“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
The Chinese Should Think Before Wiping Us Out As Sometimes They Need Us To Solve Their Problems For Them
Okay you knuckledragging ChiComs trying to take us down…here’s a history lesson for you.
For millennia, you had to suffer from this:
Yep. Steppe Nomads. They laid waste to your country, burned, raped and pillaged (but not in that order–they’re smarter than you are) for century after century.
You know who figured out how to take them on and win? The Russians.
Not you, the Russians. And it took them less than two centuries. And Oh By The Way they were among the most backward cultures in Europe at the time.
You couldn’t invent an alphabet, you couldn’t take care of barbarians on horseback, and you think you can take this board down?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! We’re laughing at you, you knuckledragging dehumanized communists…worshipers of a mass-murderer who killed sixty million people!
I mean, you still think Communism is a good idea even after having lived through it!
By my reckoning that makes you orders of magnitude more stupid than AOC, and that takes serious effort.
His Fraudulency
Joe Biteme, properly styled His Fraudulency, continues to infest the White House, and hopium is still being dispensed even as our military appears to have joined the political establishment in knuckling under to the fraud.
One can hope that all is not as it seems.
I’d love to feast on that crow.
“No Chemicals”
A detailed analysis of the contents of His Fraudulency’s skull was performed.
Absolutely no chemicals found!
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.
Small Government?
Many times conservatives (real and fake) speak of “small government” being the goal.
This sounds good, and mostly is good, but it misses the essential point. The important thing here isn’t the size, but rather the purpose, of government. We could have a cheap, small tyranny. After all our government spends most of its revenue on payments to individuals and foreign aid, neither of which is part of the tyrannical apparatus trying to keep us locked down and censored. What parts of the government would be necessary for a tyranny? It’d be a lot smaller than what we have now. We could shrink the government and nevertheless find it more tyrannical than it is today.
No, what we want is a limited government, limited not in size, but rather in scope. Limited, that is, in what it’s allowed to do. Under current circumstances, such a government would also be much smaller, but that’s a side effect. If we were in a World War II sort of war, an existential fight against nasty dictatorships on the brink of world conquest, that would be very expensive and would require a gargantuan government, but that would be what the government should be doing. That would be a large, but still limited government, since it’d be working to protect our rights.
World War II would have been the wrong time to squawk about “small government,” but it wasn’t (and never is) a bad time to demand limited government. Today would be a better time to ask for a small government–at least the job it should be doing is small today–but it misses the essential point; we want government to not do certain things. Many of those things we don’t want it doing are expensive but many of them are quite eminently doable by a smaller government than the one we have today. Small, but still exceeding proper limits.
So be careful what you ask for. You might get it and find you asked for the wrong thing.
Political Science In Summation
It’s really just a matter of people who can’t be happy unless they control others…versus those who want to be left alone. The oldest conflict within mankind. Government is necessary, but government attracts the assholes (a highly technical term for the control freaks).
A few Things We Cannot Blame on His Fraudulency
I am pretty sure Joe Biden had nothing whatsoever to do with the 30 Years War that ran from 1618-1648 and probably killed about a third of the people then living in what is now Germany.
Nor did he cause the collapse of either Roman empire (Western, 476 CE, Eastern 1453 CE). Nor the ignominious failure of most of the Crusades. Nor the collapse of Bronze Age civilization around 1200 BCE (including the collapse of the Minoans and the blowup of Santorini).
However, my utter lack of ability to imagine how he could possibly be responsible for these things is not a valid argument against them, so I await correction if appropriate.
James Webb Space Telescope Looks at Jupiter
Jupiter is, by far, the largest of the planets in the Solar System. An alien visitor, in fact, would be justified in stating that this system consists of one G2-class star, a gas giant planet with a big red spot on it, and assorted debris.
Except that any spacefaring alien would likely be very interested in planets like Home, and those would likely be small, rocky planets, so he’d take a closer look at that “debris.”
Jupiter probably prevented the formation of a planet in the asteroid belt, and has intercepted a lot of space junk that might otherwise have smacked into Earth. We know, in fact, that it collides with comets now and again…recall Shoemaker Levy 9 in 1994, which would have been a catastrophic series of hits on Earth. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Shoemaker%E2%80%93Levy_9)
(Unfortunately, we didn’t see the actual impacts. They happened just barely on the far side of Jupiter. Though Hubble did catch one fireball poking up over the limb. And of course we could see the smoking holes bored through Jupiter’s atmosphere by the impact.
Fireball from one of the Shoemaker Levy impacts
Note that this image records red, blue, violet and ultraviolet.
And here is a Hubble ultraviolet picture of Jupiter with holes burned through the atmosphere by the pieces of Shoemaker Levy 9.
Well, with the possible exception of the red frequency above, JWST cannot see any of these frequencies. It can see infrared.
And it took some pictures of Jupiter the other day. No trace remains of the Shoemaker Levy impacts, of course, but you can be assured that if something like this happens again before JWST kicks the bucket due to running out of propellant, JWST will be on it like His Fraudulency on 10 year old girls. (Only in this case, the results will be useful.) We would love to see such a thing happen in infrared! A certain amount of time on JWST is reserved for unexpected events. We had only a few months’ warning on Shoemaker Levy 9. Rest assured if Betelgeuse (or any other star within 200,000 light years) goes supernova, same story.
JWST has already taken pictures of Jupiter. These were done at two wavelengths, as two separate images, so there’s no “false color” going on. Where the picture is white, infrared of that wavelength hit the sensor, if dark, then not. Pretty basic.
Europa is to the left..and it’s brighter than Jupiter at this wavelength; the sensor pixels “blew out” and this is denoted by black. Jupiter itself is quite recognizable; you can even see the Red Spot, but it turns out to be pretty bright at this wavelength (2,120 nanometers [billionths of a meter]…for reference we can see 400-700nm with 700 being the red end.)
This is a pretty detailed image…for having taken from over half a billion miles away!
Here’s this picture in raw unprocessed form…plus another one taken at 3,230 nm.
Well, well well, what do we have here…right under Thebe?
That’s Jupiter’s ring! Not nearly as famous as the rings around Saturn, they’re hard to see; we only discovered them during a flyby during the last century, backlit by the Sun.
That image, processed and enhanced a bit:
Jupiter is blindingly bright at this wavelength; in fact it even appears bulged at the poles. The ring is plainly visible, even a bit to the right of the big bright thing. It may not look particularly spectacular to you, but planetary scientists are learning a LOT from these pictures.
The verdict is in: JWST kicks ass.
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.
This week, 3PM Mountain Time, markets have closed for the weekend. [Note: If you are reading this…I had no chance between 3-10 PM Friday to put the prices in. My apologies for this, but it’s hectic here.]
Whoever ends up in the cell next to his, tell him I said “Hi.”
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
“I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12) is the second of seven “I AM” declarations of Jesus, recorded only in John’s gospel, that point to His unique divine identity and purpose. In declaring Himself to be the Light of the world, Jesus was claiming that He is the exclusive source of spiritual light. No other source of spiritual truth is available to mankind.
There are two types of light in the world. We can perceive one, or both, or neither! When we are born into this world, we perceive physical light, and by it we learn of our Creator’s handiwork in the things we see. However, although that light is good, there is another Light, a Light so important that the Son of God had to come in order to both declare and impart it to men. John 8:12 records, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life.’” The allegory used by the Lord in this verse speaks of the light of His Truth, the light of His Word, the light of eternal Life. Those who perceive the true Light will never walk in spiritual darkness.
We take a candle into a room to dispel the darkness. Likewise, the Light of Jesus Christ has to be taken into the darkness of sin that engulfs the hearts and lives of those who are not following Him. That’s the condition behind having this Light—that we follow Him. If we do not follow Him, we will not have this light, this truth, this eternal life.
Physical light is necessary for physical life. The earth would certainly change very rapidly if there were no longer any sunlight. A forest full of trees with very thick canopies of foliage high above has very little plant life on the ground except for moss or lichen, which needs little sunlight. Plants will never move away from the light—they are said to be positively phototropic, drawn to the light. In the same way, spiritual light is necessary for spiritual life, and this can be a good test of our standing in Christ. The believer will always tend toward spiritual things; he will always tend toward fellowship, prayer, the Word of God, and so on. The unbeliever always does the opposite (John 1:5; 3:19–20) because light exposes his evil, and he hates the light. Indeed, no man can come into the true spiritual light of Jesus Christ, unless he is enabled (John 6:37).
Following Jesus is the condition of two promises in John 8:12. First, His followers will never walk in darkness, which is a reference to the assurance of salvation we enjoy. As true followers of the Light, we will never follow the ways of sin, never live in a state of continually sinning (1 John 1:5–7). Rather, we repent of our sin in order to stay close to the Light of the world. The second promise is that we will reflect the Light of Life. Just as He came as the Light of the world, He commands us to be “lights,” too. In Matthew 5:14–16 we see believers depicted as the light of the world. Just as the moon has no light of its own, reflecting the light of the sun, so are believers to reflect the Light of Christ so that all can see it in us. The Light is evident to others by the good deeds we do in faith and through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The emphasis here is maintaining a credible and obvious witness in the world, a witness that shows us to be faithful, God-honoring, trustworthy, sincere, earnest, and honest in all that we do. Also, we should always be ready to give an account of the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15), for the gospel Light we have is not to be covered, but made obvious for all to see and benefit from, that they, too, may leave the darkness and come into the Light.
For some “Light” thought . . .
Jesus at His Birth
Shortly after His birth, Jesus’ parents took Him to the temple, presented Him to the Lord, and offered the required sacrifice.
Simeon, moved by the Holy Spirit, went to the temple, took Jesus in His arms, and said, “For my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel” (Lk. 2:32).
Simeon speaks of Jesus as the salvation and light God promised (Isaiah 9:2; 42:6; 49:6,9; 51:4; 60:1-3).
Jesus, at His birth, fulfilled the prophesy of Isaiah. He is the light of revelation God sent into the world.
Jesus at the Beginning of His Ministry
When Jesus began His ministry in Capernaum, Matthew tells us this was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy.
“The people who were sitting in darkness saw a great light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow of death, upon them a light dawned” (Matt. 4:16).
Besides fulfilling Isaiah’s prophesies at His birth, Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prophesies when He began preaching the gospel.
Jesus is the Light of the World
Jesus is the Light of the world (Jn. 1:4-9; 8:12). This figure of speech is applicable to Him because:
In Him we have life, and the life is the Light of man (Jn. 1:4; 8:12).
