Because it felt like a grim duty, I forced myself to read an excerpt of “Nobody’s Girl,” Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir. You’ll recall she was the first, and highest-profile, of the Epstein victims to go public. It was published in The Guardian. It’s as sad and awful as you’d expect, but this passage, about sex with the no-longer-titled Prince Andrew, caught my eye:
Back at the house, Maxwell and Epstein said goodnight and headed upstairs, signalling it was time that I take care of the prince. In the years since, I’ve thought a lot about how he behaved. He was friendly enough, but still entitled – as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright. I drew him a hot bath. We disrobed and got in the tub, but didn’t stay there long because the prince was eager to get to the bed. He was particularly attentive to my feet, caressing my toes and licking my arches. That was a first for me, and it tickled. I was nervous he would want me to do the same to him. But I needn’t have worried. He seemed in a rush to have intercourse. Afterward, he said thank you in his clipped British accent. In my memory, the whole thing lasted less than half an hour.
It took a few minutes for the image to swim up from the depths of my memory:
Remember that? It was 1992, and Andrew and his commoner wife, Sarah Ferguson aka the Duchess of York, were separated. She’d traveled to the south of France for a restorative weeklong holiday with a then-unknown Texas “financial advisor,” and the paps did what paps do:
The 55 pictures over nine pages showed a topless Fergie rubbing sun cream on to the head of her balding financial adviser, kissing him, lying under him and letting him kiss or lick – the actual activity has since been disputed – her toes.
The question of whether Andrew or Sarah were into foot play when they married, or whether one introduced the other to it, or if it just happened spontaneously, remains open. Me, I don’t judge, I just notice. A longtime reader of this blog once messaged me that when someone says, “check out the pair on her,” he first looks at her feet. I’d much rather have my feet rubbed than kissed, and tomorrow I’m cashing in a nearly expired gift certificate for a 75-minute deep-tissue massage that I hope will include a little attention to the ol’ dogs.
I am thinking about this because it keeps me from thinking about the White House being torn down to build what will no doubt be the ugliest, tackiest, goldest monument to Tubby ever, one that I believe we should allow a full squadron of graffiti artists to deface as soon as he leaves. Assuming he leaves.
Let’s also turn our attention to other, more substantive matters. Roy has a nice piece on Zohran Mamdani. Dunno if it’s paywalled, but here’s a passage Dems should be paying attention to:
It should be mentioned that part of Mamdani’s success is his willingness to champion policies the voters actually want instead of making up excuses for why they can’t have them. Cheaper housing, lower cost of living, higher minimum wage — those are all easy layups. Even his promise to protect people from ICE goons reflects a growing consensus across the country at large.
These policies are reflexively treated by the Prestige Press as outside the mainstream, but if they are, it’s because those guys put them there, not because voters don’t want them.
Why did Trump win? In part, because he promised things people want. Yes, most of it was transparent, obvious bullshit — how’s that better, cheaper health care working for you, Kentucky? Is it infrastructure week yet? — but it worked for a man with a known track record for lying. Why can’t it work for those of us who deal in good faith? It seems it’ll be easier to make NYC buses free than design a national health-care plan, but what do I know? I know enough about public transport to know that fares are a small portion of system revenue, and the more people who can take public transit into a densely populated city, the better it is for everyone. I’ve been taking my beloved DDOT 31 bus down to Wayne State when weather permits, and I’m reminded again of how pleasant it can be, to throw your bike on the rack, ride downtown, retrieve the bike and cycle the last three-quarters of a mile to campus, without having to worry about parking. Besides, I’m taking a creative writing class, and we’re into poetry now. I need to hear the songs of my people for inspiration. and you hear them on a bus. Here’s something I heard the other day: “Hey, beautiful, I like your glasses.” And he was talking to me!
Anyway, go Zohran. Let’s try you for a while.
OK, I gotta think about exercise, a shower and dressing for the evening — going to see Fran Lebowitz tonight with a friend. Hope the remainder of your Wednesday is swell.
john (not mccain) said on October 22, 2025 at 12:22 pm
The next president, if America survives, should turn the ballroom into a homeless shelter. Spiteful charity is the best charity.
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Deborah said on October 22, 2025 at 12:33 pm
I’m envious that you get to see Fran Lebowitz, I’ve loved her forever.
