The Shelby Light Bulb

History, Scientific 7 Minutes

Dangling from the ceiling of a California firehouse is a bulb that’s burned for 989,000 hours – nearly 113 years. Since its first installation in 1901, it has rarely been turned off, has outlived every firefighter from the era, and has been proclaimed the “Eternal Light” by General Electric experts and physicists around the world.

Tracing the origins of the bulb — known as the Centennial Light — raises questions as to whether it is a miracle of physics, or a sign that new bulbs are weaker. Its longevity still remains a mystery.

A Brief History of the Light Bulb

Thomas Edison worked on improving carbon filaments. By 1880, through the utilization of a higher vacuum and the development of an entire integrated system of electric lighting, he improved his bulb’s life to 1,200 hours and began producing the invention at a rate of 130,000 bulbs per year.

In the midst of this innovation, the man who would build the world’s longest-lasting light bulb was born.

The Shelby Electric Company

Adolphe Chaillet

Adolphe Chaillet was bred to make exceptional light bulbs. Born in 1867, Chaillet was constantly exposed to the burgeoning light industry in Paris, France. By age 11, he began accompanying his father, a Swedish immigrant and owner of a small light bulb company, to work. He learned quickly, garnered an interest in physics, and went on to graduate from both German and French science academies. In 1896, after spending some time designing filaments at a large German energy company, Chaillet moved to the United States.

Chaillet briefly worked for General Electric, then, riding on his prestige as a genius electrician, secured $100,000 (about $2.75 million in 2014 dollars) from investors and opened his own light bulb factory, Shelby Electric Company. While his advancements in filament technology were well-known, Chaillet still had to prove to the American public that his bulbs were the brightest and longest-lasting. In a risky maneuver, he staged a “forced life” test before the public: The leading light bulbs on the market were placed side-by-side with his, and burned at a gradually increased voltage. An 1897 volume of Western Electrician recounts what happened next:

Chaillet’s original patent:

“Lamp after lamp of various makes burned out and exploded until the laboratory was lighted alone by the Shelby lamp — not one of the Shelby lamps having been visibly injured by the extreme severity of this conclusive test.”

Shelby claimed that its bulbs lasted 30% longer and burned 20% brighter than any other lamp in the world. The company experienced explosive success: According to Western Electrician, they had “received so many orders by the first of March [1897], that it was necessary to begin running nights and to increase the size of the factory.” By the end of the year, output doubled from 2,000 to 4,000 lamps per day, and “the difference in favor of Shelby lamps was so apparent that no doubt was left in the minds of even the most skeptical.”

Over the next decade, Shelby continued to roll out new products, but as the light bulb market expanded and new technologies emerged (tungsten filaments), the company found itself unable to make the massive monetary investment required to compete. In 1914, they were bought out by General Electric and Shelby bulbs were discontinued.

The Centennial Light

Seventy-five years later, in 1972, a fire marshall in Livermore, California informed a local paper of an oddity: A naked, Shelby light bulb hanging from the ceiling of his station had been burning continuously for decades. The bulb had long been a legend in the firehouse, but nobody knew for certain how long it had been burning, or where it came from. Mike Dunstan, a young reporter with the Tri-Valley Herald, began to investigate — and what he found was truly spectacular.

Tracing the bulb’s origins through dozens of oral narratives and written histories, Dunstan determined it had been purchased by Dennis Bernal of the Livermore Power and Water Co. (the city’s first power company) sometime in the late 1890s, then donated to the city’s fire department in 1901, when Bernal sold the company. As only 3% of American homes were lit by electricity at the time, the Shelby bulb was a hot commodity.

In its early life, the bulb, known as the “Centennial Light,” was moved around several times: It hung in a hose cart for a few months, then, after a brief stint in a garage and City Hall, it was secured at Livermore’s fire station. “It was left on 24 hours-a-day to break up the darkness so the volunteers could find their way,” then-Fire Chief Jack Baird told Dunstan. “It’s part of another era in the city’s past [and] it’s served its purpose well.”

Though Baird acknowledged that it had once been turned off for “about a week when President Roosevelt’s WPA people remodeled the fire house back in the 30s,” Guinness World Records confirmed that the hand-blown 30-watt bulb, at 71 years old, was “the oldest burning bulb in the world.” A slew of press followed, which saw it featured in Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and on major news networks.

Aside from the 1930s fire house remodel, the bulb has only lost power a few times — most notably in 1976, when it was moved to Livermore’s new Station #6. Accompanied by a “full police and fire truck escort,” the bulb arrived with a large crowd eager to see it regain power, but, as recalled by Deputy Fire Chief Tom Brandall, “there was a little scare:”

“We got to new location and the city electrician installed the light bulb and made connection. It took about 22-23 min, and [the bulb] didn’t come back on. The crowd gasped. The city electrician grabbed the switch and jiggled it; it went on!”

Once settled, the bulb was placed under video surveillance to ensure it was alive at all hours; in subsequent years, a live “Bulb Cam” was put online. At one point, the bulb’s groupies (9,000 followers on FB) received another scare when it lost light.

