“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert.” –J. Robert Oppenheimer
This 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!!!
NO problem! Errrr. Problems. Whatevah!
We’re gonna have a GOOD time!
But ya bettah HOLD ON!!!
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 – some epic piano….. dubstep?
OK – I’m feeling something, and I need some Tom Petty. This one!
Now, in honor of the BRANCH COVIDIANS just waiting to come back with their mandates…..
And finally – what the heck – ONE MORE TIME! (*wink*)
Call To Battle
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
They are all throwing in the towel. Blurring the lines of science is necessary in order to fully push the fake climate crisis agenda. @sciam decided to go all in….https://t.co/uSth32l7Bs
— Dr. Lynn Fynn-derella🐭 (@Fynnderella1) May 20, 2023
NYC Mayor Eric Adams just unveiled his new plan to combat skyrocketing retail theft in the city.
Good morning! A reminder that healthcare for transgender people is settled science. Every major medical association supports this critical life-saving care. https://t.co/dG8lRKrzvA
— Homo Against Queer Theory (@Homonotqueer) May 19, 2023
Joe Biden didn’t win.
And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.
Wolfie’s Wheatie’s Word of the DayYear Week:
supermajority
noun
a majority (such as two-thirds or three-fifths) greater than a simple majority.
a majority that must represent some percentage more than a simple majority.
a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority in order to have effect.
a vote that must exceed the number of votes comprising a simple majority.
also called a qualified majority
Wikipedia definition:
A supermajority, is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fundamental rights of a minority, but they can also hamper efforts to respond to problems and encourage corrupt compromises at times when action is taken.
Used in a Sentence:
Representative Tricia Cotham switched parties, giving NC Republicans the supermajority they need to override any veto by Gov. Roy Cooper.
Tennessee is one of an increasing number of states (19 Republican, nine Democratic) where one party has a “supermajority,” such a lopsided advantage that it can override a governor’s veto without relying on votes from the other party.
For the first time in nearly a half century, there is a six-justice conservative supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court — six justices with clearly expressed views against abortion rights.
An Upcoming Vote for Supermajority Protection of the Ohio Constitution From George Soros and his Minions:
To recap events; we had developed a very successful national small business lending operation that was doing business on Wall Street within a period of 3.5 years from startup working from a rural, historically underperforming state chartered bank in Podunk. We had successfully assisted our industry recover from political malfeasance in a manner that established the foundation for the SBA’s primary lending program to become self funding and sustaining, which is continuing today. We were making the owners of the bank far more money than ownership ever dreamed possible prior to our arrival. Our staff was competent and well compensated, prepared to take the next step as an industry leader as we had entered the Top Twenty in total annual loan volume with SBA’s programs along with expanding our conventional and USDA lines of business. We had developed a new, profitable spin on a SBA loan product that was being successfully pooled into CDOs. We had the support of regulators, government and a Big Three rating agency. Everybody in the industry knew our name and we had some competitors who had begun to copy our methodology for their own operations, which included my most recent former employer. That was the ultimate compliment.
We accomplished all of that without the city of our division headquarters knowing we existed beyond our annual business license renewal and despite the fact we had over 80 employees under roof in a prominent office building downtown with another 40 spread out around the country. Just the way I liked it, flying under the radar. We were developing an analytics based operating platform with our own programming staff that would be the envy of everybody in the industry that projected to be ready within a year. We had brought the owners an offer to purchase our division operations that would have freed them to expand the footprint of their bank statewide, which they said was their primary goal.
It was year end 2006 and we had turned the page to implement expanded operations and loan volume in 2007 at the insistence of the owners. The major shareholder personally told me to make as many loans as we could make. When I questioned him about capital and funding associated with same, he told me not to worry about that, he would make sure it was covered. Up to that point I had no reason to doubt it.
When I received the call a couple of months later to meet the owners and bring our SCO and NSM with me for an annual meeting to go over plans for 2007 and results of 2006, I thought nothing of it, just a routine occurrence.
The Meeting
To cut to the chase, it was a set up. A bull in the ring event and I was the bull.
The loan buyer we had recently committed to hire from Bear was there without my knowledge of his invitation. He had ingratiated himself to the owners over the period from when he first met them at his previous regional investment banking employer through my introduction. I was aware he was working with them on the investment side of the bank with the portfolio, but this was a whole different level now.
One of the ways he had increased his perceived value to ownership was by arranging for them to obtain additional Tier One capital through the issuance of what investment bankers call Trust Preferred securities. It is a quasi-capital investment used frequently during those days that was essential killed later in 2010 by Dodd-Frank. For those who want to know more about how the investment (scheme) worked please read the link.
“Phasing out or excluding trust preferred securities in the Tier 1 capital ratio increases funding requirements for banks and, in some cases, reducing the number of incentives for banks to issue trust preferred securities. The so-called “Collins Amendment” was proposed in the U.S. Senate to eliminate trust preferred securities as Tier 1 regulatory capital altogether.
Finally, the costs are among the disadvantages for companies issuing trust preferred securities because the trusts sometimes have features like deferral of interest payments and early redemption of shares. These nuances make them less attractive to investors and, therefore, the rates on trust preferred securities are typically higher than those offered on other types of debt, simply investors demand a greater rate of return. The costs of investment banking fees for underwriting the securities can be hefty as well.”
That information gives a glimpse at why ownership choosing this method of adding capital was extremely risky. It was also a method used by many growing banks nationwide.
The bank’s subject $15 million dollar issuance in the name of its holding company was underway with buyers committed. It was being done with the deferred interest payments and early redemption of shares rights as described above. The plan being executed called for the majority of the net proceeds to be used to buy out the 30% owner who initially resisted our division being started, who also owned a competing, larger bank and other businesses. Not necessarily a bad purpose except the actual funds would never make it into operations. There would be minimal added benefit of bank liquidity to fund their geographic branch and our division’s loan growth with less than $1 M being made available to us. They planned to eventually add deposits to fund liquidity for our lending purposes through the branch expansion and brokered CD’s that the investment banker/loan buyer secured.
The owners attempted to hot box me on profitability of our division. The lines were clearly being drawn in the sand. The investment banker/loan buyer was the fox in the henhouse. I decided to just play along and agree with them except on the profitability assertion. My SCO and NSM were dumbfounded and totally blindsided. I did not expect it, but was not overly surprised. In my years in this and most industries, greed nearly always overcame sound business principles.
I reminded them that our net income was three times theirs while still expanding operations to provide more in the future as we built our pipeline to cash in with loan sales. They conceded the point since they knew none of my team was under employment contract. They ended the probing with a “Well, you spoiled us with the previous year’s profit.” Yeah, OK. They wanted changes in our divisional executive compensation plans to incentivize more for profit than asset growth after having pushed for asset growth constantly (which continued) and approving the initial compensation plan. That demonstrated clearly they did not truly understand banking overall. In banking, increased profits follow asset growth if all things remain constant. Which they were not. The investment banker/loan buyer leaving a lucrative opportunity on Wall Street to join a community bank should have been their first major clue they were being used and unlikely to receive rapidly increasing profits.
It was also really easy to see at that point the division was perceived as mercenaries in their minds and when our contributions were deemed not enough or having met all objectives, we would be gone.
We agreed the compensation change could be arranged. They seemed happy that it could come to a successful resolution. Within a couple of weeks I submitted a plan for it and they accepted, which included strong bumps in salary to offset the reduced income upside and a potential reduction in executive incentive pay at present levels of profitability.
These things never end well when greed and hunger for power takes over. They had been willingly manipulated by the new guy who told them what they wanted to hear. However, he was regionally bred from west TN and went to the prominent private college there. He ran in the same Memphis area financial and social circles they did.
Over the course of the first half of 2007 he convinced them to sell off their bond investment portfolio to make room for more loans. He increased the amount of brokered CDs to fund liquidity. He did all of the classic things that a few in our divisional leadership team saw at Temecula that led that bank down the path toward destruction. He did not think I was on to him and I never shared with the other divisional leaders my conclusions. They did not need the distractions or the worry. There would be plenty of time for that later.
I had reached the point I was over it all. I remembered fondly the years after the equipment company disaster as our family unit rebuilt our lives and the blessings the Lord provided while I worked from home and directly helped small business owners. Working one on one with them was my first and deepest love working in the business. The employment politics, Wall Street, lobbying of politicians, dealing with regulators, etc. were draining my zest for life. I had nothing left to prove or accomplish in what the Lord had placed before me and now the fruits of our labors were beginning to show signs of spoilage.
