“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
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!
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).
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
Never talk about committing violence in a reply to Wolf or in response to anything Wolf has said, or you may get put into moderation so that your comments can be screened. This is ONLY because DHS is now playing door-knock Gestapo with people who have spoken at school board meetings, made public comments, etc. DHS regime jackboots are knocking on doors of school board mama bears and stupidly insinuating potential violence from things people say or don’t say on social media. A guy in Ohio pointed his FINGER at the school board, and they went after him, armed with pictures of the pointing, and screen captures of online comments. Yeah.
SO – give the Nazis ZERO ammo. Keep any mention of violence, even joking, away from Wolf, so that he doesn’t have to “explain” humor to humorless jackboots who pretend not to know things.
As for discussion of “violent humor” among yourselves (e.g., “#TeamHeadsOnPikes”), just use whatever discretion you think is appropriate for yourselves. I will only put you in moderation if your comments create problems for ME or THIS SITE, but not if they only impact you.
YOU are responsible for your own comments, if they come knocking. YOUR choice. Just remember this…..
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 the election.
You may also pray for our nation, our world, and even our enemies.
Contemporary cubist art for sale. Contemporary abstract music paintings for sale.
Musical Interlude
In honor of dear Wheatie, we now present some music to soothe, inspire, invigorate, or relax.
Let’s try for some REAL variety today.
This almost isn’t music, but SO appropriate!
Get ready for the SUMMER SOLSTICE. It’s coming!
How about a child’s recital that just went up a few hours before I wrote this?
Swinging quickly to the opposite, some very current NEO-PUNK.
Some more Beths, just because I needed a fix!
Check out the interesting New Zealand plants and animals.
But now let’s get into some music history, which you may want to skip over, right into the subject thereof, and then come back. But if you want to nerd out first, here you go!
And here it is. Succumb to the TRUMP GRAVITY!!! ENJOY THE RIDE!!!
Call To Battle
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Thank you to @LeaderMcConnell and the @SenateGOP for giving Americans a hiking trail named after Michelle Obama as well as a federal building named after Nancy Pelosi!
Spooks infiltrate Silicon Valley: Facebook is riddled with ex-CIA agents – including President's briefer who now runs 'harmful content' team – so many ex-FBI work at Twitter they have Slack channel and Google is rife with ex-CIAhttps://t.co/ZbudoyrRll
We can fight back against the satanic forces running the world.
My interview with @rosemcgowan has now had an article written about it not by me. I’d encourage you to listen to the entire interview yourself. https://t.co/0gVyDjlokN
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:
fluorescence
noun
The emission of electromagnetic radiation, especially of visible light, stimulated in a substance by the absorption of incident radiation and persisting only as long as the stimulating radiation is continued.
The property of emitting such radiation.
The radiation so emitted.
to be distinguished from:
phosphorescence
noun
Persistent emission of light following exposure to and removal of incident radiation.
Emission of light without appreciable heat, as from chemiluminescence of phosphorus or bioluminescence of living organisms.
The state or character of being phosphorescent; the property which certain bodies possess of becoming luminous without undergoing combustion.
both being cases of a larger class of emissions known as:
luminescence
noun
The emission of light that does not derive energy from the temperature of the emitting body, as in phosphorescence, fluorescence, and bioluminescence. Luminescence is caused by chemical, biochemical, or crystallographic changes, the motions of subatomic particles, or radiation-induced excitation of an atomic system.
The light so emitted.
of which there is a subset:
chemiluminescence
noun
Emission of light as a result of a chemical reaction.
Luminescence associated with chemical changes in the luminous substance and probably due to those changes. See luminescence.
Chemically caused luminescence, including bioluminescence.
Used in an abstract:
We have been able to produce chemiluminescence in firefly luciferin without utilizing the enzyme luciferase. Following the analogous mechanism of the chemiluminescence of luminol in the organic solvent dimethyl sulfoxide, we have prepared synthetically the methyl ester of luciferin, the phosphate ester of luciferin and luciferyl adenylate by condensation in dimethyl sulfoxide with Khorana’s reagent, dicyclohexylcarbodiimide and diazomethane, phosphoric acid, and adenylic acid respectively. These compounds in dimethyl sulfoxide in the presence of base emit a bright chemiluminescence. Like in vitro enzymatic bioluminescence, the luciferyl adenylate chemiluminescence emission spectrum is dependent upon pH.
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 – using our ingenuity and agility!
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
(You are feeling sleepy. You want to dream about the rules. Your eyelids are getting heavy.)
TL;DR –
Wheatie’s Rules:
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
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
Never talk about committing violence in a reply to Wolf or in response to anything Wolf has said, or you may get put into moderation so that your comments can be screened. This is ONLY because DHS is now playing door-knock Gestapo with people who have spoken at school board meetings, made public comments, etc. DHS regime jackboots are knocking on doors of school board mama bears and stupidly insinuating potential violence from things people say or don’t say on social media. A guy in Ohio pointed his FINGER at the school board, and they went after him, armed with pictures of the pointing, and screen captures of online comments. Yeah.
SO – give the Nazis ZERO ammo. Keep any mention of violence, even joking, away from Wolf, so that he doesn’t have to “explain” humor to humorless jackboots who pretend not to know things.
As for discussion of “violent humor” among yourselves (e.g., “#TeamHeadsOnPikes”), just use whatever discretion you think is appropriate for yourselves. I will only put you in moderation if your comments create problems for ME or THIS SITE, but not if they only impact you.
YOU are responsible for your own comments, if they come knocking. YOUR choice. Just remember this…..
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 the election.
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.
OK – let’s start with a song for Hanukkah! Yeah, it’s PBS. Yeah, it’s the woke military. Yeah, it’s a bit cringe. But it’s still somehow enjoyable. Some good voices. Have a listen.
Now, how about some “steampunk” Christmas music? This whole video contains several pieces, but I’ve started on a good one late in the video. Can you catch the X Files moments? Stay tuned for the fascinating techno-archaic artsy version of Silent Night afterwards.
