“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
What is it that feeds our battle, yet starves our victory?
January 6 Tapes Reminder
After the first release, we were supposed to get more, every week.
As far as I know it hasn’t happened.
Speaker Johnson, please follow through!
A Caution
Just remember…we might replace the RINO candidates. (Or we might not. The record is mixed even though there is more MAGA than there used to be.) But that will make no difference in the long run if the party officials, basically the Rhonna McDaniels (or however that’s spelled–I suspect it’s RINO), don’t get replaced.
State party chairs, vice chairs, secretaries and so on, and the same at county levels, have huge influence on who ultimately gets nominated, and if these party wheelhorses are RINOs, they will work tirelessly to put their own pukey people on the ballot. In fact I’d not be surprised if some of our “MAGA” candidates are in fact, RINO plants, encouraged to run by the RINO party leadership when they realized that Lyn Cheney (and her ilk) were hopelessly compromised as effective candidates. The best way for them to deal with the opposition, of course, is to run it themselves.
Running good candidates is only HALF of the battle!
Booting a RINO
I’ve spent the last couple of years pounding home the message that RINO McDaniels was a symptom of a problem…a party shot through with RINO officials. In this instance it was the hundred or so members of the RNC who gleefully voted for her again, and again, and again.
Well I got to help take one of those hundred people down, as told here: https://www.theqtree.com/2024/04/07/i-aim-to-raise-a-ruckus/. What’s even better is that oxygen thief was apparently boiling mad at how poorly she did in the vote (according to a MAGA candidate for a county office I spoke to on Tuesday night). Apparently she felt entitled to her office no matter what the rubes thing…and that attitude turns people into RINOs.
Judging from the number of comments received few noticed or cared about the post, but nonetheless I noticed a pattern: Hardly anyone who regularly puts forth “devolution” or “this is all a movie” theories (or any other variant of the idea that Trump and/or his allies are really in charge) seemed to care about it. I described successful action against the enemy and they didn’t care.
I submit that that is the desired effect of such ideas as devolution…to get people on our side not to care, not to participate, not to fight, because they believe someone else will do it for them. “Nothing can stop what is coming?” Great! I don’t have to lift a finger, just be ready to microwave some popcorn!
If any of you really are thinking like this, you might as well be controlled opposition. You’re doing exactly what the other side wants you to do, sitting on your hands waiting for deliverance by deus ex machina.
SPECIAL SECTION: Message For Our “Friends” In The Middle Kingdom
I normally save this for near the end, but…basically…up your shit-kicking barbarian asses. Yes, barbarian! It took a bunch of sailors in Western Asia to invent a real alphabet instead of badly drawn cartoons to write with. So much for your “civilization.”
Yeah, the WORLD noticed you had to borrow the Latin alphabet to make Pinyin. Like with every other idea you had to steal from us “Foreign Devils” since you rammed your heads up your asses five centuries ago, you sure managed to bastardize it badly in the process.
Have you stopped eating bats yet? Are you shit-kickers still sleeping with farm animals?
Or maybe even just had the slightest inkling of treating lives as something you don’t just casually dispose of?
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
And here’s my response to barbarian “asshoes” like you:
OK, with that rant out of my system…
Biden Gives Us Too Much Credit
…we can move on to the next one.
Apparently Biden (or his puppeteer) has decided we’re to blame for all of the fail in the United States today.
Sorry to disappoint you Joe (or whoever), but you managed to do that all on your own; not only that, you wouldn’t let us NOT give you the chance because you insisted on cheating your way into power.
Yep, you-all are incompetent, and so proud of it you expect our applause for your sincerity. Fuck that!!
It wouldn’t be so bad, but you insist that everyone else have to share in your misery. Nope, can’t have anyone get out from under it. Somehow your grand vision only works if every single other person on earth is forced to go along. So much as ONE PERSON not going along is enough to make it all fail, apparently.
In engineering school we’re taught that a design that has seven to eight billion single points of failure…sucks.
Actually, we weren’t taught that. Because it would never have occurred to the professors to use such a ridiculous example.
Justice Must Be Done.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Kamala Harris has a new nickname since she finally went west from DC to El Paso Texas: Westward Hoe.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
Spot Prices
All prices are Kitco Ask, 3PM MT Friday (at that time the markets close for the weekend). (Note: most media quotes are for the bid…the price paid by the market makers, not the ask, which is what they will sell at. I figure the ask is more relevant to people like us who wish we could afford to buy these things. In the case of gold the difference is usually about a dollar, for the PGMs the spread is much wider.)
Gold has been see-sawing around a bit (it broke $2400 earlier this week but dropped again–not as hard as last week, certainly; it’s still close this time) but slowly trending upwards when all is said and done. Silver is also showing strength at this level. Platinum and palladium on the other hand are not doing that well; they’re actually down for the week (even though palladium closed up for the day on Friday). Rhodium is the only PGM that is doing at all well.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
What is it that feeds our battle, yet starves our victory?
January 6 Tapes Reminder
After the first release, we were supposed to get more, every week.
As far as I know it hasn’t happened.
Speaker Johnson, please follow through!
A Caution
Just remember…we might replace the RINO candidates. (Or we might not. The record is mixed even though there is more MAGA than there used to be.) But that will make no difference in the long run if the party officials, basically the Rhonna McDaniels (or however that’s spelled–I suspect it’s RINO), don’t get replaced.
State party chairs, vice chairs, secretaries and so on, and the same at county levels, have huge influence on who ultimately gets nominated, and if these party wheelhorses are RINOs, they will work tirelessly to put their own pukey people on the ballot. In fact I’d not be surprised if some of our “MAGA” candidates are in fact, RINO plants, encouraged to run by the RINO party leadership when they realized that Lyn Cheney (and her ilk) were hopelessly compromised as effective candidates. The best way for them to deal with the opposition, of course, is to run it themselves.
Running good candidates is only HALF of the battle!
SPECIAL SECTION: Message For Our “Friends” In The Middle Kingdom
I normally save this for near the end, but…basically…up your shit-kicking barbarian asses. Yes, barbarian! It took a bunch of sailors in Western Asia to invent a real alphabet instead of badly drawn cartoons to write with. So much for your “civilization.”
Yeah, the WORLD noticed you had to borrow the Latin alphabet to make Pinyin. Like with every other idea you had to steal from us “Foreign Devils” since you rammed your heads up your asses five centuries ago, you sure managed to bastardize it badly in the process.
Have you stopped eating bats yet? Are you shit-kickers still sleeping with farm animals?
Or maybe even just had the slightest inkling of treating lives as something you don’t just casually dispose of?
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
And here’s my response to barbarian “asshoes” like you:
OK, with that rant out of my system…
Biden Gives Us Too Much Credit
…we can move on to the next one.
Apparently Biden (or his puppeteer) has decided we’re to blame for all of the fail in the United States today.
Sorry to disappoint you Joe (or whoever), but you managed to do that all on your own; not only that, you wouldn’t let us NOT give you the chance because you insisted on cheating your way into power.
Yep, you-all are incompetent, and so proud of it you expect our applause for your sincerity. Fuck that!!
It wouldn’t be so bad, but you insist that everyone else have to share in your misery. Nope, can’t have anyone get out from under it. Somehow your grand vision only works if every single other person on earth is forced to go along. So much as ONE PERSON not going along is enough to make it all fail, apparently.
In engineering school we’re taught that a design that has seven to eight billion single points of failure…sucks.
Actually, we weren’t taught that. Because it would never have occurred to the professors to use such a ridiculous example.
Justice Must Be Done.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Kamala Harris has a new nickname since she finally went west from DC to El Paso Texas: Westward Hoe.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
Spot Prices
All prices are Kitco Ask, 3PM MT Friday (at that time the markets close for the weekend). (Note: most media quotes are for the bid…the price paid by the market makers, not the ask, which is what they will sell at. I figure the ask is more relevant to people like us who wish we could afford to buy these things. In the case of gold the difference is usually about a dollar, for the PGMs the spread is much wider.)
Gold spent this last week bouncing around and closed this week lower than last week. On the other hand silver went like gangbusters, and the PGMs are also up. It’s almost as if gold is pausing and letting the others catch up.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
Well here is a bit of VERY BAD NEWS that showed up on the daily thread.
YOU ADDED WHAT TO MY CHEESE???
First I want to give a MAJOR H/T to Dr. Mercola, Ashley Armstrongof Robert Kennedy Jr’s Children’s Health Defense Organization and to The Burning Platform for bringing this to our attention. Dr Mercola has drawn attacks from the Cabal early on especially during the beginnings of Covid as has the Children’s Health Defense Organization.
Guest Post by Ashley Armstrong Rennet is used as a clotting agent to curdle the milk into cheese, separating the liquid parts of milk from the solids. Pfizer makes a genetically modified rennet, but because of a labeling loophole, cheese containing Pfizer’s rennet does not have to be labeled as containing a genetically modified organism.
Story at a glance:
Traditionally, cheese was made with just four ingredients: milk, salt, starter culture and animal rennet.
Rennet is used as a clotting agent to curdle the milk into cheese, separating the liquid parts of milk from the solids. It’s an essential part of the cheese-making process.
