Equally important, especially given the pressure on aid budgets, we must protect funding for health and development—programs that save lives, strengthen economies, and help people stay resilient in a warming world. gatesnot.es/3Jru8UO

I watched the Diane Warren documentary Relentless on Kanopy. It was much more interesting and more fun than I expected. Recommended.

TIL: The autobiographies of Billy Graham, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell were all written by the same guy. And he's gay! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_White

In his first term Trump gave us plague and in his second term he is giving us famine -- a *man-made famine* created by the government's refusal to pay benefits.

yes, literally www.military.com/daily-news/2...

You don't hear much about the Reptilians anymore. I expect that they are quietly retired and living off the interest on the money they made back in their heyday.

The lie that Trump needs democratic votes suits both parties, according to their separate calculations, and so it goes unchallenged. #nuclearoption

It is solely Trump's shutdown because he can reopen government without Democrat help using the nuclear option. Republicans are falsely blaming Democrats. The interesting part is that Democrats are also *pretending* that Democrats are responsible because they think it makes them look more credible.

Some people are too needy. Like that guy, Maslow. If you have so many needs that you can create a pyramid and a taxonomy out of them then maybe you should take a few steps back and reevaluate. Get a grip, Maslow. Don't be such a snowflake! Two meals a day and a roof & a flushing toilet should do it.

Survived about half an hour of the Emily Dickinson movie A Quiet Passion. Had a strong feeling that what I was watching was a total fantasy with little connection to Dickinson's actual life. Wikipedia confirmed my suspicion. The critics loved it, apparently, but why?

Ukrainian drones now hitting Moscow. #explodey

"The line cuts Gaza roughly in half. In the western part, Hamas is seeking to reassert its control in the vacuum left by the partial Israeli withdrawal, carrying out public executions of rival militia or gang members it claims are backed by Israel." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Living In Fear Trump is in fear of Putin. Putin is in fear of the servants who bring him his meals. Elon is in fear of both of them. Most of us are fairly poor but at least we are not living in fear.

A lot of people are saying that the Epstein Ballroom is really just a distraction from the Epstein Shutdown.

I'm pretty liberal on most issues but I do support the death penalty for people who dawdle in supermarket aisles - especially those who don't queue properly at the checkout.

Good News 'Palestinian factions have said they have agreed that an independent committee of technocrats would take over the running of Gaza after Hamas said it had received “clear guarantees” from mediators that “the war has effectively ended”.' www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Halloween Song (Song of the Week) youtu.be/R9oQDUtBRpU?...

Ehud Barak, Peter Thiel, Jeffrey Epstein and Vladimir Putin (Wikipedia)

Mercator Projection Illusions 1) The population density of the UK is more than four times greater than that of Mexico. Mexico has lots of people but it is enormous. 2) Argentina is *ten times* bigger than the UK but only has about 60% of the population. 3) Brazil is 35 times bigger than the UK!

See that red X off the Pacific coast of Colombia? That’s where the US military recently blew up a boat, thousands of miles from the United States. There’s virtually no chance the boat was smuggling drugs into America, if it was even carrying drugs at all.

What did the founding fathers really think about capitalism? Absolute nothing, because the word was not invented until 1851. Free enterprise then? That term was not invented until 1890.

Good message (9 mins): youtu.be/kF818-I-LIA?...

"Auditory verbal hallucinations – or hearing voices – in schizophrenia may stem from a disruption in the brain’s ability to recognise its own inner voice." neurosciencenews.com/inner-speech...

"The United States is cutting off the kind of foreign aid that keeps children alive for 12 cents a day, but it’s willing to invest far larger sums in a dubious effort to prop up a distant economy"

Demanding the Justice Department pay him $230 million? Yes, President Trump really can do that thanks to John Roberts.

Failed Connections and then when I looked at the answers afterwards they all seemed easy!

Thirteen years since failed casino owner Donald Trump lied about having devastating information about Obama's parentage in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent Obama's re-election. Thirteen long years.

BREAKING. . . Iran forced to cancel plans to blow up East Wing

New York Times: Trump Demands Taxpayer Pay Him $230 Million to Compensate for Past Investigations

BREAKING President Trump is demanding that the DOJ pay him about $230 million in compensation for the federal investigations into him. Any settlement will ultimately be approved by senior department officials who defended him or those in his orbit. Full Story: nyti.ms/3WNm2sv

So, the East Wing is considered Woke because it was built by FDR or it's considered Woke because it's where the First Ladies have had their offices?

“There’s this misconception that there weren’t any Black soldiers at Waterloo,” said the museum’s art curator, Anna Lavelle. “That’s not the fault of the public – it’s not been in the historical discourse. And yet Thomas James is one of many.” www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

Fifteen years ago I got a $3,000 inheritance from a great, great uncle of whom I had never heard, who had died fifty years earlier. These things do happen!

I'm always uncomfortable with the word leader. It implies the need to be somehow "ahead" of other people and because of that it seems to appeal to those with personality defects. Show me a man who thinks of himself as a leader and I can almost always show you a man with some serious issues.

To us, empirical truth is at the top of the intellectual hierarchy. It determines & constrains what you can say & believe, even if it cuts against the interests of your tribe. For them, tribe -- us good, them bad -- is at the top of the hierarchy. It determines & constrains empirical truth.

"It is a part of probability that many improbable things will happen." Agathon, 400 BCE

So, apparently FA means "Frigging Asshole" and ANTI-FA just means that you are opposed to the frigging asshole.

Colombia Says Trump Murdered Fisherman "Carranza reportedly died in a September strike by US forces on his boat while he was fishing the Caribbean. . . The president said that the Colombian's boat was "adrift" and had its distress signal up because of an engine failure." www.dw.com/en/colombia-...

White People Paradox MAGA think everything would be much better if white people had total control, but if you suggest that we copy a country that is actually run by white people -- Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, etc. -- they say those countries are hell on earth & that their people are idiots.

People who don't like prepared salad have never tried eating an unprepared salad. The screaming is horrible! Always prepare your salad.

Some nice New York City crowd images from Fox: youtu.be/5nAJPrU1mT8?...

This is what democracy looks like. #NoKings

It's not the wittiest but I think it might be my new favorite.

"No Faux King Way" is my favorite sign so far.

"Watters, now 47, admitted to deflating the car tires of a 25-year-old fellow Fox staffer - whom he later married - so he could offer her a ride home. Watters, who was 39 at the time, was married to another woman he had also met at work." www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic...

And *this* is why the White House spent all week desperately--and stupidly--trying to undermine No Kings in advance. They had reason to be scared.

Whoever controls your access to information will eventually control your access to food.

A quarter of America wants to arrest three quarters of America. I don't see how that's going to work for them.