94 thoughts on “May Puzzles”

  1. Morning All

    rainy again this morning…gees I thought it was April showers, May flowers!

    it’s 50* though so a little warmer than yesterday.

    caught another raccoon last night. when i took the jelly feeder out, i could see it had moved the trap (hubby has it tied to the deck support but there’s slack in the rope). hubby had it under the deck roof int he front but this guy managed to move the entire trap put in the rain. I am not going near it to bring it back under cover.

    Liked by 2 people

        1. Weather here looks good for the next two days – then rain again on Friday an through the weekend. High 89.

          Sally’s caregiver’s 18 year old son has pneumonia, but he went to school anyway to take finals.

          I’m conflicted about whether to go home and check on house, get mail, do the yard and laundry. Maybe today or tomorrow just for the day.

          Liked by 1 person

    2. Good morning, Pat! Rainy day on tap for me, too, altho a bit warmer at 60. We had a rain shower last night, too. Hopefully, this will move thru quickly.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Liked by 1 person

  7. Troublemaker10

    May 15, 2024 2:19 am

    Florida bridges won’t light up for Pride this year

    Excerpt:

    None of the bridges in Florida — including Tampa Bay’s Sunshine Skyway Bridge — will display rainbow lights for Pride this June. Instead they will be lit in red, white and blue from Memorial Day to Labor Day as a part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Freedom Summer.”

    https://watermarkonline.com/2024/05/14/florida-bridges-wont-light-up-for-pride-this-year

    Liked by 1 person

  8. interesting take on the cohen affair. The author believes that cohen pleaded guilty to the 2 counts of campaign violations–EVEN THOUGH THOSE CHARGES WERE NEVER LITIGATED–to (1) avoid all the years in prison he would face for what he was guilty of and (2) by pleading out the election charges, a prosecutor could use him (that guilty plea) to imply to a jury that these ARE real crimes that President Trump was also guilty of.

    article:

    Well, well, well. What in the world does the prosecution of Donald Trump in Manhattan for bookkeeping charges have to do with the DOJ, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and Russia, Russia, Russia? Seems interesting, no? We’re just now beginning to understand a few more things about this Jenga-like prosecution of Donald Trump. 

    Other than the feds, in the form of the Southern District of New York federal prosecutors and the Federal Elections Commission declining to prosecute Trump for his payments to his attorney, we learned Tuesday that Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office wanted a piece of Michael Cohen before he reported to prison in 2018. Indeed, when all the questions are answered, we might discover that it was Mueller’s pitbull, Andrew Weissmann, the FBI, and the DOJ who were responsible for his bizarre plea deal that sparked the idea for this wrong-headed case. 

    You’ll find Weissmann all over MSNBC opining on the Manhattan case and telling the audience there that Trump is guilty… of something in this accounting brouhaha.

    Here’s what happened in court Tuesday during Cohen’s testimony when the prosecutor asked him about it.

    Cohen is testifying that he met with special counsel Robert Mueller’s office several times before reporting to prison. Cohen first met with the special counsel’s office in 2018 before pleading guilty, and he says he was not truthful “because I was still holding onto the loyalty to President Trump.”

    After pleading guilty, Cohen said he testified truthfully in subsequent meetings with Mueller’s team.

    You will recall that Cohen received less time from federal prosecutors for cheating on his income taxes and lying to a bank and then, despite not having anything to do with his fraud case, agreeing to plead guilty to two counts of campaign election violations. As Andy McCarthy noted recently, Cohen pleaded guilty to the campaign violations without those violations ever being litigated. McCarthy noted that these charges were never tested in court.

    He marveled at why someone would plead guilty to these charges when both the feds and the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) declined to bring them because these weren’t campaign expenditures and were not illegal. In 2018, McCarthy made the point that Cohen pleaded guilty to charges that weren’t crimes. Why did Cohen do that? 

    Related:Trump Just Made Huge Point About ‘Unconstitutional’ Gag Order in His NYC Case

    Cohen could have been imprisoned for a long time for all the charges against him. This graph from a DOJ document shows how much time he could have spent behind bars.

    In December 2018, the feds, who happily put all manner of Trump supporters in prison for long stretches, gave Cohen a three-year term. He noted on the stand Tuesday that he’s still on probation. 

    In his testimony, the prosecution was allowed to note that Cohen went to prison for his crimes, including campaign finance violations that weren’t violations of the law. This obviously will telegraph to the jury that these 34 charges in New York must be illegal campaign expenditures. That’s the story the prosecution has been allowed to tell the jury even though they’ve charged only the bookkeeping charges.  

    We don’t know to what extent the disgraced Mueller team had a hand, if any, in the plea bargain deal for fake campaign crimes, but Justice did. Cohen is mentioned in the Mueller Report 75 times. 

    On page 61 of the Mueller report, it discusses things about Trump that have been redacted because to reveal them would “cause harm to an ongoing matter.” It’s not clear what that ongoing matter is. 

