Trina's Kitchen

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars in the Kitchen

Tess' e-mail ("Popcorn Trail Mix in the Kitchen") spoke to a number of you. So thank you again to Tess for sharing her experience and the recipe. Joan e-mailed to note Taste of Home's Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars:

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup honey
3 cups old-fashioned oats

Directions

In a small saucepan, combine peanut butter and honey. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until melted and blended. Remove from heat; stir in oats. Spread into a greased 9-in. square pan; press lightly. Cool to room temperature; cover and chill for 1 hour.

Joan said Tess' e-mail resulted in two of her friends and four family members deciding to hold a Thanksgiving lunch next week that Joan will host at her apartment. They're doing sandwiches and finger foods and Joan's doing cucumber sandwiches and also these peanut butter oatmeal bars that she will drizzle with chocolate.

So hopefully Tess has inspired you and encouraged you and reminded us all that the most important thing is getting together. Even if, as Charlene is doing, you get together by phone. She doesn't have the money this year to fly across the country. So she'll be with her family via speaker phone and her older sister is shipping a cake, cookies and brownies to her.

News? The Democratic Party too often tends to ignore or jettison its most loyal voters. I've seen that my entire life including both times Rev. Jesse Jackson ran for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. I was a big supporter of the Reverend and he never got the credit he deserved. He built a huge coalition and his coalition welcomed all. And I'm a little sad because of reports that he's not doing well health wise. Anyway, he valued our party and the members -- all the members. Today?

Lesley Abravanel reports:

Conservative columnist T. Becket Adams writes in a Substack post that "the Republican Party faces a more severe version of the Democrats’ current demographic crisis: the GOP has lost nearly all female voters under 30.”

"Millions of words and hours of news programming have been devoted to the issue of the Democratic Party’s recent loss of male voters aged 18 to 29," Adams writes, adding that "Even less discussed is the fact that, while Democrats rack their brains trying to find ways towin over young men, the right doesn’t seem to recognize the seriousness of its own predicament, much less have a plan to fix it."

He also notes that while Republicans in past elections have lost key voter blocs including Black and Jewish voters, " losing one more probably feels more a matter of routine than a sign of impending doom."

Demographics, however, make this crisis worse, Adams explains.

"Considering that there are eight million more registered female voters than male voters in the United States, and considering that of the overall number of female voters, the 10 percent to 12 percent that fall into the 18-to-29 age bracket are much more politically active than men their age, Republicans simply cannot accept that they’ve lost another voting group," he writes.

At a time when we should be reaching out to more women, yet again the Dems seem to think they need to go for the male vote and not via meaningful positions but instead by racism and homophobia -- that is what's fueling the push for Graham Platner in Maine.

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for Monday:

Monday, November 17, 2025. Chump throws moving vehicle into reverse as he tries to get ahead of what appears to be a huge embarrassment this week when the House votes on whether or not to release the Epstein materials, his lie about a peace deal is revealed (it wasn't even a cease-fire), North Carolina gets targeted by the corrupt Homeland Security, and much more.

Dumpster fire Donald Chump can't stop lying. All it took was diving poll numbers, former supporters going on Tik-Tok to burn their MAGA gear, members of Congress on both sides standing up to him and the public's growing suspicion that he's hiding something with regards to his best friend Jeffrey Epstein. That's all it took to put Chump in turnaround. Helen Sullivan (BBC NEWS) reports:

US President Donald Trump has called on House Republicans to vote to release the Epstein files, in a reversal from his previous position.

"House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday night.

The shift from days of Trump fighting the proposal comes as the House is expected to hold a vote this week on legislation that would force the Justice Department to release the files to the public.

Supporters of the proposal appear to have enough votes to pass the House, though it is unclear whether it would pass the Senate.

AP's Kevin Freking and Chris Megerian explain, "The president's shift is an implicit acknowledgement that supporters of the measure have enough votes to pass it the House, although it has an unclear future in the Senate. It is a rare example of Trump backtracking because of opposition within the GOP." Mia McCarthy (POLITICO) notes:

President Donald Trump is coming to grips with his impending loss on the Jeffrey Epstein files and a rare moment of tenuous control over the House GOP.

In a late Sunday Truth Social post, Trump said House Republicans should vote to release DOJ records on the late convicted sex offender “because we have nothing to hide.”

“I DON’T CARE!” he said. “All I do care about is that Republicans get BACK ON POINT.”

Trump’s reversal after a months-long pressure campaign came as dozens of Republicans — perhaps as many as 100 — were already poised to break with him in a vote Tuesday. As Meredith Lee Hill and Mia report, even close allies of GOP leadership were weighing whether to defect from the president.

Apparently the most convincing way to convey that you don't care about something is to scream in all caps "I DON'T CARE!" Or at least that's what you think if you're a nut case named Donald Chump.

At MEIDASTOUCH NEWS, Ben's of the opinion that this new and false stance is prep for the announcement "Oopsie! Ongoing inesstigation! We can't release anything!"

Ashley Ahn (NEW YORK TIMES) adds, "In a Sunday interview on ABC News, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who has helped lead congressional efforts to release the files, suggested that “100 or more” House Republicans could vote in favor of releasing the Epstein files this week despite opposition from Mr. Trump. The House speaker also predicted a significant number of G.O.P. votes."

