Pucker Up, Buttercup!

Nature 2 Minutes

When the time comes to decorate your home for the holiday season, it simply wouldn’t be complete without mistletoe.

Mistletoe is a plant that grows parasitically on trees. Mistletoe can cause Witches’-broom, a symptom of a disease that results in clusters of weak shoots, in the host tree.

One way to harvest mistletoe is to climb high in the tree to get the clusters; another way is to blast them out with a shotgun. How’s that for festive?

We might view mistletoe as a beautiful and seasonal plant, but did you know that it is actually poisonous to humans? Drowsiness, vomiting and seizures are possible effects that you will experience if you consume the plant.

Over the years, mistletoe has been used as a medicine. In Europe, it has been used to cure all sorts of illnesses, including arthritis, leprosy and infertility. Injections of mistletoe can be acquired in certain parts of Europe as a cure for cancer.

There isn’t just one type of mistletoe – you can find as many as 1,300 varieties around the world. One of the varieties is known as dwarf mistletoe, which has orange or yellow leaves.

It is mainly spread through birds’ droppings, which explains the origins of the word ‘mistletoe’. The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon words ‘mist’ and ‘tan’, which mean ‘dung twig’ when translated.

Have you ever thought about why people kiss one another when caught under the mistletoe? Legend has it that the goddess Frigga had a son named Balder who was killed by an arrow made from mistletoe. Her tears of sadness brought Balder to life again, and Frigga then promised that all who passed under the mistletoe should receive a kiss.

Despite it being thought of as a romantic plant, it is considered quite a pest around the world. When mistletoe seeds are carried to trees, they spread around the branches and can cause stunt of growth or even death to the tree.

Hanging mistletoe inside the house dates back to the time of the Druids. They believed that this plant would bring them good luck and keep evil spirits away. However, Christians in Western Europe hated the idea of hanging mistletoe around their homes and within the churches, and tried to ban it altogether.

Of the hundreds of mistletoe varieties, there are twenty of them which are endangered. Always check before picking mistletoe for your Christmas party!

In Oklahoma, mistletoe is the state flower.

Harper’s Weekly began featuring pictures of couples kissing under the mistletoe during the mid to late 1800’s.

An old tradition involving mistletoe was to pick off one berry after each kiss. This meant that by the time all the berries had been picked off, nobody would be kissed under the mistletoe anymore. However, over time, this tradition was forgotten, and nowadays, nobody touches the berries.

Mistletoe was often used as a symbol of peace, and was pictured on the front of postcards which were sent to soldiers during the Great War.

If you ever see candles and other items being advertised with the scent of ‘mistletoe’ labelled on them, you’re being told a lie, according to experts. The plant has absolutely no smell at all.

Christmas isn’t the only occasion which mistletoe has been associated with down the ages. It was once thought that witches and ghosts would stay away at Halloween if this plant was present.

Women in Medieval England used to tie mistletoe around their waists in the hope that it would make them more fertile.

So, pucker up!

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Published by pat frederick

Published

132 thoughts on “Pucker Up, Buttercup!”

    1. Good morning! 18 degrees and sun…for now, anyway. Loved this one – I didn’t know anything about mistletoe. It was never present in our house when I was growing up – not a big thing here at all.

      Liked by 1 person

        1. No, I’m putting it off…..maybe later, maybe tomorrow – we’ll see. Mom just called – she needs to go by tomorrow so she can get the fixings for divinity – it is supposed to be sunny all day Saturday and it has to be sunny to make divinity! For my brother in NC, primarily – he loves it! So, probably tomorrow, since I’ll need cigs by then, too, but road conditions will determine that. I can get 2 cartons in Norfolk for the same price as 1 here since they don’t have many generics.

          Liked by 1 person

            1. Horrors! You’ve never had divinity??!!?? It’s not my favorite but a staple around here.

              EXCERPT: “Old Fashioned Divinity Recipe
              This old fashioned divinity candy recipe is a sweet treat I love to make and share during the holiday season, and I’m guessing fewer people have heard of it, much less tasted it before, unless you grew up in the South.

              Old fashioned divinity is a vintage recipe for a meringue-based candy that I would describe as somewhere between fudge (even though there is no chocolate in most divinity, it is often even referred to as Divinity Fudge), nougat, and marshmallow.

              It’s a billowy light, super-sweet, airy candy confection and it tastes…well, divine. Hence the name.”

              https://houseofnasheats.com/old-fashioned-divinity-candy-recipe/

              Liked by 1 person

  2. Filly I’ve got to tell you about my dream last evening. Mom and I were cleaning out the closet in her eaves and i found a box of my college papers and stuff. Going thru the box I pulled out a flyer from a seminar I attended and when I opened it, a little card fell out–like a business card. It was from the professor who led the seminar and on the back was this message: Isn’t he a hunk? See you again sometime…FILLY

    I don’t believe our paths ever crossed before…but I woke up smiling thinking we had!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Liked by 1 person

  7. Like

  9. Liked by 1 person

    1. Citizen 817
      December 8, 2022 12:27 am

      Donald J. Trump ReTruthed:

      @kathyalbino
      1d
      If Ray Epps isn’t charged, it’s all BS! He’s clearly seen on video organizing people to go in!

