Essential Skills and Political Rumors: Driving, Generational Shifts, and Trump's Cabinet Choices

What should everyone learn, and is driving truly a top contender? Join us as we ponder this intriguing question and reflect on how generational shifts have reshaped the skills we deem essential. As we near the end of our beloved podcast series, we prepare to launch the exciting "Melania Memoirs" podcast, a tribute to the return of a familiar First Lady. Tune in to explore the fascinating interplay between societal norms and individual choices—a conversation sparked by something as simple, yet profound, as learning to drive.

Our political segment takes a thrilling turn as we discuss the swirling rumors around President-elect Trump's contemplation of replacing Pete Hegseth with Ron DeSantis as Defense Secretary. With sources like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post fueling speculation, we debate whether Hegseth's military background can overshadow past controversies or if DeSantis's credentials make him the better choice. This episode is perfect for political enthusiasts eager to dissect insider gossip and its potential implications on Trump's administration. Listen in as we navigate the intricate web of politics, power, and public perception.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:19

Good morning my little love bunnies. I hope you're doing great and having a wonderful Wednesday so far. So we're going to start with the question of the day. Do something a little different this time. This is the last week of the podcast. I know I'm a little sad, but it's okay. We are going to start a new one called the Melania Memoirs. December 8th will be the end of this podcast. December 9th will start the daily teasers for the Melania Memoirs podcast. It is on Apple. It's going to be on Spotify already. The trailers are out there if you want to go check that out. And then the first full episode will be January 1st. And, of course, it's going to be all about the First Lady, because I'm so glad she's back and Jill is out. Okay, thank goodness. All right, and I wanted to celebrate that. So I started a podcast. All right.

Speaker 1: 1:17

Question of the day. Sorry, I was thinking about this on the way into work today. You know I love the game show Family Feud and I don't know. It just dawned on me. This question came into my mind, so I thought I would ask you what is something that every person has to learn or should learn, and name something that they have to learn? That's the question. I guess my question is driving. That's a question. I guess my question is driving. That would be my. I think that's the top three answers in Family Feud. Name something every person has to learn to do driving. What would your answer be? Now, not everybody has to learn it, but I think everybody does, or should learn how to drive.

Speaker 1: 2:02

I remember, though, there was a phase going around with young kids when my son learned how to drive. Now he wanted to learn, but there I remember other parents saying that their kid didn't want to learn how to drive. They, they just they were afraid of it, they had anxiety, they didn't want to do it like what the hell? Why? You know, when we were kids, we wanted to learn so we could get out there and be with it, right? Okay, we're moving on to the stories. I have three stories.

Speaker 1: 2:31

You're going to hear a lot about this. First one Trump considers replacing Pete Hegseth with Ron DeSantis as defense secretary. Now, this is from the New York Post, so take it for what you will. Who knows if it's true or not. President-elect Trump is considering replacing Pete Hexeth, his controversial pick to lead the Pentagon, with one-time 2024 rival Florida, ron DeSantis people familiar with the discussions told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday Well, you know, we'll see. There's rumors and people say if it's not put out on true social yet that by donald, then it's not true. But this is always fun, I guess, fun to talk about.

Speaker 1: 3:10

What do you think should? Should pete hexeth step down and should he be replaced, with all this controversy going on around him? Now? If you're like me and you listen to megan kelly she covers it all and in depth I think I might be okay with him still being in there, because I think he has learned a lot and he has matured a lot in his coming of age. I suppose he's getting older, he has. He does have the military experience. You know there's talk about mismanagement of the veterans, things that organizations that he's been in charge of, but you know it's all hearsay and all this. Who knows, who knows?

Speaker 1: 3:52

The Defense Secretary post requires Senate confirmation and Hegseth faces an increasingly uphill battle to win over GOP members with concerns about his past. Now, I mean, who doesn't have a past right? Good luck trying to find a pristine somebody to take that. You know, sometimes maybe I don't want somebody with a pristine background. You know what I'm saying as many as six Senate Republicans have expressed reservations about confirming Hegseth for the top Pentagon role, according to NBC. Now I wonder who those six are. Desantis, a former Navy judge advocate general, was on a short list of potential defense secretary candidates presented to Trump by transition officials before he went with Hegseth. According to the Journal oh, the list was recently been. The list has recently been dusted off and presented to Trump again as allegations about Hegseth, which some senators have described as disturbing, continue to service.

Speaker 1: 4:54

Look, don't replace him. Fight, fight, fight, fight. Convince these senators to take him F that this is what we want. Don't cave, donald. Don't cave. Remember, this is what we wanted, this is what we voted for. Stop it. All right, you can go finish reading that.

Speaker 1: 5:13

People will probably be talking about it all over. You know Megyn Kelly had a guest on yesterday. They were talking about this and he kind of made a point with oh, I'm not even going to get too into it, you can go, it's yesterday's episode. It'll be on YouTube. You can go listen to it all over there, all right, and I think sometimes she segments it off so you don't have to watch the whole show. She'll have like she'll take her segments and divide them up so you don't have to watch the whole thing.

Speaker 1: 5:41

All right, next up, this missing photographer, hannah Kobayashi, spotted buying bus ticket day before police said she crossed border into Mexico. This is the young lady that has gone missing. She went from I guess she's from Hawaii and she came over here and she landed in Los Angeles and she was supposed to make a connecting flight to New York. I believe I have these facts right and she went missing in Los Angeles. These facts right. And she went missing in Los Angeles. Her dad went out there to help search for her and he ended up. He ended up committing suicide because he was so distraught. Now they're saying they they are seeing this woman in Mexico crossing the border and they have pictures and images and videos of her doing this. It is Shocking.

