Tootfinder

IRS Direct File,
the electronic system for filing tax returns for free,
will not be offered next year,
the Trump administration has confirmed.
An email sent Monday from IRS official Cynthia Noe to state comptrollers that participate in the Direct File program said that
“IRS Direct File will not be available in Filing Season 2026. No launch date has been set for the future.”
The program developed during Joe Biden’s presidency
was credited by users with…

IRS Direct File won't be available next year for submitting tax returns for free
The Trump administration has decided not to offer the IRS' electronic tax filing system for free next year, and its future is unclear. An IRS official informed state comptrollers in an email Monday that "IRS Direct File will not be available in Filing Season 2026." Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said better alternatives exist and the private sector can do a better job. The program, developed during Joe Biden's presidency, was praised for making tax filing easy and economical. However, it face…

A look at Paramount's culture shift under David Ellison, where the focus is on male-driven action movies, and not on prestige films seen as critics' darlings (Pamela McClintock/The Hollywood Reporter)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business

Feelings Don’t Matter: How the Ellison Era Is Transforming Paramount 
It’s a brand-new day at the legacy studio, where prestige films are out, testosterone-heavy tentpoles are in and Brett Ratner is back on the call sheet.

In the press release announcing the deal, Netflix says it "expects to maintain Warner Bros.' current operations..., including theatrical releases for films" (Tony Maglio/The Hollywood Reporter)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/m

Netflix “Expects” to Keep Releasing Warner Bros. Films Theatrically
Now that that’s settled...

"The Supreme Court Is Failing at Its Most Important Job" by #nyt "In many of those instances, however, the Supreme Court later overruled the lower courts, allowing Mr. Trump’s power grabs. […] The justices have wholly denied only one of Mr. Trump’s 32 emergency petitions in his second term"
Darth #Trump

Opinion | The Supreme Court Is Failing at Its Most Important Job
Until the court imposes limits, the administration will keep acting as if there are none.

In my case, close but not a nation.
Flying Spaghetti Monster.
https://bsky.app/profile/josephpolitano.bsky.social/post/3m76ujdjoy22l
alt: Current GOP
[…] how many members of each of the following groups do you think are more loyal to a forei…

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 (@josephpolitano.bsky.social)
losing my mind at the 25% of GOP voters who think most Italian Americans are "more loyal to a foreign country than to the United States." [contains quote post or other embedded content]

This summer, Mikhail Loshchinin set out for Russia on a motorcycle with German plates, reaching the border in Latvia on July 1.
At the Ubylinka checkpoint on the Russian side, he presented his Russian passport.
According to his mother, Olga, he didn’t use his Belgian passport because of the urgency of the trip and to avoid needing a visa.
Russian border guards examined Loshchinin’s phone and likely discovered his many contacts in Ukraine.
After holding him for several…

Belgian-Russian dual citizen charged with treason after trying to visit father in St. Petersburg following a heart attack
A 48-year-old man with dual Russian and Belgian citizenship has been charged with treason in Russia following an attempt to visit his father, who recently suffered a heart attack. Mikhail Loshchinin’s family is scattered across Europe. He has lived in Germany for the past several years, working as a database administrator in Luxembourg. His mother is in Poland, his father is in St. Petersburg, and his sister is a Ukrainian citizen. Mikhail also has many friends in Ukraine, i…

Analysis: in 2025, only 17% of North America's top 100 highest-grossing films were directed by non-white filmmakers, down from 27% in 2021 and 24% in 2023 (Richard Rushfield/The Ankler)
https://theankler.com/p/hollywoods-backslide-into-white-male

Hollywood’s Backslide Into White Male Directors Becomes Undeniable
How to chase away our future, one complacent decision at a time

Filing: Zuckerberg considered changing how Meta studies social issues after a WSJ story about Instagram and teen mental health, noting Apple faces less scrutiny (Lauren Feiner/The Verge)
https://www.theverge.com/report/874176/meta-zuckerberg-new-me…

Zuckerberg considered changing how Meta studies social issues after research got it in trouble
In an email newly unsealed as part of the New Mexico Attorney General’s case against Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed tradeoffs of researching its platforms’ harms.

HarperCollins France says it is testing using AI-assisted translation, citing declining sales and following in the footsteps of Taylor & Francis and others (Eva Baron/Publishers Weekly)
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-to…

Harlequin France to Test AI-Assisted Translation
Following backlash from the French Literary Translators Association, HarperCollins France confirmed it’s “conducting tests” with a French company that “uses experienced translators who utilize artificial intelligence tools,” to translate Harleq

In the press release announcing the deal, Netflix says it "expects to maintain Warner Bros.' current operations..., including theatrical releases for films" (Tony Maglio/The Hollywood Reporter)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/m

Netflix “Expects” to Keep Releasing Warner Bros. Films Theatrically
Now that that’s settled...