Wake Up Phil!

Entertainment 7 Minutes

Today is Groundhog Day…again…lol…to quote Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.  This article by Brandon Specktor and Claire Nowak at Reader’s Digest highlights 16 things you might not know about groundhogs!

First things first: Groundhogs are lousy weather predictors

As the myth of Groundhog Day goes, if a groundhog sees its shadow on February 2, winter will last another six weeks. And while Punxsutawney Phil’s handlers maintain 100 percent accuracy in his seasonal predictions, the numbers tell a different story. Stormfax calculated that Phil has seen a 39 percent forecasting success rate since 1887. According to a Canadian groundhog study, this is just 2 percent higher than the average groundhog success rate of 37 percent (the most accurate hog-nosticators in the study resided in Yellowknife, Canada, and had a 50 percent accuracy rate). In other words, a gambling man would be better off flipping a coin.

Groundhogs have a different secret talent

What do groundhogs have in common with sleazy construction workers? They both whistle at potential mates. It’s because of this odd adaptation that groundhogs are also known as “whistle-pigs” (and lecherous day laborers known simply as “pigs”).

They have other nicknames too

Groundhogs are members of a group of large ground squirrels called marmots, but they’re also called land beavers and woodchucks. Surprisingly, the latter moniker has nothing to do with wood, Scientific American explains. It’s believed to be taken from the Algonquian name for the same animal: “wuchak.”

Groundhogs are vegetarians

The Groundhog Diet consists mainly of grass, herbs, and plants like dandelions, daisies, and goldenrods. They also have an eye for human crops, like carrots and corn, which puts them on farmers’ most-wanted lists. And yes, they do occasionally eat tree bark, as we all hoped woodchucks would.

They call North America home

Most groundhogs live in the eastern and central United States, although you can find them in Canada and even Alaska. They tend to settle down on the edge of a forest or woodland, near an open field, where they’ll likely construct their underground burrows. But you may also spot them climbing trees.

They make great architects

Groundhogs build pretty impressive homes. Their underground burrows include multiple “rooms” with different purposes, including a sleeping chamber, a nursery chamber, and a waste chamber (what we would call a bathroom). The entire burrow can stretch anywhere from eight to 66 feet long.

Sleeping is their favorite hobby

Few animals are as dedicated to hibernating as groundhogs. Known as “true hibernators,” they snooze from late fall to late winter or early spring, which can mean up to as many as six months of deep sleep, depending on their climate. During this time, their body temperatures can drop below 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), and their heart rates slow from 80 beats per minute to just five.

They’re surprisingly romantic

Despite their intense hibernation habits, there’s evidence that male groundhogs wake up early (after about three months) to start looking for potential mates. “Typically, there’s a male that has a territory that includes several female burrows. And there’s some competition for that territory,” Stam Zervanos, retired professor of biology at Pennsylvania State University, told National Geographic. “They try to defend that territory, and they go from burrow to burrow to find out if that female is still there.” Groundhogs start visiting females as early as February and then go back to sleep until mating season starts in March. Putting relationships before sleep? That’s what we call dedication.

It wasn’t always called Groundhog Day

If you can’t find yourself a groundhog to ogle this February 2, simply step outside and recite this old English rhyme:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come, Winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Go, Winter, and come not again.

Modern Groundhog Day evolved from Europe’s Candlemas Day, a celebration of light both literal (the days are growing longer) and religious (Candelmas invokes Jesus’s first visit to the Temple in Jerusalem). It’s an old knight’s tale that the weather on Candlemas will be the exact opposite of the weather six weeks hence—yet somehow, centuries later, a few lines of scientifically suspect verse remain the basis of an annual holiday.

Groundhogs weren’t always the holiday’s honored animal

About halfway between the winter and spring solstices, Candlemas has long been a day of seasonal speculation, though the designated animal weatherman varies from culture to culture. Records from Penn State University Libraries show that medieval cults favored bears, holding parties by their dens, gussied up in grizzly costumes and waiting for a bear to lumber out from hibernation and check the weather. English and German Catholics celebrated a similar tradition with sacred badgers. When badgers proved hard to come by for Pennsylvania’s German settlers in the early 1800s, colonists adapted their old-country tradition to an abundant New World animal: the groundhog.

You’re not supposed to eat the groundhog … anymore

On February 2, 1886, The Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper declared the first official Groundhog Day celebration, hosted by a group of town elders dubbed the Groundhog Club. For this club, marmots were more than furry meteorologists; they were a delicacy. In addition to its Groundhog Day ceremony, the club hosted a summertime groundhog hunt and picnic. On the menu: cooked groundhog meat (described by locals as “a cross between pork and chicken”) and something called “groundhog punch,” a combination of vodka, milk, eggs, orange juice, “and other ingredients.” For a time, marmot meat was the regional cuisine. That began to change in 1887, when a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil was born. To hear his handlers tell it, he has evaded the dinner plate for over 100 years and counting.

Punxsutawney Phil is immortal—allegedly

A typical groundhog will live six to eight years in the wild. Punxsutawney Phil, the official groundhog of America’s largest Groundhog Day celebration (and costar in the hit movie Groundhog Day), has been alive since, uh, 1887. Or so his website says. To what does Phil owe his impossibly impressive 134 years? A magical elixir called, yet again, “groundhog punch”—presumably not the same recipe of vodka and eggs that its original authors quaffed. According to the lore-keepers of the modern Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, Phil is fed a single sip of groundhog punch every summer, instantly granting him another seven years of life. (In other words, the opposite of vodka.)

