“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
SPECIAL SECTION: Message For Our “Friends” In The Middle Kingdom
You knuckle-dragging barbarians are still trying to muck with this site, so I’ll just repeat what I said last time.
Up your shit-kicking barbarian asses. Yes, barbarian! It took a bunch of sailors in Western Asia to invent a real alphabet instead of badly drawn cartoons to write with. So much for your “civilization.”
Yeah, the WORLD noticed you had to borrow the Latin alphabet to make Pinyin. Like with every other idea you had to steal from us “Foreign Devils” since you rammed your heads up your asses five centuries ago, you sure managed to bastardize it badly in the process.
Have you stopped eating bats yet? Are you shit-kickers still sleeping with farm animals?
Or maybe even just had the slightest inkling of treating lives as something you don’t just casually dispose of?
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
And here’s my response to barbarian “asshoes” like you:
OK, with that rant out of my system…
Loop it if you like; I will wait.
Richly deserved.
Justice Must Be Done
The prior election must be acknowledged as fraudulent, and steps must be taken to prosecute the fraudsters and restore integrity to the system.
Nothing else matters at this point. Talking about trying again in 2022 or 2024 is hopeless otherwise. Which is not to say one must never talk about this, but rather that one must account for this in ones planning; if fixing the fraud is not part of the plan, you have no plan.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Poltical correctness, but civility is a requirement. There are Important Guidelines, here, with an addendum on 20191110.
We have a new board – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation.
And remember Wheatie’s Rules:
1. No food fights 2. No running with scissors. 3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone. 4. Zeroth rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government get your guns. 5. Rule one of gun safety: The gun is always loaded. 5a. If you actually want the gun to be loaded, like because you’re checking out a bump in the night, then it’s empty. 6. Rule two of gun safety: Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Rule three: Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Rule the fourth: Be sure of your target and what is behind it.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
If You Absolutely HATE Your Car
Watch this.
And be glad you aren’t in East Germany. Which, OBTW was the garden spot of the Warsaw Pact.
On the other hand, if you lived in the Soviet Union, you could get a luxury vehicle:
Over here in the 21st Century, in the first world, we have our First World problems, like electric vehicles with a bit TOO much get up and go:
Gold moved up again, as of Thursday night it was around $1,940 again. And instead of being forced down again on Friday…well, it’s getting close to the milestone $2K.
I’m not sure, but palladium might now be at an all-time high. It has been going up faster than gold has been, that’s for sure. It has gone up about 25% just in the last week.
James Webb Space Telescope Update
Coarse phasing, described last week, continues.
Meanwhile the Near InfraRed Spectrograph (NIRSpec) instrument is being checked out, as described here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/03/03/checking-out-the-mechanisms-in-webbs-nirspec-instrument/
Not a whole lot more to say unless they post something new on Friday.
Fuck Joe Biden
Biden, 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.)
Incidentally, I’m writing this on Friday. This morning I saw a full-sized pickup truck in the oncoming left turn lane with a forest of flags in the bed. Once he turned and drove left-to-right in front of me, I could see two American flags near the cab, and SIX “Let’s Go Brandon” flags near the tailgate. That was unusual; usually there’s a mix of FJB (only not abbreviated) and “Trump Won” and “Trump 2024” flags when someone does this.
I haven’t seen such a display in a few weeks, by the way. Even the guy at the office complex where I work with the FJB flag on his pickup seems to have removed it (or doesn’t work there any more–trucks all look alike to me from the back, and all crossovers look like cockroaches).
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 Sanctuary 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.
With all of the seemingly bad news swirling around us these past days, we may have found it difficult to maintain a positive outlook toward the events of the future. Whether in our personal lives or in the incoherencies of the current Demented Puppet, posing in his fairy tale White House T.V. setting, with all his failing attempts to destroy our Faith and our Freedoms, we are constantly being lured away from holding a joyful and confident expectation as heirs to the birthright pledged to us as God’s Children.
As I was reading this morning, I came across Isaiah 63, and at that moment it struck me as penetrating beams of God’s Light that dispel the evil dark clouds so prevalent in today’s brooding climate.
Isaiah 63 is a well-known prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. It’s the passage that Jesus read in the synagogue in Nazareth, proclaiming Himself and His ministry as fulfillment of the prophecy.
Luke 4:16-21
So He [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
The prophecy in Isaiah 61 goes on to speak to the 2nd Coming of the Messiah:
“to proclaim . . . the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
Now, frankly, this is what I want to occupy my mind these days, not the evil-inspired actions of the devil’s helper in D.C.
And, finally, to put a cap on what we should be involving ourselves with during these trying days:
1 Thess 5:13-18, 23-24 . . . Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. . . . always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Now may the God of Peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.
When I was a kid, I got nicknamed “Bald Eagle” because I actually was getting notably thin “up there.” Of course today “Bald Eagle” might be a cool nickname, but in junior high school, it definitely was not a cool thing.
Fast forward to today, and now here I am over twenty years older than you are, and even in spite of that poor start, I have better hair than you do.
And I am not a piss-guzzling, shit-gobbling communist “journalist” (what a sick joke) either.
On both accounts you must absolutely hate looking into the mirror.
And Oh By The Way probably more people read my posts than watch you bloviate on air. And yes, I know your ratings dropped again. One would think there’s be a limit to that…you can’t drop below zero, can you?
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.)
More Raucous Mozart
Mozart’s 25th Symphony (as heard in “Amadeus”), ever so slightly suited for the current mood.
