Michael Rooney

@mr00ney.bsky.social

962 Followers 937 Following

Philosopher by training. Co-author, with Richard L. Epstein, of Critical Thinking (5e). Eight-time winner on Jeopardy. Southern Californian. Sansei.

Side view of Iron Age Helm Man’s helmet, showing the two peacock-worthy crests, perpendicular to each other
A photo of Glendale, California, taken from eight floors up in the southern part of the same city, looking north-northeast, with a blue sky crisscrossed by clouds and jet trails. The Verdugo Mountains are in the distance.
A photo of a tray of hospital food, including the blandest “oatmeal” of all time.
The poster for the film “Train Dreams.”
Photo of the BlueSky user with a hospital sign in the background. It’s a sunny, warm Southern California afternoon, just like so many others.
Wilberforce was a small colored denominational college, married to a state normal school. The church was too poor to run the college; the State tolerated the normal school so as to keep Negroes out of other state schools. Consequently, there were enormous difficulties in both church and state politics. Into this situation I landed with the cane and gloves of my German student days; with my rather inflated ideas of what a "university" ought to be and with a terrible plainness of speech that was continually getting me into difficulty; when, for instance, the student leader of a prayer meeting into which I had wandered casually to look local religion over, suddenly and without warning announced that Professor Du Bois would lead us in prayer," I simply answered, "No, he won't," and as a result nearly lost my job. It took a great deal of explaining to the board of bishops why a professor in Wilberforce should not be able at all times and sundry to address God in extemporaneous prayer. I was saved only by the fact that my coming to Wilberforce had been widely advertised and I was so willing to do endless work when the work seemed to me worth doing.
A photo of three of the makers (David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin, and Alžběta Karásková) of the documentary film Mr. Nobody against Putin, seated on stage during a post-screening Q&A.
A photo of a wooden telephone pole, damp with rain, with an urban background. At center is a handmade laminated light blue heart, to which two downward hanging white rabbit ears have been affixed, after the style of Liam Conejo Ramos’s bunny cap. Someone has written two words in large capital letters at the center of the piece: PARA LIAM.
A close up photograph of one shoulder of Van Gogh’s Portrait of Patience Escalier
The etymological history for the word ‘skosh’ in the 12th edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary: Skosh comes from the Japanese word sukoshi, which means "a tiny bit." The Japanese word was shortened to skosh by U.S. servicemen stationed in Japan after World War II, and later, in the Korean war, Skosh was often used as a nickname for a small soldier. Now, skosh can be used by itself as a noun or adverbially with "a" as in "a skosh more room."
A photo of stars in the night sky, with Jupiter bright and prominently round even with a phone camera
Laurel Wreath Greek, 300-100 BC Gold From the Getty Villa
A photo of Jupiter, seen from earth. Gemini is faintly visible also
A photo of Kara Walker’s re-arranged sculpture “Unmanned Drone” (2025).
The cover of Lou Reed’s album “Magic and Loss.”
A photo of Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena, on Christmas evening 2025.
A photo of the Pylos Combat Agate. It is an ovoid cream and bronze colored stone, less than 3.5 cm long, with a delicately carved surface, depicting a warrior-king in deadly combat with an opponent. The carving is smaller than a watchface yet packed with naturalistic detail. It was made about 3,500 years ago.
A photo of Walt Disney Concert Hall, taken on a rainy day in March 2025.
Photo of a pant leg with a large coffee stain
An email: From: Mohamed Waheed [ Sent: 1/27/2013 4:33:18 AM To: Jeffrey Epstein [jeevacation@gmail.com] Subject: Re: Importance: High Thank you. You are my savior. I will do exactly what you said. Sent from my iPhone On Jan 27, 2013, at 9:29 AM. Jeffrey Epstein <jeevacation@gmail.com> wrote: this from a fraud web site, your mimister will get upset that you dont want to at least try, what do we have to lose, always the pitch. THe following from the fraud site. --The essential fact in all advance-fee fraud operations is that the promised money transfer never happens because the money does not exist. The perpetrators rely on the fact that, by the time the victim realizes this (often only after being confronted by a third party who has noticed the transactions or conversation and recognized the scam, the victim may have sent thousands of dollars of their own money, and sometimes thousands or millions more that has been borrowed or stolen, to the scammer via an untraceable and/or irreversible means such as wire transfer. 3] Stay away, however if you want to embarass your possible opponent, you might set it up so that he looks like a fool, ask for amemo of why he thinks you should agree, have it include as many detials as possible, so that when you prove its a fraud,, you will make him look very silly as opposed to his saying, you missed an opportunity, anyway, glad you are well On Sat, Jan 26, 2013 at 10:49 PM, Mohamed Waheed Hassan › wrote: Jeffrey, Need your advice. My finance minister is telling me that he has an anonymous funds manager who is willing to deposit 4 billion dollars in Maldives and that they are willing to lend a percentage of that in exchange for government promissory notes. The 4 billion would be deposited in the Central Bank. But they want us to set up a special purpose vehicle, a construction company fully owned by the government to receive the loan. Such a company can only be set up under a presidential decree. 1 am also told that the funds manage…
Photo of an urban street after nightfall, with a storefront at right, with glass window and door, kanji signage, and paper lamps. A lit up yellow sign reads “OTOMISAN Japanese Restaurant” in English and Japanese. On the curbside edge of the sidewalk, a small sign posted by the City of Los Angeles reads “Otomisan Restaurant: The Last Remaining Japanese Restaurant in Boyle Heights.”
