Trump quote about bathrooms and water pressure during McDonald's speech is authentic
Nov. 18th, 2025 10:32 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
snopes_feedThe president took a detour from addressing the economy to speak about bathroom activity.
snopes_feedicanhascheezburger_feedThe Cat Distribution System is a seemingly ever increasingly complex and complicated being. Other than the fact that it seems to almost exclusively use trash cans and roadsides as places for cat children and their new pawrents to meet. As today, we delve into the story of two siblings who were unwittingly doing some training in the park and happened upon a classic kitten in a trash can situation. Following the tiny meows they heard, they soon found a sweetheart and scooped it up to bring it home for good.
However, unlike most other CDS stories, this was simply not enough for the CDS as while they were driving home to explain to their hooman parents how and why they have brought a fifth kitten into their home, they happen upon a sixth by the side of a busy road. Leaving these siblings to have to explain how and why their fur family should now consist of six felines. A tough sell indeed.
snopes_feedBessent was talking to Maria Bartiromo on her Fox Business show "Sunday Morning Futures."
UpWords - Max Lucado: 18 November 2025
Nov. 18th, 2025 04:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sparoweA Faithful Father
I can’t assure you your family will ever give you the blessing you seek, but God will. Let God give you what your family doesn’t. How do you do that? By emotionally accepting God as your father. It’s one thing to accept him as Lord, another to recognize him as Savior, but another matter entirely to accept him as Father.
To recognize God as Lord is to acknowledge that he is sovereign in the universe. To accept him as Savior is to accept his gift of salvation offered on the cross. But to regard him as Father is to go a step further. Ideally, a father is the one in your life who provides and protects. That’s exactly what God has done! God’s proven himself as a faithful father. Now let God fill the void others have left. You are his child, and he’ll give you the blessing he promised!
Read more The Lucado Inspirational Reader
icanhascheezburger_feedMeowing wow, how do we even begin explaining this situation? Look, let's start with some obvious truths:
First of all, if people are allergic to cats, there's no reason to force them to adopt cats. Yes, as much as we love cats with at least 300% of our hearts - we understand that allergic people can't simply have a cat and things will be magic. Not all people heal from an allergic reaction by exposure. But assuming a magical healing took place, this brings us to our second point.
Secondly, if a person fell in love with a cat - especially after they got over allergies that prevented them from doing so in the first place - there's no way we should ever break this bond. A bond between a cat and their person is one of the strongest in this world. It's sacred. People and cats are meant to live together, to show each other love, and that's beautiful.
Third and last thing, most relationship feuds can be solved by healthy communication. We're not relationship therapists, but cats? We know a thing or two about cats. And harboring jealousy by one half of a relationship over the other's bond with a cat is not good. The cat doesn't do this "on purpose", there's no malice in a cat's bond with their chosen person.
Did Trump call a reporter 'piggy' on Air Force One?
Nov. 18th, 2025 08:48 pmsnopes_feedThe reporter was asking about the release of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's files.
Pixel Pests
Nov. 18th, 2025 09:00 pmnotalwaysright_feedRead Pixel Pests
Back in the early 2000s, the software company I worked for started replacing the chunky CRT monitors with TFT (thin-film-transistor) monitors. A few weeks later, one of my colleagues called me over as he thought he was seeing things.
Colleague: "I've got a black pixel moving around the screen."
Read Pixel Pests
‘Jeffrey definitely had dirt on Trump,’ says Epstein’s brother
Nov. 18th, 2025 08:30 pmdailykos_feedDuring a NewsNation segment on Monday, Mark Epstein said that his brother, Jeffrey Epstein, “had dirt” on President Donald Trump, alleging that the FBI is involved in a cover-up.
During disgraced former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo’s show, Mark discussed the controversy surrounding his brother.
“He didn’t tell me what he knew, but Jeffrey definitely had dirt on Trump,” he said. “You could see in the emails, Trump could deny it all he wants, but it’s pretty clear everything Trump says is a lie.”
