Look Who’s Talking

Entertainment 3 Minutes

Today is John Travolta’s birthday ( born 1954) and I wanted to showcase a favorite John Travolta movie of mine: Look Who’s Talking.  The movie is a romantic comedy with voice overs done by Bruce Willis.

From: Mental Floss:

In 1989’s Look Who’s Talking, Kirstie Alley played Mollie, a single mother whose love life is manipulated by her newborn son Mikey, so she ends up with a cab driver named James, played by John Travolta. The twist to writer-director Amy Heckerling’s movie is that the audience can hear baby Mikey’s inner monologue, voiced by Bruce Willis. The original film spawned two sequels, and influenced a TV show (plus a popular ad campaign).

1 AMY HECKERLING GOT THE IDEA FROM HER DAUGHTER.

The Fast Times at Ridgemont High and future Clueless director noticed her young daughter, Mollie, constantly look around whenever she was propped up in her baby seat. “My husband and I started to put words in her mouth, what she might be thinking based on her expressions,” Heckerling told the Los Angeles Times.

2 A LAWSUIT CLAIMED THAT HECKERLING STOLE THE IDEA.

A $20 million lawsuit alleged that Heckerling stole the idea from a short story called Special Delivery, a science-fiction tale featuring an unborn infant who can talk to its parents. The terms of the eventual settlement weren’t disclosed.

3 THREE STUDIOS PASSED ON THE FILM.

Warner Bros., Disney, and Orion Pictures all passed on the idea before Tri-Star took a shot.

4 OLYMPIA DUKAKIS GOT AN OSCAR PAY RAISE.

Olympia Dukakis was told that she would be paid $50,000 to play Kirstie Alley’s mother if she won an Academy Award for her work as Rose Castorini in Moonstruck. She did.

5 IT WAS SHOT IN VANCOUVER TO SAVE MONEY.

Producer Jonathan D. Krane, who was also John Travolta’s manager, cut the $13 million budget almost in half by moving the film’s production to Vancouver, instead of shooting on location in New York City.

6 KIRSTIE ALLEY FELL FOR JOHN TRAVOLTA IN REAL LIFE.

The actress recently claimed “it took all the power I had” to not run off with her co-star, whom she called the love of her life. Alley was married at the time; Travolta was single.

7 TRAVOLTA GOT SILLY DURING THE ROMANTIC SCENES.

Whenever Alley and Travolta tried to shoot their first kiss, Travolta kept evoking Barbra Streisand singing “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” from Yentl. 

8 JAMES WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN AS A DARKER CHARACTER.

When Travolta came on board, Heckerling changed James. She also added James’ dancing with her new star in mind.

9 ONE SHOT OF THE FETUS TOOK 115 TAKES.

The fetuses were puppets. Twelve puppeteers—some hanging upside down—were required to shoot the scene where Mikey plays with the placenta. The sperm were made of vinyl with tiny fishing weights in front.

10 HECKERLING DIDN’T WANT ALBERT’S HEAD EXPLODING TO LOOK TOO SCARY, LIKE IN SCANNERS.

A fake head was made for George Segal. Weather balloons were stuffed into the fake head’s cheeks.

11 AUDIENCES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES HEAR DIFFERENT BABY VOICES.

Foreign countries had their own celebrities voicing baby Mikey. It was Travolta’s idea.

12. TWO OF MOLLIE’S BLIND DATES HAVE NAMES.

They were credited as Mr. Impatience and Mr. Anal.

13 HECKERLING PUT HER FAMILY TO WORK.

Alley’s father was played by Heckerling’s dad, Louis (who is an accountant in real life). She admitted to being skeptical of Louis’ ability to pretend to laugh, but he pulled it off. Writer Neal Israel—who is Heckerling’s ex-husband and the father of Mollie, their daughter who inspired the movie—played Alley’s boss, Mr. Ross. Mollie also has a brief role in the movie.

14 THE STUDIO DELAYED ITS RELEASE FOR SEVEN MONTHS.

Tri-Star changed the movie’s release date from March to October, which led insiders to believe that the studio hated what they saw in the rough cut and it would never be released. Instead, Look Who’s Talking made nearly $300 million worldwide.

