SAD-ERR-DAY / BIRTHDAY EVENT WAS A PATHETIC SHOW FOR A PATHETIC PRESIDENT

LOW CROWD. Army soldiers march and tanks roll down a street in Washington, D.C. as people stand on the streets watching them. It is not a large crowd. Getty Images. 

GUEST BLOG / By Malcolm Ferguson, The New Republic Magazine-- Three dozen horses, 28 Abrams tanks, 6,700 soldiers, and millions of taxpayer dollars later, and the big Orange's military birthday parade was still a flop at best. 

 A crowd that was well under the administration’s projected 200,000 peppered the National Mall last Saturday in a festival-style event featuring Army info sessions, military fitness challenges, weapons exhibits, and other activities prior to the parade. Military members spoke onstage the entire time to a sparse audience, as most of the attendees perused the various offerings, hoisting their children up into the massive tanks and turrets sitting on the mall for pictures. 

 But the parade itself was quite boring, save for those military exhibits. It was generally very quiet—so quiet you could clearly hear the creaks and squeaks of the armored vehicles—with intermittent music that was constantly being lowered so that the parade narrator could announce each battalion. 

Weak chants of “USA, USA” popped up every 10 minutes or so. 

And the majority of the parade was just soldiers walking by—many not even marching in step with each other—many in military garb from wars past. 

Children grew weary in the humidity, as did some adults. 

One man wearing an Infowars.com shirt kept yelling, “Bring out the tanks!!” and complained that “people got no energy out here.” 

Another started scrolling on TikTok. There were large cheers for West Point and some confused murmurs for the Boston Dynamics robot dogs.

 

BIGGER CROWD. Thousands of people march during the “No Kings” protest in opposition to the incumbent presidency on the day of the military parade, June 14, in Los Angeles. Getty Images

The event didn’t truly begin to feel electric until the parade ended and Trump and JD Vance spoke. Crowds of people hurried to the other side of the mall to catch just a glimpse of Trump as he spoke behind a humongous piece of glass hundreds of yards away for about seven minutes. 

The finale featured massive fireworks and more music, as people linked arms and swayed while they sang, “I’m Proud to Be an American.” 

 Many of the attendees felt that this parade was necessary because the military had been disrespected, weakened, and kneecapped by “the left.” They believed that a show of force and pride could directly remedy that, cost and optics be damned. “I think there’s a gigantic disconnect between the American populace and the military. The military has turned into a culture of warriors. It’s like a family thing now, right?” said Brandon, an older 24-year retired Army veteran from Pennsylvania who didn’t want to give his last name. Brandon was actually at the last military parade of this stature, the Gulf War victory parade in the summer of 1991. “People walking down the street will say, ‘Thank you for your service,’ but … they won’t suggest it to their teenage children or the people in their lives.” This perceived disconnect from the civilian public is exactly why Brandon felt the parade was important. “I don’t think [civilians] really quite understand what it takes or what goes into it. [They think] it’s for someone else. ‘It’s not for me.’ Someone else’s child, someone else’s spouse, someone else’s parent.… This is obviously a large kind of national event. But even having a National Guard display at a local carnival, I think, helps to bring greater connection between the public and those who serve.”  End Brandon.

Air Force member Carlton Guthrie, 22, who was there with his wife, Whitney, told me that the tense political moment, particularly in the Middle East, called for a display such as this. “I think now is a scarier time than people think it is, just because we’re not really deployed as much as we used to be in the Middle East. It’s probably one of the scariest times in our country’s history where we have a bunch of people who hate us. So I think it’s a good time to show that we aren’t weak, because there’s lots of propaganda saying that the Army’s weak or the military is getting soft.” Guthrie also felt that Trump’s military support of Israel’s bombing of Iran was warranted given that “they chant Death to America in the streets of Iran. They don’t do that on the streets of Israel.… I think if Iran were left there to keep doing what they’re doing, it’ll just keep growing until it gets to us anyway.” 

 Justin Walz, who brought his wife and three young children from Farmville, Virginia, to the parade for Father’s Day weekend, told me that Trump’s parade sent a positive signal to young American men, many of whom he thinks are lost. “These young boys are looking for a father figure. And currently, there really are no father figures, a lot of fatherless homes,” he said. “And that’s the reason Trump has gained so much popularity in the younger community.” 

 Several QAnon TikTok influencers were also among the paltry crowd. Judy Alston of Delaware was a proud January 6er, sharing that her son-in-law even called the FBI on her for attending the 2021 insurrection. She went back the very next year. They all gave the usual QAnon spiel—All of our elected officials are sex-trafficking pedophiles, Hillary Clinton drinks kids’ blood to stay young, and Trump is somehow the only one brave enough to expose them. They told me that the parade wasn’t just a show of force, it was a “mask-off” event that would bring an end to the “250 years of disrespect” that the military has faced. One of them wore a “King Trump” shirt, while the other had a Pepe the frog necklace. One gifted me a small book by Loy Brunson about why socialism was an “existential threat” and told me to save it for my future children.

 Each Trump supporter justified the parade’s hefty price tag by bringing up “illegals taking American jobs” or “all the other stupid stuff we pay for.” 

One man chalked the critique up to simple “radical left nonsense,” and was surprised when I told him that libertarian Senator Rand Paul had levied that same critique. 

 The embarrassingly low turnout was exacerbated by the fact that not everyone was there to support Trump. Two veterans in attendance made it clear that they were separating the military’s birthday from Trump’s birthday, as they disapproved of the president but felt an obligation to the Army to be there. 

One older veteran named Al told me he thought Trump wasn’t “thinking before he moved.” Many protesters (and even some “neutral” attendees) emphasized that they wanted to reclaim and redefine patriotism. They weren’t anti-military in the slightest, but they were against the way MAGA now feels synonymous with the armed forces. “A huge reason why we’re here is because Trump doesn’t own patriotism in this country, and I don’t think we should let him,” said Eric Whitman, 42, of Washington, D.C. “I think it’s important for every American regardless of what party you’re in or who you voted for to come and support the military.… I think we’re taking a horrible turn right now in light of the administration’s policies, but we’re still American.” 

 Partners Jordan and Isabel, both in their thirties, were walking around the grounds with signs that read “Nobody paid me to be here, I protest for free” and “Happy 250th birthday Army, sorry TACO has you marching in the heat,” using the moniker for Trump that stands for Trump Always Chickens Out. “To an extent, the military and the American flag, for a long time, have been kind of symbols of the MAGA group, but I don’t think that’s a fair representation to either of those parties,” Isabel noted. “So we’re trying to take it back again, and just show support for the military without showing support to MAGA.” 

