125 Interesting Facts About Everything Part 5

Uncategorized 7 Minutes

Fact: The French-language Scrabble World Champion doesn’t speak French

New Zealand native Nigel Richards memorized the entire French Scrabble dictionary, which has 386,000 words, in nine weeks to earn his title. He has also won the English World Scrabble Championship three times, the U.S. national championships five times, and the U.K. Open Scrabble tournament six times. This comes 20 years after a 28-year-old Richards first played the game.

Fact: A woman called the police when her ice cream didn’t have enough sprinkles

The West Midlands police in England released a recording of a woman who called 999 (the U.K. version of 911) because there were “bits on one side and none on the other,” she says in the recording. She was even more upset when the ice cream truck man did not want to give her money back.

Fact: Uncle Ben’s rice was air-dropped to World War II troops

German chemist Erich Huzenlaub invented a process of parboiling rice to keep more nutrients in the rice and lessen the cooking time. The “Huzenlaub Process” had another unexpected benefit: It stopped bug infestations. The quick-cook, bug-free rice was a big advantage during World War II, and converted rice (as it was then known) was air-dropped to American and British troops. After the war, the company rebranded itself and became Uncle Ben’s Original Converted Brand Rice, named after one of the company’s best rice suppliers. The product hit grocery store shelves in 1947.

Fact: The British Empire was the largest empire in world history

The British Empire was most powerful in the 1920s, when it controlled 23 percent of the world’s population and approximately 13.7 million square miles of territory—or nearly a quarter of the Earth’s land area, according to a report from Statista.

Fact: South American river turtles talk in their eggs

Turtles don’t have vocal cords, and their ears are internal, so scientists believed that turtles were deaf and didn’t communicate through sounds. But research has found that turtles actually communicate at an extremely low frequency that sounds like “clicks, clucks, and hoots” that can only be heard through a hydrophone (a microphone used underwater). These sounds even come from the egg before the turtle hatches. Researchers hypothesize that this helps all the turtle siblings hatch at once.

Fact: Penicillin was first called “mold juice”

In 1928, bacteriologist Alexander Fleming left a petri dish in his lab while he was on vacation—only to return and find that some liquid around the mold had killed the bacteria in the dish. This became the world’s first antibiotic, but before naming it penicillin, he called it “mold juice.”

Fact: The first stroller was engineered to be pulled by a goat (or animal of similar size)

William Kent, a landscape architect, invented the first stroller for the third Duke of Devonshire in 1733. But upper-class parents were hardly expected to put effort into transporting their children around, so Kent designed his model to be pulled by a small animal, like a goat.

Fact: May 20, 1873, is the “birthday” of blue jeans

According to the Levi Strauss company, this was the day that Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis, the innovators behind the sturdy blue jeans we all love, got a patent on the process of adding metal rivets to men’s denim work pants. The pants were called waist overalls until 1960, when baby boomers began calling them jeans.

Fact: 170-year-old bottles of champagne were found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea

The bottles of bubbly are believed to have been traveling from Germany to Russia during the 1800s when they sank to the bottom of the sea, according to New Scientist. It turns out that the bottom of the sea, where temperatures are between two and four degrees Celsius, is a great place for wine aging. Wine experts sampled the champagne and described it as “sometimes cheesy” with “animal notes” and elements of “wet hair.” Mmm.

Fact: The MGM lion roar is trademarked

At the start of any movie made by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio, the iconic lion roars at the audience. While MGM has gone through several iterations of lion mascots, the sound of the roar is always the same. The company trademarked the “sound mark” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in the 1980s.

Fact: Neil Armstrong’s hair was sold in 2004 for $3,000

The lucky buyer, John Reznikoff, holds the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of hair from historical celebrities, reports NBC. But Armstrong’s lawyers threatened to sue Marx Sizemore, the not-so-lucky barber who cut the former astronaut’s hair; they said he violated an Ohio law that protects the rights of famous people. Sizemore said he wouldn’t pay, and Reznikoff said he wouldn’t give back the hair but that he’d donate $3,000 to charity.

Fact: Irish bars used to be closed on Saint Patrick’s Day

You might associate Saint Patrick’s Day with wearing green and drinking so much you think you actually see leprechauns. But until 1961, there were laws in Ireland that banned bars from opening on March 17. Since the holiday falls during the period of Lent in the heavily Catholic country, the idea of binge-drinking seemed a bit immoral.

Fact: Nikola Tesla hated pearls

The electrical engineer paved the way for current system generators and motors; the way electricity gets transmitted and converted to mechanical power is thanks to his inventions. But despite his patience with scientific experimentation, he apparently had no tolerance for pearls. When his secretary wore pearl jewelry one day, he made her go home.

Fact: Thomas Edison is the reason you love cat videos

After inventing the kinetograph in 1892, Edison was able to record and watch moving images for the first time. He filmed short clips in his studio, some of which feature famous people like Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill. But the real stars of these early videos are the Boxing Cats—adorable cats that he recorded in a boxing ring circa 1894.

Fact: Brad Pitt suffered an ironic injury on a film set

In Troy, based on Homer’s Illiad, Pitt plays the brave (and buff) Greek hero Achilles. Legend has it that Achilles could not be defeated unless hit in his heel. (It’s where we get the term “Achilles’ heel,” meaning a vulnerable point.) While filming an epic battle scene, Pitt ironically hurt his Achilles tendon—an injury that set back the film’s production by two months.

Fact: Pregnancy tests date back to 1350 B.C.E.

According to a document written on ancient papyrus, Egyptian women urinated on wheat and barley seeds to determine if they were pregnant or not, reports the Office of History in the National Institutes of Health. If wheat grew, it predicted a female baby. If barley grew, it predicted a male baby. The woman was not pregnant if nothing grew. Experimenting with this seed theory in 1963 proved it was accurate 70 percent of the time.

