site banner

Friday Fun Thread for October 9, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Politicians "going missing" is an evergreen story. Early this year we had Mitch McConnell. Right now apparently Talarico has been missing for 12 days. And before that Trump went missing for like 3 days, and Putin was dying of cancer, and Kim Jong-un was already dead.

It's always a nothing burger.

Apparently, in 1967, the prime minister of Australia (Harold Holt) went swimming in the ocean and disappeared and they never found his body. But there were others with him who witnessed him go out to swim and sort of drift away.

I wonder when the last time a world leader actually disappeared or had a Weekend at Bernie's scenario. It must have happened quite a bit in ancient times.

Here's serendipity in action: just read this about Talarico going missing for 12 days, hopped off to a different website, and they've got a tweet from someone claiming "My sources are telling me Talarico is in a mental health facility. His campaign has stopped actively planning events in the vital homestretch of the campaign."

Wow. I think the truth is more like he's just taking a break before the final stretch, or maybe he's come down with the flu (lot of bugs going around right now) but this kind of rumour mongering is crazy.

Though if it is true in some form, well gosh this would be how Paxton manages to win after all - his opponent turns his toes up (metaphorically speaking)!

My heuristic is that he'll probably turn up soon no worse for wear, because they almost always do. But, hey, in the mean time, you can bet on it.

https://kalshi.com/markets/kxpublictalarico/when-will-james-talarico-be-seen-in-public/kxpublictalarico-26oct15

because they almost always do.

Usually. But the Mark Sanford, uh, affair in 2009 was pretty memorable, for example.

Dang, I forget all about that one. Buenos Aires is a nice touch.