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Charles T. Downey

@ionarts

Associate Editor and Lead Critic, Washington Classical Review; Founder of Ionarts; Ph.D. in Historical Musicology; Classical Music Fiend; Opera Addict; Baroqueux agréable and Public Musicologist (all views expressed are my own, not those of my employers)

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Latest posts by Charles T. Downey @ionarts

Preview
I use Gemini when I'm bored — and it's better than doomscrolling It became my ultimate distraction

WHAT IF YOU JUST READ A FUCKING BOOK

11.03.2026 16:07 👍 5481 🔁 967 💬 45 📌 112

We need election reform

11.03.2026 20:15 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I am thankful for those who are blazing the trail

11.03.2026 19:24 👍 25 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0

we remain firmly on track for 'republican president leaves the country an omnishambles, next democratic president is punished for not cleaning it up fast enough'

11.03.2026 16:27 👍 4817 🔁 892 💬 65 📌 80
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Kristi Noem's $220M Horseback Riding Ad Dwarfed the Budgets of These 2026 Oscar Nominees Outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem used $220 million in taxpayer money to create a minute-long anti-immigration ad. That's more than the combined production and marketing budgets of nearly every 2026 ...

Kristi Noem spent $220 million in taxpayer money to create a minute-long anti-immigration ad for the Department of Homeland Security last year — spending more than the combined production and marketing budgets of most of this year's Best Picture nominees

11.03.2026 08:45 👍 72 🔁 39 💬 5 📌 7
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A Daily Cartoon by Jonathan Rosen. #NewYorkerCartoons

11.03.2026 02:30 👍 90 🔁 10 💬 2 📌 0

Rub some ivermectin on it and get back out there, you wuss

10.03.2026 18:43 👍 622 🔁 56 💬 24 📌 2

Flashback to the 2024 Republican National Convention 👇🏽

10.03.2026 18:51 👍 1757 🔁 581 💬 36 📌 9
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Someone Put The 'Veep' Closing Credits On Kristi Noem's Final Speech As DHS Secretary—And It's Too Good

Veep feels more and more accurate with every passing day.

10.03.2026 15:13 👍 646 🔁 61 💬 20 📌 3
Summer Latin Program | Centre for Medieval Studies Find out about studying Latin at the Centre during the summer. Includes application information, fees, and available courses.

Do you know somebody who needs to learn Latin from scratch or improve their Latin to PhD standard? CMS Toronto's summer Latin program is now entirely online and a remarkable bargain for the intensity and quality of instruction. Details here: www.medieval.utoronto.ca/latin/summer...

#medievalsky

10.03.2026 15:03 👍 56 🔁 43 💬 1 📌 2
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Alexander Butterfield, Who Revealed Nixon Tapes in Watergate Scandal, Dies at 99

R.I.P. Alex…

Alexander Butterfield, Who Revealed Nixon Tapes in Watergate Scandal, Dies at 99 www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/u...

09.03.2026 21:36 👍 520 🔁 129 💬 16 📌 9

Telling my editor that the draft is very complete, pretty much.

09.03.2026 21:34 👍 385 🔁 25 💬 13 📌 1
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About Last Night - Hope and Wu Han gracefully bridge a Wolf Trap transition with piano trio program washingtonclassicalreview.com/2026/03/09/h...

09.03.2026 20:46 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I loved Twitter, despite its many imperfections.

Then Elon Musk fucked up Twitter beyond all recognition.

I will never, ever forgive him for that.

I now love Bluesky, despite its many imperfections.

With all due respect, please don’t fuck up Bluesky or I will never, ever forgive you.

Thank you.

09.03.2026 19:54 👍 199 🔁 26 💬 5 📌 2
Timothée Chalamet Under Fire For Dismissive Comments About Traditional Japanese Puppet Theater Form ‘Bunraku’

Timothée Chalamet Under Fire For Dismissive Comments About Traditional Japanese Puppet Theater Form ‘Bunraku’

Timothée Chalamet Under Fire For Dismissive Comments About Traditional Japanese Puppet Theater Form ‘Bunraku’ https://theonion.com/timothee-chalamet-under-fire-for-dismissive-comments-about-traditional-japanese-puppet-theater-form-bunraku/

09.03.2026 20:00 👍 1720 🔁 218 💬 25 📌 24

Things look grim in the markets right now, but at least the U.S. economy wasn’t already being propped up by a massive speculative AI bubble that is highly sensitive to rising energy costs.

