Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Fathers and Daughters

A subplot in the film Girls Like Girls is the relationship between 17-year-old Coley (Maya da Costa) and Curtis (Zach Braff), her father.

As the story opens, Coley and Curtis barely know each other, since he broke up with her mother when she was very young and apparently hasn’t seen Coley since.

Now that her mother is gone, Coley has moved in with Curtis and the two have an extremely awkward situation on their hands, characterized by his attempts to get close to her and her rebuffs, often with slammed doors and tears.

But Curtis, to his credit, doesn’t give up on his daughter, no matter how alienated she seems to become from him.

He doesn’t know what is going on with her emotionally, or about the strains on her new relationship with Sonya (Myra Molloy), but he finally breaks through to Coley through persistence and making clear he supports her no matter what.

“We can start by telling the truth,” he suggests.

That, I think, is the key during those torturous teenaged years — letting your daughter know you are there for her no matter what.

And although this father-daughter portrayal is secondary to the love story between Coley and Sonya, it’s one of factors that for me makes Girls Like Girls a great film.

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Monday, August 17, 2026

Girls Like Girls


The age-old debate when it comes to movies based on books is over which is better, the book or the movie?

Well that becomes a rather odd choice when the same person creates both the book and the movie.

Such is the case of Hayley Kiyoko’s film, Girls Like Girls, released theatrically this past June and as of this past weekend on Peacock. 

The story centers around 17-year-old Coley (Maya da Costa), who in the summer of 2006 has relocated from San Diego following her mother’s death by suicide to a small town in Oregon to live with the father she barely knows, Curtis (Zach Braff).

There she meets Sonya (Myra Molloy), who invites her to hang out with her group of teenagers.

Coley and Sonya are immediately attracted to each other, which upsets Sonya’s boyfriend, Trenton (Levon Hawke), who then becomes more possessive of Sonya and hostile toward Coley.

As tensions within the group rise, another boy, Alex (Alozie LaRose), is kind to Coley when she is feeling like an outcast.

The girls struggle to protect their nascent relationship, amid self-doubts and the excruciating pain of a first love, let alone one outside of social norms and expectations. There are misunderstandings and heartaches; high highs and low lows.

The usual labels for a semi-autobiographical story like this are a “coming-of-age” story or a “coming out” film, both of which would be accurate, but this special project transcends those categories to become a universal story about loneliness, attraction, ambivalence, discovery, rebellion, acceptance, rejection, love and hope.

In the end, this is a story about hope.

Director Hayley Kiyoko is a multi-talented actor, singer and author. She wrote several of the songs for the film’s soundtrack, including her 2015 hit single and viral video, “Girls Like Girls.” The song plays over the credits rolling after the film’s ostensible ending.

But — Spoiler Alert! — be sure to let the song play out and the credits to finish because there is still one last scene in this little gem of a film.

As for the debate about the book vs. the movie, the book Girls Like Girls, which was published in 2023, apparently based on the music video, reads almost like a backstory for the movie, which leads me to believe that that was Hayley Kiyoko’s intent all along.

The book utilizes the conceit of Coley and Sonya’s diary entries to reveal their inner feelings for each other, whereas much of the tension in the film revolves around whether Coley’s love for Sonya is unrequited or will be returned.

The book removes that tension, which makes it far less satisfying for me than the film, but I’m sure the book proved essential to the actors as they learned their parts.

Girls Like Girls from Focus Features is not a big budget affair; the film was shot in British Columbia in just 23 days and some of the scenes in the Final Cut were first or second takes. Some additional notes:

  • Maya da Costa is Canadian of Portuguese and Vietnamese descent.

  • Myra Molloy was born and raised in Bangkok to a Thai mother and an American father.

  • Levon Hawke is the son of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman and younger brother of actress Maya Hawke.

  • Hayley Kiyoko’s parents are Canadian figure skater and choreographer Sarah Kawahara and actor/comedian Jamie Alcroft.

At a time when political leaders seek to sow fear about our differences, this film and the people who made it are testament to the positive contributions of diversity in all of its forms.

