Jefficus
@spiraljazz.bsky.social
Optimist, realist, and always seeking the truth and the beauty both.
Also jazz.
(Struggling of course with the optimism these days)
Also jazz.
(Struggling of course with the optimism these days)
Reposted by Jefficus
"The competition to come up with the definitive contrarian takedown of the film is now a Christmas sub-tradition....Every year I read them and laugh, knowing the movie will bury them all. But there has always been one criticism I found harder to ignore."
There Is No Mary Problem in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
George’s vision of his wife without him is essential to the film, but critics continue to miss its true—and profound—meaning.
lnk.thebulwark.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:31 AM
"The competition to come up with the definitive contrarian takedown of the film is now a Christmas sub-tradition....Every year I read them and laugh, knowing the movie will bury them all. But there has always been one criticism I found harder to ignore."
Reposted by Jefficus
Today in The December Comfort Watches: This is Spinal Tap. Because it's one of the funniest movies of all time, and I think Rob Reiner would want us to remember to feel joy, even, and especially, when surrounded by sadness.
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/15/t...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/15/t...
The December Comfort Watches 2025, Day Fifteen: This is Spinal Tap
For more than two weeks, I had it on my schedule to write about This is Spinal Tap today, December 15, 2025. The day before this, director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer were (allegedly) m…
whatever.scalzi.com
December 16, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Today in The December Comfort Watches: This is Spinal Tap. Because it's one of the funniest movies of all time, and I think Rob Reiner would want us to remember to feel joy, even, and especially, when surrounded by sadness.
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/15/t...
whatever.scalzi.com/2025/12/15/t...
Reposted by Jefficus
Two babies were born in New York within a year of each other, soon after WWII.
One, Rob Reiner, lived a life of humanity and achievement. He brought us delight and joy. His memory will be a blessing.
The other, Donald Trump, will be remembered as an embarrassment to our nation.
One, Rob Reiner, lived a life of humanity and achievement. He brought us delight and joy. His memory will be a blessing.
The other, Donald Trump, will be remembered as an embarrassment to our nation.
December 15, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Two babies were born in New York within a year of each other, soon after WWII.
One, Rob Reiner, lived a life of humanity and achievement. He brought us delight and joy. His memory will be a blessing.
The other, Donald Trump, will be remembered as an embarrassment to our nation.
One, Rob Reiner, lived a life of humanity and achievement. He brought us delight and joy. His memory will be a blessing.
The other, Donald Trump, will be remembered as an embarrassment to our nation.
Reposted by Jefficus
Arizona, the model for voucher programs across the country, spent so much money paying private schoolers’ tuition that it faced hundreds of millions in budget cuts to critical state programs and projects last year.
(Published July 2024)
(Published July 2024)
School Vouchers Were Supposed to Save Taxpayer Money. Instead They Blew a Massive Hole in Arizona’s Budget.
Arizona, the model for voucher programs across the country, has spent so much money paying private schoolers’ tuition that it’s now facing hundreds of millions in budget cuts to critical state program...
www.propublica.org
December 16, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Arizona, the model for voucher programs across the country, spent so much money paying private schoolers’ tuition that it faced hundreds of millions in budget cuts to critical state programs and projects last year.
(Published July 2024)
(Published July 2024)
Reposted by Jefficus
It is rare that i reach out to as many trump advisers and officials that I did today and get literally no one willing to defend this, even off the record.
"Trump Dances on Rob Reiner's Grave"
BREAKING: Trump Dances on Rob Reiner’s Grave
Even for President Donald Trump, this is sickening.
zeteo.com
December 16, 2025 at 2:17 AM
It is rare that i reach out to as many trump advisers and officials that I did today and get literally no one willing to defend this, even off the record.
Reposted by Jefficus
I still remember the night they banned smoking inside NYC bars and restaurants. So many articles claiming it would be the end of NYC nightlife.
It was 2003.
Things can change. Faster than you might think.
It was 2003.
Things can change. Faster than you might think.
I lived thru the end of public smoking. Early in my career I presented to city councils who were smoking, in front of audiences who were smoking.
Smoking in restaurants, airplanes, hospitals…
All of that seems insane now, but it was very controversial when we DID change it.
We CAN change things.
