Cupp's predictions about the Epstein case "are true"? How can they be? Predictions are guesses, informed or otherwise. They can be plausible or implausible to any other person, but not "true."
btw, I predict it is true that the Cubs will be in the World Series.
I used to refer to her as “Sippy Cupp” because I found her to be so annoying. I don’t know if she’s right on this case, but my bet is nothing short of a video of Trump in bed with a young girl will move the needle for most of his fans.
She is annoying and patronising as are many of the Republicans who have seen the light and know Agent Orange as the steaming heap of corruption and malice that he is.
I still have yet to forgive Rick Wilson for the role he played in smearing Max Cleland in 2002, but I do watch his occasional videos. Strange bedfellows, as the saying goes...
I think with the way he's stonewalled the release of the Epstein files, there is enough doubt now that he won't be able to just call it fake. To be sure, there are still lots of his fans who just don't care and consider his slimy past to be baked in at this point. But there are plenty of mostly younger supporters who are really pissed over this.
A lot of MAGAs are saying that there is no reason to blame Kennedy for anything because all he was doing was accepting rides from Epstein. Is that some kind of sick joke? The celebs knew who Epstein was and what he was doing. Furthermore, why do they believe only Democrats were capable of doing something nasty. Who are they kidding? With the orange stain’s personal history, he wasn’t capable of doing something nasty? Republican men only read the Bible at night and go home to bed? Who are we kidding? Anyone riding on Epstein’s jet knew what they were doing and who he was. Hang around with nasty dogs and one tends to get fleas.
I saw a picture yesterday. Kennedy was at an Epstein party. MAGAs are claiming the the picture was photoshopped. Kennedy is claiming that all his family did was accept rides, like to an archeological dig. But the picture was at a party and there was no family evident. The party was at a archeological dig?
I wonder if they’ll believe the video presented last night on “South Park”, of him stripping naked and toiling Christ-like in the desert in selfless sacrifice to the country that he loves and cares so deeply about. It sure looked real!
If Hunter was smart he'd take his pardon and keep a very low profile. A profane rant does not help his father at all. The smarts he may have been born with are clearly muddled now.
EZ, you might want to do a click poll on your 5 predictions. that said, i agree with all 5. what's the old french phrase? plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
I also concur with all five predictions. Trying to look at this objectively, I really have not seen any indication that Trump, despite his fondness for the ladies, was ever involved in any of Epstein's sordid dealings. In fact, Trump had Epstein publicly ejected from Mar-A-Lago for being inappropriate with a woman employee and then banned him from the premises thereafter. This had to be very humiliating to Epstein, and one would think Trump would not have felt bold enough to do this if Epstein had any kind of dirt on him. (Now Bill Clinton on the other hand, who I actually liked as president and still regard him very favorably, was reportedly a passenger on Epstein's private jet several times for trips to Epstein's island where the sexual abuses with minor women regularly took place. Might be some concern there.)
Stop! How many examples of inappropriate sex behavior by the orange stain would you like to review from Stormy Daniel’s to the number of women claiming Trump grabbed them to his lockerroom humor about women reporters? Need I remind you it was his own people that reported him being on Epstein’s list? You’ll go quite far to defend this orange stain, won’t you? Clinton’s fondness for women is well documented. It has nothing to do with Trump who is an adult and made his own choices.
Hi Laurence - I do not defend bad behavior no matter wo does it. My point was that I have seen no evidence of Trump being involved in Epstein's sordid escapades beyond a statement that his name was in the Epstein file, but no context to it. And it is fact that Trump had Epstein ejected and banned from Mar-A-Lago for inappropriate behavior. If there is evidence of Trump engaging in Epstein's perversity, I will be right there to condemn it as I will for anyone who disgustingly did so. And keep in mind that Trump's DOJ filed a motion to unsealed the Epstein grand jury testimony and is certainly seems unlikely they would have done so if there was any fear of Trump's name coming up in that. I do believe that powerful people are being protected - Biden did not release any files either.. Hopefully Maxwell will be information to share on this.