Canuckistan Goes After The Canadian Truckers
It became plain on Friday that Trudescu, Glorious Leader of Communist Canuckistan, isn’t playing around. He’s run out of things he can do to get the trucks to leave downtown Ottawa. (Weeeeeellllllll with the exception of, you know, actually talking to them and stopping the mandates.)
So they’re being arrested and towed. The tow truck companies that are helping out have had their names taped over on their trucks, lest people find some way to express their dissatisfaction with them.
Where to from here?
I don’t see anything that Canadians concerned about the direction their government is going, other than going on general strike. If nothing moves “up there” for a couple of weeks, we’ll see what happens. Perhaps the government will convince the general population that the truckers are to blame and are being unreasonable (they’re certainly trying to do so now, with the help of Canuckistanis Broadcasting Communism [CBC]). But a general strike seems to be the only play left. But it requires more than just some fraction (0.1? 0.9?) of truckers to make it work.
So it’s now call…or fold. Let’s see what happens.
[Note: If someone takes umbrage at my use of the terms “Canuckistan” and “Canuckistani,” please notice I only used it for the tyrant Trudescu and his fellating treasonous media maggots. The truckers and their allies are Canadians.]
UPDATE: I just heard about the mounted police sent in to trample the protesters.
There is no longer any satisfactory ending to this that involves Trudescu not being removed, duly tried, and convicted of some capital crime. And that is true for a number of his minions, as well.
I said last week that the tech trader types were saying $1860 was a “barrier” for gold and that, IF it were to cross that line, it was liable to keep going.
It did cross the line, but it didn’t seem like a gigantic breakout. Until I realized that it actually got up to at least 1900.20 before open today.
James Webb Space Telescope Update
James Webb Space Telescope appears to be working on aligning the 18 images, one from each mirror, in a nice tidy arrangement, prior to overlaying them all on top of each other in perfect focus (the mirrors themselves can be “warped” a bit by an actuator that that pulls on the center of each segment, in case they aren’t at precisely right curvature).
However, I don’t know that that’s actually what they’re doing right now. It’s shown as step 2 of 7 mirror alignment steps, and they claim to be done with step one: https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html?units=metric .
Meanwhile, there’s a sensor on board that helps the telescope point at whatever it wants to see, and it seems to be functioning right now according to this blog entry (which I first saw on Thursday): https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/02/17/webbs-fine-guidance-sensor-is-guiding .
So, things seem to be proceeding nicely but right now I don’t actually know what they’re doing.
Temperatures on the “cold side” of the sun shield are now roughly 380 degrees below zero, F.
UPDATE, Friday Afternoon.
NASA just made a liar out of me. New post on the blog. (Everything for the rest of this section is pulled from the blog post. It won’t let me mark the pictures as quotes.)
This early Webb alignment image, with dots of starlight arranged in a pattern similar to the honeycomb shape of the primary mirror, is called an “image array.” Credit: NASA/STScI/J. DePasquale
The Webb team continues to make progress in aligning the observatory’s mirrors. Engineers have completed the first stage in this process, called “Segment Image Identification.” The resulting image shows that the team has moved each of Webb’s 18 primary mirror segments to bring 18 unfocused copies of a single star into a planned hexagonal formation.
This image mosaic (top), which shows 18 randomly positioned copies of the same star, served as the starting point for the alignment process. To complete the first stage of alignment, the team moved the primary mirror segments to arrange the dots of starlight into a hexagonal image array (bottom). Each dot of starlight is labeled with the corresponding mirror segment that captured it. Credits: NASA (top); NASA/STScI/J. DePasquale (bottom)
With the image array complete, the team has now begun the second phase of alignment: “Segment Alignment.” During this stage, the team will correct large positioning errors of the mirror segments and update the alignment of the secondary mirror, making each individual dot of starlight more focused. When this “global alignment” is complete, the team will begin the third phase, called “Image Stacking,” which will bring the 18 spots of light on top of each other.
“We steer the segment dots into this array so that they have the same relative locations as the physical mirrors,” said Matthew Lallo, systems scientist and Telescopes Branch manager at the Space Telescope Science Institute. “During global alignment and Image Stacking, this familiar arrangement gives the wavefront team an intuitive and natural way of visualizing changes in the segment spots in the context of the entire primary mirror. We can now actually watch the primary mirror slowly form into its precise, intended shape!”
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 !!!
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.
Trucking
I saw a few rumors here that something would start…today. Others report at least three other expected start dates.
Some believe it will be more caravans. Some think the truckers ought to do something else (like just quitting in place). I could even see the expectation of caravans being a distraction from mass quitting. If the opposition concentrates all its resources to block convoys expected on I-70, I-40, I-80, and I-95 (plus any others, like I-81 to I-66) they can’t be “out there” trying to force truckers to continue working.
This reminds me, of course, of something out of Atlas Shrugged.
Atlas Shrugged was written in an age where trains were the predominant long-haul transportation mode, and it describes the “frozen train” phenomenon. Locked into their jobs, forbidden from quitting, being fired, or being promoted by Directive 10-289, sometimes an entire train crew would just decide “to Hell with this shit,” stop the train, and walk away. Passengers would become rather upset.
Truckers could do just this (though they needn’t walk away), and might even disable their trucks–the railroads could send another crew out and get the train moving, but if a truck is broken, it’s going nowhere. Meanwhile the feds are waiting for convoys that “need to be stopped” before they choke DC traffic. (Not that anyone would be able to tell the difference.)