OK – how about some Country Christmas Music by the great Loretta Lynn? YEE-HAH! I love it!
Well, that’s all fine, but when I heard this stuff by Celtic Woman, I just had to finish with some traditional Christmas carols! Enjoy!
Call To Battle
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
I strongly disagree. Forcing your pronouns upon others when they didn’t ask, and implicitly ostracizing those who don’t, is neither good nor kind to anyone.
As for Fauci, he lied to Congress and funded gain-of-function research that killed millions of people. Not awesome imo.
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 – even if only by workarounds!
We will start our mornings with Wheaties and Winnamins!
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
(Not true, but I thought this GIF was too cute to pass up!)
TL;DR –
Wheatie’s Rules:
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
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
Never talk about committing violence in a reply to Wolf or in response to anything Wolf has said, or you may get put into moderation so that your comments can be screened. This is ONLY because DHS is now playing door-knock Gestapo with people who have spoken at school board meetings, made public comments, etc. DHS regime jackboots are knocking on doors of school board mama bears and stupidly insinuating potential violence from things people say or don’t say on social media. A guy in Ohio pointed his FINGER at the school board, and they went after him, armed with pictures of the pointing, and screen captures of online comments. Yeah.
SO – give the Nazis ZERO ammo. Keep any mention of violence, even joking, away from Wolf, so that he doesn’t have to “explain” humor to humorless jackboots who pretend not to know things.
As for discussion of “violent humor” among yourselves (e.g., “#TeamHeadsOnPikes”), just use whatever discretion you think is appropriate for yourselves. I will only put you in moderation if your comments create problems for ME or THIS SITE, but not if they only impact you.
YOU are responsible for your own comments, if they come knocking. YOUR choice. Just remember this…..
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.”
Praying in the Spint.jpeg
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 the election.
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.
On quick notice, some STEAMPUNK EPIC ORCHESTRAL music!
Let’s add some Christmas music (but yeah, a bit modern!)
And if that’s not enough, let’s try 11 and 1/2 hours of Christmas music in one video!
That should hold you over!
Call To Battle
Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.
Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.
Dr. Fauci is a national hero who will be remembered for generations to come for his innate goodness & many contributions to public health
Despite your business success, you will be remembered most for fueling public hate & divisions.
We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.
Dr. Fauci killed countless Americans, destroyed countless businesses, destroyed the education and daily lives of countless children, and lied repeatedly to accomplish all of that. No wonder an America-hating communist piece of garbage like @JohnBrennan thinks he’s a hero. https://t.co/pqkf4yxUf1
— Nick Searcy, Actor/Director/Producer/Author (@yesnicksearcy) December 11, 2022
No, Fauci will be remembered for his demented obsession with Gain of Function research which drove him to evade Obama & Trump administration rules to commission the reckless experiments in Wuhan that are the most likely origin of the pandemic that killed millions of people. https://t.co/htS5JblHpG
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:
pulchritude
noun
Great physical beauty and appeal
Beauty; comeliness; handsomeness
That quality of appearance which pleases the eye; beauty; comeliness; grace; loveliness
Attractive moral excellence; moral beauty
Used in a sentence or two:
When I was a kid, and more specifically a pesky brat, who loved to gossip with my no-good buddies about which girls were rumored to STRIP for the boys, I thought pulchritude meant something more like voluptuousness, curvaceousness, or ample breasts, and that it was typically the quality of an adult woman with WGTT (see below) or an “hourglass figure”. Obviously, my exposure to borrowed, stolen, and otherwise laundered issues of Playboy magazine was not exactly teaching me proper word definitions, let alone pulchritude of character.
Used in a better sentence:
By the pulchritude of their souls make up what is wanting in the beauty of their bodies.
Thanks to TradeBait’s recent story centered on Elvis Presley, I was actually in an Elvis mood when my wife – an Elvis fan long before we met – decided that “we” were going to see the new Elvis movie at the earliest opportunity.
Not having been to very many movies recently, I’m pretty much immune to most of the propaganda, in part because it jumps out at me AS propaganda. During “trailer time” they were laying it on THICK. I think that EVERY single message had AT LEAST some propagandistic edge – and MOST were straight-up PC messaging.
The political correctness effects of BlackRock, DIE (diversity, inclusion, equity), ESG (environment, social, governance), and “The Black List” (Marxist filter on financial backing through POC puppets) are all extremely visible in everything – product ads – trailers – public service messages.
It’s not like I’m “opposed” to some of these ideas, but the heavy-handed, communistic, “struggle session” nature of the messaging is just CRINGE CITY.
I mean, good grief. I thought that Dove Soap was going to commit hara-kiri for having utterly failed black America in some way that I still don’t grasp. PUHLEASE. You sold soap, for crying out loud. And you sold it to everybody! Black people too! Give yourselves a pat on the back and GO HOME. You’re ridiculous!
(I can’t find a video of what I saw, but this is just a hint of it.)
So anyway, I was primed for all kinds of cultural Marxism when the Elvis show began.
The opening sequence did NOT disappoint in that respect. A Tom Hanks dream sequence, filled with occult and pedophile symbolism, just had me shaking my head.
Flying spaghetti monster squids with the boy love symbol?
Snow globes heavily veering into crystal ball territory?
The movie had no place to go but up.
AND IT DID.
It’s hard for me to describe what this movie is, but I can say that it grew on me, until I felt very satisfied at the end.
It’s more like a work of ART trying to explain the SOUL of Elvis Presley, than anything else. And oddly – uniquely – this movie does so through the eyes of a rather brilliant CON-MAN manager, who used that same deep understanding of Elvis to first “own” and then manipulate him.
Elvis loved what he did. He loved music. He loved the crowd. He loved performing. He loved his parents – forcing himself into an unending vow to “take care of them”, no matter the costs.
Elvis Presley was one of those brilliantly over-performing co-dependents – no bones about it – and the movie shows it.