      Liked by 1 person

  14. bflyjesusgrl 🍊 😎MEGA MAGA GAME ON😎
    bflyjesusgrl 🍊 😎MEGA MAGA GAME ON😎Online
    Coyote
    December 8, 2022 08:13

    Fox Breaking – Brittany Griner being swapped for Russian Arms Dealer ‘Merchant of Death’. She is already free in air on her way home. What about Paul Whelan, others who’ve been there longer???????????????????

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Tucker was good last night – from CTH:

    Entire article: “Given the background, it doesn’t come as a surprise. Zelenskyy has previously made political opposition parties illegal and removed all media from Ukraine that is not state authorized. However, the move to ban a Ukraine orthodox religion is still a considerable escalation into totalitarian extremes; all supported by the U.S. State Dept.

    As Carlson notes in the latter part of his monologue, the insufferable propaganda has enmeshed the Ukrainian face of western government, “It’s just a grotesque post-modern psy-op, and anyone still falling for this is brain damaged.” WATCH:

    Carlson is correct. The Ukraine narrative has been a western, state department + CIA, designed operation from the outset. On the backside it’s a political money laundering operation feeding defense contractors, corporations, western politicians, congress, political campaigns and DC think tanks.

    Approximately two-thirds of the American electorate bought into the media promoted Ukraine construct, which, again is not surprising, considering that roughly 72% of healthy adult Americans lined up for an untested, experimental and sketchy COVID vaccine, the result of government advocacy and pressure.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. i read yesterday somewhere that support for ukraine among us citizens is waning…especially given their recent lies about bombings and our own financial situation at home. I can’t imagien this will help

      Liked by 1 person

  16. I had to turn off Fox, I was soooo disgusted – I cannot stand Brian Kilmead – I have wondered for a very long time where in the hell did they find him???? He actually had the audacity to suggest this morning that the vial of liquid MJ may have been planted in her suitcase…by Russia, of course! SMDH

    Liked by 2 people

  17. Project Veritas Exposes Dean of Students at Prestigious Private School Bragging About Having Kids “Passing Around Dildos and Butt Plugs”
    Always bringing the heat.

    JD Rucker
    12 hr ago
    ENTIRE ARTICLE: Project Veritas strikes again, this time by exposing the sick practices of the Dean of Students at a prestigious private school in Chicago. Watch:

    Here’s their press release:

    Elite Chicago Private School’s Dean of Students Brags About Bringing in LGBTQ+ Health Center to Teach ‘Queer Sex’ to Minors … ‘That’s a Really Cool Part of My Job’ … ‘Passing Around Dildos and Butt Plugs’ … ‘Using Lube Versus Using Spit’

    Joseph Bruno, Dean of Students, Francis W. Parker School: “So, I’ve been the Dean for four years. During Pride — we do a Pride Week every year — I had our LGBTQ+ Health Center come in [to the classroom]. They were passing around butt-plugs and dildos to my students — talking about queer sex, using lube versus using spit.”

    Bruno: “They’re just, like, passing around dildos and butt-plugs. The kids are just playing with ‘em, looking at ‘em…They’re like, ‘How does this butt-plug work? How do we do – like, how does this work?’ That’s a really cool part of my job.”

    Bruno: “We had a Drag Queen come in — pass out cookies and brownies and do photos.”

    [CHICAGO – Dec. 7, 2022] Project Veritas released a new video today exposing a high-ranking private school official, Joseph Bruno, who admitted that he teaches underage children about sex with items such as “butt-plugs” and “dildos.”

    Bruno, who works as the Dean of Students at an elite school in Chicago called Francis W. Parker, said that these were the items brought into the classroom by an LGBTQ+ group.

    “So, I’ve been the Dean for four years. During Pride — we do a Pride Week every year — I had our LGBTQ+ Health Center come in [to the classroom]. They were passing around butt-plugs and dildos to my students — talking about queer sex, using lube versus using spit,” Bruno said.

    The school administrator claimed that this educational practice is one of the reasons he enjoys his current employment.

    “The kids are just playing with ‘em, looking at ‘em [butt-plugs and dildos] … They’re like, ‘How does this butt-plug work? How do we do – like, how does this work?’ That’s a really cool part of my job,” he said.

    Bruno also said he has invited a Drag Queen to the school.

    “We had a Drag Queen come in — pass out cookies and brownies and do photos.”

