Bertis Downs

Well, obviously, he doesn’t care about the victims nor “the names: (except one)

Former college football coach Derek Dooley enters Georgia Senate race His entry into the Republican primary sets up a crowded contest to take on incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.

George friends:

Which Republican wannabe “did not vote in several recent elections, and when he was registered in New York in 2020 did not register as a Republican. He also has not donated to Trump’s previous campaigns?”
Hmmmm …. (trying for the “moderate” won’t work these days)
berto.fyi/ruhroh

All true as far as I remember. Although not sure it was “the Stones plane” (a bit of a blur)

July 31: Happy Birthday Bill Berry: the man, the legend, the stalwart and a whole lot more

Photo by Anton Corbijn, St Paul de Vence, 🇫🇷 Sept 1994

Bill “I was looking at Roger Moore, 007 when Anton grabbed that. You might recall that the suave secret agent often took his meals at La Colombe d’Or”

Love this story, the good parts of it anyway. A normal American doing the right thing by his students and ballplayers.

R.E.M. 2008-04-02c - The Colbert Report, New York, NY [Band interview & Supernatural Superserious performed live] This is "R.E.M. 2008-04-02c - The Colbert Report, New York, NY [Band interview & Supernatural Superserious performed live]" by remvideoarchive on Vimeo,…

A nice weekend treat: a pal on Blue sky messaged me this l link and I somehow missed it. This has lot of laughs, and a great song too 🎸 R.E.M. on the Colbert Report, April 2008. Paramount I guess, Oh Hi!

vimeo.com/1102569068

After a brief departure, I am back as a reluctant subscriber to the Washington Post… but it’s far from what it once was (it’s the people, stupid!)— and I guess the owner’s fine with a badly damaged trophy in service of his greater goals.

The Surprising Scientists Hit by Trump’s D.E.I. Cuts

A compelling NY Times piece on saying NO to science

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/u...

Students from unlikely circumstances at NC State, Georgia College and many others, people who’d already done so much to be on their way in various areas of science research. No more, no more….burning the seed corn

Paramount Has a $1.5 Billion ‘South Park’ Problem The White House says the show is “fourth-rate” after it showed Trump with “tiny” genitals. The controversy comes just as the FCC has greenlit Paramount’s merger with Skydance and promised to end DEI.

For some reason, probably since I don’t watch cartoons (lame I know) I haven’t ever watched South Park but this “1.5 billion dollar problem” described by WIRED is a pretty good essay

berto.fyi/3IPzNDn

All kidding aside, the upcoming jailhouse private meeting of the #2 official in the Dept of Justice and the convicted felon Maxwell is very very strange, at best. What could they possibly be up to?

Is Colbert’s Ouster Really Just a ‘Financial Decision’? CBS no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt.

David Graham overnight in the Atlantic:

“…CBS’s owners have made a series of decisions capitulating to President Donald Trump, and the surprise choice to allow Colbert—a consistent, prominent Trump critic—to walk seems like part of that pattern.”

berto.fyi/4lU7XUE

With Epstein conspiracy theories, Trump faces a crisis of his own making President Donald Trump’s strategy has been to downplay the uproar over the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case as his supporters demand the Justice Department release much-hyped records in the invest...

From an AP analysis

“Far-right commentator Jack Posobiec said at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit on Saturday he wouldn’t rest ‘until we go full Jan. 6 committee on the Jeffrey Epstein files.’”

Full Jan. 6, eh?

Here’s a thought: paging Mr. Schiff!

berto.fyi/46eWn26

berto.fyi/46eWn26

Supreme Court Allows Trump to Gut Education Department With Mass Firings The move by the justices represents an expansion of executive power, allowing President Trump to dismantle the inner workings of a government department.

“The order by the court was unsigned and gave no reasoning, as is typical … no vote count was given, which is usual for emergency orders, but Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent, joined by the court’s other two liberals, Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.”

berto.fyi/4lpVo3D

The jokes in the headlines today:

“Trump taps Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to be interim NASA chief”

“Social Security pulls field office staff to answer overwhelmed phone line”

“Trump praises English-speaking Liberian president’s English”

“Want Medicaid coverage? Go pick some vegetables”

So good last weekend— Robert Smith and Olivia Rodrigo and her band of kids making Just Like Heaven sound as new and fresh and wonderful as ever:

berto.fyi/justlikeheav...

Robert seemed to have fun but I think the 20-somethings were even more chuffed!

The world’s richest Jeff had his wedding plans interfered with by Italian busybodies! Oh no! | First Dog on the Moon Why do people hate vulgar displays of extreme wealth by people whose business interests are burning the planet to the ground?