Fact: Martin Luther King Jr. got a C in public speaking

The world remembers Dr. King as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, and people often quote his “I Have a Dream” speech, which he delivered in 1963. Yet more than a decade before that legendary speech, while attending Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, he earned a C in public speaking during his first and second term.

Fact: Bees can make colored honey

In France, there’s a biogas plant that manages waste from a Mars chocolate factory, where M&Ms are made. Beekeepers nearby noticed that their bees were making “unnatural shades of green and blue” honey. A spokesperson from the British Beekeepers’ Association theorized that the bees eating the sugary M&M waste caused the colored honey.

Fact: Bananas glow blue under black lights

To the everyday eye under normal conditions, ripe bananas appear yellow due to organic pigments called carotenoids. When bananas ripen, chlorophyll begins to break down. This pigment is the element that makes bananas glow, or fluoresce, under UV lights and appear blue.

Fact: Wimbledon tennis balls are kept at 68 degrees Fahrenheit

The temperature of a tennis ball affects how it bounces. At warmer temperatures, the gas molecules inside the ball expand, making the ball bounce higher. Lower temperatures cause the molecules to shrink and the ball to bounce lower. To make sure the best tennis balls are used, Wimbledon goes through more than 50,000 tennis balls each year.

Fact: Adult cats are lactose intolerant

Like some humans, adult cats don’t have enough of the lactase enzyme to digest lactose from milk, causing them to vomit, have diarrhea, or get gassy. Cats only have enough of that enzyme when they’re born and during the early years of their lives.

Fact: Albert Einstein’s eyeballs are in New York City

They were given to Henry Abrams and preserved in a safety deposit box. Abrams was Einstein’s eye doctor. He received the eyeballs from Thomas Harvey, the man who performed the autopsy on Einstein and illegally took the scientist’s brain for himself.

Fact: The Pope can’t be an organ donor

Pope Benedict XVI was issued an organ donor card in 1970. Once he ascended to the papacy in 2005, the card was invalid, reports the Telegraph. According to the Vatican, the Pope’s entire body must be buried intact because his body belongs to the universal Catholic Church.

Fact: A one-armed player scored the winning goal in the first World Cup

Héctor Castro, who accidentally cut off his right forearm while using an electric saw as a teenager, played on the Uruguay soccer team during the first-ever World Cup in 1930. In the last game between Uruguay and Argentina, Castro scored the winning goal in the last minute of the game. The final score was 4–2, making Uruguay the first country to win the World Cup title.

Fact: The world’s oldest toy is a stick

Think of how versatile a stick is. You can use it to play fetch with your dog, swing it as a bat, or use your imagination to turn it into a light saber. That’s why, in 2008, the National Toy Hall of Fame inducted the stick into its collection of amazing toys as, very possibly, the oldest toy ever.

SOURCE: Reader’s Digest: Elizabeth Yuko

Unknown's avatar

Published by pat frederick

Published

134 thoughts on “125 Interesting Facts About Everything Part 5”

    1. Morning, Pat! Decidedly nipply here this morning – only 47!!! It was foggy when I got up about an hour ago but that has cleared and the sun is shining. Got a few days of hot weather coming, supposedly. Usual with Wheezer this morning.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Morning Filly!

        I was looking at my notifier and saw you posted about owning a quarter cow–we do that–and i thought hmmm…no Good Morning from Filly just this. so i went to the actual thread and here you are–but this os not showing in the notifier.

        so wp is getting weirder and weirder…

        We’re gonna have rain all day i think–but it’s not heavy

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I’ve given up on sports completely – the only sports I watch now is the big 3 horse races. I’m thoroughly disgusted with all of them!

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Just The News: “Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz announced on Friday that he is officially leaving the Democratic Party, but did not state who he would vote for in November’s election.

    Dershowitz, who has been a prominent Democrat for decades but has been critical of the party recently, said he was “disgusted” at the Democratic convention, and cited growing dissatisfaction with the party as the reason for the change.

    “I am no longer a Democrat,” Dershowitz told VINnews. “I am an Independent. I will decide who to vote for in at the last minute based on the totality of the circumstances. I want to see how they deal with Iran, I want to see how they deal with Iran’s attacks on the United States, I want to encourage the current administration to support Israel. So I’m not revealing my vote until maybe November 1. 

    “I need to hear all the information, all the evidence, but I am no longer a member of the Democratic Party,” he added.

    The former lawyer said there were many things that pushed him toward leaving the party over time, but that the biggest thing recently has been the Democrats’ behavior at their convention in Chicago. He said part of the issue was featuring speakers such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who did not represent his views of the party.

    Dershowitz said the party’s trend to the far left means they no longer represent the same values that he believes in, including on matters such as the right to due process and free speech. 

    One area that the former Harvard Law professor has lambasted Democrats and the current Justice Department for is their handling of the prosecution of former President Donald Trump in the hush money case, which he called a “phony conviction,” in June.”

    Liked by 1 person

  7. “Bill Maher Issues a Much-Needed Message to Democrats — Finally, somebody is putting the bullies in their place.”

    The Vigilant Fox, Sep 07, 2024

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “Maher came out swinging Friday night against what he sees as a troubling trend of “mafia” tactics among liberals: ruthlessly assaulting their own kind when they don’t fall in line with the party’s every whim. The latest example is the relentless online attacks on Cheryl Hines, the wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., after he made the bold decision to drop out of the presidential race and endorse Donald Trump.

    Maher described Kennedy’s wife as “the one person in Hollywood who doesn’t have a single enemy.” “Well, now she does,” he lamented, “because she didn’t throw her husband under the bus when her husband made a decision about something which she’s made plain she disagrees with. But that didn’t satisfy the obnoxious posers on the aforementioned far left.”

    Watch: (Video)

    Maher mentioned that thousands of tweets screamed at Cheryl with not-so-nice things like, “How do you live with yourself?” “Do better.” “I can’t even enjoy the episodes of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ you’re in anymore.” But the most notorious tweet of all came from actor Bradley Whitford, who publicly issued this repulsive statement:

    “Hey, Cheryl Hines, way to stay silent while your lunatic husband throws his support behind the adjudicated rapist who brags about stripping women of their fundamental rights. Gutsy. Great example for the kids. Profile in courage.”

