Thread” for the first time since it was released. It’s hard to think of a film that is so disturbing while being quiet and seemingly benign and maybe even a typical romance at first glance. And the costumes are sublime. Nominated for 6 academy awards. Won best costume design.

Seems like we need more social and political psychologists cited in media. Experts to explain the why that drives voting behavior and political attitudes. Dr. Daniel Kahneman cited in quote below was a psychologist who studied the psychology of judgment and decision-making and behavioral economics.

He has dignity, authenticity and, dare I say, a moral compass? I need to do much more research but other potential candidates popular right now seem to be driven by a desire for raw power and non-substantive media attention.

YouTube video by NPR In Trump country, Andy Beshear critiques Trump — and talks of succeeding him | Morning Edition

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is what the Democratic Party needs. He’s policy focused, talks like a real person, not divisive, a unifier, and has an agreeable personality. He works across the aisle. But given where how polarized we are, I’m not sure he could win a primary. Ugh
youtu.be/phjuIezI7R4?...

“To make ends meet, it (South Dakota Public Broadcasting) has slashed its newsroom to just four journalists from 11. It has dropped television news shows, educational initiatives and a daily, hourlong public affairs radio show called In the Moment.”

Officers who act this way are incredibly dangerous because they think that by using unnecessary force, they become more “tough,” when really it shows them for how weak and helpless they truly are. It plays into the crisis of masculinity. No confident, mentally secure officer would ever act this way.

An 1866 act of Congress prohibits living people from appearing on currency. Congress made an exception for Calvin Coolidge, who was alive in 1926 when he appeared with Washington on Sesquicentennial of American Independence Half Dollar. Coolidge is the only living president featured on a U.S. coin.

“Brazil, Nigeria, Hungary and Samoa are just a few of the nations investing more in vaccination to try to catch up after Covid, during a global rise in outbreaks of measles and yellow fever” while the Dept. of Health & Human Services under RFK Jr. is slashing funding for vaccine research/development

Getting a cold brew maker and learning to make the equivalent of a Starbucks cold brew with foam has transformed my life. No more caffeine jitters because I can customize the caffeine content based on where I am anxiety wise. Coffee shops should offer decaf cold brew but that’s another matter.

This lack of emotional control in an officer who carries a gun and a taser is unacceptable. The government needs to screen people for these kinds of issues before they are hired, provide training or even mandated medical treatment. Stakes are too high and this isn’t some video game. It’s real life.

This is incredibly disturbing. Our own government is attacking Americans for exercising their freedom of speech. Officers are so weak that they can’t emotionally handle a 19-year-old woman telling them off without lashing out with aggression? Cmon. This officer must be fired.

“Confidence in the media has fallen to a record low in the U.S., with just 28% of Americans expressing trust in newspapers, television, and radio to report news fairly, according to a new Gallup survey released Thursday.” Very bad. Mainstream media not perfect but it reports facts to serve public.

One thing to remember: Trump may have criminal immunity for official acts but Hegseth doesn’t….

“Medical professionals are also raising questions about whether families of the dead have any idea that their loved ones might be used to train soldiers. USC says it operates the programs in accordance with regulations.”

A light pink wild rose in a pot on a slate porch floor.

Two magenta wolf roses in a garden.

Small purple flowering plant in a pot.

Impatiens and coleus plants in a garden.

Summer flowers still hanging on just a half hour drive south of the Canadian border in upstate New York. 🌸🌻

US comedians defend decision to play in Saudi Arabia: ‘They’re paying me enough to look the other way’ Usual supporters of free speech are under fire for signing on to Riyadh comedy festival despite the government’s human rights abuses

These people have no principles. If you can be bought, obviously you didn’t feel strongly about your beliefs in the first place. The Saudi government may have been complicit in the 9/11 attacks and they have a terrible record on human rights. Just gross.
www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

Medicaid: for the poorest Americans. Medicare: for Americans older than 65 and younger Americans who qualify for government disability. Republicans chose to gut the program for the poorest Americans, largely because political backlash would have been too steep if they gutted healthcare for boomers.

CRESTRICTED] ORIENTATION FACT SHEET 64 WAR DEPARTMENT-WASHINGTON 25, D. C. • 24 March 1945 FASCISM! Note For This Week's Discussion: Fascism is not the easiest thing to identify and analyze; nor, once in power, is it easy to destroy. It is important for our future and that of the world that as many of us as possible understand the causes and practices of fascism, in order to combat it. Points to stress are: (1) Fascism is more apt to come to power at a time of economic crisis; (2) fascism inevitably leads to war; (3) it can come to any country; (4) we can best combat it by making our democracy work.

In March of 1945, the US Army issued this "fact sheet" to guide conversations with soldiers on the topic of fascism, paying particular attention to the ongoing threat that domestic fascist movements posed to the US. Their analysis of what a homegrown US fascism would look like is interesting.

Coverage of Mario's case needs to give the context of *where* he's being deported to.

At least 40 journos have fled El Salvador in 2025.
There were 789 attacks against the press in 2024.
@elfaro.net moved its offices to Costa Rica in 2023.

We don't know what will happen to Mario in ES.

I can’t stop watching satirical shows and movies. “Death of Stalin,” a 2017 political black comedy film that was banned in Russia and Kyrgyzstan, is tonight’s feature.

Trump assumes the affection of others can be bought through material objects, much like it can be for him. See Qatari jet, meme coin, etc. King Charles probably wouldn’t have wanted to accept a sword forcibly taken from a library, which “is obligated by law to preserve (it) for the American public.”

This is almost unbelievable to me. Also hard to understand how scientists can do this but meaningful progress on so many other diseases like Alzheimer’s, ALS, mental illness, etc. seems to have stalled. If Trump’s NIH funding cuts hold, it will hinder progress and that strategy is hard to understand

Mom's COVID Shot Aided Baby, Too, Large Review Confirmed Vaccination during pregnancy was safe for both mom and baby

COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy conferred benefits for mother and baby without increased risk, according to an umbrella review of meta-analyses comprising more than 1.2 million women.
www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcover...

Hegseth’s former sister-in-law said in an affidavit that his second wife told her she once hid in a closet because she feared for her safety. Even his mother called him an “abuser of women” in an email to him. Abusers protect other abusers.

But RFK Jr. didn’t think it was worthwhile to encourage Americans to vaccinate their children against Covid. Why would we gamble with the health of our children?

“You kill people and break things for a living” sounds like a 5-year-old’s understanding of the military.

The Hegseth/Trump speech to 800 generals was a $6 million meeting that could have been an email or a Zoom. Embarrassing and a waste a taxpayer funds.

“The rules would pave the way for a host of restrictions…including time limits on living in public housing, work requirements for many people receiving federal housing assistance and the stripping of aid from entire families if one member of the household is in the country illegally.”

If it’s copyrighted material, it seems to me either you can’t use it without running afoul of copyright or you cannot. “This would be infringing except for that we give you an opt-out” is not a thing, that I know of. Your copyright *is* your reservation of rights, you don’t have to say “Even you.”

Why Hospital Policies Matter in States That Ban Abortion Our first-of-its-kind data analysis found that a seismic split emerged in how medical institutions in Texas' two largest metro areas, Houston and Dallas, treated miscarrying patients — and in their ou...

The rate of sepsis in Houston surged 63% after Texas banned abortion.

In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where hospital leaders empowered doctors to intervene before patients’ conditions worsened, it rose 29%.

(Published May)