On the sunny Sunday morning of December 7, 1941, Messman Doris Miller had served breakfast aboard the USS West Virginia, stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and was collecting laundry when the first of nine Japanese torpedoes hit the ship.
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Miller had not been trained to use the weapons because, as a Black man in the U.S. Navy, he was assigned to serve the white officers. But while the officer was distracted, Miller began to fire one of the guns. He fired it until he ran out of ammunition. Then he helped to move injured sailors to safety before he and the other survivors abandoned the West Virginia, which sank to the bottom of Pearl Harbor.
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Democracy, FDR reminded Americans again and again, was the best possible government. Thanks to armies made up of men and women from all races and ethnicities, the Allies won the war against fascism, and it seemed that democracy would dominate the world forever.
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President Donald J. Trump and his cronies have abandoned the principles of democracy and openly embraced the hierarchical society the U.S. fought against in World War II. They have fired women, Black Americans, people of color, and LGBTQ+ Americans from positions in the government and the military and erased them from official histories. They have seized, incarcerated and deported immigrants— or rendered them to third countries to be tortured— and have sent federal agents and federal troops into Democratic-led cities to terrorize the people living there.

They have traded the rule of law for the rule of Trump...

The showcases typically open with an extended monologue from Trump himself. Tuesday’s lasted more than 30 minutes, as Trump riffed on everything from the cognitive test he aced —“I’m a smart person, not a stupid person,” he said—to what he described as “the fat drug, f-a-t, for fat people,” apparently referring to Ozempic. He said he should get eight Nobel Peace Prizes, one for every war he claims to have ended.

Trump, Between Apparent Naps, Holds Auditions for His 2028 Successor

To name a few pedestrian deaths and injuries,

Pedestrian dead after crash on Chapman Highway at Moody on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, around 10:40 pm.

Pedestrian was struck and killed by a truck outside of a Knoxville McDonald’s on Millertown on Thanksgiving day, Nov. 27, 2025, around 9:30 am.

Pedestrian killed in hit and run on Maryville Pike at Arrowhead subdivision, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, around 12:34 pm.

A woman died after she was struck by a vehicle on North Broadway at Walker Boulevard, on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, around 6:40 am.

A 41-year-old man was struck by a car just before 6 p.m. on Wilkinson Pike, in Maryville, on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025.

Trump said he’s looking into an Australian-style retirement program for America. Here’s how it works

Trump Considering Australian-Style Retirement Plan—But What Is It?

1.5 million bags of shredded cheese have been recalled.

The recall was initiated in early October by Great Lakes Cheese Co., an Ohio-based company, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The voluntary recall covered more than 260,000 cases of shredded cheese, and was prompted by the possibility of metal fragments in the products, an FDA notice said.

Shredded cheeses included in the recall, e.g. low-moisture part-skim mozzarella, Aldi Italian-style shredded cheese, Italian-style shredded cheese blend, Food Club finely shredded pizza-style four-cheese blend, mozzarella and mild cheddar cheese blend, mozzarella and non-smoked provolone, and Good & Gather mozzarella and parmesan cheese blend.

The products have sell-by dates ranging from January to late March of next year, according to the FDA notice. The agency has a complete list online of the affected products and their UPC codes.

The affected shredded cheese products came in five different varieties and were sold under a host of brand names at Target, Walmart, Aldi and other major retailers [Food City, Food Lion, etc.] across the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

The FDA says they were distributed to 31 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin; as well as Puerto Rico.

Return it to the store or throw it away.

Zillow, the nation’s largest real estate listing website, has removed extreme weather risk data meant to help buyers figure out if the biggest purchase of their life is particularly susceptible to floods, high winds or wildfires.

Now, other major real estate listing websites are facing pressure to do the same.

That pressure is coming from the California Regional Multiple Listing Service...

Out of concern that it has impacted home sales, the California group is questioning the accuracy of some climate change-related data compiled by risk modeling company First Street. That company creates current and future risk scores for climate change-fueled disasters like wildfires, coastal and rainstorm flooding, high winds, extreme heat and air quality, which are displayed on real estate websites including Redfin, Realtor.com and, until recently, Zillow.

