Dr Seán Ketchem

nytimes.comOpinion | Inflation. War. Corruption. Hold Trump Accountable. (Gift Article)The American people have a chance to allow the nation to glimpse the end of the Trump era and the start of something brighter.

"When a democracy slides toward autocracy, elections offer a turning point. If voters endorse the new regime--or, the party in power manages to subvert the popular will--the slide accelerates. If voters successfully reject the regime, democracy can begin to recover." www.nytimes.com/2026/10/27/o...

edition.cnn.comIsrael election latest: Early Israeli election turnout highest in decades as Netanyahu fights to keep power | CNNThe first vote since the October 7 attacks is a tight race between Benjamin Netanyahu and ex-military chief Gadi Eisenkot — with the future direction of Israel at stake. Follow for live updates.

High turnout could mean anything. In Germany just in the past few months, record high turnout delivered a far-right plurality in one state (Saxony-Anhalt), and a far-left one in another (here in Berlin). edition.cnn.com/2026/10/27/w...

nytimes.comAn Extremely Detailed Ranking of the Most Gerrymandered States in AmericaOur guide to the most brazen, twisted and even innocuous maps that will help determine the midterms.

No surprise--Texas is ranked by far the worst state for partisan gerrymandering. A neutral map following population lines and ignoring voter registration data would create as many as 12 Democratic congressional districts (and obviously, 12 fewer Republican ones). www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

theguardian.comThe Trouble With Harry: Hitchcock's lost masterpieceIt flopped disastrously, nearly killed Hitchcock and has been scorned for decades. But it's time The Trouble With Harry was recognised as a surrealist masterpiece, says Peter Bradshaw

A fun little fall-themed movie that utterly bombed at the box office in 1955, and is slowly being reconsidered as one of Hitchcock's lesser known gems. Watching it as we type on another stunner of a golden October day here in Berlin. www.theguardian.com/film/2012/ju...

nytimes.comBook Review: ‘Princes and Thieves,’ by Matthew Cole (Gift Article)The new book by the reporter Matthew Cole connects $2 billion in slush funds from gulf state leaders to Trump’s son-in-law in an effort to influence U.S. policy.

"If the claims are accurate, Kushner’s political and financial relationship with the UAE constitutes what must surely be the worst case of U.S. foreign policy being conducted outside the law since the Iran-contra scandal during the Reagan administration in the 1980s." www.nytimes.com/2026/10/26/b...

"UAE moved $1 billion into a Kushner account. It is unclear how Kushner used these funds, but according to the person with knowledge, "it was for Kushner’s personal benefit.” For UAE, the return on investment was a recalibration of U.S. policy in the Middle East, culminating in an attack on Iran."

Some unusually mild late October weather during the school break here in Berlin, as another fateful election looms...

10h

Taxis registered in Berlin will no longer be allowed to do pickups at the airport next year (drop-offs, yes). Only taxis registered in the same district at the airport can wait in the taxi stand. The opening of the Dresden Railway last December had a big impact here--it is only 20m to Hauptbahnhof.

10h

Berlin-bound passengers have discovered it is now faster (and much cheaper!) to take the train into town and taxi or take transit from there. In my case, a taxi ride from the airport costs like 50€, and can take an hour--but the FEX train takes me to Südkreuz in just 15m, close to my neighborhood.

en.idi.org.ilElection Day for the 26th Knesset: Everything Voters Need to KnowWhen and where can Israelis vote? What do they need to bring to the polling station? Can they vote at a polling station other than the one to which they are assigned? What should they do if ballot sli...

21h

Polls close in Israel at 10pm local time on Tuesday (9pm in most of Europe, 4pm on the U.S. East Coast). There will be an initial exit poll release, but those have been historically extremely unreliable. en.idi.org.il/articles/66721

There is something big happening in my native land... This is SOUTH CAROLINA, folks, where the Senate race is a dead heat. (And in my native state of Texas, the governor's race is tied and the Senate race has a four-point Democratic lead. One more week, this is going to be agony...)

nytimes.comOpinion | Netanyahu Won the Middle East and Lost the World (Gift Article)Both Israelis and Palestinians are trapped in the Netanyahu paradigm.

Not always a fan of Ezra but he certainly lays down the stakes for Israel in the election. The country cannot survive as an apartheid pariah state whose entire young professional class has fled, leaving behind an ultra-religious sect who are a sort of genocidal Amish. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/25/o...

As folks know, Israel only has the geographic footprint and population of a major U.S. or European metropolitan region. The professional class fleeing in droves as the country becomes dominated by a radical ethno-religious sect (who believe in no other education but sacred texts) is not sustainable.

variety.comWalter Koenig, Chekov on Original ‘Star Trek,’ Dies at 90Walter Koenig, who memorably played Chekov in the original "Star Trek" series and seven "Star Trek" feature films, died Sunday in Los Angeles.

