Florida State Mammal: Florida Panther

Nature, State Animals 4 Minutes

From the National Park Service website:

Once common throughout the southeastern United States, fewer than 100 Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi) are estimated to live in the wilds of south Florida today. The current range of Florida panthers is less than five percent of their original range across Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and parts of Tennessee and South Carolina. Florida panthers were heavily hunted after 1832 when a bounty on panthers was created. Perceived as a threat to humans, livestock, and game animals, the species was nearly extinct by the mid-1950s.

Today, the primary threats to the remaining panther population are habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. Urban sprawl, the conversion of once-diversified agricultural lands into intensified industrial farming uses, and the loss of farmland to commercial development combine to reduce the amount of suitable panther habitat. Other factors include mortalities from collisions with automobiles, territorial disputes with other panthers, inbreeding, disease, and environmental toxins. All these other factors, however, also are related to habitat reduction.

 Like most animals, Florida panthers need food, water, shelter, and access to mates to survive. Panthers are strictly carnivores and eat only meat. About 90 percent of their diet is feral hog, white-tailed deer, raccoon, and armadillo. Occasionally they consume rabbits, rats, and birds, and occasionally even alligators. In south Florida, panthers prefer mature upland forests (hardwood hammocks and pinelands) over other habitat types. Upland forests provide dry ground for resting and denning, and prey density is higher than it is in lower habitats where flooding is more common. Much of the prime panther habitat is north of Interstate Highway 75, and panthers in that area weigh more, are healthier, and successfully raise more kittens than panthers that live primarily south of the highway and feed mostly on small prey. Panthers in Everglades National Park are smaller and fewer because much of the park consists of wetlands, while panthers need uplands in order to thrive. Although the Long Pine Key area within the park provides dry upland habitat, hogs are scarce in the park and deer are limited to dry or low water level areas. A panther has to kill and eat about 10 raccoons to equal the food value of 1 deer. To maintain their health and fitness, adult panthers need to consume the equivalent of about 1 deer or hog per week. Females with kittens may need twice this amount.

The recent history of the Florida panther documents the success of the genetic restoration program. Historically, natural gene exchange occurred between the Florida panther and other contiguous species of Puma concolor as individuals dispersed among populations and bred. This natural mechanism for gene exchange maintained genetic health within populations and minimized inbreeding. However, as the population declined, gene exchange between subspecies could no longer occur because the Florida panther had become isolated from neighboring subspecies such as the Texas panther. Inbreeding accelerated, resulting in genetic depression, declining health, reduced survivability, and low numbers. If action was not taken to address the loss of natural gene exchange, it was feared that the species would soon be extinct. In 1995 when the genetic restoration program began, the population of panthers had dwindled to only 20-30 individuals in the wild. In 1995, eight female Texas panthers were released in south Florida. Five of the eight Texas panthers produced litters and at least 20 kittens were born. By 2007, the Florida panther population had responded by tripling to about 100 animals. The genetic restoration program restored genetic variability and vitality for a healthier, more resilient population.

Mercury in Panthers

 Scientists first became aware of the potential threat of mercury to panthers in south Florida in 1989 when a female panther from the park died. An immediate cause of death could not be determined, but later tests revealed that her liver contained high levels of mercury. That same year, the State of Florida found high levels of mercury in fish from the Everglades. Air pollution from metals mining and smelting, coal-fired utilities and industry, and solid-waste incinerators was determined to be the major source of mercury contamination. Although some of this pollution was coming from utilities and industries within Florida, some originates in other countries and continents. Summer thunderstorms scour airborne mercury out of the upper atmosphere and deposit it in the Everglades. Mercury in rainfall is transformed to methylmercury by bacteria in sediments and algal mats. Zooplankton feed on algae, fish and crayfish feed on zooplankton, raccoons feed on fish and crayfish, and panthers feed on raccoons. In the 15 months before her death, the panther with high levels of mercury in her liver fed only on small prey, primarily raccoons. As mercury moves through the food chain, it accumulates in ever-greater quantities in the tissue of each predator. The tissues of predators at the top of the food chain, such as panthers, typically contain the most mercury.

