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Final thought for the day: After leaving NYC, truck driver Joe Macken missed it so much that he spent 21 years to build a scale model of his beloved city, with every building in it.

A new film coming to the Middle East: Mission Impossible to Define.

Cartoon of the day: The boy who cried NATO is irrelevant. He also declared the US Congress irrelevant but is now asking for $200 billion in funds for his war.

Saudi Arabia’s FM calls out Iran for not serving the interests of Islam: “I do not understand how they claim to defend Islamic causes while attacking Islamic countries.” He added that the accurate targeting by Iran indicates that the attacks are premeditated & planned in advance.

Aref, an old-time and highly popular Iranian singer, dead at 84: Here is his best-known song. youtube.com/watch?v=QhTRzu…

Iran’s total Internet shutdown enters its fourth week: On some days, people are given a few minutes of access.

Living in an underground bunker: Iran is trying to project strength, but this photo of President Pezeshkian with his haft-seen spread for Nowruz tells a different story.

I just love what Levi Schechtmann does to classical music: Tchaikovsky, in this 2-minute video. facebook.com/reel/723324450…

Iranian scientist Kaveh Madani named the 2026 Stockholm Water Prize laureate: He fled Iran when he was designated a “water terrorist” by entrenched water interests due to his environmental work & advocacy of science-based water policies. theguardian.com/environment/20…

Final thought for the day: Recitation of my Persian poem about Nowruz, on this last evening before the start of the Persian New Year 1405, tomorrow morning at 7:46:20 PDT. [The video was too long for X, so I am including a link to it on Facebook.] facebook.com/reel/161695410…

A poem for Nowruz, with tribute to Mahsa and the #WomanLifeFreedom movement: Every year since 2002, I have composed a cheerful Persian poem for Nowruz. The verses in this year's poem start with thoughts about the joys of Nowruz & end with lamentations over Iran’s dire conditions.

Persian Nowruz prayers in lieu of the Arabic version, which Iran's Islamic regime is promoting: گشت گرداگرد مهر تابناک ایران زمین روز نو آمد و شدشادی برون زندر کمین ای تو یزدان ‌ای تو گرداننده‌ی مهروسپهر بر ترینش کن برایم این زمان واین زمین

This year, I wasn’t in the mood to set up a haft-seen spread for Nowruz: So, here I share a few of my haft-seen spreads from years past.

Thousands of IRGC, weapons, and ammunition sites have been destroyed throughout Iran: We now know that the mullahs had turned the entire country into a giant military base on the backs of oppressed people.

Scientists think that chickpeas may be able to grow in lunar soil, without absorbing a high level of iron, aluminum, zinc, & copper. The results, though preliminary, may allow us to extend our ability to spend longer stretches of time in space. yahoo.com/news/articles/…

“Gugusse et l’Automate”: The world’s first sci-fi film rediscovered after more than a century. Seems like fear of robots is nothing new! thisiscolossal.com/2026/03/guguss…

Earth's orbit is littered with satellites, including many dead ones: There is still time to avoid a catastrophe. theconversation.com/too-many-satel…

Final thought for the day: "Life is not what one lived, but what one remembers and how one remembers it in order to recount it." ~ Gabriel García Marquez, from "Living to Tell the Tale"

Quotable: “We’re at a point where there are no cheap options to retreat to and no price points that guarantee quality. Every run-down studio is $1400, every fast-food meal is $17, every luxury condo has peel-n-stick tiles, ... Endless expensive mediocrity.” ~ @VeryBadLlama

A modest proposal: Any item posted on-line must have a date at the beginning of the text or audio/video. I am really tired of watching news stories, sometime labeled “breaking news” and realizing part-way through that they are days or even months old.