HEADLINES:

  • As China Pushes to Expand in Asia, Trump Focuses on Iran (NYT)

  • Trump orders Pentagon to scale back joint exercises with South Korea (AP)

  • Trump’s Overture to Kim Jong-un Strains Alliance With South Korea (NYT)

  • This Sprawling Chinese Refinery Is Bankrolling Tehran (WSJ)

  • Trump threatens to bomb Oman with Iran war stuck in stalemate as 60-day negotiation period ends (CBS)

  • Israel's Ben Gvir advocates killing '30 to 40' people in Gaza nightly while speaking to ex-hostage (AP)

  • Iran’s other nuclear weapons option — plutonium bombs (The Hill)

  • There’s a reason why Israel has done little to rein in settler violence. It’s not just Netanyahu (AP)

  • Trump says White House needs ‘military complex’ as courts block his ballroom (WP)

  • Democrats demand answers from Trump on USS Abraham Lincoln conditions (Guardian)

  • Lala is again a tropical storm, sending drenching rain and winds across Hawaii (NPR)

  • Angry at the Supreme Court, liberals push a slew of plans for overhauling it (WP)

  • Paramount rejects reports it may sell CNN as pressure builds for concessions in WBD merger dispute (BTN)

  • Cassidy attacks ‘crazy, stupid’ Trump comments on vaccines as he denies regret for RFK Jr. vote (Independent)

  • How Cyclospora Evaded the U.S. Food Safety System to Sicken Thousands (NYT)

  • Canadian business braced for 50% US tariffs (FT)

  • The Republicans Are Going to Kill People—but Not Until After They Vote (TNR)

  • US military base schools put new emphasis on Western civilization and Christianity (AP)

  • Todd Blanche reaffirms ‘anti-weaponization’ fund is ‘dead’ (The Hill)

  • Todd Blanche declines to pledge independence from White House (Guardian)

  • Lake Powell, the vital reservoir for the Southwest, hits record low (USAToday)

  • Trump told Ukraine it had no cards. Then Kyiv took the war to Russia (AP)

  • Bot Meets Bot — Are we ready for a world where machines are mostly talking to each other? (NYT)

  • These ‘Masturbation Consultants’ Were Hired to Pleasure Themselves With AI (Wired)

  • We asked ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity for financial advice: what we got was practical, but with big blind spots (The Conversation)

  • Announcers Watch Angels-Royals Game In Total Silence (Onion)

TODAY’s LYRICS:

Girls Like Girls” by Hayley Kiyoko

[Intro]
Ooh, boy
Ooh, boy
Ooh, boy (Boys)
Ooh, boy

[Verse 1]
Stealing kisses from your missus
Does it make you freak out?
Got you fussing, got you worried
Scared to let your guard down
Boys (Ooh, boy)
Boys (Ooh, boy)
Tell the neighbors I’m not sorry
If I’m breaking walls down
Building your girl’s second story
Ripping all your floors out

[Chorus]
Saw your face, heard your name, gotta get with you
Girls like girls, like boys do, nothing new
Isn’t this why we came? Gotta get with you
Girls like girls, like boys do, nothing new
Girls like girls, like boys do, nothing new

[Post-Chorus]
Boys
Ooh, boy
Ooh, boy

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Sunday, August 16, 2026

Sunday Reads

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Saturday, August 15, 2026

The Ghosts of Balkh

(NOTE: I published the first version of this essay in 2021 right after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. It also appears in an anthology published by Journal of the Plague Years. This week the Taliban’s treatment of the Afghan people is back in the news.)

For me and many others who love Afghanistan this week has been a struggle. It’s difficult to express our feelings about the situation in English; it would be much easier in Dari. That language encourages the intimacy of connection and the pain of loss in ways it is awkward to do in English.

English is a language of the brain; Dari is a language of the heart.

When you encounter a friend in a village in Afghanistan, you both stop where you were headed to embrace, hold hands and inquire about each other’s heart, body, mind, family, and so on. It can be a long list and if you’ve not met recently, these greetings may take a while.

And when you really stop and think about it, what is it that matters more in life than expressing how we feel about each other?

In Dari you are able to say “my heart loves your heart” in a way that does not imply romantic love but does capture how much you truly care for each other. It doesn’t sound odd at all.

Meanwhile, in America all too often our encounters start with “How are you?” And end with “Fine. You?”

