Mississippi State Flower: Magnolia

Nature, State Flowers 2 Minutes

Few plants can be considered as quintessentially Southern as the magnolia. Their big, waxy, glossy leaves juxtaposed with heady, fragrant flowers are familiar sights to Southerners. These are favorite trees for Southern yards because of their perfumed blooms, which are always a draw for gardeners, and their variety of selections. Every gardener has their favorite, and we think there’s a magnolia species for every yard. Plant deciduous magnolias in late fall or winter and evergreen magnolias in early spring for blooming throughout spring and summer months.

If you don’t know which to grow, let us help you pick the right magnolia tree for you. Learn more about these Southern favorites below, with different species, hybrids, and selections that thrive across the varied climates of the South. Then read on for information about planting magnolias, establishing them, and tending them in your yard all year round.

Magnolia Tree Care

You can help your newly planted magnolias establish themselves in your yard by preventing soil compaction around the root zone. Try to keep foot traffic around the base of the tree to a minimum. Also, prune only when necessary. Magnolias seldom have serious pest or disease problems, so that shouldn’t affect your tree care. They’re also rarely browsed by deer or other wild garden visitors.

Magnolias thrive in full sun or partial shade with regular water. Ensure your magnolia receives enough water and that it’s planted in well-drained soil. Few magnolias tolerate soggy soil. Sweet bay (M. virginiana) is an exception and can thrive in wet areas.

Light

Magnolia varieties prefer full sun to light shade. In warmer or dry climates, they appreciate some shade in the afternoon.

Soil

These trees grow best in moist, well-drained soil that is slightly acidic, but a range of pH levels offer suitable growing conditions for them. While they can adapt to sandy, loamy, and clay soils, magnolias do not grow well in soils with poor drainage.

Water

Once established, magnolias can be fairly drought-tolerant. For the first three to six months, young magnolia trees need to be watered two or three times per week. After that, the tree will need to be watered weekly until it is established (usually for the first two years of its life.) Give the tree two to three gallons of water for every inch of trunk diameter every time you water.

Gauge the tree’s water needs based on the temperature and rainfall in your area. For instance, if it rains a lot three times in a week, you won’t need to water the tree that week. Additionally, if it’s really hot outside, you may need to water more frequently. Mulching around the base of the tree, but not near the trunk, will help keep water in. Leaves on the tree will begin to droop if you are overwatering.

SOURCE: SOUTHERNLIVING.COM

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Published by pat frederick

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97 thoughts on “Mississippi State Flower: Magnolia”

    1. Morning, Pat! Is it snowing there? The map they showed on Fox says so! 29 here this morning and foggy, with my patio screens on the east coated with freezing fog. Wheezer was waiting but sat looking inside even after I put his food out. He wanted some petting – I went outside and petted him, scratched his head and back but….sure enough, here came the claws – didn’t move fast enough and got a couple of small pinpoint scratches on my hand that I rinsed with peroxide. Typical breeding male activity – they reach out with claws extended to hug their latest conquest close. I miss Little Man – at least I could cuddle with him!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Morning Filly!
        it’s not currently snowing but it must have snowed a little overnight–some scattered snow on the deck. it’s about 25* now and very cloudy.
        you okay? gees..cats ARE finicky!

        Liked by 1 person

  5. long article i know, but it helps explain the Gaetz report and why the doj dropped it.
    entire article
    The last eight years at the Department of Justice have been a disaster for the rule of law. The sprawling intelligence and law enforcement agency ran the Russia collusion hoax, hamstringing President Donald Trump during his entire first term in office.

    It interfered in the 2020 election by falsely telling social media companies that a laptop with incriminating information about the Biden family business was Russian disinformation, and telling them to censor speech and debate about the topic. Under President Joe Biden, the department ran two norm-obliterating politicized prosecutions against Trump in an effort to silence, bankrupt, imprison, and defeat him.

    Instead of rooting out the corruption at the department, most of permanent D.C. did absolutely nothing in response. Yet somehow the chattering class was shocked when Trump nominated loyal foot soldier Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fl., to be attorney general in Trump’s second term and to fix DOJ.

    Gaetz had proven to be one of the most effective advocates against corruption at DOJ and was unwilling to back down in the face of overwhelming public pressure. However, Gaetz does not fit the education or experience profile of many previous attorneys general and has limited experience practicing law.

    Many Americans are sick and tired of elected officials and media pundits doing nothing as DOJ attempted to destroy the country with its abuse of the rule of law. Among the many powerful figures in Washington, D.C. opposed to the Gaetz nomination are some who are attempting to thwart it by releasing a report from the House Ethics Committee that will attempt to tie Gaetz to salacious allegations involving child sex trafficking.

    The report comes years after DOJ dropped its investigation into the same claims on the grounds that the two central witnesses had serious credibility issues. Yet these are the same two central witnesses the House Ethics Committee has relied on for its critical report of Gaetz—the same report it is leaking to compliant reporters as part of a coordinated effort to thwart his nomination as President-elect Donald Trump’s next attorney general.
    A John With a History of False Sex Smears

    The two witnesses have massive credibility problems. The claims arose from Joel Greenberg, “one of the most corrupt Florida politicians of all time,” according to Florida reporter Marc Caputo, who is now with the anti-Trump media outlet The Bulwark.

