125 Interesting Facts About Everything Part 2

Entertainment 5 Minutes

Fact: McDonald’s once made bubblegum-flavored broccoli

This crazy McDonald’s fact will have your taste buds crawling. Unsurprisingly, the attempt to get kids to eat healthier didn’t go over well with the child testers, who were “confused by the taste.”

Fact: Some fungi create zombies, then control their minds

The tropical fungus Ophiocordyceps infects ants’ central nervous systems. Once it has been in an insect’s body for nine days, it has complete control over the host’s movements. According to National Geographic, it forces the ant to climb trees, then convulse and fall into the cool, moist soil below, where fungi thrive. Once there, the fungus waits until exactly solar noon to force the ant to bite a leaf and wait for death.

Fact: The first oranges weren’t orange

The original oranges from Southeast Asia were a tangerine-pomelo hybrid, and they were actually green. In fact, oranges in warmer regions, such as Vietnam and Thailand, still stay green through maturity.

Fact: There’s only one letter that doesn’t appear in any U.S. state name

Can you guess the answer to this random fun fact? You’ll find a Z (Arizona), a J (New Jersey), and even two X’s (New Mexico and Texas)—but not a single Q.

Fact: A cow-bison hybrid is called a beefalo

You can even buy its meat in at least 21 states.

Fact: Johnny Appleseed’s fruits weren’t for eating

Yes, there was a real John Chapman who planted thousands of apple trees on U.S. soil. But the apples on those trees were much more bitter than the ones you’d find in the supermarket today. “Johnny Appleseed” didn’t expect his fruits to be eaten whole but rather made into hard apple cider.

Fact: Scotland has 421 words for snow

Yes, 421! Some examples: sneesl (to start raining or snowing); feefle (to swirl); and flinkdrinkin (a light snow).

Fact: Samsung tests phone durability with a butt-shaped robot

People stash their phones in their back pockets all the time, which is why Samsung created a robot shaped like a butt to “sit” on their phones to make sure they can take the pressure. Believe it or not, the robot even wears jeans.

Fact: The Windy City nickname has nothing to do with Chicago’s weather

If you live in Chicago, you might already know this random fact, but we’re betting most other people don’t. Chicago’s nickname was coined by 19th-century journalists who were referring to the fact that its residents were “windbags” and “full of hot air.”

Fact: Peanuts aren’t technically nuts

They’re legumes. According to Merriam-Webster, a nut is only a nut if it’s “a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel.” That means walnuts, almonds, cashews, and pistachios aren’t nuts either. They’re seeds.

Fact: Armadillo shells are bulletproof

In fact, one Texas man was hospitalized when a bullet he shot at an armadillo ricocheted off the animal and hit him in the jaw. That’s a totally true animal tidbit. These animal “facts,” however, are wrong.

Fact: Firefighters use wetting agents to make water wetter

The chemicals reduce the surface tension of plain water so it’s easier to spread and better soaks into objects, which is why it’s known as “wet water.”

Fact: The longest English word is 189,819 letters long

We won’t spell it out here, but the full name for the protein nicknamed titin would take three and a half hours to say out loud. While this is, by far, the longest word in English, the longest word in the Oxford English Dictionary has 45 letters, and the longest made-up word has just 28.

Fact: “Running amok” is a medically recognized mental condition

Considered a culturally bound syndrome, a person “running amok” in Malaysia starts with a period of brooding and then commits a sudden, frenzied mass attack.

Fact: Some octopus species lay 56,000 eggs at a time

On average, a giant Pacific octopus will lay 56,000 eggs at the end of a pregnancy, over the course of about a month, NPR reports. At first, these new babies float through the surrounding water unattached to one another or their mother. But then the mother gathers each egg—which is about the size of a grain of rice—and weaves them into braids, allowing her to keep an eye on everyone at the same time.

Fact: Cats have fewer toes on their back paws

Like most four-legged mammals, cats have five toes on the front, but their back paws only have four toes. Scientists think the four-toed back paws might help them run faster.

Fact: Kleenex tissues were originally intended for gas masks

When there was a cotton shortage during World War I, Kimberly-Clark developed a thin, flat cotton substitute that the army tried to use as a filter in gas masks. The war ended before scientists perfected the material, so the company redeveloped it to be smoother and softer, then marketed Kleenex as facial tissue instead.