Parallels
In that same year I was still hurting over the recent death of my father. Best Kid had graduated from HS and was enrolled in the local community college, chasing boys more than studying. My wonderful mother-in-law was in the middle of her ten year battle with dementia and Rock Star was on the road constantly tending to her personal needs and financial affairs, which included time spent as a volunteer working with the residents at the assisted living center where MIL resided. I was Pastor/Staff/Parish chair at our church and as such had been met immediately with the attempted suicide of our worship leader whose wife had gone lesbian. The same worship leader that a few weeks after he had been hired had presented a video of a homosexual Jesus and his merry disciples at a Wednesday night service while the senior pastor was out of town. The same senior pastor had not been informed it would be shown as part of the WL’s “message” to the congregation, but also who had not cared enough to inquire about what the WL planned to present.
There was also a mini-pedophile invasion into the congregation that year through a misguided decision to operate a Celebrate Recovery ministry without having sufficient trained volunteers from membership to staff and control. Our family had opposed having the ministry for that very reason. I was then having to act as an ear for rightfully concerned members. One of several CR participant pedos was later arrested that summer for being observed in a nearby Wendy’s performing the dirty on a wheelchair confined handicapped child in a restroom. It was the second time he had been sent to prison for the activities, where he still resides today. One family from the congregation then came forward and said the same guy had attempted to groom their teenage son. A large group in the congregation demanded an audience with the District Superintendent, who subsequently attempted to placate instead of respond appropriately to their valid concerns. All of them left the church permanently. The Senior Pastor was transferred out a few months later. When it was all said and done, a third of the active members were gone in weeks, which killed the church’s mission, finances, and perception in the community for years. Yet the CR ministry remained with a promise to do better from its leaders because we did not have enough member votes to terminate it. It finally died a natural death several years later as the congregation continued to dwindle in size.
Lesson learned: Do not attempt to do even well intentioned endeavors without clear revelation from the Lord while counting the cost and commitment required. I thought we were a congregation that would know to do what the Bible says to do. What made it worse is the conference UMC leadership had approved its implementation and provided no oversight at all through the years of its existence.
Back At The Ranch
The investment banker/loan buyer will be hereafter referred to as Judas. Not because I see myself as Jesus in this story – perish that thought immediately. His reference as Judas is because he did what Judas did. He sold his personal integrity for thirty pieces of silver to the worldly authorities for personal gain. That he would forever regret that decision later would be a lesson this Judas would learn in the ensuing economic collapse. I knew what he was doing, just as Jesus knew what the real Judas Iscariot was doing in secret. Observation of internal activities, comments from loyal coworkers, and the huge debt market bubble beginning to burst on the street told me. He claimed he could move all of our pipeline of loans at budgeted premiums. The truth was becoming apparent in my conversations with buyers and other market professionals that was unlikely. The owners may have bought his story, but I did not.
Have you ever been in a situation where you sensed it was not going to end the way you preferred, yet knew you had to follow it through to its conclusion? This was it for me.
At this point in my life I was totally burned out with the game playing by people in authority who thought they knew more than they actually did. It was always such a pathetic, fruitless exercise. Chasing after money and power at the cost of your integrity never satisfies and eventually leads to destruction. The drama of it all made me think of the following for years afterwards.
I knew I could take the core staff and leaders with me to another employer and do it all over again as there were many potential employers who would have jumped on it. I even had local options, one of which BIMD readers were informed of earlier in this series with a certain basketball coach’s (now ex) husband. However, it would mean going much slower with the economic meltdown on the horizon. I just did not feel the Lord leading me in that direction and I knew I was not much interested in it personally unless he did.
So after prayer and consideration I chose to play out the existing “opportunity” for all it was worth and head to the house when it inevitably collapsed. I would wait there for future assignments from the Lord, if any.
With our continuing business operations, Judas had to deliver buyers for our loan sales in his role. I cut off Bear Stearns as a buyer in early 2007 and not because we had hired Judas. It was because they low balled us on pricing the next $100 M loan pool sale. Big Dog called personally to push for the sale during which time he expressed concern for my personal mental health for not selling to them. Seriously. The guy confirmed everything I thought he may have been during my visit in his office. That he stooped that low to call hillbilly land for business told me how desperate they were becoming. However, when I informed the owners why we would not want to do business with Bear when they were offering half what we could get from others buyers, they doubted it was the right decision.
Geez. Still have trouble understanding how they ever owned a bank.
The buyers we primarily turned to during the period were insurance companies, Aegon Insurance in particular, and credit unions who needed earning assets. Meanwhile I asked the SCO to tighten credit parameters on the new 504 program loans and do less construction related requests despite the bank owners demanding more profit as well as more loan volume. It was time to slow the flow in that program as the reducing numbers of loan buyers were getting very picky and pricing lower.
In one meeting with Aegon on the activities in the national debt markets I found myself fully agreeing with the highly experienced and accomplished Aegon buyer to the dismay of Judas. The Aegon buyer still committed to purchase a small pool of $50 M due to the safety of our loan product, however, he said he was retreating from buying overall as he detected very rough economic seas ahead. We followed up that meeting with another with the CFO of Stanford Federal Credit Union (yeah – that Stanford), who flew in to see our operations. With their purchase commitment we had concluded our loan pool sales needs for the first half of 2007 on budget.
Conclusion
This is a good stopping point to absorb the progress of the story before we begin the last chapters. The theme will become increasing apparent, so I might as well leave you with a scriptural metaphor of sorts that leads to an analogy that is defined by an apparent paradox. Yeah, I know, too much information.
As Christians we are instructed to not become unequally yoked with non-Christians. This is Paul’s instruction to the Corinthian Church found in 2 Corinthians 6:14.
“Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness?”
Yet, as Christians we are also instructed to remain salt and light in a world troubled by sin and evil per Jesus in Matt. 5:13-16
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by people. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
How can we do both in the world today? We will pick up on this to start the next chapter. Blessings to all.
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.”
Glory to God 4
Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created. Revelation 4:11
GLORIFY GOD THROUGH OUR PRAISE AND WORSHIP
Psalm 50:3 says “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”. Similarly in the New Testament the Apostle Paul summarizes the way we should order our lives in order to glorify God.
The highest call and purpose of man is the joyful act of glorifying God. Notice here, that this is a ‘joyful’ act. As I mentioned earlier when we fulfill the very purpose for which we were created, which is to glorify God, and when we do this in worship, it is a joyful act and not something we have to put on. What is special about glorifying God through worship is that it combines the other two points previously mentioned, “Glorifying God by Believing in Him” and “Glorifying God by Declaring Him”.
When we praise the Lord, we do it because we believe in Him and we have faith in the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly when we praise, we are declaring His glory, His honor, His praise, His power, His majesty outwardly.
God is seeking those who will bring Him glory, not just through the Sunday worship time, not just for an hour every day but what He seeks is worship every day, every moment through all our activities. We cannot worship God properly on Sunday or just in our prayer times, if we are not worshiping God throughout the week. In fact, 1 Corinthians 10:31 says “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
So, the only way to achieve “glory to God” through worship is when it is done to Him in spirit and truth. John 4:23-24 says “But the hour is coming, as is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.”
Worshiping the Father in spirit is to worship from the heart, from deep within you. It is not the external worship, because external worship can also be performed by those who are not right with God. Matthew 15:8 gives us an example of this, saying “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
Worshiping the Father in truth is to worship God for all that He is in the majesty of His attributes revealed in all of scripture. We glorify God and worship Him for His love, and not only for His love but also for His righteousness and justice. We glorify and worship Him for His Kindness, His sovereignty and for His grace.
We worship Him, when He gives and when He takes away. Job 1:20-21 says “And he said, Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
We worship God for all of His ways. God’s Word is the source of our worshiping in truth, and as we do this, notice that worship in “spirit” flows out of worship in “truth” through the revealed word of God. As we fill our hearts and minds with the pure word of God, the truth of God will move our spirits to praise and love and glorify God through worship in Him. So starting today, let’s be sure to glorify God through our praise and worship.
Give glory to God! This is the very purpose of why we are created and are image- bearers of the living God. The very reason that we were created is to glorify God in all that we do.
It’s only when we do this that we will be complete, because this is when we fulfill the purpose of our very being. Without consciously giving the glory to God, there is a part of us missing. We will be always left wanting.
