Tim
@tewlbox.bsky.social
Writer, former professional actor, tabletop game aficionado, and that guy you go to when your computer isn’t doing the thing right
I don’t think much of the NYT and Wapo not publishing this. I’m pretty pissed, actually, as if they’d published early enough we might’ve avoided this. Though I’m far more pissed at Trump and his functionally-indistinguishable-from-a-gang-of-thugs administration, obvs. That’s the real crime here.
January 4, 2026 at 5:33 AM
I don’t think much of the NYT and Wapo not publishing this. I’m pretty pissed, actually, as if they’d published early enough we might’ve avoided this. Though I’m far more pissed at Trump and his functionally-indistinguishable-from-a-gang-of-thugs administration, obvs. That’s the real crime here.
And there’s this - misprision statutes require you to inform the authorities if you become aware of a planned felony.
When the president’s the felon, who do you tell? The FBI? They work for him. Military? Same problem. Congress? The correction is impeachment, which is political, not legal.
When the president’s the felon, who do you tell? The FBI? They work for him. Military? Same problem. Congress? The correction is impeachment, which is political, not legal.
January 4, 2026 at 5:33 AM
And there’s this - misprision statutes require you to inform the authorities if you become aware of a planned felony.
When the president’s the felon, who do you tell? The FBI? They work for him. Military? Same problem. Congress? The correction is impeachment, which is political, not legal.
When the president’s the felon, who do you tell? The FBI? They work for him. Military? Same problem. Congress? The correction is impeachment, which is political, not legal.
Misprision requires that you KNOWINGLY conceal a crime. If you don’t know the act is a crime because you’re assuming they ARE using one of those fig leaves, it’s not concealment. Because you don’t believe a crime is being committed. And thus not misprision.
January 4, 2026 at 5:33 AM
Misprision requires that you KNOWINGLY conceal a crime. If you don’t know the act is a crime because you’re assuming they ARE using one of those fig leaves, it’s not concealment. Because you don’t believe a crime is being committed. And thus not misprision.
I’m livid too but I don’t think that’d stick in court. Because there IS a legal mechanism for one country to invade another. NYT and Wapo would have no reason not to suspect that there wasn’t some kind of bullshit legal fig leaf in use. If the act was legal - “legal” - then it’s not illegal.
January 4, 2026 at 5:33 AM
I’m livid too but I don’t think that’d stick in court. Because there IS a legal mechanism for one country to invade another. NYT and Wapo would have no reason not to suspect that there wasn’t some kind of bullshit legal fig leaf in use. If the act was legal - “legal” - then it’s not illegal.
THANK YOU! We were watching that over here and I was like, “…is that *Sam Elliott*?”
January 1, 2026 at 5:28 AM
THANK YOU! We were watching that over here and I was like, “…is that *Sam Elliott*?”
*critically not UNcritically. Ughhh lol
December 24, 2025 at 12:01 AM
*critically not UNcritically. Ughhh lol
Yeahhh I find it requires a significant effort to push past the authorial tone and look uncritically at stuff like that, ESPECIALLY when it’s characters recapping something that happens “off-camera” with amusement. The way Agnes gets treated by the narration in Maskerade is much easier to notice.
December 23, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Yeahhh I find it requires a significant effort to push past the authorial tone and look uncritically at stuff like that, ESPECIALLY when it’s characters recapping something that happens “off-camera” with amusement. The way Agnes gets treated by the narration in Maskerade is much easier to notice.
Oh my lord. Uh. WOW. I did NOT remember that. Jesus. Okay yeah thanks for sharing that. That uh. Significantly reframes some things.
December 23, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Oh my lord. Uh. WOW. I did NOT remember that. Jesus. Okay yeah thanks for sharing that. That uh. Significantly reframes some things.
Huh. I haven’t read that book in some years so I don’t remember it well, and didn’t read it particularly critically when I did. Would you mind elaborating on that, if you don’t mind?
December 23, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Huh. I haven’t read that book in some years so I don’t remember it well, and didn’t read it particularly critically when I did. Would you mind elaborating on that, if you don’t mind?
Yeah this. I… don’t love that they used gen AI during development. But I REALLY hate that they lied about it. One is bad. The other is worse.
December 21, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Yeah this. I… don’t love that they used gen AI during development. But I REALLY hate that they lied about it. One is bad. The other is worse.
One For The Angels as well!!
November 29, 2025 at 1:11 AM
One For The Angels as well!!
Oh man that one always makes me cry too!! I almost always skip that one. I also love and always tear up when watching Night of the Meek!
November 29, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Oh man that one always makes me cry too!! I almost always skip that one. I also love and always tear up when watching Night of the Meek!
Oooh I haven’t caught that about the bricks! I’ll have to look back at the board game!
For me, it’s that “monkey’s brain” is a mistranslation of the Mandarin Chinese name for a type of mushroom.
