Wednesday, December 31, 2025

2025 in films

Ann and Stan here. Time of our annual look at film.  We got many things wrong this year.  ROOFMAN with Channing Tatum?  Not a box office hit.  Still a strong film -- very strong.  AFTER THE HUNT?  Not a bad movie (but it didn't make the top ten even with Julia Robert's brilliant performance) and not a TV movie which apparently alienated the few who saw it who needed everything predictable and on the nose to enjoy the film.  Robert Kennedy Junior not necessarily the kiss of death to a film career -- provided you really had no lines in the movie and no one who saw realized you played the mother in a coma.  If you were Alicia Silverstone and had no lines, you might be able to sale on through.  

If you were Zachary Levi?  We were right there -- his 'big' film for the year made it to number . . . 106.  Which means our prediction was true there and we'll continue to hold to our expectation that he'll end up on ONLY FANS demonstrating how big of a butt plug his anus will swallow and, for an additional 25 bucks, he'll shoot the video wearing an ass-less version of the SHAZAM costume.  


Also, we're not the only ones getting things wrong about movies.  Richard Linklater is one of the least talented directors of all time.  This year, his film failures included BLUE MOON starring professional disappointment Ethan Hawke who had his professional high in 1994 and could win an award for Actor Delivering The Same Performance In One Movie After Another.  BLUE MOON had us visiting GOOGLE AI to ask if any Richard Linklater films had featured gay characters?


Yes, Richard Linklater has featured 
LGBTQ+ characters in his films, most notably in his 2025 film Blue Moon, and has discussed the intentional gay subtext in other works like Everybody Wants Some!!. 
  • Blue Moon (2025): This biographical film centers on the life of famed lyricist Lorenz Hart, who was a gay man. Ethan Hawke stars as Hart, portraying his emotional struggles and his identity as a gay artist in a less accepting era.
  • Everybody Wants Some!! (2016): Linklater intentionally included "subtle homoerotic elements" and a "male gaze" that includes men in this film about college baseball players in 1980. He has mentioned that the "not inadvertent" subtext was inspired by his friend and mentor, a film critic who would view every movie through a gay lens. The film has been noted for its "unself-consciously homoerotic" scenes and characters.
  • Dazed and Confused (1993): Linklater has also mentioned an "accidental" homoerotic undercurrent in this earlier film, which he only realized after a script supervisor pointed out the guys' obsession with other boys' butts and the use of paddles. 
  • Bernie
    (2011): Based on a true story, this film stars Jack Black as Bernie Tiede, a flamboyant and well-loved community member in East Texas. The movie depicts him as a closeted gay man whose repressed emotions and life in a conservative town are central to the narrative surrounding his eventual crime.
While some of his earlier films' queer elements were initially unintended by Linklater, he has confirmed the deliberate inclusion of LGBTQ+ themes and characters in his more recent work.


We asked about gay character.  GOOGLE AI gave us Bernie in the film BERNIE.  Interesting.  When the film came out in 2012, Chris Azzopardi (DALLAS VOICE) interviewed Jack Black who played Bernie in the film:


Is Bernie Jack Black’s first gay role? As a small-town Texan teddy bear who goes off the deep end, it might be. But because the real-life man he’s playing isn’t out, we may never truly know.

Bernie is an offbeat black comedy based on a true story of a flamboyant people-pleaser who befriends the local she-devil, and then turns on her. As the titular mortician who is, as one townie calls him, “light in the loafers,” Black — known for fun-loving roles in School of Rock and Tropic Thunder, and a hilarious kidnapping cameo in last year’s The Muppets — is totally non-Black, playing Bernie Tiede with understated finesse, an effeminate lisp and an endearing touch.

We got Black on the phone for an exclusive chat about his maybe-gay turn, what he has in common with Bernie and how LGBT rights is a “no-brainer” issue for him.

[. . .]

What’s your take on Bernie’s sexuality? It’s implied in the film that he’s gay.  

You know, I met him and I talked to him and that is a question I probably should’ve asked. But I didn’t want to. It just felt personal, like none of my business. I don’t want to ask someone their [sexual orientation]; that’s for him to say. I mean, I’ve got my feelings — obviously I felt like I was playing him accurately — but he never came out himself, so I wouldn’t be bringing him out if he didn’t want to come out. It’s such a big part of who he is, and the character of Bernie, I feel like he’s got a secret he’s been living with his whole life. In a small town in east Texas, you’re not gonna come out and be all open. That speaks to the secrets that we carry.


So Linklater's gay character in films was  . . . Bernie who might have been gay, might not have been.  And Jack Black didn't even care enough to ask the real life Bernie if he were gay.  Jack Black says he didn't play a gay man he played a man who had a secret -- whatever that is.


GOOGLE AI, asked about characters, wants to instead talk about alleged subtext in other films.  And it wants to lie about Lorenz Hart in this year's BLUE MOON.  They are right that Lorenz Hart was gay (see Kat's "Richard Linklater") but they're wrong that he's gay in BLUE MOON.  That's just one of the many 'creative' moments (lies) Linklater put up on screen.  He's never had a gay character in his films -- he had a maybe-gay one -- and he's turning Lorenz Hart into a straight man.  How is this not something that was seriously addressed in 2025?


