“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
On the surface, the personal decision not to receive an experimental vaccine would seem to have no correlation with 80% or more opposition to escalation of the conflict by their home country. But dig a millimeter deeper and I think the common factor is pretty obvious. These are people who are skeptical of massive propaganda campaigns pushed by the combined forces of government and corporate establishments. Henningsen describes himself as “a fierce critic of MSM propaganda.”
Just like the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 when face coverings were all the rage. One of my dad’s aunts died as a result. Her twin sister died a year later of grief. 100 years on, and no one remembered.
— Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis (@DrLoupis) May 30, 2023
🚨🚨🚨 BREAKING: Cleveland clinic study which found that "The higher the number of vaccines previously received, the higher the risk of contracting COVID-19" has been peer review published. Cleveland clinic is No. 2 Hospital in World. Excerpts below:https://t.co/cotyBDjMDIpic.twitter.com/mYFsNbw9Yd
Welcome to the Banana Republic of Arizona: Maricopa County report reveals thousands of ballots in 2020 didn’t have proof of citizenship https://t.co/FWmmu0hKix
DeSantis could've announced his campaign on FOX to an audience of 5M with the beach in the background and thousands of paid actors clapping & pretending to be excited.
Instead, he did a botched Twitter Spaces to an audience of 300k which only emphasized his nasally, effeminate…
— Pro America Politics (@Pro__Trading) May 29, 2023
Yikes! DeSantis was just asked why he doesn’t just wait until 2028 to run for POTUS…
He stumbled over his thoughts, gave a standard politician BS word salad, didn’t answer the question and claimed the legacy media attacks him more than President Trump.
— TheStormHasArrived (@TheStormRedux) May 29, 2023
A new study finds that leftist extremism is linked to psychosis and narcissism. This validates what I have been saying for years- antifa, trantifa, BLM, and other left wing rage mob groups don’t make people violent and crazy… violent and crazy people find approval and a sense… pic.twitter.com/baqOrI4r4S
— Brandon Straka #WalkAway (@BrandonStraka) May 30, 2023
Serious Question for Team DeSantis:
It's clear as day you do NOT want to change the hearts and minds of MAGA and have decided you can win the primary without us.
So, with that being understood, how do you win the Republican party primary without MAGA?
“Male heroism threatens the entitlement state by providing an example of self-reliance apart from the professional helper class. And for that reason, he must be taken down”https://t.co/kf6dV6yTLF
Impeached AG of Texas, @KenPaxtonTX giving a news interview saying that if he wouldn’t have stopped 2.5 Million mail-in ballots during the Presidential Election, that Biden would have won Texas & Trump would have lost Texas. pic.twitter.com/Y9jpj8Khlc
— Collin County ⭐️ Texas Democrats (@CollinDems) May 30, 2023
(I don’t remember who brought this to a daily in the comments, but thanks.)
And, of course, the obligatory George Carlin:
Per the Boss:
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, the late 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
Please, stock up on blanks for celebratory gunfire, be ready to swing from the chandeliers…and no messing with the nuclear weapons.
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. The “Rescue Thread” is also over there. In the event a rendezvous of the tree is needed, please check it out, as well as the newest rescue venue.
Auntie DePat’s requests:
If you see something has not been posted, do us all a favor, and post it. Please, do not complain that it has not been done yet.
The scroll wheel on your mouse can be your friend. As mature adults, please use it here in the same manner you would in avoiding online porn.
Thank you so much for any and all attention to such details. It is GREATLY appreciated by more than one party here.
One other vital note:
Please, review these rules that our host Wolfm00n outlined toward the beginning of the growth of the tree itself. it won’t take long.
14Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15The LORD has taken away the judgments against you, he has cast out your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear evil no more. 16On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. 17The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing 18as on a day of festival. “I will remove disaster from you, so that you will not bear reproach for it.
ISAIAH 12:2-6
2“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” 3With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name; make known his deeds among the nations, proclaim that his name is exalted. 5“Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. 6Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
LUKE 1:39-56
39In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40and she entered the house of Zechari’ah and greeted Elizabeth. 41And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. 45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” 46And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; 49for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. 51He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, 52he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. 54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever.” 56And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.
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, first responders and those working behind the scenes…and any and all people with family members in the hospital, COVID or not.
And…members of the QTree who no longer participate for one reason or another.
We are getting ready to experience a level of evil that will be hard to comprehend. Stay strong. Be prepared.
It is quite clear, as per Wolf’s message from July, that we are under spiritual attack. Building up a robust arsenal of prayer and discipline is a must in fighting the enemy and his minions.
In that spirit, the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel from Tuesday’s threads, and the Breastplate of St. Patrick, not to mention the Litany of Humility are favorites recommended by exorcists in spiritual warfare.
SATIRE SECTION
Archaeologists Have Just Discovered CONCLUSIVE PROOF Of The Bible: A Rock In The Red Sea That Says 'Moses Wuz Here' https://t.co/j6Nox8RJAj
My apologies in advance. This post is a bit abbreviated from my usual. However, I was busy over the weekend and spent a good portion of Memorial Day on my hands and knees on the living room/dining room floor. At least it’s clean.
President Trump is blowing Ron away in every poll, yet they are hilariously pushing the narrative that DeSantis is the only one who can beat the Democrats.
Soon the world will know that the Russian military operation in Ukraine was a massive clean up operation. The global elites were using that country as their dirty operations centre, from biolabs, to drugs, to human trafficking… https://t.co/oXyRlrG3C6
BREAKING – DeSantis's 'Never Back Down' PAC loses senior advisor Phil Cox, who was spotted golfing at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia on Thursday.https://t.co/mZyJaP7VT8
First your baby takes your food, then he interrupts your bath time, and now he's mobile enough to take your favorite spot?! Murphy is probably wondering what outrage he'll be victim to next. Murphy is still taking it all well and is very tolerant of his baby. pic.twitter.com/kBGyFh1U2q
I’d throw in a few Rockefellers and Rothschilds also.
Of course, this does not mean committing felonies, but standing up to the forces that want to tear this nation – and humanity apart. The very people XVII told us will be destroyed by the time this movie comes to an end are currently roaming the halls of power…supposedly. It’s a sickening sight.
The discourse on this site is to be CIVIL – no name calling, baiting, or threatening others here is allowed. Those who are so inclined may visit Wolf’s other sanctuary, the U-Tree, to slog it out. There is also a “rescue” thread there for members of the Tree to rendezvous if the main site goes kablooey. A third site has been added for site outages of longer duration.
This site is a celebration of the natural rights endowed to humans by our Creator as well as those enshrined in the Bill of Rights adopted in the founding documents of the United States of America. Within the limits of law, how we exercise these rights is part of the freedom of our discussion.
Fellow tree dweller, the late 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.
And Auntie DePat’s requests:
If you see something has not been posted, do us all a favor, and post it. Please, do not complain that it has not been done yet.
The scroll wheel on your mouse can be your friend. As mature adults, please use it here in the same manner you would in avoiding online porn.
Thank you so much for any and all attention to such details. It is GREATLY appreciated by more than one party here.
Gentle reminder that Sirach is another name for Ecclesiasticus, one of the books in the Helenistic Canon of the Bible which was removed from protestant bibles during the first wave of protests in the sixteenth century.
SIRACH 35:1-12
1He who keeps the law makes many offerings; he who heeds the commandments sacrifices a peace offering. 2He who returns a kindness offers fine flour, and he who gives alms sacrifices a thank offering. 3To keep from wickedness is pleasing to the Lord, and to forsake unrighteousness is atonement. 4Do not appear before the Lord empty-handed, 5for all these things are to be done because of the commandment. 6The offering of a righteous man anoints the altar, and its pleasing odor rises before the Most High. 7The sacrifice of a righteous man is acceptable, and the memory of it will not be forgotten. 8Glorify the Lord generously, and do not stint the first fruits of your hands. 9With every gift show a cheerful face, and dedicate your tithe with gladness. 10Give to the Most High as he has given, and as generously as your hand has found. 11For the Lord is the one who repays, and he will repay you sevenfold. 12Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it; and do not trust to an unrighteous sacrifice; for the Lord is the judge, and with him is no partiality.
“God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want.” – C.S. Lewis
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the power of God, cast down to Hell Satan and all his evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
>>148156518 Amen brother. Q
As always, prayers for the fight against that which seeks to enslave us are welcome. Via con Dios.
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).
And yes, it’s Monday…again.
But we WILL get through it!!!
With or without zombies!
Get your dancing shoes on!
And hang on for some TRUMP GRAVITY!
Dedication
WHEATIE – OUR WARRIOR ANGEL
by Duchess01
Please forgive us, Wheatie, we did not know That you had left us with armor in tow We had no idea with what you dealt We did not know the pain you felt And now we can only imagine With you what really did happen Cause rarely did you complain And/or share your personal pain Of one thing we are most certain You are flying high behind the curtain Watching over us above the crowds Our Warrior Angel above the clouds Thank You, Wheatie, for caring for us While you were here among the fuss We miss you dear you have no idea Since time began in the pangaea With you there was no time In your wisdom you would chime To clarify and magnify The what where how and why We did not question when you left We were not slightly bereft But over time we wondered why You did not at least stop by Now we know where you have gone With the break of this new dawn We could be angry but are not Tho with an arrow we’ve been shot Rest peacefully Warrior Angel dear Send us a sign that you are near A butterfly a flower a kiss of rain From your love do not refrain God sends Angels to watch over us And now we have an Angel Plus A Warrior Angel of Magnificence From today and forward hence
Boilerplate, more or less, but worth reading again and again, if only for the minor changes, and to stay out of moderation.
MINOR CHANGE NUMBER 1
Now shortened.
Give them nothing.
Play smart. Every minute, the COUPISTS who stole the election – who lied – who deserve to be at the business end of the very same laws they are using so wrongly against the January Sixth defendants – are trying to set you up. Don’t be a chump. Turn everything back against THEM. Every day, every hour, every minute, every second.
YOU are responsible for your own comments, if they come knocking. YOUR choice. Just remember this…..
For an updated version…..
And for a version that includes your having righteously defended yourself…..
OTHER THAN THAT…….
The bottom line is Free Speech. Theories and ideas you don’t agree with must be WELCOME here, and you must be part of that welcoming. But you do NOT need to be part of any agreement.
Bottom line – respect other people’s FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS.
Our only additional requirement is that you do so NICELY. Or at least try to make some effort in that direction.
SO….. [ENGAGE BOILERPLATE…..]
We must endeavor to persevere to love our frenemies – even here.
Those who cannot deal with this easy requirement will be forced to jump the hoops of moderation, so that specific comments impugning other posters and violating the minimal rules can be sorted out and tossed in the trash.
In Wheatie’s words, “We’re on the same side here so let’s not engage in friendly fire.”
That includes the life skill of just ignoring certain other posters.
We do have a site – The U Tree – where civility is not a requirement. Interestingly, people don’t really go there much. Nevertheless, if you find yourself in an “argument” that can’t really stay civil, please feel free to “take it to the U Tree”. The U Tree is also a good place to report any technical difficulties, if you’re unable to report them here. Please post your comment there on one of Wolf’s posts, or in reply to one of Wolf’s comments, to make sure he sees it (though it may take a few hours).
We also have a backup site, called The Q Tree as well, which is really The Q Tree 579486807. You might call it “Second Tree”. The URL for that site is https://theqtree579486807.wordpress.com/. If this site (theqtree.com) ever goes down, please reassemble at the Second Tree.
