Dispatches : 2026
12 May 2026
Fargo selects new chief of police after force’s reliance on AI led to jail for Tennessee woman.
The Selective Service Act of 1917 had been amended a year after passage to raise the maximum age from 30 to 45, a national registration day was held on September 12, 1918 and Hannahers (including my grandfather at 36) signed draft registration cards two months before the conclusion of The Great War. The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 for the next war required men register up to age 65. The cards themselves are useful for full names, birthdays and birthplaces, residences and employers.
Four men arrested for alleged $100K copper piping theft at Inova Alexandria Hospital site.
11 May 2026
Similar to last year’s story: Nazi-looted artwork surfaces with Dutch collaborator’s heirs.
The Kids in the Hall Brain Candy (Paramount Pictures, 1996) was $3.75 at Cineplex Odeon Tackett’s Mill 4. I must have been the only customer for this screening, as I was exhorted to “enjoy the show” by a succession of pretty female employees. I would buy the laserdisc 1½ years later for $20.89 at Suncoast Picture Company #3108 in Tysons Corner Center (disposal in 2011). Boys (Touchstone Pictures, 1996) was $3 at AMC Potomac Mills 15. I would buy the laserdisc 3½ years later for $12.49 at Ken Crane’s DVD & Laserdisc (disposal in 2011). I most certainly bought this poster.
Sony’s failed war against Internet piracy may doom other copyright lawsuits.
10 May 2026
No Epstein here: The Newly Released Government UFO Archives Will Leave You Shrugging.
Is that what not available in any store means? Some recent purchases, including Lieb’s book, have come to me via print-on-demand from Ingram Content Group in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
I subscribed to Ancestry.com and cracked the puzzle of Gladys Stewart Hansen Hannaher Plochman.
09 May 2026
Djokovic beaten by a Croatian qualifier 18 years younger than him at the Italian Open.
This week: the global tour (previously) shrinks to dates in the UK and Europe: Pussycat Dolls Cancel Reunion Tour in North America After ‘Taking an Honest Look’ at Weak Ticket Sales (via).
Public health officials warn of rise in measles, as Va. hantavirus patient under monitor.
08 May 2026
‘Hondurasgate’: leaked recordings allege US-Israeli plot to destabilize Colombia and Mexico.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (Gramercy Pictures, 1996) was $4.50 at Cineplex Odeon Janus 3, the usual quality Cineplex Odeon quality presentation. I even laughed, despite a 1995 copyright. I would buy the laserdisc 1½ years later for $29.25 at Tower Records/Video #152 (disposal in 2011).
‘Killing our vote’: GOP states rush to break up Black districts after US Supreme Court case.
07 May 2026
FBI searches Virginia Sen. Louise Lucas’ office, businesses in Portsmouth.
A colleague tried to discourage me, but it was the number one movie in America its opening weekend! The Craft (Columbia Pictures, 1996) was $3 at AMC Courthouse Plaza, I found a penny. I would buy the laserdisc 1½ years later for $25.60 at Saturday Matinee #0884 in Fair Oaks Mall (disposal in 2011).
B-1B “Apocalypse II” Out Of The Boneyard And Back In Service.
06 May 2026
Google Chrome takes up 4GB of storage on your computer for AI, if you have space.
The FedEx Ship Center at 4720 Eisenhower Avenue will transition to an “Office” location next month because of Network 2.0: Streamlining your logistics (h/t) which for me will mean that items that might previously have been delivered by FedEx employees will be handed off to the contractors operating as FedEx Ground and I have opinions on the professionalism exhibited by these two groups.
Hallmark Reveals 5 Star Trek Ornaments For 2026, Including Spock Fighting Snakes.
05 May 2026
My mayor had to say the name of the country so many times, there’s a stamp exhibit this week.
The previous Internet Archive link for Supertrain only has eight episodes, this alternate page actually has the ninth—with a laugh track it’s marginally more dreadful than the others—but people are allowed Super Memories of a Not-So ‘Supertrain’ and a full model set was in Hagerstown almost a decade ago. Supertrain NBC TV Show Model Super Train 1979 (via) includes a behind-the-scenes piece with Jack Perkins focused on production designer Ned Parsons along with clips of the first episode that ran on the Today morning show (via) with Tom Brokaw, Jane Pauley, and Gene Shalit. Mattel’s 1970 Hotline Train had a similar wedge look and only lasted a couple of years.
Did they write their favicon in SVG? Reader, they did not. A New Look for ProPublica (via).
04 May 2026
Three already dead, now RTÉ reports Two Irish passengers on board virus-hit cruise ship.
The national story was that posters for this release were being stolen. After multiple Metrorail rides and shopping at Tower Records/Video in Congressional Plaza, Barb Wire (Gramercy Pictures, 1996) was $3.75 at AMC City Place 10. The theater was almost deserted, the sound was very loud, and I noticed a 1995 copyright, but I did find a penny. I would buy the laserdisc 1½ years later for $27.41 at Suncoast Picture Company #3358 in Potomac Mills Mall (disposal in 2011). The update of Casablanca except Rick is played by a busty woman has grown in popularity in the decades since, from last year: Pamela Anderson Is Teaming Up with Sons Brandon and Dylan to Produce a Barb Wire TV Reboot.
In Fair City Mall since 1987: Fairfax City’s Mamma Lucia closes for good after 39 years.
03 May 2026
“This product is made in a kitchen that is not inspected by the state or local health department.”
Understanding the refugee experience, through a time-traveling British colonizer. The back cover of The Ministry of Time makes it clear that a minor sci-fi premise will lead to romance, I was ok with that. But when I tried to remember the name of the main character helping a reluctant Graham Gore adjust to a 21st–century Britain, I had trouble and got worried. It wasn’t until searching the #the ministry of time tag on Tumblr that I realized it wasn’t me, it was Kaliane Bradley obfuscating her POV character. Cover design by Alison Former. Cover Typography by Andrew Footit. (8)
I use them for a Mouse: Stop Using AA Lithium Batteries in Portable Strobes and Speedlights.
02 May 2026
Scope of warning extends far beyond: Health officials confirm measles case in DC resident.
New VC-25B Air Force One “Bridge” Aircraft Now Fully Modified And Flight Tested.
Voyageurs: Trail Cameras Capture First Cougar Kittens in Minnesota in Over 100 Years.
01 May 2026
EU Quietly Takes Big Step Toward Montenegro's Accession, resists multiplicity of BCS.
Germany: Lufthansa apologizes for lost Oscar statuette, claims it’s been found. TSA demanded of the director of Mr. Nobody Against Putin that the 8½ pound item be checked.
I don’t recall using either: Charlottesville transitions downtown parking garages to AI system.
30 April 2026
Hyperlocal journalism fails me, the McDonald’s at 505 Van Dorn Street (previously) has reopened.
Mulholland Falls (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1996) was $3 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8. There was a choice of lines at the concession counter tonight, I chose the one with Rona. She was wearing glasses, perhaps my pillow confused her, she acknowledged my request for bottled water, took out the bottle and handed it to me, and asked if I wanted anything to drink? “I mean, do you want any popcorn?” I paid $1.77 for the water. I noted a a 1995 copyright. Afterwards, a bacon cheesburger burrito at Taco Bell #15894 for $1.95, the receipt printed at 7:44 p.m.
Someone is optimistic: Arlington’s Porsche dealer to relocate to Lincolnia where Rosenthal was.
29 April 2026
Firetrucks swarm Cologne Cathedral after smell of smoke, find Nichts. Domkirche in 1985.
I should be good through 2033, but maybe—a bookmark for this guide to Serbian citizenship by descent: EXCLUSIVE: State Dept. Finalizing Plan to Put Trump Picture on U.S. Passports. Further reporting says the “250” anniversary passports will be available only at the Washington Passport Agency for in-person applicants for a new identification document, while supplies last.
🤔 Capital One to pay $425 million settlement: Who qualifies and when to expect a check.