I need to get back to my reading instead of doom scrolling. Our new book club selection is Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez (I want to know how to pronounce that first name properly). It’s also the one chosen by One Book One Chicago, Seniors book. Our book club could definitely be called a senior book club, the youngest person is maybe 65.
Seeing photos of the destruction of the East Wing is shocking. The big blob of the new ballroom is definitely the wrong scale move for the site. My husband calls that plopitecture.
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Sherri said on October 22, 2025 at 1:58 pm
Fares don’t cover the cost of public transit, but gas taxes don’t cover the cost of roads, either. I find that lots of people in suburbia, at least, feel that roads and free parking are just their God-given right, not some government-subsidized freebie, while public transit is paying taxes to bring undesirables into their pristine suburbs.
Fare-free public transit is a political choice, just like parking requirements that drive up the cost of housing, or building more roads that never solve traffic congestion, or congestion pricing, or more frequent transit even if the density isn’t there yet. Addressing climate change requires getting more people out of (especially single occupancy) cars, even if they’re electric.
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David C said on October 22, 2025 at 2:06 pm
When Mary was in physical therapy for myofascial release in her shoulder and for plantar fasciitis, her therapist taught me how do the the massages on her shoulder and foot. I’m pretty good at it. It’s a good skill to have.
I understand Trump uses contractors connected with the Russian mob. If it ever gets finished, they’ll probably have to knock it down to get rid of all the bugs.
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alex said on October 22, 2025 at 2:33 pm
Best line in Roy’s piece today:
In its passive-aggressive way the New York Times is also pitching in, and their latest champion is Bret Stephens, who tells us “Why Mamdani Frightens Jews Like Me.” “’Like Me’ — you mean assholes?” one is tempted to rejoin.
(He goes on to point out that Mamdani enjoys substantial Jewish support despite all of the negativity from the political establishment and media.)
The mainstream media have also been accomplices of the right in trying to marginalize Bernie and AOC, who have consistently drawn bigger rally crowds than Tubby ever did, and do so because they support the things that people actually want.
Here in Indiana, Republicans run largely unopposed because would-be Dem challengers are afraid of being tarred as radical leftists no matter what they say or do, and when they do run they go selling themselves as right-leaning and run away from their own party, like our one-term senator Joe Donnelly, who won only because his rival was a stupid dick back in the pre-Trump era when being a stupid dick was still a liability for Republicans.
“Republican Lite” Democrats haven’t been winning any races around here for some time now, so maybe it’s time for them to go full-throated liberal and promise something other than more of the same. I’d sure as hell like to see it.
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tajalli said on October 22, 2025 at 2:34 pm
Deborah, her first name is pronounced So Chee.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xochitl_Gonzalez
Just placed her book on hold at my library.
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Jason T. said on October 22, 2025 at 3:50 pm
So today I learned, after reading this post, that Metro Detroit does not have a county-wide bus system, just the DDOT city buses, and that some communities in Wayne County have been allowed to “opt out” of any public transportation.
This is, of course, nuts. Even Pittsburgh has a countywide public transit system, and we didn’t have 9-1-1 here until a few years ago.
I’m going to take a wild guess about the Detroit situation and assume it’s racially motivated. Luckily, though, there isn’t any racism any more, just ask the Roberts Court or Fox News.
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diane said on October 22, 2025 at 4:02 pm
Our fare free bus system in my admittedly fairly wealthy resort mountain community is fabulous! It provides convenient transportation for commuters. Local professionals and retirees both use it to get to restaurants and concerts. Kids use it to get to school. Etc., etc.! I’m not saying that I know how well it would translate in an urban area, I am saying that it has been a great success (easing the pressure on aging parking garages, making it easier for employers to get employees, etc.,) in a growing resort community. I can’t imagine that there wouldn’t be advantages in a large urban community that would outweigh the relatively small fraction of the operating costs that fares provide.
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brian stouder said on October 22, 2025 at 5:16 pm
Thought experiment: Imagine the Republican/conservative reaction if President Obama had literally taken a wrecking ball to the White House. Currently in the news, one can watch the White House being smashed by a demolition crew, so that little Donnie can have a new ball room. (insert silly phallic humor here)
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Sherri said on October 22, 2025 at 5:40 pm
All we have to do is remember what David Broder said about President Bill Clinton: “He came in here and trashed the place, and it wasn’t his place.”