    To that, Maher replied, “Yeah, well, you know what I think is not gutsy? Mansplaining to a woman, but of course not to her face, how she should sacrifice her marriage.”

    Broadening his message to the entire left, Maher said, You want to know why I have a bug up my ass about the left more than I used to? It’s shit like this. There’s an ugliness they never used to have. The liberals I grew up respecting—none of them are like this. Going after the wife. Even the mafia doesn’t do that.”

    “There are a lot of people these days who I call liberals in theory. In theory, they hate bullying. Terrible. In practice, their attitude is, ‘It’s not bullying when I stick your head in the toilet,’” Maher mocked. “In theory, liberals are compassionate. In practice, this guy [Whitford] can’t even understand one of the most basic dilemmas common to all humans—that when you’re married, sometimes you have to [put up with] shit.”

    Video: https://vigilantfox.news/p/bill-maher-issues-a-much-needed-message

    Liked by 1 person

  9. “Four Multinational Conglomerates Own the Five Main Plants where 95% of America’s Meat Supply is Processed. And you pay the price!”

    FLCCC Alliance, Sep 07, 2024

    “Wednesday night, special guests Dr. Meryl Nass and Breeauna Sagdal and your host Dr. Kat Lindley discussed the crippling effect of USDA regulations on ranchers and much more.

    EXCERPT: “For many ranchers, due to USDA regulations, their ‘cattle drive’ now means a much longer drive. You could see, in our last webinar, that our special guest, Dr. Meryl Nass was angry. Not for herself, but rather for the ranchers, for whom the evermore prescriptive USDA regulations create hurdle after hurdle to getting their top quality product to your plate. 

    It shouldn’t be so difficult, but it is. The ranchers fight fire, disease, drought, floods and so much more, and worst of all they also have to fight the government.

    Dr. Nass shared, “In the United States, 40 years ago, a bill was passed. It was supposed to make the meat healthier, and safer. It said you couldn’t butcher meat, process and sell it unless there had been a USDA inspector on-site when that cow was butchered in a USDA-approved facility. And so those facilities have been getting fewer and fewer, and farmers and ranchers have had to carry their animals further and further to get to one of these facilities, and sometimes they have to book a spot a year or a year and a half in advance in order to butcher the animal that they’ve raised. So that sounds crazy, but this is how the federal government rules.” 

    As our other special guest, Breeauna Sagdal shared,

    “It is illegal, just let me repeat that again, it is illegal in the United States to sell meat, package, processed of any kind for wholesale export or interstate distribution to grocery stores without that federal stamp.”

    That’s the stranglehold the USDA has on US ranchers. It’s not a level playing field. Not by a long shot.

    There’s light in a legal loophole.

    Though the hurdles seem insurmountable, there is some light. There’s a wonderful loophole, and this is where you come in. “There’s one legal loophole or caveat that’s called the herd-share agreement, or herd share loophole,” Breeauna continued, “and essentially, that’s reserved for the owner of meat. So you’ll have some states that have their own state inspection process, some states who allow people to do what’s called on farm slaughter, and then you have this herd-share agreement.”

    So the question is, how would you like to own a quarter of a cow? Maybe even half? And because you own a share, the processing can happen locally, and all the cash is then kept in the local economy, and best of all you “Shake your rancher’s hand.” That’s the motto of The Beef Initiative, a wonderful organization determined to connect you to your local food system….”

    Wednesday night’s webinar was about the truth of the attack on our food supply, and it was also about not conforming if you possibly can, arming yourself with knowledge about how the system works and then deciding maybe to lose some convenience. In turn,  you get to know exactly where your food is coming from, and you improve the nutritional value of the food on your family table.

    Dr. Kat Lindley, senior fellow, family medicine was our host last night, and she was delighted to share that, “I think the lesson for all of us is that we’re all in it together. And for those of you who are looking into getting your own meat, I know there are some questions. The Beef initiative is how I started, and now, once a week, I get my milk, I get my eggs, I get my chickens, I get my beef from local people, and it’s great because it comes home, I know what my kids are eating. And these are small steps we can do, but we can make a difference because our money talks.”

    Our money does talk. Never forget that! As NC dropped into the chat, it was a great show. Of course, we agree completely. You have to watch….”

    Symposium video: https://covid19criticalcare.com/attack-on-our-food-supply-exposed/

    More links/info: https://flccc.substack.com/p/four-multinational-conglomerates

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Huh….interesting – a look into a possible dystopian future…..

    “September 6th, 2060 Journal Entry – The Russians Are At It Again — The People’s Republic of America will not stand for this” — Jordan Sather, Sep 07, 2024

    “Journal Entry: September 6th, 2060.

    Today was a good day. I didn’t need to work this morning since the Company finally fired up the Gen 5 A.I. robots to do the menial tasks, so I spent my morning walking to the government food office and got my daily ration of Beyond Beef.

    As I was walking there I saw the Sky Screens light up, The U.S. Ministry of Truth is reporting that the Russians are trying to interfere in the U.S. presidential elections. This is the 56th time they’ve done this! It’s insane.

    They say the Russian gave a group of political commentators homing pigeons and these insurrectionists were using these pigeons to deliver memes in support of the Republicans.

    You think they’d tone it down so they could use the GovChips to talk to each other, the chips that the government put into our heads at birth, but some of those extremist folk got censored off of those because they were beaming misinformation thoughts around in public. It’s horrific when they do this, it causes so many people to literally shake.

    No GovChips, sucks for those conspiracy people, I can just think about buying a cricket bar and soy latte for breakfast and an Amazon drone flies right to my doorstep to deliver it. Freakin’ great. Well.. not my doorstep, I live in the 52nd floor of the 34th Smart City Housing Compound in New Shanghai, California. It just comes to my window. I have a nice view of the ocean windmills though.