    At this point, Project Veritas may be the only consistent purveyor of the truths the radical left doesn’t want the public to know. They deserve all the kudos in the world.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Francis W. Parker School BOLTS after Project Veritas exposes actual groomer at their school
      Posted at 9:24 am on December 8, 2022 by Sam Janney

      ENTIRE ARTICLE: Yeah … if you don’t want people to accuse you of being a groomer DON’T be a freakin’ groomer.

      We have no words for this video dropped by Project Veritas where Joseph Bruno, the actual Dean of Students for Francis W. Parker school in Chicago, IL, openly talks about an LGBTQ+ health center coming into the school to discuss butt plugs and dildos. And how cool it was.

      But you know, the Right is just making this all up to target the LGBTQ+ community – yeah, that’s it.
      Watch this:

      This editor is sick to her stomach. No place for this in school. Period. Seems the school figured that out as well because they completely deleted their Twitter account … as if that will make this go away. Nothing makes them look more innocent than deleting their Twitter account. Totes.

      Just. Awful.

      More Tweets: https://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2022/12/08/francis-w-parker-school-bolts-after-project-veritas-exposes-actual-groomer-at-their-school-watch/

      Liked by 1 person

  18. “Transgender New Hampshire Dem in Jail on Stalking Charges–Stacie Laughton has falsely reported bomb threats, committed identity fraud as state rep”

    Entire Article @ FB: “A transgender criminal who serves in the New Hampshire House of Representatives is in jail for stalking a woman, a third arrest for the Democrat lawmaker.

    State epresentative Stacie Laughton, a Democrat formerly known as “Barry,” was arrested in November on more than a dozen charges related to the stalking and is expected to remain behind bars “for the next couple of months,” according to a public defender’s letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Laughton, who had just won reelection, was arrested on Nov. 12 for making false 911 calls about the female victim as well as harassing her on social media and on a radio program Laughton hosts, in violation of a July court order. It’s the third arrest for the state representative, who has also been charged with credit card fraud and falsely reporting a bomb threat.

    Laughton is the latest felonious transgender official to be charged in recent months. In October, a nonbinary Biden administration official, Sam Brinton, stole a woman’s suitcase worth more than $2,000 from an airport carousel and now faces up to five years in prison for theft. Following the charges, Brinton, a deputy assistant secretary at the Energy Department, was put on leave and later went on to host a seminar on the science of spanking at a Los Angeles kink convention.

    Republican state representative Ross Berry told the Free Beacon the public defender’s letter implies Laughton agreed to a plea deal. Under New Hampshire’s Constitution, lawmakers cannot be kept from carrying out official duties, even after being arrested. A district court judge initially held Laughton without bail pending a hearing last week, saying the state representative posed a danger to the female victim and the community at large, the NH Journal reported. The results of that hearing have not been announced.

    Laughton’s defense attorney declined to comment. New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley on Wednesday called on Laughton to resign, noting the charges against the representative “are extremely serious and troubling and have no place in our state legislature or in our party.”

    Laughton was convicted in August of having made false 911 reports last year about the same female victim, alleging that she was suicidal, according to NH Journal. The Democratic lawmaker pleaded no contest to the charges and was slapped with a nine-month suspended sentence, which prosecutors are seeking to reimpose in the wake of the stalking charges. Laughton, who is married to a woman, once referred to the female victim as “wife.”

    Laughton was convicted in 2008 of credit card fraud and charged in 2015 with falsely calling a bomb threat into a hospital in Nashua. The latter offense was reduced to a six-month suspended sentence when Laughton claimed to have made the phone call during a mental health crisis.

    In 2006, Laughton faked a mental health emergency to score a free ambulance ride back from the beach after watching a July 4 fireworks display, the Laconia Daily Sun reported. The same year, Laughton also faced misdemeanor charges for slashing a neighbor’s tires.

    This is the second time the New Hampshire Democrat has won election while concealing a criminal charge. Laughton was elected in 2012, only to resign shortly after the 2008 credit card conviction surfaced. Liberal media outlets at the time lauded Laughton for being the first openly transgender official in the Granite State.”

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Since you can’t watch the video, Pat, here are more details on this subject:

    EXCERPT (Tweets at link): “Tucker Carlson highlighted a story Wednesday concerning a New Jersey mother being told she is being “monitored” by local law enforcement at the behest of military personnel who didn’t like her social media posts questioning sexualisation of children in school.

    Angela Reading alerted other parents of children in the North Hanover Township Elementary School District that children from grade 4 up are being encouraged to research topics of sexuality and create LGBTQ+ posters.

    Suddenly, the concerned mom found herself the target of one Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Shilling, who stated that the Joint Base (McGuire, Fort Dix and Lakehurst) are looking into her posts and informing law enforcement.


    Carlson noted “a military base is not a ‘law enforcement agency’. The purpose of the military is to defend us from foreign enemies, not to police our Facebook posts. This is mind boggling.”