Fact: Blue whales eat half a million calories in one mouthful

Just try to wrap your brain around the second part of this animal fact: Those 457,000 calories are more than 240 times the energy the whale uses to scoop those krill into its mouth.

Fact: That tiny pocket in jeans was designed to store pocket watches

The original jeans had only four pockets: that tiny pocket, plus two more on the front and just one in the back.

Fact: Turkeys can blush

When turkeys are scared or excited—like when the males see a female they’re interested in—the pale skin on their head and neck turns bright red, blue, or white. The flap of skin over their beaks, called a snood, also reddens.

Fact: Most Disney characters wear gloves to keep animation simple

Walt Disney might have been the first to put gloves on his characters, as seen in 1929’s The Opry House, starring Mickey Mouse. In addition to being easier to animate, there’s another reason for the gloves: “We didn’t want him to have mouse hands because he was supposed to be more human,” Disney told his biographer in 1957.

Fact: The man with the world’s deepest voice can make sounds humans can’t hear

The man, Tim Storms, can’t even hear the note, which is eight octaves below the lowest G on a piano—but elephants can.

Fact: The current American flag was designed by a high school student

It started as a school project for Bob Heft’s junior-year history class in 1958, and it only earned a B-minus. His design had 50 stars, even though Alaska and Hawaii weren’t states yet; Heft figured the two would earn statehood soon and showed the government his design. After President Dwight D. Eisenhower called to say the design was approved, Heft’s teacher changed his grade to an A.

Fact: Cows don’t have upper front teeth

They do have molars on top, in the back of their mouths, but where you’d expect upper incisors, cows, sheep, and goats have a thick layer of tissue called a dental pad. They use that with their bottom teeth to pull out grass.

Fact: Thanks to 3D printing, NASA can basically email tools to astronauts

Getting new equipment to the Space Station used to take months or years, but the new technology means the tools are ready within hours.

SOURCE: Reader’s Digest: Elizabeth Yuko

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Published by pat frederick

Published

132 thoughts on “125 Interesting Facts About Everything Part 2”

  1. Morning All!
    62* at the moment and the we’ve got some fog rolling up the driveway. the sun is trying to pierce thru it, but we’ll see how successful it will be.
    an oriole was sitting on the railing this morning waiting for the feeder, but not scolding…that was new…LOL

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Morning, Pat! As for the Orioles scolding – the why and when of it baffles me. I had just filled the jelly feeder earlier and a single male was out there screeching his head off at….nothing….no other birds around at all, yet there he sits screaming – maybe warning other males perhaps? He continued screeching in between bites of jelly – I see that behavior frequently.

      Interesting facts….sigh…and there’s that “hybrid” again….oh, well, it is what it is; cats (and dogs) also have dew claws on the front feet/legs that I advocate having removed by a vet for inside cats. It can frequently get hung up on fabric and carpets and cause damage.

      “What is the dewclaw?

      The dewclaw is a rudimentary claw attached to a short digit located on the inside of the cat’s front leg at the wrist. Unlike the other four claws, the dewclaw is non-weight-bearing and doesn’t make contact with the ground.

      Cat paw anatomy

      Because the dewclaw doesn’t contact the ground, it does not naturally wear down and can grow long enough to curl back into the footpad. Senior cats are at increased risk due to inactivity and loss of flexibility.”

      Speaking of cats….a little morning adventure with Wheezer….when I went out to fill the jelly feeder, she was hunkered down a few feet from the doggie door. After filling the feeder, as I came back, I stooped down and reached out to see if she’d let me pet her – nope, but she started rolling around on the ground and showing her belly, the kind of behavior you see when a cat is in heat, trying to entice.

      She still shied away from my hand; shortly after I came inside, she came thru the doggie door. I had the patio door open – Jake is shut in the BR – and after eating a few bites, she slowly came inside, then wandered thru the kitchen, over to the LR, checked behind the TV stand, then went behind the couch.

      At that point, I went to the front door and opened the interior door, but pulled the glass up to cover the screen on the exterior storm door since it’s still a bit chilly – 67, cloudy today and beginning to rain. The noise scared her and she scooted back out to the patio. She has definitely staked her claim.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. TheseTruths

    TheseTruths(@thesetruths)

    Offline

    Wolf

    June 4, 2024 00:35

    Catturd:

    My angel mom and your angel mom, who gave birth to us, gets one day (Mother’s Day) as a day of recognition … and you actually think we’re going to celebrate you for an entire month – like you’re 30x more important than our own mothers ? 😂

    Not a chance in hell.