Today, there are four types of rennet used in the cheese-making industry: animal rennet, vegetable rennet, microbial rennet and a genetically modified version called FPC (fermentation-produced chymosin), made by Pfizer.
Bioengineered FPC was granted Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) status, which exempted Pfizer from the pre-approved requirements that apply to other new food additives. This is even though studies have detailed concerns about safety.
An estimated 90% of North American cheese is made with FPC rennet, and ingredient labels do not distinguish between bioengineered rennet and the original animal-based type so consumers have no way of knowing what they’re eating.
…Safety concerns of GM enzymes
Well, again, this technology is new. So there are no long-term studies evaluating the safety of eating a small amount of this genetically modified food additive every single day. But there are two main concerns: 1) toxicity and 2) digestive issues since these rennet alternatives can serve as an allergen.
Toxicity concerns
Toxicity means that the enzyme solution contains biotoxins from the genetically modified host (mold or fungus) that is being cultured and fermented in the lab. The producers of these enzymes claim the final FPC enzyme solution is highly purified, but some people react as though they still contain some of the allergens from the host microorganisms themselves.
In fact, traces of the genetically engineered bacteria have been found in enzymes. A few quotes from the literature regarding these toxicity concerns. I don’t know about you, but I have no desire to consume biotoxins from genetically modified organisms! “Genetically modified food enzymes are currently produced from GMOs. Safety concerns have been raised regarding potential contamination of food with bacterial toxins or mycotoxins, allergens, or uncharacterized extraneous substances as impurities. “Because these enzymes are purified from microbial sources, toxic substances might be present in enzyme preparations/isolates. The toxic substances are basically bacterial toxins and mycotoxins, which might cause problems/risks related to the health of consumers.
“Safety legislation is also very much attentive regarding the allergenic properties of manufactured enzymes, as it is well known that enzymes are potent inhalative sensitizers. “Apart from that, numerous uncharacterized extraneous substances/ impurities of microbial/biological origin may also be present in the enzyme preparation, which is also a matter of prime concern while evaluating the safety of commercial enzyme products.
“While food enzyme preparations are considered unlikely to cause any acute toxicity, genotoxicity, or repeat-dose oral toxicity, it is the fermentation product(s) of microorganisms from the manufacturing process that is/are of interest due to the potential presence of secondary metabolites that may induce toxicity when ingested (eg. aflatoxins, fumonisins and/or ochratoxins).”
So, some are concerned about continuous ingestion of these biotoxins over time, and the negative health consequences those would have over the course of years. And unfortunately, there isn’t much regulation here. “Currently, the companies themselves are responsible for the quality control of their products.” Gee, that’s not helpful!
Allergens and digestive issues
So as a result of a small amount of these toxins potentially showing up in the final cheese product (and slight structural changes in the final proteins), the cheese can now serve as an allergen and can cause an allergic reaction, or digestive and respiratory issues.
Stomach upset or discomfort.
Runny nose, increase in mucus production.
Consumers then may think they can’t digest cheese — but hey, maybe it is just the cheese that was made! It may not be the dairy itself, but the microorganism residues that elicit an allergic response, or irritate the gut lining.
I do not digest cheese that is made with this FPC (which again can be “vegetable rennet” or “microbial rennet” on labels). I get stomach upset and a disruption of my normal bowel movements. So something isn’t going right there! I can only digest cheese made with animal rennet, so I am very picky with what cheese I consume day to day! GMO cheese may compromise your gut health One of the biggest issues here is the potential disruption of the gut microbiome. “Lastly, the case study highlights the issues related to the dissemination of [antimicrobial resistance] genes due to their potential acquisition by the human commensal flora, via direct food consumption and by environmental bacteria through contact with soil and water surfaces or food waste. This is especially the case as a living GMM [genetically modified micro-organism] was found in a FE [enzyme] preparation.” In addition, allergic responses from ingesting the biotoxin residues or modified protein structures.
👉“A known safety risk linked to industrial enzyme use is respiratory allergy and for most proteases, there is also some potential for skin and eye irritation … Enzymes present a risk of a respiratory allergy (e.g. Aspergillus-derived enzymesin bakers’ asthma) and it is well described in the scientific literature …
“Genetic modification of enzymes may also change their allergenic properties, posing new potential health risks. For instance, type I sensitization was found in a study of 813 exposed industrial workers using genetically modified enzymes.”
So, it is documented in the literature, I experience it personally, and have heard from multiple other people — some people have digestive issues digesting the microbial and vegetable rennets.
But do just fine with cheese made traditionally with animal rennet. There are consequences when we try to outsmart nature! Originally published by Mercola.com
This website is for Amos Miller, the Amish farmer that the gubt is trying to destroy. His life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Along with his his business, just like they are trying to do with President Trump. So never believe them when they tel you it’s just President Trump. They are LIARS! Remember what they did to small businesses during their fake pandemics and forced lockdowns. This website was set up by Viva & Barnes to help him and his case. There is merch here, as well as donation options for anyone so inclined. It also tells his story. Please share so more will know. https://www.freeamericalawcenter.com
It is time for more truth telling. Most should agree by now the MAGA operation is in full swing and there is really no reason to be cryptic and flip floppy anymore.
We move from the world of agriculture into industry with an aluminum smelting operation located in the same rural area of the Bootheel. A rarity of a dirty, but important mill in the middle of nowhere that has provided 20-30% of domestic production for six decades.
There was a recent post made in a daily a month ago of a statement from Sen. Josh Hawley of MO lamenting the closure of an aluminum smelting plant in New Madrid County, MO; which is in the subject bootheel of southeastern MO from BIMD. The company’s biggest competitors are from China of course. The links below describe it and the situation.
So how could the demise of this relatively unknown mill in farm country have such an impact that politicians would be jumping through hoops before the public to act concerned and involved in a resolution? The journey begins.
Understand Aluminum
We probably need a good primer on what aluminum is and its value to the world. See the link below.
The media, manufacturing, government and science all indicate aluminum is vital to the viability of our country as well as its defense. Is that true? The industry seems to think they are and reference government reports frequently such as in the links below.
Common sense seems to indicate the industry is vital. As an example, the electricity grid is somewhat dependent on it to transmit the juice. Those pretty little EV’s that are going to save the planet are seemingly dependent on it in their manufacturing and operation as well as for the manufacture of all those gorgeous, environmentally sensitive solar panels and windmill blades.
Why There Is An Aluminum Smelting Mill In The Bootheel
We will now look at how the mill got there by understanding the founding company more – Noranda Aluminum.
Most would probably not know that this mill goes back well before BIMD in the region. The operation was originally called Noranda and was in business and thriving when I lived and worked in the bootheel. It was known throughout the area as the highest paying employer for the working man in that region. There was never a shortage of applicants for the few jobs that would open each year as people retired, became disabled or passed away. You can learn more in the links below.
Many steel, aluminum, etc. mills are located in more rural areas with lower land and facilities costs. Noranda locating their plant in the middle of the country in a rural area of the Midwest with low building costs, reasonable access to the Mississippi River, railroads, the interstate system and lower cost coal fired power would be a smart initial move. Labor costs would be lower and more well trained workers could be drawn from markets such as St. Louis.
What Noranda did not know is that a decade later the EPA would have a bigger hammer in pushing electricity providers to add expensive scrubbers and to use lower sulfur content coal in the area power plants from western states such as Wyoming. Which is exactly what happened to the power company I worked for in the area BIMD. It is as described in BIMD: Scoundrels, Part 2 in the obituary of attorney George K. Reeves of the Ward & Reeves law firm. Up to that time coal fired power companies in the state purchased coal from surface mining (strip mining) in their own state of Missouri as well as nearby Kentucky. My employer had contracted for years a portion of the electricity generated by Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.’s (AECI) coal plant known as the Thomas Hill Energy Center in Clifton Hill, MO today. AECI’s biggest customer was Noranda BIMD. With the EPA emphasis on lowering the sulfur dioxide during the period, they also eventually switched to Wyoming coal. This caused the rates to go up to all customers including Noranda. Eventually AECI could no longer handle the lower rates Noranda needed as well as supply requirements and a different arrangement was worked out with the much larger Ameren to do so.
All of that coal supply chain switching began an increasing of power rates over time, that combined with paying higher wages pushed costs and resulting Noranda product prices up. Another miscalculation of Noranda ownership was the zeal of which the uniparty and their globalist cohorts would support the thawing of relations with China and its own developing smelting operations. China, Inc. began to ramp up production over the years until it became less expensive for domestic customers to buy from them despite it taking longer to receive the product. China had then and still has no environmental constraints. They use coal fired electricity widely and have ample low cost labor. The Chi-coms do whatever they want to do. They simply kill people who cause trouble for them. Thanks to the clowns paving the way for the uniparty globalists who consequently jumped into bed with the Chi-coms, it was only a matter of time before Noranda failed.
Once again, America last. Remember that the groundwork for this was laid in the Nixon years by his utilization and belief in who? Henry Kissinger. This is a perfect illustration of the span of time necessary to complete fundamental change in governance, national economies, etc. It is not done in quick soundbites and through executive orders by the POTUS of the day. It is done in backrooms and through back channels by people with money and power at their disposal. They utilize the “intelligence” agencies and clandestine military operations to plant and carry out coups, revolutions and “national security” operations to effect their will on the unwilling. The legacy media (fake news) has always been just a propaganda arm of who holds the power behind the scenes that they shield from public scrutiny. We will address this more after the completion of BIMD as I focus more on Civilized War stories.