Subsequent studies found that mercury concentrations in panther tissues were lowest north of Interstate Highway 75 where adequate deer and hogs were available and highest in the Everglades and the southern part of Big Cypress National Preserve where consumption of raccoons was highest. Raccoons are thought to have been the major source of mercury in Florida panthers at that time. Since 1989, mercury concentrations in fish and birds in the Everglades have dropped by 60 to 70 percent. The drastic reductions are directly linked to the installation of technology that reduced mercury in emissions from industries in south Florida. Although mercury levels in the natural environment are a worldwide concern and mercury likely will never be completely removed from the environment, mercury reductions are expected to continue into the future. Monitoring, modeling, and research demonstrate the relationship between mercury detected in the air, deposited in waterways and sediments through rainfall, and concentrated in fish and wildlife.

SOURCE: nps.gov.com

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Published by pat frederick

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99 thoughts on “Florida State Mammal: Florida Panther”

  1. Fascinating topic today, Miss Pat. I’m wondering if the introduction of Coyotes in the South, rumored to be a way to reduce deer population caused the mercury poisoning of the Florida Panthers?

    The Coyotes have been a menace in N FL and S GA for sure, killing small pets and even threatening children in our local neighborhoods. The tick population has also increased in our area, particularly the Lone Star disease bearing ticks.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Morning GA!
      I’m sure it has. nature tends to balance itself. when government intercedes it makes things worse.
      i know here, the hunters will have “coyote runs” when the population gets out of control. it’s very eerie when you hear them get a kill. they will howl incessantly to get the others from the pack to feast with them. in the summers, after the fawn have been birthed is the worst time.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. I do enjoy y’alls’ weather and environmental updates. I quit hanging my bird feeders on my deck, because racoons and squirrels would bat at them, or hang upside down on them. Several fell down, or separated and broke. GA/FL, I guess you are a neighbor, sort of, about 100 miles south of me. I don’t know where your drinking water comes from, but the ground water in these areas is looking more and more toxic.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. 2 of our hummer feeders hang from the eaves so the squirrels or raccoons would have to get on the metal roof to get to them. none has in 18 years. the other 2 hummers feeders hang from the deck/porch roof, but they are above the deck railings and they can climb on those to get tot he feeders. those 2 feeders we bring in at night

          Liked by 1 person

  2. Morning All!

    it’s about 60* here….but we are expecting rain for the next few days. the hummers are here this morning…lol. when i took the 2 feeders out that would be accessible to raccoons if left out, a hummer flew right on it while i was hanging it.

    good thing we brought those 2 in…the raccoons were on the deck again last night.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Morning, Pat! 45 here this morning – storm clouds to the south and east but clear in the west. Who knows what the day will bring?!? Gorgeous cats, those panthers!

      Liked by 1 person

        1. you referring to the Israel/hamas conflict? from what i understand, Israel warned everyone to leave Rafah before they bombed it. hamas claimed right before the bombing started, biden negotiated a cease fire–only Israel wasn’t at the table and didn’t agree.

          the only ones eating in Gaza are the terrorists who steal the food trucks and sell the food to the Gaza residents

          Liked by 1 person

          1. That’s what I read, too, but the international media is so full of hype that I don’t know which source to believe. Netanyahu sounds like he is being unreasonable, but the US is behind all the war toys, and now military contracters to guard the Rafah escape bridge to Egypt.

            Liked by 1 person

              1. Yes. I’m also following posts from the other side of the world, about the linkage of India, Iran, and Pakistan with a shipping deal and an international pipeline via the INSTC (International North-South Transport Corridor), despite US sanctions on Iran.