My favorite scenes with Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov, (2245-2335) were in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, when naturally people flip out on discovering a guy with a thick Russian accent poking around a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine base in Oakland, California. RIP. variety.com/2026/film/ne...

Which was kind of the point of his casting (as well as his resemblance to the popular heartthrob Davy Jones of The Monkees). The thesis of the show was that,over the centuries global society had advanced to the point that not only ethnic but national differences had vanished into a common humanity.

The Downton re-re-rewatch continues. We are up to the point where Rose keeps pushing Robert to get the house a Spotify subscription, and he finally relents when King George V starts a podcast.

And not to take another slice at this topic (so to speak) but these national chains did to local family-owned restaurants exactly what Wal-Mart did to small-town main streets--took the money out of the community and handed it over a distant corporate office or equity firm. That isn't pro small town.

Sen. Pumpkin Gogurt@ugarles.bsky.social

many people enjoy the cheesecake factory. many people consider the cheesecake factory an expensive indulgence for special occasions. nobody considers the cheesecake factory fine dining. *the cheesecake factory* doesn't consider itself fine dining. it is called "the cheesecake factory". qed

Olive Garden spelled the end of the local Italian family-owned restaurant, and Cracker Barrel is a very slickly designed corporate imitation of an authentic Southern country café (the real ones go out of business when Cracker Barrel comes in). Mom-and-pop restaurants cannot compete with the chains.

nytimes.comAleksandar Vucic Concedes Defeat in Serbian Election (Gift Article)“It is clear that we have lost these elections,” Aleksandar Vucic said in a surprisingly early speech congratulating his opponents.

Wonderful news to wake up to today. A corrupt family's bid to regain presidential power fails in Brazil (unlike in the U.S.), and a Putinist Balkan strongman in the Orbán mold is toppled in Serbia, in a big loss for Russia. Your turn, America and Israel. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/25/w...

Both results are seismic. Here in Europe, the fall of Vucic and his SNS party has been described as the potential end of a Serbian political alignment that has existed since Milosevic first emerged in 1987, and went on to trigger the horrors of the Yugoslav wars. And to repeat, a BIG Kremlin loss.

The clocks have changed and it's dark at 5:30pm, so may as well settle in for Skelly Movie Night. I read it had a troubled production, but the finished product is a perfectly enjoyable Ray Bradbury adaptation (with Jonathan Pryce as the sinister Mr. Dark! And Pam Grier as the seductive sorceress!).

Whaddya know, the 2026 calendar is the same one as in the movie. The carnival (the fantastically named "Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show") came to town on October 24th, a Saturday.

Update: yesterday I got a ten-page "Witness Declaration Form" in the mail from the district housing board (Wohnungsamt). It is a bunch of questions about how I came to rent the apartment, what my conversations had been with the property firm, etc (for fraud cases, they have to prove knowing intent).

Dr Seán Ketchem@cskwriter.bsky.social

Well I submitted all my paperwork. We will see what happens. And for the rent reduction case, we finally have a court hearing, but it is at the end of November and we are still in the physical address disclosure stage (my landlord refuses--illegally--to give the law firm his legal mailing address).

Another aspect of the form I noticed is that at the top I have a case number ("Geschäftszeichen") which I didn't have on the first questionnaire they sent me (which were all to describe the apartment in detail and its amenities, or lack thereof). My case worker wrote to call her with any questions.

A reminder of just how close 2024 was--Harris got blindsided just 100 days to go before Election Day, and she very nearly pulled it out. Imagine if Biden had withdrawn his reelection bid in 2023 and given his party a true ramp to build a national campaign.

nytimes.comHow Americans Voted in the 2024 Election by Race, Gender, Age and Education (Gift Article)Explore the results of the election by race, gender, age and education.

Source: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

It is fascinating changing the toggles--white males under 30 with a college degree, the two candidates were tied in support, white males under 30 with no college, Trump wins 70-30. Just astounding. I mean, we know the Trump base is exactly that of course, but just seeing those spreads is something.

At a turnout of about 65%, Trump got roughly 32% of the total electorate--about what his approval rating is now. November 3 is a chance for voters to at least partly undo the consequences of the result in 2024.

I just realized why the US Sunday show clips are landing in my feed a bit earlier today--the time difference between Germany and the East Coast is now -5, and not -6. The U.S. lengthened DST (Summer Time) back in the early 2000s as an energy-saving measure, they don't go back for another two weeks.

Gorgeous autumn color here in Berlin on the longest day of the year--October 25 is a 25-hour day, due to the clock change. 🍁🍂🎃🍁🌞

Dr Seán Ketchem@cskwriter.bsky.social

The longest day of the year with 25 hours! And only coincidentally on the 25th. So that's eight weeks until Christmas, then.

