84 thoughts on “Sunday Serendipity”

  2. Attribution: aircraft carrier ready to bomb Epstein island by Schot, De Volkskrant, Netherlands
    [Bas van der Schot, who goes by the pen name “Schot,” is a political cartoonist / illustrator for the Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant. Visit Schots Web site.]


  3. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (Ashley Padilla) gives a press briefing on newly released Jeffrey Epstein emails before Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson) answers a few questions.


  4. Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like DNA analysis showing Hitler had a genetic disorder that caused low testosterone levels and a micropenis.

  5. https://www.theguardian.com/

    Steve Bannon advised Jeffrey Epstein for years on how to rehab his reputation, texts show
    Pair devised responses to public outrage about Epstein’s criminal history, his treatment by the justice system and his friendships with powerful people

    Hundreds of texts over almost a year show Maga influencer Steve Bannon and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein workshopping legal and media strategies to protect Epstein from the legal and publicity quagmire that enveloped him in the last year of his life.

    The texts, released by the House oversight committee on Wednesday, show that as early as June 2018, the pair were devising responses to the gathering storm of public outrage about Epstein’s criminal history, his favorable treatment by the justice system, and his friendships with powerful figures in business, politics and academia.

    Bannon conspiratorially described the renewed scrutiny of Epstein as a “sophisticated op”, and over time he counseled Epstein in his adversarial responses to media outlets, the justice system and his victims.

    All the while, both men were also strategizing how best to promote Bannon’s rightwing populist agenda, and the political fortunes of its standard bearer, Donald Trump.

    [continues with several examples like the following]
    On 28 May, the pair expressed a shared irritation at Epstein’s inclusion in Fire and Fury, the first of a string of five books by author Michael Wolff which chronicle Trump’s career in national politics.
    Epstein wrote: “I have now seen some of Wolffs book. Mentions me and underage prostitutes. You as the man behind and in front of the curtain. Lots of Steve quotes. Lots.”
    Bannon replied: “Ugh – anything awful??? Wish he hadn’t done that – why are u mentioned @ all?”
    Epstein responded: “Palm beach house purchase. . don’t reach out to Michael,” and then offered details on Wolff’s treatment of Epstein.
    Bannon responded: “Ugh.”
    Bannon also offered an “ugh” in response to a link Epstein sent separately to a Raw Story article that re-reported details of the real estate deal that Wolff claimed ended Trump and Epstein’s friendship.
    Bannon frequently cheered Epstein on as the furor around the case grew, and in one instance joined in on a late spasm of false optimism.
    On 25 June, just weeks before Epstein was spectacularly re-arrested, he texted Bannon a headline: “Jeffrey Epstein plea deal must stand, prosecutors tell sex abuse victims.”
    Bannon responded: “Dude!!!!”, adding: “Is this real Tell me this is real,” and later adding: “Is that out anywhere yet.”
    Epstein replied: “Miami herald. But more and better july 9.”
    The Miami Herald had published a story under that headline the same day.
    Bannon responded: “Epic epic epic.”
    Epstein was arrested on 7 July.
    […]
    On 3 June, Trump and his wife, Melania, had been escorted by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was then a prince, to a war memorial during a state visit to the UK.
    The same day, Epstein texted Bannon: “prince andrew and trump today. t000 funny,” adding: “recall prince andrews accuser came out of mara lago.”
    Bannon responded: “Can’t believe nobody is making u the connective tissue.”
    This thread included an unredacted number that matches numbers associated with Bannon in 2019 court filings.
    [continues]

  7. WAPO also had this about the friendship in its story
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/14/epstein-files-associates-names/