    Among many things the former Seminole County tax collector admitted to as part of a wide-ranging case for which he is currently serving 11 years in prison was falsely accusing local political opponent Brian Beute of having sex with a minor, similar to the outlandish claim he made against Gaetz. Greenberg also reportedly later attempted to frame his own attorney with pornographic images of children. One New York Times writeup of Greenberg was headlined, “Like the Tiger King Got Elected Tax Collector.“

    According to the Washington Post, Greenberg admitted to “fabricating allegations against a schoolteacher who was running against him to be a tax collector. Greenberg had sent letters to the school falsely claiming the teacher had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student — a similar allegation to the Gaetz case.” U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell, appointed by President Bill Clinton, said Greenberg’s actions against that innocent victim were “downright evil.”
    Too Ridiculous For Even The DOJ

    The politicized employees at DOJ have shown themselves willing to explore novel legal theories and bend federal rules to the breaking point in pursuit of their most reviled political opponents, most notably former and future President Trump. Gaetz has a reputation as one of the most tenacious cross-examiners of DOJ officials from his perch on the House Judiciary Committee.

    Yet even the DOJ was unwilling to exploit Greenberg’s unsubstantiated claims — apart from leaking them to the press to hurt Gaetz’s reputation. They announced their closure of the investigation in 2022.

    The House Ethics Committee, however, decided to pick up the dropped and deflated ball and run with it a full year after DOJ dropped the investigation. The fact that the disgraced Greenberg was cooperating with the House Ethics Committee was shared for publication with The New York Times and other media outlets.

    The news media “should not be laundering smears from people in prison,” a Gaetz spokesman said at the time. Gaetz speculated that the House ethics investigation was punishment for his leading role in the controversial defenestration of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a move that angered many of his Republican colleagues.

    The colorful representative and Trump ally has also won few friends on the Hill by pointing out his colleagues’ suspicious stock trades. Prior to marrying Ginger Luckey in 2021 and settling down, he had a reputation in D.C. for being a partier and dating many women.
    2023 Lawsuit Sheds Light On Accusers

    A little-noticed lawsuit from 2023 gives some insight into Greenberg and two women involved in the scheme against Gaetz. Greenberg alleges one of these women had sex with Gaetz when she was a minor. The other woman is her longtime roommate and friend, two years older, who has reportedly corroborated her friend’s claims.

    The crime spree Greenberg was convicted of included charges related to his ongoing sexual relationship with the 17-year-old. He met her on a site for older men with money and younger women needing money who are prepared to have sex with older men. The practice matches “sugar daddies” with “sugar babies” and is considered a form of prostitution. The woman lied about her age when she registered on the site, and the married Greenberg maintains he was not aware she was a minor when he began having sex with her.

    The lawsuit shows that Greenberg “became insistent” that Gaetz help him obtain a pardon for his various crimes. When he was repeatedly told that wouldn’t happen, Greenberg reportedly said he would seek vengeance on those who refused to help him during his time of need.

    It was at this point that Greenberg began claiming without evidence that Gaetz and a variety of other Republicans and local businessmen were involved in his criminal actions, the lawsuit says. Greenberg was paying the legal bills of Gaetz’s accuser. He allegedly lied about Gaetz to “reduce his own prison sentence,” according to the lawsuit.

    The latter claim was supported by a September letter from Gaetz to the House Ethics Committee. Gaetz revealed a letter from a jailhouse informant who shared a holding cell with Greenberg when Greenberg admitted “making stuff up about” Gaetz as part of a plan to lighten what could have been as much as a 27-year sentence in federal prison. He was eventually sentenced to 11 years for his role in sex trafficking, identity theft, public corruption involving taxpayer money and contracts, stalking, and securing fraudulent federal business loans.

    Two former federal agents interviewed the inmate, who told them Greenberg said the woman Greenberg was convicted of having sex with as a minor “would be willing to adopt Greenberg’s lie in hopes of a future financial benefit.”

    The woman is referenced in news reports and legal documents as “A.B.” A 2023 lawsuit from Chris Dorworth, a former Florida state representative and friend of Gaetz, reveals that Greenberg said A.B. performed deviant acts on the internet for money and “would do whatever he said because he was paying her legal bills.” He even sent a text message to Dorworth confessing he was paying for her legal bills.

    “I’m having to pay for [A.B.] to retain lawyer,” Greenberg wrote in a text to Dorworth. “They contacted her and are wanting her to talk. She doesn’t want to talk to them. Likely Venmo was the link. I need help with this.”

    The lawsuit shows that various people Greenberg spoke to about his problems felt he was trying to ensnare them as having been complicit in his crimes, frequently to their confusion. After speaking with Greenberg’s lawyer, Dorworth texted Greenberg, “I have nothing to do with any of this and think it is incredibly uncool you are trying to lawyer me up to be part of it, Joel. Not. F–king. Cool.”