In fact it is so unsatisfying to me that I try, and I know this is weird, to adapt something of Dari rituals when talking with my American friends. Each person is made of specific qualities I value, so despite the limitations of our language, I always try to say what I mean and to mean what I say.

Especially when I say “I love you,” that is exactly how I feel.

***

As an aggregator of the news, one of my main goals is to locate what is hopeful about otherwise crushing developments if I can, but in the case of Afghanistan right now this is difficult.

Some news reports suggest that the Taliban have fundamentally changed, but I doubt that. They say they will extend amnesty to government workers, respect the rights of women, and preside over a peaceful transition of power, but those are empty promises until we see proof.

Meanwhile, there is plenty of historical precedent for what usually happens when guerrilla forces assume power, and that record is soaked with the blood of innocents.

Sadly, Afghanistan has been criss-crossed by conquerers throughout its recorded history. Just to mention a few of the empires that resulted: Alexander the Great and his Macedonians, the Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Indo-Sassanids, Kabul Shahi, Saffarids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Kartids, Timurids, Hotakis and the Durranis.

In their oral histories, Afghans most often bring up the Mongol invaders, starting with Genghis Khan in 1221. And they talk about him and others as if they are still around the next bend.

For example, just north of the town of Taloqan is a magnificent landmark known as کوه بز سیاه, which translates as Black Goat Mountain.

While riding in the back of a truck from Khanabad packed with people, goats and chickens fifty years ago, I spoke with a man who recounted stories that have been passed from father to son over the past thousand years.

“When they rode in last time, the Mongols cut off the heads of a million people,” he said, repeating an account that I had heard many times before.

“And they will be back. Just on the other side of Black Goat Mountain there are hundreds of thousands of Mongols waiting to return.”

I guess he was referring to the peaceful Uzbek population of Takhar Province, living in what has long been a poor agricultural area.

A few hundred miles to the west of Takhar, during a visit to Mazar-e-Sharif, I heard similar tales about the Hazara population living in a nearby isolated valley. “They will ride in here soon, so watch out.”

Nearby are the ruins of Balkh, a legendary city in the pre-Mongol era, with some of the most ghostly remains I have ever visited. Somewhere in my boxes in storage may still be the shards of pottery I collected at the site, which appeared to be many centuries old.

Balkh is where historians confirm that Mongol hordes did in fact decapitate many residents when they struck, and if the eerie winds whistling through the area are not the voices of those long dead, my imagination must have betrayed me.

Among Afghanistan’s intractable problems is the stark reality that it less an actual country than the cobbled together homeland for at least seven major tribal groups. Besides the Uzbeks and the Hazara, there are the Tajiks, Pashtus, Turkomans, Baluchis, and Nuristanis.

Plus four or five smaller groups, most notably the Kochi, who are nomads.

The name of the country means “Land of the Afghans,” which is what the largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, call themselves. That name leaves every other group out, which complicates matters immensely.

My point here is that Afghanistan has plenty of internal problems without outsiders like the British, Russians and Americans getting involved. No foreign occupier ever stays for long anyway, because the local people simply won’t tolerate them.

And once the foreigners leave, the Afghans get back to business as usual. What that means is inter-ethnic competition and violence.

So as of August 2021, after decades of operating as a guerrilla army, the Taliban have to figure out how to somehow govern what many believe to be an ungovernable land. Not only are the traditional tribal loyalties an issue, the big cities, especially Kabul, have modernized over the past 20 years and millions of men and women are now educated.

The educated class wants nothing of the ancient ways. They want what all modern people want — a peaceful life, a better life. Will the Taliban throw all of that progress away and chop off the head of the modernizing society they’ve inherited? Or will they grow into the moment and embrace the future?

The ghosts of Balkh have been waiting a thousand years for the answers to those questions.

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Friday, August 14, 2026

Resilience


Every now and then I discover a little gem of a story that seems to have escaped public attention. Such is the case with “Changeover,” a low-budget film from 2016 about a teenager who is suffering from PTSD after losing her parents in a car crash.

She won’t speak to anybody and is suicidal when brought to live with her only living relatives, an uncle and his young son.