If the Second Tree goes down, please go to The U Tree, or to our Gab Group, which is located at https://gab.com/groups/4178.
We also have some “old rules” and important guidelines, outlined here, in a very early post, on our first New Year’s Day, in 2019. The main point is not to make violent threats against people, which then have to be taken seriously by law enforcement, and which can be used as a PRETEXT by enemies of this site.
In the words of Wheatie, “Let’s not give the odious Internet Censors a reason to shut down this precious haven that Wolf has created for us.”
A Moment of Prayer
Our policy on extreme religious freedom on this site is discussed HERE. Please feel free to pray and praise God anytime and anywhere.
Thus, please pray for our real President, the one who actually won TWO elections.
You may also pray for our nation, our world, and even our enemies.
Musical Interlude
In honor of dear Wheatie, we now present some music to soothe, inspire, invigorate, or relax.
FIRST – a quick, 3-minute version of the end theme from Gladiator, including dialog. I posted this earlier in a reply to Tradebait on his latest BMID. I consider Gladiator a very symbolic movie, which has a lot to say about Christianity, but very subtly, and mixed well into everything else.
If you liked that, an extended version, starting earlier, with the movie showing in the background!
How about something YouTube suggested? From the EP “Luna”, by Tony Anderson, a title called “Eternal Spring”. The visuals are really something!
And now – some fine country music just for today!
Finally, some music to go with our featured image “fantasy tree”!
Call To Battle
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
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 DayYear Week:
equity
noun
the state or quality of being just and fair.
something that is just and fair.
sustice achieved not simply according to the strict letter of the law but in accordance with principles of substantial justice and the unique facts of the case.
the amount of money that would be returned to a company’s shareholders if all of the assets were liquidated and all of the company’s debt was paid off in the case of liquidation.
the value of company sales minus any liabilities owed by the company not transferred with the sale.
the book value of a company.
payment-in-kind.
the pro-rata ownership of a company’s shares.
Wolf’s additional definitions:
how tyrants and criminals violate both the letter and spirit of the law, in the name of “fairness” and “justice”, while tipping the scales to favor themselves, their friends, and their fellow criminals.
injustice under the color of justice, ironically often done for the sake of “color”.
a redundancy, in that “equitable justice” really means “just justice”, meaning je ne sais quoi justice, or seat-of-the-robe justice.
justice by feeling and not by law.
an admission that the law is not working, so “fuck the law – we’ll just do what we like.”
a legal kludge, which is easily abused, where judicial algorithms break down, and people resort to flimsy neural net solutions, typically with strongly biased inputs.
Wikipedia definition (financial):
In finance, equity is an ownership interest in property that may be offset by debts or other liabilities. Equity is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from the value of the assets owned. For example, if someone owns a car worth $24,000 and owes $10,000 on the loan used to buy the car, the difference of $14,000 is equity. Equity can apply to a single asset, such as a car or house, or to an entire business. A business that needs to start up or expand its operations can sell its equity in order to raise cash that does not have to be repaid on a set schedule.
When liabilities attached to an asset exceed its value, the difference is called a deficit and the asset is informally said to be “underwater” or “upside-down”. In government finance or other non-profit settings, equity is known as “net position” or “net assets”.
Investopedia definition:
Wikipedia definition (legal):
Equity is a particular body of law that was developed in the English Court of Chancery.[1] Its general purpose is to provide a remedy for situations where the law is not flexible enough for the usual court system to deliver a fair resolution to a case.[2] The concept of equity is deeply intertwined with its historical origins in the common law system used in England.[2] However, equity is in some ways a separate system from common law: it has its own established rules and principles, and was historically administered by separate courts, called “courts of equity” or “courts of chancery”.[2]
Equity exists in domestic law, both in civil law and in common law systems, and in international law.[1] The tradition of equity begins in antiquity with the writings of Aristotle (epieikeia) and with Roman law (aequitas).[1][3] Later, in civil law systems, equity was integrated in the legal rules, while in common law systems it became an independent body of law.[1]
Used in a Sentence:
“Climate equity is the goal of recognizing and addressing the unequal burdens made worse by climate change, while ensuring that all people share the benefits of climate protection efforts. Achieving equity means that all people—regardless of their race, color, gender, age, sexuality, national origin, ability, or income—live in safe, healthy, fair communities.” -US EPA
As we take the next step in the story, we arrive at a major theme of life on this planet found in God’s Word that continually confounds humanity because people refuse to take incorporate God’s Word into their lives. To some readers this scripture and its ramifications may seem harsh and unloving. To others, it is truth and righteousness displayed.
In 2 Corinthians 6:14 Paul urges the Corinthians to open their hearts to him again and states, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” (NKJV)
The summary explanation from bibleref.org explains what follows well.
“Now he turns to a direct command: that believers in Christ not be yoked with unbelievers. The imagery of the “yoke” brings to mind the rigid harness used to keep livestock locked together and pulling in a consistent direction. The Old Testament used a form of the word to forbid mating cattle of different species (Leviticus 19:19). The Law also forbids harnessing together an ox and a donkey to plow a field (Deuteronomy 22:10).
The point of this phrase will soon become clear. Those in Christ are something other than those who are not in Christ. They are not the same—spiritually—and should not be locked together into any kind of binding relationship. Paul begins to ask a series of questions to show the absurdity of a believer in Jesus being “unequally yoked” with an unbeliever.
Paul asks: what cooperation can there be between virtue and wickedness? Those in Christ have “become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Those outside of Christ continue in their status as unrepentant, lawless sinners. The two cannot—must not—be joined together. To do so makes as little sense as trying to join light and darkness in fellowship. It can’t be done. As soon as the light arrives, the darkness must vanish.
It’s essential to realize Paul is not saying believers should never associate with unbelievers, at all (1 Corinthians 5:9–10). Believers should continue to live and function in the world, which includes contact with unbelievers (1 Corinthians 10:25–26). He has written to the Corinthians previously, though, not to sue each other in pagan courts of law (1 Corinthians 6:1–11), not to join themselves sexually to temple prostitutes (1 Corinthians 6:12–20), and not marry unbelievers (1 Corinthians 7:39).
Rather, Scripture’s teaching here is that Christians must not enter into binding, partnering agreements with non-Christians.“
God always has good reasons for His instructions.
Back to Business
Remember when I wrote about meeting with our state bank regulators along with our Chairman at the start-up of our division? The state officials suggested to our Chairman that he should execute employment contracts with me and our key people. My response was “no” to that. The Lord had revealed to me through the equipment company ordeal this scripture extended well beyond the commonly understood principle to only marry within the faith. From the point of understanding that passage better, I never worked under an employment contract the rest of my career after the equipment company.
In my mind, the principle is simply applied. I had yoked myself to the owners of the equipment company who claimed to be Christians. I learned that the claim of being a Christian does not necessarily make it the truth, although I have no authority to judge their claim then or now. I observed and absorbed their actions during my employment and they would not be considered Christ-like. Had I been more mature in the faith, I could have avoided a lot of heartache by avoidance of the situation and trusting God for his provision.
The allure to accept a yoke is increased by greed as well as hunger for power, prestige, fame, etc. Look at the yoking of all the celebrities, entertainers, media, corporate leaders, medical professionals, and so on. Most all are contracted to perform their roles. As a result, most will do and say about anything to fulfill the contracts and receive the worldly benefits. Politicians make their promises while receiving donations and receiving insider information. Their words and actions rarely reflect what Jesus wants us to say and do because the yoke they willingly accept is with the political party to which they belong. We the People are a means to the end purposes of the party and those that buy their votes.
That I was not yoked to the ownership of the bank became very important to me and others over the ensuing years. Especially as I learned more about all of the people involved.
The Phone Calls
One day that summer the major owner, the contractor, called and wanted to discuss where we were with profitability and my expectations. I put it back into his court, how confident was he that Judas could deliver on loan pool sales at or above budget? He had no answer for that. That was not why he called anyway. He told me about how he had to fire a close friend at his construction company after having worked together for 15 years because he failed to meet expectations. He then said he gave the guy a good severance package and they remained friends. I asked him if he doubted we would meet budget considering we were ahead of it at that point. He said that he was just reminding me it was important, that they had a lot on the line.
When you know your target is getting the job done, you attempt to move the goalposts and change the rules of engagement if your intent is to remove the leader.
I knew it was all BS. Step One of my eventual termination was complete.
A month later I got a call from Judas as he was working in the bank’s headquarters with the Chairman and President for a week. He said that it appeared to him that I was looking to get out, to retire soon. I told him (truthfully) that I was contemplating doing so at the end of 2008 with a consulting role to help the transition. He said, “I bet you would take a package of $… and retire.” I told him I would consider it. If it was a good package I would retire. If not I might have to crank another operation up somewhere else if ownership felt it was time for me to go.
Step Two of my eventual termination was complete, along with my counter move if they screwed it up.
Meanwhile the married contractor owner had caused a major problem chasing the skirt of the SCO’s assistant at a bank function. In addition, I got word from a couple of trusted sources on the Street that things were tanking fast in the debt markets. Not only was subprime residential getting worse, credit card and car loan pooled CDOs were in trouble as well. Buyers were pulling back from investing or were out altogether. It did not matter that our pools were performing well, the buyers were getting out of all of the debt market rapidly.
The owner who was an attorney decided to visit and discuss the issue with the assistant. The SCO and I reviewed with him and decided on a course of action. He could sense something else was wrong and asked. We decided not to share any more information with him or the other owners. They had decided to stop listening and take over anyway, which was within their rights to do as owners of the bank. They made their choice, they could live with the results.
Step Three of my eventual termination was the huddling in secret of a few key managers with Judas that I was not supposed to know about, but which was reported to me afterwards.
As we neared the end of the year, Judas began dragging his feet on closing loan pool sales in all programs. The owners and he were obviously losing their battle to lower profitability below budget to justify my termination and the delays would help them lower profit temporarily. The profitability of which was over three times what the traditional bank was making. The owners had ordered me to terminate our CPA/controller a few months before claiming he was a redundancy we no longer needed; that his function could be handled by the traditional bank. He was not surprised, just disappointed. He did not have a good relationship with them because he knew the games Judas was playing with loan sales and disagreed with their decision to sell off the treasury bond portfolio. The owners wanted him out to better hide their plans and knew we were totally in sync as eyes and ears for each other. I encouraged him to work a two week notice to transition the department and if he wanted to let some confidants know what was coming, well, I was good with it. I also told him I gave my time of employment there six months at most.
Step Four of my eventual termination was completed.
The expense reduction plan had been completed by all departments that was to be implemented with staff reductions with severance as well as outright releases of underperforming production officers in the first quarter subject to ownership approval. The moves projected to shave over $2 M in annual expenses in the first phase. The second phase would have slashed even more in 2009 with the implementation of the new credit administration and operations platform.
The plan was submitted prior to a meeting with ownership that included my SCO and NSM in mid January 2008. We arrived at the meeting for more bull in the ring theatrics. The owners and Judas completely disagreed with my assessment that the debt markets were in full retreat and that the country was headed toward a major recession. Whatever, guys, whatever. I stated that the expense reduction plan we submitted as well as expense reduction in the rest of the bank was needed to sustain existing profitability, much less grow it. They also needed to mothball bank expansion and stop making bad conventional commercial loans in one major branch location while cutting expenses where they could. They strongly disagreed and stated they believed any downturn would be short lived, that we needed to focus the division on making even more money. My NSM was floored and stated his disagreement while my SCO sat quietly. Allegiances were revealed as a result. Judas had turned the job scared SCO, the one guy he needed to keep credit administration going since he had no personal knowledge about making loans.