    The younger woman has gone on to be an “active participant” on OnlyFans and has appeared in pornographic videos under a stage name, according to the lawsuit. News reports claim she told the House Ethics Committee the same information she told the DOJ before it closed the investigation on the grounds she and Greenberg had credibility problems. Judge Presnell referred to the woman as “essentially a prostitute.”

    The DOJ decided that the people making the accusations against Gaetz had such massive credibility problems that they could in no way charge him with any crimes. All the House Ethics Committee has done is revive those same accusations from the same unreliable witnesses.

    As they did with the salacious accusations contained in the Democrat-funded Russia collusion dossier and the Washington Post’s unsubstantiated report against then-federal judge Brett Kavanaugh, the people who run Washington appear not to be concerned about the validity of the accusations so much as the ability to use them to stop a political opponent.

    https://thefederalist.com/2024/11/17/house-probe-into-matt-gaetz-relies-on-witnesses-doj-found-lacked-credibility/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Pat – I still don’t like him – harkens back to when he first started showing up in the news – I didn’t like him because of his close-set small eyes – creepy to me. And as I said before – I never liked rich playboys and there is no argument that’s what he was back then. We’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one! LOL

      Liked by 1 person

      1. oh believe me, i am not saying he didn’t act like a rich playboy type–like don jr is–making questionable choices in women–but that doesn’t make him a sex trafficker or a pedophile. and pretty girls throw themselves at rich guys no matter what their age. the charges against Matt are bullshit imo because he was never allowed to present a defense and the guy making the accusations is in jail for making similar accusations using the same girls i think against someone else.

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Just The News: “American Airlines on Tuesday morning temporarily grounded all flights, blaming a technical issue for disrupting Christmas Eve travel on one of the busiest travel days of the year.

    The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop, then lifted it at about 8 a.m. The airline resumed flights after the FAA lifted the ground stop. 

    “A technical issue is affecting American flights this morning,” an airline spokesperson told CNN before flights resumed. “Our teams are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and we apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”

    Liked by 1 person

  7. EXCERPT: “Child killers, rapists, and a drug kingpin were among the group of death row inmates whose sentences were commuted by President Joe Biden in a Christmastime clemency spree motivated by his belief America must stop using the death penalty. 

    The White House announced on Monday, two days before Christmas, that the president would commute the death sentences of 37 of 40 total federal inmates currently on death row, except for a terrorist and two notorious mass shooters. 

    The 37 instead received adjusted sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The White House said the decision stemmed from Biden’s opposition to the death penalty and aligned with his Justice Department’s moratorium on federal executions beginning in July 2021. 

    “Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” President Biden said in a statement. 

    “But guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level,” he continued. “In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted.” 

    Despite Biden’s feelings about the death penalty, Politico reported that three notorious mass murderers were left unspared: Robert Bowers, who killed 11 at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018; Dylann Roof, perpetrator of the 2015 Mother Emanuel AME Church killings in Charleston, S.C.; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 2013 Boston Marathon bomber. Biden justified withholding the three killers’ commutations on the basis they were “terrorism” or “hate-motivated mass murders.”

    But critics say the victims, and especially children are the real losers of this new clemency spree. The public outcry over the pardon has also drawn considerable attention from lawmakers. Senator John Kennedy, R-La., has posted on X a series of details of the various murderers whose sentences have been commuted by President Biden….”

    https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/bidens-death-row-commutation-spared-child-killers-rapist-and-drug-kingpin

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Winston
    December 24, 2024 8:57 am

    Christmas Eve Nightmare: American Airlines Grounds Flights Nationwide

    The source of the “technical issue” has yet to be revealed.

    Something up with American Airlines systems? Appears no one can board their flights right now! pic.twitter.com/YTg3B2nTie

    — Joshua (@Nextlevel1G) December 24, 2024

    Liked by 1 person

  10. 🦋SALLY Q UPDATE🦋 – CHRISTMAS 🎄 EVE 2024

    OH BOY!  

    As hard as it is to face Sally’s cancer, her entry into Hospice, right at the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years holidays… I’ve been faced with more challenges. I’m spitting mad and praying hard for the Lord to help me…and work out these challenges

    Challenge #1 – Sally’s Dad’s continued relationship with Sue the past and present girlfriend, one of those with whom he was involved while we were married. 

    I have worked with him in Sally’s care. I was the one who sat with him, prayed for him and helped him when he was in the hospital with Covid and suffering from dementia (because our youngest daughter and her husband were also sick with Covid) and was heading for the nursing home on Hospice. 

    He still persists in lies that they are only friends. I tried to be a friend, help him furnish his apartment, move in, drove him to doctor appointments until Sally got sick.

    He asked if the girlfriend could visit Sally on Sunday this week. I said yes on Saturday, but after a sleepless night, quick 2 way trip home to pick up bed patient supplies, after he picked on and criticized me constantly and after she had a difficult day – I blew up! By the time Sunday came, I was at the end of my supply of grace and screamed at him, calling the names of all his girlfriends and said there were probably many more, that I do not know about and called him a ‘fkg jackass.’ 