    It seems that the Lieutenant Colonel,who has his (he/him) pronouns in his social media bios, like is one of this gang:
    (Tweet)
    As we have previously highlighted, the sexualisation of children in schools is a nationwide issue. Many parents have spoken out against books and subject matter, including transgenderism, pedophilia, gay pornography, and critical race theory, that children as young as Kindergarten age are being subjected to.
    (Tweet)

    https://summit.news/2022/12/08/video-woke-military-threatens-mother-who-questioned-lgbtq-school-indoctrination/

    Liked by 1 person

  20. ENTIRE ARTICLE @ DailyCaller: “President Joe Biden is set to announce a roughly $36 billion bailout for union pension plans Thursday after his calls for Congress to force rail unions to accept a new contract strained his relationship with labor groups.

    The Central States Pension Fund (CSPF) primarily represents more than 350,000 workers in the Teamsters Union, and was set to become insolvent by 2026, according to CNBC. The bailout is funded through the March 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP), Biden’s signature COVID-19 relief legislation, and is intended to keep the CSPF solvent through 2051 and prevent a 60% cut to members’ retirement benefits, Bloomberg reported.

    “Union workers and their families are finally able to breathe a huge sigh of relief, knowing that their hard-earned retirement savings have been rescued from steep cuts,” assistant labor secretary for employee benefits security Lisa Gomez told CNBC.

    After workers at four of the twelve major rail unions voted to reject an administration-brokered deal between labor leaders and rail companies, Biden called for Congress to pass a law forcing the resistant unions into accepting the deal. The move drew backlash from workers who were upset about various quality-of-life provisions that did not make it into the final cut of the deal, including a measure to guarantee paid sick leave.

    The bailout of the CSPF is coming as part of an ARP program protecting multiemployer pension funds, which are typically negotiated between unions and various employers, according to CNBC. Relief to CSPF is expected to account for roughly one third to one half of all funds disbursed as part of the ARP’s pension protection program.

    The White House and the Teamsters did not immediately respond to a Daily Caller News Foundation request for comment. The CSPF could not be reached for comment.”

    Liked by 1 person

  21. “Welcome to the Ideological Collapse of the GOP — Trump didn’t demoralize Republican voters, the GOP did that all by themselves”
    Emerald Robinson
    10 min ago

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “Many of my conservative friends — quite a few of them GOP donors and campaign strategists and media people I must admit — greeted the news of Herschel Walker’s defeat in the Georgia Senate with a shrug. What difference did it make really? What difference could it make? It was not indifference to Herschel Walker as a candidate, per se, so much as indifference to the GOP having a majority in the Senate.

    Why? Simply put: very few of them believed that a GOP-dominated Senate would do anything for GOP voters. The mood could be described as complete disgust with Mitch McConnell and GOP leadership — or, as I prefer to call them — our senators from the great states of Cialis.

    It’s not just the gelatinous blob known as Mitch McConnell, or that closeted court jester of Fox News, Lindsey Graham. It’s not only the spectacular career implosions of Ben Sasse and John Cornryn. What about Pat Toomey? Rob Portman? Richard Burr? Roy Blunt? Mitt Romney? Thom Tillis? Bill Cassidy? Lisa Murkowski? Look at their voting records: they’re basically a chorus-line of limp-wristed flip-floppers.

    In fact, this bunch isn’t worth a bucket of warm spit.

    At every turn, this gang of geriatric invalids and psychological inferiors displayed their complete contempt for their own voters in 2022. It’s not just that they hate President Trump — they hate Republican voters. As for traditional GOP values, they have turned on them too. They have gone out of their way to “flip the bird” at conservative principles like limited government, restricted government spending, legal immigration, free speech, gun rights, and religious freedom.

    In fact, they have enthusiastically joined hands with Democrats on bill after bill recently — in a concerted attempt to disabuse the American people of the antiquated notion that we have a two-party system. You might even call it: ideological suicide.

    Twelve Republicans joined Democrats last week to pass a gay marriage bill that will allow lawsuits to be filed against organizations that do not recognize gay marriages — making mainstream Christian teaching essentially illegal. This was the organized GOP response to the Supreme Court’s surprise defeat of Roe v Wade. Think about it: federal abortion law was struck down so the GOP rushed to save gay marriage.

    So much for religious freedom.

    How can you possibly top that — for selling out your own side?

    Right now, GOP leadership is working on a mass amnesty bill in the lame duck session that’s opposed by the overwhelming majority of GOP voters. To fully understand the depth of this treachery, you have to recall that GOP politicians spent the last two years complaining about the invasion on the Southern border. They did this every day — every hour! —on Fox News, and other corporate media outlets. It was the GOP’s daily drum beat. Kevin McCarthy even promised to impeach DHS chief Alejandro Mayorkas over the border disaster.

    In the midst of all those promises — and all that posturing — GOP Senate leadership is ready to deliver a mass amnesty bill? That’s either political malpractice of the highest order, or the ultimate sign that the GOP establishment stands for nothing and stands against nothing.

