“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert.” –J. Robert Oppenheimer
This man, making Christmas calls from the White House, believes the world is a sphere. And he has even flown around it! So has our beautiful FLOTUS, who happens to be his wife!
Truth and common sense must be valued by us, as individuals, in order to lastingly disempower the authoritarian fake news media. This includes the perniciously smarmy science media, which never answers for its errors and lies. I believe that the media has been responsible not only for leftist pathologies like scientism, medical fascism, and radical gender ideology, but also for reactionary movements like modern flat Earth, rejection of all medicine, and Biblical geological literalism.
Just as Wheatie’s Stormwatch Monday Open Thread was created as a place for people to openly express their thoughts and opinions, so, too, is this Thank God Thursday Open Thread, where honest but civil discussion of all topics is encouraged. This thread is also to be known as Theistic Evolution Thursdays, due to the author’s expected “pontification” about his scientific, religious, and political opinions. You are welcome to pontificate back! Free speech matters!
Please label all AI-generated content as being such, unless it is patently obvious (e.g., humorous AI images). It is important that we as individuals not begin to pretend that socially derived artificial intelligence is actually our own, as this form of stealthy social information averaging and feedback would be one more pretense and deception between people, in service of stupid Marxist socialism, and of those who wish to substitute their communally protected lies for actual truth.
The source of alleged truth matters, not for the truth itself, but for validation.
And yes, it’s THURSDAY…again.
And that’s it. We’re done stealing from Wheatie.
OK – maybe her rules need to be posted.
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
Other rules may be derivable from these, and that conjecture is left for discussion.
If there is nothing beyond the “W” below, then this is a placeholder. For health reasons, I can’t always post a timely opinion before each Thursday, but I will try. Otherwise, you have this placeholder post, where YOU provide the content. Enjoy!
W
Ready for a new box of chocolates? You never know what’s in them…… well, not really!
(1) More chess – including a weak opening and a mistake leading to checkmate.
(2) More firearms – namely the 30-06, multiple rounds, including armor-piercing, against plain old steel 1/2″, 5/8″, 3/4″ and 1″. It’s SPICY.
(3) – More physics magnets – specifically, an explanation of how they work. Bottom line – line up those electrons, buddy – whether it’s in the tiny, or in the big – because it’s a LAZY UNIVERSE and the universe wants to get all LOW ENERGY JEB on things!
(4) More chemistry and bad jokes – as a zany chemist facetiously documents all the laboratory errors he made, in an effort to turn a piece of plumbing pipe into the simple, cheap, metal salt that you can buy at the hardware store to kill roots in your sewer lines.
This is what real YouTube Science was, before AI and big money ruined everything!
(5) More YouTube ChiCom ClickBait FakeTech! How to turn an old microwave oven into clicks and cash (and not actually a laser-aimed, directed energy, flame-thrower).
I do wish Steve was here to critique, but just read the comments on YouTube.
Whatever you do, don’t do any of this stuff at home!
There are Important Notifications from our host, Wolf Moon; the Rules of our late, good Wheatie; and, certain caveats from Yours Truly, of which readers should be aware. They are linked here. Note: Yours Truly has checked today’s post for any AI-generated content. To the best of her knowledge and belief, there is none. If readers wish to post any AI-generated content in the discussion thread for today’s post, they must cite their source. Thank you.
Do not forget to LABEL AI articles video and such.
Last week I promised to cover NGOs, but first I want to Document The Seditious Six.
Senator Mark Kelly & wife with Soros & his new wife Huma Abedin
COLOR REVOLUTION: Seditious Six member Senator Elissa Slotkin spoke at the Brookings Institute last month, predicting an incident involving National Guard. She estimated that it would take place in around two weeks from when she spoke. pic.twitter.com/vdB2EQaIOD
– They produced and distributed a slick video telling active-duty troops and intelligence officers to disobey future orders from the Commander-in-Chief before those orders even exist.
🧵 The Seditious Six and the Color Revolution Playbook
The Seditious Six video is not random. Six Democrat lawmakers with military and intel backgrounds aimed a message straight at U.S. troops and the intel community, telling them to refuse “illegal orders” from a future Trump… pic.twitter.com/2WICjlbHHO
One badlander calls the Washing Compost, the mouth piece of the CIA.
The leaders of the House Armed Services Committee said late Saturday they are seeking “full accounting” of an early September U.S. military attack against an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean after a report alleged that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered U.S. troops to “kill everybody” aboard the vessel…
They are pretty bloody obvious when you catch on to what they are up to.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Nongovernmental Organizations
This has been an interesting journey with unexpected insights and connections. Let’s start with a bit of history.
…The modern wealthy philanthropists of today stand alongside past contributors from the ancient Greeks to the clergy of the Middle Ages, donating time and resources to those less fortunate.
Charitable giving has been an aspect of human culture for many thousands of years, and there are historical records of charity dating back at least to the ancient Egyptians of almost five thousand years ago. People have always depended upon the kindness of strangers
Did you know?
Ancient Hebrews of 2500 BC installed a mandatory tax that was intended to assist the poor – this was referred to as a “tithe”.
The word “philanthropy” comes from the ancient Greek and means “love of mankind”. It first appeared in the classical Greek drama “Prometheus Bound” by Aeschylus. The ancient Greeks considered philanthropy to be a fundamental aspect of democracy.
Chinese ancients exalted benevolence as a virtue.
According to Hindu scriptures, giving to the less fortunate is imperative.
In 387 BC, Plato’s Academy was established; it was a group of volunteers working for the public good…
“…The modern wealthy philanthropists of today stand alongside past contributors from the ancient Greeks to the clergy of the Middle Ages, donating time and resources to those less fortunate…“
…When the evictions failed to end the strike, the Rockefeller interests hired private detectives that attacked the tent colonies with rifles and Gatling guns. The miners fought back, and several were killed. When the tenacity of the strikers became apparent, the Rockefellers approached the governor of Colorado, who authorized the use of the National Guard…. At first, the strikers believed that the government had sent the National Guard to protect them. They soon discovered, though, that the militia was under orders to break the strike. On this day in 1914, two companies of guardsmen attacked the largest tent colony of strikers near the town of Ludlow, home to about 1,000 men, women, and children. The attack began in the morning with a barrage of bullets fired into the tents. The miners shot back with pistols and rifles.
After a strike leader was killed while attempting to negotiate a truce, the strikers feared the attack would intensify. To stay safe from gunfire, women and children took cover in pits dug beneath the tents. At dusk, guardsmen moved down from the hills and set the tent colony on fire with torches, shooting at the families as they fled into the hills. The true carnage, however, was not discovered until the next day, when a telephone linesman discovered a pit under one of the tents filled with the burned remains of 11 children and two women.
Although the “Ludlow Massacre” outraged many Americans, the tragedy did little to help…
As a result Rockefeller was so hated he hired a propagandist to clean up his public image.
Not only did Lee work for Rockefeller and other industrialists; he worked for the Nazis. The article whitewashes the Ludlow Massacre as well as it can BTW.
Rocky’s Baby
circa 1923: John D Rockefeller (1839 – 1937) giving a nickel coin to a child in a gesture which he hoped would educate the younger generation in the ways of thrift. (Photo by Henry Guttmann Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) LINK
Of course charities and foundations like the Rockefeller Foundation, founded in 1913 by John D. Rockefeller Sr., were very, very good at protecting the wealth’s money and assets from taxation. On top of that they could be used to influence the direction of the USA.
However the big foundations with the names such as Ford, Carnegie, and Rockefeller attached still had a bit of a nasty smell attached especially for labor unions and communists.
It is difficult to believe that philanthropy—literally, “love of all mankind”—could possibly be malignant. When one reads of the millions of dollars donated to health schemes by the Rockefeller and Bill and Melinda Gates foundations, for example,¹ it is close to sacrilegious to suggest that such initiatives might be other than they seem. Yet I claim something close in this book, in which I analyze the influence of American foundations on U.S. foreign affairs from the 1930s to the “war on terror.” Philanthropic foundations, I argue, have been a key means of building the “American century,”…
Worth a look see.
This to me is a better representation of J.D. Rockefeller and his connection to modern medicine.
Since the plan was to use Communism/Fabian Socialism to rebuild the post world wars as a one world government, the foundations of the wealthy had to fade into the background. ALSO if you were planning to destroy American farmers as was planned by the Committee for Economic Development (see LINK ) you had to get rid of the power of the local churches, which are the REAL charities.
Most churches in America have organized as “501c3 tax-exempt religious organizations.” This is a fairly recent trend that has only been going on for about fifty years. Churches were only added to section 501c3 of the tax code in 1954. We can thank Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson for that. Johnson was no ally of the church. As part of his political agenda, Johnson had it in mind to silence the church and eliminate the significant influence the church had always had on shaping “public policy.”
Although Johnson proffered this as a “favor” to churches, the favor also came with strings attached (more like shackles)...
For a 501c3 church to openly speak out, or organize in opposition to, anything that the government declares “legal,” even if it is immoral (e.g. abortion, homosexuality, etc.), that church will jeopardize its tax exempt status. The 501c3 has had a “chilling effect” upon the free speech rights of the church…
Were churches prior to 1954 taxable? No, churches have never been taxable. To be taxable a church would first need to be under the jurisdiction, and therefore under the taxing authority, of the government. The First Amendment clearly places the church outside the jurisdiction of the civil government: “Congress shall make NO LAW respecting an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”…
ENTER STAGE LEFT NGOs
NGOs have been around for a long time but they got a major boost from the United Nations in 1945.
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are crucial in addressing 👉global👈 humanitarian challenges. These mission-driven entities operate independently from government control, focusing primarily on social, humanitarian, and environmental issues. There are about 1.5 million NGOs in the United States alone. Both in the U.S. and internationally, they are found wherever humanity’s challenges are greatest.1
While their name suggests complete independence from government institutions, many NGOs receive some government funding alongside private donations and other revenue sources. This creates shifting dynamics based on levels of state support and the wishes of major donors.
The term “NGO” was introduced in the United Nations Charter in 1945, highlighting their role as voluntary citizen groups working for the public good.2 Since then, NGOs have become influential actors in international development, advocacy, and humanitarian aid.
