Pennsylvania State Flower: Mountain Laurel

State Flowers 2 Minutes

Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is a familiar shrub. While common, it is also extraordinary. A part of Pennsylvania’s folklore as the state flower and also studied by scientists for its biomechanics, this broadleaf evergreen abounds in mystique.

Since the early 18th century, mountain laurel has been cultivated as a flowering ornamental, an exotic addition to English gardens. English breeders later shipped it back across the Atlantic to be sold to Americans as a potted plant. At least 75 cultivars, mostly propagated through tissue culture, are available today. Its native range, however, is the eastern United States, extending from southern Maine to Louisiana and northern Florida. A total of seven species are known throughout North America, including sheep laurel (Kalmia angustfolia) and bog laurel (Kalmia polifolia). Along with rhododendrons, azaleas, huckleberries, and Indian pipe, Kalmias are ranked among the Ericacea (heath) family. 

Mountain laurel is the most prolific of the Kalmia species. In the woods, it can grow in dense, gnarly thickets known colloquially in southern states as “laurel hells.” Foresters and lumbermen in Pennsylvania have been heard to curse it with off-color expressions and not-so-nice epithets, the least offensive being “ankle breaker” or “ankle twister.” Mature plants average heights from seven to ten feet, but some specimens have been recorded as tall as 40 feet. Ascending and horizontal branches are often contorted and considered picturesque, and although a shrub, the healthiest of mountain laurels can take on the stature of a small tree. Its growth rate, however, is slow, four to eight feet over the course of a decade. Laurel wood and its burls have been used for various tools and utensils, explaining one of its many monikers, “spoonwood.”

The corymb is the marquee attraction. The fused petals of mountain laurel’s florets are shaped like inverted parasols. They range from near white to a blush of pink, while their corollas include subtle markings that can reveal either cinnamon, scarlet, rose, or burgundy. Like the symmetrical shapes of dancers in a 1930s Busby Berkeley musical, each floret is perfectly formed. From late May to late June, scores of these corymbs appear in one of two stages, bud or bloom.

Governor Gifford Pinchot dubbed mountain laurel the state flower of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1933. One factor in its designation concerned the shrub being located in nearly all of the state’s sixty-seven counties, but the public’s concern for conservation might have also played a role.

Generations of Pennsylvanians have been admonished by their parents, scout leaders, and camp counselors that it was against the law to pick the state flower. This is not true, according to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. There are also no legal restrictions on cultivating Kalmia latifolia, although special permits and inspections from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture are required to sell any collected native specimens.  

SOURCE:PSU.EDU

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Published by pat frederick

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123 thoughts on “Pennsylvania State Flower: Mountain Laurel”

  1. Good morning! Awake at oh-dark-thirty, of course! I slept in a bed for the first time in years last night and it was soooo comfy! Predictions were for up to 75 MPH winds and storms so I brought in the jelly feeder. Of course, none of that came to fruition but better safe than sorry! And it does need refilling – hope they get in the case of jelly I ordered soon – I’ve only got one partial jar left.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. The day before last, I was in the bedroom folding clothes and putting them away. I sat down to rest and just felt like lying down…..it felt so good…..I was pleasantly surprised.

        Liked by 1 person

        1. before we moved up here, we bought one of those sleep number beds–because the bed we had was so uncomfortable. turns out I need my side a lot softer than hubby. AND it has an option to raise your head, feet, whatever. we keep ours set on snore–slightly raised head. prevents hubby’s snoring from waking me up!

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      1. IKR? Nor did mine….except on some Sundays. We had a grocery store called Lynn & Al’s out next to the Gibson’s store that had a small restaurant. It was the “thing” to do to go there for the after Sunday church meal.

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        1. oh yeah…Sundays were different. we went to grandma’s house after church and Dad always had on a suit and Mom a pretty dress–i have pictures of the 4 of us (sis is the 4th– the “anointed one” hadn’t been born yet) on her couch. black and white pictures.

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  6. Just The News: “The Secret Service suspended at least six agents last year in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, while he was still a candidate.

    The revelation comes a day after the Justice Department announced two people have been charged with gun-related crimes after selling a gun to another would-be Trump assassin, Ryan Wesley Routh, just a few weeks before his alleged attempted assassination. He allegedly attempted to shoot Trump in September 2024.

    Deputy Secret Service Director Matt Quinn told CBS News on Wednesday that the agents who were suspended over the first assassination attempt were given penalties that ranged from 10-42 days of suspension without pay or benefits.

    “We are laser-focused on fixing the root cause of the problem,” Quinn said while defending the agency’s decision not to fire anyone in the wake of the assassination attempt. “We aren’t going to fire our way out of this. We’re going to focus on the root cause and fix the deficiencies that put us in that situation.

    “Secret Service is totally accountable for Butler,” he continued. “Butler was an operational failure and we are focused today on ensuring that it never happens again.” 

    Quinn said that the personnel who were suspended after Butler were placed in restricted duty or given roles with less operational responsibility when they returned. This punishment was in line with a federally mandated process, he said.

