10/27/25
Good morning! It’s Monday, October 27th.
National American Beer Day
Aw yeah! I mean listen, not every partakes and it’s not for everyone but if it’s for you… I’m just saying, now is the time to enjoy the things you enjoy and the things that bring you a little extra relaxation.
We’ve earned it.
We’ve earned the relaxation.
And now, the news.
Hurricane Melissa
-via NPR
Starting with weather on the tens and twos. Never a good sign.
Over the weekend, Hurricane Melissa intensified to a Category 4 on its way to Jamaica, with a hurricane watch issued in Haiti from its eastern border, which it shares with the Dominican Republic, to its capital, Port-au-Prince.
As I record this, Hurricane Melissa is on track to become the rare, though becoming increasingly less rare, cat 5 storm.
Forecasters are also urging those in eastern Cuba, the Southeast Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos Islands to monitor Hurricane Melissa closely.
Luckily this show is huge, internationally. So if you’re there and listening or watching the show (which I’m sure you are because, again, this show is wildly popular), please listen to actual officials and stay aware, stay prepared, and stay safe.
Louvre suspect arrested
-via BBC
And in France…
Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the very serious, and in no way funny so how very dare you for laughing, crime of robbing the Louve and attempting to steal Julia Roberts’ heart. (Again, this has not been mentioned in any of the other articles, but that’s why you come here… I’m the only anchor brave enough to tell the truth about this robbery.)
The men were arrested on their way to the airport (one was headed to Algeria, the other to Mali. It’s unclear where Julia Roberts was at the time of their flights.)
The reason the police were able to find the suspects is that they left multiple items at the Louvre, including gloves and a high-vis jacket.
Again, I’m not advocating for robbing the Lourve, but it doesn’t sound hard because these don’t sound like incredibly smart robbers.
…they don’t deserve Julia Roberts.
(none of us do.)
Trump’s Got Beef
-via The Hill, Politico, and CBS News
Alright, fun time’s over. We’ve gotta talk about Trump now, I guess.
As you may recall, every single time Trump runs for president (he’s done it thrice because don’t forget he lost in 2020 and then did insurrection), one of his big campaign things is America First. And even though it’s a racist dog whistle, what he pretends it means is that he wants to bring jobs and manufacturing back to America.
(I say pretend because if he meant it, he’d probably have his own merch made in America.)
However, right now, while the government continues to be shutdown (welcome to Day 27), Trump is focusing on… importing beef from Argentina. Beef prices are up in America, so he says this would bring prices down while… bailing out the Argentinian government.
Something he’s been doing a lot lately.
In fact, Trump has already signed off on a $20 billion financial lifeline to Argentina. Additionally, a bonus $20 billion will come from banks and other private lenders
But the money wasn’t just sent right on over. Instead, he said the money was contingent on the Argentine President Javier Milei’s party winning legislative elections that happened on Sunday.
The country is in extreme financial distress, and a $40 billion carrot is being dangled in front of voters to sway the election.
Man… Trump has never met an election that he wants to handle honestly, huh?
So that election happened Sunday, but as of this recording there are no results. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.
But – again… our government is shut down because Republicans don’t want people to have healthcare and are literally lying about the reason for the shutdown (I’m not even doing politics right now. I’m just calling a lie a lie when it’s a lie.), and the president of the United States is giving tens of billions over to Argentina.
And then, going back to the beef thing… Not only is he taking away our money, that’s a little harder for us to actually wrap our noggins around because we don’t get that money anyway. That’s money that could go to things like, you know, education, healthcare, roads, climate care, whatever… but the beef. That is taking money out of the pockets of farmers.
Because now instead of restaurants and other places by beef from American farmers, they are buying beef from another country.
Here’s a quote: “I have no idea who is telling our great president — our ‘America First’ president — that this is a good idea. Because, honestly, it’s a punch in the gut to all of our American cattle ranchers, and they are furious and rightfully so.”
That’s from Marjorie Taylor Greene! That’s how you know it’s bad! Marj is like… hey, Trump is wrong. (also, side note… keep an eye on Marj. She’s not smart, but she’s not dumb. She’s breaking away from Trump more and more… I find that interesting.)
If he keeps this up, he may lose these farmers when he runs in 2028.
That’s a joke! (Well, who knows if it is but who cares? That’s the energy, okay? I guess big-time loser Steve Bannon crawled out from whatever leather-jacket rock her lives under to warn us about Trump wanting a third term, and I can’t stress this enough. I’m sure he does. He can’t do it, I’d be shocked if anyone would put him on the ballot, but they want us to be all scared and worry ourselves into a burnout. The energy is… who cares? Loser. You can’t do it so we’re not spending energy on it.)
Trump Not Talking to Canada
Listen, what’s happening between Trump and Argentina is bad but at least he’s talking to them.
On Thursday, after Ontario released an ad where Reagan criticizes tariffs, Trump announced he was no longer speaking to Canada.
The whole country!
(Honestly… congrats to Canada.)
No, no, he actually just said trade talks are off.
But with Toronto playing Los Angeles in the World Series, if Toronto wins, it’s not going to help anything.
Although, is he going to celebrate an LA win?
And on the third hand… is he even capable of love?
While we’re talking trade – although the government is shut down, as I mentioned, Trump has skipped town and is on a trip around Asia. He will sit down with China’s Xi Jingping later this week but, although a final deal has not been signed, representatives on both sides say the framework for a trade pact between the two countries has been worked out.
As Goes California, So Goes Virginia
-via Democracy Docket
And because it’s Monday, we’ll end on an up:
As we here in California prepare to vote on Prop 50 (our redistricting measure), Virginia has come out of nowhere to surprise us all and say they will do the same!
Beginning today, legislatures will draw a new map meant to pick up two or three additional seats.
Again, similar to California, it will need to pass the state legislature and then be approved by voters, because it means a change to the state constitution.
Listen – we don’t want to be here. Of course we don’t. But not wanting to be here doesn’t change our current location. We can’t just do nothing and hope that, because we’re sitting here modeling good behavior, somehow Trump and others will find a moral.
Texas, as well as Texas and Missouri, have already redrawn their lines because the president asked them too. Utah and Ohio are also in the process of doing so.
What are we supposed to do? We cannot do nothing.
Over, under, or around – we are going to find a way through this moment. We are fighting for the future of our democracy. We’re fighting for people’s rights. It was never going to be easy. It was never going to be comfortable.
It will always, always, be worth it.
To quote Leslie Knope - "Far and away, the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing."
And that’s it.
That’s the news.
I’m proud of… Leslie Knope. And Julia Roberts.
Both equally real people in my eyes.
And voters. Not less proud! I’m not less proud of voters…
For real… there are a lot of very important elections coming up. Please go to www.wearevoters.org to register to vote, double-check your voter registration, find your polling place, and all of that.
If you are registered to vote, you need to double-check your registration. Every single time. Please. The last thing you want is a surprise at the polling place.
I am also proud of beer… You know what’s nice, and this isn’t an ad (but they are certainly welcome to give me money or free product)… the Athletic non-alcoholic beers. I’m not even kidding, I really like them.
But more than any brand ever, because you’re priceless (and yet, worth all the money in the world)… I’m proud of you.