 Then there was Matt Hawthorne. While Trump was speaking, chants of “USA, USA” broke out that weren’t in response to the president. A small crowd had formed around one large white man with glasses who was screaming, “Traitor” and “Rapist” while Trump supporters surrounded him, shouting him down. They took Hawthorne’s protest sign, calling him a “stupid motherfucker.” He immediately pulled out another one that read “Cheer the troops. Boo the traitor. Using them as props,” and continued to holler until Park Police came over and the crowd dispersed. 

 Hawthorne told me he wasn’t afraid for his safety as a “big, powerful” white man. “Trump said that protest would be met with ‘heavy force.’ … That’s when people have to protest,” he said. “I am the safest person who can protest, and so it’s crucial that I do that.” Like other liberal resisters, Hawthorne had no issue with the parade conceptually, just Trump’s use of the military. “I support our military. I think it’s great to celebrate the Army’s birthday. I think that doing it so it ends at the White House on Trump’s birthday, with numerous birthday wishes for him, is wildly inappropriate and reminiscent of dictatorships around the world,” Hawthorne said. “If they wanted to do a historic parade, like a reconnection in Lexington and Concord, that would have been a wonderful birthday celebration for the Army. Traditionally, when the military has gone through D.C., it starts or ends at the U.S. Capitol to represent the people’s authority over our armed forces. Ending it at the White House is new, and shows how this president thinks that he should be the ultimate authority, which is authoritarianism.” End Hawthorne.

 While MAGA loyalists left the parade satisfied, it’s clear that many Americans feel very conflicted about what U.S. military power and patriotism mean in the Trump era. And the low turnout will force MAGA to go to great lengths to spin a clear flop as a success. Trump wanted badly for this to be a grand, raucous, March on Washington–level event, and it just wasn’t close. Now American taxpayers paid millions so a few people could watch tanks rumble down the street while soldiers marched in centuries-old war cosplay.  

Happy Birthday, United States Army.

SUMMER IN THE CITY; STREETCARS OH SO PRETTY

Boat Tram from Blackpool now in San Francisco.  One of San Francisco’s most delightful imports isn’t French, Italian, or Japanese—it’s British. Straight out of the seaside resort town of Blackpool, England, this open-topped “boat tram” is a rolling reminder that public transit can be as joyful as it is functional.  

Lovingly restored and painted in creamy butterscotch and red, the vessel-like tram makes a seasonal appearance on the F-Market & Wharves line, which itself is a museum in motion. 

Operated by Muni, San Francisco’s transit agency, the F-line runs historic streetcars, trolleys, and trams sourced from around the world—each one preserved, repainted, and returned to daily service like an old actor given one more run on stage.  

This particular boat tram, with its cheerful bunting and unmistakable open-air design, draws a crowd. The car is especially popular during the warmer months, when Muni pulls out its rarities to handle the swell of summer riders. 

With a bit of luck and timing, you can spot this gem gliding along Market Street or heading toward Fisherman’s Wharf—an unexpected breeze in the fog.  

The F-line operates with frequent daily service and provides local stops between subway stations along Market Street. 

Most days, it features beautifully restored PCC streetcars from the 1940s and ’50s, but it’s the offbeat classics like this boat tram that turn heads and start conversations.  

To catch a ride is to momentarily drift—not just through the city, but through time.

MEANWHILE...Here's what happened last Saturday in the City.

 

SUNDAY REVIEW / MOTOWN'S ROLLING SHIMMER OF SOUND

“Then He Kissed Me” – The Crystals It was 1963. Maybe you were heading home after a late summer shift, the AM radio humming from the dashboard speaker, windows down, and the air thick with youth and gasoline. 

Then it came on. 🎵 “Well, he walked up to me and he asked me if I wanted to dance…” 🎵 

The beat. 

The harmony. 

That rolling shimmer of sound. Then He Kissed Me by The Crystals wasn’t just a song—it became a metaphor for the breathless rush toward and through first loves. 

 Put it up there in a Hall of Fame all its own or perhaps alone along side "I'm a Believer" by the Monkees or "This Could be the Last Time" by the Rolling Stones. 

 Can you hear the rolling thunder that propels Jimmy McGriff's organ riffs? 

Then He Kissed Me--produced by Phil Spector, the teenage anthem was built inside his echoing temple of tape and reverb known as the Wall of Sound. Layer upon layer of instruments, from castanets to bass, strings to cymbals, came together in perfect symmetry. 

Spector’s sonic method turned a simple girl-meets-boy lyric into pop music architecture—a cathedral of longing and joy. Written by the Brill Building trio of Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Spector himself, Then He Kissed Me is a blueprint of early '60s pop perfection. 

The Crystals, already riding high with hits like Da Doo Ron Ron, gave voice to the wide-eyed dreams of a generation. And lead singer Dolores "LaLa" Brooks (left) delivered the vocals with a breathless, almost cinematic sweetness that made listeners believe in every note. 

It’s been covered by everyone from The Beach Boys to Rachel Sweet, and it famously scored the opening Steadicam sequence in Goodfellas—a testament to its cool, enduring pulse. 

Back then, it was a love story told in under three minutes. Today, it’s nostalgia in motion. Click YouTube and listen again. You already know all the words. 

UNITED STATES ARMY AT 250 YEARS--THANK YOU!

We celebrate our Army today on its 250th Anniversary. This is the blog of a family who grew up in the military. [Silver Star, double Normandy vets, Guard Tomb of Unknown soldier].This current administration is shamelessly using the Army as a tool to celebrate its dictatorial and authoritarian goals. Celebrate our military men and women…they are protecting the Constitution, not honoring a man. “This We'll Defend" is the official motto of the United States Army. It signifies the Army's commitment to defending the nation, its people, and its values. The phrase reflects the Army's purpose of safeguarding the Constitution, the country, and its citizens from all threats. 

FRIDAY FINESSE / KANSAS CITY COOL

Chaz on the Plaza: Where Jazz, Hospitality, and Cuisine Cross Paths  

Chaz on the Plaza sits below street level in the Raphael Hotel, a place that doesn’t need to announce itself. The signage is subtle. The stairway descends into dim light and real atmosphere—the kind that comes from polished wood, low ceilings, and the quiet assurance of a place that knows exactly what it’s doing. 

It’s Kansas City through a velvet lens: jazz without kitsch, service without scripts, and a menu that reads like it was written by someone who respects hunger.  