28 April 2026
100+ authors leaving, US Hachette Employees Seek to Unionize with NewsGuild-CWA.
By the time I laid eyes on the Franklin–Mulberry Expressway the devastation its construction had wrought on western Baltimore was nearly complete. But as Emily Lieb writes in Road to Nowhere: How a Highway Map Wrecked Baltimore such devastation wasn’t limited to the completed but isolated segment but extended to wherever planners proposed to build. The threat with malice aforethought was sufficient to create blight and slums and move Blacks. Cover image: Map of Baltimore City, Bureau of Plans & Surveys, 1928. Cover Design: Rae Ganci Hammers. (7)
A senior Alexandria paralegal spends weekends leading tours of local Korean cuisine.
27 April 2026
From bordeaux to burgundy: Usvojene izmene dizajna i bezbednosnih elemenata pasoša Srbije.
If you come into a property like this with an ‘it couldn’t possibly happen this way’ attitude, that’s just gatekeeping and you can move on. I’ve been watching the television series adaptation of Snowpiercer on Roku without commercial interruption. Everything is a spoiler: that IMDb link (based on the number of episodes each performer is in), the Wikipedia page, the FANDOM wiki, and r/snowpiercer. I first noticed episodes on Pluto, this explains why it’s on multiple streamers: Radial Entertainment Brings Fan-Favorite Series Snowpiercer to Leading Ad-Supported Streaming Platforms (h/t). The fourth season isn’t free yet, meanwhile, here’s another television series about a broad gauge train with insufferable first class passengers. The debut double-length episode in the “sweeps month” of February was outwatched by the Charlie’s Angels episode “Terror on Skis” written by Edward J. Lakso.
Fortieth anniversary: Chornobyl – not “Chernobyl”. Why one letter matters in 2026 (via).
26 April 2026
As big as an XDE60: A real-life Kraken stalked the seas of the late Cretaceous (h/t (h/t)).
The University of Virginia is included because time2test.sites.virginia.edu was the URL for their COVID-19 test appointment scheduling site: Why are top university websites serving porn? It comes down to shoddy housekeeping. The distinction for a possessor of multiple subdomains like myself is that the university subdomains were pointing to external resources like GitHub or WordPress.
A commotion at last night’s White House Correspondents Association dinner by a solo assailant.
25 April 2026
Announced last year, but I only noticed this week: Shell shuts down EV charging business Volta.
I allowed the name of Rachel Sennott as co-creator and a favorable write-up in one of my dead-tree magazine subscriptions (“Big Mistakes” Is a Crime Show for the Girls and the Gays) lure me into watching Big Mistakes on Netflix. But retrieving jewelry from the body after a viewing yet before its burial is a service offered by a funeral home, so the premise was flat from the beginning. Notwithstanding, I persisted, and it’s been diverting. Taylor Ortega is a breakout at… 36?!
The Utah LEGO Users Group website conforms to new requirements for leaders and a code of conduct.
24 April 2026
DC–8’s retirement, previously: NASA’s 777 Flying Laboratory Touches Down At Langley.
I never watched any post-1980 production: Battlestar Galactica Is Finally Back on Streaming!
Fairfax Connector and OmniRide: Head-on bus crash near Pentagon injures 23 passengers.
23 April 2026
Good luck with that, 🇰🇷, Ministry says stay safe and stand in place on escalators.
After sales of 2 million copies, Icebreaker has been retconned into being the starter volume for a series (there’s a third by now). Atria outsources the content warnings for this “contemporary” romance—and many are needed—to the website of the UK-based author, Hannah Grace, and she hides them behind a disclosure triangle. Two semesters with a figure skater and a hockey player at the same California college (who fuck) has been translated into European languages. The Serbian edition translates the title, while the Croatian edition goes with On Thin Ice. Cover illustration by Leni Kauffman. (6)
State bus line debuts new east-west route that connects 10 cities across Virginia.
22 April 2026
The origin of the shadow docket confirms John Roberts Is Always a Republican First.
I’ll pretend I recognized only one name among all the participants at the AVN awards and convention in 2006, I should have been more suspicious of the presence of Naked Ambition: an R rated look at an X rated industry in the “Continue watching” category at Pluto TV. Twenty years ago, the industry was still making a fuss about “shot on film” as a plus! Streaming on that FAST channel usually means bargain-basement advertising, but this month Pluto’s usual assortment has been displaced by segments for and against Virginia’s redistricting proposal, decided by the vote yesterday. Upon its release the documentary received poor reviews accusing it of being a promotion for the director’s coffee table book of portraits and, y’know, fair.
In Lawsuit Not Mentioning the Olympics, Kash Patel Swears He’s Not a Drunk.
21 April 2026
1 dead: Mass Shooting at Teotihuacan Pyramids Raises Safety Concerns Before World Cup.
Wallace & Gromit: The Best of Aardman Animations (Northern Arts Entertainment, 1995) was a WASHINGTON PREMIERE for $6 at the Biograph on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I would buy the laserdisc 1½ years later for $34.47 from Tower Records/Video #195 (disposal in 2011).
I took a break years ago and it’s gotten worse since : Who Killed the Florida Orange? (via).
20 April 2026
First find of large beetle reported in Serbia (h/t) and presumed to be moving west.
Primal Fear (Paramount Pictures, 1996) was $4 at United Artists Fairfax Towne Center 10. The ticket ripper was named “Joy” which at the time aroused apprehension. Later, The Truth about Cats & Dogs (Twentieth Century-Fox, 1996) was $5.75 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8, playing to a packed house. The woman in the seat next to mine was really taken aback by the mutual masturbation scene. I would buy the laserdisc 2 years later for $20.89 from the Suncoast Picture Company #3309 in Fashion Centre at Pentagon City (disposal in 2011). I would also buy the poster.
Owner of Hachette Book Group: French billionaire defiant as authors quit top publisher.
19 April 2026
NASA Shuts Off Instrument on Voyager 1 to Keep Spacecraft Operating (via).
For businesses, anyway: This tariff-refund portal is about to be America’s hottest website.
NCAI Raises Concerns as Washington Commanders Unveil Updated Logo and Branding.
18 April 2026
Rumeysa Ozturk, Tufts pro-Palestine student detained by ICE last year, returns to Türkiye.
It wasn’t fair to the television series for me to jump directly to an episode in its third season or fair to the stage musical upon which it relies, but nearly two years after downloading the cover art for Riverdale: Special Heathers The Musical Episode | Original Television Soundtrack I found “Big Fun” on Netflix and watched it in bewilderment. Heathers is playing in New York through September.
RTÉ announces new crime drama The Yank starring Kate Mulgrew and Colm Meaney.
17 April 2026
It wasn’t “vibe coding”?! Bluesky confirms DDoS attack is cause of continued app outages.
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative pivoting to AI after funding Neuroanatomy of the clitoris (via).
What could possibly go wrong? Microsoft and Stellantis want to use AI to help car owners.
16 April 2026
The gun violence in Annandale, Va., by a former lieutenant governor is national news.
The Baltimore Banner’s parent nonprofit acquires the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Virginia joins a national effort to ensure only popular vote winners become president.
15 April 2026
Türkiye secures return of ancient Smyrna marble head from US museum in Denver last month.
James and the Giant Peach (Walt Disney Pictures, 1996) was $3 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8, and I had thoughts on the subject of the anachronisms regarding the Empire State and the casting of the voice of the slinky spider with six high-heeled boots. I found a penny for my troubles.
Inova “Tops Out” New Alexandria Hospital at Landmark Site as Dual Campuses Rise Together.
14 April 2026
Tote runner collapsed: ‘Everyone is Replaceable’: Death Rattles Oregon Amazon Facility (via).