Judging from my own memories of history, the movie “got it right”, too, although I think the movie played some things (like infidelity, overweight, and drug use) more metaphorically than factually, while still admitting them unflinchingly. There was a lot of “compression”
The movie did NOT show the “Rat Ranch” – but it showed the same thing differently and in several ways. Names and locations were chosen to fluff and protect the legend just a bit.
Things WERE highlighted or magnified in focus to show why Elvis always crossed racial barriers in his appeal.
Like I said – it’s ART – not a documentary.
One thing which is actually cool is Tom Hanks’ disturbing accent, which was intentionally over-done in order to make viewers realize that “something was amiss” with Presley’s manager, Col. Tom Parker. In reality, people sometimes took a while to pick up on Parker’s accent, which sounded “regional Southern” yet somehow “off”. The accent betrays a secret which was in some ways part of the downfall of both Elvis and Parker, but I won’t spoil the movie by going into the specifics. Just know that Hanks was asked not to do his subject’s actual subtle accent, but rather to “push it” so that listeners would pick up the clue. See THIS LINK.
There are other breaks with reality which – well – I’m less willing to defend, except to call them artistic license.
Just watch this trailer. You only need to see about a minute of it. Look for what is best described as the “pink scene” around 50 seconds in.
If the “pink Elvis” bothers you, trust me – the movie is far more blatant, and even pushes the “trans” stuff into the narration. You could say that there is an “appeal to gay revisionism”.
I may be mistaken about this point, but I’m pretty sure I’m not. It is my distinct impression that “Elvis the Pelvis” was a lot more about “manly macho” than about “tranny pink” and “girly make-up”. There is a distinct “LGBTQCIA” nature to the retelling that just does not comport with the reality of Elvis Presley.
Likewise, there seems to be much more “ESG” in this Elvis, than in the one I remember. Yeah, Elvis was no bigot, and he had a very subtle way of not dignifying the bigots who hated him, but there seems to be an effort here to turn Elvis into a fist-raised civil rights icon, which I somehow missed. The Elvis I remember was perhaps the most successful “can’t we all just get along” type who never even had to say it. I say we should give him credit for being the KING of that approach, because I’m pretty sure that’s gonna be fashionable again, and in a big way.
And there’s more, in the way of classic cultural Marxism. There is an extended sequence which pivots on “out-of-style traditional Christmas entertainment” as the boring cultural bad guy of the plot, threatening to undo poor Elvis, and that negativity is just SO typical of H-wood’s subtle communist psychological programming.
On the other hand, some of this stuff is actually a reasonable part of the artistic compression – such as highlighting that MLKJ was already speaking on the negative side of rock and roll culture for kids.
Complicated business.
So YEAH – there’s a good bit of lefty psy-op under the hood. Be AWARE of that to defuse it, or just don’t even bother seeing the movie, if Hollywood politicking crosses your red lines.
BUT – like I said – it’s art. It tells us as much about THIS time, as it does about THAT time.
Technically, the movie does a lot of things right. The women’s costuming and hairstyling is fantastic – watch for a few Oscar nominations. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many women in a film showing the actual beauty of women in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Austin Butler as Elvis Presley is VERY GOOD. He won me over to the point where the real Elvis footage at the end served as a “high five” for a job well done.
The Presley family felt the same way – they got “carried away” by the performance, just like I did. Same with my wife – the “real” Elvis fan. She loved it.
I had some fun watching this next video after the movie, because all the actors are so much more “2022” in reality, than they were in the flick. The differences are striking. They’re all modern Hollywood dweebs in “reality”, but in the movie, they do seem far more “real”, as part of the past. Or is that just me? (*sigh*)
Compare the lady playing young Priscilla, above, to her transformation in the film, shown below.
I know that picture on the right probably makes the movie look like it’s all a bunch of grins and giggles – well, just think of that same gal throwing a mean fist of pill bottles across a Vegas penthouse, after Elvis shoots up the place, before she walks out.
There’s no whitewash – BUT there was also some extremely convincing romance and love shown – even when it all falls apart. I feel like I really gained some needed insight into the relationship of Elvis and Priscilla. I feel like something healed.
So there you have it. An interesting movie. Glad I saw it. Consider a viewing yourself – especially of you love his music. There’s a LOT of good music in this movie.
W
“Go for the art, not the history or the politics. Stay for the music.”
While our beloved REAL bartender takes a needed break of unknown duration, we continue to ENDEAVOR TO PERSEVERE.
Christmas Spirit
I just ran into this as the totally WRONG result on a search, but it was just what I needed for the Christmas spirit portion of our presentation!
And now, the rules of the pub.
HOUSE RULES
God bless us, every one! Tiny Tim had such a beautiful soul. He hadn’t a mean bone in his body…unlike most of us. But in keeping with Christmas, we promise to honor Wolf’s rules and keep Scrooge at bay. The Utree is where the Ghost of Christmas Present will conduct you should you need to rattle some chains. Another option, should all hell break loose is here.
We are NOT serving mercurials or arsenicals today – or EVER – but we ARE serving MODERN SUBSTITUTES like penicillin – to the non-allergic, of course.
While our beloved REAL bartender takes a needed break of unknown duration, we continue to ENDEAVOR TO PERSEVERE.
Christmas Spirit
And now, the rules of the pub.
HOUSE RULES
God bless us, every one! Tiny Tim had such a beautiful soul. He hadn’t a mean bone in his body…unlike most of us. But in keeping with Christmas, we promise to honor Wolf’s rules and keep Scrooge at bay. The Utree is where the Ghost of Christmas Present will conduct you should you need to rattle some chains. Another option, should all hell break loose is here.
Now, back to business.
AMEN!
Free the January Brothers
Current Art On The Wall
We have a really RETRO shipment this week. All designed to go along with our FEATURE PRESENTATION.
These are presented in the order that they came out of the box.
PATENT MEDICINE PILL, 1890.
