Trump Doesn't Say No to Ghislaine Maxwell Pardon & RFK Jr., Is Killing America's Health
October 14, 2025
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Five Easy Pieces tells us something about not running away from our problems.
Trump Leaves Door Open to Maxwell Pardon While Pretending Not to Know Her: Epsteingate gets worse and worse for Trump.
For the Record, Retribution Edition: Trump’s retribution tour takes pettiness to new lows.
Jimmy Kimmel more popular than Trump after show suspension, poll finds: There’s joy in Mudville now that Trump has whiffed so badly.
Video Break: A rampaging elephant chases a canoe full of tourists in this terrifying video.
Kareem the Science Guy: Health Alert! Americans Are in Imminent Danger!: A medley of headlines reveal just how much damage RFK Jr., has caused. No respected medical experts support him, but hundreds openly warn against him.
What I’m Watching: Maigret is a satisfying contemporary take on this classic detective. The Last Frontier is a suspenseful manhunt for escaped convicts. The Woman in Cabin 10 is a predictable but diverting mystery.
Magical Moments in Sports: One of the greatest shots in NBA history.
Larry Kimpel, Billy Cobham, and George Duke: “Stratus”: Lively and joyful jazz fusion at its best.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
I move around a lot, not because I’m looking for anything really, but because I’m getting away from the things that get bad if I stay.
Bobby Dupea (Jack Nicholson), from Five Easy Pieces
Five Easy Pieces (1970) was nominated for four Academy Awards and remains on my Top 10 Greatest Movies Ever Made. Jack Nicholson plays Bobby Dupea, a young man trying to escape the expectations of his family of famous classical musicians by drifting between menial jobs and forming meaningless relationships. Today’s quote is Bobby’s explanation to his father of why he has chosen the wanderer’s life.
Most of us know the anxiety of not wanting to say the wrong thing that might inadvertently alienate someone we care about. A friend of mine told me that whenever he would fly back home to visit his parents, they always had a new set of friends. His parents were so outspoken in their opinions that they routinely insulted people to the extent that, over and over, once-close friends abandoned them.
Most of us also know the romantic ideal of vagabonding through life. When I was young, the radio was filled with songs about rambling (“Ramblin’ Man” by The Allman Brothers Band, “Ramble On” by Led Zeppelin, “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” by Bob Seger, “Ramblin’ On My Mind” by Robert Johnson, and “I’m a Ramblin’ Man” by Waylon Jennings, etc.). And all the cool literature was about taking to the road (On the Road by Jack Kerouac, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig, etc.).
Put those two ideas together and you have today’s quote. When we make a mess, instead of cleaning it up, we move on. The movie shows us that the reason that things “get bad if I stay” for Bobby is because he won’t change his childish rebellion against his family and the belief that they are the reason for his problems.
The trick is in cleaning up your messes. Throughout my life I have said and done things I wish I hadn’t. I have insulted and hurt people—sometimes not meaning to, sometimes deliberately. I have taken offense at things others said and afterward avoided them. Since so many people live their social lives online today, rambling away from our social messes is done by unfollowing and blocking. Looking back, in almost every case, I regret being so quick to be offended and so remorseless when others took offense.
One of the challenges of life is, instead of running away, we learn to live with our mistakes, offenses, failings—and by doing so find a way to redeem ourselves. We stay. We apologize. We fix things.