@msgray.bsky.social
NPR senior producer. I love this fool country and this fool cat. And my grandfather had impressive melons.
A period drama, a Supreme Court case and voice our film critic hadn't heard in decades. n.pr/3MjwnuM
03.02.2026 12:22 — 👍 106 🔁 18 💬 3 📌 7This is from the ruling of a district judge telling the government to release 5 year-old Liam Ramos and his father.
“Perfidious Lust” could be a chapter title in the book about this time period.
Today’s SAT word is “perfidious” - deceitful.
“Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency.” - Judge Fred Biery
Today’s Dusty Word is “frowzy” - unkempt, neglected, scruffy. High usage in the early 1900s.
“He loved proximity to power, yet maintained such a frowzy appearance: a hairy bullfrog in random clothes who’d never contemplated a razor or scissors or even a wash rag.”
Today’s Dusty Word is “unconstitutional”
How ICE Already Knows Who Minneapolis Protesters Are www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/t...
Let’s not forget Massachusetts
30.01.2026 00:12 — 👍 24 🔁 0 💬 4 📌 0
The operation in Washington, D.C. alone is projected to cost upwards of $660 million if it runs through the end of this year as expected, according to new data released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. n.pr/45FbxN0
28.01.2026 19:21 — 👍 305 🔁 138 💬 35 📌 20
EXCLSUVIE: The Trump administration has secretly rewritten nuclear safety rules and shared them with the companies they're meant to regulate, without making the new rules publicly available.
We've obtained a copy of the new rules and here's what we found.
www.npr.org/2026/01/28/n...
“There was a fever over the land, a fever of disgrace, of indignity, of hunger. We had a democracy, yes, but it was torn by elements within. “
- Judgement at Nuremberg, 1961
If only there were an edit function. “His limp calls for action from the recliner…”
27.01.2026 14:02 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Note: this was someone’s focus at DHS before this past weekend.
I understand on the other site, a furious retired military man is responding to any number of pro-ICE posts from Trump officials with a screen shot of that agent aiming his pistol at Pretti’s back: condemnation in a single frame.
Today’s Dusty Word is “scobberlotcher” - a harmless & useless person, a slacker. Dates to 1600s.
A sentence:
“His limp calls from for action from the recliner were all he mustered, and until we saw him get up, he’d forever be in our minds a true scobberlotcher; we would work without him.”
Now I want to know which CNN reporter or producer doesn't know the word "sycophant."
26.01.2026 19:26 — 👍 12783 🔁 2231 💬 536 📌 386I think “shit sack” may be a synonym, and may come from Army slang.
25.01.2026 21:25 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Today’s Dusty Word is “shitbag” - a despicable person, one who is full of shit: a liar.
“The little shitbag told us we had not seen the mailman bite the dog, we’d seen the dog bite itself, but we tossed the pipsqueak in a laundry sack and beat the lies out of him with a bar of soap.”
The people at @mprnews.org are doing such great work. Really proud of them.
24.01.2026 18:19 — 👍 91 🔁 18 💬 2 📌 0
Carol was here
24.01.2026 18:14 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0🧊🧊🍼
24.01.2026 11:02 — 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Today - it’s a Snowy Word: “niveous” - of or relating to snow, looking like snow.
The Latin root is “nix.”
Let’s use it in a sentence!
“A large swath of the country was draped in a niveous blanket as the massive winter storm rolled its way to the Atlantic.”
Stay safe, people!
Today’s Dusty Word is “tomfoolery” - playful or foolish behavior.
I may have used this a lot on my son, Thomas, when he was wee.
Dates back to the 17th century, possibly evolved from a 14th century English jester, Thome Fole.
“Settle down, child! That’s enough tomfoolery for one day!”
Today’s Dusty Word is “gull” - 16th century, to mean “someone who is fooled or deceived” or, as a verb, “to fool or deceive.”
How about a sentence?
“He was told the conference ‘would not have been the same without him,’ but failed to realize he’d been gulled by a barb disguised as flattery.”
I try to avoid hyperbole when it comes to Trump policies, but this is absolutely frickin’ insane—on about eleventy different levels.
Massive, systemic Fourth Amendment violations because … reasons.
That being said - you learn how this movie was made, why costs were so high, what it did to Joe Mankiewicz, and how he was fielding calls as an amateur therapist for both Sybil Burton and Liz when the scandal broke - all the messiness!
And it was not a money loser!
If this Roman time period interests you, HBO’s Rome is a far better viewing experience!
21.01.2026 12:47 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Elizabeth Taylor, while lovely, had a terrifically annoying voice.
Rex Harrison looks like he’s got gas throughout.
Richard Burton does seem hungover in every scene, it’s mad!
Recommending a great podcast, but not a good movie.
You’re left with the sense that maybe “Cleopatra” isn’t a dog’s breakfast of a slogfest, but dear reader - I rewatched it Sunday and those are hours of my life I’ll never get back…
The podcast is FASCINATING
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Gotta say, this may replace my other pet phrase: “shut your cakehole!” But happy to say my response to being told salacious, unbelievable stories is still “shut the front door!”
21.01.2026 12:36 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Today’s Dusty Word is a phrase:
“Shut your saucebox”… i.e. your mouth, the place of saucy, impudent talk. 19th century.
A sentence:
“After threatening his friends, the fed-up neighbor told him to shut his saucebox, but he, undeterred, flapped his lips some more, though at a safe distance.”
His family cares for him at home. But his sundowning is as plain as the nose on your face.
20.01.2026 19:19 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0“That is what we did to that cat” he said, almost gleefully. Which was odd. His late wife loved that cat and he loved her and he once fussed over that cat.
20.01.2026 19:14 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