Smoking in restaurants, airplanes, hospitals…
All of that seems insane now, but it was very controversial when we DID change it.
We CAN change things.
It’s crazy that people used to be able to just smoke cigarettes wherever they wanted
December 16, 2025 at 2:34 AM
I still remember the night they banned smoking inside NYC bars and restaurants. So many articles claiming it would be the end of NYC nightlife.
It was 2003.
Things can change. Faster than you might think.
It was 2003.
Things can change. Faster than you might think.
Reposted by Jefficus
Trump busy bringing back measles, farm bailouts, ISIS, tax cuts for the rich, out of control military spending, conflicts with allies, millions without health insurance, food stamp cuts, military parades, pardons for drug traffickers, pollution, and foreign wars.
December 16, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Trump busy bringing back measles, farm bailouts, ISIS, tax cuts for the rich, out of control military spending, conflicts with allies, millions without health insurance, food stamp cuts, military parades, pardons for drug traffickers, pollution, and foreign wars.
Reposted by Jefficus
CHARLIE BROWN: Lucy, what is this play we’re putting on?
LUCY: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
CHARLIE BROWN: That’s a Christmas play?
LUCY: Charlie Brown. In this age of mob thinking, it is our duty to resist the crowd.
LUCY: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
CHARLIE BROWN: That’s a Christmas play?
LUCY: Charlie Brown. In this age of mob thinking, it is our duty to resist the crowd.
Bari Weiss’s A Charlie Brown Christmas
Sixty years ago, A Charlie Brown Christmas made its debut on CBS. Today, as part of CBS’s new initiative to modernize content, CBS Editor-in-Chief ...
buff.ly
December 16, 2025 at 2:49 AM
CHARLIE BROWN: Lucy, what is this play we’re putting on?
LUCY: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
CHARLIE BROWN: That’s a Christmas play?
LUCY: Charlie Brown. In this age of mob thinking, it is our duty to resist the crowd.
LUCY: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
CHARLIE BROWN: That’s a Christmas play?
LUCY: Charlie Brown. In this age of mob thinking, it is our duty to resist the crowd.
Reposted by Jefficus
In case you have never seen this.
December 13, 2025 at 10:38 PM
In case you have never seen this.
Reposted by Jefficus
In 1993, Trump signed mortgages for 2 homes in Florida, claiming each as his principal residence.
He does not appear to have ever lived in either, let alone used them as a principal residence. They were investment properties & rented out.
Yet he accuses others of fraud?
#USDemocracy #Voices4Victory
He does not appear to have ever lived in either, let alone used them as a principal residence. They were investment properties & rented out.
Yet he accuses others of fraud?
#USDemocracy #Voices4Victory
Trump’s Own Mortgages Match His Description of Mortgage Fraud, Records Reveal — ProPublica
The Trump administration has argued that Fed board member Lisa Cook may have committed mortgage fraud by declaring more than one primary residence on her loans. We found Trump once did the very thing ...
apple.news
December 12, 2025 at 6:58 PM
In 1993, Trump signed mortgages for 2 homes in Florida, claiming each as his principal residence.
He does not appear to have ever lived in either, let alone used them as a principal residence. They were investment properties & rented out.
Yet he accuses others of fraud?
#USDemocracy #Voices4Victory
He does not appear to have ever lived in either, let alone used them as a principal residence. They were investment properties & rented out.
Yet he accuses others of fraud?
#USDemocracy #Voices4Victory
Reposted by Jefficus
I was going to just share an excerpt of this great @donmoyn.bsky.social piece, but there are too many excerpts worth sharing. Just read the whole thing. If you care about governance, democracy, and the rule of law, these issues are crucial. open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
At will? Whose will?
Removing independent agency heads is part of a broader assault on a nonpartisan government
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 12:43 PM
I was going to just share an excerpt of this great @donmoyn.bsky.social piece, but there are too many excerpts worth sharing. Just read the whole thing. If you care about governance, democracy, and the rule of law, these issues are crucial. open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
Reposted by Jefficus
As with everything he says, this is wildly uninformed. Formula keeps getting better and saves lives. And modern research indicates that outcomes are roughly the same. There are reasons to breastfeed but your child isn’t suffering if you don’t
RFK Jr: "All of the ingenuity of corporate America has not produced an infant formula that is superior in nutrition and all the qualities that we want to the infant formula that God made, which is the infant formula in a mother's breast."
