The Flying Duck Orchid

Nature 2 Minutes

If you have never seen the Flying Duck orchid in real life, you can be forgiven for thinking that it is a fake. This is because it is hard to imagine Mother Nature trying to copy or impersonate one of its own creatures? But it is a fact that the flowers of this species of orchid bear uncanny resemblance to a flying duck. It is a small species of orchid that is found in eucalyptus woodland of Australia along its eastern and southern coastline. The scientific name of this orchid is Caleana Major after the name of a botanist George Caley.

The complex flower of this species of orchid is tiny, only 15-20mm in size. But it has a peculiar shape that makes it look like a duck in flight. Most of the plants have reddish, brown, and purplish flowers even though in some cases these flowers can also be green. Chances are that you may miss out on seeing this species of orchids even after visiting the right places in Southern and Eastern Australia. The peculiar color of the flowers of this orchid makes the plant to mix and blend well with the surroundings. Scientists say that the flower has evolved in such a way so as to help this species of orchids to attract its pollinators. We humans see the head of the flower in the shape of a duck but male sawfly sees it as a female sawfly. It gets attracted to it and makes an attempt to mate with it.

Facts about the Flying Duck Orchid

Habitat: Eastern and Southern Australia

Scientific name: Caleana major

Other common names: Flying Duck orchid

The flower has a labellum that is in the shape of the beak of the duck. The length and breadth of this labellum is such that it serves as a perfect place for sitting for the male sawfly. As the male sawfly sits on it, it sends signals to the body of the flower to set the trap in motion. This trap makes the insect get into a place and by the time it is free, it has to pollinate the flower. This process of propagation is referred to as pseudocopulation by the scientists. The roots of this species of orchid have a symbiotic relationship with a fungus that is native to the places where it is found in Australia. This is one of the reasons why this unique species of orchid is very difficult to grow inside homes. It is this fungus that protects the plant from several infections. When this fungus is not present in the medium, it is difficult to save the plant from dying down because of these infections.

There are two more petals of this uniquely shaped flower of Flying Duck orchid. Both of them look more like sepals and they are curved back to look exactly like the wings of a duck ready to take a flight. This orchid plant is perennial in nature but it flowers only during spring or early summer.

Flying Duck orchid has the pride of being on the postage stamp of Australia.

SOURCE: ORCHIDSPLUS.COM

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Published by pat frederick

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238 thoughts on “The Flying Duck Orchid”

  1. Morning All!
    I saw the cutest thing on the way to walmart last evening. the farmer at the very end of our dirt road has cattle. he also adopted a horse a few years ago. I’ve never seen this horse being ridden, just always out with the cattle in the field. yesterday this horse was laying on it’s back (like a puppy) rolling around in the dirt…LOL…legs in the air and everything.
    it looked like he was having fun. Filly is this normal???

    Liked by 3 people

    2. Morning, Pat! Yes, that is quite normal. He was scratching his back and getting dust on him to keep the bugs at bay – all horses do it. They’ll do it in water, too, to cool off.

      Liked by 2 people

  3. In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous.…
    — Jason Aldean (@Jason_Aldean) July 18, 2023

    In the past 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (a song that has been out since May) and was subject to the comparison that I (direct quote) was not too pleased with the nationwide BLM protests. These references are not only meritless, but dangerous. There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage -and while I can try and respect others to have their own interpretation of a song with music- this one goes too far.

    As so many pointed out, I was present at Route 91-where so many lost their lives- and our community recently suffered another heartbreaking tragedy. NO ONE, including me, wants to continue to see senseless headlines or families ripped apart.

    Try That In A Small Town, for me, refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences. My political views have never been something I’ve hidden from, and I know that a lot of us in this Country don’t agree on how we get back to a sense of normalcy where we go at least a day without a headline that keeps us up at night. But the desire for it to- that’s what this song is about.

    Liked by 2 people

  5. President Trump sits front row center watching Sound of Freedom. Jim Caviezel on one side, Tim Ballard on the other

    He hasn’t moved an inch since the film began pic.twitter.com/tWarKv9ioK

    — Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) July 20, 2023

    Liked by 2 people

  6. “How Can We Trust The FBI & DOJ When The FBI Has Been Caught Planting CHILD PORN On Peoples Computers MULTIPLE TIMES”

    The answer is, we can no longer trust these institutions. https://t.co/8KU2pYsWdl
    — General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) July 19, 2023

    Liked by 2 people

  7. .@RepJamesComer: “The Bidens received incremental payments over time to various bank accounts. These complicated financial transactions were used deliberately to conceal the source of funds and total amounts. No normal business operates like this.