At any rate,  we got a few things right so we don't have to hang our heads in shame like we're the racist Sydney Sweeney whose bombs were so bad (ECHO VALLEY and CHRISTY) that liars in the industry are pretending she's finally got a big hit with Amanda Seyfried's THE HOUSEMAID when, in fact, big hits don't come in 38th for the year domestically.


Remember that word -- domestically --  because you won't understand the whoring industry trades without that word.


So here they are, our picks for the top ten films of 2025.


10) KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN


If there was an award for worst release campaign, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN would be battling AFTER THE HUNT for the statue.  The film never stood a chance and it bombed big with only 2 million dollars in domestic ticket sales.  That said, it's a wonderful film and Jennifer Lopez is amazing.  Maybe next time try not presenting a big budget musical on the independent film circuit and focus instead on selling tickets?

9) SONG SUNG BLUE


Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman sell a nice story with strong singing and genuine charisma.  We sadly do not see chemistry on the big screen very often these days despite being able to see it on HBO weekly with HEATED RIVALRY.  This film is independent, quirky and wild.  Most of all, a joy to watch.


8) BLACK BAG 



No offense to the many talented actors in this film -- including Cate Blanchett, Pierrce Brosnan, Michael Fassbender and Naomie Harris -- but for this film, only one name mattered: Steven Soderbergh.  A master filmmaker whose directing credits include SEX, LIES & VIDEOTAPE, ERIN BROKAVICH, MAGIC MIKE, OCEAN'S 11, OUT OF SIGHT, SIDE EFFECTS, TRAFFIC, LOGAN LUCKY, BEHIND THE CANDLELABRA, THE CHRISTOPHERS, THE UNDERNEATH, THE LIMEY, FULL FRONTAL . . .  He is one of the finest directors still working today and proves it again with the tight thriller BLACK BAG.

 

7) BUGONIA


This is the film that Alicia Silverstone's in but you don't notice her and she might as well have been a crash test dummy.  But it's a great film.  Emma Stone continues to choose challenging films.  In this one, two weirdos kidnap her -- one believing she's an alien from another galaxy.  They play cat-and-mouse with one another as the stakes get higher and higher and as it becomes clear that there's no easy ending coming, the stakes have gotten two high.


6) HOLLAND


 BUGONIA has some startling visuals.  But HOLLAND is truly amazing with not just a unique look but a unique universe.  Mimi Cave has directed a wonderful film that, like the events onscreen, are rarely what they seem.  A career high performance from Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman just kicks the film even higher.



5)  HAMNET


When we saw this one, it was reluctantly.  We thought this would be like a class assignment and worried our reaction would get us detention.  But Chloé Zhao isn't attempting to put us all too sleep with this inspired and fictional tale of William Shakespeare, she's trying to bring the period and the maybes to life and she succeeds so well the film's more like a snow day and nothing like a snore day.

4) SINNERS


Don't say were elitists.  This film, the first of three top ten movies for the year at the US box office, was a surprise from start to finish and gives Ryan Coogler a real shot at being nominated for best director at the 2026 Academy Awards.  If that's not reason enough to watch it, this is also the best horror film of the year.


3) WICKED: FOR GOOD


Another hit film in the US top ten box office for the year. This film is a testament to foresight.  Marc Platt believed in the project when it was a book being turned into a stage musical.  He believed it in as a film vehicle that two films would cover.  It'll end up either the sixth or fifth biggest grossing films for the year (as of Tuesday, it's the fifth but ZOOTOPIA 2 is nipping at its heels).  It has a first-rate cast -- Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Jeff Goldblum and Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh -- it's one of two films on our list with Michelle Yeoh. Jon M. Chu's directing is perfection.  It's a strong and worthy follow up.  

 


2)  NE ZHA 2


We should make this number one because it wraps up a few points we're making.  But number two isn't a bad spot to be at.  All of the ten movies we picked are worthy.  We could actually add on five more.  This is the only animated film that's on our list, by the way.  Michelle Yeoh?  She's a voice in the US version of the film.  We noted we were not elitists and this film proves.  It's the biggest film of 2025.  What's that?  You didn't hear about it?  The trades aren't writing about it?  No, they're not.  That's what we meant when we said "domestic" above.  This film is the number one film of 2025 for the whole world.  It is China's first ever film to cross the two-billion in ticket sales mark.  And the trades aren't telling you that and don't want to tell you that.  We've noted the sad and sorry state of US films since the pandemic.  This one proves our point.  The number one film in the world this year isn't an American film.  And that trend may continue if Hollywood continues attempting to turn Glen Powell, Sydney Sweeney and other actors America just doesn't care for into stars.  We've seen them.  We're done.  Thank you, next?  Congratulations to Jiaozi for such a great job directing NE ZHA 2. 



1) AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH

 

James Cameron's latest classic.  And the industry trades cover it how?  Oh, that's right, attacking its box office each week.  They did that for the first five weeks of AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER.  It was as though they were trying to destroy the film at the box office.  They're doing the same thing with the new film.  But in 12 days of release in 2025, it made it into the top ten biggest moneymaker films of 2025.  That's not a flop.  It's a masterpiece.  Cameron's created a world and we believe it because he's done such a great job.  Excellent performances by Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Edie Falco, Stephen Lang and CCH Pounder.  But especially Signourney Weaver and we'd like to take a moment to point out that in 1979 she starred in the film classic ALIEN and she followed that up with film classics like GHOSTBUSTERS, ALIENS, GORILLAS IN THE MIST, WORKING GIRL, GHOSTBUSTERS II, ALIENS 3, DAVE, DEATH IN THE MAIDEN, JEFFREY, THE ICE STORM, ALIEN RESSURRECTION,  GALAXY QUEST, HEARTBREAKERS, INFAMOUS, BABY MAMA, WALL*E, AVATAR, YOU AGAIN, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS, EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS, CHAPPIE . . . That only takes us to 2015.  Look at that filmography and grasp that Weaver does not get the appreciation she's earned.  She's had an amazing career and excelled in every genre.  We absolutely should celebrate James Cameron's mighty accomplishments with this film but we should also applaud Weaver. 


Be sure to read Ava and C.I.'s "Media: The best and the worst of TV showed up in December."

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"

Wednesday, December 31, 2025.  Diana Ross performing on ABC tonight, Chump's war on immigrants and I start the day by getting stabbed in the back.




Tonight on ABC, the legendary Diana Ross performs on DICK CLARK'S NEW YEAR'S ROCKIN' EVE  From the press release: 


ABC and Dick Clark Productions (DCP), the world's largest owner and producer of televised live event entertainment programming, announced that legend Diana Ross will illuminate Times Square and usher in the new year with a dazzling live performance as the 2026 headliner for "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest" (NYRE), the nation's most-watched New Year's Eve celebration. Ross anchors the most expansive and musically diverse telecast and lineup in the show's more than 50-year history, with 39 artists appearing across New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, Puerto Rico and more, live on Wednesday, Dec. 31, from 8:00 p.m.–4:00 a.m. EST on ABC, next day on Hulu.
Ross will step onto the world's most iconic stage to celebrate with millions and welcome a new year with style, magic and unforgettable music in what will be a defining moment in the show's history. Her headline performance promises a spectacular blend of glamour and a timeless medley of hits, including "I'm Coming Out" and "Upside Down," which has seen a 373% surge in streams since being featured in Season 5 of "Stranger Things." With 12 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s with The Supremes — the most of any American group or female group in history — and six solo Hot 100 No. 1s, Ross remains one of the most beloved and influential artists in pop culture.
"Together we begin a new year. Let's embrace a new beginning, new opportunities, new joy — a celebration of love, where we all come together as we begin 2026," said Ross.
Ross joins the previously announced lineup of superstar performers set to deliver electrifying sets across the show's multicity broadcast: 4 Non Blondes, 50 Cent, 6lack, AJR, BigXthaPlug, Chance the Rapper, Charlie Puth, Chappell Roan, Ciara, Demi Lovato, DJ Cassidy's Pass the Mic Live! Starring Busta Rhymes, T.I. & Wyclef Jean, Filmore, Goo Goo Dolls, Jess Glynne, Jessie Murph, Jordan Davis, KPop Demon Hunters: The Singing Voices of HUNTR/X – EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI, Leon Thomas, LE SSERAFIM, Lil Jon, Little Big Town, Madison Beer, Maren Morris, sponsored by Carnival Cruise Line, Mariah Carey, New Kids on the Block, OneRepublic, Pitbull, Post Malone, Rick Springfield, Russell Dickerson, The All-American Rejects, Tucker Wetmore and Zara Larsson.


The above isn't me being paid to include advertising.  No money greased my palm.  It's me noting a tremendous talent and a wonderful friend (Diana Ross) so if you're watching TV tonight, please, make a point to check it out.


Moving on . . .  


The year comes to an end and it's a different feeling, isn't it?  Fools and marks started the year lapping at Convicted Felon Donald Chump's crotch but by mid-year, even the most devoted weren't going anywhere near it.  They'd joined the rest of America in seeing Chump for the piece of crap he is.  All it took was his destroying the economy, lying non-stop, blaming every one of his failures on Joe Biden, destroying families, putting the country at risk of an attack and so much more.  


Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is only one person, a member of one family, that Chump has tried to destroy this year, only one person that has seen Chump break the law to attack and go after, abuse and misuse the power of his office to try to destroy.  Alan Feuer (NEW YORK TIMES) reports:


Federal prosecutors in Nashville have insisted in the past few months that senior Justice Department officials had no involvement in their decision to file charges against Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the immigrant who was wrongfully deported to El Salvador in March and then brought back to the United States to face indictment.