What does an “immortal” marmot do for fun? Drink and read

Phil has seen a lot in the past century, and he is less sheltered than you’d expect from someone who literally lives with his head in the ground. During Prohibition, for example, Phil publicly threatened to impose 60 weeks of additional winter if he wasn’t allowed a drink. Phil has cooled down significantly these days. For that, we can likely thank his wife, Phyllis. Together, Phil and Phyllis enjoy a quiet life together at the Punxsutawney Memorial Library, where they live during the 364 days not spent looking for their shadows.

Groundhog Day sent tourism in Gobbler’s Knob’s skyrocketing

While Gobbler’s Knob—home of Punxsutawney Phil—has seen its share of tourism every Groundhog Day since the tradition began, actor Bill Murray and his holiday-themed film truly put it on the map. Following the 1993 release of Groundhog Day, starring Bill and Phil, Gobbler’s Knob started seeing crowds as large as 35,000 people on February 2 (for comparison, the population of Punxsutawney at the time was less than 7,000). Two years later, Phil was invited as a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell had Phil’s back in court—or would have, had it come to that.

In a 2013 news story barely discernible from the sort of satire that runs in The Onion, an Ohio lawyer demanded that Punxsutawney Phil pay for a fraudulent weather prediction—with his life. “On or about February 2, 2013, at Gobbler’s Knob, Punxsutawney Phil did purposely, and with prior calculation and design, cause the people to believe that spring would come early,” Ohio prosecutor Michael Gmoser wrote in a cheeky open letter. “Contrary to the Groundhog Day report, a snowstorm and record low temperatures have been and are predicted to continue in the near future, which constitutes the offense of Misrepresentation of early spring, an Unclassified Felony, and against the peace and dignity of the state of Ohio.”

The punishment for this crime? “The death penalty.”

Absurdly, the saga continued when a Pennsylvania law firm openly responded to Gmoser, arguing that the Ohio attorney had no authority to prosecute in Punxsutawney. Furthermore, Phil had a formidable team of character witnesses behind him, as starring in Groundhog Day had helped Phil forge “lifelong and loyal friendships with the lesser supporting cast, including Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, and Chris Elliot,” the firm wrote. “It is believed that Punxsutawney Phil has already been in contact with Mr. Murray, Ms. MacDowell, and Mr. Elliot, all of whom allegedly pledged to ‘have his back’ should legal action be necessary.” (It wasn’t.)

Robo-groundhogs may be the future

We’ve come a long way from eating groundhogs, but their safety is still not guaranteed. On Groundhog Day 2014, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio accidentally dropped Staten Island groundhog Charlotte, resulting in internal injuries that killed her a week later. In 1999, Canadian groundhog celebrity Wiarton Willie died the Sunday prior to Groundhog Day, but the news was scandalously withheld until February 3. Stories like these, compounded by the increasingly large crowds at Gobbler’s Knob, prompted PETA to suggest an alternative: Replace Punxsutawney Phil with a robot groundhog.

While fears of a cyber-marmot uprising fill your head, consider Washington, D.C.’s cheaper solution: Potomac Phil, the city’s anointed groundhog since 2014, is a taxidermied thrift shop purchase. Strange? Sure.

(PAT’S NOTE: Everything in D.C. is phony!)

SOURCE: READER’S DIGEST

Brandon Specktor and Claire Nowak

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Published by pat frederick

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214 thoughts on “Wake Up Phil!”

  1. Morning All
    happy groundhog’s day
    phil gonna see his shadow?
    who knows…BUT we’re supposed to get some snow or some other frozen crap today.
    where the heck is the sun??
    did gatesofhell succeed in blocking it with his sand idea?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Morning, Pat! No sun here yet – too early – but it’s been foggy since yesterday and temp was 37 when I got up about an hour ago. Indian Summer heading our way! BTW, did you go back and look at the gif’s I left for you? Some were pretty funny. But let me know – don’t want to post stuff you won’t see anyway! 😉😉😉😉😉

      Liked by 1 person

  3. yeah all a coincidence and he’s that good of an investor…NOT

    illuminatibot
    @iluminatibot
    I recently discovered something very weird.

    Bill Gates invested a whopping $55 MILLION in BioNTech that made the Pfizer mRNA injection.

    You will never believe the date that this happened…

    Is this just a coincidence?

    You know, the company that partnered with Pfizer to make their mRNA covid vaccine and drove Pfizer’s revenue to a record $100 billion in 2022.

    Well, I had a look and found something very interesting indeed. When did Bill Gates invest this large sum of money?

    Turns out that it was on the 4th of September 2019.

    Covid was discovered just two months later in November 2019 (at least the first time we got to hear about it).

    This turned out to be very profitable for Bill Gates, his investment increasing by 10 times. The original $55 million was worth over $550 million just a few years later.

    “the collaboration will fund the identification of potential HIV and tuberculosis vaccine and immunotherapy candidates and their pre-clinical development. It will further enable BioNTech to build out its infectious disease infrastructure, including platform development” – it says in the press release from BioNTech.

    Guess what?

    Bill Gates has also donated some $20 million to the BBC.

    Now it is being reported that the BBC misrepresented the risk of covid in order to boost public support for lockdown.

    other words, the mainstream media deliberately mislead the public and scared them into supporting draconian lockdown measures, and also probably scared people into rushing to get the brand new mRNA injections.