    “What were the Bidens selling?” pic.twitter.com/2RQLlZbTRz
    — Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) July 19, 2023

    Liked by 1 person

    1. “The Bidens created over 20 shell companies, most of which were created when Joe Biden was Vice President. The Biden Crime Family received over $10 million from foreign nationals. A lot of this money poured in while Joe Biden was Vice President.” pic.twitter.com/C1lFiSNJmD
      — Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) July 19, 2023

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Try to grasp this fully.

    Stop what you are doing.

    Sit down.

    Take a few deep breaths.

    CONCENTRATE.

    They all **knew** that fucking virus came out of that lab they were funding and they knew it in January of 2020.

    And only now – **NOW!** – are they cutting off the $.… https://t.co/B2fWwrlnJi
    — Brian Cates – Political Columnist & Pundit (@drawandstrike) July 19, 2023

    Liked by 2 people

      1. it’s a shell game.
        i wanna know why we can’t have a defense budget. i don’t like throwing billions of $$ at an agency and getting NO accountability for it. the taxpayers deserve to know what the hell we’re funding. i know we pay for information–but i want to know if we are funding blm or terrorists. and providing these informants with a “salary” should be off limits.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. They should have a separate budget, with clearly identified individual line-items and line-item veto authority, for each of the 11 (?) agencies. 11 separate budgets!!!!

          Liked by 1 person

  11. TheseTruths(@thesetruths)Offline
    Wolf
    July 20, 2023 01:02

    IRS Whistleblower: Assistant US Attorney Rejected Search Warrant at Biden’s Residence Due to ‘Optics’ – Even Though “She Agreed That Probable Cause Existed” (VIDEO)

    “I am blowing the whistle because the Delaware U.S. Attorney’s Office, Department of Justice Tax, and Department of Justice provided preferential treatment and unchecked conflicts of interest in an important and high-profile investigation of the President’s son, Hunter Biden,” IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley told lawmakers.

    Shapley previously told lawmakers that an Assistant US Attorney in Delaware working on Hunter’s case REJECTED a search warrant for Joe Biden’s Delaware home in 2020.

    A separate search warrant for Hunter Biden’s storage locker was also blocked by Joe Biden’s henchmen.

    On Wednesday Shapley said Assistant US Attorney Lesley Wolf blocked the search warrant at Joe Biden’s Delaware residence due to ‘optics’ – even though she agreed there was probable cause!

    She should be removed from her position at the very least.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. TheseTruths(@thesetruths)Offline
    Wolf
    July 20, 2023 01:18

    Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) says she will force an up-or-down vote on impeaching President Biden if the articles of impeachment are not brought up in committee.

    WATCH🚨: “I am a professional RINO hunter.”

    Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) says she will force an up-or-down vote on impeaching President Biden if the articles of impeachment are not brought up in committee. pic.twitter.com/ARTZYQP7HR

    — Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) July 19, 2023

    Liked by 3 people

  14. TheseTruths(@thesetruths)Offline
    Wolf
    July 20, 2023 01:27

    Biden’s DOJ Will Trigger A Major Crisis If Trump Is Indicted For Jan. 6
    https://thefederalist.com/2023/07/19/bidens-doj-will-trigger-a-major-crisis-if-trump-is-indicted-for-jan-6/

    The weaponization of federal law enforcement, if it continues, is going to delegitimize the 2024 election before a single ballot is cast.

    The news that President Joe Biden’s Justice Department might soon indict and arrest former President Donald Trump over the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol should terrify all Americans, regardless of their political beliefs.

    Put bluntly, if Biden’s DOJ arrests Trump, the president’s main political rival heading into the 2024 election, it will trigger a political and electoral crisis unlike any America has ever faced. It’s not too much to say that such a move would not only imperil the upcoming presidential election but the republic itself. Jailing political rivals is what happens in tinpot dictatorships like Nicaragua, where President Daniel Ortega’s political rivals often find themselves arrested and imprisoned on charges of treason.