Then why did you mention Clinton? That’s just as much a rumor and has nothing to do with the choices Trump made? And why would Trump be on Epstein’s list if he didn’t do anything? Epstein just added him to impress people? Come on David, everyone in this forum knows your constant defense of Trump. What in his personal history suggests he is not capable of misbehavior?
My reference to Bill Clinton was because flight logs confirmed that he was what was referred to as a frequent passenger on Epstein's private jet flying to the sex island. He has never denied those reports, although being a passenger on a plane is not a good look, but not hard evidence of actual improper behavior. With regard to trump, I feel very free to criticize him whenever I believe he is in the wrong such as he was on Ukraine until recently seemingly waking up, on a few of his terrible appointments, and recently seemingly not recognizing that transparency demands release of more information from the Epstein files. At the same time I also feel very free to give him credit such as when he sealed the border, and now his most recent very favorable trade deals with the Philippines and Japan. The facts do not appear to support your contention that I support Trump in everything no matter what.
He is still wrong on Ukraine. He reversed course again on providing them weapons and while criticizing Putin, he makes nonsensical threats that he has never carried out and I don’t believe he will. He hasn’t changed course on anything. He simply changed the dialogue. He had more than enough reason to do something his first term and what was this new extension he just granted which will simply give Putin more time to send drones and missiles. Your statement on Clinton has nothing to do with Trump. It’s a diversion. It’s merely another “ but what about this or that”.
Just to be clear, the grand jury would have gotten far less information than would have been used had Epstein gone to trial, and even the information in his trial might not have gone into detail about the people he was pimping these girls out to. In other words, the grand jury testimony is a small fraction of the evidence they have -- just what was needed to secure an indictment -- and would have focused on Epstein's behavior over anything else.
That's a very valid point John. Everybody involved in this sexual perversion assault of minor girls should be aggressively prosecuted, and I think we are all frustrated that first Biden and now Trump for whatever reason seem to be slow walking release of further information. My nephew is a county attorney, and he speculates that there are indeed names that appear in the Epstein files, but without corroborating evidence the names cannot be released or the people prosecuted.
I wonder if any Chicago cops will sue Netflix for slander over the absolutely bullshit Smollett video?
In regard to the industrial videos, I always loved the show "Factory Made". But in the first one, the narrator screwed up & said
"A bs can be formed", what he meant was "ABS can be formed". ABS is a very tough type of plastic, all the old Western Electric phones made for AT&T were ABS plastic.
Go to any Costco food court & you can watch the pizza making machine through a window. Fascinating to see it flatten out the dough & then spread the tomato sauce over it.
The long-running show "How It's Made" also comes to mind.
And the reallllly old Western Electric phones were made out of Bakelite. (I was a telephone/central office repairman in the army, and saw plenty of very old telephone systems still in use, such as electromechanical phone switchboards.)
Great American Bagel in Western Springs long had a big window through which one could watch the bagels being mixed and formed - it was fascinating. They drywalled over the window a couple years ago and going to the bagel shop is way less fun now.
The article linked to from The American Prospect on property-casualty insurance is ridiculous. One example is the following paragraph about regulation:
"This is an indictment of the existing regulatory structure. A 1945 law called the McCarran-Ferguson Act immunizes most insurance companies from federal regulation. State insurance regulators could theoretically step into the gap, but they are largely captured and allow the industry to operate in the shadows with little transparency."
I have worked in the P&C insurance industry for over 30 years and I have worked with regulators to file rates. I can assure you that many regulators prioritize consumer protection over solvency. In fact, some, if not most, insurance executives would like to do away with state regultion and have federal regulation, like banks do, instead.
The article cites net profits in 2024. It was a good year. in 2022 companies had very large investment losses -- most of their invested assets are bonds which took a big hit. But then they recovered. A better measure is combined ratio, which they cite, but only to criticize that expenses are included, as if that is not appropriate.
I agree. Dealing with up to 50 state insurance departments/regulatory agencies certainly drives up the cost of insurance. The issue with combined ratio is the fluff that can added -- loss ratio is better at how the price risk.
