With the KNIVES OUT franchise and Kenneth Branagh's Agatha Christie films of late, mystery's become a popular film genre again. VARIETY reports:
It always amazes
me how the racist and sexist Amy Pascal still has a career. Her racims
got exposed in the SONY hack -- letting us all know what she truly
thinks of Black people. And, of course, she actively worked to underpay
actresses even when they had lead roles. She really is an
embarrassment.
Thursday, January 22, 2026. Chump bombs overseas and embarrasses
our country on the world stage, ICE continues attempting to hide deaths,
Chump and his late roll dog Jeffrey Epstein used to cut quite the rug,
and much more.
As
Ben notes this morning on MEIDASTOUCH NEWS, Chump bombed. Bombed. He
looked like the idiot he is. He repeatedly confused Iceland with
Greenland which was bad. Worse was, as Jen Psaki noted, White House
spokesperson Propaganda Pig Karoline Leavitt insisting that Chump didn't
make a mistake.
Edith Olmsted (THE NEW REPUBLIC) observes:
White
House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wants to pretend that Donald
Trump didn’t mix up Greenland and Iceland—but he did. Multiple times.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos Wednesday, Trump repeatedly and erroneously mixed up Greenland
with Iceland, a completely separate landmass and independent nation.
The gaffe sparked concern that Trump, who has been showing increasing
signs of cognitive decline, had no idea what country he was even
demanding to own.
Once
again demonstrating her fierce commitment to truth-telling, Leavitt
tried to defend the president by lying about something that everyone
heard.
“President Trump appeared to mix up Greenland and Iceland around three times,” NewsNation’s Libbey Dean wrote on X after the speech.
“No he didn’t, Libby,” Leavitt responded.
“His written remarks referred to Greenland as a ‘piece of ice’ because
that’s what it is. You’re the only one mixing anything up here.”
Oh, Propaganda Pig, you are such a dirty liar. We've had enough of you and of the liar you work for. Sam Stevenson (NEWSWEEK) is Paul Revere today delivering the news the country needs to hear:
More
than seven in 10 Americans think the United States is “out of control”
under President Donald Trump, according to a new national poll of adult
citizens.
[. . .]
Americans’
perceptions of how the country is being run are likely to prove
decisive in how they vote in November’s midterm elections.
These
findings reflect unease with Trump’s approach, chiming with other
recent national surveys in which majorities said he had gone too far
with military interventions abroad and voters expressing a preference
for restraint and congressional checks on the use of force.
The
United States is out of control, according to 71 percent of those
polled in a new national Economist/YouGov survey. Just 18 percent of
respondents said the country was “under control,” while 11 percent said
they were not sure.
The data
showed that the out-of-control sentiment cut across most demographic
groups: 70 percent of white respondents, 79 percent of Black respondents
and 70 percent of Hispanic respondents said things were out of control,
while 70 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds and 74 percent of those 65 and
older agreed.
That's reality. And that's how you know it will leave the lips of Propaganda Pig.
At THE NEW YORK TIMES this morning, Shane GoldmacherRuth Igielnik and Camille Baker report:
Less
than a third of voters think the country is better off than it was when
President Trump returned to the White House a year ago, with a wide
majority saying he has focused on the wrong issues, according to a new poll from The New York Times and Siena University.
A
majority of voters disapprove of how Mr. Trump has handled top issues
including the economy, immigration, the war between Russia and Ukraine
and his actions in Venezuela. And significantly, a majority of
Americans, 51 percent, said that Mr. Trump’s policies had made life less
affordable for them.
All told, 49 percent of voters said the country was worse off than a year ago, compared with 32 percent who said it was better.
The
survey also revealed the extent to which Mr. Trump has polarized the
nation into its furthest partisan corners, with more voters seeing him
as on track to be historically bad or good than merely below or above
average. Some 42 percent of voters said he was on track to be one of the
worst presidents in American history — and 19 percent said he was
headed to be one of the best.