There was no peaceful resolution. The owners never intended for there to be.
Step Five of my eventual termination was completed.
The Last Days
I had already cleared the personal items out of my office beginning six months before. Our senior division attorney and NSM did not trust Judas at all and kept me informed. I told both to be smart and not do anything rash. If it was not going to work well for them going forward to be about finding new opportunities in advance.
I received the call to meet the owners at the airport in a meeting room about three weeks after the last bull in the ring event. We all knew what was going to happen, there was no need to pretend. I thanked them for the “opportunity” and not to bother staging anything, I had figured out what was going on many months before and would not be a problem subject to how they proceeded from there. It surprised them, so they cut to the chase. They offered the deal I could not refuse. A parachute into retirement was on the table. I told them I would review the proposal with my wife and have my attorney handle the details of the agreement if we agreed. We shook hands and headed home. Rock Star agreed completely it was a reasonable deal and was happy to have her husband home with no competition for his time (as was husband).
I simply did not trust them to be able to survive with how they analyzed situations and operated. I countered their ten year non-compete proposal with a five year non-compete on a ten year agreement with 75% of the compensation loaded into the first five years. My attorney went to work and knocked it out as I wanted it in a couple of weeks. I agreed to stay out of the way and let them build relationships with the employees and officers. None of them were on contract, so they would be free to stay or leave at their discretion.
Since there was no yoking during employment the parting was relatively easy. The yoking that occurred with the parachute required nothing of me other than not competing with them in that line of business in return for long term compensation with no other strings attached.
I was done.
Conclusion
There was no sadness, only joyous relief that it had come to an end. Family, friends and church members were a bit shocked. We assured them we could not be happier as a family. Our closest friends celebrated by throwing a party for us. As time passed and the economy began collapsing many of the people around us understood better. I knew it would take at least five years for economic conditions to become feasible to justify the effort it takes to build a similar operation. However, I had no desire or intention to ever do it again as long as the bank could make it five years.
In my heart and mind there were other, more important things to do involving family and kingdom work that I wanted to focus on the rest of my time on earth. Now I would get the real “opportunity” I had long sought that had nothing to do with chasing a dollar and building a career.
I had always viewed my role as one to bring “salt and light” into the workplace as in the scripture passage of Matt. 5:13-16. I had numerous other coworkers who believed their roles were for those reasons as well, which helped us help others. None could legitimately say that I did not try to lead by what The Word says to do even if I messed it up occasionally. However, when you do that you do so by gripping lightly on the reins. When your leadership is no longer desired, you shake the dust from your feet and move on as Jesus instructed in Matt. 10:11-14 and Mark 6:11.
The deniers and haters are left to sink or swim on their own.
With the next chapter I will fill in some areas and give the autopsy of this last small business banking employer. It will be a time of observation of Gods will at work in Goober Gump’s life without him knowing he needed it.
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.
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.”
Faith, hope, and love remain. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
First Corinthians 12 talks about spiritual gifts, which are distributed by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4). One Christian may receive one type of gift while another receives a different gift. Chapter 13 goes one step further and mentions the three gifts that are common for all Christians: faith, hope, and love. Verse 13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
In stating that faith, hope, and love remain, Paul does something interesting and unexpected: he uses a singular verb for a compound (and therefore plural) subject. His statement in 1 Corinthians 13:13 could be literally rendered “faith, hope, and love remains.” Paul’s point is that, essentially, faith, hope, and love are united; what happens to one happens to all. And what happens is that they “remain.”
The fact that faith, hope, and love remain must be understood in light of the broader context. Paul had just listed another set of three gifts that would not remain: “Where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away” (1 Corinthians 13:8). So, the passage contains a contrast: three gifts of the Spirit that will cease, and three gifts that will never end. Faith, hope, and love will always remain.
The Corinthian church members were priding themselves on the fact that they could speak in tongues and demonstrate other attention-getting gifts. Paul reminds them of “the most excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31)—the way of love. The gifts that the Corinthians so desired were but temporary; faith, hope, and love, the foundational gifts, are permanent and therefore more to be desired.
Faith, hope, and love are gifts in the present age, and they will still be gifts in the age to come. The NLT translates the promise this way: “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love.” It’s easy to see how love will last forever, since love is an essential part of God’s nature (1 John 4:16). But what about faith and hope? Those two gifts will likewise last forever. Faith in the Son of God will not cease in the eternal state; we will not stop trusting Jesus just because our faith has become sight. If anything, our trust in Him will grow greater. Similarly, our hope will not cease just because our blessed hope has come. Our lives will continue in the eternal state, as will our expectation of other things in an infinite sequence of adventure.
Faith, hope, and love are the three gifts that will be ours throughout all eternity. And agape love is the ultimate gift. God in His goodness gives us the privilege of possessing these gifts today, and we look forward to having them remain with us forever.
The greatest of these is love.
First Corinthians 13:13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” This comes just after Paul’s eloquent and famous description of what true love—agape love—is. There are several ways in which love can be said to be the greatest.
First Corinthians 13:13 lists love along with faith and hope as a gift that lasts forever. The lasting nature of faith, hope, and love make them greater than all other gifts of the Spirit; the gifts of prophecy, tongues, and knowledge are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13:8 as coming to an end. Of the three “forever gifts,” love is the greatest.
Love is greater than faith and hope in that both faith and hope depend on love for their existence. Without love, there can be no true faith; a loveless faith is nothing but an empty religious exercise. As Paul says, “If I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). Without love, there can be no genuine hope; a loveless hope is an oxymoron, because we can’t truly hope for something that we do not love. Faith and hope are dead, sterile things if not accompanied by love.
One of the reasons that love is the greatest gift is that it is inherent in God’s nature. First John 4:8 tells us that God is love. The book of John and John’s three letters are replete with the theme of love. God gives us His love, and we reflect that love back to Him: “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. . . . You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other” (John 15:9–17). Here we see that love is something that has always existed among the persons of the Trinity. Love has no beginning and does not end. And this is the love into which we are invited. Jesus desired for future believers to be part of His love as well: “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (John 17:26).
Jesus taught that the greatest two commandments both include love, the greatest gift: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37–40).
John Calvin puts forward a very simple reason why love is the greatest gift: “Because faith and hope are our own: love is diffused among others.” In other words, faith and hope benefit the possessor, but love always benefits another. In John 13:34–35 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Love always requires an “other” as an object; love cannot remain within itself, and that is part of what makes love the greatest gift.
Love is core to God’s character and central to the Christian life. The law of Christ is to love God and love others. Love infuses all that God does and should infuse all that we do. “Love never fails ” (1 Corinthians 13:8), and it will never cease. Because of this, love is greater than even hope and faith.
Agápē Love
The Greek word agápē is often translated “love” in the New Testament. How is “agape love” different from other types of love? The essence of agape love is goodwill, benevolence, and willful delight in the object of love. Unlike our English word love, agape is not used in the New Testament to refer to romantic love. Nor does it refer to close friendship or brotherly love. Agape love involves faithfulness, commitment, and an act of the will. It is distinguished from the other types of love by its lofty moral nature and strong character.
Agape love does not come naturally to us. Because of our fallen nature, we are incapable of producing such a love. If we are to love as God loves, that love—that agape—can only come from its Source. This is the love that “has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” when we became His children (Romans 5:5; cf. Galatians 5:22). “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (1 John 3:16). Because of God’s love toward us, we are able to love one another.
Remember, “nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) And,
McCarthy 2.0 seems a vast improvement over Speaker Dungsmear. So here’s the question. Was he once a conservative with a little fire in the belly that got captured by the system and now is finding the bellyfire again? Or is this all completely under duress?
For the moment, it doesn’t matter which one. But some day it will matter, and we will have our answer.
RINOs an Endangered Species? If Only!
According to Wikipoo, et. al., the Northern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is a critically endangered species. Apparently two females live on a wildlife preserve in Sudan, and no males are known to be alive. So basically, this species is dead as soon as the females die of old age. Presently they are watched over by armed guards 24/7.
Biologists have been trying to cross them with the other subspecies, Southern White Rhinoceroses (Rhinoceri?) without success; and some genetic analyses suggest that perhaps they aren’t two subspecies at all, but two distinct species, which would make the whole project a lot more difficult.
I should hope if the American RINO (Parasitus rectum pseudoconservativum) is ever this endangered, there will be heroic efforts not to save the species, but rather to push the remainder off a cliff. Onto punji sticks. With feces smeared on them. Failing that a good bath in red fuming nitric acid will do.
But I’m not done ranting about RINOs.
The RINOs (if they are capable of any introspection whatsoever) probably wonder why they constantly have to deal with “populist” eruptions like the Trump-led MAGA movement. That would be because the so-called populists stand for absolutely nothing except for going along to get along. That allows the Left to drive the culture and politics.
Given the results of our most recent elections, the Left will now push harder, and the RINOs will now turn even squishier than they were before.
I well remember 1989-1990 in my state when the RINO establishment started preaching the message that a conservative simply couldn’t win in Colorado. Never mind the fact that Reagan had won the state TWICE (in 1984 bringing in a veto-proof state house and senate with him) and GHWB had won after (falsely!) assuring everyone that a vote for him was a vote for Reagan’s third term.
This is how the RINOs function. They push, push, push the line that only a “moderate” can get elected. Stomp them when they pull that shit. Tell everyone in ear shot that that’s exactly what the Left wants you to think, and oh-by-the-way-Mister-RINO if you’re in this party selling the same message as the Left…well, whythefuckexactly are you in this party, you lying piece of rancid weasel shit?
In Defense of Ranked Choice Voting
One of the biggest obstacles to direly-needed change is RINOs, and one of the weapons in their arsenal is the “Wasted Vote” argument.
Periodically a third party has arisen, trying to hold RINOs to account by putting pressure on them from outside of the party, since doing so from the inside has historically done very little good. But, even if you find a third party candidate who perfectly reflects your views, you’re likely to vote for the RINO anyway. Why? Because if you don’t, the Democrat might win, and that would be even worse. So if you vote for that third party (that few will vote for), you’re throwing your vote away and increasing the likelihood of the Democrat winning. (It’s half as much a gain for the Democrat, as actually voting for the Democrat would be. Not as much, but half as much. Because although you denied the R your vote, you did not flip your vote to the Democrat.)
The Republican Party Establishment knows you don’t love them. But they know you hate the Democrats worse, and they use that to continue to herd you into supporting them. With gritted teeth you cast your vote, but your vote counts the same whether you cast it enthusiastically. And the other alternative, pissing on the voting apparatus to express your actual feelings, is probably a felony.
But what if you could vote for that third party without increasing the chances of the Dem walking away with the prize?
This is what ranked choice voting, or instant runoff voting, can do provided it is properly implemented. (And this includes the votes, and only genuine votes, being counted honestly, of course. However, I’m going to compare it to what we have today, and pretend that is honestly done too. RCV can’t work if it’s not honestly administered, just like our current system isn’t working because it isn’t honestly administered.)
The idea behind RCV is to vote by expressing your order of preference. You could vote for the Patriot Party, then for the RINO Party as your second choice (and ignore the Democrat, the Green, the Overt Socialist Schmuckmonkey Party, etc).
What does this do? It nullifies the wasted vote argument. Your vote will be counted for the Patriot party, first, then instead of it being “wasted” when the Patriot Party loses, it ends up going to the RINO. Actually, it’s just barely possible that the Patriot Party would actually beat the RINO, if people weren’t all individually afraid to vote for it.