Advertisement for Beecham’s Pills from an American newspaper of 1890.
Interestingly, Beecham’s Pills were actually USEFUL. They contained aloe, ginger, and SOAP, the latter meaning that they were much like stool softeners – a gentle laxative.
Not so sure about snake oil…..
The following is a subtle ad for CHILD DEWORMERS.
With this picture, we begin some ads for Dr. D. Jayne and his products. His company lasted for around a century. He was an actual trained doctor, and tended to use pharmaceuticals with real physical effects, like digitalis, opiates, etc., rather than quack ingredients.
American children tended to have roundworms and pinworms – Dr. Jayne’s “vermifuge” apparently worked on both.
Jayne used a lot of artwork in his marketing – thus many of his product advertisements can still be found.
The following is very subtle propaganda.
Jayne’s was still around as WWII loomed. Many of our childhoods were not long after this. Bear this in mind later in this post.
More “Jayne’s art”.
The expectorant apparently contained ipecac, opium and digitalis.
Nothing like a good salve!
Stabler’s apothecary was run by multiple generations of a family of pharmacists. The founder, Edward, was an interesting herbalist, trained in Pennsylvania. He was an abolitionist in Virginia who would purchase slaves to set them free. http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2006/feb/01/herbal-remedy/
I hope you have some idea now about medicine in the 19th century.
Do you think we’ve advanced much?
Let’s move “forward” now, to “state of the art” 19th century prescription medicine.
Seatbelts.
Mercury and Arsenic as the mRNA and Remdesivir of Pre-Fauci America
In the process of reading about how COVID vaccines are now setting off syphilis tests (a topic which we covered last Friday), I chanced upon a boatload of information about early treatments of syphilis, and what I read simply blew me away.
The scandals of syphilis are WAY, WAY more than the “shame of the disease itself”, and WAY, WAY more than the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.
These scandals are SMALL POTATOES compared to the scandal of TREATMENT OF SYPHILIS WITH MERCURY.
This is history you will NOT learn under globalists and progressives.
A scandal which was SO BAD – just like “treatment” with these demonic mRNA vaccines – that medicine started QUIETLY – without admitting fault – looking for an exit strategy. And part of that was motivated by this fact:
BLACKS and other groups who were not getting “treated” with mercury, were not suffering many of the WORST end-stage “symptoms of syphilis”.
You see what I mean? It was JUST LIKE THE CLOT SHOT. Just like remdesivir. BLAMECASTING the errors of the BAD but moneymaker treatments onto the disease.
This is NOT NEW STUFF.
In fact, it is MOST IRONIC that the Tuskegee experiment STARTED OFF by literally SAVING the participants from treatment with mercury – only to then DENY THEM penicillin when that became available, so that they could continue the experiment.
Because the experiment was not merely about “not treating people”.
It was REALLY about NOT TREATING PEOPLE WITH MERCURY.
And THIS explains why there was so much determination to get these participants to the end-stage WITHOUT TREATMENT. Because it was end-stage effects that they were so interested in observing.
What I discovered was that the history of medicine in America is FILLED with stuff every bit as bad as the DEMON Anthony Fauci, the disaster of AIDS and AZT, toxic drugs like remdesivir, and medical killers like the untested mRNA vaccines. Much of it is exposed by the history of syphilis, so that is where we will begin.
The Wikipedia article on syphilis doesn’t say much about the actual treatment of syphilis with mercury, despite it having a fairly extensive section on treatment. A much better coverage is found in the article on the History of syphilis.
However, even THAT does not really give you a sense of the magnitude of what might gently be called “the problem of mercury as a medicine”.
Let me put it this way. When it turned out that MALARIA and ARSENIC were both superior and more importantly SAFER treatments of syphilis relative to the “consensus treatment” of MERCURY, you know that mercury was BAD SHIT as a medicine.
Obviously, if they tried MALARIA and ARSENIC, people KNEW that mercury was a bad drug.
In fact, I was shocked to find that the current confrontation between “natural therapies” and “pharmaceuticals” is a VERY old conflict that never went away. While there has been SOME reduction in the mortality difference between “do no harm, save a few” natural remedies and “kill a bunch of people, save a few” pharmaceuticals, we are still talking about millions of Americans killed by pharmaceuticals intended – or maybe just “purported” – to save them.
Anyway, here is the big picture.
The “clot shot” and the people who maliciously pushed it are entirely believable in the long, dark shadow of “killer calomel”.
SO – let’s get started with Hg2Cl2.
My parents actually had a bottle of calomel (not calamine – the neighbor kids had that) in the medicine cabinet when I was a kid. It was somewhat more modern than the above, with a metal screw-cap. Indeed, my parents had a lot of very old-school medical stuff from the 40s and 50s.
As children, we treated all our wounds with the mercury compound thiomersal, a.k.a. merthiolate. You know – the bad stuff in vaccines. This is the “new” bottle which I loved – we had older glass bottles with a glass dipping rod, before these handy squeeze bottles.
Calomel has a LONG history as a therapeutic. Although it got its start back in alchemy, by the time it got to America, it was a common medicine.
From Wikipedia:
By the 19th century, calomel was viewed as a panacea, or miracle drug, and was used against almost every disease, including syphilis, bronchitis, cholera, ingrown toenails, teething, gout, tuberculosis, influenza, and cancer. During the 18th and early 19th centuries pharmacists used it sparingly; but by the late 1840s, it was being prescribed in heroic doses[7]—due in part to the research of Benjamin Rush, who coined the term “heroic dose” to mean about 20 grains taken four times daily.[8] This stance was supported by Dr. Samuel Cartwright, who believed that large doses were “gentlest” on the body.[9] As calomel rose in popularity, more research was done into how it worked.
