An event in the Oval Office on Thursday was suddenly halted when a White House guest collapsed behind the President.

Monster by Steppenwolf lyrics

A millionaire levy in Massachusetts that New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani holds up as a model for taxing the rich has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing significant high-profile departures from the state.

Millionaire tax that inspired Mamdani fuels $5.7 billion haul in Massachusetts

The moves continued a pattern of Trump, a Republican, using his second term to bestow unlikely pardons on political allies, prominent public figures and others convicted of defrauding the public.

Trump pardons former Tennessee House speaker convicted of federal public corruption charges

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi will not seek reelection to the U.S. House, bringing to a close her storied career as not only the first woman in the speaker’s office but arguably the most powerful in American politics.
...
her first campaign slogan was “a voice that will be heard.”

And with that backing, she became a speaker “whose voice would certainly be heard,” she said.

Someone who has done so much for our country. I can only hope we can show her we heard and respected her actions.

This November's full moon will also be a supermoon, according to NASA.

The full moon will reach peak illumination in the United States on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, at 8:19 a.m. ET, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory's Astronomical Applications Department.

The Old Farmer's Almanac, which began publishing full moon names in the 1930s, says the beaver moon got its name because this is the time of year when beavers take shelter in their lodges after gathering food for the winter.

At 5:30 p.m. EST (2230 GMT), the moon will reach its closest point to the Earth for the year, known as perigee, at a distance of 221,726 miles (356,833 kilometers). Nine hours and 11 minutes prior to that, the moon will officially turn full.

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett notified the president he is referring 42 “potential non-U.S. citizens” (out of state’s 4.3 million voters) to the FBI for illegal votes.

Those potential illegal voters account for 0.0001% of all registered voters in Tennessee.

Hah. Guess the system must be gutted.

The president "has given us Democrats an opening on all the things he has not delivered on, but we have got to do our part of actually not only relying on his failure but putting together a positive agenda to get the working-class voters back..."

Yes, let's talk about what Democrats have done and will do.

In Tennessee, Hancock County has the highest percentage of SNAP households with a median income of $31,995. Williamson County has the lowest percentage of SNAP households and a median income of $131,202. In the eastern region, 6.20% of Blount County households receive SNAP benefits, and it has the highest median income ($74,607) of the region.

MAP: See the number of SNAP participants by Tennessee county as benefit lapse looms

A Middle Tennessee sheriff is defending the arrest of a man for posting an online meme quoting President Donald Trump.

As of news report he has been jailed for 35 days.

Tennessee sheriff defends jailing liberal activist for posting Trump meme

Big Tech companies use secrecy agreements with local governments to keep communities from knowing who is building in their backyards.

“It’s just destroying trust in the government,” said Max Moran, the resident who started the Facebook group. “People just feel let down and kind of betrayed, because if you can’t ask what’s going on, then how can you trust anything they say?”

How NDAs keep AI data center details hidden from Americans

The USDA said in a Friday memo it couldn’t use contingency funds or money from other sources to cover all or part of the roughly $8 billion needed for November’s SNAP allotment. The position seemed to contradict a September contingency plan, since deleted from the USDA’s website, that said Congress intended “that SNAP’s operations should continue” and that contingency funds “are also available to fund participant benefits in the event that a lapse occurs in the middle of the fiscal year.”

“There are clear steps the administration can and must take immediately to ensure that millions of families across the country can put food on their table in November,” congressional Democrats said in a letter to the USDA on Friday. “Choosing not to ensure SNAP benefits reach those in need this November would be a gross dereliction of your responsibilities to the American people.”

Thanks again Burchett, Blackburn, Hagerty, etc. for "flailing and failing".

Update:

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb joined 22 attorneys general and three governors Tuesday in suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Secretary Brooke Rollins, accusing them of unlawfully suspending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps more than 40 million Americans afford food.

Of course, not from Tennessee.