                Like

          2. Also, there are maybe ancient tunnels under that shoreline, wbich in the past has allowed movement back and forth. The geology in the area, including the recent discovery of natural gas off the northern coast of Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, may be contributing to the mix.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. i think you’re right. after all, the conflict in ukraine is a cover up for the struggle over who gets all the natural resources (natural gas as well i believe) under ukraine

              Liked by 1 person

    1. Biden bears US-inflicted scars from the atomic bombing of Japan. I also question whether the tidal wave that caused the meltdown at Fukushima was a result of secret underwater nuclear bomb testing. The US has been tampering with Japan for centuries.

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Ian Jaeger

    @IanJaeger29

    BREAKING: Eric Trump sitting in the front row, releases a statement during the Stormy Daniels testimony. Eric Trump writes, Perspective: Sitting front row attempting to figure out how any of this garbage from 20 years ago relates to “legal” bills submitted by a long time personal attorney being booked as a “legal” expense — but I digress. To be clear, they don’t give a s**t about the merits of this case – the 15 Manhattan prosecutors are sitting at their table and behind in the courthouse pews, giddy by this salacious show. This is the intent, not the merits, nor the fact that this entire case is a massive extortion play.

    Liked by 2 people

  13. what a crock of shit this judge is…

    bragg claims President Trump violated election laws but the judge won’t allow the FEC chairman to testify that he didn’t in fact break the law and there has NEVER been a case brought like this before…ie John Edwards and his “mistress”

    FTA

    According to Byron York, writing at the Washington Examiner, Trump was required to disclose the hush money payments, made in 2017 through fixer Michael Cohen to porn “star” Stormy Daniels after he won the election, to the Federal Election Commission. Failure to do that is a felony, they claim. However, a former FEC chairman, Bradley Smith, says that’s not a campaign contribution and they’ve never prosecuted for that kind of thing, despite seeing plenty of it around, as in the case of Democrat vice presidential candidate, John Edwards, who paid off a mistress to keep quiet about him. He writes:

    Among the things Smith might be able to testify about is the novelty of the current Trump prosecution. Merchan will not allow it. “Defendant seeks to elicit from Smith, among other things, that at the time Cohen paid Daniels, there had never been a case in which anyone had been convicted of a federal campaign finance law violation for the making of ‘hush money payments,’” Merchan wrote. Smith might also be asked about “the facts surrounding the trial of former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards, his subsequent acquittal, and that the case was heavily criticized.” Merchan will not allow it.

    Other things Smith might be able to testify about are the FEC’s decision to dismiss a complaint against Trump for this very matter and the Justice Department’s decision not to prosecute Trump for the same set of actions. But Merchan said Smith cannot say a word about those matters. “That the FEC dismissed the complaint against defendant and the DOJ decided against prosecuting defendant for potential FECA violations are probative of nothing,” Merchan wrote on March 18. “These matters are therefore irrelevant and defendant is precluded from eliciting testimony or introducing evidence or both.”

    So Smith can talk about none of that. None of it. The only topics Merchan will allow Smith to “testify generally” on are the “general background as to what the Federal Campaign Commission is, background as to who makes up the FEC, what the FEC’s function is, what laws, if any, the FEC is responsible for enforcing, and general definitions and terms that relate directly to this case, such as for example ‘campaign contribution,’” Merchan wrote.

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/05/the_kangaroos_keep_coming_in_judge_merchan_s_courtroom.html

    Liked by 1 person

  14. last evening, after dinner, we were watching the deer at the salt lick and suddenly they all started to scatter. we thought a bear was in the vicinity, but it wasn’t a bear. it was the first buck of the season…2 smallish (maybe 3 inch) horns starting in velvet.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. “$10 Million To Harvard, Brown And Others Flowed From The “State Of Palestine” — Troubling grants and contracts classified in the federal database funded anti-Israel curriculums, professorships, and tuition.”