    Now it appears it could happen here. On Tuesday, Trump said he had received a letter informing him he is a target of the federal criminal investigation of Jan. 6 being led by Special Counsel Jack Smith…

    This is the second target letter Trump has received from Smith. The first one came in June, in connection with the unprecedented FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home last year over classified documents…

    Trump and others have rightly denounced this as the weaponization of federal law enforcement and the criminalization of political differences. It’s also just a naked attempt to rig the 2024 election in Biden’s favor. As Tucker Carlson has said, “They’re trying to take Trump out before you can vote for him, and that should upset you more than anything that’s happened in American politics in your lifetime.”

    That’s not an overstatement. If this scheme works, if Biden’s DOJ succeeds in taking Trump out ahead of 2024 on bogus charges related to Jan. 6, it’s hard to see how we can ever have a normal election again in this country, how the outcome of any future election will be seen as legitimate.

    Forget about the stalwart Trump voters who claim 2020 was stolen. If Biden’s DOJ throws Trump in prison, Ortega-style, for a crime the U.S. Senate already acquitted him of, there’ll be a whole new constituency of voters who will claim, rightly, that 2024 has been preemptively stolen.

    Indeed, Biden’s Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland might be badly overplaying its hand here, unintentionally swelling the ranks of Americans who might not love Trump but absolutely loathe the way federal law enforcement has been deployed against him and his supporters from the moment he won office in 2016…

    Biden and Garland and those in power [are] kidding themselves if they think they can simply take Trump out by arresting and indicting him, and then move onward into the 2024 cycle as if everything is fine.

    Their weaponization of federal law enforcement, if it continues, is going to delegitimize the 2024 election before a single ballot is cast. And at that point, we’re all going to have a huge problem on our hands.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. If the fraud is not addressed and fixed, we will absolutely never have an honest election again and any faint remnant of legitimacy is gone. This Republic will be history!

      Liked by 1 person

  15. Citizen 817
    July 20, 2023 12:23 am

    @realDonaldTrump

    12h
    These vicious Communists, Marxists, Fascists, and Radical Left Democrats have attacked my lawyers at a level never seen before, and yet I keep on winning. Any attorney that represents me is either a fool, or a Great American Patriot that History will love and cherish!

    Liked by 2 people

  16. Citizen 817
    Citizen 817
    July 20, 2023 12:23 am

    @realDonaldTrump

    8h
    THE DEMOCRAT PROSECUTORS WAITED YEARS TO BRING CHARGES SO THAT THEY COULD INTERFERE WITH THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. THEY ARE GETTING, HOWEVER, BIG BLOWBACK!!!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. ‘LAWFARE’ is one of the demonrat tactics – as is ELECTION FRAUD.

      PUTRID PENCE AND MENDACIOUS MCCONNELL WENT ALONG WITH THE BRAZEN FRAUDULENT ELECTION.

      NEVER TO BE FORGIVEN – they should be executed for treason!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  17. nature cleansing the earth

    sunnydaze
    July 20, 2023 12:25 am
    Reply to sunnydaze

    We can confirm that the Pfizer Rocky Mount facility was damaged by the tornado. Pfizer colleagues at the site followed our established safety protocol and were able to evacuate. They are safe and accounted for.

    — Pfizer Inc. (@pfizer) July 19, 2023

    Liked by 2 people

  19. Feisty Hayseed
    July 20, 2023 1:48 am

    WATCH: Marjorie Taylor Greene Gives a ‘Parental Discretion’ Warning During Whistleblower Hearing, Shows Graphic Pics of Hunter Biden and His ‘Paralegal’

    The ongoing IRS whistleblower hearing on Capitol Hill has been anything but boring. Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, both career IRS agents, have given damning evidence of DOJ corruption in handling the investigation of Hunter Biden. Both men have also described a coordinated effort to protect Joe Biden and other members of the Biden family from any scrutiny.

    RedState had previously reported on those revelations, including the fact that Hunter Biden claimed a sex club membership as a “golf membership” on his taxes. IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler confirmed that detail during the hearing. He further confirmed that he and his team were investigating Hunter Biden under the MANN Act.

    At issue is the fact that it is illegal to transport a woman across state lines and then pay them for sex. That elevates the act of paying for prostitution to a federal offense because it is then considered sex trafficking. In this case, Hunter Biden is accused of having paid to fly a prostitute to himself.

