Sunday: Hili dialogue

May 31, 2026 • 6:45 am

Welcome to Sunday, May 31, Sabbath for goyische cats and World Parrot Day.  I can do no better than show a great photograph of a very rare and unusual parrot,  the Australian Golden-shouldered parrot (Psephotellus chrysopterygius), here photographed by Scott Ritchie. The parrot is endangered, with a total population of about 1000 birds.  And it’s the world’s only parrot that lives in termite mounds. Further, it has a symbiotic relationship with a moth species!. From Wikipedia:

The golden-shouldered parrot breeding season occurs from March to August. They construct nests in termite mounds, with a strong preference for conical shaped mounds. A 50–350 mm (2.0–13.8 in) long tunnel is excavated into the mound, ending in the nesting chamber. The clutch size is between 3–6 eggs, which are incubated by the female for 20 days. The termite occupants of the mound use a natural form of air conditioning to preserve the climatic conditions of their colony and this process regulates the temperature of the parrot’s nest chamber at around 28–30 °C (82–86 °F). Temperature surveys have shown, however, a range of 13–35 °C (55–95 °F). These conditions have led to the parrots developing a habit of leaving the eggs at night beginning around the 10th day after hatching. A symbiotic relationship is present between the golden shouldered parrot and the moth species Trisyntopa scatophaga, the antbed parrot moth. Found in around half of parrot nests, the moths seek out the newly dug nest tunnels and deposit their eggs in the entrance. The hatching moth larvae consume the faeces of the nestling parrots therefore helping to keep the nest chamber clean. Whether the parrots receive any other benefits from the presence of moths is arguable as not all nests contain moth larvae.

Scott tells me that the moth larvae also line the parrot’s burrow with silk, giving an easier ride to the incubating eggs. Amazing!  Here’s Scott’s photo:

It’s also National Macaroon Day (much better than the bougie and expensive macarons), National Meditate Day (dedicated to Sam Harris), and National Smile Day.

I slept poorly last night, though I had a series of dreams. I remember only one, right before I awoke.  My sister was leading me through some village that harbored dozens of cats that were underfoot. She pointed one of them out to me, a Siamese/tabby hybrid with an amiable expression and huge paws. I was told its name was “Pawsome.”  That’s all I remember.

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the May 31 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

*The fragile cease-fire has been breached again, as the U.S. fired on a non-Iranian ship trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

US forces attacked a cargo ship they claimed was attempting to breach their naval blockade of Iran on Saturday.

Centcom said Lian Star ignored over 20 warnings before its forces struck the Gambia-flagged vessel’s engine room with a missile, stranding it in the Gulf of Oman.

The incident came as Tehran awaits the US president’s response to a proposed peace deal, as efforts to bring an end to the war drag on.

A senior official accused Trump of “betraying diplomacy for the third time”. Mohsen Rezaei pointed at the continuing naval blockade and what he called the president’s excessive demands in negotiations as he blamed the White House for failure to reach a peace deal.

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Israeli troops pushed beyond the Litani river and seized the Crusader-era Beaufort fortress in their deepest invasion of the neighbouring country in over 25 years.

The military said it was prepared “to expand the operation if needed”.

On Friday morning, it issued a fresh evacuation warning for residents south of the Zahrani River in southern Lebanon.

And from the NYT on Lebanon:

Once again, there has been a cease-fire in Lebanon for weeks.

And, once again, the fighting has not stopped.

Israel is still bombarding much of the south and east of the country. Israeli drones are still buzzing low over the skies in Beirut, the capital. Hezbollah is still attacking Israeli troops occupying Lebanese territory, and firing rockets into Israel. The death toll is still rising.

And now — though a truce was declared in April, and there has been talk this week of a potential U.S. deal with Iran, Hezbollah’s sponsor — resignation is setting in across Lebanon that a meaningful end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah is not coming anytime soon.

The blockade on ships leaving Iran, or trying to enter Iranian ports, is apparently still in effect, no matter what flag they’re flying, and Hezbollah is still refusing to disarm. (The chances of that are about equal to the chances that Hamas will disarm. Both are supposed to, but that ain’t gonna happen.)  The war is going to continue for a while, and I don’t see a cease-fire in Lebanon.

*A judge has ordered that Trump must take his name off the Kennedy Center, an emendation he made in December of last year.  Here’s a tweet showing the name change:

An excerpt from the WaPo article:

A federal judge ordered on Friday that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts remove President Trump’s name from the building’s facade and all official branding and temporarily blocked the institution from shuttering this summer for renovations.