Chump lies and his underlings lie. Travis Gettys (RAW STORY) reports on Deputy AG Todd Blanche:

"An important side note about today's Epstein/Trump revelations," noted conservative attorney George Conway on X. "They show that Todd Blanche's questioning of Ghislaine Maxwell was either (a) completely incompetent; or (b) intentionally crafted not to elicit facts incriminating Trump. Either way, he is not fit to serve as Deputy Attorney General of the United States."

Blanche spoke to Maxwell over two days in July at a prison where she's serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking and other charges, and he publicly asserted that she had told him she never saw Trump act inappropriately, and he disputed Conway's criticism.

"George, you’ve never been confused for a trial lawyer, and these kinds of posts explain why," Blanche replied. "When I interviewed Maxwell, law enforcement didn’t have the materials Epstein’s estate hid for years and only just provided to Congress. Stop talking. It’s unbecoming."

The Justice Department official's explanation didn't pass the smell test for many social media users, however.

"Todd, didn't the Justice Department have these emails when they seized Epstein's computers, phones, iPads, and other electronic devices from his homes in Manhattan and the US Virgin Islands?" posted Business Insider's Jacob Shamsian.

"Mr. Blanche - When you questioned Maxwell you simply let her spew a narrative contradicted by evidence already in your possession," said retired attorney Tirah Att. "I'm not sure what the point of the interview was, but we know the result - she was moved to a cushy prison not meant for sexual predators."

If she lied to him, Todd has croaked for months, she could face legal consequences. Well she did lie. Jen Psaki (MS NOW) points that reality out noting the photo of Virginia Giuffre with the King of England's brother Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell:

I’ll spare you the rest of the truly wretched details, but Giuffre said that she and Andrew had sex that night at Epstein and Maxwell’s direction. It was the first of three such encounters.

Both Maxwell and Andrew have vehemently denied that any of this ever happened. A key part of that denial has been asserting that the photo of the trio is fake.

Even just this summer, in an interview with Donald Trump’s personal lawyer-turned-deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, Maxwell flat-out denied it and told him she believed it was “literally a fake photo.”

However, according to one of the emails included in the trove of documents released on Wednesday, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

On July 1, 2011, just months after the photo was first published in the British tabloids, Epstein allegedly sent an email in which he wrote: “Yes she was on my plane, and yes she had her picture taken with Andrew.”

Epstein denied everything else that took place and seemed to defend the photo by adding that many of his employees had taken pictures with Andrew.

It should be noted that Epstein himself is not exactly a reliable or trustworthy source. But the idea that Epstein, way back in 2011, said this photo was real throws into question everything both Andrew and Maxwell have said about the rest of that story.

The fact that, just months ago, Maxwell told Blanche that the photo was fake now adds all the more reason to be skeptical that anything she told the deputy attorney general in that meeting was true.

She lies. Jen's documented it. Ghislaine Maxwell lied. So she goes back to a real prison now? Of course not. She got the deal she wanted in order to shut her up. We have someone in the Oval Office thqt federl prisoner can and did blackmail to get what she wanted. That's another reason you never elect a convicted felon.

Changing topics, ABC7 CHICAGO reports:

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has left its "Operation Midway Blitz" command center at Naval Station Great Lakes, city officials confirmed to ABC7 Chicago Sunday.

The development comes as 200 federalized Texas National Guard members also vacated the base this week, and Customs and Border Protection Cmdr. Greg Bovino also left the Chicago area, being seen during a new surge in immigration enforcement in Charlotte, North Carolina.

And they took the chaos with them to North Carolina. Another peaceful city destroyed by Chump's gestapo. Eduardo Medina and Sonia A. Rao (NEW YORK TIMES) report,

The Trump administration crackdown on illegal immigrants arrived in Charlotte this weekend, resulting in 81 arrests on Saturday. It continued on Sunday, with Border Patrol agents fanning out across the largest city in North Carolina.

An immigrant rights group said the tally, reported by a senior Border Patrol official on social media, was the largest number of immigrant arrests in the state’s recent history.

The presence of the agents, led by Gregory Bovino, who directed similar operations in Chicago and Los Angeles this year, has startled people in one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Much of that growth has been spurred by international migration, especially from Latin America. The city is also home to large corporations in the retail, banking and manufacturing sectors.

Nick Sullivan (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER) explains that every where in the city of Charlotte was a target -- even churches:

Congregants of an east Charlotte church scattered into the woods Saturday when masked federal agents arrived and detained one of their members, according to witnesses. About 15 to 20 church members were doing yard work on the property off Albemarle Road while their children played games and their spouses cooked meals. Agents parked just outside a closed gate leading to the church parking lot and ran into the yard, said the pastor, who did not want to identify himself or his church. The agents asked no questions and showed no identification before taking one man away, whose wife and child were inside at the time, the pastor said. They attempted to grab others, too.

The location didn't matter and citizenship didn't matter. Charlotte's WCNC reports:

As US Customs and Border Patrol began its operation in Charlotte on Nov. 15, 2025, a handful of encounters with agents were reported across the city. This included an encounter near a bar and grill on South Boulevard that a man said led to his truck's window being smashed.

Elsewhere in Charlotte, another encounter was captured on viral video. WCNC Charlotte first brought the video live in a special edition of our Live Impact News show on the WCNC+ platform. The location is unclear, but the video shows agents confronting a woman holding a cell phone. She then stumbles on a grassy area. Agents then proceed to handcuff her, and as she is handcuffed as she says, "I'm a US citizen," and bystanders yell at agents. Her phone is also confiscated during the encounter.

