Category: Uncategorized

2021·02·20 Joe Biden Didn’t Win But Silver is Money Daily Thread

Scroll down for some info, some of it may be useful, some may be interesting, some might even be both, but more likely most is neither, about precious metals and what sorts of products are out there.

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.

But we do have a nice little distraction at the moment. SCOTUS at least pretended to pay attention to a lot of election fraud cases on the 19th; as I write it’s 5PM ET and I have no idea how that went. It’ll be interesting to see how they weasel out…this time.

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.)

Silver (and Other Bullion): The Basics

First thing: Bullion is not a coin collection, and a coin collection isn’t bullion. People I know who know I collect get the two mixed up a lot, and I suppose it’s understandable, because coin shops generally sell both rare coins and bullion.

The key difference is that collector coins are generally worth considerably more than the metal they contain, and even when they’re not, they’re being bought because of the date of issue, the design, the error made in producing it, or any of a number of issues that have nothing to do with what it’s made off. The value of the metal in the coin puts a floor on its value, though. For instance, there are plenty of “common” gold coins that collectors want (because they’re trying to put together a date set), that are worth barely more than “melt” (the term for the value of the gold or silver in the coin). Their prices move up and down whenever gold fluctuates. But they’re still being bought for their interest as collectibles; they’d be worth something even if the gold value dropped to zero (like that’s going to happen!).

Bullion, on the other hand, is being bought because it is made out of what it is, and other considerations are secondary. But not necessarily insignificant: People will buy precious metals in a form that makes it easier to sell. One of the issues is it being in a form that the buyer will trust to actually be made of silver (or gold) rather than somehow faked (e.g., gold or silver plated lead). If it has to be assayed, that has a cost, which will eat into how much you’ll be paid for your bullion. Which is why a struck coin (or coin-like) object is often trusted, and why some of this stuff comes in tamper-evident packaging.

To sort of drive home the difference, I was told this story by a coin dealer one time, and I’m sure it’s not a terribly uncommon occurrence. Someone offered him a gold coin. It looked to be a rare date, so it’d be worth a lot more than the gold content. On closer examination, though, it was counterfeit, but undeniably made out of real gold. He paid the customer what the gold in the coin was worth, then took a pair of pliers and bent the coin…and tossed it in a pot he was going to sell to the wholesale market, where it would no doubt be simply melted. He didn’t want anyone to mistake the coin for something rare…as opposed to just a lump of precious metal.

I’m going to assume here you want silver itself, not a piece of paper saying you’re entitled to it, not a futures contract, not mining stocks. You want the lump of metal in your hand.

History and Overview of the Metals Themselves

Some history, because why not? Copper, silver and gold (among other metals) were all discovered so long ago we have no idea who discovered them. When coinage was invented in the 600s BCE (at least in what we think of as the Western world, though that place–Lydia–was in present day Turkey) it started out as an alloy of gold and silver. These materials were known to be rare, and were valued as jewelry if nothing else. Gold, in particular, simply didn’t tarnish or corrode. Silver would tarnish, but once it did tarnish, that was the end, it didn’t turn to useless powder like iron did. Copper similarly. In fact, these metals are sometimes found free in nature, not needing to be extracted from ore: gold most commonly, then silver, then copper. (Because of this, in most ancient Egypt, gold was considered more common than silver and was less expensive. Once we figured out how to extract them from ores, the situation changed.)

Unsurprisingly, given their similar chemical properties, copper, silver and gold appear in the same column of the periodic table, and they’re known as the coinage metals, because once we started making coins, those were the metals that went into them. Gold, in particular, was difficult to convincingly fake, because it was denser than anything else known. Nothing else was as heavy on a per volume basis. If you gold plated a lead brick, that brick would be much, much too light! (Only in the 1700s did we discover other things, like platinum or tungsten, that could equal or exceed gold’s density.) Their chemical symbols are Cu (copper), Ag (silver) and Au (gold). But, when talking to someone whose interest is in historic coins, they’ll be abbreviated AE, AR, and AU, usually as ligatures (like Æ, but AU and AR don’t seem to exist in unicode as ligatures). I learned the chemical symbols long before the numismatic ones, and get twitted for writing Ag a lot.

Immediately to the left of these three, under iron/cobalt/nickel, are a group of six metals called the Platinum Group Metals. These are: ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), and osmium (Os), iridium (Ir), platinum (Pt). Platinum is quite famous, the others less so. Platinum was discovered about a century before the others, and they’re almost invariably found together in nature. You can buy platinum, palladium, and sometimes rhodium as bars and rounds (and even NCLT platinum and palladium, I’ll explain what that means below). At least in theory you can, for rhodium–you’d better bring about $25 grand to the table. But the others (ruthenium, osmium and iridium) are very specialty items, hard to find in solid as opposed to powder form, and available in 50 kilogram lots.

And to the left of osmium is rhenium (Re), an interesting metal in its own right, and the second to last stable element to be discovered, back in 1908. It’s sometimes used in spacecraft and jet engines, relatively cheap compared to the PGMs but more expensive than silver and considered the ninth precious metal, sometimes.

Anyhow: Once we started making coins, gold and silver began to be thought of as “money.” (Copper was good for making money out of too, but it had a number of other uses as well, and still does.)

Troy Ounces and Purity

The precious metals (but not copper) are commonly weighed out in either grams or troy ounces. Troy ounces, though are different from the grocery store ounces (avoirudupois onces); it’s a parallel weight system. Avoirdupois and troy both use the same “grain” (the grain you use at the reloading bench; the grain your ammo’s bullets are weighed in). But an avoirdupois ounce is 437.5 grains, where a troy ounce is 480 of them. Worse, a troy pound is twelve troy ounces, 5760 grains, whereas an avoirdupois pound is 16 avdp ounces, or 7000 grains. Fortunately, you will almost never hear about troy pounds except in some weird Parade magazine ads for silver weighing a quarter or a third of a pound (don’t do these–you’re paying their advertising budget). Pretty much, everyone in the US who deals in precious metals thinks in terms of troy ounces, and even multiples will be in ounces. There are ten ounce, hundred ounce, and even thousand ounce bars of silver out there, but I don’t recall ever seeing bars denominated in troy pounds. (Which doesn’t necessarily mean some eccentric guy isn’t doing that, somewhere.) Even overseas in the metric rest-of-the-world, the troy ounce clings to life, and foreign countries and companies make products in ounces, alongside their other products in grams.

You will sometimes see gold sold in kilogram bars. A kilogram is 32.15074657 troy ounces…if you can afford to buy that much gold in one lump, good for you! And those bars you see in videos of bank vaults? They’re typically about 400 ounces. They don’t make them precise, but they are marked with their precise weight. At that level, the institutions have no trouble whipping out their calculators and knowing what it’s worth.

Even a futures contract is for an approximate amount…you’ll be delivered about 100 ounces of gold, possibly in one big bar, but will be expected to pay a certain price per ounce. Just be prepared to buy a bit more or a bit less than that. I wasn’t planning to talk about futures, but there is one good thing about them from our standpoint; if a company can say that their bars are “good delivery,” that means the Big Boys trust that company and its bars, and therefore you can too.