At first it was suspected that the light had finally met its demise, but after nine and half hours, it was discovered that the bulb’s uninterrupted power supply had failed; once the power supply was bypassed, the bulb’s light returned. The 113-year-old bulb had outlived its power supply, just as it had outlived three surveillance cameras.

Today, the bulb still shines, though, as one retired fire volunteer once said, “it don’t give much light” (only about 4 watts). Owning a frail piece of history comes with great responsibility: Livermore firefighters treat the little bulb like a porcelain doll. “Nobody wants that darn bulb to go out on their watch,” once said former fire chief Stewart Gary. “If that thing goes out while I’m still chief it will be a career’s worth of bad luck.”

“They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To”

Everyone from Mythbusters to NPR has speculated on the reasons for the Shelby bulb’s longevity. The answer, in short, is that it remains a mystery – Chaillet’s patent left much of his process unexplained.

In 2007, Annapolis physics professor Debora M. Katz purchased an old Shelby bulb of the same vintage and make as the Centennial Light and conducted a series of experiments on it to determine its differentiation from modern bulbs. She reported her findings:

“I found the width of the filament. I compared it to the width of a modern bulb’s filament. It turns out that a modern bulb’s filament is a coil, of about 0.08 mm diameter, made up of a coiled wire about 0.01 mm thick. I didn’t know that until I looked under a microscope. The width of the Shelby bulb’s 100-year-old filament is about the same as the width of the coiled modern bulb’s filament, 0.08 mm.”

The Lightbulb Cartel

Light bulb companies like Shelby once prided themselves on longevity – so much so, that the durability of their products was the central focus of marketing campaigns. But by the mid-1920s, business attitudes began to shift, and a new rhetoric prevailed: “A product that refuses to wear out is a tragedy of business.” This line of thought, termed “planned obsolescence,” endorsed intentionally shortening a product’s lifespan to entice swifter replacement.

In 1924, Osram, Philips, General Electric, and other major electric companies met and formed the Phoebus Cartel under the public guise that they were cooperating to standardize light bulbs. Instead, they purportedly began to engage in planned obsolescence. To achieve this the companies agreed to limit the life expectancy of light bulbs at 1,000 hours, less than Edison’s bulbs had achieved (1,200 hrs) decades before; any company that produced a bulb exceeding 1,000 hours in life would be fined.

Until disbanding during World War II, the cartel supposedly halted research, preventing the advancement of the longer-lasting light bulb for nearly twenty years.

Whether or not planned obsolescence is still on the agenda of light bulb manufacturers today is highly debatable, and there exists no definitive proof. In any case, incandescent bulbs are being phased out worldwide: Since Brazil and Venezuela began the trend in 2005, many countries have followed suit (European Union, Switzerland, and Australia in 2009; Argentina and Russia in 2012; the United States, Canada, Mexico, Malaysia, and South Korea in 2014).

As more efficient technologies have surfaced (halogen, LED, compact fluorescent lights, magnetic induction lights), the old filament-based bulbs have become a relic of the past. But perched up in the white ceiling of Livermore’s Station #6, the granddaddy of old-school bulbs is as relevant as ever, and refuses to bite the dust.

The Mysterious Case of the 113-Year-Old Light Bulb

Source document written in 2014.

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Published by NebraskaFilly

Army veteran (1976-1979), retired with entirely too much time on my hands

Published

212 thoughts on “The Shelby Light Bulb”

  2. Good morning y’all! I like that story about the light. I deal with electricity a lot at work. I think part of the reason the bulb lasts so long is that they try ro keep it on all the time. By turning it off, it will cool down and the filiment will contract, turn it on, it heats and expands…metal fatigue over time. Having breakfast with my wife at my office now. Her office is having some abatement work done 1 office over and instead of working from home, she will be on campus.

    Liked by 2 people

    3. Glad you enjoyed it, CM. I was fascinated when I saw it on UnXplained. I think the difference is the material used, wasn’t it? The inventor used carbon filaments vs. the newer tungsten filaments – might that be the difference?

      Liked by 1 person

  3. such goings on this morning!
    I did go back and read your comment Filly about that county–doesn’t surprise me…PA is a liberal cesspool in places.
    i opened my laptop this morning and another chunk of something fell out from the screen…gotta transfer all my data to an external drive so we can have hubby’s IT guy replace my screen and keyboard…sigh…
    and while hubby was duck taping my screen, i looked out and saw 5 buck at the apple block–2 were already prong-ing and y-ing…the other 3 were buttons and nubs.
    all the birds were hungry–we had hummers flying at the windows looking for their feeders, the orioles scolding on the railings…gees…
    it’s gonna be a zoo for the new few days when we’re gone…

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Dang, sorry about the pooter problems! Something fell out of the screen??? First I’ve ever heard of that! I had to get this laptop after the wires connecting the display to the computer broke on my previous one – it was cheaper to just buy a used laptop. I still have the old one and, with an external monitor connected, it works just fine.

      Are you leaving this afternoon?