December 8, 2025 at 10:14 PM
As with everything he says, this is wildly uninformed. Formula keeps getting better and saves lives. And modern research indicates that outcomes are roughly the same. There are reasons to breastfeed but your child isn’t suffering if you don’t
Reposted by Jefficus
Egg producers suspect bird flu is traveling through the air.
The USDA didn’t test the theory after a disastrous Midwestern outbreak.
Here’s how we did.
By @natlash.bsky.social
The USDA didn’t test the theory after a disastrous Midwestern outbreak.
Here’s how we did.
By @natlash.bsky.social
How ProPublica Investigated a Bird Flu Outbreak in America’s Heartland
Early this year, bird flu ripped through 80 farms in Ohio and Indiana. Using genetic markers, wind simulations, satellite imagery, property records and more, we found that the virus could’ve been airb...
www.propublica.org
December 8, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Egg producers suspect bird flu is traveling through the air.
The USDA didn’t test the theory after a disastrous Midwestern outbreak.
Here’s how we did.
By @natlash.bsky.social
The USDA didn’t test the theory after a disastrous Midwestern outbreak.
Here’s how we did.
By @natlash.bsky.social
Reposted by Jefficus
Marc Elias is one of the heroes of our time, leaving Big Law to fight this assault on democracy at every level. Heather Cox Richardson is my second inspiration, using her deep history knowledge to show how these disparate attacks fit larger patterns—and to chart a path forward against all adversity.
Some news as I try to bring some order to all the different things I do:
American Conversations: Marc Elias
Hi Folks:
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Marc Elias is one of the heroes of our time, leaving Big Law to fight this assault on democracy at every level. Heather Cox Richardson is my second inspiration, using her deep history knowledge to show how these disparate attacks fit larger patterns—and to chart a path forward against all adversity.
Reposted by Jefficus
"They wanted this to go differently."
The crackdown isn’t going as planned. Courts are blocking schemes, cities are pushing back, and protesters are making life very uncomfortable for Trump’s enforcers.
@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and @timmiller.bsky.social explain how resistance is working.
The crackdown isn’t going as planned. Courts are blocking schemes, cities are pushing back, and protesters are making life very uncomfortable for Trump’s enforcers.
@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and @timmiller.bsky.social explain how resistance is working.
December 8, 2025 at 11:12 PM
"They wanted this to go differently."
The crackdown isn’t going as planned. Courts are blocking schemes, cities are pushing back, and protesters are making life very uncomfortable for Trump’s enforcers.
@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and @timmiller.bsky.social explain how resistance is working.
The crackdown isn’t going as planned. Courts are blocking schemes, cities are pushing back, and protesters are making life very uncomfortable for Trump’s enforcers.
@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and @timmiller.bsky.social explain how resistance is working.
Reposted by Jefficus
The fact that our country did this once was already unconscionable.
To have revived it is truly depraved.
Those responsible belong in prison - all the way up the chain of command.
To have revived it is truly depraved.
Those responsible belong in prison - all the way up the chain of command.
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:50 PM
The fact that our country did this once was already unconscionable.
To have revived it is truly depraved.
Those responsible belong in prison - all the way up the chain of command.
To have revived it is truly depraved.
Those responsible belong in prison - all the way up the chain of command.
Reposted by Jefficus
“When a government uses the imagery of death to project strength, it is no longer fighting terrorism; it’s rehearsing dictatorship.”
www.timesofisrael.com/far-right-mk...
www.timesofisrael.com/far-right-mk...
Far-right MKs sport noose-shaped pins at hearing on controversial death penalty bill
Ben Gvir draws condemnation after display at Knesset meeting; MKs pushing bill mandating capital punishment are told its language may not be constitutional
www.timesofisrael.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:52 PM
“When a government uses the imagery of death to project strength, it is no longer fighting terrorism; it’s rehearsing dictatorship.”
www.timesofisrael.com/far-right-mk...
www.timesofisrael.com/far-right-mk...