It’s just like the famous “Prisoner’s Dilemma” where your fear of other peoples’ actions prevents you from doing the optimal thing–and vice-versa. As long as Job Lowe is afraid to vote Patriot because he’s afraid you’ll vote RINO, you’ll have to vote RINO because you fear that Job Lowe will, because he fears you will.
So on the whole I like RCV. It gives you a no-risk way to vote against the RINO scum, and in favor of someone who deserves your vote.
The problem is, as done here in the US, it comes packaged with a “jungle primary.” A bunch of candidates get to put their name out there, and the top four (or so) candidates get onto the “main” ballot. This gives party establishments their way around the threat of a good third party bumping them off. Because they know that few people bother with primaries, and third parties don’t have the resources to run in a primary…so they throw two or three establishment hacks into the primary and they will probably beat the third party. The result is the RINOs end up with two of the four slots in the general election, and the Dems get the other two. Now there’s suddenly no third party candidate on the ballot at all.
If we were to combine RCV with the present system where each party could nominate exactly one candidate to appear on the November ballot, or at the very least, ensure minor parties could get onto the ballot with at least one candidate regardless of the primary, we would be getting somewhere, but the establishment is smarter than we like to give them credit for. They will support the jungle primary + RCV “solution” rather than the more appropriate one-candidate-per-party + RCV solution.
It’s not RCV that is the problem, it’s the primary structure grafted onto it.
Justice
It says “Justice” on the picture.
And I’m sure someone will post the standard joke about what the fish thinks about the situation.
But what is it?
Here’s a take, from a different context: It’s about how you do justice, not the justice that must be done to our massively corrupt government and media. You must properly identify the nature of a person, before you can do him justice.
Ayn Rand, On Justice (speaking through her character John Galt, in Atlas Shrugged):
Justice is the recognition of the fact that you cannot fake the character of men as you cannot fake the character of nature, that you must judge all men as conscientiously as you judge inanimate objects, with the same respect for truth, with the same incorruptible vision, by as pure and as rational a process of identification—that every man must be judged for what he is and treated accordingly, that just as you do not pay a higher price for a rusty chunk of scrap than for a piece of shining metal, so you do not value a rotter above a hero—that your moral appraisal is the coin paying men for their virtues or vices, and this payment demands of you as scrupulous an honor as you bring to financial transactions—that to withhold your contempt from men’s vices is an act of moral counterfeiting, and to withhold your admiration from their virtues is an act of moral embezzlement—that to place any other concern higher than justice is to devaluate your moral currency and defraud the good in favor of the evil, since only the good can lose by a default of justice and only the evil can profit—and that the bottom of the pit at the end of that road, the act of moral bankruptcy, is to punish men for their virtues and reward them for their vices, that that is the collapse to full depravity, the Black Mass of the worship of death, the dedication of your consciousness to the destruction of existence.
Ayn Rand identified seven virtues, chief among them rationality. The other six, including justice, she considered subsidiary because they are essentially different aspects and applications of rationality.
I’m sure enough of this that I put my money where my mouth is.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system. (This doesn’t necessarily include deposing Joe and Hoe and putting Trump where he belongs, but it would certainly be a lot easier to fix our broken electoral system with the right people in charge.)
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is pointless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud in the system is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
This will necessarily be piecemeal, state by state, which is why I am encouraged by those states working to change their laws to alleviate the fraud both via computer and via bogus voters. If enough states do that we might end up with a working majority in Congress and that would be something Trump never really had.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
Precious metals again taking a beating. Dollar going up…somehow.
Recycled from The UTree
When the U-Tree first began, Wolf had set up a generic opener, but each day was devoted to a different element. Some of the geekier of us (i.e., Cthulhu and I) would talk about that element in the comments.
When it got to 92-Uranium, I had something written up already and simply pasted it into several succeeding comments. The next two days carried on with that.
I’m going to just copy those into here lest they be lost. I’ll include some of cthulhu’s commentary too (attributed).
I remembered these posts when someone mentioned the UTree over on the backup site.
Dates: 6-9 February of 2020.
Uranium
Uranium may be an actinide, but it is FAR from dull.
The story begins with a mineral that was once called “blende,” from a German word for “to blind” because it resembled galena, a valuable ore of lead, yet contained nothing of value. It is now regarded as a zinc ore, but back then it wasn’t appreciated for that. Today, blende is called “sphalerite.”
One variety of blende was called pitchblende, for being black, like pitch. This showed up alongside silver, lead and copper ores in Germany and what is now Czechia (the Czech Republic).
In particular, there was a town called Joachimsthal in what is now Czechia, with a VERY rich silver mine, and that mine had pitchblende in it.
Joachimsthal had so much silver its lord began coining very large silver coins, which became known as Joachimsthalers, which got shortened (in some countries) to thalers. These are the direct ancestor of the US dollar.
But we’re more interested in the pitchblende tonight.
The German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1743-1817) took an interest in pitchblende, and began experimenting on it. He eventually ended up, in 1789, with a yellowish substance, which he figured had to be the oxide of a new metal. (This sounds a lot like the stories of discovering the lanthanides, doesn’t it?). (This oxide, by the way, is now known as yellowcake.)
There was, at the time, a strong tradition of associating metals with planets. (Look, for instance, at mercury, and Mercury.) And in 1781, just eight years before, a new planet–the first one since ancient times–had been discovered. So Klaproth named his new metal, which he hadn’t isolated, after the planet: uranium. (Nor was this the only time this happened: shortly after Ceres was discovered in 1801, cerium was named after it. Eventually we realized Ceres was something of a totally new type, an asteroid, not a full-blown planet.)
OK, so Klaproth wanted to see the real metal, not just its oxide. He tried a trick that often worked, he reacted it with charcoal. That often pulls oxygen away from something else. And indeed he got a shiny black powder, and he figured that was the metal uranium. So did everyone else.
In fact, yellowcake is UO3 uranium trioxide, and what Klaproth had done was to strip one oxygen from it; his black shiny powder was uranium dioxide, UO2.
This was eventually realized, in 1841, by the French chemist Eugene Peligot (1811-1890), who had been experimenting with UO2, and finding he couldn’t get things to add up; he concluded there must still be oxygen in it. He then decided to try to isolate the real metal. He started with uranium tetrachloride (that sounds like nasty stuff), UCl4, and figured he’d try something a lot more reactive than charcoal to pull the chlorine away.
He used potassium metal. (Yikes!) And did so without injuring himself. And now he had a new black powder, and this really was uranium.
Nobody but a few chemists cared. Uranium was a thoroughly useless substance, unremarkable in any way, most people had never even heard of it. It was as obscure back then, as thulium is today.
When people tried to determine uranium’s atomic weight in the middle of the 19th century, they thought it was about 116. So it didn’t even get noticed as having the highest atomic weight of any known element. Instead, it was thought to lie between silver and tin. The champion was bismuth, coming in at 209.
Dmitri Mendeleev, when he constructed the first periodic table around 1869, found that uranium simply didn’t fit, chemically, between silver and tin, not in the least. But it worked well if he doubled the weight to 232; then it naturally fell into a place with the right chemical properties. Going back to the experimental data, it could actually be re-interpreted to give a value near 240; someone had made assumptions while interpreting the data the first time around, that apparently were unwarranted.
That brings us up to 1871. Uranium is now by far the heaviest atom known, easily beating out bismuth…but that meant nothing to anyone but chemists and trivia geeks like Cthulhu and me.
In 1896, something interesting happened. The previous year, X rays had been discovered by Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen, and exotic rays became all the rage. Well, Antoine Henri Becquerel was running experiments to see if fluroescent minerals emitted X rays. He used photographic plates, wrapped in black paper. Visible light couldn’t affect them, but X rays, if any were present, would. So he figured he’d put the fluorescent substance on top of the plate, expose it to sunlight, let it fluoresce, and then later, unwrap the plate and develop it. If it were fogged, the fluorescent substance had emitted X rays.
He tried a huge number of fluorescent substances, and got zero positive results. There was one exception: potassium uranyl sulfate. It would fog the plates. So Becquerel got excited. That particular day it had been cloudy, but he’d wait for good weather, really expose the potassium uranyl sulfate, and get a really good fogging of the photographic plate.
So what happened? Murphy stepped in. Paris had a long run of crappy weather. Becquerel had a bunch of brand new plates and nothing to do with them, for a while, so he stuck them in a drawer, and put his sample in with them.
Days passed; Becquerel got more and more frustrated. He was this close to confirming an interesting result from his experiment; if only the damn Sun would come out!
Well, he figured, he might as well develop the plates. Maybe there had been some lingering X ray fluorescence. That could be interesting, couldn’t it?
The plates were totally fogged. As if he had simply exposed them to sunlight! WTF!!!
Whatever this was…it could go right through the black paper, and did NOT need the Sun to excite the sample, like fluorescence did. It just kept on going, even in the darkness of his cabinet.
Becquerel tried samples that hadn’t seen sunlight in months. He eventually realized that what mattered was how much uranium was present; he even tried uranium compounds that did not fluoresce.
Whatever this was, it had NOTHING to do with fluorescence, and everything to do with uranium.
He had a new phenomenon, and it became known as Becquerel rays. Maybe it wasn’t Murphy after all.
Marie Sklodowska Curie stepped in almost immediately, and named this new phenomenon “radioactivity” and showed that thorium, which had been discovered in the meantime and had an atomic weight almost has high as uranium’s, was also radioactive.
This, suddenly, made uranium glamorous. Nothing like this had ever been seen before…a totally inanimate lump of metal, just pumping out energy continuously.
Further experimentation showed that uranium and thorium were giving off gamma rays…a lot like X rays only even more energetic. But they were also giving off small particles with mass, and that implied atoms weren’t the smallest pieces of matter out there. So now we had “subatomic particles.”
And it turned out uranium and thorium slowly turned into lead. (The alchemists who had tried to turn lead into gold would surely be spinning in their graves; something was turning other things into lead–the wrong direction!)
Ernest Rutherford was able to demonstrate that an atom had a huge cloud of negatively charged particles (electrons) and a very small, dense nucleus with a positive charge to balance the electrons.
And in 1913 Henry Gwyn-Jeffries Mosely used X-rays to excite nuclei, and showed that every nucleus had a positive charge that was a multiple of hydrogen’s; this became the atomic number. Hydrogen is 1, iron is 26, silver is 47, tin is 50, gold is 79, lead is 82, bismuth is 83, thorium is 90, and uranium is 92.
Uranium had the highest number, and nothing known lay between bismuth and thorium. It was speculated that there probably were elements 84-89, but they hadn’t lasted long enough to survive to the present day, whereas thorium and uranium had known half lives of billions of years, so they were still around. This is essentially correct.
So now uranium is fascinating–it was radioactive, the highest atomic weight, the highest atomic number…but still, only chemists really cared.
Uranium minerals were tested for their radioactivity. And there was too much of it. Chemists knew exactly how much uranium was in the mineral. And they knew, based on uranium’s 4.5 billion year half life, how much radioactivity there SHOULD be from that much uranium. Yet there was quite a bit more. Separating out the uranium and checking it, the numbers came out right; the more pure the uranium, the better the fit. So there was other stuff in the minerals that was radioactive. More radioactive than uranium.
Which made no sense; if it were MORE radioactive, it should have been gone by now.
They even noticed the pure uranium samples got more radioactive with time.
This was realized well before 1913.
