Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Mystical Magical (2025)
On Saturdays I take a break from the heavy stuff and have some fun…
 

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This week's song is about a new love affair, and Benson Boone bounces between frustration and optimism when he thinks about it. Does anything inspire your mixed emotions these days?
Surviving.

2) The lyrics mention "moonbeam ice cream," which is something Benson just made up. Last summer, when this week's song became popular, ice cream shops were inspired to create flavors with that name. What's your favorite ice cream flavor, and will you take that in a cup or cone?
How can you limit yourself to one flavor when there are so many great flavors; rum raisin, butter pecan, cookies and cream, but you asked for my favorite… Husky Tracks! Every time I had to go on UConn's campus I always stopped by and got some. UConn is an agricultural college and they have their own dairy herd; you can't get ice cream fresher than that!
Husky Tracks
Vanilla ice cream with fudge swirl and peanut butter cups

3) He sings that "once you know" about a love like this, "you know." Tell us about something you had to experience to fully understand.
Boy, that's a hard question because it is something I haven't really thought about it. you know when you are retired one day just blurs into another.

4) He composed this song at the piano. Do you play piano?
Nope… I can’t keep a beat. I have Auditory Dyslexia where I miss a beat or double beat.
Gemini: “There is actually a fascinating and deeply researched connection between dyslexia and the inability to keep a steady beat.

For a long time, people thought dyslexia was purely a visual issue—seeing letters floating around or backwards. However, modern neuroscience has revealed that dyslexia is fundamentally a timing and rhythm processing issue in the brain.”

5) He first sang in public at a high school talent show, which he only entered on a dare. Can you recall any dares from your junior high or high school days?
Um… I don’t think that the statue of limitation has expired yet. So I take the Fifth! But most of us survived.

6) Benson was a good high school athlete and competed in diving at the state level. Can you execute a dive off the diving board?
Well first you have to be willing to jump into the water… I like to get my toes wet first.

7) When he was 18, Boone auditioned for American Idol. What were you up to when you were 18?
Well, I had just graduating and the drinking age was 18… so it is pretty easy to figure out. Party-time!

8) Benson has a dog named Max. He's not alone in this. "Max" is one of the most popular pet names in the US today. Have you ever known anyone (furry or otherwise) named Max?
Nope.

9) Random question: If we knocked on your door on one of your lazy, stay-at-home days, what would we likely find you wearing?
You mean like every day? When you are retired everyday is a lazy, stay-at-home day… PJs

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

I Have A Question.

If voter fraud is so rampant as Trump says... How did he get elected?

Judge refuses to block Trump order to limit mail voting. There’s no immediate effect on the midterms

AP News

By  NICHOLAS RICCARDI

May 28, 2026

A federal judge has declined to halt President Donald Trump’s executive order creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year’s midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee in Washington, late Wednesday rejected the request by Democrats and civil rights groups that had argued Trump’s order would likely be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. Nichols agreed with the Republican Trump administration’s contention that it was too early to block the order because it has yet to be implemented.

Nichols’ ruling leaves the door open for further challenges when the Trump administration moves to implement the president’s directive. A separate lawsuit seeking to block the executive order is underway in Boston. No matter how rapidly the administration acts, no voting changes are expected during primary elections, which continue into next month.

I want to point out that even the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation documents only roughly 1,500 to 1,600 proven instances of election fraud collected over several decades! That is out of roughly 204 million voters!

So, what is it that Trump wants to do?

Trump administration promotes program to check voter eligibility. Critics fear a midterm purge

AP News

By  JOHN HANNA

May 17, 2026

Even as Democratic officials fight the effort in court, the Trump administration has run millions of voter registrations through government databases to determine their eligibility in a process that critics worry could end up purging valid voters from the rolls before the November elections.

At least 67 million registrations, primarily from Republican-controlled states, have gone through a beefed-up verification program at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and tens of thousands of those have been flagged as potential noncitizens or people who have died. Some states allow only a month for people to prove their eligibility and others suspend it immediately.

The scanning of state voter rolls at the national level is part of a broader effort by Republican President Donald Trump to federalize certain election functions and promote his messaging that elections are marred by noncitizen voting, even though instances of that are rare. Voting and civil rights advocates say the DHS system is error-prone and can mistakenly flag people who are eligible to vote.

Somehow I don't want Trump and his cronies to have my Social Security... I don't want the databases tied together! It give way too much power to Trump and his fascists tendencies! Autocracies love centralized

There have a number of improprieties that has been suggested that DOGE did with the SS database! Such as hand over sensitive personal data to an outside conservative advocacy group looking to "overturn election results" in certain states!

Trump has been trying to overhaul U.S. elections, including calling for a federal list of verified voters, and his Department of Justice has pushed states to hand over unredacted voter information for mass checks through the DHS program known as SAVE.

The Justice Department has sued states that refuse, saying the government is trying to ensure that they are complying with federal law and have accurate voter lists. States already take a number of steps to maintain the accuracy of their voter rolls.

SAVE, short for Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, was created under an immigration law mandating that DHS help federal, state and local agencies prevent government benefits from going to noncitizens. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an arm of DHS, said more than 1,300 agencies use it.

