Robert Reich

Office Hours: Does Trump want to release the Epstein files? If not, what’s Trump REALLY trying to hide?





Friends,

The likelihood that dozens of House Republicans will vote in favor of compelling the Justice Department to release the Epstein files has caused Trump to reverse his objections and urge House Republicans to back such a measure.

But this raises two questions that are the subjects of today’s Office Hours discussion.

First: Is Trump sincere about wishing to release the Epstein files?

Some say yes. He didn’t count on how strongly the MAGA base wanted the files released, and therefore how much opposition he’d run into from House Republicans. Trump’s announcement avoids a potential embarrassment for him. Now he just wants to get the Epstein matter behind him.

Others say no, he doesn’t really want them released. Calling for their release is just another Trump ruse to make it look as if he’s innocent.

READ MORE...

At A Glance

Ancient ideas that tried to explain the northern lights.

Time magazine's 100 must-read books of the year.

Ultrawealthy pay top dollar to build secluded worlds.

Japan tops list of most desirable countries to visit.

Teen boys are more likely to want marriage than teen girls.

... and a record number of young women want to leave the US.

Psychologists identify 100 most-dreaded life decisions.

Chefs share the unique dishes on their Thanksgiving tables.

Clickbait: Thai police seize meth and 81 monkeys.

Historybook: Disney's "Steamboat Willie," first cartoon with synchronized sound, premieres (1928); Poet and novelist Margaret Atwood born (1939); 918 people die in a mass murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana (1978); Massachusetts court ruling makes the state the first to recognize same-sex marriage (2003).

1440 Trivia: Grains made up what percent of ancient Romans' diets? Check back tomorrow for the answer (or dig for it here).

HEALTHY EGG BAKE | spinach, mushrooms & cottage cheese recipe

Quick Clips

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Americana folk singer-songwriter Todd Snider dies at age 59 after being hospitalized with pneumonia (More) | Seattle Seahawks safety and Pro Football Hall of Famer Kenny Easley dies at age 66 (More)

> Italy's Jannik Sinner tops Spain's Carlos Alcaraz to win ATP Finals title in Turin for second straight year, earning $5M prize (More)

> "Now You See Me 3" leads the box office, grossing $75.5M globally in its weekend debut, outpacing “The Running Man” (More)


Science & Technology
> NASA to launch Sentinel-6B, the next satellite in a multidecade effort to measure sea level rise across roughly 90% of Earth's oceans; launch window began around 12 am ET (More)

> Mouse study suggests hypertension can cause premature aging in certain brain cells much earlier than expected; may explain link between high blood pressure and increased risk of cognitive impairment (More)

> Researchers use world's fastest supercomputer, "El Capitan" at Livermore National Lab, to create database of 41 million protein folding structures in record-breaking time (More)


Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed Friday (S&P 500 -0.1%, Dow -0.7%, Nasdaq +0.1%), with the tech-heavy Nasdaq ending a three-day losing streak (More)

> Former Federal Reserve official Adriana Kugler stepped down in August following an ethics probe into trading violations, new report reveals; senior Fed officials are prohibited from trading individual stocks (More)

> Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reports building a $4.9B stake in Google parent company Alphabet (More) | Everything we've learned about Warren Buffett (1440 Topics)


Politics & World Affairs
> US designates Venezuela's Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization while its most advanced aircraft carrier arrives in the Caribbean Sea; US military strikes another alleged drug trafficking boat (More)

> Chilean presidential election heads to a Dec. 14 runoff as the two candidates—communist Jeannette Jara and conservative José Antonio Kast—fail to secure more than 50% of the vote (More)

> Democratic Republic of the Congo and M23 rebels sign new peace deal framework in Qatar after earlier deal collapses this year (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Satisfaction

In 1965, The Rolling Stones released the album Out Of Our Heads, and on that album was SATISFACTION.  I have always been seduced by the lyrics, an excerpt is below:

When I'm driving in my car

And the man comes on the radio

And he's tellin' me more and more

'Bout some useless information

Supposed to fire my imagination

I can't get no satisfaction

I can't get no satisfaction

Gonna I try and I try and I try and I try

I can't get no -

I can't get no -

When I'm watchin' my TV

And a man comes on to tell me

How white my shirts should be

But he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke

The same cigarettes as me

These lyrics inspire the imagination or they did in 1965, as just one more tool to hold against THE MAN who controlled our lives by telling us what we should be, how we should be, and when we should be.