    On that note, Greene provided a receipt of Hunter Biden paying for a flight from Los Angeles to Washington, DC for a woman he would later photograph himself having sex with. He then flew her back the next day. The pictures are on the poster Greene holds up.

    https://redstate.com/bonchie/2023/07/19/watch-marjorie-taylor-greene-gives-a-parental-discretion-warning-during-hunter-biden-hearing-and-then-the-fireworks-start-n778835

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Feisty Hayseed
      July 20, 2023 1:48 am
      Reply to Feisty Hayseed

      MTG full questioning
      

      Watch Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s questioning of IRS Whistleblowers which began with a “parental discretion” warning. pic.twitter.com/BtFDOdiIDM

      — Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 19, 2023

      Liked by 1 person

    2. One of the dems objected to showing those pics in a public hearing since they were part of an “on-going investigation.” Comer came right back at him, saying these pics have been out on the internet and in the public’s hands since “…before I was even chairman of this committee!” Asswipe had to back down with “I thank you for the clarification!”

      Liked by 1 person

  20. Feisty Hayseed
    July 20, 2023 1:52 am

    FOIA

    I’m still waiting for a primary candidate to pledge to name a Transparency Czar, who will report to WH Counsel, and who will work full time to rip the bandaid off Fed coverups. Foia only works if there is a top-down, hands-on commitment to transparency. Deep State disinfectant. https://t.co/CpZzY9hu25 pic.twitter.com/vxmw8IhdmQ

    — FoiaFan (@15poundstogo) July 19, 2023

    Liked by 2 people

  25. they have no LEGAL status…but this makes them a PROTECTED CLASS?

    Mel
    July 20, 2023 6:34 am

    llegal aliens to become protected class?
    Can you imagine the ramifications of that?

    “Furthermore, starting from January 1, 2024, Illinois landlords will be required to rent or sell property to undocumented migrants. Protections will be implemented under the Illinois Human Rights Act, addressing housing discrimination based on immigration status and discriminatory advertising. The law will include immigration status as a protected class.”

    https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2023/07/20/jb-pritzker-the-antithesis-to-ron-death-santis/

    Liked by 1 person

  26. yup, made it all up for attention. woman claimed she saw toddler on the side of the road at night alone and when she stopped to help she was abducted. only it was a lie
    FTA
    The Secret Service analysed her phone and computers, and found internet searches that are “very relevant to this case,” Mr Derzis said.

    On July 11, Ms Russell searched: “Do you have to pay for amber alert or search”.

    On the day of her alleged abduction, she searched “how to take money from a register without being caught”. She also searched for a one-way bus ticket from Birmingham to Nashville departing that day, Mr Derzis said.

    She also searched for Taken, a 2008 thriller about an abduction starring Liam Neeson.

    “There were other searches on Carlee’s phone that appear to shed some light on her mindset, but out of respect to her privacy we will not be releasing the content of those searches at this time,” the police chief said.

    “We’ve asked to interview Carlee a second time, but we have not been granted that request. As you can see there are many questions left to be answered, but only Carlee can provide those answers.

    https://www.aol.com/carlee-russell-internet-searches-suggest-195636819.html

    Liked by 2 people

  29. Some of the info from Badlands Media I post at M’s:

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/07/19/mccarthy-defends-trump-over-january-6-dont-see-how-he-could-be-found-criminally-responsible/
    Our Take: “There’s a ‘Trump or Bust’ movement that’s beginning to gain steam in the MAGA and America First community, and while I largely agree with the sentiment, I believe that part of what we’re watching unfold in the public Narrative is battle lines being drawn within the GOP/Republican theater, as McCarthy and other prominent Republicans choose the right path, at least optically, while others stump for Ron DeSantis and other Establishment, UniParty candidates.

    Of course, supporting Trump seems easy when he’s running away with every poll imaginable, but doing so when he’s eyeing his third indictment of the year—and possibly even convictions in the future for process crimes he may only be tangentially involved with, and that will likely set useful precedent for the cases we’re all waiting for down the line—is of added significance.

    Along these same lines, another headlined sees Matt Gaetz putting his political capital where his mouth is, continuing to lead the Vanguard of the America First contingent within Congress:

    Whatever comes of Trump’s ‘trial’ regarding J6, I have a feeling the outcome will shed significantly more light on the events of that fateful day to the American people, and I have a feeling that those who stand up publicly for Trump now will be remembered well for having done so, while those who cast stones and kick the MAGA King while they THINK he’s down will rue the day.” — Burning Bright
    ***
    Another Take: “Who doesn’t want to be on the winning side? Our President Donald J.Trump is always the first to signal his own indictments and charges. Let us recall that he was first to announce his own raid by the D.O.J., which is also telling.

