Know-It-Alls: Tuesday Tax Trivia

Entertainment 2 Minutes

Today’s category is…TAXES!  I found these trivia questions at TaxMama.com and I brought everything…including all her links to corroborate her answers! Enjoy!

 OK My Friends, here goes:

1)    What 11th century noblewoman rode through town, naked, to protest her own husband’s tax increase on his tenants?

2)    Which president started the practice of releasing his tax returns? (Bonus: Where can you find copies of presidential tax returns)?

3)    When did the checkbox for the Presidential Campaign Funds contribution first appear? (Bonus: Does checking the box reduce your refund?)

4)    What is the first recorded instance of taxation – and where?

5)    What famous band had a hit record with a song about taxation?

6)    How many U.S. states have no personal income taxes at all on individuals?

7)    What day brings the most fatal traffic accidents?

8)    What tax led to the famous Boston Tea Party?

9)    What is the most physically invasive tax ever?

10) When was the first tax return form created in the United States?

Did you have fun? How many answers did you know?

Not sure? See below for the answers with links to the source of the information.

And remember, you can find answers to all kinds of questions about tax trivia and other tax issues, free. Where? Where else? At www.TaxMama.com.

Answers:

1) Lady Godiva – there’s even a Peter and Gordon song about this.

2) President Nixon – and the TaxHistory.org site. For more interesting tax history information – visit the Tax History Museum.

3) First appeared on the 1973 tax return as a $1 contribution (up to $3 today). And no, it doesn’t cost you a dime.

4) First known information comes from Mesopotamia about  4,500 BC, then in Egypt around 3,500 BC. (And yes, although taxation was mentioned in the Bible, the Bible wasn’t written by Moses until around 1400 BC.)

5) The Beatles, written by George Harrison – The TaxMan for the 1966 album, the Revolver.

6)  7 states – Alaska, Washington state, Nevada, Wyoming, South Dakota, Texas, Florida. 2 of the states shown do have taxes on certain common investment income (dividends and interest) – New Hampshire and Tennessee. Alaska not only doesn’t have an income tax – they pay you to live there.

7) On Tax Day, there are typically more fatal traffic accidents than on any other day of the year.

8) The Stamp Act on American Colonists. It was a tax on every single piece of paper they used, however small. Can you imagine what that would cost us today?

9) The Droit de Seigneur – the right of a lord, king or noble to bed a woman, about to be a bride, before her wedding day.

10) 1913 – do you want your own copy, courtesy of TaxMama®? Want to wear it?

SOURCE: TaxMama.com

How did you do?

Published by pat frederick

Published

133 thoughts on “Know-It-Alls: Tuesday Tax Trivia”

    1. Good morning! Still dark here so I have no idea what the day will bring. 38 on the thermometer at the moment – this coming week-end, they are predicting possibly up to 80!!!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Morning Filly!
        we’ve got a gorgeous sunrise just passing and still just wispy clouds around. I am excited for warmer temps tho.
        the wood duck pair were in the pond yesterday. but today or tomorrow I will need to load up the truck bed with more firewood!