Mr. Trump railed against the judge’s ruling in an incensed social media post, suggesting that he was considering casting the Kennedy Center aside as one of his personal projects. The president wrote that unless he was free to decide the center’s trajectory, he had “no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey.”

“Unfortunately, Judge Cooper and the Radical Left would rather see it DIE than have President Trump transform it into something that everyone could be proud of, much as I have done, in many cases, throughout my life,” he wrote.

Judge Christopher R. Cooper, of the Federal District Court in Washington, determined that the board’s decision to add Mr. Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center violated a law passed by Congress in 1964 that made “crystal clear” the institution was to be named for former President John F. Kennedy.

“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” the judge wrote in a 94-page opinion. He ordered that the 18 letters added to the center’s front portico be removed within two weeks.

The center’s board of trustees, a vast majority of whom are allies of Mr. Trump, voted in December to add the president’s name to the performing arts center. Less than a day later, new lettering was added to the building’s marble facade, which now reads: “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”

Here’s the last big of Trump’s Truth Social post on the kerfuffle (link above; it’s too long to quote in full). It reads like the gibberish of someone who’s partly demented: full of caps and braggadocio.  “Your favorite President, ME. . . “, “Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else. . . “, etc.

Therefore, based on the fact that the Radical Left Democrats care more about opposing your favorite President, ME, than saving a dying Performing Arts Center, almost all of which lose large amounts of money throughout the Country, we are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it. Judge Cooper was given a presentation by leading Building and Construction Experts as to how structurally dangerous the Building is, with rotting beams, parking areas that are subject to collapse, and various other Life and Safety problems, in addition to the fact that it also needs a MAJOR renovation, from an aesthetic standpoint, but he was not “swayed,” and said he wants the Building to, incredibly, remain open and, therefore, dangerous. Judge Cooper should be ashamed of himself! I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight. Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into “NEVER NEVER LAND.” There has never been a President of the United States who has been treated so unfairly by the Courts as I but, that’s OK, I will continue to do, what is considered to be, a great job for the wonderful people of our Country. I have instructed the Department of Commerce to make all necessary arrangements with Congress to allow a full and complete transfer of this Institution, giving them the responsibility for its Operation, Maintenance, and Management. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

I wonder if this one will go all the way up to the Supreme Court.  Trump is both a narcissist and persistent, so I wouldn’t be surprised.

*Of all things: the UN has just placed Israel (and Russia) on a blacklist of countries accused of perpetrating sexual violence in war zones. What?

The United Nations on Friday added Israel and Russia to a U.N. blacklist of countries suspected of committing sexual violence in conflict zones, a move that prompted Israel’s foreign ministry to say ​it would sever all ties with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Guterres’ annual report to the U.N. Security Council on conflict-related sexual violence, opens new tab goes a step further than last year, when he put ‌Israel and Russia “on notice” that they could be added to the list of parties “credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence.”

The latest report does that and contains harrowing descriptions of abuses at the hands of Israeli and Russian armed and security forces.

Israel’s arch enemy Hamas, whose October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza, was already on the blacklist and in a post on X on Thursday, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon ​said ranking Israel with the militant group marked a “new low”.

. . . “This is a political decision! Disconnected from the facts and reality!” Danon said in another post by the Israeli mission to the U.N. ​which said he was informed about it during a phone call with Guterres.

. . . The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, posted on X that it was “ridiculous for the UN to put a democracy like Israel — with ​robust rule of law that conducts investigations and holds criminals accountable — on the same level as terrorist organizations like Hamas.”

. . . Being added to the list does not automatically carry specific punitive measures such as sanctions, although ​public naming and shaming can cause significant reputational damage for the states involved, and those repeatedly listed are barred from U.N. peacekeeping operations.

. . . Danon said Israel had responded in detail to each allegation and had invited U.N. representatives to visit and examine the situation, but that they had chosen not to do so.

. . . This year’s report said that in 2025, “the United Nations verified multiple incidents of conflict-related sexual violence, including as a form of torture, inflicted against 14 men, seven women, nine boys and one girl from ​the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”

It said 13 ​of the cases occurred in 2025, and 18 ⁠in 2023 and 2024.

“Violations consisted of rape, including with objects, gang rape, attempted rape, physical violence to the genitals, instances of targeted shooting of the genitals, touching of breasts and genitals, strip and cavity searches conducted without apparent security justification, forced nudity and threats of rape,” it said.