J. Annesley was one of the first to write about the differering effects of calomel when taken in small or large doses.[9] Through experimentation on dogs, Annesley concluded that calomel acted more like a laxative on the whole body rather than acting specifically on the vascular system or liver as previous physicians believed.[9] In 1853, Samuel Jackson described the harmful effects of calomel on children in his publication for Transactions of Physicians of Philadelphia.[7] He noted that calomel had harmful effects causing gangrene on the skin, loss of teeth, and deterioration of the gums.[7] On May 4, 1863, William A. Hammond, the United States’ Surgeon-General, stated that calomel would no longer be used in the army as it was being abused by soldiers and physicians alike.[7] This caused much debate in the medical field, and eventually led to his removal as Surgeon-General.[10] Calomel continued to be used well into the 1890s and even into the early 20th century.[7] Eventually calomel’s popularity began to wane as more research was done, and scientists discovered that the mercury in the compound was poisoning patients.
Calomel was the main of the three components of the pill number 9 of the British army during the First World War. [11]
But if you REALLY want to understand the history of calomel as both a poison and a drug, this is the article you need to read.
This article totally gets it, as you can tell from the opening quote.
New drugs present greater hazards as well as greater potential benefits than ever before—for they are widely used, they are often very potent, and they are promoted by aggressive sales campaigns that may tend to overstate their merits and fail to indicate the risks involved in their use. . . There is no way of measuring the needless suffering, the money innocently squandered, and the protraction of illnesses resulting from the use of such ineffective drugs.
John F. Kennedy, in his Consumers’ Protection Message of March 15, 19621
Is the whole “Q” thing starting to make sense? Just as an aside. JFK clearly had some of the same enemies as Trump.
Anyway, this article shows how the use of mercury and arsenic compounds for medicines was controversial even from the START, with Paracelsus himself admonishing fellow alchemists not to use too much mercury in treatments.
The problem with calomel is that it’s insoluble MOST of the time, and in that state it can be used in excess, because it just flushes through the body. It’s a lot like barium sulfate – a totally safe version of highly toxic barium – in that respect. But if calomel oxidizes, or becomes impure, or otherwise emits other forms of mercury, it can be very harmful.
Thus, calomel got good results in some hands, but in the hands of other physicians, and in the bodies of other patients, it was a killer. It was easily abused, and even some of the “megadose” treatments were abusive from the git-go – to say nothing of giving it to children, and doing life-long damage.
But now, let’s look at what calomel and other mercury compounds did for syphilis. For THAT we go to another great article.
This article does a deep dive on use of mercury to treat syphilis, and does not hold back on the contention that much of the symptomology of syphilis that was seen before penicillin, was really due to mercury poisoning and NOT due to syphilis itself.
Sound familiar?
This article in particular contends that the end-stage dementia of tertiary syphilis in the West, which was observed much less frequently in certain populations like blacks, Indians, and Norwegians, who avoided mercury, was mostly due to the treatment with mercury, not syphilis.
In case you’re thinking that’s unlikely, just consider patient-killing remdesivir, which we’ve covered extensively.
Now, there IS an great academic look at the skeletons of syphilitic patients, some of whom were treated with mercury, trying to determine if mercury made things worse. The results are inconclusive, but in any case, the background material is excellent reading.
More Harm than Healing? Investigating the Iatrogenic Effects of Mercury Treatment on Acquired Syphilis in Post-medieval London.
Molly K. Zuckerman
DOI 10.1515/opar-2016-0003 Received October 26, 2015; accepted March 29, 2016
Abstract: Mercury was commonly used to treat syphilis in post-medieval Europe, but debate persists about whether it ameliorated infection or exacerbated it. As there are no in vitro studies on mercury’s effectiveness, Hg levels were characterized using an established technique, portable X-Ray Florescence Spectrometry (pXRF) in syphilitic skeletons (N=22) from six post-medieval London cemeteries. Levels were assessed against proxies for syphilitic infection severity (lesion type, episodic involvement, extent of involvement), oral health indicators, and age at death. The findings are equivocal, likely obfuscated by background poor oral health and high mortality, and cannot elucidate whether mercury ‘killed or cured’.
Keywords: syphilis, mercury, pXRF, post-medieval, London, trace element analysis, paleopathology.
The history of treatment with mercury in America serves as a strong precedent for what we are seeing now with “vaccines for everything”. The mendacity of some and the fecklessness of others regarding COVID treatments is not new – it all happened before with the mendacious and feckless medical establishment – and MERCURY.
And just for my fellow lovers of history-of-science porn, click on the following for the full-sized image.
From Wikipedia.
L0057102 Mahogany medicine chest, England, 1801-1900
Credit: Science Museum, London. Wellcome Images
images@wellcome.ac.uk
http://wellcomeimages.org
The mahogany medicine chest contains boxes, bottles and tubes of medications to treat a number of conditions. The chest includes treatments to purge the body by vomiting (emetics), by sweating (diaphoretics), as well as general purgatives such as rhubarb, jalap and calomel. Other medications include pain relief, such as opium plus astringents and stimulants, including ginger and lavender. The chest contains a handwritten inventory listing the medications. The chest also includes a set of scales, weights, a pill tile and a spatula. The set was probably used in the home or by a chemist or apothecary.
maker: Unknown maker
Place made: England, United Kingdom
made: 1801-1900 Published: –
Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
And don’t forget to…….
ENJOY THE SHOW.
Thank you all for being here. Have a great weekend.
And we’re finally serving a NORMAL DRINK tonight. Even though it’s a SECOND ROUND.
STAY TUNED…..
While our beloved REAL bartender takes a needed break of unknown duration, we continue to ENDEAVOR TO PERSEVERE.
and what time of year is it now???
Christmas Spirit
We continue our WAAAAAY too-long celebration of Christmas by noting that some of our neighbors STILL have their lights and decorations up.
We saw a nice red Christmas bow laying in somebody’s yard by their driveway.
We ourselves just got rid of our tree.
And TODAY is the 25th of the month. That’s VERY “Christmassy”.
So yeah. Given that there are a few daysweeks months AFTER Christmas where it’s STILL Christmas, that means we have a few more weeks left. Riiiiiiight?