In a way, we’re actually seeing Scott’s suggestion of a general strike. Not just with the trucks, but with all of the people who have quit working. Unfortunately, at least until the trucks stop rolling, the punch is a lot less when people quit gradually over the space of a year, than when they all stop work at once. But there it is. Millions of people are dropping out. Some use the phrase “going Galt” but that’s an injustice to the concept of going Galt. When the people in Atlas Shrugged “dropped out,” if they didn’t completely disappear, they took an almost-no-thought-required menial job. Their minds were on strike, but they still felt that they should support themselves. John Galt himself was a track walker. They certainly did not go on the dole like many are doing today.
The reason the trucks going on strike (be it by caravan or “frozen” truck) is potentially devastating is that almost everything we buy spends at least some time on a truck. Notably including food–and food is hard to go without for more than a very few days. Of course you can (and hopefully did) prepare for this by stocking up. (I believe I’m good for 2-3 months, though I might reach the end of such a time span willing to kill for a change in my menu. On the other hand some things I saw on Friday tell me I shouldn’t consider that adequate and need to get more food.)
But food isn’t the only issue. Personally, I’m likely to be very inconvenienced by a truck strike for other reasons I’m not going to go into.
I’ll be inconvenienced, but really, that’s no big deal in the grand scheme. Because my level of inconvenience pales next to that of the people rotting in DC jails because they were in the wrong place on January 6 (as it happens, they were somewhere within a hundred yards of me, not that distance from me is the issue).
So even for the prepared, this could be a very rough time. Unless you’ve been living and breathing “prep” for a few years (or even if you have been), there’s likely something you forgot about. And you might not be able to find it.
But something has to happen. The Opposition isn’t going to back down until we make this country useless to them. If we’re really lucky, it won’t get worse than a few weeks with empty shelves at the grocery store. But I’m going to try not to grouse about my inconvenience…and if I just have to do it as an alternative to exploding, I am going to lay the blame where it belongs.
On the truckers? HELL NO. On the deep state, the swamp, whatever you want to call it. Our self-appointed “masters” who need their heads mounted on pikes. They acted, we are responding in defense of our lives and liberty. If they didn’t feel a pathological need (and entitlement) to control others who just want to be left alone, none of this would be necessary. They are mentally ill. And we shouldn’t accommodate them.
So let’s see what happens. Canada is serving as our guinea pig. Hopefully Trudeau’s government will back down, even if he won’t.
If you’re the praying type, pray for Justice. That is what we’ve lacked for decades.
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.
Now THAT is big. The people who are technical traders–i.e., those who try to read the tea leaves based on the way the line looks on a chart–say that the $1860 line is a barrier. Gold will try hard not to go through it, but if it does, it’s going to keep going.
Now merely touching that mark isn’t definitive, but this is a Friday (when gold usually goes down) and it was UP 32 bucks today. Are the manipulators out of leverage? We’ll see next week.
Silver, too is up. Platinum has moved a bit, back and forth but ended up right where it was last week. Palladium and rhodium, however, are moving up again, and they are used a lot by the auto industry, which has been slowly coming back to life.
Inflation is real, and the conventional wisdom is coming around to having it stay for a while. That will push upward on gold prices.
James Webb Space Telescope Update
I had heard nothing about JWST all week, but suddenly Friday morning, there was a bunch of stuff.
The first step to getting the eighteen primary mirror segments (plus secondary mirror) to act as one mirror, was to assess how badly out of whack they are. So JWST took a photograph of the star HD 84406 near the Big Dipper. Actually, it took a lot of photographs near and around it. They took a mosaic covering about the size of the full moon; hundreds of photos. As it happens HD 84406 has few other stars near it as seen from Earth, so any dots that showed up were liable to be that star.
As it happens most of the mosaic was wasted; all eighteen segments put their image of the star fairly close to each other. Here’s what they saw:
HD 84406, seen as eighteen images by eighteen mirrors not quite lined up with each other.
So this was very positive news. The Near Infrared Camera is working; it can record light and send us the results. (“Near Infrared” is a term for the shortest wavelengths of infrared light, closest to being visible light.)
They were able, over the course of the week, to determine which image was coming from which mirror.
Images labeled by mirror segment. “A” segments are the inner ring of 6, “B” segments are corner segments on the outer ring, “C” segments are between the corner segments.
The two wings that swung into place as the last steps of deployment are circled.
So now they have enough to begin the process of getting the mirrors pointed right. Somewhere (not marked here, but in the lower right near the edge–it is shown in the video below, but turned upside down) is the spot they want the image to appear…so when they tell the telescope to point to such-and-such Right Ascension and Declination, that’s what will appear in the center of the field of view. They want this star’s 18 images to all be there and all be in perfect focus, and with the light waves in phase. So they have their work cut out for them over the next two and a half months.
It turns out there’s a lens inside the instrument package that allows JWST to take a picture of its own main mirror. Here’s a sample:
JWST “Selfie.” The one white hexagon is a mirror that happens at the moment to be pointed right at a star. You can see the edges of the other hexagons, as well as reflections of the three arms that hold the secondary mirror in place (vertical white fuzzed mess and two diagonals below it). This will be a useful tool in the months ahead.
And here (for anyone still reading whose interest is not sated) is a video talking about all of this. Three minutes long. (Cthulhu will be happy to see HD 84406 marked in relation to the Big Dipper; he was asking about this a couple of weeks ago.)
There were no nasty surprises…like an obviously defective mirror segment.
“So far, so good, but we do have a long way to go”
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 Sanctuary 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.
Isaiah 43:7 “. . . everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Glory to God in the highest . . .
Glory to God 4
GLORIFY GOD THROUGH OUR PRAISE AND WORSHIP
Psalm 50:3 says “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”. Similarly in the New Testament the Apostle Paul summarizes the way we should order our lives in order to glorify God.