      Liked by 2 people

      1. The IT guy saves parts and pieces from computers he’s owned or fixed. the hard drive and workings are still good in this one–it’s the keyboard–worn out letters–I type ANGRY and hard sometimes…LOL
        and the screen broke when it fell off the table…it cracked at the one corner and little black pieces of something fall out if i don’t keep it together with a binder clip (hey, I watched McGiver years ago!)
        I don’t need a “new” laptop–just new pieces…lol

        we intend to leave around 3 or 4…I’ll let you now when I know. hubby is still working today

        Liked by 2 people

          1. i use mine constantly and he’s been nursing them along for me for years. really nice independent guy –he works from home so he can raise his kids…

            Liked by 1 person

            1. Wish I could find someone like that! Michael gave me the name and phone # of a guy he uses from Pierce. I tried several times to contact him, both by phone and on FB – no reply. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

              Liked by 1 person

        1. Go Johnny! Right on!!!! I was never particularly enamored of his music, tho. Remember when he played that scammer preacher on LH?? I was glad to see in the end that he came clean.

          Liked by 2 people

  5. my goodness will we EVER have fair and honest elections?
    entire article

    Multiple polling stations in Pennsylvania had to turn voters away on this primary election day after reportedly suffering a shortage of ballots.

    The ballot shortage impacted multiple polling stations in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County, including at polling stations in Stowe Township and Hanover Heights.

    According to Stowe Township’s Council President Robin Parilla, Alleghany County has not responded to her request for more ballots. As a result, Parilla has had to turn voters away.

    As local news outlets reported:

    Stowe Township Council President, Robin Parilla says that some voters have been turned away as a result of the shortage.

    Parilla has tried to contact the county multiple times to get more ballots, but no one is answering. He told Channel 11 that he has spoken with several other polling officials in the area, including Robinson and Elizabeth who say they are having similar issues.

    One polling station in Hanover Heights reportedly received just ten Republican ballots, while others in the area only reported receiving 20.

    Alleghany County is reportedly asking voters who were turned away to go back and try again.

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/05/17/report-pennsylvania-polling-stations-forced-to-turn-voters-away-due-to-ballot-shortage/

    Liked by 2 people

    1. In that case, no-one should be calling ANY races in PA!!!! Grrrrrr……I’m still hopeful that Kathy just might catch up, altho that isn’t looking likely. Not to mention that those voters who were turned away now know where the various candidates stand overall and I’ll bet some will change their vote because of that!

      IMO, McCormick is the lesser of 2 evils – at least you KNOW what you’re getting with him. Oz is a crapshoot, as far as I’m concerned.

      Liked by 2 people

  8. how do you even pronounce this made up word?

    Liked by 1 person

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  15. Entire article @ BB (of course, they just HAVE to get that dig in, don’t they???)

    “Pennsylvania Senate Candidate Kathy Barnette did not deliver a concession speech on Tuesday night after she trailed candidates Dave McCormick and Mehmet Oz, but she thanked her staff and supporters for their hard work.

    “We have put up a good fight. I am so grateful to the people that I have met throughout this commonwealth,” Barnette said during her watch party. “They haven’t called it, I’m not conceding, so don’t report it,” she said to reporters in the room. “I just want to take this time to just say thank you.”

    Although she choked up onstage at one point, Barnette delivered an upbeat message. “The Republican Party — we have some of the best people,” she said. “Thank you so much for all of your hard work. I appreciate it so much.”

    Barnette saw a last minute surge, after a debate where she spoke about her personal story of being born to a mother who was raped, in the aftermath of the leak of a Supreme Court decision draft overturning Roe v. Wade. “My story is as much about you as it is about me,” she said. “You didn’t see me run an ugly campaign. You didn’t see me put out an ugly ad. I made the main thing you.”

    However, Barnette also faced questions over her electability in a general race against Democrat candidate John Fetterman, and about previous statements she made and her handling of questions about her past from reporters. She urged her supporters to continue fighting the left.

    “Do not be discouraged, because we have a country to save,” she said. “The left has shown us that they are not playing with us when they say they want to fundamentally change this country.”

    Liked by 2 people

  16. I saw this on Fox last night and was simply furious!!! STAY THE HELL OUT OF SOMALIA!!!! Of course it was White Rage who requested it!!! Somalians are black!!!! I am sick and tired of our troops being used as a police force!!! That is NOT why we enlist!!!!

    EXCERPT: “The Biden administration announced Monday it is restarting a “persistent” American troop presence in Somalia, citing the threat from al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab and reversing the Trump administration’s withdrawal of American troops from the region.

    “The president has authorized the Department of Defense to return a small, persistent U.S. military presence to Somalia,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said at a press briefing Monday

    He said the decision was based on a request from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin with advice from senior military commanders and was also based on concern for the safety of U.S. troops who have “incurred additional risk” by deploying in and out of Somalia on an “episodic” basis for the past 16 months.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/05/17/president-joe-biden-sends-u-s-troops-somalia/

    Liked by 2 people

    1. we need to get the hell out of a lot of countries!
      our military signs up to protect OUR COUNTRY…
      if other countries need protection…let them ask the UN–that’s what it’s there for

      Liked by 2 people

  18. Liked by 1 person

  19. WTH is wrong with this picture??? No Father in the home, I’ll bet. I sympathize with her heartache – I do – but she needs to look in the mirror before blaming others! He is 16 and she insisted he not go, yet off he went! HE threw the first punch! You clearly failed as a Mother!

