Thursday, July 3, 2025

A interview with Diego Luna when he was 16




First US player I've enjoyed watching since Dest got hurt. (Berhalter, too. Please let Pulisic never take another free kick.)

The "strongman" of Chechnya "appears to be seriously ill"

NYT:

[His] own succession plan could be resting on his 17-year-old son, who got married and received congratulations from Mr. Putin over the weekend. But that would require circumventing Russian law requiring regional leaders to be at least 30 years old.

...

The teenager was also awarded two medals in the span of 10 days

...

And there are other contenders, including a man who led an effort to round up and brutalize gay people and another who went off to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

Cinematic bust of a “South American crime ring”

Terse LAT story, with hopefully a longer write-to come:

The group, which [LA's District Attorney] described as a “South American crime ring,” is accused of stealing more than $1 million in goods from Bidrussian Jewelry in Glendale on May 26 after cutting a hole in the roof, according to a news release issued by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Last week, the same group was in the process of carrying out a similar break-in at Rodeo Jewelers in La Verne when they were interrupted by officers from five different police agencies

Transformers x Macross Synergenex Series Basara Prime up for preorder

Not familiar with the specific lore, but the vehicle mode looks like the Valkyrie from Macross Plus, and the robot mode looks Prime-ish and includes a guitar, microphone, and stage with speakers. 

New Humble Bundle features pop culture-themed cookbooks

Starts with cookbooks inspired by The Great Gatsby and Elf for $1.

Today's news and jokes



The sleazy film noir Night Moves starring Gene Hackman as a private investigator is streaming for free

I'd never seen it before--includes James Woods as a creepy weasel, a very young Melanie Griffith, and a remarkably violent climax.