And delving deeper into the data, Nate Cohn notes:
The
major demographic shifts of the last election have snapped back. In
today’s poll, Mr. Trump’s approval rating by demographic group looks
almost exactly as it did in Times/Siena polling in the run-up to his
defeat in the 2020 presidential election. If anything, young and
nonwhite voters are even likelier to disapprove of Mr. Trump than they
were then, while he retains most of his support among older and white
voters.
Similarly, Democrats have regained their usual
advantage among young, nonwhite and low-turnout voters in the race for
control of Congress. Overall, Democrats lead by five percentage points
among registered voters nationwide —
a tally that would easily be enough for the party to take back the
House of Representatives. It’s the largest lead for the Democrats in a
Times/Siena national poll since 2020, and it’s similar to Joe Biden’s
eventual 4.5-point popular vote victory that year.
Yes, most Americans have reached their limit when it comes to Chump's law breaking, his tantrums and his grifts. This comes as
TMZ reports on one of his closest and dearest friends, the late Jeffrey Epstein:
Here's
how twisted Jeffrey Epstein was ... his birthday was little more than
another reason to victimize young women, at least according to one of
the Congressmen pushing for the release of Epstein photos and docs.
The
late pedophile would have turned 73 on Tuesday, and Rep. Suhas
Subramanyam -- a Democrat from Virginia who sits on the House Oversight
Committee -- tells TMZ, Epstein's birthday is "probably a very difficult
day for many women."
Subramanyam
says that for a specific reason ... telling us, "It's clear from the
evidence that Epstein used his birthday as an excuse to traffic and take
advantage of girls."
It's creepy
... in the portion of the Epstein Files that have already been
released, there's a number of photos showing the convicted creep with 3
young women celebrating his 54th birthday, and the women are all wearing
dresses emblazoned with the No. 54 on the back.
There
are other photos of him with two other people sitting at a table with a
birthday cake ... and Epstein's wearing the same sweatshirt from the
photos with the girls.
Unclear who Epstein is sharing his birthday cake with ... the faces are redacted.
Well
we can all be sure that if Chump isn't one of the redacted figures in
the photos, that just means Jeffrey saved him a piece of cake because
those two shared everything -- even women as Chump used to brag back in
the day.
Chump
and his buddy Epstein. They thought it would go away. Right now, they
think that they can cover it up. But over six months later, it remains
a huge liability for Chump. It's not going away.
Those
taking a stroll on the National Mall this morning were met with a giant
ten-foot-tall replica of Donald Trump’s ‘birthday message’ to Jeffrey
Epstein. Paedophile sex offender Epstein was born on January 20, and
hours before what would have been his 73rd birthday, a large replica of
one of his birthday cards was erected. Placed by a group known as ‘The
Secret Handshake’, the replica shows a letter which includes Trump’s
signature as well as text inside the outline of a naked woman.
Trump
has denied writing the note, which appears to show the outline of a
young woman’s body and has worrying messages written on it. ‘We have
certain things in common, Jeffrey… a pal is a wonderful thing. Happy
Birthday – and may every day be another wonderful secret.’ The message
appears to show Donald Trump’s signature, along with his name, and
sparked furore when it first surfaced last year.
We
should note that Chump's many lies include insisting he didn't sign
that card but MS NOW's Lawrence O'Donnell demonstrated otherwise on his
program THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O'DONNELL months ago that the
signatures matched.
Amanda Marcotte (SALON) writes:
Between sending an army of goons from Immigration and Customs Enforcement into Minneapolis and threatening to invade Greenland, Donald Trump has successfully knocked the Epstein files out of the headlines — for now. The president’s long and intense friendship with Jeffrey Epstein,
the convicted sex offender who died in jail awaiting trial for sex
trafficking minors, was getting another round of heavy media scrutiny in
December. The Justice Department was scheduled to release millions of
documents related to the case — and then failed to do so.
