Disney released the trailer for “Hexed” on Tuesday, an upcoming animated film about a misunderstood quirky middle schooler who discovers she’s a witch.

The plot is familiar. But stories that have been told many times before can be interesting and valuable, if they’re told in beautiful language and images. See: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty. Of course, the source material for these films — European fairy tale — was much stronger than the source material for “Hexed,” which, like most modern Disney films, appears to be derived from the fantasies of neurotic 30-somethings still recovering from feeling rejected by their fifth-grade peers.

As one X user observed, “this is like the fifth time disney has made the exact same film in less than a decade[.]”

“Hexed” is predictably ugly. The characters are composed of ovals and tubes which contract and expand for comedic or dramatic effect. The characters aren’t fully fledged “bean mouths,” a reference to the CalArts style popularized by shows like “Steven Universe,” but they aren’t too far off.

Some social media users speculated that the film was made with the use of artificial intelligence tools. I admit that I wondered this myself — the trailer for “Hexed” refuses to linger on a scene, instead effectively summarizing the movie in a series of frantic clips. Then again, that might just be how Disney promotes their films. The trailer for “Frozen,” released in 2013, also features quick cuts between shots and scenes. I err on the side of “Hexed” not being animated with much, if any, AI tools, and just being bad.

If anything, the accusations of AI use suggest that Disney’s product is no longer distinguishable from “slop.” One does get the sense that “Hexed” is a movie made of other movies, clumsily cobbled together to produce a whole which is less than the sum of its parts.

Then, there’s the matter of composition. A colleague pointed out that the vast majority of shots in the trailer feature a centered focal point. This is likely intended to make the movie friendly for TikTok and Instagram reels and Facebook reels and YouTube Shorts.

One X user reformatted the aspect ratio of the “Hexed” trailer to be vertical. Basically nothing of substance was lost, indicating that the trailer either coincidentally works perfectly as a Tiktok video, or was designed with that aspect ratio in mind.

“Hexed” is generic from top to bottom. Worse, it’s ugly. It might still be a box office hit, on account of it being a wish fulfillment fantasy which appeals to outcast little girls.

Like what you’re reading? If so, please consider subscribing to State of the Day or sharing this with a friend. You’d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.

Subscribe now

Share

If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.

This was an historic week for America, a week that will be much discussed by future historians.

President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the U.S. and Iran had reached a memorandum of understanding, the first major hurdle in a longer peace process. If things hold, and negotiations do not collapse over the next 60 days or so, the Iran War, which began Feb. 28, will come to an end.

What follows is a 10,000 foot view of this war’s aftermath. My observations might shock you, or perhaps you will find them more dangerous and deluded than anything. Maybe, you will think they are spot on. Either way, if you are afraid of heights, this might not be for you. Climb aboard, if you dare. I promise, there is a silver lining at the end of it all.

Read more

Did y’all hear about the savage cage matches hosted on the White House Lawn this past Sunday?

Did you know there was punching, kicking, choking, and chest-beating? Some guy even did a backflip. Just one shameless display of hypermasculinity after another.

Before I got to the event, I thought the F in UFC stood for fascism, but a blue-collar Republican in the crowd told me it was for “fighting.”

The octagon was built on the South Lawn and covered by a gargantuan 92-foot steel structure, weighing around 600 tons, known as “The Claw.”

I thought, “What a spooky name.”

The blue-collar Republican thought it was “awesome.”

Personally, I don’t know how to have fun or how not to make everything about politics, so the event, for me, felt aggressive, nationalistic and borderline authoritarian. But to everyone else, it looked suspiciously like a UFC event.

In all seriousness, I attended UFC Freedom 250, and upon leaving the event, I scraped my knee, looked down, and can confirm I now bleed red, white and blue.

I’ll give the gripers one thing, though: Joe Rogan’s tie was definitely too short.