15 IT INSPIRED THE TV SHOW BABY TALK AND THE E*TRADE BABY.

ABC’s Baby Talk, featuring Tony Danza as the voice of the little one, wasn’t as successful as the movie; star Scott Baio called it a “nightmare.” The E*Trade baby endorsed the financial company from 2008 to 2014.

16. THERE IS TALK OF A REBOOT.

In 2010, it was reported that Fast & Furious producer Neal H. Moritz had plans to bring the Look Who’s Talking franchise back. Heckerling hopes the reboot does happen: “then I’d make some money!”

SOURCE: MENTALFLOSS.COM

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Published by pat frederick

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101 thoughts on “Look Who’s Talking”

  1. Morning All!
    we woke about 4:30 this morning to the sounds of booms…like the deck does in below freezing weather. sure enough -1 out there currently. too dark to see if there’s any trees down yet but i think the gusty winds have finally subsided.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Morning, Pat! -9 here this morning, with a little more snow overnight but the wind has dropped, thankfully. Weird timing – I had recently recorded this movie to watch at some point and just decided w/in the last couple of days that I really wasn’t interested & deleted it. I’ll do that sometimes, just to have back-up in case I can’t find anything else that strikes my fancy. Some movies, like Seabiscuit & Iron Eagle, I save to watch over and over again when the urge strikes.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Morning filly!
        we still have blowing and a few gusts but not like yesterday. the temp is still -1 here.
        i like Bruce Willis funny movies–I like sarcastic wit. i include the die hard movies in there too. In the sequel to this, Roseann plays the little girl…that’s funny too!

        Liked by 1 person

        1. I remember – I saw that one, too. I think I saw Diehard 1 a long time ago but IDR much of it at all. It comes on occasionally – maybe I’ll record it and give it another shot.

          Liked by 1 person

  9. sunnydaze

    February 18, 2025 12:56 am

    In the last 24 hours the US Border Patrol has encountered a total of 229 aliens across the entire southwest border. That is down from a high of over 11,000 a day under Biden. I started as a Border Patrol Agent in 1984 and I don’t remember the numbers ever being that low.…

    — Thomas D. Homan (@RealTomHoman) February 17, 2025

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Just The News: “Since the year 2007, the Senate Ethics Committee has received close to 2,000 complaints about alleged inappropriate behavior on Capitol Hill and yet no “disciplinary sanctions” have been taken. 

    Just in the year 2024, the committee got 158 complaints of allegations of violating Senate rules, according to a report that was reviewed by the NOTUS outlet. The report reviewed by NOTUS shows that there have been 1,826  complaints about alleged inappropriate behavior since 2007 and no action has been taken.

    Former New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez avoided punishment for his scandal from the committee due to him resigning before it could be investigated. Menendez was convicted on all 16 counts in his federal corruption case last year, including obstruction of justice, bribery, extortion, wire fraud and acting as a foreign agent.

    He accepted bribes in exchange for acting to benefit the governments in Egypt and Qatar when he was the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

    The Senate Ethics Committee is led by Chairman James Lankford, R-Okla., and Vice Chairman Christopher Coons, D-Del. 

    NOTUS reviewed the committee report which gave some explanation on why some of the complaints were not investigated. Regarding the 158 complaints the committee got last year, the report says that 142 of them were dismissed “for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”

    Eight of the cases were not looked into due to “lack of substantial merit” and seven were not investigated due to lack of “sufficient facts as to any material violation.”

    In 2023, the Senate almost disciplined Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., over allegations of soliciting campaign contributions inside the Russell Senate Office Building on behalf of former Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker. He was sent a letter that stated, “Your actions on November 30, 2022, represented a repeat violation of Senate standards of conduct.”

    The review conducted by NOTUS noted that the House Ethics Committee has been more proactive with investigating misconduct when the House Ethics report against former Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz was released.

    The Senate Ethics Committee has not responded to requests for comment.”