More storm trooper action from the lawless and feckless Chump administration. All this money going into Homeland Security? And it's not really about securing the homeland, remember that. Alexia Underwood (THE NEW REPUBLIC) reports:\

President Donald Trump’s obsessive focus on deporting immigrants has led to extreme changes at the Department of Homeland Security and undermined efforts to combat child exploitation and sex trafficking, a new report found.

According to The New York Times, the department has been forced to shift its priorities and sideline other important law enforcement activities to make way for the president’s agenda.

Agents investigating sexual crimes against children have been temporarily reassigned, a national security probe into the Iranian black market slowed and lost momentum, and agents working on sex trafficking issues have been forced to pause their work in order to support the Trump administration’s deportation goals. Even the Coast Guard has been pulled in to aid the deportation work, the Times reported.

The new data that the report is based on comes from previously unseen internal DHS documents, and interviews with more than 60 officials.

People inside the agency spoke of being “berated” by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller for not arresting enough people. Yet the Trump administration’s extensive focus on immigration hasn’t played out the way they might have imagined. Less than 40 percent of people ICE arrests carry criminal convictions, the report says.

Border patrol is not homeland security. We had border patrol on September 10, 2001. We didn't have Homeland Security. The Dept of Homeland Security was voted into law in November of 2002 and started business on March 1, 2003. The department was created in response to 9/11. This was one of the ways that the country was going to be protected. That's not what they work on these days. Nicholas NehamasMichael H. KellerAlexandra BerzonHamed Aleaziz and Zolan Kanno-Youngs (NEW YORK TIMES) report:

The Department of Homeland Security has diverted thousands of federal agents from their normal duties to focus on arresting undocumented immigrants, undermining a wide range of law enforcement operations in response to mounting pressure from President Trump, a New York Times investigation has found.

Homeland security agents investigating sexual crimes against children, for instance, have been redeployed to the immigrant crackdown for weeks at a time, hampering their pursuit of child predators.

A national security probe into the black market for Iranian oil sold to finance terrorism has been slowed down for months because of the shift to immigration work, allowing tanker ships and money to disappear.

And federal efforts to combat human smuggling and sex trafficking have languished with investigators reassigned to help staff deportation efforts.

Sadly, instead of protecting Americans, Homeland Security is staffed with corrupt people doing a money grab on US tax dollars. Here's Elaine's post Friday:

How much corruption is Kristi Noem going to be allowed to get away with?

Kristi Noem is corrupt. That's not in question at this point. The question is, how much corruption is she going to be able to get away with? Did you miss the latest:

A firm owned by a long-term friend of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and who is married to her senior communications advisor secretly won work on a $220 million border TV advertising blitz in a “corrupt” arrangement, according to a bombshell report.

Benjamin Yoho, 38, has worked and socialized with Noem and Corey Lewandowski, her closest adviser and alleged lover, for many years. He is also the husband of Noem’s loyal Assistant Secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, 31.

Now Yoho’s Strategy Group is alleged to have helped film a DHS TV commercial for the government’s “Stronger Border, Stronger America” campaign, per an investigation published Friday by ProPublica—even though the firm’s name isn’t listed on any public documents.

Instead, the main recipient listed is a shell company, Safe America Media, which had been created only days before it was awarded more than $143 million by DHS, after the department invoked a “national emergency” to bypass competitive bidding.

Here's PROPUBLICA's Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski:

On Oct. 2, the second day of the government shutdown, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem arrived at Mount Rushmore to shoot a television ad. Sitting on horseback in chaps and a cowboy hat, Noem addressed the camera with a stern message for immigrants: “Break our laws, we’ll punish you.”

Noem has hailed the more than $200 million, taxpayer-funded ad campaign as a crucial tool to stem illegal immigration. Her agency invoked the “national emergency” at the border as it awarded contracts for the campaign, bypassing the normal competitive bidding process designed to prevent waste and corruption.

The Department of Homeland Security has kept at least one beneficiary of the nine-figure ad deal a secret, records and interviews show: a Republican consulting firm with long-standing personal and business ties to Noem and her senior aides at DHS. The company running the Mount Rushmore shoot, called the Strategy Group, does not appear on public documents about the contract. The main recipient listed on the contracts is a mysterious Delaware company, which was created days before the deal was finalized.

No firm has closer ties to Noem’s political operation than the Strategy Group. It played a central role in her 2022 South Dakota gubernatorial campaign. Corey Lewandowski, her top adviser at DHS, has worked extensively with the firm. And the company’s CEO is married to Noem’s chief spokesperson at DHS, Tricia McLaughlin.

That is not her personal money, that is our tax dollars. Our tax dollars are supposed to spent wisely and openly. They're not a slush fund for her friends.

This is outrageous. She needs to face Congressional hearings immediately.

We all knew Chump II was going to be corrupt but I don't think we anticipated this kind of blatant corruption where Tom Holman, for instance, takes a $50,000 bribe and is caught on tape doing so and the administration acts like it's normal.

Go read Marcia's "Twelfth Night."