According to the World Bank, NGOs can be broadly categorized into two main categories:3
Operational NGOs: These organizations focus on designing and implementing development-related projects.
Advocacy NGOs: These organizations promote specific causes by raising awareness, lobbying, and influencing policies. They work to shape the social and political landscape around particular issues.
These organizations operate at all levels (from local to international) and work to address issues such as poverty, human rights, health care, education, and environmental protection.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are now recognised as key third sector actors on the landscapes of development, human rights, humanitarian action, environment, and many other areas of public action, from the post-2004 tsunami reconstruction efforts in Indonesia, India, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, to the 2005 Make Poverty History campaign for aid and trade reform and developing country debt cancellation. As these two examples illustrate, NGOs are best-known for two different, but often interrelated, types of activity – the delivery of services to people in need, and the organization of policy advocacy, and public campaigns in pursuit of social transformation. NGOs are also active in a wide range of other specialized roles such as democracy building, conflict resolution, human rights work, cultural preservation, environmental activism, policy analysis, research, and information provision. This chapter mainly confines itself to a discussion of NGOs in the international development context, but much of its argument also applies to NGOs more widely…
NGOs have existed for centuries; indeed, in 1910 some 130 international groups organized a coordinating body called the Union of International Associations. The term nongovernmental organization was coined at about the time of the founding of the United Nations (UN) in 1945 to distinguish private organizations from intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), such as the UN itself. Many large international NGOs, such as Amnesty International, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Oxfam International, CARE, Save the Children, and the World Wildlife Fund, are transnational federations of national groups. Other international NGOs, such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, are mass-membership organizations. Most NGOs are small, grassroots organizations not formally affiliated with any international body, though they may receive some international funding for local programs….
ENTER MAURICE STRONG THE ROCKEFELLER PUPPET.
Remember Maurice Strong, Chair of the First Earth Summit in 1972 that started CAGW? The guy who said “…current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class…are not sustainable. A shift is necessary toward lifestyles less geared to environmentally damaging consumption patterns….” in his opening remarks at Earth Summit II in 1992.
In brief Maurice Strong worked in the Middle East for a Rockefeller company, Caltex, in 1953. He left Caltex in 1954 to worked at high levels in banking and oil. By 1971, he served as a trustee for the Rockefeller Foundation, and in 1972 was Secretary-General of the U.N. Conference on the Human Environment. He was Co-founder of the WWF and Senior Advisor to the World Bank and the UN.
…In 1951 Strong married, and in 1952, abruptly sold his home, quit his job and took a world cruise. He wound up in Nairobi and took a job with CalTex, a company formed to exploit Saudi oil. His job involved travel to exotic parts of the world for two years. Strong visited his distant cousin, Robbins Strong, in Geneva, who was the Secretary of the Extension and Intermovement Aid Division of the international YMCA. He met Leonard Hentsch whose Swiss bank handled the money of the YMCA. Strong wanted to become an international ambassador for the YMCA, but settled for a position on the International Committee of the U.S.A. and Canada which raised funds for the YMCA.
This experience may have been the genesis of Strong’s realization that NGOs (non-government organizations) provide an excellent way to use NGOs to couple the money from philanthropists and business with the objectives of government. In 1959, Strong created his own company, MF Strong Management. While serving as executive vice-president of Canada’s Power Corporation, he also ran his own company, Alberta gas company, another company called Ajax, and elevated his role in the international YMCA and Canada’s Liberal Party. He told Elaine Dewar, “We controlled many companies, controlled political budgets. We influenced a lot of appointments…. Politicians got to know you and you them.”[5]
…Strong worked for the Rockefellers in Saudi Arabia (oil) in the fifties. Maurice Strong is a member of the Club of Rome, a Rockefeller Foundation trustee and senior adviser to the World Bank. It is instructive to read Strong’s 1972 Stockholm speech and compare it with the issues of Earth Summit 1992. Strong warned urgently about global warming, the devastation of forests, the loss of biodiversity, polluted oceans, the population time bomb. Then as now, he invited to the conference the brand-new environmental NGOs [non-governmental organizations]: he gave them money to come; they were invited to raise hell at home. After Stockholm, environment issues became part of the administrative framework in Canada, the U.S., Britain, and Europe….
THE Commission also wants to strengthen “global civil society,” which, it explains, “is best expressed in the global non-governmental movement.” Today, there are nearly 15,000 NGOs. More than 1,200 of them have consultative status with the UN’s Economic and Social Council (up from 41 in 1948). The CGG wants NGOs to be brought formally into the UN system (no wonder Kenneth Minogue calls this Acronymia). So it proposes that representatives of such organizations be accredited to the General Assembly as “Civil Society Organizations” and convened in an annual Forum of Civil Society. But how would these representatives be selected? This June, the General Assembly held a session on environmental issues called Earth Summit +5. President Razali selected a number of representatives from the NGOs and the private sector for the exclusive privilege of speaking in the plenary sessions. “I have gone to a lot of trouble with this, choosing the right NGOs,” he declared. So whom did he choose?… This kind of international gabfest is, of course, a sinister parody of democracy. “Very few of even the larger international NGOs are operationally democratic, in the sense that members elect officers or direct policy on particular issues,” notes Peter Spiro. “Arguably it is more often money than membership that determines influence, and money more often represents the support of centralized elites, such as major foundations, than of the grass roots.” (The CGG has benefited substantially from the largesse of the MacArthur, Carnegie, and Ford Foundations.)
…The most important initiative is the recommendation that the General Assembly organize a “Millennium Assembly” and a companion “People’s Assembly” in the year 2000. (The “People’s Assembly” mirrors the CGG’s “Civil Society Forum” idea — among other things,only accredited NGOs would be invited to advise the General Assembly.)…
The following is a bit of a whitewash but shows how the game is played. “Democracy” is shifted from actual people to NGOs who are actually run by the oligarchs.
At The Hand Of Man – The White Man’s Game
Raymond Bonner
Prince Bernhard and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) pp. 66-71 LINK
I first need to do a mini-ground report before getting into the subject of the day. I did a ground report not long ago in a Daily Open that stated tourism was down about 6% around here year to date.
It has caught up and then some.
I would not advise coming here if you do not like to sit in traffic and stand in long, long lines at amusements and nature venues with equal delays in seating at restaurants. Holy Smokies the rampage is underway at a less likely time of year other than Black Friday shopping. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Force are under siege even with the weather turning colder than in years past. Dollywood’s Christmas Celebration with all of the lights and shows are packed like sardines.
For what it is worth, Dolly was reading comments or listening to me and others when I wrote that the cost of annual passes had gone way too high for folks in our region. A major note of appreciation to her and the team. Each year in the offseason periods when there is less overall attendance there are a few days for locals to be let in free, which have been greatly received and appreciated. Those visitors receive access again in the fall for like $5 a ticket if they bring their previously used ticket stub. At that point if they choose to go on and purchase annual passes that are good for the fall and the following year while they are there at the park, they receive a discount. Again, Holy Smokies what a great thing the team did. The annual passes were half off of the normal prices! They also have a military discount. The visitors were even able to pick up the large beverage mugs for free as a nice bonus. Now more of the local folks in the region can enjoy all Dollywood has to offer as well. Our grandkids were ecstatic.
This charitable act will bring more locals in and will give Dollywood a boost in securing employees as well. They are always hiring because they are always growing and expanding.
Through the years I have observed that as tourism goes in our area, so goes the overall economy of our nation and the moods of We the People. There is such a broad representation of people who come here from all over this and other countries that it gives a solid indication of general economic direction. Folks are feeling good about things and spending money. They are believing PDT and the patriots that things are getting better. With the illegal population being removed and crime down significantly in our area, the mood and activity is heading in a very good direction unless you are a local who can no longer get where you need to go in a reasonable period of time.
Time for the lead.
Some of you are going to groan and some are going to just go to the Signers below or even the comments when they find out the subject today.
Will your opinion change or remain the same if POTUS Trump gets behind the effort? It is obviously in the minds of him and other patriots.
Would a rational discussion help? Do we need to claim negative things “could” or “would” happen to make things worse when even having a COS is constitutionally limited in its scope? Many of those things of concern by those opposed cannot even be legally addressed by a COS. Anything that “could” or “would” be approved would be subject to legal challenges all the way to SCOTUS.
The reverse “could” or “would” can also be true. Things “could” or “would” get better or the even law abused to our benefit. How are any of the potential positive or negative abuses any different than how things are now being delivered without having a COS? The effects of having a COS may reduce or eliminate those potential abuses within the scope of COS authority. That would be a very good thing.
Let ‘er rip in the comments if so motivated. Please respond in good faith and use facts to support your argument. As we know, people are informed by many of the posts on here. That is the patriot way to do things, the way our founders used. Most know how I feel. If PDT were to get involved it would just confirm it as the right thing to do in my opinion. His positions are really well thought out even with the few I disagree with him.
As an observation, there will need to be a lot of state legislature conversion and funerals (natural causes, of course) of obstructors before it is likely to happen. Old habits die hard. Perhaps it will be implemented by PDT as part of his overall MAGA plan at some point. Will see.
See, that wasn’t so bad was it? You got lucky. This time anyway.
Time to move down the coast to the Tar Heel State. These two were interesting to say the least. Please spend some time on them. They had “challenges” to deal with just like all of us.
William Hooper
Talk about somebody being “conflicted”, we have a classic in William Hooper.
Let’s start with a good thing. From a letter he wrote to a friend on April 26, 1774:
“The Colonies are striding fast to independence, and ere long will build an empire upon the ruins of Great Britain; will adopt its Constitution, purged of its impurities, and from an experience of its defects, will guard against those evils which have wasted its vigor.”
He may have been the first to correctly predict where the patriot movement was going. However, there is more that makes it all and him, well, weird.
Hooper was born in Boston in 1742 to Rev. William Hooper and wife, Mary Dennie Hooper. He was the oldest of their five children. His father was from Scotland and graduated from Edinburgh University as a Congregationalist pastor. He immigrated to the colonies in 1734. In 1740 he left his pastoral role and became an Episcopalian. He returned to London and was ordained by the Church of England. He returned to Boston in 1747 to be a Rector of Trinity Church where he served until his death in 1764.