[A troy ounce, by the way, is 31.1035 grams. That’s a number I have memorized. But I don’t remember other than “twenty eight point something” how many grams are in an avoirdupois ounce, which should tell you where my head is–precious metals, not groceries. [If I need to know I can grab a calculator and do the following: (437.5/480) x 31.1035.] And incidentally, since the mid 1900s the ounce (both of them) has been defined in terms of the metric system. (Aw, geez, now I have to look it up): one avoirdupois ounce is exactly 28.349523125 grams, by definition. And that also means the troy ounce is exactly  31.1034768 grams by definition, just in case the six digits of precision I have memorized isn’t enough.]

Purity is usually given as a decimal fraction; you will see notations like “.900 fine” which means ninety percent of whatever it is you’re looking at, is of the precious metal, the rest is some sort of alloy. Generally, when looking at a piece of bullion, you will be told how much pure metal is in it. A one ounce gold American Eagle, for instance, will weigh more than an ounce, but there will be a full ounce of gold in it plus some copper and silver. Our old silver coinage was .900 fine (this will become relevant below) and people call that “coin silver.” British silver was 0.925 fine in the good old days, that’s commonly known as “sterling silver.” In a way it really doesn’t matter, what matters is the net amount of silver or gold. (The other metals will generally be .999 fine in any product you will find.) Gold, by the way, is often given in karats, 24 karats is pure, 18 karats is .750 (common in European jewelry), 14 kt is common here in the US (and the Europeans wonder why we go gaga over it).

Your Choices for Silver

So how do you get into silver? There are three main methods–and the first two apply to the other metals to some extent or another.

1–Rounds and Bars

A lot of people produce “rounds” that look like coins; when you look at them closely, though, the writing says they contain so much silver (usually an ounce). There won’t be a denomination, and usually there’s no country name, but there will be a company name. In this same vein, there are one ounce bars (rare for silver) and larger bars (5, 10, 100 and even 1000 ounce). Sometimes the rounds are prized and even collected for the artwork; even I once bought a two ounce round that had a “Don’t Tread On Me” motif on it. In all cases, there is a marking on the rounds/bars indicating how much silver is in them, and they are usually 99.9% pure, better known as .999 fine. Gold purity will usually be given this way too, but sometimes, you will see it given in karats, 24 karat being pure. Back when I was buying lots of precious metals (when the price was a lot lower), I tended to buy silver in larger bars, with some rounds thrown in. I also had bars of other metals (but not gold).

If you get into more expensive metals’ bars, there are some big, internationally known companies whose one ounce (and higher) bars are considered trustworthy, such as Johnson Matthey, Hereaus, PAMP (formerly Credit Suisse and you’ll see plenty of bars marked as such), APMEX, and Engelhardt. Some of these come in a tamper proof plastic pack. Recently, I’ve seen gold come as a sort of wafer like a big chocolate bar, with individual blocks you can twist and break apart. Although this looks like a decent way to buy gold in one gram increments, I have no idea what the aftermarket is like once they’ve been broken apart.

1/2 ounce platinum bar from PAMP; they sell many different sizes in both metric and troy, the troy sizes being more common here, but 1 gram being conveniently small. They also do silver, gold, palladium and even rhodium.
Don’t be fooled, this bar is MUCH larger than the PAMP one above.
This is one of those break-apart-able chocolate bar style, I’ve seen them with little piece sizes of 1 g (like shown here) and 1/10th of an ounce. As I said I have no idea what the aftermarket is like for the pieces, but it might help you own gold (or platinum) in small pieces, which might be convenient for trade.

2–NCLT Bullion Coins

There are the current crop of coins–yes, legally coins because they have a denomination on them–that only an idiot would spend at face value. Because they don’t circulate, but are legal tender (to unmask idiots, maybe), they’re called “Non-circulating Legal Tender” or NCLT for short. These coins will have a government’s name on them, a denomination, and they will also give their content and purity. Generally even when the metal isn’t pure, there is a net ounce (or half ounce, or quarter ounce) of gold or silver or whatever in them.

Your choices are American eagles, Canadian maple leafs, Chicom Pandas (please don’t buy these!), and so on, often in ounces, sometimes in grams. Back in the 70s and 80s there was pretty much one country doing this, South Africa, and they were producing the krugerrand (the gold rand). If memory serves, they came in 1 ounce, 1/2 ounce and quarter ounce sizes. They were not pure gold, however: with copper alloyed they tended to be tan in color.

The Krugerrand, which started something…

Our gold eagle is also not pure gold but is alloyed with a mix of copper and silver, so it has a proper “gold” color to it. We also sell a “buffalo” that is very pure gold; but I don’t see those as often.

Canada, in particular, loves to make pure gold coins, one ounce and up, and they’ve even made manhole-cover sized 100 kilogram gold coins (I got to see one once) that were 99.999% pure. However, this isn’t necessarily a good thing. Because gold will dent easily, these “Maple Leaf” coins get beat up and generally won’t sell for as much as you would think they ought to.

Since the impure coins still contain an ounce of gold or silver (or whatever) in them, the alloy is extra and usually helps the coin’s physical durability.

This is actually my favorite way to hold gold–American eagles. They come in 1/10th, 1/4th, 1/2 and 1 ounce sizes, denominated 5, 10, 25, and 50 dollars (and yes, that $10 should be $12.50 to be consistent–but again no one is actually going to use these at face value!). In general the buy sell spread is narrow on them, but is significantly wider for the smaller sizes.

Silver eagles (they are only made in one ounce size, denominated a dollar) tend to sell at a huge premium…nevertheless I buy one each year, because…yes, well, I am collecting them by date. (So much for the great divide between bullion and collectible coins–but I consider them part of my collection, not my bullion stash.) Actually, since I’m not the only one collecting (rather than accumulating) these coins, that’s probably why they sell at such a premium.

Junk Silver

Finally…yes, you can buy old coins. There’s an entire market for what is called “junk silver.” Junk silver is real coinage that actually circulated, once, not like those NCLTs we were just talking about.

“Junk” silver. That 1964 quarter (and the dime next to it) is surprisingly worn…and 1964 is such a common date that any wear at all makes it worthless as a collectible. But it’s a bona fide piece of silver!

But, these are old coins that are common dates, or they worn so badly they have no numismatic value. (You will find a LOT of early 60s coins in junk silver, that are in pretty decent shape, and you will see the occasional very worn coin from before 1940 as well.) They’re worth their silver content, and that’s it. Prices will be quoted in terms of face value. Ask a coin dealer how much he’s selling junk silver for, and he’ll tell you something like, “26 times face.” (Kitco is selling hundred dollar bags for $2,596.24–so basically, 26 times face. But that includes quite a substantial volume discount!) That means he’ll sell you a silver dime out of his junk silver dime stock, for $2.60, a half dollar for $13.00…and a quarter for $6.50. In general, though, you buy several of these at a time. A dollar’s worth, face value, contains .72 ounces of silver in it. (It also contains copper; the silver is 90% pure.) With these coins, it will be a bit less because many of them are worn, but this is figured into both the buying and selling price. The Kitco bag I just mentioned, for example, claims to have 71.5 ounces of silver in it, not 72. If you are on a super-tight Biden-era budget, this is the only way to get into silver, because no one makes rounds or NCLTs with only 0.072 ounces of silver in them, but an old dime has that much.

