Tomorrow the House will vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. I expect to see a decent majority of lawmakers vote yes, especially since Trump has “given permission” for Republicans to do so. Of course there are varying theories as to why he did this, but the simplest explanation may be the best one: he saw the writing on the wall and decided he’d rather pretend he didn’t care how Republicans voted than have lawmakers openly defy him. Remember, he is, above all, a narcissist. His ego couldn’t take such a public humiliation.

Of course, Trump could also have tampered with the evidence sufficiently to bury his own guilt. He could, alternately, be planning to stop the bill in the Senate. He could be planning to use his so-called “investigation” into Bill Clinton and other Democrats as a pretext for stalling the full release of the files. He could be planning to veto the final bill. We simply don’t know what he’s got up his sleeve, but we know it’s nefarious. We will simply have to keep going, come what may. His destruction of evidence will become clear, if it happens, and will, itself, present proof of a greater coverup. Republican Senators can be pressured. Trump’s veto can be overridden.

My point is that no, this won’t be easy. And yes, Trump will obstruct the truth from coming out every way he can. But also remember that we are not, as Robert Hubbell says, potted plants! We will fight back, highlighting his coverups to effectively prove he must be guilty, pressuring lawmakers to part with him, hectoring them about his other failures until they lose all desire to stand up for him.

This is tough, but it can be done. And, for the victims, it must be.

Speaking of the victims, a small group of Epstein survivors came together in a powerful new video to call on Congress to release the Epstein files. You’ve likely seen it, but if you haven’t here it is. (Trigger warning: contains references to the sexual abuse of children.)

Powerful, isn’t it? And yes, gutting. Let it fuel your determination.

In other tough news, the Trump administration deployed ICE agents to Charlotte, NC over the weekend to terrorize yet another community under the guise of “safety.” It’s awful—to those of you in the area please accept our support and condolences. It’s truly unbearable to witness this up close—many of us, alas, have experienced it. We send Charlotte and other affected communities our hope and strength, and cheer the ongoing peaceful resistance. I’ve put the links to some excellent local organizations below that are supporting immigrant communities in North Carolina right now. Please give if you can.

This administration is sadistic, cruel, ignorant, brutal and lawless. It’s painful to feel subject to their ongoing abuses. Yet someday we WILL defeat them, and then the accountability will begin. So stick around for that part, friends, because we WILL have justice, and boy, will it feel good.

But for now let’s get to work one more time. Because the work is what will carry us to the wins. And the wins are what we absolutely must have.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

I’m calling, once again, to express my sheer outrage and horror at what ICE is doing to our communities, currently in Charlotte. They are acting with seeming impunity, targeting citizens and noncitizens alike, smashing windows, thrusting guns in onlookers faces, and ignoring all law and due process. Americans don’t want this and we will not tolerate it any longer. ICE needs to be reined in and held accountable for their lawlessness and brutality. I will never forget this moment in our history, and I will never forgive the lawmakers that allowed it to happen. ICE has to be stopped. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.

I’m calling to ask the Congressmember to vote yes on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. To quote the victims directly, “a vote for the Act is a vote for justice denied for decades.” I also want the Congressmember to do everything in their power to make sure that the complete files are released—that Trump doesn’t tamper with evidence or use a sham investigation to block parts of the files from coming out. The American people won’t stand for any more delays. Thanks.

Extra Credit

Trump is now targeting Seth Meyers. Let’s tell NBC that they better NOT bend to Trump and fire him!

Contact them here.

I wrote (as usual, brief and not very articulate—I’m sure you can do better):

I’m writing to express my strong support for Seth Myers and to warn NBC that if they cave to Trump and try to fire him there will be financial hell to pay. You saw what we did when Trump tried this with Kimmel and we’re ready and able to do it again with your advertisers. Please leave Myers be. Thanks.

[Thanks to reader Mary F-S for the suggestion]

Extra Extra Credit ✅

House Democrats have filed a discharge petition to force Speaker Mike Johnson to hold a vote on a 3-year extension of the ACA subsidies.

