Dark Times – Page 2 – Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

Sunday Morning Reading

Small acts

It’s only business they say. Nothing personal. That’s the way the world works. Well, what I share each week in Sunday Morning Reading always comes from a place of personal interest. That may not be how the world works, but it works for me and I hope it does for you. Call it a small act.

In the wake of the continuing and confounding ICE occupation of Chicago comes a terrific piece by Kyle Kingsbury called I Want You To Understand Chicago.

Follow that up with a ProPublica piece by Melissa Sanches, Jodi S. Cohen, T. Christian Miller, Sebastian Rotella and Mariam Elba about the nighttime raid on a Chicago apartment building that featured men rappelling from Black Hawk helicopters, and all of the residents emptied on to the streets with many of their belongings. The punchline is in the article’s title, “I Lost Everything”; Venezuelans Were Rounded Up In A Dramatic Midnight Raid But Never Charged With A Crime.

A Nation of Heroes, A Senate Of Cowards by Will Bunch calls it like it is and much the way I see things after last weekend’s actions in the U.S. Senate.

Growing up, I never understood the cliché, “it’s nothing personal, it’s only business.” Frankly I still don’t. It excuses too much that I find wrong about the way the world works. Charles Broskoski examines the personal side in Personal Business.

And speaking of the way the world works (or doesn’t) in the midst of the Epstein fever I don’t think we’ll ever shake, Sarah Lyons points out that the violence in his and others’ actions is something we all live with in This Is How The World Works. It shouldn’t be.

Corbin Trent says We Didn’t Kill American Manufacturing—We Let It Die. He’s spot on.

Mark Jacob tells us How News Coverage Eases Us Into Tyranny. However this saga we’re living through ends up, one thing is for certain. The media has killed any chance of returning to what it once was.

Hardly a day goes by that we don’t read of some nefarious business practice spilling out of Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. Turns out Meta is knowingly leeching off of scammers to the tune of about 10 percent of its revenue. I guess that makes Meta and Zuckerberg a scammer too. Cath Virginia has the writeup with Meta Must Rein In Scammers — Or Face Consequences. I doubt they will.

The Internet Archive is under attack in the same way libraries, media organizations, and text book publishing is. It shouldn’t be. Mathew Ingram has the lowdown in The Internet Archive Should Be Protected Not Attacked.

On a more positive note, Jeff Veen tells us how Small Acts Build Great Cultures. Boy, do we need lots of small acts these days.

To close out, did you ever wonder where collective nouns like “a watch of nightingales” or “an ostentation of peacocks” come from? For many years it was assumed that the anonymous author of this collection of collective nouns was the work of a “gentleman of excellent gifts” written down in one of the first books printed after the invention of The Gutenberg Press, The Book of Hawking, Hunting, and Blazing of Arms. Turns out the author was a woman named Juliana Barnes. Maria Popova has the story in A Parliament of Owls And A Murder Of Crows: How Groups Of Birds Got Their Names, With Wondrous Vintage Illustrations By Brian Wordsmith.

(Image form Ganesh Narahanan on Unsplash)

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. If you’d like more click on the Sunday Morning Reading link in the category column to check out what’s been shared on Sunday’s past. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

Politics, the arts, a little snow, and the end of an era

It’s a Sunday and Fall is homing in on Winter as the first snow of the season hits Chicago this morning. Perfect time for a little Sunday Morning Reading featuring some interesting stories about the arts, AI, and home.

As the first flakes of this winter of discontent fall, two interesting reads highlight some of the chaos the art-less U.S administration is inflicting on the American arts scene, specifically The Kennedy Center. Shawn McCreesh takes a look at the damage being done in The Kennedy Center Crackup.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Higgins reports that the Washington National Opera May Move Out Of The Kennedy Center Due to Trump ‘Takeover.’ I’m here to tell you that while what’s happening on the banks of the Potomac may feel very inside the beltway, the repercussions are being felt in the boardrooms of arts organizations across the country.