The disconnect between my experience and the way the media reported on this event is so stark that I can only assume it’s intentional. I didn’t see the authoritarian spectacle the press is describing. Instead, I saw tens of thousands of Americans having the time of their lives.

—

The Ultimate Fighting Championship hosted a “one-of-one” mixed martial arts event to celebrate 250 years of being the best damn country this world has ever seen.

The celebrations kicked off with press conferences backdropped by the Lincoln Memorial. Fighters stood in front of thousands of cheering fans on the Ellipse for the ceremonial weigh-ins. The U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team dove from sunsetting skies over the Washington Monument with American flags in hand. They even had a bald eagle fly over the grounds. Zac Brown Band put on an outstanding performance, jamming at one point with the U.S. Army Band and closing, of course, with “Chicken Fried.”

May freedom forever fly. Let it ringgggg. You know the one.

Sunday was the “bloody cage match,” which can be described as nothing short of totally and irrefutably awesome.

Upward of 85,000 fans gathered together, cold beers in hand, anticipating what would become one of the most thrilling UFC cards in the sport’s history.

The fried chicken guy came out again and sang a beautiful rendition of the national anthem. During which, the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flew overhead in their “Super Delta” formation, which basically means there were twelve jets instead of the four you would typically see in a flyover.

As for the so-called “brawls,” zero fights went to a decision. It was knockout after knockout … after knockout.

Underdog Justin Gaethje pulled out an unexpected win despite entering with six-to-one odds against him, then delivered an inspiring speech to close out the night:

“Hey, I’m from America. Two hundred and fifty years ago, we were way bigger than six-to-one dogs, and look at us thriving now.”

He thanked God, former and current military service members, police officers, firefighters, and first responders for their service.

Topuria was reportedly released from the hospital earlier this week.

—

According to the media, however, the event was garish, militaristic, crass, violent, and tacky.

NBC News, apparently encountering the sport for the first time, reported in an alarmed tone that “more than a dozen fighters were moments away from punching, kicking and choking each other.”

Someone alert the authorities! Everything is going exactly as planned!

The Los Angeles Times suggested there was “political and psychological messaging” concealed within the event.

They elaborated:

“When strutting, preening and wild-eyed reaction revolves around what was, for better and worse, a series of rules-free brawls being force-fed into a narrative about this country’s enduring strength, what emerges is not so much a sporting event as it is a piece of naked and nationalistic propaganda.”

This is the part where I should say, “touch grass,” right?

Then they claimed the event served as “an almost-six-hour ad for the UFC.”

I’m not even sure what to say to this one. Does that mean the NBA Finals were a five-day ad for the NBA? Or the Superbowl for the NFL? Take a breather, LA Times. No one knows what you’re talking about.

But they did relent, noting the tens of thousands of Fan Fest attendees were “clearly having a very good time.”

Hell yeah we were.

Subscribe now

The Daily Kos also had some strong opinions, remarking that it was a “deeply unpatriotic move” to let fighters warm up “barefoot and shirtless” in the “White House’s historic Indian Treaty Room.”

It’s the pearl-clutching emphasis on the bare feet for me. Also, find the irony here.

As always, there were some unsolicited celebrity opinions on the matter.

Sheryl Crow, the American country singer from Tennessee, posted an Instagram story, and we all know how effective Instagram stories are. She wrote: “To stay quiet means to turn a blind eye. What happened last night on the lawn of the White House was disgraceful and void of decency.”

Jemele Hill, an American sports journalist, said the event “has the feel of a Klan rally.”

Inventive. Inspired.

But we’ll end on a positive note with comments from ESPN’s Jay Williams, who said: “It was a better event than the NBA Finals. With the White House literally being right there, incredible.”

—

Williams is exactly right. The event was historic and symbolic. Against a backdrop of endless political cynicism, tens of thousands of Americans gathered at the White House to celebrate their country, watch world-class athletes compete, and have a genuinely great time.

Some are (I am) comparing it to a Mosaic miracle. The storm split in two and the very scary bugs vanished.