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (New Line Cinema, 1996) was $3.75 at AMC Potomac Mills 15. A no-exclamation point WASHINGTON PREMIERE for Heidi Fleiss Hollywood Madam (IN Pictures, 1995) was $6 at the Biograph. The venue had its last program available, they planned to shut down on June 30th as the location had been sold and would become a CVS. I would buy the laserdisc 2½ years later for $21.48 from Ken Crane’s Laserdisc (disposal in 2011).
This is not a sponsored post?! USPTO cafeteria reopens to the public with chef-curated menus.
13 April 2026
Why Would Pentagon Allegedly Threaten Pope’s Ambassador With ‘Avignon Papacy’?
GM Air Cushion Restraint System: The Whole Story Of GM’s Very Rare 1974–1976 Dual Airbag Option. The Bonhams auction promoting ‘possibly the last example remaining’ seems to have been in 2009, in 2012 I found a similar vehicle in the safercar.gov area at the Washington, D.C., auto show. Safercar.gov is now NHTSA.gov, they’d made a few customizations since acquiring it.
Vučić wishes well: Hungary’s Viktor Orbán concedes defeat, ending 16 years in power.
12 April 2026
At least 30 dead in stampede at Haiti’s historic Citadelle Laferriere.
IMDb hasn’t got the memo, in its second season (previously) it’s called The Bad Guys: The Series, I’ve been watching on Netflix. My account was still set for Croatian and I saw no need to change.
SIG Sauer Hits Legislative Hurdles in Its Push to Avoid Lawsuits.
11 April 2026
Ukraine, Russia Report Violations Hours After Orthodox Easter Truce Begins.
I was recommended a blog and various uploads at YouTube, but a 1976 Hungarian adaptation of the Asimov novel, A halhatatlanság halála, is found on the Archive as is the late Soviet adaptation, The End Of Eternity Конец Вечности 2 Серия (фантастика, Реж. Андрей Ермаш, 1987 Г.), with subtitle files for English, French, and Russian. Vera Sotnikova as Noyes was at most 26. I only dimly recall reading the original in high school but all sorts of stuff is on the Internet these days.
Fight for $15 lumbers on: Virginia to raise minimum wage to $15 by 2028 under new law.
10 April 2026
A historical maximum: Ukraine, Russia Agree To 32-Hour Truce For Orthodox Easter.
Trump admin makes sweeping request for medical records of federal workers and retirees.
Melania’s Immigration Witness, Paolo Zampelli, Asked to Get His Baby Mama Deported.
09 April 2026
McDonald’s closes Van Dorn Street location to build second drive-thru lane.
I’m pleased to make my purchase of Percival Everett’s Dr. No from Minneapolis-based Graywolf Press (previously), but if you insist, a big publisher has included the title among other reprints. NPR had someone review it after the author won a PEN/Jean Stein Book Award three years ago: ‘Dr. No’ is a delightfully escapist romp and an incisive sendup of espionage fiction. The Boltzmann constant was redefined in 2019, the number repeated on the cover is a previous value. I thought the shapes on the cover were abstractions, but looking again the image of a lid askew on an open box containing nothing is actually ! Cover design: Kapo Ng. (5)
Basis of cuisine too salty for ocean: No way to dump waste puts Korea’s jang makers at risk.
08 April 2026
24 hours today: Unionized ProPublica staff are on strike over AI, layoffs, and wages.
No Shelley Hack, and they’re remembering Fawcett, Doyle, and Forsythe, but not Tanya Roberts, boo: ‘Charlie’s Angels’ gather for 50th anniversary, remember Farrah Fawcett at Paleyfest LA.
A year ago: UMD horticulture class project aims to beautify Metro stations with native plants.
07 April 2026
00:00:00 UTC has passed: Acknowledging Trump’s derangement is the first step.
I wasted hours this year by not first connecting the new device to a Mac and setting up from the previous device’s backup in Finder, others are complaining: Notes From Setting Up New Apple Devices. Installing a no-name SATA card from AliExpress and having it just work in Sequoia, that was easy.
Elon Musk insists banks working on SpaceX IPO must buy Grok subscriptions.
06 April 2026
All I get is half off: 1 in 12 Seoul rush-hour subway passengers are seniors riding free.
Alexandria sheriff’s deputy fired after accusation of drug smuggling attempt in jail.
AP says it will offer buyouts as part of pivot away from newspaper-focused history (via).
05 April 2026
Its army a serious institution: Serbia, Hungary say explosives found at Russian gas pipeline.
Swiss cheesemakers allowed to artificially make holes in Emmental cheese (h/t).
Air and Space Museum’s Concorde, Fox Alpha, Air France is displayed gear down, nose up.
04 April 2026
Ambar: Metrobus crashes into DC restaurant after collision involving SUV, officials say.
In its last week of use, my iPhone 12 mini got a reprieve from the push for iOS26: Apple Releases iOS 18.7.7 Update to Extend DarkSword Exploit Protection to More iPhones and iPads. While the 12 and the iPod classic have been sent their separate ways, my iPhone 17 Pro is now also “small”?!
My purchase of a DVD made obsolete by the existence of Sjecas li se, Dolly Bell (1981).
03 April 2026
Actually… Fargo’s interim police chief on artificial intelligence: ‘We have to embrace it’.
Faithful (New Line Cinema, 1996) was $3 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8, I complained that they had sold me a ticket to Sgt. Bilko! I was in a rush, but noted a 1995 copyright.
The chain’s Chapter 11 filing did not lead to any bids: Value City Furniture permanently closed.
02 April 2026
New Kingstowne library, other Franconia facilities to open doors next week.
Secretive 737 Radar Jet ‘RAT55’ Has Begun “The Next Phase Of Its Career”.
Judge Rules Bulldozers Down For Trump’s Bunker Baby Ballroom!
01 April 2026
Optimism as US Supreme Court debates citizenship, with rare Trump visit this morning.
Joe Coulombe had left the company he founded in California about a decade before its expansion reached the East Coast, so the posthumously-published Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way & Still Beat the Big Guys that he wrote with Patty Civalleri can’t explain everything about the store as it exists today. The pitfalls and opportunities of chain retailing in those decades are entertainingly described if you can stomach the businessman’s accusation that nearly every regulation is fascistic. Original Package Design ©2021 HarperCollins Leadership. Cover Design © Micah Kandros Design. Cover Images by Natalya Levish / Anucha Tiemsom / Shutterstock. (4)
Artemis II: Liftoff! NASA astronauts have launched on a historic journey to the moon.
31 March 2026
Apprehension in Australia for satirical cartoonist: First Dog on the Moon Gets Shorter Leash.
Accountability is good: for completeness’ sake, JustWatch located Pitch Perfect 3 on YouTube.
Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau to retire later this year following language controversy.
30 March 2026
The oldest dog in the world was a puppy that lived 16,000 years ago in Turkey and ate fish.
Dead Man Walking (Gramercy Pictures, 1995) was $4 at United Artists Fairfax Towne Center 10. Almost a private screening, the film started seven minutes late. What exactly was I supposed to feel about it? Later, Flirting With Disaster (Miramax Films, 1996) was $4.25 at Cineplex Odeon Shirlington 7. A trailer for Striptease! I found the film hysterical, from the director of Spanking the Monkey and (in my mind) featuring Téa Leoni (she was 28), Elvis Mitchell had been raving about it on Weekend Edition Saturday in the morning. I would buy the laserdisc for $31.34 1½ years later at Suncoast Picture Company #3358 in Potomac Mills Mall (disposal in 2011).
AV1’s open, royalty-free promise in question as Dolby sues Snapchat over codec.
29 March 2026
Weeks|months: Images Purportedly Show E-3 Sentry Totally Destroyed From Iranian Strike.
Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried were both 22, but Jennifer’s Body was released at a time I was hardly watching anything at the movies and it’s taken a while to catch up. I discovered it on Tubi with no help from JustWatch. The intervening decade and a half have brought us from a (male) critic pouting about “the girls keep their clothes on” to declaring the present The Age of Jennifer’s Body. Fangoria recaps the transition: From Class Clown To A+: Re-Visiting JENNIFER’S BODY. Amanda’s character, Needy, has a flip phone and drives the family Kia Rio RS and wears a wristwatch (iPhone was a year old). New Jennifer’s Body 2 Update Is Good News for Megan Fox Fans.
