Robert Lloyd

Commentary: L.A. never needed the Olympics. With Trump wanting in, it's time to pull out With the Games happening in a presidential election year, Trump would love nothing more than to traipse around an L.A. radically transformed by his deportation aggressions to proclaim his mission acco...

MY LATEST @latimes.com ‬⁩ COLUMNA: L.A. never needed the Olympics. With Trump wanting in, it's time to pull out. Share, porfas!

Al Overview Willem Dafoe is not in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but he has appeared in other Star Wars films, including The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).

I honestly can’t believe there are still any AI skeptics out there. This tech is obviously revolutionary

The Real Reason Disney Is Killing Hulu It’s bad news for movie and TV lovers everywhere.

wrote about Disney's plans to integrate Hulu into Disney+ and consolidate ESPN's streaming rights, which are indicative of a broader entertainment-industry strategy for taking on Netflix: emphasizing brand synergy at the expense of everything else slate.com/technology/2...

Our Plan for Peace Was Simple: Kill Everyone We didn’t always have a straightforward strategy for peacekeeping. Our top brass spent day and night working it out. We ordered lunch for the offic...

"The problem, we reasoned, was that when it came to any conflict, people were the constant. People, our experts argued, are what all violence has ever had in common. Remove them from the equation, and what remains? A light breeze. A bird call. The sound of rushing water."

Tom and Ethel Bradley house among Black heritage sites in L.A. designated cultural monuments Six sites representing Black heritage in L.A. have been designated Historic-Cultural Monuments as part of a project spearheaded by Getty and the City of Los Angeles’ Office of Historic Resources.

Tom and Ethel Bradley house among Black heritage sites in L.A. designated cultural monuments

Video shows Department of Justice official urging Jan. 6 rioters to 'kill' cops The Department of Justice hired a former Jan. 6 defendant who was caught on tape urging rioters to "kill" police. The department calls him a "valued member" of the administration.

Exclusive: The Department of Justice hired a former Jan. 6 defendant who was caught on tape urging rioters to "kill" police. The department calls him a "valued member" of the administration.

I noticed that, but nice to see @thefienprint.bsky.social giving it a ride.

Absolutely.

Paywall has been removed on this one, which includes access to a spreadsheet-in-progress of 63 books that our panel of experts (basically this guy @sesn.bsky.social, with some contributions from J.D. O'Brien and me) think are genuinely funny and make for good bedtime reading.

Review: With the must-watch 'Demascus,' Tubi rescues a reality-bending comedy With sharp and smart writing, direction that shapes and is shaped by the evolving material, and marvelous performances, Tubi's sci-fi series 'Demascus' is a must-watch.

Really great and worth a trip to Tubi. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

UC must reconsider policy barring undocumented students from jobs, court rules A California court ruled that the UC system's policy banning the hiring of undocumented students on campus is discriminatory and violates state law.

UC must reconsider policy barring undocumented students from jobs, court rules

Goff.

Well, well, well. A child molester who was charged with perjury says a convicted felon and pathological liar did nothing wrong. That settles it ... if you're the most gullible person alive.

Govt. Website 'Glitch' Removes Trump's Least Favorite Part of Constitution Trump is trying to take over the Library of Congress, but its website already deleted a part of the Constitution that Trump officials don’t like.

The national library has apparently, by accident, modified its online copy of the U.S. Constitution to remove the president’s least favorite part.

Review: Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson’s heist comedy is implausible, predictable and good company 'SNL' vets Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson team up for the implausible Prime Video heist comedy 'The Pickup.'

Eddie Murphy and Pete Davidson's heist comedy is implausible, predictable and good company

AI filmmaking and storytelling is punk rock. It’s hip hop. It’s counterculture. It’s a new type of creativity. It’s a new medium. It’s hated by the mainstream film and art establishment. It resists ideology. It ignores gate keeping. It’s uncomfortable. It’s scary. It’s viral. It’s accessible. It’s refreshing. It’s welcoming. It’s here.