    The deputy director also said the Secret Service has since introduced a new fleet of military-grade drones and mobile command posts that streamline communication between officers, and allow agents to communicate over radio.

    The Secret Service faced heavy backlash over the failures in Butler, including a 180-page House report that found “preexisting issues in leadership and training created an environment” in which security failures could occur.”

    Liked by 1 person

  7. “The Swamp Always Wins: Why Outsiders Break When They Enter Washington”

    By Maureen Steele,  ClashDaily Staff Writer, July 9, 2025

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “They come in fists raised, eyes blazing, sleeves rolled. They say they’ll drain the swamp, burn it down, expose the rot. But somewhere between the campaign trail and Capitol Hill, something changes. The American people have seen this pattern so many times, it’s practically a rite of passage. The outsider, once vowing to crack the system open, instead disappears into it. They don’t just compromise — they transform.

    Consider the recent cases of Dan Bongino and Kash Patel — two of the most celebrated MAGA- era firebrands. Their reputations were built on a promise to tear down the FBI’s institutional rot. Bongino, a former Secret Service agent turned podcaster, once called the FBI “irredeemably corrupt” and demanded mass firings over the Mar-a-Lago raid. Kash Patel, known for his aggressive investigations into Russiagate and FISA abuse, promised “radical transparency” and justice for weaponized federal power.

    But what happened once they entered the inner sanctum?

    Bongino was appointed Deputy Director of the FBI in early 2025 by his friend Patel, now elevated to FBI Director. The appointment shocked even conservatives. According to Reuters, career FBI agents saw the move as “a slap in the face” — a political installation in what was supposed to be a neutral bureau. Instead of firing corrupt actors, Bongino defended a sweeping internal reorganization that displaced over a thousand career officials and consolidated power into a smaller, ideologically aligned inner circle.

    While the public was told transparency would define the new FBI, the exact opposite occurred. Rather than releasing long-demanded Epstein documents or details from the Durham investigation, the agency under Patel and Bongino issued memos publicly debunking the existence of an Epstein client list — stunning their own base. Bongino, who had previously insisted the American people deserved the truth, now became the face of official suppression. Meanwhile, Patel focused on optics over openness. In his first week at the helm, he launched a bizarre initiative to partner FBI agents with UFC trainers to toughen them up. He prioritized deportation enforcement and violent crime statistics while gutting internal briefings and limiting transparency. The promise to “open the books” never materialized. The FBI had merely changed costumes — not character.

    It isn’t just Bongino and Patel. The pattern stretches across both parties.

    Marjorie Taylor Greene, who chairs the new “DOGE” subcommittee on government spending and foreign aid corruption, routinely rails against USAID and its links to nonprofits funding propaganda, gender ideology, and foreign influence. Yet as congressional records show, she voted in favor of the same omnibus bills and appropriations that continued funding those exact programs. She offered symbolic amendments — which failed — and then quietly allowed the status quo to persist. One moment she’s shocked at what’s in the spending bills. The next, she’s approving them. Where’s the oversight? Where’s the retraction of stolen taxpayer dollars? Where are the subpoenas, the clawbacks, the arrests?

    On the left, the same dynamic played out with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. When she entered Congress in 2019, she was hailed as a political lightning bolt — an anti-establishment populist promising to dismantle corporate capture of the Democratic Party. She introduced the Green New Deal and vowed to use her platform to force radical accountability. But less than a year later, Vanity Fair reported that she had already become “a steady hand,” no longer using her massive social following to pressure leadership or trigger real procedural change.

    By 2024, Time Magazine described her as “President Biden’s most valuable pinch-hitter” — an agent of party cohesion, not disruption. Despite her brand as a revolutionary, her tenure has been defined by political obedience and polished media appearances. Her platform remained radical, but her actions reflected adaptation, not agitation.

    So what actually happens in Washington? What force is powerful enough to transform enemies of the system into defenders of it?

    Some say it’s just strategy. Others whisper about kompromat. Perhaps it’s the seductive nature of access, the thrill of relevance, the pressure of personal threats. Or maybe it’s simpler: Washington is designed to absorb you. You don’t burn it down. You get pulled inside. Committee assignments are dangled. Donor money is leveraged. Staffers are replaced. Promises are diluted. And very quickly, the crusader becomes the compromiser. Those who go in demanding accountability soon start explaining “how things really work.”

    The public, meanwhile, is left with a shrinking pool of options and an ever-growing swamp. Whether it’s Bongino issuing bureaucratic press releases, Greene backing spending she says she opposes, or AOC abandoning leverage for legacy, the script is always the same. The system is not broken. It is built to break you.

    If we want change in Washington, it won’t come from more outsiders entering the system. It will come from reasserting power outside the system. We don’t need more saviors walking into D.C. We need a citizenry that stops worshipping politicians and starts auditing them like the employees they are.

    The tragedy isn’t that our heroes change when they get to Washington.