    Meanwhile Bill Gates investment grew and grew…

    “One example is that they gave the impression that hospitals were being overwhelmed during the first wave. Some (mainly in London) were, but overall hospital bed occupancy was at an all-time low during that period” said Professor Mark Woolhouse.

    Remember when we were told that the hospitals were completely full and we had all the dancing nurses on TikTok? Remember how some peopel were labelled “conspiracy theorists” for questioning this?

    Turns out that the so called “conspiracy theorists” were right once again. The hospitals were not full. We were being lied to.

    What do you think about all of this, surely it is just a coincidence that Bill Gates just happened to invest large amounts of money into BioNTech just two months before covid?

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Hey, now – leave the Frosted Flakes alone! I love them with bananas sliced on top…at least, I used to. Hmmm…..I should try them again to replace the Cheerios. Sugar, in and of itself, is NOT “bad” for you, IMO. Moderation, people….moderation! Balance it out with some fresh fruits and veggies, fiber, fiber, fiber, right?

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Brian Cates – Political Columnist & Pundit
    @drawandstrike
    They’re also trying to keep this on the down low, but the SCOTUS accepted former AG Ed Meese’s brief on how Smith was unconstitutionally appointed by Garland.

    Meese made an excellent case that only someone whos already holding a federal office [appointed by Chief Executive & passed a confirmation vote in the Senate] could be handed the kind of extremely powerful federal LEO/investigatory powers of a Special Counsel.

    Both Smith and the other Special Counsel appointed by Garland, Robert Hur, were both private citizens and not federal officers.

    So on top of not being able to take Trump to trial this year in DC, Smith’s also having to wait and see if the SCOTUS agrees with Meese that is appointment [and his entire investigation] has an illegal foundation.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Julie Kelly 🇺🇸
      @julie_kelly2
      Even if appellate court files a decision tomorrow upholding Chutkan’s denial of immunity, Trump can ask for en banc decision by DC circuit. Obama heavy court will deny, prompting cert to SCOTUS. If SCOTUS accepts, earliest it could be resolved is end of June (end of term)

      This backdates J6 trial 6 months from time Chutkan put pretrial proceedings on hold. She has said all suspended time will be accounted for in preparation for trial. So DC trial looks unlikely before election.

      If SCOTUS fast tracks—also unlikely—it still appears impossible this trial happens before November. And SCOTUS decision on 1512c2, half of Smith’s indictment, could prove fatal to case anyway.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. glad this is getting attention–but the charges are for a swatting at a mosque? THAT’S what got this rolling???

    Feisty Hayseed
    Feisty Hayseed
    February 2, 2024 12:43 am

    17-year-old alleged ‘serial swatter’ charged after police say he made threats throughout the country

    A 17-year-old “serial swatter” from California is believed to be responsible for hundreds of swatting incidents and bomb threats throughout the United States and is now facing charges in Florida, according to a pretrial detention motion.

    Alan Filion was extradited to Florida on January 30 to face charges for a swatting incident at a mosque, according to the Seminole County State Attorney’s Office.

    Swatting is making a false report to the police with the intention of luring them to a location by saying a violent crime has taken place or is in progress.

    The dangerous hoax has been on the FBI’s radar for nearly two decades and became more widely known as celebrities were targeted. The troubling trend recently took a political turn as federal judges and lawmakers have been subject to the false emergency calls, along with state capitol buildings and even the White House.

    https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/31/us/teen-serial-swatter-charged-florida/index.html

    Liked by 1 person

    1. No, sorry, fish are NOT thinking creatures! They live by instinct alone! Yes, they can sometimes adapt but it takes years for those changes to become embedded in their genes!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I LOVE THAT KID!!! I have a tape of HB’s babbling when she was a baby in her play pen! She kept saying “mEtah, mEtah” over and over and over again, with other sounds interspersed. I never could figure out what she was trying to say!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. SWEET!!!!!

        the only things i managed to save–and i threatened the phone people when i switched phones to retain them–are voicemails from my sister and brother in law…after they passed i retained them and still do.

        but tapes of the kids? that would have been awesome!

        Liked by 1 person

        1. Well, this was back in 1980! LOL – we didn’t even know what cell phones were then! And, again, this is one of the many reasons I refuse to have a smart phone or send ANYTHING with my phone – I could connect to the net on my flip phone since it has that capability but I refuse to do so. I’ve probably only taken 5 or 6 pics with my phone anyway and they are basically the same or very similar to pics I already have saved on my HD or a thumb drive anyway. I refuse to give them that power over me!

          Liked by 1 person

  20. NF: Anyone wanna bet on whether the child porn stuff was planted???

    “Former CIA officer gets 40 years over largest data breach in agency history, other charges: “Joshua Schulte betrayed his country by committing some of the most brazen, heinous crimes of espionage in American history,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.”
    By Ben Whedon
    Published: February 1, 2024 9:43pm

    ENTIRE ARTICLE @ JustTheNews: “A former CIA officer who stole agency documents and sent them to WikiLeaks was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday over a litany of charges. Joshua Schulte was first convicted in 2020 of making false statements and contempt of court. In 2022, he was found guilty of eight counts related to the illicit gathering and transmission of classified materials, according to the Department of Justice. He was convicted on child pornography charges in 2023.