Sure! So have some hot CHRISTMAS chocolate!
And now, the rules of the pub.
HOUSE RULES
God bless us, every one! Tiny Tim had such a beautiful soul. He hadn’t a mean bone in his body…unlike most of us. But in keeping with Christmas, we promise to honor Wolf’s rules and keep Scrooge at bay. The Utree is where the Ghost of Christmas Present will conduct you should you need to rattle some chains. Another option, should all hell break loose is here.
Now, back to business.
AMEN!
Free the January Brothers!
Current Art On The Wall
We’re just gonna segue into the next item with our selection, if that’s OK.
This gets a bit “planetary”…..
Venus and Mercury Instructing CupidChristiaan Huygens, Saturn, and SomethingRaindrops on Titan
…..which was based off of an FDA alert (sketchy link)…..
…..which actually links back to a different CDC alert (even sketchier link)…..
WHATEVER.
Here is that final CDC alert. Only the top 3 paragraphs are important here.
Let me quote the text of those first 3 paragraphs for Zoe. I will make BOLD what is important.
Dear Partners in Prevention,
December 20, 2021
I’m writing to share the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alert sent to clinical laboratory staff and health care providers about a syphilis test. The alert reports that false reactivity, or “false-positive,” Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR; non-treponemal) test results, when using the Bio-Rad Laboratories BioPlex 2200 Syphilis Total & RPR kit, can occur in some people who received a COVID-19 vaccine and includes recommendations for addressing these potential false positives.
Historically, false-reactive RPR test results have been observed in people with systemic infections unrelated to syphilis, such as tuberculosis, rickettsial diseases, and endocarditis.False-reactive RPR testing also has been previously observed following immunization (specifically following smallpox vaccine). False reactivity with RPR can also occur during pregnancy.
Per CDC’s 2021 STI Treatment Guidelines, reactive RPR results should always be confirmed with treponemal testing (e.g., Treponema pallidum particle agglutination, TP-PA). This is, in part, because of the above-mentioned issue: false-positive nontreponemal test results can be associated with multiple medical conditions and factors unrelated to syphilis. According to FDA’s alert, treponemal testing for syphilis does not appear to be impacted by this issue.
Allow me to translate.
It turns out that “being vaccinated for COVID-19” throws off an ANTIBODY-BASED SYPHILIS TEST, and can give false positives.
The reason is that these are a sort of antibodies against substances released from cells attacked by certain diseases and conditions. Thus, they’re not exclusively the downstream product of syphilis.
Normally, certain diseases, certain vaccines, and pregnancy can all throw off this more rapid but less conclusive syphilis test, and that is part of the reason why people are supposed to follow up this easier test, with a test that looks for the actual organism which causes syphilis.
Thus, we have added one more cause for the test to be thrown off.
This is not the same as the HIV test that was thrown off by a particular Australian vaccine, because the antigen in the vaccine actually contained an HIV protein (gp41) as part of the vaccine, and created antibodies against HIV. I talked about that last week. That was a much more direct test interference, easily expected.
How a Psycho Vaccine Marrying the Infamous COVID Spike Protein to HIV’s Neurotoxic gp41 Was [Allegedly] Canned by a Mere Testing SNAFU How Australia Dodged The First Mad Vax Bullet of the WEF Scamdemic / Plannedemic Darwin Award Vaccine Featured Insane Merger of HIV and COVID But Failed Due to Buggering of AIDS Tests, NOT …
What I find interesting is that one of the things that normally sets off the syphilis test is endocarditis.
Endocarditis, which is inflammation of the inner surfaces of the heart, is one of the three main heart inflammations, thus being pretty damned close to myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the outer sac), both of which have very prominent correlations to the jabs.
So while this means that – NO – the shots are not giving people syphilis – the shots ARE basically acting like an illness, and very much like a known cardiac illness.
You were warned.
Now – while I was researching syphilis, I became interested in the treatment with compounds of mercury.
Traditional mercury-based pastes were used in cures. Whilst this was partially effective, the toxic side effects of the mercury probably outweighed any advantages.
This is actually a HUGE understatement.
It turned out that arsenic was considerably better.
It wasn’t too long after that success, that penicillin took over as the real cure for syphilis.
I will come back to MERCURY in a future post, because I found something quite amazing in its history.
But if you look ONE COLUMN TO THE LEFT and TWO ROWS UP…..
COPPER is also bacteriostatic and algicidal – and at concentrations below where it is a health risk. And THAT leads back to a DRINK that Grandmaintexas introduced us to……
Moscow Mule Revisited
Based upon my reading of Grandma’s post on the subject, the Moscow Mule simply is not a proper Moscow Mule unless it is served in copper vessels.
The health effects of COPPER are about as debatable as the effects of mercury – although, in general, copper is much less toxic, so when it’s being “not good for you”, it’s a lot less “not good for you” than lead. At the same time, copper is much MORE toxic to things like algae, fungi, plant roots, and other “pests”, than it is to us, and that is why it is found among the gardening pesticides in hardware stores. The antimicrobial activity of copper is extremely well-documented, but appears to be complex. Simply having copper in the household or workplace environment seems to have health benefits – and this was particularly noted back in the days of less sanitary environments. Water passing through copper fixtures tended not to spread disease.
We tend to forget about OLD SCIENCE, so we can’t put new things into good perspective.
LEAD and other CHEMICAL ADVANCES saved us from the horrible BIOLOGICAL diseases and maladies of the uncivilized life.
Did they have chemical consequences? Yes. The TRICK is REMEMBERING AND ADMITTING OLD RISKS AND BENEFITS while also DISCOVERING AND ADMITTING NEW RISKS AND BENEFITS, then BALANCING HONESTLY with the PROPER PRIORITIES which put PEOPLE FIRST.
It is VERY easy to see where CDC went off the rails with the COVID-19 vaccines, being unable to admit old benefits (of lasting immunity to caught and treated diseases), while also being unable to admit new risks (of vaccines using untested and immature technologies).