But on Tuesday, excerpts from several emails released by a federal judge overseeing Mr. Abrego Garcia’s criminal case appeared to directly contradict those assertions, suggesting that Justice Department leaders — including Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general — played a greater role in bringing the charges than prosecutors have acknowledged so far.

The emails, which were made public as part of a newly unsealed judicial order, largely reflected communications about the case that Robert E. McGuire, the acting U.S. attorney in Nashville, had with members of his staff and with Aakash Singh, a top official in Mr. Blanche’s office. They raised serious questions about whether the Justice Department had misled Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr., who is overseeing the case, by telling him that local prosecutors had acted alone in charging Mr. Abrego Garcia.

“These documents show that McGuire did not act alone and to the extent McGuire had input on the decision to prosecute, he shared it with Singh and others,” Judge Crenshaw wrote in the unsealed order. “Specifically, the government’s documents may contradict its prior representations that the decision to prosecute was made locally and that there were no outside influences.”

The administration is lying again.  And they're lying in a court of law again.  That was not part of the oath each member -- including the president -- had to take.  It is, in fact, a violation of their oaths.  They're violating their oaths and they've destroyed their own reputations by repeatedly lying to the courts. 

And that's especially true when it comes to immigrants. At THE ATLANTIC, Nancy Gertner lists some of their crimes -- yes, crimes, "ICE agents have detained suspected illegal immigrants without cause—including U.S. citizens and lawful residents. They have, in effect, kidnapped people, breaking into cars to make arrests. They have used tear gas and pepper spray on nonviolent protesters. They have refused to identify themselves, wearing masks, using unmarked cars, and switching license plates, presumably to avoid detection. They have kept people in detention without access to lawyers. They have questioned people simply for appearing Latino, speaking Spanish, and being in areas believed to be frequented by illegal immigrants."  These are crimes, they can't be prettied up.


And the whole thing gets even uglier the closer you look.  WOSU reports:


Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the Columbus area detained more than 214 people from December 17-23, according to the Ohio Immigrant Alliance (OIA). Among those detained were legally-authorized immigrants, people with legal work permits and pending immigration cases and at least two U.S. citizens.

[. . .]

The OIA released an analysis of those arrested in recent raids. They found 80% of those detained are Latino, and more than 90% male.

“80% of those arrests are Latino based on the internal report that we ran, which is appalling, which is considered as forced bias, we can say even racist targeting,” said Demba Ndiath, the Advocacy Director for the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.


While Latinos are the bulk of the ones being persecuted, they aren't the only ones.  Vahid Abedini, an Oklahoma University professor, was kidnapped by ICE in November and he's of Iranian descent.  The Middle East Studies Association released the following on Vahid:


The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) was disturbed to learn of the detention of Dr. Vahid Abedini, the Farzaneh Family Assistant Professor of Iranian Studies at the University of Oklahoma (OU). Dr. Abedini was detained on November 22 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) before boarding a flight to attend the MESA Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. 

Dr. Abedini is a political scientist working in the U.S. under an H-1B visa. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Florida International University and served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas prior to his employment at OU, where he currently teaches. 

MESA remains deeply concerned about the circumstances of the detention of Dr. Abedini, a MESA member.

Update: Dr. Abedini has been released from detention.


Three days after his kidnapping -- he was attempting to participate in a DC conference, he was released. Mark Arsenault (NEW YORK TIMES) reported


It is still unclear why Dr. Abedini was arrested. Dr. Abedini posted on his LinkedIn page early Tuesday morning that he was “relieved to share that I was released from custody tonight.”

“It was a deeply distressing experience, especially seeing those without the support I had,” he wrote. He thanked friends and colleagues at the university, the Middle East Studies Association “and the wider Iran studies and political science community for helping resolve this.”

[. . .]

Other international scholars have been caught up in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown this year, such as the Georgetown researcher Badar Khan Suri, a native of India, and Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University graduate student from Turkey. Both were arrested and detained last spring but were ultimately released after legal challenges arose.

Sina Azodi, assistant professor of Middle East politics at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, said Dr. Abedini’s detainment would have a chilling effect on international scholars in the United States. Mr. Azodi said he did not know Dr. Abedini extremely well but they had met several times.

Mr. Azodi, who said he was an American citizen originally from Iran, added that many international scholars were being “forced into silence” by fear of arrest. “They are afraid to speak and to write what they think in papers,” he said.


Everything about what was done to Vahid is wrong, sad and scary.  Scary?  Homeland Security's Tricia McLaughlin is a known liar who should be subject of a Congressional investigation for the sweetheart -- and unethical -- deal Homeland Security's Kristi Noem gave Tricia's husband -- is quoted stating that Vahid "was detained for standard questioning and was released."


In route to a conference, Vahid is kidnapped, held for days, and this is "standard"?  Who approved Tricia?  Did she just go through an auditing with Pam da Bimbo Bondi or did the 'church' approve her as well?  Pam, how much is your secret faith influencing our government?  How much do the American people know?  Is the cross you were an attempt to hide your ties to Scientology?  If the average American knew about those ties to that cult -- it's not a religion, it's a cult -- would they dislike you even more than you do?  I know you pretend to be Catholic, but, Pam, it's a pretense.  And Americans aren't real fond of non-Christians who try to trick them into believing that they are followers of Jesus Christ.  That cross is just a little disguise for Pam.  Did she audit Tricia?  How many Scientologists are in Chump's inner circle?