That was the first sign that being conflicted about something important ran in the Hooper family. Either that or just being opportunistic.
Young William Hooper began his formal education at The Boston Latin School. He did so well that he entered Harvard as a second year student at age 16. He continued to do well academically and graduated with a BA degree and was expected to go into the clergy like his father. Instead he chose a law career. He began studies under James Otis in Boston who was considered a radical. He finished in 1764 and passed the bar. There were so many attorneys in Boston he decided to head to Wilmington, NC.
He opened his office and was successful with wealthy local land owners and fellow attorneys. His reputation grew and he began doing legal work for the colonial government. In 1767 he married Anne Clark, the daughter of a wealthy settler to the region who was the Sheriff. They had three children over the next few years that found him moving up the ranks as deputy AG for the county and later, deputy AG for the colony.
This is when the story of William Hooper turns strange. He was a loyalist in his employment and personal thoughts. As tensions rose in the region he acted to protect the interests of the Crown. One day during a riot, Hooper was drug through the streets by independence movement minded rebels, the Regulators, in Hillsborough. Afterwards he contacted the colonial governor and urged him to use whatever force was necessary to stop the rebels. He even joined British forces in the Battle of Alamance against them in 1771. A link to a short summary is below.
So you may be wondering how in the world did this guy ended up being a patriot?
During that same 1771-1775 period he also served in the NC General Assembly. He could see the tide turning toward independence and discussed it with associates. He decided to ride the rising tide of independence. He was appointed to the colony’s Committee of Correspondence and later elected to the First Continental Congress. He served on numerous committees there and was elected to return to the Second Continental Congress. He missed the vote to approve the Declaration due to NC government needs, but had returned in time to sign it in August.
In reality, a number of historical accounts said he intended to abstain from voting so he left to avoid confrontation.
His views had not changed overnight or due to a specific event. They evolved slowly over time and remained conflicted as we shall see. He left Congress a year after signing due to financial pressures back home. That is when the crap hit the fan for Hooper and his family. Enraged at him, the Brits under Cornwallis found his two homes in the area and used one to house themselves and the other was burned down. This separated Hooper from his family. He was forced to accept shelter and food from patriot friends for over a year on the run as the Brits attempted to capture him. He contracted malaria during the period and the locals nursed him back to health. His wife was treated cruelly by British soldiers during the period and was in very ill health when she and the children escaped Wilmington and found shelter in Hillsborough with a brother. Finally as the war neared its end they were reunited and settled in Hillsborough as a family, with some of the same patriot families that drug him through the streets years before.
So, who were the real forgivers? Only to, once again, experience the following.
Hooper continued his work with the NC General Assembly into 1783 and restarted his legal career, but lost favor with the patriotic people in the area when he joined the Federalist Party. He continued to assist loyalists in his law firm, which Federalists were known to do. He was so kind in his dealings and treatment of them he was labeled a loyalist himself by the locals. When combined with the actions of his two wealthy brothers, Thomas of Wilmington and George of Charleston, who were doing merchant business with the Brits and considered Tories; it was hard not to see William as one of them. This was cause for great concern with locals despite all of his strong patriot work and signing the Declaration. Some of this work during the revolution involved spies and other clandestine operations for the independence movement in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia working alongside B and other founding fathers.
He was later trusted enough to be made a Federal judge to mediate a border dispute between New York and Massachusetts in 1786. He pushed ratification of the U. S. Constitution in NC over the next two years even as his health declined. He succumbed to illness in 1790 at age 48. He is buried in the Presbyterian Churchyard in Hillsborough. Anne passed away five years later and is buried near her husband. Their house in Hillsborough is registered as a National Historic Landmark.
As readers, do you see what I mean as it being a weird story? A loyalist at the start; a patriot during the movement, war and Constitution enactment; a loyalist at the end of his life; but still useful to American government. A loyalist who was treated as a traitor by the very people he was loyal to much of his life. Some of the patriots who drug him through the streets were who took care of him while on the run from the ones he was formerly loyal to and when he was sick. They are also the people he turned his back on that elected him by becoming a Federalist against their desires. He then went on bending over backwards to help local loyalists, which he continued to do until his death.
In my opinion viewing Hooper’s history presents a variety of contradictory views. He may have missed his calling to be in the clergy as a forgiver of many atrocities, but ineffective reconciler of other with many people. Or maybe he was spying on behalf of American government leaders who were still rooting out elements of British Tory influence. Another view would have him somewhat compromised post war, possibly related to the business dealings of his Tory supporting brothers. Another option could be that he was just a head case wacko. 😂 Perhaps readers can come up with some more views I missed. If I was compelled to guess at what caused most of his conflicted behavior I would go with:
Follow The Money.
I am not sure I can fully endorse Hooper’s unquestioned commitment to America because it appears he would have been happy to leave things as they were pre civil unrest and revolution. However, that may be too simple of a conclusion. The situation is just weird.
As a result I am going with he is a patriot signer of the Declaration of Independence who sacrificed much for his commitment to sign that document.
The next signer’s tale is one for the ages. He was never conflicted, he was one of us.
John Penn
Unlike his famous Pennsylvania namesake, John Penn of North Carolina came from more modest circumstances. He was born to Moses and Catherine Taylor Penn near Port Royal, VA in 1741.
I agree with several sources about John Penn of NC. It is a shame a handful of the 56 most important founding fathers who risked everything and became traitors to the mother country to lead colonists to independence; are treated as nothings or just blips on the screen of American history. It is disgraceful that many historians have done so with Penn. I believe patriots who were nearly lynched and gave all they had within themselves in their incredible service to America deserve a much more prominent place in our history.
I will do so here.
His related Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration site gives a compelling account that cannot be adequately summarized here. The link is posted below. It gives insights that are not normally given by other traditional historical sources. You may find that you agree with my assessment that he was a great person as well as patriot.
You owe it to yourself and to found father John Penn himself to read this account.
He stood strong when the other representatives of NC were wavering in their support of approving the Declaration. He delivered governing and military leadership to NC during the war when other military and government leaders literally ran (rode) away as cowards and abandoned their duties. He endured great suffering and gave up his health with a positive attitude and American spirit that did not quit. At one time he was to duel an older political adversary and in the course of doing so showed compassion and respect. He came away with a friend instead of a tragedy. I have not read any story of a founder quite like that of John Penn.
Without reservation we salute and thank John Penn for his commitment to the patriot cause.
Please remember Wolf’s rules for our community. In general that means to be respectful to each other and to pull no shenanigans that your mom might find offensive or otherwise cause jail time. That said, free speech is honored here.
Joe Biden never won. This is our Real President – 45, 46, 47.
AND our beautiful REALFLOTUS.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Joe Biden didn’t win.
And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.
Wolfie’s Wheatie’s Word of the Week:
reciprocornous
adjective
having horns that turn backward and then forward
having horns like those of a ram
Used in a sentence
The animal may be reciprocornous yet not rambunctious.
Shown in a picture
Shades of Olive Green
Shown in a video
MUSIC!
Time for some very old HORNS!
Now let’s try a Cyber Monday song! (Yeah, it’s bad.)
Let’s try better…..
OK, I give up – let’s just do Manic Monday!
Gotta say – when the 80s seems like the 50s, you know it’s at least the next 20s. Anyway, enjoy some Bangles history – with another phony “BOMBSHELL!” clickbait AI thumbnail.
THE STUFF
Japanese lady kick-boxer who actually favors kicks.
AI mediocre narration, AI bogus thumbnail, but real fights.
This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts, and not by agenda-driven accusations and pronouncements.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure your opinion addresses the issue only, and does not confront or denigrate the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
God is in Control . . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . . Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” . . . “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Give Thanks . . . IN Everything
In a very practical section of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he encourages his readers to give thanks in everything (1 Thessalonians 5:18). In the immediate context, he had exhorted them to rejoice always (verse 16) and to pray without ceasing (verse 17). These are recognizable characteristics of a person who is encouraged and growing in his or her faith. The first two are easy enough to understand – being joyful and prayerful are not complex ideas. But Paul’s instruction that the Thessalonian believers should give thanks in everything presents a unique challenge.
It is worth noting that Paul doesn’t tell them to give thanks for everything. The preposition used in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 is the Greek en, which is best translated by the English preposition in. Paul isn’t telling them they must be thankful for the difficulties they were encountering; instead, he is challenging them to be thankful in any circumstance. Paul recognized that the secret of contentment isn’t found in circumstances. Rather, there is contentment in recognizing it is Christ who strengthens us for whatever we might face (Philippians 4:11–13).
It is also evident that God allows things in our lives to help us grow to be more like Christ – in fact, that pursuit (Christlikeness) is the primary purpose God has for us in sanctification (being set apart or holy). If God works all things together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28) and that good is that we would be more like Christ (verse 29), then we can expect that He even uses hardship in our lives to help shape us to be more like Him. Because He works for that purpose in our lives, we can be filled with gratitude, knowing that there is purpose even in the difficulties we can’t understand.
In Romans 5:3 Paul uses even stronger language than he uses in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 – he explains that we can exult or rejoice even in suffering because of what the suffering produces in us. Suffering brings perseverance; perseverance develops proven or tested character; character that has been tested develops hope; and God’s kind of hope never disappoints. If God can use suffering and trials that way, to help us mature, then those experiences are worth it. Like Paul encourages the Corinthians, the momentary afflictions we encounter in this life are producing what he calls an “eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). Paul adds that the sufferings we encounter today are nothing compared to the glory we will see in the future (Romans 8:18). In other words, it is all worth it.
If we have this kind of big-picture perspective, we can give thanks in everything because we understand how God is using those things in our lives to grow us now and in the future. Jesus illustrates the principle for His disciples in John 16:21: the pain of childbirth is exceedingly severe, and during labor it might not seem worth it at all. But when a mother holds her newborn, she is no longer considering the pain but only the joy that has been produced. In the same way, we can give thanks in all things, knowing that the difficulties, hardships, and sufferings are like the pains of labor, and that the outcome of proven character and certain hope is like holding the newborn baby. There is power in understanding what God has revealed about how He causes us to grow. His methods may be painful at times (see Hebrews 12:7–11), but the outcome is the peaceful fruit of righteousness. When our perspective is informed by His Word, giving thanks in everything makes perfect sense. xhttps://www.gotquestions.org/give-thanks-in-everything.html
One big reason to give thanks to God during all our circumstances, no matter how bad they may seem, is that as fallible human beings of limited understanding, we don’t have and can’t have a realistic comprehension of the magnitude of the freedom and glory (not to mention the peace and joy) that will be ours as children of God.