    Tuesday, we found out that, without a doubt, there was a conspiracy that was planned to “Get Trump” by any means necessary — even on flimsy legal payments to stop stories from making it into the news cycle. This is what constitutional lawyer Mike Davis believes happened — a criminal conspiracy by all levels of prosecutors. If Trump makes it back into office, he told me on this week’s podcast, he will insist on an investigation and prosecution of the conspiracists. The Article III Project founder has been studying this issue for 22 months. 

    I’m reading James Rosen’s book about former Attorney General John Mitchell for an upcoming Adult in the Room podcast. Here’s a quote I found in Rosen’s “The Strong Man and the Secrets of Watergate” that was right on point about using lawfare to aid the “deep state’s” ability to prosecute anyone of their choosing. Peter Fleming defended Mitchell in the Robert Vesco trial and won him an acquittal — in the middle of Watergate, no less. 

    “One of these days,” Fleming told Judge Gagliardi, “we are going to find that we reach a due process point, where, by the sheer proliferation of charges, a government can force a man either to admit guilt, which he does not feel or to bankrupt himself… The economics of this thing are overwhelming. “

    Call it what you will, but none call it justice. 

    And the tumblers are beginning to fall. Was this the playbook all along?

    https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2024/05/14/guess-who-met-with-the-russia-russia-russia-special-counsel-lawyers-n4929029

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Supreme Court Justices Thomas And Alito Issue Warnings About State Of America

    “In separate remarks at two different events on Friday, Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito issued warnings about the state of affairs in America today, including support for freedom of speech “declining dangerously” and the nation’s capital becoming a “hideous” place where cancel culture runs rampant.

    Justice Thomas spoke at a conference of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Point Clear, Alabama, while Justice Alito delivered a commencement address at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, a Catholic college in Ohio, with both of the conservative-minded judges painting a dark picture—while encouraging action and offering hope.

    At the Alabama event, Justice Thomas was asked to comment by the moderator—U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle—about what it’s like to work “in a world that seems meanspirited.”

    “I think there’s challenges to that,” Justice Thomas said. “We’re in a world and we—certainly my wife and I the last two or three years it’s been—just the nastiness and the lies, it’s just incredible.”

    Justice Thomas has faced heavy fire from Democrats who accuse him of skirting disclosure rules, of corruption in general, and of being too cozy with wealthy Republicans. They have not been able to point to any specific court cases in which the justice has misbehaved. Some activists have even pushed for Justice Thomas’s impeachment.

    By contrast, over 100 former Supreme Court clerks signed an open letter last year defending Justice Thomas’s integrity, calling him a man of “unwavering principle” whose independence is “unshakable.” They called various critical stories that have targeted him as “malicious” and “perpetuating the ugly assumption that the Justice cannot think for himself.”

    “They are part of a larger attack on the Court and its legitimacy as an institution,” the letter also stated. “The picture they paint of the Court and the man for whom we worked bears no resemblance to reality.” — The Epoch Times

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Just The News: “A group of House Republicans introduced a new resolution on Tuesday, that would give former President Donald Trump the Congressional Gold Medal.

    The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor that a civilian can receive from the United States Congress, and is considered the highest civilian honor in the country alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom. They are awarded to individuals who make a lasting impact or contribution to U.S. history and culture.

    The resolution is led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, and co-signed by seven supporters, including Virginia GOP Rep. Bob Good, who endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president in 2024 instead of Trump.

    Congressional Gold Medal resolution

    Luna said the medal would be for Trump’s “exceptional leadership” and his contribution to “strengthening America’s diplomatic relations” during his presidency.

    “President Trump’s fearless leadership reestablished America as a respected and admired global power,” Luna told Fox News. “It is time we recognize a president who put our country first and secured global peace through bold diplomacy. Despite the liberal media’s attempts to spread fear, America and the world were undoubtedly safer under President Donald Trump. One of our duties in Congress is to honor those who have contributed significantly to our nation, and that’s why I’m introducing this legislation.”

    The bill includes a clause that touts “the greatest of President Trump’s foreign policy achievements was that no wars were started while he was in office.”

    The other supporters consist of Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Randy Weber of Texas, and Mike Waltz of Florida. It also supported by GOP Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler.

    The resolution will still need to pass the Republican-led House, and is not likely to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.” 

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Just The News: “Former Republican presidential hopeful and possible Trump vice presidential pick Ben Carson called for an end to no-fault divorce laws in a book released Tuesday.

    Every state currently has no-fault divorce laws, which allows divorces for “irreconcilable differences,” without having to prove any spousal misconduct like abuse or adultery. Several other conservative leaders have also called for an end to the laws, which they claim hurts the children in the families.

    Carson said the current laws gives spouses an easy way to end their marriages without trying to fix the underlying problem.