Likewise, looking back, it is easy to see that basic sanitation – not vaccination – REALLY conquered diseases. Vaccines came in, mopped up, and took all the credit, by design, because bad people realized that vaccines in the hands of a technological elite, combined with an ignorant populace they can essentially murder and experiment on at will, allow them to basically FARM HUMANITY.
Sorry, Bill Gates. We understand your social engineering of us. We know your M.O. We know your real intentions. Including for the “people of color” you pretend to care about.
You will note that, in general, the further down the periodic table one goes, the more toxic the metals. Surprisingly, the second-lightest one – beryllium – is quite toxic, but even lightweight aluminum simply isn’t all that bad, in the big picture (but you’ve got to keep it on the OUTSIDE). In contrast, if you get down and heavy there with mercury, thallium and lead, or even as far down the table as cadmium and indium, the metals can be quite toxic.
Lead used to be used for plumbing – enough to lend its name to the profession. Copper then took over – before plastic began to displace copper. Nevertheless, copper is still highly valued for plumbing, as well as for electrical wiring.
As noted above, copper in drinking water is an interesting beast. Lead and copper in drinking water are controlled by the EPA under something called the Lead and Copper Rule, or LCR. Note that the linked document, which talks about the most recent “upgrade” to the rule, is over 400 pages. Yeah – there is a MESS of goofiness outside the actual rule there. Most of the concern is about lead, which is now highly restricted. Here is all that is said about copper’s toxicity in the linked explainer:
Acute copper exposure causes gastrointestinal distress. Chronic exposure to copper is particularly a concern for people with Wilson’s disease because they are prone to copper accumulation in body tissue, which can lead to liver damage, neurological, and/or psychiatric symptoms. For a more detailed explanation of the health effects associated with copper see Appendix E of the final rule Economic Analysis (USEPA, 2020). EPA did not propose revisions to the copper requirements; thus, the final rule does not revise the copper requirements.
Copper is basically off the hook at 1.3 ppm or below. That number has not been upgraded. Why is that level important? In my opinion, it’s because copper is bacteriostatic and algicidal in practice at between 0.1 and 1.0 ppm. Thus, one can SAFELY DRINK water which is being purified against microorganisms with copper.
And THAT would include the Moscow Mule, depending upon how long it sits.
I refer you now to an excellent article, which relies on a breathless scaremongering headline, but actually DOES provide a balanced set of viewpoints on both the DANGERS and BENEFITS of dietary copper.
Sipping This Popular Cocktail Is a “Health Hazard,” Experts Say
AFTER 27 MINUTES, YOU MAY BE AT RISK OF HEAVY METAL POISONING.
First of all, copper isn’t really a “heavy metal” IMO, but whatever. It’s heavier than some.
You will note, after reading at the link, that you have to drink a ton of Moscow Mules, or a few that have sat around for a very long time, to MAYBE get sickened by them.
In general, avoid drinking acidic things that have been in contact with copper for a long time, and you will be OK.
Remember – most household water has sat around in copper pipes for quite a while at neutral pH, and it’s simply not toxic (due to copper). You DO get less lead if you flush your water 30 seconds before getting drinking water, but again – we’re talking about levels that would make Romans, Victorians, and even people from 70 years ago howl with laughter at our prissy over-concern – even knowing the science.
Perspective is very important – as you are about to see in a beautiful example of the failure of modern science, thanks to CCP socialism infecting both global science and science publishing.
Failure of Socialized Science and Peer Review Exposed in a JAMA-Published Ivermectin Study
The fact that Pierre Kory now calls JAMA “PHAMA” is a nice short way of saying that medicine has been utterly taken over by the pharmaceutical industry, and IMO set back several thousand years. Hippocrates would be HORRIFIED by what has happened to medicine – and I say that as somebody OUTSIDE medicine, and a lot closer to the pharmaceutical industry.
IMO it’s too late to save the pharmaceutical industry from scandalous criminal survival – but it’s not too late to save the profession of medicine from utter moral death. And thus, you will be treated to my following scientific opinion.
Steve Kirsch doesn’t play defense. He saw how JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association) completely FUMBLED an ivermectin paper, and how Pierre Kory picked it up off the ground, taking complete control, but more or less just standing there, lamenting the bad refs and horrible cheating. So Kirsch did the only thing he does. He grabbed the ball from Kory and ran it back for a touchdown.
“New JAMA paper show Ivermectin blows the COVID vaccines out of the water”
This is an utter reversal of the conclusion of the paper.
All because some guy in the stands named “Massimaux” spotted the free ball and yelled “FUMBLE!!!”
If you understand science, and science publishing, then you will see that what Kirsch did here was BRUTAL. And I’m gonna show you where all the bruises and black eyes are.
I almost feel sorry for JAMA, but not enough to miss this opportunity to LEAP ONTO THE DOGPILE and give AMA’s hare-brained PC leadership a good WEDGIE.
Don’t worry about the AMA. They’re protected by Pfizer, Biden, and the media. And just like any good mafia arrangement, as long as AMA keeps saying the right things, and not saying the wrong things, everything is gonna be OK.
Everything but science. But that’s OK, too.
We’ll take care of things. Just like we did here.
Here is the Kirsch gab that grabbed my attention.
Repeating for Zoe, as well as our silicon friends…..
“Wait a second. I thought there was some paper just out that Alex Berenson said was basically the end of ivermectin, although scientifically, I know that’s pretty much impossible. I know there is SOME explanation for why this paper (which I have not read yet) has to be deviating in some way from the MANY papers that show limited but solid efficacy – and especially against DEATH – just like HCQ. But this CANNOT be the same paper. No way! Kirsch would not be saying this unless the results were stunningly IN FAVOR of ivermectin, and there is no WAY that some authors with a NEGATIVE-LEANING study would be……. I mean….. WHAT THE HELL????”
SO – I just stopped to see what in the hell paper Kirsch was talking about.