Speaker 1: 6:30

Surveillance footage shows Hannah Kobayashi buying a bus ticket to the southern border the day before police said she crossed over through a tunnel into Mexico. The footage shows Kobayashi wearing a sweatsuit and purchasing a ticket with cash at LA Union Station on November 11th. According to a still obtained by Fox 11 Los Angeles, she also appeared to have her passport and luggage with her at the ticket counter. Kobayashi is believed to have then reached the San Yedro border crossing on November 12th, where she entered Mexico, los Angeles Police Chief Jim McConnell said during a press conference on Monday. The image comes as the aspiring photographer's disappearance took a curious turn after the Los Angeles Police declared the 30-year-old a voluntary missing person and said she willfully crossed into Mexico to step away from modern connectivity. Why do you have to go to Mexico for that? I mean, I don't think that's a really smart idea, lady. She being brainwashed by somebody. This is not good, mcdonald said.

Speaker 1: 7:44

Investigators reviewed various surveillance footage and interviewed multiple witnesses who confirmed Kobayashi's movements from when she landed in the Golden State on November 8th to when she was last seen crossing into Mexico on November 12th. Now, goodness gracious, we've basically done everything we can do at this point. Okay, blah, blah, blah. Let me get to the point where our dad. It's toward the end. There is a lot of information here in this article. It's a long article if you'd like to go read it. So let's see.

Speaker 1: 8:16

Kobayashi's family has been grappling with another tragedy along the 30-year-old's disappearance. Her father, ryan Kobayashi, was among several family members who traveled to LA to help with the search. He was found dead in a parking lot near LAX on November 24th, with officials ruling the death a suicide. Oh, that is so sad, so sad man. What do you think? Do you think there's a different story there? What is going on with her? How is she gonna? Why would she do that? Oh, I don't know.

Speaker 1: 8:55

All right, moving on with this story we all need to pay attention to, especially me, because I'm gonna turn 60 soon. My birthday's coming up. I'll be 58 next week. But the biggest signs at age 60, you'll develop dementia at 80. It's bad news for teetotalers and slackers. Oh boy, again from the New York Post. So take it with a grain of salt. Brain health should be top of mind as we age. Amen, you know, it's so funny. The gent and I will.

Speaker 1: 9:31

Sometimes we'll be talking about things, we'll have a conversation and then we can't think of a date or an event or where we were at this particular time, and we can't think of this and can't think of that, or we're trying to think of somebody else's name or something like that, and instead of picking up our phone and trying to search for it, we purposely just sit there and try to think and eventually we do come, we come up with it. We also play little brain puzzles from. The New York Times has a couple of different puzzles you can play that makes you think, all right. Puzzles you can play that makes you think All right.

Speaker 1: 10:08

Nearly 7 million Americans have been diagnosed with dementia, which slowly erodes memory, thinking skills and the ability to perform basic tasks. Now economists at the non-profit research organization RAND have identified several factors that can strongly predict that 60% if you'll develop cognitive impairment and dementia by 80, including never drinking alcohol or drinking too much and being less conscientious or responsible. Oh, I am in deep trouble because I used to drink excessively in the back of the day and now I don't drink anything, so I've got a double whammy there, right? I don't know how responsible I am, so we'll see. Understanding risk factors can enable healthcare providers and policymakers to identify groups at the why. Policymakers, what does that mean? Groups at the high risk, so they can direct resources to delay cognitive decline. Or? Okay, blah, oh, here we go. The think tank yeah, there you go. So it must be true. Use a survey of about 20,000 adults over 50 to examine 181 potential risk factors, including demographics, socio, socioeconomics. Okay, blah, blah, blah, here we go, here we go.

Speaker 1: 11:28

Strong predictors of dementia. They break it down there. There's probably a dozen of them being in poor physical health. I take a lot of medication but I do try to exercise. Suffering a stroke? I've not had that yet, but we do have stroke in our family, that's for damn sure. Not having a private health insurance plan at age 60. What in the hell does that have to do with your dementia, of you getting dementia, not having a private health? What? Never having worked, or having worked only a few years? Well, that at least I've worked most of my life. Few years, well, at least I've worked most of my life. Having diabetes or a body mass index of 35 or more at age 60. Oh, I get to get on that. Never exercising, which I do exercise a lot. Scoring low on physical tests like breathing, grip, strength, walking speed and balance I don't have a problem there. Never drinking alcohol or drinking excessively that's got both of those going for me.

Speaker 1: 12:32

Having less conscientious personality Having a less conscientious personality? I asked my husband what he thought that meant. We think it means being self-absorbed, self-centered, not having any self-awareness, perhaps Having certain genes, of course, and not really engaging in hobbies or activities that involve learning. Now see, I always like to learn new things. Now I may not stick with it, but at least I like to learn it.

Speaker 1: 13:00

Like I used to knit all the time. I taught myself how to knit it's not that difficult. The time I taught myself how to knit, it's not that difficult. So don't think it's anything Ooh but um. And then I taught myself to crochet. I can only do a chain, though. That's all I can do. Um, so there's other things there. I would like to get back into things like hobbies that you use with your hands and make things and create things. I would like to start doing that again. All right, so there's that story. You can go finish reading that if you'd like, but that is. Those are the three stories today. That's really all I've got and I already did the question of the day. So I hope you have a great, fantastic day and I will. God willing, I will be back again tomorrow. Thank you for listening.