--------------- end of Elaine's post ------------------------------

Chump is a liar who has destroyed our country. His new lie is he wants the Epstein documents released. But it's just today's big lie. He lies constantly. He lied that he'd brought about a peace deal between Gaza and Israel. Peace deal? He didn't even bring about a cease fire. Kevin Reed (WSWS) reports:

According to information compiled by the Government Media Office in Gaza and reported by Al Jazeera, the Israeli military has repeatedly violated the ceasefire that was imposed on Palestinians by the Zionist state in collaboration with the government of President Donald Trump.

The Al Jazeera report says that between October 10 and November 10, Israel breached the agreement at least 282 times, resulting in the death of 242 Palestinians and the wounding of 622.

Through ongoing sustained military offensives and occupation actions, Israel has criminally violated the terms of the ceasefire.

The Gaza Media Office figures show that Trump’s so-called “peace plan” amounts to a continuation of the campaign of violence and repression that began in October 2023 at the outset of the genocide. Cloaked in the language of “security” and “counter-terrorism,” the ongoing targeted assassinations and airstrikes have repeatedly hit civilian Palestinian infrastructure and humanitarian zones, obliterating homes, schools and medical facilities.

Israeli forces have continued to directly target those attempting to deliver and receive humanitarian aid, further deepening the starvation and misery of Palestinians. Despite promises to allow up to 600 aid trucks daily, actual deliveries have fallen far short, a shortage compounded by Israeli announcements to further limit or halt distribution entirely.

The overall death toll continues to mount with Gaza’s Ministry of Health now reporting over 69,000 Palestinian dead and tens of thousands more injured, with many bodies still trapped under debris. These figures alone expose any talk of “peace” as a cynical cover for ongoing atrocities.

Following Trump’s high-profile Gaza “peace plan,” Israel has escalated its military operations under the banner of restoring order but in reality, orchestrated new massacres. Al Jazeera has detailed several of these episodes, including the deadliest day so far, when Israeli attacks killed 45 Palestinians in a series of coordinated strikes shortly after the ceasefire was proclaimed.

Chump lies all the time. It's all he does and it's all he knows.

The following sites updated:

Saturday, November 15, 2025

Quesadillas in the Kitchen

Lydia e-mailed saying thank you to everyone for sharing Thanksgiving thoughts. She knows how to make enchiladas. So she's making enough for ten people (counting herself) and the other nine are family. No one's a holiday cook in the family and with her mother passing, they didn't do anything as a group last year. So she's going to make enchiladas and she's going to do quesadillas as an appetizer via a recipe she found at Love & Lemons that she's done a trial run of:

Ingredients

8 (8-inch) flour tortillas

1½ cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1½ cups grated Monterey Jack cheese

¾ cup cooked black beans, drained and rinsed

½ red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced

4 scallions, thinly sliced

½ cup corn kernels, thawed if frozen

2 jalapeño peppers, thinly sliced

For serving

Homemade Salsa or Salsa VerdePico de Gallo

Guacamole

Sour cream

Chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

Lay the tortillas flat on a clean work surface.

In a medium bowl, place the cheddar and Jack cheeses and toss to combine.

Sprinkle half the cheese evenly over one half of each tortilla, leaving the other half bare. Evenly sprinkle the black beans, red peppers, scallions, corn, and jalapeños over the cheese. Top with the remaining cheese, then fold the bare half of each tortilla over the fillings to create a half-moon shape.

Heat a dry cast iron skillet over medium-low heat. When hot, add two of the quesadillas and cook until the cheese is melted and the quesadillas are browned on both sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side. If the tortillas are browning faster than the cheese is melting, reduce the heat. Repeat with the remaining quesadillas.

Slice and serve with salsa, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, and/or cilantro, as desired.

News? James Hill, Jared Kofsky, Sasha Pezenik, and Olivia Rubin (ABC NEWS) report:

Among the more than 20,000 Epstein documents released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday are several email exchanges disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had in 2015 and 2016 with friends, attorneys and reporters about the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency.

In some instances, Epstein offers suggestions to reporters about leads they might pursue.

One notable example is an email conversation between Epstein and then-New York Times reporter Landon Thomas, Jr. in December 2015.

Thomas initiated the exchange on Dec. 8, 2015, with an email to Epstein referring to a 2002 New York magazine article Thomas had written, in which Trump was quoted calling Epstein a "terrific guy" who "likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."

"Now everyone is coming to me thinking I have juicy info on you and Trump. Because of this," the reporter wrote, referring to that article.

Epstein then replied to Thomas in a series of emails over the next two hours -- in his typical error-ridden style -- first suggesting that Thomas look into Trump's finances before pivoting to more personal subjects.

In one email, Epstein writes: "would you like photso [sic] of donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen." Thomas replied, "Yes!!"

It's unclear whether Epstein possessed such photos or if he ever sent the reporter any photos.

There's so much more going on there than we know.

This is C.I.'s "The Snapshot" for Friday:

Friday, November 14, 2025. Chump's special treatment for Ghislaine Maxwell continues as does his lies to the American people and his was on immigrants, the rule of law and the right to worship.

This morning Michelle Goldberg (NEW YORK TIMES) ponders the special treatment a convicted sex trafficker is currently receiving:

This week, Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, revealed that a whistle-blower gave the House Committee on the Judiciary information about the special treatment that Ghislaine Maxwell is receiving at the minimum-security federal prison she was recently transferred to.

In a letter to Donald Trump, Raskin wrote that Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation, has had custom meals delivered to her cell. The warden, he said, personally arranged for Maxwell to meet privately with family members and other visitors and even provided snacks and refreshments. According to Raskin, her guests were allowed to bring computers, potentially allowing her unauthorized communication with the outside world.