Kansas City, a city steeped in jazz and barbecue, reveals its more refined side at

Chaz. The restaurant’s basement setting adds to its speakeasy charm, but this is no nostalgia trip. Chaz operates with polish and intention. Service is attentive but never obsequious. 

The menu tilts seasonal, grounded in locally sourced ingredients and Missouri sensibilities. Expect wild mushroom risotto plated with confidence, steak seared with quiet bravado, and a wine list that flatters the region without forgetting France.  

The bar is more than a pause between dinner and dessert—it’s a gathering place. 

On weekends, the piano comes alive, and with it, the spirits of Charlie Parker and Count Basie seem to hover. 

Live jazz is not a gimmick here—it’s an anchor. 

Local legends and fresh talent keep the music real and intimate. It’s not unusual for guests to nurse a nightcap longer than expected, lulled by melody and mood.  

Above Chaz, the Raphael Hotel completes the seduction. A restored 1920s landmark, the Raphael combines boutique luxury with vintage soul. 

Rooms overlook the Country Club Plaza, Kansas City’s Spanish Revival shopping district—a charming echo of Seville by way of the Midwest. 

For cross-country road warriors or cultured couples seeking a halfway point between coasts, the Raphael—and Chaz below it—form a welcome beacon.  

In an age of indistinguishable lobbies and generic dining rooms, Chaz stands apart. 

It has style without pretense, music without noise, and food that matters. Call it a jazz club, a brasserie, a hotel lounge, or a checkpoint for the culturally hungry—it answers to all and belongs uniquely to Kansas City (maybe without so much rain).

THE FOODIST / BIG TIME BBQ FROM INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI

STAFF POST / By Holden DeMayo, PillartoPost.org Restaurant Reviewer--Eastbound on U.S. 24, just shy of downtown Independence, there’s a stretch where the air shifts. Smoke thickens, woodsy and sweet. If your windows are down, your stomach will make the decision before you do. You've entered A Little BBQ Joint territory in the Kansas City suburb of Independence, Missouri. 

 If you've passed it then pull a U-turn. 

 A Little BBQ Joint is a family-owned icon that serves up favored Kansas City-style barbecue with a side of nostalgia. Since opening its doors in April 2013, this local favorite has become a must-visit for both BBQ aficionados and casual diners alike  

No neon. No gimmicks. Just a low-slung building with smoke in its bones and a gravel lot that’s rarely empty. Stepping into A Little BBQ Joint is like entering a retro automotive haven. The interior is adorned with classic car memorabilia, including a bar crafted from the front end of a vintage red convertible. This unique decor not only adds character but also pays homage to America's love affair with the open road; hearty roadside eats and the kind of unpolished charm you can’t fake. 

A Little BBQ Joint's appeal is its commitment to traditional, slow-smoked meats. Their burnt ends are a standout, boasting a perfect balance of smoky bark and tender interior. 

Other favorites include thick-cut pork sandwiches layered with bacon, juicy brisket, and flavorful smoked chicken. Complementing the meats are signature sides like creamy cheesy corn, tangy baked beans, and a hot potato salad that patrons rave about. 

 Owned by Karen Bauer, A Little BBQ Joint prides itself on being a family-run establishment. The team's dedication to quality and community is evident in every aspect of the restaurant, from the meticulously smoked meats to the warm, welcoming atmosphere. 

 You'll find A Little BBQ Joint at: 1101 W US Hwy 24, Independence, MO 64050 Ample parking is available on-site, making it convenient for both locals and travelers passing through. 

 🕒 Hours of Operation • Monday: Closed • Tuesday – Thursday: 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM • Friday: 11:00 AM – 9:00 PM • Saturday: 12:00 PM – 9:00 PM • Sunday: 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM 

 📞 Contact & more information or to place an order, visit their official website or call (816) 252-2275.

PHOTOS by PillartoPost.org online magazine:

THINK PIECE / HOW TO REGAIN YOUR ATTENTION SPAN

“[Improving attention spans] is in many ways similar to a muscle in the sense that we can build it up with practice and conversely, it can weaken if we’re not exercising it.”  --Cindy Lustig, Cognitive Neuroscientist, University of Michigan.

***

GUEST BLOG / By Devi Shatri, AP Public Health Reporter and Laura Bargfeld, AP Video Journalist--Feel like you can’t focus? Like you’ll never finish a book again? Like the only way to keep your mind and hands busy is to scroll on social media for hours 

 You’re far from alone. 

One body of decades-long research found the average person’s attention span for a single screen is 47 seconds, down from 2.5 minutes in 2004. The 24/7 news cycle, uncertainty about the state of the world and countless hours of screen time don’t help, experts say. 

“When my patients talk to me about this stuff there is often a feeling of helplessness or powerlessness,” said Dr. Michael Ziffra, a psychiatrist at Northwestern Medicine. “But you can change these behaviors. You can improve your attention span.” 

Here are ways to start that process. 

As you read, challenge yourself to set a 2.5 minute timer and stay on this article without looking at another device or clicking away. 

How did we lose focus? 

A shifting attention is an evolutionary feature, not a bug. Our brains are hardwired to quickly filter information and hone in on potential threats or changes in what’s happening around us. 

What’s grabbing our attentions has changed. For our ancestors, it might have been a rustle in the bushes putting us on guard for a lurking tiger. Today, it could be a rash of breaking news alerts and phone notifications. 

The COVID-19 pandemic warped many people’s sense of time and increased their screen usage like never before, said Stacey Nye, a clinical psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 

“Our attention span has really been trained to only focus in those little, small blips and it interrupts our natural focus cycles,” she said. 

Give your wandering mind ‘active breaks’ 

Experts say “active” breaks are among the best way to retrain your mind and your attention. They only take about 30 minutes, Nye said, and can be as simple as taking a walk while noticing things around you or moving to another room for lunch. 

Don’t be afraid to get creative. 

Develop a list of alternative activities or randomly choose ideas out of a fish bowl. Try craft projects, a short meditation, fixing a quick meal or talking a walk outside. All the better if you can involve a friend as well. 

The break needs to be a physical or mental activity — no passive phone-scrolling. When the brain is understimulated and looking for change, it’ll usually grab onto the first thing it sees. The smartphone, an “ever-producing change machine,” is an enticing option, said Cindy Lustig, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Michigan. 

Turn off unnecessary notifications and put that “do not disturb” mode to good use, especially before bedtime. Better yet, put your phone in a whole different room, Lustig said. 

Say no to multitasking 

Multitasking may make you feel like you’re getting more done, but brain experts recommend against it. 