AI filmmaking is peeing. It’s pooping. It’s throwing up. It’s a new kind of liquid coming out. It’s hated by the establishment. It’s what goes in the toilet. It’s wet. It’s what’s in the bathroom.

This is the # for RFK Jr's office. I'm sure he's love to hear about what we all think about his $500 million cut to mRNA vaccine research and development.

Cheech Marin to be honored by Hispanic Heritage Foundation for contributions to the arts The Hispanic Heritage Foundation will honor Cheeh Marin for his contributions to Latinx culture in the U.S. as a comedian, musician and Chicano art collector.

Cheech Marin to be honored by Hispanic Heritage Foundation for contributions to the arts

Pattern.

Liberals Get So Upset About Every Little Jeans Ad and Blatant Corruption Scandal Some hyper-sensitive Americans love to cry buckets of liberal tears over every minor provocation, like the Sydney Sweeney jeans ad or how the polic...

"It’s so predictable and pathetic how there’s some big uproar every time a cute young lady winks at the camera or a creepy old man who is president sloppily covers up his involvement with a pedophile sex offender."

I miss when republics declined because of lead pipes or something. instead my culture got digital access to the entirety of human knowledge and went immediately insane

Watch Anémic Cinéma, Marcel Duchamp’s Whirling Avant-Garde Film (1926) Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) made some heady art.

Watch Anémic Cinéma, Marcel Duchamp’s Whirling Avant-Garde Film (1926)

Asked about a possible pardon for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Trump says the quiet part loud Does the president base his pardon decisions on whether criminals are aligned with him personally? It was weird to see him effectively concede the point.

'He’s corrupting the pardon process; he knows that he’s corrupting the pardon process; he knows that we know that he’s corrupting the pardon process; and he’s doing it anyway.'

Via @stevebenen.com

www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

News Analysis Trump’s Efforts to Control Information Echo an Authoritarian Playbook In firing the head of the agency that collects employment statistics, the president underscored his tendency to suppress facts he doesn’t like and promote his own version of reality.

This Peter Baker joint does catalog Trump's lies and censorship, but headline and text tie themselves in journo-cliched linguistic knots to avoid that direct judgment. He's not "underscoring a tendency." He's not an "echo" of an "authoritarian playbook." He is a dictator.

New New York Times culture section edges toward video The paper moved four of its critics around the newsroom as it rethinks its critical voice.

Criticisn is so often misunderstood. And the importance of expertise and authority — in the arts and otherwise — feels continually devalued. Sigh. www.semafor.com/article/08/0...

Headline from Harvard Crimson: "Harvard President Garber Tells Faculty He Is Not Considering a $500 Million Deal With Trump."

Text of story: Harvard prez Garber says report of a deal "was apparently leaked to the press by White House officials." NYT ran with it as a story.

Important details from this story:

1) Yet another news-break by student journalists (this time @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social) www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

2) Harvard saying "see you in court," not "let's make a deal."

3) Per Garber, WH/MAGA leaked news of a "deal." NYT then ran with it.

8 Things to Know About New Research on Earth’s Rapid Drying and the Loss of Its Groundwater Decades of NASA satellite data reveal how quickly the planet’s underground stores of fresh water have been depleted and how their use is contributing to rising sea levels. Here are the key takeaways.

The continents are rapidly drying out and the earth’s vast freshwater resources are under threat, according to a recently released study based on 20+ years of NASA satellite data.

Here are the report’s key findings and what they portend for humankind.

Review: 'King of the Hill' and 'Gumball' are back, and I tell you what, it's about time Two animated series are back after a long hiatus, this time on Hulu: Mike Judge's Texas-set "King of the Hill" and "The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball" from creator Ben Bocquelet.

Rejoice. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

I spent decades at Columbia. I’m withdrawing my fall course due to its deal with Trump | Rashid Khalidi The university’s draconian policies and new definition of antisemitism make much teaching impossible

These decisions, taken in close collaboration with the Trump administration, have made it impossible for me to teach modern Middle East history, the field of my scholarship and teaching for more than 50 years

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...