    Liked by 1 person

  14. EXCERPT: “Texas law enforcement officers continue to be arrested for crimes at the border, including human and drug smuggling and trafficking, sexual assault and producing and distributing child sexual abuse content.

    This month, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was arrested in El Paso on criminal charges for allegedly human smuggling and drug trafficking.

    According to the indictment, in multiple instances, he admitted to helping smuggle into the U.S. illegal border crossers at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso. He also allegedly conspired to possess a substance containing at least 5kg of cocaine over a period of six years “to distribute throughout Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina and elsewhere,” according to the complaint.

    He was charged with “one count of conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States for financial gain, three counts of bringing aliens to the United States for financial gain, and one count of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute.” If convicted, he faces decades to life in prison.

    In January, a former Hidalgo County Sheriff’s deputy was sentenced to 46 months in prison after he was convicted of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. He was also involved with a drug trafficking organization, according to the complaint.

    Also in January, a former Webb County Sheriff’s deputy was charged with sexually assaulting a driver of a vehicle he pulled over in Laredo. Charges also include threatening the use of a firearm, kidnapping, bodily injury, aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact. He also allegedly turned off his body-worn camera and dash camera and falsified records, according to the complaint.

    If convicted, he faces up to life in prison for the sexual assault and other civil rights charges, up to 20 years in prison for falsifying records and fines of up to $250,000.

    Also in Webb County, a former correctional officer with the Sheriff’s Office pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two female inmates, according to the complaint…..”

    https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/border-texas-law-enforcement-officers-continue-be-arrested-crimes

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Just The News: “A team from Elon Musk’s SpaceX on Monday met with officials from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) at the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Virginia, in order to discuss ways to make air travel safer for Americans.

    The meeting comes after a series of aviation accidents, including one of the deadliest plane crashes in over a decade. That one occurred last month when an American Airlines passenger plane crashed into a military helicopter, killing all 67 people on board both vessels. 

    Another plane crash occurred on Monday when a Delta Air Lines jet crashed at the Toronto Pearson airport, and landed upside down. No deaths were reported in the incident, but 18 people were injured. 

    “America deserves safe, state-of-the-art air travel, and President Trump has ordered that I deliver a new, world-class air traffic control system that will be the envy of the world,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X on Sunday. “To do that, I need advice from the brightest minds in America.

    “I’m asking for help from any high-tech American developer or company that is willing to give back to our country,” he continued. “Tomorrow, members of Elon Musk’s SpaceX team will be visiting the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in VA to get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system.”

    Duffy claimed that the visit was not “special treatment” as he knew some Democrats would attempt to argue, because his agency gives tours of the command center to media and companies.

    The secretary also said that he would be flying to the FAA Academy in Oklahoma later in the week to meet with students and teachers at the facility who are working to become air traffic controllers, in order to learn about the education process they go through.

    Neither Duffy nor Musk have commented on how the meeting went.”

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Just The News: “Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst on Monday introduced two bills that look to prevent taxpayer money from going to presidential campaigns, and reduce presidential compensation packages, in order to help bring down the national debt.

    The first bill, titled the “ELECT” Act, would eliminate the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, which has roughly $400 million in its pocket. The act would use those funds to reduce the national debt, which is currently over $36 trillion.

    “As a Presidents’ Day gift, I am working to defund the $400 million welfare for politicians slush fund and use it to pay down the $36 trillion national debt,” the senator wrote on X. ” The last thing we need to spend tax dollars on is more political attack ads.”

    The second legislation is titled the “Presidential Allowance Modernization Act,” and would reduce perks for former presidents, including travel expenses and office space. But presidential pensions, security and allowances would remain.

    “From speaking gigs to Netflix deals and much more, former presidents have been raking in the dough,” Ernst said. “This Presidents’ Day, I am defending the integrity of the office by ending taxpayer handouts and perks for former presidents.”

    Ernst, who is currently the chairwoman of the Senate DOGE Caucus, has promised to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse in Washington, D.C.” 

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Go Donalds!!!

    Just The News: “President Donald Trump on Monday shared a poll that showed Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds holding a large lead over fellow potential GOP contenders in a hypothetical primary for Florida governor. 