    ADAM ANDRZEJEWSKI, MAY 08, 2024

    EXCERPT: In February 2020, Brown University, an Ivy League school with a tax advantaged $6.5 billion endowment, negotiated a $643,000 gift from a foundation located within the “State of Palestine” to create a new Palestinian professorship within its Center for Middle East Studies.

    However, “Palestine,” as a nation, does not exist. Neither the U.S. State Department nor the United Nations recognize Palestine as a country. The “State of Palestine” is a political fiction that provides cover for numerous terror organizations funded by Iran and others.

    American universities taking six-figure foreign funding from an area of the world dominated by terrorists raises all kinds of questions. For example, codified into the law of the Palestinian Authority (PA) is the gruesome practice of “pay for slay” – paying pensions to the families of dead terrorists who killed Jews. More than 10 percent of the PA’s budget pays these murder incentives / benefits.

    At Brown, the foreign gift established, “…support for a Professorship in Palestinian Studies within Middle East Studies.” The “first chair of its kind dedicated to this field of study.” An anti-Israel professor named Beshara Doumani was tapped as the inaugural Mahmoud Darwish Professor of Palestinian Studies.

    Soon after his appointment at Brown, Dr. Doumani was given permission also to simultaneously head Birzeit University in the West Bank for two years. The Birzeit campus is a hotbed of radicalism. Members of the Hamas-affiliated “Islamic Bloc” have won most seats on its student council over the past two years. Days after Hamas slaughtered and kidnapped hundreds of Israeli civilians, Birzeit University’s Union of Professors and Employees said:

    “2023 will be recorded historically as the year that Palestinians stood boldly in the face of colonial fascism and screamed in defense of their homes, humanity, and lives.”

    Brown is not the only top school getting funds from Palestinian organizations, or with ties to Birzeit. According to federal disclosures, Harvard University received $1.6 million from entities within the “State of Palestine.” Harvard’s grants were not restricted – so federal records have no description of how funds were to be spent. Harvard, unhelpfully, refused to comment.

    Harvard’s activities with Birzeit University are not related to the $1.6 million foreign gift, but they still raise questions about Birzeit’s ideology impacting Harvard students. One project, through Harvard’s famous François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, works with Birzeit University to use:

    “a decolonial framework in program development, leadership, and engagement. This framework involves surfacing, examining, and working to dismantle power dynamics and structures that perpetuate inequities in knowledge production and dissemination between Global North and Global South institutions.” 

    A member of Palestine program’s leadership team provides a prime example of how anti-American and anti-Israel sentiment flourish under the umbrella of “decolonialism.” …….

    https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/10-million-to-harvard-brown-and-others

    Liked by 1 person

  16. EXCERPT: “A movement to restore the names of Confederate military leaders on schools is garnering traction in a Virginia county, with the school board set to vote on the matter this week amid fierce opposition from minority groups.

    Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby-Lee Elementary School were renamed Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School after the Shenandoah County School Board passed a resolution in 2020 that condemned racism and affirmed the creation of an “inclusive environment.”

    The resolution passed following the murder of George Floyd, a black man whose death at the hands of police sparked a summer of protests fueled by the Black Lives Matter movement.

    The schools, located in Quicksburg, officially started to go by their new names by the fall 2021 school year following about $305,000 in expenses to update things such as sports uniforms and building signs, The Northern Virginia Daily reported at the time….”

    https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/education/movement-restore-confederate-names-schools-garners-traction-0

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Just The News: “Arizona GOP Senate candidate Sheriff Mark Lamb slammed his primary opponent Kari Lake, saying that she doesn’t have experience to run for the seat. 

    “One person doesn’t have any experience … really just in the media,” Lamb said on the “Furthermore with Amanda Head” podcast. “Then I come to the table. I’ve had eight years experience politically. I’ve run two successful elections. I’ve been in the legislature, but I’ve also been active in managing a budget of over $60 million [and] I’ve balanced that budget.”