    The tragedy is that we keep expecting them not to.”

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  8. Morning All!

    the grosbeaks (both male and female) were lined up on the railing this morning when i came down…7 of them! by the time i got my camera, they scattered. didn’t see any orioles yesterday.

    oh, we went thru the new taco bell drive thru after walmart–for hubby– I won’t touch the stuff. and he had the window open and we could hear a bird singing–he said, “must be a grosbeak somewhere.” Amazing!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. BIG ‼️ The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City is now PERMANENTLY CLOSED!

      This hotel was used as an illegal migrant shelter, over 155,000 illegals were processed through this hotel costing taxpayers an estimated $840 million dollars

      @Brookerteejones

       “The iconic Roosevelt Hotel has officially closed. No longer are migrants coming into New York City. Therefore, they don’t need this shelter. Inside this shelter, 155,000 illegal immigrants were put up in this shelter from 150 different countries every night. We paid over $200 to house people inside this hotel for around 3 1/2 years. 

      You add that up, that is a lot of money that we spent funding these illegal immigrants who came into America illegally.

      — Here nurses worked 12 hour shifts, long hours. There were lawyers here to protect the people that wanted to claim asylum or perhaps wanted to get a job here inside New York City. They had their own lawyers, their own interpreters, their own caseworkers, even their own nurses. 

      Because many people came into America pregnant. Many people came into America with diabetes, cancer, aids, all sorts of illnesses. People came here, wanted to get help, and they got free help that we paid for. Also, there was a major processing center here inside this Roosevelt Hotel, just down there where National Guard have been on the scene for the past 3 1/2 years, checking migrants in as they came in.“

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Charlotte99

    July 10, 2025 12:27 am

    @sentdefender
    6h
    Mohammad-Javad Larijani, a top advisor to Iranian Supreme-Leader Ali Khamenei, in a statement today publicly threatened the assassination of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, in a drone attack against his Mar-a-Lago Home in Florida, with him stating, “Trump has done something so that he can no longer sunbathe in Mar-a-Lag

    As he lies there with his stomach to the sun, a small drone might hit him in the navel. It’s very simple.”

    This statement comes after an online platform calling itself “Blood Pact” believed to be linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed on Tuesday to have so far raised over $40 million for the assassination of President Trump, with the site additionally calling for religious groups in Iran and abroad to rally in front of western embassies and in cities to express support for Ayatollah Khamenei.

    https://nitter.poast.org/sentdefender/status/1943069668542935278#m

    Liked by 1 person

  16. I had brought the jelly feeder onto the patio last night when the high winds were predicted so I brought it in this morning to fill it. Wheezer was asleep on the chair again – he stretched and voiced his cute little “silent” mews as I passed him, then again when I went out to hang it back up. It makes me want to reach down and pet him but I’ve learned that painful lesson! LOL – hope the new case of jelly comes in soon – almost finished the last jar.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. our usage has definitely slowed down some. they come in the mornings and later in the afternoon, but i haven’t had to refill it during the day like i had.

      when we left yesterday, i went out to check the garden while hubby backed the truck out of the garage…we got at least 10 ripe enough to pick “cherry” tomatoes out there. the zucchini plants have flowered but nothing other than that. the pepper plants have stalled. they all had a few flowers before we got that last blast of heavy rain, but that knocked the flowers off. we’ll see.

      Liked by 1 person

  17. Just The News: “A Justice Department (DOJ) official on Wednesday revealed that the DOJ has sent subpoenas to more than 20 doctors and transgender clinics for their alleged involvement in performing transgender surgeries on minors.  

    The announcement occurred during a Federal Trade Commission workshop on the “Dangers of ‘Gender Affirming-Care’ For Minors” in Washington, D.C., according to the Daily Wire. 

    The workshop is part of the FTC’s effort to combat the transgender medicine industry through the Federal Trade Commission Act, which gives the agency authority to protect Americans from unfair or deceptive acts or practices.

    “This authority could be implicated if there is evidence that medical professionals or others omitted warnings about the risks or made false or unsupported claims about the benefits and effectiveness of gender-affirming care for minors,” a description of the event reads. “The workshop will help the FTC to understand whether consumers are being or have been exposed to false or unsupported claims about ‘gender-affirming care’ and to gauge the harms consumers may be experiencing.” 

    DOJ’s Chad Mizelle announced the subpoenas during the event, where he encouraged others who have experienced deceptive practices in the transgender medicine industry to come forward.

    The department’s investigations include allegations of healthcare fraud, false statements, and more. “Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice.” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement, confirming the subpoenas.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. states that allow minors to make these decisions without parental approval should be sued. these treatments can cause permanent damage and should NOT be performed on anyone under the age of consent.

      Liked by 1 person

  18. Just The News: “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on Wednesday arrested an Egyptian national who worked as a chaplain at a children’s hospital in Ohio. He was also reportedly flagged on the FBI’s terror watch list.

