An Americanist Briefing
Welcome to An Americanist Daily, your go-to solo podcast for a quick and snarky dive into the current events and politics shaping our nation! As a daily extension of the An Americanist blog, I’m here to break down the headlines that matter—Monday through Friday—without the fluff and filler.
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An Americanist Briefing
From Controversial Headlines to Lane Kiffin's Catfish Girl Recruitment
Headlines can be misleading, shocking, or just plain bizarre—and in this rapid-fire 10-minute rundown, we tackle several stories that recently caught our attention.
The UK's decision to lower voting age to 16 raises important questions about civic responsibility and the motivations behind such significant electoral changes. We dive into the implications of this policy shift and what it might mean for the future political landscape.
We also uncover a truly disturbing case from California, where authorities rescued 21 children—including 17 toddlers—from a couple operating a surrogacy business. The mansion where these children were found revealed evidence of systematic abuse, highlighting crucial concerns about surrogacy regulation and child welfare protections. As this story continues to develop, we consider the legal and ethical questions surrounding commercial surrogacy arrangements.
On a more dubious note, we dissect a questionable health claim suggesting strong calf muscles might predict reduced dementia risk. This bizarre correlation exemplifies how health journalism sometimes overreaches, confusing correlation with causation and making tenuous connections between physical attributes and cognitive outcomes.
Finally, we lighten the mood with Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin's social media interaction with the famous "Catfish Girl" influencer—complete with his recruitment hashtag typically reserved for prospective players. This playful exchange sparked debate about age differences in casual social media interactions, though we note the influencer is 29, not a teenager.
What's the best pickup line you've ever used or heard? Share your experiences and let us know which of these stories resonated most with you!
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Well, we have a lot to go over in 10 minutes, so we need to really get right to it. First up, the United Kingdom has lowered the age of voting to 16. All 16-year-olds are being given the right to vote in all elections in the United Kingdom. What in the tarnation, you know? My first thought was you know why they're doing this? So that they, since they can now vote, they can now go get their sex changes, their mutilation of their bodies. That's what I think. That's my first thought that popped in my head. These people are sick and disgusting. All right.
Speaker 1:Cops seize 21 kids, including 17 toddlers, from California couple who had them all via surrogacy. Smells of trafficking. Indeed, ladies, do not surrogate your baby, or whatever you call it. Do not. I know times are tough, but to sell your baby for money is just disgusting. All right, 21 little kids have been rescued from a California couple who allegedly farmed out their fertilized embryos to multiple surrogate mothers and then hoarded the children inside a massive mansion where they suffered repeated abuse. Cops say, goodness gracious. And guess what? Their names are not Jones and Smith, kujan Wan, x-u-a-nan. I don't know, they look oriental. I'm sorry, that's wrong. They look asian. I don't know if they're chinese, I don't know what they are. Uh, so uh.
Speaker 1:Gu zhan zon, 65, and sylvia zhang, 38, were recently found with 15 children in their Arcadia mansion. First of all, how'd they get a mansion? Another six of their kids had previously been moved out to other homes. This couple owned a surrogacy business. Oh my gosh, they owned a surrogacy business, wow. But cops say they were allegedly abusing the surrogacy program. I guess so. 17 of the kids are toddlers or infants under three years of age. The oldest is 13. All 21 children have been taken in by the Department of Children and Family Services. The couple have been charged with felony child endangerment and neglect. It was not immediately clear if further charges would be mounted against them.
Speaker 1:Police found the youngsters while investigating complaints of a two-month-old who was brought to the hospital with a traumatic brain injury. Cops believe the baby was injured by the family's nanny, 56 year old chu me, who is accused of committing alarming abuse. Wow, cops reviewed surveillance footage from inside the home, allegedly showing Lee shaking and hitting the infant. The video was showed. Other the video. I'm sorry. The video also showed other nannies allegedly abusing all of the children.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, I can't read any more of this when it comes to kids. I can't, I can't. What was it? Was it the Tennessee Senator? What was his name? Tim Burchett, I think his name, I forget. It said on I think it was on the Blazers show saying that found guilty, hang him. All child abusers. Yes, I agree. All right, we need to move on to Mr Sean's. I need.
Speaker 1:This is the most ridiculous story coming up here. I need your input on this. I think this is definitely fake news. Somebody was desperate for a story, so they dug around, they made up shit. I mean this is so dumb right here, this next story. I'm going to try. It's long and it's so dumb, okay, but I'm going to tell you anyway how your calf muscles can predict your chance of dementia. This is so dumb, this is so dumb.