The highest call and purpose of man is the joyful act of glorifying God. Notice here, that this is a ‘joyful’ act. As I mentioned earlier when we fulfill the very purpose for which we were created, which is to glorify God, and when we do this in worship, it is a joyful act and not something we have to put on. What is special about glorifying God through worship is that it combines the other two points mentioned above, “Glorifying God by Believing in Him” and “Glorifying God by Declaring Him”.
When we praise the Lord, we do it because we believe in Him and we have faith in the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly when we praise, we are declaring His glory, His honor, His praise, His power, His majesty outwardly. So it is both an inward and outward glorification of God.
God is seeking those who will bring Him glory, not just through the Sunday worship time, not just for an hour every day but what He seeks is worship every day, every moment through all our activities. We cannot worship God properly on Sunday or just in our prayer times, if we are not worshiping God throughout the week. In fact, 1 Corinthians 10:31 says “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
So, the only way to achieve “glory to God” through worship is when it is done to Him in spirit and truth. John 4:23-24 says “But the hour is coming, as is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.”
Worshiping the Father in spirit is to worship from the heart, from deep within us. It is not the external worship, because external worship can also be performed by those who are not right with God. Matthew 15:8 gives us an example of this, saying “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
Now, worshiping the Father in truth, is to worship God for all that He is in the majesty of His attributes revealed in all of scripture. We glorify God and worship Him for His love, and not only for His love but also for His righteousness and justice. We glorify and worship Him for His Kindness, His sovereignty and for His grace.
We worship Him, when He gives and when He takes away. Job 1:20-21 says “And he said, Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
We worship God for all of His ways. God’s Word is the source of our worshiping in truth, and as we do this, notice that worship in “spirit” flows out of worship in “truth” through the revealed word of God. As we fill our hearts and minds with the pure word of God, the truth of God will move our spirits to praise and love and glorify God through worship in Him. So starting today, let’s be sure to glorify God through our praise and worship.
CONCLUSION
Give glory to God! This is the very purpose of why we are created and are image- bearers of the living God. The very reason that we were created is to glorify God in all that we do.
It’s only when we do this that we will be complete, because this is when we fulfill the purpose of our very being. Without consciously giving the glory to God, there is a part of us missing. We will be always left wanting.
So, today if we are struggling to find meaning for our lives, perhaps there is something missing which we just can’t pinpoint. There is something in us searching for answers and we find ourselves lacking without an answer. Hebrews 8:12 says “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” We are made righteous in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
This is the greatest privilege in our life, so take some time to come before the Lord, and start giving Him the glory for everything in our lives, and live for Him, through Him, and by Him, as it says in Romans 11:36 “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.”
Everyone of us owes all that we are and have to God. We owe every fiber of intelligence to God, and the slightest resolve to do good is a gift from Him. Apart from Him we are all useless. And worse than worthless . . . wicked. We would fly into nothingness without His sustenance, and we would degenerate into devils without His grace.
If the totality of our dependence on God would hit us full force, how differently we would live and do good. We would “serve as one who renders service by the strength which God supplies.” We would not boast in our achievements, nor criticize the speck in our brother’s eye, nor grumble about inconveniences, nor be presumptuous in any way, as if even existence itself could be taken for granted!
No, a person who truly owns up to the fact that he exists by the word of God, that all his strength and moral resolve is a gift of God, that person will have a spirit of joy and gratitude and lowliness. And in serving this way, God gets the glory.
Let’s fulfill our very purpose and walk in the joy of the Lord, “so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in us, and us in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!
*endofthematter.com
On this day and every day –
God is in Control . . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . . Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” . . . “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
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.
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).
James Webb Space Telescope Update
Mirror alignment has begun. This is a complex process described here:
It continues to cool off slowly, with the “cold side” of the sun shield down to over 350 degrees below zero, F.
Just in case you thought the recent weather was chilly.
This is still about a hundred degrees F above absolute zero. So, still too hot for many of the instruments. But the instruments themselves are warmer; their temperatures range from -199 down to -292F
The What?
There are Olympics going on?
Just goes to show I don’t give a rat’s hindquarters (I threw that out there for any Leftists who might find that part of a rat exciting) about that sort of thing.
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.
Gold and silver continue bouncing around inside a range that is (I believe) being forced by the central banks and other shitbag actors, in spite of all the inflationary signs we are seeing.
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 Sanctuary 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.
Isaiah 43:7 “. . . everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Glory to God in the highest . . .
GLORIFY GOD BY DECLARING HIS GLORY
God’s Word tells us that all of creation declares His glory. Psalm 19:1-4 says “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes our through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”
If all creation declares the glory of God, then there’s even more of an obligation for us to glorify God. This is because we’re made in the image of God, we’re His image-bearers. If we’re image-bearers of God, then we need to declare His glory. The way to declare His glory isn’t just to be an image-bearer but also to display Him in our every action, word and deed.
Proclaiming God’s glory to the world begins by taking a look at our own hearts. We can’t declare that God is above every other name if “we” are still on the throne of our hearts and not with God. We can’t proclaim His excellencies and then seek personal selfish gain, success, approval and affirmation from others etc. Declaring God’s glory starts with our humility. It begins with a life of sacrifice to the One who has given up everything for us.
When we set Christ as number one in our lives and in our hearts, then we’re set free to magnify Jesus. It is only when we set our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ who freed us from the weight of sin and death and when our whole lives become about Him, that in this freedom we find the life that we were always meant for, to glorify God and to declare His Glory to the world.
We can’t achieve this in our own strength, it must be the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Romans 11 says “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.” The ability to glorify God and honor Him only comes through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. So allow Christ into our lives, so that we may surrender our life to God in order to declare His glory in everything we do.
