Magnetic Pole Flip – Introduction

How to Make a Whole WEEK of Dinners from One Chicken

Is the Government Hiding Deaths from Hurricane Helene? Almost Certainly

Border Patrol Takes a Pass on Kamala Harris

Cranes are more than just a nice pair of legs.

Who were they?

There are likely less than 28 grams of francium in the Earth's crust at any given time.

In contrast to ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS Mornings on Tuesday, NBC’s Today downplayed two lengthy stops for attendee medical emergencies cutting short a Monday townhall with former President Trump that became both a jamfest and chance for Trump to mingle with supporters. Instead, they touted it as a “bizarre” scene and chance for Vice President Harris to “rais[e] concerns about [his] fitness for office” and “mental acuity.” Co-host Hoda Kotb immediately took it down the Harris team’s preferred narrative in an opening tease: “Trump’s rally derailed by two medical emergencies, turning it into a bizarre dance party...The Harris campaign using that to question the mental fitness of her opponent. Trump pushing back, raising his concerns about his rival.”     Moments later in setting up their 2024 coverage, Kotb got the closest anyone did the show’s two hours to explaining the truth: “And that Trump rally is making headlines after two people fainted after extreme heat inside the hall. The former President asked his campaign for music as first responders made sure they were okay. Trump staying on stage and continuing to play songs for the rest of the event.” The focus changed a few minutes later with a segment by senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson buying the Harris team’s rancorous hypocrisy hook, line, and sinker with this as her chyron: “Dem Focus on Trump’s Mental Fitness.” Co-host Savannah Guthrie put the ball on the tee, declaring “Harris is raising concerns about her opponent’s fitness for office” with Trump “launching personal attacks on her intelligence and cognitive ability.” Jackson didn’t lead off with the reason the rally was cut short or making clear Trump was perfectly fine. No, no. She let the doubt hang in the air: It is all front and center this morning given that Trump rally overnight with Vice President Harris in response to it tweeting simply, “is he okay?” Part of a bigger spotlight she’s putting on the former President’s health. Mr. Trump’s team saying, overall, he is, in their words, “sharper and more focused than ever before.” She added (click “expand”): JACKSON: Former President Trump’s extended soundtrack session overnight cast by his campaign as indulging a crowd that “wanted to hear more songs from the famous DJT Spotify playlist,” but to the Harris campaign, Mr. Trump appeared “lost, confused and frozen,” part of their strategy to put a new focus on Mr. Trump’s health with the Vice President all but daring her rival to release his medical records. HARRIS: Are they afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable to lead America? JACKSON: The Vice President looking to flip the script after months when President Biden was the one on the ticket and under scrutiny as the oldest presidential nominee in history. But now? It’s Mr. Trump who is the oldest in this race at 78. Democrats trying to cast doubt on his mental acuity, including Harris running mate Tim Walz. GOVERNOR TIM WALZ (D-MN): He’s confused. He’s a nearly 80-year-old man. JACKSON: An recent ad showing Mr. Trump appearing to slur his words. TRUMP [in Harris ad]: [inaudible] MARTHA MACCALLUM [in Harris ad]: The former President has been off his game. TRUMP [in Harris ad]: [inaudible] Jackson’s only attempt at balance was underhanded by dismissing Trump’s call for Harris to take a cognitive test and questioned the legitimacy of a doctor’s note Trump’s team released last year. She then went right back to suggesting something’s off in Trump’s health with gripes that his rallies contain “multiple asides...and run-ons” and touted an answer on child care to the Economic Club of New York to imply a lack of grip on reality. She only said Trump has “defended his verbal gymnastics...as rhetorical flourishes.” Missing? Any mention by Jackson of the many word salads Harris has tossed. Conveniently, our friends at the Free Beacon have documented 26 separate garbled messes in her vice presidency (as of this post). With audible laughs heard on the Today set, Guthrie conceded “the Trump campaign also likes to play clips of Kamala Harris saying she’s not making sense, it’s word salad” but quickly gave weight to Harris’s “concerted effort” to attack Trump’s “age and cognition.” Jackson closed by gushing over the 49-point swing in NBC polling of which candidate is seen as healthier from Biden vs. Trump to Harris vs. Trump and, in the second hour, she doubled down (click “expand”): Look at the polling. Back when President Biden was still in the race, Mr. Trump held a 29-point edge on this question of the mental fitness and physical health to be president. But fast-forward to this fall, and our NBC News poll shows Vice President Harris is holding a 20-point lead on the same question. That is a swing of nearly 50 points. To your point, Savannah, keep in mind the Harris campaign has only really started ramping up this strategy in the last couple of weeks. It is something we’re likely to see more of until Election Day, Savannah (....) [in the second hour] Both candidates have been on the campaign trail in this cycle’s biggest battleground, of course, the Commonwealth of PA, with former President Trump’s event overnight turning into an impromptu soundtrack session, cutting short his townhall after two long interruptions because of medical episodes in the audience and then spending about an half an hour or so listening to music with the crowd. His campaign casting it as a chance for supporters to “enjoy the playlist,” Vice President Harris in a response overnight tweeting simply, “hope he’s okay,” part of a push to put Mr. Trump’s health in the spotlight. To see the relevant NBC transcript from October 15, click here.