If the Discharge Petition gets 218 signatures, Speaker Johnson cannot block a floor vote. If every Democrat signs, it would only take 4 Republicans to join them in lowering health care premiums for their constituents.

Please use More Perfect Union’s simple tool to check and see if your Representative has already signed the discharge petition, and send them a message today?

Get Smart on the Starbucks boycott! 📚

On Thursday, Nov. 13 over 1,000 Starbucks baristas in 40+ cities launched a national open-ended, unfair labor practice strike. These workers are putting it all on the line to fight for whats right, and need customers and allies everywhere to back them up.

Join Starbucks Workers United on Nov 17 at 5:30 PM PT / 8:30 PM ET to hear updates from striking baristas and to learn more about what you can do to support baristas’ fight to end union busting and win a fair contract.

Get Smart on the Media! 📺

Don’t Miss the Upcoming Media and Democracy Project Monday Zoom!

From them:

Our next community Zoom gathering will be this coming Monday, November 17. We will review recent highs and lows in media coverage, concerning developments in the news business (such as actions of the new CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss), and much more.
Please sign up here.

If tackling the huge problems with our corporate media interests you THIS is the call for you.

Give 💰!

Charlotte, NC is getting hammered with ICE raids right now. Subscriber Cheryl J. put this in the comments of yesterday’s newsletter:

FYI, I attended a Red Wine & Blue meeting this evening and they shared a number of resources, including one on where people can donate:
* Carolina Migrant Network (fuses legal services and community advocacy to provide holistic support for our clients and their families.
* Latin American Coalition La Coalición has activated its Family Support Network to provide financial help to impacted families.
* ourBRIDGE for KIDS — ourBRIDGE provides after-school programs and wrap-around services for immigrant and refugee families at three locations in Charlotte.
*Action NC has been leading the fight for immigrant justice in North Carolina.

I put a fundraiser for Carolina Migrant Network in my Instagram profile. It’s not hard to do! Let’s help all we can.

Get in the Streets! 🪧

Remove the Regime, a mass protest event that runs from November 20-22, is happening in DC this week! I think it’s going to be huge! People from all over the country will be descending in DC to meet with representatives, march, and hold a rally saying it’s time to REMOVE THE REGIME! More info at removetheregime.com.

I wish I could go but I’m leaving for London on Friday! Please go in my stead if you can!

Grab your Wallet! 💳

Remember, we’re still boycotting Spotify, Starbucks, and Sirius! But starting on Friday, 11/27 we’re also boycotting Amazon, Target and Home Depot as part of the We Ain’t Buying It campaign! Let’s wield our wallets like weapons, because that’s what they are!

Please use these promotional graphics to spread the word!

Win Races! 🗳

Aftyn Behn’s special election in Tennessee’s District 7 will happen on Dec. 2. YOU GUYS WE CAN WIN THIS!

Please donate. Please phone-bank. Please pitch in with Indivisible. Or just tell friends and family in Tennessee!

DONATE TO AFTYN

PHONEBANK WITH AFTYN’S CAMPAIGN

cPHONEBANK WITH INDIVISIBLE

Here’s Aftyn’s Mobilize page with other opportunities.

Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻

[To: your Senators] [H/T] [Text SIGN PCBANM to 50409, or to @Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, or Telegram]

(Note that for the most effective RESISTBOT it’s best to personalize this text. More about how to do this here. But if you’re short on time just send it as is using the above code.)

I’m writing to express my opposition to President Trump’s nominee for the Inspector General of the HHS, Thomas March Bell.

The HHS IG holds a critical responsibility in protecting the integrity of HHS programs as well as the health and welfare of the people HHS serves. This role is essential for safeguarding taxpayer dollars and ensuring that HHS initiatives operate both effectively and ethically. It requires a person who demonstrates impartiality, independence, and the utmost ethical standards.

Mr. Bell has proven that he has none of these essential qualities. He has a long and troubling history of unethical conduct, extreme partisanship, and abuse of power that has harmed taxpayers, spread misinformation, and put reproductive health care providers at risk.