        Liked by 2 people

  3. ColonelTowner-Watkins
    @ColonelTowner
    Went to see the Gen Flynn’s movie last night. Met many super cool ppl there. Couple of things stood out to me.
    1) Gen Flynn served in several of the most critical intel positions in the military and thru out his career. It is super obvious the warfighters, selecting him as their intel officer thought very highly of him. They had their pick of all services intel superstars and consistently picked him.
    2)He published a report that identified many if not most of the intel community failures while deployed. His brother, was deployed to the same theater as a war fighter and was able to provide a direct feedback loop illustrating many failures within our intelligence structure. All Gen Flynn did was document the obvious. Why would an administration not want to win a war and optimize the intel to do so?
    3)the military publishes worthless after action reports no one ever reads but Gen Flynn’s was a how to fix it report that desperately needed to be implemented IF you were interested in winning
    4) We don’t fight to win, we sacrifice our military on the alter of MIC.
    5)Clapper recommended Gen Flynn to Obama for DIA which was a promotion AFTER publishing the report.
    6)Two things happen while at DIA. He creates a team to follow the money of DIA clandestine activities. He also is asked to provide congressional testimony. When on active duty you must submit the testimony to DoD prior to testifying. He was testifying about DIA’s intel assessment. All senior intel (CIA chief, NSA, etc were asked to do the same). It was DIA’s assessment, meaning those who worked at DIA during that period of time. It was NOT DoD’s assessment bc they could provide their own. It wasn’t the JCS assessment they have their own Chf of intel. Etc. He owed his staff at DIA an adequate representation of their assessment. Among those in the intel community and most importantly he owed it to the country. The ppl who reviewed the testimony edited it and wanted him to agree with the others on the panel, in other words lie. He refused. He was fired as a result.
    7)Dec 15, 2015 Retired Gen Flynn was asked to travel to Russia to an event by U.S. Gov. He was brought in and briefed on what they need led to know and he was debriefed upon his return. This trip was a set up to dirty him up just in case Trump didn’t take BHO advice and steer clear of Flynn. They leaked the info on the trip excluding the part where he was directed to go and was used as a collector.
    Finally and most significantly, from my perspective: when sworn in as Nat Sec Advisor he asked the CIA’s in briefing ppl, when given a briefing on a program he did not name, what had been achieved with all the money they had spent on the program. What did they have to show for it? The briefer could not answer the question. The CIA sent a briefing team over to try to explain. They weren’t able to and in the immediate aftermath of that the attacks were ramped up.

    For all you anti Flynn fucktards out here: you are CIA cut outs. You are continuing the CIA’s seek and destroy. You would be the same fucktards who set up JFK. You’d be the same fucktards that assassinated over 70 heads of state for democracy. You will go down in history as a Brownshirt. Shit stained Brownshirts.

    I recommend everyone see the movie.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Liked by 1 person

  5. Brian Cates – Political Columnist & Pundit

    @drawandstrike

    What they’ve been telling you to do: 1. Get out of the sun! 2. Stop eating all that protein! No red meat, eggs, bacon, butter! 3. Drive your cholesterol as low as you can get it! 4. Get your vaccines and boosters! 5. Try that amazing new Ozempic drug to lose bodyfat! 6. Eat fake meat, fake synthetic butter, fake eggs, fake this, fake that! 7. Don’t fast, it will kill you! What you need to do: 1. Get out into the sunlight, walk barefoot on the Earth 2. Eat more protein, especially red meat, eggs, butter, bacon, fish, etc. 3. Get your healthy cholesterol #’s way up by eating animal fat because cholesterol is what runs your body’s hormonal system. 4. Take Vitamin D & other natural nutrients to boost your immune system & stay away from Big Pharma 5. Eat a healthy diet & exercise regularly 6. Eat real healthy food, not fake shit made by chemists 7. Fast regularly, it improves your health greatly.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I don’t either. and for someone who is diabetic, it’s not all that healthy imo. i do better eating my meals regularly so my blood sugar remains fairly constant instead of the highs and lows that fasting can cause.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. I think your principle applies to everyone, tbh. Smaller, more frequent meals is best, IMO. Everyone’s blood sugar levels are important, whether you are diabetic or not. The old-time farmers had it right – 5 reasonable meals/day.

          Liked by 1 person

      2. I can easily follow to here on my cell phone, which is outside with me in the afternoon glare. Then, all discussion drops into a single line of vertical letters. I fast by accident, when I am too busy to eat. Tweety was laying eggs before she got sick, but I don’t like eggs. I’m a slow eater, who chews and does enjoy relaxing at meals, so I probably live a healthy lifestyle without even trying. I hurry slowly, because my Goodwill shoes are always wet or falling apart from stepping in, around or over all the mud puddles.

        Liked by 2 people

    1. if you don’t want to read the article…it’s MEXICO! their farm workers are getting old and the younger Mexicans don’t want to work in the fields. 