When you go to sell these, you will be paid, again, some number times face value. The difference between what the dealer sells for and what he pays is how he makes his lunch money.

But now I need to tell you some things that are well known to the experienced, but probably won’t be obvious. First off, half dollars from 1965-1970 contain 40 percent silver, not 90 percent. You can buy those as junk too, and they’ll be cheaper, but there’s less of a market for them and the buy/sell spread is really bad. pricing and almost no demand. Second: Old silver dollars have .77 ounces in them (they’re different because the events of 1853 and 1873 left them alone–I’ve talked about this) and sell at more of a premium because too many people just like silver dollars. There are “junk” silver dollars, usually loose in a tray at the coin shop, but they will cost a lot more for what they are than junk dimes, quarters, and halves, because they’re popular as silver dollars–you’re edging into “numismatic” territory here. Finally: the part-silver “war nickels” from 1942-1945, identifiable from the fact that the manganese in them turned black AND the large letter over the dome of Monticello (that’s the mint mark) don’t trade in this market. At least, I haven’t ever seen them offered as bullion–but then I never really went looking, either. They contain 0.05626 ounces of silver in them, which is more than half as much as a silver dime…fancy that. (Silver was so cheap relative to gold at the time that none of our silver coinage at the time was worth even close to face value.)

Is there such a thing as “junk gold”? Sort of. There are plenty of US gold coins–some even desirable to a numismatist–that sell for just barely over their melt value, simply because that melt value is high. You could buy one of those. If you buy one that’s just barely of numismatic interest, you might not lose that much money if gold drops. You could go look up prices, figure out how much the gold is worth (gold was 20.67 an ounce back then, so a $20 gold piece that is “junk” should sell for a bit more than gold spot; proportionately so for the $2 1/2, $5, and $10), and if the coin isn’t priced that much more, you can go for it. I’d buy something with the highest grade manageable because those are least likely to drop in value; these coins will almost certainly come in a certified holder with a grade on it. You shouldn’t technically rely on that grade but use your own judgment (which if you are a beginner, you don’t have!) but in this case it doesn’t matter that much.

How about the other metals? Nope, no junk rhodium. No junk palladium. The only other precious metal that ever got used in a circulating coin (other than via fraud by Spain) was platinum, and that was by Russia in 1828-1845. Those coins came in 3, 6, and 12 ruble denominations, weighing almost exactly 1/3, 2/3, and 1 1/3 ounces. And the sixes and twelves are all scarce to rare, selling for far more than their weight in platinum (try five figures). You might luck into a three ruble piece that is beat to hell and gone not selling for too much over a thousand bucks…but that’s still far more than the platinum is worth.

Watch the Spread

However you choose to pursue this, be aware of the spread. Find out not just how much the dealer is selling it for, but also what he’s buying it for. These two numbers are different; this is how he pays for his lunch. And his mortgage. For example, gold eagles often sell for more money than other gold coins. But they also are bought for more money. The dealers have to make a living, and they do so based on that buy/sell spread. You want to pick a product that has the narrowest buy/sell spread possible, because that represents how far the price has to move before you can make your money back. For example, if they want $1850 for an eagle, but are willing to pay $1825, that’s a better deal than a Canadian Maple leaf selling for $1830…but they’re willing to pay you $1790 for it. Even though the Eagle is $20 more expensive. Because in the first case, you can make your money back after gold goes up $25, in the second, you have to wait for it to go up $40. The same sort of considerations apply to rounds, junk silver, and the like. (And this is why new jewelry is often a terrible buy for such purposes–though second hand might not be so bad–the first owner paid for the artist’s labor.) But, as with everything else, there is a caveat…the spreads themselves can change with time, and what’s true today can be not true five years down the line. But a really huge difference in spread between Major Well Known Refinery’s platinum bar versus Fly By Night Platinum Company’s bar probably won’t change all that much.

Junk silver has a wide spread and if you’re a major investor it sucks for that reason, but if you are expecting a huge price hike, or the end of the world, it has its advantages. If you find yourself in some post-apocalyptic market trying to buy a head of cabbage, a silver dime is the right size; a one ounce gold eagle will be a pain in the ass, if not impossible, to get change made for and you’ll probably not get all the change you should because of that (you’re paying them for the pain-in-the-ass factor). I’m sure I need not make snide remarks about moneychangers to this audience, though in this context, they have to make a living too. (The objections, in the Bible, were to them doing their business on Temple grounds.) Because of all of this, I do have a notable amount of junk silver–bought years ago when it was a lot cheaper. It’s part of the picture; I wouldn’t want it to be all of it…but if it’s what you can afford to do, it’s better than nothing!

In that mode, I have another combination coin collectiong/bullion story to tell. I went to a coin show with a couple of gold eagles just in case I found a coin I really wanted to buy (gold was a lot cheaper back then) but didn’t quite have the money for. Sure enough, there was something I didn’t have the cash for. “Can you take a trade for some of it?” I asked. The dealer asked me with some trepidation what it was I was offering to trade. After all, it could be something he’d have no use for, and he’d have to sell it to some other dealer and get less than it was worth so that dealer could make his lunch money–what a pain! I pulled out a gold eagle. His eyes showed his relief. One of those is instantly negotiable at a coin show as if it were a really odd-denominated piece of paper money. If nothing else he could walk over to the APMEX table and sell it. Of course so could I, so I basically got what it was worth in trade, just so he could save some time and not have to wait for me to run over there and make the deal. I even got some regular money back as change. Moneychanging, indeed!

Finally, there’s the issue of spot prices. Which by the way are now (Kitco Ask):

Gold $1785.60
Silver $27.36
Platinum $1276.00
Palladium $2412.00
Rhodium $23,000.00

(Rhodium is insanely rare stuff, and tends–in the long term–to go up and down a lot. I’ve seen it as low as $400…but that was 20 years ago. And back then you couldn’t buy it as bars, you had to buy it by the 50 kg lot as powder. Now PAMP makes bars and I don’t make nearly enough money. Gold bullion taste…chicken bullion budget!)

Anyhow, the issue of spot prices. You’ll never pay spot. You’ll invariably pay a bit over it, and that amount will fluctuate. And sometimes spot does something crazy, like taking a major dump, and no one will have any precious metals for you to buy. Sure, silver spot is fifteen bucks that day after the huge drop, but there’s no silver to be had. Some coin shops will have a tray full of miscellaneous silver rounds…and the price card on the tray will say something like $3 over spot. That means they’ll look at the spot price at that instant, and add three bucks to it, there’s your price. (And that implicitly means “per ounce” so if there’s a two ounce round in there it will cost you six bucks over the spot price of two ounces of silver.)