    Challenge #2 – Sally’s nurse case manager – We hit a hurtful snag with Sally’s Hospice nurse case manager. She’s a blonde buxom young blond thing around 30ish, full of herself. She came on Friday the day after we signed up and was the second nurse after the intake nurse on Thursday. The Chaplain also came on Friday. She told us she would talk with the doctor and he would phone in a Rx. Not sure the doctor ever did phone the pharmacy.

    That very afternoon, the same nurse phoned Sally’s Dad and said they would be sending a nurse to pick up the pain medicine (Tylenol with Codeine) that her Dad had on hand from his fall last December – when he fell off a ladder and broke his cheek bone, and that we had used half tablets when she broke her both femurs last May. She said it was illegal for us to give that medication to our daughter. I called her back and said, ‘Oh no, you won’t be picking up our medicine – since as of right now, we do not have anything to replace it. She said we would have to sign paperwork that we refused to relinquish our controlled substances. 

    She also said they (she and the intake nurse) thought we (who have taken care of Sally for 40 years with this disease, through many hospitalizations, and administered many Rx meds, and her Dad, a retired OB-GYN surgeon, who worked in a methadone clinic after retirement) were confused about medications. I was mad as a wet hen – !!! It felt like an assault and accusation by a nurse who was supposed to be a comfort to our family on the second day of our relationship with this Hospice group.  

    My family, especially youngest daughter and her doctor husband told me they think I’m unreasonable, that Hospice is the authority over Sally – and I should not have objected to their confiscation of our meds. My children, birth and step children have heroized Sally’s Dad and have a low opinion and little time for me for many reasons. They were all on the establishment side of the Covid business, so they think I am stupid, irrational and ill informed. 

    On Saturday – I made a running trip home to pick up and on the way back, I got a call from the Hospice weekend on call nurse. I tried to relate the medication problem briefly and civilly, and she said she would take care of it. Well – we finally got the Hospice’s pain medication – on Monday afternoon! – She had the Rxs changed to the Village Pharmacy which is more convenient for us. She contacted the second doctor, weekend on call to get the prescription phoned in. When we got it, it was the same exact Tylenol+Codeine medication we had been giving Sally for months, judiciously, PRN, in half tablets most of the time, never more than one a day! *&^%$#@! 

    The same Case Manager Nurse called on Sally yesterday afternoon. I told her I thought her threat to confiscate our meds and the accusation of a crime was unnecessary and made me upset and angry. She was very defensive and would not let me finish saying what I wanted to say – she would not pay attention but kept typing on her iPad. She said I was rude to ask for her full attention. She didn’t feel safe discussing anything with me without a second person there, and that the social worker was on her way. She finished her visit, checkup with Sally and left. Before she left, I told her I was offended by the threat to take our meds and was sorry – and she also apologized for offending me and left.  

    After she left, I had a great time of Christian fellowship and sharing with the Social Worker, a lovely lady who works part time at various Hospices around the state, and works in a school system on the east FL coast. 

    Afterward, I thought long and hard about the relationship with Hospice and the various nurses. I am not sure the NCM followed through to get their ‘proper’ meds to us in a timely manner.  

    So I went to his apartment and attempted to talk with her Dad, who said he thinks I just need to forgive her, forget it and go on. He also spent the time I was trying to talk to him typing on his cell phone and not listening.  

    Last night and this morning, I spent time seeking the Lord, praying for the nurse, for Sally’s Dad and girlfriend, for the rest of the family, for Sally and for myself, acknowledging my own sin before our Righteous Judge, Suffering Savior Redeemer and Victorious King.

    PLEASE PRAY FOR US.  I desperately need help. This is a Holy Time as we walk through the valley of death with our daughter. I would like our Hospice relationship to be comforting, not dictatorial or adversarial. 

    My prayer is that, if it be His Will – that Hospice would change our Case Manager to the Weekend On Call Nurse who is a listener, a problem solver and has a level head and empathy. 

    It might be best if we were to make that request – to ask Sally’s Dad to do it, since he is first on the list of guardians attached to Sally’s living will that was made several years ago before he was injured and got covid dementia and ended up with a walker and became unable to do Sally’s hands on care. He is now somewhat forgetful, but not cognitively incapacitated – not as much as Biden.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. oh my GA!

      you are dealing with so much right now! I can’t imagine the strength you possess to endure. I will pray for your continued strength and grace and that the situation resolves itself so that your time is better spent with your daughter now rather than deal with such bureaucratic bs.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Oh, GA – my heart just breaks for you and the position you are in right now. I so wish there was something I could do to help you……this is exactly why I have taken steps to ensure that my life will NOT end that way!!!

      Liked by 2 people

    3. 🦋SALLY Q UPDATE🦋 – HER CONDITION

      Sally has had a good morning!  She had almond, apple pastries and rugelach for breakfast with milk and coffee!  

      I explained to her about pain meds – that she could judiciously using the pain med to prevent pain – one tablet or half tablet every 6 hours – or she could treat the pain PRN.   She asked for a whole pain pill and took it along with her heart and diabetes meds.   She did not ask for her OTC supplements.   So far, the pain med has not made her sleepy.  

