Each morning, as Joan and I savor our first cups of coffee, it is a quiet time. It is when we delve into our ‘daily puzzles (Wordle, Waffle, Keyword and Connections, to name-drop a few) and this time of year we enjoy watching the sun come up.

When our games are done and scores compared (I almost always come out on the short end there) I like to spend a bit of time cruising through Facebook. Generally, it is to catch up on what is happening with family and friends (and seeing how they did on Wordle, etc.) but invariably I wind up down the rabbit hole of the Reels portion of the social media app.

One of my favorite things of late - in addition to re-discovering hidden 3-D images (How do they do that?) is watching the elaborate designs and structures that people create using things similar to dominoes. Some of the pieces used are very large, some not as big and some are quite small.

The structures are awe-inspiring.

They all have one thing in common, however, be it a six-story creation or a unique piece of artwork.

When that first domino is pushed over, and contacts the second, you know that at some point there will be a pile of random pieces of wood lying in a heap. Pieces that moments earlier had been something completely different.

Like the Marvel villain Thanos, they are inevitable.

One domino. Then another. Click, click, click. Until the inevitable finish arrives.

I thought of that Tuesday morning, as I worked my way through another morning ritual, reading through the Daily P’nut. The Daily P’nut is a collection of news stories from around the world, with links to dozens of different publications every day.

One of the links on Tuesday, was to a story about ‘attorney and prominent conservative media figure Jenna Ellis’ pleading guilty to a single felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings. In taking a plea deal, Ellis became the third sizable fish to offer up that her involvement in Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn election results in Georgia wasn’t legal, correct or proper.

She’s actually the fourth, but the other person, a bail bondsman, wasn’t a part of Trump’s inner circle. At least not yet.

The original indictment charged the former president and 17 others with racketeering in relation to the 2020 Georgia presidential election results, under the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act of 1970.

Ironically, it was the RICO Act that helped Rudy Giuliani, then the U.S. District Attorney of New York, dismantle organized crime, and take his first steps into becoming a national figure as New York’s mayor. Now, Giuliani is one of those charged under the indictment.

Will we hear more clicking as more dominos topple? Probably, but who knows, right? And will it matter?

There is probably a metaphor about rats and a sinking ship, or beating one’s head against a brick wall, but none of the ‘turncoats’ are facing jail time. All are getting probation.

Either the prosecutors believe these folks have something really good to say…or they are just altering course to save their own noses, rather than that of a former president.

Pet peeve of the week
When I fill my pickup with gasoline, I always choose the pay-at-the-pump option. So it irks me when, even if I choose the “Yes, I want a receipt” option, the gas pump screen tells me thank you, my receipt is inside the building.

Why? Ok, I know you want me to come inside and buy something else, but please don’t make it mandatory. I don’t want to go inside, that’s why I pay at the pump.

Please, put receipt paper in the pump.

In the words of Aaron Rodgers…
R-E-L-A-X. I got email and text queries this week, after the first three announcements of folks intending to run for District 22 office. If you read the announcements - which at least two of you did - you noticed that they didn’t put forth a party affiliation. The queriers were concerned about this.

As Aaron Rodgers famously once told Green Bay fans, “Relax.”

First, this is South Dakota, so the first presumption should be that those making such an announcement are Republican. It’s sad, but true.

Second, we are more than two months away from prospective candidates even being able to circulate nominating petitions and more than seven months away from the primaries.

They intend to run. When they are a candidate, we’ll know.