We believe through Him (Jn. 1:7).
Jesus enlightens every man (Jn. 1:9).
By believing in Jesus, we become sons of Light (Jn. 12:36).
By believing in Jesus, we escape from darkness (Jn. 12:46).
Jesus’ blood cleanses us from all sin (1 Jn. 1:7).
Christians Love The Light
Every person loves either darkness or the Light. People who love darkness hate the Light. And people who love the Light hate darkness.
“For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God” (Jn. 3:20-21).
Christians Walk in the Light
We walk in the Light because God is Light.
“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light . . . ” (1 Jn. 1:5-7).
Because we walk in the Light, “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 Jn. 1:5-7).
Christians are Children of Light
Walking in the Light, we are children of Light (Eph. 5:8).
“For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light” (Eph. 5:8).
As a result, we expose the unfruitful deeds of darkness (Eph. 5:11-13).
Christians Are the Light of the World
As children of Light, exposing darkness, we are the light of the world.
“You are the light of the world . . .” (Matt. 5:14).
Therefore we shine our light by essence of who we are.
“. . . A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house” (Matt. 5:14-15).
And men glorify God, as a result of seeing our good works.
“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).
Result: Eternal Life
As children of the Light, we “share in the inheritance of the saints in Light” (Col. 1:12).
Therefore we will spend eternity in heaven, where there is eternal light (Rev. 21:24; 22:5).
Wow, I don’t even need to muck with this first part. Guess who’s in the news again, even if only slightly.
Message for Bill Barr
You’re dirt.
Your job was to pursue justice impartially. Instead, you decided it was worth being partial just to get rid of the Orange Man with the Mean Tweets.
I imagine you sleep easy at night, though, because in your alleged mind, you saved America. The America you saved was the America that’s ruled by an elite and has to tolerate a dumptruck load of “deplorables”–you know the sort of people who just want to be left alone and not be forced to participate in some grand plan.
That just proves you’re a bloated bag of rancid, maggot-infested lard.
Since that has been true for quite some time, a large percentage of you must be maggot turds.
Your day will come, Traitor.
And For Pat Benatar
Unfortunately I get exposed to the Yellow Stream Media in small doses nearly daily, so I ran across a story about how Pat Benatar will no longer be performing “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” on account of guns bad or something like that.
I was aware she’s no friend of the Right. Not just figuring “probably not because she’s entertainment industry” but I knew; she released some song bemoaning Trump back in 2017.
Well, Pat, your many, many thousands of fans are surely disappointed, I’m sure. Hit Me With Your Best Shot is one of your most famous works, it’s even, dare I say it, iconic. [Note: you do have more fans than I do, even 40 years after your halcyon days, so that puts you ahead of Brian Stelter, who apparently has fewer.]
Fortunately, I am here to fill the gap, so your fans won’t pine away.
Justice Must Be Done
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
Mixed week, with silver down and everything else up. I recall hearing that gold had actually dipped below $1,700 at least once this week.
Bitcoin, meanwhile…aw, who gives a fetid pile of dingos’ kidneys?
If the stories about new reserve currencies are true, expect a lot of dollars that have been sitting overseas, not chasing goods in the marketplace, to come home. At which point we’ll see more dollars chasing (if we’re lucky) the same amount of, or (if we’re less lucky) fewer, goods. Which is exactly what sends prices through the roof.
Meanwhile now might be a buying opportunity. Or it could be that I am a practitioner of craniorectalinsertiononomics (an accurate name for most fashionable schools of economics) and I’m totally wrong.
Oligula’s Biggest Blunder
With JWST starting its science mission, I have to find something else to talk about now.
Well, a quick one.
I wrote this last week: So I don’t expect to see news reports about what “JWST has found” for at least a little while.
It aged poorly.
Apparently JWST has already spotted a galaxy older (and hence far more redshifted) than anything previously seen. The article I read talked about how it had formed within a couple of hundred million years of the Big Bang, and compared that to “when light began” a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. Which is wrong on two counts. The event they’re referring to is when the universe cooled below plasma temperatures, and hence became transparent. Light existed before then but couldn’t get anywhere without being reabsorbed by electrons flying around in that plasma. Once that stopped, the light could travel freely: outer space became transparent. That initial glow is still seen today as the Cosmic Microwave Background (explained, possibly more coherently, here: https://www.theqtree.com/2021/11/27/2021%c2%b711%c2%b727-joe-biden-didnt-win-daily-thread/). So that’s one of two problems, and it’s conceivable one could claim I’m drawing a meaningless distinction here. But the bigger problem is, this happened 380 thousand years after the Big Bang. Not million.
But JWST finding such a thing is exactly what we were hoping for.
And, I’ll note that this week marked the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
OK, now on to Oligula, whom I usually refer to as Obola, and his biggest blunder ever.
That would, of course be failing to either replace or extend the Space Transportation System, which is the name that only NASA uses for that which everyone else calls the Space Shuttle.
The Space Shuttle was intended to make travel to orbit cheaper. The price to put a kilogram in orbit had plummeted to $10,000 during the 60s (but note, that’s still a lot of money, especially in 1970 dollars), and had remained there since.
It takes a lot of fuel to get to orbit, and that ain’t cheap, but the bigger issue is we were throwing 90 percent or more of the spacecraft away, every time. Imagine what air fare would be if they had to scrap the airliner as soon as the passengers deplaned. The Shuttle was an attempt to come up with a reusable system, and it was indeed partially reusable. The orbiter could be reused, but only after weeks of refurbishing. The big hydrogen tank (which was white for the first few missions, then they decided to save the weight of the white paint, so it was tan-orange from that point forward) was thrown away, the solid rocket boosters were salvaged and reused as much as possible (but that involved rebuilding them).
So the price to orbit for a kilogram remained at $10,000, though to be fair that’s still a decrease because of inflation. But it almost seemed like it was a physical constant, $10,000/kg.
Oligula left US manned spaceflight for dead by doing nothing as the Shuttle was retired. We now had to hitch a ride with the Russians just to go to the International Space Station, even though ISS had largely been built by us.
But that is not the blunder I am thinking about. The blunder I am thinking about is that Obola allowed private companies to step in.
Space X, for instance, has begun providing rides to orbit, and since they aren’t smothered in government bureaucracy, they’re able to incrementally improve their boosters and orbiters in less than a decade. They’ve gotten better and better at recovering their boosters by landing them on ships at sea. Very little if anything is thrown away now. The things are almost totally reusable, with less refurbishing than the Shuttle ever dreamed of.
The price to get a kilogram to orbit has dropped to $2,000 now.
And it may get as low as $400 with their planned Starship system. (I am not accounting for possible future hyperinflation as the petrodollars come home to roost; see above.)
This is very important. After all, when the Left gets done dorking up the Earth, we need somewhere else to go. Yes, the Left will mess that up too, but that won’t be until the Deplorables who pioneer it have gotten it to the point where puffy toilet seats are available. Meanwhile we’ll have breathing space.
Being able to get to space cheaply is very important in the long term. No, it won’t help us drain the swamp, but a couple of hundred years from now they’ll look back and not care about what Bloated Pusbag Barr did to President Trump, but they will care about the founding of space industry and colonies.
OK, but this is good, right? So why did I call this Oligula’s Biggest Blunder?
Because intent matters. Obola rarely made a mistake. He caused a lot of damage, but that was his intent, so the damage he caused was not by mistake.
So the one thing he did that was good (even if it is taking a while to become evident), actually was a mistake on his part. He didn’t mean to do that good deed; he was trying to shove yet another rusty steel twelve gauge bore brush up America’s ass, then chock it in a power drill for added effect.
But he got this one wrong.
So, Oligula, I take my hat off to you, and say “Fuck you very much.”
Fuck Joe B*d*n
Due to complaints about foul language, I’ve censored the most objectionable word in the title of this section.
B*d*n, you don’t even get ONE scoop of ice cream today.
(Please post this somewhere permanent, as it will continue to be true; the SOB will never deserve a scoop.)
…And the Cancer He Rode In On
Does the Meat Puppet have cancer?
I don’t think we can say, based on his slip the other day. After all “cancer” and “Covid” both start with a “C” and he may have just said “cancer” when he meant “Covid.” Even someone who is not compost-mentis (Latin for “peat head”) could make that mistake; but it’s more likely to happen when the brain turns to sludge.
(All kidding about no chemicals in FJB’s skull aside, clearly something is in there, because he continues to breathe and poop out both ends, figuratively in one case, literally in the other. The brain does manage that stuff, though our consciousness doesn’t notice it doing so.)
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
Whoever ends up in the cell next to his, tell him I said “Hi.”
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes seven statements beginning with the words I am. Each of these “I am” proclamations furthers our understanding of Jesus’ ministry in the world. They also link Jesus to the Old Testament revelation of God.
Here are the seven metaphorical “I am” statements found in John’s gospel:
“I am the bread of life” (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51). In this chapter, Jesus establishes a pattern that continues through John’s gospel—Jesus makes a statement about who He is, and He backs it up with something He does. In this case, Jesus states that He is the bread of life just after He had fed the 5,000 in the wilderness. At the same time, He contrasts what He can do with what Moses had done for their ancestors: “Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die” (verses 49–50).
“I am the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5). This second of Jesus’ “I am” statements in John’s gospel comes right before He heals a man born blind. Jesus not only says He is the light; He proves it. Jesus’ words and actions echo Genesis 1:3, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
“I am the door” (John 10:7 and 9, ESV). This “I am” statement stresses that no one can enter the kingdom of heaven by any other means than Christ Himself. Jesus’ words in this passage are couched in the imagery of a sheepfold. He is the one and only way to enter the fold. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber” (verse 1, ESV).
“I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11, 14). With this “I am” statement, Jesus portrays His great love and care. He is the One who willingly protects His flock even to the point of death (verses 11 and 15). When Jesus called Himself the good shepherd, He unmistakably took for Himself one of God’s titles in the Old Testament: “The Lord is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1).
“I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Jesus made this “I am” statement immediately before raising Lazarus from the dead. Again, we see that Jesus’ teaching was not just empty talk; when He made a claim, He substantiated it with action. He holds “the keys of death and the grave” (Revelation 1:18, NLT). In raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus showed how He can fulfill Yahweh’s promise to ancient Israel: “[God’s] dead shall live; their bodies shall rise” (Isaiah 26:19, ESV). Apart from Jesus, there is neither resurrection nor eternal life.