Let the buyer beware.

Knowledge is bad in other words unless you have it and others don't.

Looks like collusion. Similar to landlord rent prices, etc.

real estate industry is pressuring Zillow and other sites to nix extreme weather risk data buyers have come to rely on

Went to Rome, GA, in October for the "Schnauzerfest". Maybe pics later. There were thousands of schnauzers. We do love our Schnauzers.

The hotel was fine, just a few warnings that were a little concerning.

Unregulated e-bikes are a growing danger on American streets.

I walk the Blount County greenway in Springbrook Park nearly every day. Our group of of six also includes four dogs. There has been a great increase in e-bikes. Walkers have the right-of-way. However, e-bikers don't seem to understand that concept. Although, " old-fashioned, human-powered “analog” or “acoustic” bikes" also bring danger to pedestrians. Bicycle riders, e or otherwise, think that if they come barreling down the trail and say "on your left" that you should jump out of their way. First of all, at the speed they are going there is no way you have time to get out of the way. In addition, you have to register what they are saying. Finally, have you ever tried to get four dogs to quickly get out of the way of a speeding bicycle or e-bike?

"Forty-six states have adopted some version of a three-tiered system of e-bike categories that was established a decade ago by PeopleForBikes, a trade and advocacy organization based in Boulder, Colo. In Class 1, the bike’s motor assists the rider up to a speed of 20 m.p.h., but only when a rider is pedaling. Class 2 has the same top speed but also has a hand-operated throttle, similar to a motorcycle’s, that can be used in lieu of pedaling. Class 3 is like Class 1, but its maximum assisted speed is 28 m.p.h. (The federal limit of 20 m.p.h. applies to the speed generated solely by a motor; speeds can exceed that in combination with human pedaling.) As a rule, Class 1 bikes are permitted wherever a conventional bicycle can go (including bike lanes and trails), while Classes 2 and 3 are restricted to streets and roads (in theory if not in practice)."

"On a pedal bike, the chance of dying from an injury is about three-tenths of 1 percent,” Alfrey says. On an e-bike, the data indicated, it was 11 percent."

"...in New York City in 2023, 30 people were killed on a bicycle, 23 of whom were riding e-bikes. Three pedestrians also were killed by e-bike riders. Increased delivery services by e-bike,..."

Regarding the AI facility Elon Musk is putting into Memphis. According to new reporting by Oligarch Watch and Popular Information, Musk is using transformers from China.

(link...)

A 16-pound frozen bird will cost shoppers $21.50, down more than 16 percent from 2024. Other Thanksgiving essentials such as dinner rolls and stuffing mix also fell in price this year.
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Fresh vegetables and sweet potatoes increased, with a typical veggie tray costing 61 percent more than last year, and sweet potatoes are up 37 percent.

The vice president visited Fort Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee border on Wednesday to meet members of the military and serve them an early holiday meal
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“Thanksgiving, what we celebrate tomorrow, that is a uniquely American thing,” he added, not quite accurately. “That’s why, for example, we have, you know, turkey.”

“I know. Think about it. And here’s how I know that every single one of you who raised your hand is lying to me...

Such class. What is it we are trying to teach? Buy me a beer.

The people need the Democratic party. We need to be able to explain why.

James Carville: How About a Sweeping, Aggressive, Unvarnished Platform of Pure Economic Rage.
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The President has done nothing to curb the cost of what it requires to take even a breath in America today, the centerpiece promise of his 2024 campaign. The people are revolting, and they have been for some time.

This offers Democrats the greatest gift you can have in American politics: a second chance. I am now an 81-year-old man and I know that in the minds of many, I carry the torch from a so-called centrist political era. Yet it is abundantly clear even to me that the Democratic Party must now run on the most populist economic platform since the Great Depression.
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Le peuple se lève.

Andy Beshear: How Democrats can start changing rural red to blue
Be the party of aspiration — and talk like normal human beings.