    Do you have any idea how delusional your narcissism is?

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Liked by 1 person

    1. London England Has A Message

      “Our message to Donald Trump, to the United States and every American who’s watching this. Your election in November is far bigger than your country. Donald Trump is needed in this world to bring back peace. His leadership is needed to save the west. All our countries are being flooded, they are destroying our cultures, they are bringing us down. This is an attack on the west. There’s only one person who can stop it. You have an opportunity in November with this election. Donald Trump” (Thunderous applause, followed by a Trump chant)

      Liked by 1 person

          1. yeah…they are definitely different over there–but he’s had hackers and spiders (like tcth has had) and he has a primo plan…
            I rather like this method though…posting the info in the tweet–because you don’t have to click to go there if you don’t want to.

            Liked by 1 person

  10. Brigitte Gabriel

    @ACTBrigitte

    LaVonte Dell was recently pulled over, writing on his Facebook page: “Yesterday I was pulled over in Westland for my window tint. This stop was nothin like I thought it would be. He got my s—t and was walking back to the car and seen my daughter wasn’t in a car seat. So he asked me to get out and speak with him. He asked why didn’t she have one and I told him all I been thru this year like I barely making it because of these garnishments and I really don’t like asking people for (stuff). Do you know this white police officer told me to follow him to Walmart on Ford road and he purchased my daughter a car seat with his own money. If you would have seen us in Walmart u would have thought we were best friends. It was like night and day. U got me hella tats walkin side by side with a white officer Westland at that. I’ve been calling all day trying to get his name because I was so in shock. I didn’t even look at his name tag. Never judge a book by it’s cover it’s most def is some good guys left. I told him I never met a officer like u. He said I’m just doing my job what good would giving u a ticket do besides putting u further in the hole making it harder on you to come up.” Westward Police Department posted shortly thereafter. “The Westland Police Department would like to express how proud we are of the officer responsible, Officer Joshua Scaglione. We would also like to thank the driver, LaVonte Dell for coming forward and sharing this experience with us. In a world filled with negative stories, the fact that you shared yours has had an unbelievably positive impact on all of us. Thank you.” Credit: Westland Police Department.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Liked by 1 person

  14. Insurrection Barbie

    @DefiyantlyFree

    So let me get this straight, Merrick Garland, the Attorney General of the United States of America handed over the transcript of the President of United States answering questions about the felonies he committed to Congress and when they asked for the audio to back up the transcript, the same AG who is putting members of Trump’s former team in prison for asserting executive privilege asserted executive privilege? And then upon being sued, classified these tapes with the highest classification markings so that no one could get them because he knows he doctored those transcripts when he handed them over to Congress? Did I get that right? And this is not the biggest story in America?

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Apparently not…..

      “Dominion Voting Systems is part-owned by Stephen Owens, who co-runs the private equity firm Staple Street Capital.  Staple Street Capital and Dominion’s management team acquired Dominion in 2018, according to a news release.

      Biden has one sister, Valerie Biden Owens. Though she shares the same surname as Stephen Owens, she is not married to him. Valerie Biden Owens is married to John Owens, the owner of a telemedicine company in Delaware, according to The Washington Post.”

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Valerie needs to verify the memes but, then, we all screw up in that way at some point. We’ve certainly been down that road, me in particular! It’s what started the fight…..

      Liked by 1 person

  19. so hubby went looking for coffee filters in the pantry closet–and comes out with a bag of mini m&ms. what are these for? he asked. i said i was planning on making some cookies at Christmas time–our granddaughter loves them. he looks at me and says…hmmmm I might love them too…when are you going to make them????

    so guess what i’m making this morning? LOL (I never could resist that smile)

    Liked by 1 person

      1. LOL.
        i am not the cookie monster he is–he loves them–especially chocolate chip!
        and my mother, bless her heart, keeps buying huge bags of chocolate chips (I think for him…lol) at her price club and giving them to me.

        Liked by 1 person

  21. EXCERPT: “Free Palestine protestors clashed with members of the LGBTQ+ community in Philadelphia, who were attempting to kick off Pride month Sunday with a parade.

    In one of many videos posted online documenting the incident, a wave of Pride marchers in colorful outfits banging on drums were halted along their parade route by a group of pro-Palestinian members of the LGBTQ+ community.