On Monday night House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) lashed out at CBS on Twitter for how they sliced and diced his interview on Sunday's Face The Nation. He tweeted about how CBS edited out five "important minutes" out of a 15-minute interview -- and he exposed the video edits. If anyone thought these shows were live, this ruins that idea.  I recently traveled to NC and victims of Hurricane Helene told me nearly two weeks after landfall, the Biden-Harris Administration had STILL not provided them with all the resources they desperately needed. But CBS selectively edited OUT ENTIRELY this first-hand perspective. pic.twitter.com/ZjO5LWdtsM — Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) October 15, 2024 The CBS transcript shows what they edited out [and the viewer wouldn't notice during the broadcast because it's edited where the shot changes to a full-screen shot of Johnson]:  MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the FEMA Director says there's only $11 billion left from that $20 billion that was allocated. So that's a different accounting than this 2% you say was distributed. SPEAKER JOHNSON: Yeah. So they've obligated some funds, but they've only distributed 2%, [and when I was there on the ground, and you should go, I mean, bring the cameras and talk to the people there, they'll tell you, don't- don't take politicians words for this or the administration's word, talk to the people there on the ground they had not been provided the resources almost two weeks out from the storm that they desperately needed. And when I was there 13 days, post- you know, post the storm hitting that state, people are still being rescued. They're stuck in the higher elevations in the mountains because the roads are down and all the rest. So they need every- every available resource and all hands on deck.] The rescue and recovery efforts are still going on, and then we address the rest of it. But FEMA was slow to respond. They did not do the job that we all expect and hope that they will do, and there's going to be a lot of assessment about that as well in the days ahead. That wasn't the only edit. When Johnson said there was going to be "some cheating" in this election, Brennan pounced. CBS didn't want to spread any notion that Republicans are the ones for election integrity. MARGARET BRENNAN: You know that it is against– SPEAKER JOHNSON: Glenn Youngkin, the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia -- BRENNAN:  The law for noncitizens to vote in federal elections that's established law. JOHNSON: Of course it is, of course it is, but of course it is. But here's the problem, there's a number of states that are not requiring proof of citizenship when illegals are noncitizens register to vote. We know that's happening. [Look, Glenn Youngkin in Virginia, I was going to say he issued an executive order to clean up their voting rules heading into the election. Less than 30 days out, a couple of days ago, the Obama, I mean, the Biden administration, Department of Justice, Biden Harris administration, sued the governor and the state, the Commonwealth of Virginia, to try to prevent them from cleaning up their voter rolls. Their voter rolls. See, that kind of thing creates a lot of doubt and concern in the minds of a lot of the American people. Why would they do that?] BRENNAN: But respectfully, Speaker – JOHNSON: Everybody should want the law to be followed. The biggest removal of Johnson's argument came shortly after, when Brennan suggested Johnson was undermining the integrity of elections by suggesting non-citizens will vote!  The Biden-Harris Admin let millions of illegal aliens in our country. So, the House passed the SAVE Act to ensure only American citizens vote in American elections. CBS edited that out and focused on 2020 instead of immediate threats to election integrity. pic.twitter.com/gXa07XFt8k — Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) October 15, 2024 CBS didn't want any discussion of a "SAVE Act," or how Chuck Schumer and the Democrats oppose any attempt to insure illegal immigrants don't vote.  MARGARET BRENNAN: Respectfully, Speaker, you both, in the course of this interview, said that you do believe that states have taken measures that will help the integrity of this election SPEAKER JOHNSON: That's true- BRENNAN: – and then you just also seem to undermine confidence in the integrity of the state elections– JOHNSON: No, no. Margaret. Hold on. Wait a minute. Wait, wait just a minute. It's not me undermining it. It's the actions of the Biden-Harris administration and some of these states. Noncitizens are not allowed to vote under federal law. [BRENNAN: Right JOHNSON: But the states have prohibited it. We passed the SAVE act. You know, in the house, the SAVE Act says you gotta have proof of citizenship before you register to vote. And Chuck Schumer and the Democrats blocked that in the Senate. We could have prevented this, the questions that people have about that, but the Democrats chose not to. They opened the border wide. A lot of people theorize that that was so that they could have non citizens to vote. These are realities, Margaret. I wish it weren't true, but that's what's, that's the concern that people have. And Wisconsin– [CROSSTALK] BRENNAN: – But, but. People can have lots of concerns, but it is already law that noncitizens cannot vote in federal elections. JOHNSON: It is a law. That's correct, but we have to make sure the law is followed. And that is the whole point. That has always been the whole point of the SAVE Act and all the measures that we've tried to ensure. I believe, by my count, we have about 16 million illegal aliens in the country since Mayorkas and Harris and Biden opened the border wide. And because of that, there's concern, because those people are distributed all around the country, as you know, there's concern some of those people will try to participate in the elections. Look, some of our House races. I believe the Republicans are going to win the House, grow the House majority, win the Senate and the White House. But in some of our House races, I mean, I have a colleague who was elected by six votes in 2020. Some of these are decided by hundreds or a few 1000s of votes. So if you have non citizens participating against the law, and you have no mechanism in some states to stop it. That is the root of so much of the concern. And of course, you know, in California, they have ballot harvesting right? Ballot harvesting is notorious for opening the door for fraud in Wisconsin, they're going to put— BRENNAN: — Mr. Speaker, you seem to be JOHNSON: – In some counties unmanned ballot boxes in public parks, again BRENNAN: Contradicting yourself. The states are run by the state government– JOHNSON: No. I'm stating the facts, Margaret. BRENNAN: – Not the federal government. JOHNSON: That's right. That's correct. And that's yeah we hope and pray- ] BRENNAN: So if your issue is with certain governors, shouldn't you be talking to them?  JOHNSON: We have been- we have been and the Republican governors have done heroic work. They've done their own audits of the voter rolls to try to ensure and do their best duty to make sure that this is a free, fair and legal election. We're calling on all the governors to do the same thing, Democrat governors as well, and Democrat led states in the legislature, they need to do the same thing. Does anyone at CBS realize this is why most Americans don't trust the media? Their sneaky editing isn't going to look partisan and unethical? Brennan responded by blandly tweeting out the full transcript was posted. But CBS would make us underline where the edits are! 

MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera welcomed former Democratic Rep. Max Rose to her Tuesday show to discuss Donald Trump turning a Monday town hall event into an impromptu dance session. For Rose, such an event is proof Trump has dementia. After playing a clip of Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz saying Trump is a nearly 80-year old man who rambles in his speeches and refuses to release his medical records, Cabrera wondered, “It’s interesting because the age issue really damaged President Biden before he got out of the race. Could this attack line hurt Trump in the same way down this homestretch?”     Rose replied: Look at, you have to be demented to stand on stage and start dancing when it’s a town hall. I mean, that — we have two sides of Donald Trump right now. One, we have just this grave threat to all that we hold dear, our constitution, our democracy. On the same hand, I would say the principal driving force of his incompetency is the fact that he is not all there. He's a couple fries short of a Happy Meal at this point, and that's why he's standing up there, dancing to YMCA, can barely do the YMCA if you actually check out the video, and so this is a story in a video.  At the beginning of the segment, Cabrera noted how the town hall was interrupted by two medical emergencies. It is not as if Trump showed up and just started dancing. However, Rose continued, “You don't even actually have to listen to his words, and it is just imperative at this point that the campaign pushes those two separate narratives: grave threat and also just supremely incompetent and entering the final stages of his life.” He then reached, “You know, I feel bad for his family right now. I know so many people have to deal with their parents as they have gone through stages of dementia and that's clearly what they're on the precipice of having to deal with now, but he certainly should go nowhere near the Oval Office.” Cabrera gave credence to the idea that Trump dancing could be a sign something is wrong with him, “And the bottom line is we don't know about his health, we don't know about his mental health or physical health and the intricacies that are important to know for viewers and voters to know about whether he's fit for presidency because he has not released those records.” Trump dances at his rallies quite frequently and does so in a robotic manner that some may find cringey, but that he surely views it as part of his charm and as a way to soften his image. For months the media has made a big deal about how “fun” Kamala Harris’s rallies and good the “vibes” are but when Trump tries to have some improvised fun, they start talking about how he’s losing it. Here is a transcript for the October 15 show: MSNBC Ana Cabrera Reports 10/15/2024 10:14 AM ET ANA CABRERA: It’s interesting because the age issue really damaged President Biden before he got out of the race. Could this attack line hurt Trump in the same way down this homestretch? MAX ROSE: Sure. The only thing I disagree with is I don't think Donald Trump is hiding much. Look at, you have to be demented to stand on stage and start dancing when it’s a town hall. I mean, that—we have two sides of Donald Trump right now. One, we have just this grave threat to all that we hold dear, our constitution, our democracy. On the same hand, I would say the principal driving force of his incompetency is the fact that he is not all there. He's a couple fries short of a Happy Meal at this point, and that's why he's standing up there, dancing to YMCA, can barely do the YMCA if you actually check out the video, and so this is a story in a video.  You don't even actually have to listen to his words, and it is just imperative at this point that the campaign pushes those two separate narratives: grave threat and also just supremely incompetent and entering the final stages of his life.  You know, I feel bad for his family right now. I know so many people have to deal with their parents as they have gone through stages of dementia and that's clearly what they're on the precipice of having to deal with now, but he certainly should go nowhere near the Oval Office. CABRERA: And the bottom line is we don't know about his health, we don't know about his mental health or physical health and the intricacies that are important to know for viewers and voters to know about whether he's fit for presidency because he has not released those records.