The only explanation that made sense was that the uranium didn’t turn directly to lead, it broke down by stages into intermediate elements, and an old sample would basically be in a balance, uranium decaying into something else at a rate just enough to replenish that something else as it decayed into yet another something else. If it’s something that breaks down quickly, there’s never much around. It’d be undetectable chemically.
Well Marie Curie and her husband Pierre realized they could find those in-between elements, though, because their radioactivity was a beacon.
So they got a bunch of pitchblende and started experimenting on it. (The Ronco Pitchblendeamatic had not been invented yet.) They went through several tons of the stuff, doing experiments and noticing if any of the results showed a concentration of radioactivity. Eventually, in 1898 they got just a bit of polonium (84). Further experimenting hit on radium (88). But they couldn’t get much of it, and they wanted a visible sample. So they asked Joachimstal to send them their waste slag, which they were happy to do as long as the Curies paid the shipping.
They went through tons of it to get the radium. By 1902 they had a tenth of a gram. And it became the glamour substance. Who cared about uranium any more?
Back to 1911 and Ernest Rutherford. He decided to try to deliberately produce nuclear reactions. He was able to bounce alpha rays off of nitrogen atoms…and some of them transformed into oxygen atoms.
He decided to try other things, and, ultimately, switched to using bare protons (which are just hydrogen atoms with the electron stripped away, or to put that another way, positive hydrogen ions). Devices that could accelerate protons were developed, in particular by Ernest Orlando Lawrence in 1931. Still, it was hard to do this, because the proton, with a positive charge, was repelled by the nucleus, which was its target. [Cthulhu commented here to point out that Ernest Orlando Lawrence is the namesake of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. I responded by pointing out that element 103, lawrencium, is also named after him.]
But it also turned out that when beryllium was exposed to alpha rays, a new particle came out. One without a charge. That made it hard to pin down, but eventually it was to become known as the neutron (1932). It was much easier to hit a nucleus with a neutron, because the positive charge of the nucleus didn’t repel it, as it did with protons and alpha rays.
Almost immediately, we realized nuclei didn’t just contain protons, they also contained neutrons.
And often, when a neutron was added to a nucleus, the nucleus would become radioactive, spit out an electron, and one of the neutrons would turn into a proton–the atom would become an atom of the next higher element.
What would happen if you did this to uranium? Would you get element 93?
This would be a new–and man-made–element. That would be a big deal!
Enrico Fermi, who had worked a lot of this out (including methods to slow down neutrons so they could react with nuclei), decided, in 1934, to try. He got some very peculiar results. He was unwilling to announce success, he couldn’t be sure what he had. But Mussolini got wind of this and insisted on announcing a triumph of Italian physics.
By 1940 people had untangled the mess and realized that Fermi hadn’t just created element 93, but that element 93 had decayed *again* and become element 94. These elements were named neptunium and plutonium, continuing with the planet sequence.
But elsewhere, Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner whad different ideas. Perhaps, if they hit uranium atoms, they could get TWO alpha decays instead of just one…uranium could turn directly into radium without going through thorium first.
They tried it, figuring if they started with pure uranium, then later detected radium, they’d have the proof they needed. But there wouldn’t be much of it. But, radium and barium are virtual twins, like zirconium and hafnium. So they figured they could do the bombardment, mix the uranium with barium, chemically separate the two, and see if the barium was radioactive…because it had some radium in it. Then they could put the final period on the whole thing by separating the radium from the barium, which was difficult but possible.
Before they could get started, Germany annexed Austria, and Meitner fled to Denmark, where Niels Bohr helped her get on her feet again.
Hahn, who had stayed behind, performed the experiment, and indeed the barium was radioactive. But he couldn’t get any radium out of it! Not a shred!
Eventually, the logic forced itself on him. If he couldn’t separate out the radioactive atoms from the barium by any means, it’s because they were barium.
So wait…you hit uranium, element 92, with a neutron…and you don’t get something nearby (like element 93 or 91 or 90 or even 88), you get barium, element 56?
This implied…that the nucleus was splitting into two very large pieces. It was fissioning!
Meitner had been kept updated, and although Hahn didn’t want to go public–this was just too crazy–she did. This was January, 1939. World War II was months away.
As it turned out: Fermi’s results came from hitting the uranium-238 isotope, with 92 neutrons and 146 neutrons.
Hahn and Meitner’s results came from hitting ther uranium-235 isotope, with 92 neutrons and 143 neutrons. And it turned out the fission released two or three free neutrons. Another physicist, Leo Szilard, had already wondered if one could find a reaction, started by a neutron, that would release more neutrons, and set up a chain reaction and produce energy…and now here was his answer.
American physicists were the first to follow up on this…luckily for the world.
And Leo Szilard, who had fled to America to get out from under Hitler, realized we HAD to do that chain reaction before Hitler did. He wrote letters to scientists, begging them to keep their research secret…and many of them did. And he eventually got Einstein to write to Roosevelt, and the Manhattan Project was born.
But let us consider uranium 235. It has a half life of 700 million years or so, which means most of the U-235 the earth had at formation, is gone. And indeed uranium is less than one percent U-235, 0.72% in fact.
If you add a neutron to uranium 235, it becomes U-236. U-236 is likely to just split into two large pieces, as Hahn had discovered. (All uranium isotopes can do this; but U-236 does so often, and very quickly, when it has just been excited by the neutron capture that created it) This releases a LOT of energy. It also happens to release some neutrons…which could go on to hit more U-235, which releases more neutrons…the chain reaction has started.
That means that U-235 is not just fissionable (all uranium isotopes *can* fission) but since it can sustain a chain reaction, it’s “fissile.”
The rub is, there’s so little U-235 in a lump of uranium those freed-up neutrons are more likely by far to hit a U-238 nucleus, and do other interesting things…but not release more neutrons. That would squelch the chain reaction right there. Instead we need to have a net increase of neutrons (for a bomb) or a steady number of them (for a reactor).
The only way to do that with U-235 is to concentrate it. Somehow, it must be separated from the U-238.
This cannot be done chemically. Both types of uranium are uranium and will behave the same. But, because the weight is over one percent different, perhaps, say, a centrifuge, or gravity could separate them. But for that to work, the uranium cannot be in solid form.
It turns out that uranium hexafluoride is a gas, and (bonus) there’s only one isotope of fluorine found in nature, so any difference between uranium hexaflurode molecules is due to the uranium atom. So the Manhattan project was able to produce “enriched” uranium this way. It was difficult (fluorine is nasty, nasty, nasty stuff) and took buildings so big people rode bicycles in them to do, but we managed to produce uranium where a large fraction of the U-238 had been removed.
You end up with some uranium that is enriched (a large percentage is U-235) whereas the U-238 that has been removed is called “depleted uranium”
[And, if you hear about Iran and its centrifuges, that’s what they’re for: to enrich uranium, to make bombs.]
Apparently, uranium that is more than 5% but less than 20% U-235 is suitable for use in reactors, above that you’re getting into nuclear bomb territory.
In principle, it’s easy at this point. To make it go kaboom, you need only put a sufficient mass together in one place at one time. That mass is the critical mass. But that depends on how concentrated it is. The more concentrated, the better. You could make a bomb out of hundreds of kilos of 25% U-235, but if you can get it up to 85%, you need a lot less.
It’s so simple, that we didn’t bother to test the U-235 bomb we built in World War II. (We did test the plutonium bomb, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. But that’s a story for another day, like maybe two days from now.) We dropped our one and only U-235 bomb on Hiroshima, and it worked like a champ.
The bomb, named “Little Boy,” consisted of a cylindrical slug, and a cylindrical ring, of U-235, combined mass 64 kilograms, of 80% U-235. There was a neutron reflector around the whole thing, increasing its efficiency; the 64 kilograms was about two and a half critical masses.
To detonate it, explosives fired behind the ring, it went down rails to surround the cylinder, and the critical mass was formed. With a little help from some neutron sources in the nose of the bomb……
BOOM!!!
(Note to potential aggressors: Don’t sneak-attack US soil. Unless some pusbag like Obola is in office. Little Boy was ~20 kilotons. We now have bombs, in the plural, at least 50 times as powerful.)
So the U-235 bomb is very simple to make…but getting the U-235 itself is a very painful process.
The U-238 isn’t useless for nuclear energy…but it has to go through a different process, again, a story for a different day.
One thing I forgot.
The order creating the Manhattan Project was signed on December 6, 1941.
If Roosevelt had dithered for a day, well, he would likely have been too distracted to remember to sign it.
Neptunium
[The next day I did this. But before I posted, cthulhu posted about the isotopes, so let me quote that first]
Neptunium has three isotopes of significant interest. Np-237 has a half-life of 2.14 million years; Np-236 has a half-life of 154,000 years; and Np-235 has a half-life of 396.1 days [or just less than 1.1 years]. Other isotopes have been observed, but not for long.
It has been determined that Np-237 could be used to make an atomic bomb. This would clearly be less of a geopolitical threat than making an atomic bomb out of Np-235 — such a bomb would have to be used within a few months of the neptunium’s isolation or half the fissile material could have transformed into something else.
cthulhu
[Now me.]
Neptunium was discovered by Enrico Fermi when he tried bombarding uranium with slow neutrons. (I described this yesterday, but I will recap it here.)
In doing so, he converted some U-238 nuclei into U-239 nuclei. (Recall that U-238 is the most common uranium isotope, with 146 neutrons, as opposed to U-235, which has 143 neutrons; the 238 and 235 are the numbers you get when you total up the number of neutrons with the number of protons, 92 in the case of any uranium isotope).
U-239, however, has a very short half life (in contrast with over four billion years for U-238). That half life is 23.45 minutes. But makes it far more interesting is that U-239 does NOT decay by alpha decay. Alpha decay (hypothetically) would subtract 4 from the isotope number and two from the atomic number, making it thorium-235. Big deal.
Instead U-239 undergoes beta decay. In essence, a neutron splits apart into a proton and an electron (and an antineutrino is blooped out too, but Fermi didn’t know about that…yet). The electron flies out of the nucleus, and that’s the “beta radiation.” The proton remains in the nucleus.
But now…instead of element 92, isotope 239, you have element 93, isotope 239.
And that is a VERY BIG DEAL indeed, no sarcasm at all this time.
Until this moment, we had never seen ANY element past uranium.
(Which is not to say element 93 doesn’t exist in nature; it does, because sometimes this neutron capture happens naturally in uranium ores. It’s an extremely rare occurrence, however.)
Fermi didn’t realize it at the time. He thought his experiment had succeeded, but there was an awful lot of other stuff in his sample and his measurements were all over the map; likely because he’d fissioned some U-235 (see yesterday). But he had also unknowingly created element 94.
You see, element 93, isotope 239 has a 2.3 day half life…and it, too decays by beta decay. So it bumps up to element 94, isotope 239.
Uranium had been named after the planet Uranus; it seemed natural to continue the sequence with Neptune->neptunium, and Pluto->plutonium, because in the 1930s and 1940s Pluto had just been discovered and was decades away from being understood as the first member of a new class of astronomical object. It was considered a planet. (Sort of like Ceres, after which cerium was named; it became recognized as the first known asteroid.)
So element 93, the element of the day, is “neptunium,” symbol Np, and stands as the first element artificially created, in fact many tons of it have been created.
But in and of itself it’s of little interest. It’s the plutonium we’re after. And that’s a story for another day…tomorrow being that day.
The most stable isotope of Neptunium isn’t 239, it’s 237. And 237, with a 2.14 million year half life, decays by alpha emission; in fact it’s considered the “top” of the neptunium decay series, which consists of a number of isotopes whose numbers, when divided by four, leave a remainder of 1.
