Trump’s war on Iran meanders aimlessly, ‘Home and His Iliad’ by Robin Lane Fox, ‘Hamnet,’ Peter Asher on ‘Fresh Air,’ and ‘Unhook the Stars.’
Another Week: Number 187
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news
Here is a list of content tagged “news” on MarkCz.com.
Another Week: Number 183
Donald Trump’s harebrained obsession: painting the Reflecting Pool. Also: ‘Josh Johnson: Symphony’ on HBO Max and ‘Ghostlight’ (2024).
Another Week: Number 182
Donald Trump has lost our war with Iran. Plus: ‘The Seven Basic Plots,’ by Christopher Booker, ‘To Catch a Thief’ (1955), and ‘Pennies From Heaven’ (1981).
Another Week: Number 178
I paid $20 apiece for a couple of common milkweeds — then another $35 for Max Richter’s 8-hour ‘Sleep’ album. Also, Trump’s $1.776 billion slush fund, and ‘Send Help’ (2026)
Another Week: Number 177
Lawn and garden season is in full swing, Donald J. Trump lurched around a red carpet in China with Xi Jinping, and Katherine Hepburn in ‘Summertime’ (1955).
Another Week: Number 176
I bought a new hat, and a dedicated outfit for yardwerk. Meanwhile, ‘Epic Fury’ becomes ‘Project Freedom’ for a few hours. Also: ‘Crime 101’ (2026)
Another Week: Number 175
The same old items keep going around. Also: ‘The Complete Stories,’ by Flannery O’Connor, and ‘American Masters’: ‘Flannery.’
Another Week: Number 174
Trump moves deadlines in his Iran war. Also: ‘The Lowdown’ (FX), ‘American Masters: Starring Dick Van Dyke,’ and the (final?) White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Another Week: Number 173
His war against Iran stalemated, Donald J. Trump goes to war against the Pope. Also: ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ (2025).
Another Week: Number 172
Donald Trump’s insane Easter tweet about his Iran war, ‘Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You,‘ by Lucinda Williams, and ‘The Big Country‘ (1958).
Another Week: Number 171
A nasty week of storms, March Madness acrimony, Trump and Hegseth’s Iran war mess, and “Careless People,’ by Sarah Wynn-Williams
Another Week: Number 170
Trump’s Iran war mess, ‘The Classical World’ by Robin Lane Fox, Spectrum Internet out, AT&T Fiber in, ‘No Kings’ day in Racine, and ‘Hail, Caesar!’
Another Week: Number 169
March weather, Trump’s corrupt and incompetent Cabinet, Pete Townshend takes ‘The Colbert Questionert,’ and ‘One Battle After Another’ (2025).
Another Week: Number 168
I passed an injured deer in the dark, Trump is winging it with his war in Iran, ‘Let Them All Talk’ (2020), and ‘A Room with a View’ (1985).
Another Week: Number 167
Dream lessons complete with Venn diagrams, Trump’s war in Iran pounds on, ‘American Masters: Becoming Helen Keller,’ and ‘Oklahoma!’ (1955).
Another Week: Number 166
More Scrivener and Obsidian in my workflow, missing Epstein files, WISN 12 News loses Lindsey Slater, Trump takes us to war with Iran, and ‘The Fall Guy’ (2024).
Another Week: Number 165
Replacing a battery on a waterproof watch can be expensive. Also: ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale,’ ‘About a Boy’ (2002), and Alysa Liu wins Olympic gold.
Another Week: Number 163
Savannah Guthrie’s mom is kidnapped, Trump concentration camps meet opposition, and ‘Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!’ (2026)
Another Week: Number 162
More Donald Trump chaos, Penn Jillette with Billy Corgan, ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,’ and ‘If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You.’
Another Week: Number 160
Seasonal optimism gets slapped down, two years since Amy died, Trump’s chaos accelerates, and ‘The Life of Chuck’ (2024).
Another Week: Number 159
ICE executes an American mom. Also: ‘The Descendants ’(2011), ‘Molokai: The Story of Father Damien’ (1999), and the Bears beat the Packers in the playoffs.
Another Week: Number 158
Happy New Year! Trump snatches Maduro and is now running Venezuela. Also: ‘King Leopold’s Ghost,’ by Adam Hochschild, and ‘Only You’ (1994).
Another Week: Number 156
Several troubling news stories, ‘The Five Pennies’ (1959), Trump’s Royal Christmas Message, ‘Brian’s Song’ (1971), Chicago Bears beat Browns and Packers.
Another Week: Number 154
Winter’s here. The USA has carried out 22 airstrikes off South America. Shovelwax works pretty well. Also: ‘Death By Lightning,’ and Johnny Carson.
