Regarding Trump’s so-called flipflop regarding the Epstein files — apparently he was informed that the House will pass the bill ordering a release of the files. So, he “magnanimously” said the House should go ahead and vote to release the files. He could have just ordered them released, of course. The only reason there needs to be a vote is him.
The bill still has to pass in the Senate. If it does, Trump will have prepared an excuse to veto the bill, or at least stuff it in a drawer and not sign it. For example, he could cite the ongoing investigation he ordered last week into Epstein’s relationships with Democrats. (And I’m sure if there were anything really juicy in them about anyone Trump doesn’t like it would have been leaked already.) See also David Kurtz at TPM.
There’s just been a development in the James Comey case. Last week the judge in the case complained that the grand jury records he was given appeared to be incomplete. As I understand it, this throws the indictment itself into doubt. You’ll remember the indictment was obtained by the possibly not properly appointed lawyer Lindsey Halligan, who had no prior experience with grand juries. She could have messed up in some way that would get the indictment thrown out of court. Halligan and Pam Bondi insist the grand jury records given to the court are complete. But apparently the judge doesn’t believe them.
This morning the judge issued an order saying that the complete grand jury records must be given to him today.
ORDERED that, by 3:00 p.m. on November 17, 2025, the Clerk of Court shall make available to the defense all grand jury materials filed on the docket under seal by the government (ECF 179); and it is further ORDERED that the government shall, no later than 5:00 p.m. on November 17, 2025, produce to the defense the complete audio recording of the grand jury proceedings; and it is further ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall file on the public docket the version of the Memorandum Opinion containing narrow redactions of grand jury material; and it is further ORDERED that the Clerk of Court shall maintain the unredacted version of the Memorandum Opinion under seal until further order of the Court as to James B. Comey, Jr. Signed by Magistrate Judge William E. Fitzpatrick on 11/17/2025. (jlan) (Entered: 11/17/2025)
So we’ll see what happens. I think the Comey case is doomed.
Stuff to read — Timothy Snyder, The Grift Bubble
Paul Krugman, The Plutocrats Who Cried “Commie”. It turns out nobody is fleeing New York because Zohran Mamdani was elected.
Michael Embrich, Rolling Stone, Trump Is Turning the Screws on Vets So the Rich Can Get Richer
The "stuff to read" you linked is excellent. All three.
The "stuff to read" you linked is excellent. All three.
Loved "the Grift Bubble" – says it all. One psychic I follow says the fix is in regarding the Epstein docs: Bondi scrubbed them. Another psychic says it's going to be revelations from outside the country that blow it open. One way or another the truth is coming out.
I'd love to hear from an expert just how easy or difficult it will be to tamper with evidence. Can Bondi just "disappear" pics of Trump sitting with half-naked girls? (Assuming the pic is real.)
Hmm, I am gonna read "psychics" as folks like Hugo Ball predicting DEVO:
Otherwise, it looks like Donny Two-scoops is gonna wriggle his way out of this one too!
I am boggled by the lack of a complete transcript that finishes with the court being adjourned until the Grand Jury returns. I mean, it should read that way: Judge: "Court is adjourned (or in recess) until blah, blah, blah." Some of what IS recorded in response to questions from Grand Jurors indicates the prosecutor got his/her license from a box of Cracker Jacks. (Suggesting Comey would have to testify and that the Grand Jury could infer that there is going to be more evidence that will be presented at trial.)
The DOJ doesn't have a bench, by which I mean they have no lawyers qualified and willing to put their names on bogus prosecutions. But it may be much worse than we know. They may soon be unable to field a team to defend against legitimate cases against them.
I am watching but Comey will probably not go to trial. I hope that's also true for James. Best case scenario is if the cases are tossed because of 'vindictive prosecution'. Based on Trump's public statements. So all Trumpworld knows that Trump's big mouth did him in.
Yes, good reads, thank you. Here is one that shows how f***ed we are as a country. The authors points is that, in the face of an automation revolution, the US of A is screwed because, as a country, we are too ideologically rigid and unwilling (unable) to tax the billionaires.
https://www.ianwelsh.net/ischina-going-to-win-the-humanoid-robot-race-end-capitalism-as-we-know-it/
@borderdenizen – loved the Hugo Ball photo! There is no shortage of charlatans. Good psychics will have a track record. Even the best ones are often wrong, especially wrt to timing. Everyone has free will, so the future is at best written in pencil.
I turned to them a few years ago out of frustration with the hopelessly stupid, bothsiderist news media. Being a big picture person, I appreciate the 10,000 foot view they give me, even if it's often wrong. I'll take that over being locked in a steel box with the myopic New York Times.
The psychics are fluent in the spiritual, karmic forces driving the news, another severe limitation of conventional news. You either get this or it's just mumbo jumbo. I realized this is a critical element I naturally understand, and it's absent from conventional news.
Finally, as an engineer, which means I am a student and disciple of reality (reality is the final judge of everything I build – it either worked or it didn't, and there is no way I can escape reality's conclusions), I am comfortable with ambiguity and puzzles and having to "think outside the box".
@moonbat – – As a fellow software engineer, I'm with you 100% on the reality thing. And in software development/maintenance, you get to learn that if something can possibly go wrong, it will eventually go wrong. This is largely due to the fact that most software is created for humans to use… and humans will invariably present situations to the software that are near impossible to predict.
Although I am not as mystical as you are about "psychics", I get that there is a non-sequential/non-logical human element that permeates human experience. And I believe that there are things deep in our consciousness that function in a non-empirical way, yet are part of experience. And this element in each one of us also plays a part in our interactions with other human beings… which means it has a role in societal and political things.
The bad news is that there is a dark side to this realm (witness the slavery-based economic system, and various other manifestations in human history). The good news is that is a positive side (witness humans banding together to fight against the dark side).