1 Peter 4:11 says “whoever speaks, speak as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, serve as one who serves by the strength God supplied – in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
In order to declare the Glory of God, we must also produce the fruit of our salvation and display of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. For example, when we plant a fruit tree in our garden, we have high expectations of it to produce the fruit of its kind. If it’s an apple tree, then we would expect the tree to produce apples. When the tree is full of apple’s and the tree is overhanging with abundant fruit, then people look at the tree and speak of the goodness of the tree.
This is the same for the children of God. In order for us to flourish like well-watered plants and to produce the kinds of fruit that declare the glory of God, there are some things we must allow God to do in our lives.
When a new tree is planted, before we even begin to try encourage fruiting on a tree, we need to make sure that the plant is old enough and healthy enough to bear the load. Usually standard fruit trees need anywhere from 5 to 7 years before they’re ready to produce. In a similar way, for us to produce the fruit of Christ in our lives, what we require is time, and time for us to mature in Christ.
There’s a requirement of patience. James 1:4 says “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.” What is meant by steadfastness is patience and perseverance. There is a requirement to grow in order to produce fruit.
There are many scriptures in God’s Word that describe the need to grow and mature spiritually. Ephesians 4:15 says “we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ,” and again in 2 Peter 3:18 saying “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Ultimately this is what is pleasing to God. In fact, Jesus Himself says in John 15:8 “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”
Then there is a requirement for pruning. Fruit trees ideally need to be trained in their first few years of growth into the shape we want them to maintain throughout their productive lives. In a similar fashion, in order to declare the glory of God, we need to maintain a certain shape. An outward proof of the internal change and this is the shape that declares the glory of God. In order to do this, there must be pruning.
Pruning involves getting rid of those things in our lives that are not of God and that don’t contribute to our lives in Christ. It can sometimes be a painful process, where God may discipline us, mold us and make us into the person that declares the glory of God. The end result of the pruning is a beautiful tree with abundant fruits, and the end results of God’s pruning in our lives is a life that shouts out and declares the glory of God through our person.
Ephesians 4:22-32 gives us instruction on exactly what must be pruned in our lives. It says “…put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. When angry, do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Once this pruning takes place, then we begin to see the fruits of the Spirit, as it says in Galatians 5:22-24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
God’s Word is very clear in explaining to us what the fruits of a follower of Christ are. Our example is Christ Himself. If a believer’s behavior contradicts what the word says, he is not really transformed in Christ. In fact the scriptures tell us that if we declare Jesus Christ as Lord and have a relationship with Him but still walk in the darkness of disobedience then we need to test ourselves to see whether we are truly regenerate. 1 John 1:6 says “If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
We also need good soil for our fruit bearing plant to maximize its output. In a similar fashion we need to cultivate and nurture ourselves which is an intentional move towards seeking and cultivating our hearts to allow the spiritual seed in us to grow and develop. Jesus tells us that those who cultivate good soil in their hearts will result in hearing the word, accepting it and then finally producing thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.
This is the person whose heart is not hard, receiving the word of God into their lives and working the soil of their hearts, ploughing it, weeding it and fertilizing it and so becoming productive, whose end is abundant fruit that declares the glory of God to all those surrounding it and far beyond its reaches. Amen.
So let’s be united with Christ and as it says in 2 Peter 1:4 “…become partakers of the divine nature,” through the work of the Holy Spirit in us that we boldly declare the glory of God to all those around us and fulfill the purpose for which we’re made.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!
*endofthematter.com
Oh, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing
Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing My great Redeemer’s praise, The glories of my God and king, The triumphs of His grace!
My gracious Master and my God, Assist me to proclaim, To spread through all the earth abroad, The honors of Thy name.
Jesus! the name that charms our fears, That bids our sorrows cease— ’Tis music in the sinner’s ears, ’Tis life, and health, and peace.
He breaks the pow’r of canceled sin, He sets the pris’ner free; His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me.
He speaks, and, list’ning to His voice, New life the dead receive, The mournful, broken hearts rejoice, The humble poor believe.
Glory to God, and praise and love Be ever, ever giv’n By saints below and saints above, The church in earth and heav’n.
Charles Wesley, 1739
On this day and every day –
God is in Control . . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . . Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” . . . “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
As of 2021, the population was 98,081, up from 56,207 in 2010. According to the Census Bureau, Conroe was the fastest-growing large city in the United States between July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016.[3]
The city is named after Northern-born Union Cavalry officer and Houston lumberman Isaac Conroe.[7] Conroe founded a sawmill there in 1881.[7] The city originally gained in wealth due to the lumber and oil industries. Originally named “Conroe’s Switch”,[7] the area saw an influx of residents in the late 19th century due to the lumber demands on the piney wood forest of the area.[7]
In 1886, Conroe Mill School was established in the expanding town.
In 1922, a black man named Joe Winters was burned at the stake on the courthouse steps.[8]
George W. Strake discovered the Conroe Oil Field in 1931. Distillate and natural gas were produced from the Cockfield Formation at a depth of about 5,000 feet (1,500 m). A second well in 1932 produced 1200 BOPD. By 1935, the field had produced 40 million barrels of oil.[9][10]
During the 1930s, because of oil profits, the city boasted more millionaires per capita than any other U.S. city, though only briefly.[7] After the construction of Interstate 45, many Houstonians began to settle communities around Conroe.[7]
So, essentially it sounds like a suburb of Houston.