The Club Wyndham Resort at Fairfield Glade will close at the end of the year on December 31, 2025. As a result, 88 workers will lose their jobs, according to a WARN Notice filed with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Fairfield Glade resort closing at the end of the year, 88 workers to be laid off

John Oliver details what Medicare Advantage is, why it basically has all the pitfalls of private insurance

Medicare Advantage: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The U.S. government is under shutdown originated by the GOP. They appear to want to hurt those in need of medical care but can't fully take on the cost. Now they appear to want to hurt those in need of food.

Tennessee's Governor warns 690,000 Tennesseans their SNAP benefits may lapse in shutdown

Next they'll be announcing that the federal government can not longer assist residents of Tennessee in need of health care through the Affordable Care Act.

Thanks again Burchett, Blackburn, Hagerty, etc. for "flailing and failing".

Timothy Mellon, the grandson of financier and former U.S. treasury secretary Andrew Mellon, and is an heir to the Mellon family’s banking and railroad fortune, theoretically, maybe, rumored to have donated $130 million "to help pay the U.S. military amid the government shutdown...."

Well, isn't that special. Who does it help?

Legal experts have warned that the $130 million donation may be a violation of the Antideficiency Act, which bars federal agencies from spending funds that haven’t been appropriated by Congress.

Tennessee cattlemen are not happy.

The Tennessee Cattleman’s Association is challenging a proposal made by President Donald Trump on purchasing Argentine beef to bring down consumer prices in the U.S.

U.S. cattle producers are proud to provide the safest, highest-quality beef on earth. We simply ask that the government not undercut them by importing more Argentinian beef in order to manipulate prices.

Thanks again Burchett, Blackburn, Hagerty, etc. for "flailing and failing".

363 miles that transformed America.

"Americans’ pockets hold digital devices delivering oceans of information and distractions. But another technology that dramatically shaped the nation’s life, and had revolutionary consequences abroad, was a ditch. Raise a glass as the 200th birthday of the Erie Canal is celebrated on Sunday."

The Erie Canal turns 200 in 2025
This is it! The Erie Canal Bicentennial presents a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the canal that transformed America and to commemorate its influence on New York and the nation.

Fascinating. Primarily buit by hand.

Twitter/X

Hahaha...

When the Trumans moved into the executive mansion in 1945, they found it badly in need of repair after twelve years of neglect during the Great Depression and World War II. In 1946, Congress authorized $780,000 ($11 million in 2020 dollars) for repairs.

Oh, and the Obama administration adapted a tennis court to also be used for basketball.

The president’s East Wing demolition isn’t a normal White House renovation. The sudden destruction of the White House's East Wing to make way for a massive gilded ballroom is a huge departure from previous remodels and renovations.

The scale, speed and lack of transparency we’re seeing from President Donald Trump’s determination to build a 90,000-square foot ballroom makes it by far the most absurd — and potentially unethical — “renovation” project any president has undertaken.

Whatever. Our U.S. Representative is no longer relevant.

"The House has, quite literally, ground to a halt. The chamber has not voted since Sept. 19 and Speaker Mike Johnson refuses to call members back, preventing them from doing any legislative work. He has refused to seat a new duly elected Democratic member from Arizona one month after her victory, though he encouraged her to return home and work for constituents she does not yet officially represent because he won’t administer her the oath of office.

As the Trump administration shifts billions of dollars around to take care of its priorities during the shutdown with scant input from lawmakers, ignoring Congress’s clear constitutional supremacy over the power of the purse, Republicans in control have done nothing to push back."

Thanks Burchett, Blackburn, Hagerty, etc. for "flailing and failing". The Democrats wants to protect healthcare for those less fortunate. Republicans want to forgive felons, spend $300+ million on a glass house for their master, $200 million in Argentina while ruining soybean farmers and cattle ranchers economies. Now, the current administration's FBI is bragging about an NBA gambling bust while continuing to deny the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2020, having already pardoned the insurrectionists. Heckuva job Tim, Marsha, Bill, etc.