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July 17, 2025 10 mins

TALK TO ME, TEXT IT

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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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. 


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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, we have a lot to go over in 10 minutes, so we
need to really get right to it.
First up, the United Kingdomhas lowered the age of voting to
16.
All 16-year-olds are beinggiven the right to vote in all
elections in the United Kingdom.
What in the tarnation, you know?
My first thought was you knowwhy they're doing this?
So that they, since they cannow vote, they can now go get

(00:25):
their sex changes, theirmutilation of their bodies.
That's what I think.
That's my first thought thatpopped in my head.
These people are sick anddisgusting.
All right.
Cops seize 21 kids, including 17toddlers, from California
couple who had them all viasurrogacy.
Smells of trafficking.

(00:46):
Indeed, ladies, do notsurrogate your baby, or whatever
you call it.
Do not.
I know times are tough, but tosell your baby for money is just
disgusting.
All right, 21 little kids havebeen rescued from a California
couple who allegedly farmed outtheir fertilized embryos to

(01:07):
multiple surrogate mothers andthen hoarded the children inside
a massive mansion where theysuffered repeated abuse.
Cops say, goodness gracious.
And guess what?
Their names are not Jones andSmith, kujan Wan, x-u-a-nan.
I don't know, they lookoriental.

(01:29):
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.
Gu zhan zon, 65, and sylviazhang, 38, were recently found
with 15 children in theirArcadia mansion.
First of all, how'd they get amansion?

(01:49):
Another six of their kids hadpreviously been moved out to
other homes.
This couple owned a surrogacybusiness.
Oh my gosh, they owned asurrogacy business, wow.
But cops say they wereallegedly abusing the surrogacy
program.
I guess so.
17 of the kids are toddlers orinfants under three years of age

(02:12):
.
The oldest is 13.
All 21 children have been takenin by the Department of
Children and Family Services.
The couple have been chargedwith felony child endangerment
and neglect.
It was not immediately clear iffurther charges would be
mounted against them.
Police found the youngsterswhile investigating complaints
of a two-month-old who wasbrought to the hospital with a

(02:34):
traumatic brain injury.
Cops believe the baby wasinjured by the family's nanny,
56 year old chu me, who isaccused of committing alarming
abuse.
Wow, cops reviewed surveillancefootage from inside the home,
allegedly showing Lee shakingand hitting the infant.
The video was showed.

(02:55):
Other the video.
I'm sorry.
The video also showed othernannies allegedly abusing all of
the children.
Oh my gosh, I can't read anymore 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 onthe Blazers show saying that

(03:19):
found guilty, hang him.
All child abusers.
Yes, I agree.
All right, we need to move onto Mr Sean's.
I need.
This is the most ridiculousstory coming up here.
I need your input on this.
I think this is definitely fakenews.
Somebody was desperate for astory, so they dug around, they

(03:40):
made up shit.
I mean this is so dumb righthere, 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 canpredict your chance of dementia
.
This is so dumb, this is sodumb.

(04:04):
Strong calf muscles propel youforward when walking and running
, generate the explosive powerneeded for jumping, help
maintain your balance andstability and protect your feet,
ankles and knees from injury.
Really, really, the whole partof your leg helps you walk and
propel you, not just your calfmuscles.
They are the only muscles thatgo through a full range of

(04:25):
motion when we run or walkbriskly.
Sports psychotherapist paulhobro uh told the times uk last
week.
Muscle strains can increase therisk of falls, which are
leading cause of injury in olderadults, maybe, but maybe.

(04:46):
A study last year linked Fallsto 21% higher likelihood of
dementia diagnosis compared toother types of injuries.
Look, I think they're trying tosay if you have strong muscles
when you get older, it's gonnakeep you from being frail, but
the older you get I mean, I'mnot a doctor, I shouldn't even

(05:10):
be talking about this crap.
Here's a look of how strongcalf muscles can give your brain
a leg up and how to beef upthese beauties at home.
Okay, so that tells.
It.
Goes on to tell us how the calfmuscles work.
It tells you how how to measuretheir circumference, how calf
muscle strength is connected tocognitive health.

(05:31):
Here we go.
There are many explanations forthe purported link between calf
circumference and mentalsharpness.
Already I'm like no, this isstupid.
Stronger calves allow for moreexercise, which can
significantly lower the risk ofdeveloping dementia.
I call bullshit on this.
They even uh, they also protectagainst frailty, which has been

(05:57):
tied to higher odds of dementia.
So I think the older you get,if you're gonna, you know if
your brain is gonna havedementia, it's gonna have
dementia whether you have legmuscles or not.
I don't understand how thisarticle was even written.
Calf circumference can be auseful indicator of sarcopenia,

(06:17):
the age-related loss of musclemass, strength and function.
Studies have shown anassociation between sarcopenia
and mild cognitive impairmentand Alzheimer's disease.
I still call BS on this.
Strong calf muscles also helpmaintain healthy blood pressure
and blood flow to the brain,which are critical for cognitive

(06:39):
function.
I mean it goes on.
I don't know what do you think.
Are they just reaching here?
Are they just what are theydoing?
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 theydoing?
I mean I have huge calf muscles.
I used to.
Anyway, I still have a prettydecent amount of calf muscles.
I always said I used peopleused to compliment my legs how I
have nice legs.
They're short, for one thing,but I also.

(07:00):
I call them my man.
I have man legs because they'rekind of muscular.
Call them my man, I have manlegs because they're kind of
muscular.
All right, we need to move on.
This last one's kind of fun andcute lane kiffin.
You know him, you love him.
As jeffy would say, lane,kiffin tries recruiting catfish
girl to old miss after hearingsudden x return.

(07:20):
Uh, I'm sure you've know aboutthis girl.
Baron is a 29-old known for herwild outdoor adventures,
particularly in her catfishnoodling, which involves
wrangling and capturing catfishwith her bare hands, using her
hands and arms as bait beforewrestling the fish out of the
water.
No, thank you.
And she's a cute little girl.
She's definitely cute.

(07:42):
While the catfish girl has about8 million followers across her
social media platforms, her useon X is rather sparse and her
posts on July 13th were herfirst on the app since early
December.
Uh so, and her first day backon the pay on the app was when
kiffin took the opportunity tostrike it cut.

(08:05):
It used the hashtag come to thesip and first of all I was like
what the hell is a sip?
But then I realized it'smississippi.
Kiffin replied to her post ofsome of the best catfish catches
of the past year.
Baron hails from alabama andkiffin's post was his.
Oh so, this little girl fromalabama, uh, and kiffin's post
was his best attempt at gettingher to come to mississippi.

(08:27):
Using the rebels catchphraseoften used for recruiting
players come to the sip.
She's cute.
She's 29 uh, I don't know howold is kiffin um.
Kiffin was promptly roasted inhis comments as fans called out
the 50 year old for his attemptat recruiting the 29 year old

(08:48):
influencer out of alabama.
Look, she's almost 30, it'sokay, she's not, it's not like
she's 18 or 20.
How the f does a grown manemployed 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's29.

(09:08):
All right, so you can go finishreading that.
That's kind of funny.
It'll leave you light,light-hearted there after all
that other nonsense andheaviness.
All right, I do have a goodquestion of the day.
At least I think so.
When you were a youngster, whenyou were out there carousing,
and if you did that, I mean,what's your best?

(09:31):
Did you ever use a pickup line?
And if so, what was it?
What do you think the bestpickup line of all time is?
Did you ever use one one?
If not, you know they're outthere.
What do you think is a goodpickup line?
All right, I gotta go.
Thanks for listening.
Love y'all.
Bye.
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