The film tells the story of the awkward but sincere efforts by the uncle (Estes Tarver) to bring the girl (Madeline Taylor) back from the depths of hell. He is aided by a therapist (Carrie Marshall).

They all give understated but impressive performances that resonate emotionally with the viewer. The film handles difficult topics — loss, grief, depression, anxiety — with grace and hope.

In the end, it is a story of resilience.

The film is available free (with ads) on YouTube and is not to be confused with the New Zealand horror film called “The Changeover.”

HEADLINES:

  • Sailor went overboard from the USS Abraham Lincoln last month as conditions on the ship prompt lawmakers’ demand for answers (CNN)

  • Officials Demand USS Abraham Lincoln Investigation as Families Raise Alarm (Newsweek)

  • Russian Strikes on Dozens of Grain Ships Threaten Global Food Supplies (NYT)

  • Ukrainian drones strike a major refinery deep inside Russia, setting it ablaze (AP)

  • Covert CIA program said to be behind mysterious attacks on Galápagos boats (WP)

  • Tehran Has to Make a Choice (Atlantic)

  • GOP senators not happy with Trump administration’s handling of Iran funding request (The Hill)

  • U.S. Investigated Left-Leaning Groups During Minnesota Immigration Crackdown (NYT)

  • Flock Safety instituting new privacy measures in response to backlash (Fox)

  • ICE Plans to Give Officers Gloves That Can Deliver Electric Shocks (NYT)

  • Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit alleging Harvard failed to protect Jewish students (Reuters)

  • As Abdul El-Sayed breaks a barrier, anti-Muslim vitriol surges on multiple fronts (AP)

  • The Democratic field for president is starting to take shape. (WP)

  • Paramount Has Discussed Creating a Board to Ensure CNN’s Independence (WSJ)

  • Inside Paramount, employees say they have bigger concerns than a reported plan to ditch California (BI)

  • Kennedy Center Board Decides to Inscribe Trump’s Name on Building (NYT)

  • Why Karoline Leavitt might be impossible for Trump to replace (CNN)

  • The Next Global Economic Crisis Could Be Made in China (Foreign Affairs)

  • California announces voluntarily cancellation of common commercial pesticide Paraquat (Sacramento Bee)

  • The secret network fueling megayacht sales (BI)

  • A blue whale’s call, pitched so low it sits below the threshold of human hearing, can travel 1,600 kilometres through the ocean’s deep SOFAR channel — a natural acoustic tunnel discovered by the US Navy during the Second World War that whales had been using for millions of years before we found it. (ScienceBlog)

  • The Silicon Valley Health Trend Making Doctors Nervous (NYT)

  • Mangione lawyers to meet federal prosecutors amid reports of plea deal (BBC)

  • It May Be Time to Panic About AI (Atlantic)

  • Silicon Valley’s AI boom is remaking American charity (Economist)

  • Tearful Mark Zuckerberg Smothers Metaverse Avatar With Digital Pillow (Onion)

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Thursday, August 13, 2026

Follow Your Arrow


The culture wars dividing Americans have long been represented partly as a case of country vs. city. Small town values vs. big city life. That is an over-simplification, of course, but most stories are simplifications.

We tell stories to ourselves all the time about the city-country conflict, but the ones I prefer are about mutual respect and tolerance, even in some cases new levels of understanding.

So naturally I like the story of country singer Kacey Musgraves, who grew up in a small town in Texas before migrating to Nashville in pursuit of her dreams.

Once in Music City, she met members of the LGBTQ community, which in her own telling broadened her awareness of the human experience.

In response, she wrote a song called “Follow Your Arrow” (lyrics below), which was initially banned from country stations and made her an outcast of sorts within the music industry.

But the song caught on, became a hit, and now is a personal anthem at her sold-out shows all over the country.

So this is the kind of story I like. Of course, for every story of tolerance and acceptance there is one of intolerance and discrimination.

But if we as a society are going to move forward we have to celebrate the former and reject the latter.