Another Week: Number 153
Rutger Bregman: the BBC Reith Lectures, Thanksgiving football, National Guard members shot, ‘Light in August,’ and ‘The American Revolution.’
Another Week: Number 143
Another brutal Bears loss, Apple’s ‘Liquid Glass,’ Indiana Fever advance, ‘A Story is a Deal’ by Will Storr, ABC suspends Jimmy Kimmel.
Another Week: Number 142
Hummingbirds out, NFL in. Two stories about walking. A local cashier. The assassination of Charlie Kirk. ‘Thursday Murder Club’ on Netflix.
Another Week: Number 139
Peace and relief when aggravation withdraws, NotebookLM reviews this blog, the Dow closes at a record high, and ‘Charade’ (1963).
Another Week: Number 138
Whatever we thought “America” was, getting rid of it only took a few quick months. Also: ‘Song Exploder,’ ‘Adolescence,’ the Trump-Putin “summit,” and ‘Whirlybird.’
Another Week: Number 137
Cornered by a heat wave and wildfire smoke, the news and sports are no relief. Also: Torrential Milwaukee rain, and Petrifying Springs redesign.
Another Week: Number 134
Camp Lake birthday party, life-threatening yardwork, how Elon Musk can save public broadcasting, and ‘Your Friends & Neighbors.’
Another Week: Number 132
Local noise nearly reaches a climax on the Fourth of July. Plus: a pumice stone diagram — and ‘Stick’ and ‘The Studio,’ two Apple TV+ shows.
Another Week: Number 131
Dew point house arrest on my vibrating couch watching CNN. Some of the foods I eat. The magic of walking. ‘My Mom Jayne’ (2025).
Another Week: Number 130
Screw it — let’s skip summer altogether. Also: Benjamin Netanyahu dances Trump into war with Iran, ‘Mike Birbiglia: The Good Life,’ and ‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007).
Another Week: Number 129
Uneasiness and queasiness in the air — but we keep moving forward, Apple’s WWDC 2025 announcements, and ‘Michael Clayton’ (2007).
Another Week: Number 124
The anticipation factor of TV news, a new pope, walking with Larry, Suleika Jaouad on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’ ‘Nonnas’ (2025)
Another Week: Number 122
Easter season hope, Pope Francis dies, Pete Hegseth’s pocket square, WISN 12 News and the NFL Draft, ‘Conclave’ (2024).
Another Week: Number 116
Winter and spring are duking it out, an 11-year-old guitarist, ‘Stay off the news,’ Wisconsin Supreme Court Debate, ‘How to Talk to Anyone,’ ‘ Jesus Christ Superstar.’
Another Week: Number 113
A polar vortex cold snap, a house explosion in my neighborhood, and the law of attraction per ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne.
Another Week: Number 110
Trump’s deranged plane crash press conference, ‘Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music,’ the Unrivaled Basketball League, and the new ‘CBS Evening News.’
Another Week: Number 107
Snow shoveling and walking opens up the airways and alleviates pain. Also: the Los Angeles wildfires and ‘Good News’ (1947).
Another Week: Number 94
Hurricane Milton follows Hurricane Helene and the GOP disinformation machine goes into high gear. Also: ‘Big’ (1988) and ‘Funny Girl’ (1968).
Another Week: Number 91
Another Trump assassination attempt, cable news commercials, ‘Ol’ 55’ by Tom Waits, ‘State Fair’ (1933)
Another Week: Number 74
Time itself is the puzzle I’m grappling with — maybe calendars will help. Also: a Washington Post subscription offer I could not refuse.
Another Week: Number 72
I have amnesia, my country has constipation, and President Biden visits Racine. Also: ‘Brigsby Bear’ (2017) and ‘The Color Purple’ (2023).
Another Week: Number 63
Joe Biden or Donald Trump? Pick one. Four years ago, Trump failed his big test badly. Plus ‘Triumph of the Will’ (1935), ‘Poor Things’ (2023), and ‘The Zone of Interest’ (2023).
Another Week: Number 60
Super Bowl LVIII, chicken pot pie, Valentine’s Day, Kansas City mass shooting, Alexei Navalny, Fani Willis hearing, ‘Past Lives’ (2023)
Another Week: Number 40
Harvest Moon afternoon at Brown’s Lake; ‘Frank’ (2014), ‘When We Were Kings’ (1996), ‘Savior Complex,’ CNN Max: Live news from CNN without cable
Another Week: Number 21
‘The Way to Heaven’ in a McDonald’s bathroom, ‘Lewis Black: Tragically, I Need You,’ ‘The Great’ Season 3, FRONTLINE: Clarence & Ginny Thomas, Tears for Fears: KCRW Live from The Village Studios, ‘A World of Calm.’