The standard is to price for prospective expected loss cost and expenses. Money to pay for expenses has to come from somewhere. Insurers provide detailed annual statements to state regulators, and those are publicly available even for companies which are privately held. They bread down expenses, and those statements are audited.
Incentives are in place for companies to minimize expenses. Progressive and GEICO went from being tiny companies in the 80's to giants today mainly by operating with less expense, as they passed on much of the savings to their customers.
Thanks for your very good information on this Skeptic. I also had a career in the insurance / risk management industry - I knew that we had to have some sort of kinship even though it obviously is not in the political realm! 😁
I agree that "dueling columnists" would be an interesting feature, as long as it doesn't allow for equal time to extreme hateful views, moving the Overton window. This reminds of the long running feature at The Onion: Point/Counterpoint: https://theonion.com/opinion/point-counterpoint/
Re: "How do they make..." videos, there was a show on The Discovery channel called "How It's Made" that ran for nearly 20 years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_It's_Made, it was exactly this format. I agree it's fascinating to watch the creation process and just people and machines doing skilled work, there is something in it that appeals almost to the subconscious.
Re: difficult economic environment for network TV. I'm afraid it a similar situation that newspapers and other media outlets have been facing in the past decade or so. Internet, social media, and streaming have fractured the entire news and entertainment industry into tiny bite-sized chunks of unlimited choice. The previous business model that newspapers and network TV relied on is all but gone, ripe for being snapped up by vulture capitalist firms, stripped down and sold for parts.
Every time I see news about a VC firm looking to buy up yet another newspaper (such as Alden going after the Dallas Morning News), I cringe at the lives they are about to upend, like the schoolyard bully holding a kid by his ankles until all the change falls out of his pockets.
Not to mention the loss of actual newspapers across the country. Who is going to sniff out the scoundrels and tell us about them if there is no one at the "City Desk" anymore.
Because every convicted felon should have the opportunity to fill a U.S. House seat. Politicians have to start somewhere. "Smollett!" shouted in the William Shatner voice used to yell out "Kahn!" In 6 years, we have never heard of this video? Never leaked? Hmmm. I suppose even those whose convictions are overturned (on a technicality) need to make income somehow. Hunter: “did the most selfless thing... He stepped aside to save the party.” (and pardoned me after my Father said he would let the legal system run it course and not intervene.) CTA: Nicotine patch dispensaries at all stops? Hypnotists? 5 Predictions: 1. Agree - no charges; 2. Probably no action... but a talking point with no near end in sight. 3. Def pardon coming in exchange for 'selected statements and names.' 4. Teflon Don 2? Cheetos with clean fingers. 5. "It is just a big fake anyways" after dropping lawsuit. Dueling Columnists end up being more entertainment than POV sides conversing. Even Siskel and Ebert became cartoon versions of themselves.
The Hot Dog and mind-blowing machines references made me think of one of my all time favorite series, Connections with British science historian James Burke. My husband watched it in England as a kid and the whole series is available in the US. It aired on TLC in the States in the 1990s. Burke explores scientific discoveries and inventions, deftly tying ancient history to today. It is definitely a "Green Light" series. The dry British humour (see what I did there?) is a bonus.
Loved Connections and the follow-up, The Day the Universe Changed. Although at times I found some of the connections Burke made to be tenuous, it was still a fascinating way to look at history.
When I read the line, “...there’s no way in hell Trump wants to speak under oath about Epstein,” my first thought was, 'Why not? He’s not going to suffer any consequences for lying.' And this is our new normal.
Cupp's predictions about the Epstein case "are true"? How can they be? Predictions are guesses, informed or otherwise. They can be plausible or implausible to any other person, but not "true."
btw, I predict it is true that the Cubs will be in the World Series.
I used to refer to her as “Sippy Cupp” because I found her to be so annoying. I don’t know if she’s right on this case, but my bet is nothing short of a video of Trump in bed with a young girl will move the needle for most of his fans.
She is annoying and patronising as are many of the Republicans who have seen the light and know Agent Orange as the steaming heap of corruption and malice that he is.
I still have yet to forgive Rick Wilson for the role he played in smearing Max Cleland in 2002, but I do watch his occasional videos. Strange bedfellows, as the saying goes...