So, today if we are struggling to find meaning for our lives, perhaps there is something missing which we just can’t pinpoint. There is something in us searching for answers and we find ourselves lacking without an answer. Hebrews 8:12 says “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” We are made righteous in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
This is the greatest privilege in our life, so take some time to come before the Lord, and start giving Him the glory for everything in our lives, and live for Him, through Him, and by Him, as it says in Romans 11:36 “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.”
Everyone of us owes all that we are and have to God. We owe every fiber of intelligence to God, and the slightest resolve to do good is a gift from Him. Apart from Him we are all useless. And worse than worthless . . . wicked. We would fly into nothingness without His sustenance, and we would degenerate into devils without His grace.
If the totality of our dependence on God would hit us full force, how differently we would live and do good. We would “serve as one who renders service by the strength which God supplies.” We would not boast in our achievements, nor criticize the speck in our brother’s eye, nor grumble about inconveniences, nor be presumptuous in any way, as if even existence itself could be taken for granted!
A person who truly owns up to the fact that he exists by the word of God, that all his strength and moral resolve is a gift of God, that person will have a spirit of joy and gratitude and lowliness. And in serving this way, God gets the glory.
Let’s fulfill our very purpose and walk in the joy of the Lord, “so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in us, and us in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:8-9
Today, it is still the case that Joe Biden didn’t Win.
I realize that to some readers, this might be a shock; surely at some point things must change and Biden will have actually won.
But the past cannot actually be changed.
It will always and forever be the case that Joe Biden didn’t win.
And if you, Leftist Lurker, want to dismiss it as dead white cis-male logic…well, you can call it what you want, but then please just go fuck off. No one here buys that bullshit–logic is logic and facts are facts regardless of skin color–and if you gave it a moment’s rational thought, you wouldn’t either. Of course your worthless education never included being able to actually reason–or detect problems with false reasoning–so I don’t imagine you’ll actually wake up as opposed to being woke.
As Ayn Rand would sometimes point out: Yes, you are free to evade reality. What you cannot do is evade the consequences of evading reality. Or to put it concretely: You can ignore the Mack truck bearing down on you as you play in the middle of the street, you won’t be able to ignore the consequences of ignoring the Mack truck.
And Ayn Rand also pointed out that existence (i.e., the sum total of everything that exists) precedes consciousness–our consciousnesses are a part of existence, not outside of it–therefore reality cannot be a “social construct” as so many of you fucked-up-in-the-head people seem to think.
So much for Leftist douchebag lurkers. For the rest of you, the regular readers and those lurkers who understand such things: I continue to carry the banner once also carried by Wheatie. His Fraudulency didn’t win.
Let’s Go, Brandon!!
Hey China!
Or rather, “Hey Chinese Communist Party and your entire array of servitors, ass-wipers, and fellators!”
You’re not even worth my time this week. When you decide to act like civilized people, maybe I’ll give you a lesson or two in how non-barbarians behave.
Hey BiteMe! (Or, Whoever Has Their Hand Rammed Up That Putrefying Meat Puppet’s Ass)
[Language warning]
You and yours have caused a lot of injury. Literal injury with your war on people who don’t want to take an untested vaccine. When people die in an emergency room because a hospital won’t admit them because they haven’t had their clot shot, that’s a crime.
I’m going to address here the insult on top of the injury, because I am among the insulted. I still have my health but apparently you want me to live under the 8th Street Bridge (which actually isn’t on 8th Street, but whatever, that’s what the I-25 overpass over Cimarron is called), so maybe if you have your way that won’t be true for long. Dreadful time of year to become homeless.
No, you’re just trying to make me unemployed, because I won’t take your fucking shots.
Well, that threat is NOT going to work. I. Won’t. Take. Your. Fucking. Shots.
And it looks like enough people agree, that you’re having to back down, you worthless asswipe.
You’re LOSING.
You LOSER.
You Chinese-bought ratfucking traitor.
I would love to see you die an agonizing, humiliating death. (This isn’t a threat, because I am not threatening to cause that death. I am just announcing my intention to party if it happens.) It would be just recompense for the way you’re killing America…and millions of Americans.
His Fraudulency
Joe Biteme, properly styled His Fraudulency, continues to infest the White House, we haven’t heard much from the person who should have been declared the victor, and hopium is still being dispensed even as our military appears to have joined the political establishment in knuckling under to the fraud.
One can hope that all is not as it seems.
I’d love to feast on that crow.
(I’d like to add, I find it entirely plausible, even likely, that His Fraudulency is also His Figureheadedness. (Apparently that wasn’t a word; it got a red underline. Well it is now.) Where I differ with the hopium addicts is on the subject of who is really in charge. It ain’t anyone we like.)
Justice Must Be Done.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless 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 is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
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.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
Tranheuser Busch
Those asshats either get the world, all time record for obtuseness…or this is deliberate somehow. And their namby pamby non-apology that amounts to a “We’re sorry you’re too much of a knuckledragger to appreciate what we did” simply underscores the stupid. It’d be like a 400 pound golfer wearing spikes tromping on your instep and being utterly clueless why you are screaming in pain.
Me
I wrote that five weeks ago, and they are casting about now trying to figure out how to get people to come back. However the one thing that might work (an abject admission that they were wrong to even think of doing this) is the one thing they cannot do. Because the decision makers are woke and cannot conceive that they were actually fuckheadedly wrong to do this.
Wow, gold and silver have been taking a beating lately! Market manipulation? Or just fake good news about the dollar?
The Number e
I brought this up a bit in my post on rocket science…but I want to hit it a bit harder this time. The number e is one of the most important in mathematics, at least as important as pi (π). And like π, it’s one of those annoying numbers that goes on forever after the decimal point, without falling into a repeating pattern.
It is approximately equal to: 2.718281828, but don’t be fooled, that “1828” only repeats once. The number goes on as: 2.71828182845904523536028747135266249775724709369995…
It’s used in exponential functions (ex) as well as logarithms, which is a curious thing.
(A logarithm is just the reverse of an exponential function. An exponential function represents the question, “what is e raised to some particular given power?” For example if the power is 2, the exponential is equal to e x e or 7.389056… A logarithmic function, on the other hand, represents the question, “to what power must I raise e to get a particular number” so that the logarithm of 7.39056… is 2.)
In both cases e is called the base of the exponential (or the logarithm).
If you’re going to go raising some number to the power of x, or computing the logarithm, wouldn’t it make sense to have a base be some nice clean number like, say, ten, instead of this number that only some schroom user would conjure up?
Where the heck does this e number come from?
Well, the story starts with interest.
(And any of my detractors reading this will note I finally wrote something with some interest in it.)
Put a dollar in the bank. This is a very unusual bank though; they pay 100% annual interest.
So you’d expect after a year, your dollar is now two dollars. Let it ride, and a year later (two years total) it is now four dollars. A year after that, it’s eight dollars, and so on.
But that assumes they calculate the interest only after one year has passed.
It’s actually much more common to compute (and pay) interest more often than that. As an example, let’s go with every six months.
After six months, half a year has passed, and so the interest paid should be 100 x ½ = 50 percent. So you get paid 50 cents after six months. After a year, another 50 cents, right? Wrong! Because the interest should be paid not on a dollar but on $1.50. So that payment should be 75 cents, not just 50 cents. And now your balance stands not at $2 as you might expect, but rather $2.25.
Clearly it’s quite beneficial to have interest paid as often as possible because it compounds like this. You’re being paid interest, on the interest you have been paid.
If this is done monthly, you get paid 8⅓ cents in interest the first month, then 9.02 cents the second month, etc. At the end of the year, you have $2.613035… in the bank account (and the banker will round to $2.61). If daily (and not a leap year), your first day’s interest payment is $0.002739726… cents (and the 02739726 repeats forever). After a year of compounding this tiny amount every day, you end up with a balance after the first year of $2.714567… which again the banker will round down to $2.71 should you withdraw it.
Note that going from annual to monthly gave you 61 cents more interest after a year, but going from monthly to daily only added a tiny bit over ten cents on top of that. Clearly the more finely you divide up your year, the smaller the additional benefit.
