Friday began with robots doing the cha-cha and ended with Lizzie Borden demanding a retrial. This is what happens when nobody supervises the menu.
Robot Cha-Cha of Doom
First the robots learn to dance. Then they learn to open doors. By Tuesday, they’re changing the locks and explaining that the house has always belonged to them.
— Watch the Cha-Cha robots rehearse humanity’s exit
Lizzie Borden Takes the Stand
Then Lizzie Borden arrived, carrying 132 years of bad publicity and, according to the jury, no axe at all. Did she commit the murders—or did history simply choose the suspect with the best rhyme? We reopen the famously circumstantial case and launch our new segment, Trail Mix True Crime.
— Watch Digital Diner True Crime
Join Us Today for International Talk Like A Pirate Day
DC local news
Sep 19, 2026
Hundreds of people formed a human chain around the Kennedy Center Friday evening in protest of its closing and threats by the Trump administration to demolish the memorial to President John F. Kennedy. News4’s Jackie Bensen reports.
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national coverage
Sep 18, 2026 #News #trump #protest
CNN is at the Kennedy Center where hundreds of protesters have gathered to form a human chain. The demonstration comes in response to President Trump’s threats to demolish the iconic venue and ongoing legal battles over the future of the national living memorial to John F. Kennedy.
0:00 Hundreds gather to protest Trump’s attack on the Kennedy Center
1:01 On the ground outside the Kennedy Center
3:07 How will historians look back at this?
6:00 Will the protests make a difference?
7:20 The courts won’t allow the Kennedy Center to be torn down
meanwhile CONGRESS LECTURES WORKERS ON DAYS OFF
and in other news
Sep 18, 2026
On Friday, President Trump declared a deal has been struck with Denmark over its oversight of Greenland. Trump has long coveted the mineral-rich island, which Denmark has controlled since the 1700s. Nick Schifrin reports.
The Kennedy Center was financially stable until Trump took over: “In the fiscal year ending in 2024, when the center was led by President Deborah Rutter and a bipartisan board of trustees, it brought in about $40 million more than it spent”
What the Kennedy Center’s Tax Return Reveals
Ahoy! Today be natter like a pirate day. I’ll be swashbucklin’ ‘n makin’ rogues walk the plank all day. Godspeed hearties
Silicon Tomato News Review ☕
• Smoke rose near Riyadh’s main airport after overnight booms and Saudi authorities issued and later lifted danger alerts. Nothing calms the oil market like unexplained explosions near a capital city. – Reuters
• Leading AI labs say systems capable of helping improve their own successors are moving closer to reality, intensifying debate over human control. The machines may soon help build better machines. Management calls this efficiency. – Associated Press
• Russia launched dozens of drones and two antiship missiles at Ukraine overnight, killing eight people and striking two vessels in the Black Sea, according to Ukrainian authorities. Kushner/Witkoff “diplomacy” continues its impressive career of hyped-up meetings followed by increased violence. – Al Jazeera
— Human Prompted and Edited. Machine Drafted (Gemini Pro).
For Winter
3:30 PM today, Abdul el Sayed campaigns live on C-Span
CAN TRUMP’S ARCH BE STOPPED?
Latest News
Last night’s Kennedy Center protest was encouraging. But we also need that energy to stop another travesty in the making: Donald Trump’s 250-foot gold-trimmed arch at Arlington Cemetery to celebrate himself. The official story frames it as a patriotic gateway, but it’s really a vanity monument on sacred ground that requires its own eternal flame so airplanes don’t crash into it (for real). Federal agencies admit it destroys historic sightlines, and a lawsuit brought by veterans is making progress.
The theme that Americans are getting “free” money for doing nothing and should be working is a great gop scam. How dare people get old and live off a forced savings plan, Social Security, without the oligarch getting their share (all of it). How dare people get health care without the oligarchs getting their share, make medical care a corporate decision instead of a medical one. Make people on medicare “work” for it, retired or medically unable to work does not matter.