    Anyway, those Russians just can’t stop meddling in our elections. It’s good that the U.S. Ministry of Elections has such a safe and secure systems, and they work great. When they rolled out their Vote By Thought program on the GovChips, they were able to determine the winner of the election within 15 minutes! It’s not like half a century ago when they used to use those mail ballots. Things would take forever to count. And there’s no way my thoughts can he backed. I’m a free thinker.

    I was told if the Russians do this one more time that President Biden Jr. is going to nuke Moscow, and I believe it, too. Biden Jr. is a strong person. He took so much flak from those political commentators when he went public announcing he was the third illegitimate son of Hunter Biden, and somehow Biden Jr. mounted a political campaign into the White House while on fentanyl! That takes some serious grit. He had so much support from the migrants, too, it was heartwarming. And he gives them so much free stuff for it. Really great how he helps them out.

    You know, I’ve never met a Russian. The Ministry said they were evil people trying to take over the world. It’s probably true, there’s no reason they’d lie to us.

    I’m excited for this election. Can’t wait for Biden. Jr to beat Barron Trump. The Trump family is still in bed with those evil Russians! Ever since Donald. That evil Cheetoh. I have a friend that went to NYU with Barron back in the day. They said he was doing cocaine and banging prostitutes. Or was that Hunter? Oh, I forget.

    Okay, I have to go get ready for my 40th COVID booster appointment, I’m so excited to get my yearly dose of protection. That’s the good news about this week, the bad news is that we’re having a funeral for Jimmy. He’s a good friend. Funny enough, he just got his 40th booster, too.

    I’ll check in again in a few days. Just in case the Russians nuke us or climate change kills everyone I want to make these journals entries are here so in the future everyone knows how great it was in the People’s Republic of America!”

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Funnnie! I get all the names mixed up, too. Who are the good guys? Who are the bad? Which generation are we talking about? What time period or century, past or future? In my childhood, Alger Hiss was the bad guy, the Communist spy in the Federal government under Truman and Eisenhower. The “red scare” era in the US of A. Now I have this nagging deja vu sense that we have seen this act before. Have I been Chipped?

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I was oblivious to everything until I was well into adult-hood – it simply wasn’t a point of discussion in either my birth or adopted families. I never voted until after 9/11 and even then, all I did was follow in my parents’ footsteps and voted republican, whoever it was.

        Liked by 2 people

          1. Someone told me Popeye’s strength came from spinach. He may have influenced entire generations of kids. I always liked vegetables, and I liked spinach with lemon squeezed over it. My sister used to make hollandaise sauce from scratch, which I always liked on various foods, because it had lemon in it and could be used on spinach.

            Liked by 1 person

            1. hubby loves salads and eats them as a mid morning snack if he’s hungry. he puts all sorts of stuff on his–olives, cheese. when i eat a salad, it’s normally lettuce, a little spinach and a sprinkling of nuts. no dressing.

              Liked by 1 person

              1. Then you probably know how much climate varies on the eastern coast. It’s too hot here for lettuce, and birds, squirrels, or bugs eat other garden items before I can get to them. I don’t even attempt to garden, anymore, because I refuse to use poisons that have long half-lives and get into the rivers and ecosystem. So I end up using a lot of packaged stuff and throw away a lot of packaging.

                Liked by 1 person

              2. we usually grow tomatoes and peppers in our garden, every other year i try zucchini. every year chipmunks? mice? squirrels? get thru the chicken wire and nibble on the zucchini to taste them. then decide they’re yucky. lol
                this year i got ginormous zucchini. i tried watermelon but there’s not enough sun for them to grow any bigger than softballs.
                and every year, the raccoons and bird raid the grapes, while the deer eat the leaves.
                we’re removing the fencing around the grapes next spring–it doesn’t keep anything out apparently and i may try pumpkins.

                Liked by 1 person

              3. The animals are hungry. I try to feed them. The grapefruit tree has weathered a lot of changes, but the last banana tree was too big and heavy to survive the last windstorm. Figs get eaten before they ever get ripe, and blueberries disappear at the pink stage. My lime tree, with grafted root stock, died in the last hard freeze. Strawberries grew well in Colorado mountains, but here, they get eaten by ants, birds, or animals, so I gave up. Raccons overturn my potted plants or get on the roof and bat at bird feeders. Then eat the spilled seeds on the deck. I’m only one person, and I am getting old.

                Liked by 1 person

              4. when we moved here and built our home, we knew we were in the middle of the woods and didn’t have aspirations of a great garden. where we have cleared for our home, well and driveway, we get decent sun during the growing season. but we are on the shady side of the mountain–the rattlesnakes are less comfortable here…lol
                but we can grow a few things. we have 2 cherry trees and 2 apple trees and 2 winter pear trees. we’ve been here less than 20 years so the trees are still relatively small and the birds get the cherries and the deer get the rest. one year we lost and entire section of an apple tree because a raccoon tried to climb if for the apples. sigh
                but we enjoy sharing the space with them as long as they remain outside…LOL

                Liked by 1 person

          1. I have no doubt we could be friends! You seem to be very much like my friend, Patty, in MD – I’ve known her since 1990. We lived together for a year in VA. She inherited TX oil $ and now breeds/trains horses and gives riding lessons to HS and college students on a farm she leases. She gave my daughter her first horse and her first riding lessons; when I first met her, she was an elementary school teacher FT and the equines were a PT business. Not long after, she moved FT into the horses/riding/training, etc.

            She is a very unorthodox kind of gal in her own way and we had some pretty exciting fun together, too! LOL

            Liked by 2 people

  12. “An Unsettling ‘Money Pot’ Parallel Between Accused CCP Agent Linda Sun, VP Candidate Tim Walz”

    Adam Molon, Sep 07, 2024

    Caption: A 1994 Nebraska newspaper article detailing Tim Walz’s honeymoon in China. The article describes how Walz deliberately scheduled his wedding to be on the fifth anniversary of the CCP’s Tiananmen Square Massacre. Walz’s then-fiancée, Gwen, is quoted, “He wanted to have a date he’ll always remember.”