The media saw authoritarianism. I saw a UFC fight.

As a general rule of thumb, if it looks like a UFC fight and quacks like a UFC fight, it probably is just a UFC fight.

And this one was awesome.

Like what you’re reading? If so, please consider subscribing to State of the Day or sharing this with a friend. You’d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.

Subscribe now

Share

If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.

The San Francisco Giants “missed the point” of “Pride Night,” says The Athletic’s Grant Brisbee.

Giants players were given hats featuring a Giants logo striped in the colors of the “progress“ pride flag (the one that includes the black and brown stripes for black and brown gays, respectively).

Several players wrote bible verses on their caps. Landen Roupp wrote “Gen 9:12-16,” JT Brubaker wrote “Gen 9:13-15” and Sam Hentges declined to wear the hat altogether.

Brisbee refers to such dissent as a “tone-deaf response to what should have been a moment for community unity.” Brisbee alleges players like Roupp and Brubaker “made the night about ‘us versus them.’”

Brisbee is unable or unwilling to conceive of a reasonable theory of mind for these players. These players obviously do not see the “pride” hat as a symbol of unity. I would argue the hat is not intended to be a symbol of “unity” for Giants fans. It is intended to broadcast to the public that the Giants, as a team, are on the “right side of history.”

Being asked to wear the “pride” hat is akin to being asked to fly the flag of a conquering nation. Or, at least, I imagine that’s what some Giants players may have felt.

Brisbee then launches into a tirade about the significance of “Pride Night.”

He writes: “Without the support of their community at large, LGBTQIA+ individuals are much more likely to be told that they are without value. They are likelier to be abused, to self-harm, to get kicked out of their homes, to be bullied, to be assaulted. They are at risk because of a society that still doesn’t always accept them, even after decades of progress. Some of that progress was made when events like Pride Night became commonplace, reminding the world of a community’s existence, strength and humanity. Events like Pride Night reduce suffering in a very real way. To suggest they don’t is to ignore the humanity of the individuals involved.”

Brisbee takes the same tack as trans activists who suggest that if a mentally ill man kills himself because you refused to call him “Lilith,” then you are to blame. It’s a form of moral blackmail which should be rejected in its entirety.

Even if we accept that “Pride Night reduce[s] suffering in a very real way,” so what? Is ‘reducing suffering’ the ultimate good? If so, we might as well hook everyone up to a drip feed of morphine and pop music and candy, turning them on their sides every few hours to avoid bedsores.

Read more

When you’re on White House pool duty, you don’t leave until the president’s staff dismisses you. On a quiet evening, usually around 6 p.m., someone gets on the overhead speaker, calls a “lid” (that’s White House-speak for the president is done for the day, you’re free), and we scatter.

Last Monday was one of those rare, achingly quiet days. Nothing on the schedule. No movement. So, when 6 p.m. came and went, I expected the lid call any second.

But 6 p.m. became 6:30. Then 7 p.m.

One by one, we started filing into the press office to gently request a lid. This is standard practice, because sometimes the aides just need a little encouragement to pester their supervisors into letting us leave. But nothing came.

We all started pacing the White House driveway, feeling a bit stir crazy and hangry. One reporter spotted Dana White walking into the White House.

Every head turned toward the West Wing, where the giant UFC “claw” peeked over the roofline. We had watched it go up over the past few weeks but never got close enough for a real look. Only on walks through the Rose Garden, at the president’s invitation, had any of us seen it up close. Even then, we were still a good distance away.

Now the press started to whisper.

“I bet they’re holding us here because they’re going to give us a sneak peek.”

“That’s totally it. They’re probably waiting till the sun goes down so we can see the lights better.”

I told a few aides I was excited to see the arena and that I hoped the president might bring us out there that night. They shuffled uncomfortably.

I took that as confirmation.

We were drafting questions, charging phones, speculating out loud. And then my inbox lit up with an email from a White House aide.

“Lid.”