There’s a mathematical formula here to figure out how much interest you should get, given the rate for some time period and the number of subdivisions in that time period. We’ve simplified things a lot for these examples. Here’s the general formula without any of the simplifications (don’t worry, I’ll simplify it shortly):
A is the total balance after all of the interest has been paid. P is the principal…which in our example has been one dollar. The rate is r, in our example it has been 100% but 100% is equivalent to 1. Finally, n is the number of subdivisions, be it 12 or 365 or whatever. And t is the number of time periods. We’ve been just considering one year, once, so that is one also. Plugging all of these numbers in (except for n, because that’s the number we’ve been changing) we’re dealing with:
A = 1(1+1/n)n1
Or getting rid of all the redundant ones:
A = (1+1/n)n
So that’s the formula for the simplified cases I’ve been using as examples.
You can try different values of n with a calculator and verify the formula matches what I’ve been saying (not that that’s a rigorous proof), or you can puzzle it through and realize the formula describes the situation.
What happens if you make n very, very large…i.e., compound your interest lots and lots of times over the course of the year?
As it turns out the higher you raise n, the closer A gets to e. But you can’t make n infinity directly; because then the formula just becomes 1 raised to the power of infinity and the trend collapses. But you can stuff a gigantic number (like a 1 followed by a trillion zeros) in and you’ll get an answer very, very, very close to e.
The more frequently you do the compounding, the closer you get to continuously compounding, and the answer to that is, basically, e.
So you can go back to the original (unsimplified) formula, and turn it into a continuously compounding formula:
A = Pert
Where r is the rate (expressed as a fraction, not in percent), t is the number of periods of interest paid, and P is the starting principal. Of course, r and t can (and probably will be) non-whole numbers. So you have the odd situation of raising a number you can’t even express as a fraction, to a power that’s not an integer. Fortunately there are ways to deal with this.
Very fortunate, because mathematicians find that e is the “natural” choice for a base for both logarithms and exponentials, in fact the logarithm base e is the “natural logarithm” and is notated ln so going back to my example earlier, ln(7.389056) is 2. And when a mathematician talks about the exponential function, he means ex, not 10x or 2x or anything else. exp(2) is 7.389056. (In both cases, approximately!)
As it turns out, e shows up in all kinds of places in mathematics you wouldn’t expect to see it. I’m going to get to some in future posts perhaps, but here’s another as a bonus.
Let’s say you go to Vegas, and play the roulette wheel. You place a dollar on your lucky number, and you have one chance in 37 to win. (The numbers 1-36, plus the zero, are all equally likely outcomes.)
You lose, of course. You try again. And again, and again…37 times total.
What are the chances that you will never win any of those 37 times? Greater than zero, certainly. There’s no guarantee that your number will come up in the next two hundred spins of the wheel, much less the next 37 spins.
In general, the problem is like this: You have one chance in n of winning, and you try n times. For one trial, you chance of not winning is 1-1/n, i.e., the complement of your 1/n chance of winning. For your roulette wheel, it’s 36/37ths. For two trials, you can square that, (1-1/n)(1-1/n). And for more times, you raise (1-1/n) to that power. So for n times, it’s (1-1/n)n.
Which should look familiar.
It’s almost the same as that compound interest term, only it has a minus sign in it instead of a plus sign.
And it turns out if you make n really, really large in this formula (without going to infinity), you end up with 1/e. In other words, if it’s something very very unlikely, a one in a million chance but you play that same number of times (a million times), you have one chance in e of not winning ever. (Think about that as you play the lotto…if you do. One chance in 100,000,000? Well you might not win even if you play a hundred million times.)
OK, I said it was “natural” for mathematicians to use e for a base. Why is that? Well…it involves calculus. If that made your eyes glaze over just skip to the next paragraph. Suffice it to say, if you plot ex on graph paper, and want to know what the slope of the line is anywhere…the slope is ex. And the total area under that curve, up to x, is also ex. That sounds arcane to people who haven’t taken calculus, but to a calc student, it means that ex is its own derivative, the only function that has that property.
OK, so that’s an intro to the number e. A very inadequate one and certainly not terribly rigorous. But as I said it shows up in all kinds of odd places. More on that later.
The big question is whether this post had any interest.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
Whoever ends up in the cell next to his, tell him I said “Hi.”
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 His Fraudulency 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 gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white to a shaker and vigorously dry-shake (without ice) for about 15 seconds.
Add 3 or 4 ice cubes and shake vigorously until well-chilled.
Double-strain into a chilled Collins glass and top with club soda.
Harriet Hageman: “ Under Christopher Wray and Merrick Garland the FBI and the DOJ are broken. It’s politically weaponized against the American people using constitutionally protective rights as predicate to investigate and surveil people… [Democrats] will continue to gaslight us… pic.twitter.com/6dx3NT4i0o
For those out there who missed the House Committee hearing on the weaponization of the FBI, wow, there was a lot said.
The full event was well over three hours, so here are some highlights…and lowlights.
FBI Special Agent Garret O'Boyle was transferred across the country only to be suspended on his first day.
The FBI’s actions forced his family to beg and borrow warm coats for their children because the family’s belongings were locked in an FBI-controlled storage facility. pic.twitter.com/T7BseKr0cf
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) May 18, 2023
FBI Whistleblower: “ Despite my history of unblemish service to the United States the FBI suspended my security clearance, accusing me of actually being disloyal to my country. This outrageous and insulting accusation is based on unsubstantiated accusations that I hold… pic.twitter.com/lQDr0G0EHr
“That Is Not My Account, Maam” – EMBARRASSING. Idiot Democrat Makes Fool of Herself by Accusing Whistleblower of Running Twitter Account – But It’s Not His! (VIDEO) via @gatewaypundithttps://t.co/CD4cBlVJHt
— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) May 18, 2023
Also of note is Steve Bannon’s interview with Jim Caviezel about a range of topics.
Highlights:
Listen to Jim Caviezel lights up Bannons War Room throws with absolute fire and truth about the evil that has taken over our country. pic.twitter.com/LRVvG779iU
Jim Caviezel dropping truth bombs. He says you can't say the word andrenochrome without being canceled, you can't criticize George Soros, selections not elections, the pope is controlled by the Rothschilds, and he would lose his head for Christ speaking truth. 💥@KarliBonnitapic.twitter.com/lc9nufQQUZ
The Durham Report just proved the Left-wing agenda for the last 7+ years was not only a complete fabrication, but a vast treasonous conspiracy to brainwash the planet and overthrow the sitting POTUS.
If you took all the wealth in the world and divided it up evenly between every person within a month (and that is being generous), you will again have the rich and the poor. Human nature doesn't change. This is just another reason socialism always fails every time it's attempted.
“There needs to be criminal prosecutions… and now we have factual basis… The beauty of the report that’s come out, is it’s made it a beautiful package… They need to do a deep investigation… We need to see people being held accountable!” pic.twitter.com/qmdhqRrdD9
— TheStormHasArrived (@TheStormRedux) May 18, 2023
FBI Whistleblowers security clearances got all revoked for exposing corruption. Yet, somehow all 51 Intel officials that signed Hunter Biden laptop ‘disinfo’ letter still weren’t subpoenaed at all.
BOTTLED UP: @SenTedCruz explains why he's demanding a probe into Bud Light's ties with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. pic.twitter.com/ADzKOA3HM6
.@elonmusk your brownie points just went way up in my book. This smug punk who was lucky enough to get this interview is where the real divide comes from. The media tries to constantly divide to conquer. You will forever now be dubbed — Indigo Montoya! Onward and upward!!!… https://t.co/zVoRIItuUO
BREAKING: Former deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe refused to be interviewed by Durham's investigators even after Durham offered to narrow the scope of questions. Yet Durham never compelled the central Spygate figure to testify, issuing no subpoena to McCabe or his boss Jim Comey
A Fox News producer admits to the real reason why Tucker Carlson's show was canceled.@OKeefeMedia's R.C. Maxwell (@BlackHannity) joined @EmeraldRobinson to detail their latest findings.
The entire goal of the woke corporate monolith is to overwhelm you with the sense that they represent the inevitable victory of their ideology. They want to club you into acquiescence. Do not acquiesce.
Begin by picking battles and winning them (see, e.g., Bud Light). When…
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.
1Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! 2For the LORD, the Most High, is terrible, a great king over all the earth. 3He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. 4He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. [Selah] 5God has gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. 6Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
JOHN 16:20-23
20Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21When a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world. 22So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name.
SATIRE!
Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Worried Hunting And Gathering Is Eating Into His Work-Life Balance https://t.co/mmSasdkVKd
Cover image: Mount St. Helens, Washington, 8:32 am, May 18, 1980, photo by Gary Rosenquist from eleven miles away.