      BUT Mexico loves the remittances they get from the illegals here–BILLIONS in fact…so they have a dilemma.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. And FDR in the 1930s and early 1940s, didn’t like the Japanese, so had them interred in California, before they bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. But the Chinese”coolies” came to work on the railroads in the 1800s. Amazing how much the political grounds shifted worldwide in the 1800s, partly because of the “Industrial Revolution”, which created all subsequent innovations, including modern warfare.

      FDR was secretly building the atomic bomb (Manhattan Project) before he died, thanks to Albert Einstein’s writing him that Hitler was working on one.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. lawfare never stops does it?

    Hawaii is suing big oil companies because they say big oil causes climate changes and they want to sue for unrealistic monetary awards in an effort to shut down oil and gas companies NATIONWIDE. GOP AGs from other states are asking SCOTUS to intervene because Hawaii should not get to determine nationwide energy policy. (Hawaii could outlaw the use of oil and gas on its own islands, but then how would the billionaires AND TOURISTS get there and back?)

    https://freebeacon.com/courts/activists-want-energy-companies-to-pay-climate-damages-that-could-imperil-us-national-security-former-joint-chiefs-say/

    Liked by 2 people

        1. There is a plethora of items that originate with oil and, as with everything else these days, big oil is corrupt.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. /TrustBuster Teddy Roosevelt led the charge to break up Standard Oil in the late 1800s, then passed mucho l÷islation as president, after McKinley was shot, to increase Federal government power, but he did good things, too.

            Liked by 2 people

  11. NF: There isn’t enough info for me to come to any conclusion as to the validity of the charges that have been filed against the guy. However, there is no evidence that he was even contacted at any point to simply answer the question as to the volume of gun sales, nor was he informed directly that he was selling too many and needed to register for a gun seller’s license. What IS clear as day is that this fiasco was ENTIRELY unjustified and despicable in every way!!! Just one more brick in that wall they are putting up against personal ownership of weapons and self-defense!

    EXCERPT: “Newly released videos show federal agents arriving to execute a search warrant on the home of the administrator of a local airport in Little Rock, Arkansas. The raid-gone-wrong in the predawn hours of March 19 ultimately led to the death of the administrator, Bryan Malinowski, after a brief standoff with the agents.

    These videos, as well as a search warrant and affidavit previously published, shed light on why an administrator at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport was under investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). According to the ATF he was allegedly selling firearms without the proper licenses—some of which were reportedly used in crimes—and for misrepresenting his purpose on purchase forms.

    Regardless of the allegations, Bud Cummins, the lawyer representing Malinowski’s estate, has concerns about whether the ATF followed proper procedures executing the search and noted that the ATF has not released footage from Body Worn Cameras (BWC) the agents are required to use, possibly violating administration policy established in the wake of major police-involved shootings. Cummings is a former U.S. attorney and onetime chief legal counsel to former Gov. Mike Huckabee…..”

    https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/questions-swirl-around-atf-raid-arkansas-home-which-left-local-airport

    Liked by 1 person

          1. The ATF is one of the oldest government police-state agencies, shortly following the first Whiskey Tax, proposed by then Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in 1791. The Whiskey Rebellion followed from that, in 1794. President George Washington was a big whiskey distiller, and benefitted from the tax, but the revenue department then had the license to enter anyone’s property and home for any reason to search for stills and illegal whiskey made from corn mash.
            Government has been overreaching for a long time . . .

            Liked by 1 person

  13. Just the hormones isn’t enough – IMO, body mass and bone density tests should be required as well. Yes, personally, IDT there should be ANY genetic males in women’s sports but…..this is where we are now, unfortunately. PLEASE RE-OPEN THE PSYCH WARDS!!!

    Just The News: “The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Council of Presidents on Monday approved strict limitations on transgender participation in women’s sports.

    Under the plan, NAIA will permit any athlete to participate in male sports, while limiting participation in women’s sports to biological females who have not begun any hormone therapy, the Associated Press reported. The panel voted 20-0 in favor of the plan.