I stopped. It was 8:30 p.m. The sun had just dipped below the horizon.

“Guys…. We have a lid.”

The air went out of the driveway. A long day of nothing, capped off with a near-miss that wasn’t even a near-miss. We packed our bags and left.

A week later, we received another email — press credentials for a media walkthrough of the UFC Arena. Thursday, 7:30 a.m.

By 7 a.m., the press was already in line.

A White House official gave me a preview of what to expect inside. “It’s so big,” she said, “it makes your phone look small.”

She wasn’t wrong.

Read more

The GOP’s success in the midterms may be most imperiled not by scandal or intra-party squabbling, but by a flesh-eating screwworm parasite.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed four cases of New World screwworm in Texas, according to Reuters. At least two calves have been infected. The government is reportedly taking aggressive action to curtail the spread, but a screwworm outbreak could send beef prices skyrocketing — obstructing Republicans’ efforts to bring grocery bills down. (RELATED: Flesh-Eating New World Screwworm Found 25 Miles From U.S. Border, USDA Says)

What is Screwworm?

New World screwworm is a fly that lays its eggs in open wounds and bodily cavities. When those eggs hatch, flesh-eating maggots emerge, “screwing” further into the wound to feed on living tissue.

Thankfully, screwworm infections in human beings are rare. Unfortunately, screwworms are fond of burrowing into livestock. Cattle and bison accounted for about 86% of screwworm cases between January 2024 and May 16, according to the Panama-United States Commission for the Eradication and Prevention of Screwworm (COPEG).

Eradication and Resurgence

The tale of screwworm eradication is one of the great 20th century scientific endeavors. USDA researchers began studying screwworms as early as the 1920s. Scientists engineered the sterile insect technique, in which large numbers of lab-reared sterile male flies are released into the natural screwworm population to mate with females. Female screwworms mate only once, and their offspring with sterile males are not viable.

The U.S. was declared free of screwworms in 1966, according to the USDA.

The United States and Mexico collaborated to establish a barrier zone between the nations, releasing sterilized male flies in border areas. And there was a natural barrier preventing screwworm migration north: The Daríen Gap. The Daríen Gap is a 60-or-so-mile stretch of rainforest between Colombia and Panama. There is no official road spanning the gap. It was once relatively untrafficked.

This is no longer the case.

Read more

The 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony may come to mark an important moment in world history. It was admittedly quite the spectacle, with 2,008 drummers beating traditional Chinese fou drums, coordinated to absolute perfection. President George W. Bush described the event as “spectacular and successful,” while British Prime Minister Tony Blair had this to say: “The spectacular to end all spectaculars and probably can never be bettered.” Naive 10-year-old me thought it was the coolest thing ever.

But the ceremony wasn’t just about entertaining the global masses while celebrating the universally beloved Olympics: it was calculated political propaganda. China was sending a strong message to the West: Behold our civilization, the civilization that will dominate the world. It was as if they were announcing, The 21st century belongs to us. At the time, the West was perhaps too mesmerized by “the grandest spectacle of the new millennium” to see the real writing on the wall. Things were about to change a lot, and not necessarily for the better.

Read more

If you want to lose jobs and repulse prospective employers, you’ve come to the right place. If you want to avoid doing that, you’ve also come to the right place.

You may be familiar with the most recent behind-the-scenes drama surrounding the horror-comedy flick “Obsession.” If not, a brief overview.

A Case Study In Making Yourself Unemployable

Sally Choi, the art director on “Obsession,” took to Instagram Friday to complain about being underpaid for her work.

The film “was made for $750K and is projected to make $250M,” Choi writes.

“How much I made: $300/day as Art Director. This came out to $6741.36 after taxes. No mileage.”

“Obsession” was filmed in 26 days, according to lead actress Inde Navarrette. That’s a decent rate, especially considering Choi only had one credit to her name prior to “Obsession.”