    Lamb is the sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona. Lake ran for governor of Arizona in 2022 and lost to current Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and contested the results of the election, arguing that thousands of Republican voters were disenfranchised on Election Day.

    “While we may have similar views on things and conservative ideas, I am a lifelong conservative,” Lamb said. “I’ve never changed. I’ve never been a Democrat. I’ve never given a dollar to a Democrat. I have been a lifelong conservative.”

    Lake faced backlash from some conservatives when it was revealed she registered to vote as a Democrat in 2008. She said it was due to the endless wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. She re-registered as a Republican in 2012, according to local news.

    “My conservative values are deep,” Lamb said. “They’re lifelong. They’re unwavering. I don’t change. I don’t flip flop. I don’t go out and say what you want just so that I can get your vote. I’m a man who believes in what I believe in, but I’m also somebody that’s easy to get along with and I work towards finding solutions to problems, not creating more problems.”

    Lamb said that his experience as a sheriff will prepare him if he gets elected to the U.S. Senate. 

    “When your house is on fire or there’s thieves in your house or there’s a domestic situation, you don’t call a politician. You call a sheriff,” Lamb said. “Why? Because we’re trained in experience and restoring balance and order to chaos. We’re expected to show up within minutes and start to restore balance and order.” 

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Same thing will probably happen – no vote in the Senate!

    Just The News: “The House of Representatives passed the “Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act” on Tuesday, with all Republicans approving the legislation, along with seven Democrats.

    The bill, which was introduced by Arizona Republican Rep. Debbie Lesko, “modifies the process by which the Department of Energy (DOE) amends, revokes, or implements energy conservation standards for certain consumer products (other than automobiles), such as household appliances,” according to an official summary of the legislation.

    The legislation was introduced after the Biden Administration’s Energy Department proposed a rule that would have led to a ban on the sale of about half of the gas stoves currently on the market.

    “My constituents in the north and northwest valley of Maricopa County, Arizona, do not want this government interference in their homes and lives,” Lesko told reporters on Tuesday, per Fox News. “I know that millions of Americans around the country feel the same way.”

    Lesko said she was “saddened” that the bill was necessary in a statement, and slammed the Biden administration for imposing new regulations on common appliances. The bill, if passed by the Senate, would force the DOE to consider the cost-effectiveness of new policies, such as how updates affecting home appliances would hit low-income families.

    “No government bureaucrat should ever scheme to take away Americans’ appliances in the name of a radical environmental agenda,” Lesko added.

    The House previously passed Lesko’s “Save Our Gas Stoves Act ” last year, which attempted to block the DOE from implementing a proposed efficiency standard for gas cooking products, but it never received a vote in the Democrat-led Senate.” 

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I used to have quite a collection of shoes; now I have only one pair of black dress shoes w/2″ block heels, 3-4 pr. of comfy sneaker-style, 4-5 pr. of boots. The western boots have only been worn a couple of times – still essentially brand new! LOL – all of my sexy do-me shoes I gave to my GD, Ashley.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. yeah…i have my waterproof boots (rode those while we did our motorcycle trips–now i wear them in the snow. and hubby bought me muck boots so i can go into the pond and try to pull out some cattails

          Liked by 2 people

  21. Thank you for this post, Pat. Coincidentally, your update on the panthers reminded me of a blog, “Geezers”, started but haven’t finished about mercury, a heavy metal and element used in manufacturing, specifically in the process of separating the ions of sodium and chloride. Mercury was reputed to be found in the waters around Flint, Michigan, in the St. Clair River between Detriot and Ontario, Canada. It was also associated with a labor strike, a sit-down strike at GM, in 1936-7 that prevented GM from hiring scabs. Several years ago, I researched toxins in the Savannah river dredge, in anticipation of the harbor deepening project and disposal of dredge materials on neighboring marshland.
    Mercury has been detected, here, too, in various animals, like racoons. Heavy metals do sink, and water flows downhill. Common sense tells us that concentrations of these materials will be toxic to life forms all the way up the food chain.