    The survey was conducted by Victory Polling, and showed Donalds leading with 31% of the vote, followed by Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez 4%, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson at 3%, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez at 1%.

    The post also claimed that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, and billionaire Steve Witkoff have also committed to supporting Donalds.

    None of the candidates have formally declared a bid to replace Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is term limited, but Donalds has reportedly told Florida Republican donors that he plans on launching a bid. 

    Donalds is also a staunch ally of the president’s, who Trump indicated during his inaugural parade last month has a bright “future,” The Hill reported.

    Simpson and Nuñez have also been floated as potential candidates for Florida governor in 2026.”

    Liked by 1 person

  19. EXCERPT: “When Tommy Tuberville stood up for life against the military abortion complex, he stood virtually alone. 

    Abortion-loving Democrats, of course, derided the Alabama senator for imposing a blanket hold on military confirmations and promotions — as was his right to do —  in fighting back against the Biden administration’s policy subsidizing abortions in the U.S. military. In defiance of the long-standing Hyde Amendment, the Department of Defense covered travel and other costs of members of the military and their dependents who chose to cross state lines to murder the unborn. It was a naked political move by the Biden administration following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling overturning Roe v. Wade and returning abortion policy back to the states. 

    Tuberville’s fellow Republicans, many of whom promote themselves as pro-life stalwarts, lashed out at the senator, too. Washington, D.C., can be a very lonely place for the principled…..”

    “….Despite the pressure from many in his own party, the legendary college football coach known for his fortitude (aka cajones) stood his ground for 11 long months. He backed down only after abortion-on-demand Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate majority leader at the time, threatened to go around Tuberville and change the rules on Senate nominee holds. But Tuberville never stopped fighting against the Pentagon’s policy and standing up for the unborn and taxpayers. 

    “Remarkably, Senator Tuberville held off the entire military-industrial complex and the Senate establishment …,” the Family Research Council said in a press release. Sen. Mike Lee, one of Tuberville’s most vocal defenders during the nomination battle, called his colleague a hero.  

    “Senator Tuberville fought courageously for unborn Americans and the rule of law. His opponents threatened to forever destroy Senate procedure to get their way, and today he is acting to protect our institution from them,” the Utah Republican senator wrote on X after Tuberville announced he would lift his blockade…..”

    “….It took an election, a new commander-in-chief, and the Defense secretary that some Republicans trashed as too divisive and inexperienced to end Biden’s abortion subsidy. On Jan. 30., the DOD reversed the directive that had been in place since right before the 2022 midterm elections. The action followed Trump’s executive order on “Enforcing the Hyde Amendment”, which ordered federal agencies to “end the use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion…..”  

    “….Tuberville, chairman of Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, lauded President Trump and Secretary Pete Hegseth for putting an end to the Biden administration policy, and the Democrats treating taxpayer dollars “like their own personal piggy bank” to “bankroll their woke agenda.” …..

    https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/18/tuberville-still-fighting-for-life-after-taking-on-military-abortion-complex/

    Liked by 1 person

  20. The Federalist, Scot Yenor, February 18, 2025

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “State basketball tournaments are underway around the country. President Donald Trump’s recent executive order is supposed to keep boys out of girls’ sports. Instead, California’s defiance will enable the rich, beautiful people of one school to unfairly dominate Christians from a small school in playoffs this Saturday — unless it’s stopped.

    The president’s order would withhold and rescind “all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.” While the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF), which runs California’s postseason tournaments, appears to be a private organization, it is a typical private-public partnership that masks public authority.

    Public schools join the CIF. Representatives of California’s Department of Education sit on its board by charter. School board members make up its board. Many sponsors are federal grantees. CIF received Covid money. Schools in the CIF receive federal funds for disabled students and free-reduced school lunches, among many other things. These schools are sponsoring boys to participate in girls’ sports—and state authority abets it.

    Not every school in CIF receives federal funds, though. Tucked in at the border of Saint Francis Woods’ historic neighborhood and residential West Portal lies the tony San Francisco Waldorf School. This mostly white and Asian school uses the Waldorf educational style, a progressive system developed by the Austrian occultist and clairvoyant Rudolf Steiner.