“Be a single tasker,” Nye said. “Work on one thing at a time, for a specified period of time and begin to work your way up.” 

Lustig is a big fan of the “Pomodoro technique,” in which you set a timer and work on something for 25 or 30 minutes before taking a five-minute break. 

She tells herself: “I can do anything for this amount of time,” and the world will still be waiting for her at the end. 

Start with something you actually like and set a goal 

It’s not enough to just have a hobby, Lustig said. It helps to choose hobbies that include deliberate practice and a goal to strive toward, whether it’s playing guitar for an audience or improving in a sport. 

It helps to pick something that you enjoy as well. “You don’t want to start with the heavy nonfiction or like ‘War and Peace,’” Lustig said. “If you need to start with the romance novel, then start with the romance novel. You can work your way up.” 

It’s also important to be kind to yourself. Everyone has good and bad days, and attention needs are different — and even vary from task to task. The key is to make an intentional effort, experts say. 

“It is in many ways similar to a muscle in the sense that we can build it up with practice and exercises,” Ziffra said. “Conversely, it can weaken if we’re not exercising it.”

TUESDAY TRAVEL / AMERICA'S BEST BEACH & WHY

...AND THE WINNER IS: 

In 2025, Siesta Beach, located on Siesta Key in Florida, gained global acclaim by being named the #1 beach in the United States and #4 beach in the world by TripAdvisor's Travelers' Choice Awards Best of the Best Beaches. 

This distinction highlights the beach's natural beauty and makes it one of the most sought-after destinations for beach lovers. What sets the following beaches apart from other top beaches worldwide? 

One of the most striking features is its sand, which is made up of 99% pure quartz. While quartz beaches are relatively rare, they are highly valued for their soft, cool texture and sparkling appearance. 

Quartz, a mineral that’s abundant in the Earth’s crust, is weathered and broken down into fine grains that create smooth, powdery sand. This unique composition gives quartz beaches its famous white, almost shimmering sand that remains cool even under the hot sun.  

1. Siesta Key Beach, Florida • Location: Sarasota, Florida • Why It's Great: Siesta Key Beach is famous for its soft, powdery white sand made up of 99% pure quartz. The sand stays cool even on hot days, making it incredibly comfortable to walk on.

2. Clearwater Beach, Florida • Location: Clearwater, Florida • Why It's Great: The sand here is soft and fine, with a high quartz content. Clearwater Beach is often ranked among the best beaches in the U.S., thanks to its clear waters, soft sand, and vibrant atmosphere.

3. Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts • Location: Cape Cod, Massachusetts • Why It's Great: Many of the beaches in Cape Cod are known for their fine, quartz-rich sand. Beaches like Race Point Beach and Nauset Beach (above) offer scenic beauty and crystal-clear waters with quartz sand that sparkles in the sunlight.

4. Big Sur, California • Location: Central Coast of California • Why It's Great: While many of the beaches along Big Sur are rocky, there are several with quartz sand, including McWay Falls Beach (above). The dramatic cliffs and stunning scenery make this a unique destination.

5. Pfeiffer Beach, California • Location: Big Sur, California • Why It's Great: Pfeiffer Beach is known for its purple-tinged quartz sand (caused by manganese garnet crystals mixed with quartz) and striking rock formations. It's a hidden gem on the Big Sur coast and dog friendly. 

These beaches are not only great for their quartz sands but also for their stunning natural beauty such as key rock beach along the Big Sur coastline (above). Whether you're looking to relax on the soft sand, take a dip in the ocean, or explore some unique landscapes, these quartz beaches in the U.S. offer something for everyone, especially quartz beach aficionados (below) along Cape Cod beaches on Spring break.

MEDIA MONDAY / THE CARTOON'S PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

Political caricature about the daylight savings time change in Europe while the US politics are changing towards fascism. Wikicommons.

The Indispensable Voice: A Free Press, Free Speech, and the Cartoonist’s Pen in American Democracy 

Original Essay / PillartoPost.org--In a healthy democracy, truth and dissent must breathe freely. Freedom of the press and freedom of speech, enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, are not luxuries of civic life—they are the ballast that keeps the democratic ship from capsizing under the weight of power. 

A truly durable democracy cannot exist without its citizens being able to speak freely, criticize openly, and investigate without fear. The free press holds government accountable, amplifies marginalized voices, and provides a marketplace of ideas where truth can spar with error. 

In a time of digital echo chambers and weaponized misinformation, the need for rigorous, independent journalism has never been greater. 

It is the immune system of democracy. But even within that system, a particular branch of expression has historically punched above its weight: the political cartoon. 

Political cartoonists are the court jesters of modern governance—part artist, part provocateur, part prophet. With a few pen strokes, they condense volumes of dissent into a single, unforgettable image. They mock, lampoon, criticize, and puncture the vanity of power. 

The work of Thomas Nast in the 19th century helped bring down Tammany Hall’s Boss Tweed. 

Herblock’s mid-20th century cartoons battled McCarthyism with ink and wit. 

In our own time, cartoonists like Ann Telnaes, Tom Toles, Mike Luckovich and Rich McKee carry forward the mantle of skepticism, often standing as the last line of satire in a too-polite media ecosystem. 

But this freedom has always come with tension. U.S. Presidents have had varied relationships with political cartoonists and the press. Abraham Lincoln, often caricatured as gawky or grotesque, nevertheless welcomed criticism, believing firmly in the citizen’s right to lampoon power. 

Theodore Roosevelt, who called political cartoonist Clifford Berryman a “moral force,” knew that enduring ribbing came with the job. 

Harry Truman, though famously hot-tempered, understood the difference between personal insult and political commentary, often reading and chuckling at his own caricatures. 

Not all took it so well. 

Richard Nixon infamously created an “enemies list” that included journalists and cartoonists alike. 

Lyndon Johnson reportedly asked a cartoonist to redraw his famously droopy ears. 

Donald Trump labeled the press “the enemy of the people,” an echo of authoritarian regimes. 

Ex-President Joe Biden, by contrast, has largely taken critical press and cartoonists in stride, if not with open arms. In both temperament and policy, Biden has reaffirmed support for the free press while he restored the daily White House briefing, long seen as a cornerstone of transparency. 

The cartoonist, like the columnist or the podcaster or the investigative reporter, thrives only in a society that protects dissent. Their safety, and their right to publish without intimidation, is a measure of democratic health. 

Around the world, political cartoonists face arrest, censorship, even assassination. 

In America, where the ink still flows freely, their work remains a sign not only of liberty—but of resilience. 