    It’s the latter, of course. Take gun rights, for example. This summer, the GOP establishment voted to restrict your gun rights in yet another “bipartisan deal” that eroded the constitutional rights of Americans and gave the Democrats another victory.

    How about free speech? Republican senators and congressmen have whined constantly about Big Tech censorship for six years while doing nothing. You might say their virtue-signaling was: all signal and no virtue. Now take a look at the recent news coming out of Twitter. Elon Musk has done more for free speech in America in a month than the entire GOP establishment has done in a decade.

    What about limited government? The GOP has helped to send billions of our taxpayer dollars to Ukraine — without even minimal accounting. The GOP has signed on to help Democrats pass every omnibus spending bill. There is no crazy, stupid, dangerous Democrat priority that the GOP won’t eventually fund — except “student loan forgiveness” apparently.

    What core principle is left for the GOP establishment to betray? And the answer is: none. Nor is there any cohesion among them, other than blaming Trump for their own mistakes. There’s no party discipline. There’s no party strategy. On any given day, a third of our lawmakers are willing to cross the aisle and vote with Democrats for no particular reason — like children. What have Mitch and Kevin done about this problem? Nothing. McConnell and McCarthy have simply allowed the GOP’s entire platform to be trashed in the last two years.

    You know it’s true.

    Nor are McConnell and McCarthy any good at the PR side of politics. In truth — they’re awful at it. Look at how pathetic and weak these two “leaders” were this week — showing up to be abused at public events by Democrat leadership. Anyone with a ounce of sense or dignity would have walked away in disgust — would have fled the scene of their ritual humiliation.

    Not this pair. Shameless.

    The corrupt corporate media likes to portray the GOP civil war as President Trump versus the party establishment — but the party establishment has totally abandoned the GOP’s traditional values in its hysterical rush to reject Trump. In doing so, this rabble of K Street bootlickers has managed to demoralize millions of Republican voters — which might just be their most lasting political achievement.

    President Trump didn’t “destroy” the GOP — the GOP establishment destroyed the GOP. Sure, there’s a handful of decent people in the House, and one or two in the Senate — Rand Paul and Ron Johnson come to mind — but the rest of them are useless or (worse than useless) whores for Mammon.

    Has there ever been a more embarrassing collection of grifters and frauds gathered together under one banner than our current crop of Republican politicians? Has the ideological collapse of one party ever carried sure dire consequences for the fate of one country?

    I doubt it — and I’m not alone.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. the left has stripped off their masks proudly and are showing their true selves. the right is old and tired and the masks are just falling off and they don’t care.

      Liked by 1 person

  22. Celine Deon (gee, missing your adrenochrome? Or maybe it was that jab?) announces she has a rare neurological syndrome called stiff-person syndrome, an auto-immune illness – yep, it was the jab, IMO! The body’s immune system attacks healthy parts of the body – attacks a chemical that the brain and central nervous system uses to talk to the muscles and tells them what to do. Literally one in a million….gee, where have we heard that before????

    Liked by 1 person

  23. MICAH PARSONS BLASTS JOE BIDEN AFTER PRISONER SWAP FOR BRITTNEY GRINER: ‘STILL NOT VOTING FOR YOU’
    by MARK HARRIS
    about 2 hours ago, updated about an hour ago

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: Dallas Cowboys star linebacker Micah Parsons wasted no time in calling out President Joe Biden following the news of Brittney Griner’s release from a Russian prison via a prisoner swap. Griner was arrested in February at an airport in Moscow when customs officials said she was carrying vape cartridges containing hash oil. When Griner pleaded guilty to the drug charges in July, she explained she had “packed in a hurry.” She was sentenced to nine years in prison after being convicted in a show trial.

    Griner was released in return for notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, aka ‘The Merchant of Death,’ who is known to be the most notorious arms deal in the history of the world. Meanwhile, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan is still sitting in a Russian prison after being accused of spying in December of 2018.

    Parsons, and many others, took issue with the fact that the Biden administration seems to have prioritized freeing Griner before a former service member who is wrongfully being detained.

    Biden confirmed during a brief press conference on Thursday morning that “She’s safe. She’s on a plane. She’s on her way home.” He also went on to say Griner “represents the best of America.”

    Parsons wasn’t done criticizing the President, as 45 minutes later he quote tweeted a post from Biden’s official account writing “We still not voting for you!”

    There is no question that millions of Americans share Parson’s frustrations about Whelan’s situation and how Griner’s unfolded, but seeing the Cowboys’ star go public with his anger is certainly surprising.