    The officers arrested Imam Ayman Soliman, whose asylum was revoked under the Biden administration, a day after meeting with him and FBI agents. It was not immediately clear why his asylum status was revoked, but he was granted asylum in June 2018.

    Supporters of the Egyptian national claimed he was fleeing persecution in his native country, and some of his family members sought to join him in the United States, according to the Daily Wire. If the government finds he did flee violence and persecution, he could still be deported to a third-party country. 

    It was also not clear why Soliman was flagged on the FBI’s terror watch list, but he has sued the federal government multiple times over the flag. He claimed in the lawsuits that the government violated his constitutional rights and privacy by making “stigmatizing statements about him,” according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. He has denied any wrongdoing.

    Most of the lawsuits have been dismissed, but two remain pending, the outlet reported.”

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Liked by 1 person

  21. “EXCLUSIVE: Henchmen Behind Brennan’s Fake Russia Collusion Assessment Are Still At The CIA — Hopefully, Director Ratcliffe’s investigation is still ongoing.”

    The Federalist, By: Margot Cleveland, July 10, 2025

    John Brennan

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “The analysts who crafted the corrupt Intelligence Community Assessment (“ICA”) on Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election on behalf of disgraced former CIA Director John Brennan remain active at the CIA, a source familiar with the assessment told The Federalist. Multiple other sources familiar with the House intelligence committee’s investigation into the Russia-collusion hoax added that HPSCI interviewed the specific people responsible for writing the ICA. And as The Federalist reported earlier this week, that HPSCI staff report established that the ICA was “significantly worse and significantly more corrupt than conveyed in the memorandum released last week by CIA Director John Ratcliffe.”

    Taken together then, it seems there are two possible conclusions: Either Director Ratcliffe’s efforts to clean out the agency have hit a snag, or the CIA director is quietly seeking to hold Brennan’s collaborators accountable — just as he has done in the case of Brennan and former FBI Director Comey, who now reportedly face criminal referrals based on the CIA’s investigation into the ICA.

    Last Tuesday, Director Ratcliffe released a report summarizing the CIA’s probe into the crafting of the ICA. That CIA report detailed numerous problems related to the assessment of Russia’s activities in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. The CIA report, among other things, concluded the ICA should not have attributed “high confidence” to the conclusion that “Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances.” The ICA also should not have included the Steele Dossier in its annex or referenced it in the text of the report, the CIA concluded.

    The CIA’s investigation into the ICA exposed damning information related to former CIA Director John Brennan’s role in producing the bogus report, as well as details implicating the then-FBI Director James Comey in the get-Trump conspiracy. But as The Federalist reported earlier this week, “the CIA report pales in comparison to the real corruption at play, according to sources familiar with a separate HPSCI staff report.” 

    According to sources, HPSCI, under the leadership of then-Chair Devin Nunes, “found the ICA significantly worse and significantly more corrupt than was conveyed in the CIA report.” As The Federalist further reported, “[t]he staff report also reveals more details related to the ICA’s report on Russia’s 2016 influence campaign.”

    Now another source familiar with the HPSCI staff report has told The Federalist that the analysts who actually drafted the ICA report for Brennan are still with the CIA — some maybe even having been promoted after compiling the faulty report in violation of standard operating procedures. 

    Given the serious flaws exposed last week by CIA Director Ratcliffe and that the ICA on Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election was significantly more corrupt than the CIA’s report revealed, that the analysts that assisted Brennan and his ilk in the get-Trump effort remain at the Agency raises grave concerns.

    A spokesperson for the CIA did not respond to The Federalist’s questions concerning what Director Ratcliffe has done, or will do, to ensure these analysts’ faulty and biased tradecraft is not continuing under Trump 2.0. The CIA also did not comment on whether the analysts responsible for the bogus ICA will face disciplinary action or are themselves the subject of a criminal referral.

    It seems unlikely, however, that Director Ratcliffe will be content with outing the big names, while leaving the minions in place. In fact, the most obvious explanation for Director Ratcliffe’s failure to release the HPSCI staff report or to include the extensive details of corruption from that report in the CIA analysis of the ICA, is that the investigation is still ongoing.

    Let’s hope so — and in the meantime, the CIA Director would be wise to keep a close leash on Brennan’s boys.”

    Liked by 1 person

  22. NF: I do not agree with this in any way, shape or form! There are plenty of children who need homes already – ADOPT!!!

    EXCERPT: “As a consequence of President Donald Trump’s push for mandated insurance coverage for IVF (a mandate California has started to implement), some clinics, such as Wisconsin Fertility Institute, are calling for an increase in egg donations. Gamete donation ads tell women they can make money while “helping others” and by “giving the gift of life.”

    But these women are not helping infertile people to have their own children, they are helping infertile people to have the egg donors’ children. Egg donation ads distract women from the fact that they are selling genetic material that will become their future biological children.

    Gamete donation databases are set up in Tinder-like fashion to showcase the physical and intellectual characteristics, hobbies, education level, phenotype, age, etc., of donors, so that commissioning parents can “imagine how their son or daughter might look.” These databases illustrate the build-a-child manufacturing mindset involved in the gamete donor process that diminishes children to mere products.