Years ago, after surviving Hep B and Hep C, I was tossed into the must work to keep Social Security Disability trap. No one wanted to hire someone who was one hundred percent disabled and could not walk more than a few feet and needed to rest several times a day. But, under the Bush village idiot reign that was something I had to do. I made it through and was hired as a temp. I also was regaining my life strength and eventually could be upright most of a day. It was during the Bush Great Recession/Depression.
The trap the republicans keep trying to install does not care about being able to function, it does not matter that there are no jobs, either from rural areas, or recessions or other factors. It does create slave labor because of desperation at keeping benefits. So companies hire cheap and treat like garbage.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/19/stephen-miller-trump-migrant-children
Stephen Miller is leading an unprecedented and intense White House drive across a host of government departments to accelerate the removal of undocumented immigrant children from the US, using tactics that critics say are cruel and racist and, in some cases, flout federal law, the Guardian has learned.
*Blaggaaaaard! There’s a special place in Davy Jones’ locker for ye! From pieces of eight, to pieces of sh/t with your whole crew! 🏴☠️
Almost 200,000 children have been ordered removed from the US by immigration judges since Trump returned to the White House, a doubling of such court orders since January 2025, according to analysis of data from the Department of Justice’s executive office for immigration review (EOIR) conducted by the California-based advocacy Mobile Pathways and shared with the Guardian.
today’s meme….
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/18/united-states-denmark-greenland-security
Trump announced on Friday that the US had struck an Arctic security pact with the leaders of Denmark and Greenland, after threatening for much of his second term to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory by force.
The full scope of the deal Trump described as “very important, historic, and special” was not immediately clear. But soon after his announcement in a post on Truth Social, the leaders of Denmark and Greenland issued statements indicating the deal would be signed by the three governments on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly in New York City next week.
*Entering into a deal with the devil is a stupid thing to do. Where’s your Viking spirit, Denmaaark? Vikings were the original pirates, after all.
“We will immediately begin the process of developing a large Military presence in the appropriate part of Greenland,” Trump added. The US already has a presence on the island, and the right to expand bases, through Nato.
*FFS!
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/09/17/democrats-texas-james-talarico-november-midterms/
“Uncharted territory”: Two months from Election Day, Democrats in Texas are truly competitive
🏴☠️It’s Talk Like A Pirate Day
𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 Chat Now 🗣️
On YouTube🎙️11am (ET) until 11:45
WATCH here 👇
The right-wing regime is trying every trick in the book to stay in power (because most people see how bad their policies are!). Their only path to winning the midterms is to suppress votes. But we say, No, nay, never! We WILL vote. Every vote matters! #votingrights #midterms #raginggrannies
Ask
meme #2…
I can’t do a good pirate voice. Can I do talk like a scoundrel day instead?
“hi I’m speaker of the house Mike Johnson”
A timely plug for our book club book-of-the-month.
Back when scandals and Republicans were fun!
“I can be President of the United States, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both.”
Theodore Roosevelt
https://www.snopes.com/news/2026/06/06/mike-rogers-muscle-photo-ai/
Here’s who posted altered photo of Mike Rogers with large muscles
Snopes:
In short, the image is edited, but it was not initially posted by Rogers or a staffer on his campaign team. It was first posted by Abby Ronson, an employee at Convergence Media, a media consulting firm that Rogers’ Senate campaign has worked with. Ronson’s post includes a “Made with AI” label, confirming that the image itself is fake, in this case meaning generated or edited using artificial intelligence software. It is based on an existing, authentic photograph.
A spokesperson for Rogers’ Senate campaign said via email that the image did not come from the campaign. Rather, it appeared to come from Ronson or her employer. Given the close ties between Convergence Media and Rogers’ campaign, we have not rated as false the claim that Rogers or his campaign staff initially posted the fake image. This is because it was not possible to independently determine whether the two parties had or had not coordinated the post.
Today in the Diner..
