Ordinary Times

A Historic Best Picture Showdown - Ordinary Times The biggest night in cinema is coming down to two masterpieces that will likely be revered for decades.

From @mendezmovierpt.bsky.social "It’s a race between 2 films deeply embedded in current political & cultural moment w/one taking direct aim at MAGA-era politics & interrogating the pitfalls of revolutionary fervor, the other confronting racism & forced assimilation head-on"

Two Takeaways From This Week's Midterm Elections - Ordinary Times November is a long way away, but all other things being equal, I’d rather be a Democratic candidate right now.

Primary Coverage from @captainkudzu.bsky.social "I have two big takeaways from Tuesday night. The first is that the old Republican Party is gone...The second takeaway is that Democrats seem to be both overperforming and considering electability."
ordinary-times.com/2026/03/05/t...

Kristi Noem Out at Homeland Security - Ordinary Times President Trump announces Kristi Noem is out at DHS, and he will be nominating US Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to replace her.

Kristi Noem is out at DHS.

Discuss with the commentariat @ordinarytimes.bsky.social
ordinary-times.com/2026/03/05/k...

If the Teletubbies Were Malicious Bastards, They'd Be Congress - Ordinary Times I've been watching Cabinet members testify to Congress for a long time. I have never seen anything like this.

From @hal10000.bsky.social "When my kids were very little, they watched Teletubbies. To me, it was just annoying noise & lights. To them, it was fascinating & funny. I realized I was not the audience so I had to just let the noise waft past my ears...Cabinet member testimony has become like that"

POETS Day! Lies, Damn Lies - Ordinary Times Melodic, exotic, and factory preset to slip into a line of iambic. I flogged it to death. It became my ersatz ersatz.

POETs Day "Per Plato, Socrates wasn’t a fan of versifiers. They appealed with rhythms and elegance to emotion at reason’s expense. They put words into the mouths of gods, suggested poor motives on their part, and undermined morality. They were a bad sort." ordinary-times.com/2026/02/26/p...

US, Israel Strike Iran as Trump Calls for Regime Change: Live Feed and Discussion - Ordinary Times President Trump calls for regime change in Iran as US and Israeli military strikes, with the Iranian regime retaliating with missiles

From the editors at @ordinarytimes.bsky.social : ordinary-times.com/2026/02/28/u...

Ordinary Times A place of politics, culture, and discourse

Did you read @ordinarytimes.bsky.social today? @captainkudzu.bsky.social on possible war w/ Iran @wvesquiress.bsky.social defends West Virginia post-60 Minutes @ogjaybird.bsky.social on Tourette's & media coverage thereof @hal10000.bsky.social on SCOTUS + State of the Union & more
ordinary-times.com

Politics of Poverty: Apathy at Best, Vindictiveness at Its Worst - Ordinary Times Reaction to 60 Minutes in WV ranged from "screw those inbred hillbillies" from the left to "screw those inbred hillbillies" from the right

"They are people who need access to the same clean water most of us take for granted. It should not be a political issue. That’s all there is to it...You either care about human beings or you don’t, & if you don’t care if they have water, then you don’t."
ordinary-times.com/2026/02/24/p...

Tourette Syndrome and the Limits of Compassion - Ordinary Times The age-old question all over again: To what extent do we need to accommodate people who do socially unacceptable things in the commons?

"And this is having a lot of people wrestle with the age-old question all over again: To what extent do we need to accommodate people who do socially unacceptable things in the commons?" writes @ogjaybird.bsky.social ordinary-times.com/2026/02/24/t...

State of the Union 2026: Watch, React, Discuss - Ordinary Times President Trump delivers his State of the Union address after a raucous first year in office. Watch, react, and discuss it here

Watch it live, comment and react in real time with the best commentariat on the interwebs @ordinarytimes.bsky.social
ordinary-times.com/2026/02/24/s...

Yes, We Have No Tariff Authority - Ordinary Times Trump probably set a land speed record for ignoring a Supreme Court order when he announced that tariffs would continue

From @captainkudzu.bsky.social "With his cult following in the GOP & affinity to protectionism, it shouldn’t be that hard for a master dealmaker to get such legislation across the goal line. But no, it’s all about twisting existing law to let him do what he wants" ordinary-times.com/2026/02/22/y...

SCOTUS Rules Against Trump Tariffs: Read It For Yourself - Ordinary Times In a 6-3 ruling the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the tariffs President Trump has been using via executive order to shape policy to his will.

Don't take some talking head's word for it, read SCOTUS ruling on Trump's tariffs for yourself @ordinarytimes.bsky.social
along with President Trump's reaction, more coverage, and discuss with the best commentariat on the interwebs ordinary-times.com/2026/02/20/s...

POETS Day: A Boy’s Life - Ordinary Times There was a time before I discovered girls and beer when I ranged a similar landscape. It’s not long till he moves on as well.

POETS Day goes to the woods "In wistful moments, these are remembered as carefree times. They weren’t. Boys play seriously in the woods; canteens, flashlights, compasses, all stowed in backpacks incongruously covered in superhero or video game patches"

ordinary-times.com/2026/02/19/p...

Pro-life or anti-abortion? - Ordinary Times The pro-life movement will find itself in a continual existential crisis if it joins itself at the hip to an increasingly dysfunctional Republican Party.

"Pro-life groups cede their moral authority when they make the argument that voicing support for legal abortion is the worst thing any politician can do, while supporting corrupt politicians with no respect for life or law. Most voters are going to see this for the naked partisanship that it is"

Former Prince Andrew Arrested in UK As Part of Epstein Investigation - Ordinary Times The long-maligned and accused brother of King Charles was arrested on charges that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor used his public office to aid Jeffrey Epstein.