Spot prices tend to be a product, largely, of the futures market and doesn’t reflect what people will pay for physical metal that day, on Main Street.

I have deliberately given you no advice on whether to do this. That’s because I have no idea what’s going to happen in the market. Of late silver seems steadier than gold, which seems to be sliding. Even platinum (which has been ridiculously cheap lately compered to gold) seems to be doing well, going up mostly. But that could turn around at any time. I venture no predictions. I am not responsible if you run off and buy a bunch, and the price drops, because I haven’t told you to do so or even claimed it’s a good idea. All I’ve done is given you some pointers on how things work, and what kinds of products there are, and how you might evaluate them compared to each other. You can lose money on this. I know people who ran up their plastic buying gold and silver back in the early 2000s…and lost their shirts and ended up with monster credit card debt. I’ve been mauled and even eaten by that bear a few times myself (though never with plastic), and no one else was responsible for that.

If you want some notion of the bewildering array of different products out there, check out kitco.com and apmex.com But also check out your local coin shop(s), and price shop all of them and the internet, IF you decide to go forward with this.

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 !!!

DEAR KAG: 20210219 Joe Biden Didn’t Win

Friday is back at Wolf’s Pub, and it’s time for some battle Scripture before we get down to the Friday Night Special: Mead!

The Psalms are unmatched for inspiring us as we do battle with evil. A psalm a day keeps the devil away. And who couldn’t use a little inspiration right now?

Our President is currently deprived of his rightful office while a puppet is being jerked on his strings by the globalists and the CCP, and our freedoms are bleeding out upon the Dark Winter snow.

One of our champions, Rush Limbaugh, has died.

Parts of the country have been dealt a serious blow with winter weather that has strained to the limits the power grid. People have died from the cold in one of the most advanced and wealthiest nations in the world. This is unacceptable.

We have no idea how the SCOTUS will behave with the election fraud cases being heard today.

We are having to deal with the full realization of the treason that has taken our Republic and replaced it with a corporate political system that is for sale to the highest bidder.

We have been betrayed by our own, just as David was betrayed by Saul, and also by his own son, Absalom.

It is in this possible setting that David wrote Psalm 35.

I’m not going to do an exegesis of the whole psalm, but here is a link to it. I am going to concentrate on just the first verse, which when unpacked, will amaze and inspire you:

“Plead my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.”

(Psalm 35, NKJV)

I also have a copy of the Art Scroll Tanach Series, Tehillim (Psalms) described as the “sacred hymnal of the Jewish People. I have benefited from the commentary of the rabbis who, naturally, are steeped in the subtleties and language that give great insight to every verse of Psalm 35. The description reads in part:

“The Art Scroll Series presents the comments of the classic giants of ancient and contemporary times in a logical, comprehensible manner, like a master teacher on an exciting voyage of intellectual discovery.”

I have found this to be true. The painstaking and deeply thought out commentary is rich beyond words for those who love God’s word. I highly recommend the Art Scroll Series for any Hebrew Testament book you seek to study. They are worth every penny and more.

Now here is the same verse from the Tehillim:

“To David: Fight HASHEM, my adversaries, battle my attackers.”

Hashem’s literal translation in Hebrew is “the name,” and refers of course, to God.

And here is the same verse from the Jewish Study Bible, Tanakh Translation:

“Of David. O LORD, strive with my adversaries, give battle to my foes…”

Let’s unpack this one verse.

“Fight, HASHEM” is explained by one medieval rabbi, Radak, “as a command.” It’s possible meaning?

“Is it conceivable that a flesh and blood servant should order his master, “Go out and fight my enemies for me?’ Yet we find that the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to David, ‘You immerse yourself in Torah study and I will fight your wars.’”

(Art Scroll Series Tanakh Tehillim, p. 422.)

The Tehillim commentary goes on to link this with Moses in The Book of HASHEM’S wars, (Numbers 21:14),

“HASHEM said: ‘If you are [immersed] in the Book [of Torah study], then [your wars will become] the wars of HASHEM [and I, HASHEM, will fight them for you.]”

Isn’t that wonderful? If we immerse ourselves in Scripture study, God will fight our wars for us.

Next, we have “my adversaries.” The literal translation of this is: those who fight me. Likewise, “my attackers” has a literal translation: those who declare war on me.

Here the commentary makes an interesting observation. The attacks are one-sided. David is not attacking. He is being attacked.

“He does not say that he fights them, rather they fight him, but he does not reciprocate their hostility (Hirsch).”

(Art Scroll Tanach Series Tehillim, p. 422.)

According to one rabbi, if the adversary had been only one, such as Saul or Absalom, this would not have constituted a war, but a quarrel. However, because in both instances others joined with Saul and/or Absalom, “…the limited quarrel turned into a war. David refers to these outside interlopers as…literally those who declare war against me.” (Art Scroll Tanach Series Tehillim, p. 422.)

Here is the kicker:

“Midrash Chachamin suggest that the difference between these words may be understood in the light of the fact that every war which flares up on earth is evidence of a tremendous spiritual struggle between celestial forces representing each side. David asks that Hashem first vanquish his adversaries above…and consequently this will spell the doom of those who make actual war below…his attackers.”

(Art Scroll Tanach Series Tehillim, p. 422.)

Let’s just repeat that:

“Every war which flares up on earth is evidence of a tremendous spiritual struggle between celestial forces representing each side. David asks that Hashem first vanquish his adversaries above…and consequently this will spell the doom of those who make actual war below…his attackers.”

This brings to mind:

“Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph. 6:11-)

And this:

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Cor. 10:3-5)

And this:

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed…” (2 Cor. 4: 8-9)

And indeed, Psalm 35 goes on in verse 2 to describe the taking hold of shield and armor, or as the rabbis interpret those words, as an encircling armor, denoting God’s full protection of David while his enemies are being destroyed.

House Rules

How comforting Scripture is and how merciful our God is towards us. And so let us try our best to be merciful to one another as we go about this day. Borrowing from Deplorable Patriot, Please review our HOST and site owner’s Guidelines for posting and discussion for this site. The discourse on this site is to be CIVIL – no name calling, baiting, or threatening others here is allowed. Company manners are appreciated. Those who are so inclined may visit Wolf’s other sanctuary, the U-Tree, to slog out discussions best saved for a wrestling mat.

It’s Mead Time

Moving on to our drink special this fine Friday, let’s learn about Mead, that fermented honey drink that is known by almost every culture the world over. Here’s a fantastic video by Tasting History with Max Miller. There’s a fun, crash course in the history of mead, and a very simple recipe for making your own. I liked this guy so much I subscribed to his channel. This video about mead has nearly 950,000 views in just a few months.

If you aren’t into making your own (but really, I think we should all be preparing to make our own mead, wine and beer as well grow our own food and raise chickens and goats and so on) you can certainly find some mead at your local liquor store. I’ve provided a link that will take you to a surprising selection of mead and mead products. Some of them look a bit iffy, but it would be fun to try a few and see how you like it.