    “With the exception of competitive cheer and competitive dance, the NAIA created separate categories for male and female participants,” the organization said in a statement. “Each NAIA sport includes some combination of strength, speed and stamina, providing competitive advantages for male student-athletes.”

    “As a result, the NAIA policy for transgender student-athletes applies to all sports except for competitive cheer and competitive dance, which are open to all students,” it continued.

    The organization is responsible for roughly 83,000 athletes.

    NAIA’s move follows those of roughly half of the U.S states, which have move to bar transgender participation in sports. Twenty-four have done so by enacting laws to that effect, while Alaska has done so via state regulation, according to the Movement Advancement Project.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. i wonder if this is also to prevent women who want to “become men” who have already started testosterone treatments from competing against women. that testosterone can severely bulk up women

      Liked by 1 person

        1. agreed. I was just thinking how a woman could unfairly compete against other women by saying she is transitioning and using testosterone all the while giving her a strength edge.

          Liked by 1 person

              1. IMO, the ONLY “drugs” that should be allowed are those that are critical for health reasons, such as diabetics.

                Liked by 1 person

    2. TESTOSTERONE – is – incompatible with both the COVID vaccine and disease.

      It’s dangerous anyway – but can make an athlete very susceptible to heart disease and death.

      From the FLCCC FAQ page:
      1. There are clear gender disparities in terms of COVID-19 severity:
      – Males with androgenic alopecia (hair loss, baldness) are at higher risk
      – Users of anabolic androgenic steroids for recreational purposes are at higher risk
      – Women with hyperandrogenic phenotypes (polycystic ovarian syndrome, hirsutism…) present with greater symptoms of COVID-19
      – Children (pre-puberty) are notably protected against more severe COVID-19″

      Link – https://covid19criticalcare.com/new-i-mask-faqs/

      Liked by 2 people

  14. Did the two of you spend some time with the books last night? I’m curious about your thoughts and feelings…..

    Liked by 1 person

    1. we looked at the pictures–incredible pictures! but didn’t delve into any of the reading yet. we dozed off and woke up with the books on our laps…lol

      I think i want to start (reading) the One Nation one tonight.

      Liked by 1 person

  15. looking at weather forecast, today is the best day for me to load the firewood. so if i disappear after lunch, that’s why. the next few days are supposed to be rainy again. then Saturday is a brief respite and Sunday is rain again.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. We’re supposed to have steady clearing headed for an alleged gorgeous week-end w/temp up to 80!!! Sat/Sun will be my days for clearing the flower beds and picking up all the branches and debris in my yard. I think this year I’m going to have the guy who sprays for dandelions every year do the premium service, with the heavy-duty weed killer (for the TX stickers) and fertilizer. It’s twice the price but if it makes a big difference on those damned stickers, it will be worth it!!!

      Wheezer was sleeping in my chair when I got up. But as soon as I opened the patio doors to put his food dish out, he skedaddled. He apparently snuck back in ’cause I can see that he has eaten a hole in the center of the food, and he’s gone again. IDK what it is but both he and Jake will do that – eat in just one space, usually the center of the bowl, leaving food piled up all around the outside of the bowl. With Jake, once he sees the dish thru that small center hole, he bugs the shit out of me, acting like he’s starving! He wants it full, NOW! Which is when he gets shut in the BR….sigh…I’m tired of these mental games! I’m getting a nice, loving, straight-forward, simple-minded dog!!! LOL

      Liked by 2 people

        1. Oh, I’ve been a cat person since I was 4 years old….actually, before. One of our cats had her litter in my crib when I was a baby. I used to gather up cats and/or kittens and dress them in my doll clothes and push them around in my toy buggy. And they rarely ran away from me! So, I have a lifelong history with cats….and dogs….and horses. LOL

          Liked by 1 person

          1. I was older than that when a cat had her litter in my bed. I was sleeping and only found out later I had moved and killed one of the kittens.