A durable democracy depends not on unanimous agreement but on a shared commitment to freedom. 

The right to criticize, to question, to mock those in power—even in crude or uncomfortable ways—is the strongest signal that democracy lives. 

And while the politician’s term may end, the cartoonist’s ink endures. It sketches history in the moment. It remembers what others wish we’d forget. 

If democracy is a conversation, then the free press supplies the vocabulary—and the cartoonist provides the exclamation point. Political caricature about the daylight savings time change in Europe while the US politics are changing towards fascism. 

Art images: Schmarrnintelligenz and Rick McKee.

SUNDAY REVIEW / GREAT GATSBY MISUNDERSTOOD OR JUST MORE HYPE?

THE BBC SAYS GREAT GATSBY IS RIFE WITH MISUNDERSTANDINGS.

GUEST BLOG / By BBC Writer Hephzibah Anderson--The Great Gatsby is synonymous with parties, glitz and glamour – but this is just one of many misunderstandings about the book that began with its first publication a century ago, in April 1925. 

Few characters in literature or indeed life embody an era quite so tenaciously as Jay Gatsby does the Jazz Age. Almost a century after he was written into being, F Scott Fitzgerald's doomed romantic has become shorthand for decadent flappers, champagne fountains and never-ending parties. 

Cut loose by pop culture from the text into which he was born, his name adorns everything from condominiums to hair wax and a limited-edition cologne (it contains notes of vetiver, pink pepper and Sicilian lime). 

It's now possible to lounge on a Gatsby sofa, check in at the Gatsby hotel, even chow down on a Gatsby sandwich – essentially a supersize, souped-up chip butty. 

Incongruous though that last item sounds, naming anything after the man formerly known as James Gatz seems more than a touch problematic. After all, flamboyant host is just one part of his complicated identity. He's also a bootlegger, up to his neck in criminal enterprise, not to mention a delusional stalker whose showmanship comes to seem downright tacky. 

If he embodies the potential of the American Dream, then he also illustrates its limitations: here is a man, let's not forget, whose end is destined to be as pointless as it is violent. 

Misunderstanding has been a part of The Great Gatsby's story from the very start. Grumbling to his friend Edmund Wilson shortly after the novel was published in April 1925, Fitzgerald declared that "of all the reviews, even the most enthusiastic, not one had the slightest idea what the book was about". 

Whose fault is that?

Fellow writers like Edith Wharton admired it plenty, but as the critic Maureen Corrigan relates in her book So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures, popular reviewers read it as crime fiction, and were decidedly underwhelmed by it at that. 

"Fitzgerald's Latest A Dud", ran a headline in the New York World. 

The novel achieved only so-so sales, and by the time of the author's death in 1940, copies of a very modest second print run had long since been remaindered. 

The novel has become a force in pop culture, helped by Hollywood; the term 'Gatsbyesque' emerged a few years after the 1974 film starring Robert Redford 

Gatsby's luck began to change when it was selected as a giveaway by the US military. With World War Two drawing to a close, almost 155,000 copies were distributed in a special Armed Services Edition, creating a new readership overnight. 

As the 1950s dawned, the flourishing of the American Dream quickened the novel's topicality, and by the 1960s, it was enshrined as a set text. It's since become such a potent force in pop culture that even those who've never read it feel as if they have, helped along, of course, by Hollywood. 

It was in 1977, just a few short years after Robert Redford starred in the title role of an adaptation scripted by Francis Ford Coppola, that the word "Gatsbyesque" was first recorded. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! THE GREAT GATSBY TURNS 100

Along with Baz Luhrmann's divisive Gatsby 2013 film extravaganza, the book has spawned graphic novels, an immersive theatrical experience and a television film, broadcast in 2000, with Paul Rudd, Toby Stephens and Mira Sorvino. 

And since the novel's copyright expired in 2021, enabling anyone to adapt it without permission from its estate, the Gatsby industry has exploded. 

Early calls for a Muppets adaptation may have come to nothing (never say never), but a musical with songs by Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine premiered in Massachusetts last year; a separate, Tony-winning musical, The Great Gatsby, is still running on Broadway and is about to open in London; and author Min Jin Lee and cultural critic Wesley Morris both wrote fresh introductions to 2021 editions of the book. 

 If this all leaves Fitzgerald purists twiddling their pearls like worry beads, it's quite possible that while some such projects may further perpetuate the myth that throwing a Gatsby-themed party could be anything other than sublimely clueless, others may yield fresh insights into a text whose very familiarity often leads us to skate over its complexities. 

GATSBY AS AN INDUSTRY

Take, for instance, Michael Farris Smith's new novel, Nick. The title refers, of course, to Nick Carraway, the narrator of Gatsby, who here gets his own fully formed backstory. It's the tale of a Midwesterner who goes off to Europe to fight in World War One and comes back changed, as much by a whirlwind love affair in Paris as by trench warfare. 

There's room for an impulsive sojourn in the New Orleans underworld before he heads off to Long Island's West Egg. 

An impossible dream? Like many, Smith first encountered the novel in high school. "I just completely didn’t get it", he tells the BBC, from his home in Oxford, Mississippi. "They seemed like a lot of people complaining about things they really shouldn't be complaining about." 

It was only when he picked it up again while living abroad in his late 20s that he began to understand the novel's power. "It was a very surreal reading experience for me. It seemed like something on almost every page was speaking to me in a way I had not expected," he recalls. 

Reaching the scene in which Carraway suddenly remembers it's his 30th birthday, Smith was filled with questions about what kind of a person Gatsby's narrator really was. "It seemed to me that there had been some real trauma that had made him so detached, even from his own self. The thought crossed my mind that it would be really interesting if someone were to write Nick's story," he says. 

In 2014, by then a published author in his 40s, he sat down to do just that, telling neither his agent nor his editor. It was only when he delivered the manuscript 10 months later that he learned copyright law meant he'd have to wait until 2021 to publish it. 

"...Maybe it's not the champagne and the dancing, maybe it is those feelings of wondering where we are, the sense that anything can crumble at any moment, that keep Gatsby meaningful." – Michael Farris Smith 

Smith points to a quote from one of Fitzgerald's contemporaries as having provided the key to understanding Carraway. "Ernest Hemingway says in [his memoir] A Moveable Feast that we didn't trust anyone who wasn't in the war, and to me that felt like a natural beginning for Nick." Smith imagines Carraway, coping with PTSD and shellshock, returning home to a nation that he no longer recognises. 