    Liked by 3 people

      1. No, but I’ve been hearing coyotes over the past couple of years, for the first time. We have a plethora of ground squirrels this year, all animals that like hanging out in trees and climbing on roofs. Found a huge black snake in the coop the other day, maybe there for the rats, also prevalent.

        Liked by 2 people

          1. This one had no rattles, so he wasn’t a rattler, but he was about six feet long. I know because Iured him into one of my emtpy nesting boxes to let him go outside. Once outside he tried to get away, under the building, and Tweety ran to him to get a better look, I guess, and he looked like he was charging me, but Tweety was standing right behind me, I was screaming at her and trying to hold her back, and the snake took off under the building. I haven’t seen him since. He had tried to bite my hand but only grazed a knuckle. I was going to take a picture, but can’t now find any evidence.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. gees…be careful!!
              we have rattlesnakes here. when we were first building our house–just having the foundation poured, the concrete crew ran over one in our driveway. it was over 6 feet long. we know because one of the crew came back and cut off the rattle.

              Liked by 1 person

              1. I have to be careful. I was raised on a salt water river’s edge, so snakes are common. Most are not poisonous, and most tend to avoid people, but they are scary and very limber. I’ve had to trap and remove them before.

                Like

            2. Most black non-poisonous snakes are not agressive. Striking at you sounds like a water moccasin. They can be very aggressive and temperamental. I think they are moderately poisonous.

              Liked by 1 person

              1. I suspected he was a water moccasin, but I suspect he was more afraid of Tweety and me, because I was yelling at her and trying to stay between the hen and the snake. He only struck at me as I was toting him in the heavy wooden box out of the coop, but I pushed him down with a stick. I think he was just a (very long) black snake. I had seen the end of his tail already so knew he wasn’t a rattler.

                Liked by 2 people

              2. I also look for wide jowls or jaw – venom glands on the side of the head. A very poisonous snake in our parts has neither rattle nor wide jaw – the coral snake. Its colors red and black are separated by yellow which distinguish it from the non-venomous scarlet king snake – https://www.wikihow.com/Tell-the-Difference-Between-a-King-Snake-and-a-Coral-Snake They say if a coral snake bites you on the finger, to immediately cut off the finger is your only hope. I don’t know if a tourniquet would help or if an average hospital ER has or keeps coral snake anti-venom.

                Liked by 2 people

              4. Black on yellow, friendly fellow, or yellow on black, watch out jack, I think. I have studied the pictures but can’t remember the difference. My cat brought a small, similarly marked snake into the house one day, many years ago. Shadow was playing with it. I think it was one of the many variants of a garter or grass snake, but I can’t remember now. The cat and I made it, but the snake didn’t.

                Liked by 2 people

              5. we had a garter snake living under one of the huge stones we arranged to make a sitting area (compete with a park bench). one summer my granddaughter and i were out in the yard going towards the bench and the garter snake crossed our path. she picked up small stones and starting throwing them at it–hitting it squarely on the head every time. before she could pick up more stones, it fled into the woods. i showed her where it lived and she shoved stones into the small hole because “that was not HIS bench”…
                haven’t seen it since

                Liked by 1 person

              7. she kept hitting right on the head–it was hysterical! several years have passed and she is now on the track team (and soccer team). she throws the shot put, discus and javeline. she used to pole vault but she stopped that when she was old enough to try the javeline.

