March 3, 2025

Vol. 14, No. 2312

AND THE OSCAR GOES TO: The independent film Anora won five Oscars last night, including Best Picture and Best Actress for its breakout star Mikey Madison. She plays a prostitute who marries the son of a Russian oligarch and has conflict with his family.

  Adrien Brody took home his second Best Actor statue, this time for The Brutalist, while I’m Still Here  upset the odd yet most nominated movie of the year Emilia Pérez to win Best International Feature.

  Other winners:

— Best supporting Actress, Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez 

— Best Supporting Actor, Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain

— Best Original Screenplay, Anora

  Host Conan O’Brien made one backhand dig at Donald Trump with a reference to Anora, saying,  “I guess Americans are excited to see someone finally stand up to a powerful Russian.”

  And much of the expletive-laced speech by Kieran Culkin was bleeped out on the broadcast.

DIPLOMATIC CLEANUP IN AISLE 5: European leaders shaken by the Oval Office confrontation between President Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky met in London yesterday and promised that they are “doubling down” on military support for Ukraine.

  While back in the states Trump backers derided Zelensky for being “disrespectful” to Trump and Vice President JD Vance, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said participants agreed to sustain or boost military aid flowing to Ukraine.

  The Europeans said they want to arm Ukraine to negotiate peace from a position of strength.

  Starmer also said that he and French President Emmanuel Macron, were working to shape a diplomatic cleanup of U.S.-Ukraine relations.

CRYPTO POLITICS: Prices for crypto currencies rose yesterday after President Trump on his Truth Social website promoted the idea of a national crypto-currency reserve.

  “A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration,” Trump wrote. He said, “I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World. We are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

  Trump’s accusation of “corrupt attacks,” might be a reference to the federal trial and conviction of FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried, who was found to have committed fraud and money laundering in crypto currencies. 

  Both Trump and his wife, Melania, have crypto tokens in their names.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE:

— Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered US Cyber Command to halt offensive operations against Russia as part of an effort to draw Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to Ukraine peace talks and a new relationship with the United States.

  A Trump administration official said that all US aid to Ukraine including the final shipments of ammunition and military equipment authorized and paid for during the Biden administration, could be canceled imminently. The Pentagon says that about $3.85 billion remains of what Congress authorized.

— The NY Times reports that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has inflated the size of some contracts it cancelled and given full dollar value to other contracts nearly completed or completed years ago. In one case they reported cancelling an $8 billion contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement even though that’s about equal to ICE’s entire budget. The contract was for $8 million. 

PRESSING MATTERS: The effect of the White House’s insertion of right wing media into the press pool was demonstrated last week when Brian Glenn of the conservative Real America’s Voice asked Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky why he didn’t wear a suit to his meeting with Donald Trump.  “You’re at the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit,” Glenn asked. “Just want to see if — do you own a suit?”

  The questioned has been answered for years. Zelensky wears combat clothing in solidarity with his soldiers because his country is at war. He wears those clothes to say, “We are under invasion.”

  Zelensky answered that he will wear a suit when the war is over.

  It is worth noting that the right wing media did not condemn Elon Musk for appearing at President Trump’s first cabinet meeting wearing a t-shirt, a long casual jacket, and a black MAGA hat which he never removed.

RUNNING MAN: Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who left office in 2021 under multiple accusations of sexual harassment, announced he’s running in the Democratic primary for mayor of New York against the embattled incumbent Eric Adams. Cuomo said, “Today, it is necessary to launch a bold action plan to turn New York City around to save our city.” 

  Cuomo mentioned “failed Democratic leadership” without naming Mayor Adams, who is under indictment for corruption. The former governor comes to the race with automatic name recognition and a reputation for competence.

  Cuomo has been in the political wilderness since his scandal, which also took down his brother Chris, who was fired from his anchor job at CNN for advising the governor about how to deal with the crisis.

THE SPIN RACK: The board of Virginia Military Institute voted against renewing the contract of its superintendent, Major General Cedric Wins, the college’s first Black head of the school. No reason was given, but conservative alumni has complained about Wins’s “woke” diversity efforts and his removal of a prominently displayed statue of Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson from the campus  — In an interview with “Call Her Daddy” podcast host Alex Cooper, the now 48-year-old Monica Lewinsky said about President Clinton and their inappropriate relationship, “I think that the right way to handle a situation like that would have been to probably say it was nobody’s business and to resign,” Alternatively she said, “Or to find a way of staying in office that was not lying and not throwing a young person who is just starting out in the world under the bus.”

BELOW THE FOLD:  The Washington Post reports that houses painted gray with a colorful front door, metal address numbers in sans serif type, and tidy landscaping are a sign that the neighborhood is gentrifying.

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