Another Week: Number 20
The robin nesting in our backyard, ‘Clarkson’s Farm,’ Season 2, ‘White House Plumbers,’ debt ceiling, ‘Jimmy O. Yang: Guess How Much?,’ ‘Air’ (2023)
Another Week: Number 19
A week of personal ordeals, Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’ on ‘CBS Sunday Morning,’ ‘Somebody Somewhere: Season 2,’ ‘This Boy’s Life (1993)’
Another Week: Number 18
‘Stutz,’ verification in reverse, ‘Judy Blume Forever,’ ‘In Session: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Albert King.’ And do birds really eat grass seed?
Another Week: Number 16
Gun violence insanity, Chris O’Dowd in ‘The Big Door Prize,’ ‘On a Wing and a Prayer’ (2023), ‘Candy,’ and Jon Favreau’s ‘Chef’ (2014).
Another Week: Number 10
911 calls to report the Jupiter-Venus conjunction, A new bathroom scale, ‘To Leslie,’ Alex Murdaugh trial coverage, ‘The Naked Archaeologist.’
Another Week: Number 8
A death in my family, Super Bowl LVII, ‘Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark,’ Mike Pence fights a subpoena, ‘Nate Bargatze: Hello World,’ Bing + ChatGPT = HAL 9000?
Another Week: Number 7
‘80 for Brady’ bad reviews, website spring cleaning, 65th Annual Grammy Awards, President Biden’s State of the Union Address, Hallie Jackson exits MSNBC, ChatGPT: artificial intelligence for what?
Another Week: Number 6
Shrimp Cocktail, NFL Conference Championships, Tyre Nichols killed by Memphis Police, ‘He Gets Us’: $100 million ad campaign for Jesus, Three Pines, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Live at the Fillmore – 1997, Branson
Honey Boo Boo on CNN with Brooke Baldwin, John Berman
Here's a little TV moment that I'll be reliving in nightmares for a while. Apparently, "Honey Boo Boo" is the nickname of Alana Thompson, the breakout star of TLC's Toddlers & Tiaras beauty pageant show who will now be featured in her own TLC spinoff, Here Comes...
Potassium iodide: Thyroid protection from nuclear radiation
Watching coverage of the Japan nuclear meltdown over the last couple of days — as well as the related discussion of the risk of nuclear plant meltdown here in the United States — the distribution of potassium iodide there made me wonder: What does potassium iodide...
NBC’s Kerry Sanders reporting live while driving
This was a very odd sight today. It's NBC correspondent Kerry Sanders reporting live from Wellington, Florida about the dangers of teens and their "car surfing" (also known as "ghost riding"). For both the intro and outro of the story...
President Obama in Racine, Wisconsin
When news broke last weekend that President Barack Obama would be holding a town hall meeting here in Racine on June 30, the area media struggled to understand its purpose. On a national level, there is currently no sharper political analyst than MSNBC's Rachel...
Oil spills absorbed by donated hair booms: MatterOfTrust.org
Sitting down to work this morning, Amy read me a Facebook post from her friend Dana Boyle, who is looking for a way to spread the word that hair soaks up oil spills, and that hair can be donated to help cleanup efforts in the massive Gulf oil spill off Louisiana:...
Staffordshire, England: Metal detector finds gold treasure
(Photo courtesy of The Staffordshire Hoard website.) When the school year started a few weeks ago, I began hearing a strange beeping sound in the late afternoon. After a couple of days, I finally realized it was coming from some guy over at the school. He has been...
ABC’s ‘World News Now’ (or is it ‘America This Morning’?)
It has come to my attention that, as of June 12, all TV in the U.S will make the transition to digital. Because of this, I will probably lose a show I have been enjoying for the past year or so. Often, while Amy sleeps, I am already conscious and worrying about the...
Rick Sanchez and baby talk news
Rick Sanchez has that special something. It's more complicated than simply being someone people love to hate. There is a certain rare balance of unimaginable awfulness and underlying vulnerability that makes some of the world's biggest egos simply irresistible....
Election Day 2008: Live blog
9:17 a.m. — I've got some leftover sauce reheating in the microwave. I'll mix it with the egg noodles boiling on the stove and call it breakfast. MSNBC is on my TV, and I can see my local polling place from my living room window. It's 61 sunny and clear degrees...
The Atlantic: Magazines and coffee beans
One of the first realizations that hit me when the World Wide Web was emerging was that magazines were doomed. Suddenly, all the color and photos and graphics and layout possibilities of magazines could go through a wire along with the text, without waiting for...
Keith Olbermann’s special comments
I watch TV news all day long for a living, so it's unlikely that I would want to watch more of it when I'm finally off work at 7 p.m., and yet that's what I find myself doing these days. Radio legend Steve Dahl was a very early enthusiast of Countdown with Keith...