It's a far cry from the riotous razzmatazz of all that partying, yet Carraway is, Smith suggests, the reason Fitzgerald's novel remains read. "Maybe it's not the champagne and the dancing, maybe it is those feelings of wondering where we are, the sense that anything can crumble at any moment, that keep Gatsby meaningful from one generation to the next." 

William Cain, an expert in American literature and the Mary Jewett Gaiser Professor of English at Wellesley College, agrees that Nick is crucial to understanding the novel's richness. "Fitzgerald gave some thought to structuring it in the third person but ultimately he chose Nick Carraway, a first-person narrator who would tell Gatsby's story, and who would be an intermediary between us and Gatsby. We have to respond to and understand Gatsby and, as we do so, remain aware that we're approaching him through Nick's very particular perspective, and through Nick's very ambivalent relationship to Gatsby, which is simultaneously full of praise and full of severe criticism, even at some moments contempt," he says. 

 Like Smith, Cain first encountered the novel as a student. It was a different era – the 1960s – but even so, little attention was paid to Nick. Cain recalls instead talk of symbolism – the legendary green light, for example, and Gatsby's fabled automobile. It's a reminder that, in a way, the education system is as much to blame as pop culture for our limited readings of this seminal text. 

It may be a Great American Novel but, at fewer than 200 pages, its sublimely economical storytelling makes its study points very easy to access. Ironically, given that this is a novel of illusion and delusion, in which surfaces are crucial, we all too often overlook the texture of its prose. 

As Cain puts it, "I think when we consider The Great Gatsby, we need to think about it not just as a novel that is an occasion or a point of departure for us to talk about big American themes and questions, but we have to really enter into the richness of Fitzgerald's actual page-to-page writing. 

We have to come to Gatsby, yes, aware of its social and cultural significance, but also we need to return to it as a literary experience." Cain re-reads the novel every two or three years but frequently finds himself thinking about it in between – in 2020, for instance, when US President Biden, accepting the Democratic nomination at the DNC, spoke of the right to pursue dreams of a better future. The American Dream is, of course, another of Gatsby's Big Themes, and one that continues to be misunderstood. 

"Fitzgerald shows that that dream is very powerful, but that it is indeed a very hard one for most Americans to realise. It feeds them great hopes, great desires, and it's extraordinary, the efforts that so many of them make to fulfil those dreams and those desires, but that dream is beyond the reach of many, and many, they give up all too much to try to achieve that great success," Cain points out. 

Among the obstacles, Fitzgerald seems to suggest, are hard-and-fast class lines that no amount of money will enable Gatsby to cross. It's a view that resonates with a mood that Cain says he's been picking up on among his students – a certain "melancholy" for the American Dream, the feeling fanned by racial and economic inequalities that the pandemic has only deepened. 

In other certain respects, the novel hasn't worn quite so well. While Fitzgerald showed where his allegiances lay by highlighting the brute ugliness of Tom Buchanan's white supremacist beliefs, he repeatedly describes African Americans as "bucks". 

The novel makes for frustrating reading from a feminist perspective, too: its female characters lack dimensionality and agency, and are seen instead through the prism of male desire. 

But the path is now open to endless creative responses to those more dated and unpleasant aspects. Jane Crowther's newly published novel, Gatsby, updates the plot to the 21st Century, and flips the genders to feature a female Jay Gatsby and a male Danny Buchanan. 

And Claire Anderson-Wheeler's The Gatsby Gambit is a murder mystery which invents a younger sister for Fitzgerald's eponymous anti-hero: Greta Gatsby – get it? 

To an impressive degree, however, the renewed attention brought by the copyright expiry and the centenary shows not just how relevant and seductive the text of Fitzgerald's novel remains, but how very alive it's always been. 

Pick it up at 27, and you'll find a different novel to the one you read as a teenager. Revisit it again at 45, and it'll feel like another book altogether. 

Copyright has never had any bearing on the impact of the words it governs. When Smith was finally able to publish Nick in 2021, he returned once more to The Great Gatsby before turning in his last edit. "I think it will be a novel that's always evolving in my head, and always changing based on who I am," he says. 

"That's what great novels do." 

COFFEE BEANS & BEINGS / THE ONGOING TURF WAR BETWEEN THE OBLIVIOUS & ENTITLED VERSUS COFFEE HOUSE OWNER'S TRYING TO MAKE A LIVING

Illustration by F. Stop Fitzgerald

The Slow Death of Café Culture at the Hands of the Table Poacher 

By Holden DeMayo from the "Barstool at Flaherty's" series on cafe culture and civic matters and manners, which will be appearing regularly on PillartoPost.org daily online magazine in the near future (once he makes bail). 

They come in with backpacks and attitude. Sometimes it's a laptop. Sometimes it’s a screenplay. Always, it’s the same play: order one drip, scope out the corner seat near an outlet, and set up shop like it’s a WeWork on layaway. You’ve seen them. Maybe you’ve been one. The coffeehouse table poacher—that modern parasite of hospitality—who turns a single $3 transaction into a half-day real estate grab.

 Meanwhile, the lifeblood of the café—the couples looking to sip and catch up, the retiree reading the news, the writer who doesn’t sprawl—is left standing. Or worse, they leave altogether. The seat’s taken. The scene is dead. 

 What was once a community hub starts to feel like a silent co-working gulag. Baristas grind beans and fake smiles while the register stays quiet. 

 The Math Is Murder 

A table occupied for three hours by someone nursing one small latte means six potential customers lost. Multiply that across five tables, six days a week, and you’ve got the economic hemorrhage that kills indie cafés. 

 Ask any café owner off the record, and they’ll tell you: poachers cost more than shoplifters. At least a thief is quick. 

 How Did We Let This Happen? 

Blame startup culture. Blame Covid for bumping a lot of us out of highrise offices. Blame the gig economy. Blame the myth that every public seat is an entitlement zone for productivity. 

Somewhere along the way, “buy a coffee, stay all day” became the unspoken mantra of the oblivious. 

 But good cafés aren’t libraries. 

They’re not offices. 

They are businesses, built on margins thinner than a bar napkin. If a table doesn’t turn, neither does the profit.

 Solutions, or at Least a Fight 

 Here’s how some cafés are fighting back—and how more should: 

 – Timed Wi-Fi Passcodes: Two hours with purchase. Refresh required with another drink. No exceptions. 

 – Outlet Control: Shut ‘em off during rush hours. Watch the MacBooks scatter. 

 – Two-Drink Minimum for Long Stays: One sign. No shame. You want to stay? Great. Order something else. Support the house. 

 – No Laptops on Weekends: Some cafés have gone full analog on weekends

—No screens, no workstations. 