THE MAN...  pissed a lot of us off, to say the least.

Today...

at 78 years of age...

I find that I am satisfied...

because:

• I own my own home - no mortgage
• I have no debt 
• I have all the clothes I need
• I have all the tools I need
• I have a reliable car
• No funeral expenses - giving my body to UT Medical
• Have enough money to pay my expenses for the next 25 years
• Have a smart phone, laptop, and WIFE
• Go out to eat whenever I want
• Take two weeklong vacations each year
• Being cared for by competent doctors
• Have a perfectly supportive wife and partner
• Have acceptable neighbors
• Have all the friends I need
• Enjoy the simplicity of life
• Have a low cost of living
• Have low taxes
• WOKE/DEI don't influence me
• Political parties don't influence me
• Experience minimal stress and/or anxiety
• No longer kiss ass - except my wife's
• Eat a healthy diet each day
• Pursue my hobby of writing each day

The simple lifestyle and no debt are the two items that really underscore my life.  Being influenced by the opinions of others as to who I am no longer registers in my mind, if it ever did.  I have no regrets, even though I have made mistakes along the way.  No regrets because given those set of circumstances again, I would have done similarly whether I later found out, it was right or wrong.  I learn from my mistakes.

Somewhat Political

 

50 years after the Edmund Fitzgerald

Nov. 10 is the 50th anniversary of one of the most tragic and well-known shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The tragedy particularly resonates locally, with Superior being the ship’s last port of call, and “the wives and the sons and the daughters” of many of its crew still living in the area.

It is known far beyond that, however, thanks to the haunting ballad by the late Gordon Lightfoot.

“I’m highly criticized at my lectures because I pick on Gordon,” said Ric Mixter, a documentarian and author of several works about the wreck, including his latest, “Tattletale Sounds, the Edmund Fitzgerald Investigations.”

READ MORE...

Cream - Sunshine Of Your Love (Farewell Concert - Extended Edition) (1 o...

Creative Cat

 

Sarah Westall

 

Farmers

 

Alex Jones Show

 

Fitness

TimcastIRL

 

Star Trek

 

Robert Reich

Trump’s Truly Sh*tty Economy
And 10 things Democrats should pledge to do about it when they’re back in power






Friends,

Trump claimed last week on social media that “Our economy is BOOMING, and Costs are coming way down,” and that “grocery prices are way down.

Rubbish.

How do I know he’s lying? Official government statistics haven’t been issued during the shutdown — presumably to Trump’s relief (the White House said Wednesday that the October jobs and Consumer Price Index reports may never come out).

But we can get good estimates of where the economy is now, based on where the economy was heading before the shutdown and recent reports by private data firms.

First, I want to tell you what we know about Trump’s truly sh*tty economy. Then I’ll suggest 10 things that Democrats should pledge to do about it.

1. Prices continue to rise as real wages fall

While the cost of living isn’t going up as fast as it did in 2022, consumer prices are still up 27 percent since the onset of the pandemic. Wages haven’t kept up.

READ MORE...

At A Glance

See the delicate phenomenon known as frost flowers.

New York City extends lease for 12,000-resident Roosevelt Island.

Peek inside Colonna Palace, Rome's most exclusive tourist site.

Inside the Cold War plan to nuke the moon.

... and one company hoping to harvest resources from the moon.

Charting the rising cost of beef, bananas, and coffee.

Why are most people right-handed?

See this year's winners from the so-called Oscars of watchmaking.

Clickbait: Will "41" become the next "6-7"?

Historybook: Suez Canal opens (1869); Actor Danny DeVito born (1944); Former US national security adviser Susan Rice born (1964); Arnold Schwarzenegger sworn in as governor of California (2003); First known case of COVID-19 traced to man who visited Wuhan, China (2019).

Five Cozy Soups EVERYONE Should Know 🥣

Quick Clips

 

In The NEWS

Terrible Lizards
Dinosaurs, 101
Dinosaurs are terrestrial reptiles that lived on Earth during the Mesozoic Era, from about 245 million to 66 million years ago. While humans have encountered fossilized dinosaurs for millennia, they were not identified as a group of extinct creatures until 1842. This sparked an interest in fossil hunting that has led to the discovery of about 1,000 species as of 2025—though scientific models suggest that as many as 500,000 species may have existed.