Remember, they have only found under 2,000 undocumented immigrants on the rolls! Yet, they want all this personal data on over 200 million voters. A centralized database like that will be a prime target for hackers!

It will also create massive problems with database matching. For example, some records might still use a woman's maiden name, leading to a database mismatch that could cause her to be tossed off the voter rolls! The same is true for trans voters, we might have a name and gender mismatch and also be prevented from voting!

Human rights organizations say this effort is designed to give the administration these lists so they can force states to purge voters—disproportionately targeting naturalized citizens, minorities, and women—just before major elections, as these groups tend to vote progressive. Critics argue the administration's motive is to feed data to partisan operations, and that this is an attempt to federalize the voting system and centralize election power in Washington. Just like Russia, China, and North Korea!

Weaponization

That word get tossed around a lot these days, but unfortunately  is is true!

Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3282, the federal government must formally charge or indict an individual within five years of the date the false statement was actually made.

Naw! No way! That Trump is weaponizing the Department of Justice.

DOJ launches criminal probe into E. Jean Carroll: Sources

Acting AG Todd Blanche recused himself from the investigation, sources said.

ABC News

By Katherine Faulders, Aaron Katersky, and Alexander Mallin

May 27, 2026

The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former Elle magazine columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. 

The investigation is allegedly centered around whether Carroll committed perjury during her civil lawsuits against President Trump, after which she was awarded a $5 million judgment, the sources said. 

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recused himself from the investigation, given his past representation of Trump in the matter, the sources said.  

[...]

The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former Elle magazine columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. 

The investigation is allegedly centered around whether Carroll committed perjury during her civil lawsuits against President Trump, after which she was awarded a $5 million judgment, the sources said. 

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recused himself from the investigation, given his past representation of Trump in the matter, the sources said.  

Instead of crossing of the naughty nice list Trump has them prosecuted!

Trump earlier this month asked a federal appeals court in New York to pause its ruling rejecting his challenge to her defamation lawsuit so he could pursue an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The request came after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear Trump's claim of immunity and his attempt to substitute the United States as a defendant in the case.

Vengeance is mine saith Trump!

War! What Is It Good For?

(War, huh) Yeah

(What is it good for?) Absolutely nothin'(War, huh) Yeah

(What is it good for?) Absolutely nothin'

Uh-huh, uh-huh

(War, huh) Yeah

(What is it good for?) Absolutely nothin'

Say it again, y'all

(War, huh) Huh, lookout

(What is it good for?) Absolutely nothin'

Listen to me, aww!

“War” by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong

Will Guantanamo Bay be Trump’s “USS Maine” or Johnson’s “Gulf of Tonkin”?

Is war number three being staged right now? Cuba is on Trump’s hit list!

Pentagon puts building blocks in place for Cuba invasion

The Navy’s presence in the Caribbean has not reduced despite the Iran war.

Politico

By Paul McLeary

05/27/2026

The Pentagon has spent months positioning the troops and weapons needed for the U.S. to launch a military attack on Cuba — all it needs is a final go-ahead from Donald Trump.

The president has floated an invasion of the island after economic and political pressure failed to topple the Communist government. But the Navy’s built-up presence in the region — the largest in the world outside the Middle East — would allow the U.S. to act immediately.

These strategically placed assets set the table for military action, from a capture of Havana’s leadership much like the seizure of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, to a series of precision strikes. And they open the possibility that the U.S. throws itself into the third international conflict of the Trump administration.

Do you remember Trump's campaign promises?

• “No new wars”
• “End the endless wars”
• “I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars”

Lying “Don”

Violence Around The World!

All around the world violence against the LGBTQ+ community is increasing, sometimes it us tearing down Pride flags, and other times it results in death and destruction. In England that violence caused to canceling of Pride.

Pride event cancelled after banners torn down

BBC News

Amy Holmes

May 27, 2026

A Pride music event in Hertfordshire has been cancelled due to safety concerns after banners have been torn down twice.

The first Loud & Proud event was due to take place at Shirley's Roadhouse in London Colney on 20 June, featuring live music from Christina Aguilera, Elton John and Britney Spears tribute acts, but organisers said banners advertising it had been removed from outside the venue.

Local Liberal Democrat councillor Liz Needham said: "I thought we were living in 2026 and had moved on from this kind of discrimination and was really hoping we could have a nice family-run event that would celebrate the LGBTQ+ community."

They are just like gnats... one little bite here, one bite there and they hope that it will drive us back into the closet.

Here in Connecticut, thee Connecticut State Police Hate Crimes Investigative Unit has a tip line, where you can report it...

Report Anonymously or Share Information

We encourage the public to report hate crimes and bias-related incidents. Your input helps improve understanding, tracking, and response efforts statewide. All reported information is collected and analyzed by the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at UConn.

If you need immediate law enforcement assistance, call 911

Crank It Out!

Crank it out!

Something happened.

When I went to my first meeting for passing the non-discrimination bill here in Connecticut back in 2007, one takeaway that was brought home at the meeting was: if a legislator tells you how they are going to vote... believe them!