    EXCERPT: “A Chicago mother is mourning the loss of her son, who was gunned down right in the middle of one of the city’s biggest tourist attractions in its busy shopping district as crime in the Windy City continues to spin out of control. Seandell Holliday, 16, was shot and killed among a crowd of teens in Chicago’s Millennium Park on Saturday, May 14. It was a trip downtown that his mother Chanell pleaded with him not to take.

    “He wants to live to 21,” Chanell said, according to ABC 7. “I told him not to go. I said you’re not going downtown.”

    The Chicago Police say they have arrested Marion Richardson, 17, who was caught running from the scene of the shooting near the popular tourist spot, featuring the giant metallic, mirrored Bean sculpture in Millennium Park off the city’s Mag Mile shopping district.

    Investigators say that Richardson was arguing with a girl from another group when the victim jumped in and punched the suspect in the head.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2022/05/17/chicago-mother-pleaded-son-16-not-go-downtown-now-hes-dead/

    Liked by 2 people

  20. EXCERPT: “A former Trump White House staffer has uploaded more than 120,000 emails found on Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop to a searchable database this week, which can be found at the (slowly loading) website: BidenLaptopEmails.com. In addition to searching, visitors can download the emails as well.

    Set up by former Peter Navarro aide Garrett Ziegler, who worked in the Trump administration Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, the emails contain infamous hits such as the “10 for the big guy,” in which Hunter Biden’s business partner James Gillar suggested he should hold 10% of a multi-million-dollar deal with the Chinese. Ziegler posted the emails through his organization, Marco Polo.

    Another email in the database, previously published by DailyMail.com, shows Hunter describing an extraordinary apparent quid pro quo with a Mexican billionaire’s son, outlining how he got him into the White House and inauguration, and thanking him for visits to his villa.”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/over-120000-hunter-biden-emails-uploaded-searchable-database

    Liked by 2 people

  21. EXCERPT: “Monkeypox is a disease that I have been monitoring for quite a while now. It is not supposed to spread easily from human to human, and hopefully that is still true. But human cases are now popping up in the UK, and authorities are not exactly sure how it is spreading. As we have seen with COVID, deadly diseases can mutate in dangerous and unpredictable ways. And as we have also seen, a handful of human cases can ultimately turn into a worldwide pandemic. So we should definitely keep an eye on this alarming new outbreak in the UK, because it could potentially become something much larger.

    ‘On Saturday, health authorities in the UK announced that two more human cases of monkeypox have been confirmed…

    Two more cases of rare viral monkeypox infection have been diagnosed in England, health authorities said on Saturday, adding that they are not linked to one reported a week ago. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the latest infections involved people living in the same household and an investigation was underway into how they contracted the virus.’ But these two new cases did not have any contact with the first case that was confirmed on May 7th. So authorities are in a race to figure out how they could have contracted it.

    ‘As for the case that was confirmed on May 7th, authorities believe that the victim was infected in Nigeria…
    It comes after the first case was detected in a person who recently flew into the UK from Nigeria on May 7. The patient received specialist care in an isolation unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ infectious disease hospital unit in London, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).’

    Hopefully these cases have been isolated quickly enough and officials will be able to successfully contain these outbreaks. Because monkeypox is not something that you want to mess around with. It is similar to smallpox, but the good news is that it is usually not as severe. The following comes from the official CDC website…”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/bizarre-skin-disease-mysteriously-spreading-uk

    Liked by 2 people

  22. Good grief!!! Even Vietnam is laughing at FJB!!!!

    EXCERPT: “Two Vietnamese officials were caught on video mocking U.S. President Joe Biden during the weekend summit meeting between the United States and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Washingon, D.C. The video reportedly became a viral sensation before it was removed from the U.S. State Department’s YouTube channel.

    Radio Free Asia (RFA) described the incident on Monday:

    ‘According to a series of tweets about the incident by Southeast Asia analyst Nguyen Phuong Linh, the video shows the Vietnamese delegation laughing that U.S. President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Chinh that he could “not trust Russia.” Chinh also describes the meeting with Biden as “straightforward and fair and that Vietnam isn’t afraid of anyone,” after which the Vietnamese ambassador to the U.S., Nguyen Quoc Dzung, said they “put [Biden] into checkmate.”

    Minister of Public Security To Lam is also seen praising the former deputy national security adviser during the Trump administration, Matthew Pottinger, for being young and smart and having a wife who was born in Vietnam.

    The Vietnamese officials also refer to a number of U.S. officials without using honorific terms that, in the Vietnamese language, should be used in formal situations.’

    Analyst Nguyen Phuong Linh suggested the video could be taken as evidence of a “dysfunctional” Vietnamese cabinet and the incompetence of Vietnamese leadership “in terms of comms, foreign affairs, and security.”