    EXCERPT: “The arrest of Linda Sun, a former high-ranking New York state official, on charges of acting as a covert agent for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), reveals a far more insidious threat facing the United States than just one rogue operative.

    The federal indictment against Sun and her husband, Chris Hu, isn’t just about financial crimes, visa fraud, and backdoor dealings with CCP officials. It’s about how deeply the CCP has infiltrated and cultivated political figures in America—figures like Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who has been groomed for decades by Beijing. As Kamala Harris’s running mate in 2024, Walz represents something far more dangerous: the potential of having a CCP-compromised politician a heartbeat away from the presidency.

    Sun’s actions, as detailed in the indictment, are breathtaking in their brazenness. This is a woman who allegedly facilitated CCP officials’ illegal entry into the U.S., conspired to keep the New York governor from attending events, and presented fake gubernatorial proclamations to Chinese consulate officials. Sun’s work for the CCP netted her and her husband millions of dollars in luxury assets, including homes in Long Island and Hawaii, a Ferrari Roma, and various high-end vehicles.

    But make no mistake—Sun is not an isolated case. She is part of a broader strategy by the CCP to plant loyal operatives within key U.S. political institutions. And Minnesota’s Tim Walz appears to be another success story in Beijing’s decades-long game of influence.

    Tim Walz may not be under indictment, but his long and cozy relationship with China raises alarm bells. Over the past 30 years, Walz visited China no fewer than 30 times. He built lucrative business connections with CCP officials while overseeing a company that brought American students to China, all expenses paid by the Chinese government.

    And yet, when confronted about his connections to the CCP, Walz downplays their significance. Just as troubling, Walz has publicly opposed the tough-on-China policies of President Trump, opting instead to treat Beijing as a benign competitor rather than a clear and present threat.

    The parallels between Walz’s cultivation by the CCP and Sun’s covert operations are hard to ignore. According to the indictment, Sun received $47,895 from a China-based bank account labeled as “Payment for Travelling.” Shortly after, she was arranging meetings between New York state officials and the Jiangsu Council for the Promotion of International Trade, a clear CCP front organization.

    Sun wasn’t just an operative for Beijing—she was their key liaison within the New York state government, connecting CCP officials to American policymakers in exchange for money and favors. And it’s precisely this same money-pot approach that the CCP used to court Tim Walz over decades, granting him fellowships, paying for student trips, and ultimately embedding him in their web of influence…..”

    https://peternavarro.substack.com/p/an-unsettling-money-pot-parallel

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Just The News: “House Speaker Mike Johnson on Friday unveiled a continuing resolution that would fund the government through the end of March, as the federal government heads towards a partial shutdown.

    The resolution includes the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which previously passed the House in July. The SAVE act requires voters to prove their citizenship in the United States in order to vote in federal elections.

    Republicans have largely united around the voter ID legislation, but the inclusion of the SAVE act means the resolution is not as likely to pass the Senate, where Democrats have claimed the issue is a nonstarter because illegal immigrants are already not voting in federal elections.

    “Today, House Republicans are taking a critically important step to keep the federal government funded and to secure our federal election process,” Johnson said in a statement after the bill went up, The Hill reported. “Congress has a responsibility to do both, and we must ensure that only American citizens can decide American elections.”

    The continuing resolution is a stopgap effort to keep the government funding at largely the same level for the short term, without having to pass nine appropriation bills by Oct. 1. If passed, Congress would have until March 28 to pass the additional funding bills.” 

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I read where there are TWO bills named the SAVE ACT and one of them actually bestows citizenship to anyone BORN here and their parents…thus giving people who broke our law all sorts of benefits.

      Molly at wolf’s was going to research the 2 bills–they have different numbers–to see what she finds and which gets included. don’t think for a moment, the senate would hesitate to switch them out to pass it.

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Just The News: “A federal judge in Georgia on Thursday temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s proposal to forgive federal student loans for nearly 30 million borrowers after a group of seven state sued.

    According to the ruling from U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall, the seven states that sued the Biden administration have established a valid case that’s likely to prove the Department of Education lacks the constitutional authority to implement the student loan cancellation proposal.

    “Plaintiffs show a substantial likelihood of success on the merits given the rule’s lack of statutory authority,” the judge wrote in the ruling. Missouri was one of the seven GOP-led states that sued the administration over the new plan, estimating that about $73 billion in loans could have been forgiven under the proposal initially with more to follow.

    “The Biden-Harris Administration is dedicated to saddling working Americans with Ivy League debt, even if they have to break the law to do it. Our latest lawsuit challenges their third and weakest attempt to mass-cancel student loans in the dark of night without letting Congress – or the public – know about it. That’s illegal,” said Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in a statement.

    “We successfully halted their first two illegal student loan cancellation schemes; I have no doubt we will secure yet another win to block the third one,” he added.”

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Supposedly not true….all the so-called “fact-checkers” say it’s altered, for what it’s worth.

      “That’s an edited font and a fabricated image,” CNN representative Emily Kuhn said in an email. “It is not something that ever aired on CNN.”

      The image of Waters likely stems from a CNN interview published on YouTube on Oct. 24, 2017, where she can be seen wearing the same clothing and accessories.

      No such text about immigrants or the Supreme Court appears on screen during the interview and Waters does not talk about SCOTUS or immigration.

      VERDICT

      Altered. A screenshot of a CNN interview with U.S. Representative Maxine Waters has been altered.

      This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work.”

      https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/screenshot-maxine-waters-supreme-court-pick-interview-is-altered-2024-02-12/

      Liked by 1 person

  16. Good morning, Everyone. I’m checking in from the rainy, coastal Georgia swamps, atalmost 10:30 edt on Saturday morning. It has been raining, and 71 degrees F, and is due to rain all morning. I noted in the last “fact” that the stick was the earliest toy, but I read somewhere that meso-american cultures used wheels as child’s toys before the “official” invention of the wheel. Maybe the Aztecs or Mayas or Incas. I can’t remember which. The “facts” seemed related.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Interesting….