At any rate, Vahid was mistreated and William C. Wertz (THE OKLAHOMAN) notes today that ICE owes him an apology.  ICE and Chump owe him an apology, they owe the entire country an apology.


Maher Tarabishi?  He has a green card.  He's been kidnapped as well.  Priscilla Rice (KERA) reports:


The family of an Arlington man detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is making a plea to President Donald Trump for his immediate release.

Maher Tarabishi is the primary caregiver for his 30-year-old son, Wael, who was recently hospitalized for the second time since his father was detained in October. Wael is a U.S. citizen who suffers from Pompe disease, a rare genetic condition that causes muscle deterioration and has left him bedridden.

Speaking Tuesday morning outside the Methodist Mansfield Medical Center, family and advocates pleaded for Maher Tarabishi’s humanitarian release so he can care for his son while his case is underway.

“Studies tell that when the family is there, the patients survive,” said Dr. Bilal Piracha, an ER physician from another hospital who is not treating Wael but is helping the family. “And when the families are not there, the patients are in pain.”

Piracha said the trauma of his father’s detention is affecting Wael’s medical condition. He is not able to eat or drink, and his feeding tube is not working, Piracha asaid.


In a long form journalism piece for THE NEW YORK TIMES, Luis Ferré-Sadurní reports:


In just 11 months, about 500,000 people would be deported in an unrelenting campaign celebrated by those who saw it as long overdue and lamented by those who saw it as inhumane.

Over the year, the deportations forced Americans, even those who welcomed the stepped-up enforcement, to reckon with the human consequences of rounding up and expelling people from their streets.

Homes were emptied. Families were splintered. Neighborhoods were subdued.

In the kitchen of a buzzy Manhattan pub and bistro, where a Guatemalan line cook stopped showing up, a chef was left scrambling for answers.

Electric bicycles littered sidewalks in Chicago and Washington after the riders were detained while making deliveries.

In the New York suburbs, Maria Priego huddled for dinner with her four children, leaving empty the chair where her husband, Alejandro Juarez, had sat every night before he was deported to Mexico after 20 years in the United States.

And in Georgia, a family cleaned white Nike sneakers, hoping to ship them to El Salvador, where two brothers, Josué, 19, and José Trejo Lopez, 20, were deported in May after growing up in the United States.

 

Chump has turned communities into ghost towns.  He should be held accountable for his hate and for his illegal actions.



Democracy Forward's Skye L. Perryman addressed the lies of the administration in the MS NOW video above. The lies have destroyed so many lives.  Taylor Dolven and Sandra Fish (COLORADO SUN) reports:

In just one Sunday in April, immigration officers arrested at least 72 people in Colorado, data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows, the busiest day for immigration enforcement in the state so far since President Donald Trump took office in January.

That day, federal agents from several agencies raided a Colorado Springs nightclub, arresting dozens of people they suspected of being in the country illegally.

“Colorado Springs is waking up to a safer community today,” Jonathan Pullen, special agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Rocky Mountain Division, said after the raid.

But newly released data shows that just nine of the 72 people ICE agents arrested in Colorado that day were marked by the agency as having any prior criminal convictions. ICE said the convictions were for a traffic offense, obstruction, assault, illegal entry, driving under the influence, heroin smuggling and marijuana possession.

 

They lie.  And then they lie again.  Chump is just a liar.  

I want to be done with this post.  Let me explain what's going on.


I feel stabbed in the back.  Not the first time.  But there's an outlet that we note about once a month because it's run by an old friend.  I started dictating the snapshot this morning hours ago.  At one point, I had to stop because 30 calls had come in -- right now it's almost seven o'clock in the morning -- I'm in the Pacific time zone.  And 30 calls that early in the morning, what is going on?


So I returned a few.  Friends who are outraged on my behalf.  Have I seen it?


Have I seen what?

At that friend's outlet, that friend has written a defense of a man.  He shouldn't be defending the man.  He's hero worshipped him for years -- the friend, now former friend, has daddy issues and he's worshiped a piece of garbage for years.  People on the left right now are sort of awakening to the fact that hero was a scoundrel.


And he was.

He's the one who tried to recruit me into the CIA -- I had huge analytical skills as demonstrated on the test I had to take to get into grad school.  His whole career has been about not calling out the CIA -- hero's career.  His work has white washed CIA actions.  And the reason is because the hero has long worked with the CIA  It's not unlike Gloria Steinem who at least has had the good sense to crawl under a rock for the last four or so years.  May she stay under that rock.

Like Gloria who worked with the CIA because she was in favor of their goals, hero did as well.




And my now former friend (who's attempted to call me three times in the last hour and I'm not answering and I'm not calling back) is defending that man.