I would characterize that as unforgivable no matter what. Still, there is more rejoicing in heaven ... etc.
They would just claim the video was A.I. - unlike his super-real one of Obama being arrested in the Oval Office.
I think with the way he's stonewalled the release of the Epstein files, there is enough doubt now that he won't be able to just call it fake. To be sure, there are still lots of his fans who just don't care and consider his slimy past to be baked in at this point. But there are plenty of mostly younger supporters who are really pissed over this.
A lot of MAGAs are saying that there is no reason to blame Kennedy for anything because all he was doing was accepting rides from Epstein. Is that some kind of sick joke? The celebs knew who Epstein was and what he was doing. Furthermore, why do they believe only Democrats were capable of doing something nasty. Who are they kidding? With the orange stain’s personal history, he wasn’t capable of doing something nasty? Republican men only read the Bible at night and go home to bed? Who are we kidding? Anyone riding on Epstein’s jet knew what they were doing and who he was. Hang around with nasty dogs and one tends to get fleas.
Kennedy?
I saw a picture yesterday. Kennedy was at an Epstein party. MAGAs are claiming the the picture was photoshopped. Kennedy is claiming that all his family did was accept rides, like to an archeological dig. But the picture was at a party and there was no family evident. The party was at a archeological dig?
I wonder if they’ll believe the video presented last night on “South Park”, of him stripping naked and toiling Christ-like in the desert in selfless sacrifice to the country that he loves and cares so deeply about. It sure looked real!
great set of QotW candidates this week - LMAO!
re hunter biden - i agree with EZ - STFU, hunter. i can only conclude that HB's brain must still be drug-addled.
If Hunter was smart he'd take his pardon and keep a very low profile. A profane rant does not help his father at all. The smarts he may have been born with are clearly muddled now.
Joe's political career is done regardless what Hunter spews.
Agreed but it goes to legacy.
EZ, you might want to do a click poll on your 5 predictions. that said, i agree with all 5. what's the old french phrase? plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
I also concur with all five predictions. Trying to look at this objectively, I really have not seen any indication that Trump, despite his fondness for the ladies, was ever involved in any of Epstein's sordid dealings. In fact, Trump had Epstein publicly ejected from Mar-A-Lago for being inappropriate with a woman employee and then banned him from the premises thereafter. This had to be very humiliating to Epstein, and one would think Trump would not have felt bold enough to do this if Epstein had any kind of dirt on him. (Now Bill Clinton on the other hand, who I actually liked as president and still regard him very favorably, was reportedly a passenger on Epstein's private jet several times for trips to Epstein's island where the sexual abuses with minor women regularly took place. Might be some concern there.)
Stop! How many examples of inappropriate sex behavior by the orange stain would you like to review from Stormy Daniel’s to the number of women claiming Trump grabbed them to his lockerroom humor about women reporters? Need I remind you it was his own people that reported him being on Epstein’s list? You’ll go quite far to defend this orange stain, won’t you? Clinton’s fondness for women is well documented. It has nothing to do with Trump who is an adult and made his own choices.
Hi Laurence - I do not defend bad behavior no matter wo does it. My point was that I have seen no evidence of Trump being involved in Epstein's sordid escapades beyond a statement that his name was in the Epstein file, but no context to it. And it is fact that Trump had Epstein ejected and banned from Mar-A-Lago for inappropriate behavior. If there is evidence of Trump engaging in Epstein's perversity, I will be right there to condemn it as I will for anyone who disgustingly did so. And keep in mind that Trump's DOJ filed a motion to unsealed the Epstein grand jury testimony and is certainly seems unlikely they would have done so if there was any fear of Trump's name coming up in that. I do believe that powerful people are being protected - Biden did not release any files either.. Hopefully Maxwell will be information to share on this.
Then why did you mention Clinton? That’s just as much a rumor and has nothing to do with the choices Trump made? And why would Trump be on Epstein’s list if he didn’t do anything? Epstein just added him to impress people? Come on David, everyone in this forum knows your constant defense of Trump. What in his personal history suggests he is not capable of misbehavior?