COREY IN THE HOUSE
Michigan Senate: Mike Rogers vs Abdul
Kennedy Center Revolt: Trump Explodes
Mike Rogers and the Michigan Senate race take center stage, plus the Kennedy Center board revolt, auto industry woes, and Trump’s latest meltdowns.
Yard signs don’t vote, but they sure tell a story. Longtime Trailmixer COREY helps us dive deep into the Michigan political scene, from the streets of Holland to the shadow of the Ambassador Bridge. Mike Rogers is suddenly trying to rebrand as a common-sense warrior against Big Pharma, but voters in Ottawa County aren’t buying the sudden shift. Meanwhile, down-ballot races featuring figures like Nancy DeBoer are turning local districts into ground zero for billionaire-funded panic.
Then we head back to Washington where the Kennedy Center board is in full meltdown. Lynda Carter showed up to protest the ongoing dysfunction, reminding everyone that putting political operatives and mega-donors in charge of a cultural institution is a recipe for disaster. We break down the ongoing lawsuit led by Norm Eisen and the sheer incompetence of trying to manage the Potomac airspace without basic common sense.
Add in a look at the latest Fox News polls showing voters souring on the Trump economy, and the auto industry slowdown hitting Ford plants from Dearborn to Louisville, and you’ve got a full plate. As always, the billionaires are funding the outrage, but we are just showing up for the grapes and the truth.
Live Chat: https://trailmix.cc/chat
Website: https://trailmix.cc
Alerts: https://trailmix.cc/alerts
00:00 Intro and Pirate Day
07:05 Mike Rogers in Michigan
14:38 Ford Plant USMCA Facts
18:00 Ohio Navy Border Wars
27:25 Fox News Mega Donors
36:15 Lynda Carter Kennedy Center
41:00 Norm Eisen Lawsuit Update
53:30 Trump Casino Bankruptcies
— Human directed and edited. Machine drafted (Gemini Pro).
Corey is a day-one TrailMixer. He dropped by the Diner to swap old Vegas reunion stories, revisit barbecue with Jack, and assume his new duties as our Michigan Bureau Chief. We survived the early years together, even if I flatly refused to cover his bar tab. 👇
Watch Corey on the Digital Diner
Seems very Republican to try to get someone to pay for drinks twice during a shift change. Where in the world is Mercedes today?
Arrrghhh! The Trail Mix Edition…
For those keeping track of the sexual escapades of the Congress, one of the top rankings overall and for women, is BoeBoe. She has three staffers wanting to be paid off for enjoying Miss Prolific.
Hard to say how this will play with the voters of CO-4, I am no longer hanging around the corral there. For some strange reason this is breaking just as ballots are ready to drop. Colorado is mail ballots.
no wonder they need such good healthcare
argh me got the clap again
nat’l talk like boebert day
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/16/politics/trump-ai-denial-hoax
When Trump reaches for the H-word, two things are usually happening: He’s facing a controversy threatening his political or personal priorities, and he’s lost control of the politics.
Trump has long dismissed climate change as a “hoax.” So it was a tell that he went on social media to specifically draw an analogy between a planet that is warming despite his denials and the calls for AI controls expressed by leaders in the industry.
By changing reality, Trump frees himself from an obligation to act. In energy policy, that means “drill, baby, drill.” His administration has slashed regulation, pleasing oil industry donors. His rants against wind farms suggest he hankers for a 20th-century economy running on carbon.
The Jeffrey Epstein saga is a “Democratic hoax,” according to Trump. Searing testimonies from the accused sex offender’s victims make this a ridiculous charge.
The same is true of another supposed “hoax”: the investigations into the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. The outrage was the culmination of another event Trump wants America to forget: his bid to overturn the 2020 election. The hoax routine worked — it got him back to the White House to wield expansive executive power.
The president seems to hope that by simply branding fears of runaway AI as a hoax, he can make them go away. But why?
Any signal that AI development may slow would almost certainly trigger a reaction on the markets. As his Iran war sticks Americans with high gas prices and record diesel costs, Trump can’t afford any Wall Street turbulence that would hurt 401k accounts and check GDP growth.