The above, like most of our news of late, is certainly not something to laugh at. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t find ways to laugh at the incompetent, ignorant and dangerous players wreaking havoc in their wake. Laughter gets under their all too thin skins, no matter how made up or stretched too tight by surgery. Mike Monteiro offers up How To Point At Fascists And Laugh.

NatashaMH, far too young to worry about being old, takes a look at creating art as she nears the mid-century mark in I Don’t Paint For Your Sofa. Youngsters these days.

Art and politics might be an unholy mix in dangerous times like these, but there’s another foul concoction brewing. Adam Willems points to An ex-Intel CEO’s Mission To Build A Christian AI: ‘Hasten The Coming of Christ’s Return.’ If you ask me these folks wishing for these kind of end times have really missed the points. All of them.

Continuing on the AI front there seems to be a bit of weakening in the walls of what most concede is an economic bubble. The cliché is that bubbles pop. Those that don’t, just disappear as they float away. Ben Thompson takes a look at what happens in either case in The Benefits of Bubbles.

Home is where hearts are and often places you can’t return back to. I’ve lived both. Chris Andrei is Searching For The Elusive Feeling Of Home.

With the weather changing and snowflakes falling out my window, there’s a passage of time marker about to be set. The Farmers’ Almanac is about to shut down. Growing up in rural America there were only two publications that everyone I knew received in the mail. It was always a big deal in our house when my dad, who was the postmaster, brought those home. The Sears Catalog and The Farmer’s Almanac. The Sears Catalog is long gone. The 2026 edition of the latter will be its last. Grace Snelling takes a look back and ahead in After More Than 200 Years, The Farmers’ Almanac Is Shutting Down For Good.

Returning to where this week’s column began, the arts, Jack Rodolico’s The Blue Book Burglar examines how New York’s once vaunted Social Register, was not only a destination that social climbers desired to be included in, but was also a hit list for the country’s hardest working art thief. I just don’t understand how the current thieves doing today’s pillaging have it so damn easy.

Sunday Morning Reading

Balancing on the edge of a coin

Regardless of the many problems with the Internet, there’s no denying its benefits. One of those is the pleasure of reading stuff I probably would never be aware of without it. In many ways that’s what this Sunday Morning Reading column is about (as well as my life in general on the Internet.) When you read and live life enough, you discover that the trick is always balancing on the edge of the coin that separates the two sides.

There’s comfort perhaps landing on one side or the other, but life is actually in the fragile middle of the muddle somewhere, even if it’s a fine, and increasingly thinner line, often hard to discern.

Shutterstock 2408853287.

First up this Sunday is a piece by Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo called Fear, Greed, Civic Virtue and the Fall of the Elites. Pay attention to that word “virtue.” As Marshall points out it originally meant “manliness.” The word’s evolution is as tricky as the concept itself.

Follow that up with Ian Betteridge’s The Politics of the Missing Middle.

Ian Betteridge’s law of headlines that says any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered with the word “no.” Steven Levy falls into Betteridge’s trap in his piece, Can AI Avoid The Enshittification Trap? Cory Doctorow’s theory of Enshittification has been a popular topic in this column and Betteridge’s law certainly applies here. For those looking for a primer on enshittification Greg Rosalsky has a a quick primer on the topic in A Theory Why The Internet Is Going Down The Toilet.

While technically not falling under the umbrella of enshittification, some of the ways folks are using AI sure sound shitty. Check out Alexandra Jones’s I Realized I’d Been ChatGPT-ed Into Bed: ‘Chatfishing’ Made Finding Love On Dating Apps Even Weirder.

Things are getting weird indeed. Adi Robertson tells us that The Next Legal Frontier Is Your Face and AI.

Several pieces on the arts and creativity stood out to me this week. David Sparks’ The Inherent Value Of The Creative Act reflects on his creative life and his resistance to using AI for the work of creating, but it helps with his administrative tasks. There’s that edge of the coin again.

Authoritarians always target art and artists first. You don’t need an Internet to discover that history, or perhaps we might if the current forces in charge have their way. Andrew Weinstein discusses Trump’s Campaign To Defund The Arts—and Rewrite History.