Maxwell was allegedly taken to the prison’s exercise room after hours so she could work out alone, and “allowed to enjoy recreation time in staff-only areas,” wrote Raskin. An inmate who trains service dogs was reportedly instructed to give her special access to a puppy. Raskin claimed that a top official at the prison said that he is “sick of having to be Maxwell’s bitch.”

This special treatment is something everyone should be pondering. Nia Prater (NEW YORK) highlights some of these special perks:

The use of high-level staff for menial tasks, along with special mail privileges

According to Raskin, the whistleblower said Maxwell used high-ranking prison staff for certain tasks, employing FPC Bryan warden Tanisha Hall as her “personal secretary and administrative assistant.”

Ms. Maxwell’s correspondents would email documents directly to the Warden, who would provide them to Ms. Maxwell, who would then review and edit them and provide them back to the Warden to scan and provide to the original sender. For other inmates, simple mail can take weeks to arrive and is frequently lost

Special rules for her visitors

In his letter, Raskin said the prison’s preferential treatment of Maxwell extended to her visitors as well. In one instance, the warden personally arranged a private meeting for Maxwell and a group of visitors, some of whom were relatives. Allegedly, the warden “provided a special cordoned off area for visitors to arrive, as well as an assortment of snacks and refreshments for her guests.”

Unmonitored internet access

According to Raskin’s letter, Maxwell’s visitors were also allowed to bring computers into the facility with Raskin noting the “security risk and potential” for her to use the internet unmonitored.

Less restricted movement

Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported on one specific incident in August where inmates were placed on lockdown, limiting their time for visits and recreation, while Maxwell met with visitors in the prison chapel. According to the outlet, Maxwell was allowed to shower after 8 p.m., when other inmates were mandated to be in their bunks.

Donald Chump's doing all that for Maxwell. Imagine what he'd be doing for Jeffrey Epstein if he were still alive -- midnight blow jobs? As Zeeshan Aleem (MS NOW) points out Chump now has an Epstein problem and a Ghislaine Maxwell problem

In July, the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for helping Epstein prey sexually on children and young women, for a deposition. Just days later, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche swooped in to interview Maxwell in prison over the course of two days.

Maxwell said in her interview with Blanche that she never saw Trump behave inappropriately. Shortly after the interview, her lot in life improved significantly, as MSNBC’s Ken Dilanian explains:

After the interview, she was transferred from a low-security prison in Florida to a minimum-security federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas. The Federal Bureau of Prisons has not explained the transfer, which MSNBC and other outlets reported deviated from a policy that generally forbids sex offenders from serving in prison camps. Days after her arrival, she said in emails to friends and relatives that she was much happier at the less-restrictive facility.

The timing of Blanche’s interview combined with Maxwell’s exceptional transfer reeks of a potential quid pro quo. (A senior administration official told NBC News in August, “Any false assertion this individual was given preferential treatment is absurd.”) New details of special treatment in her new prison camp only strengthen suspicions of an arrangement.

Chump is desperate to distract from these realities as Ben notes in the MEIDASTOUCH NEWS video below that went up about an hour ago.

It's not good for Chump. And it's only going to get worse. Earlier today on MORNING JOE (MS NOW), it was noted that the Epstein-Maxwell scandal comes at "the worst possible time" for Chump.

Jonathan Lemire is among the people offering observations in the clip above. At THE ATLANTIC, his latest piece is "Epstein Returns at the Worst Time for Trump." This story is not going away We said that when they thought they could bury it over the July 4th holiday and we're still saying it. We were right back than and we are right now. It is not going away. Every day, it chips away at him a little more.

Coming up? US House Rep Ro Khanna has already noted this week that he's planning another press briefing with some of the Epstein and Maxwell survivors. Khanna and US House Rep Thomas Massie have been working on the release of the government documents on Epstein for some time now. Sarah Fortinsky ITHE HILL) notes:

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who is leading the effort to force a vote on the full release of the files tied to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, said he is hopeful the number of Republicans backing the measure “could snowball.”

“I’ve already had a couple Republicans tell my office privately that they’re going to vote for it,” Massie told CNN’s Manu Raju outside the Capitol on Wednesday.

“And I think that could snowball,” he added.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday he will call a vote on the measure next week, speeding up the process after a discharge petition garnered the final signature needed to force action on the matter from newly sworn-in Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.).

It's not going away. It will follow Chump to the grave.

Moving over to immigration, this is from Ava and my "Media: Un-American?:"

Emily Prescott (KANSAS CITY STAR) reports, "Federal immigration officers reportedly shot and wounded U.S. citizen Carlos Jimenez during an enforcement stop near a school bus route, sparking Democratic outrage. Civil rights groups condemned the shooting as an example of excessive force. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that an internal investigation is underway to determine whether agents followed protocol."

As is far too often the case, DHS Assistant Liar Tricia McLaughlin is quoted in the article. We no longer quote her because she's been revealed as a liar repeatedly (see our "Media: They fail to note the pattern of ICE lies but make time to defend this year's John Fetterman"). Julianne McShane (MOTHER JONES) notes what happened:

The victim was a 25-year-old named Carlos Jimenez, who is a father of three. He was shot after getting out of his car to tell ICE agents, who had pulled over a vehicle, that children would soon be gathering in that spot for the school bus, his lawyer, Cynthia Santiago, told the newspaper. The agents’ cars had blocked a southern lane on the road and jutted into a second lane, according to the LA Times. “He was telling them, ‘Excuse me. Can you guys please, you know, please wrap this up.’ And immediately, the masked agent pulls out a gun and exchanges some words,” Santiago told the newspaper.