Here is some background relating to Noranda’s end times operations and bankruptcy. It entered the decline period of the life cycle a couple of decades before becoming a dead dog.
Note that then MO Governor Greitens pushed legislation through to change the electricity pricing structure for industries similar to the subject that assisted it in reopening. See link below.
Economic lesson incoming. Anytime there is a restart of a deceased business in a mature industry such as aluminum smelting, there are requirements that must be met to ensure its success. First and foremost will always be meeting the basic needs of the business and its process/methods. The demise of Noranda three years before told the new ownership group what that was. For Magnitude 7 it would be sufficient capital, meeting current and anticipated EPA requirements, cheap and dependable source of power long term, lower cost labor, demand for product, and governmental support. Did the ownership have these primary issues covered?
Nope, not even close. They lit a match to their money and burned it. Our economic lesson to understand is that sometimes wealthy and/or highly successful people make stupid decisions because they become filled with pride or unduly enamored with the subject of their affections.
Politics And Jobs
The political posturing on both sides of the aisle this year relating to this mill has been interesting to say the least. After Sen. Hawley spoke out, MO AG Andrew Bailey jumped in to gain some political traction.
It is worth noting that AG Bailey mentions the company appeared to not act on offers that would have enabled it to continue operations. How viable those offers were is not discussed. A cursory review of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) company/employee related activities noted several filings in recent months. With the union contract involved, this would not be a surprise. It may have also contributed to the decision by the company’s ownership to shut down.
The following link of 2/21/24 gives a good perspective from the worker standpoint. It appears there may be attempts underway to find a resolution. However, some of the employees will never return to work at the mill regardless of what happens.
The current MO GOP governor, Mike Parson, vetoed a line item in the budget that would have provided the funding the keep the plant operating. I have no idea if Parson is truly MAGA or Uniparty. He appears he may be a convert to MAGA after the Mittens Romney fiasco of 2012. In my opinion it can happen and it explains PDT’s attitude towards other uniparty politicians at times. Some of them may appear to remain within uniparty control while serving as operatives and informants for the good guys. Another possible example of a MAGA convert from that Romney run is Sen. Bill Hagerty of TN. He has been 100% on the Trump train since 2016. Parson may be as well, I will defer to DePat and others who know current MO politics better than me.
The Brandon (Soetoro) administration has turned a blind eye to this company’s plight in pursuit of the “green” agenda since the plant uses a great deal of electricity provided by the use of carbon based fuels, primarily coal. They have also been squeezing the company on its emissions for awhile now. Their media lackeys continue to beat the pollution drum loudly. With China Joe involved we know what he wanted to happen. More on this is provided in links later in this story.
To survive the company once again needed access to lower power rates to operate profitably as well as funds to install equipment to clean emissions better. Here is a quote from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of 1/25/24 on the situation. Parson said at an event on Thursday, however, that when government partners with businesses, it has to be a good deal for taxpayers. “We’re not gonna bail anybody out of anything,” Parson said.
So having more dependence on communist Chinese suppliers for smelted aluminum is a good deal for taxpayers, Gov. Parson? Tax payers equal American citizens who strongly prefer to remain independent of communist China.
Regardless of the decision to resurrect Magnitude 7 or to allow it to die, it has been puzzling that the vast majority of all elected officials in state and federal offices throughout the country thought partnering with government and running the money printing presses at full throttle was a great idea to do back in 2008 with big banks, big insurance, auto manufacturing, etc. However, to do that with a relatively minuscule amount of funding from taxes for dirty industries vital to national security and infrastructure like the subject, steel mills, and such…well…they have more important uses for the money such as giving it to war pig industries and paying pensions in Ukraine.
Oh, c’mon, Gov. Parson. You are either posturing, still in the uniparty, or an idiot. That statement is too transparent to be effective.
The Truth Of The Situation
Not everything is as it seems or appears and this is one of those times in my opinion. At press time for this part of the story, the following scenarios appear to be possibly involved.
1) Even red state governors have been proven to cozy up to the money of China, Inc. to benefit their states and themselves at the loss of their personal integrity and national security. Parson may be making sure China’s position in the industry remains strong by ensuring American output reduces by 20-30% of its past levels.
2) The Democrat funding bill sponsor (Quade) may be playing politics as well. The major issue is access to lower costing energy to make the company’s operations competitive and profitable long term. If it is successful doing that and gaining labor contract concessions it will be able to afford to install equipment to clean emissions better. The reality is she may be posturing for the loss of 400 union jobs to rally the union vote in the upcoming elections while knowing the electric rates and EPA issues will keep it shuttered, which is what the Dems really want.
3) This plant shut down for a couple of years once before when Noranda owned it for similar reasons. It had twice the number of employees at one time compared to now. It would be expected that money could be saved from operations if wages are lower as the number of employees is right sized to the projected revenues. Rightsizing workforces can be much more difficult to get done and the costs of doing so higher when union contracts are involved. Guess what state passed the right to work law in recent years that did not exist with the current company’s restart or Noranda? Yup, Missouri. If Magnitude 7 bankrupts out of existence or otherwise sells assets at the site in liquidation; at some point it frees a new entity to purchase facilities for a restart later with the current union contract eventually terminating. A GOP controlled state legislature and governor might want to wait awhile for a potential buyer before they assist in negotiating new power rates as well as giving credits for emissions equipment.
Presently, I will take Door #3 – for the most part. There is a caveat. Timing is a critical issue and 2025 would be optimum for restart if PDT wins. With the rise of China, Inc. in the past few decades Noranda and the current company proved incapable of operating profitably as well as not responding to the EPA requirements The tariffs PDT imposed have not proven to be enough to turn it around primarily because of the electrical rates and secondarily because of the EPA.
But there was also an under-discussed factor. COVID destroyed product sales demand right after PDT’s tariffs were placed on China.
Moves and countermoves. This picture is far bigger than a small mill in the Bootheel.
Our economy was running at breakneck speed once PDT took over. COVID destroyed the momentum. Many businesses and millions of people suffered and died worldwide. Which was the intent of China, Inc. and their buddies in crime, the uniparty globalists. All of it was intentional and staged into play as the documented evidence clearly reveals. This is no secret, it is staring everybody right in the face with documentary evidence everywhere. All you have to do is remember the masks and the constant fear porn directed at you from every corner of the country.
Do not tell me that any of them actually gives a rats behind about the average human. We the People need to remember that when we think about giving them our money, time, children, the sweat of our brows, taking that needle into our arms, or swallowing those pills.
As it applies to the current Magnitude 7 situation, with COVID trashing the American and other major world economies along with the high operating costs associated with electricity and union labor; there was no way for the company to dig out without government assistance. However, there could be other reasons the ownership chose not to accept assistance that MO AG Bailey alluded to being available.
Owners of businesses in trouble have been known to have their companies finish taking a dive for the benefit of others in return for unusual and sometimes hidden forms of compensation, especially when the offering side controls enforcement of laws and regulations along with having a friendly judiciary. The uniparty controls enough of the federal system to provide that environment. Anybody having doubts the uniparty globalists along with China, Inc. would do so to keep the subject mill closed needs to rethink their position. Another possibility (probability) is the usual product dumping that occurs to drive less financially strong competitors from the market. This happens with impunity when similar federal enforcement and judiciary are in place.
New Madrid County’s residents will be hurting for a time, so the state legislature needs to do all it can to assist in the interim period. But the truth is the county’s total population is only about 16 K. County leaders and businesses need to be about recruiting and working on developing other business opportunities to create jobs. They have depended on this one employer to sustain things for over 50 years. They placed all their eggs in the one basket knowing full well it could permanently die at some point.
You can see this dependence in the forlorn statement of their State Senator in the provided link. He is a Republican from the little town of Holcomb, population 600 or so plus dogs, cats and watermelons. The later of which are the best tasting I have ever put in my mouth. Something about the soil there makes them a known delicacy in the area, at least they were BIMD. But I digress.
But Wait, There’s Even MOAR!
The real battle has very little to do with Magnitude 7 Metals and the closure of an underperforming aluminum smelting mill. This is not to trivialize the loss of many jobs in a rural area that can ill afford it, however, this company is just a pawn on the uniparty chess board and a political talking point. The county has a small population and leans GOP regardless of the mill being open or not. The mill had closed for 2.5 years after Noranda shut down before Magnitude 7 restarted it. Besides posturing about the loss of union jobs, these links reveal the real Dem game plan.
Relating to the first link, anybody with any common sense at all knows you could never operate an aluminum smelting mill with solar and wind generated power. The absurdity is off the charts. So what are they really aiming to accomplish other than propaganda for the brain dead? This is about what Cankles said during her failed POTUS election bid about coal that helped cement her loss along with her “deplorables” miscue. Oh yeah, I remember. “…we’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” Which would mean coal fired power plants as well. That is still the game plan of the uniparty globalists; to shut down the American economic engine and destroy the American spirit.