My reference to Bill Clinton was because flight logs confirmed that he was what was referred to as a frequent passenger on Epstein's private jet flying to the sex island. He has never denied those reports, although being a passenger on a plane is not a good look, but not hard evidence of actual improper behavior. With regard to trump, I feel very free to criticize him whenever I believe he is in the wrong such as he was on Ukraine until recently seemingly waking up, on a few of his terrible appointments, and recently seemingly not recognizing that transparency demands release of more information from the Epstein files. At the same time I also feel very free to give him credit such as when he sealed the border, and now his most recent very favorable trade deals with the Philippines and Japan. The facts do not appear to support your contention that I support Trump in everything no matter what.
He is still wrong on Ukraine. He reversed course again on providing them weapons and while criticizing Putin, he makes nonsensical threats that he has never carried out and I don’t believe he will. He hasn’t changed course on anything. He simply changed the dialogue. He had more than enough reason to do something his first term and what was this new extension he just granted which will simply give Putin more time to send drones and missiles. Your statement on Clinton has nothing to do with Trump. It’s a diversion. It’s merely another “ but what about this or that”.
Just to be clear, the grand jury would have gotten far less information than would have been used had Epstein gone to trial, and even the information in his trial might not have gone into detail about the people he was pimping these girls out to. In other words, the grand jury testimony is a small fraction of the evidence they have -- just what was needed to secure an indictment -- and would have focused on Epstein's behavior over anything else.
That's a very valid point John. Everybody involved in this sexual perversion assault of minor girls should be aggressively prosecuted, and I think we are all frustrated that first Biden and now Trump for whatever reason seem to be slow walking release of further information. My nephew is a county attorney, and he speculates that there are indeed names that appear in the Epstein files, but without corroborating evidence the names cannot be released or the people prosecuted.
The comment by Andy Shaw — “That takes pros. Not poets.” — was quite clever.
And to paraphrase that sentiment, when it comes to the city council it seems it takes cons, not pros.
The change in Vance's comments over time demonstrates that the longer Christians associate with Trump the more they become like him. Sigh!
I wonder if any Chicago cops will sue Netflix for slander over the absolutely bullshit Smollett video?
In regard to the industrial videos, I always loved the show "Factory Made". But in the first one, the narrator screwed up & said
"A bs can be formed", what he meant was "ABS can be formed". ABS is a very tough type of plastic, all the old Western Electric phones made for AT&T were ABS plastic.
Go to any Costco food court & you can watch the pizza making machine through a window. Fascinating to see it flatten out the dough & then spread the tomato sauce over it.
The long-running show "How It's Made" also comes to mind.
And the reallllly old Western Electric phones were made out of Bakelite. (I was a telephone/central office repairman in the army, and saw plenty of very old telephone systems still in use, such as electromechanical phone switchboards.)
I also enjoy 'Modern Marvels' which is on Story TV.
Great American Bagel in Western Springs long had a big window through which one could watch the bagels being mixed and formed - it was fascinating. They drywalled over the window a couple years ago and going to the bagel shop is way less fun now.
The one in Orland Park still has the window.
The article linked to from The American Prospect on property-casualty insurance is ridiculous. One example is the following paragraph about regulation:
"This is an indictment of the existing regulatory structure. A 1945 law called the McCarran-Ferguson Act immunizes most insurance companies from federal regulation. State insurance regulators could theoretically step into the gap, but they are largely captured and allow the industry to operate in the shadows with little transparency."
I have worked in the P&C insurance industry for over 30 years and I have worked with regulators to file rates. I can assure you that many regulators prioritize consumer protection over solvency. In fact, some, if not most, insurance executives would like to do away with state regultion and have federal regulation, like banks do, instead.
The article cites net profits in 2024. It was a good year. in 2022 companies had very large investment losses -- most of their invested assets are bonds which took a big hit. But then they recovered. A better measure is combined ratio, which they cite, but only to criticize that expenses are included, as if that is not appropriate.
I agree. Dealing with up to 50 state insurance departments/regulatory agencies certainly drives up the cost of insurance. The issue with combined ratio is the fluff that can added -- loss ratio is better at how the price risk.