    The State Department’s unexplained removal of the video from YouTube looked “embarrassing for the Vietnamese,” according to the BBC’s Bill Hayton, while RFA noted Vietnamese social media users seemed to be appalled by the poor manners demonstrated by their government officials, including Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2022/05/17/vietnamese-diplomats-d-c-summit-caught-video-laughing-biden/

    Liked by 2 people

  23. Embrace the suck, Netflix!!!

    EXCERPT: “The bloodbath at Netflix continued Tuesday as the far left-wing streamer laid off around 150 employees as part of its ongoing efforts to cut spending amid a catastrophic subscriber forecast for the months ahead. Compounding the company’s woes, several hedge funds reportedly dumped Netflix shares ahead of the streamer’s recent first quarter earnings report, signaling a broader lack of confidence from Wall Street than previously known.

    Netflix canned around 150 employees Tuesday, largely based in the U.S., with a significant portion in creative positions, both in film and TV, according to a report from Deadline.

    “Our slowing revenue growth means we are also having to slow our cost growth as a company. So sadly, we are letting around 150 employees go today, mostly US-based,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline.

    “These changes are primarily driven by business needs rather than individual performance, which makes them especially tough as none of us want to say goodbye to such great colleagues. We’re working hard to support them through this very difficult transition.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2022/05/17/netflix-bloodbath-continues-150-laid-off-as-hedge-funds-dump-stock/

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Way to go, future President!

    Entire article @ BB: “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Monday signed legislation outlawing protests outside of Floridians’ homes — a move made in the wake of activists protesting in front of the homes of Supreme Court justices, forcing some of them, such as Justice Samuel Alito, to move to undisclosed locations.

    DeSantis signed HB 1571, which explicitly prohibits picketing and protesting outside of an individual’s place of residence. “It is unlawful for a person to picket or protest before or about the dwelling of any person with the intent to harass or disturb that person in his or her dwelling,” the bill’s text reads.

    It instructs law enforcement to first approach the violators and “command any person picketing or protesting before or about the dwelling of a person to immediately and peaceably disperse.” If they refuse, officers can arrest the violators, who could face a second-degree misdemeanor.

    “Sending unruly mobs to private residences, like we have seen with the angry crowds in front of the homes of Supreme Court justices, is inappropriate,” DeSantis said in a statement, adding that the bill will “provide protection to those living in residential communities.”

    The measure follows incidents where activists gathered outside the homes of select Supreme Court justices over the leaked draft of a majority court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. The draft, reportedly penned by Justice Samuel Alito, states that “it is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

    According to reports, Justice Alito, specifically, has moved to an undisclosed location for his own safety as radical leftists continue in their attempts to intimidate and bully the justices over their consideration of overturning the 1973 decision, handing the issue back to the states.”

    Liked by 1 person

  25. Good! Send their asses back to India!!! Piss on Gorsuch!!! Another full-on libertarian – spit, spit, spit!!!!!

    EXCERPT: “The United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on Monday ruled in a 5-4 opinion against an illegal alien who sought to appeal his order for deportation before a federal appellate court.

    Pankajkumar Patel, an illegal alien from India who arrived in the U.S. with his wife in the 1990s, applied for discretionary adjustment of status with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agency in 2007. The adjustment of status would have rewarded Patel and his wife with green cards.

    USCIS denied Patel’s application, having found that he previously falsely claimed to be an American citizen on a Georgia driver’s license application. When the federal government sought to deport Patel and his wife years later, he again applied for adjustment of status and argued before a federal immigration judge that he accidentally checked the “citizen” box on the Georgia driver’s license application.
    ——————–
    Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the majority in the 5-4 decision that “federal courts lack jurisdiction to review facts found as part of discretionary-relief proceedings under” federal immigration law:
    ——————–
    Barrett was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts as well as her fellow conservatives on the Court — Justices Alito, Kavanaugh, and Thomas. Justice Neil Gorsuch, a libertarian, wrote the dissenting opinion joined by the liberals on the Court, Justices Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/05/17/scotus-rules-5-4-against-illegal-alien-seeking-evade-deportation-u-s/

    Liked by 2 people

    1. AGREED!
      accidentally my ASS!

      you break the rules, you get deported.
      you’re an illegal, that should be strike two
      you’ve been here 30 yrs and haven’t tried to correct your mistake and come legally and become a citizen? strike THREE!!!

      Liked by 2 people

  26. Oh, that’s right – this must be a body double since she is dead, right? Fantasies!!!!

    EXCERPT: “LONDON (AP) – Queen Elizabeth II made a surprise visit Tuesday to a train station in central London to see a newly completed subway line named in her honor. The 96-year-old monarch, who has reduced most of her public engagements, appeared Tuesday at Paddington Station and beamed as she unveiled a plaque stating she officially opened the Elizabeth Line. The new east-west train line is due to open to the public on May 24.