In 1997, Bell was asked to resign as deputy director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality after a legislative audit uncovered his misappropriation of $8,000 in taxpayer funds. In 2015, Bell led a highly partisan House investigation of reproductive health care providers based on widely discredited and debunked accusations by anti-abortion groups. During the first Trump Administration, Bell helped create HHS’s “Division for Conscience and Religious Freedom,” which was used to embolden health care providers to deny access to critical and even life-saving reproductive health care.

Additionally, during Bell’s tenure as Chief of Staff for the HHS Office for Civil Rights, the administration targeted states that refused to fund anti-abortion centers, which misled and endangered pregnant individuals. In this role, he also contributed to efforts to limit federal protections for gender identity under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, weakening protections for transgender people who experience discrimination.

IGs are historically nonpartisan watchdogs, and HHS’s IG should be dedicated to transparency and impartiality. Given this history, it is difficult to believe that Mr. Bell has developed the unbiased, moral, and ethical character necessary for the role of Inspector General.

For these reasons, I urge the Senate to reject the nomination of Thomas March Bell for HHS Inspector General. Thanks.

OK, you did it again! You’re helping to save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk soon.

Jess

The Earl Not Taken

The Earl Not Taken by A.S. Fenichel is $2.99 at Amazon! This is the first book in The Wallflowers of West Lane series and I like the cover for this one. Readers liked the heroine, but found the plot to be rather thing. Any thoughts from the Bitchery?

Left standing on the side while their contemporaries marry into society, four young ladies forge a bond to guard each other from a similar fate . . .

Finishing school failed to make a proper lady of Penelope Arrington. But as a Wallflower of West Lane, Poppy has a far more vital role—she and her three best friends have made a pact to protect each other from the clutches of dangerous, disreputable men. So when one of them is about to be married off to a duke sight unseen, Poppy makes it her mission to divine the prospective husband’s true character. If only she didn’t require the aid of London’s most unsuitable rake.

Rhys Draper, Earl of Marsden, has known the headstrong Poppy since she was a young girl naïve to the ways of men. To her eternal chagrin—and to his vague amusement—they have been at odds over the memory of embarrassing first encounter all these years. Now, with his services in need, Rhys sees a chance to finally clear the air between them. Instead, he is surprised by the heat of their feelings. If the two do not tread carefully, they may end up in a most agreeably compromising position . . .

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

The Stardust Thief

The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah is $1.99! This fantasy novel was mentioned in a previous Hide Your Wallet. I’ve also seen it recommend in the comments a few times, like our Rec League for Book Club Suggestions.

Neither here nor there, but long ago…

Loulie al-Nazari is the Midnight Merchant: a criminal who, with the help of her jinn bodyguard, hunts and sells illegal magic. When she saves the life of a cowardly prince, she draws the attention of his powerful father, the sultan, who blackmails her into finding an ancient lamp that has the power to revive the barren land.

With no choice but to obey or be executed, Loulie journeys with the sultan’s oldest son to find the artifact. Aided by her bodyguard, who has secrets of his own, they must survive ghoul attacks, outwit a vengeful jinn queen, and confront a malicious killer from Loulie’s past. And, in a world where story is reality and illusion is truth, Loulie will discover that everything—her enemy, her magic, even her own past—is not what it seems.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Island Queen

Island Queen by Vanessa Riley is $1.99! This is Riley’s first work of historical fiction as opposed to historical romance. It’s about Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, a free Black woman who achieved great wealth. Have you read it?

A remarkable, sweeping historical novel based on the incredible true life story of Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, a free woman of color who rose from slavery to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful landowners in the colonial West Indies.

Born into slavery on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, Doll bought her freedom—and that of her sister and her mother—from her Irish planter father and built a legacy of wealth and power as an entrepreneur, merchant, hotelier, and planter that extended from the marketplaces and sugar plantations of Dominica and Barbados to a glittering luxury hotel in Demerara on the South American continent.