    Some donning keffiyehs, other donning leather straps and vests, the pro-Palestinian crowd halted the parade route to scream and yell at members of their own community.

    One rainbow flag painted poster read: ‘No Pride in Genocide,’ the implication of which may have been that it is not appropriate to be celebrating Pride month as normal while the conflict in the Middle East still rages….

    The protest was executed by Queers4Palestine, a minority faction within the queer community who have been extremely vocal these last eight months about the intersection of what they believe is the structural oppression of Palestinians and the historic prejudice faced by their community….

    Video: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13486293/Pro-Palestine-protest-Philadelphia-pride-genocide.html

    Liked by 1 person

  22. I have always advocated for this but one week is not long enough to wait after the surgery. It takes longer than that for the testosterone production to cease.

    EXCERPT: “A proposed bill that would enforce surgical castration as opposed to chemical castration for those convicted of rape has advanced in the Louisiana legislature. The bill is now headed to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk to be signed or vetoed.

    Senate Bill 371, sponsored by state Sen. Regina Barrow, a Democrat, would sentence those 17 and older who have been convicted of the rape of a victim under the age of 13 to be physically castrated.

    It passed in the state House 74–24 and in the Senate 29–9.

    “Proposed law further provides that the procedure is contingent upon a determination by a court-appointed medical expert that the defendant is an appropriate candidate for surgery, which determination must be made within 60 days of imposition of sentence,” the bill reads. “Proposed law further provides that when the offender is sentenced to a period of incarceration or confinement, the procedure must be performed no later than one week prior to the release of the offender.”

    The Department of Public Safety and Corrections would oversee the procedure; however, it “will not be performed if not medically appropriate.”

    “Proposed law further provides that if an offender fails to appear or refuses to undergo the procedure, the offender may be charged with failure to comply with the court order and sentenced to imprisonment for between three and five years, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence,” the bill states. — The Epoch Times

    Liked by 1 person

              1. Not with a limp dick….and rape can be committed with objects, too. Personally, I advocate straight to the death penalty for (1) anyone who rapes a child; and (2) repeat offenders.

                Liked by 1 person

          2. From Britannica: “Castration, Removal of the testes. The procedure stops most production of the hormone testosterone. If done before puberty, it prevents the development of functioning adult sex organs. Castration after sexual maturity makes the sex organs shrink and stop functioning, ending sperm formation and sexual interest and behaviour. Livestock and pets are castrated to keep them from reproducing (see sterilization) or to create a more docile animal. In humans, castration has been used for both cultural (see eunuch, castrato) and medical (e.g., for testicular cancer) reasons.”

            Liked by 1 person

  24. Dr Steven Quay

    @quay_dr

    David does a good job highlighting an unknown about the government’s management of the COVID response: How was it that Dr. Fauci was able to quash an existing plan & management for the Fed’s pandemic response, a plan that did not put NIAID in charge, and take control?

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Control shifts to the Federal Department of Health when a national medical emergency is declared.

      Like

  29. interesting
    According to the radical left, a payment to silence someone from making potentially damaging statements to influence the outcome of a presidential election is a serious crime. A felony at that. That’s the entirely hocus-pocus legal theory behind Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against Donald Trump that resulted in a conviction.

    In that case, Barack Obama ought to be charged with a similar crime.

    That’s right, Obama also offered hush money to someone specifically to influence the 2008 election. The media never talked about it, and you can bet they’d have some amusing and laughable explanation for why what Obama did was “different.” But the fact is that Obama has been accused of offering money to his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, to buy his silence during the 2008 presidential election.

    As you may recall, Wright’s inflammatory, anti-American rhetoric was a huge problem for Obama during his first presidential campaign, and he tried to shut Wright up to save his campaign — which the prominent leftist legal scholars of the day call corruptly influencing an election.

    Edward Klein broke the story in the New York Post on May 13, 2012, revealing that Obama’s camp made a hush offer to Wright during the 2008 campaign. The deal involved a hefty sum of $150,000 and was made through an intermediary who was a close friend of Obama’s — and Obama himself even stepped in, urging Wright to keep quiet for the sake of his presidential campaign.

    “Man, the media ate me alive,” Wright told Klein. “After the media went ballistic on me, I received an e-mail offering me money not to preach at all until the November presidential election.”

    “Who sent the e-mail?” Klein asked him.

    “It was from one of Barack’s closest friends.”

    “He offered you money?” Klein asked.