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alex said on October 22, 2025 at 5:41 pm
Well, the good news around here today is that despite intense pressure from Tubby, Vance and our MAGA governor, the state legislature’s GOP supermajority can’t come up with enough votes to support redistricting:
https://www.wane.com/top-stories/indiana-senate-republicans-votes-arent-there-for-redistricting/
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Heather said on October 22, 2025 at 6:25 pm
Now he’s saying he’s going to tear down the entire East Wing. What, he lied? Shocker! And the NYTimes can’t even say it.
I’m incredibly heartbroken over this. No, it doesn’t compare to a genocide or people being abducted off the streets. But these cultural touchstones matter. That House was built by slaves. It’s hosted so many prominent people from politics, the arts, science, etc. It’s the encapsulation of the best and worst of our country. And he’s just knocking it down to build a tacky ballroom.
This feels like the Taliban blowing up those statues.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10/22/us/trump-news
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Sherri said on October 22, 2025 at 6:51 pm
What should we call the new ballroom? The Epstein Memorial Ballroom? Putin’s Grand Ballroom? The Golden Calf Ballroom, for all the evangelical Christians to enjoy? Confederama? Bribes Accepted Here Ballroom?
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Kristen said on October 22, 2025 at 7:05 pm
I know this isn’t the point…but a BALLROOM…in 2025?! When is the last time anyone heard of anyone – even in foreign statesmanship – attending a ball? Or hosting a ball? There are zero critical thinking skills left in the MAGA population.
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Sherri said on October 22, 2025 at 8:18 pm
He can monetize it by renting it out for weddings, like he does Mar-a-lago.
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Dorothy said on October 22, 2025 at 8:31 pm
I am all agog. What did I do today? Well my hubby and I had 50 minute deep tissue massages at a Woodhouse Spa in Grandview Heights. I got a gift certificate for my August birthday and we cashed it in today. Jeeeez Loueeezzze was it nice! We are planning to do this yearly now instead of waiting for a gift certificate. Just so happens next Monday is our 46th anniversary so I already have a reminder on my calendar to book massages again around our anniversary date.
I get sick to my stomach every time I see the pictures of what’s happening at the White House. Every time I think there can’t be anything worse than we’ve already heard/seen from that prick, along comes this. And I also thought I could not feel any stronger about how badly I’d love to hear that he died, but now I know there is no limit to how strong that feeling can grow.
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alex said on October 22, 2025 at 10:22 pm
I didn’t know massages were so precious. My hubby buys me one and one for himself every 2 weeks. And omigod what they do for my feet. The best part, though, is the traction on my neck.
WTF is going on that nobody’s stopping the orange a-hole from demolishing the White House? That sumbitch and his enablers need to be locked the hell up.
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Gretchen said on October 22, 2025 at 11:31 pm
Republicans have gerrymandered states so much already they might not be able to get more seats. Kansas tried to gerrymander Sharice Davids out and she won the next election by 10 points. If they take more Dems out of her district they have to put them into another district where they already stowed excess Dem voters.
Sharice said that if they gerrymander out she’d consider running against Marshall for Senate. I think that scares them.
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ROGirl said on October 23, 2025 at 5:32 am
Shitting on America. That’s our president.
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Bruce Fields said on October 23, 2025 at 10:43 am
Amen to ending parking requirements. (Very proud of Ann Arbor for finally getting that right: https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2022/08/ann-arbor-dissolves-requirements-for-parking-lots.html) Given the combination of the housing shortage and the climate crisis, requiring housing for people to subsidize housing for cars is just insane.
I’m a little skeptical on free transit. Not that I hate the idea, just if it’s a choice between that and, say, more frequent service, I suspect the latter would bring more ridership.
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Carl said on October 23, 2025 at 11:05 am
Diana Krall — the jazz singer — I don’t like her voice although most people do. I change the station when Popsicle Toes comes on.
Unrelated topic, from Badtux the Snarky Penguin, an old blogger and computer expert that I just checked in on today. Regarding Epstein’s death. A clear explanation of the video recording process. It puts my suspicions to rest.
https://snarkypenguin.wordpress.com/2025/07/13/some-insight-on-the-epstein-jail-footage-from-an-actual-expert/
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Little Bird said on October 23, 2025 at 11:10 am
Sure he could monetize the ballroom by renting it out. I’m surprised he hasn’t started selling bits of the rubble like they did with the Berlin Wall though.
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Icarus said on October 23, 2025 at 12:25 pm
Bruce Fields @ 20: “I’m a little skeptical on free transit.”