    Cofertility

    A newly founded California-based startup called Cofertility is taking a new, coercive approach that targets women interested in preserving their future fertility through egg freezing. Cofertility allows them to preserve their eggs for free as long as they agree to donate half of them. The idea for Cofertility came about when the founder, former Uber executive Lauren Makler, was seeking an egg donor and found that she had to pay more for eggs from Jewish or educated women.

    One of Cofertility’s egg donors shared, “I loved that Cofertility offered to cover the cost of freezing my eggs. It felt like a win-win because I could take the stress of that off my plate + help another family. I am pro-choice, pro bodily autonomy, and was open to the idea of egg donation because to me — eggs aren’t kids, they’re cells. It’s the parents who turn them into a family.”

    While Cofertility claims to “honor families and donors with a thoughtful, human-centered experience,” the humans conceived through gamete donation are surely not having their needs centered, as donor children disproportionately struggle with questions about their identity, depression, delinquency, and substance abuse, and 64 percent of donor-conceived adults agree “My donor is half of who I am.”

    How will the above donor’s children potentially feel about their genetic mother’s view that they are not part of her family? One donor-conceived person shared: “I hate how everyone talks about how parents want to have a biological connection to the child, and in the same breath, they talk about how that desire warrants DENYING their child the SAME desire to have a connection with one of their biological parents. We are human beings. We are not fertility treatments, procedures, genetic material, donations, or ‘gifts.’”

    Further, in a study of 143 donor-conceived persons, “almost 85 percent reported a shift in their ‘sense of self’ upon learning about the nature of their conception and about half sought psychological help in order to cope. Nearly 74 percent said that they often or very often think about the nature of their conception and 62.2 percent felt the exchange of money for donor gametes was wrong.”

    Cofertility is a new way to take advantage of young women who may be desperate to preserve their fertility but who may not entirely understand the repercussions of giving away their eggs. A 2025 study found that often gamete donors viewed gamete donation as ending after they stopped providing samples, and that it wasn’t until they became parents themselves, there were new social changes like DNA testing and policy shifts, or they had actual contact with their donor children, that they realized the consequences of their actions…..”

    https://thefederalist.com/2025/07/10/mandating-ivf-coverage-will-exploit-vulnerable-women/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. when i had my partial hysterectomy. my surgeon told me she looked at my ovaries in case they needed removal. she said, they were beautiful (blush, lol) and i should consider donating eggs. I just couldn’t. they would be MY children–somewhere out there. I couldn’t do it.

      Liked by 1 person

        1. imagine running into a young woman somewhere you looked a lot like you at her age. if she didn’t know she was conceived that way, she would be shocked and the ripple effect could disrupt many lives.

          Liked by 1 person

  23. Goodness! Wheezer must have worn his ass out stalking last night! He’s done rolled back over and gone to sleep again!!! Busy, busy boy, apparently! LOL

    Liked by 1 person

  26. “A frightening tale from Milan as told by DailyMail.com – Passengers on board a plane at Milan Bergamo Airport have described the horrifying scenes after a man took his own life by jumping into the jet’s engine.

    They recalled hearing a dreadful noise before being warned, ‘Don’t look out the windows’ as the nightmare unfolded on Tuesday morning. Andrea Russo, 35, from Calcinate near Bergamo, who was not a passenger or staff member at the airport, entered the terminal in his red Fiat 500 car before abandoning the vehicle and running into the building.

    He arrived at the airport without a ticket and made his way to a restricted area leading to the runway before two Border Police on duty attempted to stop him. He managed to free himself from the officers before running on to the tarmac and ‘throwing himself into one of the two turbofans’ on the Volotea Airbus A319 flight V73511 from Milan to Asturias.”

    Liked by 1 person

  28. “Former White House Doctor Denies Ever Knowing A ‘Joe Biden’”

    U.S. · Jul 9, 2025 · BabylonBee.com

    Image for article: Former White House Doctor Denies Ever Knowing A 'Joe Biden'

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former White House Physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who served from 2020-2024, testified this morning that he has never known any person by the name of “Joe Biden.”

    The House of Representatives asked Dr. O’Connor to testify as to whether he had ever been instructed to lie about former President Biden’s health and mental fitness, but Dr. O’Connor simply explained that he had never heard of anyone called “Joe Biden” or “President Biden” in his life.

    “Never heard of the guy, sorry,” said Dr. O’Connor. “Really wish I could help, but I’m just drawing a total blank on that name. Biden, Biden…nope, not ringing any bells.”

    The House Panel reminded Dr. O’Connor that he had personally conducted all of Biden’s physicals and showed him his signature on each one. “Weird, must be another Dr. Kevin O’Connor with super similar handwriting. Crazy,” responded Dr. O’Connor. “Yeah, I see those photos you’re holding up that look like me with this ‘Biden’ guy, but that’s someone else because I don’t know him. I mean, we do look a little similar, so I see how you got confused. Sorry, guys.”

