A major breakthrough in rock climbing — the first “flash” ascent of a 5.15a route.

There’s some misinformation (possibly disinformation) in this video regarding the true meaning of a “flash” ascent. So I’ll explain.

First, nothing I’m about to say takes anything away from Adam Ondra’s extraordinary feat. He hasn’t mislabeled or misdefined what he’s done. He “flashed” the route — climbing it first try without any falls.

And he’s done this with a route that only a few years ago was—

A related point in the film is how generations of oppression and injustice have given enormous power and immediacy to black and minority culture — artistic expressions of pain and inextinguishable hope — especially in the intersection of blues, soul and gospel music—

https://twitter.com/nickfalacci/status/1414681762848935936

A reality that emphasizes how absurd the claims are of white supremacists who claim they are attempting to prevent the erasure of “white culture.” Which I’m not sure what that really is. Clogging? Contrapuntal baroque music? I’ve yet to encounter a white supremacist who—

About 20 minutes into “Summer of Soul” I started crying. The music is so extraordinary, the moment in time, the scene of so many black Americans having suffered so much repression, suffering the deaths of RFK and MLKJr the previous year, coming together in a joyful festival … … the lost footage looking so goddamn amazing. And it just builds and builds. Mavis Staple and Mahalia Jackson singing “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.” Dorothy Morrison and her amazing lead bass vocals on “Oh Happy Day.” And Sly and the Family Stone with his proto-Prince band.

Your most relaxing, centering home chore:

-Laundry

-Vacuuming

Or something else? For my dad it was laundry. Particularly folding. Because he had been on an ice breaker in the Navy and when they needed a volunteer to take over laundry duty my dad jumped at it — not because he knew what he was doing (he didn’t) but he knew it was the warmest room on the ship.

“I will not yield!”

Those words introduced Hollywood’s first motion picture depiction of a Senate filibuster. Like Hollywood so often does, it romanticized the subject it portrayed while ignoring its historical realities. In Frank Capra’s “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington” ... ... Jimmy Stewart’s junior Senator Jeff Smith was the David of political idealism squaring off against the Goliath of Washington insider corruption. The filibuster was the single stone in Senator’s Jeff Smith’s modest sling as he made a desperate bid to bring national attention-

Rep Jake Auchincloss has it right.

In the wake of the Capitol Insurrection and the Continued Big Lie about the election ... bipartisanship is dead.

It’s now time to SHAME, SHUN and ISOLATE the Republicans that perpetuate this election lie.

washingtonpost.com/powerpost/demo… The gall of equating the few Dems that objected to Trump’s election with the seditious actions of 2021 is simply stunning. It is an argument without substance or merit. It is an abdication of responsibility for a deadly insurrection.

Democrats can’t work with people like that.

My long-awaited (by two people) CITIZEN KANE story:

After NYU, I was working in a film restoration lab in NYC. It had two employees. Me. And a crazy, secretive Yugoslavian chemist that had devised a treatment that could remove most scratches from film.

THREAD We restored any and every type of film. From the oil-slicked pornos of the Old School Times Square theaters to Ira Gershwin’s and Gary Cooper’s home movies. I inspected and restored the technicolor fine grain masters of the racist 30s and 40s Warner Bros cartoons—
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Fun to watch @MichaelSteele use his GOP chairman experience to brilliantly analyze the Democratic primary.

His take on Joe Biden is on the money:

“Joe Biden never staked a claim in Iowa. Get over it people. He never came to play in Iowa. He did ‘OK, I’m here’ ...” “... but never put it on the ground here. He probably figured from the very beginning fourth maybe third on a good hit, on a good night. His play has always been South Carolina. His play has always been grab a little bit maybe out of NH. We’ll be very competitive in Nevada—“

When Trump became president the @nytimes and the @washingtonpost saw readership skyrocket. @MSNBC’s ratings rose and continue to do so. Because most people are deeply frightened the Trump WH.

They know there’s a huge audience is out there if they go hard after Trump.

https://twitter.com/sarahkendzior/status/1084902557493968896

So why did we see so much reluctance to dig into Trump’s clearly weird relationship with Russia? Why did the MSM endlessly pump air into the Clinton e-mail non-story?

Why does the @nytimes still publish stories that try to normalize Trump? Why not go full ahead?