    Schulte worked in the Center for Cyber Intelligence (CCI) from 2012-2016 during which time he abused his access to grant himself administrator privileges over a project from which he had been removed. Despite initial warnings about such conduct, he ultimately accessed the CIA network and stole copies of the CCI tool development archives, an act that constituted the agency’s largest-ever data breach.

    He then began sending classified materials to Wikileaks and federal investigators ultimately his home and searched his devices. On his desktop they discovered thousands of child sexual abuse images and videos. While incarcerated ahead of trial, Schulte managed to obtained cellphones and transmit further materials to WikiLeaks while also plotting to undermine CIA operations.

    “Joshua Schulte betrayed his country by committing some of the most brazen, heinous crimes of espionage in American history. He caused untold damage to our national security in his quest for revenge against the CIA for its response to Schulte’s security breaches while employed there,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. “When the FBI caught him, Schulte doubled down and tried to cause even more harm to this nation by waging what he described as an ‘information war’ of publishing top secret information from behind bars.”

    “And all the while, Schulte collected thousands upon thousands of videos and images of children being subjected to sickening abuse for his own personal gratification,” he continued. “The outstanding investigative work of the FBI and the career prosecutors in this Office unmasked Schulte for the traitor and predator that he is and made sure that he will spend 40 years behind bars – right where he belongs.”

    Liked by 1 person

  21. “Trump’s Steele dossier lawsuit tossed out of UK court: A Trump campaign spokesman said the London court determined that neither Steele nor his group attempted to prove the claims presented in the dossier.”
    By Madeleine Hubbard
    Published: February 1, 2024 1:35pm

    ENTIRE ARTICLE @ JustTheNews: “AU.K. judge on Thursday tossed former U.S. President Donald Trump’s lawsuit over the Steele dossier, which he argued made “shocking and scandalous” false claims that hurt his reputation. “There are no compelling reasons to allow the claim to proceed to trial,” Judge Karen Steyn wrote in her dismissal of the case filed by Trump against Orbis Business Intelligence, which was founded by Christopher Steele, who is known for the namesake 2016 dossier.

    Attorney Hugh Tomlinson said the dossier published by Buzzfeed “contained shocking and scandalous claims about the personal conduct of President Trump” and caused the former president to suffer “personal and reputational damage and distress,” per The Associated Press. Trump denied all claims in the dossier.

    Orbis asked the lawsuit to be dismissed because the dossier was never meant to be published. The judge agreed and said that Trump had “chosen to allow many years to elapse -– without any attempt to vindicate his reputation in this jurisdiction -– since he was first made aware of the dossier” in 2017.

    Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung noted that the London court determined that neither Steele nor his group attempted to prove the claims presented in the dossier.

    “The High Court also found that there was processing, utilization, of those false statements. President Trump will continue to fight for the truth and against falsehoods such as ones promulgated by Steele and his cohorts,” Cheung also said, per Politico.”

    Liked by 1 person

  22. “States file brief in lawsuit to force VA to cover gender affirming surgery”
    By Brett Rowland | The Center Square
    Published: February 1, 2024 11:00pm
    JustTheNews

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “A group of states filed a friend of the court brief supporting a transgender veterans group that filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeking gender-confirmation surgery for 163,000 transgender veterans. The Transgender American Veterans Association lawsuit, filed last month, seeks an order that the Department of Veterans Affairs act on the group’s 2016 rule-making petition for gender-confirmation surgery. The federal agency provides medically necessary gender-affirming care to transgender veterans, but not gender-affirming surgical interventions due to an exclusion in the VA medical benefits package.

    The attorneys general from eighteen states and the District of Columbia filed an amicus brief in support of the Transgender American Veterans Association’s suit. They said by not offering gender-affirming surgery, the VA has failed to uphold its mission.

    “The mission of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is to fulfill President Abraham Lincoln’s simple promise: ‘to care for those who have served in our nation’s military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors,'” the attorney generals wrote. “Taken together, the regulation and implementing directive render President Lincoln’s promise an empty one for many transgender veterans. Although the VA recognizes the existence of transgender veterans, the VA falls short of serving and caring for all veterans when it prevents transgender veterans from accessing medically necessary and potentially life-saving treatment.”

    The attorneys said such care was needed and the costs were insignificant. “Transgender veterans with gender dysphoria are left without life-saving healthcare, and are vulnerable to physical suffering, depression, and suicidal ideation,” they wrote. “Further, the VA’s approach stands in tension with the experience of the amici States – which have found giving transgender people access to comprehensive healthcare, including medically necessary surgery – provides significant benefits at negligible costs.”

    Costs of such care vary widely. A 2022 article in “The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics” noted gender-affirming health care services can include mental health support, hormone therapy and reconstructive surgeries. It also noted that “scant information is available about the utilization or costs of these services.” The peer-reviewed article found vaginoplasty and phalloplasty are often multi-episode procedures. The total average cost of vaginoplasty per person was $53,645. For phalloplasty, it was $133,911.

    “Most importantly, in the amici States’ experience, the tangible benefits to public health and to the affected individuals greatly outweigh the cost of extending coverage,” the attorneys general wrote. “This is because the mental health of transgender people markedly improves when they receive non-discriminatory healthcare.” Further, they said states and cities that offer such coverage have not seen a spike in costs. They also noted that not all transgender people seek surgery.

    “The City of San Francisco, for example, initially charged employees a $1.70 premium to cover the cost of extending coverage to transgender people only to wholly eliminate that charge three years later because of low utilization rates,” the attorneys general wrote. “Similarly, the City of Seattle easily absorbed the predicted increase of $200,000 for extending coverage because the amount represented just two-tenths of one percent of Seattle’s total $105 million healthcare budget.”