Speaker 1:Strong calf muscles propel you forward when walking and running, generate the explosive power needed for jumping, help maintain your balance and stability and protect your feet, ankles and knees from injury. Really, really, the whole part of your leg helps you walk and propel you, not just your calf muscles. They are the only muscles that go through a full range of motion when we run or walk briskly. Sports psychotherapist paul hobro uh told the times uk last week. Muscle strains can increase the risk of falls, which are leading cause of injury in older adults, maybe, but maybe. A study last year linked Falls to 21% higher likelihood of dementia diagnosis compared to other types of injuries.
Speaker 1:Look, I think they're trying to say if you have strong muscles when you get older, it's gonna keep you from being frail, but the older you get I mean, I'm not a doctor, I shouldn't even be talking about this crap. Here's a look of how strong calf muscles can give your brain a leg up and how to beef up these beauties at home. Okay, so that tells. It. Goes on to tell us how the calf muscles work. It tells you how how to measure their circumference, how calf muscle strength is connected to cognitive health. Here we go.
Speaker 1:There are many explanations for the purported link between calf circumference and mental sharpness. Already I'm like no, this is stupid. Stronger calves allow for more exercise, which can significantly lower the risk of developing dementia. I call bullshit on this. They even uh, they also protect against frailty, which has been tied to higher odds of dementia. So I think the older you get, if you're gonna, you know if your brain is gonna have dementia, it's gonna have dementia whether you have leg muscles or not. I don't understand how this article was even written. Calf circumference can be a useful indicator of sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass, strength and function. Studies have shown an association between sarcopenia and mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. I still call BS on this.
Speaker 1:Strong calf muscles also help maintain healthy blood pressure and blood flow to the brain, which are critical for cognitive function. I mean it goes on. I don't know what do you think. Are they just reaching here? Are they just what are they doing? I mean I have huge calf muscles. I used't know what do you think. Are they just reaching here? Are they just what are they doing? I mean I have huge calf muscles. I used to. Anyway, I still have a pretty decent amount of calf muscles. I always said I used people used to compliment my legs how I have nice legs. They're short, for one thing, but I also. I call them my man. I have man legs because they're kind of muscular. Call them my man, I have man legs because they're kind of muscular. All right, we need to move on.
Speaker 1:This last one's kind of fun and cute lane kiffin. You know him, you love him. As jeffy would say, lane, kiffin tries recruiting catfish girl to old miss after hearing sudden x return. Uh, I'm sure you've know about this girl. Baron is a 29-old known for her wild outdoor adventures, particularly in her catfish noodling, which involves wrangling and capturing catfish with her bare hands, using her hands and arms as bait before wrestling the fish out of the water. No, thank you. And she's a cute little girl. She's definitely cute.
Speaker 1:While the catfish girl has about 8 million followers across her social media platforms, her use on X is rather sparse and her posts on July 13th were her first on the app since early December. Uh so, and her first day back on the pay on the app was when kiffin took the opportunity to strike it cut. It used the hashtag come to the sip and first of all I was like what the hell is a sip? But then I realized it's mississippi. Kiffin replied to her post of some of the best catfish catches of the past year. Baron hails from alabama and kiffin's post was his. Oh so, this little girl from alabama, uh, and kiffin's post was his best attempt at getting her to come to mississippi. Using the rebels catchphrase often used for recruiting players come to the sip. She's cute.
Speaker 1:She's 29 uh, I don't know how old is kiffin um. Kiffin was promptly roasted in his comments as fans called out the 50 year old for his attempt at recruiting the 29 year old influencer out of alabama. Look, she's almost 30, it's okay, she's not, it's not like she's 18 or 20. How the f does a grown man employed by a public university type this out and say, yeah, this is it. Well, she guess what? She's a grown woman too, she's. So I mean, come on, she's not. It's not like she's 18, she's 29. All right, so you can go finish reading that. That's kind of funny. It'll leave you light, light-hearted there after all that other nonsense and heaviness. All right, I do have a good question of the day. At least I think so.
Speaker 1:When you were a youngster, when you were out there carousing, and if you did that, I mean, what's your best? Did you ever use a pickup line? And if so, what was it? What do you think the best pickup line of all time is? Did you ever use one one? If not, you know they're out there. What do you think is a good pickup line? All right, I gotta go. Thanks for listening. Love y'all. Bye.