Which leads to the second link from commie NPR. You will find discussion on Ameren’s Labadie power plant being one of the ten worst polluters in the Midwest. Which is an interesting way to make a point since Labadie has been in full compliance with stringent EPA regulations for decades. The EPA and political pressure to remove coal fired generation, however, is pushing electricity providers to close plants early that need large capital commitments for scrubbers and or conversions to natural gas. When that happens they still need to provide customers with power, so they contract for excess supply from other producers at higher rates than they can produce the electricity themselves. As an example Ameren is closing one coal fired plant earlier than planned this year, Rush Island. That means less internally generated power production. Rates will be going up and there is not much negotiation by the state that will help the subject mill, which has been an Ameren customer. If rates go up significantly in Missouri and the Midwest due to the abandonment of coal fired plants that are the core power providers while demand for electricity is strongly growing with their federally forced promotion of EV’s on manufacturers and other focuses; what do you think will happen to the overall economy of the region? Where are the replacements of nuclear and natural gas plants? Nowhere. With a strong downturn the uniparty will be out in full force selling lies that unfortunately usually leads to their return to power at the state level when We the People lose our minds and vote for them.
Then there is the third link which is pure lunacy.
It is the same old game plan already used in every blue state in America involving the Commiefornification of the country with the uniparty pulling the strings.
Under the guise of doing good for society by improving the environment the cabal is moving to undercut the economic lifelines of millions, which slowly destroys the unwitting who believe them. None will or can answer why they are personally owned by the biggest polluting country in the world that uses oppressed citizenry and slave labor who steal technology and governmental/business intel. They cannot respond to how they plan to wall off the polluted air and water produced in China and other economies from the rest of world.
This nation can run clean power plants on natural gas for centuries from its own resources. When you consider our known coal reserves we are nearing 1000 years of sufficient carbon based fuels within our nation’s current control for purposes other than transportation. Then add in the centuries of known oil reserves and the increasing technologies developing from other naturally existing elements and matter to serve the purpose for transportation needs. Over time technology has developed and would continue to develop at an even faster rate to clean up the coal burning process if funding was used for the purpose instead of forever war pig wars and regime changes. As an example, if readers chose to do so they could go back to a portion of my BIMD story about Coal Mining Heroes and see where B. Ray Thompson developed and used a nearly zero emissions coke (coal) oven for industrial purposes over a half century ago.
The gaslighting of the uniparty globalists and their EPA/university “research” brown shirts is incalculable. So, what gives with this devious assault? Quite simply, the evil globalist cabal’s membership wants the resources we have in America and they will kill us all off to get them. I really could care less about their motives. That they have evil intent and are opposed to God’s order for mankind is all I need to know.
For the historical, local effect relating to the mill in this story, we can reference back to the JER interview in BIMD: Scoundrels – Part 1 and what he says about New Madrid County back then. They played it straight and kept their governing clean. It was completely different than the corruption of Democrat, mob controlled Pemiscot County. As a result it had a large bloc of long term conservative GOP voters even after the plant employees unionized. In the current situation the Dems and RINO’s are attempting to seize some publicity by posturing about the loss of jobs by using their prostitute media as they continue to undermine the overall economy and jobs of the very people who are ignorant enough to vote for them and not stand in the gap for their fellow citizens.
This usual display of liberal (socialist) politics over substance will not work for the Dems in New Madrid County itself because of history, political attachments and the type people who live there. The people view the EPA as an enemy of the common man who have caused problems there for decades. They have values and common sense that Dems and RINOs are clueless about. They know how to make ends meet when times are tough. Many have planned for the contingency and have other jobs lined up.
Which is true for most Missourians as has been proven with the more MAGA elements of the GOP taking control of state government in recent times. But all politicians need to know, even the MAGA types, that the people are getting smarter. They are paying closer attention now.
It may be back to watermelon farming and such for a time for those who remain in New Madrid County. More equipment operators may be available for any corporate farms that bought out the family farms. Some workers have their CDL’s and will hit the roads in the trucking industry. Just make no mistake, what started as planned controlled implosion in the Dems quest to reassert itself in the region, state and nationwide politics; will likely…
Boomerang. It is just a matter of time in my opinion.
MAGA – Solutions
What the Uniparty and commies suspect, but do not yet want to accept is they no longer can fool over half of the American public. They miscalculated with the COVID hoax and jabs. Too many of We the People wised up to be easily misled anymore. Their institutions that have worked against average Americans for over a hundred years have been crumbling. People today know far more than any of us did even 20+ years ago. Citizen journalists have already replaced the prostitute fake news media for the majority of Americans. We the People have no time or inclination to listen or view the reports that are repeated over and over again in the fake news by propagandist mockingbirds. This is why viewership and traditional talk radio is tanking. It is why media outlets are failing and laying off employees in droves. All the swamp critters have to keep them in power is election cheating, which will eventually be destroyed.
PDT, patriots and supporters have orchestrated a massive awakening about the real world that took the demons around 200 years to construct in America.
What we frequently still miss in that understanding is that it was then and is now all in God’s timing. We have grown accustomed to instant gratification as a society, even as MAGA patriots.
Quick, easy fixes and trying to incite others into doing what we ourselves are not willing to expend the effort to do is not going to work. Ever. All that does is circumvent the process of actually fixing things. When people do that they call into question their motives.
Which is where we find ourselves today as Americans, facing that decision of continuing to try to do it our way or the Creator’s way.
I brought up vices, deviancies and cults in previous parts to this story because they are directly linked to personal slavery and the destruction of America. In this part of the story we see the environmentalists who are willing to destroy the well being of millions of people in pursuit of the tenets of their religion. That religion ignores God’s clear instructions in Chapter 1:28-31 of Genesis to tame the world for the benefit of His crown jewel – mankind.
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (NKJV)
The world was created for mankind, not the reverse. The Word states that. Being a good steward of His creation as well as His people that it benefits are not mutually exclusive realities. Those who fail to realize mankind’s value or take actions to harm them do not believe the Word of God. They self identify, they cannot hide. They also act in direct conflict with our nation’s Declaration of Independence and Constitution as well as the rule of law that is based upon them. Our founding fathers built the observance and dedication to God as well as the value of mankind into those founding documents. It is an inescapable truth.
God says in His Word that man was made in His image. If you are a Christian, you are not permitted to hate who God created. To do so reveals rebellion and/or disbelief in God. Guess what two American founding documents also reflect that truth? Those documents codify the unity of people and purpose in America.
None of that states that we are to ignore as well as not defend or seek justice when attacked. There is discipline for harming the lives of others.
Everything you need to know about sustaining life on this planet is contained in the quoted Genesis scripture in bold above. Some may say that was the Old Testament, what about Jesus and what he said and did? He confirmed the law and the prophets in Matthew 5:17-19. Genesis is in the Torah (Pentateuch for Christians), which contains the law. It is a liturgical blueprint that is believed to have been provided prior to the creation of the world according to the rabbinic Talmud related, Midrash. Christians know that Jesus was there in the beginning per the Gospel of John 1:14-18. It is all neatly tied together with a bow on top. Accept or do not accept – the personal results from the choice are yours to own.
Equally important to consider is what God does not say through His Word that some of mankind continuously adds to or reinterprets throughout history. The Bible also has something to say about all of that. Do Not. Old Testament – Deuteronomy 4:2. New Testament – Revelation 22:18-19. There are many admonitions against it in both testaments. A particular favorite of mine is Galatians 1:6-9 where Paul states:
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, which is not just another account; but there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, even now I say again: if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! (NASB)
Even today sinful, contrary gospels have been openly promoted throughout our culture and preached in some of the pulpits. The Scoundrels use it and many other apostasies to add to their evil ranks. Just as the Scoundrels of BIMD chose doing evil against their fellow mankind.
For those caught in their web you will receive the equivalent of this worldly instruction, “All you got to do is trust what he tells you.”, as Jaybird instructed Green in Scoundrels, Part 1. Jaybird was soon murdered after that statement by the same people he told Green to trust. Green lived and died in a pathetic state of being some time later, trying in his own way to make things right and knowing people viewed him as a pariah. So much for doing the work of and trusting Scoundrels, right?
These deceivers, abusers and murderers are the real Scoundrels. Those who believe they can ridicule, manipulate, injure, murder and steal the rights, lives and souls of others with impunity; while acting like they are pure as the driven snow for the official narratives and records. They even treat it like it is a sport, a competition to see how well they can screw somebody else over. They are unworthy of the air they breathe, however, the Lord said to allow these tares to grow with the wheat in the parable in Matthew 13:24-30. He will handle what happens at the harvest, which is an excellent Bootheel agriculture related example in my opinion.
For Heaven’s and your own sakes, stop apologizing for living a life of principle and integrity. You owe no man or woman who works against God and His order for the world that accommodation. Set your hope on the horizon and expect good to win out.
By so doing we can use a phrase from yesterday and throw a monkey wrench into the machinery of their criminal system. This phrase appears to trace back to Democrats in America doing what Democrats in America seemingly always have done and still do today. Per wordorigins.com:
The context is the Boston mayoral election of 1884. From the Marion Daily Star of 9 October 1889:
M. J. Kiley, the Boston Democrat who was to print ballots for both sides in the election when O’Brien was first made mayor, but who dropped a monkey wrench into the press before the Republican ballots were run off may be there.”
wordorigins.com
That would be 140 years ago. It is the same old same old, generation after generation. Nothing has changed in terms of their goals and methods. The tools they use may be different, but nothing has changed. How many times must we be shown to identify those opposed to America fulfilling its promise? These people are not the friends of an America founded on Godly principles as stated in our founding documents.