Romans 8:18-21 (paraphrased) – Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the freedom and glory that will be revealed in us as the children of God.
3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. <<< T H I S.
2. No running with scissors.
1. No food fights. (Launching dinner rolls encouraged.)
AI stuff posted, requires a link. Please use spoiler, for longer posts.
Wolf Speak. No obnoxious behavior towards fellow QTreeper(s). Freedom of Speech is honored here QTree. But Do Know, every poster, IS personally responsible for what they post.
KK
If nothing follows, KK below, Night Shift, your nickel.
FreshStuff. May be worth a read, listen, or scroll on by.
Prices pulled last evening. Gold $4,238.40. Silver $56.67. Bitcoin $90,922.
Silver jumped up. Bitcoin recovering. More Bitcoin thoughts further in the daily.
—
American Stories. (A series)
The White House Salute to America 250 Task Force has partnered with Hillsdale College to provide a history series that tells the remarkable story of American Independence.
It will highlight the stories of the crucial characters and events that resulted in a small rag-tag army defeating the mightiest empire in the world and establishing the greatest republic ever to exist.
This is the story of America. This is our shared heritage and our proud destiny that will continue to lead us to unimaginable achievements in the centuries to come.
And no, I own no bitcoin. Full disclosure: In about 2010 I set up a bit coin miner on a R. Pi in a hotel room while working “on the road” as a computer “rent a guy with brains” aka “consultant”. It never found a single bigcoin and that likely colored my opinions. I personally find the idea of “digital assets” foreign. I prefer gold, silver, and platinum (natures limited assets 😉 and they have done well for me. BUT: I missed the entire Bitcoin ramp from about 25¢ per coin to now about $100,000 (modulo swings of 50%).
Do I regret it? Nope. There is no inherent value in Bitcoin or any other artificial scarcity “asset”. Like cards for “Magic the gathering” it is a social construct, not a real thing. I have a blindness to that. Just can’t get interested in things that are “social constructs” as I am obligatory Reality Centered. Yes, you can make a lot of money out of the idiocy of it; but I can’t and won’t. I see it as an entirely artificial construct from the start and “just can’t go there” due to the risk of people just changing their minds about it.
So no, I don’t “endorse” this guy. BUT he does give me insight into “them” and their behaviours.
He’s a hard core bit coin advocate and at about 18 minutes pushes a “digital wallet”. Whatever. His observations about Chase bank and Mr. Diamond are interesting and likely have some worth. To what extent is our world owned and manipulated by TLAs? Things to ponder.
Bitcoin ETF? Blackrock? Everything about this stuff smells, to Slow Guy.
Texas Takes First Step Toward State Bitcoin Reserve with $5 Million ETF Purchase
Texas has invested $5 million in a bitcoin ETF as an initial move toward establishing the first state-based crypto reserve in the U.S.
CoinDesk reports that Texas has purchased $5 million worth of shares in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) exchange-traded fund (ETF). The investment, confirmed by a spokesman for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, serves as a placeholder as the state continues working toward directly holding bitcoin in its own reserve.
The purchase comes after Texas passed legislation earlier this year, appropriating $10 million to fund the creation of a state-managed bitcoin stockpile, known as the Texas Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. As part of the process, Texas recently concluded an information-gathering phase, soliciting input from the crypto industry on best practices for implementing and managing such a reserve.
While Texas is not the first state entity to invest government funds in a crypto-based ETF, with states like Michigan and Wisconsin having previously allocated pension fund money to similar investments, it marks a significant step toward a state directly holding and managing its own cryptocurrency reserve.
Rainmaker seeks to refill depleted Great Salt Lake
“Rainmaker, a US startup, is attempting to use cloud seeding to increase snowfall in Utah, thereby replenishing the Great Salt Lake,” reports The Doomslayer.
The Great Salt Lake is severely depleted, about 500,000 acre feet below its threshold.
Snow Brains says that
Rainmaker is a company that increases snowpack by utilizing cloud seeding and operates over the course of the winter to increase snowfall by about 10-20%. This fall, Rainmaker will commence the largest American cloud seeding program in modern history. Its operations in the Bear River Basin, the largest watershed feeding the Great Salt Lake, will increase water supply and support drought resilience in Utah, Idaho, and other Western states….
In Utah, the state receives 95% of its water supply from snowpack during the winter, and cloud seeding can be a game-changer. Therefore, Rainmaker targets maximizing this snowpack, linking winter recreation to spring and summer water needs, with campaigns like “Save Our Snow” and “Snow to Stream Flow.” By increasing Utah’s snowpack, it not only brings more snow to the slopes at ski resorts in the winter, but it also provides more sustainable drinkable water in the summer for farmers, cities, and communities.
Parker Cardwell of Rainmaker says its “main focus is to increase snowpack, which is the same snow that we’re skiing on in the wintertime, and is the same water that you’re drinking in the springtime.”
Rainmaker uses drones and advanced radar in its system to increase snowfall.
>>> About that Chinee / Japanese spat in the news a couple weeks ago…
Trump, After Call With China’s Xi, Told Tokyo to Lower the Volume on Taiwan
Japan, a U.S. ally that had angered China on Taiwan, found the message worrying
Chinese leader Xi Jinping was angry, and President Trump was listening.
Days after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi outraged China by suggesting a Chinese attack on Taiwan could mobilize a Tokyo military response, Xi spent half of an hourlong phone call with Trump, people briefed on the matter said, hammering home China’s historic claim to the democratic self-governing island as well as Washington and Beijing’s joint responsibility to manage the world order.
Later the same day, Trump set up a call with Takaichi and advised her not to provoke Beijing on the question of Taiwan’s sovereignty, said Japanese officials and an American briefed on the call. The advice from Trump was subtle, and he didn’t pressure Takaichi to walk back her comments, those briefed on the calls said.
The Japanese officials said the message was worrying: The president didn’t want friction over Taiwan to endanger a detente reached last month with Xi, which includes a promise to buy more agricultural products from American farmers hit hard by the trade war.
Asked about the exchange with Takaichi, the White House issued a statement from Trump to The Wall Street Journal: “The United States relationship with China is very good, and that’s also very good for Japan, who is our dear and close ally. Getting along with China is a great thing for China and the U.S. In my opinion, President Xi will be substantially upping his purchase of soybean and other farm products, and anything good for our farmers is good for me.”
Putin’s scientists launch chilling squadron of remote controlled spy pigeons fitted with brain implants
The tech firm has already tampered with cow brains in a bid to boost milk yields, now it’s time for pigeons
VLADIMIR Putin’s scientists have launched a squadron of remote controlled spy pigeons fitted with brain implants.
A Kremlin-backed Moscow neurotechnology firm boasts its operators can steer flocks across the sky by zapping signals directly into their brain.
Russia’s sick “bird-biodrones” codenamed PJN-1 are ordinary pigeons surgically implanted with neural chips that allow technicians to direct their routes.
Field tests are being carried out using birds with electrodes inserted into their brains connected to tiny solar-powered backpacks containing onboard electronics, GPS tracking, and a receiver.
Russian tech firm Neiry chillingly claims “no training is required” and birds can be steered remotely in any direction.
Neiry claims the birds can fly 310 miles a day, or more than 1,850 miles in a week on spy missions but bigger birds may soon be weaponised.
Trump: South Africa to be excluded from 2026 G20 Summit
President Donald Trump has announced that South Africa will not receive an invitation to the 2026 G20 Summit, which is set for December in Miami, Florida, at his Trump National Doral resort.
Trump tied this to the U.S. boycott of the 2025 G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, over human rights abuses against White Afrikaner farmers, including killings and land seizures. Additionally, he accused South Africa of refusing to hand over G20 presidency responsibilities to a U.S. Embassy representative.
“At my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G20, which will be hosted in the Great City of Miami, Florida next year. South Africa has demonstrated to the World they are not a country worthy of Membership anywhere,” Trump wrote on Truth Social platform on Friday.
The 47th president noted that the United States did not attend the prior summit in South Africa “because the South African Government refuses to acknowledge or address the horrific Human Right Abuses endured by Afrikaners, and other descendants of Dutch, French, and German settlers.”
Russia Unable to Send Astronauts to Space for First Time Since 1961
Damage to a Russian launch site has stopped Moscow from sending people into space for the first time in over six decades, it has been reported.
Moscow’s space agency Roscosmos said that Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan had sustained damage during a launch on Thursday carrying Russian and American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
But Russian space bloggers said the damage to Russia’s only launch site for crewed missions was more serious than authorities were claiming.
One expert, Vitaly Egorov, said if the damage is as suspected, Moscow will have lost the ability to launch people into space for the first time since it put the first human in orbit in 1961. Newsweek has contacted Roscosmos for comment.
Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was damaged on Thursday following the launch of a manned Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station, the Roscosmos space agency said.
Hong Kong apartment fire tests Beijing-backed rule as angermounts
With elections looming, the fire undercuts the government’s insistence it can cater to people’s needs without giving them a greater say in who rules the city.
The fire that blazed through a cramped Hong Kong apartment complex and killed at least 128 people this week has become a major test for the city’s Beijing-backed leaders, who have tried to win back public trust after mass protests by promising better lives for everyday Hong Kongers.
Hong Kong authorities have said that the flames spread unusually quickly across the eight towers of government-subsidized housing. Dozens of WangFuk Court’s 4,600 residents were trapped inside the 31-story buildings as the inferno burned for 43 hours before being largely doused by 10:18 a.m. local time Friday.
FIRST ON 7: Nearly 400 gallons of fuel dumped into wrong home with no oil tank in Medford
MEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) – Hazmat crews were called to a home in Medford Monday after an oil delivery driver dumped 383 gallons of heating oil into a home that had a fill pipe but no oil tank, according to officials.