“Rape and gang rape, ​in some cases repeated, were perpetrated against nine victims, the majority from Gaza,” it said, adding that perpetrators included Israeli armed and security forces and occurred ​primarily during detention and interrogation ⁠and across several sites, including military camps and also at checkpoints and during Israeli military operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

It said survivors included journalists and human rights defenders and that in some cases, the violations were filmed or photographed, including one case of rape.

What bothers me is the UN’s refusal to meet with Israel to discuss the evidence as well as hear Israel’s response to the allegations. Of course one can’t say that all the claims our false, but evidence is needed and it’s bothersome that the UN refuses to meet with Israel—especially after Israel issued a documented report on the many cases of sexual attacks by Hamas on Israelis.

That of course doesn’t mean that any victimization of prisoners by Israel is okay, for one is too many, and it’s against Israeli law. But if you assume that Israel has 20,000 prisoners, and that the UN is correct in claiming a total of 31 victims of Israeli sexual violence over three years (some were only threatened with sexual violence), and assume further that the U.S. has 2.2% annual allegations of sexual violence or abuse of prisoners by staff in a nationwide prison population of 1.25 million (all figures from AI)—then the U.S. has an annual rate of sexual violence/abuse of prisoners by staff 44 times higher than Israel’s. The UN should add the U.S. to their list.

*Trump just had his annual physical (it’s his third visit to the doctor in a year), and has been pronounced “in excellent health.”

President Trump “remains in excellent physical health,” according to a memo from his physician released late Friday by the White House, following the president’s physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center earlier this week.

The president’s physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, said in a memo that the Tuesday exam, Trump’s third since returning to office, included comprehensive and preventive laboratory testing “as well as consultations with twenty-two specialty providers from multiple academic institutions.”

Barbabella said in the report that “preventive counseling was provided, including guidance on diet, recommendation to take a low-dose aspirin, increased physical activity, and continued weight loss.” The president weighed 238 pounds, 14 pounds more since his 2025 exam, according to Barbabella, a career military doctor who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He added that the president’s “cognitive and physical performance are excellent” and Trump “is fully fit to carry out all duties of the commander in chief and Head of State.” The physician concluded after neurological and cognitive function tests that the president “demonstrated normal mental status.”

Trump, who will turn 80 years old on June 14, is the oldest person to ever assume the presidency. The results of his physical come amid increased scrutiny about presidential health. Former President Joe Biden faced questions about slipping physical fitness and mental acuity, which Trump bolstered on the campaign trail.

. . .Barbabella previously diagnosed Trump with chronic venous insufficiency, a condition in which valves inside the veins don’t work properly and allow blood to collect or transmit down the leg. The physician provided an update on the swelling in Trump’s lower legs, describing it as “slight” and an “improvement from last year.”

Barbabella reported that Trump takes two medications to treat high cholesterol, Rosuvastatin and Ezetimibe, as well as aspirin as a preventive heart measure. The physician noted that Trump benefits from “lifelong abstinence from tobacco and alcohol.”

Barbabella wrote that Trump’s “demanding daily schedule, including multiple high-level meetings, public engagements, and regular physical activity, continues to support his overall well-being.”

Aside from golf, Trump doesn’t get regular exercise, and he is known to consume a diet heavy on salty and fatty foods, such as hamburgers and french fries.

Given his horrible diet and sedentary lifestyle, I suppose he is in good shape for 80.  I woiuldn’t wish illness or death on anyone, including Trump, and perhaps some may be glad that he stays alive for 2.5 more years because it keeps Vance from becoming President.

*NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has neglected to fill a very important position in ensuring his city’s economic well being, and it’s not laziness but ideology that’s apparently caused this delay.

Over the course of his early tenure as mayor, Zohran Mamdani has filled out City Hall’s upper ranks with people he trusts to implement his democratic socialist-inflected agenda in New York City, the nation’s financial capital.

But one arm of city government continues to bedevil him: the Economic Development Corporation, whose mission is to leverage city real estate and tax incentives to attract private capital and drive job growth across the five boroughs.

Five months into the mayor’s tenure, the nonprofit corporation remains officially rudderless, with City Hall officials considering at least 10 candidates for E.D.C. president, including a consumer protection advocate and pro-business types. But the mayor’s team has been unable to coalesce around any of them, illustrating an internal debate over how to direct the organization.