09.03.2026 04:28 👍 4388 🔁 1043 💬 46 📌 44
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Patients say measles 'worse than expected' as Utah hits 350+ infections, doctors say Health officials plead with residents to vaccinate against measles as Utah hits 358 infections.

Patients in Utah tell doctors "they wish they'd known beforehand how bad measles was, so that they could have protected their family" with a goddamn vaccine. If only they had known that measles can kill people....

www.ksl.com/article/5145...

09.03.2026 12:07 👍 19 🔁 7 💬 1 📌 3
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09.03.2026 00:45 👍 19322 🔁 5440 💬 1103 📌 264
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World leaders take heed: how swift the rise, how swift the fall when the Wheel of Fortune turns.

BL Harley 4431; Christine de Pizan, L'Épître Othéa'; c.1410 CE-c.1414 CE; France, Central (Paris); f.129r
@blmedieval.bsky.social

08.03.2026 22:25 👍 28 🔁 7 💬 1 📌 0
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About Last Night - Washington National Opera weathers the storm to bring a lost American opera to vivid life. Photo: Elman Studios washingtonclassicalreview.com/2026/03/08/w...

08.03.2026 18:52 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
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This is the best press ballet and opera has gotten in America in years

08.03.2026 16:08 👍 561 🔁 84 💬 3 📌 10
An African-American man (Demarre McGill), dressed in black shirt and pants and with blue glasses, holds a flute while leaning against a wall

An African-American man (Demarre McGill), dressed in black shirt and pants and with blue glasses, holds a flute while leaning against a wall

Thanks to Andrew Lindemann Malone for his latest review on WCR: McGill and the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra provide compelling advocacy for Leshnoff premiere. Photo: Courtesy of FSO washingtonclassicalreview.com/2026/03/08/m...

08.03.2026 16:33 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 1

The thing is, many people warned Cassidy that he would soon regret his vote for RFK. He was cautioned repeatedly about doing something to reckless and irresponsible. Some even told him that a vote to confirm would ruin his legacy. FAFO, I guess.

08.03.2026 14:34 👍 17 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 1

No respecte for anybodye who doth talke shit about opera or ballet.

08.03.2026 05:56 👍 146 🔁 14 💬 3 📌 0
WWI poster
“Saving Daylight”
A longer day of daylight for the man with the gun and the man with the hoe. 

Help make it a national law to set the clock one hour ahead.

WWI poster “Saving Daylight” A longer day of daylight for the man with the gun and the man with the hoe. Help make it a national law to set the clock one hour ahead.

"We must not fear daylight just because it almost always illuminates a miserable world."
- Rene Magritte

08.03.2026 02:54 👍 7 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Description: In a courtroom setting, a man sitting in the witness box being questioned as to his whereabouts at a specific date and time.

Caption: “Where were you on the morning of Sunday, March 10th, between 2 and 3 a.m.?”

Description: In a courtroom setting, a man sitting in the witness box being questioned as to his whereabouts at a specific date and time. Caption: “Where were you on the morning of Sunday, March 10th, between 2 and 3 a.m.?”

Kyle Bravo
Daylight Savings Witness
New Yorker
March 11, 2024

08.03.2026 03:02 👍 8 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
The meme with a guy and two girls. The guy is labeled 1:59 AM. His girlfriend islabeled 2 AM. The cute girl coming the other way is labeled 3AM.

The meme with a guy and two girls. The guy is labeled 1:59 AM. His girlfriend islabeled 2 AM. The cute girl coming the other way is labeled 3AM.

The US and Canada go to Daylight Savings Time tomorrow morning.

08.03.2026 01:24 👍 4408 🔁 919 💬 89 📌 137

Disrespectful

07.03.2026 21:32 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

By end I mean abolition - I need my extra hour of sleep tomorrow morning

07.03.2026 19:20 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
“Never send a dog-killer to do a people-killer’s job.”

Henry Beisert, Seed Packager

“Never send a dog-killer to do a people-killer’s job.” Henry Beisert, Seed Packager

Kristi Noem Fired As DHS Secretary
https://theonion.com/kristi-noem-fired-as-dhs-secretary/

07.03.2026 16:30 👍 1441 🔁 153 💬 3 📌 8