    Stephen K. Bannon, a White House strategist during Trump’s first presidency, regularly exchanged text messages with Epstein in the months before the financier was detained in 2019 on charges of sex trafficking. Bannon’s phone number and email address are redacted from the newly released files, but the messages include hyperlinks to media appearances and interviews he gave. In one exchange, Epstein suggests that a woman he is connected with will contact the email recipient. The person responds: “Oh ‘the next future ex-mrs. bannon.’” Bannon spent much of spring 2019 in Europe, and Epstein frequently offered to send a private jet or charter a plane to ferry Bannon to meet him in Paris. Bannon appears to have stayed overnight at Epstein’s home in spring 2019, the messages show.
    In early 2018, Epstein began referring to Bannon as a friend in emails. Bannon regularly sent him links to his media appearances, and Epstein would offer feedback.
    Epstein advised Bannon on how to engage with European leaders in emails after Bannon was forced out of the first Trump White House and set his sights on exporting political populism abroad.
    “If you are going to play here, you’ll have to spend time, europe by remote doesn’t work. Lots and lots of face time and hand holding,” Epstein wrote in a July 2018 email to Bannon. He wrote, “its doable, but time consuming, there are many leaders of countries we can organize for you to have one on. … Europe can be a wife not a mistress.”
    Later that summer, Epstein asked Bannon to come to Europe and the political strategist replied: “but let’s discuss — their is a crazed jihad against u — ive never seen anything like it — and I’ve seen a lot.”
    Epstein agreed and warned Bannon not to worry and risk diversion from the midterm elections. “Exactly,” Bannon wrote. “But somebody big has u in the gunsights.”

    Bannon did not respond to requests for comment.

  9. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/emails-reveal-epsteins-network-of-the-rich-and-powerful-despite-sex-offender-status

    By the time Jeffrey Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl, he had established an enormous network of wealthy and influential friends. Emails made public this week show the crime did little to diminish the desire of that network to stay connected to the financier.

    Thousands of documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday offer a new glimpse into what Epstein’s relationships with business executives, reporters, academics and political players looked like over a decade.

    They start with messages he sent and received around the time he finished serving his Florida sentence in 2009 and continue until the months before his arrest on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019.

    During that time, Epstein’s network was eclectic, spanning the globe and political affiliations: from the liberal academic Noam Chomsky to Steve Bannon, the longtime ally of President Donald Trump.

    Some reached out to support Epstein amid lawsuits and prosecutions, others sought introductions or advice on everything from dating to oil prices. One consulted him on how to respond to accusations of sexual harassment.
    [continues]

  12. 🚨 NEXT Trail Mix Live CHAT at 9am ET
    MTG vs Trump: Is This Just Drama — or a Crack in His Base?
    We’ll hash out:
    ✳︎ We watch her first interview since claiming he’s threatening her “safety”
    ✳︎ How will this feud impact Tuesday’s House vote on releasing Epstein files
    ✳︎ We will run down our full timeline on how Trump blew this story.
    JOIN IN…

    Live Chat

  16. Lordy, who is this Portnoy dude who is pro-white boy, misogynistic, and now whining that he is getting blowback? Glad I haven’t been exposed to some of these folks, but sadly there are young men listening to him.

  18. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/11/15/trump-obamacare-health-insurance/

    The cheap health insurance promoted by Trump officials has this catch

    …the kind of private health insurance that Trump administration officials have promoted as an alternative to plans sold under Obamacare.

    With enhanced government subsidies for Obamacare plans expiring this year and millions of Americans facing soaring insurance costs, many are expected to consider enrolling in the kind of “short-term” plans…

    Unlike most insurance, these plans are not required to cover preexisting conditions or even basic needs such as maternity care and mental health. Their coverage is so full of holes that five states have banned their sale, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. Even some major insurers have questioned whether relying on the short-term plans is a good idea, warning that many consumers could mistake them for comprehensive coverage. The Biden administration referred to them as “junk” plans.

    The policies tend to be cheaper, though, costing as little as half as much as a plan sold on HealthCare.gov or state-run marketplaces created by the landmark Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. For example, for a 40-year-old nonsmoker in Florida, the cheapest ACA plan may cost about $500 a month, while a short-term plan would be $320. Millions of people have signed up for them.

    clients. Given their gaps in coverage, he said, “I couldn’t sleep at night if I sold that to somebody.”