This came after reports emerged that
Epstein called himself “Don’s best friend” and that the two men spoke
multiple times a week for years, in addition to frequently partying together. The reluctance of Attorney General Pam Bondi and
other shamelessly corrupt officials to release the files, as required
by law, suggests they are worried that what’s in them could somehow be
even worse.
Bondi and her communications staff keep making lame excuses for the delay, which almost no one is buying. A CNN poll shows that only 6 percent of Americans are happy with the amount of material released, with two-thirds believing the failure is a deliberate cover-up. According to a YouGov poll, 49% of Americans think Trump was directly involved in Epstein’s crimes, while a whopping 71% believe he knew about the crimes.
Jeffrey
Epstein's convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, will testify in
February as Congress continues to investigate Epstein's alleged
sex-trafficking network, James Comer, chair of the House Oversight
Committee, said on Jan. 21.
Members
of Congress and large segments of the public have been eager to hear
revelations from Maxwell about Epstein and others who may have been
involved in his crimes. Epstein was convicted in 2008 of two Florida
prostitution offenses, including one involving minors. He died in a
Manhattan jail in 2019 while awaiting a federal sex-trafficking trial.
However,
Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, indicated he didn't expect Maxwell
to be forthcoming, even if he hoped to be proven wrong.
"Her
lawyers have made it clear that she’s going to plead the Fifth," Comer
said, referring to a criminal defendant's constitutional right, under
the Fifth Amendment, to protection against self-incrimination. The right
allows defendants to remain silent under questioning.
Chump
moved her from a maximum security prison that someone convicted of her
crimes belongs in over to Club Fed which she doesn't qualify for but
which gives her all sorts of perks. I bring that up for a reason.
She's not supposed to be playing with puppies or left alone for private
visits where she has access to electronic devises, but she is. So,
before she shows up, since she's so used to now getting all these
extras, someone might need to explain to her that when she's declaring
the Fifth, she's invoking an Amendment against self-incrimination, she's
not ordering booze. She won't be served a fifth of gin. Maybe at the
'prison' where Chump's broken all the rules for her, but not in
Congress.
In
November 2025, lawmakers in Congress overwhelmingly backed the Epstein
Files Transparency Act, which called on the Justice Department to
release all its documents on Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in
2019.
President Donald Trump signed the
act into law on Nov. 19, 2025, giving the Justice Department 30 days to
release all its files with the exception of those that could violate
victims' privacy or jeopardize federal investigations.
In
the eleventh-hour of that deadline, on Dec. 19, 2025, the department
began to issue a tranche of emails, photos and other documents related
to Epstein. But not all of the department's files were released by the
deadline. And of those that were, many of them arrived to the DOJ's
so-called Epstein library with heavy redactions or no context.
Deputy
Attorney General Todd Blanche said at the time that lawyers were still
sifting through the materials to make sure victims aren’t named or
identified, and it would likely take several weeks to produce the
remaining pages.
With 30 days having since passed from that deadline, here's a look at the latest on the Epstein files release.
The
Justice Department said in a court filing earlier this month that
nearly 13,000 documents had been posted to the Epstein library so far,
but up to two million more still need to be reviewed.
In
the Jan. 5 filing addressed to U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in
New York, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Blanche said 400 lawyers and
100 document analysts were reviewing the documents to ensure victims'
names are redacted.
And, of course, there's always ICE. Yesterday, Pooja Salhotra (NEW YORK TIMES) reported:
A
Cuban immigrant’s death in an El Paso detention center this month was
ruled a homicide, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday by
the county medical examiner’s office.
The
detainee, Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, became unresponsive while he was
physically restrained by law enforcement on Jan. 3 at the Immigration
and Customs Enforcement facility called Camp East Montana, the report
said. Emergency medical workers tried to resuscitate him, but he was
pronounced dead at the scene.
