Jonathan Poet

During a press conference on February 19, 2026, Republican legislators asked the media why they were not covering certain stories of corruption. The headlines that the lawmakers used as examples were taken from recent coverage by local news outlets. Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror

Great caption on this photo in this CT Mirror story:

ctmirror.org/2026/02/19/e...

How a defendant in Minnesota went free because of Justice Department turmoil The federal prosecutor’s office in Minnesota has been gutted by a wave of career officials resigning or retiring over objections to Trump administration directives.

How a defendant in Minnesota went free because of Justice Department turmoil
apnews.com/article/minn...

Members-only Philly cop bar has been linked to two DUIs — and a third crash kept secret, until now Anna Wakeman still questions why 7C Lounge bartenders didn’t stop serving the officer who crashed into her house and upended her life five years ago.

"The cops can drink as much as they want there...The bartenders serve them till they're blackout drunk and let them leave." Quote from a woman who was hit by a drunk-driving cop *while sitting in her living room.* This story from the @inquirer.com is a hell of a thing. share.inquirer.com/yynTQX

Or Djimon Hounsou for "Amistad."

And honestly I wouldn't argue with Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones for "Men in Black," though I know the academy rarely goes for comedies.

Late 1990s cinema was so good. I was too dumb to know it wouldn't always be that way.

AI Didn't Write This But maybe it should have?

Quinn "opened his column by chastising a college student who withdrew her application to be a reporter at the Plain Dealer 'because of how we use artificial intelligence.'" open.substack.com/pub/convulsi...

Nick Castellanos on Instagram 9,195 likes, 724 comments - casty_8 on February 12, 2026

In a letter posted on Instagram, Nick Castellanos admits that he was benched on June 16 in Miami for bringing a beer into the dugout after Rob Thomson took him out of the game for defense in the ninth inning. www.instagram.com/p/DUq1rwokWG...

Purple Rain.

I was definitely underage.

James Van Der Beek, the 'Dawson's Creek' star who later mocked his own hunky persona, has died at 48 James Van Der Beek, best known as Dawson on “Dawson’s Creek,” has died at 48, according to a statement on his Instagram.

apnews.com/article/jame...

YouTube video by Mike Doughty - Topic Busting Up a Starbucks

In honor of James Van Der Beek, here's the only song I know that namechecks him: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhRW...

So what you're saying, Congressman Alford, is that you're undertaking a...Spanish inquistion?

Feel like half of Japandroids' catalog would have a shot.

the polish figure skating team in the kiss and cry holding a plush pierogi

IMPORTANT OLYMPIC NEWS:

THE POLISH FIGURE SKATING TEAM HAS A PLUSH PIEROGI

Newly revealed emails undermine RFK Jr testimony about 2019 Samoa trip ahead of measles outbreak Kennedy later said the purpose of his trip had nothing to do with vaccines. US embassy and UN staff at the time said otherwise, emails show

I filed an open records request with the US State Department for these records in 2023. We were still waiting for them last year, and @rcfp.org sued on our behalf. Thank you to the Reporters Committee for helping us shine a light
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

1995 January 27: Campus commodes: your choice of thrones. “With about 15 minutes left in your most boring class of the term, you realize there is something you need to do. You need to go to the bathroom. But you don’t want a simple flush-and-go, you want a porcelain experience. Where do you go?”

My college paper posted highlights from 100 years of news. They skip over a lot of 1990s coverage, but included one of my most important stories. thetriangle.org/one-hundred-...

Maybe like one of the food ones?

Like of all the amazing choices, if you picked grapes or cheese, that would be weird.

Philadelphia Museum of Art logo

I mean, this was the obvious solution. www.inquirer.com/arts/philade...

A season-ending error changed Orion Kerkering. Now, he's embracing the challenges ahead

I honestly teared up a bit reading what Brad Lidge had to say. www.nytimes.com/athletic/700...

It's slightly different than an ignored renaming, but no one -- and I mean no one -- uses the official name of the park with the Robert Indiana sculpture near City Hall.

Photo of jet with registration code D-ANCE.

You can D-ANCE if you want to.

I met Dan maybe twice and he was nice as could be. But I have been reading his stuff for *decades* — back to that Philly Weekly blog-column thing he did — and he really was a one-of-a-kind writer. Philadelphia is so much worse off without him.

Looks like someone dropped the last "1" in this bitly URL and sent out a porn forum link from 2009.
bit.ly/4t1JAc1

Malik Rose and Bill Herrion turned Drexel into an NCAA Tournament team. Now they’re in the Dragons’ Hall of Fame.

Rose went on to a long NBA career after Drexel made three NCAA appearances in the '90s. Herrion coached more than 900 games with Drexel, East Carolina, and New Hampshire.

A plane with the registration code F-GABE.

I'm not sure what Gabe even did to deserve this.

I have no religious beliefs, no expectation of an afterlife. And yet this lovely thread brought me to tears.

Here are the signs the Trump administration removed from Independence Park Following last year’s review, every sign has been removed from the President’s House site.

Look at this: @inquirer.com has digitally preserved the interpretative signage removed by NPS, and used annotations to explain what specifically was flagged before removal. This keeps the content publicly accessible (for now) while doing newsworthy reporting
www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

The slavery exhibits at the President’s House have been removed following Trump administration push President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered content at national parks that “inappropriately disparage” the U.S. to be reviewed and potentially removed.

There are a ton of entities, including the city itself, that could put copies of these back on display very close to their original location, and quickly.
www.inquirer.com/politics/nat...

Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge's warrant, memo says An Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press reveals that the agency allows immigration officers to forcibly enter homes to make arrests without a judicial warrant.

New ICE hires and those still in training are being told to follow the memo’s guidance instead of written training materials that actually contradict the memo. apnews.com/article/ice-...

I just woke up from a nap and somehow while I was asleep, everyone on the bus has figured out we are not going to the right place

The wind turbine would instantly tear itself apart.

I like this fun fact from the Mount Holly weather service office: "most East Coast snowstorms typically drop their heaviest snows in swaths 50 to 100 miles wide or less."

And yes I will be reading the forecasters' discussion every day this week.

forecast.weather.gov/product.php?...