The earth is over 2000 times as old as that half life, thus in order for one atom of original neptunium 237 to still be around, statistically, we’d have to have started out with 2^2000 atoms of neptunium-237 in the earth. This is quite absurd. 210 is 1024, roughly a thousand [add: and exactly equal to 1/fauxcahontas], so for every ten powers of 2, we have roughly 3 powers of ten, so 22000 is very roughly 10667.
There aren’t that many atoms in the universe, much less the earth, not even close! (I’ve seen figures–old ones–estimating the number of protons in the universe at 1080. Replace each proton with 10587 protons, and now we’re getting somewhere close to 10667 atoms in the universe.) So, it’s safe to say there isn’t an atom of original neptunium 237 on earth, and there isn’t a four billion year old atom of neptunium 237 anywhere in the universe; it would have to beat incredible odds to still exist after 2000 half lives.
So there are few, if any, naturally occurring neptunium-237 decay series atoms on Earth. Any that do, exist because something in the thorium decay series captured a neutron, and that’s just as rare as natural Np-239.
If you look up “neptunium” on wikipedia, there’s actually a picture of a sphere of it (coated in nickel, I believe), but that makes the point that neptunium can be, and is, mass-produced.
Thus it actually makes sense to talk about its bulk properties.
The density is 20.45…that beats out gold and wolfram, but does not beat out platinum, iridium, osmium, or rhenium. Still, it’s respectably dense.
Here are some videos, from “Periodic Table Videos”
[To which cthulhu responded:]
It should be noted that Neptunium is produced in volume inside nuclear power reactions as an unwanted by-product of their operation. It’s not that anyone is generating it on-purpose.
cthulhu
And I replied:
Np-239 of course is the stepping stone to Pu-239, so it IS definitely produced, quite deliberately, in breeder reactors. But it’s a mere stepping stone to what we really want.
But you’re certainly correct that the other isotopes are crud.
More from me:
I mentioned that Np-237 was the “top” of the neptunium decay series, but…hypothetically, Am-241 will decay into Np-237. It has a much shorter half life, though, so it’s not considered the father of the series.
But–you almost certainly have some Am-241 in your house! A story for another day.
And more from Cthulhu:
Work done by Edwin McMillan at the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory at UC Berkeley starting in 1939 led to the discovery of neptunium when he was playing with their new 60-inch cyclotron that had just been built there.
Berkeley had an extensive collection of cyclotrons (particle accelerators) around that time — it seemed that every PhD student wanted to build a bigger one as his thesis work (or first postdoc grant). There’s actually an amusing anecdote that arises from this.
It seems the FAA kept getting reports from people flying airplanes around the East Bay hills. They’d be flying along, clear skies, nothing untoward — and all their cockpit electronics would fail. Or an engine would quit firing. Or their radio would drop out….a second later, things would go back to normal — and a few minutes later, the pilots’ heartbeats would return to normal. This happened for years and the FAA had no idea why.
Until some bright boys figured it out. One of the smaller cyclotrons — about a 30-incher IIRC — was used for training purposes to “show people how it worked” before they could book time on the larger ones. Because this was for practice purposes, students would irradiate stuff like paper clips and pencils. And because it wasn’t very large, it didn’t have a specific home — they’d move it from classroom to classroom. And, without a specific home, they’d just aim the output that went past the target out any convenient window.
So these random aviators would encounter invisible particle beam weapons while flying anywhere near Berkeley. Mind you, the beam wasn’t collimated like a laser — it formed a cone……but at 10,000 feat, the cone was only a few yards across. Large enough to get one engine in a two-engine plane. And even if you hit it right in the middle, you’d be through it in a second or so. And the strength probably wasn’t going to permanently damage anything…..
cthulhu
Plutonium
Plutonium is interesting for various reasons.
First and most famously, of course, is its use in nuclear weapons.
That’s generally plutonium 239…which, if you’ve been following along, is generated by decaying neptunium 239, which in turn is generated by decaying uranium 239, which comes about when uranium 238 in a breeder reactor captures a neutron.
It’s called a breeder reactor because it actually creates nuclear fuel, to wit the plutonium 239. It’s an excellent fuel, easily made (far more so than uranium-235) but it’s much more difficult to make a bomb out of, fortunately. It won’t fission unless it’s compressed, and the best way to compress it is to surround it with explosives and have those explosives detonate simultaneously so the plutonium has nowhere to squirt out to. A large part of the Manhattan project was figuring out how to do this–precision explosives.
A plutonium bomb, like the one dropped on Nagasaki, is basically a hollow sphere of plutonium surrounded by the explosives; when the explosives are detonated, the plutonium is compressed to far higher than its normal density and it goes *kaboom*.
This was just complicated enough we felt the need to test it, before dropping the bomb on nagasaki, so the very first nuclear explosion was near Alamagordo, New Mexico. It worked quite satisfactorily so we could drop “Fat Man” on Nagasaki to end World War II.
It’s called “Fat Man” because of its bulbous shape (to accomodate the sphere of plutonium and the surrounding explosives). By contrast, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima involved moving part of the critical mass along rails, so it was relatively long and thin, “Little Boy.”
Nowadays the hydrogen bomb functions by putting tritium and deuterium in the bomb, and letting the heat and pressure of the plutonium detonation cause them to fuse, resulting in a MUCH more powerful bomb. A 50,000 kiloton hydrogen bomb was built and detonated by the Soviet Union once; without hydrogen we were pretty much limited to a few dozen kilotons.
The plutonium in hydrogen bomb–the little bang before the big bag–is often called a “trigger.”
[Cthulhu comment: The bomb at Alamogordo was called “gadget.”]
Plutonium 239 has a half life of about 24,000 years.
Plutonium has another very useful isotope, plutonium-238, with a half life of 87 years It’s used as radioisotope fuel for spacecraft, and at one point, even in pacemakers, in nifty devices called radioisotope thermoelectric generators that directly generate electricity and heat. Its half life is comfortably longer than a human will live, or a space mission will run, without being so much longer we just don’t get as much energy as we could out of it. (Why put something that decays slower than it needs to in your spacecraft? You don’t get as much bang for your buck.) This isotope has a density of 19.3+, similar to gold.
As I mentioned above, it was used in pacemakers for a while starting in 1966, until someone realized tht if the body was cremated, the container might rupture. Not being able to guarantee that some idiot wouldn’t cremate a corpse with one of these installed, the program was canceled. Meanwhile 139 people had received the pacemakers. As of 2007, seven were still with us. On dying the undertaker is supposed to ship the device home to Los Alamos where it will be lovingly cared for.
But that’s not (to me at least) nearly as interesting as another isotope…
Plutonium 244 has a half life of 80 million years. It’s one of the two longest-lived non-primordial radioisotoes.
(There are 34 primordial radioisotopes, i.e., ones that have long enough half lives that they still exist on earth, 4.5 billion years after its creation. Obviously, Uranium 235 and 238, and thorium 232 are on this list, but there are also isotopes of lighter elements that are slightly unstable. In fact most of the indium, tellurium and rhenium on earth today are unstable isotopes, as is all of the bisuth. The tellurium has a halflife in the septillions of years, the indium in the trillions, and the rhenium in the tens of billions of years, so it’s all very, very mild.
Of the primordial radio isotopes, potassium 40 (1 billion years) and uranium 235 (700 million years) have the shortest half lives, after that the next POSSIBLE isotope is Plutonium 244 with its 80 year half life. (It’s interesting that there is no isotope in between 80 and 700 million year half life.)
The age of the earth is 57 half lives of plutonium 244, so some have estimated there might still be about ten grams of it in the earth’s crust. Indeed, someone in 1971 claimed to have detected it. But more recent lab work has failed to confirm this. On the other hand some of the meteoric dust that hits the Earth is of interstellar origin, and some Pu-244 has been detected in that.
It was probably never particularly common, though, because to make Pu-244, you have to keep adding neutrons to something like pu-239, and Pu-243, one of the stepping stones, has a short half life (5 hours), making it unlikely that any slow natural process will manage to get past it–it will most likely decay before another neutron happens along. But that’s a slow process. The same issue arises inside our nuclear power plants, for the same reason, so Pu-244 doesn’t show up much in spent fuel rods. For a fast process, like inside a nuclear bomb, the neutrons get added on quickly, and indeed Pu-244 has been detected in the residues of nuclear bomb blasts.
But it’s interesting to think that, say, two or three billion years ago someone could have mined plutonium from rocks in the earth’s crust. And that some of it, a very small amount, might still be around, a residue of the creation of the solar system and our earth.
One more isotope to consider: Pu-240. This one is a nuisance. When one is creating Pu-239 by exposing U-238 to neutrons, it’s important to pull the sample out of the reactor before too much of the freshly-created Pu-239 has a chance to capture another neutron and become Pu-240, because Pu-240 will actually act to damp the chain reaction that is desired. It simply absorbs the neutron and says, “Ok, give me another” rather than fissioning and creating more neutrons, like Pu-239 does.
The first nuclear reactors dedicated to manufacturing plutonium (as part of the Manhattan Project) were at the “Hanford Site” in Washington State, on the banks of the Columbia River. Being in the rain shadow of the Cascades, the area is pretty much a desert.
The facilities are massive, and by April 1945, they were making a shipment of Plutonium to Los Alamos every five days.
The Hanford Site is the most contaminated nuclear site in the United States.
It’s generally kept safe under a layer of gold foil inside that big black thingamabob in your smoke detector.
That’s an ionization chamber, within which smoke particulates pick up an electric charge (from encountering an alpha or beta particle given off by the americium). The electrically charged smoke sets off the detector.
Am-241 has a half life of around 432 years. It decays by alpha particle to the much more stable (but not stable enough) neptunium 237, which is the namesake of the neptunium decay series (isotopes of elements heavier than lead, whose numbers have a remainder of 1 when divided by 4).
The other “common” isotope (remember that spent nuclear reactor fuel has to be gone through to find all this stuff, about 100 grams per tonne) is Am-243, with a half life of 7,370 years.
One of the metastates of Am-242 hangs around for 141 years, on average.
Other than that no americium lasts for more than a year.
Americium was discovered in 1944 by workers on the Manhattan project; they actually found curium (the next element) before they found americium. The discovery was not made public until the next year. (Why announce to the enemy that, with a war on, you’re spending resources on atomic research? They might wonder why and we don’t want them wondering why.)
The amount of americium in a typical new smoke detector is 1 microcurie (37 kBq) or 0.29 microgram. This, of course, would be several times the number of milli-microcuries found in Italian mineral water — which is why you seldom find ionization smoke detectors powered by Pelligrino.
In theory, you could build ultra-compact atomic bombs from americium-242m (half-life 141 years) with a critical mass in the 3-5 kg range if a metal reflector is used. Nobody has claimed to have done so. Then, again, nobody has claimed to have actually orbited a “rods from God” weapons system yet…..
One enterprising young lad removed the americium from approximately 100 smoke detectors in 1994 in hopes of constructing a breeder nuclear reactor in his home shop. I’m not sure that David Hahn, at 17, would have had the wet chemistry chops to actually do anything with a reactor if he had managed to accumulate sufficient material and lit it up…..but we all have to start somewhere.
cthulhu
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
To conclude: My standard Public Service Announcement. We don’t want to forget this!!!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
Add the white rum, dark rum, coconut liqueur, grilled pineapple juice, orange juice, lime juice and cream of coconut into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.
Pour into a highball glass over crushed ice.
Garnish with a skewered cherry and orange slice.