Among millions in US+ROW: Protecting voter rights, democracy a theme of Fargo No Kings.
28 March 2026
The Chosun Ilbo looks in the archives: Eisenhower’s Third Korea Visit in 1946 Uncovered.
Most online advice is from the iTunes era and thus useless, iTunes was replaced by Music with Catalina in 2019, but Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings using a computer gave me a first step in preparing to say bye-bye to an iPod classic that’s as old as my Focus.
Defense Secretary Hegseth intervened to stop promotions of Black and female officers.
27 March 2026
But, humanoid robots! And, flying taxis! International concern about rule of law in Serbia.
The choice of a Mac that can be reconfigured post-purchase has been taken away (again): Apple discontinues the Mac Pro with no plans for future hardware (h/t). People like me who don’t want wireless devices can’t add even one more USB-A port (let alone seven) to the Mac Studio.
Next month: USPS seeks temporary surcharge on packages to help cover transportation costs.
26 March 2026
Edsall Road and Yoakum Pkwy: Speed limits to be reduced on two West End streets in April.
I actually signed with Jones Intercable back in 1997, but Comcast NBCUniversal has used that act to assign me to the “Diamond” tier of a program they introduced in 2022 as Xfinity Rewards and which is now known as “membership.” If only there was anything on Peacock I wanted to watch… this isn’t suspicious: Peacock sees a surge of new subscribers after the Super Bowl and Olympics.
Qualified Immunity: The Supreme Court Is Making the Constitution Optional For Cops.
25 March 2026
Also smoking: French population overexposed to cadmium through food, health agency says.
Backup cameras: Ford opozvao više od 254.000 SUV vozila u SAD zbog softverskog problema.
This summer, Apple Maps Is Adding Promoted Search Results In The US And Canada.
24 March 2026
ICE collaborator airline Delta suspends special congressional services amid shutdown.
Girl 6 (Twentieth Century-Fox, 1996) was $3.75 at AMC Potomac Mills 15.
I declined to cooperate with the IRS for months—to no avail, a refund check for $151.56 arrived today.
23 March 2026
Two dead: Air Canada crash at LaGuardia Airport: What happened, who were the victims?.
Sure, I’ve donated most of my purchases authored by Ohio-based John Scalzi, but I didn’t hesitate to pick up When the Moon Hits Your Eye when I spotted it newly in (trade) paperback. In running with his outlandish premise—that Earth’s dominant satellite has been unexpectedly converted to an organic substance that most everyone is willing to label as cheese—Scalzi takes aim across a variety of US-based personalities and comes close to satire with a few. The title is from 1953’s “That’s Amore” song. Cover art by Mike Heath/Magnus Creative. Cover design by Peter Lutjen. (3)
National Weather Service thread on X only for logged-in users says it was lightning (h/t, via).
22 March 2026
Lightning, or a meteor? Loud ‘boom,’ flash reported in Leesburg area Friday night.
Diabolique (Warner Bros., 1996) was $3 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8. The colleague who’d been apprehensive about the District when we saw the French-language original didn’t know who Isabelle Adjani was (she was 40) and had been trying to imagine Sharon Stone (she was 37) and Kathy Bates (she was 47) as the mistress and wife who partner to murder their common lover (they’re actually the mistress and the woman who investigates the man’s disappearance, Adjani is the wife). I thought of it the next morning, but when Stone’s character makes a crack about hating cancer-survivor shit, maybe she was making a joke on the debacle with her speech at the National Press Club, which was just before they started filming the English-language remake: Sharon Does DC: Here’s What Happens When a Sexy Hollywood Star Comes to Washington To Talk About Breast Cancer.
CEO also makes claim re: Mail users: Four things about Yahoo News that may surprise you.
21 March 2026
Jury Decides Afroman Songs Mocking Cops Are Too Funny to Be Defamatory.
May 22: CBS News shutters its storied radio news service after nearly a century, ending an era.
I wasn’t paying attention, it’s been nearly 3 years since Wmata eliminated the mid-day discount.
20 March 2026
50 Years of DC’s Iconic Metro (the subway, as Metrobus celebrated its 50th 3 years ago).
Chungking Express (Rolling Thunder, 1994) was $4.50 at Cineplex Odeon Dupont Circle 5.
Connect Interiors next month: A New Chapter Begins: Our Fargo Relocation Coming in 2026.
19 March 2026
Aid reaches Cuba, China lauds Türkiye, Saudi, Qatar role in Pakistan-Afghanistan ceasefire.
In the dozen years since I linked to a MetaFilter post linking to episodes of Space: 1999 on YouTube, its author zarq tried to button by asking for an account wipe and only got an incomplete anonymization in a delayed response as explained by a staff member who got the boot last week. The links themselves are no longer helpful due to copyright claims and such like, but Space: 1999 is now in high-definition on multiple streamers, I have completed a third rewatch on Roku without commercial interruption. The series hasn’t improved any in the five decades since first release, but the remastering affords a more generous appreciation for the physical production even as it was let down by the screenwriting (and a little bit by some of the performances). As previously noted in these pages fetching young women were cast as the background players (example) but what that meant for a guest character’s age upon entering service on Moonbase Alpha was neglected. The future wife of Peter Sellers, Lynne Frederick, played a botanist in an episode set 4.78 years after the moon left Earth orbit when she was just 22 (she died at 39, vilified for denying her spouse’s children more than a token amount from their father’s estate which in 1980 was valued at £4.5 million).
Canceled: Dolores Huerta, sexual violence survivors speak out against Cesar Chavez.
18 March 2026
The techniques in Magic Keyboard Teardown have led to that particular troublemaker’s demise.
A different six-figure settlement was announced a week ago: Former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Employee Agrees to Pay $122,480 to Resolve Conflict-of-Interest Allegations (via).
Down Periscope (Twentieth-Century Fox, 1996) was $3.50 at Cineplex Odeon Fair City Mall 6, and I had a private screening. Most of the naughty stuff was in the first 15 minutes, and the movie turned out to be a serviceable submarine comedy.
17 March 2026
Serbian MiG-29 Appears Armed With Chinese Supersonic Standoff Missiles (h/t).
There was a line! Fargo (Gramercy Pictures, 1996) was $5.25 at Cineplex Odeon Shirlington 7, and surely too bloody for all the adulation it received, I noted a 1995 copyright. Much later in the evening, I saw Executive Decision (Warner Bros., 1996) for $5.75 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8.
Electric ART buses lose battery much faster in the winter, new data shows.
16 March 2026
Turbulent weather across the US 🌨️ 💨 🌪 but we get I-495 blocked by high water on a bridge.
After both Oscars, Academy Awards Cut K-Pop Winners’ Speeches Short Amid Backlash.
& CED! Microscopes can See Video on a LaserDisc - Andonstar AD246S-P (via & h/t).
15 March 2026
After Noem’s removal: A Cherokee Citizen May Soon Run America’s Immigration System.
A subject of discussion at yesterday’s Wamalug meeting, they’re from 1965: Two Long-Lost Doctor Who Episodes Have Been Found; Co-Star’s Flabber Has Never Been More Gasted.
Taylor Tomlinson’s Netflix special is too ungodly for many churches. This one welcomed her.
14 March 2026
No boats were damaged in their visit: Mystery orcas from afar thrill Seattle-area whale watchers.
A reminder of the Cold War, with the possibility it’s an anti-Iranian actor: Random Numbers, Persian Code: A Mysterious Signal Transfixes Radio Sleuths -- And Intelligence Experts.
Fresh Air catches up: ‘Derry Girls’ creator returns with a gleeful riff on the murder mystery.
13 March 2026
Nothing found six times: Multiple bomb threats at Virginia colleges following ODU shooting.
