From Missing Coach To Thrift-Mas: News, Opinions, And Holiday Choices

Holiday weeks have a way of mixing sweet moments with serious headlines, and this one is no different. We start with a light check‑in—Thanksgiving plans, a chocolate pie craving, and a joyful grandkid update—then step into a story that grips a whole community: a Virginia high school football coach reported missing during an undefeated season. As the team advances under an interim coach and search crews deploy drones and K‑9 units, we unpack the strange gaps in reporting and what it means for students, families, and fans trying to hold hope without feeding rumors.

From there, we steer straight into the storm of sensational claims: a documentary alleging presidential knowledge of alien contact at Holloman Air Force Base. Rather than chase the spectacle, we put on the brakes and run a reality check. What would real evidence look like? How do we weigh secondhand testimony, political lore, and entertainment packaging? This is a quick masterclass in media literacy, critical thinking, and knowing when to keep your curiosity while guarding your credibility.

Then we bring it back to the living room with a debate many households face: go big on gifts or protect the budget and invest in shared experiences. A mom’s “Thrift‑Mas” plan—thrifted presents to avoid debt and save for a family vacation—sparks praise and backlash. We talk about age‑appropriate expectations, cleaning and upcycling finds, shopping smart on a tight budget, and why a unicorn hoodie that costs $14.50 can still carry real joy. The throughline is values: financial health, family time, and the kind of memories that outlast the wrapping paper.

We wrap with a friendly Thanksgiving classic—stuffing or dressing—and a quick sign‑off. If you appreciate thoughtful takes on local news, bold claims, and practical family choices, hit follow, share this with a friend who loves holiday debates, and drop your vote: stuffing, dressing, or neither? Your replies might shape our next conversation.

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Thanks for listening! 

Liberty Line each week on Sunday, look for topics on my X file @americanistblog and submit your 1-3 audio opinions to anamericanistblog@gmail.com and you'll be featured on the podcast. 

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Chapters

• 0:29 Thanksgiving Week And Weekend Recap
• 1:36 Setting Up Today’s Three Stories
• 1:59 Missing Virginia High School Coach
• 4:16 Alien Contact Claims And Skepticism
• 6:54 Thrift-Mas, Budgets, And Family Priorities
• 10:14 Question Of The Day: Stuffing Or Dressing
• 10:53 Sign-Off And Thanks