Speaking of creativity or rather the other side of that coin, Joe Rosenthal takes on Creative Neglect: What About The Apps In Apple? I mentioned some of this in a piece I wrote this past week.

Speaking of that edge and to close out this week, here’s an image of a Mastodon post by friend David Todd McCarty from this morning.

CleanShot 2025-10-26 at 07.29.46@2x.

(Coin Image above from ABARONS on Shutterstock)

What’s Next After No Kings Day? How About Blackout Black Friday

Blackout Black Friday

By most accounts No Kings Day 2 was a success in gathering large crowds. Around 7 million seems to be the accepted estimate. Did it have an impact? Sure. What kind of impact? Who the hell really knows.

If you’ve followed the thoughts I’ve been jotting down here you’ll know that I strongly believe that until we extend the energy from events like No Kings Day out of a weekend and into a work week, or have a general strike, we’re not going to see the level of impact that might actually change things. I stress the word “might.”

In the aftermath of No Kings Day 2 I was searching within the recesses of my brain for something, anything that could possibly move the needle. I came up with the idea of a Blackout on Black Friday. Don’t shop. Skip Prime Day and all of its variants. Don’t watch the sports. Don’t go to the movies. Stay off the Internet. Even a 10% drop in shopping and viewing metrics would have an impact. Even the threat of such an action would probably have an impact.

Then this morning on Mastodon I see this post from SharonPersists.

CleanShot 2025-10-21 at 09.23.08@2x.

I’m glad my brain isn’t the only one where these kind of thoughts are rattling around.

I’m sure there would be all sorts of friction given that this would be over a holiday weekend geared towards family and giving thanks. But I can’t think of a better time to turn it all off, spend time with family and friends, and possibly build on the momentum of other protests.

One way or the other this situation is going to require sacrifice before it comes to whatever end it will eventually come to. The only real choice we have is to make that sacrifice willingly, or have it continue to be thrust upon us.

I think of all of the Thanksgiving Day holidays in which I was producing and directing Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. After each performance I watched families leave filled with the Christmas Spirit, only to have that merely be a passing moment in time when the message didn’t stick. We need to find some way that sticks.

I’ll be emailing organizers about this idea. I hope you might do the same.

You can also find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Artists Unite for Fall Of Freedom Campaign

Art matters. Artists are a threat to American fascism.

Much of the current focus building out of the simmering outrage at the actions of the Trump regime is centered on the October 18 NoKings rallies being planned across the country. From the sound of it the crowds will be large and widespread across the country. That’s all a good thing.

That said, I still wish and hope for and believe that more sustained efforts are going to be required before enough pressure might actually lead to progress.

One effort that might help, if given proper support and media coverage, is an national call to action by artists called Fall Of Freedom. You should certainly check out the website and how to get involved. Here’s an excerpt from the website:

Fall of Freedom is an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. Our Democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising. Dissent is being criminalized. Institutions and media have been recast as mouthpieces of propaganda.

This Fall, we are activating a nationwide wave of creative resistance. Beginning November 21–22, 2025, galleries, museums, libraries, comedy clubs, theaters, and concert halls across the country will host exhibitions, performances, and public events that channel the urgency of this moment. Fall of Freedom is an open invitation to artists, creators, and communities to take part—and to celebrate the experiences, cultures, and identities that shape the fabric of our nation.

Art matters. Artists are a threat to American fascism.

I do happen to believe in that last statement. Art does matter, and artists are a threat to American fascism, or fascism wherever it raises its ugly head.

From an article in American Theatre magazine, here are some of the theatre artists and organizations already involved:

Playwrights David Henry Hwang, Dominique Morisseau, and Sarah Ruhl; director/organizer Annie Dorsen; and Julia Jordan of the Lillys. Theatre organizations involved include the August Wilson Center, National Black Theatre, the Public Theater, Broadway Advocacy Coalition, Woolly Mammoth, New York Theatre Workshop, Ensemble Studio Theatre, En Garde Arts, Crossroads Theater Company, IndieSpace, and more.