      Mesoamerican Wheeled Toys

       Robin Heyworth 

      EXCERPT: “Mesoamerican wheeled toys have been something of an enigma since they were first discovered by Desire Charnay in the late 19th century. At first, the discovery was met with scepticism and it wasn’t until controlled excavations at Tres Zapotes in the 1940s revealed two more wheeled figurines that their existence was considered authentic.

      There are around 100 known examples thus far and they vary in construction according to where they were found. Small solid-bodied examples were found around the Veracruz and northern coastal regions, whilst larger hollow-bodied examples have been found in Veracruz, Michoacan, Geurrero and El Salvador. If putting wheels on an animal wasn’t strange enough, the larger type are often flutes or whistles with the posterior or tail being used as a mouthpiece.

      Fig W0352 from the Museo Regional de Antropologia dates from between 300AD and 900AD and doubled as a whistle

      The majority were made by threading an axle through loops formed on each leg, with one between the front legs and another between the hind legs, with a wheel mounted on each end. Another composite type does exist, with the animal mounted on a plinth through which the axles were mounted.

      Both types result in a fairly robust mobile animal on wheels, which most people liken to a child’s toy – although it is very unlikely that they were given to youngsters to play with. The vast majority of wheeled animals are dogs and jaguars, with less common examples including monkeys, deer, armadillos, crocodiles and iguanas. Some were mass produced using molds, although most were made by hand.

      The majority of examples that exist today are thought to have been made in the Early Post Classic Era (900AD-1250AD), though some do come from the earlier Classic Era (200AD-900AD)…..”

      https://uncoveredhistory.com/mesoamerica/wheeled-toys/

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thanks, Ms. Pat. I did use strong, dry shoes to carry Speckles to the big house for breakfast. We had do dodge the raindrops, since it was still raining lightly. Specs was covered by my head. Lucky bird.

        Liked by 1 person

          1. That’s a long story, but Speckles is my last chicken, born in 2011 and raised here from an egg by his surrogate mother, Squiggles. When he was six months old, his father, Squire, ran him away from the other hens, and Specs lost his tail feathers to a fox. I had to keep them apart until Squire died in 2017.
            I’ve received many scratches and scars from chickens, but the worst came from an owl, who clung to my arm while I held my Speckles and tried to protect him from getting taken.

            Liked by 1 person

    3. Pardon my lack of manners, Katharine! Good morning! Clear and sunny here and supposed to stay that way for the next 10 days or so. Really cold, tho – it’s finally up to 63! Don’t float away!!!

      Liked by 2 people

  25. Just The News: “California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday vetoed a bill that would have made illegal immigrants in the state eligible for up to $150,000 in state home loans, which would make it easier for them to buy houses.

    California residents need either a Social Security number or a taxpayer identification number in order to apply for state-backed loans. Undocumented immigrants usually have neither, which makes it difficult for them to secure the money to purchase their own homes. 

    Newsom said his decision to veto the bill was because of funding concerns rather than political implications. The governor has otherwise warned state lawmakers not to try and pass hotly-contested legislation during an election year because it could make the state seem out of touch with the rest of the country, Politico reported.

    “This bill seeks to prohibit the disqualification of applicants from one of California Housing Finance Agency’s (CalHFA) home purchase assistance programs based solely on their immigration status,” Newsom wrote in the veto. “Given the finite funding available for CalHFA programs, expanding program eligibility must be carefully considered within the broader context of the annual state budget to ensure we manage our resources effectively. For this reason, I am unable to sign this bill.”

    Fresno Democratic Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, who introduced the bill, said the legislation was intended to help level the playing field for people in the country illegally by allowing them to apply for the loans.

    “AB 1840 is not a bill about immigrant policies,” Arambula said in a statement last month. “It is not a bill about the housing crisis. We know that no single bill can solve those issues. This is a bill about fairness.”

    The legislation was a response to a federal law that does not let undocumented immigrants apply for state benefits without state laws that make them eligible. 

    Republicans have countered that the legislation would not be fair because so many lawful Americans are already struggling to purchase homes.

    “I have a heart for everybody that’s living in this country,” Southern California Assmbleymember Tom Lackey said. “But there are some people who have not yet found themselves worthy of taxpayer benefits.”

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Let’s not forget the Mexican American war of about 1850, after the California gold rush began. At that time US generals negotiated without advising President Polk, to obtain the western territories that had not been formerly claimed by the US. That’s how Calofornia was acquired, along with the lower southwestern states. Look at a map, Gov. Newsom. The Mexicans may have more rights to California land than the Politicos do. Can they buy houses? Maybe for cash . . .

      Liked by 1 person

        1. They are not the same Mexicans, but we are not the same US-ians. The US and California have loaded many bureaucratic layers to government since 1850. Back then, Mexicans, Chinese, and other foreigners built the US railroad system, in the US bid for labor, which has been extant since before the Revolution. George Washington relied on LaFayette to help fight the French and Indian war, which was coordinated with the Seven Years’ war in Europe. The French and Indians were against Washington and his Continental army and were trading in furs and other pelts, competing with Washington’s forces in the Ohio River Valley.

          Like

          1. Yes, I know – I just don’t see the point of worrying about the past – I have a hard enough time dealing with everyday life now!! LOL

            Liked by 2 people

  27. Coffee can affect the colon in a number of ways, including: 

      Stimulating colon contractions – Coffee contains acids that increase gastrin levels, a hormone that causes involuntary stomach muscle contractions that move the bowels. This effect is seen in both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee. 

     Increasing cholecystokinin release – Coffee may also increase the release of cholecystokinin, a hormone that plays a key role in digestion. 