    Another consideration is the optics America First Republicans can take advantage of going into the General Election in 2024. Statements from Jordan Greene, Miller, and even McCarthy, whether you’re a fan of each or not places a perception in voters’ minds. It grasps the reality of how important this next election is, as highlighted by President Trump, as the future of our country is swinging like a pendulum.

    Currently, at this stage of the game, you are either on the winning team, or you are in the way. We the people are the key to restoring balance and rejecting communism. We must overwhelm the fraud. Additionally, let’s account for the fact that every indictment is raising President Trump in the polls. This adds further power to his upcoming endorsements in 2024. Remember, the Democrats have 23 seats in the Senate up for grabs. We have a high chance of regaining the Senate and maintaining the House if we act.

    Donald J. Trump has been a warrior, the ‘Man In The Arena’, whose fearless, no-nonsense approach can pull this country out of its geopolitical doldrums. If you don’t believe me, simply compare and contrast the last two administrations.

    People see through the facade of corrupted indictments, while our community can bask in the validations to come. Safe bet … more Republicans will follow suit. Some out of loyalty. Some out of a sense of political preservation. President Trump becoming a J6 defendant will force a Streisand effect and Boomerang on the Establishment. Stable Genius.” — Johnny Q

    Liked by 1 person

    1. lots of complaints that it’s linked to instagram (another social site???) and you can’t delete threads without deleting your instagram acct. so delete it and open a new one? i don’t get the problem

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Nope – they are forever tied to Instagram, from what I understand. You can’t have one without the other, I think. You’re going to be doing it from the same IP address unless you are a whiz at this security stuff – I know I’m not, nor are most people on the interwebs. It’s just like when I got banned at FB – I set up a new e-mail account and used my a-Mom’s info but they knew it was me because the IP address was the same – no go. I would have to buy a new phone and switch to another ISP. They make it VERY difficult!

        Liked by 1 person

        1. yes, beyond my ken.
          when my sister passed away, she was on facebook. my brother in law could NOT delete her account…it took YEARS. come to think of it maybe it’s still open. i don’t do facebook anymore

          Liked by 1 person

          1. I wasn’t about to jump thru all those hoops just to stay on FB, altho I was able to reach a LOT of people there, which was why they banned me.

            Liked by 1 person

  31. More details on the NC tornado/Pfizer:

    “NC Pfizer factory is destroyed as tornado with 150mph winds tears through town leaving carnage in wake.”

    EXCERPT: “A Pfizer factory in North Carolina was destroyed by a tornado on Wednesday, leaving 50,000 pallets of medicines strewn across the site in the rain and the roof crumpled and twisted by 150mph winds. Officials in two counties say 16 people were injured – including two with life-threatening wounds – and 89 buildings were damaged as storms passed through North Carolina.

    The tornado started near Nashville, North Carolina, around 12:35pm, and swept northeast through Rocky Mount, 60 miles east of Raleigh, where it devastated the Pfizer facility. It ran out of steam in Scotland Neck, 40 miles from where it began. Homes lost their roofs and power lines were downed in Nash County, North Carolina.

    Nash County Sheriff Keith Stone said the warehouse bore the brunt of the damage, adding: ‘I’ve got reports of 50,000 pallets of medicine that are strewn across the facility and damaged through the rain and the wind.’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12317251/Pfizer-factory-quarter-countrys-injectable-meds-created-destroyed-tornado-135mph-winds-tears-North-Carolina-town-leaving-path-carnage-wake.html

    Liked by 1 person

  32. if so many GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES are working from home, then CUT THEIR SALARIES! they don’t need commuter expenses, fancy clothes, and whatever. and paying for building leases and wasting electricity for these unused buildings is crazy!
    from American Thinker
    Empty suit, empty suites: Joe Biden’s government of empty buildings
    By Monica Showalter

    We often ask who’s running the government with a White House led by doddering Joe Biden.

    But with a new audit out, maybe the real question is what is the government.