Now when I went back to hero after the interview he set up -- I thought I was just meeting one of hero's friends for lunch and praying it wasn't a romantic set up -- I confronted him and he didn't just cop to it, he tried to cop a feel.  He seemed to think he could 'comfort' me or maybe he was turned on by being discovered.


The former friend who wrote that piece?  He also knows that happened.


So he shouldn't be trying to white wash his hero and insist that his hero never did anything wrong to women.  I've been very kind about hero.  So have other women.  I slapped his face hard and that didn't deter him.  I had to fight him off.   Other women who fought his advances weren't always so lucky. 


 (Make me mad and try to physically harm me and you better kill me because I will physically destroy you -- I won't feel whatever you're doing -- punching, kicking -- I will only be focused on physically stopping you and that might mean I bite your nose until you get off me as one writer knows because he still carries that scar and when he attacked me on KPFA in the '00s, I reminded him of that -- that if I wanted to come forward about his assault, it wasn't going to be just my word or my journal entries in real time or the friends I'd told about the assault, it would also be my teeth marks that still, all these years later, are visible on his nose if you look for them.) 


Former friend should grasp that a lot of us have been kind over the years but when he writes garbage like that, it angers us and makes it more likely for us to write something like ______ Assaulted Me And The Left Needs To Stop Defending And Excusing Him.  I could write that right now.


I was just trying to get through the morning.  Get a snapshot pulled together and get on with my day.  Instead, I had to keep stopping and post another video to this page to buy some more time to try to do a simple snapshot.


I'm officially triggered.  I've used that phrase while writing and speaking of others.  But for a friend to betray me by defending a man who tried to assault me?  I haven't felt this betrayed in many, many years.  And stop calling me, former friend, there's no excuse for what you did.  The man will thankfully be dead soon.  He didn't need you rushing to his defense.  But you've needed many times.  The next time your outlet needs money, don't come to me.  We are not friends anymore.  


Again, my intent was to have a real snapshot this morning and I'm sorry that it's not.  I'm sorry that I'm really struggling to deal with the fact that someone I considered a friend has stabbed in the back rushing to defend a man who tried to assault me.


The following sites updated: 

 



Sigourney Weaver as Kiri, the daughter of Dr. Grace Augustine's Na'vi avatar, who was adopted by Jake and Neytiri.[10]

Weaver also reprises her role as Dr. Grace Augustine, who appears as a spirit.[11]

Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch, formerly a human military commander who led the forces of the RDA, the human organization colonizing Pandora, and died in their conflict with the Na'vi in the first film. He and other fallen soldiers were later resurrected as Na'vi "Recombinants". He seeks revenge against Jake and his family, but demonstrates interest in a relationship with his son Miles "Spider" Socorro.[12]

 CCH Pounder as Mo'at, the Omaticaya's spiritual leader and Neytiri's mother.[25][26]

Edie Falco as General Frances Ardmore, Quaritch's superior as commander







Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Subclade K of influenza

Just noting something of new value that I think we should all be aware of.  Jonathan Lambert and Gabrielle Emanuel (NPR's All Things Considered) report:

Flu season is off to a rough start this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the virus arrived as expected, cases are rising faster, compared with previous years.

Last week, more than 19,000 patients with influenza were admitted to hospitals, up about 10,000 from the previous week, according to new CDC data. To date, the CDC estimates at least 7.5 million people have been sickened, and over 3,100 people have died from the flu.

The surge seems to be driven primarily by a new strain of the virus — subclade K of influenza A(H3N2) — that emerged in Australia over the summer.

"Anywhere we detect this virus, you can see a large surge of influenza cases coming afterwards," says Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In the U.S., "the timing is not that much different from other flu seasons, but the number of cases, and how quickly those cases are increasing is something that is not usually seen this time of year."

New York has been hit especially hard, with state health officials announcing over 71,000 cases last week — the most cases ever recorded in a single week in the state. But other states are seeing high levels of flu activity, particularly in the northeast, midwest and south.

"The map is mostly red," says Pekosz, indicating high levels of disease that will likely increase over the coming weeks.


One of the worst things about 2025 was seeing con artist Robert Kennedy Jr. ruin the nation's health.


This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Tuesday, December 30, 2025.  As Chump continues to decay, he destroys the economy and proves himself to be the failure so many always told him he was.



ADDED four minutes after THE SNAPSHOT posted. MEIDASTOUCH NEWS video on MTG.




US House Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene has revealed that when Chump tried to pressure her into taking her name off the call for the release of The Epstein Files, he screamed at her that his friends were going to be hurt if that happened.  Again, this was added four minutes after THE SNAPSHOT originally posted, all below is from the original posting.


Let's start with the economy going into the new year.  Nick Lichtenberg (FORTUNE) reports;


The weakest job market since 2011 is increasingly being framed not as a glitch, but as the new normal—one where growth roars and jobs barely move, leaving a generation asking, “Dude, where’s my job?”

Bank of America Global Research’s “Situation Room” note warned in mid-December that markets are priced for a robust 2026 even as hiring stalls and unemployment rises and recalled a now 25-year-old cult classic stoner comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott to make its point.