One thing in the wiki entry that made the eyes pop was:
Annexation
When Conroe incorporated in 1904, the city limits encompassed a 5.44 square mile area. From 1970 to 2000, the city limits expanded from 7.15 square miles to 42.35 square miles.[13] Beginning in 2007, the city outlined a plan to continue expanding its city limits through annexation.[14] According to Chapter 43 of the Texas Local Government Code, home rule municipalities like Conroe may annex territory that is adjacent to the city’s current boundaries, with certain restrictions.[15] The city’s 2007 plan was to double its size through a combination of voluntary and involuntary annexations.[14] As of 2020, the city has annexed territory every year since 2007, increasing the city limits from 52.8 to 74.4 square miles.[16][17][18]
In April 2015, residents of the gated community of April Sound filed a lawsuit against Conroe after their community was annexed on January 1, 2015. The lawsuit was dismissed in March 2017.[16][19] Involuntary annexations were a major issue in the 2016 mayoral election, the first after April Sound residents were incorporated into the city. Proponents of annexation contended that it was a useful tool to “promote and facilitate growth and progress,” while those in opposition were concerned about whether annexed territories receive a “fair shake” in the negotiations.[20] In 2017, the city council voted in favor of additional involuntary annexations.[21]
That’s a little too close to Spain trading the Louisiana Territory not asking if the people living there really wanted to be part of the United States. (It was a three way trade with France, remember.) In my state, anything like that requires a popular vote.
Over the past four years, President Donald Trump’s administration delivered for Americans of all backgrounds like never before. Save America is about building on those accomplishments, supporting the brave conservatives who will define the future of the America First Movement, the future of our party, and the future of our beloved country. Save America is also about ensuring that we always keep America First, in our foreign and domestic policy. We take pride in our country, we teach the truth about our history, we celebrate our rich heritage and national traditions, and of course, we respect our great American Flag.
We are committed to defending innocent life and to upholding the Judeo-Christian values of our founding.
We believe in the promise of the Declaration of Independence, that we are all made EQUAL by our Creator, and that must all be TREATED equal under the law.
We know that our rights do not come from government, they come from God, and no earthly force can ever take those rights away. That includes the right to religious liberty and the right to Keep and Bear Arms.
We believe in rebuilding our previously depleted military and ending the endless wars our failed politicians of the past got us into for decades.
We embrace free thought, we welcome robust debate, and we are not afraid to stand up to the oppressive dictates of political correctness.
We know that the rule of law is the ultimate safeguard of our freedoms, and we affirm that the Constitution means exactly what it says AS WRITTEN.
We support fair trade, low taxes, and fewer job-killing regulations, and we know that America must always have the most powerful military on the face of the Earth.
We believe in Law and Order, and we believe that the men and women of law enforcement are HEROES who deserve our absolute support.
We believe in FREE SPEECH and Fair Elections. We must ensure fair, honest, transparent, and secure elections going forward – where every LEGAL VOTE counts.
SPECIAL SECTION: Message For Our “Friends” In The Middle Kingdom
You knuckle-dragging barbarians are still trying to muck with this site, so I’ll just repeat what I said last time.
Up your shit-kicking barbarian asses. Yes, barbarian! It took a bunch of sailors in Western Asia to invent a real alphabet instead of badly drawn cartoons to write with. So much for your “civilization.”
Yeah, the WORLD noticed you had to borrow the Latin alphabet to make Pinyin. Like with every other idea you had to steal from us “Foreign Devils” since you rammed your heads up your asses five centuries ago, you sure managed to bastardize it badly in the process.
Have you stopped eating bats yet? Are you shit-kickers still sleeping with farm animals?
Or maybe even just had the slightest inkling of treating lives as something you don’t just casually dispose of?
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
And here’s my response to barbarian “asshoes” like you:
OK, with that rant out of my system…
Loop it if you like; I will wait.
Richly deserved.
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.
A major hammering for gold, silver and platinum. Conversely, palladium is going nuts again. I guess people are buying catalytic converters (with minor propulsive attachments so they can move around) again. Supposedly, everybody but everybody expects the Fed (I am fed up with the Fed) to raise interest rates. That suddenly makes dollars more attractive than they were last week, even though the rate of inflation hasn’t changed. Hence gold going down when you would think the dollar should be spiraling around the drain (of the toilet).
James Webb Space Telescope Update
OK, it’s all deployed, it’s in its orbit…so what comes next? What’s going to occupy the next five months?
Well, the telescope has to cool down. Yes, 348 degrees below zero F is not cold enough for those infrared sensors. It’s going to take a while. Heat can only be carried away three ways…conduction, convection, and radiation, and two of those are unavailable in space. The spacecraft isn’t touching anything else, so conduction won’t work, and it’s not fluid, so convection can’t work either. (Convection is the process that causes water near or at the boiling point to roil; heated water from the bottom of the pot rises, carrying the heat to the surface; cooler water at the top descends where it will get heated.) So what’s left is radiation, losing the heat by electromagnetic black body radiation. This is what causes an incandescent light bulb filament to cool off and stop glowing (in visible light) the moment you flip the light switch. Sometimes you can see it take a perceptible amount of time to dim. But that’s the heat in the filament being turned into light and radiating away.
A light bulb filament cools off fast, but that’s because it’s very hot. JWST is a mere 112 degrees (F) above absolute zero, so it will radiate much more slowly.
In fact, how much an object radiates is proportional to the fourth power of its temperature. An object at 100 degrees above absolute zero radiates sixteen times as much as one at 50 degrees above absolute zero. JWST, as it gets closer and closer to absolute zero, radiates less and less.
Besides just cooling JWST off, the instruments behind the mirror must be turned on and calibrated, but this can’t be done until the instruments cool down some more…though I believe at least some of them are close to their maximum operating temperature.