In emails that were released by House Democrats last week, Jeffrey wrote that Trump “knew about the girls” and “spent hours” at his house with one of the victims.
During his interview, Mark also said that the “Bubba” reference in one of the emails, which referred to “photos of Trump blowing Bubba,” was not regarding former President Bill Clinton.
“The email had nothing to do with Clinton, and that’s my last word on that email,” Mark said.
He also said that he believes that any future release of information from the FBI should be regarded with suspicion.
“I’ve been recently told the reason they’re going to be releasing these things, and the reason for the flip is that they’re sanitizing these files,” Mark said. “There’s a facility in Winchester, Virginia, where they’re scrubbing the files to take Republican names out of it. That’s what I was told by a pretty good source.”
Epstein survivors have increased their criticism of Trump for refusing to release the files. In a press conference Tuesday, survivor Jena-Lisa Jones called Trump a “national embarrassment.”
Meanwhile, Trump has faced increasing backlash from Republicans for standing in the way of disclosure, leading to Trump attempting to pivot his position on the release of the files.
But Trump could order the release of the Epstein files immediately if he wanted to. He clearly just doesn’t want to.
Accused murderer doing 'a phenomenal job,' says Trump
Nov. 18th, 2025 08:25 pmdailykos_feedPresident Donald Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House Tuesday, where he was asked why anyone should trust the man who is widely accused of ordering the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump: He's done a phenomenal job. You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial—a lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that. You don't have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.
Related | Trump and Saudis conspire to cover up murder of Washington Post journalist
Epstein files inch closer to release after House does its damn job
Nov. 18th, 2025 07:47 pmdailykos_feedThe House on Tuesday finally voted to force President Donald Trump to release the Epstein files—the culmination of a monthslong effort by Democrats and a handful of Republican lawmakers who want the public to see the evidence the government had on now-deceased accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The vote was 427-1, with Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana voting against it, after Trump reluctantly dropped his opposition to the legislation and gave his blessing to his GOP minions to vote yes.
Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) first introduced the bill in July, which instructs the Department of Justice to release unclassified documents relating to Epstein, Epstein’s death in a federal prison, and his co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell—who is currently serving time in federal prison for her related crimes.
However, Trump was adamant that the files not be released, and spent months attacking Massie and the Democrats who want the files out in the open. In fact, Trump took a low blow at Massie, criticizing the Kentucky Republican for remarrying after his wife unexpectedly died last year.
Related | Trump is definitely not mad about the vote to release the Epstein files
In order to appease Dear Leader, House Speaker Mike Johnson refused to put the legislation up for a vote on the floor, making bullshit excuses about how releasing the documents would hurt Epstein’s victims—even though the victims had been begging for the files to be released.
In order to bypass Johnson, Massie and Khanna resorted to using a procedural move called a discharge petition—in which a majority of the members of the House can force a bill to the floor over the objections of the speaker.
But Johnson spent months trying to block that, too. He refused to seat newly elected Arizona Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva for nearly two months—as her signature was the majority-maker for the petition.
Once Johnson finally swore Grijalva in, the discharge petition was successful. And after it became clear that hundreds of GOP lawmakers were going to vote for the legislation on the floor, Trump did an about-face and told Republicans they were free to vote yes on the bill.
Related | Epstein survivor calls Trump a 'national embarrassment'
However, Johnson on Tuesday said that while he was going to vote for the bill, he is hopeful the Senate will amend the legislation that passes in order to allow the Trump administration to continue to hold back documents or evidence that would implicate anyone in Epstein's crimes.
“When this moves forward in the process—if and when it is processed in the Senate, which is no certainty—they will take the time methodically to do what we have not been allowed to do in the House. To amend this discharge petition,” Johnson said Tuesday at a news conference.
It's the latest cowardly move from the spineless GOP leader.
“If he actually wanted the Epstein files released, he could have offered his suggestions four months ago and brought it to the floor,” Massie told reporters on Tuesday about Johnson. “Instead he … spread lies about our legislation he now supports because the president told him to.”