If you have tendencies and dependencies with any vices, deviancies, and cults – now would be a really good time to stop giving personal plantation masters power over your person, your money, your families, your community and your nation. The more we can disengage from their control, the better off we will all be. Shun them, their desires and their representations. You know what you need to do, you do not need me or anybody else to tell you. Just know that MAGA and We the People are depending on you. We need each other, God designed it that way.
Conclusion
In Part 4 it is time to move to the positive side of the ledger and reveal some personal unsung heroes from BIMD. They made things better for many people whose lives they touched. They were lights who cared about their fellow mankind and took action. None indicated they had any idea they were doing anything unusual or special, yet, they did.
As always, I wish for you happiness and peace as provided in our national founding documents and the Holy Bible.
What is it that feeds our battle, yet starves our victory?
January 6 Tapes Reminder
After the first release, we were supposed to get more, every week.
As far as I know it hasn’t happened.
Speaker Johnson, please follow through!
A Caution
Just remember…we might replace the RINO candidates. (Or we might not. The record is mixed even though there is more MAGA than there used to be.) But that will make no difference in the long run if the party officials, basically the Rhonna McDaniels (or however that’s spelled–I suspect it’s RINO), don’t get replaced.
State party chairs, vice chairs, secretaries and so on, and the same at county levels, have huge influence on who ultimately gets nominated, and if these party wheelhorses are RINOs, they will work tirelessly to put their own pukey people on the ballot. In fact I’d not be surprised if some of our “MAGA” candidates are in fact, RINO plants, encouraged to run by the RINO party leadership when they realized that Lyn Cheney (and her ilk) were hopelessly compromised as effective candidates. The best way for them to deal with the opposition, of course, is to run it themselves.
Running good candidates is only HALF of the battle!
SPECIAL SECTION: Message For Our “Friends” In The Middle Kingdom
I normally save this for near the end, but…basically…up your shit-kicking barbarian asses. Yes, barbarian! It took a bunch of sailors in Western Asia to invent a real alphabet instead of badly drawn cartoons to write with. So much for your “civilization.”
Yeah, the WORLD noticed you had to borrow the Latin alphabet to make Pinyin. Like with every other idea you had to steal from us “Foreign Devils” since you rammed your heads up your asses five centuries ago, you sure managed to bastardize it badly in the process.
Have you stopped eating bats yet? Are you shit-kickers still sleeping with farm animals?
Or maybe even just had the slightest inkling of treating lives as something you don’t just casually dispose of?
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
And here’s my response to barbarian “asshoes” like you:
OK, with that rant out of my system…
Biden Gives Us Too Much Credit
…we can move on to the next one.
Apparently Biden (or his puppeteer) has decided we’re to blame for all of the fail in the United States today.
Sorry to disappoint you Joe (or whoever), but you managed to do that all on your own; not only that, you wouldn’t let us NOT give you the chance because you insisted on cheating your way into power.
Yep, you-all are incompetent, and so proud of it you expect our applause for your sincerity. Fuck that!!
It wouldn’t be so bad, but you insist that everyone else have to share in your misery. Nope, can’t have anyone get out from under it. Somehow your grand vision only works if every single other person on earth is forced to go along. So much as ONE PERSON not going along is enough to make it all fail, apparently.
In engineering school we’re taught that a design that has seven to eight billion single points of failure…sucks.
Actually, we weren’t taught that. Because it would never have occurred to the professors to use such a ridiculous example.
Justice Must Be Done.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Kamala Harris has a new nickname since she finally went west from DC to El Paso Texas: Westward Hoe.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
Spot Prices
All prices are Kitco Ask, 3PM MT Friday (at that time the markets close for the weekend). (Note: most media quotes are for the bid…the price paid by the market makers, not the ask, which is what they will sell at. I figure the ask is more relevant to people like us who wish we could afford to buy these things. In the case of gold the difference is usually about a dollar, for the PGMs the spread is much wider.)
Gold still bouncing around. But the platinum group metals are all undeniably in decline. Palladium has almost dropped below platinum. Actually, by one measure it already has. I quote the “Ask” prices because that’s what your purchase price is (somewhat) related to, but most quote “Bid” (how much they will pay a trader for the paper, in the commodities market). Platinum has a ten dollar spread, which means the Bid is $10 less than the ask, at $874. But palladium’s spread is typically $40, so bid on that is $847. If you can see past the dyslexia hazard, that means most people today are quoting palladium at less than platinum, for the first time in a LONG time. (I suppose I should have sold when it was at $3,000?)
When I was new to this, gold was roughly $300, platinum was roughly $400, and palladium was $80 or maybe $120 though it jumped to $180 when “cold fusion” was announced. So to my gut the market was upside down with palladium the most expensive and platinum the cheapest. At least palladium is back where it belongs, now if the sale on platinum would just effing end…
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
What is it that feeds our battle, yet starves our victory?
January 6 Tapes Reminder
After the first release, we were supposed to get more, every week.
As far as I know it hasn’t happened.
Speaker Johnson, please follow through!
A Caution
Just remember…we might replace the RINO candidates. (Or we might not. The record is mixed even though there is more MAGA than there used to be.) But that will make no difference in the long run if the party officials, basically the Rhonna McDaniels (or however that’s spelled–I suspect it’s RINO), don’t get replaced.
State party chairs, vice chairs, secretaries and so on, and the same at county levels, have huge influence on who ultimately gets nominated, and if these party wheelhorses are RINOs, they will work tirelessly to put their own pukey people on the ballot. In fact I’d not be surprised if some of our “MAGA” candidates are in fact, RINO plants, encouraged to run by the RINO party leadership when they realized that Lyn Cheney (and her ilk) were hopelessly compromised as effective candidates. The best way for them to deal with the opposition, of course, is to run it themselves.
Running good candidates is only HALF of the battle!
SPECIAL SECTION: Message For Our “Friends” In The Middle Kingdom
I normally save this for near the end, but…basically…up your shit-kicking barbarian asses. Yes, barbarian! It took a bunch of sailors in Western Asia to invent a real alphabet instead of badly drawn cartoons to write with. So much for your “civilization.”
Yeah, the WORLD noticed you had to borrow the Latin alphabet to make Pinyin. Like with every other idea you had to steal from us “Foreign Devils” since you rammed your heads up your asses five centuries ago, you sure managed to bastardize it badly in the process.
Have you stopped eating bats yet? Are you shit-kickers still sleeping with farm animals?
Or maybe even just had the slightest inkling of treating lives as something you don’t just casually dispose of?
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
And here’s my response to barbarian “asshoes” like you:
OK, with that rant out of my system…
Biden Gives Us Too Much Credit
…we can move on to the next one.
Apparently Biden (or his puppeteer) has decided we’re to blame for all of the fail in the United States today.
Sorry to disappoint you Joe (or whoever), but you managed to do that all on your own; not only that, you wouldn’t let us NOT give you the chance because you insisted on cheating your way into power.
Yep, you-all are incompetent, and so proud of it you expect our applause for your sincerity. Fuck that!!
It wouldn’t be so bad, but you insist that everyone else have to share in your misery. Nope, can’t have anyone get out from under it. Somehow your grand vision only works if every single other person on earth is forced to go along. So much as ONE PERSON not going along is enough to make it all fail, apparently.
In engineering school we’re taught that a design that has seven to eight billion single points of failure…sucks.
Actually, we weren’t taught that. Because it would never have occurred to the professors to use such a ridiculous example.
Justice Must Be Done.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Kamala Harris has a new nickname since she finally went west from DC to El Paso Texas: Westward Hoe.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
Spot Prices
All prices are Kitco Ask, 3PM MT Friday (at that time the markets close for the weekend). (Note: most media quotes are for the bid…the price paid by the market makers, not the ask, which is what they will sell at. I figure the ask is more relevant to people like us who wish we could afford to buy these things. In the case of gold the difference is usually about a dollar, for the PGMs the spread is much wider.)
Yes things are down a bit (except rhodium). BUT: Gold has now showed some staying power above $2,000. No guarantee it won’t have another Big Dip, but this looks good for the long term.
OK with that out of the way it’s time to discuss asshoes.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
What is it that feeds our battle, yet starves our victory?
January 6 Tapes Reminder
After the first release, we were supposed to get more, every week.
As far as I know it hasn’t happened.
Speaker Johnson, please follow through!
24/7, to piss on your grave. Then there will be a latrine erected there so people can make, shall we say, more substantial commentary.
A Caution
Just remember…we might replace the RINO candidates. (Or we might not. The record is mixed even though there is more MAGA than there used to be.) But that will make no difference in the long run if the party officials, basically the Rhonna McDaniels (or however that’s spelled–I suspect it’s RINO), don’t get replaced.
State party chairs, vice chairs, secretaries and so on, and the same at county levels, have huge influence on who ultimately gets nominated, and if these party wheelhorses are RINOs, they will work tirelessly to put their own pukey people on the ballot. In fact I’d not be surprised if some of our “MAGA” candidates are in fact, RINO plants, encouraged to run by the RINO party leadership when they realized that Lyn Cheney (and her ilk) were hopelessly compromised as effective candidates. The best way for them to deal with the opposition, of course, is to run it themselves.