So, what can be done right now? The third thing: Mirror alignment. Here’s the last paragraph of the latest entry on the NASA JWST blog.
Next up: HD 84406! That is the first star Webb will point at to gather engineering data to start the mirror alignment process. The team chose a bright star (magnitude 6.7 at a distance of about 260 light-years, as measured by Gaia). The star is a sun-like G star in the Ursa Major constellation, which can be seen by Webb at this time of the year. This is just the first step; HD 84406 will be too bright to study with Webb once the telescope starts to come into focus. But for now, it is the perfect target to begin our search for photons, a search that will lead us to the distant universe.
NASA Blog: https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/01/27/the-webb-team-looks-back-on-successful-deployments/
It’s in astronomese. Fortunately I speak it well enough to translate. (It’s not just for professional astronomers; there are probably millions of amateur astronomers or just general geeky types who will have no problem reading that paragraph. But most here are not among them.)
Short translation: They’re basically going to point Webb at a particular star that’s fairly bright, and fiddle with the individual mirror segments to get them aligned with each other. The eighteen hexagons were all made to look as if they were cut from a parabolic mirror; they must be lined up to within nanometers of that parabolic shape. This is expected to take about three months
Longer translation: As above, but I’m going to do a deep dive on some of the specifics that will seem cryptic.
Let’s start with “HD 84406.” That’s a catalog number, the Henry Draper catalog. This catalog contains over 225,300 stars and was published between 1918 and 1924. (If you thought these posts were boring, go read the catalog. This is part of an index to it, and No, I have no idea why the numbers aren’t sequential: Henry Draper Catalogue – SKY-MAP)
[Annie Jump Cannon, who you might remember from one of my physics posts, was very heavily involved in the publication of this catalog and a couple of extensions to it that have come out since.]
Of course only about 6000 stars are bright enough to be visible to the unaided (naked) eye even far away from city lights, so clearly most of these Henry Draper stars are very, very dim.
“The team chose a bright star (magnitude 6.7…” OK they’re calling HD 84406 a “bright star” because it’s at “magnitude 6.7.” What does “magnitude 6.7” mean?
It’s a historical artifact. The brightness of astronomical objects is given in this funky magnitude scale. The lower the number, the brighter the star, so yes that seems backwards! This is because they would say something like “Spica is a first-magnitude star.” A “second-magnitude” star is clearly a lesser star than a “first magnitude” star. A “sixth magnitude” star was one that was just barely visible under ideal conditions.
Astronomers came up with instruments to objectively measure this sort of thing, however, and the magnitude scale got modified. In 1856 the modern scale was adopted, it was suggested by Norman Pogson at Oxford. Under his system, the scale is logarithmic and a star of magnitude X is 2.512 times as bright as a star of magnitude X+1. OK, so where did they pull that number from? Someone’s rectal database?
Actually that number is the fifth root of 100. Basically, a first magnitude star is 100 times as bright as a sixth magnitude star. That’s five “magnitudes” and it’s a logarithmic scale, so a single magnitude is going to be whatever number you can multiply by itself five times to get 100, i.e., the fifth root of 100, or about 2.512. (Remember, some people take an astronomy class in college because they are severely math challenged and have to take a science class to graduate and figure astronomy won’t have any math in it. But you can’t even describe stars’ brightnesses without logarithms-base-fifth-root-of-100. Bwahahaha!)
With a logarithmic scale, you can have fractional/decimal magnitudes, and more fun ensues. As it turns out many ancient “first magnitude” stars are actually considerably brighter than others. On the modern scale Sirius is -1.46 (a negative number), Arcturus is -0.04 (basically 0 on a 1-6 scale), Aldebaran is 0.85 and Spica is 1.04. Nor do you need to confine it to those little point-like stars in the night sky; nebulae, planets, the Sun and the Moon are on the scale too. The sun is magnitude -27. Sometimes, if you catch it just right the International Space Station is at -6. By the way, if it’s not a pointlike object, the magnitude is totaled up over the entire span of the object, so imagine the sun’s brightness in a single point (much more intense!), and that point is over ten billion times brighter than the point-source we call Sirius. When they describe the brightness of a nebula, it can seem misleadingly bright because the light from the nebula is smeared out over some patch of sky, rather than being gathered together in a point like a star is. So a nebula of a certain magnitude will always look fainter than a star of the same magnitude.
OK, so now when we see that HD 84406 is magnitude 6.7, we can judge that it’s actually not even visible to the unaided human eye! Yet they called it “bright” and even “too bright to study with Webb.”
[Note: some people (authors of books for amateur astronomers in particular) in very dark places (e.g., on the eastern slope of the “Big Island” of Hawaii) claim to be able to see clear down to magnitude 8. I’m not sure I believe them, to be honest.]
But if your eye’s pupil is 22 feet across, that actually will seem to be pretty damned bright! And that’s basically what JWST has going for it. So once they’re done using this blazingly bright star to align the mirrors, they won’t spend time looking at it any longer.
Next, “at a distance of about 260 light-years…” That’s the distance to the star, and a light year is the distance light travels in one year…about six trillion miles. 260×6 = 1560 trillion miles, that’s how far away HD 88406 is.
Next there’s this: “…The star is a sun-like G star in the Ursa Major constellation,” A “G star” is a reference to the star’s spectral class, which is to say the pattern of absorption lines in the spectrum; it so happens that G is the class the Sun is in. It’s mainly a rough shorthand for how hot the star is, and hence what color it is. Yellowish-white is the G type color. “In the Ursa Major constellation” means if you look at the Big Bear constellation, HD 88406 appears to be in it. Ursa Major includes the Big Dipper (but that’s not the whole constellation by any means). Astronomers actually drew boundaries between the 88 recognized constellations quite some time ago so every bit of sky (even apparently empty places) are part of a constellation; a star doesn’t have to be on the line drawings to be considered part of the constellation.
The constellation Ursa Major (white area). You can pick out the “Big Dipper” (also called “The Wagon” in some cultures) readily. Incidentally, a pattern like that that isn’t a complete constellation (or consists of pieces of different constellations) is called an “asterism” so the Big Dipper or Wagon is an asterism, not a constellation. Also note in the lower right the magnitude scale; the smaller the dot the fainter the star and the higher the magnitude number.
Nor must you be a star to be “in” a constellation. Galaxies, too are in constellations, it’s just a way to indicate where they appear as seen from earth. (For instance “the” Andromeda Galaxy, M31 is in the constellation of Andromeda. And, to expand on things I said earlier, M is for the Messier Catalog which has about 110 objects in it; it’s also cataloged in the New General Catalog as NGC 224. The magnitude of M31 is 3.44 but remember it’s smeared out over a certain part of the sky so it looks very faint. I can barely see it; in fact I’m never quite sure I really am seeing it. It shows up well even in tiny binoculars, though.)
Wow, there’s an awful lot behind that paragraph from NASA, ain’t there?
No Science Post This Week
Having beaten exoplanets into the ground, I’m not sure what I want to take up next. Of course you might be protesting that you just read one, but it’s largely stuff covered earlier, and it’s in what would otherwise seem a totally random order, dictated by the phrasing of a NASA blog post.
Fuck Joe Biden
Biden, 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.)
Incidentally, I’m writing this on Friday. This morning I saw a full-sized pickup truck in the oncoming left turn lane with a forest of flags in the bed. Once he turned and drove left-to-right in front of me, I could see two American flags near the cab, and SIX “Let’s Go Brandon” flags near the tailgate. That was unusual; usually there’s a mix of FJB (only not abbreviated) and “Trump Won” and “Trump 2024” flags when someone does this.
I haven’t seen such a display in a few weeks, by the way. Even the guy at the office complex where I work with the FJB flag on his pickup seems to have removed it (or doesn’t work there any more–trucks all look alike to me from the back, and all crossovers look like cockroaches).
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 Sanctuary 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.
Isaiah 43:7 “. . . everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Glory to God in the highest . . .
So, how is it that God is glorified through us? There are many ways to do this but let’s look at just one way we can glorify God.
GLORIFY GOD BY BELIEVING IN HIM
If the chief end of man is to glorify God, then this is only truly possible when we are most satisfied in Him. Straight away we see something significant here. When we think of praise or glory that is given to someone, sometimes it can be of gratitude and other times we can think of it as a chore, or something we need to do in order to obtain favor. When we think of giving glory to God, we can often and very easily fall into the trap of thinking of it as a demand and that, it just has to be done.
From the Christian and Biblical viewpoint this is the very opposite of the intent. We fail to understand that everything God requires of us is “ultimately” for our good. God is for us and not against us. In order to fully fulfill the reason for our creation, then what God’s Word says is that; it is only when we glorify God, fulfilling our very purpose – it is then and only then that our souls are truly satisfied, feel complete and fulfilled. Anything outside of this will keep us wanting and unfulfilled, no matter what and how we try to fill that hole. By glorifying God, we are pursuing our joy in Him.
In order for us to come to the place of pursuing our joy in Him and glorying God, it is essential for us to be saved. We must come in repentance of our sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ through faith in Him, accepting the free gift of the sacrifice of the Christ on the cross as an atonement for our sins.
In this way we will stand justified before God the Father. Hebrews 11:6 says “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and the He rewards those who seek Him.”
If we reject the reason for our creation, which is to glorify God, and we reject Christ by not believing in His Name, then God’s Word also explains and shows us the outcome of pursuing our satisfaction outside of God. Jeremiah 2:12-13 says “Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” God’s Word says that God is against anyone that does not seek their joy in God.
Again in Deuteronomy 28:47-48 saying “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you.” And this is exactly what some people are doing. Worshiping their enemy.
Our ultimate enemy is Satan, and those without faith are enslaved to do the things that are of him and not of God. Those who are not of God, are in fact serving the purpose of their enemy – the devil, who wants to completely destroy us and keep us from the Father in heaven.
So, for those in this situation, wake up and do not serve our enemy any longer, but serve the living God who is for us and not against us. As it says in 1 Corinthians 15:34 “Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning.”
The word of God shows us the path that we should take in order to find our joy in God. When we pursue this joy in Christ, then it will lead us to glorify God. When we believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we will find our ultimate joy in Him. Psalm 37:4 says “Delight in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”, and again in Psalm 100:1-2 saying “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into His presence with singing!”
So by believing, we not only glorify God and find our fulfillment in Christ, but there is also great joy in doing so.
But it does not stop at only believing; this is just the beginning. The life that pleases and glorifies God is one that “keeps on growing in knowledge”. It is continually seeking to know God better.
At this point, a misunderstanding needs clarification. Growing in the knowledge of God is not the same as seeking to learn how to get more out of God for our own selfish needs. Don’t fall into the mentality of only being concerned with how we can tap into God’s resources, only to get prayers answered (the way we want to), and how to get God to meet our needs the way we want to, and banish all of our problems away. Is this truly loving God or is it really loving ourselves?
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!
*endofthematter.com
On this day and every day –
God is in Control . . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . . Keep Looking Up
Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.
“This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn nor weep.” . . . “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