As promised, here is the video put together using Rosenquist’s 23-24 still shots demonstrating what happened on the morning of May 18, 1980, a day all of us remember.
Once the film was exposed, Rosenquist and the guy he was camping with got the heck out of there. A number of other photographers, and scientists perished in the explosion.
Let’s start by conspicuously not rehashing the Durham Report. If you’d like to be brought up to speed you can either read this recap by Ben Whedon and Natalia Mittelstadt at Just The News or you can accept this singular takeaway: A lot of bad people did bad things, but nobody’s going to jail and nothing is going to change as a result.
DP: The release of the Durham Report may well be to stoke outrage, actually. We have to be at the precipice, and we aren’t there yet.
Now that President Trump has been 100% exonerated by the Durham report, when will Adam Schiff be held accountable for the damage he has caused to our country? pic.twitter.com/T33yOkNXXz
— TheStormHasArrived (@TheStormRedux) May 16, 2023
During an MTV awards acceptance speech, actor Chris Pratt referenced that the United States was founded upon Christian principles: "Like the freedom that we enjoy in this country, that grace was paid for by someone else’s blood, do not forget it. Don’t take it for granted." pic.twitter.com/mSF0WkDXoc
— TheStormHasArrived (@TheStormRedux) May 17, 2023
Absolutely correct, and seems that certain governors like Ron DeLoser of Florida are angry that Trump put them in a position of having to take a stand on a subject they thought they could hide from. pic.twitter.com/BIoDhqcI6x
Matt Gaetz: 'The FBI Has Now Become a Disinformation and Election Interference Enterprise'
"The FBI and the Department of Justice were weaponized, and Trump was specifically targeted… It was an operation from beginning to end to fuse political opposition research from the DNC… pic.twitter.com/MLUPAM1dsu
“This is the most pernicious legacy of the pandemic: that most people appear to have accepted the fact that democratic norms and practices may be suspended in the name of ‘public threats’. In other words, the politics of emergency have been normalised.”https://t.co/LyScwoU4lo
Yeah, no. Most people now mistrust government and big medicine. That’s a good thing.
.@EPA wants to force radical Green New Deal policies on the American people without congressional approval. Yet, when given the opportunity to defend their new policies to the American people, they refuse.@RepPatFallon and witnesses discuss the outcome of this unilateral… pic.twitter.com/u0GX88iULh
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) May 17, 2023
NEW TODAY: @naysa_woomer84 of Santos campaign speaks a different tune behind closed doors.
Tell me again why they had Susannah Hoft with them?
____________________________________
And now for the business portion.
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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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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.
22And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, nor about your body, what you shall put on. 23For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his span of life? 26If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27Consider the lilies, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28But if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O men of little faith! 29And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of anxious mind. 30For all the nations of the world seek these things; and your Father knows that you need them. 31Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things shall be yours as well.
. 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
Cover image: Mount St. Helens and Spirit Lake prior to May 18, 1980.
Just a word of warning on today’s content: the Durham report is pretty much dominating the news, and, since it dropped on a Monday, as opposed to a Friday when news that is meant to die does, it will be with us all week as we see the DRIP DRIP DRIP of information given to the normies. Yes, we know this stuff. They don’t, or didn’t believe it before Monday. Some still will not believe it, I am sure.
You’re going to see a lot of doomers and black-pillers over the next several weeks to, well, forever.
But you’re also going to see people, such as myself, who are pretty much immune to dooming and black-pilling.
The anger and fear in you will tell you to align with the doomers and maybe even cause you to get mad at people like me who refuse to let anything break our spirit.
It’s not because we don’t see or understand the same things you do. It’s not because we are lazy or dense or dumb. It’s a matter of perspective and the determination to never, ever, EVER give up. No matter what. It’s a victory you can choose to give yourself that nothing and no one can take away.
With a winning spirit, we can actually fight harder and be MORE effective in our mission to wake people up and get this mess cleaned up. I promise you, you will never regret choosing to be unshakable in the face of anything, but you probably WILL regret giving in to fear and anger.
I have no judgement for people who are frustrated and pissed off. I get it! You are completely validated. But my encouragement for you would be to turn towards the people with hope right now rather than despair, because both are contagious. ♥️
Another small detail you may be missing. It’s Monday. Generally speaking, when the dark state is controlling a narrative they release these things on a Friday, late in the news cycle, so the media has the weekend to get the spin written and internally tested.
A Monday release of the Durham report means they have to report on the fly, and they have a whole week to deal with it.
Once they make their initial reaction plain today, they are going to have to stick to the direction they set.
CNN and Fox are already calling it like they see it. That’s news in and of itself.
I feel an odd weight of disappointment and slight confusion that Durham dropped a final report and is done after testifying. It comes from this not being what I expected or wanted.
However, I am not sad or bummed in the slightest.
I am stoked, giddy, thrilled and encouraged to see what is in this report. There’s so much here and in a sense we are closing a chapter (Durham SCO) so that we can open a new one (Post Durham Report).
Durham is telling THE story of the events he was tasked to investigate in this Report, just like he did in those indictments and filings. There are so many nuggets of information in this thing and we will see it cited over and over and over again going forward.
And the consequences that will come from this… whew. This is 300+ pages of ammo (figuratively) against the Deep State. Meticulously investigated and logged, compiled, organized and now presented.
This is 300+ pages of PAIN for [THEM]. (see drop)
All of us are right about some things and wrong about others and we ALL just took a massive leap towards finding out what we got right and what we got wrong with the delivery of this report.
Trump is absolutely vindicated by the Durham Report.
Today was a damn good day.
I’ve been threading about the Durham Report on Twitter at the link below. Will pick it up again tomorrow morning.
Trump’s ridiculous defamation verdict. Title 42 possibly being extended by a Florida judge last minute. The brilliant performance of Trump on the CNN Town Hall. Congress going after the Biden Crime Family and its complete blackout by the media. With so much going on, I was afraid anything put out this week might be ignored. But the truth is, so much of the news cycle is just hype. We are constantly manipulated into thinking something huge is about to happen and it doesn’t.
This was supposed to be the week everyone found out how corrupt the Bidens are, and hundreds of thousands were supposed to cross the border illegally. How many times do we need to be distracted by the shiny object before we realize the real work is being done behind the scenes? While Americans have seizures staring at the flashing, throbbing strobe light, the real change is occurring more subtly.
We seem to fall for it every time, and we are supposed to be the enlightened ones. It’s not just the left-leaning media that gaslights us; it’s our side as well. Does anyone think it’s a coincidence that Trump scheduled a Town Hall on CNN for the day after his verdict was supposed to come out? Does anyone think Trump didn’t know ahead of time the outcome of the verdict? The verdict just makes the Left look even more ridiculous; the Town Hall was an opportunity to showcase this.
DP: This is why emotional investment is dangerous.
From anon conservative: So the FBI unilaterally made up a cause so they could unleash CIA-like intelligence operations against a Presidential candidate to inflict upon us Hillary Clinton as President, and when that failed, they tried to take Trump down.
BREAKING: The FBI has been exposed for hiring private contractors to infiltrate and surveil on online chatrooms of people who opposed forced vaccinations and mask mandates, according to Lee Fang.
Biden is abusing his executive powers to cover up his own family’s illegal foreign business dealings, by halting and obstructing investigations into his own crimes via Hunter.
Marsha Blackburn: “Now we find out it was Hillary… who was cooking this plan up and then saying it was the Russians & blaming it on Donald Trump, when all along it was Hillary Clinton who was close to the Russians.”
Greg Gutfeld finally SNAPS, sends Fox Execs into PANIC MODE after destroying every approved narrative about Regime's election interference against Trump
The biggest treasonous scandal in U.S. history against a sitting President and "we the people" was exposed yesterday – and some people spent the entire day tweeting about DeSantis.
Talk about tone-deaf and out-of-touch.
If you can't give the primary a rest for just one day and…
So I was convicted of lying to Congress about " Russian collusion " that Special Counsel John Durham has now established never actually existed .Right. #WitchHunt
“After ten years, methane is broken down in a process called hydroxyl oxidation into CO2, entering a carbon cycle which sees the gas absorbed by plants, converted into cellulose, and eaten by livestock.”https://t.co/0vTyOtwb2g
The sugar industry paid prestigious Harvard scientists to publish research saying fat – not sugar – was a key cause of heart disease, newly unveiled documents reveal. https://t.co/zYZeO8AeGj
— Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis (@DrLoupis) May 16, 2023
Miller is piss and alcohol in general is haram, but saying it’s better for women to plant a garden than be a thot on a yacht taking loads has conservatives mad?