            I’ve always heard that ancient Egyptians worshipped cats. Now, I suspect the Egyptians knew how practical cats were for keeping down mice and rats in the granaries.

            Liked by 2 people

  16. “No Oaths of Office in the Federal Government—Enemies destroying US government from within”

    GREG REESE, APR 09, 2024

    (VIDEO)

    Transcript link

    EXCERPT: “On January 10th of 1963, forty-five current communist goals were submitted to the Congressional record. Number thirteen was, “Do away with loyalty oaths.”

    Sixty years later on the very same day, Biden, Obrador, and Trudeau met in Mexico City for the Declaration of North America which states a plan to unify North America under the ideas of diversity, climate change, migration, health, and regional security. The beginnings of a North American Union, which is a step towards a one world government.

    According to law, elected officials must swear an oath that they will support, defend, and bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And through the Freedom of Information Act, US attorney Todd Callender, along with his team at Project Proper Oath, found that not a single member of the existing cabinet has a valid oath of office.

    US Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, has no oath of office.

    US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, has no oath of office, and has also failed to register as a foreign agent, which is required due to serving on the boards and conducting international business with Raytheon, Nucor, and Tenet Healthcare.

    US Attorney General, Merrick Garland, has no oath of office.

    US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has no oath of office.

    US Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, has no oath of office.

    US Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, has no oath of office.

    US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, responsible for declaring a national emergency during COVID, has no oath of office.

    Former director of the Centers for Disease Control, Rochelle Walensky, had no oath of office…..”

    https://gregreese.substack.com/p/no-oaths-of-office-in-the-federal

    Liked by 2 people

  17. Just The News: “Norfolk Southern on Tuesday announced it reached a $600 million settlement in a class action lawsuit brought in response to the February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

    If the court approves the settlement, all class action claims within a 20-mile radius of the derailment and all personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius of the derailment will be resolved, the railroad company said.

    Residents within one mile of the derailment were forced to temporarily evacuate after some of the train cars caught fire and there were concerns regarding the hazardous materials being held in 20 of the 50 derailed cars. Officials executed a “controlled release” of the toxic chemicals from the cars in an attempt to avert an explosion. 

    However, National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy testified to the Senate last month that “there was no justification to do a vent and burn” of toxic chemicals in the derailed train cars, and that other options were available.

    The announcement of the settlement comes after the Environmental Protection Agency said late last week that it is investigating after deceased fish were found in a stream that runs through East Palestine.

    Congress is still investigating the derailment and subsequent response efforts. The railroad company also faces lawsuits from the state of Ohio and the Justice Department.

    Norfolk Southern said that separately from the settlement, it has already given $104 million in community assistance to East Palestine and the surrounding areas. The company also said it made commitments last year to address resident concerns surrounding drinking water, home prices and healthcare.”

    Liked by 1 person

  18. mission creep? meglomaniac surge if you ask me…

    Winston

    Winston

    April 9, 2024 8:37 am

    The globalist large corporations controlling the UniParty get further consolidation and monopolization via the TOTAL BS (see video below) climate threat.

    EPA Threatens Locally Produced Beef
    Mission Creep: Proposed EPA Rule Shuts Down Small Meat Producers
    ROBERT W MALONE MD, MS
    APR 08, 2024

    https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/epa-threatens-locally-produced-beef

    In Another Blow to Decentralized Natural Meat Production, EPA Rule Indirectly Shuts Down Small Meat Producers via Clean Water Act Overreach

    American’s Will Lose the Choice to Buy Local Meats

    On January 23, 2024, under Biden Administration guidance, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a new rule that will bring 3,879 meat and poultry products (MPP) processing facilities under their jurisdiction. This was swiftly followed by an abbreviated comment period which closed on March 25, 2024, and then immediate implementation of the rule change. All justified by wastewater levels of Nitrogen and Phosphorus coming from animal meat processing, mirroring the WEF agenda to minimize Nitrogen runoff from European farms which has sparked the widespread farmer protests throughout the European Union.