Democrats won huge victories up and down the ballot this month. We won statewide in Georgia, held the Supreme Court in Pennsylvania, broke the supermajority in the Mississippi State Senate and took two gubernatorial elections by double-digit margins. In New Jersey and Virginia, Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger won by relentlessly focusing on the pocketbook pressures families across our country are facing.
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Trump has given Democrats a huge opening. He is making it so much harder for people to even get by. During the government shutdown, he was willing to use the hunger of Americans — including children and seniors — as a bargaining chip. It was cruel and wrong, and, importantly, it backfired. His One Big Ugly Bill will kick 17 million Americans, including 200,000 Kentuckians, off their health care and threatens to close 35 rural hospitals in the state, and 338 nationwide. His tariffs are jacking up prices across the board — for no reason.
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We’re not going to win the messaging battle if we say that Trump’s policies make people “food insecure.” No, they make people hungry.

The President has been pushing relentlessly for consequences for U.S. Senator Mark Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers over a video they made reminding servicemembers of their duty to disobey illegal orders.

The President "called the lawmakers’ actions “seditious” and “treason.”

President Donald Trump labeled the recording "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR" that's "punishable by DEATH!"

U.S. Senator Mark Kelly's response:
I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.

U.S. Senator Mark Kelly was a Captain in the Navy. He flew combat missions in the Gulf War. He flew four NASA space shuttle missions. He is married to " Gabby Giffords, who was shot and nearly killed in an assassination attempt in Arizona."

The current President does not believe the results of the 2020 election. He believes the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was a tourist visit. He pardoned many if not all of the insurrectionists.

Wow! for sure. I had to log back in today like I do every so often. It showed I have been a member for 19 years and 42 weeks. Has this site really been here that long? Time sure does fly by. Congratulations for keep this going this long.

What happened to you, Tim Cook?

A decade ago, Alabama invited one of its most successful native-born sons to take his place in the Alabama Academy of Honor.
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“Little else matters,” Cook said, “more than equality and human rights.”

That was 10 years ago.
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In recent months, like other tech executives, Cook has bent the knee before inviting any acrimony from the White House.

The No. 20 Tennessee football team finally broke the curse, defeating Florida 31-11 on the road Saturday night, winning in the Swamp for the first time since 2003.

Tennessee didn't score in the second half. What's the deal?

Newest SpaceX Starship booster is significantly damaged during testing early Friday

This is after the May, 2025, SpaceX Starship launch failure. The 9th so far. The spacecraft tumbled out of control and broke apart.

Maybe Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin efforts will eventually replace SpaceX. "Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin space company successfully launched and landed its New Glenn rocket Thursday afternoon, marking a major technical breakthrough"...

A group of 10 Tennessee parents and taxpayers filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the constitutionality of the state’s new “universal” private-school voucher program.
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the lawsuit says the Tennessee Education Freedom Scholarship Act violates the state constitution by shifting public funds to unaccountable private schools that “openly discriminate” against students.
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The program has two categories of students, 10,000 set aside for those whose family incomes hit 300% of the federal subsidized lunch program, up to $180,000, and 10,000 for students with no family income requirement.

The U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify the swastika — an emblem of fascism and white supremacy inextricably linked to the murder of millions of Jews and the deaths of more than 400,000 U.S. troops who died fighting in World War II — as a hate symbol, according to a new policy that takes effect next month.

Instead, the Coast Guard will classify the Nazi-era insignia as “potentially divisive” under its new guidelines. The policy, set to take effect Dec. 15, similarly downgrades the classification of nooses and the Confederate flag, though display of the latter remains banned, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

As I said earlier in the week, is it safe?

Update: Coast Guard reclassifies swastikas and nooses as hate symbols after backlash

Potchke Bagel of Knoxville placed 3rd in the 2025 New York Bagelfest competition.

Potchke Bagel of Knoxville, Tenn., also won Most Creative and Best Bialy.

There is now a "mass surveillance network" focused on your car.

You used to have more freedoms.

Now,
The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious, The Associated Press has found.