Big Motor did its best to curtail if not completely destroy public transportation in order to make sure everyone would buy automobiles.
I’m okay with free transit and the benefits involved like letting the poors get to their office jobs downtown and lower emissions from gas vehicles.
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susan said on October 23, 2025 at 1:12 pm
The new $20 bill. Should be on the new $3 bill, though.
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Sherri said on October 23, 2025 at 1:41 pm
Free transit vs more frequent transit: which one would increase ridership is probably location dependent. If transit already comes every 10 minutes, then making it free is probably going to add more riders than improving frequency. If it comes less frequently than that, then improving frequency will probably add more riders.
10 minutes is sort of the point where you don’t check a schedule, you just show up and know it will be there relatively soon.
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Dexter Friend said on October 23, 2025 at 1:45 pm
But but but! Obama turned a tennis court into a basketball court! That BASTARD!
Why Trump was not told to fuck off when he even suggested destroying The White House campus should be being discussed in every civics class right now. This new fieldhouse called a ballroom is going to dwarf the main crib by X factors. Trump is like Napoleon Dynamite in the bus scene when we see high school Napoleon , the only “big kid” forced to ride a school bus, being asked by a 9 year-old boy sitting in the back f the bus, “what are you gonna do today, Napoleon?”, and Napoleon says “whatever I feel like doing, GOSH!”
He then throws a toy man on a string out of the bus window to watch it bounce along the road. That is Trump, doing whatever he feels like doing. And we just say “gosh” and watch the carnage unfold. Every fucking day.
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Colleen said on October 23, 2025 at 1:54 pm
Threads is full of “what about Obama’s basketball court, hmmmm?” comments. Yes. That’s EXACTLY the same as bulldozing an entire wing of the White House. And they accuse US of having a derangement syndrome….
I’m also seeing “Harry Truman gutted the White House.” comments. Yeah, because Bess’ piano fell through the floorboards….
They are so stupid it is exhausting.
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Jakash said on October 23, 2025 at 2:00 pm
brian stouder:
Yeah, given that Michelle Obama attempting to get healthier school lunches for children was vilified, but Brainworm Bobby’s MAHA stuff is celebrated; that planting a vegetable garden on the White House lawn was a supreme outrage, but paving over the Rose Garden and actually destroying the East Wing are A-OK, your thought experiment doesn’t require a fiction writer’s imagination.
Also, maybe I’ve missed them, but I haven’t seen any comments from you in quite a while. Glad you checked in! Of course, you’re well-represented on the purple Wayback Machine to the right of the page…
Sherri asks: “What should we call the new ballroom?”
How ’bout the “Faux King Ballroom?”
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Sherri said on October 23, 2025 at 7:32 pm
I guess I’m just helplessly old-fashioned, but I think that regardless of whether a candidate says things you like about economic issues, if he has a Nazi tattoo that he didn’t cover up until this week and a history of problematic Reddit posts, and no track record to look at, maybe he’s not a good choice for US Senate candidate. Maybe he’s should start at city council or legislature and show that he’s matured beyond his earlier choices.
When I think about the kinds of things that have been considered disqualifying for female candidates (her hair, her voice, too shrill, too weak), it’s discouraging that people like Bernie expect that we should just shrug off Graham Platner’s past choices.
After all, white males are still children until 40, right?
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Jeff Gill said on October 23, 2025 at 8:45 pm
The “No Kings” rally in Newark, Ohio last weekend:
https://www.thereportingproject.org/no-kings-protest-in-newark-draws-crowd-of-more-than-1000/
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Brandon said on October 25, 2025 at 6:15 pm
Did you know that Blue Bloods was popular internationally? I didn’t. But expectations are high for its spinoff, Boston Blue.
https://deadline.com/2025/10/boston-blue-sells-globally-blue-bloods-cbs-donnie-wahlberg-1236596267/“>
The roster of international buyers snapping up the show includes AXN Asia and Coupang Play in Korea. M-Net has acquired it for Africa and Sky for New Zealand. In Europe, Boston Blue has landed at pay-TV giant Sky in German-speaking territories. It is also headed to Play Media in Belgium, Cosmote TV in Greece, Síminn in Iceland and beIN in Cyprus and Turkey. Elsewhere, it will be on CTV and in Australia on Paramount+.
Internationally, the procedural format has enduring appeal so hopes were high for Boston Blue, especially as its forebear, Blue Bloods, had established a strong fanbase globally.
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