Sky Marchini @sky.skymarchini.net Young Dems: idk I think saying "committed suicide" is problematic :/ Young Republicans: "I love hitler" Politico• @politico.com • 19h EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat. Inside rising GOP leaders' racist chats - obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months everyone inat votes no is going to the gas chamber. AIsO... we are oncially under consideration for a Trump endorsement. © Great. I love Hitler you're giving nationals to much credit and expecting the Jew to be honest 2s Stay in the closet f-...t I'm ready to watch people burn now Are you g takes? If we ever had a leak of this chat we would be cooked fr fr I'd go to the zoo if I wanted to watch monkey play ball When do we start bullying dude? It was rape Boom -they're dead. Kick the b---h And everyone that endorsed but then votes for us is going to the gas chamber. They love the watermelon He also hates the people Yoooooooo This airl is fully r...-d 'I love Hitler': Leaked messages expose Young Republicans' racist chat Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP
Protestor holding sign: “CROMWELL WAS RIGHT (not about Ireland)”
Sign, held by protestor wearing a Darth Vader mask on the back of his head: “NO KINGS, NO EMPEROR”
In front of City Hall, protestors throng. A slogan from Andor is taped to a lamppost: “I have friends everywhere”
Photo taken in front of Los Angeles City Hall, 18 October 2025: a protestor holding a sign reading “CROMWELL WAS RIGHT (not about Ireland)”
Rise like lions after slumber In unvanquishable NUMBER! . Shake your chains to earth, like dew Which in sleep had fall'n on you: YE ARE MANY-THEY ARE FEW.
This Bluesky user, throughly drenched by forty minutes walking in light (0.5”) but steady rainfall.
Filmmaker Raoul Peck being interviewed after a screening of his new documentary, ORWELL: 2 + 2 = 5
Disney Hall, well past midnight, still and empty.
The Los Angeles Metro Rail Station in north Pomona
Under a fair blue sky, the photo is dominated by a field of gold-hued grass with flattened tire tracks running through the grass into the distance. Trees with greenish-sallow leaves fill the horizon. To the right of the tracks, a classic big red barn, with white trim and picket fence, sits in the middle distance. The whole is illuminated by a setting sun. It is fall in Ventura County, near Thousand Oaks.
A photo of three European otters asleep, looking utterly lazy and inoffensive.
… infliction of conditions of life in Gaza calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza, especially the blocking of medicine, medical equipment, food and water from entering Gaza. The Commission finds that Israeli authorities knew that blocking the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza would lead to the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza. Based on the abovementioned reasons, the Commission concludes that the Israeli authorities intended to kill and cause the deaths of the Palestinians in Gaza through the military operations and war strategies employed. 49. The Commission finds that the killing of Palestinians since 7 October 2023 occurred mainly through three different means: (i) killing through attacks against protected objects (such as civilian homes and healthcare facilities) where civilians were present; (i1) targeting civilians and other protected persons, for example, during the evacuations, within safe zones or at shelters; and iii) deaths due to the deliberate infliction of conditions of life (such as the blockade of medicine and medical equipment and humanitarian aid from entering into Gaza). 50. As such, the Commission concludes that the actus reus and mens rea of 'killing members of the group' under article Il(a) of the Genocide Convention are established.
Photo of a full moon near dusk, against a grayish but clear sky. A copper church steeple (First United Methodist in Pasadena) is in the foreground.
A graph from the CDC showing annual rates of death due to HIV infection by age group, 1987-2009. The tallest line until 2004 is for ages 35-44, an age cohort Generation X did not start to fall into until 1999.