    According to the Washington Examiner:

    The evacuation of federal headquarters during the COVID-19 crisis appears to have become permanent and costly with up to 90% of several agency headquarters empty, according to a federal audit.

    At least 6 of 24 Washington area headquarters are 90% empty, including several that manage federal office space and employees such as the General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management.

    The audit from the Government Accountability Office found that just six agencies were operating with half of their staff in the office during the first three months of 2023, the latest sign that efforts to get federal employees back into the office after the coronavirus crisis and after years of encouraging telework have failed.

    The findings echo private sector reports. In Washington, private offices are less than 40% full.

    Turns out the government buildings Joe Biden presides over in his expensive, bloated government are about as empty as the old dotard’s head.

    It’s like we have a pretend president, presiding over a pretend government.

    Practically every agency headquarters is something like 80% empty.

    But the empty buildings still stand, as if to suggest that something had been there. Mainly, it’s the illusion of power and importance.

    Overall, Uncle Sam owns or leases 511 million square feet. That includes some 1,500 buildings and 7,685 leases. It costs $7 billion a year to maintain buildings and lease others, said GAO.

    The auditing agency urged headquarters to consider consolidating or dumping space and to even consider joining with other agencies to share space.

    But many rejected that advice. “One official said their leadership is reluctant to share headquarters space with other agencies because it could lower their perceived standing as a cabinet-level agency,” said the audit report.

    One thing the audit also notes is that these empty buildings waste a lot of electricity even with no one in them. So as Joe Biden tries to shove us into green vehicles and pay more at the pump to bankroll his energy transition, he’s busy burning electricity…on nothing.

    The Wall Street Journal, in an editorial on the matter, has noted that even the worst empty building problems in the private sector, such as vacant office towers in big blue-run cities, are dwarfed by the emptiness of the federal government buildings.

    The near-uniform emptiness across different agencies is another way the government stands out. Weekly attendance in the bottom quarter of surveyed offices is a measly 9%, and not one reported attendance above 50%. Compare that with corporate offices in New York, where average in-office attendance surpassed 50% last month, according to turnstile operator Kastle Systems.

    The question is, why are we paying for this? If the federal government can’t get its post-COVID pandemic-era employees to come back to the office, then it’s time for layoffs. If the government can function as it does on 20% of its people, then maybe it’s time to lay the other 80% off.

    The Journal notes that Congress does have a law for getting rid of empty government office space and recovering the expense for taxpayers:

    The Federal Property Management Reform Act of 2016 mandates that the executive branch create and carry out annual plans to reduce its unused space. The law was passed by a GOP Congress and signed by President Obama, but it has spurred little action. The GAO report says the law has “improved the focus on real property management,” yet concedes that “federal agencies continue to have unneeded space.”

    House Republicans seeking a small victory could demand that the Office of Management and Budget enforce the law and help federal agencies shed some of their extra space. The merits of working from home may be up for debate, but there’s no need to fund empty offices from the public purse.

    That should be a good project for the House and Senate.

    Already, we know that at least some of them are trying to get something done.

    Recall, for instance, that back in March, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana grilled Health and Human Services secretary Xavier Becerra on why the parking lots were so empty at 10:30 A.M. on a weekday at many of his agency’s offices, which I wrote about here:

    “How many are at their desk as opposed to being at home, or someplace else, the coffee shop or whatever?” Cassidy asked Becerra, after the cabinet secretary said that the department’s employees were working full time.

    “What we make sure we care about is that they’re performing and they’re delivering,” Becerra said.

    There was a whiff of what the problem here was in that answer, as Becerra kept gaslighting Cassidy about all his employees performing their jobs well.

    Obviously, these characters view the big buildings with their agencies’ names on them as proxies for their own power and importance. That will make getting rid of these costly hulks and husks all the harder.

    But they do need to get rid of them, if for nothing else, then to save the taxpayers’ money. The federal government is already overspending us into inflation, and that activity has consequences. Cutting the fat in government, and shedding the excess buildings, is probably the only way to restore our economy to health. This situation is not a sign of national vigor, or growth, or anything positive — and you can bet that nations such as China and Russia are taking note.

    Congress should tell these agencies they can finance themselves through selling their excess buildings that their employees won’t work in and getting rid of those who aren’t showing up to work, because they aren’t going to hand them another dime until they do.