    “Not directly. He sent the offer to one of the members of the church, who sent it to me.”

    “How much money did he offer you?”

    “One hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” Wright told him.

    But Obama himself tried to get involved to seal the deal.

    “Did Obama himself ever make an effort to see you?”

    “Yes,” Wright said. “Barack said he wanted to meet me in secret, in a secure place. And I said, ‘You’re used to coming to my home, you’ve been here countless times, so what’s wrong with coming to my home?’ So we met in the living room of the parsonage of Trinity United Church of Christ, at South Pleasant Avenue right off 95th Street, just Barack and me. I don’t know if he had a wire on him. His security was outside somewhere.

    “And one of the first things Barack said was, ‘I really wish you wouldn’t do any more public speaking until after the November election.’ He knew I had some speaking engagements lined up, and he said, ‘I wish you wouldn’t speak. It’s gonna hurt the campaign if you do that.’

    In light of the Trump trial and verdict, it’s bizarre that Obama sought clandestine meetings in secure locations to facilitate a hush money payment to ensure his presidential campaign wasn’t derailed, yet he’s never faced the wrath of the justice system the way Trump has. And Obama was the one directly involved.

    He is the one who implored Wright to muzzle himself, dangling a $150,000 carrot, facilitated by a close associate who may have also been a donor to his campaign. Although Wright declined the payout, Obama’s actions mirror the very accusations leveled against Trump.

    This bombshell dropped in May 2012, as Obama was running for reelection. Yet the story barely made a ripple outside conservative media and blogs. The same brilliant legal minds who think Trump committed a serious crime weren’t outraged by Obama’s efforts to “corruptly influence an election.”

    If Obama’s actions didn’t warrant criminal charges, why was Trump charged? Either both men broke the law or neither did. Which is it? If Obama violated the law, he should be put on trial and found guilty; otherwise, it only proves that we do have a two-tiered justice system.

    https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2024/06/03/obama-offered-jeremiah-wright-hush-money-during-2008-campaign-n4929574

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Imagine how many women were paid off by the Kennedy family!!!! And a shitload of others have done the same since then! Shall we talk about the Clintons??!!?? Ridiculous on it’s face!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  30. Hmmmm….maybe I should go ahead and order that 2nd case of jelly now….

    “Inflation Predicted to Rise Steeply—on consumer goods in the coming year”

    ROBERT W MALONE MD, MS, JUN 04, 2024

    EXCERPT: “Prepare for a significant surge in inflation this year, particularly around the holiday season. This is a direct result of the anticipated rise in consumer goods prices.

    Yep – you can blame President Biden. Joe Biden announced in May that Washington would enact punitive tariffs of $18 billion on Chinese goods, including electric vehicles, battery parts, and solar cells. In April, Biden also threatened to triple a 7.5% tariff rate on China steel and raise the aluminum tariffs to 25%.

    Exporters from China are front-loading shipments for the holiday season due to worries about US tariff increases, as well as because of the prolonged “Red Sea disruptions.” These exporters are said to be in a near panic over the proposed tariffs as well as the increased shipping rates, according to the SCMP news.

    For instance, The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index, a gauge of container shipping rates, increased 12.6% in the last week.

    Shipping freight rates are said to have increased by over 300% since March, and the “uneven distribution of containers at major ports” worldwide has added to the disruption. Of course, the Baltimore port closure caused severe chaos; I cannot find estimates concerning the disruption and inflationary impact, but that impact is anticipated to continue far into the future.

    But back to the issue of “Red Sea Disruptions” – a topic that seems to be suppressed on the Google-net news site.

    WASHINGTON (AP) — Car factories have idled in Belgium and Germany. Spring fashion lines are delayed at a popular British department store. A Maryland company that makes hospital supplies doesn’t know when to expect parts from Asia.

    Attacks on ships in the Red Sea are delivering another shock to global trade, coming on top of pandemic-related logjams at ports and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

    Houthi rebels in Yemen, seeking to stop Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza, are attacking cargo ships plying the waters connecting Asia with Europe and the United States, forcing traffic away from the Suez Canal and around the tip of Africa. The disruption is causing delays and driving up costs — at a time when the world has yet to vanquish a resurgence of inflation.