The longest day of the year with 25 hours! And only coincidentally on the 25th. So that's eight weeks until Christmas, then.

Dr Seán Ketchem@cskwriter.bsky.social

Winter time is here

Winter time is here

(I had never actually observed the clock shift before, but woke up in the middle of the night and suddenly realized this was my moment.)

Amen.

Acyn@acyn.bsky.social

OBAMA: That just feels a little bit different… where people are so sick and tired of being sick and tired. After 2 years of chaos. and cruelty. and corruption. and incompetence—you get a chance to say enough's enough.

rbb24.deDer 25. Oktober hat in diesem Jahr 25 StundenAm Wochenende werden die Uhren um eine Stunde zurückgestellt. Die Winterzeit beginnt - mit einer zusätzlichen Stunde zum Ausschlafen am Sonntag. Morgens ist dann wieder früher hell, die Sonne geht dan...

Changing the clocks for the summer was abandoned in Germany after 1945. From 1950 to 1979, clocks remained on Standard Central European Time all year, but the 1970s oil shock made both states (and Europe in general) agree to re-introduce Summer Time--which ends tomorrow. www.rbb24.de/panorama/bei...

This could be the single most important post of my lifetime. I would only add: -It's 'sneak peek'

Merriam-Webster@merriam-webster.com

We acknowledge that no one has the bandwidth for this, but if it helps: -It’s ‘sleight of hand’ -It’s ‘bated breath’ -It’s ‘lo and behold’ -It's 'buck naked' -It’s ‘brass tacks’ -It’s ‘free rein’ -It’s ‘toe the line'

My mental health cannot deal with the daily onslaught of "sneak a peak", "free reign", "tow the line", appearing even in reputable publications like the august New York Times. Autocorrect will be the end of the English language.

Peak fall vibes on a gusty Saturday in Berlin (and the clocks go back tonight here).

nytimes.comIn U.S. Gas Talks With Kremlin, Hidden Financing for Alaska Project EmergesInterviews and documents show a Russian energy giant secretly funded a U.S. firm. The deal has been discussed in talks to end the war in Ukraine.

DOJ filing a lawsuit to void the Alaska Senate election if (and only if) the Democrat wins, and the breaking news that Trump lackeys Kushner and Witkoff were trying to give control of a major Alaska oil project to Moscow, under the guise of "peace negotiations"--these stories are certainly related.

Eric Lipton NYT@ericlipton.nytimes.com

JUST POSTED: A Russian energy giant has secretly moved to acquire a position in a massive Alaska gas project. Its part of talks between Witkoff/Kushner & Putin. But CEO of US company resigns after learning of Russian money in the project. A wowzer of a story. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/23/u...

Fun facts to know and tell: there is an actual "Baron von Frankenstein" in the movie Young Frankenstein. The British actor (and rl Austrian Baron) Clement von Franckenstein played a small role as one of the angry villagers in the mob scene. Brooks couldn't resist his last name and gave him the part.

Dr Seán Ketchem@cskwriter.bsky.social

For your Halloween consideration: the laboratory set with its electrical devices in Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein is in fact the exact same one the production designer Kenneth Strickfaden built for the original 1931 film. Strickfaden, entering retirement, had kept the set pieces in his LA garage.

(Strickfaden's condition for using the props was that he be given a credit at the start of the film, which Brooks agreed to (despite being one of Hollywood's preeminent production designers in the 1930s and 40s, he had never gotten a screen credit before.)

A lot of tourists cross the border from Germany into Poland on the hunt for cheap margaritas and donkeys painted to look like zebras, only to find meat and cheese dumplings and Zabka hot dogs.

My written confession:

deutschland.deMushroom Season in GermanyOne of the few nice things about summer coming to an end is the beginning of mushroom season in Germany. Meals with mushrooms proliferate in restaurants giving diners a taste of autumn.

Mushroom hunting season is going to peak here in Germany over the next week, with abundant rainfall and the onset of cooler temperatures. Our local botanical garden here in Berlin has set up a "Mushroom Advisory Station" where you can bring your haul to be checked. www.deutschland.de/en/topic/lif...

Skelly movie night! 🎃🕯👻🍂🎃

The angled design of the railway station in the Polish border town of Kostrzyn hints to its function: before 1945, this was an important rail passenger junction in eastern Germany. The station serves east-west traffic on the upper level and north-south traffic on the lower level.

nytimes.comTrump Asked Musk to Reverse Limits on Ukraine’s Military Internet Use (Gift Article)The call from the president about the Starshield network came after officials in Ukraine reported that they found new limits on the use of military drones in their war against Russia.

A private contractor who can still control functionality it delivered to the Pentagon, contrary to the wishes of the government. That is an insane and dangerous amount of power. Musk could sabotage the entire US military out of spite during one of his ketamine highs. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/22/u...