What's more, the legislation shouldn't even be necessary, as Trump can just release the files of his own volition—something he refuses to do, likely because his name is littered throughout the documents.
Ultimately, Trump and the GOP's efforts to block the files from being released have been incredibly unpopular.
And Epstein's own victims slammed Trump at a news conference on Tuesday for not being transparent—as he once promised to be.
Jena-Lisa Jones, an Epstein survivor who first met the well-connected financier when she was just 14, spoke at a news conference and had some blunt words for the president:
Now that checks and balances of our democracy have worked and the bill is getting passed to release the files, we are hearing the administration say they intend to investigate various Democrats who were friends with Epstein. I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political. … I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment. It is time to take the honest, moral ground and support the release of these files, not to weaponize pieces of the files against random political enemies that did nothing wrong, but to understand who Epstein's friends were, who covered for him, what financial institutions allowed his trafficking to continue, who knew what he was doing but was too much of a coward to do anything about it.
Given that Johnson is already laying the groundwork for the Republican-controlled Senate to water down the legislation, Jones and her fellow survivors may be waiting a lot longer for the justice they crave.
Vocab Vengeance
Nov. 18th, 2025 08:00 pmnotalwaysright_feedRead Vocab Vengeance
Me: "Of course, ma'am. What time and for how many?"
Caller: "Ten people on [date] at 10:45 PM."
Me: "Ma'am, we close at 11 PM, so—"
Caller: "—and?! We're making a booking before you close."
Read Vocab Vengeance
22 Feline Funnies Featuring Our Fluffy Overlords for Cat Pawrents Who Know Their Place
Nov. 18th, 2025 11:00 amicanhascheezburger_feed"Know your place, hooman", is probably what our cats are thinking when they watch us from above their cat tree, observing their kingdom (the house) and their peasants (us). And they'd be right to think this way. All cat pawrents already know - we give our lives to our cats, and happily so. It's not just a thing that happens randomly. No. We want this - we're just waiting for the moment the Cat Distribution System will take the decision "You, mere human, it's your turn to be ruled by a feline overlord. Here's one. Take care of it. Or else."
And we love every second of it. We love that cats rule us with an iron paw. It's not masochism, it's true love. A stranger would never understand. But us, cat people, we understand each other - yes, we might be the peasants in our cats' realms, but we love that our cats love us. We love every cuddle, every soft meow, every loud purr. We just wait for the moment our cats decide to show us their love - and when it comes? It's glorious.
And we can't really have enough cats in our lives. So why not celebrate our fluffy kings and queens with some feline funnies? It's the best that we can do, all day, every day.
Record anxiety over medical costs gives Democrats their opening
Nov. 18th, 2025 07:00 pmdailykos_feedAmericans are bracing for a health care system they increasingly feel is failing them. A new survey from West Health and Gallup finds anxiety over impending medical costs at its highest point since the firms began tracking these concerns four years ago—a sign that health care may once again define a midterm cycle.
For the Democratic Party, the numbers offer something close to validation. During the GOP’s government shutdown, Democrats worked to shore up and extend protections, while Republicans pushed to unwind them. This survey suggests voters noticed, and that the issue isn’t going away.
Almost half of adults—47%—are worried they won’t be able to afford health care next year. That’s the largest share since 2021. Anxiety over prescription drugs has climbed, too, from 30% in 2021 to 37% now.
The daily strain is worsening. Fifteen percent of Americans say medical costs cause “a lot of stress” in their lives, nearly double the rate from three years ago. Three in 10 adults report that someone in their household skipped care because they couldn’t afford it. And the disparities are staggering: Only 18% of Massachusetts residents say a household member skipped treatment due to cost, compared with 46% in Mississippi.
Access problems go beyond money, though. Long waits for appointments are among the most common obstacles, delaying or preventing care for 53% of adults. In Vermont, that figure hits 72%, but even in Nebraska—the state with the best rating on this issue—it’s 46%.