    The new rule involves a major shift in the technology-based effluent limitations guidelines and standards (ELGs) for the meat and poultry industry, threatening their livelihoods by forcing them to add water filtration systems to their facilities. 

    What does this mean to small meat processing facilities? It’s been reported that the initial cost to install a water filtration system bringing them into compliance be $300,000-400,000 with a minimum of $100,000 annual maintenance. This would force many small meat processing facilities to shutter their doors. 

    Like

  22. Fox is carrying the sentencing live off-and-on…IMO, this is as it should be! They KNEW from early on and ignored his requests for help, ignored every warning sign, and purposefully bought him the weapon and took him to the range. And yes, IMO, the school bears some fault as well – when they contacted the parents and requested that he be removed – the parents refused with the excuse they couldn’t leave work. The school at that point should have had the police take the boy into custody – period!!! That school district should also be slapped down!

    Everyone’s going on and on about how this has never happened before, parents being held responsible for their minor child’s actions. I beg to differ! It was ALWAYS the parents who were required to pay for any fines a minor child received and, IMO, rightfully so! Even AFTER he murdered 4 kids at his school, they still refused to accept responsibility for their own actions and went on the run. Throw the damned book at them!

    I’m tellin’ ya’ – some people just shouldn’t be allowed to breed!!!

    EXCERPT: “Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Oxford High School mass shooter Ethan Crumbley, are set to be sentenced Tuesday after each was found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter in separate trials earlier this year.

    The trials were a rare case of parents facing criminal charges, and possible jail time, over their role in a shooting carried out by their child. They could face up to 15 years in prison for each count, but prosecutors are asking for 10 to 15 years total for each parent, according to a sentencing memo filed by prosecutors last week.

    “No sentence this Court can administer will fix the damage caused by the Oxford High School shooting on November 30, 2021,” prosecutors wrote in requesting the sentence for Jennifer Crumbley. “As the jury found, defendant’s gross negligence was a cause of this damage; she knew of the danger to another, it was reasonably foreseeable her son would shoot someone, but she failed to exercise even the smallest measure of ordinary care.”

    Michigan’s sentencing guidelines call for a maximum punishment of about seven years in jail, a sentence prosecutors say is not strong enough.

    “Considering the guidelines, what those guidelines do and do not account for, and the objectives of sentencing, the severity of the circumstances in this case and defendant’s total lack of remorse warrant a sentence that exceeds the applicable guidelines range,” prosecutors continued. “A sentence of 10 to 15 years’ imprisonment is proportionate to these offenses and this offender.” …

    https://abcnews.go.com/US/jennifer-james-crumbley-parents-michigan-school-shooter-sentenced/story?id=108900929

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Unfortunately, no and I was not pleased to see that the judge doling out the sentence is a woman, and most likely a Mother…SMH

        Liked by 1 person

            1. I admit in those circumstances if i were the judge, as a mother myself, i would feel more for the prosecutors and the mothers of those murdered than the defendant’s motherly instincts

              Liked by 1 person

              1. Especially when she tried to evade the consequences and went on the run, after trying to pin all the blame on her hubby!!!

                Liked by 1 person

  29. “Botanically speaking, a banana is both a berry and a fruit. 

    (Remember, if it’s a berry, it’s also a fruit by default.) Here’s the deal: The banana flower contains one ovary, which grows into a single banana. The banana also has a somewhat soft skin, juicy flesh, and many tiny seeds.

    Surprisingly, eggplants, tomatoes and avocados are botanically classified as berries. And the strawberry is not a berry at all. 

    Botanists call the strawberry a “false fruit,” a pseudocarp. A strawberry is actually a multiple fruit which consists of many tiny individual fruits embedded in a fleshy receptacle.”

    Liked by 1 person

  30. “NATO kicks off Black Sea-Danube Delta exercise labeled Sea Shield 24 — The 13-nation exercise includes 27 ships and 2,200 troops”

    April 09, 2024, editor: REMIX NEWS, author: MAGYAR HÍRLAP

    USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group. (nato.int)

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “NATO has launched its second major exercise this year in the vicinity of Ukraine, this time focusing on the Black Sea and the Danube Delta region.