Officials said the Fawcett Oil delivery driver went to the right address, but in the wrong city. Instead of going to 48 Linwood Street in Malden, he went to 48 Linwood Street in Medford.
Fire officials said the driver attached the hose to the fillup pipe on the side of the house, but that pipe was not connected to any oil tanks — so 383 gallons of oil ended up in the home’s basement.
“Oil delivery driver pulled up to the wrong address,” said Medford Deputy Fire Chief Nick Davis. “Put 385 gallons of oil into a basement with no oil tank.”
Residents of the two family home quickly evacuated and the area was sealed off.
“It smelled very bad,” said Dang Nguyen, the homeowner. “Even, you know, I’m living in the second floor and I smell. I came home and came in to drop something off and it smelled very bad.”
Crews began cleanup using shovels and speedy dry. They first tried to contain then remove the oil with the Department of Environmental Protection on the scene.
The header image for today’s offering is courtesy of Google Images.
Health Friday is a series devoted to Big Pharma, vaccines, general health, and associated topics. There are Important Notifications by our host, Wolf Moon; the Rules of our late, good Wheatie; and, certain caveats from Yours Truly, of which readers should be aware. They are linked here. Note: Yours Truly has checked today’s offering for AI-generated content. To the best of her knowledge and belief, there is none, except perhaps for AI-generated content within linked URLs. If readers wish to post AI-generated content to today’s discussion thread, they must cite their source. Thank you.
Yours Truly is thankful that our gracious host, Wolf Moon, has established this blog to be a haven for truth; to be a place for honest discussion (and honest disagreement, too); to be a place for the sharing of life’s joys, and of life’s difficulties and sorrows; as a place for those who come to this Tree to encourage and support one another. One is grateful to be an author on this blog; grateful for all the other authors on this blog, including our gracious host; grateful for all who comment.
Yours Truly is grateful to those Pilgrims who came to Plymouth Rock, and to those earlier colonists who came to what is now the Commonwealth of Virginia (courtesy of our good Aubergine providing this latter knowledge), to establish a country based on freedom and on the Divine Providence of the Supreme Being: the country which became the United States of America. Yours Truly is grateful for her grandparents and great-grandparents who left their homes in England, Ireland, and Scotland, to come to the United States to make new lives for themselves, to marry, and to raise their children in this country.
———————————————————————-
And, on the concept of gratefulness: Yours Truly is also grateful for one particular thing: the successful completion of the difficult, time-consuming (seven months long), physician-supervised process of “tapering-down the dose, then weaning off, leading to discontinuation” of the SSRI prescription drug that she had been taking, on and off, for six years. (SSRI = Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor.)
Yours Truly was put on this SSRI in February 2019, after being diagnosed with PTSD (Post-Traumatic [or, Posttraumatic] Stress Disorder) following the death of my late husband. Please see the screenshot below, from Psychiatry.org/, “What is Posttraumatic Stress Disoder (PTSD)?”, reviewed by Donald Egan, M.D., March 2025 [1]:
In Yours Truly’s case, the PTSD was one of “delayed onset”, meaning that the symptoms began to appear months after my husband’s death.
Anti-depressant drugs are routinely prescribed by healthcare professionals for persons who are diagnosed with PTSD. Below is a screenshot from the Cleveland Clinic regarding SSRIs [2]:
Note the phrase above regarding SSRIs – that “they tend to cause fewer and milder side effects compared to other options.” Let’s look at the side effects lists for the SSRI that Yours Truly had been taking, paroxetine (Paxil), from Drugs.com/ [3]. Paroxetine is available in several different formulations — tablet; oral suspension; extended-release tablet; and, capsule. The Mayo Clinic list of paroxetine‘s brand names is: Brisdelle; Paxil; Paxil CR;, and, Pexeva [4].
How can any of the side effects listed above be called “fewer and milder”? Let’s take a look at only one of the side effects lists of paroxetine from Drugs.com/, from the For healthcare professionals section [5]:
The For healthcare professionals section lists of paroxetine side effects includes eighteen different areas, from General to Endocrine, that have adverse reactions and/or side effects from the use of this drug. Literally every organ or function of the human body is interfered with, and/or could be damaged by, paroxetine use. How can any of this be described as “fewer and milder” side effects?
Dr. Robert Malone, MD, penned a recent blog article, “Well Being: Selective Serotonin ReUptake Inhibitors (SSRI)”, regarding the routine prescribing of SSRIs by physicians [6]. Please see the screenshots, below, from his article:
A Midwestern Doctor, in their blog, has written extensively regarding the dangers of SSRIs; the multiple marketing and other ploys used to acclimate physicians to prescribing them, and patients to take them; and how difficult it is to follow the process of taper down the dose, wean off the drug, and have it finally discontinued. The following screenshots are from these articles: first, “The Dark Side of Antidepressants”, of 24 January 2025 [7]. Note: Some of the articles from A Midwestern Doctor are accessible in the entirety only if the reader subscribes (for free); and/or becomes a paying subscriber.
Then, from their article, “The Hidden Dangers of Antidepressants and Why They’re So Hard To Stop Taking”, [8] 9 February 2025:
And, from their article, “”Why Are Antidepressants So Harmful?”, [9] 26 November 2023:
Yours Truly was fortunate so have been able to get the taper down – wean off – discontinue process successfully completed (as regards stopping the taking of paroxetine) in about six months. However, the “wiring” of one’s brain to accept this SSRI and allow it to operate within the brain began in early 2019, when I was put on the drug by the PCP after diagnosis of PTSD. Thus, even with the discontinuation of the physical process of taking the drug, the “rewiring” of the brain back to pre-use of the drug is ongoing. One already feels much better since the “endemic physical effects” of the drug have ceased. One has also made a decision to never take another psychotropic drug.
What has helped Yours Truly to make real progress in “rewiring” the brain after the paroxetine discontinuation process was completed? A daily program that includes:
Probiotics (this includes yogurt)
Vitamin D, 2500IU
Vitamin C, 3000mg
Walking and free-weights exercise
Exposure to sunshine
Being well-hydrated
Cutting sugar, cutting simple carbohydrates, replacing them with complex carbohydrates, and using very little honey as a sweetener
Eating meat, eggs, and fish, rotating these during the week
Eating more green vegetables
Journaling — meditating — connecting with the Divine
Getting out and doing things — being with family; walking the dog; working in the yard
Reducing / eliminating stressors to the extent possible
Attitude — one is absolutely determined to “rewire” the brain back to pre-SSRI
———————————————————————-
Let’s take a look at serotonin, the crucially important element that the human gut makes — and which is the “target” of SSRIs. Below are screenshots from the 2022 Cleveland Clinic article, “What is serotonin?” [10]:
And, regarding the “gut-brain axis”, an article, “That gut feeling”, Dr. Siri Carpenter, [11] 1 September 2012, a screenshot from which is below:
Yours Truly does not fault the physician who started one on paroxetine in early 2019, nor the physician-therapist who continued the drug until I had had enough of the side effects by September 2024 and requested to go through the process to taper down — wean off — discontinue the drug. They were following conventional medical “recommendations.” However, Yours Truly, by the late summer of 2024, had also done enough research to understand that SSRIs are dangerous and addictive, that the decision to request going through the process was what had to be done. How many people taking SSRIs do the research necessary to understand what these drugs are doing to their bodies and their brains? Why don’t physicians who prescribe SSRIs (or, indeed, any psychotropic drug) caution the patient that there are multiple and potentially serious side effects and/or adverse reactions to these drugs? Why don’t physicians make it their business to ensure that, unless there is clear indication that the patient needs a higher dose, to start the patient on the lowest possible dose of an SSRI, and at the the first indication that the patient is having real trouble with side effects and/or adverse reactions, to begin the process of taper down — wean off — discontinue the drug; while, at the same time, ensuring that the patient starts or continues therapeutic counseling and healthy lifestyle changes? Similarly, why don’t physicians make it their business to ensure that, there is clear indication that the patient needs a higher dose of an SSRI drug, to start and keep the patient on the lowest possible dose?
The human gut is where over 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced. The human brain produces 10% or less of the body’s serotonin. Because of the “gut-brain axis” system in the body, serotonin produced in the gut “travels” to the brain via the bloodstream. Why aren’t physicians trained in the nutritional knowledge necessary to counsel patients with emotional/psychological issues to eat foods that would assist in proper and healthy serotonin production — foods such as, salmon, eggs, cheese, nuts, and turkey? Why don’t physicians realize that taking SSRI drugs actually block the normal “gut-brain axis travel” of serotonin to the brain — leaving the brain with only a small amount of serotonin; and which low level of serotonin is targeted by SSRI drugs? [12]
Yes, there are circumstances in which a physician makes the decision that the emotional/psychological issues of the patient warrant the need for that patient to take an SSRI. However, Yours Truly believes that, in addition to the SSRI, the patient needs to be counseled to eat foods that will help the gut produce healthy serotonin in proper amounts, to get out into the sunshine, to move their body, to get restful sleep, to have therapeutic psychological counseling if necessary; and, to understand that what they’re experiencing isn’t just “all in their head” — it’s also “that gut feeling.”
[12]: “Chronic SSRI Treatment Exacerbates Serotonin Deficiency in Humanized Tph2 Mutant Mice.” William B. Siessner, et al. https://doi.org/10.1021/cn300127h. 1 October 2012.
(Intellectual Property Disclaimer and Notice: With the exception of published scientific items cited above, the ideas and conclusions of today’s post are by PAVACA. Proper credit must be given to PAVACA if the ideas or conclusions from today’ post are used by other blog writers, by podcasters, in social media, or in print media.)
This man, making Christmas calls from the White House, believes the world is a sphere. And he has even flown around it! So has our beautiful FLOTUS, who happens to be his wife!
Truth and common sense must be valued by us, as individuals, in order to lastingly disempower the authoritarian fake news media. This includes the perniciously smarmy science media, which never answers for its errors and lies. I believe that the media has been responsible not only for leftist pathologies like scientism, medical fascism, and radical gender ideology, but also for reactionary movements like modern flat Earth, rejection of all medicine, and Biblical geological literalism.