Tonight, we have a home fermented mead made by our dear bouncer, Hans. He makes mead like a Viking. Speaking of which, here’s a fun book titled “Make Mead Like a Viking,” by Jereme Zimmerman. A taste:

“As you’re coming closer to a state of Viking Zen, allow your mind to detach itself from your body and travel back to an ancient world of fire and ice in which mythology, magic, and reality were so intertwined as to be one and the same.”

And to get us to a state of Viking Zen, I present a Nordic lullaby, The Wolf Song:


Part of the battle we are fighting against the supremacist elites in all our institutions and in business, is the intended destruction of our heritage. Whether you are English, Irish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, German, Welsh, Scots, Austrian, Polish, Hungarian, etc., the globalists seek to destroy your western heritage, especially Christianity. We must not allow it.

We must do everything we can to preserve our heritage. Literature is key. Remember the classic legends of the Norse gods? A reprint of this wonderful book (of a series of classic literature for young people) is a potent way to learn of our heritage. I have just begun reading this one to my grandchildren. You can purchase it here. There are three volumes out now.

Know Your Villains: Mitch, Love, and China, Part Three

I don’t know how much more of this book I can read, but here goes. Chapter 8 of Mitch McConnell’s memoir, “The Long Game” is titled ‘Love.’ It begins thus:

“It was my friend Julia Chang Bloch who had first suggested that I meet Elaine. I’d known Julia and her husband, Stuart, since I was a staffer for Senator Marlow Cook in 1969, and we had become close friends.”

Julia Chang Bloch

Mitch has been close friends with Julia Chang Bloch and Stuart Bloch since 1969. Mitch likes dropping names and I was intrigued about his two long-time friends. I had never heard of either of them, but they are obviously important to him. Besides Chao’s family and McConnell’s daughters, the Blochs were the only others present at Mitch and Elaine’s wedding in 1993.

I was intrigued with Chang Bloch because of an interesting snippet that has been repeated over and over in different articles about her and Elaine Chao.

In article after article, using virtually the same words, we are told that Julia Chang Bloch mentored Elaine Chao. It is mentioned as part of the background in many articles, a mere tidbit.

This is the only thing I could find, a sentence of her inclusion on a list of mentors for the magazine Women of Wealth or WOW:

“Julia is listed in World’s Who’s Who and in Donna Langston’s A to Z of American Women Leaders and Activists – she is one of only 147 women from U.S. history to make the list – and she was selected in 2011 by the American magazine Women of Wealth as “one of the nation’s top women mentoring leaders”.

A search at the website returned no results, however.

A Copy of Women of Wealth Magazine from 2013

I looked into Julia Chang Bloch and found she has had great success as a Chinese immigrant to the United States. You can read about her here and in an interview here. Here is some of her background from the Foundation she founded in 1998:

“A native of China who came to the U.S. at age nine, Ambassador Bloch grew up in San Francisco and earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1964, and a master’s degree in Government and East Asia Regional Studies from Harvard University in 1967. She was awarded an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters from Northeastern University in 1986.

Ambassador Bloch serves on a number of corporate and non-profit boards, including: Asia Institute for Political Economy, the University of HK, the Atlantic Council, Council of American Ambassadors, US Asia Pacific Council, Meridian International Center, World Affairs Council, the Fund for American Studies, and Penn Mutual Insurance Co. She was elected as a Fellow to the National Academy of Public Administration and is on the Expert/Eminent Persons Register of the ASEAN Regional Forum, a member of the Woodrow Wilson Council, as well as Trustee Emeriti of the Asia Society, Honorary Member of the Board of Directors of the Friends Society of the Asian Division, Library of Congress, and Honorary Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and American Academy of Diplomacy, she also serves on the Edumasters International Advisory Committee and the Editorial Board of Berkshire Publishing Group’s Encyclopedia of China.”

Like so many Asians who immigrate to the United States, her family worked very hard and have attained a great deal of success. Her father was the first Chinese national to graduate from Harvard Law School.

Bloch was nominated as Ambassador to Nepal by President George H. W. Bush and served in that capacity after years of working in government.

In 2008 she also worked on Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.

But back in 1998 Bloch founded the US-China Education Trust. According to the website:

“USCET is unique among organizations involved in US-China relations in its focus on serving China’s scholars, professionals and future leaders with resources in concert with their own institutions. USCET projects build confidence, basic understanding, and trust between China and the United States through support for American Studies, Media Education, and American Governance programs at China’s leading academic and policy institutions. USCET helps China’s next-generation leaders understand American society in the context of the political, cultural, and economic forces that have given rise to America and its values..”

And,

“In the US, USCET works with over fifteen diverse academic partners, including Yale University, the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism, American University’s Center for Congressional and Political Studies and the School of Communication, the University of North Alabama, and The Fund for American Studies. In China, USCET partners include the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), and more than 70 of China’s top universities through USCET’s American Studies Network and Media Education Consortium..”

Bloch has deep ties to China, as does Mitch’s wife, Elaine Chao. And we know that the Chinese Communist Party has infiltrated our educational, political, and corporate institutions through organizations that promote educational exchanges. Good info here, here, and here for a video panel discussing the issue of CCP infiltration of our institutions.

I kept digging for more information.

From https://infogram.com/how-the-ccp-seeks-to-control-america-1h0n25yo0lyrz6p

Julia Chang Bloch is listed as a contributor at The Globalist, but the only article that comes up authored by her is a 2003 article advocating for globalism through bilingual education and lots of studying abroad.

“Only study abroad and international exchange can connect people across boundaries. Only face-to-face dialogue can build understanding of cultural values, trust, confidence, networks and collaboration. And only international education can produce the leaders needed by the global knowledge economy—and the profound changes it will bring about.”

Networks, collaboration, international education, global knowledge economy, profound changes…

Goodness gracious.

She is affiliated either through speaking engagements, awards, fellowships, etc., at numerous organizations that promote globalist viewpoints, feminism, and various groups that couch social and economic thinking through the lens of race, and all the trigger points in between.

One of the board members on her US-China Education Trust, Kurt Campbell, has been named to Resident Biden’s administration. Here USCET congratulates Mr. Campbell on his appointment:

“Washington, D.C. – On January 25, 2021, Kurt Campbell, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and former USCET Advisory Council member, assumed the position of Deputy Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs on the National Security Council.  The US-China Education Trust congratulates Kurt Campbell on his new role in the Biden – Harris Administration during this unprecedented time in US-China relations.  We are grateful for Kurt’s service on the USCET Advisory Council and wish him success and the best of luck in his new role in the administration.”

For context, here’s a Powerline article detailing the Biden’s penchant for China sympathizers.

Moving on.

Here is Mrs. Bloch being interviewed on China Global Television Network, a State-owned television station, which has had numerous complaints against it for propaganda and worse.

There is some interesting exchanges in the 20-minute interview. In an opinion piece about the video interview, the author focuses on American discrimination against Chinese immigrants. This is a mantra. Mitch even pitches it about poor Elaine’s childhood when she was teased at school and her family terrorized by Halloween trick-or-treaters. He even goes so far at one point to lament that Kentucky is very ‘white’.

