Andrew Wetzel

Rachel Harlow, her hair pulled back in a chignon, in an Oscar de la Renta dress in 1972

A very important thread. When I was probably no more than 10, I saw this picture of the woman known as Harlow in the Philly Inquirer. A little babygay, I was shocked that such a glamour queen could live in my hometown and even more shocked to see her described as "a former man."

re ryan grim and the various iterations of glenn greenwaldism...

the way this works isn't so much that they get seduced by the right as that they were already dreaming of a realignment of left and right populism against an imagined bland/evil center. 1

Pope Leo vs. the Empire of Lies: The Long Game to Defeat Trumpism He’s already rebuked immigration crackdowns and blasted the “logic of exclusion” fueling rising nationalism. Now, as the youngest pope in 35 years, Leo is poised to help defeat Trumpism for good.

Like a prudent builder, Pope Leo is laying a long-term foundation to knock down the foundations of MAGA. He’s in it for the long haul, willing to be the steady drumbeat of the Gospel against the cacophony of lies.

Make no mistake — Leo will win this fight.

December 6th Advent Reflection: A Monk in the City Advent reminds us that God is available to us every day, even in the most mundane details of our lives. One the early Jesuits, Jerónimo Nadal, said it well: “we are not monks! The world is our house!”

Advent isn’t cozy. It’s disruptive.

The Church asks us to stay alert and slow down, to act boldly and pray quietly — all at once.

That tension isn’t a flaw; it’s the whole point of Christian life.

There’s no authentic faith that doesn’t do both.

‘Feliz Navidad’: Resurfaced Video Shows Pope Leo XIV's Hidden Singing Talent A TikTok clip of Pope Leo XIV belting out a Christmas classic confirms what the world first learned on his inaugural Sunday as pope: Leo has some serious pipes, and he isn’t shy about using them in se

Sources tell Letters from Leo that Leo has no plans to sing the 1970 classic from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Day.

I'm working day and night to rectify this sad situation.

This is the second time Pope Leo has gone viral this year for his singing abilities. The first was a resurfaced video his 2014 rendition of "Feliz Navidad."

Pope Leo XIV just went viral belting out “L.O.V.E” with Michael Bublé at the Vatican’s Concert with the Poor, a Christmas event where the front rows are filled with homeless and low-income guests.

Michael Bublé called it “the greatest night” of his career.

The full story is below.

I'm always happy when @kijjohnson.bsky.social shows up on the Coode Street Podcast, and her ideas here about the relationship between experimental fiction and game writing have got my brain all abuzz.

"unidentified"

my ass

Trump Pardons Developer Prosecuted by His Administration This summer, Trump administration officials had lauded the indictment of Timothy J. Leiweke as an effort to root out corruption and unfair business practices.

President Trump on Tuesday pardoned Timothy Leiweke, a real estate developer who had been charged by the president’s own Justice Department earlier this year with rigging the bidding process for a sports arena.

A war criminal without a war It's just murder.

New in PN: A war criminal without a war

"We’re watching the flimsy justifications fall apart in real time. They can try to shift the blame. They can try to say that people clinging to wreckage for dear life are somehow an active threat. But in the end, it’s just murder."

I'm not sure it's in the self interest of America's tech bro billionaires to suggest that we bring back public executions to punish the most destructive people in our society.

So, the thing about execs is that they will get this bee in their bonnet and nothing can dissuade them from their vision. Carl Laemmle kept hiring distant cousins. Sarandos is obsessed with getting rid of the theatrical experience, presumably because an usher dumped him in tenth grade.

More evidence — not that we needed any — that they’re trying to kill us.

From womb to tomb, expeditiously.

Peter Pinedo Fox News Digital Politics Writer Peter previously covered politics, immigration, and religious persecution for the Catholic News Agency. He has also worked on the media team for Texas Right to Life covering the abortion issue, state politics and legislation. He is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville. He currently serves as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves Military Police.

damning indictment of American Christianity, i fear

Holy shit!

my dad has started carrying his tribal ID to work because ICE is around all the time and he thinks he’s going to get deported

then they were in the parking lot at his work this morning. two trucks of agents at 17th and Lake in mpls.

I sent the article to my wife, who immediately read it and sent it to her neighborhood after school program staff team; and we're spending the current car trip listening to it & hitting pause every time one of us wants to talk through something. (4 hour drive = Chapter 1)

This piece was written with such clarity that I looked up the author, @sorayachemaly.bsky.social, and bought her new book!
bookshop.org/a/89197/9781...

They should do MyChart Wrapped

Online age verification is a tempting idea. I'm a dad, I get it, but what's being proposed isn't just an ID check, it's a list of your kid's faces and data. A list in the hands of increasingly totalitarian governments, tech companies, and dysfunctional AI.

It's not protection, it's surveillance.

ALL IMLS grants restored in every state & territory.

In response to a ruling from a federal judge in Rhode Island, the Institute of Museum and Library Services reinstated all previously canceled grants in every state and territory. It's a huge win for libraries and our communities.

"The reinstatement of all IMLS grants means that libraries across the country will be able to resume vital services for learning, imagination, and economic opportunity. We are breathing a sigh of relief, but the fight is not over." ALA President Sam Helmick. Show up for our libraries, American Library Association.

NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.

This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!

Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...

Never believe the fuckers who say "why bother, they already won"

I don’t want to be pollyannish about the past, but it was basically inconceivable twenty years ago that a president would say this publicly

It’s true. We shouldn’t pretend that. Trumpist culture is not the same as American culture and not equal. Trumpist culture is proudly ignorant, defiantly against America’s founding values and subsequently developed values, venomously bigoted, and generally despicable.

i'd go even further and say there is a reason even nixon kept this kind of stuff to himself. you would have to go back quite a bit to find a point at which is acceptable for a president to say anything like this *in public*, to say nothing of in the oval office.

The Conservative Grievance Business Is Always Hiring | Defector Given his age when he first came to the world’s attention and assuming continued good health in the intervening decade and change, Marine Todd would be in his late 30s today. That would be if he was a...

"Righteously smashing whoever & whatever offends or inconveniences you is…the essential reactionary fantasy; the great work of the conservative movement…is creating circumstances & structures that make it possible for the right type of smasher to get away with that."
defector.com/the-conserva...

ICE Arrested and Separated Chinese Father From 6-Year-Old Son, Advocates Say The father and son were detained at an ICE check-in on Nov. 26, advocates say. The son’s location is currently unknown, while the father is being held at an upstate ICE facility.

A 6-year-old boy is missing after ICE arrested him and his dad in NYC last week and shipped them off to separate facilities. www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/02/i... @thecity.nyc @gwynnefitz.bsky.social

Trump has been trying to go full dictator this entire time, if he could just do it he already would have. His public support plummeting isn’t going to make the task easier

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries: “Strong floor, no ceiling”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro: “A clan of pedophiles wants to destroy our democracy.”