    What isn’t surprising is Parsons feeling the need to explain his tweets calling out the President. He wants the record to show that he’s “the furthest thing from a Trump supporter” but “not a fan of Biden either.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. “FDA authorized bivalent booster for 6 month olds after only a 3 day review of Pfizer documents
      It seems FDA is not even trying to pretend it is following any of its standards, let alone following the Science”

      Meryl Nass
      58 min ago

      Liked by 1 person

  26. “Vanguard Drops Out Of Climate Initiative As Reaction Against Woke Investing Continues”
    By Ben Zeisloft • Dec 7, 2022 DailyWire.com •

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “Vanguard will no longer participate in the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative as lawmakers and the broader marketplace scrutinize the company’s support of the environmental, social, and governance movement, also known as ESG.

    Signatories of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative promise to move portfolio companies closer to eliminating net carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner. Vanguard will withdraw from the initiative to “provide the clarity our investors desire about the role of index funds and about how we think about material risks, including climate-related risks,” according to a statement.

    The move occurred hours after officials in the state of Texas announced a hearing over asset managers’ purported mismanagement of taxpayer dollars driven by ideological motives. Last week, multiple attorneys general filed motions with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seeking to prevent Vanguard from purchasing shares in publicly traded utilities out of a concern that the company’s climate efforts would raise energy prices and decrease grid reliability.

    “Vanguard realized their entire business model could be at stake if they didn’t stop coordinating with other members to drive up energy costs,” Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild, whose organization also filed a motion with the agency, remarked in a statement provided to The Daily Wire. “We’ve struck a serious blow to the anti-consumer ESG agenda and we are going to keep fighting until these asset managers and banks get back to fulfilling their fiduciary duties and stop playing politics with other people’s money.”

    A number of Republican state governments have recently divested from prominent asset managers over concerns that the companies’ voting priorities are driven by political ideology rather than the maximization of returns. Following divestments from South Carolina, Louisiana, Missouri, West Virginia, and Utah, the state of Florida revealed plans last week to remove $2 billion from BlackRock next year.

    There exists evidence of a broader market backlash against asset managers’ leverage of proxy voting to advance executives’ preferred social and political views. An exclusive poll from The Daily Wire showed earlier this year that 64% of respondents believe “individual investors whose savings are being invested” should decide whether retirement and pension funds are allocated according to ESG standards, while 20% believe that “Wall Street asset managers” should make such decisions.

    As the debate over the ESG movement continues to make headlines, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink announced last month that institutional clients would be able to vote their own shares rather than allow the company to act as a proxy. “It’s clear there are investors who don’t want to sit on the sidelines; they have a view on corporate governance, and they want a meaningful way to express those views,” the executive said.

    Despite its dissociation from the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, Vanguard affirmed that the move “will not affect our commitment to helping our investors navigate the risks that climate change can pose to their long-term returns.” The company manages $7 trillion in assets.

    “Climate change, and the ongoing global response, will have far-reaching economic consequences for companies, financial markets, and investors, presenting a clear example of a material and multifaceted financial risk,” the statement continued. “Vanguard has been taking steps to understand and attend to this risk to investors’ returns, including through our engagements with portfolio companies, policymakers, and broader industry efforts.”

    Liked by 1 person

  28. EXCERPT: “Celine Dion has been diagnosed with the rare neurological condition Stiff Person Syndrome, which causes her muscles to tense uncontrollably. The condition, which affects one in a million people, ultimately leaves sufferers as ‘human statues’ as it progressively locks the body into rigid positions, leaving sufferers unable to walk or talk. While there is no cure for SPS, there are treatments to slow down the progression, with Celine revealing she is doing all she can to minimize symptoms.

    The 54-year-old singer addressed her fans in a tearful Instagram post on Thursday as she revealed it has forced her to postpone her European tour.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11516313/Celine-Dion-diagnosed-incurable-neurological-disease-Stiff-Person-Syndrome.html

    Liked by 1 person

  29. ENTIRE ARTICLE (an EU site with which I am not familiar altho I’ve heard the name – they need a better editor, too!):

    “Frau Merkel revealed in her interview with the Zeit newspaper that the Minsk agreements were not an attempt to establish peace in war-torn Ukraine but they were aimed to give the Kiev regime more time to strengthen their military and prepare for a large-scale war.

    The lady confirmed that all the Western authors of the current war in Ukraine, including herself, did nothing for peace in Europe, but tried their best to inflame the war against Russia as mush as possible on the territory of Ukraine and paying with the lives of the Ukrainian people:

    ‘I thought that the introduction of NATO accession of Ukraine and Georgia, discussed in 2008, was wrong. The countries did not have the necessary prerequisites for this, nor was it fully understood what the consequences of such a decision would have been, both with regard to Russia’s actions against Georgia and Ukraine, as well as NATO and its rules of assistance. And the Minsk Agreement of 2014 was an attempt to give Ukraine time.

    Ukraine used this time to become stronger, as you can see today. The Ukraine of 2014/15 is not the Ukraine of today. An illustrative example was the battle for Debaltseve. At the beginning of 2015, Putin could easily have overrun them at that time. And I very much doubt that the NATO countries could have done as much then as they do today to help Ukraine.’