These concerns are already shaping the congressional fight over whether to renew enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits. Only about half of U.S. adults—51%—believe basic health care is affordable and accessible, a 10-percentage-point drop since 2022. The decline is even sharper among Black (-13 points) and Hispanic Americans (-17 points).
Trump, meanwhile, didn’t exactly calm nerves this week for voters staring down rising premiums and deductibles.
On Tuesday, he blasted out a baffling Truth Social post insisting that the only health care plan he’d “SUPPORT OR APPROVE” is one that sends money “DIRECTLY BACK TO THE PEOPLE,” because “RICH INSURANCE COMPANIES” have “RIPPED OFF AMERICA LONG ENOUGH.”
“THE PEOPLE WILL BE ALLOWED TO NEGOTIATE AND BUY THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, INSURANCE,” he continued. “Congress, do not waste your time and energy on anything else. This is the only way to have great Healthcare in America!!!”
The plan is, of course, nonsensical. Handing people cash to buy coverage would funnel the money back to insurers—the very industry he claims he wants to sideline. And the idea that stressed-out, overworked Americans are eager to cold-call insurance companies to negotiate rates is pulled straight from his “businessman” worldview—entirely unattached from the reality of the U.S. health system and the lived experience of the vast majority of Americans.
It also raises an obvious question: How is a low-income patient supposed to strike a better deal than the federal government?
Trump’s harebrained idea underscores just how far removed he is from the anxieties captured in the West Health-Gallup survey—and why the health care issue may lift Democrats’ chances in the 2026 midterm elections.
West Health and Gallup also tallied self-reported health care experiences in every state and Washington, D.C., and the gaps are striking. Iowa ranks best overall based on the combined ratings for cost, quality, and access. And Alaska falls dead last.
Even in the strongest-performing states, though, cracks show. Iowa’s top overall rating is still just a “C+.” And 15% of adults in the 10 top-rated states say they have forgone necessary prescription drugs in the past three months. In the 10 lowest-ranked states, that jumps to 29%.
Skipping care has become routine nationwide. One quarter of adults in the best-ranked states avoided recommended tests or procedures because of cost in the past year. And in low-ranked places—such as Alaska, Montana, and Texas—the share climbs to 40% on average.
And beyond cost, Americans describe a system buckling under its own weight. Twenty-seven percent of adults blamed work schedules for their restricted access to care—a reminder that insurance alone doesn’t guarantee access. And confusion about where to find providers is widespread: 25% of adults in the top-ranked states and 31% in the lowest-ranked states say they don’t know where to go for care.
All of it adds up to a troubling picture heading into 2026. Enhanced ACA subsidies are set to expire on Dec. 31, while Medicaid work requirements go into effect in January 2027—changes researchers say could cause nearly 5 million more people to go uninsured.
Pair those shifts with a mounting affordability crisis, and the next few years could push millions further from the care they need.
For Democrats, the poll reads like a permission slip to double down. Health care is the one issue they pressed relentlessly during the GOP’s shutdown—both because the stakes were high and because they believed Republicans had left themselves exposed. The new data suggests they were right.
And Trump’s latest musings only sharpen the contrast. While he flirts with a deregulation fantasy that hinges on ordinary people negotiating their own insurance, Democrats are preparing to make rising costs and eroding protections a centerpiece of their midterm case.
If the West Health-Gallup numbers are any indication, voters are primed to hear their pitch.
Marjorie Taylor Greene slings more dirt at Trump for Epstein files
Nov. 18th, 2025 06:55 pmdailykos_feedRepublican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene continued her efforts to rebrand herself as something resembling a moderate on Tuesday, joining a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Speaking alongside survivors, ahead of a vote to release the long-promised Epstein files, Greene was asked about her current feelings toward President Donald Trump and the GOP.