Fast forward to 2026... they now tell you what you want to hear and vote the way they are told to vote.

Also, when I first started giving testimony, it had to be in person. Now they allow online testimony. When I give testimony, I say my name and the district I am in. But now, many testify anonymously and you don't even know if they are actually from Connecticut!

Amount of public testimony on bills is growing, but who’s writing it?

CT Mirror

by Sasha Allen and Angela Eichhorst

May 22, 2026

The amount of public testimony — signed and anonymous — submitted on proposed Connecticut bills has risen sharply in recent years, but the reasons why are murky.

More than 43,800 pieces of written testimony were submitted during the 2026 legislative session, nearly a 250% increase compared to 2016. But this year, almost 8,000 of these submissions were anonymous, and much of the testimony was directed at bills addressing hot-button issues.

Bills dealing with homeschooling, vaccines and gun regulations received more than 2,000 pieces of written testimony each, according to the Connecticut General Assembly. While this year saw abnormally high counts of written testimony overall, these numbers have been climbing for decades.

How many were from Connecticut? How many were generated by PACs?

I remember when I went to a training given by a local lobbyist. One thing the legislators did when they received emails on a topic was sort them by subject line. All of those with the same subject line got filed in the circular file, because those are the ones you "just click" on to send. Those that they give the most weight to are the personal emails. (Hint: if you are going to click on one of those form emails, change the subject line and personalize the email.)

But since more and more testimony is submitted anonymously, it is difficult to determine specific factors behind the increase. Last year, nearly 18% of all testimony submitted was anonymous, according to a CT Mirror analysis.

Hopefully, they give them about as much credence as they did back at the turn of the century. But now comes a new challenge with AI!

It is difficult to determine which pieces of testimony are written by chat bots or researched using AI. But Warner believes the tool could be a contributing factor to overall submission increases.

“That’s not to say that the AI has written the testimony but somebody felt like they had a position but wasn’t quite sure how to articulate themselves,” Warner said. “It could be a waypoint between having the idea and being able to put pen to paper, digitally speaking.”

I am concerned about this. Legislators do listen to constituents, but how much weight they ascribe to them is debatable.

But should anonymous testimony be allowed? Should out-of-state testimony also be allowed? My thoughts are yes, but there should be some type of flag to indicate that they are out of state and that they are human.

SNAFU

Hey you remember all those people Musk laid-off in the CDC?

The Washington Post wrote back in October that,

More than 1,000 staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received layoff notices, including in units that respond to infectious-disease outbreaks, analyze science and health data to develop policy, and monitor the safety of employees, according to multiple individuals issued dismissal notices and others with direct knowledge of the cuts.

Now they need Ebola specialists they are nowhere to be found!

Is The U.S. Stepping Up In The Fight Against Ebola?

KFF

Authors: Josh Michaud and Jennifer Kates

Published: May 23, 2026

The recently announced Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which is quickly escalating in the region, emerges at a time when the larger fiscal and programmatic environment for global health efforts faces particular hurdles, and international cooperation has been significantly challenged. This is in large part due to policy decisions made by the Trump administration and presents the first real global outbreak test following those changes.

On May 15, news broke of a large, ongoing Ebola outbreak concentrated in northeastern DRC. Two days later, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak to be a “public health emergency of international concern” (PHEIC) given its size and because Ebola cases were already reported across the border in Uganda, making the outbreak a regional threat. Despite only recently being detected and reported, this already appears to be one of the largest Ebola outbreaks to date, with almost 746 suspected cases and over 176 suspected deaths as of May 21st

[...]

Ongoing effects of foreign assistance funding freeze and cuts. Alongside the dissolution of USAID, in early 2025 the Trump administration implemented a freeze on all foreign assistance funding for a period last year. As a consequence, partner organizations report that they had to fire staff and cease many disease prevention and detection activities, including Ebola-focused activities in Uganda and DRC. . Eventually, the State Department issued “waivers” to allow funding for existing “life-saving” assistance programs to continue, which included infectious disease outbreak detection and response programs. While certain activities resumed, the underlying system itself was affected.

Then we have Trump withdrawing from the UN's WHO and placing roadblock for the CDC to work with the WHO!

Exclusive: Trump admin shutting key US researchers out of global virus response talks, documents and sources reveal

CNN

By Sarah Owermohle

May 25, 2026

Key officials responsible for leading US research on infectious disease threats have been barred from speaking directly with the World Health Organization — effectively shutting some of them out of the global discussions on virus outbreaks, according to documents and multiple sources who spoke to CNN.

The internal Trump administration policy stops individuals at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from communicating with the WHO unless authorized by senior staff.

The federal health subagency was led for decades by Dr. Anthony Fauci and oversaw developing treatments for public health emergencies including HIV/AIDs and Covid-19.

The prohibition has been in place during an outbreak of hantavirus that some Americans have been exposed to. The communication limits were relaxed slightly in the past week as another virus outbreak — an unfolding Ebola epidemic centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo — intensified.

Can you believe this bull! Putting politics before the health of the country! And don't forget we now have RFK Jr. in charge of the CDC!