Running on empty

But full of excuses: Motorists won’t be surprised to hear that the average price for regular gas in the U.S. increased by 11 cents in recent weeks. A petroleum industry analyst said the price increase was “driven by infrastructure problems downstream at the refinery level.”

Allow us to translate for the oil companies: “You’re paying more for gas because we just realized it’s almost summer and there’s no way the kids are going to let you talk them into another ‘staycation.’ Now, fill ‘er up.”

More beans, Mr. Taggart? Among this week’s best bets on TV is a documentary and interview with comedic director Mel Brooks, creator of “Blazing Saddles” and “Young Frankenstein,” Monday night on PBS.

The “American Masters” episode is titled, “Mel Brooks: Make a Noise.” The Buzz will wager his DVD copy of “Blazing Saddles” that they’re referencing the campfire cookout scene.

Must love ants: Zookeepers at a Connecticut zoo are puzzling over how one of their anteaters, named Armani, recently gave birth, considering there hadn’t been a male anteater in her pen since August, long before the anteater’s six-month gestation period would have started.

Among other possibilities, the zoo staff are asking Armani about a recent “casual encounter” ad on Craigslist for a “female anteater seeking male anteater.”

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More in Opinion

Story Corps
Editorial: Political debate isn’t on Thanksgiving menu for most

A better option for table talk are family stories. Share them with the Great Thanksgiving Listen.

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FILE — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks during a news conference about the Epstein files on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 3, 2025. Greene has broken with the Trump administration in calling for files related to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to be released. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)
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For middle schoolers playing football and their coaches, victories are counted in commitment and grit.

The Buzz: Quiet, piggies; here’s your slop of news

Now begins the impatient wait for the release of the Epstein files. Or ‘Love is Blind.’ We forget which.

FILE — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau logo is seen through a window at the CFPB offices in Washington on Sept. 23, 2019. Employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were instructed to cease “all supervision and examination activity” and “all stakeholder engagement,” effectively stopping the agency’s operations, in an email from the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (Ting Shen/The New York Times)
Editorial: Keep medical debt off credit score reporting

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toon
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toon
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Schwab: Release the files? Sure; Trump has nothing to hide.

The man’s an open book. And scandals that would destroy others’ political lives are a MAGA selling point.

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