    At publishing time, Dr. O’Connor had asked to be excused as one of his demented patients with prostate cancer needed him up in Delaware.

    Liked by 1 person

  29. “After TSA Policy Change, Production Finally Resumes At Crazy Mohammed’s Shoe Bomb Factory”

    World · Jul 9, 2025 · BabylonBee.com

    Image for article: After TSA Policy Change, Production Finally Resumes At Crazy Mohammed's Shoe Bomb Factory

    DAMASCUS — Following the announcement by the Transportation Security Administration that the policy requiring airline passengers to remove their footwear at airport checkpoints was being lifted, news broke that production had finally resumed at Crazy Mohammed’s Shoe Bomb Factory.

    The company had been struggling to stay in business since December 2001, when Richard Reid attempted to detonate a shoe bomb on board a passenger flight, resulting in tighter security measures that required passengers to remove their shoes for screening. Crazy Mohammed Al-Badawi, founder and president of Crazy Mohammed’s, said the policy change came just in time.

    “We’re back in business, boys!” Al-Badawi told his staff. “I know things have been difficult the last couple of decades, but thanks to the change in the TSA policy in America, we can get back to doing what we do best and start cranking out shoe bombs. Let’s get to work!”

    In a new television advertisement, Al-Badawi wasted no time in drumming up new business. “Come on down to Crazy Mohammed’s Shoe Bomb Factory!” he shouted. “We have shoe bombs in all the latest styles — dress shoes, running shoes, casual shoes — fashionable and fully capable of destroying an airplane to strike America. And remember, every purchase of a shoe bomb comes with a free goat! If these prices aren’t crazy, I’m not Crazy Mohammed! Death to America!”

    At publishing time, Al-Badawi had told friends he was confident the company would be far more successful than Wild Waziri’s Used Hamas Pagers Emporium.

    Liked by 1 person

  30. “Mattel Introduces New ‘Ozempic Barbie’ With Syringe And Detachable Belly”

    Life · Jul 9, 2025 · BabylonBee.com

    Image for article: Mattel Introduces New 'Ozempic Barbie' With Syringe And Detachable Belly

    U.S. — Toy maker Mattel has unveiled the latest in its Barbie lineup, the all-new “Ozempic Barbie” that comes with real syringes and a detachable belly for when the initially-chubby Barbie sheds that weight.

    Mattel stated that children will be able to draw up liquid from a real vial and give Barbie injections, then witness the incredible transformation as they remove her massive belly.

    “Kids will love joining Barbie on her weight loss journey,” said Mattel CEO Kimberly Massa. “Watch their smiles as they help Barbie overcome crippling diabetes and high blood pressure. With every injection your kids give her, that morbidly obese Barbie is one step closer to her best, most beautiful self. Get an Ozempic Barbie today!”

    In addition to syringes, the new Ozempic barbie will also come with a miniature tape measure so kids can quantify Barbie’s amazing results. “Wow! Barbie just went from a size 20 to a size 2! Thanks, Ozempic,” said a young girl in the latest commercial spot. “Oh look, now Ken is interested in her again. Yay!”

    At publishing time, Mattel had announced their next toy would be “Prozac Barbie” featuring a frowning face that can be turned to be a smile after kids feed her pills.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. “Miranda Devine: Susie Wiles brings calm to Trump admin — helping the president rack up wins”

    New York Post, By Miranda Devine, Published July 9, 2025

    Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff, at a dinner in the Blue Room.
    Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff, during a dinner with US President Donald Trump, not pictured, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not pictured, in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, July 7, 2025.Al Drago/UPI/Shutterstock

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “Donald Trump calls her the “Ice Maiden.” But in person, the very private White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is warm and hospitable — as long as you don’t cross her. She didn’t become the most powerful woman in the world without a determined glint in her eye that can silence the most spirited cabinet member. Wiles, 68, has brought a sense of order and calm to Trump’s second presidency, which has given him the space to notch up wins at breakneck speed.

    In a rare interview on our new podcast, “Pod Force One,” she explained how she does it. “I gave a piece of advice to myself when I started this job,” she told us this week in her large, sunny office in the West Wing, down the hall from the Oval Office. “I am the chief of staff. I’m not the chief of Donald Trump.”

    She starts early each day with a security briefing, followed by a 7:30 a.m. staff meeting in her office with deputies including Stephen Miller, Taylor Auerbach and James Blair at the big conference table that stands in front of French doors that lead to a prized private patio where she held a “cigar party” after she moved in.

    She usually doesn’t finish until late at night, when younger staff members have gone home to their young families, and she has barely had a day off since she started.

    But when people ask Wiles what the hardest thing is about her job, she replies: “Here’s what’s not hard about my job: Donald Trump. He is predictable and open and approachable and honest and honorable and committed and all of those things, which does not mean he can’t be irritated or frustrated, but I view my job as trying to keep as much of that away from him so that he can think clearly about the big picture. We’ll take care of the back office.”