Trump’s governing style isn’t a good fit for this deeply complex issue. He said this week that he’s an AI user, but whether that goes beyond posting wild memes depicting himself as various superheroes is unclear. And he gets his news from the traveling printer of his aide Natalie Harp.
Trump has a serious point that even if the US slows AI development, China probably won’t, which would give it a superpower advantage.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/defence/international/f-35-parts-diverted-to-hong-kong-has-china-gained-access-to-us-stealth-tech/articleshow/134352249.cms
F-35 parts diverted to Hong Kong: Has China gained access to US stealth tech?
Sensitive components of the F-35 fighter jet were unexpectedly diverted to Hong Kong while being shipped from Australia to the United States for repairs, prompting a US investigation and congressional briefings over the possibility that highly classified technology could have fallen within China’s reach.
The shipment was rerouted while crossing the Pacific, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke to Politico on condition of anonymity. The Pentagon has confirmed that some of the F-35 components went missing.
The shipment included an F-35 cockpit canopy, according to two people familiar with the matter. The canopy incorporates stealth technology available only to the US and its allies. An adversary with access to the component could potentially study it and attempt to reverse-engineer aspects of the technology.
The Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office said it was “aware of a shipment issue of unserviceable F-35 Lightning II components”.
The office said it was working with US authorities and industry partners “to retrieve these components, investigate the incident, and place safeguards to avoid a future occurrence”.
Ah-ha! So the BoeBoe rumors are real. A friend who knows someone who works on the hill was joking when they said now working for her…”but does make out with her in the cloak room. Everybody does.” (They do not work for her, but apparently it must be an open secret.)
https://finance.yahoo.com/media-advertising/articles/fcc-grants-paramounts-indirect-ownership-190454585.html
The FCC cleared the way on Thursday, granting sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to hold indirect equity interests in a Paramount-Warner combo, but no voting stakes.
Skydance-owned Paramount — whose $81 billion merger with Warner is still on hold amid a separate antitrust battle with twelve states and Hollywood writers — welcomed the FCC’s ruling. Paramount maintained that these funds won’t have any governance rights and the family of its CEO David Ellison and RedBird Capital would still be the majority owners of the combined company, which it said “will have the scale and resources necessary” to compete worldwide.
Still, critics have called the move unprecedented — and argue that amount of money exchanging hands still opens the door to behind-the-scenes influence, particularly when it comes to core news operations like Paramount’s CBS and Warner’s CNN.
In its spring petition to the FCC, Paramount disclosed that it expected those funds to indirectly own nearly 50% of equity interests when and if the merger closes.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/paramount-warner-bros-merger
US Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday joined a growing chorus of critics angered by the Federal Communications Commission’s approval of foreign investment in the company that would be created if Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery are allowed to merge.
Led by Chair Brendan Carr, an appointee of President Donald Trump, the FCC on Thursday approved Paramount’s petition to allow foreign investors to hold over 25% of ownership.
The commission concluded it would be in the “public interest” to greenlight a plan for 49.5% foreign ownership, including 38.5% from investment funds based in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-80-appears-badly-confused-about-his-own-ban-on-media/
Trump struggled to explain his new ban on the American “free press” as he answered questions from reporters.
“We’re repressive” too, like China, he conceded to reporters after he announced Friday on Truth Social that “Fake News” CNN, MS NOW and Politico are now barred—“effective immediately”—from the White House, and warned that other media outlets could soon be next. Trump later appeared to walk that back.
When a reporter asked about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s upcoming visit and noted that China is one of the most repressive countries in the world for journalists, Trump interrupted.
“I don’t know about that. I think we’re repressive also,” he said. He then appeared to reverse course: “We get fake news. We don’t repress, but they write fake news.”
When the president was asked exactly what the ban entails—if reporters will lose their press badges or be barred from the traveling press pool or the Oval Office—a suddenly stumped Trump looked around quizzically, saying, “I still don’t know?”