Just as Wheatie’s Stormwatch Monday Open Thread was created as a place for people to openly express their thoughts and opinions, so, too, is this Thank God Thursday Open Thread, where honest but civil discussion of all topics is encouraged. This thread is also to be known as Theistic Evolution Thursdays, due to the author’s expected “pontification” about his scientific, religious, and political opinions. You are welcome to pontificate back! Free speech matters!
Please label all AI-generated content as being such, unless it is patently obvious (e.g., humorous AI images). It is important that we as individuals not begin to pretend that socially derived artificial intelligence is actually our own, as this form of stealthy social information averaging and feedback would be one more pretense and deception between people, in service of stupid Marxist socialism, and of those who wish to substitute their communally protected lies for actual truth.
The source of alleged truth matters, not for the truth itself, but for validation.
And yes, it’s THURSDAY…again.
And that’s it. We’re done stealing from Wheatie.
OK – maybe her rules need to be posted.
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
Other rules may be derivable from these, and that conjecture is left for discussion.
If there is nothing beyond the “W” below, then this is a placeholder. For health reasons, I can’t always post a timely opinion before each Thursday, but I will try. Otherwise, you have this placeholder post, where YOU provide the content. Enjoy!
W
Very nice that Thanksgiving will always be on Thank God Thursdays!
You know what I’m thankful for?
We are STILL HERE, and TRUMP IS PRESIDENT!
For this Thanksgiving, I’m going to post links to every prior Thanksgiving post we’ve had here.
A trip down Memory Lane!
2018 – 11/22 – Wolf Moon – Our First Thanksgiving – Midterm Escape – Sessions is GONE – Q is Posting!
This SPECIAL THANKSGIVING open thread is VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA world. We ask that people NOT duplicate material posted to the Treehouse open threads, unless it’s REALLY IMPORTANT. We expect things that are …
2019 – 11/28 – trumpismine – Impeachment & Ukraine BS Almost Over – COVID Coming…..
This Happy Thanksgiving Night before Daughn Thursday 20191128 Open Thread is officially Open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA / KAG! / KMAG world (KMAG being a bit of both MAGA and KAG! You …
Sorry for the delay. Here’s a REALLY quick and dirty daily. Since the Center for Disease Control went all Footloose on us, and decided that we needed to tone down the singing, dancing and drinking this Thanksgiving, how about some good old fashioned defiance. Seriously, my mom always says if it’s not sinful, immoral or …
Followed on Friday by a message from Wolf Moon, after we moved off WordPress.com, after CTH was kicked off WordPress.com after Trump “lost” the election.
NOTE: Although this after-dinner well-wishing was delayed due to a long list of post-Thanksgiving-dinner chores and duties, performed meticulously and faithfully, it’s still Thanksgiving in California, so here we go. I just wanted to take this opportunity, after a great Thanksgiving dinner, [Trump supporters all, complete with two pilgrims, an Indian of friendly but mysterious …
2021 – 11/25 – Back from J6, We’re FIGHTING BACK! – This is a repeat (PS – Note the error in the date!)
WOLF HERE! This one is a little different. I’m going to REPLAY last Thanksgiving, Thursday, 20201124, which was also one of DePat’s best, getting over 1000 comments at the time. Enjoy the repeat, followed by an addendum by the Wolf! W [DePat RePat begins here] Sorry for the delay. Here’s a REALLY quick and dirty …
2022 – 11/24 – Deplorable Patriot – Still Fighting!
Due to Q-Treeper poll results, this is a lighter fare Thanksgiving thread. If anything important happens, or if a skunk moves in under your she shed, please post in the comments. Anti-Thanksgiving? UnAmerican at best, treason more likely. So, what REALLY happened to bring about Thanksgiving here in the former colonies of England, France and …
2023 – 11/23 – Deplorable Patriot – The G.O.A.T.!!! Seriously, this was one of her best!
Being full of Chinese take-out and having started Thanksgiving cooking without the matriarch, I’m digging up an old opener with some current items. Anti-Thanksgiving? UnAmerican at best, treason more likely. So, what REALLY happened to bring about Thanksgiving here in the former colonies of England, France and Spain????? The Great Thanksgiving Hoax This official story …
2024 – 11/28 – Deplorable Patriot – Her Final TGITG
And yet, again, I am resurrecting the old Thanksgiving thread as cooking takes center stage in the Depat household. Being full of Chinese take-out and having started Thanksgiving cooking without the matriarch, I’m digging up an old opener. Since Twitter/X is being tempermental, not many current items. Anti-Thanksgiving? UnAmerican at best, treason more likely. So, …
2025 – 11/27 – Wolf Moon – I am thankful for every post we had from Deplorable Patriot, and especially her Thanksgiving posts. God bless her, and her family and friends!
I also thank God for President Trump, Vice President Marine Corps Dude (apparently another VSG), and every White Hat who is working to restore integrity to our government. I am thankful to Q – whoever he is, and wherever he is – and to all the anons who helped Q help President Trump. I am thankful to Sundance and the Treepers who brought us here, and to the patriots at Tea Party Connection, including Dixie, who brought me to CTH.
It has been a long road, but it has been a good road.
God bless you all – each and every one of you. To you – and to all our fallen fellow Treepers and QTreepers – a special thank you, for sacrificing some of the best parts of your golden years to help President Trump Make America Great Again.
I was going to write about NGOs, but the info in Monday’s comments changed my mind. Given the situation I will write about NGOs next week instead. I was going to add them but it doubled the length of the article.
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It’s quite literally a color revolution. The democracy playbook people like Norm Eisen or Gene Sharp don’t like breaking it out into explicit stages because it implies that color revolutions aren’t organic. So I had to assemble it from scratch using their own writings. Here are the steps, and they’re trying to do Step 6:
patfrederick then brought this:
A few other GOP members messaged us over the weekend saying that they, too, are considering retiring in the middle of the term.
Here’s one particularly exercised senior House Republican:
“This entire White House team has treated ALL members like garbage. ALL. And Mike Johnson… https://t.co/QH2Ewwx5qv
Do not forget that The CIA orchestrated the US wars against regimes (called communist) that resisted the Oligarchs rape of their natural resources and enslavement of their people.
I wrote that thinking ofGuatemala’s overthrow by the CIA at the request of United Fruit and IranContra. Also based on the information from Colonel Towner.
Stalin denial is as bad a look at Holocaust denial. Maybe worse!
Not saying these oligarchs are good guys. But the Castro regime – way worse, IMO.
Street scene, Havana. Arien Chang Castán
Actually I have not thought much about Cuba except for the Cuban mathematician I worked with, Baby Castro installed in British controlled Canada, and the CIA proposed False Flag using Cubans that probably got JFK killed.
One question is: Were the Brits involved with installing Castro?
Let’s start with the origin of communism.
I will go with Promethean Action’s take. You can trace it back to the British Empire/globalist cartel.
…Richard Poe, among other researchers, identifies the hand behind these actions as the British, courtesy of MI6 and
GCHQ, who have all the skills. The British oligarchy, the City of London, in bed with their secret services, have been, he believes, for two centuries and counting seeding revolution and chaos in every country, in order to maintain their dominance of the financial markets. The British,
he says, created the Muslim Brotherhood and the jihadi movement in order to profit off war and oil in the Mideast. All that money western nations send to the ME is harvested by the globalist gang. The Ukraine war, too, is yet another attempt of the British to destroy Russia, something they have been doing for centuries, and of course and always to loot America’s public funds. Little wonder “the Anglo-Saxon” is the term used to delineate evil in Russia. Yes, of course elements of the Jewish community are all in, and of course it is coordinated across all intelligence agencies most importantly, the CIA. But the British invented it. They are the GOAT….
The Untold Story of Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky, MI6, and the Russian Revolution
Greedy for power and Persian oil fields, King George V of England (right) plotted the overthrow of his cousin Tsar Nicholas II (left).
SUMMARY: Was the Bolshevik Revolution fake? Was Lenin’s 1917 coup little more than a “color revolution,” a staged event, orchestrated by foreign intelligence services? Strong evidence suggests that it was. In the 1920s, prominent Russian exiles accused Great Britain of plotting the Tsar’s downfall. George Buchanan, British ambassador to Russia from 1910 to 1918, devoted 16 pages of his 1923 memoir to denying this charge. But the charge was true. The British secret services had destabilized Russia, just as they had previously destabilized France in 1789. They had infiltrated and weaponized the Bolsheviks, just as they had previously weaponized the Jacobin movement against Louis XVI. While the Tsar was technically Britain’s ally in World War I, British elites feared that a victorious Russia would threaten Britain’s global dominance. Bolshevism provided the solution, demolishing the Tsar’s once-mighty empire, and plunging Russia into chaos and civil war. — RICHARD POE
“THIS MOVEMENT among the Jews is not new,” wrote Winston Churchill. “From the days of … Karl Marx, and down to Trotsky… this worldwide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilisation… has been steadily growing.”1
Churchill was talking about communism.
It was February 8, 1920. As Churchill wrote, all eyes were on Russia, where Bolsheviks and anti-Bolsheviks— “Reds” and “Whites”—were battling for control of the country.
Before it was over, some 10 million people would die in the Russian Civil War, mostly civilians, and mostly from disease, famine, and mass atrocities on both sides. From this slaughter, the world’s first communist state would emerge.2
Churchill blamed it all on a “worldwide conspiracy” of Jews.
In a full-page article in London’s Illustrated Sunday Herald, Churchill wrote: “There is no need to exaggerate the part played in the creation of Bolshevism and in the actual bringing about of the Russian Revolution by these international and for the most part atheistical Jews. … [T]he majority of the leading figures are Jews. Moreover, the principal inspiration and driving power comes from the Jewish leaders. … Litvinoff… Trotsky… Zinoviev… Radek—all Jews.”
Churchill declared that the subversive role of “Jewish revolutionaries… in proportion to their number in the population” was “astonishing,” not only in Russia, but throughout Europe…
From Winston Churchill to the Rolling Stones, Cuba has hosted its fair share of famous Britons over the years. But the first official royal visit by the Prince of Wales and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall in 2019 heralds an important shift in Her Majesty’s Government’s longstanding policy towards the island.