That? That's un-American. And it's un-American in a very bad way.

We have laws and regulations for a reason. But a convicted felon like Donald Chump doesn't care about those -- as he goes around pardoning one crook after another, he makes that clear.

And as he lets ICE and the 'border' patrol (Illinois shared no border with another country) terrorize American citizens and immigrants, he makes clear just how un-American he is.

We have freedom of worship in the United States. Donald Chump is trying to destroy that but we do have the right to worship in this country as we please (and that choice also includes the right not worship). That's what makes Charles Thrush's report for BOOK CLUB CHICAGO so dispiriting:

Federal authorities told demonstrators Friday that there would be “no more prayer” in front of or inside the Broadview ICE facility, in a move that mystified local leaders and raised legal questions.

A federal representative delivered the news to a huddle of faith leaders and activists standing outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Friday, speaking after faith leaders were denied entry to the building for the third time Friday.

Broadview Police Chief Thomas Mills, whose department helped facilitate the phone call, said that he was “trying to figure out” in discussions with Mayor Katrina Thompson and an attorney if a federal agency could legally ban religious gatherings on land owned by the village. Religious groups previously have been allowed to practice outside the facility, he said.

[. . .]

Protesters expressed concern that the direction from federal officials could be in violation of the First Amendment, which guarantees both freedom of religion and assembly. The move also comes days after the AP reported that Pope Leo XIV urged authorities to allow pastoral workers to be able to access detained migrants.

Are we a nation of laws or not? Every day Chump remains president, that question has to be asked because he disregards every law and regulation as though they never existed. And what of his MAGA children of the corn? They're screaming for THE TEN COMMANDMENTS to be posted in schools but they won't defend the right to pray in Chicago? Seems hypocritical but if there were no hypocrites in the US, Chump would never get a single vote in any election.

With that in mind, let's move to Christopher Wells' VATICAN NEWS report:

Invoking a “particularly urgent way of speaking as a body of bishops”, the US Bishops’ Conference has issued a “Special Message” addressing their “concern for the evolving situation impacting immigrants in the United States.

It is the first Special Message released by the bishops since "a similar communication in 2013, published in response to the federal government’s contraceptive mandate. Such Messages can only be issued at the Conference’s plenary assemblies, and then only with the approval of two-thirds of those bishops present and voting at the Assembly. The current Message passed with almost 97% in favour, and only five bishops voting against the measure.

The Special Message assures immigrants that they are not alone, with the Bishops saying they "stand with you in your suffering.” The very beginning of the letter highlights the Bishops’ concerns about immigrants living in “a climate of fear and anxiety”, the current state of the debate over immigration, including the “vilification” of immigrants, conditions in detention centres, lack of access to pastoral care, and other attacks on the dignity of immigrants.

Precisely because of their love for their country, and recalling their prayers for “its peace and prosperity,” the Bishops say they feel “compelled” to raise their voices “in defence of God-given human dignity.”

“Catholic teaching exhorts nations to recognize the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants,” the Bishops write. At the same time, they maintain that “human dignity and national security are not in conflict,” and that “both are possible if people of good will work together.”

The Bishops contend that “safe and legal pathways” for immigration can serve as an “antidote” to the risks of trafficking and exploitation immigrants face, while acknowledging the need for nations to “regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good.”

This is the United States. Chump is forever insisting that some other county is doing Christians wrong (and some are, some countries are) but Chump's doing Christians wrong right here in this country. It's outrageous.

But even in this abuse, Chump's finding it hard to get his way. Matt Shuham (HUFFINGTON POST) notes:

A federal judge on Wednesday outlined plans to release hundreds of people who have been arrested by immigration agents in Chicago, saying that federal authorities had violated a years-old settlement that prohibited certain warrantless immigration arrests.

The arrests made national news as part of the Trump administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz,” which has flooded Chicago with immigration agents who have antagonized local residents and made hundreds of arrests across the city.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings said that federal authorities violated a 2022 settlement prohibiting arrests made without probable cause to indicate that someone is both in the United States illegally and a flight risk. The settlement is known as the Castañon Nava consent decree, after a 2018 lawsuit featuring a plaintiff of that name.

The order could apply to over 600 people — the vast majority of whom have no criminal record, plaintiffs have said — who have been arrested by immigration authorities as part of the operation. However, there are potentially thousands of people who have been arrested and could ultimately be affected by the judge’s decision. Cummings gave the government until Nov. 19 to provide plaintiffs with a list of people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Protection in Chicago since June 11. Both sides of the suit have until Nov. 21 to file a status report.

Chump's gestapo force has been told they can get away with anything so they behave accordingly. Alana Loftus (THE MIRROR) notes:

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent directed his gun at a woman who he accused of following him, prompting the police to get involved, according to shocking video footage.

A Fullerton police officer who was accused of aiding in an ICE raid said that he was forced to intervene after the ICE agent pointed a gun at a woman. The incident occurred in Orange County on Sunday, and the police department said that the officer involved had noticed two vehicles stopped in an intersection in Santa Ana.