Y’all gonna have to show me the logic on that one.
Yesterday, President Biden announced Dr. Monica Bertagnolli as his intended nominee for Director of the NIH. Guess what? From 2015-2021, Bertagnolli received more than 116 grants from Pfizer, totaling $290.8 million. This amount made up 89% of all her. research grants.…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 16, 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.
1Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights! 2Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host! 11Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! 12Young men and maidens together, old men and children! 13Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above earth and heaven. 14He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the LORD!
JOHN 16:12-15
12“I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
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.
Oh, for Heaven’s sake, Sundance, this isn’t for us, it’s for the normies stuck in the neocon echo chamber.
Someone who is an actuary should be able to see this.
And now for what I saved up early this am:
“To cut to the chase, they’re coming & they’re coming hard… & you’re winning. If they didn’t know that Trump was the legitimate POTUS & they didn’t know that the People have empowered him to stand on that stage & take it — they would have BURIED this guy. And why I say the… https://t.co/wYnvOQZLSMpic.twitter.com/itFeoYgW7h
The blood of any of the migrants or any misery some of them cause others belongs squarely on the Biden administration, democrats, and any person who knowingly voted for Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/e0q6o8MkPV
You thought Elon was going to consciously strip the Deep State of their brainwashing and election interference tool, just to fumble the bag and hand the keys to someone he doesn’t trust/control?
Devin Nunes honors @GenFlynn live on stage tonight:
“He single-handedly turned that (Iraq) war around. He’s a top intelligence man in our generation…
Remember what they did to this man. He might not have been standing up here tonight if they would have got away with it.” pic.twitter.com/UwSfjnS4Vq
— TheStormHasArrived (@TheStormRedux) May 13, 2023
Megyn Kelly challenges Charlize Theron over drag queens: 'Why don't you come and f–k me up?' https://t.co/dGis21isZg via @nypost
— LaughLoveLive, identifies as Deplorable Patriot 🐞 (@LaughLoveLive1) May 13, 2023
Trailer park girl fight coming soon!
Elon is laughing at the Left and Right, because both sides seem to think Yaccarino is an agent of the other side.
The Left is fully convinced she’s a Q following insurrectionist, and the Right is fully convinced she’s a Satanic lizard person sacrificing babies to Moloch.… pic.twitter.com/dJUu3S7vfV
The Far-Left are angry that they lost control of the machine, and the Far-Right were under the impression that Elon was going to turn the machine back on the Left.
When the objective is to stop using the machine as a weapon altogether.
Watch this and you may come to the conclusion that the Biden border crisis is geared to turn America into a socialist country. What better way than to let people in who would depend on guaranteed income pic.twitter.com/nZl8fQXGiZ
The closer a nation orbits toward etatism and away from #capitalism, the graver the danger. Read more in new essay on Ludwig von Mises’ “Omnipotent Government”. And if you haven’t read Mises’ great work, pick it up.
The term "conspiracy theorist" was created by the CIA to stop the weak minded thinking too far outside of their box. They label anything they don't want people to believe as a 'conspiracy theory' and no one believes it. The fear of ridicule is a powerful antidote to free-thought.
Not with me. Never has been. As a woman with long hair who wears skirts, I have never fit in.
Yesterday, I was invited to attend Donald Trump’s Iowa Rally aboard Trump Force One with @DC_Draino & some others. Unfortunately due to weather, the rally was cancelled — but 45 had a backup plan. He invited us all back to Mar-a-Lago for lunch. (I was underdressed but Trump said… pic.twitter.com/I8d30YIvh8
“Hey Elon, I know you are numerically the most successful businessman/entrepreneur in the history of human civilization, but here is why I know more about running a company than you do!”
***insert WEF/Controlled Opposition comment here***
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.
22The crowd joined in attacking them; and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. 24Having received this charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one’s fetters were unfastened. 27When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30and brought them out and said, “Men, what must I do to be saved?” 31And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all that were in his house. 33And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds, and he was baptized at once, with all his family. 34Then he brought them up into his house, and set food before them; and he rejoiced with all his household that he had believed in God.
“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.
Satire
After Absorbing All His Haters' Powers, Trump Evolves Into Ultra MAGA Man https://t.co/4RYX3skoTM
And with the reaction to Miller Lite’s new ad regarding women in brewing, the day after men everywhere celebrated their mothers, it seems that priming the audience to a knife’s edge to see “wokeness” and trannies everywhere is at an all time high. And it’s dividing us.
For those who are late to the party, all the hub-bub is about this ad which dropped today and is being called “stupid” and “repetitive”:
Humans have been drinking beer for almost 7,000 years, and the original brewers were women. From the Vikings to the Egyptians, women brewed beer both for religious ceremonies and to make a practical, calorie-rich beverage for the home.
In fact, the nun Hildegard von Bingen, who lived in modern-day Germany, famously wrote about hops in the 12th century and added the ingredient to her beer recipe.
From the Stone Age to the 1700s, ale – and, later, beer – was a household staple for most families in England and other parts of Europe. The drink was an inexpensive way to consume and preserve grains. For the working class, beer provided an important source of nutrients, full of carbohydrates and proteins. Because the beverage was such a common part of the average person’s diet, fermenting was, for many women, one of their normal household tasks.
Some enterprising women took this household skill to the marketplace and began selling beer. Widows or unmarried women used their fermentation prowess to earn some extra money, while married women partnered with their husbands to run their beer business.
So if you traveled back in time to the Middle Ages or the Renaissance and went to a market in England, you’d probably see an oddly familiar sight: women wearing tall, pointy hats. In many instances, they’d be standing in front of big cauldrons.
They wore the tall, pointy hats so that their customers could see them in the crowded marketplace. They transported their brew in cauldrons. And those who sold their beer out of stores had cats not as demon familiars, but to keep mice away from the grain. Some argue that iconography we associate with witches, from the pointy hat to the cauldron, originated from women working as master brewers.
Just as women were establishing their foothold in the beer markets of England, Ireland and the rest of Europe, the Reformation began. The fundamentalist religious movement, which originated in the early 16th century, preached stricter gender norms and condemned witchcraft.
Male brewers saw an opportunity. To reduce their competition in the beer trade, these men accused female brewers of being witches and using their cauldrons to brew up magic potions instead of booze.
Unfortunately, the rumors took hold.
Over time, it became more dangerous for women to practice brewing and sell beer because they could be misidentified as witches. At the time, being accused of witchcraft wasn’t just a social faux pas; it could result in prosecution or a death sentence. Women accused of witchcraft were often ostracized in their communities, imprisoned or even killed.
Some men didn’t really believe that the women brewers were witches. However, many did believe that women shouldn’t be spending their time making beer. The process took time and dedication: hours to prepare the ale, sweep the floors clean and lift heavy bundles of rye and grain. If women couldn’t brew ale, they would have significantly more time at home to raise their children. In the 1500s some towns, such as Chester, England, actually made it illegal for most women to sell beer, worried that young alewives would grow up into old spinsters.
With those stricter gender norms, came the confiscation of convents, and women who were previously physicians, musicians, poets, brewers, etc., were told that they MUST be wives and mothers exclusively, but that’s a post for another time.
So, we have it established then, that before the commercialization of mass produced beer via mechanization and the assembly line models of production, women were kicked out of the beer business in some places. Don’t get me wrong on the big breweries: they are marvels of innovation. I live less than ten miles from one of the world’s largest and it is something to behold, but beer began as small batches as part of a woman’s work in the home.
From what some of us saw, that was the point of the Miller Lite ad. It gives a history lesson told by real women as many of us really look. Unlike with the Bud Light debacle, there were no trannies involved, nor were there scantily clad models. In fact, the scantily clad models – eye candy for men – were really rather denigrated by the real women. Most of us don’t look like that and would never entertain wearing a bikini.
Why these sorts of ads are coming out now might well be explained by a response to the ad itself:
So much of the bizarre world we see around us is the result of institutional capture—e.g. the capture of our corporations and advertising firms. But to understand these phenomena you also have to understand the power of the new social credit scores for corporations: CEI and ESG.
That being the case, of all of the “go woke” campaigns started of late, this one may be the least objectionable. At least there are no actual trannies, and someone finally objected to women in bikinis or scantily clad in advertising and atmospheres targeted at men.