The
autopsy listed the cause of death as “asphyxia due to neck and torso
compression.” The report also described injuries Mr. Lunas Campos had
sustained to his head and neck, including burst blood vessels in the
front and side of the neck, as well as on his eyelids.
The
determination by the medical examiner’s office does not necessarily
indicate criminal culpability. It is a classification of how a person
died, not a legal determination of guilt.
Mr. Lunas Campos’s death has brought renewed scrutiny to the detention center this month after The Washington Post reported the episode last week.
His family has asserted that he was killed by the facility’s guards,
citing a witness who said he saw guards choking Mr. Lunas Campos to
death. The family is preparing a wrongful-death lawsuit, according to
their lawyer, Will Horowitz.
Another proud moment for ICE, Kristi Noem and Donald Chump. Katie Herchenroeder (MOTHER JONES) reports:
Over 2,000 clergy members from around the country signed onto a letter to Congress, demanding an investigation into ICE agent Jonathan Ross’s killing of Renée Nicole Good in Minneapolis, calling for federal agents to be removed from that city, and urging “moral accountability” and “urgent action” to address “ongoing abuse of power at the hands of ICE,” according to a statement from the national organization Faith in Action.
“We’re
here today as clergy across the country to hand deliver a letter from
our siblings in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and to stand in solidarity with
them to tell Speaker Johnson that the blood of Renée Good is on his
hands,” Pastor Delonte Gholston, who leads Peace Fellowship Church in
Washington, DC, said in a video posted
by the organization on social media in front of Speaker of the House
Mike Johnson’s office. “And that the blood of the ground is crying out,
as it did in our sacred scriptures, crying out for justice. And crying
out to end state-sponsored terror,” he continued, surrounded by other
faith leaders.
The letter is the latest instance of faith
leaders from across the country calling on President Donald Trump’s
administration to cease its violent mass deportation campaign. Clergy
have shown up at protests attempting to halt or delay federal agents’
operations. And sometimes, they’ve been targeted for speaking out—like
the pastor who was shot in the head with a chemical agent outside of an ICE detention facility in Illinois.
On ICE, Senator Elizabeth Warren's office issued the following:
Washington,
D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate
Armed Services Committee, released the following statement ahead of a
vote on Congress’s $1.2 trillion funding deal:
“I have been
clear that I will not vote for any budget deal that does not lower
costs for families and ensure that Donald Trump can’t just take back
funding later whenever he feels like it. Congress must also use its
power of the purse to restrict spending on forever wars overseas and
stop ICE’s terror here at home.
“This deal does nothing to
lower costs like health care. This bill does not restrict Trump’s
military adventurism in Venezuela and Greenland. This legislation does
not halt ICE’s dangerous abuses of power and prevent ICE’s chaos in
every American city.
“I will vote no on these funding
bills. Donald Trump does not need more power and more funding to make
life more dangerous and more expensive for American families.”
###
And
now, all the way from the Congressional cloak room, distinguished
guests, make room and time for The GOP Congressional Men's Choir
performing their CENSORED BY BLOGSPOT . Henry Giardina (QUEERITY) notes:
CENSORED BY BLOGSPOT, Complaint from Senator Rick Scott's office.
And let's winddown with this from Senator Adam Schiff's office:
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is demanding answers
after a memo revealed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is
collecting data of noncitizens “employed by or affiliated with” VA to
share with other federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS). Schiff is raising concern the data will be used to
further the Trump administration’s mass detention
and deportation agenda and instill fear among the veteran community and
those who serve them.
In
a letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem,
the Senator is demanding the legal basis of this database
and warns these actions threaten to prevent noncitizen veterans from
receiving their eligible health care and benefits.
“Instead
of prioritizing the pressing service needs and care for veterans, VA is
reported to have collected information on noncitizen employees and
affiliates and presented them to Secretary Collins by December 30, 2025.
This reported database of VA employees and affiliates exacerbates fear
among noncitizens and will lead to diminished levels of care for
veterans. We request that VA provide the intent for this database at
this time and its plan to protect individuals’ privacy,” the Senator
wrote.