--Just coffee and conversation. Imagine that. 

 – Table Monitors: Not bouncers. Just friendly floor staff who reset and refresh tables when needed. The soft nudge. “Can I clear this?” is code for “Your time is up.” 

 The Social Contract Café culture used to be a dance—unwritten rules, respectful pacing, and unspoken nods. Now it’s a turf war. And unless we restore some mutual respect between customer and café, we’re going to lose the very thing we claim to love. 

 So here’s the ask: 

--If you’re going to work, pay rent. 

--If you’re going to linger, make it worth while for the owner. 

--If you’re done, move on because there’s someone waiting for that seat, and it’s probably the kind of customer that keeps the lights on. 

--If you don't like the computer use rules then go someplace else and don't let the door hit you on your ass on the way out.

AMERICANA / "BEATS GETTING SHOT AT, DONCHA THINK, YOGI?"

Yogi Berra, left and Ted Williams

 

THE FOODIST / HOW DID DUTCH TREAT COME ABOUT?

 

PillartoPost.org illustration by F. Stop Fitzgerald, photo and art editor

She ordered a salad and a glass of water.    

He ordered the rest of the menu.    

“Let’s go Dutch,” he said, smiling through a gravy-stained mustache, as if proposing marriage.    Off camera, the waiter raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He had seen worse.    

She adjusted the cloche hat that had traveled with her through three failed groomless engagements and a silent picture deal that fizzled when sound came in. 

She reached for her purse with the grace of a woman accustomed to paying for dignity.    

The restaurant’s sign over their table read: NOT DELMONICO’S.    

She already knew that.    

He didn’t notice.    

She paid her share. 

 He didn’t leave a tip. 

 *** 

 OK, that's a lot cartoony. 

 Where did the term "Going Dutch" originate? 

The phrase first surfaced in American English in the late 19th century, originally cast as “Dutch treat” or “go Dutch.” 

 It was part of social history where a suite of expressions coined during periods of Anglo-Dutch rivalry that dripped with sarcasm. 

 Think “Dutch courage” (booze-fueled bravery) or “Double Dutch” (gibberish). 

 “Dutch treat” meant what some saw as the unthinkable at the time: paying your own way instead of a host footing the bill. This stingy-sounding notion was spun as a cultural quirk, poking fun at the famously frugal Dutch. 

 Of course, the irony is that the concept—everyone paying their fair share—is now considered polite, equitable, even modern. In an age of Venmo and itemized receipts, going Dutch is no longer a slur. 

It’s just how friends navigate dinner without turning it into a financial chess match. 

 Bottom line? What started as a jab at Dutch thriftiness has become a badge of mutual respect. So next time someone proposes a “Dutch treat,” raise your glass—just don’t expect them to pay for it. 

 How do we know? 

We asked our "Dutch uncles," who are those friends or family members who love to give frank, stern, and often unsolicited advice, usually with the intent to correct or instruct rather than comfort. Unlike a kindly or indulgent uncle figure, a "Dutch uncle" is direct, critical, and expects you to toughen up. A "Dutch uncle" was essentially the opposite of a warm or supportive relative.

AMERICANA / OUR LATEST NATIONAL DISGRACE

 Spoken by Joseph N. Welch, the chief counsel for the U.S. Army during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954. He said it to Senator Joseph McCarthy during a nationally televised exchange that marked the beginning of McCarthy's public downfall.

Stripping Harvey Milk’s Name from a Navy Ship Is an Unforgivable Betrayal 

By Thomas Shess, Jr., founder of PillartoPost.org daily online magazine--There are moments in American history that reveal our character—not through what we build, but through what we tear down. The recent decision by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to strip the name of Harvey Milk from a U.S. Navy replenishment oiler is one such moment. 

Announced during Pride Month, no less, the move feels less like a policy shift and more like a personal rebuke—a calculated slap in the face to every gay citizen who has ever worn the uniform, served with honor, or died under our flag. This is not just a name being removed from a ship. This is a family throwing out one of its own. It’s Thanksgiving dinner with an empty chair where a son or daughter once sat—banished not for what they did, but for who they are. 

 Harvey Milk was a Navy veteran. He served this country during the Korean War. He was later forced out because he was gay—yet he continued to serve the American ideal in ways far deeper than military rank. As one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States, he stood for dignity, inclusion, and courage in the face of prejudice. 

Naming a ship in his honor in 2016 wasn’t just symbolic—it was redemptive. 

It said: You belong. We remember. We are better now. 

 And now? Now we erase? To rebrand this as part of a campaign to “re-establish warrior culture” is a hollow argument that rings with cowardice. 

The U.S. military is strongest when it reflects the full spectrum of the nation it defends. Courage is not defined by conformity. It is tested in the fight for equality. A band of brothers does not abandon its own on the battlefield. 

To strip Harvey Milk’s name from this vessel is to leave a brother behind. 

 Shame on us for allowing it. Let us not pretend this is merely a bureaucratic re-naming. This is an erasure of service, sacrifice, and legacy. 

It dishonors not only Harvey Milk but every LGBTQ+ veteran and service member who ever stepped forward when others stood back. We owe them more than silence. We owe them truth—and a place at the table. 

 The name must be reinstated. And an apology must follow. Only then can we begin to steer back toward the ideals we so loudly claim to uphold. 

What does the word Christening mean to you?

Hate took Harvey Milk's life.  As a nation are we so awash in hatred that we remove a veteran's name from a ship honoring him?  This single act anoints every slur our enemies around the world spew about the United States of America. Mea Culpa.

RETRO FILES / DID PICASSO HEIST THE MONA LISA

PillartoPost.org original illustration by F. Stop Fitzgerald.

Pablo Picasso was indirectly involved in the aftermath of the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre—but he was not responsible for the theft itself. 

Here's what happened: 

• In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian handyman who believed the painting belonged in Italy. 

• During the investigation, the police arrested Guillaume Apollinaire, a poet and art critic who had once publicly called for the Louvre to be burned down (as part of an artistic manifesto).

 • Apollinaire implicated Pablo Picasso, his friend, who was then questioned by French police. Why Picasso was questioned: 

• Years earlier, Picasso and Apollinaire had purchased stolen sculptures (Iberian heads) that had also been taken from the Louvre by a thief named Géry Pieret, who was connected to their artistic circle. 

• Fearing prosecution, Picasso returned the stolen sculptures anonymously. 

• Picasso was never charged, and both he and Apollinaire were cleared of any involvement in the Mona Lisa theft. 