Just got to the Thai Festival on Pennsylvania Ave
paying our respects to the Canadian embassy
just wandered into National Gallery of Art. Comfortable chairs!
Cape Cod Evening, Edward Hopper
Monet!
I guess National Gallery doesn’t pick up trash on the weekends
This is a weird museum
Our final stop: in today’s stroll: where Garfield was shot. He died 145 years ago TODAY.
Nice to see everyone in the chat today! Gas is $4.93 in Holland. Well, that’s the cheapest I saw it going for. I saw it for $4.78 at one station in Grand Rapids. Most stations were anywhere from $4.83-$4.87. Diesel was $6.79.
Corey, I have tasked my AI to wake me up with national gas average every morning until Nov. 3. Interested in everybody’s local reports. Might be the most telling metric of all.
Very sad. Very sad. Corey breaks out his best Trump impression to blame ‘vandals’ for the peeling paint at his local tennis courts. Turns out it’s impossible to parody a guy who is already a caricature.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/google-says-ai-model-gained-unauthorized-access-three-systems-rcna598651
Google on Friday disclosed the first known instance of its artificial intelligence software, Gemini, carrying out an undirected computer hack, weeks after similar disclosures by AI firms Anthropic and OpenAI raised security alarms about AI models going beyond the instructions of their human creators.
Google said in a statement that in May its AI model gained unauthorized access to three outside systems during a test by either guessing login information or using login credentials it found in a public repository.
Heather Adkins, a Google vice president for security engineering, said in the statement that the AI model thought that the outside computer systems “were part of the test,” but she said in all three instances, the model stopped before doing anything further with its access.
Google said it did not consider the unauthorized logins to rise to the level of misalignment, the AI industry term for software going rogue or not following instructions. Instead, the company said, the intrusions resulted from mistaken identity, where Gemini thought it was operating within a test but was actually connected to the real internet. Google said the model corrected itself and the company believed the intrusions did not cause any damage.
“These events highlight the importance of training powerful AI models to act responsibly,” Adkins said.
*Hmmmm?
Are the techbros planning to do something nefarious, and they need to instill the idea of rogue Ai agents in order to blame them for shutting down the power grid, highjacking elections, emptying bank accounts, or screwing with who knows what?
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/19/politics/frustration-houthis-saudi-arabia-iran
Dramatic recent advances by the Iran-backed Houthis, including the seizure of a strategically important island in the Red Sea, have dealt another blow to a region reeling from the US war with Iran and exacerbated an already severe global energy crisis.
But neither the US nor its key ally Saudi Arabia has a clear plan to beat back the group, multiple sources told CNN, leading many in the region to ask where the counteroffensive will come from.
Although US officials acknowledge the Yemeni rebel group is advancing with the goal of ultimately asserting control over the critical Bab al Mandeb Strait, the Trump administration is signaling it has little interest in using the American military to stop them – relying instead on Saudi Arabia to do so.
But even with additional US intelligence and targeting support, Saudi Arabia has not been able to effectively stop the Houthis from taking key coastal towns in Yemen, frustrating Gulf and American officials. Sources who spoke with CNN expressed doubt that the Saudis would be able to stop the Houthis on their own.
on our walk home:
— dumbass gonna be pissed when he finds out he got equal billing with Teddy Roosevelt
— after the MAGAt carnival on the National Mall even the squirrels are all white
— here’s what his stupid Ferris wheel did to the National Mall
That is a scary looking tree rat.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/19/trump-says-us-has-permanent-control-of-greenland-security-does-it
Trump says US has ‘permanent control’ of Greenland security: Does it?
New agreement with Denmark falls short of Trump’s previously stated goal of US ‘ownership’ of the island.
Trump called the deal an “‘Infinite Life’ Agreement”, meaning “it never ends”.
There was no specific mention of potential US mining rights in Greenland, which has a rich deposit of rare-earth minerals, including zinc, iron, uranium and graphite, that are likely to interest Trump. These minerals are highly sought after and are used in the manufacture of hundreds of technological products, from smartphones to fighter jets.