There’s a longer and growing list at this link.

I urge you to check out the website that includes ways to get involved and a toolkit for this national call to action.

Sunday Morning Reading

Everything you can imagine is different, yet it’s the same.

It’s a Sunday. It’s a Sunday in Chicago. The Cubs lost. (Not surprising.) The Trump regime continues its horrendous snatch and grab policies all over the city (Increasingly not surprising but still terrifying.) Leaves are falling, but somehow they feel dirtier and without the bursts of color we’re used to seeing beforehand. And the world marches on. Time for a little Sunday Morning Reading.

Neil Steinberg wrote a terrific piece about Chicago amidst all that’s going on called What A Lovely Day in Chicago. It’s a love letter. It’s an homage. It’s a snapshot. As he puts it “We need to remember that this is oppression for oppression’s sake, a practice built on lies. The city is fine.” That’s the odd thing. The city is fine. It’s the oppression that’s not.

Timothy Burke’s The News: Reign of Error expands on a piece by Henry Farrell that says that institutions and communities need to coordinate their resistance to Trump. As Burke puts it one of the obstacles is that “the closer that institutions get to one another in character and mission, and the less necessary it is to be competitive, the more that they are overwhelmed by the narcissism of small differences.” It’s an excellent dissection that reveals why some in higher places of different sectors might be holding their tongues while their mouths are agape at what’s going on around us.

Empywheel thinks The Nativists Are Getting Restless: How The Comey Prosecution May Backfire. I’m not sure it matters in the end if the point is do damage as loudly as possible.

David Todd McCarty asks the question Is Your Imagination Robbing You of Real Experiences? Cogito, ergo sum?

I wrote a play years ago about John Brown and Harpers Ferry, one of those moments in American history that we seem to want to forget, yet never goes away. Robert S. Levine tells us Why Donald Trump Wants To Erase John Brown’s Fiery Abolitionist Legacy (and Why He Will Fail.)

There was so much craziness about the Nobel Peace Prize this year given, well you know why. So much so that many of the other awards were overlooked. The Nobel Prize for Literature went to Hungarian author Lázló Krasznahorkai. I have several acquaintances who adore his work and were tremendously excited. I did some reading on Krasznahorkai and stumbled up on this 2011 piece by James Wood called Madness and Civilization about the author. Worth your while.

On the Artificial Intelligence beat, Sora is the latest thing everyone has an immediate love/hate relationship with. But this isn’t about that. Sarah Perez says It’s Not Too Late For Apple To Get AI Right. Frankly, I think it’s too late for any of these companies to get it right, unless “right” is about winning the con game.

Resting my case on that last statement, Alexandra Jones looks into the connections folks can’t make in real life and are turning to AI for in ‘I Realized I’d Been ChatGPT-ed Into Bed’: How ‘Chatfishing Made Finding Love On Dating Apps Even Weirder.”

And as Autumn continues its march, New Englanders Are Fed Up With Leaf-Peeping Tourists Ruining Their Fall, so says Jared Mitovitch.

(Image is a photo I took last Fall)

Change The No Kings Day Protests Into Something Larger

Turn it into the No Kings Blackout

Forgive me. I’m dreaming again.

October 18 is shaping up as another crazy day in America. The organizations behind “No Kings” protests have targeted that day for another nationwide series of protests against the policies and ineptitude of the Trump regime. For brand recognition and a lack of creativity this one is called “No Kings Day 2.”

No KINGS 2.0_20250902163649172202.png.

That said, the Trump regime and its cronies are trying to brand these efforts as a “Day of Hate.” So I imagine we’ll see all kinds of mischief.

That’s all well and good and I’m glad to see this kind of organizing from the “No Kings” movement. But as I’ve said before, these efforts need to extend far beyond a day of protests. Until they extend into the week and keep going I don’t believe they’ll change the dynamic.

Of course I could be wrong, depending on what happens with the government shut down that’s now in effect and if Congress ever chooses to come back in session again.