    The Minsk agreements on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine, signed in 2015, provided for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of contact, as well as constitutional reform, the key elements of which were to be decentralization and the adoption of a law on the special status of certain districts from Donetsk and Luhansk regions. However, this plan was never implemented by the Kiev regime.

    The Russian Foreign Ministry commented on the claims of the ex-Chancellor of Germany claiming that such a policy is worthy of a tribunal:

    ‘The testimonies of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel in an interview with Die Zeit newspaper that the Minsk agreements were signed in order to give Ukraine time to prepare for a military confrontation with Russia may well be used for proceedings within the framework of the tribunal — the Russian Foreign Ministry commented on Merkel’s claims.’

    It is worst noting that during all years of her leadership in Germany, Merkel was still shy to declare the real goals behind the signatures on the Minsk protocol. She has been constantly lying about her intentions to maintain peace and that she made “unthinkable efforts” to achieve it. Today, she is not so shy anymore to reveal the evil essence of German foreign policy as well as the bellicose goals of the entire West. No one can have any doubts that Washington, London and Brussels brought war into Ukraine.

    Merkel officially confirmed that the West was preparing war against Russia by their proxy, the Kiev regime. None of the Western representatives in the OSCE who signed the Minsk agreements was not going to force Kiev to comply with them.

    The West confirmed that it cheated on Russia, like it did with promises not to expand NATO, like it did when signing the ABM and INF Treaties etc. None of the West’s statements today can be trusted either.”

    https://southfront.org/merkels-confession-minsk-agreements-were-lie-aimed-to-inflame-war-against-russia/

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Like

  34. Like

  40. senator investigating the $200M grant for batteries to a company tied to china
    FTA
    The top Republican on the Senate energy committee launched an inquiry on Wednesday into a Biden administration grant to a China-based battery company under scrutiny from U.S. financial regulators. The announcement came in the wake of a Washington Free Beacon report about the Biden administration’s attempt to spin the grant as a boon for American-made clean energy.

    Sen. John Barrasso (R., Wyo.), the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said the Department of Energy’s grant to Microvast Holding “endangers our national security” and “undermine[s] the United States’ position in its race against China for technological supremacy,” in a letter to DOE secretary Jennifer Granholm on Wednesday.

    The inquiry comes after the DOE gave the $200 million award to Microvast, a holding company that operates primarily in China, to build a lithium-ion battery separator facility in Tennessee, the Free Beacon reported on Tuesday. Granholm said the funding, which came from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, would help “supercharge the private sector to ensure our clean energy future is American-made.”

    Barrasso asked Granholm to turn over records detailing the “security review process” for companies receiving DOE funding, and the names of officials who are responsible for approving the payments.

    “Microvast’s close relationship with China is no secret,” wrote Barrasso. “I remind you that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was ostensibly intended to develop robust domestic manufacturing bases and supply chains free from the predations of the [People’s Republic of China].”

    “DOE distributing $200 million in taxpayer funds to a company joined at the hip with China is demonstrably antithetical to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s intent,” he added.

    Barrasso asked Granholm to provide him with the information by Dec. 21.

    https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/endangering-our-national-security-senator-launches-inquiry-into-bidens-200m-grant-to-china-based-battery-company/

    Like

  42. senators working on bill to increase pharmaceutical production in us
    FTA
    Reps. Darren Soto (D-Fla.) and Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) are pushing forward bills aimed at raising the domestic production of drugs in a bid to strengthen the health care security situation in America.

    In an interview with The Hill, Soto pointed out that the country faces drug shortages mainly owing to the fact that it is dependent on nations like China and India to secure supplies. At present, 72 percent of pharmaceuticals in the United States are imported, with 13 percent coming from “economic rival” China.

    America’s vulnerability due to its reliance on foreign drug imports became very apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic, he stated. Soto noted that India withheld 26 drugs during this period to make sure their people had access to these medications.

    “Now, nobody can really blame them for that, but at the same time that puts us in a predicament, where we don’t have access to those drugs,” he said while insisting that the United States must be better prepared to meet such emergency situations. Soto and Carter have introduced two bills to rectify the situation.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/bipartisan-lawmakers-advocate-boosting-american-pharmaceutical-production_4909912.html?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport

    Liked by 1 person

  45. Very gray skies now, and a light rain has begun so I ran to the Casey’s to get a pack of cigs to hold me until Saturday. They are already pre-treating the highway. Gonna be icy later, for sure!

    Like

      1. I called Mom – we’ve agreed to see what the roads are like tomorrow. If they are icy, we will meet up Saturday morning and she can get her stuff for divinity and I’ll get my goodies.

        Liked by 1 person

  47. won’t go anywhere…but nice to see someone at least looking
    Comer wants to investigate if there was a quid pro quo between ultra maggot and saudi arabi
    entire article

    Ranking member of the House Oversight Committee James Comer (R-Ky.) says that a quid pro quo might have occurred by the Biden administration with Saudi Arabia. 