I only take people's actions seriously. No longer words. And I’ll tell you because I wasn't a Johnny-come-lately to the MAGA train. I was Day One, 2015. And there's a big difference in those Americans, and those that decided to support President Trump later on. And I'll tell you, right now, this has been one of the most destructive things to MAGA—is watching the man that we supported early on, three elections for people that stood hours, slept in their cars to go to rallies, have fought for truth and transparency and to hold what we consider a corrupt government accountable—watching this actually turn into a fight, has ripped MAGA apart. And the only thing that will speak to the powerful, courageous women behind me is when action is actually taken to release these files. And the American people won't tolerate any other bullshit. That's where we are today.
Related | Trump is definitely not mad about the vote to release the Epstein files
icanhascheezburger_feedCats are much smarter than we give them credit for, and no, our cat didn't pay us to write that. They are pawsitively primed to their surroundings, even more so than we are. The story below is a purrfect example of that! One pawrent built a bar in his basement and started hanging out down there more, inviting friends and doing other hooman things down there. But, whenever he stayed down there, his normally lazy 13-year-old senior cat went absolutely feral. Bouncing off the walls, meowing, and digging at a certain spot despite his old age and arthritis. His hooman thought he was just being a menace, so he ignored him.
Well, when one purrticular friend was over and noticed his cat's purrfectly strange behavior, he suggested the hooman get a radon detector to check, just in case. He did, and it turns out that the spot where the cat was "digging' was releasing six times the healthy amount of radon into his home. He got it promptly taken care of, and now the senior cat can finally relax downstairs.
We joke a lot here at I Can Has Cheezburger about orange cats having one collective brain cell together, but in this case, we think the hooman was missing a few by not listening to his cat's purrfect pleas to fix something that was clearly wrong. Now go give that cat a nice slab of expensive tuna, he certainly earned it!
Unable To Enter Sleep Mode
Nov. 18th, 2025 06:55 pmnotalwaysright_feedRead Unable To Enter Sleep Mode
Me: *Wipes sleep out of eye, gets up, stumbles over to computer.* "What exactly is happening?"
User: "When I press certain keys on the keyboard, that key repeats on the screen."
Me: "You called me about a keyboard not working?"
A Clothes Encounter Of The Annoying Kind
Nov. 18th, 2025 06:45 pmnotalwaysright_feedRead A Clothes Encounter Of The Annoying Kind
She will destroy a tower of folded items, even if the size she wants is near the top of said tower, hold it over herself in the mirror, and if she decides she doesn’t want it (which is 90% of the time), she will just drop it on the floor, standing in place, and move on.
Epstein isn't the only sex trafficker with alleged ties to Trump
Nov. 18th, 2025 05:30 pmdailykos_feedThe Trump administration reportedly intervened in a federal investigation of accused sex trafficker Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, who are both right-wing influencers who have promoted President Donald Trump.
ProPublica reported on Tuesday that a White House official instructed the Department of Homeland Security to return electronic devices that had been seized by Customs and Border Protection officials from the Tates when they returned to the U.S. in February. The official in question was Paul Ingrassia, who previously worked as a lawyer for the brothers.
An official involved with the case told the outlet, “It was so offensive to what we’re all here to do, to uphold the law and protect the American people.”
The brothers have been accused in Romania and the United Kingdom of luring women to their home, forcing them into debt, and pressuring them into filming pornography that was shared online. The Tates have denied the charges.
Andrew Tate has described himself as a misogynist and has promoted the idea of physically abusing women and forcing them into sex. Tate’s content has attracted a significant following in the right-wing “manosphere” world.
Back in February, the Trump administration pressured the Romanian government to pull back travel restrictions on the Tates, who were under house arrest in that nation. Matthew Jury, who represents four of the alleged Tate victims, told the BBC at the time the women were “absolutely bewildered why the Trump administration has decided to interfere in this way.”
Related | Why is Trump pressuring Romania to go soft on accused rapist Andrew Tate?
In March, the restrictions were eased and the Tates came to the U.S. The allegations against them were so severe that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a staunch Trump ally, said they were not welcome in the state.
The Trump administration’s support for the brothers is in line with Trump’s own history of misogyny and sexual assault. Trump was found liable in 2023 for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Caroll and Judge Lewis A. Kaplan later confirmed in a court filing the jury found that Trump had raped Carroll. Trump has also been accused of sexual abuse by multiple women.