Now we’ve discussed (in the comments on this site) Berenson’s very weird attack on Robert Malone when they appeared together on Fox News, which didn’t make sense THEN, but which does NOW – and I will explain that momentarily. But first, back to Kirsch.
Kirsch explains that – YES – this paper states in BOTH its abstract and its conclusion the following:
“The study findings do not support the use of ivermectin for patients with COVID-19.”
However, that is NOT what the data says.
Certainly not to everybody.
Certainly not to me.
In other words, DIFFERENT scientists (like Kirsch, Kory, me, and an anonymous Twitter poster names Massimaux, who found the key issue) have looked at the data, and see something quite different.
Kory goes into a rather long analysis of the whole war against ivermectin, but Kirsch digs into Kory’s article and then finds and elucidates the key nugget – discovered by Massimaux – that just ends the arguments.
It helps to read this in Kirsch’s article, but if you’re going to be lazy, I’ll explain here.
Here is Massimaux’s tweet:
In the I-TECH study, of 490 patients, 241 got Ivermectin and 331 were vaccinated.
Can we compute the vaccine effectiveness AGAINST DEATH and Ivermectin effectiveness AGAINST DEATH? Yes, we can! See the figure.
Look at the bottom line in the two tables and compare. Not only is ivermectin CLEARLY better than the vaccine at preventing death – the significance of the result is significantly greater.
If the efficacy of ivermectin against death is not true, then very little else in the study is true.
This data says that ivermectin is exactly what we’ve been saying it is. It’s not a miracle cure, but it WORKS – particularly in preventing DEATH – its only real purpose. That result is IN THE PAPER. It is IN THE DATA. And if the authors want to argue that it’s not in the data, because it’s not significant enough, then nothing ELSE is in the data, because most everything else is even LESS significant.
Now it’s very important to realize that this nice little pair of tables FROM THE DATA is not due to the original authors – it’s due to a POST-PUBLICATION “peer review” by somebody who looked at the very same data, and PROVED using the authors’ own data that they were WRONG to say that the data didn’t support use of ivermectin.
So why did the authors tack on that wrong statement?
Did the EDITORS make them tack on that statement? Did the AUTHORS tack it on to get the paper to publish? Or is the “peer bias” against ivermectin, mostly due to the media, SO STRONG that scientists didn’t even look through their own data to see a conclusion they didn’t want to see?
Or is it a combination of ALL of these?
It is clearly in the data that ivermectin is three times as effective as the vaccines in preventing death. Even more importantly, if you add in what is known OUTSIDE the paper in question – namely the adverse effects of the vaccine and the safety of ivermectin, then it’s a no-brainer to NOT take the vaccine and to just use ivermectin. And Kirsch explains THAT rather nicely.
The data LITERALLY justify our position.
This was my hunch all along, and as vaccine side effects loomed larger and larger, and ivermectin proved to be rather shockingly harmless, even at antiviral doses comparable to large-animal systemic antiparasitic doses. All ivermectin had to do was prevent death to some moderate extent, and it was a no-brainer that people should take it.
To conclude anything else, based on the data, is murderous folly, in my opinion.
When I was a young lad – a mere student – but also one who WROTE PAPERS (because I had a great professor who TRAINED US to be full-blooded scientists), we EXPECTED to be CRITICIZED in peer review by people exactly like Steve Kirsch, Pierre Kory, and myself. We expected that others would look at data and see it completely differently.
And we would then have to ACKNOWLEDGE the alternative interpretations, or convince the editors that the criticism was not even worth acknowledging (a VERY rare occurrence in any legitimately contested field).
My lab had PRACTICE criticizing other people’s work – and we expected it in return. I personally found quite a few errors in the literature. Most were small – mostly problems of the writing – but some were huge and affected the science. Sometimes the big errors would only partially alter the author’s conclusions, but other times they had a significant impact.
However, I have to admit that I never ran into data which PROVED THE OPPOSITE of the authors’ main conclusion – even if only to the critic – and THAT is what we have here.
PEER REVIEW is designed to subject a paper to (hopefully at least TWO) critical readers who will very likely DEMAND improvements. Those improvements often mean acknowledging DIFFERENT views of the data as being possible and maybe even reasonable.
That kind of QUALITY peer review was VERY OBVIOUSLY not done here.
What we have RIGHT HERE is a demonstration that HERD REVIEW is much more important than PEER REVIEW.
PEER REVIEW is subject to BIAS. It is subject to SUBVERSION and GAMING.
I go back to the Zhang mask paper, for crying out loud.
To me, this will always remain a horrifying example of “fitting the data to the theory”, rather than looking to see what the data says. You can just look at this graph and see the crime.
I lay this stuff SQUARELY at the feet of SOCIALISM, which has politicized science and removed control of science from the people of science themselves, investing much of it in a media which WILL NOT question government narratives. People raised under socialism who become “go-alongers” – and so SOME degree that is everybody – stop questioning things that need to be questioned.
I have WATCHED and I have SEEN how WEF and CCP corruption have degraded science everywhere.
They’re not going to fix this stuff – at least not yet.
But until then, know this:
Ivermectin WORKS, and it was just proven by people who said it doesn’t work.
Thanks to HERD REVIEW.
One last point.
Why did Alex Berenson not see this?
IMO, it’s because Berenson is simply not a scientist – he’s an investigative journalist. Thus, his virtue-signaling attack on Malone was meant to show “journalistic balance”, NOT that he himself had deeply researched the history of the topic, in which case he (Berenson) would have likely said “Yes, Malone really is the most foundational of the founding fathers of the tech.”
But let’s not blame Alex too hard. THE AUTHORS OF THIS STUDY – that’s right – the authors themselves – didn’t see it, either.
See what I’ve always said? Real science is contentious.
But it has a good heart.
It wants the TRUTH.
ENJOY THE SHOW.
Thank you all for being here. Have a great weekend.
(@EmeraldRobinson) 
(@alx) 