Until recently, little had changed since 1898, when the US intervened to end Spanish colonial rule in Cuba and Britain largely surrendered to growing US dominance in the Caribbean sphere. But Britain’s soft power play today indicates an alignment with Barack Obama’s 2014 diplomatic re-engagement with the island, rather than Donald Trump’s rolling back of this initiative. Obama judged the 54-year-long US trade blockade a failure, and ordered the unfreezing of Cold War-era policy….
With other Western countries exploiting economic openings in Cuba – and Britain keen to compete with them more openly – does only Trump’s administration stand in the way?…
An analysis of Cuba’s history from a British diplomatic perspective during the period of US political and economic domination, from 1898 to 1964. It investigates how Britain attempted to protect its trade and other interests in the island, whilst always sensitive to the reactions of its most important ally, the United States.
Sir Winston Churchill visita Cuba en Febrero de 1946. Invitado por el Presidente de la República Ramón Grau San Martín y su Primer Ministro Carlos Prío Socarrás.
One question. Cuba is a small (42,800 sq mi, about the size of VA) supposedly impoverished island. WHERE ARE ALL THE FUNDS TO OVER THROW GOVERNMENTS COMING FROM??
… At the Cuban Revolution of 1953–1959, during the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, Cuba was on a growth trajectory within Latin America….
Support from Venezuela
Venezuela is the largest trading partner to Cuba and is widely considered to be systemically important to the Cuban economy.[112][113] Since the 1990s, the two nations have shared a close relationship and have maintained strong economic collaboration.[114][115] Initial trading was centered on exchanging Venezuelan oil for visiting Cuban doctors in a form of medical diplomacy.[116][117] Venezuelan investors are the only foreign investor allowed to hold 100% ownership in businesses, with all other foreign investors requiring joint investment with Cuba. According to Carmelo Mesa-Lago, a Cuban-born U.S. economist, in nominal terms, the Venezuelan subsidy is higher than the subsidy which the Soviet Union gave to Cuba.[113] In 2012, Venezuela accounted for 20.8% of Cuba’s GDP, while Cuba only accounted for roughly 4% of Venezuela’s.[118] The Venezuelan economy has been in complete collapse since 2010, hampering its ability to support Cuba.[119][120]
Support from the Soviet Union, Russia and China are also detailed. Cuba is the dark blue line.
In 1954, Operation PBSuccess dismantled Guatemala’s newfound democracy — so that an American fruit company could continue to profit off the old government’s corruption.
Throughout the early 20th century, an American multinational corporation called the United Fruit Company — now known as Chiquita Brands International — controlled vast swaths of Guatemalan land and production. Aided by a corrupt autocracy, it received little pushback over decades of economic exploitation.
But in the 1940s, a democratic revolution and calls for justice threatened to undermine United Fruit’s position. So the company leveraged its powerful connections inside the White House — painting the new Guatemalan government as a dangerous Communist administration in the process…
John Foster Dulles and Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1955.
United Fruit couldn’t sit by and wait. It needed the support of the American government to stop Arbenz.
This was the 1950s — the early years of the Cold War — and so United Fruit began a strategy that framed Guatemala as a Communist foe in the U.S. press.
Their mission was helped by the company’s connections. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles was a former lawyer for United Fruit. His brother Allen Dulles, the director of the CIA, was formerly on United Fruit’s Board of Directors. And the company’s PR Executive, Ed Whitman, was married to President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s personal secretary, Ann Whitman.
United Fruit didn’t need to push hard. Eisenhower was eager to show the world his anti-Communist credentials. Under Eisenhower’s orders, the CIA began crafting Operation PBSuccess in August 1953…
To achieve this goal, the CIA recruited a disgruntled ex-Arbenz military officer named Carlos Castillo Armas. Armas rallied anti-government sentiment and pieced together an army of a few hundred men, supplied and supported with U.S. equipment and intelligence under Operation PBSuccess.
On June 18, 1954, Armas and his men attacked with the help of logistical support from the U.S. The CIA began by launching a propaganda campaign, warning the Guatemalan public and Arbenz that a major invasion was underway, setting up a clandestine radio station that jammed Guatemalan signals and flooded the airwaves with greatly exaggerated messages.
…The CIA’s psychological warfare succeeded. Panic overtook the capital and Arbenz’s supporters began losing faith. And when he attempted to raise his own militia, only a few hundred civilians showed up.
On June 27, 1954, just nine days later, Arbenz resigned. He sought asylum at the Mexican embassy and later fled the country….
Nixon and the People’s Republic of China: CIA’s Support of the Historic 1972 Presidential Trip
This collection marks the 50th anniversary of President Richard M. Nixon’s February 1972 trip to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) – a landmark event that preceded the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. This small collection, consisting of three city guides, an atlas, and four leadership profiles, is a subset of the materials CIA produced for President Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger in preparation for the seven-day visit...
NEW YORK HER TR U-Nu Approved For Release 2003/ 4 : CIA-RDP67B00446R000100130016-0 JUL 3, 1964 By Barnard L.. Collier
Latin American Correspondent WASHINGTON.
Premier Fidel Castro’s sister, Juana, who defected to Mexico on June 20, had been in contact with Central In-telligence Agency operatives for nearly four year*, the Herald Tribune learned yesterday.
And , Premier Castro’s brother, Raul, his trusted No. 2 man as War Minister in the Communist regime, protected Juana from the bearded dictator’s wrath [for . all that tie and then.] paved the way for her flight to Mexico City while Premier Castro , was ~ away from Havana.
In Havana on Wednesday, night Premier Castro told newsmen that Juana’s deection was indeed. ‘a blow. “This incident to me personally is very bitter and profoundly painful. But I understand this is the price of being a revolutionary.”
Highly ‘placed intelligence sources here yesterday confirmed that she had been instrumental in spiriting at least 200 Cubans out…
The full page word jumble is way too hard to make into an intelligent transcript, however you are welcome to try. (Is this mess of the CIA files purposeful? Inquiring minds would like to know.)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
IMPORTANT!
Compare what is said in this documentary (8 minutes) to what is happening today in the USA.
How Eddie Bernays, the United Fruit Company, and the CIA overthrew the Guatemalan Government
Excerpt from Adam Curtis’ BBC documentary, “Century of Self,” detailing Eddie Bernays’ influence in helping United Fruit and the CIA overthrow the democratically elected leader of Guatemala.
IMPORTANT EXCERPTS FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
… influence of the Freud family in America was about to grow even more politicians were about to turn to Anna Freud cousin Edward Bernays for help in a time of crisis he was going to manipulate the inner feelings and fears of the masses to help America’s politicians fight the Cold War….
…at this point Edward Bernays was living in New York in the 1920s he had invented the profession of public relations and was now one of the most powerful PR men in America he worked for most of the major corporations and advised politicians including President Eisenhower like his uncle Sigmund Bernays was convinced that human beings were driven by irrational forces the only way to deal with the public was to connect with their unconscious desires and affairs Bernays argued that instead of trying to reduce people’s fear of communism one should actually encourage and manipulate the fear but in such a way as it became a weapon in the Cold War rational argument was fruitless what my father understood about groups is that they are manipulandum arable and that that you can tap into their deepest desires or their deepest fears and use up to your own purposes I don’t think you felt that all those public’s out there had reliable judgment that they very easily might vote for the wrong man or want the wrong thing so that they had to be guided from above one of the bonuses main clients was the giant United Fruit Company they owned vast banana plantations in Guatemala in Central America…
…taking United Fruit again as a commercial client out of the picture and making it look like a question of American democracy American values being threatened in reality árbenz was a Democratic Socialist with no links to Moscow but Bernays set out to turn him into a communist threat to America..
…with the United Fruit Company the CIA trained and armed rebel army and found a new leader for the country called Colonel Armas the CIA agent in charge was Howard hunt later one of the Watergate burglars what we wanted to do was have a terror campaign to terrify our beds particularly terrify his troops …just rendered everybody paralyzed as planes flown by CIA pilots dropped bombs on Guatemala City Edward Bernays carried on his propaganda campaign in the American press he was preparing the American population to see this as the liberation of Guatemala by freedom fighters for democracy
He totally understood that the coup would happen when the public and the press, when conditions in the public & in the press allowed for [it] to happen And he created those conditions He was totally savvy in terms of just what he was helping create there, in terms of this overthrow but ultimately he was reshaping reality reshaping public opinion in a way that’s undemocratic and manipulative. On June 27th 1954 Colonel Arbenz fled the country and Armas arrived as the new leader within months Vice President Nixon visited Guatemala in an event staged by United fruits PR department it was shown piles of Marxist literature that had been found it was said in the presidential palace.… [FBI photos of classified docs at Mar-a-logo anyone? – GC]
Now compare that to what Barbara Boyd and Susan Kokinda from Promethean Action is telling us. H/T scott467(@scott467)
British Empire’s Psy-War Against MAGA: How They’re Trying to Stop Trump’s Peace
“In this episode, Barbara Boyd discusses President Trump’s peace plan for the Russia-Ukraine war and its monumental implications. The proposed plan may lead to the end of the British Financial Empire and spark a new human Renaissance.
Trump’s realist approach centers on acknowledging ground realities and working toward Ukrainian sovereignty and rebuilding. The script also highlights Trump’s criticism of the Washington status quo and the psychological warfare against MAGA supporters. Vice President Vance’s insights on MAGA’s challenges and the economic strategies are also examined. Boyd delves into the economic and geopolitical ramifications of the peace plan, including infrastructural projects like the Bering Strait Tunnel and the potential collapse of NATO. ”
Tucker and MTG have fallen into a British imperial trap—the same one used for centuries to pit patriots against their own interests. Trump’s foreign policy IS his domestic policy. You can’t rebuild America while the Empire controls global trade.
The Monday Brief – British Intelligence Lures the Young to Kill Trump’s Revolution – November 17, 2025
As Trump’s economic policies finally deliver real gains to working Americans, British intelligence has launched a new operation—targeting Gen Z and MAGA’s youth wing. We expose the regime change playbook aimed at splintering the movement that shocked the establishment in 2024.
Finally we have yesterday’s longer video which I wished had continued much longer than it did.
I lead today’s thread with a question, followed by others that are related.