The officer saw the man exit one of the vehicles and point a firearm at the other driver, the agency said in a statement. He did not immediately know the identity of the armed man who was dressed in plain clothes. The man soon provided credentials to show that he was an ICE agent.

In a video that quickly circulated on social media, the officer appeared to assist the agent, sparking widespread panic and outrage.

“What are you doing?” the woman being held at gunpoint asked in the video. “Are you for real right now? And now these cops are helping them … I’m just driving.”

The ICE agent insisted that the woman had been following and filming him. The Fullerton police officer told the agent that he could not assist him if no crime had been committed. The woman left soon after, followed by the officer, according to the statement from the police department.

As usual, the DHS's paid liar shows up:

Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary, also released a statement, saying, “To defend himself, following the aggression of the driver and her refusal to follow law enforcement commands, our officer followed his training and drew his weapon. The driver fled the scene before local police arrived and is still at large. No shots were fired."

The video, which has garnered a lot of attention on social media, appears to contradict McLaughlin's statement, as the driver can be heard in the video when the police officer was at the scene.

Lies are all that props Chump up now. Each day, it's as though we are living in North Korea as Chump delivers another proclamation about how good the economy is and how groceries and gas have gone down and inflation. Allison Morrow (CNN) delivers the bad news:

With renewed verve for the word “affordability” after the GOP got absolutely trounced in last week’s off-year elections, the Trump administration is scrambling to show it’s doing something, anything, to bring prices down.

One solution on offer: reversing its own policy of taxing coffee imports.

“You’re going to see some substantial announcements over the next couple of days in terms of things we don’t grow here in the United States — coffee being one of them, bananas, other fruits, things like that,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Wednesday. “So that that will bring the prices down very quickly.”

This is interesting for a couple of reasons:

Bessent here is implicitly acknowledging that tariffs do increase prices on American consumers — a fact the Trump administration has long denied. Bessent didn’t offer details about what the tariff reductions would look like or which countries would be included, but he said — seeming to acknowledge the financial strain that helped secure a Democratic sweep last week — that “the American people are going to start feeling better.” (The White House, when asked for more details on the plan, referred CNN to an executive order from September laying out potential tariff adjustments based on national security and economic goals.)

Even if Trump and Bessent made a giant carve-out for coffee, it is highly unlikely that prices will go down significantly. And that’s because Americans, as a people, love coffee too much.

To state the obvious: Coffee has become annoyingly expensive. Retail prices are up about 20% year-over-year.

There are two primary causes for that price inflation: Extremely volatile weather has eaten into the harvest of an already labor-intensive, hard-to-grow crop. That’s been happening for a few years. And Trump’s tariffs on Brazil (50%), Colombia (10%) and Vietnam (20%)— the three biggest coffee exporters — are piling added costs on top of that. And since coffee only grows in a few places on Earth, it’s not like we can just mow down a few cornfields out in the heartland and start up our own domestic supply.

It's a shame that the Chump administration's default position is to lie to the American people. Over and over. They could be treating adults like adults but that would require owning up to the damage that Chump's tariffs really did and are really doing.

Morrow concludes her analysis with this:

More than nine months into his second term, Trump is losing the affordability argument -- the issue that, by his own telling, won him re-election. A CNN poll last week found that 61% of Americans say his policies “worsened economic conditions in this country.” That number topped out at 58% under Biden in CNN polling, and it was generally in the low-to-mid-50s during Biden’s term.

If Trump lowers coffee tariffs thinking he’s going to get Americans relief, he picked the wrong product. We the people may not like paying more for coffee, but we do it anyway. And ultimately, the extra dollars and cents we’re spending on coffee pale in comparison to the big-ticket issues — namely housing, energy and health care -- that helped secure Democrats’ wins last week.

The American people are fed up. As a group, we'll pull together and work together on a number of things. But, no, we're not going to play the recipients of North Korea style government propaganda. And you saw that last week in the various elections across the country. Veronique de Rugy breaks it down:

The Nov. 4 election results are a reality check for the Trump administration. Democrats didn't just run up the score in deep-blue enclaves. With power prices soaring, they flipped two Georgia utility-regulator seats in rare statewide victories. In New York City, more than half of voters told exit pollsters that their top worry is the cost of living. Seven in 10 Americans say their grocery bills have gone up this past year. Six in 10 say their utility costs have increased.

So, yes, the affordability issues that dominated the 2024 election remain central. But President Donald Trump insists there's no problem. "Thanksgiving dinner under Trump is 25 percent lower than 2024 Thanksgiving dinner under Biden, according to Walmart," he declared on Truth Social. "My cost(s) are lower than the Democrats on everything, especially oil and gas! So the Democrats' 'affordability' issue is DEAD!"

Trump's referring to Walmart's "inflation-free Thanksgiving meal," said to feed 10 people for $40, plus fees. This year's standard basket is less expensive than last year's eight-person bundle, but it no longer contains pecan pie, whipped topping, muffin mix, poultry seasoning, chicken broth, sweet potatoes, onions and celery, all of which have been quietly dropped.

The 2025 food basket is a perfect metaphor for the broader economy. The president insists that "every price is down," but that's incorrect. While chicken breasts cost a bit less than a year ago, eggs, bacon, orange juice and beef are all more expensive. Trump's policies didn't trigger these price hikes, but they sure do perpetuate them.