                Like

  23. now he’s NOT allowed to shake his head in court

    Simon Ateba

    @simonatebaBREAKING – SHOCKING – YOUR REACTION: Judge Juan Merchan claimed Trump might have violated his gag order by shaking his head inside the courtroom while Stormy Daniels was testifying. The judge claimed that by shaking his head and reportedly ‘audibly cursing’, Trump might have intimidated the witness. This was said privately to Trump’s lawyer and was not captured loudly during the testimony. READ

    Like

  24. whatever the heck this means…

    Liked by 2 people

  26. ROFL – the slinky on the pole worked perfectly! I will say this – that bitch isn’t stupid! She picked up everything on the ground around the pole first, then looked up and jumped up the pole, landing right underneath the bottom of the slinky, which she bumped with her nose. She promptly slid right back down the pole and hightailed it back across the yard to the shed! Eureka! Success!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  27. I think something was posted earlier about this, wondering what it meant…IOW, Trump is appealing the decision to only remove one of them instead of both of them – at least, that’s what it looks like to me.

    Just The News: “The Georgia Court of Appeals announced Wednesday that it will hear former President Donald Trump’s appeal of an upper court judge’s decision to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in her 2020 election case against Trump and co-defendants. 

    “Upon consideration of the Application for Interlocutory Appeal, it is ordered that it be hereby GRANTED,” the order reads.

    Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over Willis’ case that Trump and the co-defendants tired to change the result of the 2020 election, ruled earlier this year that Willis did not have to step down, despite having had an romantic and financial relationship with her principal deputy on the case, Nathan Wade, which raised concerns of impropriety and unethical conduct. 

    McAfee ruled that either Wade or Willis would have to step down from the case and Wade complied with the order. Trump and his co-defendants immediately moved to appeal his decision, which McAfee granted. 

    Now that the appeals court has taken up the case, it is likely the trial will face further delays as the 2024 election fast approaches.” 

    Liked by 1 person

      1. noun: interlocutor:
        – a person who takes part in a conversation or dialogue.
        – the man in the middle of the line of performers in a minstrel troupe, who acts as the announcer and banters with the end men.
        – a person who questions; interrogator.

        Liked by 1 person

  30. dogsmaw

    dogsmaw

    May 8, 2024 11:10 am

    BIDEN’S AMERICA: Major Corporates Using Migrant Child Labor, Paying Small Fines.

    https://thenationalpulse.com/2024/05/07/bidens-america-major-corporates-using-migrant-child-labor-paying-small-fines/

    Fayette Janitorial Service LLC, a Tennessee-based sanitation company, is paying approximately $650,000 in civil penalties after a federal investigation revealed it was unlawfully employing child migrants. A third of workers at a Perdue Farms meat-processing plant using Fayette’s services were found to be comprised of children. According to the Labor Department, a Tyson Foods plant and service provider, QSI Sanitation, are also being probed.Investigators found at least four minors were working in an Iowa slaughterhouse as of December 12, 2023. The Labour Department also believes 15 children were employed at a Perdue Farms facility in Virginia, and nine more at a Seaboard Triumph Foods facility in Iowa. The hazardous work involved sanitizing machines like head splitters, jaw pullers, and meat bandsaws. A severe injury of a 14-year-old, Marcos Crux, was reported at the Virginia plant.

    Crux, originally from Guatemala, was able to enter the U.S. alone, with his parents’ knowledge, by exploiting the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. He was pulled into a conveyor belt while working a night shift, mangling his left arm.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Steve Sadow
    @stevesadow
    Nathan Wade, former special prosecutor and Fulton County DA Willis’ former lover, says in his ABC News interview their “relationship” ended in “late 2023,” which is in direct contradiction to their in-court testimony that the “relationship” ended before the return of the indictment (August 14, 2023). The “odor of mendacity” grows more pungent.

