After 45 years of daily art journalism — 36 of them at the L.A. Times, with 2,195 bylines — this is my final column. It has been a privilege, and it has been (mostly) fun. latimes.com/entertainment-…

We’re not at war, so probably not a war crime. Wouldn’t it be old-fashioned murder?

Military forces are implicated in Pete Hegseth’s boat-strike murder order, which is what Sen. Mark Kelly & colleagues warned about in their “illegal orders” video. axios.com/2025/12/01/tru…

statnews.com/2025/11/29/wor… Impeach HHS Secretary RFK Jr.

“ Pete Hegseth, a Trump sycophant who served in the military, topped out at the mid-level rank of major, and left full of bitterness and resentment toward a military establishment that clearly didn’t value his brilliance and fortitude.” theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/12/…

Saying he had an MRI of his heart and abdomen does not mean he didn’t also have an MRI brain scan. Odds are he did. apnews.com/article/donald…

The ponderosa pine is disappearing. “So significant is this loss, both visually and ecologically, that it’s reasonably fair to say it may be triggering the first post-climate-change landscape in America.” latimes.com/opinion/story/…

Mass murder is defined as the killing of 3-4 or more people in a single event. Is Pete Hegseth a mass murderer? latimes.com/opinion/story/…

Santa isn’t real either. (SAUL LOEB /AFP via Getty Images)

What’s happening in Minnesota right now is the worst of what Donald Trump does best; he’s trying to distract us from his own failures by shifting the blame. But scapegoating the Somali community won’t lower the price of groceries. In Minnesota, we stand by our Somali neighbors.

This he-said/she-said story is junk. “…looking to round up immigrants accused of violent crimes, a Homeland Security official said.” Nowhere does the story address how Homeland Security plans to determine that criminality in advance. Why not? apnews.com/article/new-or…

Will Gym Jordan be deposed soon on his complicity in Ohio State sexual assault? Just curious.

Pro tip: Whenever a press rep resorts to ALL CAPS, you know he's lying.

Uh-oh: “A 2024 Swedish study of almost 12,000 people found tattooed individuals had a 21% higher risk of malignant lymphoma than those without ink. A Danish twin study published in January reported similar patterns.” bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

In the White House Green Room, Melanie put a house of cards atop the highboy, between two Lego portraits of presidents. Such taste!

Goon squads, sent by the Goon-in-Chief inquirer.com/opinion/new-or… via @phillyinquirer

The 1969 lipstick sculpture by Claes Oldenberg was vandalized at Yale shortly after being returned to Morse during October break. The sculpture had been removed over the summer as part of a conservation effort. yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/12/0…

In a nutshell: "Hegseth, with his Christo-fascist tattoos and history of drunkenness and sexual abuse and harassment of women, is a buffoon." by Lucian K Truscott IV open.substack.com/pub/luciantrus…