Then, Choi reveals a critical piece of information. She “did know the rate beforehand and agreed to it …”

So, Choi entered into an agreement and both parties fulfilled their side of the agreement. Yet Choi persists in painting herself as a victim of injustice.

Choi says she wore many hats on the “Obsession” set, serving as an unofficial production assistant, graphic designer, background actor, and more.

The production “took such a physical toll on my body that I kept losing weight, weighing 90lbs during this production,” she mentions.

I only included this quote because it’s hilarious that she used her time on the soapbox to humblebrag about losing weight.

Anyhow, there are a few pertinent facts Choi, in her self-pity, neglects to consider.

Risk Exposure Was Not Evenly Distributed

Read more

On Saturday, May 30, riots engulfed Paris. American observers watched the videos and made the call: this is the end of the West. The great City of Light had fallen. It has been overtaken by barbarians. They weren’t at the gates; they were already inside.

But the story is far more complicated than that.

Read more

As 18-year-old Henry Nowak lay bleeding out on a quiet road in Southampton, he pleaded with police for help.

“I can’t breathe,” Nowak told responding officers. They jostled him up from his side, putting his torso upright and his hands behind his back.

“I’ve been stabbed,” Nowak said.

“You’ve been stabbed? Whereabouts?” an officer asked as he prepared to place Nowak’s hands in handcuffs. “I don’t think you have, mate.”

Digwa had told responding officers that Nowak had racially abused him.

Nowak slumped over, repeating that he could not breathe, as officers cuffed him. Nowak’s hands were deathly pale.

Officers asked him for his name. Nowak did not respond.

“At the moment you are under arrest, and that’s for assault,” an officer told the dying stabbing victim.

One wonders if those were the last words Nowak heard. Nowak was handcuffed for about a minute before the arresting officer began CPR, according to Judge William Mousley.

Nowak died that night, Dec. 3, 2025. Nowak’s killer, Vickrum Singha Digwa, 23, received a life sentence with a 21-year minimum Monday for the murder.

Digwa’s blade had sliced through Nowak’s clothing, then his skin, traveling upwards between his two uppermost ribs and cutting a lung and a vein behind Nowak’s collarbone. Digwa stabbed again: twice to the upper leg, and another time to the groin. Nowak’s face was slashed. Mousley is uncertain whether the slash was intentional.

‘Kirpan’ Privilege

Digwa and Nowak did not know each other prior to the murder. Nowak, a first-semester university student, was walking back to his student accommodations after 11 p.m. At death, Nowak’s blood alcohol level was below the legal limit for driving. He was unarmed.

Digwa was sober, and armed with a Sikh dagger known as a “kirpan.” Sikhs are religiously obligated to carry a kirpan as one of their five articles of faith. The kirpan is supposed to symbolize the Sikh’s “solemn duty to protect the weak and promote justice for all,” according to The Sikh Coalition.

Digwa is a Sikh of the Nihang order. The Nihang carry a second blade, because they believe “the guru will look favourably on that,” according to the judge who sentenced Digwa.

Here is the first indignity in the Nowak case: Sikhs can openly carry a blade, while white British citizens generally cannot.

In the United Kingdom, the maximum penalty for carrying a knife or weapon illegally is 4 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both punishments.

One cannot carry most knives in public without a “good reason.”

Luckily for Digwa, the United Kingdom specifically notes that carrying a kirpan counts as a good reason.

One might also carry a knife if their work requires it, or “as part of any national costume.”

We can plainly see that non-white ethnicities enjoy privileges on British soil which the British do not. This will be a running theme in the Nowak case.

What Is ‘Izzat’?

In his sentencing remarks, Mousley repeatedly alludes to Digwa feeling disrespected.

The South Asian concept of “izzat” may be relevant to understanding Digwa’s psychological state at the time of the murder. Izzat roughly translates to “honor,” though it might be closer to “reputation.” It is an extreme sensitivity to insult.

Read more

Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail issued a sniveling apology Sunday for perpetuating the false claim that Native American children had been buried in a “mass grave” near residential school grounds.