    The Department of Veterans Affairs does not comment on pending lawsuits. However, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough announced more than two years ago that VA would provide gender confirmation surgery. At the time of the announcement, McDonough said it would take time.

    The brief was signed by the attorneys general of Washington, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. sick stuff imo.
      everyone needs to cover their surgeries–well how about breast enlargement?
      penis enlargement (is that a thing?)
      ANY cosmetic stuff–if it reinforces the person’s image and well being?
      this is nuts

      Liked by 1 person

  23. “Conflicting Pole Shift Agendas Between the East and West–Is this why the world is being turned upside down?”
    GREG REESE
    FEB 2, 2024
    Video

    TRANSCRIPT: “The French farmers are dumping manure onto government buildings and onto the roads. They are turning the freeways into fields and setting them on fire. They are blocking the motor ways. And they are dumping and destroying foreign imported foods. They are sending a message out to the people that government decreed starvation is coming. And it’s not just the French, it’s happening in Germany, Greece, Spain, Belgium, Italy, and Ireland. And it looks like it’s just getting started.

    This is of course in response to the European Union’s Green Agenda. The E.U. is imposing extreme regulations on farmers which are forcing them out of business. Globalist media is spreading propaganda that farming is bad for the environment. And domestic terrorists in America are setting fire to farms.

    This is all being blamed on the lie that humans are responsible for climate change. And so the solution for Western governments seems to be to depopulate, or rather, murder it’s own people.

    History tells us that the climate does radically change. Examples such as the Younger Dryas ice age that occurred twelve thousand years ago shows us that these things do happen. And the current level of earthquake activity and volcanic eruptions could be an indicator that the climate is radically changing again.

    In the late nineteen-forties, Major Maynard White, commander of Project Nanook, discovered that the Earth experiences routine magnetic pole flips that occur in the span of just one day. But this information was suppressed from the public and was directly followed by the birth of the United Nations Global Warming propaganda campaign. Western governments adopted the man made global warming cover story, but this does not seem to be the case in the East.

    In Russia, talk of a pole shift is openly being discussed. Russian scientists have been tracking the wandering magnetic north which has been exponentially moving towards Siberia for decades. And even state run media, Ria News, has been reporting that the north and south magnetic poles have repeatedly changed places and that it could happen again at any moment.

    Russian media has even cited the work of the sleeping American prophet, Edgar Cayce, who predicted a sudden climate change that would “lead to the death of cities” and cause the European arctic to thaw. [NF: Edgar Cayce! I haven’t heard that name for a very long time!]

    The Russian Federation seems to be preparing for this pole shift. Massive infrastructure is being developed in the Eurasian arctic, and Russian bases in Antarctica are being drastically restored. The farmers in Russia are not being attacked, they are being given extra subsidies by the government and encouraged to expand.

    These contrasting agendas between the East and the West could explain the current conflicts. If the poles are expected to flip, then it would explain just about all the madness that is happening today. And the plan of the Western governments appears to be to cull the population and weather the storm underground.”

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Jimmy Kimmel Suggests Joe Biden Having Dementia is a ‘Crazy Conspiracy Theory’


    Our Take: “This brings me back to ‘horse paste.’

    When you want to take a legitimate discussion — like using ivermectin to treat covid — and turn it into a crazy conspiracy theory, mainstream ‘entertainment’ media is often your first stop. Here Kimmel is taking a legitimate discussion about Biden’s cognitive ability and equating it to the latest hysteria about Taylor Swift.

    The timing of this narrative deployment — squirting horse paste on the idea that Biden has dementia — is interesting given the OMG video released yesterday where James O’Keefe revealed that loose lips do indeed sink ships.

    O’Keefe enjoyed a date with a US State Department staffer who sang like a bird about his employers, including sharing that EVERYONE knows Biden is ‘slowing down.’

    Biden’s State Department is the Titanic of government agencies. His DOJ is the Olympic. Covering up the cognitive decline of a president is not new in America. See Woodrow Wilson’s final days, and consider what knowingly covering up Biden’s mental state might mean in the macro sense. Iceberg right ahead!

    Kimmel is following orders, but he embarrasses himself with this storyline, and proves that he is nothing more than a regime mouthpiece.” — Ashe in America

    Liked by 1 person

  26. The Most Litigious Place on Earth: Disney Loses Major Challenge to Florida


    EXCERPT: “Last year, I criticized the lawsuit of Disney against Florida after losing its special status in the former Reedy Creek Improvement District. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor in Tallahassee appears to view the matter as dimly as I did. He just dismissed the action in a major loss for the House of Mouse.

    Disney decided to go public with a campaign against the popular parent rights legislation for Florida schools. Florida responded by removing the special status long enjoyed by the company. There is another lawsuit pending in state court.

    Judge Winsor found that Disney lacked standing to sue DeSantis, the secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and the new governing district. The separate lawsuit is still pending in state court in Orlando.

    The court found that the law was constitutional on its face. As a result, it found no standing to challenge the law under the First Amendment. As I noted earlier, Disney was effectively saying that a state legislature could not remove special status and create greater uniformity with all companies under this law. Even if there were retaliatory purposes, there was clearly a public policy reason for seeking such uniformity. If the courts were to block it, it would invite a major intrusion of the courts into decisions on the priorities of legislatures. As the court noted, Disney is “not the district’s only landowner, and other landowners within the district are affected by the same laws.”