I still think folks should think bigger. Why not encourage people to just shut down and stay in for the weekend or longer. Turn off the TVs and the computers. Do no shopping. Do no traveling. Make it a “No Kings Blackout.”

Just like with protests in the street you’ll never mobilize everyone, but if enough people turned off and tuned out for a period of time there might be a chance for a larger impact than expecting large turnouts. Encourage folks to stay home and read a book or rake some leaves.

Of course, that takes away one of the motivations behind any protest, which is to seek and draw attention. So, as I said, it’s just a dream on my part.

Apple’s Freezing Out Another ICE Related App: DeICER

Apple continues working for ICE

I’ve linked to coverage about Apple purging apps that are designed to help those looking to protect themselves from the Trump regime’s ICE actions including ICEBlock and Eyes Up. Add another one to the list, this time the app is called DeICER.

According to Pablo Manríquez of Migrant Insider, DeICER is a “civic-reporting app used to log immigration enforcement activity.”

Manríquez goes on to suggest that Apple effectively is treating federal immigration agents as a protected class of individuals. HIs article also includes an account of an interview with the app’s developer Rafel Concepcion over Apple pulling the app and the app’s intended purpose. It is worth a read.

In Chicago, these are dangerous and confusing times, even more so depending on who you are, what you look like and where you live. With a largely unhelpful media, it is challenging for anyone concerned to find accurate info or, as in the case of Eyes Up, preserve what they may have seen or recorded. Do note that recording info with smartphones is one of the methods of resistance Illinois and Chicago officials are encouraging citizens to perform in the face of these actions.

Even so, there are areas of Chicago wherein you would never know this kind of thing is happening. Local independent media is stepping up its game, but unfortunately doesn’t have the reach that large outlets do.

Apple isn’t alone in their cowardly actions. Google is also pulling apps of similar ilk. Both companies are referring to their respective App Store guidelines in their defense of their actions with Apple telling Concepcion,

Information provided to Apple by law enforcement shows that your app violates Guideline 1.1.1 … because its purpose is to provide location information about law enforcement officers that can be used to harm such officers individually or as a group.

These ICE enforcement actions want to project toughness in their aim to intimidate and harass, but by and large each of these maneuvers to hide what they are doing only serves to show how afraid those responsible for these actions actually are of the chaos, fear, and harm they are causing, regardless of the chest-thumping content they are creating on their raids.

The only ones who appear more afraid are Apple and the other big tech and media companies that keep going along to get along.

Apple Bans “Eyes Up” A Video Archival App For Perserving Video of ICE Actions

Stephen Miller wishes he had Apple’s plenary powers

Apple is at it again as it works hard to keep in the evil regime’s favor, banning yet another app. The latest target, Eyes Up is “dedicated to preserving video evidence of ICE abuses until it can be used in court.”

250919 broadview ICE ew 245 a441d7.

According to the report from 404 Media, the developers of Eyes Up state that unlock ICEBlock, an app Apple banned last week that allows uses to track ICE actions, Eyes Up does not do real-time tracking of ICE Actions.

The Eyes Up website is still up and can be used for the same video archiving purposes with content uploaded from TikTok, Instagram or X and include “a mix of professional media reports and user-generated clips of ICE arrests.”

Apple’s cowardly capitulations and its own plenary actions here are bad enough. As wrong as they are, they seem beyond odd, given that ICE itself has camera crews filming their actions and creating content about their actions to broadcast as it seems fit in its own promotional videos. Talk about a disconnect.

Zach Bryan’s Bad News Gets Under MAGA’s Thin Skin

Country singer Zach Bryan is teasing the MAGAts as he teases his new song, Bad News.

The teaser of the song swipes at ICE and ends with a powerful lyric that I imagine is the full song’s hook:

Got some bad news

The fading of the red, white, and blue

If he included that in the teaser, his target is no secret. You can check out the teaser of the song below.

Bryan is no slouch of a Country singer, filling stadiums, selling lots of his music to a large following. Here’s hoping his instincts reach some in that large audience with this song of protest, beyond the MAGAt reactionary force that’s already all over this effort.