Former chief of the Kamloops Indian Band, Rosanne Casimir, published a press release in May 2021 claiming to have obtained “confirmation” of the remains of 215 students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Following the announcement, a wave of arson against Catholic and other Christian churches ensued.

Read more

Former first lady Jill Biden told CBS News she feared former President Joe Biden was having a stroke during his infamous 2024 debate against President Donald Trump.

“I was frightened, because I had never, ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never,” Jill Biden told CBS’ Rita Braver.

“I don’t know what happened. As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death.”

Former first lady @DrBiden said she was “frightened” by her husband Joe Biden’s performance at the 2024 presidential debate.

“As I watched it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, he’s having a stroke.’ And it scared me to death,” Biden told CBS News Sunday Morning’s Rita Braver in an… pic.twitter.com/1wS5oGDYyX

— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) May 27, 2026

Jill Biden gave no indication of her fears on the night of the debate.

Immediately following the debate, Jill Biden praised her husband, saying, “Joe, you did such a great job, you answered every question, you knew all the facts.” (RELATED: Biden Sues DOJ To Block Release Of Audio Files. Trump Responds)

Later that night, Jill and Joe Biden stopped by a Waffle House in Atlanta.

These are an odd series of decisions for a woman who believed her husband may have experienced a life-threatening medical issue. Even if the former president returned to his usual demeanor after stepping off the debate stage, how could Jill Biden rule out the possibility that he’d suffered a stroke or “mini stroke”?

After the debate, when a reporter asked if the president had received a neurological scan, then-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed the question.

“A neurological scan? Look, um, what I can say is that, just to take a step back, it was a bad night, we understand that it was a bad night. And, the president has spoken to this, and he understands that.”

In the immediate aftermath of the debate, two New York Times columnists still insisted Joe Biden hadn’t lost, but tied with Trump.

Democrats are none too pleased with Jill Biden’s new narrative.

Read more

I commuted everyday from Union Station for three years. It is the most captivating train station in D.C., if not America.

But it is also terrifying.

I never walked through it. I walked around it, skirting the edges of the homeless encampments that had claimed the surrounding blocks as their own.

One day I decided to cut through Columbus Circle, the park directly in front of Union Station which features a large statue of Christopher Columbus.

15 paces in, three rats ran in front of me. I turned around and didn’t look back.

So when I got the invite to attend the reopening of Columbus Circle, I almost skipped it.

“Is this worth going to?” I asked my editor when I got the invite.

Despite three years of daily commutes past the park, I couldn’t quite picture the landmark. A statue, sure. But I mainly remembered it as the homeless encampments, rats and graffiti. The park I didn’t want to enter.

For months, a tall fence surrounded Columbus Circle. On Thursday, the National Guard escorted me through it.

And for the first time, I saw what Columbus Circle is supposed to be.

Read more

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani made a frightening pledge in a housing announcement Tuesday.

“Through our new citywide campaign, ‘Fix the City,’ we will focus on the worst landlords in New York City,” Mamdani announced to a delighted crowd. “When necessary, we will take aggressive legal action to remove negligent owners and property managers.” (RELATED: Mamdani To Prioritize City Resources For ‘Black And Brown’ People)

“And for buildings that have suffered chronic neglect, we will work to transfer ownership to responsible stewards. Stewards that include community land trusts, nonprofits —”

The crowd interrupted Mamdani with cheering.

“Nonprofits —”

And more cheering.

“— or even the tenants themselves.”

And more.

It seems a little bizarre that Mamdani’s pitch — taking private property and giving it to nonprofits — was met with such enthusiasm. Maybe they heard the word “nonprofit” and cheered on instinct. Most likely, they were simply thrilled by the idea of seizing property from landlords, an occupation many Mamdani supporters consider evil.

New York Councilwoman Vickie Paladino outlined what might occur if Mamdani’s plan comes to fruition.

Read more