“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
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. – Matthew 19:24
Jesus’ message is clear—it is impossible for anyone to be saved on his own merits. Since wealth was seen as proof of God’s approval, it was commonly taught by the rabbis that rich people were blessed by God and were, therefore, the most likely candidates for heaven. Jesus destroyed that notion, and along with it, the idea that anyone can earn eternal life. The disciples had the appropriate response to this startling statement. They were utterly amazed and asked, “Who then can be saved?” in the next verse. If the wealthy among them, which included the super-spiritual Pharisees and scribes, were unworthy of heaven, what hope was there for a poor man?
Jesus’ answer is the basis of the gospel: “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Matthew 19:26). Men are saved through God’s gifts of grace, mercy, and faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Nothing we do earns salvation for us. It is the poor in spirit who inherit the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:3), those who recognize their spiritual poverty and their utter inability to do anything to justify themselves to a holy God. The rich man so often is blind to his spiritual poverty because he is proud of his accomplishments and has contented himself with his wealth. He is as likely to humble himself before God as a camel is to crawl through the eye of a needle.
Unlike the full House Judiciary Committee three ring circus yesterday, finding ANY information about today’s hearing featuring that committee’s sub-committee (how many committees do these people run?) on Anti-Trust took some digging.
Essentially, at noon eastern, the heads of Twitter, Amazon, Google and Facebook will be questioned by a subset of the full Judiciary Committee. This little pow wow will be happening via video conference due to COVID hysteria, so, unlike the outrageous treatment of Attorney General William Barr, there will be no glaring lights on the witnesses, and humanitarian breaks at the witnesses’ leisure since they will be in the comfort of their own surroundings.
Oh, yeah, that’s fair.
So, who is involved in today’s Q&A where the person being examined presumably will be able to spew their propaganda at will?
Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)
Sundar Pichai (Google)
Tim Cook (Apple)
Jeff Bezos (Amazon)
The subcommittee welcomes Bezos for the first time, who also owns the Washington Post.
The topic today is are these online entities too big. Not the censorship issue that is sure to come up since there’s been so much of it in the last week, but should these platforms be broken up since they have so much power.
As if those four men are going to be forthcoming about that.
Was that hearing yesterday about one of the worst ideas the institutional Democrats have had yet? Never mind Barr doing end runs around them, the lot of donkeys exposed themselves. A few of the low lights, and there were many more.
Attorney General William Barr really should press assault charges.
Democrats, these violins are playing just for you.
And now for the obligatory message from our sponsors:
Here at the Q tree we believe in the concept of CIVIL open free speech and the discussion that fleshes out ideas. When commenting and participating in the OPEN discussion on this thread all comments MUST NOT CONTAIN personal threats, baiting, name calling, or other anti-social words fomenting hate, violence or destruction. Our host Wolfm00n has strict rules about that.
Fellow tree dweller Wheatie gave us some good reminders on the basics of civility in political discourse:
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
In addition, it is requested that there be no swinging from the chandeliers, celebratory gunfire, messing around with the nuclear weapons, and, please, everyone wash your hands.
Please, do not forget to apply sunscreen after a sensible amount of time in the sun so as to beef up the level of vitamin D in the system so we can all get our immune systems in shape to stop the Wuhan Flu thing sooner rather than later.
Please remember to remain locked and loaded and ready for trouble should the insurrectionists try to invade your space.
Those who have things to say that do not fit the generally accepted limits of “civil” discussion, Wolf has provided a venue known as the UTree. You’re welcome to visit over there and say hi to anyone hanging out over there.
A few other vital notes:
Please, review these rules that our host Wolfm00n outlined toward the beginning of the growth of the tree itself. it won’t take long.
Ridiculing the other side, on the other hand…well….
Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” He said in reply, “He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his Kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
As always, prayers for the fight against that which seeks to enslave us are welcome.
Please include: President Donald Trump, the Q team, our soldiers in the field, special forces, tactical units, members of the Cabinet, first responders and those working behind the scenes.
Looks like it’s closing in on time with all the winning going on.