Trump also bragged about committing sexual assault on the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, saying, “Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
Tate and Trump share similar views of women and are fellow travelers in the world of conservative politics. Using the federal government to help out figures like the Tates seems to be standard operating procedure for the administration.
Epstein survivor calls Trump a 'national embarrassment'
Nov. 18th, 2025 05:25 pmdailykos_feedA group of women who say they were abused by the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein spoke out on Capitol Hill Tuesday, ahead of a vote on a bill to release the Justice Department’s files on Epstein. And Jena-Lisa Jones, a survivor who met Epstein when she was 14, had harsh words for President Donald Trump.
Jones: Now that checks and balances of our democracy have worked and the bill is getting passed to release the files, we are hearing the administration say they intend to investigate various Democrats who were friends with Epstein. I beg you, President Trump, please stop making this political. … I voted for you, but your behavior on this issue has been a national embarrassment. It is time to take the honest, moral ground and support the release of these files, not to weaponize pieces of the files against random political enemies that did nothing wrong, but to understand who Epstein's friends were, who covered for him, what financial institutions allowed his trafficking to continue, who knew what he was doing but was too much of a coward to do anything about it.
Backcharge To The Future
Nov. 18th, 2025 06:00 pmnotalwaysright_feed
Customer: "I want a refund on my repair."
Me: "Has the car broken again?"
Customer: "No, but I just found out that the garage where I got the car from to begin with would have fixed it for free!"
23 Funnies of Both Cute Kittens and Furiously Feisty Felines to Embrace Our Pawrenting Path
Nov. 18th, 2025 09:00 amicanhascheezburger_feedPawrenting is hard, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It is one of the most rewarding things you can do as a hooman, but these cats will press your buttons every day, some days to the brink of insanity. When you come home and find your socks all over the floor because your cat cleared them out so they could lie down in "their" favorite drawer for the 40th time, it's natural to lose your cool. Or when you have to take them to the vet because they've stopped eating and you're pawsitively worried sick about them…. only for the vet to tell you that they're just mad you came back late from work yesterday.
But, all that being said, we do love being a pawrent. You have little ones waiting for you at home, who want to snuggle up next to you while you read or watch TV, and they bring a brightness to your home that wouldn't be the same without them. You have to take the good with the bad, and that's life.
To prepare you for your pawrenting journey, or if you're already there, we've found some funnies for you that purrfectly relate to your pawrenting expurrience. These adorable cat memes reflect the highs and lows of caring for cat children, so don't say we didn't warn you. It will be the best and worst thing in your life, but you'll never want to give it up once you start.
The Moral Compass Points Toward The Exit
Nov. 18th, 2025 05:00 pmnotalwaysright_feedRead The Moral Compass Points Toward The Exit
I took [Worker #1] at his word and said I would speak to [Worker #2] and see what was going on.
Well, I did. And [Worker #2] let me have it.
Worker #2: "Absolutely f****** not. You better not have just come here planning to lecture me because of an empty claim like 'he's been avoiding me,' without doing your due diligence."
23 Photos of Goofy Ginger Cats Proving They’re the Golden Retrievers of the Whiskered World
Nov. 18th, 2025 08:00 amicanhascheezburger_feedPeople who talk about how aloof cats are have clearly never met a ginger cat before. Of course, all cats have their fun moments, but with most cats, you have to wait, you have to be patient, to see their true chaotic potential. Ginger cats though, they show you their true colors right away. They will surprise you by how fast they can make you laugh. Orange cats are kind of like… the golden retrievers of the whiskered world.
We don't know quite what it is that makes them so different than other cats, but the internet's theory is very simple. Orange cats have one braincell only - to share between all of them. Every once in a while, your orange might be blessed with receiving the braincell, and you will be amazed by their intelligence. But for the most part, orange cats will be their silly selves, and we will be right here, enjoying every second of it.