Mark Stroup

No fuel, no tourists, no cash - this was the week the Cuban crisis got real Diplomats in Havana are preparing for an alternative Trump tactic: the country being starved until people take to the streets and the US can step in

www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

Why can’t we figure this out?

www.votefromabroad.org

I’m still a fan of “You’ve Got a Friend in Pennsylvania “.

Hand drums, thank you.

Who are the six men named in the unredacted Epstein files? In a floor speech, Ro Khanna, a Democratic representative, revealed identities of six men after seeing unredacted files

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

“‘If we found six men that they were hiding in two hours, imagine how many men they are covering up for in those 3m files,” (U.S. Rep. Ro) Khanna said during his floor speech.”

I guess the DoJ is not taking a rip the bandaid off approach.

Announcing…. my new book, THE DISSIDENTS.

A story about Autocrats, Vigilantes, Communists.... and Cartoonists!

For sale September 15, from Abrams Comicarts.

Reality Check by Dave Whamond | GoComics

What are those drums called?

🚨Buckle up!🚨
Poland is investigating potential connections between Jeffrey Epstein and Polish victims, as well as possible involvement of Russian intelligence in his activities. The Polish government has set up a special task force.

Cool! It seems the “Bandersnatch” is about C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Inklings.

Stop me before I nerd again.

I just looked. Sam & Dave songs were on the compilation The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968, but not “I Take What I Want.”

Thank you. Like a dummy, I kept looking at the wmck site. I don’t think I’d heard of the Sam & Dave song. I had a Stax compilation at one point, but maybe the song wasn’t on it because, technically, they were with Atlantic.

Pennsylvania voter here. Let’s make sure one person-one vote is the rule.

Josh Shapiro: "Donald Trump does not run our elections in Pennsylvania — and he never will!"

Yesterday, we were only six people, but we were located on three continents and three climate zones.

In Prague, we have an English-speaking writers’ critique group. As you might imagine, our members tend not to stay put, so we now have a monthly video chat for those who have moved. Discussions are lively, if not as focused as in person critiques, but are inspiring for a number of reasons.

By the way, for those of you not in MN: Homan’s strategy was to withdraw some agents, so it felt like we were in the denouement of the crisis, and then escalate hard against observers. They’re being incredibly aggressive with observers now. National media may not want to check out just yet

Walter Matthau -a man in his 50s with black hair, a lined face, narrow eyes and round nose- is standing in a scrap yard, wearing a grey suit, light blue shirt and dark red tie. The shot, from the climactic scenes if Charley Carrick, frames him in close up (head and shoulders) as he puts a stick of gum in his mouth.

Apparently, CHARLEY VARRICK almost starred Clint Eastwood. I'm so glad he decided not to do it. Matthau is perfection in the role. Clint would have upset the perfect balance of the film we ended up with.

Wait. What's the URL for the playlist?

Sex and snacks, but no seat at the table: the role of women in Epstein’s sordid men’s club Files reveal a world of flattery and fratboy tones, where rich men are cultivated and women provide services

www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

“Some might be tempted to dismiss the Epstein files as just evidence of the extreme behaviour of a prolific sex offender.

“But strip away the lewd and crude content, and they also reveal much about how patriarchy works day to day.” — Amelia Gentleman

Somewhere in Hell, Richard Nixon is being forced to watch everything Tr*mp is doing with absolutely no consequences. It's the most devious punishment the Devil could come up with.

80s music replies: “Don’t you want me, baby?”

Epstein files shed more light on Steve Bannon’s efforts to influence European politics Donald Trump’s former adviser told Epstein in 2019 that he was ‘focused on raising money for Le Pen and Salvini’ before European elections

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

I’m beginning to wonder…

Washington Post

Jeff Bezos’s wealth has increased an average of $70 million every day of 2026, meaning that he could have offset The Post’s losses with what he’s made since Monday.

Hypothetically if someone was accused of having sex with goats by over 30 different people and regularly denied it, but also dropped very public hints about how much he liked to have sex with goats for decades, and ran a goat pageant to find the best looking goats, and was best friends with someone who got convicted of fucking goats and trafficking goats to friends all over the world who also liked to fuck goats, and his name was in the classified goat fucker chronicles 5,000 times, and he wished other goat fuckers well in prison, what do you think the odds are that person is also a goat fucker?

If it were goats instead of girls, we wouldn’t be here. Had he said that about his son, it would’ve been unacceptable and politically impossible. (Homophobia.) But there is no real taboo on grown ass men invading the spaces, psyches & bodies of girl children.

bugs bunny is standing in front of a ken champin veterinary ALT: bugs bunny is standing in front of a ken champin veterinary

Oh, BAD Bunny is doing the half-time show. I thought it was BUGS Bunny

Would watch. Can you imagine if Bugs had those kinds of production values?

Trump suggests Republicans should ‘take over’ elections to protect the party President claims idea to ‘nationalize’ elections in 15 states before midterms is to prevent rare noncitizen voting

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

The next Big Lie.