    Disney seems to be doubling down and said it would “press forward with our case.” It insisted that “this is an important case with serious implications for the rule of law, and it will not end here.” So once again, what does the company hope to achieve? Is a court truly going to order Florida to maintain special status ad infinitum? — Jonathan Turley

    Liked by 1 person

  27. https://apnews.com/article/mail-voting-ballot-deadlines-republicans-trump-fa62a5c8678c0b6ec8dc3f63030d6339
    “Republicans are challenging extended mail ballot deadlines in at least two states in a legal maneuver that could have widespread implications for mail voting before the presidential election in November.

    A lawsuit filed last week in Mississippi follows a similar one last year in North Dakota, both brought in heavily Republican states before conservative federal courts. Democratic and voting rights groups are concerned about the potential impact beyond those two states if a judge rules that deadlines for receiving mailed ballots that stretch past Election Day, Nov. 5, violate federal law.

    They say it’s possible such a decision would lead to a nationwide injunction similar to one last year when a Texas judge temporarily paused the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone.

    “This effort risks disenfranchising Mississippi voters, but we don’t want that to also be precedent for other states,” Abhi Rahman, communications director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said in response to the most recent lawsuit.” — AP News

    Liked by 1 person

  28. NF: Still trying to undo everything Trump accomplished!!! You sure can’t trust anything approved by Wyden and Schumer!!! Turncoat GOP once again, because this will affect THEM directly! WTH else is in that fricking bill??!!??

    https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4441217-house-passes-tax-bill-bipartisan-vote/
    The House passed a $78 billion tax bill on Wednesday that boosts the child tax credit and reinstates business deductions that were rescinded during the Trump administration, sending the bipartisan, bicameral legislation to the Senate for consideration.

    The chamber cleared the measure, dubbed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, in an overwhelmingly bipartisan 357-70 vote.

    Passage of the legislation — which was crafted by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) — marks a rare show of bipartisanship in this Congress, which has been defined by bitter partisan clashes and labeled as highly unproductive.

    “The numbers speak for itself, it shows that when you’re trying to deliver for the American people, people will join together and that’s what we saw today,” Smith told reporters after the vote, walking into an office with cheering staffers.

    It is also one of the few instances this session when a nonessential bill — legislation that is not required to keep the government running — has a chance of being enacted. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday said he is supportive of the tax bill and is working with Wyden “to figure out the best way forward.” — The Hill

    Liked by 1 person

  29. Dang it, Orban!!! Don’t go wishy-washy on us now!!!

    https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-gets-eu-aid-as-orban-folds/
    EXCERPT: “European Union leaders on Thursday reached a deal to provide €50 billion in aid to Ukraine — and they were in unanimous agreement after some leaders persuaded the sole holdout, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, to drop his veto.

    “All 27 leaders agreed on an additional €50 billion support package for Ukraine within the EU budget,” European Council President Charles Michel wrote on X, a few minutes after the formal start of the Council meeting on Thursday. “This locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine,” he added.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was “grateful” to Charles Michel and EU leaders for establishing the €50 billion Ukraine Facility. “It is very important that the decision was made by all 27 leaders, which once again proves strong EU unity,” Zelenskyy tweeted.

    “Continued EU financial support for Ukraine will strengthen long-term economic and financial stability, which is no less important than military assistance and sanctions pressure on Russia,” he added. — Politico

    Liked by 1 person

  30. “How The Biden Regime Is Using The Taylor Swift Op To Foment A Cultural ‘Color Revolution’ To Undermine The 2024 Election—Taylor Swift, the devoted Biden supporter, and Travis Kelce, the Pfizer spokesman, is a match made in heaven for the deep state”
    PAUL INGRASSIA
    FEB 2, 2024

    EXCERPT: “While it may appear outlandish at first blush, the Biden regime appears to be actively plotting yet another psyop – this time, by conscripting Taylor Swift and her legions of superfans to endorse Joe Biden over Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race, much as she did in 2020. The hope is that in the event of another close election, Swift’s influence as a pop culture icon will be enough to tilt the scales in Biden’s favor should the race come down to another nail-biter.

    The Democrats have long used celebrity endorsements and their vast Hollywood connections to give them a leg up over their Republican counterparts in political races for seemingly time immemorial. However, two major factors are in play that make the Taylor Swift psyop stand out: first, their opponent this year, Donald Trump, is an A-list celebrity in his own right, having first become a household name in the world of media and entertainment before entering the world of politics. Thus, the need to counteract the inherent star power Donald Trump brings to the table as a presidential candidate is heightened by not just the 45th President’s own celebrity, but also Biden’s serious deficiencies in charisma or even seemingly being able to demonstrate a pulse while in public half the time.

    The second factor that makes the need for a Taylor Swift psyop all the more urgent is the regime’s failure to otherwise quell President Trump’s momentum through non-political measures, such as by defeating him in the courts, through the weaponized justice system. In addition, recent polls indicate that Trump’s lead is widening over Biden in the general election, and thus the regime will be expected to pull out all the stops between now and election day to prevent that prospect from happening. In short, it is far too great a risk to allow the democratic process to play out organically because the odds of Biden winning a legitimate presidential election are looking more dire each and every day.
    —————–
    But the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce psyop goes deeper than mere social media reach. And this is readily apparent based on the regime’s full-throated meltdown after a handful of MAGA-aligned influencers, such as conservative talk show host, Mike Crispi, Trump advocate, Laura Loomer, and former presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, among others, raised the possibility that Swift may be actively weaponized as part of the Biden regime’s arsenal to help bring down Donald Trump.