Reposted by Jefficus
Abbe Lowell, the attorney who is representing Letitia James: “I can't tell you a time in the federal system...where a federal prosecutor thought a case was strong enough to bring to a grand jury, and the grand jury said no.” @kaitlancollins.bsky.social
December 5, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Abbe Lowell, the attorney who is representing Letitia James: “I can't tell you a time in the federal system...where a federal prosecutor thought a case was strong enough to bring to a grand jury, and the grand jury said no.” @kaitlancollins.bsky.social
Reposted by Jefficus
The US government is summarily executing people on a weekly basis without telling the American people any of their names or presenting any proof of their guilt, for alleged crimes that do not carry the death penalty in the US.
December 6, 2025 at 2:17 PM
The US government is summarily executing people on a weekly basis without telling the American people any of their names or presenting any proof of their guilt, for alleged crimes that do not carry the death penalty in the US.
Reposted by Jefficus
The Roberts Six have thoroughly politicized the Court and turned it into a reliable arm of the RNC.
Democrats should have no reservations about calling them out for it, demanding resignations from these bought-off hacks and running on a promise to enact sweeping reforms.
Democrats should have no reservations about calling them out for it, demanding resignations from these bought-off hacks and running on a promise to enact sweeping reforms.
Democrats need to lay the groundwork for reform by attacking the villains on the Supreme Court - loudly, angrily, personally, relentlessly. And they should start now.
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/democrats-...
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/democrats-...
Democrats Need to Treat the Supreme Court Like the Villain It Is
The Court is out of control, and we'll never see reform unless we build the case for it. Starting now.
paulwaldman.substack.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:34 PM
The Roberts Six have thoroughly politicized the Court and turned it into a reliable arm of the RNC.
Democrats should have no reservations about calling them out for it, demanding resignations from these bought-off hacks and running on a promise to enact sweeping reforms.
Democrats should have no reservations about calling them out for it, demanding resignations from these bought-off hacks and running on a promise to enact sweeping reforms.
Reposted by Jefficus
I've been sending chapters from my upcoming pop-sci book to expert fact-checkers and it's useful but also WAY more stressful than sharing work with the general public. It's like you go out to do karaoke with your friends and the original musician is in the front row telling you which notes are off.
December 5, 2025 at 4:54 PM
I've been sending chapters from my upcoming pop-sci book to expert fact-checkers and it's useful but also WAY more stressful than sharing work with the general public. It's like you go out to do karaoke with your friends and the original musician is in the front row telling you which notes are off.
Reposted by Jefficus
Congress used to have the power of the purse and the power to declare war.
December 5, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Congress used to have the power of the purse and the power to declare war.
Reposted by Jefficus
Yes, this is worth listening to.
In my very long memory of public affairs, have never heard a public statement by a "president" (a) more alarming in mental health terms, and also (b) more overtly racist and hate-filled.
Watch carefully the sycophants around Trump as he rants. They *all* know...
In my very long memory of public affairs, have never heard a public statement by a "president" (a) more alarming in mental health terms, and also (b) more overtly racist and hate-filled.
Watch carefully the sycophants around Trump as he rants. They *all* know...
I hope people take two minutes to listen to this shocking display of bigotry. It brings clarity to what we are fighting against. We should all be sick to hear such un-American drivel from the President of the United States.
Trump: "It’s a hellhole right now. And those Somalians should be out of here. They've destroyed our country. And all they do is complain, complain, complain. You have her. She’s always talking about the Constitution provides me with – go back to your own country and figure out your constitution."
December 4, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Yes, this is worth listening to.
In my very long memory of public affairs, have never heard a public statement by a "president" (a) more alarming in mental health terms, and also (b) more overtly racist and hate-filled.
Watch carefully the sycophants around Trump as he rants. They *all* know...
In my very long memory of public affairs, have never heard a public statement by a "president" (a) more alarming in mental health terms, and also (b) more overtly racist and hate-filled.
Watch carefully the sycophants around Trump as he rants. They *all* know...
Reposted by Jefficus
ICE turns Trump's gutter racist ramblings into federal policy. Disgusting. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u...
New ICE Operation Is Said to Target Somali Migrants in Twin Cities
www.nytimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:10 AM
ICE turns Trump's gutter racist ramblings into federal policy. Disgusting. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u...