Conclusion: 

So yes, Picasso was briefly entangled in the investigation, but he had nothing to do with the actual theft of the Mona Lisa. The association is more a curious footnote in art history than a credible accusation. Whew!

MEDIA MONDAY / SCREAMING FOR ATTENTION:

Illustration exclusive to PillartoPost.org via F. Stop Fitzgerald

 📰 Top Media & Journalism Blogs  

In this era of fractured attention and diminished legacy media, a new media revolution is underway. The old guard no longer holds the floor—independent voices, niche platforms, and rebel journalists are shouting to be heard. Their headlines compete with memes, algorithms, and noise, but many rise above with clarity, courage, and context.  

Here are just a few standout media and journalism sources doing the job with grit and focus—bringing us fresh perspectives on the news, digital culture, and the business of journalism. Each includes a direct link so you can hear their voices firsthand. 

 🧭 Journalism & Media Industry Voices 

🗞 The Poynter Report Daily journalism insights and ethics commentary from the Poynter Institute. 🔗 https://www.poynter.org/subscribe-to-the-poynter-report 

🧠 The Media Today – Columbia Journalism Review A smart, skeptical look at the media from inside the industry. 🔗 https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today 

📝 Substack A publishing platform powering today’s independent journalists and opinion writers. 🔗 https://substack.com 

🏛 The Bulwark Center-right commentary that pushes back against extremism while critiquing modern media. 🔗 https://www.thebulwark.com 

📱 The Verge Covers the intersection of tech, media, and digital society with journalistic edge. 🔗 https://www.theverge.com 

🎭 Boing Boing Irreverent, weird, and wonderful—an OG media blog with cultural bite. 🔗 https://boingboing.net 

🔎 Digg Curated headlines, viral media, and digital culture updates with taste. 🔗 https://digg.com 

 📈 Social Media & Marketing Intelligence 

📊 Buffer Blog Transparent and research-based social media strategy tips. 🔗 https://buffer.com/resources 

📉 Sprout Social Insights Trends, analytics, and engagement techniques from a pro-grade platform. 🔗 https://sproutsocial.com/insights 

🎯 Social Media Examiner Practical how-tos for marketers and small business social managers. 🔗 https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com 

📣 Hootsuite Blog News, tools, and global trends for staying social-media savvy. 🔗 https://blog.hootsuite.com 

💡 Landingi Blog Landing page strategy and digital marketing conversion tips. 🔗 https://landingi.com/blog 

Times like these when traditional media is fading and digital voices are multiplying, these blogs cut through the clutter. They inform, challenge, and provoke in ways the old networks no longer dare. Bookmark them. Subscribe to them. Support them. Because the real media revolution is happening right now—and it’s not on cable. 

*WHY SERIES / ONCE AND FOR ALL / JUNE GLOOM EXPLAINED IN SAN DIEGO

 

PillartoPost.org and San Diego Padres Baseball Club

If you’ve spent a spring or early summer in San Diego, you’ve seen it. You’ve felt it. And maybe, you’ve unfairly blamed yourself for not getting out of bed. It’s not you—it’s June Gloom. 

Every year, just as beach season seems to be ramping up, San Diego throws us a meteorological curveball. Instead of sunny skies, we get a blanket of dull, gray cloud cover that settles in over the coast and sticks around for most of the morning. 

Sometimes, it even lingers until afternoon. But what exactly is June Gloom, and why does it happen with such frustrating precision? Here’s the science: it’s all about the marine layer. 

During late spring and early summer, the Pacific Ocean is still relatively cold from winter. As inland temperatures rise with the season, the contrast between warm inland air and the cold ocean surface creates a temperature inversion—a layer of cool air trapped under warmer air. 

This inversion caps the marine layer, a shallow pool of cool, moist air that develops over the ocean and pushes inland overnight. Come morning, coastal areas like La Jolla, Mission Beach, and even downtown San Diego wake up under a leaden gray sky. 

It’s not rain. 

It’s not fog. 

It’s just an unbroken ceiling of blah. 

Meteorologists sometimes call it “May Gray,” and when it overstays its welcome, it becomes “No-Sky July.” 

But June Gloom is the name that stuck, probably because it arrives right when San Diegans are craving their annual postcard summer. 

The good news? It usually burns off by early afternoon, especially as the desert air heats up and pulls that marine layer back out to sea. And if you drive just a few miles inland—past the I-5 corridor or up into the hills—you’ll often find sun much earlier. 

So next time the gloom settles in, don’t fret. It’s not a bad omen. It’s just the ocean doing what it’s always done. And around here, we’ll take a moody morning over a humid summer meltdown any day. 

* WHY? is a series exclusive to PillartoPost.org.  Illustration by PillartoPost.org.

COFFEE BEANS & BEINGS / PLETHORA OF PRE-LOVED COFFEE CUPS

Image by Holden DeMayo, PillartoPost.org, culinary reporter and chief sampler.

Today's coffee centric blog goes local. 

 It's a fun thing to do on a gray day--if you have the time and inclination. Travel out to Pacific Beach and visit Kitchens for Good, a unique kitchen consignment experience in Pacific Beach, San Diego. 

Perfect excursion for you retired birds. 

Kitchens for Good is located at 980 Hornblend Street, between Grand and Garnet Avenues, this nonprofit store specializes in gently used and new kitchenware, offering everything from high-end appliances to vintage glassware and handcrafted items. 

What makes it stand out is that it has a curated selection fitting the kitchen and cooking theme. If you're looking for old roller skates, posters of an old rodeo or yesterday's stuff then go elsewhere. 

Kitchens for Good is a 5,000-square-foot space thoughtfully organized, featuring a diverse array of kitchen and dining essentials, including unique collectibles and limited-edition items made by program apprentices. 

 • Proceeds support Kitchens for Good’s culinary apprenticeship programs, which assist individuals overcoming barriers to employment, as well as initiatives focused on hunger relief and food waste reduction. 

 • • Donate kitchenware and home decor items on theme you no longer need to support this fine establishment's ongoing community programs.

• :Shoppers frequently praise the store's vast selection and reasonable prices. One customer noted, "The selection was vast. I think I circled the store 5 times. So much to see and so many amazing quality items." 

 • • And, the main reason for being included in this blog's weekly coffee coverage is the fact they have the town's biggest selection of used coffee cups. Where else are you going to find a Chico State Alum cup to match your collection? Eh? 

• Hours: Open daily from 10 AM to 6 PM • Contact: (858) 999-0125 

KITCHENS FOR GOOD PHOTO ESSAY

Culinary program graduation Day