    Calling the event “a happy development,” Buckingham Palace said “the organizers were informed of the possibility she may attend.” The queen, who wore a sunshine yellow outfit with matching hat, walked slowly as she toured the station with a cane in hand, and she was seen smiling as she met with train workers.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/05/17/queen-makes-surprise-appearance-at-opening-of-elizabeth-subway-line/

    Liked by 2 people

  27. More GOP turncoats!!!

    EXCERPT: “A George Soros-linked dark money behemoth has a peculiar partner in its bid to sink voter ID expansion in Michigan—a group of Republican operatives led by a sitting Republican senator’s son.

    Over the past year, liberal dark money group Sixteen Thirty Fund has spent $2.5 million opposing a Republican-led petition drive to expand Michigan’s voter ID requirements. Nearly $400,000 of that money has gone to Groundgame Political Solutions, a shadowy consulting firm that a trio of Republican operatives—including Sen. Roy Blunt’s (R., Mo.) son, Andy Blunt—privately launched in May 2021, corporate filings show.

    The firm, which Blunt first registered in Delaware before expanding it to 10 other states, functions as a stealthy subsidiary to Blunt’s public-facing canvassing company, HBS+. The setup has allowed Blunt and his partners, fellow Republican operatives Gregg Hartley and Meghan Cox, to rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars from deep-pocketed liberals without alienating their conservative clients.

    The revelation shows just how far liberal operatives are willing to go to tank the ongoing voter ID expansion effort in the Great Lakes State. In at least one case, for example, the Sixteen Thirty Fund used its Republican allies at Groundgame to pay canvassers tens of thousands of dollars not to work on the issue.

    That ploy saw Groundgame reach a November agreement with a Michigan petition gatherer that paid him $50,000 not to work on any “election reform” issue. Cox personally signed the contract, which the petition gatherer called a “scheme to pay off circulators not to engage” in the voter ID initiative. Just one day before Cox sealed the deal, Groundgame received a $56,000 payment from an equally shadowy political action committee, Protect MI Vote, that the Sixteen Thirty Fund bankrolls to fight voter ID in Michigan. According to campaign finance disclosures, that payment went to Groundgame through a Jefferson City, Mo., address registered to Blunt’s consulting firm, Husch Blackwell Strategies.

    Blunt, Hartley, and Cox did not return multiple requests for comment. All three have professional ties to Blunt’s father. Blunt managed his father’s Senate campaigns in both 2010 and 2016, while Hartley from 1997 to 2003 served as then-congressman Blunt’s chief of staff. Cox, meanwhile, has directed field efforts for the Republican senator, her online bio states.

    The three operatives teamed up to launch HBS+ on May 6, 2021. According to a press release announcing the move, which lists Cox as CEO, the firm exists to “create ballot access strategies and manage influence campaigns.”

    Just 13 days after the launch, business records show, Blunt, Hartley, and Cox registered Groundgame Political Solutions, LLC—an HBS+ subsidiary that the trio did not publicize—in Delaware. The operatives used a corporate compliance company to do so, which allowed them to keep their names off of the filing and distance themselves from Groundgame.”

    https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/tales-from-the-swamp-how-a-republican-senators-son-partnered-with-a-liberal-dark-money-group-to-sink-voter-id-expansion/

    Liked by 2 people

  28. (Satire, of course, but funny!) FB did a survey of their readers on their kids’ views of politics:

    1) Caleb, age 2

    2) Hector, age 5

    3) Becca, age 6

    4) Kelly, age 8

    5) Chloe, age 10

    Liked by 2 people

      1. McShame’s campaign advisor:

        EXCERPT: “Former John McCain campaign adviser Steve Schmidt capped a wild weekend trashing McCain’s daughter, Meghan McCain, as well as McCain’s legacy, with a late-night follow-up exposing what he said was a particularly egregious lie by McCain.

        Schmidt claimed in a Substack post published on Sunday night that in 2008 McCain lied — and that Schmidt himself lied on John McCain’s behalf — when he denied a New York Times report that John McCain had had an affair with a lobbyist. Further, Schmidt said McCain had initially lied to him about the affair before admitting it.

        Schmidt noted this New York Times article, published in February 2008 and written by Jim Rutenberg, Marilyn W. Thompson, David D. Kirkpatrick and Stephen Labaton, that suggested McCain had carried on an affair with a Washington, D.C., lobbyist so blatantly that it alarmed his own staff, who did everything they could to keep the two apart. Concerns were not only about a potential sex scandal, but about what such behavior said about McCain’s tolerance for blatant corruption — the concern was of course that he was sleeping, literally, with someone whose job is to influence members of Congress.”

        https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/steve-schmidt-says-john-mccain-040712964.html

        Liked by 2 people

  32. Liked by 2 people

  34. Well, I scheduled my guy to spray for weeds – probably next week some time. I need to find some different gates for my driveway but I can’t afford much. I don’t want to go with the regular farm tube-gates but…..I may have to since there isn’t much in my price range. SIL built these for me – 2 gates five feet wide on both the west and the east – we used pressure treated wood but over time, they are rotting from the bottom and sagging badly, so that I can barely get them open. I’ve painted those suckers almost every year and by the next year, they are peeling already. I want to go with metal gates so I don’t have to keep re-painting all the time but I don’t want something ugly, either. Sigh……and the point was to keep the bigger critters out, like ground hogs and the neighborhood dogs – an open-bar gate wouldn’t suffice for that.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Pat, maybe you or your hubby could tell me how to tighten the turnbuckles on my wood gates? They keep sagging. SIL installed turnbuckles on each gate a few years ago (4) but I don’t know how to tighten them. They go from the top-left corner of the gate (where it is attached to the post) to the bottom-right corner and vice versa on the opposite gate.

