POTD: Christmas Eve at Saint Peter's

From 2024 12 22 Rome

Today's photo-of-the-day is from St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. The photo was taken on Christmas Eve during our family vacation in Rome. We witnessed (via a big screen TV in Vatican Square) Pope Francis opening the Jubilee Door.

A bonus photo is after the jump.

I Still Believe in Empathy

I've been keeping a collection of civic virtues that I once thought were generally non-controversial in American politics, but as I get older I'm finding aren't universally valued at all. Civic virtues like tolerance, compromise, and civility, even virtues like kindness, and democracy itself are no longer valued by some.

Untamed (TV 2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Untamed (TV 2025): Murder mystery makes Yosemite National Park just as gritty and corrupt as any TV police precinct in New York City. The body count climbs, as well as child abductions, missing persons, drug cartels, and bad marriages. Even El Capitan gets splashed with blood. B-

Netflix

Thunderbolts* (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Thunderbolts* (2025): Misfits are separately recruited to assassinate each other until they figure out they've been set up and unite to fight back. Much of the movie feels like a cheap bottle episode set in a dark vault, but it does reach a satisfactory conclusion. It's more about dealing with PTSD and grief than about action heroes. B-

Disney+

The Thursday Murder Club (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Thursday Murder Club (2025): Four old thoroughbreds ham it up playing residents at a senior living center who investigate murders as a hobby. You won't remember the plot, but you will remember these actors playing off each other. That might be enough for you. C+

Netflix