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/07/empty_suit_empty_suites_joe_bidens_government_of_empty_buildings.html

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Cut off their paychecks! Their asses will be back at their desks immediately! But, no, the fucking Public Employees’ Union will put up a fight!

      Liked by 1 person

  34. Someone needs to have a little chat with Ballard! All microchips will do is make it easier for the evil POS’ to track them!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  35. and this lying piece of shit is getting taxpayer funded security and limo rides. he needs to be put ON TRIAL!

    clarion
    July 20, 2023 8:56 am

    Dissecting the New Fauci E-mail

    I see why it was censored…..

    There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s take the points in order.

    First, Fauci admits that there are “mutations in the virus that would be most unusual to have evolved naturally in the bats” and “there was a suspicion that this mutation was intentionally inserted.” This email is sent at the VERY START of February 2020 — and already he knows these mutations probably didn’t occur naturally. (That’s important for later.)

    This theory is furthered by the next point that Fauci admits: The lab at Wuhan is doing gain-of-function research on bat viruses so they can more easily infect humans. Back in February 2020, Fauci knew exactly what gain-of-function research was and where it was being performed. It was only a year and a half later while in front of Congress that Fauci could no longer define gain-of-function research. (He just knew he never did it, honest!)

    After taking this information into account, “some of the scientists” thought the lab leak was the more likely explanation, but “two others” felt that the virus could have occurred naturally — “even though these mutations have NEVER BEEN seen in a bat virus before”. (Emphasis mine)

    Now, the email isn’t exactly specific about a number when it says “some of the scientists”, but it clearly says “two others”. Therefore, I think it’s reasonable to conclude that when it came to covid origins, NOT ONLY WAS THERE DISAGREEMENT IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY, “NATURAL ORIGIN” WAS ALWAYS THE MINORITY OPINION. Yet Fauci and the Censorship Industrial Complex swooped in and banned anybody who suggested the virus leaked from a lab. (Right up until President Biden suggested it. Then — like magic — the rules were changed.)

    They threw people off social media left and right while shrieking “FOLLOW THE SCIENCE!” — the same science that we now know was AT THE VERY LEAST divided on the issue.

    https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/dissecting-the-new-fauci-e-mail

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  36. “16 charged with felonies for signing letters claiming Trump won in 2020–Allegedly stated they were ‘duly elected and qualified electors for president'”
    By Bob Unruh
    Published July 19, 2023 at 2:21pm

    (Photo by Joe Kovacs)

    EXCERPT: “In that tumultuous time, a handful of Republicans in Michigan declared they should be the state’s electors to the Electoral College, and filed their paperwork. Now Democrat prosecutors in the state have charged them each with multiple felonies.

    The Washington Examiner reports Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a dedicated advocate for leftist ideologies, has filed cases against 16 people “for signing certificates claiming that former President Donald Trump won the presidential election in 2020.”

    The counts include forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, and election law forgery, and they carry long jail terms. Nessel said she charged Kathleen Berden, William Choate, Amy Marie Facchinello, Clifford Frost Jr., Stanley Grot, John Haggard, Mariann McQuater Henry, Timothy King, Michele Goder Lundgren, Meshawn Maddock, James Robbins Renner, Mayra Adela Rodriguez, Rose Rook, Marian Sheridan, Kenneth Thompson, and Kent Vanderwood.

    Nessel claims the group “conspired” to “falsely make, alter, forge, or counterfeit a public record, with the intent to injure or defraud.”

    https://www.wnd.com/2023/07/16-charged-felonies-signing-letters-claiming-trump-won-2020/

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              1. These people are from the age of Mother’s working outside the home wholesale vs. the way it used to be when most were in the home or worked p/t. Then they eliminated home ec in HS and there was no-one to teach them how to cook. I at least did get that…I mean, I CAN cook, I just don’t want to! LOL

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      1. Most people don’t pay attention to the details, I expect. Too many people don’t proof what they write. And then there’s the dreaded auto-correct….

        Liked by 1 person

  50. NF: Sad because it’s true – same with these new “immigrants!!!” And they are trailing 6 kids along with them!!!


    NF: You have to decide: time to fish or keep cutting bait….

    NF: I used to love this show!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. i loved Jeannie too! she wasn’t allowed to show her belly button back then…BUT today gay men can show their bare asses and whatnot to children…

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Well, our grands’ generation claimed it was TV that corrupted the world; for Mom, it is the internet that did it. For us, social media….

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