This and That...

While sitting and working at my computer yesterday evening, I saw two bats fly by; and this morning, I saw the first goldfinches of the season.  And I just had an immature house finch alight on the balcony railing, and inspect my desk and me through the window.  It was very  curious, and kept tilting it's head from side to side, while chewing on a pumpkin seed that was larger than it's bill.  And there are now 31 foals kicking up their heels on the southern end of Assateague.  - Today, if I were in Scotland, I'd say it was a soft day - overcast with a misty drizzle.
 
  I realize that it's the normal course of Mother Nature and our Earth, but I'm appalled by the loss of life in the Rift Valley in Kenya.  They had over a year of drought, and now have had two months of torrential rains.  The majority of jobs and industries there are agricultural, and owners build reservoirs on top of hills.  With the rains, the walls are breaking, sending floods down through the homes built below them.  More than 157 people have died in the last month, either drowned or buried in mud.
  Then, of course, there's the eruption of Kilauea on the big island of Hawaii, that began on 3 May.  More than 15 volcanic vents have opened around the caldera, spewing lava and toxic gases.  The latest warning say a large eruption could toss boulders as large as 10 tons in almost any direction, should there be an explosion within the caldera.

   After all the crap coming from the White House since the last inauguration, I should not have been surprised or upset by the latest leak of information from a staff meeting held "behind closed doors."  I'll be honest and say that I have rarely agreed with Senator John McCain's stance in politics.  However, the man was a pilot in the Viet Nam War; his plane was shot down; and he was held prisoner in Hanoi for 5 years.  He was a physical wreck when he returned home after his ordeal.  But to have a White House staff member say that the Senator's opposition to the appointment of Gina Haspel to lead the CIA, "...doesn't matter; he's dying anyway" is disgusting.  Special assistant Terry Sadler now claims that she said that as a joke, just as 45 always claims his disparaging remarks are jokes.  Because a Senator is fighting brain cancer is no reason for Cadet Captain BoneSpurs and his chosen few to disparage an American hero.

  Thoroughbred trainers are still deciding whether or not they'll have an entry in next Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, outside of Baltimore, Maryland.  Justify, the colt who won the Kentucky Derby, has already had a 1 and 1/2 mile gallop over the track there.  Justify's regular jockey, Mike Smith, has received a 4 day suspension from the stewards at Santa Anita in California.  His mount, under a right-handed whip, drifted to the left and interfered with Kent Desormeaux's mount.  Smith's suspension will not affect his ride on Justify in the Preakness.

  And I am throwing my complete support behind Jared Polis in his run for Governor of Colorado.  Jared is a local from Boulder; he is gay, and he and his partner have adopted three children.  I firmly stand behind all that Jared represents as a father and as a legislator, as he is currently serving in the United States House of Representatives, serving the Second Congressional District.  He is also an entrepreneur and philanthropist.  -  And I laughed out loud at one of his tweets this morning:  You know you're living in the 21st century when your inbox contains an announcement about a "DNA Sale!" announcement for Mother's Day. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm getting Mom some beautiful flowers...

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This & That, Here and There

I had a wonderful time yesterday, as a large flock of magpies descended upon our two bird feeders and the next door restaurant's trash dumpster.  It was very noisy because there were quite a few juvenile fledglings out with parents - and they kept following their folks around,fluttering their wings and begging to be fed.  The majority of adults just kept looking at the youngsters, trying to show them how to feed themselves, but a few gave up and fed their babies...  After ten solid minutes of importuning, you could almost see shoulders shrug above wings as some parents gave in.  Having spent 45 minutes here, there was a sudden whoosh of air as they all left together and headed for another meal station.  It was a nice experience.
    Pony Penning, the 92nd annual one, held by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, will begin tomorrow with the Round-Up of the southern herds.  Sunday the northern herds will be gathered, and, at dawn on Monday, the northern ponies will walk down the beach to the southern holding pens.  Monday and Tuesday the ponies will be evaluated by the veterinarians and any needed treatments will be given.  Older mares, like Unci, and very pregnant mares, as well as new babies and their moms will be trailered over to the Carnival Grounds on Chincoteague.  Wednesday morning, at slack tide (early in the morning this year), the ponies will swim from Assateague to Chincoteague.  After a short rest, they will parade up Main Street to the Carnival Grounds.  Thursday morning the foals will be auctioned off.  Friday the remaining ponies will swim back to Assateague.  (My mind and heart is already there.)
     The President gave a very long and very disjointed interview to The New York Times and it was released Wednesday afternoon.  He talked about how intelligent he is; stated that French President Emmanuel Macron likes to hold his hand; stated he would never have appointed Jeff Sessions to the position of Attorney General if he had known that Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia investigation; stated that Special Investigator Robert Mueller had better not investigate his family's tax returns; and said that anyone would have accepted and attended the 9 June 2016 meeting to get dirt on a political opponent, no matter who was offering it.  He also stated that he was talking to Vladimir Putin at the G20 dinner for less than 15 minutes, not an hour; and that they were discussing Russian adoptions - something "close to" his "heart" - which means they were discussing sanctions, because the Russian adoption issue is tied up in the Magnitsky Act, which sets Russian sanctions.
     We knew that Senator John McCain had gone to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona for the removal of a blood clot above his left eye.  Wednesday night it was revealed that the blood clot was tied to a cancerous glioblastoma tumor in his brain.  His doctors say they think they removed most of it. Glioblastomas attack the central nervous system and grow at an alarming rate, spreading tentacles throughout brain tissue.  I wish this war hero well.    -  And I wonder if this tumor might have been partly to blame for his odd questioning of James Comey on 8 June in front of the Intelligence Committee.
      Gee - the US Treasury Department has decided that the Exxon Oil Company, while under the leadership of CEO Rex Tillerson (now the US Secretary of State), ignored US sanctions against Russia in 2014, when it entered into a joint venture with Russia's Rosneft.   The Treasury Department slapped the world's largest publicly traded oil producer with a $2 million fine for "reckless disregard" of US sanctions.  Yesterday, Exxon Mobil Corporation sued the US government, calling the fine "unlawful" and "capricious."  Please note that a $2 million fine is barely a slap on the wrist to Exxon, which declared a profit of $7.84 billion last year....
      Russia is planning war games in September in the country of Belarus.  US allies in eastern Europe and Ukraine are worried that the games may be a "Trojan Horse" aimed at leaving Russian military equipment behind for later use.  Russia has sought to reassure NATO that the military exercises will respect international limits on size, but NATO and US officials remain wary about the war games' scale and scope.
       It was also reported last night that the 45th President has been asking his law team questions regarding Presidential Pardons - for his family, his friends, and for himself.   Now, if he and his family and friends are absolutely innocent of collusion with Russian regarding the 2016 Presidential election, and if none of them have any ties with Russia, as the person keeps claiming, why is he interested in Presidential Pardons?  This idiotic Pricktator is such a buffoon!!!!     -  And I still find it frightening and sickening that he is the so-called Leader of Our Country....   May the Gods help all of us!!!