The uncertainty surrounding the E.D.C.’s leadership and direction has fed the notion, widespread among business leaders and moderate Democratic politicians, that Mr. Mamdani is insufficiently attuned to the health of New York City’s economy, and that his inattention potentially comes at his, and the city’s, peril.

It also raises larger and more fundamental questions: What kind of economic policy does the mayor want to embrace? And is Mr. Mamdani quietly withdrawing from City Hall’s traditional role of courting business and using the E.D.C.’s power to support a thriving economic climate in New York?

“I have not heard one statement yet about how it is that the city sees industry growth, how the city wants to maximize talent, and, certainly, the absence of an E.D.C. head this far into the administration is a concern,” said Gregory Morris, the chief executive of the New York City Employment and Training Coalition.

When the mayor talks about the economy, he largely talks about his ambitious universal day care and housing programs, and how they will redound to the city’s economic benefit — a prediction that some analyses agree with.

But some business and work force development leaders argue that Mr. Mamdani cannot fulfill his vision for a more expansive government without a robust, tax-generating economy. They note that affordability requires not just cheaper goods, but also better-paying jobs. And they worry that he has yet to articulate what business growth in the Mamdani era will be, at a time when the challenges facing New York’s economy are legion.

The city’s job numbers are lackluster, even as office leasing has strengthened. Some financial sector jobs have migrated to Texas. The war in Iran continues to cast a haze over the country’s economic prospects. City officials are eyeing the coming disruptions from artificial intelligence with alarm. International tourism has declined.

Here’s Sam Harris’s take on Mamdani; and I agree with Sam’s take that the Mayor is a “none too closeted Islamist, or at minimum an apologist for Islamists.” As for his wife’s social media “likes”, it’s not clear that that is any reflection of Mamdani’s beliefs.

Szaron: Do you think it’s safe there?
Hili: I think so, it looks like the dog is locked up.

In Polish:

Szaron: Myślisz, że tam jest bezpiecznie?
Hili: Chyba tak, wygląda na to, że pies jest zamknięty.

*******************

From TherionArms, another great medieval letter with commentary:

From Funny and Strange Signs:

From CinEmma:

Masih is still at war with AOC’s desire to “respect” local customs, which involved her wearing a hijab and speaking to a sex-segregated crowd (men in front, women in back):

From Luana; Jonathan Kay continues his exposé of the paucity of empirical evidence for these bodies, which nobody has bothered to investigate thoroughly:

The Number Ten Cat is delighted that Trump’s name will come off the building. But will it?

Three from my feed. This guy is amazing!

Do not hurt opossums! They are wonderful! Look at all those babies holding on:

I’m not sure how funny this is, but it’s interesting:

One I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial:

This Dutch Jewish girl was gassed as soon as she got to Auschwitz. She was three years old, and would be 87 today if her life had not been cut short.

— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2026-05-31T09:57:44.936Z

And one from Dr. Cobb. Look at those cute pink babies!

Deborah Sandidge Photography"A dedicated pair of Roseate Spoonbills watch over the nest, taking good care of the chicks. They spend time reinforcing the nest together. Each branch placement ensures the chicks stay safe, a process they continue as they grow up in their wetlands home."

— KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 (@kojamf.bsky.social) 2026-05-29T22:46:00.770Z

 

3 thoughts on “Sunday: Hili dialogue”

  1. Good summary video of current life in the North of Israel under constant Hezbollah attack with rockets, drones and what appear to be like the wire guided Sagger munitions first seen as anti-tank weapons in the Yom Kippur war at url
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq0KwcjvNCY
    Former lt col who lives in the area does the interview, her personal and family experience, and provides a map of the situation. Very informative to me and a different perspective from the nyt article quoted above….about 28 minutes total.

    Reply

    1. Correction…she may still be reserve, not former, in that I think all Israelis are in reserves for years after active service.

      Reply

  2. Excellent clip above of Sam Harris on our horrible mayor here – though I’ll say Mamdani is pretty much the mirror image identical of Trump, with Islamist tendencies. Or more accurately, “Third Worldism” ideology.
    (if you’re too young to have experienced/remember this horror,: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-worldism)

    Both Trump and Mamdani are charismatic liars, narcissists who lie ALL THE TIME but whose supporters (Mamdani’s are 80% of NY women, 18-30)… don’t care. (sigh).
    An important difference, though, is that Trump doesn’t hate Jews SPECIFICALLY.

    D.A.
    NYC 🗽

    Reply

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