    The Left’s response to this mere suggestion says everything: if the Taylor Swift psyop was just another absurd “conspiracy theory” peddled by a handful of “Far-Right” cranks, as is the description of every mainstream outlet – from MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell to the New York Times – then what, pray tell, explains the scale of the retaliation by every single powerful mainstream outlet in America, whose rush to “debunk” the theory was noteworthy for how coordinated the whole response was. If there was absolutely no credence to the allegation, mainstream media would not waste any time or energy “discrediting” the theory – or risk giving platforms to dissident voices whose opinions they deem anathema in the first place.
    —————–
    Luckily, we can breathe a sigh of relieve because most Americans do not live in conspiracy land; they live in the real world: a world where Joe Biden is popular; a world that, owing to his popularity, he won more votes than any other president in history; a world where the vaccines worked to stop covid and America is the safest and freest it has ever been in its history. A world where Taylor Swift’s endorsement matters, and that all well-adjusted Americans will obey her demands without question, for the edicts she proclaims from her chair as Empress of our popular culture are infallible – and should we disobey, we shall be met with the collective fury of Lawrence O’Donnell, Jimmy Kimmel, and the NY Times Editorial Page. That punishment is only fair to those who blaspheme the regime and its chosen saints.

    This is the world of Democracy and Truth and Freedom, and thank God we have Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce showing us the way.”

    https://paulingrassia.substack.com/p/how-the-biden-regime-is-using-the

    Liked by 1 person

  33. “Gaza Votes For Ceasefire In Chicago”
    POLITICS · Feb 1, 2024 · BabylonBee.com

    GAZA — Amidst an ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel, residents of Gaza banded together Thursday to vote for a ceasefire in Chicago, a city they say is an absolute war zone.

    “We are appalled by the endless violence in Chicago. How can anyone live there?” declared Gaza resident Ahmed Al-Astal Abu Al-Najjar. “We must add our voice to the growing number of people demanding peace in this war-torn American city.”

    According to reports, there were 2,450 shootings in The Windy City in 2023 alone. “You’d be crazy to live in Chicago,” Al-Najjar reiterated, shaking his head. “I don’t care how good they say their pizza is.”

    “All of these deaths could have been prevented if only the Chicago government would get their act together,” Gaza resident Muhammad Mahmoud Muhammad Musa said as he voted in support of the resolution calling for a Chicago ceasefire.

    The text of the resolution calls for a permanent ceasefire in Chicago, humanitarian assistance, and for its citizens to immediately convert to Islam or die.

    At publishing time, the Chicago city council had attempted to sign a resolution calling for ceasefire in Gaza, but the vote was interrupted by a drive-by shooting.”

    Liked by 1 person

  40. gosh Mother Nature is weird today.
    we got a glimpse of sun…really just a brief 10 seconds of bright sunshine…then it started snowing…like blizzard snowing…back to brightening up a bit…then BOOM! snowing like a blizzard again…

    Liked by 1 person

  41. I was going thru my safe looking for the sales docs on my truck and ran across the commemorative autographed, colorized $2 bill with Trump’s face on the front that I bought several years ago. Hmmm….no-one in my fam would appreciate it – wonder who that should go to when I’m gone? I’m realizing now that, considering the state of my so-called “family,” I need to make provision from stuff like that to go to someone who would appreciate it.

    Anyone interested? I can add you to my will!!! LOL’ing but I’m also serious about this issue. All these “things” I’ve been hanging onto for my kids/grandkids…yeah, THAT’S a lost cause!!! Besides, I need to de-clutter – I’ve got WAAAY too much pretty crap sitting around from my a-Mom that is totally useless for anything BUT looking pretty! And it’s been around for so long, in the same location where it was placed 10 years ago, I don’t even notice it anymore, except a couple of her paintings and some pics. Yuck! And I need to clear out all the old pictures – I could easily fill at least one kitchen-size trash bag! Back in the day, before digital cameras and home computers existed.

    I’ve looked into selling it on-line but it’s just waaaaay too complicated and, IMO, I’d be taking a chance of getting screwed bigly! There are some things that may be worth some $$$ but, again, way too complicated and expensive to try to get a true valuation. And then how to sell it….sigh…I know, I know….what I need is Antiques Roadshow!!! LOL

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Too late – M has claimed the $2 bill and I decided she also needs my “Fuck Joe Biden and fuck you for voting for him!” lowball drink glass. She does like her toddies at night, don’tchaknow?!? LOL

      Liked by 1 person

        1. How about if you get my commemorative pictorial book he put out called “Our Journey Together?” Oh, my….I don’t EVEN want to think about the other books yet, like my 9/11 commemorative pictorial books from Life.

          Liked by 1 person

            1. How about the 9/11 books? I’ve also got 4 or 5 smaller paintings my Mom did that are really cute. Like the small one of the outhouse with a skunk that I have hanging in my BR! The little boy fishing – that one is one of my favs and I bought a nice, expensive frame for it. That would cost a ton to ship, tho! These smaller paintings could be sent in a padded envelope, tho. I can post pics and people can let me know if they’d like one. I just don’t want to see these things end up being sold to absolute strangers who have NO clue as to their history. Silly, and probably simply my ego, thinking they might be important to anyone else but still….