      I’m cooking today – a scallop dish that she requested for dinner tonight.   We usually have seafood on Christmas Eve.   Tomorrow, we will have take out from the Village Christmas buffet in her apartment.

      Liked by 1 person

  11. I love Paxton!

    Just The News: “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the National Collegiate Athletics Association for alleged false advertisement, arguing the NCAA bill its women sports events as competition among females when it in fact a “mixed sex event,” because transgender athletes are also allowed to compete. 

    He argues the misrepresentation is in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and that the NCAA, which oversees more than 1,000 colleges and universities nationwide, has violated the act by not disclosing which team members are transgender. 

    Paxton-NCAA DTPA lawsuit.pdf

    The Republican attorney general requested that the court grant a permanent injunction that bans the NCAA from allowing biological males to compete in women’s sporting events in Texas, or involving Texas teams. 

    Paxton said he would also accept a ruling that forces the NCAA to stop its marketing of “co-ed competitions” as women’s events.

    “The NCAA is intentionally and knowingly jeopardizing the safety and wellbeing of women by deceptively changing women’s competitions into co-ed competitions,” Paxton said in a statement. “When people watch a women’s volleyball game, for example, they expect to see women playing against other women – not biological males pretending to be something they are not. Radical ‘gender theory’ has no place in college sports.” 

    The lawsuit is also requesting the NCAA pays a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for all DTPA violations, and any other “relief to which the State may be entitled.”

    Liked by 2 people

  12. Just The News: “The U.S. car companies Ford and General Motors on Monday announced that they each would donating $1 million and a fleet of vehicles to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

    The pledge follows Amazon and Meta Inc. having promised earlier this month to donate $1 million to the same fund. Trump previously raised $106 million for his inauguration and related festivities in 2017, Reuters reported. 

    The Federal Election Commission allows companies to donate to the inaugural fund, but the inaugural committee will need to disclose the donation no later than 90 days after the ceremony, according to Forbes. 

    The donations come as Trump considers tariffs on parts imported from countries like Mexico, Canada, and China, and revoking tax credits on electric vehicles, which would negatively impact both companies. Ford CEO Jim Farley, however, expressed confidence and optimism earlier this month that Trump would be open to hearing about how the tariffs would impact his company.

    “(Given) Ford’s employment profile and importance in the U.S. economy and manufacturing, you can imagine the administration will be very interested in Ford’s point of view,” he said.

    Trump will be sworn into office on January 20.” 

    Liked by 1 person

  13. “Yes, America should absolutely annex Greenland — The annexation of Greenland would be the first major U.S. acquisition in well over a century, and it would positively shape President-elect Trump’s legacy.”

    Jordan Schachtel, Dec 23, 2024

    EXCERPT: “President-elect Trump made quite the buzz over the weekend when he expressed a strong interest in acquiring the Danish-controlled autonomous territory of Greenland, a land that is both immensely resource-rich and strategically a high priority to the interests of all major powers.

    In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump announced the nomination of PayPal co-founder Ken Howery to serve as the next U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, writing: “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.”

    Greenland is incredibly resource-rich, with rare earth mineral deposits valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars, and its geopolitical position is incredibly significant to American interests vis-a-vis our Great Power rivals. Should Greenland fall under the Chinese umbrella, it will have devastating national security implications for the United States.

    Denmark’s hyper-liberal political leadership has sought to preserve Greenland for Gaia, and Copenhagen has essentially cut the territory off from most human contact (other than tourism and the 50,000 or so people who live there) because they have bought into all of the climate hoaxes and DEI narratives of the times.

    The current prime minister of Greenland, a socialist politician named Mute Eged, responded to the Trump post, declaring that Greenland is not for sale. Respectfully, Greenland is autonomous Danish territory, so its sale wouldn’t really even involve the locals, though it would be wise to accomodate their interests and get their eventual consent.

    Don’t be surprised if the Trump Administration reaches out to Copenhagen and starts the very real process of negotiations over the future of Greenland. They can start by leveraging Denmark’s failure to live up to the two-percent defense spending threshold as a NATO member. The United States already maintains one military base in Greenland, known as Pituffik Space Base, which supports critical missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance missions.

    Pituffik Space Base

    It’s been quite a while, but the United States has annexed territory numerous times throughout its history, and the tool of annexation has shaped most of America.

    Here are several key instances:….”

    https://www.dossier.today/p/yes-america-should-absolutely-annex

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Insurrection Barbie
    @DefiyantlyFree
    The people clutching their pearls over Matt Gaetz’s ethics report have not said one word about the child p*rnography on the laptop of the son President of the United States of America. The one that was walking around and advising him in the oval office not too long ago. If you or I had that on our computers, we would be in prison.

    Miss me with a highly partisan report orchestrated by Kevin McCarthy AFTER the DOJ/FBI cleared Gaetz to try and take him out.

    We don’t care.

    Again, we don’t take morality cues from the party of Clinton, Epstein, Weiner, and Biden.