Happy Gilmore (Universal Pictures, 1996) was $4.50 at Sony Theatres Pentagon City 6, I found a penny and noted a trailer for Beavis and Butt-Head The Movie.
Enforcement set to begin Sunday: Ethnic Serbs fear impact of Kosovo’s Law on Foreigners.
12 March 2026
The group started as a sextet, previously: The Pussycat Dolls Reunite as a Trio, Drop New Song and Announce Global Tour Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Debut Album.
Today’s tenth episode concludes the first season of Star Trek Starfleet Academy on Paramount+.
The Birdcage (United Artists Pictures Inc., 1996) was $3 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8, I found two pennies. Its rating was 
when I saw it, but is allegedly unrated on Roku at the same length.
11 March 2026
Surpassing GM is old news: Hyundai Motor tops Volkswagen in profit for first time.
If Lucy Fell (TriStar Pictures, 1996) was $5.75 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8, Rona knew how to separate a ticket. I found a penny. Presumably I was there for Elle Macpherson, she was almost 31.
The war makes it more urgent for journalists to call out Trump’s derangement.
10 March 2026
Inexorable: Fairfax County police intend to partially encrypt radio communications.
I have wanted to Delete and not Archive items arriving in my GMail inbox for as long as I’ve had handheld Apple devices: How to change Mail and Gmail swipe options on iPhone to delete.
Fishing crews in the Atlantic keep accidentally dredging up chemical weapons.
09 March 2026
As flights to evacuate Serbs continue, half a million Kenyans are told to pay their own way.
When I started work examining patent applications, the problem of clear air turbulence detection was real. While this New Yorker article doesn’t mention the use of infrared, the mitigations of the past 40 years may no longer be adequate: Why Your Next Flight Is Likelier to Hit Turbulence.
A new exclusionary format: Construction begins on updates to AMC Theatres in Tysons.
08 March 2026
The newspaper Danas among them: Serbia: Fears rise over the last independent media outlets.
War enters its second week as Kuwaiti F/A-18’s Triple Friendly Fire Shootdown Gets Stranger By The Day but Does the United States have enough munition for a prolonged war?
January acquittal: Jacob Winckler Got Charged for His Cat Toy because Charlie Kirk Died.
07 March 2026
Hyperlocal journalism has failed me: the KFC at 6227 Little River Turnpike has closed.
This week’s announcements were directed elsewhere, but its predecessor was already 6½ years old with a quickly draining battery, so a replacement was due. This is what eventually worked to transition to an A17 Pro (7th generation) model: giving up on the Quick Start scheme and its predictions of 9 hours for the data transfer (twice, each time the process tried to use LTE instead of Wi-Fi); restoring the new device from a backup of the previous device in Finder on a Mac, losing a few apps; merging my Verizon accounts as my resistance to abandoning the fiction of separate wireline and mobile businesses had exceeded its usefulness; and following along with How to activate your device.
I gave Strip Law on Netflix a chance based on one of the voice cast, it scored 50 on Metacritic.
06 March 2026
Pardoned Capitol Rioter from Maryland Rearrested for Touching Women’s Hair on Metro.
Up Close & Personal (Touchstone Pictures, 1996) was $3 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8, my ticket was ripped, not separated. I walked in just as the trailer for the remake of Diabolique was finishing. There is a difference at AMC, I thought in an echo of the chain’s tagline, as the bottom of the screen was obscured for about twenty minutes. The film was “suggested” by the other book about Jessica Savitch, Golden Girl. Perhaps I’d read it before keeping records, for I strongly felt that the fictionalization of the news personality’s life had left out the religion, the drugs, the incompetence, the nudity and/or rages…. Remembering Jessica Savitch: Margate’s ‘Golden Girl’ of TV news.
Avion Er Srbije poleteo iz Dubaija sa oko 250 državljana Srbije koji se vraćaju u Beograd.
05 March 2026
The marriage–annulling (former) pop princess is in trouble again and it’s international news: Britney Spears, detenida por conducir borracha en California.
A twentieth anniversary re-release of Taxi Driver (Columbia Pictures, 1976) was $4.50 at Cineplex Odeon Embassy, but my recorded impressions were of poor service at the concessions stand.
US has attacked an Iranian military vessel off of Sri Lanka which was returning from a multilateral exercise with India: The Last Time A U.S. Navy Submarine Sunk An Enemy Ship In Combat.
04 March 2026
La nave metaniera russa Arctic Metagaz colpita tra Sicilia e Libia, Mosca accusa l’Ucraina.
Ron Chernow might churn them out (two of his previous biographies are identified on the cover, and he published Mark Twain last year) but its heft meant that Grant would occupy me for some time, and that it did. My previous superficial analysis of the war identified the Union’s 1862 capture of New Orleans as its turning point, but Grant wasn’t there, so he and his biographer give that role to the 1863 siege of Vicksburg. Cover design: Evan Gaffney. Cover art: General Ulysses S. Grant, Print Collector/Getty Images; (Background) Battle of Bull Run, MPI/Stringer/Getty Images. (2)
NATO downs Iranian ballistic missile heading towards Türkiye as US acts in Ecuador.
03 March 2026
“Squirter:” The Catastrophic Stupidity that May [Have] Set Off a Larger Religious Conflict.
The settlement was news earlier but found no place here, now a new headache for examiners even as the Daxin Wu in art unit 2191 has not been charged (yet): U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Employee Agrees to Pay $500,000 to Resolve Conflict-of-Interest Allegations (via, h/t).
I’ve managed it a second time—buying an Apple display in the last weeks of availability.
02 March 2026
A metaphor for our age, the new clock in Belgrade has had two faces removed after failure.
As Kathy G points out in The Wheels Of Justice Move Slowly… the anticipated payout to class members in Stoudemire, et al. v. Lee Enterprises, Inc. (previously) was $41.01 but the final check I received a week ago was for 📈 more. The address bar in Firefox has forgotten about my subscription.
A Haft partnership foundered: Compass Coffee shops are closing: Here’s what happened.
01 March 2026
Blocking the Outer Loop: Man shot by police on I-495 after allegedly stabbing multiple people.
I was listening to WAMU-FM while driving and the BBC reported with (what I took to be) a sneer that some Iranians like their government as presently constituted—which is hilarious coming from a country with a hereditary monarchy. Meanwhile, another war was started only last week: Casualties reported as Pakistan and Afghanistan trade heavy fire along Durand Line.
Vučić: Ne mislim da je počeo treći svetski rat, dolazi novo doba bez međunarodnog prava.
28 February 2026
Fulfilled: Minneapolis man finds loaded gun in Amazon package delivered to his doorstep.
Mr. Holland’s Opus (Hollywood Pictures, 1995) was $3.00 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8. Someone owed me those three dollars back after watching this 142-minute movie, I thought in frustration.
War: Explosions Seen In Multiple Middle East Cities As US, Israel Launch Strikes On Iran.
27 February 2026
El Paso again: US military used laser to take down Border Protection drone, lawmakers say.
Unforgettable (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1996) was $3.00 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8. I think maybe this had to run in theaters first because it is a medico-legal thriller without any flesh, whatever that means. Linda Fiorentino was 37.
After 50 years as Heartwood: Student-run bookstore adds new chapter to the Corner.
26 February 2026
Both names have been hogging the top spot for at least six years: ‘Liam’ and ‘Charlotte’ remained most popular Virginia baby names in 2025 (previously).
No local tie-in this time: Taylor Tomlinson: Prodigal Daughter on Netflix is her fourth show. I’ve probably streamed all of them but in a lapse of accountability have failed to mention doing so here.
I had prepared for disappointment but there’s no record of whether my expectations were satisfied: Mary Reilly (TriStar Pictures, 1996) was $3.00 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8.
25 February 2026
After a vote last October, Croatia reintroduces mandatory military service of two months.