    Saudi Arabia suggested back in October that the Biden administration attempted to delay OPEC+ production cuts until after midterms.

    “It appears that Joe Biden went on his hands and knees to Saudi Arabia and begged them to increase oil production before the election — which of course would drop the price of gasoline right before the election,” Comer said on Wednesday’s edition of the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show.

    “We wonder, was it an agreement where Biden said to them, ‘You could do whatever you want after the election. You could cut production after the election to increase prices so you could make more money. Just help me out before this election?'” Comer asked. “If so, the Democrats used to call that a quid pro quo.”

    The 45th president of the United States Donald Trump was accused of a quid pro quo with Ukraine back in 2019, resulting in the Democrats calling for his impeachment. 

    “I would make a strong argument that that was a more serious quid pro quo than Donald Trump asking Ukraine, ‘Hey, do you have any evidence of corruption here?'” Comer said, referring to President Biden possibly having talked to Saudi Arabia before the election. “Because it sure looks like corruption.”

    According to Comer, when the GOP takes control of the House, they will be looking into whether or not Biden had a deal with Saudi Arabia. 

    “We’ve already sent letters to Secretary Blinken asking exactly what kind of deal they were trying to make,” Comer stated.

    https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/rep-james-comer-flips-democrat-quid-pro-quo-impeachment-argument-joe-biden?utm_source=sf&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fbjtn&fbclid=IwAR0qOjkiSUdvJzJaPRLzVtEDvQptPZPMF2k-pPteQ-SqJ8AV1QERRCCOBVQ

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I HATE when they do that – any site that prevents copying/pasting, I won’t use. Just trying to get clicks! OK, in trying to find more info, I ran across this – Kari hooking up with Harmeet???? Not sure if the lawsuit is discussed in one of these or not. Both dated yesterday….

      https://salemnewschannel.com/harmeet-dhillon-with-kari-lake-the-race-to-replace-ronna-mcdaniel/

      This one is Kari with Ned Ryun:

      Ned Ryun, CEO of American Majority, is the guest – Kari Lake is Dr. G’s guest host.

      https://salemnewschannel.com/kari-lake-and-ned-ryun-we-have-to-start-playing-the-same-game/

      Liked by 1 person

    2. OK – found it! And a transcript, too!

      Lake: I’m Kari Lake and I’m reporting to you live from Arizona, the state where our borders wide open and our elections are run like a circus. And we have a lot to fix here in Arizona. And that’s why our movement is so powerful. I just want to lay things out for you because I know for the national audience, they’re not covering it. The mainstream media is not covering how our elections were run here in Arizona. Maricopa County is the second largest when it comes to the number of people living in it, and electoral power. 62% of our state lives in Maricopa County, and the Republican who ran the Maricopa County elections’ number one goal was to stop MAGA candidates such as myself. He even started up a PAC raising money to bring down candidates who spoke out against the 2020 election. And there’s no denying it. I talked about the election and how it was a rigged election in 2020. And we all know that it was, I mean, we’re now seeing with Twitter and what’s coming out on Twitter, how indeed the social media giants and the tech tyrants were working to help Joe Biden lie about his influence with folks like the Ukrainians and the CCP, taking money. His son Hunter Biden, and the laptop, they were trying to keep that away from the voters to try to influence the election. And they did influence the election. So fast forward to 2022. Nothing is done to repair and fix our elections here in Arizona. The people running them are anti-America first. And actually the only way to slow our movement was to pretty much sabotage Election Day voting and so they did that. They really did with 63% of the poll locations on election day were inoperable or not fully functioning. The tabulator machines went down, the ballot printers weren’t working, they had no ink in the ballot printers. It was a complete nightmare. And because of that, they declared my opponent the victor. And I want people to know out there that we are going to fight for election integrity. We are going to be filing a lawsuit this Friday. And we’re going to fight what happened in Maricopa County because we have a movement here. And my basement Biden opponent, Katie Hobbs, knows that she did not win this election. It’s disgusting what happened. I’m going to continue fighting.

      Video: https://yournews.com/2022/12/08/2469594/kari-lake-we-are-going-to-be-filing-a-lawsuit/

      Liked by 1 person

  49. i bought these large-ish pumpkins from the Amish farmer at the beginning of October and had them in the house as decorations since. every week or so I’ve split one open and put it outside for the animals to eat–the middle goopy part was scraped clean every time–but the actual pumpkin left to rot. that’s happened twice–we tossed the remains in the woods. (hey maybe a seed survived in all that mess and we’ll get pumpkins next year…LOL)
    anyway, i just took the last two out a few days ago and today there was a buck munching on it and eating the pumpkin shell!! I thought something was after them because one of the halves was drug away from the rest…

    Liked by 1 person

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