Would you be hard line or reconciliatory with those who worked or fought against you and the colonists in the quest for independence, freedom and liberty? We have seen many examples of each with our Declaration signers. All of it led to differing results, historical significance, and sometimes interesting or unexpected conclusions to their lives.
I ask because we are in a similar war today. It is just as messy as it was then. The enemy has used deception, lies, terrorism, censorship and criminality of every sort instead of frontal, declared war tactics. But it has still been war. Foreign powers have been deeply involved as they were back then. Greed and seeking power has driven much of it just as it has with all wars. The tools that have been utilized against patriots today are somewhat different, but just as effective.
So when, not if, America First MAGA patriots win the current war – will you be reconciliatory toward the past enemy combatants or adamant in their receiving punishment and banishment from society? Which approach do you think #47 and other patriot leaders that follow him will take? What does our founding documents and the law say? What does the overriding will of God found in the Holy Bible say?
For the early Americans it even translated into taking sides using political parties. And here we are some 250 years later still bickering and abusing the American Way through political parties.
Ponder The Future Of America
The patriots of our past were innovative, creative, focused and dedicated. Life was harder then, many did not make it to age 60. So many children and mothers died young. Knowing this they made their days count, unlike many today who pass through their time living in fantasy worlds or shackled with drugs and perversions of the soul. It is a world filled with so much hate, so much stupidity, so much whining, so many petty grievances and making mountains out of molehills for personal gain and power.
VSGPOTUS Trump is working unbelievably hard and having a great time doing it while knowing at any moment there could be a bullet to the back of his head. He can do that because he knows his number of days in this world is in the hands of the Master. Do we have the same understanding in our own? If not, why not? It may be keeping us from fulfilling our God given mission.
Those who know the real me, know that I am a diehard University of Tennessee Vol sports supporter. So forgive me if you need to as I bring you a recent quote from the new head coach of the baseball Vols, Josh Elander, who has replaced who many believe has been the best of all recent college baseball coaches, Tony Vitello. Tony accepted the challenge of being the first college head coach in history without any professional baseball experience to jump from college head coach to manager of a major league team, the San Francisco Giants. His replacement at Tennessee had worked for Tony since their previous stop together at Arkansas, some nine years ago. With other coaches, staff and the administration they built an elite program together from bottom feeder status. Josh turned down several lucrative offers to go somewhere else over the past few years to continue building the Vol program.
Despite having very different personalities, Tony and Josh share a common trait. Josh’s quote from his introductory press conference follows. You may catch a reference to someone from a past BIMD story.
“Nine years ago, I got this job (as an assistant),” said Elander. “Tony called and I went on the road basically immediately. I never went back to the place that I rented in Arkansas. [I was] running around recruiting, doing a bunch of deals.
But when I got here finally for our first visit, we were running a kid around, and there was a welcome packet on my desk. It had a bunch of different things. But the main thing I took out of that, I just took some scissors and cut it out. It was a quote from Pat Summitt. It’s been hanging in my office for nine years — and it ain’t going anywhere. That quote is, ‘Here’s how I’m going to beat you. I’m going to outwork you. That’s it. That’s all there is to it.
We knew Pat. We went to church together for decades. We had other occasions to visit with each other. Pat did what POTUS Trump is doing now, just in her expertise of women’s basketball. She became the face of the sport worldwide. As a result, she improved life for millions of young women over the years that have followed because what she did transferred into every women’s sport at every level as well as life in general. Her next challenge was revealing to the world that she had early onset dementia at the height of her HOF coaching career. This led to her opening up even more of her life and allowing the world in to experience it with her as she set up a foundation for Alzheimer’s treatment and research. She left this world far too soon, but the world was much better for her having been here.
Before she passed away, all of her work and dedication ended up translating into recognition around the world with her receipt of the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Hussein, one of the few things he did honorably. All of it happened because a rural west Tennessee country farm girl loved playing basketball and was willing to out work everybody else as she lived her dream. Tony Vitello and Josh Elander have benefitted from that same Pat approach in their occupations as well. It is a common thread with most people who make a real difference no matter the world’s perceived importance of one’s position in life.
The secret sauce is to have vision and outwork your opposition, whoever and whatever it may be, while thinking outside the box.
Take the blinds off and let your mind run wild with the possibilities that may make a difference in some way, big or small. It is just like the patriots did when the hostilities with the Brits ended 248 years ago. If the hostilities ended…oh wait…could that be another challenge left on the board?
As a current day MAGA patriot what are you doing or going to do with the secret sauce?
The focus now shifts to two little discussed New Jersey signers. Don’t ask me why many historians have slid right by these two.
Abraham Clark
Born in 1726 in Elizabethtown, NJ (now Elizabeth, NJ) to Thomas and Hannah (Winans) Clark as an only child, Abraham Clark was the third generation to reside there on both sides of his family. Both families were prominently involved in the area with over 150 Winans family members buried in the cemetery adjacent to First Presbyterian Church, where they were members. He was educated via tutor in surveying after his father realized he was very good at math. While working as a surveyor he studied law and opened a practice that focused on assisting poor clients. In 1749 he married Sarah Hatfield and they had ten children over the years that followed. While Sarah raised the children on their farm, he entered politics and became a clerk of the Provincial Assembly. He continued clerking for the assembly instead of military service due to his frail physical condition. Later he became the High Sheriff of Essex County and was elected to the Provincial Congress in 1775 as well as serving on the Committee of Public Safety.
New Jersey replaced their representatives to the Continental Congress in early 1776 as the existing reps were opposed to independence. Due to Clark’s strong support for it, he was named as one of the five replacements in June. As they voted in July, he wrote in a letter that, “”It is gone so far, that we must now be a free independent State, or a conquered country.” He followed that statement later with, “”We can die here but once. Nothing short of the Almighty Power of God can save us.”
He worked to provide supplies to Gen. Washington throughout his time in Congress and during the war. He was notified that his two oldest sons who served in the enlisted military had been captured and were incarcerated in horrible conditions on the prison ship, HMS Jersey. He refused to let others in government know so they would not be given deference over other prisoners. When leadership discovered it they made arrangements to reciprocate better treatment to a handful of captured Brits to assist the Clark situations until their release in a prisoner exchange.
He returned to Congress for two additional, multi-year periods. He was a strong proponent for the common man, the farmers and mechanics in particular. This placed him at odds with those founders who urged deference to public officials. He refused to wear a wig or ruffles on his sleeves as he hated elitism and pretense. He wanted regular citizens to stay involved and let their elected officials know what they wanted done. He pushed a pro-debtor paper money bill through the state legislature in 1788. He ran for U. S. Senate and lost, but followed in 1791 for a U. S. House of Representative seat and won. He was a Whig and had a deep desire to secure personal liberties for citizens. He saw that centralized authority could lead to tyranny.
Clark passed away in 1794 from a sunstroke on his property and is buried in Rahway, NJ. It is said that he became ill, but refused to seek help at home until he took another person who had been working with him home first. His wife, Sarah, passed away ten years later and is buried next to her husband. What a patriot, what a principled man!
Francis Hopkinson
Francis Hopkinson was born in Philadelphia to Thomas and Mary Johnson Hopkinson in1737. His father died when he was 14, however, his mother directed him to attend the College of Philadelphia (Penn), where he graduated in its first class with a BA degree while earning a MA degree three years later. Before his death his father was instrumental in the chartering of the college and worked with B to get it done. Hopkinson studied and apprenticed in the law under the colony’s AG and was admitted to the Bar a year later in 1761.
He immediately began work as Secretary to the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania Indian Affairs. He worked on numerous treaties during the period. He was not nearly as successful in his law practice and failed at a business venture, so he accepted a position as a Customs Collector in Salem, NJ. Hoping to make more money, he boarded a ship for England in 1766 in an attempt to gain a position as Customs Commissioner for North America, but was also unsuccessful with that despite learning a great deal more about the system. While there he began taking painting lessons under Benjamin West, the American born painter who founded the Royal Academy in England and painted for King George III. Francis returned to the colonies a year later in 1767.
His personal interests were diverse in that he was involved in writing, painting, music, design, politics and the law. He played the harpsichord and the organ. He composed published music of his own as well as copying arias, songs and instrumentals of other famous composers. By 1768 he had met and married Ann Borden, daughter of famous patriot Colonel Joseph Borden and wife, Elizabeth Rogers Borden of Bordentown, NJ. They had nine children together, four of whom died as young children with the rest marrying and having children.
Hopkinson returned to the role of Customs Collector in New Castle, Delaware in 1772. The couple moved to Bordentown two years later and he entered politics as a an Assemblyman in the state’s Provincial Council. He was admitted to the NJ Bar in 1775, resigned all of his British related positions, and was elected as a Delegate to represent NJ in the Second Continental Congress. He voted for independence and became a signer a month later. He left his role in Congress a few months later to return to his law practice and to serve on the Navy Board in Philadelphia. The British attacked areas of NJ during this period and their home was ransacked, however, they were not home at the time and were unharmed.
In 1778 he served as Treasurer of the Continental Loan Office and was later appointed to the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania for periods from 1779 through 1787. He participated in the development and pushed for the Articles of Confederation as well as later, the Constitution in multiple states. In return for his tireless efforts after George Washington’s Presidential inauguration he was appointed to be U. S .District Court Judge for eastern PA in 1789.
He was long noted for his music, writing and artistic works. He also designed flags as well as seals, many of which were either used or provided as input for the final products chosen by federal entities. He continued to serve in his occupation and community roles until his death in 1791 at age 53 from stroke complications. He is buried in the churchyard of Christ Church in Philadelphia. Ann passed away many years later in 1827 at age 80. She is buried in her native Bordentown.
We are grateful for all of his patriotic and artistic contributions.
Please remember Wolf’s rules for our community. In general that means to be respectful to each other and to pull no shenanigans that your mom might find offensive or otherwise cause jail time. That said, free speech is honored here.
This Thanksgiving holiday weekend, remember the early American settlers and the patriots who followed that led to America’s existence as the greatest nation on earth. Thank the Lord that He saw fit to permit this great experiment in liberty and freedom to be conducted in His creation. Then go have some fun and love on your families and friends in celebration!