    In addition to the five states that have banned them — including California and New York — nine states have rules so prohibitive that no short-term plans are offered, leaving 36 states where they are sold, KFF has found. Nearly half of the plans do not cover outpatient prescription drugs and 40 percent do not cover mental health services, according to KFF. All ACA-compliant plans must cover such services.

    Some insurance agents, though, said the short-term plans can work for some: those who are healthy, need it only for a few months between jobs or before they reach 65 and enroll in Medicare and have incomes too high to qualify for ACA subsidies.

    Short-term plans, which were previously limited to a duration of four months, were vastly expanded in 2018 by the Trump administration, which saw them as an alternative to ACA plans, which they opposed. To make the short-term plans more accessible, the Trump administration ruled that a short-term policy could last as long as three years.

    Last year, debate erupted again when the Biden administration reversed the Trump rule and restored the four-month limit on the policies. This year, though, the Trump administration announced it was again coming up with its own definition of “short-term” and would not prioritize enforcement of the Biden-era rule.

    In a statement for this article, UnitedHealthcare said, “Short-term plans are designed to meet consumer demand for more flexible, low-cost options, but they are not for everyone. We encourage people to make informed decisions about their health insurance coverage and compare different types of plans.”

  20. Blue

    We discussed insurance briefly today on the live interaction. Anyone who understands insurance knows that the larger the pool, the cheaper the insurance. In developed nations around the world, the ones that work involve mandatory involvement by everyone. They use different ways to do this, but it is always everybody into the pool. Many allow for private luxury insurance, but even those people have to be in the major coverage.

    This is what Bernie is talking about when he says Medicare for all, but there are a variety of ways to accomplish the same goal. Trying to get that goal through Congress will be almost impossible and the ACA was at least an attempt to encourage participation. I guess healthcare will have to get a whole lot more expensive or a whole lot more people have to die, before the Congress Critters get the obvious message and actually do something.

  21. Family flipping out about Mexico City news of violence. Crickets about ICE kidnappings and disappearances; never a peep, so they don’t actually care.

    Blood pressure rising.

  22. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/11/14/2353863/-Check-out-Pete-Buttigieg-s-scathing-takedown-of-JD-Vance

    Buttigieg: “If it’s convenient for him to be a fascist, he’ll be a fascist. Maybe later on, he’ll go back to being a Silicon Valley Democrat. He’ll be whatever he needs to be. Right? I mean, this is a guy who went from Donald Trump is Hitler—that’s what he said—to I have seen the error of my ways. He’ll be something new later on, maybe.”

  25. Blue,

    Vance is already a proven liar in relation to his own biography. It is very much a case of don’t believe what he says, look at what he does.

  27. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/adolf-hitler-dna-reveals-nazi-likely-kallmann-syndrome-genitals-micropenis/

    Adolf Hitler most likely suffered from a rare genetic condition called Kallmann Syndrome, researchers and documentary makers said Thursday, following DNA testing of the Nazi dictator’s blood. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the syndrome can “disrupt the process that drives puberty” and manifest in symptoms that include undescended testicles and a micropenis.

    The research also quashes the suggestion that Hitler had Jewish ancestry, the researcher say. Analysis of the DNA debunks this myth by showing that the Y chromosome data matches the DNA of Hitler’s male line relative. If he had Jewish ancestry (through an outside relationship), that match wouldn’t be there,” the production company added.

    Russia’s top diplomat, long-time Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, cited the unsubstantiated theory of Hitler’s Jewish lineage in 2022 as he defended Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin baselessly claimed was intended to “denazify” the neighboring country, led by Jewish President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

    Popular World War II songs often mocked Hitler’s anatomy but lacked any scientific basis. The findings by an international team of scientists and historians now appear to confirm longstanding suspicions around his sexual development.

    *Somewhere, long ago, I read that the mustache man only had one ⚽️. Orange Adolf only had one, because Putin has his other one.

    The testing was made possible after researchers obtained a sample of Hitler’s blood from a piece of material taken from the sofa on which he shot himself.