HEADLINES:

  • Questions over Karoline Leavitt’s replacement as she steps down as White House press secretary (Guardian)

  • How the Polls Got it So Wrong in Wisconsin (NYT)

  • Rubio, Bessent took decoy Air Force One, Hegseth flew on secret flight with Trump (CBS)

  • The Flawed Logic of Trump’s Airplane Escape (Atlantic)

  • Trump officials say Strait of Hormuz stats are wrong as data casts doubt on US being in ‘total control’ (Yahoo)

  • Houthi attack kills six in Red Sea; Trump slams Iran as hopes for Hormuz Strait deal dim (CNBC)

  • Iran says no progress on reviving interim peace deal with US (Reuters)

  • America’s hidden national security vulnerability (The Hill)

  • Pirro, in rare move, convenes special grand jury in Washington (WP)

  • Trump administration set to spend at least $900 million on White House construction (Reuters)

  • Lawsuit seeks to ban Trump Media from charging for early access to president's posts on US policy (AP)

  • In Ohio, Haitians’ American dream shatters as ICE prepares to deport them (Guardian)

  • Birthright Citizen Marco Rubio Announces ‘Birth Tourism’ Crackdown (Newsweek)

  • I Was Dick Cheney’s Cardiologist. Trump Has Not Looked Well, and We Should Know Why. (NYT)

  • Oracle has drawn up plans for a new round of layoffs this month, sources say (BI)

  • Meta, 29 states head to court in biggest test yet of youth social media litigation (Reuters)

  • Forbes Fired Top Editor After Discovering He Received Secret $6 Million Payment (NYT)

  • AI was supposed to destroy jobs. Where’s the carnage? (Guardian)

  • AI chatbots are offering financial advice. Should you trust them? (NPR)

  • Melania Trump Discovered To Be Russian Listening Device (Onion)

  • LYRICS: “Follow Your Arrow” by Kacey Musgraves

    If you save yourself for marriage, you’re a bore
    You don’t save yourself for marriage, you’re a horrible person
    If you won’t have a drink, then you’re a prude
    But they’ll call you a drunk as soon as you down the first one

    If you can’t lose the weight, then you’re just fat
    But if you lose too much, then you’re on crack
    You’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t
    So you might as well just do whatever you want

    So, make lots of noise (hey)
    Kiss lots of boys (yup)
    Or kiss lots of girls, if that’s something you’re into
    When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight
    Roll up a joint, or don’t
    Just follow your arrow wherever it points, yeah
    Follow your arrow wherever it points

    If you don’t go to church, you’ll go to Hell
    If you’re the first one on the front row, you’re self-righteous son of a-
    Can’t win for losin’, you’ll just disappoint ‘em
    Just ‘cause you can’t beat ‘em, don’t mean you should join ‘em

    So, make lots of noise (hey)
    Kiss lots of boys (yup)
    Or kiss lots of girls, if that’s something you’re into
    When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight
    Roll up a joint, or don’t
    Just follow your arrow wherever it points, yeah
    Follow your arrow wherever it points

    Say what you think (say what you think)
    Love who you love (love who you love)


    ‘Cause you just get so many trips ‘round the sun
    Yeah, you only, only live once

    So make lots of noise (hey)
    Kiss lots of boys (yup)
    Or kiss lots of girls, if that’s what you’re into
    When the straight and narrow gets a little too straight
    Roll up a joint, I would
    And follow your arrow wherever it points, yeah

    Follow your arrow wherever it points

 

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Wednesday, August 12, 2026

What's Ahead

Last night was the last big primary night before the midterms, and the results included a victory for the center-left Democrat over the Democratic Socialist candidate in the Wisconsin governor’s race.

In addition, a progressive won the Democratic race for the Senate in Minnesota, and Lindsay Graham’s sister will face a run-off election in two weeks for the Republican Senate race in South Carolina.

It’s still a bit early for polls, but super-pollster Nate Silver is out with a detailed projection for the midterm elections now less than three months away.

Democrats seem poised to win the House by a handy margin and control of the Senate is up for grabs and could go either way.

What Silver and other pollsters can’t predict is how Trump will react to GOP losses in November. We already know he’ll see the results were “rigged,” because that is his claim with any loss.

But what, if anything, will he do about it?

We all saw what happened on Jan. 6th, 2021, when Trump incited a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol, threatening to kill Congressional leaders as well as Vice-President Mike Pence.

Democracy in America survived, but just barely. On Tuesday, Trump left the door open to calling a national security emergency over the elections, so the threat very much remains. 

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