Dust with fresh grated nutmeg.
*Grilled pineapple juice: Grill 6 pineapple wedges in a stovetop pan on medium-high heat for 2 minutes on each side. Muddle and strain.
LGB etc., has been around for a bit. As noticed, some of the campaigns are just now getting attention. While multiple theories are circulating about WHY NOW regarding division and motives for division, there are other possibilities, one of which is stoking outrage before an election. Another is exposing the reality that the people at the top of the food chain are trying to sell us all on transhumanism. That would be part of the Great Awakening. Yet another rail…Satan is being forced to show his hand as his 100 years are up per the Pope Leo XIII account of October 13, 1884. Whatever is going on, red pilling is underway, and that is a good thing.
Watch My Son Hunter for Free I directed this film for the country to make up its own mind – when we filmed NO ONE admitted to the Laptop being real here is is from myself and the Unreported Story Society https://t.co/RXSJSDQx3cpic.twitter.com/zf76mttXl3
Stanley Kubrick didn't release Eyes Wide Shut on July 16, 1999 the exact same day JFK Jr's plane crashed by coincidence. Look at what is written on the front page of the newspaper that Tom Cruise is reading: "Lucky to be alive". https://t.co/De8PAWy5Vspic.twitter.com/yGR8AvnGqc
Colleges, School Systems, Corporations and Hospitals are getting PAID big money by this administration to push and support this Trans agenda. They do this all under the guise of “Acceptance and Anti-Bullying”.
Know this. This “movement” is not an organic, grass roots effort to accept a class of people. It is a socially engineered effort by the deep state to highlight sexual deviancy, confusion, division chaos and the root of the agenda is TRANSHUMANISM.
They want genderless people chipped, marked and controlled. Depopulate the world and usurp Christian moral values. They are using the LGBTQ+ community to do this.
It is all an attack on Gods perfect creation, man. THEY HATE GOD. They love control and power and we will fight this with everything we’ve got.
They love to attack, ridicule and cast out people from society if you don’t adore and embrace anything gay.
NOPE. We see exactly what they are doing. IT IS EVIL AND WE WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS.
Vax-Injured Woman Sues Federal Government for Censorship
Nikki Holland is joined by four other plaintiffs in a First Amendment lawsuit that highlights the "devastating" impacts of silencing true stories of vaccine injuries.https://t.co/J7VxJEVKG2
This week the MSM actually conceded that Epstein blackmailed Gates.
This is very significant as it eases the public into further and full disclosure …
… on the industrial Mossad blackmail operation.
— Dr Russell McGregor (@KillAuDeepState) May 25, 2023
THIS IS PIZZAGATE: Project Veritas whistleblower, Ryan Montgomery, a cybersecurity professional, was given a tip about a disturbing website and after a bit of digging, he found a vast network of self-proclaimed pedophiles, murderers and rapists using the open Internet to prey on… pic.twitter.com/BZJ7FBepin
The FBI doesn’t care who gets swept up in its censorship of supposedly “foreign” accounts. I started the #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag and they pretended I, and all of you, were Russian.
The FBI made platforms take down a supposedly Russian “Secure the Border” post, a pro second… pic.twitter.com/Xjf6Y5TnKR
This is the essence of the whole "spaces" thing. A livestream would have been far superior, but Meatball's handlers understand he's detested by normal people, so he can't be seen. They will try a Biden basement strategy, but it will fail. https://t.co/57GLJL42uJ
Pretty obvious that Biden doesn't write his own tweets. At this point it is highly questionable if he even wipes himself or needs someone else to do it for him. https://t.co/Ir1uIMGQr8
— Rising serpent 🇺🇸 (@rising_serpent) May 25, 2023
“You can’t boycott every woke company”
I can boycott them one at a time and run them all out of business. Watch me, @Target
— Tanya Tay Posobiec ☦️ (@realTanyaTay) May 25, 2023
This is the most important video you will watch this year. Millions were killed with Covid-19 for profit.
“Covid-19 was an act of biological warfare perpetrated on the human race. It was a financial heist. Nature was hijacked. Science was hijacked.” pic.twitter.com/1sYnVMaIRN
The display at my local Target was untouched. Not only is the boycott on, but the merchandise isn’t moving. This is going to be one heck of an expensive mistake.
Note that President Trump and Melania and their family’s SS monikers have never surfaced, or if they have, does anyone know what they are? Almost all presidential code names are released once they are out of office. Hmm….
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) May 25, 2023
Hi Chris. Unless you’re ready to come out of the closet today I would appreciate it if you stopped acting as a spokesperson for the gay community. I AM a gay person, and I’m here to say that any person who protests the way that the radical left is hijacking the LGBT community to… https://t.co/YJrHKfPMqU
— Brandon Straka #WalkAway (@BrandonStraka) May 25, 2023
Where did all these MAGA boycotts come from? Here’s the explanation…
So many Americans were taking a “live & let live” mentality when it came to the trans movement
But once everyone learned that teachers were targeting kids to change their genders w/o parent consent and…
In 2020, the masses finally woke up to what a despicable bully Chrissy Teigen is and her Cravings cookware products were dropped by multiple retailers including Target. As of today, it appears Target is back currently selling 24 of her products on their site. Chrissy has a long… pic.twitter.com/rKTpRAmlsa
The discourse on this site is to be CIVIL – no name calling, baiting, or threatening others here is allowed. Those who are so inclined may visit Wolf’s other sanctuary, the U-Tree, to slog it out. There is also a “rescue” thread there for members of the Tree to rendezvous if the main site goes kablooey. A third site has been added for site outages of longer duration.
This site is a celebration of the natural rights endowed to humans by our Creator as well as those enshrined in the Bill of Rights adopted in the founding documents of the United States of America. Within the limits of law, how we exercise these rights is part of the freedom of our discussion. In that spirit, though, threats of violence real or hypothetical are out of bounds.
Fellow tree dweller the late 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.
And Auntie DePat’s requests:
If you see something has not been posted, do us all a favor, and post it. Please, do not complain that it has not been done yet.
The scroll wheel on your mouse can be your friend. As mature adults, please use it here in the same manner you would in avoiding online porn.
15When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16A second time he said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go.” 19(This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God.) And after this he said to him, “Follow me.”
What’s weird about the Dodgers caving is baseball is the one sport where players don’t come out of the closet. At least historically they didn’t. It just wasn’t tolerated in baseball.
Why bother having a dishwasher, then. Yet another attack on a woman’s achievement. (Yes, the dishwasher was invented by a woman. She was a socialite who got tired of the hired help breaking her china while they were cleaning up after dinner parties.)
Remind me to tell you all about the kid in Ladue, Missouri, who made a bundle selling merchandise with “The South Butt” as a logo. He even won the copyright infringement case.
For those still following the women fighting men dressed as women in women’s sports, this guy is spot on:
Actually, I think this is more of feminist emasculation of men coming home to roost. The one guy in sports who actually said this is all wrong is Bruce Jenner.
It is excruciating being awake. We watch evil occupy our highest offices, rob our treasury & illegally steal our govt – all in broad daylight. Yet the very citizens who are set to lose the most are literally cheering them on, & silencing those of us who are trying to warn them.
Glenn Greenwald highlights the irony of the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic being the journalist primarily responsible for deceiving the American public into the Iraq War:
JFK Jr plane crashed in 1999. DJT elected 17 years later. 17 days before Jrs birthday. 17 days before JFKs funeral. Jr started flying 17 years before the crash. Plane went down 17 miles off of Martha’s Vineyard. Plane reported missing 7/17. 17 family members attended his funeral. https://t.co/5JqI5N63fP
Jack Posobiec goes BIBLICAL, reporting on the anti-Christian hate group “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” and their invite to the upcoming LA Dodgers pride night. pic.twitter.com/gq18CdzHyv
Second update. @Target has removed all items from Satanic “queer” designer Abprallen from its website. When you search you can see where the items were, but error returns now when you click on them.
LET'S VOTE DESANTIS AND GET BACK TO "NORMAL" Yeah, for sure, let's just roll everything back and it will be Bush politics as usual. That's what they want. It's what they've always wanted. And Ron DeSantis was the key. Let me tell you why Trump went after DeSantis.. DeSantis… pic.twitter.com/V4KWRnk1ge
It’s hit and miss, from what I understand. Haven’t ventured to the local Target to see for myself. That parking lot is dangerous.
Simpsonwood Scandal: How an ‘Absolutely Catastrophic’ Autism Link Was Covered Up by Health Authorities
“Simpsonwood was effectively a highly-secret meeting between representatives of federal agencies and vaccine experts to cover up the fact that they had discovered a… pic.twitter.com/r2zg4cTrTO
— Children’s Health Defense (@ChildrensHD) May 24, 2023
Watch me confront the Special Assistant to Fetterman on his statements captured on hidden cam about banning constitutional amendments and using journalists as “puppets.”
Sens. Ron Johnson and Chuck Grassley want to know why Special Counsel John Durham didn’t compel testimony from James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Bill Priestap, Kevin Clinesmith, former FBI attorney, Glenn Simpson. pic.twitter.com/ENPuPo42nN
You moron. Your constituents were the very first people world wide to get natural gas. The first pipelines were laid in your district 120 years ago. We've been enjoying gas stoves ever since. https://t.co/t6ebirblPz
— LaughLoveLive, identifies as Deplorable Patriot 🐞 (@LaughLoveLive1) May 24, 2023
.@mtaibbi is opening up about the unannounced IRS visit to his home…
In other news, I have discovered that Louisiana Republican Senator Fred Mills who just singlehandedly killed a bill to ban transing children also used to dress in drag for commercials for his pharmacy. pic.twitter.com/E47Ezcc4PP
ALERT : Something brewing. If You Are Catching on. MonkeyWerx Is Telling The #Truth Because He is tracking 3900+ Survey Flights in 75 Days. Survey Flights are something an enemy would do if it was planning on carrying out a Military Operation Or Attack. INTERESTING! pic.twitter.com/NKsfTaZCNr
— Łitecoin Bull | The News Before The News! (@litecoin_bull) May 24, 2023
Multiple shots, every visit, in utero, in infancy, throughout your short, miserable life until all wealth & all future earnings are drained from you & your extended family. Then they kill you. THAT'S the CDC vaccine schedule. It's genocidal, Molochian, & a mass death cult ritual.
Washington is collecting more money than ever. But it's also spending the most. So it’s not a revenue problem—it’s a spending problem.
60% of Americans believe that spending limits should accompany any debt limit increase. That's exactly what Republicans are fighting for. pic.twitter.com/SDyUs0JBf3
The Giant Alaskan Malamute is a selectively bred Malamute that exceeds 70 kg in weight & 70 cm of height, originally bred to pull heavy goods between cities throughout Alaska. They have been recorded to pull loads up to 500 kg
RIP to a legend. This was the first of her songs I remember hearing.
____________________________________
And now for the business portion.
Please review our HOST and site owner’s Guidelines for posting and discussion for this site. Wolf is kind enough to put up with *most* of us and our antics after thorough vetting. Violators of the baiting and deliberately attempting to divide the group rules WILL face consequences.
The discourse on this site is to be CIVIL – no name calling, baiting, or threatening others here is allowed. Company manners are appreciated. Those who are so inclined may visit Wolf’s other sanctuary, the U-Tree, to slog out discussions best saved for a wrestling mat. If, for some reason, this site is not available, head over to the UTree and visit the post at the top of the list or the closest rescue thread.