    Liked by 1 person

  33. Ha! I knew she’d try the nearest tree, which is why I put the pole on the west side of the walkway, away from the ash tree. She climbed waaaaay out to the tip of the highest, farthest branch but it was still a good 20′ away and 15+’ down to jump to the pole. Nope! For the first time in years, I saw a couple of gold finches! If my red bud tree hadn’t died, there would be a bunch of them. I’ve tried putting out thistle feeders for them but that never seemed to be enough.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. it’s very windy here and our is slow but still connecting.

      we are doing a full banana run this afternoon. we got Arby’s coupons in the Penny Saver this past week—can’t remember when we got coupons…LOL

      so we’re doing dinner and grocery shopping

      Liked by 1 person

  36. democrats have no honor

    FTA

    As an alternative to a primary election,
    Illinois law allowed for a party to get its candidates on the ballot for
    General Assembly spots by party slating procedure, along with
    collection of a requisite number of public signatures on nominating
    positions. A number of Republican challengers have been proceeding
    accordingly.

    But over the course of just 30 hours on the
    first days of this month, the Democratic supermajority changed the law
    to retroactively disallow that procedure, thereby barring challengers
    from the November ballot as Republican party candidates.

    The new law almost certainly gives Democrats a win in races in which Republicans did not run a candidate in the primary and could result in dozens of unopposed races.

    Gov. JB signed the new law the day after it was passed, hours after telling reporters
    he didn’t know all the details. He also claimed it was an “ethics”
    bill. “It really does make sure that we don’t have backroom deals to put
    people on the ballot and run as a result of some small group of people
    in a smoke-filled room making the choice,” Pritzker said at an unrelated
    news conference in Bloomington. “So I think to me, more transparency is
    better.” It’s not like Illinois Democrats ever line up their chosen
    candidates to run for the party, right?

    “This is nothing more than a brazen attempt
    by Illinois Democrats to disenfranchise voters and eliminate political
    competition. To hide behind the guise of ‘ethics,’ is laughable,” said
    Sean M. Morrison, Chairman of the Cook County GOP.

    The new law originated
    as a “shell bill” – one on an entirely different subject with a
    different label, before being changed in the 30-hour cram-through.

    Senate Minority Leader John Curran
    (R-Downers Grove) said it right: “This abuse of power that blocks
    candidates from giving voters a choice in free, fair and open elections
    is unprecedented in Illinois’ 205-year history,” Curran said. “Their
    dictator-style tactic of stealing an election before a vote is cast is a
    new low for elective government in this state and undermines the core
    principals of American democracy.”

    Democrats are widely believed to be
    particularly motivated by trying to assist Rep. Katie Stuart
    (D-Edwardsville), who is running for reelection in an increasingly
    Republican district. However, we are told that at least 20 Republicans
    may be knocked out of ballot spots.

    This is all brought to you by the crowd who
    tells us that democracy is at risk in November’s election, headed, in
    Illinois by President Biden’s proxy (as he is routinely called, even by
    his allies), Pritzker.

    At least one Democrat couldn’t ignore the
    hypocrisy. “At this time in our history, when we are watching Republican
    legislatures across the country really attack access to the ballot and
    attack voting rights and fundamentally attack democracy, I just think
    it’s fundamentally wrong for Democrats to participate in something that
    makes it harder for people to run, to run for office, makes it harder
    for folks to engage,” Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) said.

    https://wirepoints.org/brazen-election-interference-illinois-democrats-retroactively-change-law-to-knock-out-republican-challengers-surely-lawsuits-must-follow-wirepoints/

    Liked by 1 person

  41. Liked by 1 person

  42. look at this horseshit! 6 petitions to remove Judge Cannon because she has bias towards President Trump because she was appointed by him? but merchan’s daughter can make millions off his case and he doesn’t have to…

    FTA

    Newsweek has found six petitions calling for Cannon’s removal from the case. One petition, run by Daily Kos, a progressive news site, has almost 102,000 signatures so far. “Federal law requires a judge to step away from a case in which impartiality ‘might reasonably be questioned.’ Given Judge Cannon’s history and previous rulings in Trump’s favor, her impartiality reaches that threshold,” the petition said.

    https://www.newsweek.com/remove-aileen-cannon-petitions-300k-signatures-1898410

    Liked by 2 people

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