I’m no feminist, but that has been a pet peeve for a long time.
What was striking about today’s experience with this ad and the reaction to it was just how much vitriol there was. It was like so many conservatives were on a hair trigger with the trans stuff being in our faces for over a month. People are seeing “woke” everywhere, even when, for once with these social credit scores, the truth is being told. Men from all corners of the internet claim the target market was insulted. How?
And what exactly is woke about telling history, and explaining how compost – even if profanity was used unnecessarily to describe it – helps to produce the grains needed to brew the product?
Is there a real problem with women being entrepreneurs in the microbrew business?
Before just condemning the whole micro-episode in the woke agenda implosion, those are questions worth asking.
P.S. St. Hildegard von Bingen mentioned in the Smithsonian article is worth a look for those interested in the history of the Middle Ages. She was a VERY accomplished woman.
As we left the previous part, our Bear Stearns loan buyer had made the overture to the bank owners to buy our division. We had proven our value to a well known Wall Street investment banking company. The owners green lighted their review of our operations after confidentiality/non-disclosure agreements were executed.
Legally representing our side in the new line of SBA 504 business was an accomplished Chicago area attorney who had handled the previous two loan pool sales for us. During the process we learned he represented the large, international Morgan Stanley operation through the years. After being involved in the sale of our two pools he asked me if I would be interested in having a conversation with them about our lines of business. I indicated we would once we had accumulated another $100 M pool. It was the summer of 2006 and we projected to be ready to do another in the first quarter of 2007. For now it was time to see if Bear and the bank’s owners could make a deal.
NYC Here I Come
Big cities give me the willies and NYC breaks me out in hives. I have never faulted others for loving it and I can understand the attraction. However, when I walked those streets and dealt with the people on the Street through the years I felt like I was in a very strange land. My stays could not end quickly enough. Sort of like how Jim Croce sang…
I had long moved past ever desiring to progress in my career to working on the Street. Thankfully the visits were short at this point in my life. We even have close family on my wife’s side living on Long Island on the south shore in Islip. Doesn’t matter. Love them and wish them well. They can have it.
Due to the congestion and commute time being shorter I flew into Newark. Our loan buyer was there to pick me up and we headed to the hotel to check in. We had a full schedule over two days and it started that very afternoon meeting hedge fund managers that purchased Bear’s Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) securities. We were prepared and the meetings went well. The primary points of the conversations concerned our underwriting methodology and abilities to process loan closings quickly and correctly with our own legal staff coordinating title companies and attorneys. They were reassured of the later when I explained we had previously hired a rising star of the Jones Day law firm from their original Cleveland, OH headquarters who was born and raised in east TN. I toured through each operation briefly to get a feel for their capacity and appetite for what we did. That evening the loan buyer and I enjoyed a good steak dinner at a local hotspot and turned in for the night.
The next morning it was off to meet with the Bear execs. Their 47 floor world headquarters had opened a few years before on Madison Avenue. It was very impressive. I was given a short tour along with brief introductions to some of the managers on the Asset Based Securities (ABS) side. Lunch was held in the corporate dining area before formal meetings with the ABS execs as well as a couple of the corporate execs/Board members. It was during the private meetings that followed with the ABS execs that worked with the CDOs with whom we had most involvement that things got squirrelly.
Could not resist…
Dem yankees would never catch the humor in that one.
The first thing they did was call in their favorite shoe shine guy. As we all sat around in the top dog’s office he had the guy shine their shoes and wanted him to do mine. Which was weird because the exec commented that he noticed I was wearing new classic J&M wing tips. Apparently this was a ritual they did several times per week before or after lunch. Frankly, the way they acted and treated the shoe shine guy was off putting to me. That the big dog even noticed my shoes said more about him than it did me.
We started talking business and they probed my brain for secrets to our success and what our expectations and needs were. He asked how much loan volume we could provide annually from Knoxville in a somewhat skeptical way, as in what could the hillbillies in the south ever have that we would want. I responded that we could do as much as they were willing to fund. He acted surprised and looked at the loan buyer, who nodded and said, “He’s not kidding.” The buyer told him what the current global market for the product was, which was expected to grow strongly with the appropriations resolution that I helped negotiate. I told him we had every aspect of national operations covered with quality managers and staffing that were well trained and an operations platform that could deliver. We had a great relationship with elected officials, SBA, USDA and regulators. I then reminded him he probably already knew that from the Fitch and consultant’s reports he had been provided.
He started laughing and looked at my loan buyer. He said, “You guys are two peas in a pod.” He softened his attitude a bit and thanked us for the business we were giving them. He told me he looked forward to pursuing a deal. We moved to the office of the exec over the department in which we had involvement. It was one of the people named in this article:
It was during our conversations, which were cordial and much more down to earth with just the three of us, that I was asked a loaded question about a different industry than ours, but whose loans were included in the same CDOs as our loans. Baron knew that there were large residential mortgage pooling operations as their primary lines of business that also were licensed to do SBA and USDA loans. He asked me my thoughts about several sub-prime residential mortgage lenders such as New Century, American Home and Bayview Financial. I had limited knowledge of New Century, however, what I knew was not good. I knew nothing about American Home. I knew a great deal about Bayview. Bayview was a major bottom feeder in our industry. They were sloppy, incomplete, probably fraudulent underwriters of credit. We would not hire their former employees. I told him that in my opinion their no-income verification subprime residential mortgage loans would be a major issue if Bear did not bake in very high loan loss provisions into the tranches as well as more room in the mortgage interest rates the loans charged that they bought. Many of Bayview’s appraisers of properties were bad news, the values would be inflated to make deals happen. We knew about the appraisal value problems from taking second mortgage positions on the homes of small business owners as collateral in our financing. We had our own issues with obviously inflated values from many of the same shared appraisers. In addition, without personal income verification they would be exposed to unqualified borrowers buying overvalued properties in overheated markets. I specifically remember telling him to run from them.
The blood rushed from his face and he turned white as a ghost. Oopsie. My loan buyer sat quietly and observed. Baron recovered and began talking specifics about our operations, but you could tell he was still clearly shook. We discussed he and his spouse’s recent visit to our area to the classy, elite Blackberry Farms and finished our business with each other, which closed out the meetings with Bear.
The loan buyer spoke briefly with everybody while I waited. We then walked back to the hotel and he began laughing uncontrollably. He said Baron had run back to the Big Dog’s office to tell him what I said about Bayview. He said they had been buying large volumes of pooled subprime residential mortgage loans for their CDO tranches they sold to the hedge funds. My response was that if they did not want to know honest answers to their questions they should not ask.
My intention was to fly back to Knoxville the next morning, however, with business matters completed I checked on flights as soon as I got back to my room. I was pleasantly surprised that a redeye direct flight home had a seat available. I made the arrangements, packed up, caught a cab and headed to Newark. I called the loan buyer and thanked him for all of his efforts. He promised to fill me in on the results in a couple of days. He felt good about how things went.
The Offer
The loan buyer called a couple of days later and gave me the name of a Bear analyst I would be working with for the acquisition discussions. He said they definitely wanted to pursue it. So I guess causing Baron severe heartburn that day did not work against us. In the back of my mind I could not help but wonder about how awful their understanding of credit was.
***** Critical Point To Understand *****
We are going to jump ahead in the timeline to make a serious point that will help with the rest of the BIMD story as well as the real world today. There is something important for readers to understand with all you see in the news about big banks in trouble and Wall Street activities. My loan buyer had correctly warned me before the NYC visit that investment bankers rarely understood the underlying credit of loans. They are profiteers and deal makers, not credit officers. The term “credit” means something totally different to them. As a result they are fully dependent upon the ratings of pools of loans by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch – The Big Three who do 95% of the ratings. The major investment banking firms did not invest big into hiring staff that had the expertise necessary to audit the credit worthiness of the underlying assets. As an example, at Bear their internal review of individual loans was random audit style by a young analyst working his/her way up the system. They took only a cursory look at some of the deals themselves and really did not know what they were seeing. The analytical staff worked off the statistics of the average performance of similar pools of loans in Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) over time and built that into their formulas in the investments. The pressure to turn deals quickly was more of a concern than knowing the underlying quality of the securities they sold. They would take the Big Three ratings at face value and make the deals happen.