    The testing found a “high likelihood” that Hitler had Kallmann Syndrome, though Britain’s Guardian newspaper said in a Thursday article critical of the upcoming documentary that, “in their attempt to authenticate the blood,” the research team “failed to get a fresh DNA sample from any of Hitler’s surviving relatives in Austria and the U.S., who are all understandably reluctant about media exposure.”

    The testing of Hitler’s DNA showed “very high” scores — in the top one percent — for a predisposition to autism, schizophrenia and biopolar disorder, program makers Blink Films said.

    The Guardian article, however, said that many scientists aren’t comfortable using the kind of genetic testing cited by the researchers, known as “polygenic risk scores,” to indicate an individual’s likelihood of developing such disorders.

    “If a test shows you to be in the upper percentile of polygenic risk, the actual risk of acquiring a condition may still be very low, even for conditions that are strongly influenced by genetic factors.”

    “Hitler’s policies are completely around eugenics,” said the expert in ancient and forensic DNA at the University of Bath in western England.

    The research team stressed that such conditions, even if Hitler did have them, also could not explain or excuse the Nazi leader’s warmongering or racist policies.

    “If he had been able to look at his own DNA … he almost certainly would have sent himself,” she said.

    *Nein, he would’ve just moved the goal posts. The next episode of South Park has been written.

  29. Lucky you. I got to meet him and get an autograph when I was on the board of the local arts foundation in Fresno and we brought in his White Oak company for our annual fund raiser. That was a mere 30+ years ago.

  30. BSF ( blue sky fan)
    welcome back and I agree.
    But it does make for a popcorn munching moment before reality seeps in.
    Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

    Jack

  31. Posting this on our YouTube Community page, where the livestream chats are gradually finding an audience…

    SUNDAY REPLAY: Is this just Marjorie’s drama… or is MAGA cracking up?

    Today we watched Marjorie Taylor Greene go after Trump live on CNN and tried to answer the real question: is this just a personal feud, or are we finally seeing the GOP base wobble? From her sudden “I’m sorry for the toxic politics” pivot to Trump fans in our own YouTube comments trying to square their loyalty with the Epstein files, it felt like we were watching a movement argue with itself in real time.

    We dug into why the Epstein records are the bridge-too-far for some people, how many House Republicans it would take on Tuesday’s vote to count as an actual revolt, and what happens when the pundit class keeps pretending Trump is a harmless lame duck while he still has the power to do real damage.

    And because it’s Sunday, the conversation wandered the way Trail Mix always does: from colonial history and the Book of Negroes to ACA premium subsidies, SNAP, grocery costs, young men lost in basement culture, AI music, and why our Trail Mix Kitchen and Sunday Serendipity matter more than traffic numbers.

    A big part of that mix now comes from Jamie and Jack, two of our earliest Trail Mix contributors going back twenty years. Jamie brings her trademark deep-research clarity to the mess, and Jack — our resident renaissance man — shifts effortlessly from trapping skunks to unpacking the emotional scaffolding of Handel. They’ve become anchors of this growing live-chat experiment, adding the kind of continuity and character that make the whole thing feel like a community instead of just another stream.

    If you missed it and want something smarter than cable food-fight panels to go with your Sunday coffee, the full livestream is here:

  33. The chickensg/ts in Congress are waiting to see what happens to mTg.

    If she’s public enough (broadly, not just in MAGAtLand), she might be the keylog that breaks the jam.

    Going on The View was a good choice; their demographic is not MAGAts.

    Saying she was not depressed nor suicidal on that podcast a couple of weeks ago was something that has become weirdly necessary.

    Hope she unseats MAGAt Mike. Not that I’m all on board with her, as she helped get us into this mess, but I’ll take help where I can get it.