In this article at China Daily, Chang Bloch is mentioned as being part of the conversation but never quoted. Here is a quote however, from the person, Yang Xinyu, minister counselor for educational affairs at the Chinese Embassy in the United States, who did seem to be talking to Bloch:

“Calling educational exchanges ‘the fundamental power of the over-all relations between the two countries,’ Yang said cooperation is the only option for the prosperity of both countries and for addressing common challenges to all mankind.”

It is clear the Chinese feel educational exchanges to be extremely important to fostering cooperation (as in, “You will cooperate!”) and prosperity (as in, “You make us rich!”) between the United States and China. This is not just a feel-good nod of benevolence, and the Chinese emphasis on it is deeply serious.

If you read enough of these articles by Chinese nationals, however, you can see that the Chinese feel they have come of age. They look upon the United States as an unequal–as in lesser–power, and their own problems with cultural superiority come shining through.

The Feminists. UGH.

Further on, I found an article that is boilerplate feminism. A puff piece about the husbands of women ambassadors, Mr. Bloch duly introduces himself as “Mr. Julia Chang Bloch,” and the article finishes with the obligatory story of how the diplomats spoke to the men and not the actual ambassadors about important things. Mrs. Bloch said, “I guess we will just have to work this out,” to her husband.

After her careers in government and business, Chang Bloch turned her focus to education.

From another article:

“In 1998, Julia resigned from the board of America West Airlines. In the same year, Peking University – China’s oldest modern university, consistently ranked in the top 50 universities worldwide – asked her to rebuild its American Studies Center. She became Executive Vice Chairman of its American Studies Center and a Visiting Professor at the Institute for International Relations. In 2001, she also joined Fudan University in Shanghai as a Visiting Professor and Distinguished Adviser of International Relations and Public Affairs.”

Here she is talking about the fallout of the Covid pandemic at the 2020 AmChamChina HR conference: Transforming and Attracting Talents in a World Changed By Covid-19.

Cultural Marxism and dissing Milton Friedman! The article is full of globalist pap:

“The most unpleasant part of the job was my having to remove my predecessor. He had been a banker all his life, and he was a follower of Milton Friedman’s doctrine that “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.” He took the fall, but no one at the bank saw any problem in supporting the Boy Scouts, America’s largest private youth organization. But in San Francisco, known as the “Gay Capital of the US,” politically active LGBT groups, including bank employees, cared about the Boy Scouts banning homosexuals from its ranks, and began picketing the bank’s headquarters.  At the same time, my predecessor was blindsided by the passion of the anti-abortion movement and got caught between activists on both sides.  I was able to manage this no-win situation because I did not treat it as non-business issue of little consequence. I listened to understand what was important to the activists and negotiated like a diplomat to reach deals. At the bank, I learned not only a lot about shareholder value, but also that business needs to be on top of issues outside of the corporate sphere to remain successful.”

She goes on about the need for “talent” for American businesses in China, and how cross-cultural education is important and so on. She often sounds very similar to the corporate Marxists who run so many of our largest US corporations.

Talent, Talent, Talent

The US-China Perception Monitor, which is affiliated with the Carter Center, interviewed Chang Bloch in March 2020 about the pillars of US and China relations. Here’s a snippet, but do notice how Chang Bloch asserts that American competitiveness may be dependent upon Chinese and other global “talent”:

“Zhang Juan: Some Americans emphasize the nature of competitiveness in US-China relations and argue that the US should be careful of training Chinese students. What would you say to these people?

Julia Bloch: America did not become great by being averse to competition. The competitive spirit drives America. What are our anti-trust laws for but to encourage competition? Competition can boost excellence, inspiring men and women to put out their best. Just look how crazy Americans are about sports. You cannot win by avoiding competition.

America also does not have a monopoly on education and training. The UK, Canada and Australia, to name a few countries, are great competitors. The current atmosphere where Chinese students feel increasingly unwelcome in America has created a decline in the growth in Chinese students coming to the US, to the benefit of countries only too happy to take up the slack.

There’s also, I think, a flip side to your question, which is that American competitiveness may very well depend on maintaining our inflow of Chinese students. The United States has the world’s leading higher education system today partly due to the talent we attract from not only China, but also from the rest of the world. So, to answer your question in short, should the United States be careful of training Chinese students? I think we would be shortsighted not to train them.” [My bolding]

Getting the picture? In general, the apothegm “You are known by the company you keep” is quite true. Mitch’s best friend and Elaine’s mentor, Julia Chang Bloch, is aligned with globalism and dedicated to bringing “talent” over from China via educational programs. And she’s been at it for 20 years.

Mitch Has Been Chinatized

I’ll leave you with one last gloriously cynical article that mentions Chang Bloch, but only in passing. It’s mostly a one-stop shop for dissecting Mitch McConnell’s and his wife’s China connections.

Kentuckians would be especially interested, as it focuses a bit on how Mitch has hoodwinked the good people of Kentucky, and just how does he manage to keep getting elected? Hmmm…

Gotham Buzz does a close shave on Shanghai Mitch, as he’s called in the article. A quote here:

“According to a June 6, 2019 report by the NYT,

‘… In 1989, shortly after their first date (at the Saudi ambassador’s home near Washington), Mr. McConnell was preparing for a re-election campaign. Greetings from Ms. Chao came in classic Washington fashion: a string of campaign donations, totaling $10,000, from Ms. Chao, her father, her mother, her sister May and May’s husband, Jeffrey Hwang, according to Federal Election Commission records…’

But donating money to McConnell appears to have been a good investment for the Chao family, as they keep on giving.”

Enjoy!

P. S. The love story between Mitch and Elaine is less than interesting. He has his assistant arrange a date with Elaine’s assistant and three years later Elaine tells him to $h*t or get off the pot.

Mitch’s other China connections are much more ‘sexy’, eh? 😊

2-17-21 Midweek Musings

6 th Ordinary Sunday
February 14, 2021
“Compassion”

Lev 13:1-2, 44-46
1 Cor 10: 31-11:1
Mk 1:40-45

My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord –

Certainly, all of the restrictions because of the Corona Virus are getting people down. Almost everything is limited, restricted, or prohibited. We must practice social distancing, wear masks, and not show ordinary signs of physical affection. We are cut off – or shut out – from most of what we, formerly, were able to do. Furthermore, if exposed, we must quarantine ourselves for two weeks. Perhaps, the worst off practically, are those who live alone, are sick, have no one to assist them, but require no hospitalization!

3500 years ago, the Chosen People faced similar restrictions if they were infected in any way. The Book of Leviticus tells us that any skin infection or disease required quarantine and isolation. Furthermore, if afflicted, they had to wear masks. If their condition persisted, they became social outcasts – They had to struggle to survive and had to forage for food. Worst of all, was that others absolutely shunned them, and many considered them to be cursed by God!