The entry-level worker would be forgiven, in other words, for feeling about their job search the way Kutcher and Scott felt about their stolen wheels. (In fact, the screenwriter of Dude, Where’s My Car? had a similar take on the show-business labor market, telling The Hollywood Reporter several weeks ago that he’d quit to become a therapist.)

​“The job market has been weak this year,” wrote BofA’s Yuri Seliger and Sohyun Marie Lee, commenting on the double payroll report showing weak job growth in October and November. “A lack of recovery in the jobs market and a slower U.S. economy are key risks to watch for in 2026.”

Seliger and Lee flagged what they called the weakest U.S. job market since at least 2011 (with the notable exception of the mass layoff wave from COVID), with growth in monthly payrolls averaging just 17,000 over the past six months—by far the slowest pace of job creation since the Global Financial Crisis. Private payrolls are only modestly stronger at 44,000 on a six‑month average basis, still at their weakest level in well over a decade, while broader U‑6 underemployment has climbed to 8.7% and job openings per unemployed worker have slumped to 1.0, both the softest since 2017. 


And FORTUNE's Nick Lichtenberg reports:


A stark new economic analysis reveals the Trump administration’s trade policies are extracting a heavy toll from Main Street, with small-business importers paying approximately $25,000 more per month in tariff costs since April 2025. The report, published Dec. 17 by the Center for American Progress (CAP), a left-wing think tank, details how a “chaotic approach” to trade and the elimination of key import exceptions have created a financial crisis for entrepreneurs during the critical holiday season.

According to the analysis by Michael Negron and Mimla Wardak, the administration’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement triggered a sharp increase in duties collected from American businesses. From April through September 2025, CAP estimated, the roughly 236,000 small-business importers in the U.S. paid an average of more than $151,000 in additional tariffs compared to the same period in 2024. (CAP cited the centrist Chamber of Commerce’s research on the small-business importer sector of the economy.)

“The Trump administration’s broad, costly, and frequently shifting policies threaten to undermine one of the strongest engines of the American economy,” Negron said in a statement to Fortune. “A season of opportunity for small businesses has turned into one of uncertainty.”


With regards to small businesses, the Convicted Felon is screwing over the very people who supported him.  Paul Krugman points out, "Owners of small businesses are, on average, a strongly right-leaning group. Indeed, along with white Christian nationalists, they are one of the core components of the MAGA base. And small business owners celebrated Donald Trump’s victory last fall."  Krugman offers:

But big corporations were much better positioned than small businesses to bear the cost of certifying that the goods they import are “USMCA-compliant.”

Finally, under Trump the United States has moved rapidly toward crony capitalism, a situation in which businesses with strong political connections get favorable treatment. Under this system, big businesses can in effect buy themselves a privileged position. Small businesses can’t.

For example, Apple has so far dodged most of the negative impact of Trump’s tariffs. Over the summer Trump imposed punitive tariffs on India, which is where most iPhones sold in the United States are produced. But for some reason smartphones were exempted from Trump’s India tariffs. What’s the logic behind this exemption? Might it have something to do with the fact that Apple is helping to pay for the construction of the grotesque ballroom that Trump is building to replace the demolished East Wing of the White House?

All of these factors help explain the trends shown in the chart at the top of this post: 2025 was a difficult year for many businesses not benefiting from the AI boom, but it was especially hard on small business.


The economy is screwed up.  It's among the many reasons young men are turning against Donald Chump in such large numbers -- see Mike's "Fake males Donald Chump, Joe Rogan and JD Vance" for more reasons.  Jobs.  Where are the jobs?  Going, going, gone to somewhere else.  Economist Dean Baker (BEAT THE PRESS) explains:


In Donald Trump’s imagination, trillions of dollars are being invested in the United States. In the real world, factory construction, adjusted for inflation, was down by more than 10 percent from its year ago level, as of August (the most recent data available). Manufacturing employment, based on the data in the monthly employment reports, was down by 73,000 jobs year-over-year in November. 

But the actual story on manufacturing employment may be somewhat worse than the monthly jobs data show. The monthly jobs data are based on the Current Employment Situation (CES), a survey that goes to 120,000 businesses and governmental units every month. While it generally gives a reasonably accurate picture of the economy, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has to impute jobs gained for new firms that are not included in the survey and for firms that don’t answer the survey because they have gone out of business. This “birth-death” imputation tends to be inaccurate when the economy hits a turning point, like a recession.


Since the start of the year, MS NOW's Stephanie Ruhle has noted one of the key problems with Chump's tariffs, for what he has said he is trying to pull off requires moving a lot of manufacturing to this country and that requires manufacturing facilities which do not sprout leaves and buds and grow overnight.  There were no plans for building new manufacturing facilities in the US.  And even if there were, is there really a labor force left in the country to absorb an increase in massive construction?  Berenice Garcia (TEXAS TRIBUNE) reported last week:


One morning in mid-November, Mario Guerrero, the executive director of the South Texas Builders Association, was checking a group chat when a video of federal agents detaining people from a construction site popped up.