    That’s high praise from someone who is with Trump for hours every day, and has been with him off and on since 2015 through some of his darkest hours, including his near-death in an attempted assassination in Butler, Pa., one year ago this Sunday.

    They know each other so well now that if he does get irritable when something goes wrong, she has worked out the simplest way to mollify him. “I’ve never found him to be irritated or angry for no reason,” she says. “So, solving the underlying problem is where I focus. He’ll be angry. He’ll say so. But at the end of the day, what he wants from me is to fix whatever made him angry. So, I try to go to the root cause.”

    The fact that Wiles is competent and organized means that she generally fixes problems before they reach him, a far cry from the catastrophes that used to land in his lap under his revolving door of four chiefs of staff during his first administration.

    Asked if her boss has any annoying habits, she pauses and then offers: “He’s known to be tardy, and so the day gets out of control pretty quickly. But … what you see is what you get, and that’s a blessing for a staff member because then I don’t wonder when I come in on Monday, ‘What’s it going to be like?’ I know what it’s going to be like. It’s going to be breakneck speed to get as much done as fast as possible for the people that need it and matter. And that’s really what we do here every day, all day. Seven days a week, by the way.”

    The Floridian grandmother’s talent is to create order out of the chaos that comes from a gregarious commander-in-chief whose office door is always open, and who has an ambitious agenda, boundless energy, and the weight of the world on his shoulders.

    Preferable chaos

    “There is a natural chaos, and he prefers it,” she says. “He prefers as many inputs on any given topic as he can possibly get, and I prefer that for him. It makes for better decisions. But at a certain point, you’ve got to rein it all in, and he’s got to make a decision, and he does. And then we execute.”

    Any visitor to the Oval Office or the president’s civilian life office in Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue can see he is a neat freak, with tidy piles of paper on his desk. And contrary to popular belief, Trump is a “voracious reader,” says Wiles.

    “His reputation is different, but I can tell you he is a voracious reader.” He reads his hometown newspaper, the New York Post, cover to cover, and the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, “and sometimes the Washington Post. And anything else that comes his way, the Financial Times and all of the periodicals.”

    She is in awe of his work ethic, and says he sets a “superhuman pace,” which is extra remarkable at the age of 79. “I don’t know of another mortal who could really keep up [with him]. I work as hard as I can, and I think I do fine. Or at least if I don’t, he hasn’t told me that yet. But it is a superhuman pace. There’s no question. And if you look around at the staff, they’re all young but me. So there’s a reason for that!”

    The first time Wiles, then a successful Florida political consultant, met Trump was at Trump Tower in 2015 during the Republican primaries, when she saw something in the outsider that she thought made him a standout prospect in the ­unwieldy field of 17 candidates.

    “I’ve been a traditional Republican all my life and I thought, this is just not working, not for the American people. We need a disruptor here. We need somebody that thinks about how to serve the American people differently … And after talking to this billionaire who I didn’t really go into the meeting thinking would have his finger on the vein of the middle class, I realized he did. And then that decision [to work for him] was easy after that.”

    The daughter of legendary sportscaster Pat Summerall, former placekicker for the ­Giants, Wiles cut her teeth on Republican politics early, with an entry-level job on Capitol Hill, working for an old football friend of her father’s, New York Rep. Jack Kemp.

    She soon graduated to the White House — for the first time — as a scheduler for Ronald Reagan, where she met her former husband, Lenny Wiles, with whom she had two daughters. For the next 20 years, she worked for local Florida politicians and took time off to raise her children. She launched her own political consulting shop and managed Rick Scott’s successful 2010 outsider campaign for Florida governor, before pulling off another upset victory for Ron De­Santis in 2018. She had a famous falling-out with De­Santis, who she agrees tried to destroy her career.

    She went back to run Trump’s final campaign when he was at his lowest point, trying to pull off what almost everyone thought was the impossible feat of winning back the presidency in 2024. He was being attacked with lawfare by Joe Biden’s DOJ and other rogue Democratic lawmakers. But throughout Trump’s worst days, when his home was raided by the FBI and he was arrested in Georgia, she never saw him downbeat.

    “Never, never. In the dark days, when truly they were persecuting him, he put a suit and tie on and came to the office and worked all day, every day. “I believe fundamentally, thoroughly, completely in what he believes, and I believed he could and would come back, believed he would overcome everything that was thrown at him, which was everything. And frankly, going through that just gave me more resolve to help every way I could.”

    How lucky is Trump and all of us that she made that decision.”

    Liked by 1 person

  32. Just The News: “The Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday banned illegal immigrants from accessing the agency’s taxpayer-funded benefits.

    Since 1998, HHS has interpreted the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to let illegal immigrants use certain federal public benefits, according to the department. On Thursday, HHS announced that it has formally rescinded the interpretation that began under the Clinton administration.

    “For too long, the government has diverted hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to incentivize illegal immigration,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., said in a statement on Thursday. “Today’s action changes that—it restores integrity to federal social programs, enforces the rule of law, and protects vital resources for the American people.”