A Midwinter’s Tale (Sony Pictures Classics, 1995) was $4.50 at Cineplex Odeon Janus 3. I walked between theatres. Four Rooms (Miramax Films, 1995) was $2.00 at Cineplex Odeon Foundry 7. I would buy a laserdisc in 1998 for $15.81 from Tower Video #130 in the District (disposal in 2011).
More stress for email providers: Why “magic links” and passcodes are taking over news logins.
24 February 2026
Cash-starved and censored, America’s student newspapers are fighting to survive.
Rumble in the Bronx (New Line Cinema, 1995) was $3.75 at AMC Potomac Mills 15, I found a penny. I was dissatisfied with the dubbing, but amused by the use of views of The Battery as a transition between scenes set in the Bronx.
Wrong flag at Olympics? Why Taegeukgi is tricky — and how to get it right 🇰🇷
23 February 2026
The ethnicity of the Storm Rider: Legend of Hammerhead production depends on who you ask.
The documentary Naked Ambition about model and photographer Bunny Yeager is a couple of years old (2023) but I streamed it on Netflix. I wonder if she would have been as interesting if she’d been using 35mm film instead of larger format films in, for example, a Rolleiflex Twin-Lens-Reflex camera.
Terror: Mexico fears more violence after army kills leader of powerful Jalisco cartel.
22 February 2026
The elderly criming for a roof: Prisons as retirement homes for low-income seniors in Japan.
For twelve million dinars, the cast iron and brass housing might last a century, sure, but what about the GPS-based time-setting? Постављен сат на кружном току на Тргу републике (via). With the icon for Vreme (Time) in this <p> element, I no longer generate for single-density displays.
What a piece of junk (I’m avoiding): macOS 26.4 Beta: Problems Mounting HFS+ Volumes.
21 February 2026
Wikipedia blacklists Archive.today, starts removing 695,000 archive links.
Someone is optimistic: Sunday’s storm could dump up to 12 inches of snow across DC region.
Hometown Paper Profiles Caroline Cash, New Nancy Cartoonist.
20 February 2026
‘Made in Kosovo’: New Barcode Could Boost Exports After Years Of Borrowed Labels.
The tenth: Measles case may have led to exposures at Alexandria office building down the road.
New from Lisa McGee: I’ve been watching How to Get to Heaven from Belfast on Netflix.
19 February 2026
Американци се повлаче из Бондстила, шести пут за две деценије or is it the fifth?
How a functioning democracy does it: South Korea’s Former President Yoon Sentenced to Life for Insurrection Leadership while Britain’s former prince Andrew arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office (after alleged dealings with Epstein when he was a trade envoy).
Military escalation in Iran crisis would have ‘heavy repercussions’ for regional stability: EU.
18 February 2026
BrickFair’s new venue: Sheriff’s Office Searches For Suspects In Macy’s Larceny, finds no gun.
Muppet Treasure Island (Walt Disney Pictures, 1996) was $3.00 at AMC Potomac Mills 15, I would buy the laserdisc a year later for $35.19 from LaserDisc Fan Club (disposal in 2011).
FDA reverses course, agrees to review Moderna’s flu vaccine after change in protocol.
17 February 2026
Ahold Delhaize Initiates Arbitration Over Serbian Regulatory Measures with ICSID (h/t).
The 
-rated Muppet Treasure Island was already a sell-out this afternoon, so I paid $3.00 to see City Hall (Columbia Pictures, 1996) at AMC Potomac Mills 15. My first time smuggling in a water bottle. My notes have nothing to say on the presence of Bridget Fonda (she was 31). I slipped on ice after.
#8: Measles case reported at Lorton grocery store, Inova ER (via a new feed of local news).
16 February 2026
My Air Force Now Denies Receiving F-35s Without Radars T-shirt has people asking questions already answered by my shirt. Reports earlier in the month used an anonymous source.
Mr. Wrong (Touchstone Pictures, 1996) was $3.00 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8, I found a penny there after finding one in the subway. I felt like saying, “Touchstone screened this movie too late for review.”
Flawed ‘Epstein Files’ disclosures undermine accountability for grave crimes against women and girls: UN experts. State of New Mexico to Investigate Zorro Ranch under new ownership.
15 February 2026
Implicated: Cos’è la rana freccia dell’Ecuador, il vertebrato più velenoso al mondo.
Inspecting iOS and iPadOS helped troubleshoot style rules not being honored in mobile Safari.
The new talking point: ‘Epstein Class’ – It’s No Accident That We Are Seeing That So Widely.
14 February 2026
💩 continues: Avoid contact with Potomac River, Va. health officials say in new advisory.
The headgear worn by Pilar Seurat as Amra Palli in the “The Abominable Snowman Affair” episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was previously worn by Hedy Lamrr at 24½ in the 1939 MGM production Lady of the Tropics, according to accessories227 - Recycled Movie Costumes.
Yes, again (previously): Suspect in custody after shooting at Springfield mall yesterday.
13 February 2026
After lies, Minnesotans welcome the immigration surge drawdown but remain vigilant.
When Night Is Falling (October Films, 1995) was $2.00 at Cineplex Odeon Foundry 7, I was half an hour early and wasn’t even the first to arrive for the show. I would buy the laserdisc 16 months later for $35.95 from LaserDisc Fan Club (disposal in 2011). This evening was also notable for a pedestrian recognizing me on the sidewalk as we both walked on M Street headed for the Foggy Bottom station, she had been a colleague (and would die in 2013 at 64). Our conversation nearly stalled when I admitted the movie genre tonight had been “lesbian.”
$100 billion company: What if riders don’t close a robotaxi door after a ride? Try DoorDash.
12 February 2026
DW underplays how pervasive the smoking is: Serbia’s charming old-world pub culture.
I accomplished this update in a virtual machine earlier in the week, but first macOS demanded 10.79GB more free home volume space: Apple has just released security updates for Catalina and Big Sur.
🎈 El Paso airport closed after military used new anti-drone laser to zap party balloon.
11 February 2026
The Focus sees daylight, it’s been 3 weeks: A bit breezy and chillier, but melting will continue.
Broken Arrow (Twentieth Century-Fox, 1996) was $5.75 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8, I found 1¢.
Israel used weapons in Gaza that made thousands of Palestinians evaporate.
10 February 2026
Republicans Love Supreme Court Expansion When It Gets Them What They Want.
The Washington Times reporter dutifully listened to Virginia gun owners, dealers unload on state’s proposed firearms crackdown (via) at a gun show last weekend in the Manassas Mall.
beautiful girls (Miramax Films, 1996) was $4.00 at the Cineplex Odeon Fair City Mall 6.
09 February 2026
Discord faces backlash over age checks after data breach exposed 70,000 IDs.
Even a Decade of Unintentional Shootings Could Not Slow America’s Top Pistol Maker.
Big sports news: Mountain West Conference officially welcomes NDSU for football.
08 February 2026
JC Penny’s Springfield Closing [sic] while Barnes & Noble plans to open in Foxchase.
The report on Friday by The New York Times has revived the discourse that Mass-market books are disappearing from grocery store racks which was first news in December. Last year’s desk replacement project displaced a significant number of volumes in that fading format.
Restoration (Miramax Films, 1995) was $4.00 at United Artists Fairfax Towne Center 10.
07 February 2026
German airline Lufthansa acknowledges it was ‘clearly’ part of the Nazi system.
Upon a third viewing of the Space: 1999 episode Mission of the Darians today, I must correct a misidentification that I made in these pages upon a second viewing a dozen years ago even while linking to a screen capture that proved me wrong: while Joan Collins (she was 41) does wear a pink minidress in the episode, Professor Bergman actually ignores an extra in a pale yellow minidress (the uncredited Tara Faraday, her face seen in this publicity still with Martin Landau at 46 and Linda Hooks at 23). The series is streaming in high-definition on multiple platforms (including PlutoTV and Peacock) but I’ve continued my no-commercial-interruptions streak on Roku.