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:15

Hello, good morning. Happy Monday. It is Thanksgiving week. I would also like to change my answer to my favorite pie. Not change it, but add to it. You know what I've been really craving lately? A chocolate pie. I think I'm gonna make one this week. Yeah, I think I will. Alright. Um, yeah, it's Thanksgiving week. I hope you guys have plans. I am working every day except for Thursday. Of course, I'm off on Thursday, but I will be going back to work on Friday. Did not take it off. I normally don't because we don't really go anywhere or do anything. So why not come to work? And back in the day when the gent worked, he always worked on Friday as well. That was a big day for him in the golf world. Alright. There was something else I was going to say. Oh, just the weekend. I was just gonna go over my weekend. It was a great weekend. We had we did nothing on Saturday, but we had the grand cam yesterday. Oh my gosh, he is so precious, y'all. I love him so much. He is really growing up too. He is so smart. Mm-mm-mm. Alright. Moving on to the topics here. Let's see, what do we have going on today? It was tough finding something, although there's a lot of things out there. We are going to save that one for the last because it's light and we want to end on a lighter note. Uh, we're gonna all right, let's start with the little more serious one and then we'll go lighter as we go. We have three stories here. This first one is a Virginia high school football coach missing amid undefeated season with massive search underway. Travis Turner, head football coach at Union High School in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, has been reported missing amid what should be a celebratory undefeated season of for his team. According to the Virginia State Police, Turner was officially listed as a missing person Sunday after last being seen on Thursday. Now, don't they play their games on Thursdays or Friday high school games? Officers were reportedly dispatched to Turner's residence Thursday evening to investigate a complaint. Uh-oh, not to arrest him, but when they arrived, Turner was no longer there. Uh-oh. What are you what is going on here? His last known appearance was wearing a gray sweatshirt and sweatpants per the state police. Meanwhile, the Union High School the high school football program has pressed on even as the coach remains missing. The Bears advanced to a regional semifinal after an 11-0 regular season under the leadership of assistant coach Turner interim turned interim head coach Jay Edwards one day after Turner went missing. Then the Union emerged with a 12-0 win against Graham High School in Virginia despite the news. Then they go on to, I guess, talk about the they give a sports rundown. Let's see. Search efforts uh in Wise County have ramped up involving drones, canine units, and multiple law enforcement agencies. We have so what was the complaint about? Can you tell us that? I love the way these people just these writers just gloss over the whole main point of the story. The man is missing. He had a the police were called for a complaint. What was the complaint about? We have had the drones up in the air looking, searching. Uh we tried to get the state police aviation, but they were unable to fly yesterday. Blah blah blah. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Uh is that how the story ends? Well, it looks uh read more. Let's see, is that how the story ends? I think it is how it ends. Sorry, I'm trying to find here. Yeah, that's how it ends. Okay, then. Well, be on the lookout for him. Uh hopefully there's gonna be an update to this. Hopefully, it's a good outcome. You know, sometimes the New York Post will update on cases like this. Alright, moving on. Podcast topic President George H.W. Bush knew of 1964 alien contact with humans in New Mexico documentary. Do you believe this? Well, you know I don't believe in any of this crap. The truth is out there. The late uh and late President George H.W. Bush apparently knew it, telling a federal officials that an alien made contact with humans at a secretive New Mexico airbase in 1964, according to testimony in an explosive, explosive new documentary. Eric Davis, an ast astrophysist who was a scientific advisor on the since disband advanced aerospace threat identification program. They need to start shortening these damn names, created by Congress in 2007 by late Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, claimed that Bush confirmed to him in a private conversation details of contact between the military and an alien creature at Holliman Air Force Base. Yeah, okay, whatever. You think he may have been pulling your leg there, Harry Reid? I don't think Harry is Harry living anymore? I don't think so. I don't know. I don't know. I could be wrong. I don't know. I'm getting maybe getting confused with somebody else. Bush told him that three spaceships were seen approaching the base and that an interstellar being emerged from one of the ships and had a face-to-face encounter with military and CIA officials. Come on, Davis said turning and during an interview in the age of disclosure, a documentary by filmmaker Dan Farah that went live on Amazon Amazon Prime on Friday. So you can go watch that if you'd like. One of them landed on the tarmac and a non-human entity deboarded the aircraft that landed and interacted with uniformed Air Force and civilian CIA personnel, Davis claimed. Oh my gosh, do you guys believe this? No! Don't believe it! And when Bush asked for more details, he was told that he did not have the need to know. He's the president, he should have the need to know. Shut up. Bush, a former decorated naval aviator. Okay, you can go finish reading that. Come on. Come on. Alright. This next one, I had definitely have an opinion on this. Definitely have an opinion. This lady is getting trolled, I guess. All right. Budget conscious mom slammed for how she's buying Christmas gifts for her kids. I think I'm on her side. No, I don't think. I know I'm on her side. Some might call it cheap, others call it savvy. One mom has gone viral for revealing that she doesn't want to go into debt when buying Christmas gifts for her four kids this year. I I'm on her side. She has four kids. Now I don't know what the age ranges are. If they're little kids, yes, go to the thrift store and buy them some gifts because they don't know, they don't care, they're not gonna know the difference. Now, if they're older kids, that might be a little bit different story. But if they're older kids, you need they need to start weaning back on the Christmas gifts anyway when they're older. Alright, so Jade explained in her TikTok video that her family really wants to go on a nice vacation this next year. And with how expensive everything is, you almost can't have both. An assortment of expensive gifts and a fun vacation on the horizon. So she's doing a thrift mist. A thrift mist. In her video, which has now garnered two million views, the Pennsylvania mom showed the various Christmas gifts like a beautiful jewelry box, alphabet letters, and an adorable unicorn hoodie that she managed to snag at a local thrift store for her kids while on a$100 budget. Is that for the all of them or per kid? Wow. Uh call me cheap, whatever, I don't care, she proudly declared. In addition to several different gifts she thrifted, Jade also picked up a few Christmas themed sweaters and vests. The most shocking part was that of all those festive items came to only$14.50. A steal, which leaves me with a whopping$85.50 left. I feel like I'm doing really well so far, she said in her ver in her video. The controversial to some video, of course, had thousands of comments from people either praising this budget conscious mom or scolding her for depriving her kids. I wish the thrift miss was more common. We truly are ruining the world. Yes, we are. Because we missed the whole message to begin with. As an older parent, trust me, the vacation will mean so much more. Yep, I agree. Go into debt, why not buy a little at a time throughout the year? Shop clearance and sales. Well, that's that's a good idea too. I'm severely disabled with a next to no income, but I can spend a few bucks a month. I start Chris okay, whatever. I am on her side. If, like I said, if the kids are little, like three, four, five years old, they're not gonna know. Of course, go to the thrift store and buy them thrift. Yes. Why not? Of course, clean it up really good too before you do anything. I mean, you they have some good things in the thrift stock in the thrift shop. Alright, that's my two cents anyway. Uh, I guess I need to do the question of the day. So let's see. Since it is Thanksgiving week, we will do Thanksgiving themed questions. This one is do you prefer stuffing or dressing? Stuffing, of course, is when you put it inside the turkey. Dressing is when you fix it separately. That's how that's what I gather. I don't like any of them. I cannot stand dressing and I cannot stand stuffing. Gross and yuck. It's disgusting. Disgusting. Now, throughout my years of being on this earth, I've had an occasional dressing, not stuffing, dressing that I thought was okay, but it's not my still not my favorite. I do not like it. No, do not like it, Sam. I am. Alright, I gotta go. Thanks for listening, y'all. Bye.