    “For the sake of families, we should enact legislation to remove or radically reduce incidences of no-fault divorce,” Carson wrote in his new book “The Perilous Fight,” per NBC News. “The reason this matters is that no-fault divorce legally allows marriages to end much more quickly than in previous decades.

    “When there are relatively few legal or financial consequences connected with divorce, it’s natural for people to gravitate toward that option when their marriage hits a rough patch,” he continues. “What those people often don’t consider, however, is the harm — both present and future — inflicted on their children once a divorce is finalized.”

    Supporters of the law cite data that finds the laws reduce suicide among women, and domestic violence. Before the no-fault laws, divorces were rarely granted. The first no-fault law was signed by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan in California in 1969.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson and another potential contender for former President Donald Trump’s vice president, Sen. J.D. Vance, have also expressed support for making divorces harder to obtain.

    Despite the speaker’s and senator’s support, no national movement to ban no-fault divorce laws has taken place. But on the state level, conservatives in Texas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma have called for their states to rescind the divorce laws.” 

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Just The News: “President Joe Biden announced Wednesday on the social media platform X that he won’t participate in the debate sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates but challenged former President Donald Trump to two other debates.

    “Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020,” Biden posted along with a video message. “Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate. Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal.”

    In the video, Biden said the two campaigns could choose dates for the two debates, adding that Trump is “free on Wednesdays,” which is the normal off day for his hush money trial in New York.

    Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon sent a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates on Wednesday to inform them that the president would not take part in its announced debates. She said he would participate in debates that are hosted by news organizations.

    The Trump campaign previously said the dates of the Commission on Presidential Debates sponsored debates were too late, given that early voting will have already started in some states. The Biden campaign has suggested alternate debates in June and September.

    Trump has reportedly accepted the offer. “Anywhere. Anytime. Any place. Let’s see if Joe can make it to the stand-up podium,” he said. “The proposed June and early September dates are fully acceptable to me,” Trump added.”

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Wind can do some really weird things. When I was a child, I remember someone talking about a mini-tornado that swept thru a neighborhood in Norfolk. People had their windows open and the wind picked up a lamp and carried it thru the house, around corners and thru doors, before depositing in another room unbroken. Whether that is factual or not….let’s just say, I wouldn’t be surprised.

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  16. just finished making the sugar cookie dough for roll out cookies. they’re one of Mom’s favorites and i didn’t make them for Christmas because everyone was sick and we didn’t get together. she’ll be surprised.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. oh boy…get your tin foil hat on. speculation and theories about Charles’ portrait are coming out. if you look at it side by side mirror images–it’s wild. then there’s the butterfly–it’s a MONARCH butterfly and that butterfly is now ENDANGERED…

    from NPR:

    Beloved monarch butterflies are now listed as endangered

    Liked by 1 person

  20. Oh, FFS! Now I’ve had to move the jelly feeder to the pole with the slinky! That bitch squirrel did it – chewed thru the aluminum foil edge and tipped the entire feeder sideways! I moved it 5 minutes ago and already a female Oriole has found it – they will adjust easily. We’ve got bright sunshine at the moment, 67, with some clouds to the west – the possible thunderstorm is predicted for later in the day.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. smh…we had a squirrel problem for a while there till the hawks starting working the driveway and scooped them up. now we see one or two. that tree stump where i was putting out the corn/apple blocks in the winter for the deer has attracted a squirrel or two. they are chewing away at the stump itself. hubby thinks the corn/apple flavor got into the bark somehow…they are stripping it. lol

      to each its own…

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I hope that moron who ripped up her diploma gains a lot of attention–in that every personnel manager knows her name and she never gets hired anywhere!

      what a flipping idiot. and i don’t wanna have to pay off her student debt either.

      Liked by 1 person

  30. chinese food growers here are importing chinese pesticides to use on their crops. fda has not approved them

    FTA

    The former federal agent said another new concern from China is its use of Chinese pesticides on American crops.

    “I work closely with many agencies around the country, [and] the Chinese are now using Chinese pesticides. … Chinese pesticides imported from China to spray on their crops,” Maltz said. “Isn’t that a concern? What’s the long term effects of Chinese pesticides? We’re concerned about our own pesticides, on vegetables in plants in America.”

    https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/health/former-dea-official-warns-china-importing-its-own-pesticides-us-and-has

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  33. we may have a rumble in the woods soon! the blue jays have been landing on the railing where the jelly feeder is. they hop over to it and look in but haven’t tried it yet. i suspect if they do, there’s gonna be trouble…lol

    haven’t seen the grosbeak today

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I’ve got plenty of Blue Jays around but they’ve never been interested in the jelly, even when I had an open feeder with a cup of jelly in it. The Robins did but not the Jays. They prefer the black oiled sunflower seeds.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. well there aren’t any seeds out at all…lol.
        one winter we put peanuts in the shell out on the railing for them. they snatched a few…but then the squirrel stole the rest.

        Liked by 1 person

  46. 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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