A photo of Van Gogh’s Les Iris (May 1889), taken at the Getty in Los Angeles.
Still from The Godfather Part II, showing Al Pacino as Michael Corleone squeezing his brother Fredo (John Cazale).
North Brooklin, Maine 30 March 1973 Dear Mr. Nadeau: As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness. Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society — things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out. Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day. Sincerely, E. B. White
The Blue Rigi, Sunrise (1842) by J.M.W. Turner
Photo still from an original Star Trek episode, showing Spock, Kirk, and McCoy on another planet. Kirk is adjusting a small red triangular swallowtail pennant flag emblazoned with 13 five-pointed stars and the letters UFP, standing at chest height. It all looks awkward.
A photo of two pomegranates growing from a tall, leafy branch. The pomegranates are still green. In the background there is blue sky.
Photo from Spring Street bridge over the Los Angeles River, looking north. In the distance the Verdugo Mountains are visible and, beyond them, the Angeles National Forest. The sky is blue and clear.
Your tax dollars at work, paying National Guard soldiers to stand around behind an iron gate, in full gear, helmets, riot shields, etc., in a business park in a Los Angeles suburb, with no one else around, on a Sunday evening in late June 2025.
A photo of a floral bloom emerging from a cut stump branch of a tree. The bloom is violet. Above it is only sky.
Stephen Miller, his dead eyes in shadow and joyless lips resting between lies.
A black & white cartoon by Will McLean from the 1979 Dungeon Master’s Guide. It shows three stereotypical fantasy characters (a balding monastic cleric, a warrior with a horned helm, and a bearded wizard in starred robes and conical hat) seated at a table with books, papers, and dice. The cleric is holding a book titled “Papers & Paychecks” while the warrior turns to talk to a curious bespectacled onlooker. The warrior’s dialogue is the caption under the cartoon: “It’s a great new fantasy role-playing game. We pretend we’re workers and students in an industrialized and technological society.”
Joanna Lumley as the Doctor (in The Curse of Fatal Death)
Photo of a group of seven or more camo uniformed National Guardsmen standing around behind a tall fence in an urban business parkway. They appear to be chatting amongst themselves or otherwise bored.
A photo of a flyer spotted on a telephone pole in Echo Park, whose main text reads in large print over an image of a cat, dog, guinea pig, and lizard: “What if your pet had a theme song?” It appears to be a real advertisement for custom jingle writing.
At length, just as they felt that they could endure no more, they saw Gollum’s eyes peering down at them again. ‘We’re up,’ he whispered. ‘First stair’s past. Clever hobbits to climb so high, very clever hobbits. Just a few more little steps and that’s all, yes.’ Dizzy and very tired Sam, and Frodo following him, crawled up the last step, and sat down rubbing their legs and knees. They were in a deep dark passage that seemed still to go up before them, though at a gentler slope and without steps. Gollum did not let them rest long. ‘There’s another stair still,’ he said. ‘Much longer stair. Rest when we get to the top of next stair. Not yet.’ Sam groaned. ‘Longer, did you say?’ he asked. ‘Yes, yess, longer,’ said Gollum. ‘But not so difficult. Hobbits have climbed the Straight Stair. Next comes the Winding Stair.’ ‘And what after that?’ said Sam. ‘We shall see,’ said Gollum softly. ‘O yes, we shall see!’
A photo of John Stinneford, with caption and a further quotation from him. John F. Stinneford, a professor at the university, said he supported the idea of “institutional neutrality,” which instructs schools not to take public positions on hot-button issues. [Photo Credit...Jacob Langston for The New York Times] If it were a good paper, he said, “you should put aside your moral qualms and give it an A.” A number of students disagree, but several declined to be interviewed on the record for fear that criticizing the school, or a sitting federal judge, would harm their future job prospects.
A photo in nighttime light, featuring a sign in a yard. Lettered by hand in black marker, it reads, accompanied by a red heart: “there is no America without immigrants.”
A photo of a typical Southern California suburban intersection, with a stop sign and wooden electrical pole. Behind the intersection is a large Japanese-style Buddhist temple and bell. The sky is clear blue; a young black man bicycles in the foreground.
A cartoon (by Alex Raffi) showing a side view of a river. A man is wading across, thinking “it ought to be safe to cross here; I heard the average depth is only two feet.” Ahead of him the river bottom drops out of frame.
Photo of a long line of people marching down the streets of downtown Los Angeles.
Photo of a crowd of marchers with many signs, including “So Barron is an anchor baby?”