Virginia now at six cases: Measles exposure reported at Reagan National Airport.
06 February 2026
Minister Calleary launches digital edition of first Irish-language newspaper An Gaodhal.
A “U. S. PREMIERE” of Vukovar Poste Restante (Tara Releasing, 1994) at the Biograph, I paid $6.00 and noted a screed posted on the bulletin board against tonight’s film that started with a quote from Thatcher and ended with a warning regarding the “funding by Serbian banks.” I found a penny, and the film was the usual… Serbs like to have their naked people in a film.
Fonts included! The Age of Plastic (via) dives into the making of 2001: a space odyssey.
05 February 2026
Restored angel fresco resembling Italy’s PM Meloni removed after backlash.
Adult is fifth case in Virginia: Possible measles exposure sites reported in Reston and Herndon.
Boar’s Head reopens Virginia deli meat plant tied to deadly listeria outbreak.
04 February 2026
Washington Post cuts a third of its staff in a blow to a legendary news brand.
A new generation revives ‘The Muppet Show’ and it’s as delightful as ever (on Disney+).
AI-induced cultural stagnation is no longer speculation − it’s already happening.
03 February 2026
NPR didn’t ask about bag sizes: PepsiCo will cut prices on Lay’s, Cheetos by as much as 15%.
I headed out to the subway too late, and joined Black Sheep (Paramount Pictures, 1996) in progress at the Sony Theatres Pentagon City 6, I paid $4.25 for the ticket and had to repeat my request to buy a bottled water. There was a penny I wouldn’t pick up, it turned out, this one was under the urinal.
A choice: Shirlington Transit Center cuts hours, earning backlash during winter storm.
02 February 2026
Yesterday: UPDATED: Power outage at Tysons Corner Center caused by piled-up snow.
Target still silent: Abandoned cars, long days and no clear end for Minneapolis reporters.
Measles is at ICE in Texas: Stephen Miller Paid Latino Thugs to Murder Alex Pretti.
01 February 2026
ProPublica puts the names in the URL: Two CBP Agents Identified in Alex Pretti Shooting.
Li Ming: Srbija i Kina postavljaju model za izgradnju novog tipa međunarodnih odnosa just as New Evidence Of Labor Abuses At Flagship Chinese Factory In Serbia is reported.
A fourth Measles case reported at Dulles last weekend led to potential N. Va. exposures.
31 January 2026
Serb in the news: Marina Abramović, artist: ‘Now that I can afford to have bad reviews, I can’t find any’. Balkan Erotic Epic brings full nudity and more to Park Avenue Armory in December.
Canadian developer reconsiders: Hanover County facility sought by ICE is no longer for sale.
Denials: Đukanović: Nijesam sa Epstinom obavljao ni posrednu ni neposrednu komunikaciju, Milo Đukanović: Epstina nisam poznavao, ne znam kako je zaključio da sam sjajan lik.
30 January 2026
Jumpseat’s HEO: Top Secret Spy Satellite Declassified By National Reconnaissance Office.
NPR turns out to have been tracking Manalapan, New Jersey-raised Audrey Nuna since at least 2020 and had her on for a Tiny Desk Concert in 2024, they caught up with the rapper and newly-engaged EJAE and Germantown, Maryland-raised Rei Ami in ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ HUNTR/X conquer the charts and claim their destiny last Tuesday while avoiding any tie-in to a recent toy show in Germany: Mattel taps into ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ fan craze with new doll line.
Richard III (United Artists Pictures Inc., 1995) was $4.50 at the Cineplex Odeon Janus 3.
29 January 2026
Washington Post to close Springfield printing plant next year with everything in decline.
I’ve been watching 2 Broke Girls without commercial interruption thanks to The Roku Channel. The comprehensively-reviled show is still popular in 2026: All 6 Seasons of ‘2 Broke Girls’ Arrive on Netflix in Select International Regions. The show’s theme used a song called “Second Chance” which explains why Peter Bjorn and John are identified as the musical act in the closed captioning. Entertainment Tonight ambushes Kat Dennings with the idea that it’s 15 years since the show’s debut.
WASHINGTON PREMIERE: Theremin An Electronic Odyssey (Orion Classics, 1993) was $6 at the Biograph.
28 January 2026
Oh, no! Anyway… Amazon to close Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh to concentrate on Whole Foods and grocery delivery. The closure includes the one that took 4 years just to open.
A year ago: NTSB Animation - Aircraft Visibility Study - DCA Midair Collision.
Mel Brooks’ last for decades, Dracula-Dead and Loving It (Columbia Pictures, 1995) was $1.50 at United Artists Movies at Fair Oaks, the presentation was cut off at 86m just as the credits started.
27 January 2026
Italian officials rebuke the mayor of Milan with “non è che stanno a arrivare le SS” as L’Ice in Italia per i Giochi invernali, portavoce: “Collaboreranno alla sicurezza delle Olimpiadi”.
Governor Youngkin pardoned Fairfax police officer in 2023 Tysons Corner shooting.
The Republican project wasn’t supposed to be this obvious: The Supreme Court’s “History and Tradition” Test Just Ran Into America’s History and Tradition of Anti-Black Racism.
26 January 2026
No bus today! Power outages and canceled flights as winter storm brings snow, sleet and ice.
They sound a bit like President Adar with his hopes for peace with the Cylons back in 1978: Open letter from more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies asking for peace and cooperation.
Time for Warner to do the same: DC Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton files to end reelection campaign.
25 January 2026
Iran’s Internet Blackout Persists As Report Says Protest Death Toll May Exceed 30,000.
Nostalgia for the early 2000s is credited: Jang’s New Balance 204L Sneakers Sell Out.
Kosovo has signed up! Trump unveils his new ‘Board of Peace,’ but some countries wary.
24 January 2026
Criminal minions of the President act with impunity: ICE Just Killed Another Neighbor.
WASHINGTON PREMIERE: I Can’t Sleep [J’ai pas sommeil] (New Yorker Films Release, 1994) was $6 at the Biograph.
Alexandria declares Snow Emergency, requiring vehicle removal on emergency routes.
23 January 2026
Minnesota says ICE out: Anger sweeps America as five year old is detained by ICE agents.
I avoided everything but for 3 animated productions: See the full list of 2026 Oscar nominations.
In Indonesian caves: This 67,800-year-old hand stencil is the world’s oldest human-made art.
22 January 2026
Victory Center conversion plans to deliver 377-unit all-affordable housing building by 2027.
Othello (Columbia Pictures, 1995) for $4 at United Artists Fairfax Towne Center 10 started late.
Mass market paperbacks — the books that ‘democratized America’ — are no more (via).
21 January 2026
A curse for the situation: Canada’s Carney says world order ‘in the midst of a rupture’.
Virginia’s third case: Preschooler with measles led to potential exposures in N. Va. last week
❄ Evolving️: Confidence increases for ‘significant’ winter storm in DC area this weekend.
20 January 2026
BestBus: Errant bus driver takes passengers for unwanted ride to Vienna Metro station.
From Dusk Till Dawn (Dimension Films, 1996) was $3 at AMC Potomac Mills 15, I noted a 1995 copyright. I would buy the Exclusive Director’s Edition laserdisc late the next year for $51.80 at Saturday Matinee #0762 in Georgetown Park (disposal in 2011).
I drove up this time, as four vied (and one was just picked) to be a candidate for state Delegate.
19 January 2026
You might underestimate bovine cognition at your peril: Meet Veronika, the tool-using cow.
Impeachment, 25th Amendment, or…? “I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace” as Russia welcomes Trump’s tariffs on NATO allies over Greenland as ‘collapse’ of alliance.
Toll will rise: Spanish PM promises thorough investigation after 39 killed in train crash.
18 January 2026
Gun pulled at Springfield Town Center, bringing Fairfax County police, finding nothing.
Hailee Steinfeld is in Pitch Perfect 2 at 17 as a reminder it’s set in college, I watched on Netflix.