              Liked by 1 person

              1. I would gladly pay for shipping Filly. we don’t have wall space for paintings though–the exterior walls are solid logs and most of the front of the house is glass.and there are very few interior walls–except the bathrooms…lol
                but i would love the books–and i can definitely pay to have them shipped when and if you want to part with them.

                Liked by 1 person

              2. I’ve got that down on my list that I’ve started! I’ll let you know if it’s really expensive but I doubt it. Those I will put in a box with a little bubble wrap.

                Liked by 1 person

    2. And the vast majority of them support him! There will be troublemakers, I’m sure, but this is the Bronx. I think they know how to take care of them, right? Isn’t it a traditionally tough neighborhood?

      Liked by 1 person

  49. “3 Dead After Plane Crashes into Mobile Home Park (Video)
    From Whatsuptoday

    EXCERPT: “Several people are dead after a plane crashed into a mobile home park in Clearwater, Florida, on Thursday evening, according to the Clearwater Fire and Rescue Department. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a preliminary report saying that a Beechcraft Bonanza V35 crashed into a residential area in Clearwater, Florida around 7 p.m. local time on Thursday, after the pilot reported an engine failure.

    According to the report, the plane crash left three people dead, including the pilot, who was the only one on board, and two people on the ground. FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported the plane struck the Bayside Waters mobile home park, formerly known as Japanese Gardens, on U.S. 19 south of the Clearwater Mall, causing the home to ignite.

    During a news conference Thursday evening, Clearwater Fire Chief Scott Ehlers said the fire to spread to three other homes. He said three structures “definitely” have fire damage while an additional home may have also been damaged. Ehlers said the aircraft was found within one of the structures, and initially confirmed that there were “several fatalities” from the aircraft and within the mobile home it crashed into.

    “We’re on scene of a small plane crash at a mobile home park south of Clearwater Mall. Multiple mobile homes have caught fire. Firefighters from multiple jurisdictions are on scene,” fire officials wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.”

    https://www.foxnews.com/us/small-plane-crashes-florida-mobile-home-park-major-fire-several-fatalities

    Liked by 1 person

  50. Mike Lee discusses the latest concoction from the turtle and the schmuck
    entire article
    Yesterday, a reporter standing outside the Senate chamber told me that after four months of secrecy, The Firm™️ plans to release the text of the $106 billion supplemental aid/border-security package — possibly as soon as today.

    Wasting no time, she then asked, “If you get the bill by tomorrow, will you be ready to vote on it by Tuesday?”

    The words “hell no” escaped my mouth before I could stop them. Those are strong words where I come from. (Sorry, Mom.)

    The reporter immediately understood that my frustration was not directed at her. Rather, it was directed at the Law Firm of Schumer & McConnell (The Firm™️), which is perpetually trying to normalize a corrupt approach to legislating, in which The Firm™️:

    Spends months drafting legislation in complete secrecy
    Aggressively markets that legislation based not on its details and practical implications (good and bad), but only on its broadest, least-controversial objectives
    Lets members see bill text for the first time only a few days (sometimes a few hours) before an arbitrary deadline imposed by The Firm™️ itself, always with a contrived sense of urgency
    Forces a vote on the legislation on or before that deadline, denying senators any real opportunity to read, digest, and debate the measure on its merits, much less introduce, consider, and vote on amendments to fix any perceived problems with the bill or otherwise improve it.

    Whenever The Firm™️ engages in this practice, it largely excludes nearly every senator from the constitutionally prescribed process in which all senators are supposed to participate. By so doing, The Firm™️ effectively disenfranchises hundreds of millions of Americans — at least for purposes relevant to the legislation at hand — and that’s tragic. It’s also un-American, uncivil, uncollegial, and really uncool.

    So why does The Firm™️ do it?

    Every time The Firm™️ utilizes this approach and the bill passes — and it nearly always does — The Firm™️ becomes more powerful.

    The high success rate is largely attributable to the fact that The Firm™️ has become very adept at (a) enlisting the help of the (freakishly cooperative) corporate media, (b) exerting peer pressure in a way that makes what you experienced in middle school look mild by comparison, and (c) rewarding those who consistently vote with The Firm™️ with various privileges that The Firm™️ is uniquely capable of offering, such as committee assignments, help with campaign fundraising, and a whole host of other widely coveted things that The Firm™️ is free to distribute in any manner it pleases.

    It’s through this process that The Firm™️ passes most major spending legislation. And it’s through this process that The Firm™️ likely intends to pass the still-secret, $106 billion supplemental aid/border-security package, which The Firm™️ has spent four months negotiating with the luxury of obsessing over every sentence, word, period, and comma.

    I still don’t know exactly what’s in this bill, although I have serious concerns with it based on the few details The Firm™️ has been willing to share. But under no circumstances should this bill — which would fund military operations in three distant parts of the world and make massive, permanent changes to immigration law — be passed next week.

    Nor should it be passed until we have had adequate time to read the bill, discuss it with constituents, debate it, offer amendments, and vote on those amendments.

    There’s no universe in which those things will happen by next week.

    Depending on how long it is and the complexity of its provisions, the minimum period of time we should devote to this bill after it’s released should be measured in weeks or months, not days or hours.

    https://thefederalist.com/2024/02/02/schumer-and-mcconnell-want-senators-to-pass-their-106b-border-bill-without-reading-it-hell-no/

    Liked by 1 person

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