So when Baron nearly tossed his cookies in front of me that day, he was revealing he had no idea he was being fleeced on the credit of the underlying assets (loans) by Bayview that were being pooled for CDO’s and sold to Bear’s best customers in the hedge funds. As we learned from the various autopsies of Bear’s collapse through the years, this was also true with the other subprime lenders in their stable. For what it is worth, Bayview is international and still around today. They may have cleaned up their act, but I have no idea and do not care.
Think about that scenario and place yourself into the seats of the Bear execs. You are unwittingly screwing over your best customers while they are dependent upon you doing your job well with billions of dollars at stake. Not good. If you are the Bear Chairman at that time, Jimmy Cayne, you are spending your days off playing in bridge tournaments or golfing with no cell phone on you for your staff to contact. Too busy playing the dog and enjoying life to take care of business. That was a job for others to do.
So take it a step farther. Who are your customers in the hedge funds? Oops. Many of the customers are not American and not institutions. Some of the invested funds are from other business people, investors and leaders in other countries with “expectations”, especially when it comes to preservation of the capital they have invested. Some of them are not very nice people, like Chi-coms, Saudis, criminals and such.
Understanding that, we logically move one more step forward. If the parties that invest into a hedge fund with expectations of decent capital preservation and a good return on investment (ROI) learn they are upside down in their investment, they are not going to be happy. If you are responsible for this situation due to incompetence or lack of doing due diligence, you are probably preparing to make a hasty exit if you are not fired first. You may even consider doing something unethical or illegal to cover the “mistake” to preserve your income and lifestyle – or continue breathing.
That’s the real world, folks.
As a result, there is/was an unwritten rule in their line of business. You make the tranche holders of a MBS whole if it goes off the rails by refinancing it into a CDO that was combined with other assets such as bonds and other MBS investments. It is an in and out such that the holders suffer minimal to no losses on the original securities they purchased even if the ROI is watered down. Tranches are sold and the risk/reward is determined by the probability of default of the underlying investments in the CDO. The customers also understand they are not to take losses on their investments in the highly rated tranches. If they take losses they never do business with the company again. If you work for the investment bank who brought an underperforming CDO to market that suffered loss in the mid to low risk tranches; you do everything you can to eat the loss. You are not legally responsible, but you do it to protect your relationships with your good customers. In doing so, your investment bank loses money on those transactions.
Which leads back to the rating of pools by The Big Three. As I previously posted, Fitch was the one who put in the effort to understand our business and the underlying credit of the loans themselves. Moody’s was a complete zero – totally uninterested and just went through the motions. They rated our assets at BBB, the same as subprime residential mortgages. A 55% or less loan to value commercial real estate loan made to a profitable business with a good balance sheet is not a BBB risk by any measure. S&P was more interested, just not as enthused with the small global market of the product. There was not enough loan volume to gain their interest, so we never received or pursued the rating. Fitch was all over it and asked really good questions about the credit, industries, etc. When they gave the first small pool an A with a promise to increase it to AA in the next pool if the first pool was executed well, which they later honored; we knew we had our rating agency.
Bear liked Fitch a great deal, but used all three based on the desires of their customers. So when the broader market for CDO’s got in trouble in the national economic collapse a little over a year later, the execs would hide behind the ratings of The Big Three as their excuse. Which should tell about anybody that The Big Three were not all that sporty at understanding credit and the loans they rated either. They simply did not put in the work. Add in they needed contracts with the investment bankers to make money for themselves and stay in business. They did not necessarily have clean hands in all they represented.
Well, guess what happened in 2006 when Goober Gump hit NYC and Baron’s office at Bear? He arrived during the height of the shenanigans of rating billions of dollars of subprime pools of residential mortgage loans at BBB or A in the higher risk levels of the tranches of the CDO’s. In truth, many of those underlying assets were garbage in overheated markets, they just did not know it yet. Which speaks to how ridiculously bad their understanding of lending type credit was. That is until Goober in his own unusual way gave them advance warning. Which I am very sure they ignored and conveniently forgot as they began pointing fingers at everybody else less than a year later.
I hope you are grasping a reality with this story. Supposedly intelligent, business savvy people with Ivy League educations and elite contacts with other wealthy people worldwide were total simpletons in regard to understanding the real product they sold. They committed no time or brain cells to it. They simply could not be bothered with knowing more about the goose that laid the golden eggs. They were too busy killing it with pressure and greed. All of it encouraged by corrupt politicians following orders from their puppet masters, building the traps that ensnare the unwise and gullible.
Greed breeds unwise decisions. Success can breed laziness and inattention to detail. Power corrupts. Trusting the untrustworthy leads to ruin. All of that is included in scripture. Perhaps we should pay attention?
The sad thing is the real, evil worldly powers of this world know it and use it. They establish the systems and orchestrate the situations that lead to the melt downs. They create the booms and busts that lead to the excesses and failures. They position their resources to capitalize on the misery and seize even more power.
As a result; fast forward, rinse and repeat in 2023.
Return To The Story
Back at home I had numerous conversations with Bear’s assigned analyst. The conversations were some of the best I held with them. He was knowledgable and asked good questions. He was not condescending like their execs and did not lie or make things up. One day he called to give me a heads up that an offer would be going out in a week to the owners. We had reviewed and negotiated over the true cash flow of our division the previous week. They had also reviewed our projections should we be capitalized and funded appropriately. For perspective, exclusive of our profits, the rest of the bank made $2 – 2.4 M pretax historically over many years. In our division’s second full year of operations in 2005 we contributed $5.5 M pretax net income after their arbitrarily high, internally charged cost of funds, normal capital allocation and ridiculous administrative overhead charges for almost no services the bank provided. The later was intended to make the core bank look like it was doing better than it actually was. At the time of the purchase negotiation with Bear we were nearing 2006 FYE, which a few months later resulted in $7 M of pretax net income with the bank’s executive overhead increased by another $400 K. Due to projected sales growth for 2007, we had not budgeted net income to increase significantly above 2006 FYE. The net income growth would occur the following year as a large volume of construction loans went into permanent financing and the loans sold, which occurred as a function of emphasizing the SBA’s 504 loan program on commercial real estate.
The starting offer from Bear was going to be $19 M. I negotiated with him a bit and he stated their bottom line was $21 M, which I agreed was reasonable at three times annual cash flow. I told him I was not wanting to be involved, that if they were successful with the owners I would enjoy working with him and if not we would still be doing business with our loan sales.
It was a reasonable offer; especially for a bank with only $550 M in assets and a little over $2 M in net income without us. With the funds they would be able move into some major statewide markets with branch expansion while retooling their operations platform to better serve their customer bases with more technologically advanced products than they currently offered.
🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣😂😂
That is all we could do when we learned that the owners demanded Bear pay them $110 M for our purchase. The analyst called me with the results and I nearly fell out of my chair. He was serious. He said the owners were indignant in their responses. We wished each other well and said goodbye. I talked with our loan buyer and we just laughed about it. It demonstrated just how greedy and unsophisticated they were as owners of the bank. So business continued as usual as if none of it had ever happened.
As we were accumulating loans for our next pool sale a couple of months later in early 2007 the loan buyer called and said he was getting uncomfortable with how things were going at Bear. He wanted to know if we still had a home for him. He detected liquidity issues as some of the CDOs were in trouble and securities were getting difficult to sell. As a result they were lowering his pricing on buying SBA 7(a) guaranteed loans from lenders nationwide. I confirmed with the owners and we all agreed to hire him. He would be over loan sales and the bank’s treasury investment portfolio. He had other buyers for our loans and would be working for our best interests now. He would be working for us in the next pool sale to Bear, so we knew what the purchase offer should be.
This was my first concrete indication that all things were not well on the Street.
Conclusion
I hope this has helped folks understand what actually happens on the Street within some areas of the financial industry. The odd and somewhat disheartening thing is so many of the scoundrels never really get in trouble and end up being hired by a crony to do the same things they did before. They all run in the same circles and go to the same parties. Their kids go to the same private schools and they eat at the same restaurants and clubs. They talk the same talk, walk the same walk, look down on the peasants, and live lavishly. The whole thing is an incestuous mess existing in an echo chamber.
A few of the people I encountered were good hearted; they were just caught up in the mess and did not know why, how or when to exit. Many later rebounded in their careers such as Baron did. He remained married to the residential mortgage industry – the same industry that is doing the same things it did 15 years ago.
I wonder if any of them is feeling a little deja vu all over again as the economy craters and the winds of war blow harder?
Thanks for reading and hold on as Goober continues his ride.
(@ImMeme0) 