This site is a celebration of the natural rights endowed to humans by our Creator as well as those enshrined in the Bill of Rights adopted in the founding documents of the United States of America. Within the limits of law, how we exercise these rights is part of the freedom of our discussion.
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Be careful in expressing thoughts as we would all like to think well of the rest of the group, and ill-thought out comments have a way of wrecking that for everyone.
Fellow tree dweller, the late 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, be sure they are made with bacon
Auntie DePat’s requests as we are all supposedly adults and don’t just play them on TV like the body doubles pretending to be the squatter in chief:
If you see something has not been posted, do us all a favor, and post it. Please, do not complain that it has not been done yet.
The scroll wheel on your mouse can be your friend. As mature adults, please use it here in the same manner you would in avoiding online porn.
Thank you so much for any and all attention to such details. It is GREATLY appreciated by more than one party here.
1Preserve me, O God, for in thee I take refuge. 2I say to the LORD, “Thou art my Lord; I have no good apart from thee.” 5The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; thou holdest my lot. 7I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also dwells secure. 10For thou dost not give me up to Sheol, or let thy godly one see the Pit. 11Thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is fulness of joy, in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.
JOHN 17:20-26
20“I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me. 24Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world. 25O righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee; and these know that thou hast sent me. 26I made known to them thy name, and I will make it known, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
. PRAY ……. Like Nehemiah OBEY ……. Like Daniel LEAD …….. Like Moses BUILD ……. Like Noah FIGHT ……. Like David SERVE ……. Like Martha BELIEVE ….. Like Mary EDUCATE … Like Paul PROTECT .… Like Peter LOVE ..……….Like JESUS
With all the trans stuff and “PRIDE” fests going on, I thought it might be interesting to hear from someone who connects the dots on how the ancient pagan world is essentially being reinstalled. I have not read the book discussed, so I am not shilling for it, but find Jonathan Cahn’s take on what is happening compelling.
So, there’s an ancient pagan reason June is “PRIDE” month.
Maybe once the people currently living are no longer, but not at this juncture. The control freaks shot their wad with COVID. We’re not falling for that again.
— LaughLoveLive, identifies as Deplorable Patriot 🐞 (@LaughLoveLive1) May 23, 2023
It's here: The Official Great Awakening Trailer! The themes of this movie have evolved over the past year, as it’s become increasingly clear that the plandemic was not the agenda, but rather a way to accelerate the agenda.
Probably the earliest clue that something wasn't on the up & up. Medical waste is always handled as if "hazardous" & disposed of accordingly. We'll be picking up COVID masks from our streets for the next ten yrs. Wonder how many masks killed our ocean wildlife? Killed our birds? https://t.co/8unR2FFVAw
PSA: RON DESANTIS CANNOT HIDE FROM HIS RECORD — Ron DeSantis is flailing on the eve of his “big” day. No wonder his billionaire backers are running for the hills—and into the arms of his 2nd place competition. He just isn’t ready for the moment. https://t.co/ne7Mlv4vYRpic.twitter.com/6mlir0QMPF
Where has this Marco Rubio been? If he spoke like this even two years ago, more people might be awake to what is happening to America. We are being destroyed from w/in. One thing he doesn’t mention is the complete distrust of the sanctity of our elections. Speak to that too. pic.twitter.com/8gdk65pnVZ
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) May 23, 2023
Security staff shielded Shell Chief Executive Wael Sawan and company directors as climate protesters tried to take to the stage at the energy giant's annual shareholder meeting in London https://t.co/My6Cvhrifxpic.twitter.com/CAG4Rke7SF
More gaslighting regarding the excess deaths. Various reasons suggested and it’s accepted that they don’t know what is causing it. No prizes for guessing what doesn’t get a mention.🤔 pic.twitter.com/vmSKDaMKcw
— Bohemian Atmosphere (@BohemianAtmosp1) May 23, 2023
“Forced through the wrong puberty”
Couple things: – Puberty isn’t “forced.” – No such thing as “wrong puberty”
These types of silly language games primarily benefit pseudoscience driven activists and drug companies who get to expand their customer base to child clientele. https://t.co/LqV4cWDboNpic.twitter.com/T2dj6EUOHr
This is Margaret Hamilton. In 1968 she compiled a 60,000 page report on the dangers of seed oils / high omega-6. She was silenced by the soybean oil lobby. pic.twitter.com/uh7rFhiIzL
— Seed Oil Disrespecter™️ (@SeedOilDsrspctr) May 23, 2023
Anyone know if this is true? (Asks the great-granddaughter of a soybean farmer.)
MEP Christine Anderson Issues Wake-Up Call: “You Cannot Comply Your Way Out of a Tyranny”
“In the entire history of mankind, there has never been a political elite concerned about the well-being of regular people,” shared @AndersonAfDMdEP.
End direct to consumer advertising! Demand that health agencies actually do their job & not act as bought & paid for Big Pharma mouthpieces. No Vaccines has been safety tested! Stop watching TV & stay healthy with clean nutrition! Daily protocol: https://t.co/rTg8K8KQqf… pic.twitter.com/XS9H8j2lG5
— Judy A. Mikovits PhD (@DrJudyAMikovits) May 23, 2023
— LaughLoveLive, identifies as Deplorable Patriot 🐞 (@LaughLoveLive1) May 23, 2023
600,000 Americans Per Year Are Dying From COVID Shots Says Top Insurance Analyst🤬. You know what’s the hardest thing to wrap around your head is that they are doing EXACTLY what they were meant to do😳. Yes folks, try to imagine this was a world wide op🤬 https://t.co/vlnQ3xplCZ
Trump's media company is filing a massive $3.78 billion lawsuit against the Washington Post for publishing defamatory articles about Truth Social, Donald Trump and Devin Nunes. https://t.co/53hrslWWR7pic.twitter.com/PZIMG8U5aJ
(I don’t remember who brought this to a daily in the comments, but thanks.)
And, of course, the obligatory George Carlin:
Per the Boss:
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, the late 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
Please, stock up on blanks for celebratory gunfire, be ready to swing from the chandeliers…and no messing with the nuclear weapons.
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. The “Rescue Thread” is also over there. In the event a rendezvous of the tree is needed, please check it out, as well as the newest rescue venue.
Auntie DePat’s requests:
If you see something has not been posted, do us all a favor, and post it. Please, do not complain that it has not been done yet.
The scroll wheel on your mouse can be your friend. As mature adults, please use it here in the same manner you would in avoiding online porn.
Thank you so much for any and all attention to such details. It is GREATLY appreciated by more than one party here.
One other vital note:
Please, review these rules that our host Wolfm00n outlined toward the beginning of the growth of the tree itself. it won’t take long.
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; 3and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; 4he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.” 5And he who sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
PSALMS 95:1-7
1O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 5The sea is his, for he made it; for his hands formed the dry land. 6O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! 7For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would hearken to his voice!
JOHN 10:22-30
22It was the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem; 23it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 24So the Jews gathered round him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness to me; 26but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; 28and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.”
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, first responders and those working behind the scenes…and any and all people with family members in the hospital, COVID or not.
And…members of the QTree who no longer participate for one reason or another.
We are getting ready to experience a level of evil that will be hard to comprehend. Stay strong. Be prepared.
It is quite clear, as per Wolf’s message from July, that we are under spiritual attack. Building up a robust arsenal of prayer and discipline is a must in fighting the enemy and his minions.
In that spirit, the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel from Tuesday’s threads, and the Breastplate of St. Patrick, not to mention the Litany of Humility are favorites recommended by exorcists in spiritual warfare.
"… it is clear no matter what the explanation, unvaccinated children in the first year of life are much healthier when they arrive at the three-year milestone as compared to vaccinated."https://t.co/h6E4Jm1mv8
.@Karilake: "All we want to do, and we’re not asking for a lot, is to have fair, secure, safe, and honest elections, and I’m not going to stop fighting for that for the people of Arizona." pic.twitter.com/UB3UHFzh3H
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) May 22, 2023
If you see someone on Twitter say something along the lines of:
“I will be breaking huge news in 48 hours. Tune in!”
They are likely full of shit. Have a wonderful day 😁
— TheStormHasArrived (@TheStormRedux) May 22, 2023
This is not normal
Attention: Something is going to happen and our government is preparing themselves for it and leaving the public in the dark.
30 tons of explosives are still missing. $290 million dollars worth of anti radiation meds purchased and now Senators are being… https://t.co/jHOi8L2UjE
The number of “conspiracy theories” coming true has caused an under supply of “conspiracy theories” yet to be admitted by the lying establishment media.
Is the fact that 5 billion folks have been potentially poisoned to by their governments still a “conspiracy theory?”… https://t.co/CFdtbkE7zB
Joe Biden: fascists are the greatest threat to the United States! Now I need you to look the other way while I confiscate your guns, your money, demonize people of a particular race, and try to escalate us into a war with the Russians. pic.twitter.com/RPWhElR3y3
— Declaration of Memes (@LibertyCappy) May 22, 2023
BREAKING 😉 @amuse Your faithful, friendly patriotic Clinton Foundation Whistleblowers maintain all documented evidence in fully protected fashion. Much has already been submitted to US Tax Court + remains under seal as part of our ongoing case (Doyle, Moynihan v IRS) Pls Share https://t.co/WQlY4DH0wr
— Clinton Foundation Whistleblowers (@CFWBers) May 22, 2023
Is there anyone at the CDC who isn't a big pharma butt worm? Our entire public health infrastructure is now Pharma sales reps being paid by American taxpayers. What a disgrace. https://t.co/ZlW6epilqR
— Rising serpent 🇺🇸 (@rising_serpent) May 22, 2023
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is fearmongering and misleading the American public about our nation's debt crisis.
AZ Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borelli issues letter to every county election office notifying them no electronic voting machine can be used in ‘24 election
Katie Hobbs vetoed law, but Constitution gives plenary authority to state legislature so they’re overriding her pic.twitter.com/FPwtEDaU5T
I’d throw in a few Rockefellers and Rothschilds also.
Of course, this does not mean committing felonies, but standing up to the forces that want to tear this nation – and humanity apart. The very people XVII told us will be destroyed by the time this movie comes to an end are currently roaming the halls of power…supposedly. It’s a sickening sight.
The discourse on this site is to be CIVIL – no name calling, baiting, or threatening others here is allowed. Those who are so inclined may visit Wolf’s other sanctuary, the U-Tree, to slog it out. There is also a “rescue” thread there for members of the Tree to rendezvous if the main site goes kablooey. A third site has been added for site outages of longer duration.
This site is a celebration of the natural rights endowed to humans by our Creator as well as those enshrined in the Bill of Rights adopted in the founding documents of the United States of America. Within the limits of law, how we exercise these rights is part of the freedom of our discussion.
Fellow tree dweller, the late 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.
And Auntie DePat’s requests:
If you see something has not been posted, do us all a favor, and post it. Please, do not complain that it has not been done yet.
The scroll wheel on your mouse can be your friend. As mature adults, please use it here in the same manner you would in avoiding online porn.
Thank you so much for any and all attention to such details. It is GREATLY appreciated by more than one party here.
1When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee, 2since thou hast given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. 4I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do; 5and now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made. 6“I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them to me, and they have kept thy word. 7Now they know that everything that thou hast given me is from thee; 8for I have given them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from thee; and they have believed that thou didst send me. 9I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine; 10all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
“God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want.” – C.S. Lewis
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the power of God, cast down to Hell Satan and all his evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
>>148156518 Amen brother. Q
As always, prayers for the fight against that which seeks to enslave us are welcome. Via con Dios.