It’s both amusing (it was just mushroom soup!) and also… believably racist, given the 50’s setting.
For me, it’s that “monkey’s brain” is a mistranslation of the Mandarin Chinese name for a type of mushroom.
It’s both amusing (it was just mushroom soup!) and also… believably racist, given the 50’s setting.
November 12, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Oooh I haven’t caught that about the bricks! I’ll have to look back at the board game!
For me, it’s that “monkey’s brain” is a mistranslation of the Mandarin Chinese name for a type of mushroom.
It’s both amusing (it was just mushroom soup!) and also… believably racist, given the 50’s setting.
For me, it’s that “monkey’s brain” is a mistranslation of the Mandarin Chinese name for a type of mushroom.
It’s both amusing (it was just mushroom soup!) and also… believably racist, given the 50’s setting.
Do you have a favorite small, brilliant detail like that? :) Or favorite line? (Outside of “Flames, flames on the side of my face,” haha!)
November 12, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Do you have a favorite small, brilliant detail like that? :) Or favorite line? (Outside of “Flames, flames on the side of my face,” haha!)
Yesss!! It really is amazing. There’s always some new stuff to find, some tiny bit of business going on in the background you never noticed before. It also recently struck me that Mr. Green’s final line in Ending C sounds AWFULLY performative for a “heterosexual” man…
November 12, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Yesss!! It really is amazing. There’s always some new stuff to find, some tiny bit of business going on in the background you never noticed before. It also recently struck me that Mr. Green’s final line in Ending C sounds AWFULLY performative for a “heterosexual” man…
Clue, 1985, with Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Martin Mull, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Eileen Brennan and Leslie Ann Warren. A comedy that absolutely stands up to this day and just gets better with rewatches. Not the greatest film ever made, but it’s one of MY favorites and I revisit it a lot!
November 12, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Clue, 1985, with Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Martin Mull, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Eileen Brennan and Leslie Ann Warren. A comedy that absolutely stands up to this day and just gets better with rewatches. Not the greatest film ever made, but it’s one of MY favorites and I revisit it a lot!
I’m not saying the decision to cave was necessarily wrong either. It’s… complicated. And I think anyone who says “I absolutely know all the answers and have perfect strategic insight and moral reasoning” is deluding themselves. We have a lot of people claiming that kind of insight right now.
November 11, 2025 at 4:21 AM
I’m not saying the decision to cave was necessarily wrong either. It’s… complicated. And I think anyone who says “I absolutely know all the answers and have perfect strategic insight and moral reasoning” is deluding themselves. We have a lot of people claiming that kind of insight right now.
You can’t just hope immoral actors will become moral, obviously. The moral responsibility to do the right thing lies with the D’s because the R’s won’t. But you also can’t cave just because they’re willing to hold hostages. That just tells them you can effectively be extorted. (2/2)
November 11, 2025 at 4:18 AM
You can’t just hope immoral actors will become moral, obviously. The moral responsibility to do the right thing lies with the D’s because the R’s won’t. But you also can’t cave just because they’re willing to hold hostages. That just tells them you can effectively be extorted. (2/2)
Yeah - that’s why this question is so genuinely hard. It’s two moral goods - saving people who starve now vs saving people who will die for lack of medical care later. But ultimately the responsibility for this lies with Trump. He made a choice to deny SNAP funding. (1/2)
November 11, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Yeah - that’s why this question is so genuinely hard. It’s two moral goods - saving people who starve now vs saving people who will die for lack of medical care later. But ultimately the responsibility for this lies with Trump. He made a choice to deny SNAP funding. (1/2)
I don’t think he’s wrong on the electoral math. I just think that our elected representatives have a responsibility to fight for what’s in the best interests of their constituents, even if it’s politically unpopular. This is an abdication of that core responsibility, no matter how you spin it.
November 11, 2025 at 3:05 AM
I don’t think he’s wrong on the electoral math. I just think that our elected representatives have a responsibility to fight for what’s in the best interests of their constituents, even if it’s politically unpopular. This is an abdication of that core responsibility, no matter how you spin it.
Also man oh man their frozen food. We get everything else we need other places. But frozen food and snacks? TJ's, every time.
October 24, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Also man oh man their frozen food. We get everything else we need other places. But frozen food and snacks? TJ's, every time.
They probably don't need it; this is pretty transformative. Just using very short clips — photos, or close enough, as you rightfully point out — in a work that makes a general point about how humans are great despite our flaws. It's almost certainly fair use, I think, based on my understanding.
October 8, 2025 at 8:09 PM
They probably don't need it; this is pretty transformative. Just using very short clips — photos, or close enough, as you rightfully point out — in a work that makes a general point about how humans are great despite our flaws. It's almost certainly fair use, I think, based on my understanding.