    The joint operation, Sea Shield 24, which runs until April 21, brings together more than 2,200 troops from Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, the U.K., Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, the United States, Georgia and Moldova. The forces will include 27 river and naval warships, 17 aircraft, and 91 land-based military vehicles.

    According to a Romanian Navy statement, Sea Shield is the most complex event of the 2024 training year, with scenarios focusing on missions to combat illegal activities, maritime and river control, the rescue of vessels in distress, and the protection of critical infrastructure in the Black Sea, along the coast, in the Danube, and in the Danube Delta.

    The international exercise also aims to strengthen cooperation between the navies of the participating countries and with other forces.

    The largest naval exercise organized by Romania was first held in 2015. Since then, Sea Shield scenarios have been continuously modified to enable the participating NATO forces to respond quickly and effectively to the full spectrum of threats to regional security and stability, according to the organizers.

    In January, NATO launched “Steadfast Defender 2024,” a five-month exercise rehearsing the alliance’s response to a hypothetical aggression against a member state. All 32 NATO member states participated, with some 90,000 personnel, including the largest single contingent of 20,000 from the United Kingdom.”

    Liked by 1 person

  31. “Switzerland ‘violated human rights’ by not tackling climate change quickly enough, rules ECHR in landmark case — The case sets a precedent that could see national governments across Europe sued for not pursuing a sufficiently aggressive climate agenda”

    April 09, 2024, editor: REMIX NEWS, author: THOMAS BROOKE

    (Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, second left, joins youths from Portugal during a demonstration outside the European Court of Human Rights Tuesday, April 9, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “National governments are infringing on citizens’ human rights by not doing enough to tackle climate change, the European Court of Human Rights has held in a landmark ruling that could have far-reaching consequences and influence climate policy across the continent.

    In a highly-anticipated judgment, the Strasbourg court on Tuesday sided with a group of Swiss pensioners who brought a claim against their national government for its perceived failure to act sufficiently in reducing carbon emissions, claiming that existing climate policy was violating their human rights.

    The members of the KlimaSeniorinnen group, supported by environmental campaign groups such as Greenpeace, argued that elderly citizens are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, citing the fact that excess deaths occur more regularly among the elderly during periods of extreme heat because they are less able to regulate their body temperature.

    The group also claimed that heat waves impact the mental well-being of elderly citizens more because they are less able to go outside and withstand the heat, which they argue affects their quality of life. The association relied on Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the general right to life, and Article 8, which guarantees the right to private and family life.

    Domestic governments are obliged to take “reasonable and appropriate measures” to secure these rights, steps members of the KlimaSeniorinnen group claimed the Swiss government had not taken.

    The litigation had been appealed by the group up to the top human rights court in Europe after its claim was rejected first by the Federal Administrative Court in Switzerland and then by the Federal Supreme Court, the country’s highest ruling body.

    The judgment is the third of three similar cases the court was asked to consider in respect to the correlation between climate change and human rights and sets a precedent that all national courts in Council of Europe member states will be required to adhere to. It had recently dismissed the other two cases, brought by Portuguese youths and a former French mayor who had claimed their respective national governments had infringed on their human rights by not being ambitious enough with their climate targets.

    The move could see governments across Europe required to take even greater measures to press on with reducing carbon emissions and pursuing a green agenda that many citizens believe is being wrongly prioritized and expedited to their own detriment.

    Climate activists celebrated the ruling outside the Strasbourg court on Tuesday, accompanied by Swedish climate zealot Greta Thunberg. “The ECHR verdict will send an important signal worldwide,” said Raphaël Mahaim, a lawyer involved in the case and a Green Party lawmaker in the Swiss parliament.”