     Promoting colon health – Coffee contains bioactive components that may promote colon health. These include polyphenols, melanoidins, diterpenes, and caffeine. 

     Reducing risk of colorectal cancer – Some studies have found that drinking coffee may be associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer. For example, one study found that drinking more than four cups of coffee per day was associated with a 32% lower risk of colorectal cancer recurrence. 

    Liked by 1 person

      1. It was my laxative every day when I was working at the racetrack. I drank it black and, let me tell you – racetrack coffee is just as strong as truck stop coffee, if not more so. In the 5 minutes it took to get from the track kitchen to the BR on the backside near my stalls, it was working….

        Liked by 1 person

  29. A Business Insider tally of retail chain brands found as many as 1,401 stores have closed or are set to close across the US in 2024. The number is down considerably from prior years, including last year, when the collapse of Bed Bath & Beyond contributed to a total of more than 2,800 locations shuttering. All of this has happened during Biden’s term in office, where he has said repeatedly that ‘the economy is strong and getting stronger’. Horseshit, Joe…

    • Family Dollar is closing 600 stores
    • CVS is in the final year of its three-year plan to shutter 900 locations. 
    • Foot Locker closed 113 locations
    • Rite Aid is closing another 77 locations after closing 150 last year.
    • Conn’s Home Plus said it will close all of it’s 71 locations.
    • Badcock Home is closing all of there 380 stores.
    • Macy’s will 150 locations over the next three years.
    • Big Lots will close 40 stores this year, after having closed 35 stores last year.

    Liked by 1 person

  30. Betsy jones
    Betsy jones
    September 7, 2024 12:56 pm

    In case not everybody has stumbled upon this joyous news!!!

    President Trump has asked Dr Ben Carson to become his National Faith Chairman.

    Dr Carson has accepted.

    I just knew Almighty God would light the way for Dr Carson so he could best serve the Father and help President Trump in this spiritual war.

    And so He has 🙏🏻

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/09/06/dr-ben-carson-honored-serve-national-faith-chairman-trump/

    Liked by 1 person

  31. “Election Updates- Where the Wild Things Are…with “White Dudes for Harris”

    Robert W Malone MD, MS, Sep 07, 2024

    EXCERPT: “A lot has gone on behind the scenes in the presidential election this week. Some of the stories that were a bit more underground are worth highlighting. To begin….

    The first presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 10, to be held in Philadelphia without an audience. That is three days from now. It will be held at the following time:

    • 6:00 PM Pacific
    • 7:00 PM Mountain
    • 8:00 PM Central
    • 9:00 PM Eastern

    The debate is being hosted by ABC, whose parent company is Walt Disney. David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate.

    • David Muir is the anchor of ABC World News Tonight and co-anchor of ABC News magazine 20/20. He keeps his political beliefs to himself, but he is widely thought to be a Democrat.
    • Linsey Davis is an American broadcast journalist at ABC News, who currently anchors the Sunday edition of World News Tonight and a prime-time streaming program, ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis. Her personal website prominently lists her as a Christian, and her bestselling children’s books deal with topics such as multiracial identity, girl empowerment, and bereavement.

    There are indicators that the MSM is worried about Kamala’s performance.

    According to a recent poll, less than half of Americans know the time and date of the first debate. So far, MSM has not publicized this debate much. I think the reason is that they are afraid of Kamala Harris’ debate performance. The Hill writes:

    To say Harris has problems speaking off the cuff is a major understatement. Whether it’s bad quips, awkward laughs or the many varieties of word salad she serves up, Harris is simply not good on her own. It is telling that she and her team have stonewalled every interview request save one — not to mention that her one post-nomination solo interview included her running mate taking some of the pressure off.

    I have put the debate time and date into my online calendar because, as cringe-worthy as the debate may be, I intend to watch every second of it.Forecasting Data on the Election

    For those who don’t know, Nate Silver sold 538.com to ABC News a few years back. Why is this important? FiveThirtyEight used to be the go-to site for election forecasting. Not so much now.

    538, originally rendered as FiveThirtyEight, is an American website that focused on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. Founder Nate Silver left in 2023, taking the rights to his forecasting model with him to his website Silver Bulletin. 538’s new owner Disney hired G. Elliott Morris to develop a new model. On September 18, 2023, the original website domain at fivethirtyeight.com was closed, and web traffic became redirected to ABC News pages. The logo was replaced, with the name 538 now used instead of FiveThirtyEight.

    Interestingly enough, Nate Silver and Elliot Morris have “feuded” in the past and are now enemies. So Disney’s hiring Morris to develop a new model was indeed a fast ball aimed right at Silver’s private parts. Silver’s predictive forecasting has always included a weighting of polls based on their historical performance. To me, it appears that 538 has now abandoned that model.

    This is important because political operatives, political action committees, and the candidates themselves hire polling companies to conduct polls. These polls are often weighted in favor of the sponsor. For instance, there are reports that before Kennedy suspended his campaign, pollsters would intentionally leave him off of the selection of candidates to choose from. Polls can be influenced in a variety of ways. Some of those ways can be very subtle. For instance, the order of the candidates listed or how favorability ratings are ranked can influence respondent choices.

    The “poll of polls” promoted at sites like Disney’s 538 or Real Clear Politics do not appear to differentiate between polling organizations. The majority of polls that have cropped up overnight seem to originate from left-leaning news organizations are sponsored by the left, or do not provide sponsorship information….”

    https://www.malone.news/p/election-updates-where-the-wild-things

    Liked by 1 person

  32. EXCERPT: “Secretary of State Antony Blinken is signaling that he is checking out and has zero interest in serving under a possible Harris-Walz administration.

    Blinken has been tasked with overseeing U.S. foreign policy for the last three years, a role that has become increasingly demanding amid global wars and rising geopolitical tensions. Blinken indicated on Thursday that he is looking forward to wrapping up his job — as Biden is set to leave office in January — and will not serve in a role alongside Harris….”

    https://dailycaller.com/2024/09/06/antony-blinken-indicates-hes-checked-out-has-no-interest-in-harris-admin/

    Liked by 1 person

  33. “This must be the most absurd ad campaign ever…

    The Democratic National Committee will welcome the start the college football season by trolling Donald Trump and JD Vance with plane banners over the biggest games on Saturday. 