      Liked by 1 person

      2. hubby’s asking if there is something on the wire–he thinks that is the turnbuckle…
        coming from each end? you put a screwdriver in it and turn it to tighten it…?????

        Liked by 2 people

        1. Yes, they are turnbuckles – but I don’t know which direction to turn it!!! LOL – that’s what I need to know. Heck, I can just try it and see what happens – if it doesn’t raise it up, I guess I’ll know I’m turning it in the wrong direction!

          Liked by 2 people

            1. Screw it – I’ll just turn it and see what happens! It’s not going to make it worse, I reckon! If one way doesn’t work, I’ll try the opposite! LOL – I did read on-line that the righty-tighty is the opposite with turnbuckles – lefty-tighty, I guess.

              Liked by 2 people

  37. washing the dishes…yet again today…and looking out the kitchen window i see a gorgeous all blue bird! watched it and tried to get some good photos…
    couldn’t zoom in close enough–the noculators gave a better view.
    so i went to the audobon birding book–it’s not an eastern bluebird–it looks like a mountain bluebird–which are not found on this coast…but it was brilliant blue all over–no rust colored throat at all…hmmmm

    looked like this guy

    not this guy

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Beautiful! I see blue bird boxes on fences around here but I’ve never actually seen one. Their boxes need to be put up on fence posts and such because of their fear of snakes.

      Liked by 2 people

        1. Saw my first garter snake when I was mowing the other day. I don’t see nearly as many these days, which is fine by me, altho they do keep the mice population down. BTW, I found the mouse Jake was watching dead on the floor of the patio – I assume it was the same one. Hit the D-Con, I guess! Good! STAY OUTSIDE!!!

          Liked by 2 people

  41. EXCERPT: “Netflix just announced the death of a slew of woketard shows, including an obvious abomination called Antiracist Baby.

    From far-left Variety: ‘Netflix has pulled the plug on several animated projects, including “Wings of Fire,” from executive producer Ava DuVernay; “Antiracist Baby,” a series aimed at preschoolers; and “With Kind Regards From Kindergarten,” a film tailored to youngsters.

    The streaming service also scrapped “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You,” a documentary intended to serve as a companion piece to “Stamped From the Beginning, which is a hybrid documentary and scripted feature that delves into race in the United States. “Stamped From the Beginning” is still moving forward and is currently in post-production.’

    And then Netflix adds this insult to injury…’Sources at Netflix stress the decisions not to move forward with these projects were creative rather than cost related, meaning they would have taken place regardless of the company’s slower revenue growth.’

    Translation: even if we were flush with cash, even if we were swimming in a Scrooge McDuck pile of gold, we would have still said, Get this shit off my lawn. Remember, this is on top of Netflix’s recent killing of a piece of woktardery dreamed up by the insufferably untalented Meghan Markle.

    Variety says Netflix is still going ahead with other animated projects. Still, these projects sound like they might actually be entertaining — stuff like Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, and My Dad the Bounty Hunter.

    Who the hell was the audience for Antiracist Baby?”

    https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2022/05/18/nolte-netflix-kills-a-slew-of-woketard-programming/

    Liked by 2 people

  42. Entire Article @ BB: “A recent report reveals that a lobbying group funded by Facebook has been planting stories in newspapers across the United States in an effort to manipulate the media and fight big tech regulation.

    A report from the Washington Post reveals that a political advocacy group called American Edge was secretly funded by Facebook (now known as Meta) and has been manipulating news narratives by placing stories in newspapers across the United States. American Edge aimed to oppose Senate-backed antitrust legislation that attempted to reign in the Big Tech Masters of the Universe.

    American Edge commissioned studies, placed op-eds in newspapers, and worked with minority business associations, former national security officials, and conservative groups to push back against the bill. In sponsored ads, American Edge focused on people’s fear of cybersecurity attacks from Russia and China, echoing arguments made by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

    American Edge accused lawmakers of having a “misguided agenda,” and wanting to “take away the technology we use every day,” while alleging that the antitrust bill would negatively affect small business owners. The group reportedly specifically kept mention of Facebook away from its argument in an effort to hide the company’s involvement with the lobbying group.

    A source who spoke to the Washington Post stated: “Facebook can’t be the messenger. If we are out there saying it, people won’t believe it as much, so the conversation is how can you set up a proxy.”

    In the weeks following the Senate’s passing of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act in January, American Edge launched a campaign against the legislation. The lobbying group released an ad featuring Clayton Stanley, President and CEO of Mississippi-based economic development organization The Alliance, in which he accused lawmakers of “weakening American technology, threatening jobs and making the U.S. economy more dependent on China.”