    Tech executives, executive vice presidents, venture capitalists, and university leaders constitute the Waldorf School’s board of trustees. The school’s website boasts an “Equity and Inclusion” page. It says the Waldorf school “strive[s] to sustain a demographic that reflects the diversity of the Bay Area.”

    Sixty-three percent of Waldorf’s student body is white. Eighty-seven percent of Waldorf families live in a metro area where the minimum recommended annual family income is $240,000. Only the right kind of people can afford its $59,000-per-year tuition.

    San Francisco Waldorf School also boasts a girls’ basketball team that has qualified for CIF’s North Coast Section Division 6 girls’ basketball playoffs. The team’s best player is named Henry Hanlon, who averages 20 points per game and stands head and shoulders above the girls on the court. Outkick released a video of Henry, an openly transgender athlete, jumping for a rebound with the kind of explosiveness found in the top 1 percent of women’s athletes but common among boys.

    https://twitter.com/bourne_beth2345/status/1879562038290350110

    Waldorf’s opponent in the CIF playoffs is a small Christian school, Cornerstone Christian, from Antioch, California, a working-class Bay Area suburb at the edge of the East Bay. A local church runs Cornerstone. Its annual tuition is $10,000. Cornerstone’s website doesn’t boast of a $8.2 million fundraising effort to build a gym, like Waldorf’s. There is no “Diversity and Inclusion” section on their website. Movers and shakers do not sit on Cornerstone’s board.

    Yet this weekend, despite the president’s executive order, Cornerstone’s administrators, parents, and athletes must either put their daughters in jeopardy by competing against Henry and the powerful elites who run the San Francisco Waldorf School or face the wrath of the California Interscholastic Federation.

    Other schools have objected to Henry’s participation. Henry also played volleyball for Waldorf. When Stone Ridge Christian School refused to play against Henry’s team, the CIF responded with chapter and verse: “Any team that withdraws from CIF playoffs is subject to sanctions at both the Section and State levels.” Alliance Defending Freedom is on the case.

    Trump’s executive order gives Cornerstone a recourse Stone Ridge did not have in the fall. Investigations of California schools are underway. Speedy action from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights would protect a vulnerable school like Cornerstone from the Waldorf goliath.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hmmm….Tweets are opening at M’s so far, including this one. Hopefully, that short improvement will continue but I’m not counting on it!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  21. Hmmmm….one of those undersecretary positions that flies under the radar that is critical to our defense:

    EXCERPT: “President Trump was elected with a mandate — a mandate to rethink the core assumptions of Washington, D.C., that have led this country to disaster after disaster. A mandate to put America first instead of last. To fulfill his mandate, the president needs to be able to make the appointments of his choosing without being sabotaged by the members of his own party that he carried to victory in November.

    Yet right now, a fight has broken out over the nomination of Elbridge Colby to be undersecretary of defense for policy, the top strategy official at the Pentagon. Make no mistake: This is a make-or-break moment for whether Donald Trump’s America First foreign policy will succeed — or even happen. Colby is being attacked precisely because his opponents recognize he is the most effective and able person to put Trump’s America First approach into effect. He must be confirmed and empowered…..” 

    “….Colby served Trump loyally and ably at the Pentagon during his first term, producing the landmark defense strategy shift that refocused the Defense Department on China, a central Trump goal. As great America First conservatives like Tucker Carlson and Jim Banks point out, Colby’s acclaimed book The Strategy of Denial is a guidebook for how to put an America First foreign policy into practice. Indeed, a Politico profile of him in 2023 was literally titled, “Elbridge Colby Wants to Finish What Donald Trump Started.” Even when almost every other foreign policy expert lambasted President Trump, Colby never did, enthusiastically and publicly supporting Trump in his historic 2024 campaign. 

    So why is Colby being attacked? The fact is, despite what they say in public, many Republican politicians want to frustrate President Trump’s attempt to change American foreign policy. They want to revive the disastrous foreign policy of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Mitch McConnell. These America Last Republicans think they can manipulate President Trump and his top officials the same way they tried to do in his first term.