“I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). This powerful “I am” statement of Christ’s is packed with meaning. Jesus is not merely one way among many ways to God; He is the only way. Scripture said that “The very essence of [God’s] words is truth” (Psalm 119:160, NLT), and here is Jesus proclaiming that He is the truth—confirming His identity as the Word of God (see John 1:1, 14). And Jesus alone is the source of life; He is the Creator and Sustainer of all life and the Giver of eternal life.
“I am the true vine” (John 15:1, 5). The final metaphorical “I am” statement in the Gospel of John emphasizes the sustaining power of Christ. We are the branches, and He is the vine. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit unless it is joined in vital union with the vine, only those who are joined to Christ and receive their power from Him produce fruit in the Christian life.
There are two more “I am” statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John. These are not metaphors; rather, they are declarations of God’s name, as applied by Jesus to Himself. In the Old Testament, God revealed His name to Moses: “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). Thus, in Judaism, “I AM” is unquestionably understood as a name for God.
The first instance comes as Jesus responds to a complaint by the Pharisees. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus says, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). The verbs Jesus uses are in stark contrast with each other: Abraham was, but I am. There is no doubt that the Jews understood Jesus’ claim to be the eternal God incarnate, because they took up stones to kill Him (verse 59).
The second instance of Jesus applying to Himself the name I AM comes in the Garden of Gethsemane. When the mob came to arrest Jesus, He asked them whom they sought. They said, “Jesus of Nazareth,” and Jesus replied, “I am he” (John 18:4–5). Then something strange happened: “When Jesus said, ‘I am he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground” (verse 6). Perhaps explaining the mob’s reaction is the fact that the word he has been provided by our English translators. Jesus simply said, “I am.” Applying God’s covenant name to Himself, Jesus demonstrated His power over His foes and showed that His surrender to them was entirely voluntary (see John 10:17–18; 19:11).
“I Am”
I am the Lord, I’m the Almighty God I am the One for whom nothing is too hard I am the Shepherd and I am the Door I am the Good news to the bound and the poor
I am the righteous One and I am the Lamb I am the Ram in the bush for Abraham I am the Ultimate Sacrifice for sin I am your Redeemer, the Beginning and the End
I am Jehovah, and I am your King I am Messiah, David’s Offspring I am your High Priest, and I am the Christ I am the Resurrection, I am the Life
I am the Bread, I am the Wine And I am your Future, so leave your past behind I am the One in the midst of two or three I am your Tabernacle, I am your Jubilee
I am Hope, I am Peace, I am Joy, I am Rest I am your Comfort, and Relief from your stress I am Strength, I am Faith, I am Love, I am Power And I am your Freedom, this very hour
Recently we all heard of Scotland targeting sheep and cattle for removal. A really STUPID MOVE since they produce food from rocky hilly areas unsuitable for crops. So I thought I had better dust off this article I wrote months ago and publish it. I am not going to make changes since it is mostly looking at a possible future.
The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill proposes a statutory target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050 (from a 1990 baseline) across the whole Scottish economy. It also allows for a target of 100% reduction in emissions (known as a net zero target) to be created at a future date, from the same baseline. The UK and Scottish Government’s statutory advisers, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), consider the 90% target to be at the limit of feasibility. The Scottish Government is however under pressure from stakeholders [WHO ARE THESE STAKEHOLDERS? The ReichsWEF??? GC] to set a specific net zero target in the Bill.
The main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). CH4 and N2O have a significantly higher global warming potential than CO2; in other words, their total warming impact is greater relative to CO2 over a set period. Emissions are reported and predominantly discussed in a common unit of CO2 equivalent (CO2e). Agriculture (including associated land use) is the second largest contributor to Scottish emissions (after transport at 37%), accounting for just over a quarter of Scotland’s total in 2016.
Methane and nitrous oxide are emitted in significant quantities by agriculture. These are inherent in food production due to biological processes and chemical interactions in both livestock and plant growth. Therefore, the approach to mitigating emissions from agriculture differs to most other sectors where CO2 is the overwhelmingly dominant greenhouse gas. As more progress is made in reducing emissions in for example electricity or waste, the relative importance of agriculture in the total Scottish emissions budget grows. The CCC’s latest report for Scotland considers that “the ambition in the agricultural sector and the focus on voluntary measures remains concerning. Agriculture will need to make a greater contribution to meeting emissions targets, especially if Scotland is to meet a netzero target as proposed in the Climate Change Bill”. Emissions from agriculture and related land use have been largely static for 10 years. Livestock emissions account for around 48% of the agricultural total (by CO2e), most of which can be attributed to methane emissions from cattle and sheep.
Agricultural soils and land-use change emissions account for a further 43%. The use of the phrase “net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture” …The reality on the ground is that the activities of farmers and land managers both contribute to and sequester greenhouse gases. If farmers are to maintain a headage of livestock, even at a reduced rate, then there will be methane emissions, however this can be balanced by actions elsewhere. ….Recent research on Soil Carbon and Land Use suggests that an improved understanding of CH4 and N2O emissions is likely to lead to greater opportunities for emissions reductions than that provided by solely increasing carbon sequestration through e.g. peatland restoration or tree planting. Multiple opportunities exist to reduce emissions arising on-farm. Many of these will require shifts from business as usual behaviour, and include agroforestry, [So that is what will grow on the grazing land NOT CROPS TO FEED PEOPLE. – GC] restoring peatlands, [PEAT has been used for centuries as a source of heat for homes -GC] soil testing and management to increase carbon capture, changes to cattle feed to reduce enteric emissions, farming breeds and crop varieties that produce less methane, precision agriculture to reduce fertilizer and pesticide use, and DIETARY CHANGE…
Another bit of information in the news:, Pilot, Flying J CEO, on Diesel Fuel Supply Shortage TikTok
It is Union Pacific that is restricting shipments.
Vanguard and BlackRock own the majority stakes in both CF Industries, the fertilizer manufacturer, and Union Pacific, the railway distributor. Critics are suspicious of engineered food shortages.
Four years ago, Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock asset management firm that controls trillions in investments, is a member of the board of trustees of Klaus Schwab’s World Economic Forum and sits on the board of directors for the Council on Foreign Relations. A few years ago, 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱: “𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸, 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗿𝘀.”
The US once had vast grain reserves in silos across the country. Today those grain reserves along with the silos have vanished. This was due to deregulated global markets, globalization, and the 1996 farm bill. That bill abolished our national system of grain reserves. (Thanks DanAmstutz, I hope you are enjoying the flames you so richly deserve.) The reserves in the U.S.D.A. Commodity Credit Corporation were gradually depleted until in 2008 the USDA, in response to the 2008 Food Crisis, declared ‘The Cupboard is Bare’ . Dan Amstutz buddies, the grain traders even responded to the food crisis by writing a letter to President Bush discouraging the replacement of reserves because it would “distort” grain prices, suggesting a monetary fund, from which they could profit, instead.
The Commodity Credit Corporation may sell any farm commodity owned or controlled by the Corporation at any price not prohibited by this section.
(b)Inventories
In determining sales policies for basic agricultural commodities or storable nonbasic commodities, the Corporation should consider the establishment of such policies with respect to prices, terms, and conditions as the Corporation determines will not discourage or deter manufacturers, processors, and dealers from acquiring and carrying normal inventories of the commodity of the current crop.
Recently there have been increased calls for the development of a U.S. or international grain reserve to provide priority access to food supplies for Humanitarian needs. The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) and the North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA) strongly advise against this concept..Stock reserves have a documented depressing effect on prices… and resulted in less aggressive market bidding for the grains.
Frank Herbert: “If you can control their DIET and sexuality, you have them from cradle to grave.” (Gee that sounds familiar….)
I have calculated that reducing CO2 output by 80% (by 2030 per Obama) would reduce humans to a 1700s life style. Farmers made up 69% of labor force in 1800 compared to 2.6% in 1990. The 1800s saw the First Agricultural Revolution with the introduction of commercial chemical fertilizers and factory made equipment that could be pulled by animals. Prior to that agriculture was mainly done by hand with WOODEN implements.
1830 — It took about 250-300 labor-hours to produce 100 bushels of wheat from 5 acres of land with walking plow, [Human powered] brush harrow, hand broadcast of seed, sickle, and flail.
1810-30 saw the transfer of “manufacturing” from the farm and home to the shop and factory. It wasn’t until the 1840′s that we saw factory made farm machinery, labor saving devices and chemical fertilizers became at all common.
1849—Mixed chemical fertilizers were sold commercially
1866 – Gregor Mendel blends two pea plants to create hybrid pea plant
By 1890, labor costs continued to decrease, with only 35–40 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (2-1/2 acres) of corn, because of technological advances of the 2-bottom gang plow, disk and peg-tooth harrow, and 2-row planters; and 40–50 labor-hours required to produce 100 bushels (5 acres) of wheat with gang plow, seeder, harrow, binder, thresher, wagons, and horses. However PETA and the Climate loonies want to get rid of OXEN and horses so it is back to serf/slave labor
For comparison in 1987 it only took 3 labor-hours to produce 100 bushels of wheat from 3 acres of land (Ain’t CO2 fertilization great) with tractors, 35-foot sweep disk, 30-foot drill, and a 25-foot self-propelled combine. By 1970 one American farmer was supplying over 75 people with food.
HISTORY OF PESTICIDES
Up until the 1940s inorganic substances, such as sodium chlorate and sulphuric acid, or organic chemicals derived from natural sources were still widely used in pest control. However, some pesticides were by-products of coal gas production or other industrial processes. Thus early organics such as nitrophenols, chlorophenols, creosote, naphthalene and petroleum oils were used for fungal and insect pests, whilst ammonium sulphate and sodium arsenate were used as herbicides. The drawback for many of these products was their high rates of application, lack of selectivity and phytotoxicity9. The growth in synthetic pesticides accelerated in the 1940s with the discovery of the effects of DDT, BHC, aldrin, dieldrin, endrin, chlordane, parathion, captan and 2,4-D. These products were effective and inexpensive with DDT being the most popular, because of its broad-spectrum activity4 ,10. DDT was widely used, appeared to have low toxicity to mammals, and reduced insect-born diseases, like malaria, yellow fever and typhus; consequently, in 1949, Dr. Paul Muller won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering its insecticidal properties. However, in 1946 resistance to DDT by house flies was reported and, because of its widespread use, there were reports of harm to non-target plants and animals and problems with residues…. Research into pesticides continued and the 1970s and 1980s saw the introduction of the world’s greatest selling herbicide, glyphosate, the low use rate sulfonylurea and imidazolinone (imi) herbicides, as well as dinitroanilines and the aryloxyphenoxypropionate (fop) and cyclohexanediones (dim) families. For insecticides there was the synthesis of a 3rd generation of pyrethroids, the introduction of avermectins, benzoylureas and Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) as a spray treatment. This period also saw the introduction of the triazole, morpholine, imidazole, pyrimidine and dicarboxamide families of fungicides. As many of the agrochemicals introduced at this time had a single mode of action, thus making them more selective, problems with resistance occurred and management strategies were introduced to combat this negative effect….
Pesticides and herbicides have also had a major impact on the yield per acre. Unless you have slaves to pull the weeds and pick off the insects, you are stuck with either chemicals or losing a large portion of your crops. BTDT — You have to spray apple trees or you can lose 99% of the crop to plum curculio, coddling moths, apple maggots and other pests. We had a pest that left brown trails throughout EVERY SINGLE APPLE!
Currently, four companies produce around 80% of all the meat in our grocery stores and the Biden administration says that decentralization will create lower prices for consumers and higher profits for farmers. Cargill, Tyson, JBS, and National Beef Packing control 85% of the beef market, 54% of the poultry, and 70% of pork. Fifty years ago, these four firms only slaughtered 25% of cattle…. In the beef industry fifty years ago, ranchers received an average of 60 cents of every dollar a consumer spent on beef. The average is now 39 cents. In that same time frame, hog farmers have dropped to 19 cents from 40 to 60 cents. With decreasing profits for our nation’s farmers and ranchers, increased prices in the grocery store, will these new efforts be the solution to equitable food systems in the United States?
Producers Voice
Mr Global’s long term goal has been to completely change the US meat based diet — a diet that is the basis of American exceptionalism – to a diet that barely sustains life and certainly discourages revolts. For example the height of Japanese male students at age 17 has increase by 10 cm since WWII as eating beef became more acceptable. LINK and LINK
Meat provides the easiest access to critical nutrients and energy during the fast growth of the fetus and child.
Meat plays a central role in the diet, providing a significant contribution to the intakes of 10 key nutrients: energy, protein, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, iron and zinc. In young children, an over-dependence on milk may put young children at increased risk of poor iron status, owing to its displacement of iron-rich or iron-enhancing foods from the diet. This risk becomes nonsignificant when moderate to high amounts of iron-rich or iron-enhancing foods (e.g. meat and fruit, respectively) are also consumed. A study performed on infants in the UK has shown that the addition of meat powder to a weaning food has a marked enhancing effect on the absorption of iron, (38) which reinforces the fact that lean red meat is not only an appropriate weaning food but should be considered an essential food during the critical stages of brain development
MR GLOBAL TELEGRAPHS HIS WAR ON THE AMERICAN DIET
Mr Global has been targeting meat and our middle class life style since the 1972 First Earth Summit chaired by Maurice Strong. (Strong was also the co-chair of the World economic forum — SURPRISE!) In 1992, Chairman Strong told the Earth Summit in Kyoto…
“It is clear that current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class, involving high meat intake, consumption of large amounts of frozen and convenience foods, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work place air conditioning, and suburban housing are not sustainable.”
The same propaganda was repeated by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy in 2011.
“climate change negotiations are not just about the global environment but global economics as well — the way that technology, costs and growth are to be distributed and shared… Can we balance the need for a sustainable planet with the need to provide billions with decent living standards? Can we do that without questioning radically the Western way of life? “
Pascal Lamy: Whither Globalization? – The Globalist
A vegan life style was then ‘presented as a health issue’ by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee as the excuse to ram radical changes down the throats of Americans. However it has nothing to do with health. The US government’s concern for the health of Americans does not play given the FDA has routinely over looked “…significant departures from good clinical practice, such as underreporting of adverse events, violations of protocol, violations of recruitment guidelines, and various forms of scientific misconduct…. or submission of false information… The FDA does not typically notify journals …nor make any announcement intended to alert the public about the research misconduct that it finds. The documents the agency discloses [FOIA] tend to be heavily redacted. As a result, it is usually very difficult, or even impossible, to determine which published clinical trials are implicated by the FDA’s allegations of research misconduct.” –— Research misconduct identified by the US Food and Drug Administration: out of sight, out of mind, out of the peer-reviewed literature
So why are Americans suddenly going to be forced into a change in eating habits?
The chair of DGAC told us why and it has NOTHING to do with health and everything to do with Agenda 21 aka Sustainability. She said:
“After 30 years of waiting, the fact that this committee is addressing sustainability issues brings me a lot of pleasure,” she began. Clancy went on to advocate that Americans should become vegetarians in order to achieve sustainability in the face of “climate change.”...
Clancy said beef production is the “greatest concern.”
That statement certainly sounds like the DGAC is more concerned with Sustainability than with the health of Americans. So beef production, not the health of Americans are the ‘greatest concern’ Gee thanks for telling us that up front.
What you buy at the grocery store, where you live, and even your membership status at the local gym are all subject to a new data collection scheme by the American medical system. Reports indicate that hospitals and doctors’ offices all across the country are now collecting this and other personal information in order to target individuals deemed to have “unhealthy” lifestyle habits that put them at high risk of disease.
Bloomberg reports that hospital systems in both North and South Carolina as well as Pennsylvania have already begun tracking people’s food-purchasing habits by spying on them through public records and credit card transactions. Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS), which operates some 900 care centers throughout the Carolinas, has teamed up with a data-mining company to compile and track this information for the later purpose of calling “high-risk” folks and urging them to make a change.
“What we are looking to find are people before they end up in trouble,” stated Michael Dulin, chief clinical officer for analytics and outcomes at CHS, to Bloomberg. “The idea is to use big data and predictive models to think about population health and drill down to the individual levels to find someone running into trouble that we can reach out to and try to help out.”
ObamaCare to spy on us and The Food Safety Modernization Act. For example:
The 2009 Food Safety Modernization Act as it goes into effect will regulate the manufacturers of ethanol IF the byproduct, distillers grains, goes into animal feed. This will cause a major increase in the price of livestock feed and/or cause the manufacturers of ethanol and distillers grains to say the hell with it and send the distillers grain off to be pelleted for the energy companies to burn instead. It will be a lot less headache for the livestock grain pelleters, if they switch the production plant from livestock feed to energy company pellets. Cost of material, such as mineral and vitamin additives and regulations will drop through the floor. So what’s not to like?
Their “Biomass Energy Comparison” Various materials tested by: Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, Waseca, Minnesota” Shows among a great many others: Hardwood Pellets: 7955 – 8573 BTU/lb Alfalfa (leaf and stem) (Best livestock hay) 6934 – 7729 BTU/lb Dried Distillers Grain 8459 – 9848 BTU/lb Dried Distillers Grain is at the top of the pack for BTU/lb!
Manufacturers of distillers grains are already regulated by an alphabet soup of statutes, implementing agencies and industry certifications. Now, add the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) to the list.
Grass (hay) is targeted too Burning Grass Pellets as a Biofuel is Economical, Energy-Efficient, Environmentally Friendly and Sustainable Their “Biomass Energy Comparison Various materials tested by: Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, Waseca, Minnesota” Shows among a great many others: Hardwood Pellets: 7955 – 8573 BTU/lb Alfalfa (leaf and stem) (Best livestock hay) 6934 – 7729 BTU/lb Dried Distillers Grain 8459 – 9848 BTU/lb
Dried Distillers Grain is at the top of the pack for BTU/lb! It also gives Ash & Sulphur and there Dried Distillers Grain is in the middle of the pack. The scientists are also into the act of converting our food crops into specialized fuel crops.
Corn Primed for Making Biofuel April 16, 2008 Researchers genetically modify a crop to break down its own cellulose. Last year, new federal regulations called for production of renewable fuels to increase to 36 billion gallons annually–nearly five times current levels–by 2022. Today, nearly all fuel ethanol in the United States is produced from corn kernels. To meet the required increase, researchers are turning to other sources, such as cellulose, a complex carbohydrate found in all plants. Corn leaves and stems, prairie grasses, and wood chips are leading candidates for supplies of cellulose. Cellulosic ethanol has many advantages over that produced from corn kernels. Cellulose is not only extremely abundant and inexpensive; studies also suggest that the production and use of ethanol from cellulose could yield fewer greenhouse gases… Enzymes that degrade cellulose, called cellulases, are typically produced by microbes grown inside large bioreactors, an expensive and energy-intensive process. “In order to make cellulosic ethanol really competitive, we really need to bring those costs down,”…
MIT
WHERE IS ALL THIS COMING FROM?
25 X 25 INITIATIVE
H.Con.Res. 369 (109th): Expressing the support of Congress for the “25 x ‘25” initiative, which envisions that farm, forestry, and ranch lands in the United States will provide by 2025 at least 25 percent of the energy consumed in the United States, and, in furtherance of the “25 x ‘25” initiative, promoting the …… increased production of renewable energy by the forestry and agricultural communities.
109th Congress.
One big problem, Like Solar and Wind Turbines, biofuel is not really an Energy savings.
In terms of energy output compared with energy input for ethanol production, the study found that:
• corn requires 29 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced;
• switch grass requires 45 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced; and
• wood biomass requires 57 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produced.
Funny how those universities have now reversed their stance on that…
Joe Rieck dropped a BOMB in this short (4:30 minute) clip. He said that farmers, because of the high price of fertilizer are not planting corn but instead planting Soybeans CAN YOU SAY SOYBURGERS???
0:40 — Ukraine supplies 25% of [world] wheat
0:53 — Fertilizer plant blew up Farmers Corn –> Soybeans
The 2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak occurred when the discharge of infectious effluent from a laboratory in Surrey led to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) infections at four nearby farms
WIKI
That lab was Pirbright — Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funds – Pirbright.ac.uk
Researchers from The Pirbright Institute have been awarded US $5.5 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to establish a Livestock Antibody Hub aimed at improving animal and human health globally…
Scuttlebutt (With a LOT of links) showing the Rothschild – Pirbright Lab and other connections. LINK At this point I do not disount any ‘conspiracy theories’ without a hard look. (I haven’t chased this one.)
Since 1954, the DHS S&T Office of National Laboratories (ONL) Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC) has served as the nation’s premier defense against accidental or intentional introduction of transboundary animal diseases (a.k.a. foreign animal diseases) including foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and African Swine Fever (ASF). PIADC is the only laboratory in the nation that can work on live FMD virus (FMDV).
Plum Island was a Bio-Level 4 lab however it has had a couple of accidental releases. . In 1978, an unknown disease was released into animals outside the center. Reports on that accident are classified. In 2004 there were not one but TWO releases of Foot and Mouth Disease. This was used by Senator Hillary Clinton and Congressman Tim Bishop to SOUND THE ALARM. They wrote to the Department of Homeland Security:
“We urge you to immediately investigate these alarming breaches at the highest levels, and to keep us apprised of all developments.”
Hillary Clinton and Tim Bishop
Plum Island, per a 2008 federal law requires the island to be sold off to the highest bidder once the Kansas biosafetly Level – 4 lab comes on line (Not sold as of Feb 2022)
Before Patty Doyle’s Condo can be constructed on the Poison Plum Pork Chop Island, known as Doyle’s Plum Estates, the DHS will have to remove abandoned and polluted buildings, lead and asbestos abatment, removal of all RESEARCH CONTAMINATED MATERIAL AND conduct full BIOLOGICAL DECONTAMINATION. The soil may also contain chemicals and petroleum. Remember Prions may also be in the soil. The Vermont sheep infected with BSE [FAILLACE SHEEP INFECTION WAS NOT PROVEN! -GC] were experimented upon there and incinerated there and buried. We know that prions do not neutralize. Eons go by and the creamated prions are still infective. Some of the research biological contamination is comprised of bioweapons. Anthrax another possibility lurking in the soil of Doyle’s Plum Island Paradise Estates…..
Mr. Bishop said, “I and Senator [Hillary] Clinton lobbied heavily that the [new facility] not go to Plum Island. The decision not to build it at Plum Island is welcome.”...Still, he said, once the federal government had chosen a site for the new facility, “it became incumbent upon me and Senator [Charles] Schumer and whoever takes Senator Clinton’s place to lobby for another use of Plum Island.” With a significant amount of taxpayer money invested this year in Plum Island’s infrastructure, about $60 million, he said, “it was foolish to walk away from the facility.” At stake are about 300 jobs and the indirect economic benefits the site provides the East End…
So the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility (NBAF) were MOVED from PLUM ISLAND to Kansas, the middle of COW COUNTRY …
The USDA will operate the new $1.25 billion biosafety level-4 laboratories the federal government is building in Manhattan, KS. A biosafety level 4 laboratory provides the highest level of containment facilities to isolate the most dangerous biological agents, meaning those with high fatality rates and no known treatments, such as the Ebola virus.
The new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) will replace the Plum Island Animal Disease Center (PIADC), which since 1954 has defended against the accidental or intentional introduction of foreign animal diseases….
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to bring online a new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas. This state-of-the-art facility will be a national asset that helps protect the nation’s agriculture, farmers and citizens against the threat and potential impact of serious animal diseases.The DHS Science and Technology Directorate is building the facility to standards that fulfill the mission needs of the USDA which will own, manage and operate the NBAF once construction and commissioning activities are complete….
The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) will be a state-of-the-art biocontainment laboratory for the study of diseases that threaten both America’s animal agricultural industry and public health. DHS S&T is building the facility to standards that fulfill the mission needs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) which will own, manage and operate(PDF, 16pp, 165 KB) the NBAF once construction and commissioning activities are complete. The NBAF will strengthen our nation’s ability to conduct research, develop vaccines, diagnose emerging diseases, and train veterinarians.[YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE STUDENTS IN THIS BIOLEVEL $ LAB??? GC] The NBAF will be a national security asset and will meet the needs of the homeland security mission.
The United States currently does not have a laboratory facility with maximum biocontainment (BSL-4) space to study high-consequence zoonotic diseases affecting large livestock. The NBAF will be the first laboratory facility in the U.S. to provide BSL-4 laboratories capable of housing cattle and other large livestock. The NBAF will also feature a vaccine development module…..
DHS
CONTINUED… EXACTLY WHEN IN JANUARY??? After Bite-me was in place?
In January 2020, USDA and DHS S&T signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to outline their ongoing strategic interagency partnership at NBAF focused on national security. The MOU establishes an initial framework for scientific collaboration and identifies current areas of opportunity for collaboration which include:
Threat Risk Assessment and Research Prioritization:
To determine which transboundary, emerging animal diseases and zoonotic pathogens present the greatest risk to animal health, human health and national security. Outputs from this work will inform the process for research prioritization at NBAF.
Research and Collaboration:
To support the related USDA and DHS S&T food and agriculture missions including threat characterization and classified research; RDT&E involving biological countermeasures (vaccines, biotherapeutics and diagnostics); subject matter expert collaboration and information sharing; and partnerships….
As of January 2022, the $1.25B NBAF project is approximately 98 percent complete. The facility’s main laboratory construction and commissioning activities were initiated in May 2015. The laboratory will not open until all necessary permits and registrations are received.
….The new study expresses the government’s confidence it could avoid any outbreak. But it also cautioned that “should a large release occur there is considerable opportunity for the virus to cause infections and become established in the environment beyond the facility boundary.”
A simulated outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease – part of an earlier U.S. government exercise called “Crimson Sky” – ended with fictional riots in the streets after the simulation’s National Guardsmen were ordered to kill tens of millions of farm animals, so many that troops ran out of bullets. In the exercise, the government said it would have been forced to dig a ditch in Kansas 25 miles long to bury carcasses. [IS this simulation why the USDA has stockpiled bullets??? – GC]
The new study said U.S. economic losses from an outbreak could ultimately be higher than the $5 billion suffered by Britain in 2001, when an epidemic forced the government to slaughter 6 million sheep, cows and pigs.
The foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus has high agro-terrorism potential because it is contagious, … of Agriculture called “Crimson Sky” reports that the disease can reach .
Abstract and Figures
The foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus has high agro-terrorism potential because it is contagious, can be easily transmitted via inanimate objects and can be spread by wind. An outbreak of FMD in developed countries results in massive slaughtering of animals (for disease control) and disruptions in meat supply chains and trade, with potentially large economic losses…..
Although the FMD virus does not affect humans, the meats from infected animals are not used for food because the virus can spread rapidly through the meat processing supply chain. In addition, the virus can persist in human nasal passages for up to 36 hours and on shoes for 9 to 14 weeks [7]. us, an outbreak of FMD in developed countries results in massive slaughtering of animals (for disease control) and disruptions in meat supply chains and trade with potentially large economic losses…
National Pork Producers Council President-Elect Jon Caspers participated Sept. 30 in a simulated bio-terrorism exercise sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Caspers joined other agricultural officials observing USDA testing its capability in dealing with a possible attack on agriculture and its infrastructure. “Crimson Sky” was the first of six planned exercises
“Should USDA officially confirm the presence of a disease, such as Foot and Mouth Disease, the affected herd and all cattle, sheep, goats, swine, and susceptible wildlife—infected or not— within a minimum 10-kilometer zone around the infected farm would be killed.”
Note they also mention extending that range indefinitely. They affectionately call this process “Depopulation” which is ever so euphemistic. All of this is without a warrant and no appeal. So much for your Constitutional rights and presumption of innocence.GO TO THE LINK BELOW AND READ THE MANUAL FOR YOURSELF! THE 48 HOUR TRACEBACK IS NOT SO THEY CAN VACCINATE, ETC., IT IS TO “DEPOPULATE/STAMP OUT” ALL “SUSCEPTABLE” ANIMALS IN A GIVEN RADIUS. THOSE 48 HOURS ARE NOT JUST TO FIND YOUR ANIMALS…BUT TO KILL THEM!
THE WORLD WITNESSED IT WHEN IT HAPPENED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM’S FOOT AND MOUTH OUTBREAK. MILLIONS OF HEALTHY ANIMALS DESTROYED FOR A FEW HUNDRED THAT TESTED POSITIVE. A VACCINE EXISTS FOR THIS DISEASE…A DISEASE THAT RARELY CAUSES DEATH IN THE ANIMAL AND IT DOESN’T AFFECT HUMANS AT ALL. GENE POOLS WERE DESTROYED FOREVER, LIVES WERE SHATTERED AND SCORES COMMITTED SUICIDE, EVEN EQUIPMENT AND HAY/FEED WERE DESTROYED ALONG WITH FARM DOGS. FARMERS BEGGED THEIR GOVERNMENT TO VACCINATE INSTEAD OF WANTON DESTRUCTION, BUT WERE IGNORED. THIS IS WHAT WE IN AMERICA WILL FACE IF WE ALLOW THE NAIS TO BE IMPLEMENTED HERE. LEARN WHAT IS MEANT BY THE TERMS “DEPOPULATE” AND “STAMP OUT”. — ARKANSAS ANIMAL PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION
At this point, I would not put it pass these MONSTERS to have a ‘Lab Release’ similar to that in Pirbright– Was that a trial run??– As soon as that Kansas B-4 lab is up and running. Do I know anything concrete? no. HOWEVER the USDA is sending out their ‘Farm Inventory’ this year to anyone who could possibly have farm animals or grow food.
The latest program is the National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP). APFO now provides NAIP digital imagery to the USDA Service Center Agencies that utilize Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as the method for administering federal farm programs. GIS streamlines daily operation and facilitates updates of vital information which also helps support our nation’s farmers and ranchers….
This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
Last week, we saw that “Let go and let God.” doesn’t mean doing nothing, saying nothing, feeling nothing, and simply living, allowing circumstances to roll over us however they may. The Christian life is a very active life, wherein we constantly strive to enter by the narrow gate and follow the narrow path.
However, there is an area of the Christian life where we are definitely called to “Let go and let God”. “Cast your burden on the Lord [release it] and He will sustain and uphold you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken (slip, fall, fail).””Psalm 55:22.
First Peter 5:7, speaking to the humble child of God, relates a wonderful truth: “Casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you”. This completes a thought begun in the previous verses: “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:5–6). We are commanded to humble ourselves in light of who God is. He is God, and we are not. And we trust that God will take care of us. Part of humbling ourselves includes “casting all your cares upon Him.”
We often overestimate our ability and underestimate our inability. Yet the humble recognize that we are not God. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and able to handle all our cares. As humble persons, we can cast all our cares on Him because we know He cares for us. To “cast” literally means to “throw.” It is from the same Greek word used to describe how the people threw their coats on the colt before Jesus rode it into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Luke 19:35). We should not hold onto our cares. Instead, we should throw them to our Father God who cares for us. He has big shoulders; He can handle our burdens.
Cares refer to worries, difficulties and needs of this world, and anxieties. The NLT says to “give all your worries and cares to God,” and the NIV says to “cast all your anxiety on him.” Everything that worries us or weighs us down is to be given to the God who cares so deeply for us. These verses do not promise that God will fix or remove our concerns. Instead, the assurance is in knowing that He cares for us, which is why we can cast our cares on Him. God is trustworthy to handle our cares in the best way. Romans 8:28 tells us that God works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. We trust that God is able and willing to deal with our cares.
Jesus also invited people to cast their cares on Him: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30). Jesus calls us to come to Him and cast our cares or burdens on Him. When we do, the promise is that we will find rest for our souls. The assurance is based on who He is. We can come to Him with any of our concerns in prayer, and, while the burden may still exist, our souls will find rest as we trust in Him to help us carry it and to sustain us through the trial.
Peter’s exhortation to humble ourselves and to cast all our cares on the Lord is a command, not a suggestion. We are commanded to trust in the Lord and not in ourselves (Proverbs 3:5) and to be anxious for nothing (Philippians 4:6). God does not want us to be weighed down by the difficulties and worries of this life. Instead, He cares for us and promises rest for all who come to Him. If we trust that God is in control and able to handle our concerns, then we cast all your cares on Him, regularly giving Him our concerns in prayer and living in the rest He gives.
I see from video of your “conversation” with MTG that someone posted recently, that you are still a pugnacious, lying, puddle of bearded dragon shit.
How you can look at yourself in a mirror is beyond me, unless your conscience has been replaced by a dedication to Leftist goals. It certainly isn’t dedicated to real adversarial journalism. Much less any kind of journalism.
I will give you this. You have better hair than Brian Stelter. But then, so did Telly Savalas. And Yul Brynner.
RINOs an Endangered Species? If Only!
According to Wikipoo, et. al., the Northern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is a critically endangered species. Apparently two females live on a wildlife preserve in Sudan, and no males are known to be alive. So basically, this species is dead as soon as the females die of old age. Presently they are watched over by armed guards 24/7.
Biologists have been trying to cross them with the other subspecies, Southern White Rhinoceroses (Rhinoceri?) without success; and some genetic analyses suggest that perhaps they aren’t two subspecies at all, but two distinct species, which would make the whole project a lot more difficult.
I should hope if the American RINO (Parasitus rectum pseudoconservativum) is ever this endangered, there will be heroic efforts not to save the species, but rather to push the remainder off a cliff. Onto punji sticks. With feces smeared on them. Failing that a good bath in red fuming nitric acid will do.
But I’m not done ranting about RINOs.
The RINOs (if they are capable of any introspection whatsoever) probably wonder why they constantly have to deal with “populist” eruptions like the Trump-led MAGA movement. That would be because the so-called populists stand for absolutely nothing except for going along to get along. That allows the Left to drive the culture and politics.
Given the results of Tuesday’s elections, the Left will now push harder, and the RINOs will now turn even squishier than they were before.
I well remember 1989-1990 in my state when the RINO establishment started preaching the message that a conservative simply couldn’t win in Colorado. Never mind the fact that Reagan had won the state TWICE (in 1984 bringing in a veto-proof state house and senate with him) and GHWB had won after (falsely!) assuring everyone that a vote for him was a vote for Reagan’s third term.
This is how the RINOs function. They push, push, push the line that only a “moderate” can get elected. Stomp them when they pull that shit. Tell everyone in ear shot that that’s exactly what the Left wants you to think, and oh-by-the-way-Mister-RINO if you’re in this party selling the same message as the Left…well, whythefuckexactly are you in this party, you lying piece of rancid weasel shit?
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. (This doesn’t necessarily include deposing Joe and Hoe and putting Trump where he belongs, but it would certainly be a lot easier to fix our broken electoral system with the right people in charge.)
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is pointless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud in the system is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
This will necessarily be piecemeal, state by state, which is why I am encouraged by those states working to change their laws to alleviate the fraud both via computer and via bogus voters. If enough states do that we might end up with a working majority in Congress and that would be something Trump never really had.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
Mozart
I picked one at random off Youtube. I don’t even have real recordings of his piano concertos, so I don’t “know” them at all. (I grew up on the symphonies, and even though I can’t necessarily identify by number which symphony an excerpt is from I’ll be able to say, “that’s from a Mozart symphony.”) But this is Mozart, who only wrote bad music when he wanted to. I’m going to guess since this one showed up early in the search results, it’s a famous one. (I’m listening to it as I write.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2uYb6bMKyI
And yes, he did want to write bad music sometimes, as satire of bad contemporary music.
Why highlight Mozart? Because even Brandon hasn’t managed to find a way to fuck Mozart up. Though that’s probably because he hasn’t got around to it. I wait with dread for that to happen.
What happened to gold and silver?!? I do not watch this market every single day (it’s not worth it unless actively buying and selling short term), but HOLY SMOKES!!! What happened to gold and silver? Believe it or not they went up today to get to those low prices. Palladium went up $170 today, but it was already up over last week. Platinum no doubt had its downs and ups this last week, but it’s right where it started from (continuing to be on sale, relative to gold).
Qubes Update
I’m on it full time, and I even switched from the default xfce desktop (which is what I was using before so it fit like an old shoe), to KDE…which has a reputation for being bloated and slow. However, the last version of it was greatly improved, actually arguably faster than other desktops famous within the Linux world for being very fit and trim. And once you figure out the weird quirks of the setup interface, you can organize its menus however you like and make it fit Qubes perfectly.
It’s working out, folks!
James Webb Space Telescope Update
It’s probably no big secret that I copy the post from five weeks before as a starting point. (That brings the eagle picture along without my having to find it in the media library.) Five weeks ago I said: “ONE out of the 19 instrument modes is commissioned:” which was stupid, because there are 17, not 19 of them.
Now only one of them is NOT commissioned, and it’s Coronagraphy on the NIRCam. I believe that’s where we were last week.
As far as I know NASA is still planning to release real (and beautifully false-colored) pictures on July 12, 12:30 AM MDT
I posted in comments Thursday a “preview” picture that, without actually intending to, shows huge numbers of “background” deep-field galaxies. This thing is going to blow the Hubble Deep Field away when it gets going.
A blog from yesterday about NIRSpec being ready (all four modes)
And one from today, it looks like a bit of a teaser for Tuesday. Here’s the list of what they will show:
Carina Nebula. The Carina Nebula is one of the largest and brightest nebulae in the sky, located approximately 7,600 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. Nebulae are stellar nurseries where stars form. The Carina Nebula is home to many massive stars, several times larger than the Sun.
WASP-96 b (spectrum). WASP-96 b is a giant planet outside our solar system, composed mainly of gas. The planet, located nearly 1,150 light-years from Earth, orbits its star every 3.4 days. It has about half the mass of Jupiter, and its discovery was announced in 2014.
Southern Ring Nebula. The Southern Ring, or “Eight-Burst” nebula, is a planetary nebula – an expanding cloud of gas, surrounding a dying star. It is nearly half a light-year in diameter and is located approximately 2,000 light years away from Earth.
Stephan’s Quintet: About 290 million light-years away, Stephan’s Quintet is located in the constellation Pegasus. It is notable for being the first compact galaxy group ever discovered in 1877. Four of the five galaxies within the quintet are locked in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters.
SMACS 0723: Massive foreground galaxy clusters magnify and distort the light of objects behind them, permitting a deep field view into both the extremely distant and intrinsically faint galaxy populations.
These look like a fairly diverse group of targets. Carina is, IIRC, quite an item of eye-candy.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
To conclude: My standard Public Service Announcement. We don’t want to forget this!!!
Remember Hong Kong!!!
If anyone ends up in the cell right next to him, tell him I said “hi.”
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for 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 !!!
This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
“Let go and let God” is a phrase that cropped up some years ago and still enjoys some popularity today. Actually, the Bible never tells us to “let go and let God.” In fact, there are so many commandments about what we are to do that it completely contradicts the way most people interpret “let go and let God.” The popular idea of “letting go” is to adopt a sort of spiritual inertia wherein we do nothing, say nothing, feel nothing, and simply live, allowing circumstances to roll over us however they may.
The Christian life, however, is a spiritual battle which the Bible exhorts us to prepare for and wage diligently. “Fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12); “Endure hardship . . . like a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3); “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:11). Letting go, in the sense of sitting back and watching events unfold however they may, is not biblical.
Having said that, though, we have to understand that the things we are to do, we do by the power of God and not on our own steam. The truth is that working at “letting go” is just as much as an effort-filled work as anything else we try to do for God and not nearly as easy to do as some things. So let’s look at the Christian life and see exactly what we are to do.
To begin with, Jesus was clear that, apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5). The truth being imparted here is that we can do nothing of eternal value apart from Christ and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We can do lots of “stuff” and assume we’re doing it for God, but if we are doing it on our own power, we get the credit, and there is little or no eternal value to it. The picture of the vine and the branches in John 15 is very appropriate. Christ is the vine; we are the branches. Everything branches need to bring forth fruit comes from the vine—water, nutrients, the genetic material of life itself—while nothing is provided by the branches. The branches are simply something to hang the fruit on. The same is true of the Christian life. We are a conduit through which Christ displays His (not our) fruit.
So what has all this to do with “letting go”? Many people believe that, if we are truly in a state of “letting go,” we will be able to cease from striving and struggling. But Jesus said that we are to “strive” to enter the narrow gate to eternal life (Luke 13:24), not to sit by and wait to die so we can gain heaven. By striving, He means that we should be diligent, active, and earnest and that we should make every effort to overcome our sinful tendencies, in order to prove that we are truly His children. We are also to strive to do the work of the kingdom, whatever form that takes in our lives. This is the reason He gives us spiritual gifts, so that we can edify one another and bring glory to Him.
Furthermore, when we struggle, we assume the problem is that we are not letting go and letting God. The reality is that we struggle for a variety of reasons. One is that we have a weak faith. We just don’t have enough confidence in God to rest in the reality of His nature and have the peace that comes with a strong faith in Him. For instance, when trials come or we experience illness, financial ruin, or the early death of a loved one, do we really believe that “God works all things together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28)? If we don’t know God intimately, it’s very hard to trust that He is working all things together for good. But if we do know Him, if we have spent time digging into His Word and meditating on His works and His nature, we have faith in His plan and purposes, His love for us, His sovereign control over all circumstances in life, and we rest in the “peace that passes all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). But if we don’t know Him, we will always struggle against life’s hard circumstances.
On the other hand, there is a positive reason for struggling—it is good for us and is God’s plan to grow and mature us into the people He wants us to be. Struggles are just one of the ways He strengthens us for the hard things life throws at us. Each one enables us to be stronger and better able to handle the next one. Trials are designed to show us and others that our faith is real. “Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed. They will show that you will be given praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ returns” (1 Peter 1:7). In Christ, we can face the trials of life with grace and good humor and complete faith that whatever God has for us is ok.
I’ve got to admit, I recently thought of changing my title to reflect a more current controversy. After all “Brandon” not winning has been beaten into the ground around here.
But recent revelations of slightly less recent events–I speak of the news about Wheatie–have cause me to harden my stance. Change the title? Hell NO!
Beaten into the ground? Yes…but it’s still 6,666 feet above sea level.
Keep beating, pounding, and pummeling!!!
Hey China!
Or rather, “Hey Chinese Communist Party and your entire array of servitors, ass-wipers, and fellators!”
You’re not even worth my time this week. When you decide to act like civilized people, maybe I’ll give you a lesson or two in how non-barbarians behave.
Hey BiteMe! (Or, Whoever Has Their Hand Rammed Up That Putrefying Meat Puppet’s Ass)
[Language warning]
You and yours have caused a lot of injury. Literal injury with your war on people who don’t want to take an untested vaccine. When people die in an emergency room because a hospital won’t admit them because they haven’t had their clot shot, that’s a crime.
I’m going to address here the insult on top of the injury, because I am among the insulted. I still have my health but apparently you want me to live under the 8th Street Bridge (which actually isn’t on 8th Street, but whatever, that’s what the I-25 overpass over Cimarron is called), so maybe if you have your way that won’t be true for long. Dreadful time of year to become homeless.
No, you’re just trying to make me unemployed, because I won’t take your fucking shots.
Well, that threat is NOT going to work. I. Won’t. Take. Your. Fucking. Shots.
And it looks like enough people agree, that you’re having to back down, you worthless asswipe.
You’re LOSING.
You LOSER.
You Chinese-bought ratfucking traitor.
I would love to see you die an agonizing, humiliating death. (This isn’t a threat, because I am not threatening to cause that death. I am just announcing my intention to party if it happens.) It would be just recompense for the way you’re killing America…and millions of Americans.
His Fraudulency
Joe Biteme, properly styled His Fraudulency, continues to infest the White House, we haven’t heard much from the person who should have been declared the victor, and hopium is still being dispensed even as our military appears to have joined the political establishment in knuckling under to the fraud.
One can hope that all is not as it seems.
I’d love to feast on that crow.
(I’d like to add, I find it entirely plausible, even likely, that His Fraudulency is also His Figureheadedness. (Apparently that wasn’t a word; it got a red underline. Well it is now.) Where I differ with the hopium addicts is on the subject of who is really in charge. It ain’t anyone we like.)
Justice Must Be Done.
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
Silver is at an even $20.00. This isn’t too far off from the traditional price of gold, back when a piece of gold was money. An ounce of gold, back then, wasn’t worth $20.67, it was $20.67 even if the government hadn’t minted it into coins as a convenience. Back when government mostly did useful things.
Independence Day
This is the Second of July…not the Fourth of July. But an excellent argument can be made that this is Independence Day.
It was on July 2, 1776 that the Continental Congress voted for Independence. The document, of course, reads July 4, 1776, but that is the date that it was adopted as a statement of the reasons for Independence.
In fact the original resolution from the 2nd is quoted in the Declaration of Independence, at the end: That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved of all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, and do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.
Those words, passed by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776, made us independent.
From that point forward, it was just a matter of making it stick.
James Webb Space Telescope Update
They’ve now crossed off all but one of the 17 instrument modes–the last one is the coronagraphy module on NIRCam (Near Infra Red Camera). This is an adaptation of an designed to study the sun’s corona–i.e., its atmosphere–by blocking out the sun itself with an opaque disk. Except that here the goal is to directly image extrasolar planets by blocking out their primary star–which is a billion times brighter. Without doing so it’s like trying to take a picture of a firefly next to a searchlight.
We’re still expecting a big media event in less than two weeks with the first “real” pictures from JWST, as opposed to ones taken to help align, adjust, and calibrate the optics and instrumentation. So far what we’ve seen is basically orange and black, and is probably technically accurate…JWST can’t see yellow through violet.
What I expect we will see is “false color” images. What does that mean?
So glad you asked…
Color (And False Color)
Our eyes function by focusing light onto a layer of light sensitive cells called the retina. The cells can be divided into “rods” (sensitive to dim light) and “cones” (sensitive to brighter light). The cones in turn are a bit more specialized; there are three (and in many people, four) types, each most sensitive to a different color, and they are called the blue, green and red cones (though the red cone is actually most sensitive to a yellowish color). When it’s dark, the cones basically can detect nothing, and the rods pick up the burden. Rods tend to be a bit more broadly sensitive, though they are weakest in red light. But since our brain receives only the one signal, it interprets what it gets as monochrome–black-and-white.
We can compare this to sound. Our ears have sensors for thousands of different pitches, but those sensors are in only two places, the right and left ear. So we get extreme clarity as to the pitch of the sound, and even the combination of pitches (chords), and somewhat lesser clarity as to its direction. The eyes are actually the opposite; we get excellent directional discrimination, and not-nearly-as-good pitch–er, color–discrimination.
The ears can, at least before age takes its toll, nominally pick up anything between 20 Hz (Hertz, named after Heinrich Hertz, who discovered radio waves) and 20,000 Hz. That’s a range of 19,980 Hz, but that’s not the correct way to think about the range. As it happens, you want to look at the ratio, not the absolute arithmetic difference (which will depend on the units you are using anyway). A sound of 440 Hz, combined with a sound of 880 Hz, will blend very nicely, and musicians will say the range is one octave (which comes from the Latin for eight, for complicated historical, music theory nerd reasons–perhaps some other time). That’s not necessarily a difference of 880-440=440 Hz, though, it’s a doubling. The difference between musical notes is always a ratio of their frequencies, not their arithmetic difference. Another pleasing combo is 440 an 660 Hz, this is a 3/2 ratio and is called a “perfect fifth” even though it has nothing to do with 1/5. (It’s not fifth (the fraction) but rather fifth (the one after fourth, or four after first). Again, music theory nerd stuff and a lot of historical legacy.) An octave difference represents a doubling or halving of frequency, depending on which direction you’re going.
The ratio between 20 and 20,000 Hz is 1/1000, and that is almost exactly ten octaves. (Ten octaves would be 1/1024, which is ½ x ½ x ½…nine multiplications, ten ½s) and sorry I didn’t mean to remind you of Liawatha.)
When dealing with light, though, we tend to think not in frequency but in wavelength. But you get from one to the other by dividing a constant (the speed of light) by the one you have, to get the one you want. But the end result is, you can still think in terms of octaves, except that with light it is a halving or doubling of wavelength.
How do we perceive different “pitches” of light? As colors. Every different frequency (or wavelength) is a different, pure color of light.
I’m going to paste this in directly from Wikipedia. It shows the wavelengths and frequencies of each of the seven recognized major colors of light.
Color
Wavelength (nm, billionths of a meter)
Frequency (Teraherttz, trillion cycles per second)
(And of course the color blocks themselves didn’t come through, so I had to do a bit of rearranging.)
So light covers a range from 400 to 700 nm, and that is less than one octave.
A word about the names, red, orange, etc. We have inflicted on us in school the mnemonic “Roy G. Biv” as a way to remember the colors of the rainbow. (The rainbow, of course, is mixed (white) light, split up into all of the pure colors. Or you can do the same with a prism.) Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. I never really saw the point of this mnemonic, though. A mnemonic needs to be something familiar, and I never met the (undoubtedly fictitious) Biv family. I have seen plenty of rainbows, though, so I remember Mr. Biv by remembering the rainbow, not the other way around.
But regardless, what’s the deal with blue and indigo, and why does the table above show cyan and blue? The seven named colors go back to Isaac Newton (mid-late 1600s) at least; he was the first to scientifically investigate the spectrum/rainbow. We wonder today why a blue purple was a distinct enough color for Newton to call it out, but in fact what probably happened is that he used “blue” to refer to a color somewhat like the sky, and “indigo” to refer to the blue you get from indigo dye (i.e., similar to the blue in the Flag). And indeed if you look at a rainbow, you do see a wide “light blue” stripe between the green and Flag-blue stripes.
[Newton proved that the individual colors of a rainbow are pure. Once he extracted, say, a particular yellow shade from the spectrum, nothing he could do to it would change its color–except of course mixing it with some other light. He could shine it through colored glass, or use it to illuminate different colored objects. The most he could do to that light was reduce its intensity, he couldn’t change its color. White light, of course, changes color when it goes through colored glass (see any Gothic cathedral); it’s not pure. In fact it’s a mix of light of all colors.]
We think of that as “light blue” but many languages (Italian and Russian among them) think of it as a distinctly different, separate color, as different from blue as orange is from red to us.
So what’s in the table basically reflects the seven “original” colors of the rainbow, once you untangle the cyan/blue/indigo confusion.
But this is all packed into less than one octave.
It’s worse, though. We can only truly distinguish three colors independently, basically blue, green and yellow, because of the cones in our retinas. Fortunately, those cones have a fairly broad frequency response. You don’t have to exactly match the peak frequency of a yellow cone for it to register, which is a good thing because that yellow cone is the major cone that responds to red light, albeit weakly (the green cone responds very weakly). If its range were narrower, we couldn’t see red, no matter how infuriating Leftist douches became. And that’s why the “yellow” cone is actually called the “red” cone.
The graph above shows the response of each of the three types of cones according to the wavelength (across the bottom). Red runs from 635-700 nm, so you can see green barely responds at all to say, 650 nm light, and the red, even though it peaks at a yellow wavelength, responds more strongly.
Let’s say you’re looking at a pure, bluish-cyan light of 500 nm. Your retina will register green somewhat weakly, red even weaker, and blue even weaker than that. Your brain will put those together, and you see “cyan.”
But it’s possible, with light, to fool your brain with a mixture of totally different frequencies of light, to get almost the same effect as some pure wavelength. This is not possible with sound. A mixture of different pitches trying to simulate, say, a middle C, will sound like some sort of chord; it will be a very different sound, perhaps “dark” or perhaps not, depending. That’s because your ear has thousands of those humps in it, and they’re narrow, with less overlap. You will actually perceive the different pitches separately and put them together in your brain and get a different effect.
But, as I said, the eye can be fooled. Don’t believe me? I have evidence. You’re looking at it right effing now.
Your computer screen only emits three colors, a certain pure blue, a certain pure green, and a certain pure red. So if it wants to show you cyan, it has to mix blue and green somehow. In fact a 50-50 mix is what we call cyan.
But it will not look quite like a pure cyan extracted from a prism. Why? Because you set the intensity of the blue and green phosphors of the computer screen in the right ratio to duplicate the blue and green cones’ response to the original pure cyan…but the green phosphors will get a much stronger response from the red cones than the original cyan light did. So any cyan on a computer screen will look a bit washed out to us compared to a pure cyan out of a rainbow, which is what they call “saturated.” It will be pale. And this will be true of printed colors as well, though usually in any professional grade application there are more than three “true” colors in a print and it’s possible to more closely approximate what the eye sees from all three cone colors.
One last loose end before I move on: I mentioned that some people have a fourth type of cone. That doesn’t actually end up helping them, though, because their brain basically ignores it. If the brain actually processed it, however, they’d be able to see perhaps ten times as many colors as we do (ten million versus one million). And of course, color blindness (“daltonism” named after John Dalton of atomic theory fame) results from missing one or more of the “normal” three cone types. [But there is, apparently, one recorded but not confirmed case of someone who could use that fourth cone color.] The reason color blind people can sometimes see a slightly-off hue more distinctly than others is because they have a different set of frequency responses than everyone else, and so they’ll respond to pigment mixes differently. (This includes an ability to cut through camouflage sometimes, including spotting people in Ghillie suits that others cannot see.)
But what does this have to do with false color?
The sensors on JWST see a different range of wavelengths than we do. The wavelengths are quite a bit longer in some cases. JWST’s wavelengths top out at orange, include red…and go beyond red into the “infrared.” (And that is a reference to the fact that the frequency of infrared is lower than that of red–hence infra–even though scientists normally think in terms of wavelength…yes, a bit confusing.)
If you’ve noticed that three of JWST’s instruments have names beginning with NIR, while the fourth, the one kept at just a few degrees above absolute zero, has a name starting with MIR. These stand for “Near Infra Red” and “Mid Infra Red” respectively. Near? Near what? Near, as in close to, visible light. And Mid of course is the “middle” part of infrared.
Infrared runs from 700 nm (the boundary with red) clear up to 1,000,000 nm, which is more than ten octaves. However, JWST won’t go further than 27,000 nm. The NIRCam runs from 600-5000 nm (which means it can see some red and orange), the MIRI is the one that goes all the way to 27,000 nm.
So when JWST takes a picture and we print it, won’t it be mostly black,because it’s mostly in infrared “colors” we can’t see?
No, because we can, and will, change the colors we get back. This is downright common in astronomy, in fact. In the old, stone knives, bearskins, and glass emulsion photography plates days, we’d sometimes put a filter over the telescope to look at one wavelength of light–say one emitted by hydrogen–and get a black and white print that shows us where the hydrogen is.
It doesn’t even have to be a wavelength we can see…so long as the film responds to it and turns black where exposed. And we can take multiple pictures at multiple wavelengths and combine them, but then we want to print each in a different color. This is false color and it is how our eyes will make sense of ten octaves of color we mostly can’t see, even though we can see only one (different) octave of light.
This is done routinely. Just for instance:
This is the famous “Pillars of Creation” in the Eagle Nebula; so called because stars and planets are forming there, right now. The stars look pink, actually magenta. Now, have you ever seen a magenta star? Neither have I.
This picture is false color. It is not what you would see if you could take a star ship out there.
The green is used to show light of the frequencies emitted by hydrogen–and it’s not necessarily visible light. The red is for sulfur ions, and the blue is for oxygen ions–doubly ionized, in fact–with the same caveat about it not necessarily being visible at its original frequencies. This way the scientists studying it can directly see where the oxygen and sulfur are, since each of those constituents is color coded.
OK, that’s not obviously false color, because most of us aren’t familiar with the actual appearance of the Eagle Nebula. (I personally have seen it through a telescope, but it’s not bright even there, so my rods gave me a black-and-white image (and much smaller than this photo, too). It’s rare to see color with your eyes through a telescope unless you’re looking at planets. I once saw a hint of color in the Orion nebula…through a big scope that was gathering a lot of light.)
(Sometimes they will put together a picture that actually is true color, bringing out the colors we would see with our cones if only the object were bright enough to register on them.)
A more obvious case of false color is this:
This is a person, shown in infrared, with false colors. The yellow colors are the shorter wavelengths, blues and purples are longer wavelengths. These correlate directly with temperature as you can see in the scale on the right.
Since this is a familiar object, the false color is blatantly obvious.
[Incidentally, the normal convention with stuff like this is to show “hot” things as red and “cool” things as blue. But this reverses the actual wavelengths! It makes the shorter wavelengths red and the longer ones blue, when in reality blue has a shorter wavelength than red. But, we think of red as a hot color and blue as a cool one, so this reversal is inevitable. Blue light in fact is emitted by very hot objects, hot enough that we just don’t encounter them here on Earth. What, here, is at 30,000 K? Not much. But you can see blue-hot things though you will never feel the heat from them. Many of the stars in the night sky are blue hot.]
So when you see, soon, gorgeous color photography from JWST…remember, it’s not the real colors. Or rather, the colors are real, they’re just not the colors you’re being shown. It’s not your fault you can’t see down that far, down to colors we never had a need to name, without help.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!!
Whoever ends up in the cell next to his, tell him I said “Hi.”
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
China is in the White House
Since Wednesday, January 20 at Noon EST, the bought-and-paid for His Fraudulency Joseph Biden has been in the White House. It’s as good as having China in the Oval Office.
Joe Biden is Asshoe
China is in the White House, because Joe Biden is in the White House, and Joe Biden is identically equal to China. China is Asshoe. Therefore, Joe Biden is Asshoe.
But of course the much more important thing to realize:
Joe Biden Didn’t Win
乔*拜登没赢 !!! Qiáo Bài dēng méi yíng !!! Joe Biden didn’t win !!!
This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.
It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.
In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts.
We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.
Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure you’re addressing the issue only, and not trying to confront the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.
In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.
Today is a special day for joy, thanksgiving and praise to God.
Due to the efforts of the five sane members of the U.S. Supreme Court, millions of babies may be spared from dismemberment on bloody sacrificial altars in baby mills throughout our country, denying the disgusting devil’s servants who run these baby mills both their prey and their profit. The procedures used by the butchers in these baby mills are truly barbaric and sickening in the extreme . . . clearly the devil’s handiwork. Shutting down a large number of them is unquestionably a compelling reason for celebration.
A Song of Praise for the Lord’s Faithfulness to His People
Psalm 100 – A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, [a]all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and [b]not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
Shout joyfully to the LORD (100:1). The term “joyfully” doesn’t appear in the Hebrew. Literally rendered, it’s “Shout to the Lord!” The word “shout” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to raise a noise, to give a blast (as on a trumpet).” The composer calls for the kind of shouting that erupts from a person so full of joy he can’t contain his emotions, the kind of uninhibited whooping you hear from fans at a football game. He says, in effect, “Shout in joyful approval of God!”
It’s hard to imagine feeling that joyful about the Lord, isn’t it? Let’s face it; when’s the last time you shouted like a sports fan because of something you read in Scripture? When have you ever pumped your fists and shouted after a sermon on God’s attributes? I’m not suggesting we become charismatic; but certainly we should feel some excitement, at least a little joy. Sometimes the Lord does things that defy natural explanation, accomplishing something completely beyond our capabilities. When He comes to our rescue, don’t accept this silently. Shout to Him. Lift up your voice in praise! By doing so, we counteract that grind of ingratitude that so easily can climb aboard.
Serve the LORD with gladness (100:2). A healthy sign of the grateful life is serving. Few decisions are more effective in easing the daily grind of ingratitude than serving others. In doing God’s work, we serve Him, not the local church, not the superintendent of some department, not the pastor or some board. We serve the Lord. It is He we worship and for Him we labor—not people! And please observe that the motivation is neither grudging nor guilt-ridden; we are urged to serve “with gladness.” The Hebrew term for this phrase was used to describe pleasant things that gave happiness.
Now let’s get real for a moment. You don’t always feel like serving. Yet waiting until you feel grateful isn’t a good plan; you’ll never serve! The psalm doesn’t imply we should serve only when our hearts are filled with joy. On the contrary, we are commanded to serve regardless; gladness will soon follow. In fact, when I start feeling sorry for myself or my attitude takes a cynical turn, I know it’s time to serve someone who’s in worse shape. It’s not long before gladness pushes negativity out of my heart.
Come before Him with joyful singing (100:2). Let me simply emphasize the word “joyful.” I get the picture that God prefers to have us be happy people, rejoicing in His presence, for He has mentioned it in each line of this psalm thus far.
Are you joyful? Really now, is your face pleasant—is a smile frequently there? Do your eyes reveal a joyful spirit within? When you sing in church, for example, is it with joy? The next chance you get, glance at the people around you. Are they smiling? Look at the people ahead of you or behind you. Any smiles . . . any joy?
It’s time to lighten up! After all, joy is a choice. Dress up your testimony with a genuine spirit of joy! It does the heart good and it’s truly contagious.
Joy is a choice. A genuine spirit of joy does the heart good and it’s truly contagious. — Charles R. Swindoll
What to think about when . . .
Everything around you seems to be going wrong . . . We know that God makes all things work together for good for those who love him and who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
We see people trying to get ahead by lying and cheating . . . In their hearts human beings plan their lives, but the Lord decides where their steps will take them. Proverbs 16:9
We’re thinking our future looks pretty dismal . . . No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him. 1 Cor 2:9
We see those liars and cheaters acting like rich aristocrats above the law . . . Wait for the Lord and keep to his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on the destruction of the wicked. Psalm 37:34
We feel all the troubles of the world on our shoulders . . . But not only that, let us also rejoice in our troubles; because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope; and this hope does not let us down, because God’s love for us has already been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5
Every day seems just part of a long, grinding existence . . . The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. Psalm 118:22-24
We see the world literally going to hell . . . Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:2-4
We see traitors trying to take over our country . . . God wins!