Trump is also wrong to claim that "we're at a perfect number" on inflation, which no longer dominates headlines. But it's still affecting people. Since early 2021, average hourly earnings are up about 21.8%. Consumer prices have risen faster, with grocery prices up nearly 30% since 2020.

He can't stop lying. It's weeks now with the Walmart lie. MEIDASTOUCH NEWS' JD Wolf rightly called it out and corrected the record immediately after Donald lied about the first time. Many other outlets have called out the lie. But he continues to repeat it over and over.

Nearly 900,000 homeowners are underwater on their mortgage as home prices fall, signaling a worrying turn in the housing market.

That figure represents 1.6% of all mortgage holders in the U.S. While the share may seem like a small part of the overall market, it’s also the highest rate in three years, according to a new report by Intercontinental Exchange

As existing-home sales remain on track to hit a 30-year low, home prices are losing steam due to years of tepid demand from home buyers. A homeowner is underwater on their mortgage when they owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth.

The housing crisis. Suzanne Blake (NEWSWEEK) explains:

Amid a nationwide housing crisis, President Donald Trump has suggested a 50-year mortgage as a way to make homeownership more affordable.

Federal Housing Finance Agency director Bill Pulte, who oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said they were “working on it,” and that it would be “a complete game-changer.”

However, financial experts are warning that it could leave Americans in significant financial trouble in the long term.

Longer-term mortgages can dramatically lower the monthly payment for homeowners, allowing more Americans to afford the cost of buying their own home.

A 50-year mortgage could shift monthly payments to $1,823 based on the median sale price of a home from September, $415,200, compared to a 30-year fixed loan, according to CNBC. Based on today’s current interest rates of roughly 6.3 percent, that would amount to a $233 monthly savings.

However, experts are warning that this would prevent homeowners from building equity as quickly. The interest paid over time would also be 40 percent higher.

The one problem that seems to have his attention is the one with a 'solution' or 'plan' that will only make things worse. He's destroyed our economy so badly that we should be able to sue him for the damage he's done. Mary Anthony (MARKET REALIST) offers this reality:

Tariffs are about to dampen the Christmas spirit for the average American consumer as holiday decor prices soar for the first time in decades. Artificial Christmas trees are expected to cost more since businesses are cutting down on imports. Consumers will now have to pay between 10% and 20% more than they did a year ago due to tariffs. A tree that cost about $299 in 2024 might cost up to $359 this year.

And still he lies. Frank Yemi (INQUISITR) explains:

Advisers to President Donald Trump are working hard to rein in his tendency to downplay Americans’ financial struggles. They are urging him to stop denying that a cost-of-living crisis exists.

They want him to shift his message to one that recognizes the pain people feel at the checkout line. “You can’t convince people that their experience, what they’re feeling at home, isn’t reality,” one official told CNN via DailyBeast. This warning reflects the panic inside the West Wing after a tough election night for GOP candidates.

The push comes as the White House considers changing its strategy. Aides are suggesting a nationwide shift to focus on the economy and highlight policies the president claims will lower prices. Trump’s team wants him to stress solutions for affordability, even though inflation remains high and voters continue to struggle. Recent reports indicate plans for new tax break proposals and a broader affordability effort to change the narrative ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Trump, meanwhile, insists everything is fine; in a Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham, he dismissed worries about prices as a Democratic “con job” and ignored surveys showing voter anxiety. “I don’t know that they are saying that. I think polls are fake. We have the greatest economy we’ve ever had,” he stated.

Inside the White House, advisers worry that this kind of talk is politically dangerous. After Republicans and Trump-aligned candidates faced significant losses this month, aides have warned that downplaying grocery and rent issues could turn a difficult situation into a disaster. Public polling supports these concerns.

Chump suffered a devastating blow last week. He lies to everyone. Not just the American people, to everyone, and that includes to members of his own party in Congress. He has told them they will suffer consequences if they go against him, he has threatened and bullied. And they've believed him even though polling indicated otherwise. Now they look back on last week and realize it was obvious the GOP was going to suffer. Now they have to face reality because the results were cold water thrown in their face. Euan O'Byrne Mulligan (THE I PAPER) explores Chump as a lame duck:

Donald Trump could become a “lame duck” president within a year unless he turns the political tide before next year’s mid-terms, experts have told The i Paper.

Following a difficult few weeks, during which the continuing issue of Trump’s links to Jeffrey Epstein resurfaced, the government shutdown cut off low-income citizens from welfare, inflation continued to eat into Americans’ earnings, and the Democrats stormed to victory in key elections by promising to address the cost of living, the US President has suffered from tanking polls numbers.

Even though he has reached a deal to end the record-breaking shutdown, criticism from high-profile figures in his Republican Party and Maga base has highlighted fractures that are only likely to widen during the second half of his presidential term.

On Wednesday, Trump was once again linked to Epstein, as Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a further 20,000 pages of documents from the estate of the convicted sex offender.

Democrats made public three emails referencing the President, including one Epstein wrote in 2011 where he told his confidante Ghislaine Maxwell that Trump had “spent hours” at his house with Virginia Giuffre, a prominent accuser who died by suicide this year.

In another email, from 2019, Epstein told a journalist that Trump “knew about the girls” – though what he knew — and whether it pertained to the sex offender’s crimes — remains unclear.

Let's wind down with this from THE BLACK COMMENTATOR:

The Black Commentator

Issue #1063

is now Online

November 13, 2025