    They don’t even deny it. For instance, one anonymous senator recently said: “I think Tulsi Gabbard is flawed, but [is] she going to be harmful? No, because I think that there are going to [be] enough strong intelligence people around her.” GOP senators openly plan to tout Trump’s goals in public, then sabotage them in private. That same anonymous senator also said: “When it comes to those nominees below the Cabinet who may be less on people’s radar, who will be able to facilitate things, that’s where I think it can be dangerous.”

    And that’s precisely why they see Colby as such a threat. He is so effective, so knowledgeable, and so genuine in his conviction for an America First foreign policy that he cannot be manipulated or controlled. Colby will actually do what the American people have given President Trump a clear mandate to do, and for that reason, the D.C. blob must stop him.

    Colby’s nomination is a fork in the road not just for President Trump and his administration but for the country. If Colby is scalped by the secret cabal of bitter-ender neoconservatives, it will cut the legs out from under President Trump’s America First foreign policy, and it will chill any other nominees who follow in Colby’s wake.

    People are watching to see whether President Trump’s administration will deliver real change, putting Americans first and ending the endless wars. If committed and loyal stalwarts like Colby are allowed to be taken down by those who want to return to the era of Dick Cheney, then it would be a disaster for the country — and supporters of the president will remember who was responsible.”

    https://thefederalist.com/2025/02/18/elbridge-colby-is-the-right-man-to-carry-out-trumps-america-first-mandate/

    Liked by 1 person

  23. A Warning to Trump Targets: The Law Isn’t on Your Side

    Now that Donald J. Trump has returned to office, his fans and foes alike are bracing for him to fulfill a campaign “promise” he made over 100 times — to investigate, prosecute, put before military tribunals and even execute his perceived political enemies.

    Skeptics have suggested that Trump’s threats are mostly hot air. They reckon that the U.S. legal system — with its life-tenured judges, juries, constitutional rights, burdens of proof, rules of evidence and appeals — will stop vindictive prosecutions.

    Unfortunately for those on Trump’s bad side, the law is pretty much stacked against them. That’s because not only is there no meaningful legal mechanism for a target to push back against vindictive or baseless investigations, the law on vengeful prosecutions has little teeth. Both were built on the presumption that prosecutors, with rare exceptions, act in good faith.

    Trump’s threats have turned that presumption its head. Already, Trump has made clear that he is willing to use the justice system to reward his allies and prosecute his enemies. – Politico

    Our Take: This made me laugh:

    “Unfortunately for those on Trump’s bad side, the law is pretty much stacked against them. That’s because not only is there no meaningful legal mechanism for a target to push back against vindictive or baseless investigations, the law on vengeful prosecutions has little teeth. Both were built on the presumption that prosecutors, with rare exceptions, act in good faith. Trump’s threats have turned that presumption its head.”

    Good faith?! These people touched power & turned into absolute tyrants. Political prosecution is text book bad faith. Reviving statutes, burying evidence, witness tampering, Adam Schiff’s fictional fever dreams. All of that is bad faith.

    They get no presumption. Our freedoms must be fortified to ensure such despots cannot successfully assume power again. That means real consequences, for then and now.

    I look forward to seeing this play out, especially in light of the D.C. search trends and real estate market we covered in yesterday’s Brief. To restore public trust, people must be held accountable. They know it, too. – Ashe in America

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Ukraine Preparing For Elections, Claims Zelenskyy’s Predecessor Poroshenko

    Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has claimed that Ukrainian authorities are planning to hold presidential elections by the end of this year. “Write it down – October 26 this year,” Poroshenko said in an interview published by the Ukrainian news site Censor.net on February 16.

    Poroshenko, who currently heads one of the leading opposition parties in Ukraine, claims that the country’s state printing service is now calculating the number of ballots needed to hold the elections. He said he got this information from anonymous insiders in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office who were also quoted by local media outlets.

    “According to our sources, the [Ukrainian] Election Commission is starting to make changes in the voter register. […] This is solely for the purpose of preparing for elections,” he said. – Radio Free Europe

    Our Take: It takes two to make a perfect phone call.