    Banners will fly over the home games at University of Michigan’s Michigan Stadium, the University of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium, Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, and Camp Randall Stadium at the University of Wisconsin. The signs encourage fans to “sack” Trump and Project 2025.

    In the case of Michigan, the DNC will remind fans exactly where JD Vance’s loyalties lie: with arch rival Ohio State.

    “It’s college football Saturday, and fans are ready to sack the competition and beat Project 2025, which would give Trump unprecedented power, allow Trump to ban abortion nationwide, allow the government to monitor pregnancies, and give tax giveaways for billionaires,” DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman said. 

    The best the Democrat party can do is run Harris against Project 2025, developed by the Heritage Foundation, which Trump has vehemently denied having anything to do with. Why don’t they try picking some real issues?”

    Liked by 1 person

  39. SMH – Imgur is a royal PITA!!! I finally got these 2 pics to load, still trying to import one of the other ROS bush.

    My back patio w/Clematis & Climbing Rose on the left, Rose of Sharon bush in the foreground.

    Yeah! It finally loaded!

    Liked by 1 person

          1. It actually does better when you cut it almost to the ground – really. Same concept as the original lilac bush that was here when I moved in. The tree trimming guy suggested doing that and it made a tremendous difference on the number of blooms. The following spring, it was almost as tall as it was originally and the next year it was even bigger.

            Liked by 1 person

  43. Post
    Conversation
    Laura Loomer
    @LauraLoomer
    EXCLUSIVE:

    🚨🚨🚨👇🏻

    @KamalaHarris
    ’s Presidential campaign STAGED a fake emotional encounter with a woman on camera today at an event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that the campaign called “organic” and “spur of the moment” but I have uncovered the fact that the venue is actually an anti-Republican Spice Company @PenzeysSpices
    called Penzey’s Spices that explicitly says on their company website that “Republicans are racist” and they don’t like or feel inclined to welcome Republicans or Trump supporters at their business!

    Kamala Harris gave business to a company that hold sales called “Republicans are Racist weekends”. She attended their store during their “Republicans are Racist weekend”.

    Today, @KamalaHarris
    pretended to have an emotional encounter with a woman who was pretending to cry on Kamala Harris’s shoulder. Her campaign said Kamala was visiting a random spice shop and just happened to capture the moment on camera.

    🚨EXPOSED🚨

    However, upon further research I have discovered that Penzey’s Spice shop is an openly ANTI TRUMP AND ANTI REPUBLICAN business that caters to non-Conservative clientele.

    Kamala’s campaign wants you to think that the woman who pretended to cry on her shoulder was a regular random woman, but Penzey’s makes it very clear they only want Democrat clients.

    See receipts below 👇🏻

    On their website, Penzey’s Spices has an entire section called “About Republicans” in which the company explains why it’s their company policy to hate Republicans who they call “racist” on their company site.

    On the “About Republicans” page on their official website, Penzey’s Spices says, “Going forward we would still be glad to have you as customers, but we’re done pretending the Republican Party’s embrace of cruelty, racism, Covid lies, climate change denial, and threats to democracy are anything other than the risks they legitimately are. If you need us to pretend you are not creating the hurt you are creating in order for you to continue to be our customer, I’m sad to say you might be happier elsewhere.”

    This company openly hates and discriminates against Republicans and Trump supporters, and makes it very clear Republicans aren’t wanted in their stores. There are 49 Penzey’s stores across the country. The one Kamala visited was in Pittsburgh, but the company is based out of Wisconsin.

    Social media posts from the company below that I have uncovered show that they are anti Trump, pro Biden and pro @KamalaHarris
    .

    According to FEC Records, Bill Penzey has given $111,200 to Biden for President and the Biden-Harris Victory fund.

    Adding more evidence to the fact that this was staged, the original posters of the video on X were @IanSams
    and @juliahamelburg
    , both of whom work for @KamalaHarris
    ’s Presidential campaign.

    Ian Sam’s is the Spokesman for @KamalaHarris
    . He reposted the video posted by his colleague Julia Hamelburh and said, “Every American should get to see this clip of Vice President Harris. Retweet so more can”.

    They staged the video and then planted the story to make it seem organic.

    They want you to think this was a random woman out in the public when in reality, this was a staged event at a RADICAL LEFTIST PROGRESSIVE COMPANY whose owner Bill Penzey spent over $700,000 on Facebook ads in support of impeaching President Trump.

    Bill Penzey also sells BLM merchandise in his stores. Kamala Harris is campaigning inside a business that supports Black Lives Matter racists who burned the country down, which further highlights why she’s unfit for office.

    The media wants you to think a random woman cried on Kamala’s shoulder at a random spice shop, but this was all set up.

    Penzey’s is owned by a Democrat donor and the interactions with Kamala today were fake and scripted.

    Liked by 1 person

  44. Jeff Clark
    @JeffClarkUS
    1 — The more I think about how Jack Smith is proceeding against Trump in DC with Judge Chutkan’s blessing, the worse it gets.

    It seems highly likely that Jack Smith got his superseding indictment without bringing in any of the witnesses live, or very few such witnesses, to appear before that new grand jury.

    Instead, he must have used the same tactic he used in the docs case down in Florida of simply reading grand jury transcripts to the new grand jury.

    If a parade of witnesses post July 1 had gone through the Prettyman courthouse in DC, someone would have reported on it, even if Jack Smith got a bunch of MSM types to conveniently avoid watching the courthouse in recent weeks.

    Yet no one noticed a parade of famous witnesses going in and out of the courthouse — from which I deduce that Smith used his transcript reading approach.

    Liked by 1 person

  45. 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.

    Like

Comments are closed.