Early dinosaurs' feather coats and ability to walk upright facilitated their adaptation to changing environments after two mass extinction events wiped out most other species, including their amphibious competitors. Research suggests dinosaurs exhibited many characteristics of modern-day animals, including herd-like social structures, varied diets, and visual and auditory communication.

The age of dinosaurs ended when an asteroid larger than Mount Everest struck Earth in what is now the Yucatán Peninsula, producing a mass extinction event endured by small nonavian dinosaurs that evolved into today's birds.

... Read our full explainer on dinosaurs here.

Also, check out ...
> Dinosaurs ranged from the size of chickens to multistory buildings. (More)
> Explore the origins of dinosaur names. (More)
> Dinosaur portrayals in film mistakenly limit them to only living in tropical climates. (More)
> Explore an interactive timeline and map of dinosaurs across the globe. (More)



The Firm
What is consulting?
Consulting is a broad industry focused on helping organizations solve a wide range of problems they lack the ability to address on their own, also known as professional services. These may include launching a new product, guiding large-scale organizational changes, or advising on critical business decisions around growth strategy, organizational structure, and digital transformation.

Consulting firms have a significant amount of influence, working with clients from Fortune 50 businesses to the federal government. But despite the global consulting industry’s size (it was valued at roughly $710B as of 2023), its inner workings can be opaque. Consulting firms’ clients and the problems they help solve are typically kept confidential, and their efforts are often largely invisible to the general public.

The “Big Three”—McKinsey, BCG, and Bain—and the accounting-focused “Big Four”—Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, and EY—consulting firms are often considered the world’s most prestigious and well-known consulting firms. They collectively made up about 20% of the global consulting market by revenue in 2023.

... Read our full write-up on consulting here.

Also, check out ...
> How McKinsey became one of the most powerful firms in the world. (More)
> Firms often work for both a company and its regulators simultaneously. (More)
> Critics argue US corporations are too dependent on the industry. (More)
> Consulting jobs are some of the most sought-after by Ivy grads. (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

Advertising & Debt

 

Americans are inundated with ADVERTISING... in newspapers, social media, movies, television series, online news forums, and billboards.

WHY?

To get you to spend your money!!!

• clothes
• shoes
• cars
• computers
• cell phone
• WIFI connections
• Cable
• white teeth
• lose weight
• cosmetics
• remove wrinkles

Americans, because of credit cards, have the ability to buy what they want and not what they need, finding themselves in debt.

Advertisers don't really care, as long as they get your money.

On the other side of the coin, what would our economy be like if Americans did not use their credit cards to buy?

Our economy would be sluggish and slow growing...

• layoffs
• shortages
• higher prices
• logistic issues
• less taxes collected

From an economic perspective, CREDIT CARDS are a necessary EVIL...

• Is this one of the downsides of CAPITALISM?
• Will consumer education help to change this?
• Is there an alternative?

THINK ABOUT THIS...

From an economic point of view, we want PEOPLE IN DEBT...

Somewhat Political

 

“Really bizarre” quantum discovery defies the rules of physics

An international team has found that quantum oscillations can arise from the bulk of an insulator, not just its surface. 

The discovery exposes a new frontier where materials can act like metals under extreme magnetic fields. 

Credit: AI/ScienceDaily.com

Researchers have discovered quantum oscillations inside an insulating material, overturning long-held assumptions. Their work at the National Magnetic Field Laboratory suggests that the effect originates in the material’s bulk rather than its surface. The finding points toward a “new duality” in materials science—where compounds may behave as both metals and insulators—offering a fascinating puzzle for future research.

Lu Li, a physicist who studies advanced materials, knows that people often want to hear how his research could lead to new technologies or practical breakthroughs. But sometimes, what he uncovers is so unusual that its value lies purely in revealing how strange the universe can be.

READ MORE...

The Last Waltz (1978) - Up on Cripple Creek Scene (2/7) | Movieclips

Life Art

 

VINCE

 

Fall

 

Amber May Show

 

Russell Brand