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus taught by his behavior how we should treat those who suffer in their distancing or with any isolating affliction. Jesus shows compassion. He does not consider the leper as accursed by God. Instead, he sees the poor man as one of God’s suffering children. Moreover, Jesus does an extraordinary thing. He reaches out and actually touches the diseased and contagious man. And the man is instantly healed. Then Jesus tells him to go to the priest for a formal declaration of health – and to make an offering in thanksgiving for his restoration to health.

Today, there are many healthcare workers who are imitating Jesus as they care for those hospitalized because of the Corona Virus. Most are not doing the work because of the salaries they get – but because their vocation is one of caring and compassion. They are certainly at risk, themselves, for what they do – and many have died. May God bless them for their compassionate service!

In his Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul teaches us how every Christian disciple must behave in everything that we do. Whether we are eating, drinking, or doing anything else, we must do everything for the glory of God! We must always treat everyone with kindness and compassion – not because of selfish reasons – not because we want something from them – We must treat them in the best way possible because that is what Jesus, himself, would do!

As Jesus revealed God the Father who sent him, we must reveal Jesus who is the image of God. We must reveal Jesus and make him present to others by our behavior, our actions, and our attitude. Every aspect of our behavior should lead others to see not our goodness, but the goodness of God and His glory. This is the only real reason to do anything – and our purpose for life in this world.

Brothers and Sisters, in today’s Gospel, the healed leper made an offering in thanksgiving for what God had done for him through Jesus. How often do we make an offering to God in gratitude for what we have received? Moreover, these alms best be given to the poor in our midst – as well as to the millions of poor in the world! Just think what could happen throughout the world if every person who was blessed by God would share what they have with those who have so much less!

Although the godless wealthy often do nothing for the poor, we must make God visible by our compassionate actions. We must reach out to others to help, to serve, and to bless them with our gifts.

So, let us pray, today, that we may learn to make Jesus present to everyone – by who we are and by all that we do! Amen. February 14, 2021 Msgr.

February 7, 2021
Msgr. Russell G. Terra
Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church
2040 Walnut Avenue Redding CA
*http://www.stjosephredding.org/home.html

Dear KMAG: 20210215 Joe Biden Didn’t Win Daily Open Thread

Joe Biden didn’t win. This is our Real President:

This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread is VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).

Yes, it’s Monday…again.

But it’s okay! We’ll get through it.

Free Speech is practiced here at the Q Tree. But please keep it civil. We’re on the same side here so let’s not engage in friendly fire.

Please also consider the Important Guidelines, outlined here. Let’s not give the odious Internet Censors a reason to shut down this precious haven that Wolf has created for us.

Please pray for our real President, the one who actually won the election:

For your listening enjoyment, I offer this Sea Shanty song, titled ‘The Wellerman’:

Yeah, I know…the suckage continues.

Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces. We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.

Joe Biden didn’t win.

I will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get his Fraudulency out of our White House.

Wheatie’s Word of the Day:

hapless

‘Hapless’ is an adjective that means…without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy.  And what is ‘hap’ you might ask? Hap means…fortune, chance.

Used in a sentence:

We shall henceforth set out to make all RINOs into hapless and unelected RINOs.

Know Your Villains: Mitch McConnell, Part Two

Part One here.

So, I’m moving through Senator Mitch McConnell’s memoir, “The Long Game.” I had intended to go through it and comment on each chapter, but honestly, it is getting more and more revealing as I read through it. What seemed scandalous in one chapter is nothing compared to the next chapter.

Because Mitch is in the thick of the news right now (having lost perhaps the biggest gamble he’s made in his long, long career) I think it is only right to let him expose himself. I’m going to quote his own words and give some background when appropriate.

That the people of Kentucky have begun a recall effort against Mitch is fitting. I believe he couldn’t care a less about anyone not in his social and political sphere; and that the only constituents he gives a rip about are ones who can do something for him.

I was going to quote some of the narrative of how he won his first run for senator and then his second. But it’s just the boilerplate story that all narcissistic politicians relate: Humble background, had to fight for whatever he accomplished, hometown boy makes good sort of stuff.

It is clear to me, from reading his own memoir, that Mitch McConnell is a Republican only in the sense that it is the vehicle for his political ambitions.

From, The Conservative Treehouse



Mitch won a 1984 election squeaker against the incumbent Democrat and happily took a seat in the Senate. He got right to work planning for his reelection campaign. He says:


“At its best, the Senate is a place where consensus is necessary and my main job was to practice patience, make decisions on principle, as I’d learned from John Sherman Cooper, and try to ensure I got a second term.” [My bolding]

Mitch McConnell, The Long Game

Consensus and compromise and principles are recurring themes with Mitch. These are the values he twisted over many decades in order to justify his senatorial decisions. National and global issues were Mitch’s playground. He counted on his constituents back home to be uninformed and uninterested in national and world affairs.

“Remaining true to my conviction was, as Cooper taught me and Edmund Burke had argued two centuries earlier, the essential element of being a good senator. Another critical requisite for becoming an effective senator is to remain one, and therefore I knew that one of my most important jobs during my first term was to make sure I got a second one.” [My bolding]

Mitch McConnell, The Long Game

For Mitch, being “true to my conviction” was how he could vote for LBJ, support George H. W. Bush over Robert Dole, the Majority Leader when Mitch came into the Senate, or support the seemingly endless wars in the Middle East, or even to oppose free speech for a President of the United States while defending flag burning as an expression of it. Mitch said,

“…I became the lead proponent of defending flag burning as a constitutional right.”

Mitch McConnell, The Long Game

It’s how he can brag about the people he lists who have spoken at the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville:


“In addition to the scholarships, the center also provides students the opportunity to meet and interact with the long list of incredibly talented speakers we would bring—Colin Powell, Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, Chief Justice John Roberts, Vice President Joe Biden…” [My bolding]

Mitch McConnel from The Long Game

These are the names from the “long list of incredibly talented speakers” Mitch chooses to list. From our 2021 vantage point, is this not telling?

Here’s Mitch on his opposition to term limits:


“I agreed with the Contract with America, except for one thing: term limits, which—fortunately was the one item that didn’t pass the House. To put it bluntly, term limits is one of the worst ideas that’s ever come on the American scene. It’s born of the shortsighted notion that learning and experience is bad, when just the opposite is true…From what I saw in the most experienced of my colleagues—people like Ted Kennedy, George Mitchell, Bob Dole, and Pete Domenici—they’d been convinced of things as a result of their experience…I knew we didn’t need to legislate term limits, because we already had them. They’re called elections.” [My bolding]

From The Long Game

The irony is so thick you almost need a chainsaw to cut through it. If only we had elections instead of selections by the DC System and their foreign friends. But I suspect Mitch knows that already.