    Liked by 1 person

  34. Just The News: “The parents of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley, who killed four students at Oxford High School in 2021, were sentenced Tuesday to 10-15 years in prison each after they gave their son the gun that he used to carry out the shooting.

    Oakland County Judge Cheryl Matthews called the sentences “reasonable and proportionate” to the crime. “These convictions are not about poor parenting. These convictions are about repeated acts or lack of acts that could have halted an oncoming runaway train,” she said. Both parents will receive credit for time already served, which is 858 days.

    Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents to be convicted in connection to a school shooting committed by their child in the United States. Ethan Crumbley, who is now 17, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in December 2023. In February 2024, a jury found Jennifer Crumbley, 45, guilty of involuntary on four manslaughter charges. James Crumbley, 47, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter the following month.

    Prosecutors sought prison sentences of at least 10 years for each parent, while defense attorneys sought less than 5 years for each of them, according to NewsNation. The maximum sentence that the judge could have imposed was 15 years for each manslaughter charge, which would be served consecutively, resulting in 60 years behind bars for each parent. 

    The shooting in the Detroit suburb resulted in the deaths of students Tate Myre, 16, Hana St. Juliana, 14, Justin Shilling, 17, and Madisyn Baldwin, 17. Seven other people were also injured in the attack.

    Baldwin’s mother, Nicole Beausoleil, became emotional when she made a witness impact statement before the court on Tuesday. She compared her actions as a caring mother to those of Jennifer Crumbley’s.

    “When you worried about what people thought of you and feeling threatened, I was learning your son threatened my daughter and fatally shot her in the head,” she said. “While you were hiding, I was planning her funeral, and while you were running away from your son and your responsibilities, I was forced to do the worst possible thing a parent could do. I was forced to say goodbye to my Madisyn.”

    She also said: “Not only did your son kill my daughter but you both did as well.”

    James Crumbley also became emotional when he gave his impact statement. He said he had no idea that his son would have committed the shooting, and he would have done things differently if he had known what the result would be.

    “My heart pours out to every single one of you,” he told family members of the deceased students. He also asked the judge to sentence him in a “fair and just way.” His attorney asked the judge to sentence him to time served plus supervision.”

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  35. Just The News: “The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a decision upholding a 160-year-old law that bans abortion in nearly all circumstances. 

    “In light of this Opinion, physicians are now on notice that all abortions, except those necessary to save a woman’s life, are illegal … and that additional criminal and regulatory sanctions may apply to abortions performed after fifteen weeks’ gestation,” the court wrote in its opinion.”

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  36. Well, I’m going to try again with my tire tower….I’ve ordered 3 Milkweed plants to put there. But next fall/winter, I’m going to cover the entire tower with a black contractor bag, to hold in any heat from the sun. Hopefully, they will survive to come back in the spring. That spot gets sun all day long so there are only so many perennials I can put there that won’t get burned up.

    Still waiting for the 10 bulbs of Fancy Leaf Red Flash Caladium….they should be arriving soon.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. OMG! I was so busy copying pics, I only now went back and actually looked at them! The light blue/white Ford – lighter blue and add a crew cab extension and you’d have the truck I drove 20-30 miles one-way to work and back, on the backroads and interstates, to/from Fairfax, VA for close to 2 years! Man, was that ever a beast! I’ll say this….people got out of my way on the interstate! LOL

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  46. “The Panama Papers include a collection of 11 million secret financial documents that illustrate how some of the world’s richest people hide their money. The repercussions of the leaks have been far-ranging, prompting the resignation of the prime minister of Iceland and bringing scrutiny to the leaders of Argentina and Ukraine, Chinese politicians and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others…”

    “Panama Papers trial starts, 27 people charged in worldwide money-laundering case

    • Those on trial in Panama include the owners of the Mossack-Fonseca law firm that was at the heart of the 2016 massive document leak
    • Panama Papers include a collection of 11 million secret financial documents that detail how some of the world’s richest people hide their money

    https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3258290/panama-papers-trial-starts-27-people-charged-worldwide-money-laundering-case

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  50. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

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