This is also a contributing factor in the high cost of healthcare.
The standard is to price for prospective expected loss cost and expenses. Money to pay for expenses has to come from somewhere. Insurers provide detailed annual statements to state regulators, and those are publicly available even for companies which are privately held. They bread down expenses, and those statements are audited.
Incentives are in place for companies to minimize expenses. Progressive and GEICO went from being tiny companies in the 80's to giants today mainly by operating with less expense, as they passed on much of the savings to their customers.
Thanks for your very good information on this Skeptic. I also had a career in the insurance / risk management industry - I knew that we had to have some sort of kinship even though it obviously is not in the political realm! 😁
The UnPopulist is spot on about Bari Weiss. She's a fraud and always has been. She's basically the Tulsi Gabbard of journalism.
I agree that "dueling columnists" would be an interesting feature, as long as it doesn't allow for equal time to extreme hateful views, moving the Overton window. This reminds of the long running feature at The Onion: Point/Counterpoint: https://theonion.com/opinion/point-counterpoint/
Re: "How do they make..." videos, there was a show on The Discovery channel called "How It's Made" that ran for nearly 20 years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_It's_Made, it was exactly this format. I agree it's fascinating to watch the creation process and just people and machines doing skilled work, there is something in it that appeals almost to the subconscious.
Re: difficult economic environment for network TV. I'm afraid it a similar situation that newspapers and other media outlets have been facing in the past decade or so. Internet, social media, and streaming have fractured the entire news and entertainment industry into tiny bite-sized chunks of unlimited choice. The previous business model that newspapers and network TV relied on is all but gone, ripe for being snapped up by vulture capitalist firms, stripped down and sold for parts.
Every time I see news about a VC firm looking to buy up yet another newspaper (such as Alden going after the Dallas Morning News), I cringe at the lives they are about to upend, like the schoolyard bully holding a kid by his ankles until all the change falls out of his pockets.
Not to mention the loss of actual newspapers across the country. Who is going to sniff out the scoundrels and tell us about them if there is no one at the "City Desk" anymore.
My favorite Point/Counterpoint..
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c91XUyg9iWM
Because every convicted felon should have the opportunity to fill a U.S. House seat. Politicians have to start somewhere. "Smollett!" shouted in the William Shatner voice used to yell out "Kahn!" In 6 years, we have never heard of this video? Never leaked? Hmmm. I suppose even those whose convictions are overturned (on a technicality) need to make income somehow. Hunter: “did the most selfless thing... He stepped aside to save the party.” (and pardoned me after my Father said he would let the legal system run it course and not intervene.) CTA: Nicotine patch dispensaries at all stops? Hypnotists? 5 Predictions: 1. Agree - no charges; 2. Probably no action... but a talking point with no near end in sight. 3. Def pardon coming in exchange for 'selected statements and names.' 4. Teflon Don 2? Cheetos with clean fingers. 5. "It is just a big fake anyways" after dropping lawsuit. Dueling Columnists end up being more entertainment than POV sides conversing. Even Siskel and Ebert became cartoon versions of themselves.
Please, "Khan".
The Hot Dog and mind-blowing machines references made me think of one of my all time favorite series, Connections with British science historian James Burke. My husband watched it in England as a kid and the whole series is available in the US. It aired on TLC in the States in the 1990s. Burke explores scientific discoveries and inventions, deftly tying ancient history to today. It is definitely a "Green Light" series. The dry British humour (see what I did there?) is a bonus.
Loved Connections and the follow-up, The Day the Universe Changed. Although at times I found some of the connections Burke made to be tenuous, it was still a fascinating way to look at history.
My favorite dueling columnists of yore, Eric Zorn and Mary Schmich.
When I read the line, “...there’s no way in hell Trump wants to speak under oath about Epstein,” my first thought was, 'Why not? He’s not going to suffer any consequences for lying.' And this is our new normal.
sad, but probably true.
I wouldn't bet against any of your predictions, but I'm very disappointed that the troll quip isn't doing better in the standings.
You could easily have inserted "expletive-laced" before Hunter Biden's interview ...