    “What’s happened right now is short-term chaos, and chaos leads to increased costs. Every ship that gets rerouted has 10,000 containers on it. It’s a lot of emails and phone calls getting made to replan each of those container journeys.” -Ryan Petersen, CEO of the supply chain management company Flexport….”

    https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/inflation-predicted-to-rise-steeply

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Yep – started doing that years ago when I was focused on the Hummers, before I noticed the Orioles and found out about the grape jelly.

        Liked by 1 person

  32. NY POST – Beaches along the U.S. coast will soon see a surge in visitors now that we’ve officially entered the start of meteorological summer, but there are plenty of dangers lurking that could turn your peaceful day under the warm sun into a nightmare.

    Experts at Simmrin Law recently looked into different criteria, such as hurricane strikes, shark attacks and surf zone fatalities (such as rip currents) to come up with a list of America’s most dangerous beaches. According to that research, all of the top 10 most dangerous beaches in America are in Florida. In fact, Simmrin Law says all of the top 25 most dangerous beaches in the U.S. are located in the Sunshine State except for one – Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

    Liked by 1 person

  34. at least someone is fighting back

    Bessie2003
    June 4, 2024 10:21 am

    Yesterday the Missouri Attorney General was in court in a lawsuit against the current Administration and FJB’s ignoring the recent Supreme Court ruling against forgiving student loan debt.

    Here is the Mo. AG’s website comment on the lawsuit and in it is a link to their actual filing. His twitter/x post gives highlights how the day in court went, which to him was positive, and the court said to expect their ruling soon, in a timely manner.

    https://ago.mo.gov/attorney-general-bailey-files-suit-against-bidens-latest-illegal-student-loan-plan/

    Liked by 1 person

  35. I may have posted some of these before but ICRS these days so…..I doubt Hubby will mind! LOL

    1959 Custom Chevy Fleetside

    DIY Truck Build

    Liked by 1 person

  37. sync
    sync
    June 4, 2024 11:05 am

    Feeding Our Future defense witnesses offer contradicting stories about food distributionDefendant Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff took the stand late Wednesday

    The witnesses were all called to testify by the attorney for Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff, who is one of seven defendants charged in a Shakopee-based scheme to fraudulently get reimbursed $49 million in federal funds by vastly inflating the number of meals served. Prosecutors say they used the reimbursement money to buy luxury cars, houses, jewelry and property overseas — and very little food.

    On Wednesday, jurors also heard from a University of Minnesota professor who talked about how East African immigrants do business in less formal way and often send desperately needed money back to their home country.
    Professor Paul Martin Vaaler, who teaches at the university’s business and law schools, was hired by defense attorneys to share his expertise about diaspora businesses. Vaaler explained why many East Africans create multiple limited liability corporations, hire each other as consultants and wire money overseas. In addition to the seven defendants currently on trial, another 63 have been charged, and most are of Somali ancestry. Eighteen have pleaded guilty.
    
    https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/05/29/feeding-our-future-defense-witnesses-offer-contradicting-stories-about-food-distribution/