  34. Just made some chicken liver pate. Very tasty.
    A cup of chicken liver, drain the liquid and I rinsed the excess blood off the liver and drained.
    Place in a double boiler so as not to over cook the liver
    Add garlic butter, 1 teas.
    Tbs of white wine
    A dash of chicken seasoning
    large pinch of salt.
    Heat the water in the bottom of the boiler, when it is boiling place the top pan with the liver in place and cook until the liver is done.
    Remove the liver and mash into a smooth paste, if you run across any stringy stuff remove it and since it is safe to eat and bits of liver will be clinging to it, do a sample taste.
    There will be some excess liquid from the liver put it on low heat bring to a boil and reduce the liquid then add it back into the paste stir place in a small container place in the fridge to cool.
    Serve on plain crackers, I use saltines, or toasted sourdough bread wedges.

    Jack

  35. so are we assuming that @realdonald post last night wasn’t genuine?

    and no greene will not become speaker because say it with me again: the patriarchy does not put women in positions of real power

    Pam Bondi is perfect example: made her top cop and then micromanages her

    Greene is making her herself a clear alternative to mascara man though, certainly a candidate for ideological leader or PotUS if we have elections

  36. New short cut from today’s Trail Mix Live Chat:
    EPSTEIN — MAGA’s Fault Line.

    Jamie says no more pushing “cat sand over Epstein”

    MTG cracked the door open on CNN, and suddenly the base didn’t look so invincible.

    Watch →

  37. Why would MTG want the Speakership?
    She can become the leader of the Maga caucus have just as much power without the problems.
    Hell, just being the leader of the nutball crazy caucus has more power than Johnson.
    Being the Speaker for republicans has been a thankless job.

    Jack

  38. Why would anyone want to be speaker? Because power is seductive.

    I agree that’s probably not her goal, but I doubt she would turn it down

    I don’t think she is making a run for president. I think she is putting herself in a position to make a run should the stars align in her favor which is very savvy imo

    once again, the caucus doesn’t like her because they can’t control her

    oh, and because they are inherently misogynistic

  39. I missed the chat but just saw your replay

    mtg…..i see a rat….doing her best backstroke trying get the hell away from that damn Ship of fools, after having been one of the loudest rats on board .

  42. “Why would anyone want to be speaker? Because power is seductive.”

    It’s been looong since I read it but i see Tolkien references here not infrequently, so isn’t that what Tolkien was getting at with th rings and power?

    I only really remember one bit……
    The road goes ever on and on
    Out from the door where it began
    Now far ahead the road has gone
    And i must follow if i can.

    Pursuing it with eager feet
    Until it meets some larger way
    Where many paths and errands meet
    And whither then?
    I cannot say.

    And i guess it’s all been pretty much just like that so far.

  43. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/46977427/trooper-pointed-players-relieved-duties

    Texas A&M said a state trooper who made contact with South Carolina players during Saturday’s game has been relieved of his game-day duties.

    After receiver Nyck Harbor caught an 80-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter, he grabbed his right leg, then walked it off up the tunnel, with Oscar Adaway III following.

    As they turned to walk back to the field, a Texas state trooper bumped into Adaway and wedged between him and Harbor, and then turned and pointed at the players, seemingly scolding them. Harbor was quickly pushed away by his teammate and they continued to the field.

    “The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is aware of the incident that occurred today during the Texas A&M football game,” the DPS said in a statement. “The DPS Trooper involved was sent home from the game. Our Office of Inspector General (OIG) is also aware of the incident and will be further looking into the matter. No additional information will be released at this time.”

    *If you’ve seen the clip, this is a bully body-checking someone’s in the hallway and then making a scene and accusing their victim. I truly believe that he would have done much worse if he could have gotten away with it.

    The racism in this country is abhorrent, and we’re exposing other countries to our particular brand of white idiocy. I’m embarrassed to be white and from the US right now. Who would want us if we could flee?

  45. honestly, Sturge people have been trying to ascribe a concise ideology to Tolkein since he wrote those books and I wouldn’t be the only one to say he didn’t have those kind of goals with those works

    So in the context of “power”, his assumption is more that the powerful will abuse more than trying to convince readers that people are ambitious enough to seek it- in the context of the rise of Hitler and World War II, I don’t think he needed to tell anyone about that phenomenon.