    This simple statement—one I’ve been repeating ad nauseum for the better part of three years, now—may have spun out from Donald Trump’s most infamous conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy—a conversation that sparked one of the most immediate and obvious bouts of Narrative Whiplash we’ve seen in the Info War, unless you think ‘Quid Pro Joe’ went well for the Establishment—but it seems it can be applied to an increasing number of conversations as we cross the threshold from Narrative Seeding to Germination and eventually, Harvest on the cusp of a new American and Global Golden Age.

    But then, I’m not the only one who thinks so. “It is hard to overestimate the significance of the recent phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump.” This was a statement by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, one of the prime signal setters from the Russian theater of the War of Stories, and one I cite often.

    And you know what? I think he’s quite hit the mark with it, even if the claim seems rather obvious on its face.

    I have long believed that, just like ‘laptops from hell,’ ‘perfect phone calls’ in the context of the Info War represent signals of the underlying and overlaying plans of the theorized Sovereign Alliance I first named in the pages of Righteous Russia in 2022. And the events (read: narrative translations of actuals that have been planned for some time, and that happened long ago, in my estimation) of the last week have done nothing to disabuse me of that conspiratorial notion.

    Why? Read more. – Burning Bright

    Like

  25. Trump Offers Key Concessions to Putin Ahead of Ukraine Peace Talks in Saudi Arabia

    Vladimir Putin is riding high ahead of critical US-Russia talks Tuesday in Saudi Arabia on ending the Ukraine war. Donald Trump’s administration has ended the Russian president’s international isolation, shattered Western unity on the conflict and cast doubt on how far the US would go to defend Europe, signaling a stunning shift toward Putin and away from America’s traditional allies.

    With a flurry of conflicting statements in their first forays into Europe, Trump aides also fueled concerns that the US president will embrace just about any deal with Putin — even if it’s a bad one for Ukraine and a continent whose borders are again threatened by Russian expansionism.

    Suggestions that the US will exclude its European friends from peace talks on Ukraine — despite demanding they provide security guarantees and troops as part of any deal to end the war — also triggered alarm in capitals on the continent, with France calling key leaders to an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday. – CNN

    Our Take: Did Little Marco not get the message?

    “Rubio styled the meeting as a follow-up to Trump’s phone call last week with Putin. ‘The next few weeks and days will determine whether it’s serious or not,’ he said on CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ on Sunday. ‘Ultimately, one phone call does not make peace. One phone call does not solve a war as complex as this one.’ Rubio also contradicted comments by Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, who said Saturday that while Kyiv would be involved in peace talks, European nations wouldn’t.”

    Are they playing good cop, bad cop? – Chris Paul

    Like

        1. wonder how many hours it took? and if it was “copied” sort of from a picture.
          I never told you before but I, too, have amazing painting skills. i can paint every one of my fingers without getting anything on the canvas…LOL

          Liked by 1 person

  29. “RFK Jr. Vows “NOTHING Is Gonna Be Off Limits” in Chronic Disease Investigation — It’s finally happening!”

    The Vigilant Fox

    Feb 18, 2025

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. just made a bold pledge that has the entire health establishment on notice: “NOTHING is gonna be off limits” in his investigation into the chronic disease epidemic.

    Kennedy named the industries and products that will face the heat, including the childhood vaccine schedule, electromagnetic radiation, glyphosate, other pesticides, ultra-processed foods, artificial food additives, SSRIs and other psychiatric drugs, PFAs, PFOAs, and microplastics.

    WATCH: (Video)

    He also promised to investigate topics once considered untouchable, saying, “Some of the possible factors we will investigate were formally taboo or insufficiently scrutinized.”

    “Whatever belief or suspicion I have expressed in the past, I’m willing to subject them all to the scrutiny of unbiased science. That is gonna be our template—unbiased science,” Kennedy continued. He then issued a call for scientific honesty, suggesting that health agencies had previously abandoned studies to protect powerful interests in the past.

    “Let’s use protocols that we all agree on in advance and not alter the outcomes of the studies when they’re halfway through, and that look inconvenient,” Kennedy stated.