Vanessa Riley’s novel brings Doll to vivid life as she rises above the harsh realities of slavery and colonialism by working the system and leveraging the competing attentions of the men in her life: a restless shipping merchant, Joseph Thomas; a wealthy planter hiding a secret, John Coseveldt Cells; and a roguish naval captain who will later become King William IV of England.

From the bustling port cities of the West Indies to the forbidding drawing rooms of London’s elite, Island Queen is a sweeping epic of an adventurer and a survivor who answered to no one but herself as she rose to power and autonomy against all odds, defying rigid eighteenth-century morality and the oppression of women as well as people of color. It is an unforgettable portrait of a true larger-than-life woman who made her mark on history.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

The Scandalous Flirt

The Scandalous Flirt by Olivia Drake is $1.99! This is part of the Cinderella Sisterhood series. Readers loved the enemies to lovers, but within the first few pages, there is a magical Romani beggar character and they do use the G slur. Not sure if the text has been updated since its release.

Scandal begins with just one kiss. . .

Aurora Paxton was once the belle of the ball, the most sought-after debutante of the season―until a scandalous mistake ruined her. Shunned by her family, Rory was banished to the country to live in disgrace. Now she’s been summoned back to London by her stepmother, who is being blackmailed by the least likely person Rory can imagine: Lucas Vale, Marquess of Dashell.

Lucas is someone Rory’s known for years―a man as devastatingly handsome as he is coldly disapproving of her. What in the world could he want from her or her family? Rory intends to find out as soon as she comes face to face with her old foe. What she never expects, however, is that the icy aristocrat has a soft spot for her―and a secret plan to redeem her status. Could it be that Lucas has been in love with Rory all along. . .and has finally found a way to win her heart?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/11/fantasy-historical-fiction-more-4/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=162857

james_davis_nicoll

2022: The British are heartened by Partygate revelations that the Tories celebrated in trust the gatherings barred to the rabble during Covid, the UK teaches the world a thing or two about political stability by going through three Prime Ministers in less than two months, and Queen Elizabeth II escapes the prospect of discovering how exactly the UK would continue its downward political arc.

Poll #33843 Clarke Award Finalists 2022

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 20

View Respondents

Which 2022 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles
0 (0.0%)

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
20 (100.0%)

A River Called Time by Courttia Newland
0 (0.0%)

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
1 (5.0%)

Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley
1 (5.0%)

Wergen: The Alien Love War by Mercurio D. Rivera
0 (0.0%)

Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2022 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
A River Called Time by Courttia Newland
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley
Wergen: The Alien Love War by Mercurio D. Rivera

If I say I did not hear of something, it means that it is new to me. Did I not at least glance at the Clarkes in 2022?

chickenfeet

https://operaramblings.blog/2025/11/17/whod-have-thought-that-snow-falls/

prettygoodword

The next New World language source is Taíno (tah-EE-noh), an Arawakan language spoken (in a few dialects) throughout the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and Leeward Islands at the time of Columbus’s voyages—and as the first New World language the Spanish met, many terms for all the new New World stuff they met came from it. [Sidebar: In the Windward Islands they used Island Carib, another Arawakan language spoken by Carib peoples from the South American coast who’d displaced Taíno-speakers northward yet adopted and adapted their language—but stick a pin in that.] In fact, there’s enough Taíno-sourced words dealing with food to dedicate a week to just that topic, starting with:

barbecue, barbeque, and many other spellings (BAR-bih-kyew) - n., (obs.) a framework of sticks; a grill, fireplace, or pit for slow-grilling or smoking food; meat cooked in such an apparatus; a meal highlighted by meat so cooked.

I’d never seen or heard that first meaning, but I’m including it for the etymological trail. We got the word (via Spanish barbacoa) from Taíno barbakoa/barabicu, a raised framework of sticks, which was used both for curing meat over a fire and as a bedframe. (The folk etymology that it’s from French barbe à queue, from beard to tail, signifying a whole animal roasting on a spit, has no evidence whatsoever.)

the original wood-frame barbacue