@theguardian.com’s First Dog on the Moon sometimes really nails it!

berto.fyi/4lmPZKg

Looking forward to the new season of The Bear premiering on Thursday. Remembering the first time they used an R.E.M. song, at the end of season one. Beautiful scene, great song…. classic show through and through 📺

Trump Pardoned Tax Cheat After Mother Attended $1 Million Dinner (Gift Article) Paul Walczak’s pardon application cited his mother’s support for the president, including raising millions of dollars and a connection to a plot to publicize a Biden family diary.

“Lights out tonight,
trouble in the heartland,
gotta head-on collision,
crashing in my guts man”

Hard to believe this story will play in the heartland, also hard to believe it will be known outside of the major newspapers’ readership

But here goes:

berto.fyi/3SjbrUa

Justice Connection - A Lifeline for DOJ Employees Justice Connection is a network of Justice Department alumni mobilizing to protect DOJ employees, the institution, and the rule of law. Join us today.

Adding to the list of vital orgs to support right now, this one’s alums of the Justice Department ⬇️⚖️

"Justice Connection is a network of Justice Department alumni mobilizing to protect DOJ’s nonpartisan workforce and uphold the rule of law."

www.thejusticeconnection.org

The Largest Upward Transfer of Wealth in American History House Republicans voted to advance a bill that would offer lavish tax cuts for the rich while slashing benefits for the poor.

Jonathan Chait in the Atlantic: Republicans about to make “the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history. That is not a side effect of the legislation, but its central purpose”

berto.fyi/4mtk9gr

The only hope is for the Senate to reject or significantly alter the bill.

☎️202.224.3121

Inside Trump Officials’ Debate Over Abrego Garcia’s Deportation (Gift Article) A Maryland man’s deportation to El Salvador set off a fierce debate among officials in three cabinet agencies, despite agreement there had been a mistake.

“ we concede the facts”

Not that long ago, this story would have been shocking, but it absolutely is not right now:

berto.fyi/4jk8ca7

YouTube video by BruceSpringsteenVEVO Bruce Springsteen - Badlands (The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts)

I won’t repost any of the current POTUS’s silly rant about Bruce Springsteen but I still love a song from Darkness that’s s pretty prescient about now

“Poor man wanna be rich,
Rich man wanna be king,
and the king ain’t satisfied ‘til he rules everything”

-Badlands

youtu.be/LzsAPhGpMkA?...

Ever since, I’ve never been back to Trafalgar Square without remembering this night and this performance. Pure magic, Imitation of Life just released, a rainy spring night in London, a few months before 9/11…

I never get tired of hearing this song or viewing this video, directed by Michael Moore and filmed by the students at a Brooklyn high school!

berto.fyi/2SLuD1b

One of the best of the underrated @R.E.M. albums at the turn of the century…. the album itself, the promotour (Cologne Cathedral and Trafalgar Square with Nelson Mandela, among other highlights), the videos, the one for All the Way to Reno a personal favorite…. I could go on. I love this album

Opinion | Conduct oversight on Trump’s graft — or censure James Comer House Democrats must pressure Republicans to fulfill their constitutional duties.

Washington Post's column by the great Philip Bump:

“(o)ptions are limited. But treating congressional Republicans as explicit accomplices to Trump’s corruption rather than impotent toadies is better than doing nothing in a moment when doing nothing is increasingly not an option."

wapo.st/431rQCY

Sweet Mothers Day SNL Cold Open last night that I couldn’t quite stay up for

berto.fyi/ColdOpenMoth...

Lazy Horse tonight, keeping the horse alive, all of ZUMA and then finishing with a crunching version of Powderfinger. Good fun neighborhood night at Cobbham Triangle Park.

share.icloud.com/photos/0f6hb...

Weekend Update: Jeanine Pirro on the Mexico–United States Border - SNL Jeanine Pirro stops by Weekend Update to discuss the relaxing restrictions on the Mexico–United States border.Saturday Night Live. Stream now on Peacock: htt...

I somehow missed this back when it was just make-believe, not actual news:

berto.fyi/PirroNotJoki...

That’s me in the spotlight: Michael Shannon on swapping Hollywood for an REM covers band The two-time Oscar nominee has teamed with indie rocker Jason Narducy to reconstruct REM albums in full. But can Shannon compete with Michael Stipe, who he calls rock’s most ‘efficient and direct’ fro...

Lovely story today in The Guardian on Michael Shannon and his R.E.M. funtimes these days! berto.fyi/MShannonREMf...