    The federal public benefits that illegal immigrants will no longer have access to include Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics; Community Mental Health Services Block Grant; Community Services Block Grant (CSBG); Head Start; Health Center Program; Health Workforce Programs not otherwise previously covered (including grants, loans, scholarships, payments, and loan repayments); Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Prevention, and Recovery Support Services Programs administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness Grant Program; Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant; Title IV-E Educational and Training Voucher Program; Title IV-E Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program; Title IV-E Prevention Services Program; and Title X Family Planning Program.”

    Liked by 1 person

  36. “Florida might make customers gut and behead their own chickens if they buy from small farmer”

    Not The Bee, Wolfgang Ramsay, Jul 9, 2025

    Image for article: Florida might make customers gut and behead their own chickens if they buy from small farmers 😬

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “I don’t know about you, but whenever I buy a chicken I tend to like it headless, footless and gutless. Call me crazy but I just like to be able to throw that sucker in the deep fryer and cook it, no prep needed!

    But if the state of Florida gets its way, small farmers will have to sell their butchered birds a little more, um, intact. From the Pensacola News Journal:

    Chris Williams and his brother have plans to open a farm on family property in Century in Escambia County and sell homegrown chicken products. …

    However, the Florida Department of Agriculture (FDACS) is proposing a significant change to the definition of ‘dressed poultry’ for small poultry farm producers, which they say would hurt Travis’ business and possibly kill their plans to launch another farm.

    The proposed FDACS rule would mandate that poultry be sold with the head, feet, and internal organs intact.

    That’s right: If you’re in Florida and you want to head over to your neighbor’s small farm and buy an oven-ready chicken, you may soon have to finish processing the bird yourself.

    I’m not sure if you’ve ever gutted and chopped up a chicken, but it’s quite an operation. So why are they making this bizarre change? A spokesman for the state agriculture department, Aaron Keller, said the state wants to ensure “that consumers have a safe, affordable and reliable food supply.” Not sure what basically un-processed chickens have to do with that!

    In any event, it sounds like the pushback may have been strong enough to get the ball reversed on this:

    FDACS has held one public hearing on the proposal and Keller said the feedback they received was ‘helpful.’

    He said they are now redrafting the rule and will announce and host another public hearing on the redrafted version.

    DeSantis has been killing it in Florida. Hope his admin doesn’t screw up its agriculture policy this badly!”

    Liked by 1 person

  37. Just The News: “A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling on nationwide injunctions.

    U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante granted class-action status to babies who would be affected by the order, in an apparent attempt to circumvent the high court’s directives to limit injunctions to participating parties in the case. The ACLU filed suit, arguing that those affected would suffer irreparable harm, NBC News reported.

    The Supreme Court last month narrowed the scope of prior injunctions against the order, finding that lower courts likely lacked the authority to issue sweeping injunctions.

    “The issuance of a universal injunction can be justified only as an exercise of equitable authority, yet Congress has granted federal courts no such power,” wrote Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. 

    In a concurring opinion, however, Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote that “today’s decision will have very little value if district courts award relief to broadly defined classes without following ‘Rule 23’s procedural protections’ for class certification.”

    Liked by 1 person

  38. Liked by 1 person

    1. Martin
      July 10, 2025 12:08 pm

      JULY 10 2025

      DAILY MAIL UK

      Women who claimed Brigitte Macron was born male CLEARED of defamation

      Two women convicted of defaming French first lady Brigitte Macron by saying she was ‘born a man’ were today sensationally cleared on appeal.

      comment image

      […]Both had claimed they were subjected to ‘intimidation by the authorities’ as ‘ultra protected’ members of the Paris establishment tried to cover up a ‘state secret’.

      Lawyers for Ms Macron, 72, in turn indicated that she was ‘devastated’ by the development

      […]Ms Roy and Ms Rey had had appeared on a four-hour YouTube video in December 2021 in which they claimed that Brigitte was in fact born as a baby boy called Jean-Michel Trogneux in 1953.

      […]Now, neither will have to pay anything, and they will be able to repeat the allegations against Ms Macron.

      […]Today’s court ruling states that the 18 passages of the video under consideration ‘do not constitute defamation’, and instead represent ‘good faith’ free speech.

      It comes as Ms Macron finds herself increasingly under attack, not just in France, but across the world.

      ‘Becoming Brigitte’, a controversial book about her personal life written by journalist Xavier Poussard, is stirring up conspiracy theories, as is American influencer Candace Owen.

      […]

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14894021/Women-claimed-Brigitte-Macron-born-man-CLEARED-appealing-defamation-ruling.html

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Who really GAS anyway?!?! What is more pertinent to me is that “she” was Macron’s teacher – that is creepy in and of itself, IMO.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. what a mess! when i worked at the trucking company–when something like this happened, they had to dump the whole load. so the truck drivers would bring in whatever was salvageable to the office and the owners gave it out to everyone.

      Liked by 1 person

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