Running good candidates is only HALF of the battle!
SPECIAL SECTION: Message For Our “Friends” In The Middle Kingdom
I normally save this for near the end, but…basically…up your shit-kicking barbarian asses. Yes, barbarian! It took a bunch of sailors in Western Asia to invent a real alphabet instead of badly drawn cartoons to write with. So much for your “civilization.”
Yeah, the WORLD noticed you had to borrow the Latin alphabet to make Pinyin. Like with every other idea you had to steal from us “Foreign Devils” since you rammed your heads up your asses five centuries ago, you sure managed to bastardize it badly in the process.
Have you stopped eating bats yet? Are you shit-kickers still sleeping with farm animals?
Or maybe even just had the slightest inkling of treating lives as something you don’t just casually dispose of?
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
And here’s my response to barbarian “asshoes” like you:
OK, with that rant out of my system…
Biden Gives Us Too Much Credit
…we can move on to the next one.
Apparently Biden (or his puppeteer) has decided we’re to blame for all of the fail in the United States today.
Sorry to disappoint you Joe (or whoever), but you managed to do that all on your own; not only that, you wouldn’t let us NOT give you the chance because you insisted on cheating your way into power.
Yep, you-all are incompetent, and so proud of it you expect our applause for your sincerity. Fuck that!!
It wouldn’t be so bad, but you insist that everyone else have to share in your misery. Nope, can’t have anyone get out from under it. Somehow your grand vision only works if every single other person on earth is forced to go along. So much as ONE PERSON not going along is enough to make it all fail, apparently.
In engineering school we’re taught that a design that has seven to eight billion single points of failure…sucks.
Actually, we weren’t taught that. Because it would never have occurred to the professors to use such a ridiculous example.
Justice Must Be Done.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Kamala Harris has a new nickname since she finally went west from DC to El Paso Texas: Westward Hoe.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
Spot Prices
All prices are Kitco Ask, 3PM MT Friday (at that time the markets close for the weekend). (Note: most media quotes are for the bid…the price paid by the market makers, not the ask, which is what they will sell at. I figure the ask is more relevant to people like us who wish we could afford to buy these things. In the case of gold the difference is usually about a dollar, for the PGMs the spread is much wider.)
This is a record high close for gold. It jumped up $35 on Friday. I do not know what the absolute high point was, earlier in the day, other than it was around $2,075. Many analysts expect a sustained push beyond $2,100. Meanwhile palladium’s slow decline continues. Silver is climbing (but nowhere near its 1980 high of roughly $50, even without adjusting for inflation). Platinum seems stable.
How We Know What Classical Latin Sounded Like
I stated earlier this week, as a side note to something else, that the Latin of Julius Caesar sounded a bit different from the Latin spoken by the Catholic Church (i.e., the one headquartered within Rome). We don’t know everything, exactly, but we do know a lot.
I got some pushback, and some arguments that demonstrated that some people simply don’t believe (or don’t understand the consequences of) the fact that languages change over time, especially when there are no audio recordings.
People are right to not simply take my word for it though, so I’ll bring some of the reasoning.
It at first seems a daunting task to reconstruct the sounds of a language when there were no audio recordings. (Well, I suppose if aliens have been watching us for millennia, there might be. Just the thought of that is enough to make historical linguists drool.)
Historical Linguistics (sometimes called diachronic linguistics) is the study of language change over time. (It is a science, albeit a rather “soft” one, so I expect and hope Wolf will be filing this in the sidebar.) This means it’s concerned with how one language changes over time, and the process by which one widespread language splits into multiple languages.
A good, down-home example of the former is the changes that English has gone through since the Germanic invasions and settlement of Britain in (roughly) 500 CE. And the change is considerable. Our founding fathers’ writing patterns seem quaint but we usually have no trouble understanding them (except for those times we only think we understand them…fortunately those don’t arise much in the documents). Shakespeare is notably harder to deal with. The King James Bible translation was made in Shakespeare’s day, and deliberately had some archaic language in it for gravitas, and it gets more difficult. Not only old words, but sometimes a word we use today meant something different back then and we get tripped up. The moral of that story: over generations words can shift meanings. But there’s more. In the couple of centuries before Shakespeare, and even during Shakespeare’s day, we underwent something called the “Great Vowel Shift” where the sounds of the vowels all changed, over the span of less than a century. I…formerly pronounced like the i in machine, but with a little more duration (making it “long”), became pronounced like aye. (And we still call it “long I” even though it’s not actually long in duration.) Meet, meat, and the middle e in serene changed from sounding like today’s e in bet, or an Italian e, to sounding like I used to sound. The a in mate used to be a long-in-duration ah, and sounds…well like it sounds today…a combination of former e and i called a diphthong. These are vowels that are pronounced in the front of the mouth with the tongue at different heights, and they all shifted up one place once “i” became “eye.” Curiously this happened mostly to our “long” vowels. Instead of just being the same as the short vowels, only pronounced for twice as long, they shifted.
Other similar changes upward happened with o and u (which are pronounced in the back of the mouth.
If you’ve ever taken Spanish, you’ve noticed that a, e, i, o, and u are pronounced quite differently than in English, and you may have thought it a bit weird. It turns out Spanish is much closer to the original pronunciations; we’re the weird ones. We used to have more Spanish-like pronunciations (though we sometimes lengthened a vowel). Then we spent 1400-1700 bodging all this, and making our own spelling hard for us and completely incomprehensible for others.
And the International Phonetic Alphabet actually goes with the older usages. I like machine. e like the Italian e (which we don’t have any more and fake with the day diphthong), a like in father (and never like in day), u as in fool, and o sort-of as in vote. (Another diphthong used to fake a pure sound we don’t have any more.) The e in bet is actually a different sound represented in the IPA with ε. (Linguists usually write actual sound values like this: /i/ to distinguish them from some language’s letter I which might mean something totally different.)
So…sounds can change with time, too.
And languages can split. Most famous here is Latin, splitting into Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Romanian, and a whole host of other languages that don’t happen to share the names of countries. And within each of these, very distinctive dialects that are sometimes different enough that it’s debatable whether it’s the same language any more. It’s actually a gradient. The local language spoken in Marseille (as opposed to the Parisian French in the schools) isn’t terribly different from the tongue spoken in nearby parts of Italy…or the tongue spoken in northwestern Spain. They’re geographically close, but in all three places a faraway capital imposes a “standard” language, and those standard languages differ far more (especially French, which has undergone some serious pronunciation changes).
In this case every local group’s language has slowly shifted, in slightly different directions, until they’re quite separate, and it’s hard to understand other languages (the further away, the worse), if it can be done at all.
Some languages change more than others; historical linguists love finding a language that is “conservative” meaning it hasn’t changed too much. The Baltic languages (Latvian and Lithuanian) apparently haven’t changed much; neither has Icelandic (the other Scandinavian tongues have changed a lot more).
Okay…so there’s some examples.
Latin, of course, was originally spoken in Latium, the region around Rome in Italy.
Latium is now called “Lazio” which just goes to make the point about changes. This is one that in hindsight is no surprise. /t/ before /i/ tends to become /ts/ (spelled z in Italian). Why? Because people are lazy and start to slur their words, eventually the slur becomes normal. If the process were to continue, the /t/ might disappear entirely leaving just /si/. This has been seen under so many different occasions world wide that now if we have two related languages and one has /ti/ where the other has /tsi/ or even /si/ we know the second language is the one that changed.
Sometimes, though, you have just one language and since not all possible changes will actually happen (otherwise Latin would never have split up, just changed the same everywhere), it can be hard to figure out what the original sound was.
But with Latin we have multiple descendant languages. And we have something else; we have writings in other languages, trying to render Latin words.
For instance we have the Greek spellings of Latin words. And in this case, without fail, the Greeks rendered Latin “C” with Greek “Κ” (kappa). Kappa is never pronounced as anything other than /k/. Never /s/ and never /tʃ/ (our ch). Now one might say that the Greeks don’t have a /tʃ/ sound so they might have faked it with kappa, but that’s very doubtful. /tʃ/ is pronounced in the front of the mouth, /k/ in the back. The Greeks would have likely faked /tʃ/ with tau and sigma: τς or τσ, not with some sound from the back of the mouth. They don’t have a match for ʃ (sh) at all, but /s/ is pronounced in almost the same place.
Thus “vici” was pronounced with a hard /k/, as was Caesar, and Cicero. We also have Roman authors asking why on earth they don’t just get rid of the letter K since it’s pronounced just like C. (It’s a part of the Latin alphabet but rarely used; kalends is probably the most common Latin word I see with that K. Kyrie is borrowed from the Greek.)
OK, so now onto the other bone of contention, the V.
We again have Greeks rendering Roman words with the v in them, and again without failure, it’s never with the letter the Greeks use for v (more on that below). For example Valerius (a commonly used name) is rendered in Greek as Ουαλεριος (Oualerios). The Greeks didn’t (and still don’t) have /w/, but /Ου/ was pronounced /u/ and that’s very, very close, in a diphthong it is basically a /w/. We can tell when V changed from /w/ to /v/ though, because later Greek inscriptions rendered ‘Valerius’ as Βαλεριος, starting with the Greek letter beta.