As 75th, Spanberger sworn in as Virginia’s first woman governor, moves swiftly to set agenda
17 January 2026
Oglala Sioux Tribe Rejects ICE Conditions for Information on Detained Members.
Yahoo! Widgets, CanoScan LiDE 210, and Nikon ViewNX are among the victims of a shift from Mojave to Sequoia. It’s been nearly eight years since I took on the Mac Pro 5,1, its purchase was 7 years prior. This replacement is my second purchase from iPowerResale (the first was 10 years ago) and, sure, it looked nice on the outside but when I opened it to install a Sonnet Tech Allegro 7-Port USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A PCIe Card (to accomodate legacy peripherals) a golf ball’s worth of dust fell out! The need to let go of 32-bit apps wasn’t a surprise, but a subtler problem arose in only one of the two accounts transferred—a missing glyph where my style rule employs U+202F. The answer turned out to be reliance on a version 2.x of Times New Roman, deleting that version and allowing the use of version 5.x files was the solution. The two Mac Pro 7,1 on the premises are headed for a planned obsolescence very shortly: What’s happening with code signing and future macOS?
Former Senator Turned Biglaw Lawyer Sued For Breaking Up Bodyguard’s Marriage.
16 January 2026
An app’s blunt life check adds another layer to the loneliness crisis in China and elsewhere.
His death was first reported in December but now that an obituary was published in The New York Times on Wednesday (via offers a gift link) his story is getting more attention: Today in Lives Lived Well: Renfrew Christie, Anti-Apartheid Saboteur.
Our governor-elect creating a Trial by Firehouse as House District 5 primary set for Tuesday.
15 January 2026
Croatia selects Alexandria as home base for 2026 World Cup (via).
Forum Communications to Acquire Midwest Newspaper Portfolio from Wick Communications.
Two if by Sea (Warner Bros., 1996) was $3 at AMC Potomac Mills 15.
14 January 2026
Serbians mark Orthodox Christian New Year according to old tradition with fireworks, drones, and laser effects. (To be fair, by “old tradition” AP means use of the Julian calendar.)
His nomination had been withdrawn last year (previously): Preminuo Mark Brnović, kojeg je Tramp nominovao za ambasadora u Srbiji. It’s been just over a year since Hill stepped down.
The Dilbert guy (previously) who used a sockpuppet account to praise himself has died and MetaFilter is normal about it: Consider Catbert, who was once handsome and tall as you.
13 January 2026
The signs at today’s firehouse primary at the library were definitely oriented for arrivals by car.
RFE/RL uses maps to demonstrate the differences in territory involved: The invasion of Ukraine has already lasted longer than the Soviet fight against the Nazis in World War II.
Series of weekend Metro closures coming to Crystal City and Reagan National.
12 January 2026
Virginia’s second so far this year: VDH: Child with measles visited Fort Belvoir medical center.
UK inquiry as Malaysia, Indonesia become first to block Musk’s Grok over AI deepfakes.
Shorn of its tools: The Story Of Ukraine’s Rare Mi-24 Hind Radiation Detection Helicopters.
11 January 2026
Flower Shops Protest LEGO Bouquets used at Korean award ceremony, via their association.
There was some humor in these pages about catching up to the year (2022) in which Soylent Green is set, and then again in 2024 with A Boy and His Dog, but I’ve seen nothing yet for the shaky case that can be made for 2026 as the year in which Metropolis (1927) (via) takes place.
To me the perspective looks like a pizza slice: Q&A: What’s cooking in the new food pyramid?
10 January 2026
‘We have to stand up’: ICE killing in Minneapolis sparks protests across US.
The American President (Columbia Pictures, 1995) was $3 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8, which meant I had seen everything playing at this location. The federal government had been closed since Monday (today was Wednesday) for a weather emergency and while it would open the next day, to get to the office would take me four hours on account of the crowded trains on the Metrorail. Snow early Friday morning would close the federal government again, I would see Toy Story a second time (previously).
U.Va. claims to use three: Why do people lose their minds over typefaces and fonts?
09 January 2026
Wegmans declines to confirm use of facial recognition technology at Alexandria store.
I saw Pitch Perfect was on Netflix and had a delayed reaction to the recommendation I didn’t read two weeks ago (The December Comfort Watches 2025, Day Twenty-Four: Pitch Perfect). By 2012, my days of seeing even one movie a month were well in the past and clearly I made bad choices.
Carved up and neglected, Route 66 continues to fascinate as it turns 100 (previously).
08 January 2026
Snow in Europe, Milja Gogić has no gloves reporting on conditions in Belgrade for RTS.
77 million voted for the criminal at the top: How Many People Have Been Shot in ICE Raids?
Ship was empty all along : The US seizes the Russian-flagged oil tanker that fled Venezuela.
07 January 2026
Serbia Deepens Military Ties With China Through Drones, Air Defense Systems.
Before it was a New Grand Mart, it was a Grand Mart, and before that, it was a Giant Food: Longstanding Seven Corners grocery store, Italian restaurant eyed for redevelopment.
Trump wants you dead: ICE officer fatally shoots driver through car window in Minneapolis.
06 January 2026
B. cereus: Healthy 18-year-old welder nearly died of anthrax—the 9th such puzzling case.
Twelve Monkeys (Universal Pictures, 1995) was $3 at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8, I also paid $1.83 for a bottle of water. A packed house, a talkative guy in the row ahead that had seen it before fortunately had seat-side companions that were equally talkative although I did hear him be convinced the bum was also Willis’s character. Madeleine Stowe was 36 as the doctor meeting a traveler to our time.
Five Years Since America’s First Coup Attempt and the person to blame is still at large.
05 January 2026
My last visit was in 2022: Photos: Vienna library demolished after 54 years of operations.
I was slightly faster on the draw in purchasing the latest work by Thomas Levenson (previously) but I began So Very Small: How Humans Discovered the Microcosmos, Defeated Germs — And May Still Lose the War Against Infectious Disease only late last year. Levenson hits all the classics in tracing an idea so ludicrous it took centuries to develop into a theory—that tiny, invisible beings could affect the course of human events, even the affairs of ladies and gentlemen shielded from the conditions to which lower classes were relegated. Jacket design: Elena Giavaldi. Jacket art: images created by Tal Danino and Soonhee Moon. (1)
Burke & Herbert: Old Town-based bank expanding into Pennsylvania through $354M deal.
04 January 2026
Daily Progress, too: Hoffman Media Takes Control of Lee Enterprises to Further Mission.
It is obviously routine to value apartments by the cost per square meter and not the total: Најскупљи станови у Београду, предњачи Савски венац с највећом ценом од 6.818 евра по квадрату.
A recommendation at FanFare was enough to get me to stream Cover-Up on Netflix.
03 January 2026
A comprehensive look at world reaction: Šta Vučič misli o napadu Amerike na Venecuelu?
I got the notice yesterday, but the project has been underway since last August: Comcast is Shutting Down Its Email Service & Moving Customers to Yahoo – Here is Everything You Need to Know. By declining to participate in moving it, I hope to be rid of that spam-magnet account by summer.
Academy is next: What To Expect From Star Trek In 2026: A Franchise At A Crossroads.
02 January 2026
USPS says mail-in ballots might not get postmark on same day they’re dropped off.
I’ve long assumed that the upside-down video from an iPad-using participant in our Wamalug video conferences was user error, but it’s actually a problem with the Firefox desktop browser that I’m using, a problem that’s eight years old: Support 3gpp:video-orientation in WebRTC.
I used a pass to see the sequel Grumpier Old Men (Warner Bros., 1995) at AMC Courthouse Plaza 8.
01 January 2026
Amsterdam church burns amidst ‘unprecedented’ New Year’s Eve violence against police.
In their fourth day: Iran’s Pezeshkian urges unity as protests over economic woes turn deadly.
The publicity machine worked, I’ve watched 3 comedy specials by Cristela Alonzo on Netflix.