    Another ad focused on the war in Ukraine and included a warning from national security officials that both Russia and China could gain a “technological edge” on the West as an “unintended consequence” of antitrust regulation. Read more at the Washington Post here.”

    Liked by 2 people

  43. SMDH – WHEN will they fricking learn??!!?? After I asked if “Allan” on BB had watched 2000 Mules: “Not yet – but looking forward to seeing it. No doubt things were stolen – but it is time to move past that and become goal oriented to wiping the dems from the face of the earth.” WTF do these idiots NOT understand???? Voting is irrelevant if the fraud isn’t totally ended??!!??

    Liked by 2 people

    1. yeah, they don’t get it…if they don’t correct the opportunities to cheat–block those avenues–the cheating will still happen…

      Liked by 2 people

      1. From your lips….I figured out how to tighten the turnbuckles but they are in such an awkward place – leave it to SIL to f’ things up! Screw it! I’ll just leave one side open, with a block of wood to keep them swinging open all the way. I also got my whirly-gigs back up on the trellis but I have to get 2 new swivels so they can swing all the way around. Moss Roses are coming up! Yeah! I have the pink tub in front and 2 planters in the back – these are the ones Marilyn gave me.

        Going to be a hot one today! A/C already came on! When the sun is beating down on my black roof, it may only be 76 outside but it is at least a couple of degrees warmer inside.

        Liked by 2 people

          1. When it is mowed and I actually weed-eat the backyard, it does look like a park! I love to just go walk around the perimeter in the evening and enjoy it all! I need someone with a chain saw to take that dead peach tree down. It would take me forever to cut it down with my tree saw!

            Like

  45. Liked by 2 people

  46. copied from tcth

    WeThePeople2016
    WeThePeople2016
    May 18, 2022 12:26 pm

    ScottPresler

    @ScottPresler

    11m
    ·
    In York County, PA, 2 incumbent representatives were defeated by Republican challengers.

    Wendy Fink and Joe D’Orsie won against Stan Saylor and Keith Gillespie, respectively.

    Fink and D’Orsie both ran on anti-mandates. They are uncontested & don’t have democrat opponents.

    Liked by 2 people

  47. I’d like to cut my trumpet vines all the way back to the ground but that would mean HOURS of taking all the old vines off the arbor. Jeez! I’d have to use a tree saw since they are so thick. Those suckers are impossible to kill!

    Liked by 2 people

  49. TOGS (The Old Guard[sucks]” (that’s what the guys used to say) is at the WH, as well as the Navy – Nancy Drew speculating but I’m betting there is some kind of state visit, perhaps? I went to one of those once on the WH grounds but didn’t get inside the building – just on the south lawn. Some ruler from some African country.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. It looked to me like their ceremonial units, which always come out for State visits. 2nd video convinces me even more that it is a State visit, altho ND doesn’t think so.

      Like

        1. Keep “watching!” More in the pipeline and scheduled. I watch that show, Mysteries at the Museum, and Beyond the Unknown and when something catches my interest, I am off and running in search of more info! LOL

          I’m only up so late because I took a 5 hour nap and am now wide awake.

          Liked by 1 person

              8. I remember one time the President of DHR (a defense contracting firm) called myself and the Office Mgr into his office and reminded us to make sure the Project Officers were going thru the CBD (Commerce Business Daily, where RFP’s and contracts were advertised) on a regular basis. His comment: “You have to be hard on them about it, be a bitch. I know that might be hard for you, Carol, but I think Judy was born that way!” This is the same guy for whom I had signed for a Confidential document before giving it to him – I was still a temp at that point. He was leaving for lunch and I asked what he did with the document. He said it was in his briefcase, which he was taking with him. Nope – I INSISTED he give it back to me and not leave the building with it: “That’s MY name on the signature sheet, not YOURS!” He gave me the document and went on his way.

                Liked by 1 person

              9. You have to be hard on them about it, be a bitch. I know that might be hard for you, Carol, but I think Judy was born that way!” ——🤣 epic

                Liked by 1 person

            3. Wow, Kea! Another one I had never heard of! Incredible luck that day! What bothers me is….over time, couldn’t that nuclear material they buried come back to haunt NC???? IDK squat about it but it would seem to me……scary shit!!!!

              Liked by 1 person

              1. It was very eye opening for sure,

                You bring up a good point. I mean how many places has nuclear material been dug up years later because of contamination. I would guess so. I mean nuclear takes far too long to decompose if you will. Hmmmm

                Liked by 1 person

              2. Ya’ know, I do understand why some things need to be kept secret from our “enemies.” But NOT The People!!!! JMO, tho, and I can see where knowing about it could cause a panic but still…..I DESPISE SECRECY!!!!

                Liked by 1 person

              4. Thanks – do me a favor and start a new comment next time? It’s so far to the right, it’s too tiny to watch! Appreciate it! I’ll get the notification since it’s my open.

                Liked by 1 person

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