He watched the video of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detaining workers who were pouring cement in front of a home in an idyllic neighborhood here in the Rio Grande Valley.

For nearly a year, Guerrero had seen similar videos or read news reports of arrests and raids. This was the last straw.

The raids and the specter of more to come have struck fear in construction workers, causing many to stay home. ICE agents have arrested more than 9,100 people in South Texas — nearly one-fifth of all such arrests in the entire state since Trump took office, according to government data provided by ICE in response to a FOIA request to the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by the Texas Tribune.

Without enough workers, construction has slowed, sending a ripple effect throughout the economy. Economists suggest that this will drive housing costs up — even as Texas officials focus on bringing such costs down.


That's what happens when you put an idiot conman into the White House. There is no 'synergy,' there is no real plan.  Just a lot of 'concepts' that distract from how stupid the idiot truly is.  He's a con man who thinks he can trick you with a shell game, he thinks his words will make you believe what's happening isn't actually happening and he'll be able to run his con game just a little bit longer.


Callum Jones and Aliya Uteuova (GUARDIAN) note, "The US economy is thriving, according to Donald Trump: jobs are surging, prices are falling, wages are soaring. The government’s own official statistics paint a more complicated picture of 2025."  And Chump's nothing but a liar.


That is the key to his floundering all these years.  Rakes and worse have been elevated in NYC society since before the days of Edith Wharton.  Outright liars?  Not really.  And that's why Chump had to haul his fat ass to Florida -- the state of relocation -- long, long ago.  He lacked class.  He lacked money.  And he lacked honesty.  He was just a cheap grifter and one scheme after another left others broke as he cut and run with the money.  He's hoping his con job this go round lasts long enough for him to be out of the White House while it's just noticeable water leaks in the subpar construction of one of his casinos.  I don't think he's going to be that lucky.  I don't believe this is anything that can be faux fixed by setting some buckets out in the hallways.  


Donald Chump is the little bitch who didn't get the homecoming queen sash years ago and spends the rest of his life complaining about it, in other words, he's Riley Gaines.  


Riley can't get over being a loser --she's so like Chump.  Three years ago, she came in sixth -- she didn't tie for fifth, Lia Thomas actually beat her by something like a fraction of a second.  But they were kind and called fifth place a tie.  And it's bit them in the ass ever since.  Riley is  loser.  She may have been on steroids at the time, that would explain the boyish and the breasts that never really developed.  She's a physical joke and face is repugnant.  I'm a good judge on faces.  Sometimes people listen, sometimes they don't.  Those who don't later regret it like a friend who cast a man with a repugnant face in the lead of his romantic film almost a decade ago and that was the last film my friend ever directed.  He hasn't directed one since and there's no cavalry riding to the rescue to save him.  His career's over.  And he directed several films that made money.  And one bomb -- the one starring a character actor with bad facial structure.  Riley has a bizarre and, yes, ugly face.  


And Donald Chump is just like her.


Attorney General Pam Bondi has confirmed that the Department of Justice is investigating “lawfare” under former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden that she believes amounts to an “ongoing criminal conspiracy.”

In an interview with conservative outlet Just The News, Bondi said she asked prosecutors to probe what she termed the “ongoing election-meddling conspiracy” that she claimed was used to persecute President Donald Trump and his supporters, while protecting Democrats.


So while the economy has tanked, Chump has wasted his time 'on the clock' -- as have these other in the administration taking our tax dollars -- obsessing over the past.


Riley Gaines was never a world class swimmer.  She never made it to first place in any real adult race.  She was a loser who dreamed of being the best at swimming and now she's left with her failure.  Donald's only success has been as a grifter which even he can't take pride in.  He's going out a failure -- like his father always told him would happen.  


 


Ewan Gleadow (RAW STORY) reports:


The Republican Party is waiting for Donald Trump to "quit or die," according to a political analyst who believes the party will struggle next year. 

The 2026 midterms could be a blowout for Republican candidates, with many dropping out of the race before it really starts. Abrupt resignations and shock retirements throughout the GOP, including ex-Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene and recently Virginia state Senator Bryan Reeves, have sent the party into turmoil.

Salon's Amanda Marcotte, writing in her Substack, noted that "Virginia state Sen. Bryan Reeves abruptly quit his campaign [Sunday] against an incumbent Democratic senator, Mark Warner of Virginia."

"Reeves gave the usual family excuses, but then basically admitted that there’s no point in running when Trump is the party’s leader. 'We must stop the infighting, regroup, and unite behind principled leadership worthy of our cause,' he posted on X."

"As I wrote earlier this month, Republicans are in a holding pattern, basically waiting for Trump to die or finally quit politics, with the latter feeling almost like a pipe dream at this point in time. Some of them increasingly seem to understand that they don’t really have a political party, just a cult of personality. Their best hope is to bide their time and plan on rebuilding the GOP from the ashes once Trump is gone."


Even Karl Rove appears to grasp that.




Let's wind down by noting some Epstein coverage.



 


 

 

The following sites updated: