TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

It is 6:24pm and all is well. We were not out for long, just long enough to get a couple of items and to have lunch. There wasn't anything open! I guess everyone in the city has left for the long weekend. It was odd to see downtown Toronto, it's as quiet as downtown Moose Jaw. The PATH is closed on the weekend, ODD!

Tomorrow we will visit the CN Tower and possibly the Rogers Center while we're there. I will see you all again sometime tomorrow.

Breaking:

CANADA WELCOMES FAMILY PHYSICIANS AND SPECIALISTS FROM USA

Are you a US doctor looking to practice medicine in Canada?

We excel at matching family physicians with clinics and hospitals that fit your career and lifestyle goals.

Easing the Physician Shortage in Canada

Canadian provinces are taking steps to make it easier for US board certified Family Physicians and Specialists to practice without additional exams or supervision. If you are non board certified, options are also available.

These exciting new pathways to licensure can be discussed with our team!

This is an ad from a recruiting organization. Here is their link

https://physiciansforyou.com/canadian-jobs-for-usa-doctors

I have no affiliation with this group. I'm posting this because my country and province need doctors of every specialty, including family practice physicians.

I share this solely as an "FYI" item for interested parties. I am not getting paid to post this.

Thank you.

The Fairy Lady

 

TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

Land of Whispering Pines 🌲

Good morning! I pray that you be well, at peace, provided for, & blessed 🙏 🌅

Here I am, 10:02 am, and finally, after stubbing my toes on stuff or banging my elbow on something, being a putz in a small place can be hazardous for an old bag in unfamiliar quarters. The Wi-Fi was dead, and I need to get Paula up to fix it, but I am still able to find a little time to post a short note.

- Google Search -

IMIGRATION NEWS TO CANADA

- immigrationnewscanada ca -

New to Canada? Your Guide to Integrating Smoothly in 2025

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

Being new to Canada can be overwhelming, and even more overwhelming is figuring out how to fit in.

We’ve made this guide as straightforward as possible, with concrete and easy tips to help you on your way to integrating.

We won’t be focusing on the technicalities like your social security number, but rather on what you can do to start to feel that Canada is your new home... Read More:

15 May 2025, 1:24 AM EDT

Work Permits: US citizens typically need a work permit to legally work in Canada.

• LMIA: Canadian employers might need an LMIA to demonstrate that there are no qualified Canadian workers available for the job, but this may not always be necessary for US citizens under the USMCA.
• USMCA (and LMIA exemptions): As a US citizen, you might be eligible for an LMIA-exempt work permit under the USMCA.
• Express Entry: The Canadian Express Entry system has been updated in 2025 with more category-based draws, and emphasizes in-Canada applicants.
• Temporary Residence to Permanent Residency: Canada has extended the TR to PR open work permit policy until 2026. This allows temporary residents who meet specific criteria to transition to permanent residence.
• Provincial Nominee Program: Provinces also have nominee programs that can lead to permanent residency.
• Study Permits: The number of study permits for 2025 has been capped, and most applicants are required to obtain a provincial or territorial attestation.

By fall.

I pray this is of some help for those in America who are facing the possibility of being put on the street by the return of the cold weather

NATURES SOUNDS AND MUSIC:

~Awakening the healer within~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-d-BTvUo_A

 

TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

Land of Whispering Pines 🌲

Good morning! I pray that you be well, at peace, provided for, & blessed 🙏 🌅

The morning started with a thunder shower. I got up to close the windows, and by then I was wide awake at 4:50 AM 🌫 I sat for a while on the couch scrolling through my phone to keep me occupied while I kept tabs on just what was going to develop out there. ⛈

A few flashes of lightning, a few rumbles of thunder. After a few minutes of heavy rain, everything was calm again, as though nothing had happened, and then the sun came out. That's our good old Niagara escarpment at work, like Moses parting the Red Sea. 🧙‍♂️ 🌊

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

METEOROLOGICAL CHANGES

I know the colder temperatures are not what we usually have at this time of year, but this is probably a latent effect of the past La Niña winter (The Low Jetstream) scrotum effect, as I call it. Pushing 50°F temperatures suddenly into the heated air of triple-digit weather, above 100°F, these conditions can create monsoons and flash floods. The humidity buildup of these thunderclouds can reach as far up as the stratosphere. These thunderclouds can be the birthplace for hurricanes, out at sea, and tornadoes overland.

These types of conditions sure make for a good recipe that can blow, or wash away houses, and cause flashfires, especially south of the border where the two extreme temperatures meet. Best known as an Atmospheric inversion. 🌬 🌪

Outside of that, I am now about getting ready to disconnect my laptop and put it in the suitcase. I prefer using the laptop, which is better than the cellphone, 14 inch screen. Now, I am connected to a keyboard and mouse with a 24-inch monitor, which works best for me when copying and pasting stuff and moving images, rather than trying to do all that stuff on a cellphone. A cellphone is like trying to stuff 50 pounds of horse sh-it into a 5 pound ziplock plastic bag? 🛍

🤨 😮

That will be about it for my meteorological season for the day. Now, take a quick peek to see what's up in the news.*_

**Trump says the clock is ticking for 150 countries to make a deal or face higher tariffs**

If you thought President Donald Trump’s trade war was over, he has some news for you: Tariffs are going up again.

At the conclusion of his Middle East trip Friday, Trump acknowledged that trade negotiations are progressing too slowly to accommodate every country that wants to strike a new trade deal with the United States. So Trump said he’d give other countries a few more weeks, and then Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick would simply tell America’s trading partners what their new tariffs are.

“We have, at the same time, 150 countries that want to make a deal, but you’re not able to see that many countries,” Trump said during a business roundtable in Abu Dhabi Friday. “So at a certain point, over the next two to three weeks, I think Scott and Howard will be sending letters out, essentially telling people – we’ll be very fair – but we’ll be telling people what they’ll be paying to do business in the United States.”

• Live Updates: Trump in Middle East
• Ukraine Russia talks
• Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ trial
• Trending Worst and best Eurovision entries

Chris Brown

• Father’s Day gifts
• Trump puts 150 countries on notice

Published 7:43 AM EDT, Fri May 16, 2025 - CNN -

Count down for how long it will be before America is no longer a leading free country with democracy, fairness, rules, regulations, and laws equal for all people. Now there will only be the law of one.

CANADIAN NEWS:

Leaked Canadian military report shows many new recruits are quickly leaving

Attrition rate for new recruits more than double the average across Forces

The Canadian military insists it's getting a handle on its recruiting crisis, but a new leaked internal report obtained by CBC News suggests many of those who come through the door quickly leave in frustration over the inability to get trained and into the job they want.

In addition, the effort to retain experienced soldiers, sailors and aircrew was dealt an important blow recently when a Department of National Defence office — set up to find ways to keep people — was defunded.

The struggle to recruit new members to both the regular and the reserve force has been a major preoccupation as the Forces face a shortage of up to 14,000 qualified personnel.

But the flip side of the equation — that has gotten less attention — is the effort to hold on to people, especially in critical technical trades.

• Trouble adjusting and getting trained

Posted: May 16, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

- CBC -

• recruits' attrition rate more than double the average across Forces

6 hours ago May 16, 2025 - CBC -

Have a productive and safe day, everyone. I'll be in touch when we get to Toronto.

 

TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

Land of Whispering Pines 🌲

Good morning! I pray that you be well, at peace, provided for, & blessed 🙏🌅

Well, it's one of those kind of, eh, eh days, chilly, cloudy with a little teensy weensy bit of intermittent sun. Well, ruffle me feathers! I didn't get much of a chance to sit in my greenspace for very long before I decided it was just a little too cool to sit comfortably with my coffee without a coat, and by then, nature called, and that was the end of the green space morning interlude. 😝

Back here in the Newsroom after fetching my second cup of coffee ☕ (I only have two a day), but I savor them better than any of the finest French wines on the market. Also, a little spiff of weed, 🦯 out in my green space after supper, well, (it's better than a Cuban Cigar!) A cigar tokin' Fairy? 🧚‍♀️ Then I also savor my tea in the evening. 🫖

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

The 70's: a Decade of Innovation and Invention

- Google Search -

The 1970s were a decade of significant technological innovation, particularly in computing, communication, and consumer products. This era saw the development of the microprocessor, floppy disks, early personal computers, and cell phones, which paved the way for the digital revolution we know today.

It was Expo 67 in Montreal that really opened my mind to the new developing technologies; it seemed the technology, especially in electronics, was changing overnight. Can you imagine if we still had that zeal and innovation and encouragement from our federal government, where we would be in just a few decades, instead of all this idiocy of the hate, distrust, doom, amorality, and destructive people we find ourselves ensconced in today?

The Hippies had it RIGHT all along, 🌺 FLOWER POWER, 🌺 PEACE! ☮️ the power of Love for one Another. ❤️

- Google Search -

Hippies: were a countercultural movement that rejected mainstream values and institutions in the 1960s. They stood for peace, love, and a rejection of materialism and conformity. They advocated for nonviolence, openness, and tolerance, and often practiced communal living, free love, and embraced Eastern philosophies like Buddhism and Hinduism.

If you wish to study more about the Hippie culture, there is plenty of information on Google Search. It would take a book to cover the history and stories that took place.

Does this sound like today? I lived through those days, I believe those days were like a shiny gem of promise and progress, the most promising there ever was for an opportunity for mankind to get past all pettyness like, anywhere from petty larceny to hate, war, jealousy, greed, and man's inhumanity toward man, population control, delusional schizophrenia, to extinction of the species.

If we could only isolate that garbage to the knuckle-draggers species, certainly not of the same genome as that of humans, those that DO NOT WANT TO EVOLVE PAST LIVING IN CAVES, deport them to Mars. They can debate with each other all they want as to whose hairy butt they wish to pick the fleas from next. Speaking of fleas, I need to take a shower 🌧 after the news. 📰

I PRAY CANADA BECOMES A NATION BUILDER. 🍁 Just as in G-d we trust, We, CANADIANS, will always be the PEACE KEEPERS and we should be damned proud of that. ☮️ Trust The Peace Keepers. ☮️ 🍁

BREAKING NEWS:

Supreme Court hears historic arguments on birthright citizenship

What you need to know:

• High-stakes hearing: The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments this morning in a case about the enforcement of President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship order. The main question for the justices is whether lower courts overstepped their authority by blocking that January 20 order on a nationwide basis.

• Framing the debate:

• What is birthright citizenship:

• Listen to live audio:

3 min ago:

Justice Thomas asks for 'historical analogues' of universal injunctions

Justice Clarence Thomas, the most senior member of the court, has the first question at Thursday’s arguments, asking Solicitor General John Sauer about the “origins” of universal injunctions.

The question fits into his interest across myriad cases in using history and tradition to decide legal questions.

Querying about the “historical analogues,” Thomas asked Sauer about an example President Donald Trump’s opponents say show that universal injunctions are rooted in history. Sauer countered that the example, known as a bill of peace, was more analogous to class action lawsuits.

12 min ago:

Trump’s newly confirmed Solicitor General D. John Sauer returns to the Supreme Court

Read More:

Updated 10:25 AM EDT, Thu May 15, 2025 - CNN -

Exclusive: FEMA is “not ready” for hurricane season, internal agency review shows

Hurricane preparations at Federal Emergency Management Agency have slowed to a crawl, and the disaster relief agency “is not ready” for the June 1 start to the season, according to an internal agency review obtained by -CNN-

Prepared at the direction of new acting Administrator David Richardson as part of a problem-solving exercise at FEMA, the document outlines the agency’s struggles in recent months and raises a number of red flags ahead of hurricane season, including a general uncertainty around its mission, lack of coordination with states and other federal agencies, low morale and new red tape that will likely slow responses.

“As FEMA transforms to a smaller footprint, the intent for this hurricane season is not well understood,” the document states. “Thus FEMA is not ready.”

President Donald Trump and his allies have criticized FEMA for months as ineffective and unnecessary...

Published 8:37 AM EDT, Thu May 15, 2025 - CNN -

Zelensky calls Russian team in Turkey ‘phony’ as Putin skips peace talks

Here is how Zelensky explained sending delegation to Istanbul despite Putin's no-show

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that he decided to send a top-level delegation to Istanbul even though Russia sent a lower-level team there “out of respect” for US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“Despite the relatively low level of the Russian delegation, out of respect for President Trump, out of respect for the high level of the Turkish delegation and for President Erdogan, we still want to try to take at least the first steps towards a ceasefire, so I have decided to send our delegation to Istanbul now,” Zelensky said.

“Not everyone will be there, of course, the head of the Security Service and the Chief of the General Staff will not be there. But the delegation will be led by the Minister of Defense. Despite the fact that his counterpart will not be there,” the Ukrainian leader said...

Updated 10:46 AM EDT, Thu May 15, 2025 - CNN -

CANADIAN NEWS:

Tariffs hitting shoppers in Canada and U.S., with some prices set to rise at Loblaw stores, Walmart

Loblaw has been aggressive in signalling which products are affected by tariffs

A trip to the store is about to become more expensive for shoppers on both sides of the 49th parallel, as pre-tariff inventory runs out at Loblaw stores and Walmart is set to raise prices in the U.S.

Loblaw Cos. Ltd. chief executive Per Bank said Wednesday in a LinkedIn post that the number of tariff-hit products at the grocery store could soon spike, as products brought into Canada before the trade war began are bought up from store shelves, which means prices for some items will go up, too.

Meanwhile, Walmart said it must raise prices in U.S. stores due to higher costs from tariffs implemented by U.S. President Donald Trump, after announcing its first-quarter profit slipped...

Posted: May 15, 2025 10:50 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

- CBC -

Canada's military plans to be in the Arctic 'on a near permanent basis,' says commander

Expanding northern training program to 10 months brings opportunity to rally support from NATO allies

Canada intends to expand its military training regime in the Arctic, deploying a variety of forces in the region for up to 10 months a year, starting this year, the military's operations commander says.

Lt.-Gen. Steve Boivin says the military's signature Far North exercise — Operation Nanook — will see additional elements created, resulting in a greater, consistent presence in a region that is increasingly the focus of geopolitical rivalry.

The plan, says one defence expert, is an unprecedented opportunity for the Liberal government to not only demonstrate Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic, but to rally NATO allies behind the country.

Posted: May 15, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

- CBC -

My Note: This will also mean more recruits to fill the new bases that they will set up in the Arctic, which also means civilian construction jobs, which should help to alleviate some of the problems with the unemployment numbers.

NATURE'S SOUNDS AND MUSIC:

💝~Mother Gaia Love Healing And Nurturing The Inner Child~💝

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exjLPJCW8Qg

 

TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

Land of Whispering Pines 🌲

Good morning! I pray that you be well, at peace, provided for, & blessed 🙏🌅

Well, it's another cloudy day, but it's mild. It's supposed to be 71°F, and mostly cloudy 🌫 today. "Party Pooper!" 😝 Yesterday I got my new orthotic inserts, what a difference for walking, I can almost put the cane away now. Today is another one of those unavoidable morning appointments, late morning, to get my hair done. I hate morning appointments; they throw my entire day off.

So I usually don't leave anything that's important to do when I get back, or I'll have too many things racing around in my head. I'm not so much forgetful as I'm more of a scatterbrain, nitpicking the little things, or somewhere not here, lost in space, then I wonder why I forget the daily bread stuff. Like for example the damned noon pills, I always miss them when I'm out of the house before lunch.

So I have to line up all my ducks in a row in the morning and try to feed them all, fill in all the blanks in a limited amount of time, that's the hard part, I don't do too well with clocks.

So, as it stands, if I don't get today's news on the air before 11:00 am, I will not be posting the rest of the news until later in the afternoon, as soon as I'm done filling in all the other previous blanks. So, ladies and gentlemen, that about covers it for my report here today in the Newsroom. What should we discuss today?

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

CHRONOPHOBIA

As I mentioned above, I don't do too well with clocks. I never had to worry much about it for the twenty-five years I worked as a social worker, working with the inner self of a human being. My work was never done; you never get the job done. You can only be grateful if you are able to show another soul where the next brick to step on is on the Yellow Brick Road of life.

Chronophobia (Fear of Time): Symptoms, Treatments, & How to Cope

Definition:

Chronophobia is a less common phobia that involves a specific and debilitating fear of time passing. It is associated with certain risk factors like having a terminal illness or being incarcerated. In addition to the fear of time passing, it often involves a general sense of having a shortened future or not enough time left to accomplish your goals.

I believe my chronophobia began when I was working 8-to-5 jobs. The time element just about frazzled me, trying to keep up with the clock. Social work, I was working a five-hour job at the center, but I was also on phone duty, spending a lot of nights up with lost souls at my own pace.

I am the same way when researching things on the internet through Google Search and other sources, sometimes through the wee hours of the morning because of my interest in my research; the clock simply vanishes like a morning mist. Meditation, imagination, curiosity, enthusiasm, adventure, empathy, and spirituality are all integral life forces that bind us together as one. That's it for the discussion today. Now, on to the National.

BREAKING NEWS:

Trump lands in Qatar after meeting Syrian leader in Saudi Arabia

What you need to know:

• Trump gets lavish Qatari welcome: President Donald Trump is in Qatar, his second stop on a three-day tour of the Middle East, where he was greeted with mounted camels and red Cybertrucks. Ahead of his trip, Trump said he planned to accept a plane from Qatar that would be used as Air Force One — raising legal, ethical and security concerns, including from members of his own party.

• Meeting with Syrian leader:

• Historic deals:

Updated 8:42 AM EDT, Wed May 14, 2025 - CNN -

Trump blasts Senate minority leader, who is seeking answers on Qatari jet

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that there’s “something wrong” with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in response to the senator placing a blanket hold on all Justice Department political nominees.

His remark comes as Schumer is seeking answers related to the Trump administration’s plans to accept a luxury jet from the Qatari royal family to use as Air Force One.

“Something wrong with him, I don’t know. I’ve known him a long time and there’s something wrong. He’s lost his confidence totally. And there’s something wrong with him. I don’t know what it is with Schumer,” Trump said during a gaggle on Air Force One as he travels to Doha, Qatar.

A blanket hold does not mean the Senate is unable to confirm these nominees, but it does force the chamber’s Republican majority to burn valuable floor time to overcome the hold. Only a simple majority vote is needed to overcome the hold.

Schumer demanded the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Act Unit “disclose all activities by Qatari foreign agents inside the US that could benefit President Trump or the Trump Organization.”

Updated 8:42 AM EDT, Wed May 14, 2025 - CNN -

200 rescued from Maryland elementary school using boats as flood waters started to reach the second floor

Alley Wade was at work when she heard that her sons’ school in Allegany County, Maryland, was flooded and rescues were underway.

She was 30 minutes away, and when she finally came within blocks of Westernport Elementary School, she was told by a police officer she couldn’t go any further, causing her to go into panic mode.

“It was very scary,” Wade told CNN. “I actually had a panic attack.”

She eventually got to a location where she was able to see her oldest son William, 10, being rescued by a boat. She waved and called out to him, but it took her a while to be reunited with both her children, including her youngest son, Quinton, 8, who was also rescued.

Her sons were among approximately 150 students and 50 adults evacuated using 15 rescue boats Tuesday as heavy rains brought flooding to the region, the county’s emergency services department said.

The children said they saw water close to the ceiling of the first floor of the school while being evacuated. By the end of the day, their pants were pulled up to their knees and their shoes were sopping wet. But they were OK.

Once they were all reunited at a local church, William was upset, and “clingy,” not that she minded, but his younger brother, Quinton, said he had fun, reassuring her after the long ordeal... Read More:

Updated May 14, 2025, 11 hr ago: - CNN -

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/200-rescued-from-maryland-elementary-school-using-boats-as-flood-waters-started-to-reach-the-second-floor/1774390?utm_term=cat-editorial,weather%20news,national,maryland,elementary%20school,flooding,severe%20flooding,rescues,rescue,cnn&utm_medium=push&utm_source=pushly&utm_content=17019543&utm_campaign=pushly_manual&country_code=CA&partner=push_pushly&default_language=en-US

CANADIAN NEWS:

Carney says Canadians 'weren't impressed' by U.K.'s offer of second state visit to Trump

PM says it's no coincidence that King will read throne speech while U.S. challenges Canadian sovereignty

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canadians "weren't impressed" when the U.K. decided to offer U.S. President Donald Trump an unprecedented second state visit while he was threatening Canada's sovereignty.

"To be frank, they weren't impressed by that gesture, quite simply, given the circumstance," Carney told British news channel Sky News in an interview posted online Wednesday.

"It was at a time when we were being quite clear, some of us were being quite clear, about the issues around sovereignty."

Carney said that when he was campaigning for the party leadership he was "being clear" that Canada is not for sale, and the invitation that U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer presented to Trump while in the Oval Office "cut across some of those messages."

Posted: May 14, 2025 8:21 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour ago

- CBC -

What, exactly, are Alberta separatists mad about?

We break down a few key issues driving the province's separation movement

Threats of Alberta separation go back decades, and have reached new heights since the April election of Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The separatist Alberta Prosperity Project is gunning for 600,000 signatures on a petition that would force a provincial referendum on the issue, while the Republican Party of Alberta — led by longtime conservative operative Cameron Davies — is ramping up its separation push.

"What we're looking at is the broken and dysfunctional system that has been in place since Alberta joined Confederation," Davies, who recently resigned from membership in the governing United Conservative Party, told -CBC- News.

He says the system was designed to consolidate power in the East, and the West was "viewed as nothing more than a resource colony" for Ottawa.

Posted: May 14, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 29 minutes ago

- CBC -

NATURE'S SOUNDS AND MUSIC:

💐~Inner Child – Nurturing Self-Love And Feel True Joy!~💐

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ2mbErTk3k

 

TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

Land of Whispering Pines 🌲

Good morning! I pray that you be well, at peace, provided for, & blessed 🙏🌅

It's primarily cloudy🌫 out there, but the temp is where it should be for this time of year; even with the overcast, expected high of 70°F, it was still nice to be able to sit out in my green space with just a light jacket on, sipping my coffee. It was so quiet at this time of morning that it reminded me of the homestead where I grew up. The sound of the great whispering pines,🌲 the early sunrise, 🌄 , and the birds 🦜 just coming out of their roost. 🌳

This morning was just me, the trees, the birds, and a couple of squirrels at play in the trees, so silent I could hear the creek hidden in the foliage 🌿🌱🍃 that is now in full leaf. Everything is so beautiful, with its different pastels of healthy green, and some trees still holding cherry blossoms. This place is as grown as it's going to get; the building is built on the side of parkland in a residential area. North of us is Lake Ontario. Can't go farther than that unless you have a rowboat 🛶 and row across Lake Ontario 🏖 to Toronto. 🏙

BY THE WAY: Beginning Friday around lunchtime, we are going to Toronto to spend four days visiting Toronto's PATH, a vast network of pedestrian walkways, tunnels, and shopping concourses beneath downtown Toronto.

NOTICE:

My news reports may be intermittently short on most of those four days. Beginning Friday, May 16 until... I should be back on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, full-time. That is about all I have to report for the moment here from the Newsroom this morning. Thank you for reading the News.

TODAYS DISCUSSION:

A Mental Holiday

Everyone needs to take some time off to rest mentally as well as physically. It is impossible to remain composed physically if you are fidgeting in anticipation of worry, and other mental blocks like concerns, anger, confusion, mental anguish, or aggravations, some call the aggravations pet peeves.

A Pet Peeve is like bang my knee, smack my elbow, and bust my shoulder in the doorway, bang my nose on the cupboard door getting a cup for my coffee, but ain't we a little putzy today, eh! Oh me, oh my, I can't bend down or go around corners like I used to and I don't do 90 ° angles too well anymore either, I get dizzy as a rat in a round shithouse if I do.

My Mental Holidays.

I take a mental holiday whenever I have quiet time. Either when I'm alone and Paula is out gathering some provisions for the refrigerator or at an appointment, that is when I do most of my wool gathering. The wool gathering is taking me to places I don't really get to go to as deeply when I'm busy with the present world. Thoughts, theories, analysing, researching, contemplating, and even getting into the sci-fi side and going past the limits of quantum mechanics, the physical and energetic world, for "a what-if world".

No one ever said you had to stick to the rigid known rules of physics. What about the imagination? The imagination took Einstein to the micro, the subatomic level. "Imagination."👩‍🔬

So if you get sick of the lunacy in this world, take some time off, and go into the land of the imagination, preferably with another like-minded person, to play toss the ball⚾️ back and forth.

As for the insanity:

"WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

😖😫😭😱😵‍💫🫨🙄😵‍💫🙃😲

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqQdbevaB-Q

BREAKING NEWS:

Trump’s Middle East trip: President to speak at Saudi investment forum after crown prince meeting

What you need to know:

• Trump in Saudi Arabia: The Trump administration signed several new agreements with Saudi Arabia’s government Tuesday, including on military cooperation, as President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seek to highlight close ties between the two countries. Trump is expected to speak at a US-Saudi investment forum soon, where Elon Musk is also listed as a speaker.

• High-stakes Middle East visit:

• Weapons sale: T

46 min ago:

Trump signs several agreements with Saudis, including on military cooperation

The Trump administration entered into several new agreements with the government of Saudi Arabia Tuesday as President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seek to highlight close ties between the two countries.

At a formal signing ceremony in a gilded ballroom at Riyadh’s Royal Court, the two leaders signed memoranda of understanding, letters of intent, and other executive agreements spanning different government agencies.

Multiple focused on the two countries’ military cooperation, including the “modernization and development of the capabilities of the Saudi armed forces through future defense capabilities,” enhanced cooperation on “ammunition training, support services, maintenance system upgrades, spare parts and education for land and air systems of the National Guard,” and the “development of the health capabilities of the Saudi armed forces.”

Updated 9:54 AM EDT, Tue May 13, 2025

-CNN-

Tariffs have already made mattresses, strollers, and power tools more expensive.

Photo:

A US flag is seen above mattresses at Charlie Wilson's appliance and TV store in Clarksville, Indiana.

President Donald Trump's unpredictable trade policies and public threats against companies have made it nearly impossible to set prices.

The Trump administration temporarily reduced tariffs on China over the weekend, but import taxes have already made baby gear, power drills, mattresses, and other everyday products more expensive for Americans. Companies have been raising prices to survive cost increases from both 10% universal tariffs on every product entering the United States and higher levies on Chinese goods, at 30%, even after an agreement between Washington and Beijing.

The Federal Reserve said last week that tariffs have led to a 0.3% increase in prices this year.

Published 7:00 AM EDT, Tue May 13, 2025 - CNN -

CANADIAN NEWS:

Updated4 minutes ago:

Carney's cabinet, to be sworn in shortly, has 24 new faces

Core and secondary group of ministers will likely focus on fighting U.S. tariffs

LIVE:

11 minutes ago

Who's in and who's out in Carney's cabinet:

Analysis: How Carney tried to turn the page with 1st shuffle

The Latest:

• New cabinet will be Prime Minister Mark Carney's second — but his first since being elected. It is expected to be small and focused, according to an official with the Prime Minister's Office.
• The 24 new names include Shafqat Ali, Jill McKnight, Tim Hodgson, Eleanor Olszewski, Mandy Gull-Masty, Joël Lightbound, Gregor Robertson, Evan Solomon, Wayne Long, and Nathalie Provost.
• Thirteen are newly elected MPs. There are 10 secretaries of state, nine of whom are new faces.
• Carney's first cabinet was composed of 24 ministers — 11 women and 13 men, including himself. Trudeau's last cabinet had 39 when sworn in.
• There will be a core group of senior ministers and a secondary group of more junior ministers, with smaller groups of staff and no new ministry created for them.
• The swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall is expected to begin soon.

Updated May, 13, 2025, 8 minutes ago: - CBC -

Separatists release potential Alberta referendum question, expect Danielle Smith to join cause

Alberta Prosperity Project says premier should hold referendum in 2025, with UCP base heavily pro-secession

Jeffrey Rath, lawyer for the separatist Alberta Prosperity Project, released his group's proposed question for a potential referendum on Alberta separation at a Monday news conference.

An Alberta separatist group released on Monday a referendum question on independence from Canada that it will petition to get in front of provincial voters, but only once it has garnered support from 600,000 Albertans.

That's more than triple the number of signatures the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) would need under a new United Conservative Party government bill that makes it much easier to force a referendum on the ballot.

The group also said it would push Premier Danielle Smith to allow a separation referendum later in 2025, instead of next year as she's suggested. They said a critical mass of separatist UCP members can persuade the premier to fast-track the referendum — and to join their cause as well.

The pitch:

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she'll hold a separation referendum in 2026 if enough petitioners demand one. The group that will lead the petition drive wants the vote this year instead.

• Analysis Will Danielle Smith steer Alberta away from separation, or will this train keep gathering steam?*
• Alberta separation would send Canada into uncharted territory, say legal experts*

Posted: May 12, 2025 2:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 12

- CBC -

I am getting quite annoyed with these cowboy hat wearing shitbagers<- conservatives, republicans, they're both the same breed of butt suffing bacteria stiff shirted cocroaches.

NATURE'S SOUNDS AND MUSIC:

💫✨ ~ Sit for a while, relax, and allow the release All Bad Energy From Your Body~ 💫✨

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8nuQxEqbdw

 

TREE HOUSE NEWS🏡

Land of Whispering Pines🌲

Good morning! I pray that you be well, at peace, provided for, & blessed🙏🌅

I do not have a lot to report from the Newsroom this morning. I was out in my green space with my coffee this morning, with my light jacket, it was rather pleasant to watch the sun come over the trees, and listen to the birds.🌄🦜 Have as prosperous a day as is possible, and thank you for reading the news. 📰

TODAY'S DISCUSSION:

GOOD TIMES

WHEN WERE THERE TRULY GOOD TIMES?

- Google Search -

Childhood Innocence and Wonderment

Why can't we retain the gift of our childhood into our adulthood? That childish innocence, of wonderment and curiosity, adventurer, and explorer within all of us. That gift, or that instinct within us all, may be the only straw to world peace.

In My Opinion:

The good times were when people were happy and grateful for what they had and made due with what they had. We had no TVs, cellphones, and didn't even have school buses; we walked the mile to school and played imaginary games along the way. We did have the two-way radio and a dial-up telephone. We had one of those rather large stand-up tube radios, an antique my dad put together, which ran on a car battery, and a gramophone (record player).

I had my Radio Flyer wagon, my doll Bobbie McGee, the bush or the lake, in a row boat, or on the backroads with my CCM bicycle, in the land of imagination.

We had movies at the local theater every two weeks or so, and many of those movies, as well as magazines, comic books, and many other books of interest, were food for the imagination. A bicycle became a car, or an airplane, especially when coasting down that steep hill on a boardwalk. Walking on the trail behind the house became a safari in the jungle.

Stuff like that. Now I'm getting a little too old and slow to do that stuff for real, so I wrote and drew pictures about what I was imagining, on almost any topic of interest, you know, the kind that took me beyond the written words on the pages I was reading or writing.

The path that went up the hill behind the house became an adventure in the jungle. I even dressed for the part and stuff like that. Even up into my adolescence and adulthood, I used to play dress up, especially on boring rainy days. I spent a lot of my time exercising and expressing my imagination at the kitchen table, either drawing or writing something, or both, or "McGivering" something in the toolroom in the basement.

I feel sad for those who never had a chance to be a kid, chase butterflies, pick pretty colorful flowers, and follow their imagination and dreams. No matter the stumbling blocks of life, if I fall, I just pick myself up, dust myself off, put a band-aid on my scraped knee, and proceed walking around the obstacle.

From the time we are born and open our eyes, we begin to take in information in our conscious and subconscious minds. Like knowing the difference between what was negative and something positive, even if we haven't yet differentiated what was negative or positive, black and white, it is quite surprising to find there are only shades of grey. But we certainly felt something was off plumb when it was negative. We recoiled from it like it was a venomous snake.

Suppose people could go back (or feel back to how they reacted to that specific experience back then), if we would and could allow ourselves to feel back to how we felt about such a negative proposition in the past, or how positive an experience it was. It's usually the good memories that take priority in the remember me times, so it is for me, anyway.

If we could go back to those experiences, it would likely modify the proposition at hand to accommodate all parties involved. A True Democracy with Honesty and Empathy for its people, there would be much less strife in the world. People's lives would be more synchronized and harmonised, we would know without doubt that people are more important than money.

- Google Search -

Democracy functions best when infused with honesty and empathy, fostering trust and understanding among citizens. Honesty ensures fair decision-making, while empathy promotes consideration for all perspectives, leading to more inclusive and legitimate democratic outcomes.

From the time we are born and open our eyes, we begin to take in information. What was negative, even if we didn't recognise it as a negative, was that we certainly did feel something was off plumb, enough so that we recoiled from it like it was a venomous snake.

Too Much Empathy; The man says: BONEHEAD!💀 You know who you are, for a smart guy who claims to be a genius and built a starship that never made it off the ground and put a torch to his own car company. I say good old KARMA is working like a charm

BREAKING NEWS:

Dow set to soar 1,000 points after Trump team dramatically lowers tariffs with China

US stock futures surged after President Donald Trump's top trade officials brokered a surprisingly dramatic de-escalation in trade tensions with China over the weekend, dropping tariffs to much lower levels, which some economists say could stave off a US recession.

Dow futures rose 1,000 points, or 2.4%. S&P 500 futures were 3.1% higher, and Nasdaq futures gained 4%.

US stocks were set to erase all their losses since Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" trade announcement, which placed a 10% tariff on practically all goods coming into the United States and set significantly higher tariffs on dozens of countries. Trump paused most of those tariffs just days after they went into effect, but jacked up import taxes on China, eventually to 145% on most Chinese imports.

• Live Updates The US will temporarily lower its overall tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%
• -CNN- breaks down US-China tariff agreement 0:53
• Pre-market stock trading coverage from -CNN-

Updated 7:53 AM EDT, Mon May 12, 2025 - CNN -

Trump's tariffs could boost some 'Made in America' small businesses. But for many, they only hurt

Fabric is sewn at the Faribault Mill factory

It takes about 20 steps for tufts of raw wool to become a signature Faribault Mill blanket, and it all happens under one roof in this southern Minnesota city.

It's a symphonic process that has been honed over 160 years, and now one where employees (including third- and fourth-generation mill staff members) work alongside a blend of state-of-the-art machinery and 19th century equipment from start to finish.

The only things missing from the mill are the sheep themselves: Many of them are busy grazing fields a few states over in the Rocky Mountains.

Published 6:00 AM EDT, Mon May 12, 2025 - CNN -

CANADIAN NEWS:

Yale professor moving to U of T due to 'far-right' Trump administration's pressure on universities

Some top U.S. academics are seeking employment north of the border after President Donald Trump's administration froze hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from institutions unless they agree to his demands. CBC's Dale Manucdoc has more details on a phenomenon called "brain drain" — and how it could benefit Canada.

Prof. Jason Stanley made a decision after policy changes at Columbia University A Yale University professor is leaving the U.S. and taking a position at the University of Toronto (U of T) due to what he says is a "far-right regime" under President Donald Trump.

"The United States is in the process of an autocratic takeover and it's directed by a regime that I don't think will want to leave power," said Jason Stanley, a professor of philosophy.

"Its not just Donald Trump. It's the machine behind Donald Trump."

• April marks the biggest travel decline yet since Trump was re-elected as president*
• Updated: 31 minutes ago
• Canadian university teachers warned against travelling to the United States
• Doctor says political mayhem in the U.S. pushed her to come home to New Brunswick

Posted: May 12, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 40 minutes ago

- CBC News -

Rise in for-profit agency nurse costs in Ontario hospitals' exorbitant,' says researcher

Hospitals turn to staffing agencies when they can't fill shifts, which further exacerbates staffing shortages Ontario hospitals paid for-profit staffing agencies $9.2 billion over a decade, a finding that comes as one hospital aims to stop its use of temp services by September.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives commissioned Monday's report, titled Hollowed Out: Ontario Public Hospitals and the Rise of Private Staffing Agencies, focusing on increased spending on private agencies for nurses, health professionals, and administrative support staff from 2013-14 to 2022-23.

Hospitals and long-term care homes turn to these same staffing agencies when they can't fill all of their shifts with employees. The Agency health-care workers allow them to continue providing services during staff shortages, and the charge triples the regular hourly rate, hospitals have set.

Working to be AagencyFree'

Meanwhile, at Markham Stouffville Hospital, staff are working to reduce reliance on private agencies that provide temporary hires such as nurses to fill shifts in the emergency department, oncology, and other units.

"Our goal is that by the end of September, we'll be agency free," said president and CEO of Oak Valley Health, which includes the Markham hospital that serves a fast growing region northeast of Toronto.

Posted: May 12, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

- CBC -

NATURE'S SOUNDS AND MUSIC:

🪷🌾~Body And Spirit, Healing The Emotional, Physical, Mental & Spiritual plane~🌾🪷

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zsRnOGTFa4