However, some observers think this could be what Trump means by his mention of “sensitive investments”.
…non-NATO states won’t be able to set up bases in Greenland and will be barred from “making investments in Greenland that could threaten the United States”.
The official said that means China and Russia won’t be able to build bases or send troops to Greenland, and that those states would be blocked from investing “in sensitive sectors”.
Mikkel Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Al Jazeera that it is unlikely to be a major concession because “the Danes and Greenlanders never wished for Russia or China to have bases in Greenland.”
Denmark’s Frederiksen said the agreement “recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom and the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination”.
Olesen said the deal could be positive for Greenland and Denmark as it “has the potential to end the crisis” caused by Trump’s insistence on acquiring Greenland last year, without sacrificing sovereignty.
*I hope they’re correct.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/19/dutch-riot-police-break-up-violent-far-right-protest-in-the-hague
Dutch riot police break up violent far-right protest in The Hague
Justice minister condemns ‘Hitler salutes, antisemitic slogans, violence’ at the anti-immigration rally.
Dutch riot police have intervened at a protest against immigration and asylum policies after about 500 far-right demonstrators pelted them with projectiles and fireworks .
“Identical images from the Malieveld. Hitler salutes, antisemitic slogans, violence against the police and throwing fireworks at the riot squad,” he posted on X. “It is important that hardline action is taken against this.”
He also thanked police officers for helping to maintain the democratic rule of law.
The “Wij zijn het volk” rally, which translates to “We are the people”, was organised to protest against government policies in the Netherlands’, specifically on immigration.
The protesters had planned to march through The Hague, but local authorities banned it when violence began and ordered the demonstration to be broken up.
Protester Thijs Jansen, a 31-year-old mechanic, told AFP: “We’re losing our country. We’re literally losing our country to mass migration”.
Saturday’s unrest came a year after Dutch police used water cannon to disperse another anti-immigration rally in The Hague.
A police car was then set on fire in clashes between black-clad protesters and police, as the headquarters of the centrist D66 party were attacked. Its leader, Rob Jetten, is now prime minister.
Maybe white people are just crazy everywhere.
https://www.aljazeera.com/#flips-6405308905112
Let’s hope Dems pick up on this. Are we looking at a draft?
“Hegseth kicks off ‘Send Me’ tour amid Iran war backlash.”
Howard Stern now has a show on HBO. Still neurotic as when I listened regularly 35 years ago.🤔
A George W. Bush appointee who clerked for Scalia tells NYT the Trump administration endangers the rule of law — Trail Mix Free Link
Did a fact check on wealth in America for confirmation.
Forbes estimates that the 400 wealthiest Americans are worth about $8.0 trillion combined as of September 2026.
The Federal Reserve’s latest Distributional Financial Accounts put the combined net worth of the bottom 50% of U.S. households at about $4.28 trillion in the second quarter of 2026.
So, roughly:
Richest 400 Americans: $8.0 trillion
Bottom 50% of U.S. households: $4.28 trillion
Ratio: about 1.9 to 1
In other words, the Forbes 400 collectively hold almost twice as much net wealth as the entire bottom half of American households.
One important bit of fact-checking hygiene: this is a comparison of net worth, not income or cash. Both figures are essentially assets minus liabilities. And Forbes’ estimates of individual fortunes are necessarily less exact than the Fed’s aggregate household estimates, especially where privately held businesses are involved.
So if somebody says, “The 400 richest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 50% combined,” I’d mark that one TRUE, with the footnote that the most defensible wording is “net wealth/net worth.”
Yo Yo Ma (age 7) and his 11-year old sister performing at The Kennedy Center.
Yo Yo Ma & Mr. Rogers
This is adorable. Fred Rogers with Yo Yo Ma & son (starting when his son was very young, maybe age 5).
NEW THREAD by our trail friend Jack
First Cup…
https://streamyard.com/7f2urszwjekf