The Senator also emphasizes this intimidation
tactic wastes critical resources for VA personnel at a time when the
agency is facing staffing shortages – with California facing some of the
most severe shortages of personnel.
“Employees and
affiliates of the VA provide critical services to veteran communities
and are doing so under challenging conditions where the provision of
health care, counseling, employment, and education resources is under
strain. In fact, VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report
detailing the critical staffing shortages and increased wait times for
veterans trying to access necessary care throughout the system,” the
Senator continued.
The full text of the letter can be found here and below.
Dear Secretary Collins and Secretary Noem,
I
write to express alarm regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) reported memo outlining the collection of data for all non-citizens
“employed by or affiliated with” VA and the potential sharing of that
information with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for
immigration enforcement efforts. These intimidation tactics waste
critical time and resources for VA personnel that are already stretched
thin. Instead of prioritizing the pressing service needs and care for
veterans, VA is reported to have collected information on noncitizen
employees and affiliates and presented them to Secretary Collins by
December 30, 2025. This reported database of VA employees and
affiliates exacerbates fear among noncitizens and will lead to
diminished levels of care for veterans. We request that VA provide the
intent for this database at this time and its plan to protect
individuals’ privacy.
VA employees undergo a
rigorous background check and are subject to the Continuous Vetting
process that replaced the traditional clearance investigation process in
2018, under the first Trump Administration. This system conducts
real-time automated vetting of employees, affiliates, researchers,
unpaid interns, and all others with access to the VA system, according
to VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz. This process occurs regardless
of an individual’s citizenship or immigration status, ensuring that
those who are currently employed by or “affiliated” with VA, are
law-abiding individuals.
Employees and
affiliates of the VA provide critical services to veteran communities
and are doing so under challenging conditions where the provision of
health care, counseling, employment, and education resources is under
strain. In fact, VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report
detailing the critical staffing shortages and increased wait times for
veterans trying to access necessary care throughout the system.
California faces some of the most severe shortages of personnel at VA
facilities in the country.
As you know, more
than 25 percent of all VA employees are veterans themselves,
underscoring the absurdity of this effort. Citizenship is not a
requirement to serve in our armed forces, and our military has been
strengthened by the leadership and contributions of those born outside
the country who embrace the U.S. as their home. The request for
noncitizen data, specifically, can be viewed only as a thinly veiled
effort to instill fear within the VA community, which will likely
be used to conduct immigration enforcement efforts targeting (1)
individuals who serve our veterans or (2) veterans who serve their
fellow veterans.
I respectfully request answers to the following questions no later than February 12, 2026.
- Have you, Secretary Collins, or any VA officials reviewed a report on noncitizens employed or affiliated with the VA?
- What
evaluation and analysis have VA performed to assess the impact on
services to veterans if VA noncitizen employees and affiliates are
detained or deported by immigration officials?
- Please identify all categories of information the VA is collecting on noncitizen employees and affiliates.
- What legal authority is the VA relying on to create and maintain such a database?
- What
legal analysis has the VA conducted to ensure this database and the
information it contains is compliant with the Privacy Act, HIPPA, and
state laws regarding sensitive, personally identifiable information?
- Has
the VA shared the report or any of its contents with the Department of
Homeland Security? If yes, please provide information on which DHS
officials, offices, and divisions received access to such contents.
- Has
the VA started to share personnel information obtained as a result
of the data collection efforts with the Department of Homeland
Security? If not, does it intend to do so and when?
- Does the Department of Homeland Security intend to conduct immigration enforcement actions in or around VA facilities?
- Does
DHS intend to prevent noncitizen veterans from obtaining health care or
other services to which they are lawfully entitled?
- Does
DHS plan to detain or deport VA employees, affiliates, including
children and spouses that are eligible to receive these benefits, or
noncitizen veterans seeking services from the VA?
###
The following sites updated:
