“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
Joe Biden never won. This is our Real President – 45, 46, 47.
AND our beautiful REALFLOTUS.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
OK – this will take a while to explain, but I’ll try to be brief.
I wanted to do a Hanukkah post – especially because Hanukkah 2024 has the unusual aspect of starting on Christmas (Western Christmas, that is) this year. Yes – Hanukkah runs from sundown on December 25, 2024 until sundown on January 2, 2025.
Now, you may have noticed that I spelled Hanukkah “wrong” in the title. Well, the holiday turns out to have 24 different “wrong” spellings! I simply picked the one that celebrated “X” the most!
Since the time for this debate is nearing: The right way to spell Hanukkah is to change the spelling of Channuka each time that you mention Xanukah. Khannike is a delightful holiday (get it?) when one eats fried foods and remembers miracles. Mark your calendar, Janice is coming!
I wanted to do two posts – an extra Xanukah post, and a post about the Grok AI now being free. And then I needed to do the Christmas post, but thankfully Aubergine did that, so I only had to do those two posts. And THEN I got the idea to combine them!
As to the point about the Grok AI, I was seeing ads on X for Grok now being free. Like this one.
A few days ago, I decided to try it. I clicked on the ad when I saw it, and it took me right to Grok. So I asked Grok a question.
What follows is the answer that was returned in under 15 seconds.
15 web pages
The image you’re referring to likely depicts a black hole, specifically showcasing the visual phenomenon known as the “photon ring.” Here’s an explanation of why this object appears differently from most ringed planets:
Shape and Appearance: Unlike planetary rings which are composed of particles orbiting a planet in a relatively flat plane, the shape in your image is due to the unique gravitational effects of a black hole.
Photon Ring: The bright ring you see is not a physical structure but an optical effect. It’s caused by photons (light particles) that orbit the black hole multiple times due to extreme gravitational lensing before escaping towards the observer. This results in a ring-like structure that appears around the black hole’s shadow. The light from the accretion disk or material around the black hole bends in the intense gravity, creating this luminous ring. The thickness and brightness of this ring can vary based on the black hole’s mass, spin, and the viewing angle.
Black Hole’s Shadow: Inside this photon ring is the black hole’s shadow, which is essentially the silhouette of the event horizon—the point beyond which no light or matter can escape. This shadow appears dark because any light or matter that crosses the event horizon cannot be seen from outside. The size of the shadow is roughly twice the size of the event horizon, making it larger than what you might expect just by looking at the black hole itself.
Difference from Planetary Rings: Planetary rings are made of ice, dust, and rock particles that orbit the planet due to its gravity but remain within a certain band due to stable orbits. A black hole’s photon ring, however, is an effect of spacetime curvature, where light paths are significantly altered around the black hole, creating an illusion of a ring. This is not due to physical material distribution but how light travels in the extreme gravity of a black hole.
Scientific Significance: The imaging and study of such phenomena help in understanding general relativity, black hole physics, and the behavior of matter and light in extreme gravitational fields. The first direct image of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope, was of M87’s black hole and showed this very ring, confirming theoretical predictions about how black holes should appear.
This visual representation is a testament to the bizarre effects predicted by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, where gravity can bend light to such an extent that we observe phenomena like the photon ring.
photon ring theory
gravitational lensing
OK – that was cool. So I decided to ask it another question that’s relevant today, and would take me a while to search.
Grok – please explain why Hanukkah normally happens before Christmas (December 25), but it happening after Christmas this year.
25 web pages
10 posts
Hanukkah normally occurs before Christmas because it follows the Hebrew calendar, which is lunisolar. Here’s how it works:
Hebrew Calendar: Hanukkah begins on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev. The Hebrew calendar is based on both lunar and solar cycles, with months starting with the new moon. Because lunar months are about 29.5 days long, there are roughly 12 lunar months in a solar year, but this cycle is shorter than the solar year, causing a drift. To realign the calendar with the solar year, an extra month (a second Adar) is added approximately every three years in a 19-year cycle. This adjustment ensures that holidays like Hanukkah maintain their seasonal timing.
Gregorian Calendar: In contrast, the Gregorian calendar, which is solar-based, has a fixed date for Christmas on December 25. Since the Hebrew and Gregorian calendars do not align perfectly, the date of Hanukkah on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, typically falling between late November and late December.
This year, in 2024, Hanukkah starts at sundown on December 25 and continues until January 2, 2025, due to the specific alignment of the lunar and solar calendars. It’s a rare occurrence for Hanukkah to begin on or after Christmas Day:
Rare Coincidence: The last time Hanukkah started on Christmas Day was in 2005, and it won’t happen again until 2035. This is because the Hebrew calendar’s leap year system occasionally pushes Hanukkah later into December, sometimes even into January, but rarely this close to or after Christmas.
Leap Year Influence: The Jewish calendar’s leap year, where an extra month is inserted, can shift Hanukkah’s timing on the Gregorian calendar. In a year like 2024, the leap year effect has resulted in Hanukkah starting later than usual, thus coinciding with or following Christmas.
In summary, the variable nature of the Hebrew calendar’s lunisolar system causes Hanukkah’s date to shift relative to the fixed solar-based Gregorian calendar, leading to this rare occurrence where Hanukkah begins after Christmas.
Hebrew calendar leap years
Other lunisolar calendars
WELL – that was excellent. Grok really gives nice answers – and FAST.
Recently, I accidentally discovered that a long-held belief of mine was very likely untrue! As I sure you all can identify with, this was somewhat disconcerting. Who likes to be wrong? But I am a researcher, and accepting what one finds when researching is imperative. I thought I would share what I found out with you all, since it is Christmas, and that is crux of the matter.
I thought for many years that Jesus was not really born on Christmas Day. That day was chosen, I believed, because pagan cultures already celebrated on that day, and Christianity wanted to include (subsume, some would say) those religions. This is called the “History of Religions” theory.
There was Saturnalia, for example, celebrated originally on December 17, and later from the 17th through the 23rd; and the December 25 holiday Sol Invictus (the Unconquered or Invincible Sun). The earliest reference I had seen to the celebration of Jesus birth on December 25 was in 354 AD. It is from Depositio Martirum of the Chronography of 354, and reads:
‘December 25, Christ is born in Bethlehem of Judea.’
However, I was to find that this is NOT the earliest that such a thing was suggested, by a long shot!
I stumbled across this reference to Hippolytus, who in his day attempted to date every Passover all the way back to the date of the Creation, and the first Passover full moon (he believed God created the moon in the “full” phase). To do this, Hippolytus created a “lunar table.” A statue of him was discovered in Rome in 1551 AD and now sits in front of the Vatican Library. On the right side of the statue is a carving of this lunar table, taken from Hippolytus’ Canon, written in 222 AD.
This lunar table was designed to calculate the dates of past and future Passover full moons, by determining the date of the full moon occurring on the Vernal Equinox. The date of this Equinox was fixed on March 25 in the Julian Calendar. This turned out to be more difficult than Hippolytus thought, and his calculations went awry within just three years of calculating the dates.
However, that is not the point of discussion here. The point is, Hippolytus noted two things in his Canon; one, that the Passion of Jesus occurred on Friday, March 25, 29 AD. The second is, he wrote that the “genesis” of Christ occurred on April 2, 2 B.C. The word for “genesis” here is γένεσις. There is debate on whether this word means conception or birth, but given what I have read in the last week, I am strongly inclined to the former meaning. Researcher Thomas C. Schmidt has done a fantastic study of this. You can read the research here; I highly recommend it:
This was my starting point, but I branched out when I realized there were others who believed early on that Jesus was conceived on or about March 25. In 221, Julius Africanus, the Roman Christian historian, wrote that Jesus was conceived on March 25, the anniversary of the day Africanus believed God created the Earth. This would logically, given a nine-month gestation period, put Jesus’ birth on December 25.
So, there are now two sources who believed Jesus was born on December 25, as early as 221 AD. Is there an even earlier source? Turns out, it looks like there is!
Clement of Alexandria calculated Jesus birth backwards (what a way to figure, but whatever) from the death of the Emperor Commodus, thusly:
From the birth of Christ, therefore, to the death of Commodus are, altogether, 194 years, 1 month, 13 days.
This would put Jesus’ birth on January 6. It is still celebrated on that date by the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Clement continues:
“And there are those who have determined our Savior’s genesis not only the year, but even the day, which they say took place in the twenty-eighth year of Augustus on the 25th of Pachon…
And treating of his passion, with very great accuracy, some say that it took place in the sixteenth year of Tiberius, on the 25th of Phamenoth, but others the 25th of Pharmuthi and others say on the 19th of Pharmuthi the Savior suffered.
Indeed, others say that he came to be on the 24th or 25th of Pharmuthi.”
The important word in there is “genesis,” most likely meaning conception. The translation of “genesis” as conception is consistent with Clement’s usage of this word in other contexts, for example:
“It is not therefore frequent intercourse by the parents, but the reception of it [the seed] in the womb which corresponds with genesis.” (Clement of Alexandria Stromata 3.12.83.2)
The 25th of Pharmuthi coincides with the Vernal Equinox in the Egyptian calendar and also matches one of the possible dates which Clement gives for the Passover of Jesus’ crucifixion.
This shows that in the time Clement wrote his Stromata, between 198 and 203 AD, where this information appears, there were already people who believed that Jesus was conceived on or about March 20-21, or on the Vernal Equinox.
What we know about the pagan holiday Saturnalia is, it was originally a one-day celebration on December 17. It was later extended to December 17-23. This is one celebration that has been suggested as a reason why Christians decided to put Jesus’ nativity on December 25, but this holiday never fell on that date.
A December 25th holiday, Sol Invictus, was instituted in 274 AD by the Emperor Aurelian, who made this the primary god of Rome.
“The festival of Sol Invictus on the 25th December in the later Roman empire combined the festivals of both the old sun god (Sol Indiges) and the new official sun god (Deus Sol Invictus). The Circus Maximus had been dedicated to Sol Indiges since ancient times, and then was dedicated to Sol Invictus. The Roman emperor Aurelian created the cult of Sol Invictus during his reign in AD 270-275 (in the 3rd century) and, on his coins, Sol was described as ‘Dominus Imperii Romani’, the official deity of the Roman empire.”
It has been suggested over the centuries that the “chosen” date of December 25 as the birth of Jesus was in response to the imposition of Sol Invictus. However, given that we know that 75-50 years PRIOR to Sol Invictus being instituted, Christian leaders believed Jesus was born on December 25, it is just as likely that Aurelian instituted the holiday against the Christian belief! This is actually more likely in my opinion, given the facts that: a) Romans were inclined to incorporate the gods of conquered cultures into their belief systems and had done so for centuries; and b) by the time of Jesus, Jews had been admonished against the practice of including foreign gods in their culture for literally thousands of years. This was almost the entire background cause of sin in the Old Testament.
This theory, that Jesus’ birth date was not chosen to subsume another religion’s holiday, but was instead “calculated” by early Church leaders from the Creation of the world, or from the dates of Passover full moons, is called the “Calculation Theory.”
This theory does not prove that Jesus was actually born on December 25, but rather it does strongly suggest, at least to me, that the date of his birth was NOT chosen in response to a foreign religion, but in accordance with the beliefs and dates spelled out in God’s Word, the Old Testament. Hippolytus used the dates in the Old Testament to calculate the years from the Creation to the birth of Jesus, as did Clement of Alexandria.
From Hippolytus Chronicon:
(§686) . . . from Adam until the transmigration into Babylon under Jeconiah, 57 generations, 4,842 years, 9 months. (§687) And after the transmigration into Babylon until the generation [generatio] of Christ, there were 14 generations, 660 years, and from the generation [generatio] of Christ until the Passion there were 30 years and from the Passion up until this year which is year 13 of the Emperor Alexander, there are 206 years. (§688) Therefore all the years from Adam up until year 13 of the Emperor Alexander make 5,738 years. Chronicon §686-688
It is quite notable to me that there is a “9 months” period stated in this calculation, the span of human gestation. From Schmidt:
“Hippolytus only gives extraneous months on two occasions, once in §654 where he adds six months to David’s reign, and in §675 where he states that Jehoahaz reigned three months.”
So it is a rare case in his calculations to include months at all. The possible reasons for the nine month addition, how the translation of one word [generatio] affects the interpretation of it, and much more is found in Thomas C. Schmidt’s excellent research linked up above, if you want to read it.
I still don’t know for certain that Jesus was actually born on December 25. But I DO know that early Christians, based on their calculations of when God created the Earth, and when Passover full moons occurred and their dates, almost certainly believed that He was. And for now, that is good enough for me!
Joe Biden never won. This is our Real President – 45, 46, 47.
AND our beautiful REALFLOTUS.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Joe Biden didn’t win.
And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.
Wolfie’s Wheatie’s Word of the Week:
vicegerent
noun
acting in place of another
having delegated authority
not the same as a viceregent, although similar
Used in a sentence
A viceregent is a ruler acting in place of a monarch, while a vicegerent is an appointed representative of a higher authority, often with broader administrative duties.
Now I seem to recall Rand Paul’s name associated with Festivus, and I never quite got it, until this news report. Stay with it for at least a minute. LMAO!!!
Well, DOGE-GONE, it’s BARBIE!
I’m sorry, but Festivus has me in the mood to play my favorite song!
In case you’re wondering what a “ferrocell” is, there’s a fascinating paper describing how one works.
The beauty of this song – other than simply being well-done, is that in some pleasing ways, the actual science of sunlight shining on the orbiting moon, blocked by its own orbiting mass, corresponds with, and maybe even transforms through the “crackpot matrix” to, the dithering of Mr. (at)witsit about ferrocells and whatnot.
Between “real” science and “pseudo” science, I’m falling in love with the crazy beauty of this universe!
Good night, good morning, good day, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Joe Biden never won. This is our Real President – 45, 46, 47.
AND our beautiful REALFLOTUS.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Joe Biden didn’t win.
And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.
Wolfie’s Wheatie’s Word of the Week:
coprophagous
Yes, this word randomly came up in my word source, and I decided to tough it out and keep it. I have never wimped out on a word, and I’m not starting now. So YES. And YUCK.
adjective
eating feces
Used in a sentence
To the AWFULs who destroy innocent patriotic families – Don’t just “be offended”, as Matt Gaetz would say. Be coprophagous!
Shown in a picture (in as “purty” a fashion as possible)
Shown in a video
MUSIC!
DePat said something about she and others all yelling “the cranberries” at the same time.
Well – SOMEBODY was listening!
AND – just for the heck of it – I have to add my new favorite song!
Yes, I may be a hillbilly, and I may have voted for the outlaw and the hillbilly, but I can take a joke, and this song, like Elon Musk, has…..
Joe Biden never won. This is our Real President – 45, 46, 47.
AND our beautiful REALFLOTUS.
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Joe Biden didn’t win.
And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.
Wolfie’s Wheatie’s Word of the Week:
urbiculture
noun
cultivation or development of urban life
the practices and problems peculiar to cities or to urban life
the way of life characteristic of cities
urban culture
Used in a sentence
Is wokeism a natural part of modern urbiculture, or is it a special pathology thereof?
Shown in a picture by Gab’s “wokester” AI, “Woke Gemini”
Apparently shown in a video (by searching on the word)
MUSIC!
SO – the DDG search “urbiculture music” weirdly brings back mostly videos of Ethiopian music, but it also brought back this ambient Greek and Mediterranean music with accompanying scenic photography. Enjoy!
This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).
Our various sister sites, listed in the Blogroll in the sidebar
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Joe Biden didn’t win.
And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.
Wolfie’s Wheatie’s Word of the Week:
zymotechnics
noun
the art of fermentation
fermentation technology
Used in a sentence
If one considers Pasteur and zymotechnics to be ancestral to modern biotechnology, then surely Liebig and early organic chemistry are foundational to modern pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and medicinal chemistry. (Derived from THIS LINK.)
Shown in a picture, sorta, kinda, hey, look! A squirrel!
Shown in a Soviet Uzbek film – no, wait – that’s not….. whatever!
MUSIC!
Well, now that we’re committed to the theme…..
UGH. Think I’ll have a sparkling water!
THE STUFF
If you want to see how much bad science is out there, just watch this lady review a scientific paper that was getting some “wowee” buzz.
You don’t have to understand the equations – just assume for the moment that she knows what she’s talking about (this is her area of science).
But notice that the opposite should also be true (and she says it). Some valuable gems get lost in the trash as well. Good science is increasingly not noticed, until it is rediscovered a second or third time and somehow gets more attention.
This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure your opinion addresses the issue only, and does not confront or denigrate the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
God is in Control . . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . . Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” . . . “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Faith and Hope
Faith and hope are distinct yet related. That there is a difference between faith and hope is evident in 1 Corinthians 13:13, “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Two of the three greatest gifts are faith and hope, listed separately. That faith and hope are related concepts is seen in Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is confidence in what we hope for.”
Faith is a complete trust or confidence in something. Faith involves intellectual assent to a set of facts and trust in those facts. For example, we have faith in Jesus Christ. This means we completely trust Jesus for our eternal destiny. We give intellectual assent to the facts of His substitutionary death and bodily resurrection, and we then trust in His death and resurrection for our salvation.
Biblical hope is built on faith. Hope is the earnest anticipation that comes with believing something good. Hope is a confident expectation that naturally stems from faith. Hope is a peaceful assurance that something that hasn’t happened yet will indeed happen. Hope must involve something that is as yet unseen: “Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?” (Romans 8:24). Jesus’ return is our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13)—we can’t see Him yet, but we know He’s coming, and we anticipate that event with joy.
Jesus said He is coming again (John 14:3). By faith, we trust Jesus’ words, and that leads to hope that we will one day be with Him forever. Jesus was resurrected from the dead, “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). That is the basis for our faith. Then we have Jesus’ promise: “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). That is the basis of our hope.
The relationship between faith and hope can be illustrated in the joy a child feels when his father tells him they are going to an amusement park tomorrow. The child believes that he will go to the amusement park, based on his father’s word—that is faith. At the same time, that belief within the child kindles an irrepressible joy—that is hope. The child’s natural trust in his father’s promise is the faith; the child’s squeals of delight and jumping in place are the expressions of the hope.
Faith and hope are complementary. Faith is grounded in the reality of the past; hope is looking to the reality of the future. Without faith, there is no hope, and without hope there is no true faith. Christians are people of faith and hope. We have “the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time” (Titus 1:2). xhttps://www.gotquestions.org/difference-faith-hope.html
We are living long enough to witness something that does not appear to have been done before. Ever. It is time to give thanks for it.
In the history of the world it is likely that there has never been a dominating empire whose government was a representative republic of private citizens. Governments appear to have always been in authority over the people with the support of the elites and powerful – the ruling class. The people were the subjects of the government. That is not true for Americans per our founding documents. America is the beneficiary of the providence of God through the vision of our forefathers who acted against oppression and sought a better way.
Which is why oppressors have attempted to destroy us internally and externally since conception. This has led to the current awakening of the majority of American citizens after decades of deception and corruption. The first response to this awakening led to the events of November 8, 2016. It was a shot over the bow at the oppressors, traitors and seditionists. The war had begun for the soul of America.
Fast forward.
November 5, 2024
We all know what happened after Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016. There is no point in rehashing it or discussing many of the things and people involved behind the scenes and in front of the cameras. There are devils and demons everywhere. Most do not even realize that is who they are. We just seem to forget at times there have been many patriots and heroes working against them. Which has led to positive changes for average citizens even with the DC instigated chaos created against President Trump during the first term.
Over the years a complete disconnect from the desires of the citizens has infected many politicians and their unelected administrative minions. That ends now. Politicians who go with business as usual will be isolated by the executive branch and We the People, then voted out of office or otherwise identified as enemies of the people. Their administrative state cronies are going out the door with them. The reason that will happen over the coming years is because We the People have seen the strings and we cannot unsee them. Citizen journalists have taken over to inform us and transparency reigns. To maintain their credibility these sources of information have to disclose the facts and evidence. They are not dependent on advertisers to cover the massive overheads and compensation of the propagandist talking heads in the fake news industry. As a result they are nimble, close to the people and operate without filters for the most part.
To be sure, MAGA will still need to vet the citizen journalists. Some can be influenced and bought like their fake counterparts. However, We the People know we should do that now and as a result will sort out the posers much more quickly and efficiently. That is a profound change from past practice.
A little alphabet letter birdie hooked many of us and sent us on a journey we will never forget.
WWG1WGA.
We the People have become emboldened by having a popular supposed felon’s back, President-Elect Trump, and staring down the enemy no matter the threats and potential costs. As a result it is time to discuss some major parts of this American reconstruction period we will be seeing now that the bigger war is trending toward a successful, “winning” conclusion.
World Cooperation
Respect oozes out of world leaders for Donald Trump and normal American people. They really don’t want to cross him, they want to make deals and find ways to work together. They know he is a man’s man. Look what is already happening worldwide and the man is still two months away from going back to the White House. They know he is not a politician. He is a pragmatic businessman icon with a true vision of what is best for America, which consequently improves all of their situations if they play their cards right. A rising tide lifts all boats. POTUS-Elect Trump understands win-win and will not go with win-lose unless it is the opponents who are losing and they are enemies of We the People.
Peace is returning. Business expansion and better living conditions are on the way. The world will become more secure, predictable…and happy.
World Economics and Politics
If you move your investments out of the stock market because Trump won you may be certifiably insane. Even his enemies are jumping on for that ride.
Multi-polarity is a real thing. The USMCA and all of his bi-lateral trade agreements with world governments from the first term have already informed you. His acceptance and acknowledgement of BRICS+ is further evidence as is his open acknowledgement and acceptance of a place for crypto. Where you will likely see a slow down in BRICS+ development plans is their move away from the dollar as the basis of the world economy. Vlad and Russia have already indicated their willingness to deal in dollars. President- Elect Trump is going to go after reestablishment of the dollar as the world’s currency with fervor. Investing in America will be cool again.
With multi-polarity we can expect North America to become a more cohesive economic system with greater cooperation from Mehico and Canada. Mehico will act tough and independent at times, but it is all bluster. They know they are toast without us as 25% of their economic production is sold into America. The cartels eventually will be the losers, nothing more than rogue bands of criminals that will be disposed through greater cooperation between agencies and military. Mehico really has no choice. The off the books dark money that funded them through the clowns and other seditionists will be drying up over time with DOGE and Bobby at HHS. Mehico is on notice as are many South and Central America nations who have opened their doors to China’s fentanyl as well as other drug and human trafficking trades.
The NWO and its Barry/Brandon Show overstepped their way into blowing Germany out of being a serious contender for world leadership through their continued support of Islamic immigration (invasion), fascism and Nazis. If Trump pulls back militarily from that country or deemphasizes NATO they will be at bankruptcy. So guess who is going to be buying energy from America and making other concessions? There is no European Union of note without a strong Germany. The Germany and EU that remains will be greatly weakened due to the stupidity and corruption of their leaders, other than the few who have been solidly in Trump’s’ camp for some time like Orban. It should spawn positive change from within the EU over time.
The Muslim Brotherhood is done as are their American promoters, Barry and Cankles, except in their own backyard. No mo money for scum buckets. The Saudis have also strongly assisted with that. Iran is already in retreat mode, cozying up even closer to Vlad, who PDT gets along with well. All of it means stability in world markets. That means there is money to be made for those with investment funds, 401(k)’s and such. With personal income tax rates on a downward trend as a percentage of income, the average working men and women are going to have opportunities to recover from Brandon’s inept criminal appointment as POTUS and improve their financial situations. Say hello to a larger, more well heeled middle class who will become prime, MAGA GOP voters. My advice is to seize on the opportunity.
As far as daily life goes expect lower energy, grocery, and household item prices compared to household incomes. Incomes overall will rise. Employers will be competing hard for sufficient quality staffing with the significant reduction of illegals, stiffer immigration procedures and the element of depop still being felt. That drives up wages and benefits for everybody. There is more money to be made in investments as well as to use with larger purchases with a lowering percentage of cash outflow compared to income, so expect housing and the automotive industry to take off again. We know the drill, we lived it for four years in Trump’s first term. Banks will be lending again because times will be good. That industry will have good profitability and they will lose their fear of bad times as regulators loosen the grips that Brandon’s economic control thugs wielded.
Which makes the propagandist diatribes against efforts to curb illegal immigration even more ridiculous than it is. America is going to need millions more workers in various trades including housing and agriculture. Well vetted worker visas will be a valuable tool to assist. That will make it even easier for our citizen hispanic population to continue their moves toward the GOP. In reality they have far more in common with the MAGA GOP than the Dems.
The difference in big picture this time around is the looming defeat of the old WEF/NWO fraudsters. They are in full retreat worldwide and threats to their existence will accelerate. Many people are hedging their bets, expecting the heavy shoe of these criminals to drop because it has happened before. I call that emotion the Battered Normie Syndrome (BNS). I am and have not been in that camp, I am too contrarian to ever give in to criminals.
In my opinion there may be setbacks, but nothing that MAGA will not overcome. The left has no bench of political candidates except in economically and culturally declining blue crapholes. There is literally nobody who can galvanize existing and create additional support on a national level. The Bob Casey loss in PA was ground shaking for them and reveals cracks in even Gov. Shapiro’s armor, who was their next star. It revealed that a growing majority of the people in the rust belt who were formerly in their camp are over them. These leftists are devoid of solid, potentially productive ideas. They only run against people and stuff using tired fear porn phrases with nothing new to add. Their tired old socialist and communist strategies are falling on more deaf ears now. More people are waking up that have traditionally always pulled a donkey tail. They are realizing as the T-shirts say, “Life is Good”, and rejecting the death advocates. They will find that life is indeed good on the right side of history. MAGA folks blew the criminals off long ago.
Conversely the GOP is deep with MAGA candidates on the federal and state office level with more in development at the local. It is not even close. As a result when the BNS folks start reaping more of the benefits it will be eye opening and stick. Some have already learned to believe nothing the propagandist media tells them. The election this month proved it. Fake polls, politician endorsements (except for Trump) and the views of condescending rich celebrities are not the influence they once were. They heard the pronouncements of the pending Harris/Dem victories and watched as the election results revealed the lies. The blue wall crumbled like a cookie because real people tossed out convention and tradition for practical help and the hope for better. The propagandist TV ratings are tubing, many people are no longer watching them and fewer folks believe what they hear.
Continued pressure on election cheating and using the courts to effect change will increase the margins of victory over time. Who does not know there are still 20+ million fraudulent leftist votes in the federal election system? Watch the totals and percentages gradually dwindle down for the criminals with more judicial screw turning for election security along with the illegals hitting the trails, roads and airways home.
Many such factors lead to my opinion that you bet bullish on America with your personal finances and through living well. Expect America to create a rising tide to lift our international business partners. This is why I posted a few years ago to reduce your debts. You needed to conserve cash for investing. You needed to go conservative in the retirement plan to be in position to be more aggressive with your investment choices today.
We have arrived at our long desired and anticipated destination.
In America there is one fundamental principle of existence in play. It is that our personal views on life itself matter. Desire abundance and life? Choose MAGA GOP. Prefer scarcity and death? Choose Dem/RINO. People’s choices with this principle reflect who they are. Believe them. Our role is to teach others who will listen and consider a better way while making disciples for MAGA. Give no quarter to those who refuse to listen or remain in the Dem/RINO camp politically. Shut them down with truth.
In The Weeds
First, if you are not knowledgeable or want a review of economic indicators, please read the summary link below. It will help.
Now, for the nerds – I ignore the CPI index for understanding inflation. It has been rigged for decades along with many statistics quoted in the lamestream business reports. As government has become more and more politicized (corrupted), so have the statistics. Which is why they always revisit them a few months or years later and restate. These restatements are nearly always negative adjustments from what leftist leaders initially report. Fact.
Instead I focus on the personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE) from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. CPI runs higher than PCE. I focus on PCE because the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) uses it more to make recommendations to the Federal Reserve on inflation pressures, to which the Fed reacts and typically concurs. PCE is not immune to their tinkering, just less so. It gives a better picture of what consumers are actually facing. So if you want to know what to expect and why from the Fed, monitor that index and see how the Fed views it in their communications. Below is a good recent summary from the Cleveland Fed. The index is viewed in the same manner by most Fed banks.
Now for the fun part, what games will Trump play with Powell and the Fed until he replaces him? We know it will lead to more honest representations of the data and approaches of the Fed, Treasury, Commerce, etc. use. It will all become real again instead of the Kabuki Theater we see now. I will not address what I believe happens to the Federal Reserve System itself long term. I believe it will take a POTUS term beyond our President-Elect for a permanent solution.
😉
Now as to the current view…
One financial analyst’s opinion is below. You will note that he is educated guessing while trying to draw comparisons and utilizing very little understanding or referencing to the absolute meat cleaver Trump is going to take to government spending through DOGE and HHS among other departments in government.
I admire his willingness to guess, albeit dumbly and without the use of tea leaves in my opinion.
To illustrate: Assume your personal family situation is as a working married couple with a large mortgage, car payments and kids in school. You go into work one day and there is a letter for you or the spouse that states one of you is out of a job from a layoff, company closure, whatever. (As a side note, I hope currently unknown large numbers of federally employed administrative azzhats receive said letter in January, but I digress.) Odds are with such a large hit to your family income coming, you will be faced with choices on what expenses to cut; possibly selling a car or house in a worst case. At the same time you find other costs you can reduce or eliminate like Junior’s Ivy League college expenses, and so on. You try to muddle through it the best you can and hope to find a decent job quickly to replace the lost income until better days come.
Now substitute the term “married couple” with “America” from the above. The mortgage and car payments are the national debt service. The kids in school are the social network needs of the citizens. The layoffs and job losses are obvious; thank you China and others via the globalists and other criminals who have no regard for America and the needs of our citizens. This is a result on the imbalance in trade.
I will provide a simple, practical example here for readers who do not know. If we buy more foreign goods than we produce and sell, more dollars are held in foreign hands. The globalists and political idgits claim those dollars return to America in the form of buying our nation’s debt, (Treasuries), real estate, etc. as investments. First off, that is no longer the case. Many nations who formerly invested heavily in our debt have drastically reduced their exposure or have divested due to our exploding deficits from spend crazy politicians. China would be high on that list, the nation we spend more for imported products than any other on earth. Dollars have been going out to them without an equal amount of dollars coming in to keep us in equilibrium. Second, why would anybody think it is a good thing to bring dollars back through the issuance of debt (Treasuries) and selling our land to foreign adversaries? We have to pay interest on all that debt, which compounds the problem. That negatively affects every single American. Yet, the politicians and propagandist media tell all of us daily it is a good thing and we will be fine.
Understand, our government will never borrow its way out of debt despite their continuing best efforts. Don’t get me started on the stupidity of our politicians and administrative state in going all in with Quantitative Easing. It causes my blood pressure to escalate too high.
So if any talking heads act like the deficit of the Balance of Trade is unimportant, turn off your TV or hearing aids. Our national leadership, as do many citizens, violate a principle of life that never changes. Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.” Our nation did this willingly with the rise of globalist influence within our federal government to rebuild nations destroyed by WW II. They saw it as an opportunity to gain huge wealth and power. They used the national treasury and wealth of We the People as their personal piggybanks and still do. Which is why they have tried to ruin and kill the head of the MAGA snake in their minds, President Trump.
He has been the rightful POTUS since 2016 as all MAGA knows. We know what the globalist criminals did and they hate us for it.
With this in mind let’s go back to the married couple example. It gets worse for you and your family. You see and now comprehend that America has more than stubbed its toe by electing the wrong leaders, or worse yet, a bunch of criminals who game the system and take over. You begin to comprehend that with their co-conspirators in the Fed they create even more inflation through printing money to handle globalist desires, proxy wars and scamdemics. You see what is good for them is bad for you and your children.
Your discomfort grows. The propagandists on the evening news tell you that the national debt service and expenses are rising well beyond the nation’s ability to repay by say… 2 TRILLION dollars a year. They say Social Security and Medicare are even threatened. So the Treasury borrows even more funds from foreign mafias with strings attached that clear the way for turmoil and wars worldwide. They tell you the government simply has to pass that stop gap continuing resolution for more money printing or else, GASP!, the federal government will have to shut down except for essential services as there may be a financial apocalypse on the horizon. They begin talking about raising taxes and booting the Trump era tax cuts when they come up for renewal in 2025.
All of this is happening while you as a family simply want to earn enough money to pay the bills, eat healthy and give a future worth living to your kids.
Get the picture now? That was our reality in America until the new sheriff, who is the old sheriff, who is the only righful sheriff; rode back into town. We really were at the edge of the cliff about to fall off as a nation. It is like going from darkness to light. Which is why the Blue Wall fell. Most voters there knew they had no choice, they could not continue to support status quo even if it meant mean tweets again and the propagandists bitching all of the time. They responded in a too big to rig fashion.
The declining establishment and fake news media will continue to beat that same drum even though their masters lost. It will not matter that things are different and better. They are prostitutes and know of no other way to make a living. However, the reality is they lost and they know it. No amount of subterfuge and stalling by RINO’s and such can prevent the inevitable changes that provide a Golden Age for America and its international friends. It is coming down the tracks like a freight train.
President-Elect Trump, JD, Elon, Vivek, Bobby and many others will show you where to invest. Listen to their words and believe their actions. You do not need anybody else to help you do that. Just know that you cannot borrow your way out of debt and cutting expenses will rarely be enough to complete that task as well. Those are actions that a mature to declining nation undertakes, which is who America was before this election. To turn things around America has to return to the growth cycle. President-Elect Trump has already told you how and has already done it before. This time it needs to be institutionalized such that our enemies cannot disrupt it.
Going to growth from decline means selling off non-essential assets, shedding debt, shedding non-essential unproductive payroll, shedding meritless activities, tossing needless regulations, and so on. It takes investment capital (tariffs), an increasing commercial (preferably industrial focused) tax base and global capital investors willing to make new investments (I see you, Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick). It takes innovation and innovative people with outside the box thinking. It takes hard work as well as smart moves in the markets. It takes security agencies to reduce corporate spying and fraud to produce a more level playing field that is administered by law enforcement functions and the judiciary. Most of all it takes a federal government that serves the people and enables its citizens to succeed instead of the reverse, which is unlike what we have experienced in recent years.
A massive paradigm shift for America has occurred. Know it, act on it as applicable in your own lives.
Conclusion
I hope you have heard and seen all of that from the President-Elect and his inner circle. I know I have. I do not concern myself with second guessing his picks for the various cabinet roles. He has his reasons and if the wrong choice is made with any of them We the People will know it quickly and let him know about it. This time around he has a feel for the solid MAGA pulse, the authority to make the decisions and the apparatus to make the changes. No lawfare attempts to undermine him and supporters will succeed, just delay, so be patient. They did not succeed when he was a private citizen, they certainly will not now. The law has also changed in important areas such as with the Chevron Deference overturn. The SCOTUS has a Constitution supporting majority that will likely grow if the MAGA GOP can increase its involvement and Congressional dominance over the coming years.
I also know this approach and method works. We have followed this path for over two decades in Tennessee. We are not perfect, but we are definitely America First worthy. It came from We the People on the local ground level figuring things out, working hard, building alliances and consensus, building momentum that carried into the voting booths and the halls of our legislature and Governor’s office. Over time we gradually rooted the Dem and RINO influence and control out of our system of government. We have sustained via a super majority (75+%) in both House and Senate. We have a state Constitutionally required balanced budget as well as no personal income or estate taxes. The left tried to change them with amendments and were met with crushing defeats by the people because we have a secured election system and the Volunteer spirit in our bones. They no longer try because We the People made them pay for even attempting it – which was our “penalty” phase. Now when federal elections occur we know that at minimum over 60% of the statewide votes will be MAGA GOP. We still have a couple of RINO’s to root out, however, the only pockets of voter resistance are within blue crapholes in a couple of cities.
Our state was in the bottom third of the nation economically before We the People took over. For several years now our state has enjoyed a AAA bond rating from the agencies with a low tax burden on residents while issuing state record business license applications and strong growth in manufacturing. The government has a large rainy day fund and we offer free tuition and no fees to students attending community and technical colleges. These are all signs of a government serving the people as compared to being served.
Other than the long term leftist wacko in Memphis, Steve Cohen, all of our other eight elected officials in the House in DC are GOP to go with all key GOP state leaders. Senators Blackburn and Hagerty continue to perform well and fully support the MAGA movement with POTUS Trump’s endorsement. It should be clear to all of us that We the People simply need to trust the plan and do our parts all around the country as it is being done here and other MAGA states.
I believe in this nation of states, this republic. I believe the majority of Americans will return to a love of the Constitution along with freedom and liberty for all. That’s why I choose to ride with the America First…
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).