    Liked by 1 person

  38. Mark R. Levin

    @marklevinshow

    A good friend, who is a seasoned Supreme Court litigator and all-around outstanding attorney, urges Republican state attorneys general to sue the state of New York for its lawfare against President Trump (I have written about and discussed that President Trump’s lawyers should consider seeking common law writs for reasons I won’t restate here), which would create a second and wholly independent basis for paving a path to the Supreme Court via original jurisdiction. Obviously, one cannot predict what the Supreme Court would do, but they provide the justices with the ability to decide whether to act, which they surely should. These are extraordinarily dangerous times for our republic, which requires smart and experienced appellate lawyers to seek legitimate avenues to the Supreme Court, however rare but nonetheless appropriate and serious, to help protect the Constitution and the Republic. Here is what my friend wrote: THE STATE OF NEW YORK SHOULD BE SUED IN THE SUPREME COURT New York prosecutors have sought and obtained civil and criminal judgments under unique New York laws against Donald Trump in New York courts before New York judges shortly before the Presidential election. Their purpose and the necessary effect of what they have done is to interfere in the forthcoming federal election by persuading voters in “swing states” not to cast ballots for “electors” who would choose Trump to be President. The legal validity of these New York judgments has been challenged, but cannot be determined before the election. “Electors” are the individuals whose commitment and vote under the Constitution’s Twelfth Amendment will determine whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump will be our President from January 2025 until January 2029. They will be selected in all States by the voters’ choice for Biden or Trump in the election to be held on November 5, and will formally cast their votes in the “Electoral College” that will assemble on January 6, 2025. The Supreme Court said in Burroughs v. United States, 290 U.S. 534, (1934) that even though presidential electors are not “officers or agents of the federal government,” they “exercise federal functions under, and discharge duties in virtue of authority conferred by, the Constitution of the United States.” A single State may not deliberately utilize its local laws, invoked by prosecutors, and implemented by judges who affiliate with one national party, to tilt the voting for electors in other States. Because of instant communication attributable to modern technology New York State can deliberately interfere with voting across the country. The Supreme Court in Burroughs quoted with approval the decision in Ex parte Yarbrough, 110 U.S. 651, 657 (1884), that it is proper “to secure this election [of electors] from the influence of violence, of corruption, and of fraud.” What New York has achieved (and what it will accomplish unless the Supreme Court takes prompt remedial action) is to make this and future federal Presidential elections chaotic and unpredictable. It subjects them to aggressive attack on one candidate by a single partisan State choosing to weaponize its local laws and courts. New York’s effort to prejudice the Presidential election is comparable to Colorado’s determination, unanimously vacated by the Supreme Court in Trump v. Anderson, 601 U.S. 100 (2024), to remove one Presidential candidate from its ballot. Colorado purported to invoke a federal constitutional provision, but it was also a one-State effort to interfere with the Presidential election. New York’s conduct is more egregious, will cause more lasting damage, and calls more crucially for a Supreme Court remedy than what Florida’s courts did, and the Court reversed, after the 2000 Presidential election was held, but the vote count in Florida was not completed. Because this year’s election process is ongoing, a more extreme perversion of a fair and uncorrupted choice by voters can be perpetrated by New York’s sentencing decision and by enforcement of the civil judgment. Both would be based entirely on New York’s local laws and will be announced by its partisan local judges to be exploited by instant publicity across the country. States like Texas, Florida, Tennessee, North Dakota, Utah, and others that are strongly Republican could sue New York in an Original Action in the Supreme Court under the provision of federal law that authorizes actions in the Supreme Court of controversies between States (28 U.S.C. 1251(a)). They could seek, as relief, that New York be ordered to vacate the New York judgments against Trump. This relief does not depend on any determination by the Supreme Court that either of the local New York judgments misapplies New York law (which is probable), but because the judgments were designed – and are being invoked – to corrupt the Presidential election in “swing states” like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, among others. If the Court fails to intervene, New York will succeed in unraveling a national electoral process that was set in place with the birth of the Constitution and has peacefully endured through the nation’s most tumultuous and partisan periods. The Court should also lay down a prophylactic rule to protect future Presidential elections from similar interference. It should declare that a State may not, in the year of a Presidential election, initiate any civil or criminal action that is based entirely on that State’s local law in its State courts against a Presidential candidate. The civil and criminal cases against Trump in the New York courts (or in Georgia’s local court) could be pursued and tried (if the prosecutors were still interested) after the election. Such a rule would be critical in the 2028 election. Incumbent President Biden has not been sued or prosecuted in the local courts of deeply Republican States because he has presidential immunity. But if the 2028 election involved no incumbent, the Republican States could do what New York has done to Trump and what future Democratic prosecutors are likely to emulate in their States– prosecute and sue the opposing candidate shortly before election before a judge who will probably have similar political views and secure one or more judgments that can be publicized and may have substantial effect in “swing states.”

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    1. Levin gets soooo many things right (sooo refreshing to see him reference “common law,” which is the system we SHOULD have in the US), I just wish he’d get his head out of his ass about Lyin’ Canadian (and ineligible to serve as P/VP) Ted Cruz!!!

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  42. Ah! Finally, Old Truck Tuesday!!!

    “Old Truck Tuesday, Brockway Trucks

    Based in Cortland, New York. A carriage maker that transitioned to truck making in 1909 and built trucks until purchased by Mack Trucks in 1956 and continued as a separate division until 1977.

    Above two pictures: 1957 Brockway Trucks 260, courtesy Curbside Classic https://www.curbsideclassic.com/
    1919
    1927
    1934

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  49. “Politicians killed in Mexico since the start of 2024… It was one of the worst presidential run ever… 30 candidates dead. 11 candidates kidnapped 77 threatened…”

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  50. “Taj Ma ballz… Bathroom signs at a Indian restaurant in Madrid…”

    “By the way, you can’t use the bathroom without a credit/debit card at Munich Central train station…”

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