Go, Gandalf, go!

Ian McKellen has confirmed he’s back on board for The Hobbit. Huzzah!

Here’s hoping he’s up for the filming through 2009-10.

(via Ginny)

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***Dave Does the Mastodon

5 hours ago

Looks like #Trump will finally get his Kremlin/Pyongyang-style military #parade celebrating his birthday. (Yeah, it's also the 250th anniversary of the US Army, and Flag Day, but we all know why he's really doing it.)

It will be interesting to see what sort of media coverage its given.

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/761814/trump-parade-military-dc/

4 hours ago

"We had to destroy the #economy in order to save it."

No, I take it back -- that's far more rational an explanation than what we're seeing from the #TrumpRegime .

2 days ago

Because it's not enough to say that some ideas are wrongthink. You have to get *rid* of those ideas, and the #books that talk about them.

Especially for potential consumers of those ideas whom you are arming to fight for you.

#Trump #hegseth #censorship #military #libraries

https://apnews.com/article/navy-dei-books-removed-library-angelou-9ac43d421bc8daffa9c055ccf8630221

2 days ago

#Republicans - "Laws to protect #trans kids must always bow to the ultimate, sacred, and essential rights of #parents to raise kids the way they see fit."

Also Republicans - "Unless they want to use those rights to get their kids gender-affirming care, in which case we have to stop them."

https://coloradonewsline.com/2025/04/04/colorado-bills-transgender-health-care-protections/

2 days ago

I feel bad for all the #vets who are facing foreclosure due to the #Trump regime arbitrarily yoinking a VA debt program without replacing it (or even sharing if they *will* replace it).

On the other hand, I wonder how many of those vets voted for the regime, on the assumption that it would be only layabout libs who suffered under the new austerity.

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/03/nx-s1-5351768/trumps-va-is-ending-a-rescue-program-thats-saved-17-000-military-veterans-homes

3 days ago

Sad, though not surprised, to see #NaNoWriMo .org shutting down. They helped me in doing a lot of the #writing I've done. While they made some serious missteps in recent years, I'll remember their efforts before that with fondness.

https://www.avclub.com/nanowrimo-to-shut-down-a-year-after-ai-comments

1 week ago

I Am Old Enough To Remember ... when much of the security failure of 9/11 was blamed on the patchwork of incompetent privately-owned companies doing #AirportSecurity , where profit motive incented hiring the lowest-cost workers, rules were different from airport to airport, and nobody had responsibility or accountability.

Not that the #TSA is not without fault, but the idea that if we just go with cut-rate rent-a-cops we can be safe *and* save money is truly laughable.

https://www.al.com/politics/2025/03/tuberville-bill-would-eliminate-tsa-airport-security-agency-an-inefficient-bureaucratic-mess.html

2 weeks ago

"Grenell defends Kennedy Center changes under Trump, including DEI cuts"

Strangely enough, I don't recall "sell lots of tickets and turn a tidy profit" as being core mission statements for the Kennedy Center.

https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5216045-ric-grenell-kennedy-center-trump-dei/

2 weeks ago

"HHS will lay off 10,000 employees as part of a major restructuring plan"

Yes, clearly this nation's problem is too much health and human service. 🤨

#Trump #rfkjr #hhs

https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-3-27-2025

2 weeks ago

Even more amusing that the 2019 #portrait of #Trump in the #Colorado Capitol rotunda which he dislikes so and blamed as an intentional insult by the "leftist" 🙄 governor of our state, was in fact commissioned and funds raised for it by Colorado #Republicans, led by #GOP state representatives.

https://www.kktv.com/2025/03/25/it-certainly-caught-me-little-off-guard-former-colorado-republican-senator-reacts-president-trumps-comments-painting-capitol-building-helped-commission-painting-2019/

2 weeks ago

If one charitably assumes #Trump / #Musk are trying to run #government like a business (a doltish idea, but anyway), then it's clearly the business role of private equity partners, stripping things down, raiding the assets, destroying the good will, sacking the staff, and leaving behind the husk once there's nothing of value left... except maybe the brand, which they can sell to some another firm.

https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/5207889-withdrawing-usaid-funds-disease/

2 weeks ago

Looks like #Texas may be targeting school #D&D clubs again - - though this time in an attempt to stamp out the non-existent scourge of kids "identifying" as non-human creatures. 🙄

#dnd #furries

https://www.rascal.news/texas-furries-act-tabletop-roleplaying-games-in-schools/

2 weeks ago

"Homeland Security revokes temporary status for 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans"

I'm old enough to remember when deporting refugees from #Cuba was a political third rail, especially in Florida.

I wonder if this will move the needle in the Cuban-American community there at all, or, if like so many Evangelical Christians have, they've drunk the Kool-aid of #Trumpism.

https://apnews.com/article/immigration-humanitarian-parole-china-haiti-nicaragua-venezuela-c10f422939934cf8d1cf8a6f4dfc4610

2 weeks ago

"Trump calls on Polis to remove ‘purposefully distorted’ portrait of himself hanging in the Colorado Capitol"

Granted it is not an attractive or even accurate painting, a normal person would have made such a request (if they made it at all) quietly, assuming good faith.

Instead, #Trump turns it into a political attack, a self-righteous grievance, a chance to disparage his "enemies."

Also, calling Polis an extreme leftist is the funniest thing I have heard today.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/24/trump-portrait-colorado-polis-00244561

2 weeks ago

"Commerce secretary: No one but ‘fraudsters’ would complain about missed #SocialSecurity check"

I.e., "dissent and complaint proves all our accusations of fraud are valid."

Also, "Let them eat cake."

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5208187-commerce-secretary-social-security-fraud/

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