    This is the investigation Big Pharma and Big Ag have feared for decades. Let’s see who panics first.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Bummer! I’m also finding that I have to clean my computer much more frequently these days – I kept dropping my connection – once I’ve followed the cleaning procedure, it comes back to normal. Must be a shitload of stuff piling on while I’m on the net or something in the Windows update. I really need a new computer but I need a new furnace worse!

      Liked by 1 person

  37. Just The News: “Judge Tanya Chutkan on Tuesday ruled that she would not block the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing data from seven federal agencies, or from reducing the staff within them.

    The order comes after 14 Democratic attorneys general requested a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration, who argued the administration engaged in executive overreach.

    Chutkan ruled in a 10-page decision that the attorneys general did not show adequate proof that the states will suffer imminent, irreparable harm without relief, per CBS News.

    “The court is aware that DOGE’s unpredictable actions have resulted in considerable uncertainty and confusion for Plaintiffs and many of their agencies and residents,” she wrote. “But the ‘possibility’ that defendants may take actions that irreparably harm plaintiffs ‘is not enough.’”

    Liked by 1 person

  43. Nice rig! A lot of people on the track lived in rigs like this at the track campground.

    Nepal

    Reine, Norway

    Olympieum or Temple of Jupiter Olympus, Greece, 1858

    Liked by 1 person

  45. ….sigh….snowing again – fine but coming down @ a good clip; only made it to 4 today! I just keep looking forward to the supposed temps in the low 50’s early next week! 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

    Liked by 1 person

  46. NF: It was a Norfolk pain clinic that was partially responsible for my daughter’s death!!! They find ways to get around the rules!

    “‘Human Pin Cushions’: Pain Clinics Made Millions From ‘Unnecessary’ Injections

    Four Pain MD employees pleaded guilty or were convicted of healthcare fraud after Pain MD’s injections were proved in court to be part of a decade-long fraud scheme that made millions by capitalizing on patients’ dependence on opioids.”

    by KFF Health News, Brett Kelman, February 18, 2025

    syringes in a pin cushion

    EXCERPT: “Each month, Michelle Shaw went to a pain clinic to get the shots that made her back feel worse — so she could get the pills that made her back feel better.

    Shaw, 56, who has been dependent on opioid painkillers since she injured her back in a fall a decade ago, said in both an interview with KFF Health News and in sworn courtroom testimony that the Tennessee clinic would write the prescriptions only if she first agreed to receive three or four “very painful” injections of another medicine along her spine.

    The clinic claimed the injections were steroids that would relieve her pain, Shaw said, but with each shot her agony would grow. Shaw said she eventually tried to decline the shots, then the clinic issued an ultimatum: Take the injections or get her painkillers somewhere else.

    “I had nowhere else to go at the time,” Shaw testified, according to a federal court transcript. “I was stuck.”

    Shaw was among thousands of patients of Pain MD, a multistate pain management company that was once among the nation’s most prolific users of what it referred to as “tendon origin injections,” which normally inject a single dose of steroids to relieve stiff or painful joints.

    As many doctors were scaling back their use of prescription painkillers due to the opioid crisis, Pain MD paired opioids with monthly injections into patients’ backs, claiming the shots could ease pain and potentially lessen reliance on painkillers, according to federal court documents.

    Michelle Shaw, a former patient of Pain MD in Tennessee, testified in federal court that the pain clinics threatened to discharge her as a patient, which would have cut off her painkiller prescriptions and likely sent her into withdrawal, if she did not agree to monthly injections in her back, making her pain worse. Shaw was a key witness in the trial of Pain MD President Michael Kestner, who was convicted of 13 felonies related to healthcare fraud in October 2024. Shaw was photographed at her Tennessee home on Jan. 14. Photo credit: Brett Kelman/KFF Health News.

    Now, years later, Pain MD’s injections have been proved in court to be part of a decade-long fraud scheme that made millions by capitalizing on patients’ dependence on opioids….”

    https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/human-pin-cushions-pain-clinics-millions-unnecessary-injections-kff/

    Liked by 1 person

  47. 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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