Beta (Β, β) has been pronounced like /v/ not /b/, since about 200 BCE and is still /v/ today. (If Greeks want to spell the /b/ sound today, they use μπ.) /b/ and /v/, note, are both pronounced in the front of the mouth, one is a stop and the other is a fricative. If you pronounce the sounds and pay attention to what your mouth and lips are doing, you’ll see what I mean.
And this is why Cyrillic В is a /v/; Cyrillic was based on Greek in the 9th century, well after that shift happened. Cyrus and Methodius were aware of the old pronunciation, so /b/ is represented with a variant shape, Б, right before В in the Cyrillic alphabet.
Now as to the point of why Eccesiastical (Church) Latin sounds so much like Italian today (used as an argument for it not having changed at all), the reason it sounds so much like Italian, is because it is largely Italians who have been using it. The Church is based in Rome; they’re surrounded by Italians, most of the staff are Italians, and in fact even today 49 out of 241 cardinals are Italians. As Italian changed into its present form, the “frozen” Latin from the early centuries of the Church changed its pronunciation (the one thing not preserved in writing) to match. Grammar and vocubulary (as spelled) did not change, because it was preserved in writing.
Bonus video:
An American, fluent in Latin, using the classical pronunciation (wenee, weedi, weeky) in Rome. You can see it’s a bit of a struggle but they eventually get it.
And again at the Colosseum. I haven’t watched this one like I have the others, but if he’s really asking where the Flavian Amphitheater is, they’re entitled to ask him if he’s fricking blind. (The Flavian Amphitheater is what the Romans called the Colosseum.):
A more open experiment: I believe in this case he actually asked the Romans to try the experiment of speaking in Latin. Some things are easy, some things they couldn’t get:
And going to the Vatican. This time he used the Ecclesiastical pronunciation (vennee, veedee, veechee) which is how they’re used to it. Still, few people there claimed fluency:
OK with that out of the way it’s time to discuss asshoes.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
You LOST and now because of the shenanigans you tried to pull to get back in, everyone knows what a backstabbing ratfucking turd you are.
Have fun looking at yourself in the mirror every morning.
Just know that when you pass on there will be a line around the block, 24/7, to piss on your grave. Then there will be a latrine erected there so people can make, shall we say, more substantial commentary.
A Caution
Just remember…we might replace the RINO candidates. (Or we might not. The record is mixed even though there is more MAGA than there used to be.) But that will make no difference in the long run if the party officials, basically the Rhonna McDaniels (or however that’s spelled–I suspect it’s RINO), don’t get replaced.
State party chairs, vice chairs, secretaries and so on, and the same at county levels, have huge influence on who ultimately gets nominated, and if these party wheelhorses are RINOs, they will work tirelessly to put their own pukey people on the ballot. In fact I’d not be surprised if some of our “MAGA” candidates are in fact, RINO plants, encouraged to run by the RINO party leadership when they realized that Lyn Cheney (and her ilk) were hopelessly compromised as effective candidates. The best way for them to deal with the opposition, of course, is to run it themselves.
Running good candidates is only HALF of the battle!
SPECIAL SECTION: Message For Our “Friends” In The Middle Kingdom
I normally save this for near the end, but…basically…up your shit-kicking barbarian asses. Yes, barbarian! It took a bunch of sailors in Western Asia to invent a real alphabet instead of badly drawn cartoons to write with. So much for your “civilization.”
Yeah, the WORLD noticed you had to borrow the Latin alphabet to make Pinyin. Like with every other idea you had to steal from us “Foreign Devils” since you rammed your heads up your asses five centuries ago, you sure managed to bastardize it badly in the process.
Have you stopped eating bats yet? Are you shit-kickers still sleeping with farm animals?
Or maybe even just had the slightest inkling of treating lives as something you don’t just casually dispose of?
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
And here’s my response to barbarian “asshoes” like you:
OK, with that rant out of my system…
Biden Gives Us Too Much Credit
…we can move on to the next one.
Apparently Biden (or his puppeteer) has decided we’re to blame for all of the fail in the United States today.
Sorry to disappoint you Joe (or whoever), but you managed to do that all on your own; not only that, you wouldn’t let us NOT give you the chance because you insisted on cheating your way into power.
Yep, you-all are incompetent, and so proud of it you expect our applause for your sincerity. Fuck that!!
It wouldn’t be so bad, but you insist that everyone else have to share in your misery. Nope, can’t have anyone get out from under it. Somehow your grand vision only works if every single other person on earth is forced to go along. So much as ONE PERSON not going along is enough to make it all fail, apparently.
In engineering school we’re taught that a design that has seven to eight billion single points of failure…sucks.
Actually, we weren’t taught that. Because it would never have occurred to the professors to use such a ridiculous example.
Justice Must Be Done.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Kamala Harris has a new nickname since she finally went west from DC to El Paso Texas: Westward Hoe.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
Spot Prices
All prices are Kitco Ask, 3PM MT Friday (at that time the markets close for the weekend).
After spending the whole week in the neighborhood of $1980-1985 and opening at that level Friday, gold blooped up over the $2K mark sometime during the day.
Silver is just not doing well. It’s up for Friday but overall down, even as gold is climbing. I’m not sure when rhodium took the hit, but on Friday it actually went up a hundred bucks to end, well, still below where it was last week.
Palladium was the only loser on Friday but did close up for the week.
A Little Lighthearted Fun
Well, it’s not politics. But this is where I usually stick science stuff (when I can think of something to write about) or maybe even math, so…This one has been going around on YouTube, with plenty of reaction videos from real mathematicians and scientists watching, delighted at all of the hidden references and the visuals. It touches a LOT on the sorts of things I talked about in my recent series on numbers that culminated in Gauss’s Formula and Identity.
The last minute or so starting with the squiggly symbol (ζ; lower case Greek zeta) it goes beyond my ken. I don’t know what that symbol means in this context.
So for the people here who will appreciate it and understand (most of) it:
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
Just remember…we might replace the RINO candidates. (Or we might not. The record is mixed even though there is more MAGA than there used to be.) But that will make no difference in the long run if the party officials, basically the Rhonna McDaniels (or however that’s spelled–I suspect it’s RINO), don’t get replaced.
State party chairs, vice chairs, secretaries and so on, and the same at county levels, have huge influence on who ultimately gets nominated, and if these party wheelhorses are RINOs, they will work tirelessly to put their own pukey people on the ballot. In fact I’d not be surprised if some of our “MAGA” candidates are in fact, RINO plants, encouraged to run by the RINO party leadership when they realized that Lyn Cheney (and her ilk) were hopelessly compromised as effective candidates. The best way for them to deal with the opposition, of course, is to run it themselves.
Running good candidates is only HALF of the battle!
SPECIAL SECTION: Message For Our “Friends” In The Middle Kingdom
I normally save this for near the end, but…basically…up your shit-kicking barbarian asses. Yes, barbarian! It took a bunch of sailors in Western Asia to invent a real alphabet instead of badly drawn cartoons to write with. So much for your “civilization.”
Yeah, the WORLD noticed you had to borrow the Latin alphabet to make Pinyin. Like with every other idea you had to steal from us “Foreign Devils” since you rammed your heads up your asses five centuries ago, you sure managed to bastardize it badly in the process.
Have you stopped eating bats yet? Are you shit-kickers still sleeping with farm animals?
Or maybe even just had the slightest inkling of treating lives as something you don’t just casually dispose of?
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
And here’s my response to barbarian “asshoes” like you:
OK, with that rant out of my system…
Biden Gives Us Too Much Credit
…we can move on to the next one.
Apparently Biden (or his puppeteer) has decided we’re to blame for all of the fail in the United States today.
Sorry to disappoint you Joe (or whoever), but you managed to do that all on your own; not only that, you wouldn’t let us NOT give you the chance because you insisted on cheating your way into power.
Yep, you-all are incompetent, and so proud of it you expect our applause for your sincerity. Fuck that!!
It wouldn’t be so bad, but you insist that everyone else have to share in your misery. Nope, can’t have anyone get out from under it. Somehow your grand vision only works if every single other person on earth is forced to go along. So much as ONE PERSON not going along is enough to make it all fail, apparently.
In engineering school we’re taught that a design that has seven to eight billion single points of failure…sucks.
Actually, we weren’t taught that. Because it would never have occurred to the professors to use such a ridiculous example.
Justice Must Be Done.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Kamala Harris has a new nickname since she finally went west from DC to El Paso Texas: Westward Hoe.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
Spot Prices
All prices are Kitco Ask, 3PM MT Friday (at that time the markets close for the weekend).
Wow…this is very little movement. Noise level in fact. Except for silver where just under 50 cents up is actually significant, proportionately speaking.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
Just remember…we might replace the RINO candidates. (Or we might not. The record is mixed even though there is more MAGA than there used to be.) But that will make no difference in the long run if the party officials, basically the Rhonna McDaniels (or however that’s spelled–I suspect it’s RINO), don’t get replaced.