    The only principled leaders in the Tolkein universe are deific or semi-deific because the Race of Man is inherently corrupt (or ‘corruptible’, if you prefer)

    Such things used to be commonly understood

    like, Sauron made nine rings for the Kings of Men because he knew there would be plenty of takers

  46. The search for “Bubba” is ongoing after Mark Epstein said it was not Bill Clinton. This is a current leader and one that might easily have been around stupid.

  47. and no, I don’t know how anybody reads those books and thinks the character who spoils the environment, establishes a magical surveillance network and plunges the world into war isn’t the villain

    Unsurprisingly, a Russian wrote an alternative telling where Sauron is the protagonist

  49. Late this morning Mrs. P & I were grabbing an early lunch and there in all her radiant glory was MTG on CNN. I gotta say it was one of the strangest things I’ve seen in a while – Firebrand MAGAt talking almost like a reasonable human being – talking about her party having failed to address affordability of living expenses and healthcare (I’m filling in a blank or two here),, Dumbass lying about talking with her about any plans to run for the Senate or Governor and wanting to dial down the rhetoric and work to benefit the American people. Now, she may be sincere and has had a political epiphany, but I’d have a real tough time buying that. Mrs. P put on her sarcasm cap and asked who was this and where had she been hiding. I don’t see her and AOC going to lunch anytime soon.

  50. I only really remember one bit……

    a good bit to remember, such a good writer in so many ways

    which is probably why he was head of the linguistics department at Oxford

    back before TV when the written word was at the height of its currency

  51. Mrs. P put on her sarcasm cap and asked who was this and where had she been hiding. I don’t see her and AOC going to lunch anytime soon.

    it would be capital if we liberals could just let the goons eat each other for a while, welcome a convert or two maybe

    MAHA seduced a lot of female voters and they are finally finding out who they aligned themselves with, afford them grace

  52. Blue, there is even a better story on the Baryshnikov autograph. It is a one of a kind that will probably never be duplicated. He was kindly but rapidly signing programs for all the people in line. Instead of a program, I handed him a book with the Brodsky poem “Classical Ballet” that Brodsky had dedicated to him. He gave me a beautiful smile and carefully signed his full name instead of the usual celebrity scrawl they use for such things. It is one of the few “things” I cherish safely stored for decades.

    Joseph Brodsky “The classical ballet…” dedicated to Mikhail Baryshnikov
    **************
    The classical ballet, let’s say, is beauty’s keep
    whose gentle denizens are moated off from feeling
    prosaic things by pits filled up with fiddling,
    and drawbridges are hoisted up.

    In soft imperial plush you wriggle your backside,
    as, thighs aflutter at the speed of shorthand,
    a pearl who’ll never make your sofa shudder
    wings out into the garden in one glide.

    We see archfiends in dark-brown leotards
    and guardian angels in their tutus flaunting vision;
    and then the “standing o” may blow from sleep Elysian
    Tchaikovsky and the other smarts.

    The classical ballet! The art of better days!
    when grog went hissing down with kisses ten a penny,
    the cabs were tearing by, we sang hey nonny-nonny,
    and if there was a foe, his name was Marshall Ney.

    Gold domes were filling eyes of cops with yellow light;
    a small plot gave you birth, the nest you lived and died in.
    If anything at all went up sky-high then,
    it was no railroad bridge but Pavlova in flight.

    How splendid late at night, Old Russia worlds apart,
    to watch Baryshnikov, his talent still as forceful!
    The effort of the calf, the quivering of the torso
    rotating round its axis, start

    a flight such as the soul has yearned for from the fates,
    as old maids cherish dreams while turning into bitches.
    And as for where in space and time one’s slipper touches,
    well, earth is hard all over; try the States

  54. My southern experience includes acquaintance with folks who don’t want the hassle of health insurance and don’t want to go to any doctor unless they’re absolutely ailing, and then just to get patched up and leave. That’s how they live until they can’t.