    The people clutching their pearls over Matt Gaetz’s ethics report have not said one word about the child p*rnography on the laptop of the son President of the United States of America. The one that was walking around and advising him in the oval office not too long ago. If you or…

    — Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) December 23, 2024

    Liked by 1 person

  18. “Today, the State Department’s Global Engagement Center is officially set to terminate eight years after it was authorized during the Obama administration.

    The GEC, which almost earned a lifeline under the first CR version, is already scattering its employees to other agencies after congressional subpoenas and lawsuits targeting its funding of entities aiming to thwart alleged disinformation in the U.S., despite the GEC’s mandate to act internationally.

    GEC funded the Global Disinformation Index, as I reported, and was involved with the 2020 Election Integrity Partnership pressuring social media platforms to remove content before the 2020 presidential election.

    As @mtaibbi reported, GEC stayed in close contact w/ Twitter and asked it to remove accounts it believed were linked to foreign adversaries, though were, in many cases, managed by people in the U.S.

    The House Judiciary Committee under @Jim_Jordan unearthed documents showing GEC’s involvement with the Department of Homeland Security’s CISA to create the Election Integrity Partnership with Stanford University.”

    https://twitter.com/gekaminsky/status/1871284790806135209

    https://redstate.com/streiff/2024/12/23/the-state-departments-domestic-censorship-group-goes-out-of-business-at-midnight-but-the-danger-remains-n2183566

    Liked by 1 person

  19. “Thankfully, Some Things Never Change — A few reflections on an extraordinary year, as we give thanks and burn the Yule log”

    Matt Taibbi, Dec 24, 2024

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “There was a fascinating article in Tablet recently by David Samuels, the editor of County Highway (co-founded with America This Week’s Walter Kirn). The article traced the history of an effort beginning in the Obama years at “rewiring the machinery that produced what a brilliant young political theorist named Walter Lippmann once identified, in his 1921 book, as ‘public opinion.’”

    Samuels posited a vast unreported story, in which “manufacturing consent” was re-imagined for the Internet age. A new machinery of leaks, lies, and content suppression let ruling powers generate “rapid-onset political enlightenment” on demand.

    Authorities used digital tools to move ideas about racism or Russiagate or “social distancing” from the fringe to the mainstream in an instant, creating “permission structures” that allowed mush-brained members of the donor class to embrace concepts they first heard minutes ago.

    Panics spread like viruses, with each thought-disease cresting and breaking at its own pace, forcing the uninfected to beat exhausting retreats to “parallel thought-worlds.”

    The major difference between what we just experienced and previous periods of collective madness is that while, say, the Red Scare of the fifties froze America in a conservative delirium, punishing the slightest deviations from a patriotic norm, the recent merger of national security agencies with Madison Avenue and the press stressed instant conformity to radical change.

    It almost didn’t matter what the change was, it just had to be far out. The power to move people off long-held beliefs was the important proof of concept. Hence the weirdness of so much of what we’ve lived through, from “biological sex” or “natural immunity” becoming forbidden science, to liberalism’s overnight rejection of the Bill of Rights.

    I’ll buy what Samuels is selling. What’s more, I bet in twenty or even ten years, a canny cultural historian will give his thesis a catchy nickname that will stick to this just-concluded period (The Great Fever? The Orange Panic?). At least, I hope.

    If you subscribe to this site it’s likely because, like me, you felt the world slipping off its axis and were looking for someone to reassure you you weren’t crazy. We lived through a difficult time together, but the fever finally broke this fall, and the world is now allowed to remark on the Emperor’s lack of clothes. It feels like good news, but what now? Can we go back a normal life? Will it last?

    I think so, for a time. Samuels credits a cast of characters like Donald Trump and Elon Musk and even Benjamin Netanyahu (!) with breaking the spell through sheer stubbornness; the real cause of the turnaround was probably more prosaic. A core reflex in these decades of postmodern insanity was constant rejection of things we thought we knew in favor of New, Improved Beliefs packaged from above.

    But some things don’t change. Until we do away with holidays, little kids will always have the same look on their faces I’ll see tomorrow morning, when mine unwrap their presents. Farts will always be funny, teenagers will always menace cars and have too much sex, NBA players will always travel, and parents bound by love for their children will always find peace growing old together. Fundamental things do apply, as time goes by.

    Mad scientists who think they can redesign human experience are always undone by eternal truths that arrogance won’t allow them to grasp, one being that life isn’t so bad, another that there are some things people will never understand. But that’s the good news. Learning to embrace the unknown is what allows us to be happy, in our handful of turns on the planet.

    Heavy thoughts for Christmas, but I mean it in a good way. I don’t know what’s coming. I do know that for the first time in ages, the exhaustion of managing parallel truths has subsided. Now we just have one crazy world to worry about. Normal feels normal. Christmas feels like Christmas. We’ve won a panic reprieve.

    Happy holidays, everyone. I’m glad we all made it here together.”

    Liked by 1 person

  20. This is one thing that bothers me about Gaetz – it looks suspiciously like he resigned for this very reason – to prevent exposure of his past actions. What other reason did he have to resign so quickly after Trump put his name out there for AG? There was no need for him to resign at that time….🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ now claiming a “lack of jurisdiction as a private citizen???”