State party chairs, vice chairs, secretaries and so on, and the same at county levels, have huge influence on who ultimately gets nominated, and if these party wheelhorses are RINOs, they will work tirelessly to put their own pukey people on the ballot. In fact I’d not be surprised if some of our “MAGA” candidates are in fact, RINO plants, encouraged to run by the RINO party leadership when they realized that Lyn Cheney (and her ilk) were hopelessly compromised as effective candidates. The best way for them to deal with the opposition, of course, is to run it themselves.
Running good candidates is only HALF of the battle!
SPECIAL SECTION: Message For Our “Friends” In The Middle Kingdom
I normally save this for near the end, but…basically…up your shit-kicking barbarian asses. Yes, barbarian! It took a bunch of sailors in Western Asia to invent a real alphabet instead of badly drawn cartoons to write with. So much for your “civilization.”
Yeah, the WORLD noticed you had to borrow the Latin alphabet to make Pinyin. Like with every other idea you had to steal from us “Foreign Devils” since you rammed your heads up your asses five centuries ago, you sure managed to bastardize it badly in the process.
Have you stopped eating bats yet? Are you shit-kickers still sleeping with farm animals?
Or maybe even just had the slightest inkling of treating lives as something you don’t just casually dispose of?
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
And here’s my response to barbarian “asshoes” like you:
OK, with that rant out of my system…
Biden Gives Us Too Much Credit
…we can move on to the next one.
Apparently Biden (or his puppeteer) has decided we’re to blame for all of the fail in the United States today.
Sorry to disappoint you Joe (or whoever), but you managed to do that all on your own; not only that, you wouldn’t let us NOT give you the chance because you insisted on cheating your way into power.
Yep, you-all are incompetent, and so proud of it you expect our applause for your sincerity. Fuck that!!
It wouldn’t be so bad, but you insist that everyone else have to share in your misery. Nope, can’t have anyone get out from under it. Somehow your grand vision only works if every single other person on earth is forced to go along. So much as ONE PERSON not going along is enough to make it all fail, apparently.
In engineering school we’re taught that a design that has seven to eight billion single points of failure…sucks.
Actually, we weren’t taught that. Because it would never have occurred to the professors to use such a ridiculous example.
Justice Must Be Done.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Kamala Harris has a new nickname since she finally went west from DC to El Paso Texas: Westward Hoe.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
Spot Prices
All prices are Kitco Ask, 3PM MT Friday (at that time the markets close for the weekend).
Gold sliding. I guess to Wall Street things are just fine. Meanwhile we work for bullshit pay and inflation keeps on going…
Watch Me Pull A Rabbit Out Of My Hat
Last week we left off showing that it’s possible using the Maclaurin series (a special case of the Taylor series) to compute sines and cosines of angles. The closer the angle is to zero, the easier it is to do.
Technically you don’t get an exact answer unless you run the series out forever, but you can typically get acceptable precision in just a few terms.
Here they are, sine and cosine:
sinx = x – x3/3! +x5/5! – x7/7!…
cosx = 1 + –x2/2! + x4/4! + –x6/6! + x8/8! +…
But if you recall, from way back, there is another such series for the exponential function, i.e., ex.
(It’s so much nicer when I can find an image of a properly typeset formula, ain’t it?)
Can We Tie Trig and Exponentials To Each Other?
Take a really close look at these three formulas. Compare like terms…and by that I mean x3 in one formula should be compared to x3 in another, and so on.
You’ll notice that the formula for ex contains terms for every power of x. Sinx, on the other hand contains only the odd-power elements, and cosx contains only the even-power elements.
It’s almost as if you could somehow combine sine and cosine to get the exponential function.
But if you add the sine and cosine functions together you get this:
Well…it’s almost right. Except for one rather awkward problem. The terms have two positive signs, then two negative signs, then two positive signs, then two negative signs. and so on, whereas the exponential series has nothing but positive signs.
And you can’t fix this by subtracting cosine from sine (or vice versa), thereby flipping some signs, because some of those errant negative signs come from sinx and some from cosx.
You still have an alternating sequence of two positive numbers then two negative numbers, then two positive numbers, and so on; you’ve just shifted where the pairs of negatives and positives are in the sequence.
So what looked like something that would have been a really cool way to tie trigonometry to the exponential function, fails.
Tying Up A Loose End
I mentioned here: https://www.theqtree.com/2023/06/24/2023%c2%b706%c2%b724-joe-biden-didnt-win-daily-thread/ that complex numbers, i.e., numbers of the form a + bi,where i is the square root of -1, could have all sorts of things done to them, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division…and you could even raise other numbers to complex powers. I said that last part, but then I said I’d have to talk about it some other week.
Well, this is that week.
Nothing says that the x in the Maclaurin series has to be a real number.
So why don’t we plug a complex number into the Maclaurin series for ex to see what happens?
Well I can tell you beforehand what will happen if we plug a + bi into it…we’re going to have to square that expression, then cube it, then raise it to the fourth power, and the fifth, and we will have a gawdawful mess on our hands very, very quickly.
But really, that would be a chimpanzee move.
ea+bi, after all is ea x ebi. By splitting it up this way, we can handle the two pieces separately and then (at the end) multiply them together. We already have a handle on ea but we should check on ebi since the power we are raising e to is an imaginary number. So let’s set ea aside (but we will not forget it’s there).
This doesn’t seem to do much for us; you could put anything in for x and you will be raising it to all those powers. But i has a very interesting behavior when you raise it to successive powers, and we can use that here:
In other words it goes through a 1, i, -1, –i cycle, over and over again. So we can go back to the expansion above and replace all of the i-to-the-somethingth powers with the appropriate value (and do more simplifications….0! is defined to be 1, and any number raised to the 0th power is also 1). Also, when we do this if there is an i or –i we’ll bring it to the front.
Now some of the terms have i in them and some do not, which makes this the epitome of a complex number. It’s a little hard to deal with this in this form, so let’s collect all the real terms together, and all the imaginary terms together–like we would for any complex number. We end up with the sum of two series:
The first series is the same as the expansion of cosx from earlier, except of course it’s on b instead of x. Makes no difference. They’re the same.
The second series, moreover is i times the sinx series from above (again with b substituted for x).
In other words, switching back to x:
eix = cosx + isinx.
Well, well, well. We can connect exponentials and trig functions after all! We just needed a bit of (I can’t resist) imagination, taking the exponent of an imaginary number and getting a result that has both a real and imaginary component.
This is known as Euler’s equation, after Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) who first noted it. Euler is arguably the greatest mathematician that ever lived though he has plenty of stiff competition from others.
It would be hard to overstate the importance of this result. It underlies much of physics, and is all over the place in electrical engineering.
And yet you never hear about it in the popularizations of science (well, not until now).
This is largely because, in order to get here, you need a pretty solid advanced math background. Or someone who’s willing to skip over a lot of formal proofs as he presents it to you. Most math educators won’t do that, and rightly so. Mathematics education relies on proving everything along every step of the way. It’s bullshit-free, everything is proved based on what comes before and you don’t have to trust the perfessor or take his word for anything. And here I am giving it to with little in the way of proofs and enough hand-waving that I am raising myself off the floor from flapping my arms so hard. (As such, if you find this interesting, I ask that you at least ask someone else with the right knowledge if it’s true. DO NOT just take my word for it. Better yet, take a bunch of math courses.)
Putting It Back Together
But there’s one little detail that must be dealt with. We got here by trying to raise e to the a+bi power, and we set aside the ea that we must multiply ebi by. So let’s put them back together.
ea+bi = eaebi = ea(cosb + isinb)
But now, the last thing should remind you of something. (Though this time I will not jump on the table and yell that it should do so.)
It looks a bit like how you convert polar to rectangular coordinates.
<r, θ> = (rcosθ , rsinθ)
And if you consider your rectangular coordinates to be complex number in a complex number plane, you get:
<r, θ> = r(cosθ + isinθ)
So another way to represent ea+bi is:
ea+bi = <ea, b>
I’ve said before that the angle brackets < and > are not standard mathematical notation. I just use them as a visual cue that the coordinates are polar coordinates. Mathematicians generally don’t bother with that, they just use parentheses for both cases. But sometimes (actually rather often) they will write polar coordinates like this:
<r, θ> as: reiθ
(And need I remind you: the angle must be expressed in radians. eiθ will give you the sine and cosine of θ, but only if θ is radians. Another reason why mathematicians prefer radians.)
A Maximally Geeky Bonus
What if θ is π? (I.e., what if θ is 180 degrees?)
The sine of π is zero. The cosine of π is -1.
So if eiθ = cosθ + isinθ, and θ = π, then eiπ = cosπ + isinπ = -1 + 0.
eiπ = -1
Adding 1 to both sides we get:
eiπ + 1 = 0
Note the beauty of this. It contains all three of the numbers I introduced you to, e, π, and i, plus the numbers 0 and 1–which I sure hope I did not have to introduce you to (though maybe some reader of this took woke mathematics and got to hear about “saving the planet” instead of actual math).
Arguably these are the five most important numbers in mathematics, and one formula ties them together, and no other more mundane number appears in the formula.
This is known as Euler’s identity, and it’s a favorite. There’s absolutely no way anyone can see this intuitively, no way to see that e, i, and π should be related to each other in any way, much less all three of them directly like this.
And yet they are. And much of our modern world depends on this crazy little fact.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