  55. that @realdonald post was deemed a fake.

    If magasses can no longer trust @realdonald is real, then we’re getting somewhere.

  57. Every single form of insurance known to man is organized around the cost principle of the more subscribers the better. The funds from the good drivers, pay for the bad drivers claims with profits left over. The young and healthy subsidize the old, sick, and injured.

    It is why the age brackets for Social Security may need to be changed. When originally established, a large percentage of people died before they ever collected. With lower birthrates and longer life expectancy, things are getting out of balance or other sources of funds going in need to be discovered.

  59. Only one parent and one of four grandparents lived long enough to get SS, which is why I retired a little early. I honestly didn’t expect to still be here. I feel the clock ticking.

    Apparently, I’m actually “Generation Jones,” sandwiched between Boomers & Gen Xers.

  60. Despite being on the low end of what can be collected, I can honestly state that I’ve made out like a bandit on SS as I retired early due to a back injury disability. I’ve now been collecting for 20 years and have a family life expectancy that should add at least another 8 years and 25 more if I beat the family record. Definitely aiming for the wizened old crone dept so the government needs to clean house.

  61. Craig and Jamie open the Trail Mix Chat mailbag and, well… it’s mostly about Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the vibes were chaotic. The MAGA wobble is loud. From “she’s grown up” to “Trump won’t finish the term,” the comments were a whole mood.
    Watch the full replay of today’s chat.
    Catch the short →

  62. Yep, Stephen Miller blows another Republican midterm. His 2017 “kids in cages” fiasco netted 41 House seats for Democrats. In CNN’s latest poll, just 20% of Latinos approved of his job performance, down from 41% in February. This 21-point drop far outpaces the 4- and 9-point drops among Black and White Americans and the 10-point drop in his approval rating overall.

  64. The Rev. Jesse Jackson is on a form of life support, sources told CBS News.

    Sources said Jackson has been on medication for a few days to keep his blood pressure stable, but his medical team is trying to wean him off the medication.

    Sources also said Jackson has occasional moments of awareness, but he is said to be steadily weakening.

    CBS News Chicago has also learned that friends and family are flying into Chicago from around the country to be by Jackson’s side.

    Jackson, 84, is under observation at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He was recently diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, a neurodegenerative condition. PSP is similar to Parkinson’s, with which Jackson publicly shared he had been diagnosed in 2017.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/rev-jesse-jackson-form-life-support-hospital/

  67. He’s making in damn near impossible for her to come crawling back (like a dog) so I’m guessing she might just know something he don’t.

    I thought long ago that she’d thrown in with Vance. Palace coup, baby

  70. Apparently, I’m actually “Generation Jones,” sandwiched between Boomers & Gen Xers.

    you can arbitrarily make up whatever generation you want to be a part of and name it whatever you want, that’s all supposed generational distinctions are

  71. inflation, especially food, is the case no one has to bother making, we’re all getting crushed at “the store”

    …am enjoying Trump denying objective reality though

  72. I’m in the rock and roll generation. Or the television generation. I definitely came after the Packard generation.

  75. Generational names are made up, but the world we/they are born into is not, thus the lumping together of humans.

    Thinking of ditching my 🍎 music subscription in 2026. Screenshotting my playlists so I can find songs on YouTube or something. My purchased downloads will keep me entertained for 43 hours and 17 minutes. It’s nice being able to listen to every new song that comes along, but few of them stick.

  76. the popular distinctions are functions of culture and class though

    It’s a very white American concept tailored for the TV generation 😊

  78. @realDonaldTrump

    Wacky Marjorie “Traitor” Brown (Remember, Green turns to Brown where there is ROT involved!) is working overtime to try and portray herself as a victim when, in actuality, she is the cause of all of her own problems. The fact is, nobody cares about this Traitor to our Country!

    11/16/25, 9:30 PM

    *This one seems to be real.

  79. Not an audiobook person yet. In my “position”? I’m just trying to disconnect from subscription life.

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