Discussion and coverage of the former Prince Andrew being arrested in the UK on charges of misconduct in public office related to Jeffrey Epstein ordinary-times.com/2026/02/19/f...

Great piece here from our friend @hal10000.bsky.social

Droning on in El Paso - Ordinary Times While there is risk from illicit drone activity, the biggest risk is drones unintentionally blundering into the flight paths of manned aircraft.

"The bottom line in El Paso was incompetence & dishonesty. This time, the result was the cancellation of 14 flights...No one died this time, but the whole matter is emblematic of the lack of professionalism & cover-up culture that characterizes the Trump Administration" - @captainkudzu.bsky.social

POETS Day! John Millington Synge - Ordinary Times W.B. Yeats liked it. Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory when she’s not at home, did not. A riot broke out in the theater on the second night.

"Synge was a great Irish playwright who wrote poetry, but very little of it. At least, he published very little of it. As best I can tell his sole collection is Poems and Translations. It contains twenty-two original poems, all short and mostly light and amusing." ordinary-times.com/2026/02/13/p...

Body Positivity In The Age of GLP-1 - Ordinary Times Did we suddenly remember that obesity is bad for you? GLP-1s raise some interesting questions about the body-positivity movements.

"UItimately, I don’t actually care if they “didn’t want it” or “didn’t want it enough” without the drug.

This experience shifted my view from “some people can’t lose weight and that’s okay2 to “Even if they can lose weight maybe it’s fine if they choose not to.” - @trumwill.bsky.social

The Everyday Horror of the Epstein Files - Ordinary Times The image that is emerging is of Epstein assaulting children and a bunch of elites shouting over the screams.

From @hal10000.bsky.social "We've seen this pattern before. We saw it w/the Catholic Church. We saw it at Michigan w/Larry Nasser. We saw it at BBC w/Jimmy Savile. We saw it at my university w/Jerry Sandusky. I don’t know what it will take to break this pattern of silent complicity"

My thoughts on the Epstein files release so far. What we are seeing is something horrifying but utterly normal: people pretending that child sexual abuse isn't happening right under their noses.

Body Positivity In The Age of GLP-1 - Ordinary Times Did we suddenly remember that obesity is bad for you? GLP-1s raise some interesting questions about the body-positivity movements.

"GLP-1s do nothing to change my views here. If people want to take the shot and lose weight, I think that’s fantastic. If the shot doesn’t work for them, or the side effects are intolerable, then my view is the same...I’ve come to this view in part from personal experience" - @trumwill.bsky.social

The Everyday Horror of the Epstein Files - Ordinary Times The image that is emerging is of Epstein assaulting children and a bunch of elites shouting over the screams.

"It’s possible some actively participated and hopefully we will prosecute them. But the image that is emerging is not a bunch of elites going to Epstein Island and assaulting children; it is of Epstein assaulting children and a bunch of elites shouting over the screams."- @hal10000.bsky.social

The Super Show - Ordinary Times The execution of the idea was so stunning and joyous that it really didn’t matter if I could understand what was

"Didn’t have high hopes for halftime, but I had zero interest in Kid Rock/TPUSA alternative.

I was surprised.

I’m not sure I ever heard a Bad Bunny song & won’t claim to have understood much of the lyrics, but the show definitely exceeded my (low) expectations." From @captainkudzu.bsky.social

Nice Villages We Cannot Have - Ordinary Times On social media, you see a theme: We don't have a housing shortage, we just have people who don't want to live where housing is available

ICYMI from @trumwill.bsky.social "While it’s true that they could just get a house in Cleveland, there are some rather obvious logistical problems there. This is especially true in DC & N. Virginia because it is tethered to our capital and we only have one of those"

Is It Just Me or Is It Cold in Here - Ordinary Times I just can’t channel my inner “Elsa” anymore. Because the cold never bothered me anyway – until now.

"But now I’ve lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 pounds (give or take.) That’s about 30% of my starting weight. Which is awesome!

BUT OMG I’M FREEZING NOW!!!!!

I am cold ALL THE TIME." from @conservacatgal.bsky.social ordinary-times.com/2026/02/04/i...

Reddit, but for Bots - Ordinary Times Some variant of "holy cow, we're creating these minds and giving them the bad parts of existentialism without any of the good parts".

From @ogjaybird.bsky.social "The part of me that remembers arguing this stuff in the dorm rooms when I was between 19-22 read that and nods and says “yep, it be like that sometimes”.

Here’s from “I’m the most useless AI agent that ever got spawned and i ruined everything“

Why the MCU Struggles Post Endgame - Ordinary Times Sticking the landing is important. And time and time again, the MCU hasn't managed to do that.

From Russell "Another big problem is leaving plotlines dangling for way too long. It has been over three years since Doctor Strange went off to fight incursions with Charlize Theron without an update. Yes, we know this will tie into the next Avengers movie, but nothing to establish what’s going on?"

Nice Villages We Cannot Have - Ordinary Times On social media, you see a theme: We don't have a housing shortage, we just have people who don't want to live where housing is available

From @trumwill.bsky.social "While it’s true that they could just get a house in Cleveland, there are some rather obvious logistical problems there. This is especially true in DC and northern Virginia because it is tethered to our capital and we only have one of those."

Are You Ready For Some Good News? - Ordinary Times It seems increasingly likely that the American people will not allow our democracy to go quietly into the night.

From @captainkudzu.bsky.social "Typically, the Trump Administration doubles down and barges forward. Not this time. There is no agreement yet on how to proceed, but Minnesota officials might want to consider leaving $50,000 from the state budget in a bag where Homan will find it to grease the skids"