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/house-ethics-committee-releases-its-report-into-matt-gaetz-5780871

    EXCERPT: “The House Ethics Committee unveiled its report into the past conduct of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) on Dec. 23 after he filed a lawsuit in federal court to block its release…..”

    “….After resigning from Congress last month following his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump for U.S. attorney general, Gaetz on Dec. 23 filed the lawsuit, which asks the judge to issue an emergency order to block the committee from releasing the report.

    Now that Gaetz has resigned from Congress, he argued in the lawsuit that the House Ethics Committee is reaching beyond its constitutional authority because it lacks jurisdiction over him as a private citizen. His attorneys maintain the report includes “untruthful and defamatory information” that could “significantly damage” Gaetz’s standing and reputation….”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. but he released a statement about his past–owning up to the mistakes he made and admitted, but not to the allegations that he declared false.

      sorry–PDJT was a playboy–so are many men in their youth.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. If you think back, I’ve never liked him – just something about even his appearance sets wrong with me – mostly his eyes; add in his political family and I just don’t like him, even before all this came out. It’s a personal thing….kinda like ConRon but at least Gaetz hasn’t stabbed Trump in the back. Hopefully, he won’t.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. I’m sorry it seems like I’m defending him per se. I’m not. I agree something about him rubs me the wrong way too–kind of like PDJT’s sons…dunno why…their looks?? dunno.

          I just think he’s getting a bad deal here.

          and he has always had PDJT’s back.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Don Jr. is the only one I don’t like. And you’re right – he IS getting a bad deal. 90% of these politicians trying to take him down have done equal or worse!!!

            Liked by 1 person

  21. “Goose and Emu Come to Visit (Often) – It may be “cupboard love” – but we’ll take it!”

    Robert W Malone MD, MS, Dec 24, 2024

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “This is a chilly morning. This morning of Christmas Eve in Virginia. Freezing rain. Slippery. The house and office are still. Gonzo the Goose and Gizmo the Emu are in their usual places outside the back door. Their usual places being the window or door where they can best view us from. Their usual places change as we move from room to room. The imprinting is strong.

    Big bird is again pondering one of the world’s seven wonders – glass. Multiple times each day, he runs his beak up and down the big window, peering into our workspace – wistfully trying to get our attention for more treats. Sometimes, he makes a halfhearted attempt to snap at the glass, which hasn’t worked yet… that mysterious substance – glass gets in the way, each and every time. Glass is there, and it is not there. It is truly a mystery that Big Bird can’t solve.

    (Video)

    Goose understands glass. But Goose understands most things. She understands that although humans are food dispensers, they are irregular and, therefore, unreliable. They must be prompted often – about the need for more dinner. Goose knows that lots of quacking (loudly) usually gets their attention, but those humans can’t hear through glass. So, there is no need to use that tactic once they are in their house.

    Goose knows that some people are easily frightened of Goose but other humans, not so much. Those who are frightened deserve to be so; those who are not easily intimidated tend to be the ones who dispense food. Family, of course, aren’t afraid of goose. But Goose knows that knowing how to scare both people and dogs is essential if one only weighs 10 pounds.

    Goose knows that watchful waiting is eventually rewarded. That making very sad faces is a good tactic to get the human’s attention through the glass. Therefore, when humans are in their house, it is best to just try to look sad. And cold. And hungry. For optimal results, it is preferable to look sad, cold, and hungry all at the same time. The food dispensers need lots of nudging. Goose knows lots of tricksy pysops techniques.

    .The one thing both Goose and Emu know is that humans cook and have very good food. Both Goose and Emu are big foodies. When humans open a food door, it is time to visit

    We are truly blessed, to have these amazing characters in our lives.

    (Video)

    This afternoon, our son and his family, including our two grandchildren, will join us for Christmas Eve. So, there is much to do: the house is a mess, grain needs to be bought, and the outside chores still need to be completed.

    Stay tuned – we may have some big farm news coming our way soon! Have a great evening folks – remember…

    https://www.malone.news/p/goose-and-emu-come-to-visit-often

    Liked by 1 person

  22. so hubby’s boss gave the office staff turkeys for the holidays. I normally make turkey breasts because we don’t like dark meat, but i made this one anyway. the wrapper said 13 pound turkey–bake for 4-4 1/2 hours. I put it in at 8. At 10:30 I opened the oven door to check on it–the timer popped up and it was done. I had the filling mixed and ready to pop in the oven but nothing else was ready or even nearly ready. sigh

    insert three stooges in the kitchen montage here…lol

    hubby is graciously doing the dishes now.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh, bummer! Was it really done thru-and-thru? I’ve learned thru the years not to always trust the pop-up. Hopefully it tasted good anyway; my Mom always had stuffing left over and those would be put in a pan in the oven to bake. That’s always an option. Needless to say, we ate stuffing & turkey for days!!! LOL

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I always use a meat thermometer. I always take my turkey out when it reads 160*. i cover it and let it stand for 10-15 minutes before i cut it. the internal temp always rises to 170-175–the perfect temp for juicy turkey.
        this was at 180 * when i took it out. hubby said it tasted okay–i thought it was dry.

        Liked by 1 person

  23. Peter Bernegger
    @PeterBernegger
    EXCLUSIVE: federal lawsuit filed in Green Bay Wisconsin. You’re not going to believe this…

    The Wis. Election Commission (“WEC”) developed http://MyVote.wi.gov for voters. Where a citizen can register to vote, request an absentee ballot, look up their polling location, etc.

    But WEC never put in any security such as a username and password to prevent unauthorized access. Still to this day.

    Anyone can go to the site above and if you know the person’s name and birthdate (easy to find in seconds) can access another voter’s account.

    Think of that, any websites you go to with personal information, govt. services, credit card usage, banking info, dealing with money etc. has various security levels built into them. But not MyVote!

    You can access another voter’s account and request that person’s absentee ballot be sent anywhere.

    You can change another voter’s address, heck you can change their name!

    And if you used a VPN you’d never get caught, it would be impossible to trace you. So you’re thinking surely WEC has a security system on it right? Nope.

    And who was the project leader at the time to create MyVote? Meagan Wolfe – who has an English degree. She was the former IT director of WEC, with zero computer/cybersecurity experience, training or education. We know this because Mr. Jay Stone took her sworn deposition.

    She is pictured here, giving an interview to CBS 60 Minutes lying to them and the audience saying there was no election fraud in 2020.

    Really Meagan? Answer us then as to why Claire Woodall-Vogg kicked out all the observers between 10:30pm to 11pm on November 3rd, 2020 at Milwaukee’s Central Count. Yet Claire didn’t come out of the Central Count building until 3:06am on November 4?

    And why did Claire prevent the Trump attorneys from seeing the absentee ballot envelopes at the recount? Maybe she was short in the count, or maybe because of the false signatures on the envelopes.

    We’re waiting for your answers Meagan.

    So Meagan Wolfe created MyVote and failed to install the requirement of a username and password. Hint: it was intentional.

    Still till this day, even after it was exposed, you can go on right now and make changes in other voters’ accounts.

    And don’t let off the hook the six Commissioners Ann Jacobs (D), @BobSpindell
    (R) @DonMillis
    (R) Mark Thomsen (D), Carrie Riepl (D) and Marge Bostelmann (R). Each of them is intentionally risking your personal information.

    Bostelmann is the one who got kicked out of the Republican party because she has voted with Democrats so much. Good for you Green Lake County Republican Party!

    So the six Commissioners and Meagan Wolfe are needlessly exposing personal information and risking illegal access to our voter accounts of all 3,891,444 citizens who are currently shown as Active.

    Anyone who is registered to vote in Wisconsin is at risk, is exposed.

    Per the federal court system PACER the federal lawsuit was filed to force WEC and Meagan Wolfe to put security onto the MyVote website. And guess what?

    WEC and Wolfe are now using taxpayer monies to fight against the Plaintiffs! They WANT each of our voting accounts to be wide open to the internet, to the Chinese, to the Iranians, to anyone.

    It is case McCole v Wisconsin Election Commission no. 24-CV-1348 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Green Bay Division. How about helping your neighbors, friends, relatives, spouses, adult children and writing a letter to the Judge in favor of this case for the Plaintiffs?

    125 S Jefferson St #102, Green Bay, WI 54301 is the address of the court. You could point out the Judge’s own voting account is exposed also. So is his wife’s (if he is married) and so are his adult children living in Wisconsin.

    Stand up and fight the corruption of Meagan Wolfe and the corrupt six Commissioners!

    Liked by 1 person

  24. leik

    leik

    December 24, 2024 2:21 pm

    I’m hearing solid rumors that Jamie Raskin is going to go for broke on January 6. They’re going to seek a delay in seating Trump based on a new investigation they want.

    Do not congregate in Washington DC. Make yourselves known in your own nations capital and keep it peaceful.

    — Patrick Byrne (@PatrickByrne) December 24, 2024

    Liked by 1 person

  30. “Penitentes are a snow formation found at high altitudes. They take the form of tall thin blades of hardened snow or ice closely spaced with the blades oriented towards the general direction of the sun. Penitentes can be as tall as a person.”

    Ice Circle

    “The Moeraki Boulders are huge spherical stones that are scattered over the sandy beaches, but they are not like ordinary round boulders that have been shaped by rivers and pounding seas. These boulders are classed as septarian concretions, and were formed in ancient sea floor sediments. They were created by a process similar to the formation of oyster pearls, where layers of material cover a central nucleus or core.”

    Cave of the crystal, Mexico

    Columnar Basalt

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Valley of the Moon, Bolivia

    The Devil’s Bath, New Zealand – This ominous looking pool is located in the thermal reserve of Wai-O-Tapu which is in The Bay of Plenty located in New Zealand. The Devil’s Bath is a pea shade of green and it is caused from many different mineral elements in the water. Devil’s Bath was created from heavy volcanic activity in the region and it is thought to date back approximately 160,000 years. Heated streams run underneath the landscape throughout the area and there are many other amazing sites to see along the way.”

    Liked by 1 person

  37. 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

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