In 1998, Mitch is named in the National Journal as a VIP. He writes,

“Much to my surprise, I’d been included on the National Journal’s list of the hundred most important people in Washington, DC, among people like Bill and Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.” [My bolding]

Mitch McConnell, The Long Game


King-maker/King-breaker

The names he chooses to drop are intriguing. But then his forked tongue speaks and Mitch talks about Bill Clinton’s impeachment, and how he was for it. Mitch, the guy who never wanted to be president, sure does seem to want to take them down. Here is how Mitch viewed Clinton’s impeachment:



“While some of my Democratic colleagues, like Senator Robert Byrd, later said that removing Clinton wouldn’t have been good for the country, I disagree. I think what’s not good for the country is the message that the president of the United States can subvert the justice system by lying under oath.”

Mitch McConnell, The Long Game

And what did Mitch do after President Trump was acquitted in the Senate impeachment trial? He stands in the Senate and lies about the January 6th protest and accuses President Trump of fomenting violence. He impugns patriotic Americans by associating them with Antifa/BLM and other operatives who planned, executed and urged on people to breach the Capitol building.

Mitch, in his hatred of outsider President Trump and 75 million Americans who support him, was desperate to make this latest impeachment a bipartisan issue. What he did do, was ruin the careers of some RINOs (yay!) and expose himself as a jaded and corrupt power broker.


Mitch has chosen poorly. He’s been using and abusing the State and good people of Kentucky for decades in order to further his own political agenda and power, and now he’s going to pay for it. May the recall effort be successful. May the Deplorables win a key victory. Even if he survives the recall, Mitch will never again wield the kind of power he has up until now.

The System and Mitch’s preeminent place in it are hanging out there for us all to see now. The Minority Leader of the Senate is trapped in a gilded cage with miles of fencing and barbed wire around it. National Guard soldiers are freezing as they are forced to stand guard over the traitors who STOLE THE ELECTION OF 2020 and installed a doddering old fool who is controlled by Communist China.

This is what his compromising and principles have attained.

Mitch and many Republicans in Congress went along with THE STEAL. He’s comfortable with the direction our republic has now taken, back to the status quo before Trump. He never wanted it to change.


Mitch isn’t America First.
He’s Mitch First.

More to come on Mitch.

Dear KMAG 20210214 Open Topic

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 is 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.

Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion printed here: https://www.theqtree.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/

Let’s not give the Internet Censors a reason to shut down this intellectual haven that Wolf has created for us.

The Storm is upon us.
Please remember to Pray for our President.

And,

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.”

Guarding Your Heart

With all that’s going on these days with bogus impeachments, our stolen election and a world saturated with corruption and perversion, it’s difficult, and near impossible, not to be caught up in the complaining, disputes, contention, bitterness and anger that accompanies this attempt to destroy our nation’s relationship with God and it’s freedoms and justice.

In our country, a totally corrupt political party, corrupt courts, corrupt legislatures, corrupt media and corrupt citizens are willing participants in our nation’s destruction. And, internationally, corrupt countries and the corrupt rich, powerful elite join the effort. We are deluged on a daily basis with events that are destructive to civilized society, with the media doing all in its power to justify or cover up the corruption.

While it’s proper to aid as best we can the fight against this corruption, we’ve got to keep our minds on the fact that God is really in control here, and we, as citizens not of this world, need to pray, trust and believe that God will work out events so that, in the end, all will be according to His plan and for the good of those that trust in Him.

But, while events work toward their conclusion, we should be mindful that the evil forces of the world will use this opportunity to attempt to drag us away from God . . . both our thinking minds and our emotions.

Proverbs 4:23-26 instructs believers to, “above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.”

When Solomon refers to guarding the heart, he means the inner core of a person—the thoughts, feelings, desires, will, and choices that make that person who he or she is. The Bible tells us that our thoughts often dictate who we become (Proverbs 23:7, 27:19). The mind of a man reflects who he really is, not simply his actions or words. That is why God examines the heart of a man, not simply his outward appearance and what he appears to be (1 Samuel 16:7).

There are many ailments of the spiritual heart that can impair growth and development as a believer. Hardening of the spiritual heart can also occur. Hardening of the heart occurs when we are presented with God’s truth, and we refuse to acknowledge or accept it.

Although Egypt was stricken with one calamity after another when the pharaoh refused to release the Israelites from their bondage, he hardened his heart against the truth that God Almighty intended to deliver His people from Egypt (Exodus 7:22, 8:32, 9:34). In Psalm 95:7, King David pleaded with his people not to harden their hearts in rebellion against God as they did in the wilderness. There are many things that can harden the heart and lead a person to deny God and they keep a believer from having a free flow of God’s peace and blessings derived from obedience. Guarding against a rebellious spirit and cultivating a spirit of submissive obedience to God’s Word is an early step in guarding the heart.

Hardening of the heart occurs when believers engage in complaining, gossip, disputes, and contention. Believers are instructed many times to avoid grumbling, murmuring, and complaining (Exodus 16:3; John 6:43; Philippians 2:14). By engaging in these activities, believers shift their focus away from the plans, purposes, and past blessings of God to the things of the world. God sees this as a lack of faith, and without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Instead, Christians are instructed to strive for contentment in all things, trusting in God to provide what is needed in His good time (Hebrews 13:5). Guarding against a complaining spirit and cultivating a spirit of gratitude and trust is another step toward guarding the heart.

Anger, giving in to temptation, and pride fight against the spiritual heart. Anger makes believers more vulnerable to the temptation to hurt others with their actions and words. Ephesians 4:31–32 instructs, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Every Christian is locked in a constant, intense war with demonic forces. Many of us become so intent on fighting the external spiritual war that we forget that much of our battle is not with external forces, but with our own mind and thoughts. James 1:14–16 tells us, “Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.” Sin always begins in the mind. A sinner must first conceive and dwell on the sinful action before he actually carries it out. The first line of defense, therefore, must be to refuse to even contemplate a wrongful action. The apostle Paul tells us to take every thought captive, so that it conforms to the will of God (2 Corinthians 10:3–5).

Proverbs 16:18 tells us that pride leads to destruction. Proverbs 16:5, says, “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord.” Pride was the first great sin of Satan, when he thought that he could be like God and incited one third of the angels to attempt a coup in heaven (Ezekiel 28:17). For this reason, Satan was cast from heaven. Satan also tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden by appealing to her ego. He said, “For God knows that when you eat from [the forbidden tree] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Eve desired to be as wise as God, so she capitulated to Satan’s advice to eat of the fruit of the tree. Pride was, therefore, the downfall of man, as well. Satan did not want man to obey God but to become his own god—determining for himself reality, meaning, and ethics. This satanic philosophy is the foundational philosophy of sorcery, secular humanism, and New Age mysticism.

Avoiding anger, pride, and temptation are also critical elements of guarding the heart. The apostle Paul instructs us, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). Dwelling on these things will help to guard our hearts.

*https://www.gotquestions.org/guard-your-heart.html

2021·02·13 Joe Biden Didn’t Win Daily Thread

His Fraudulency

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.

But we do have a nice little distraction at the moment. Trump’s side took the floor today, and after only four hours of the sixteen they were allowed, let it rest.

I saw none of it, but the consensus seems to be that they kicked some ass, at least as far as rebutting the prosecution’s case is concerned. The Great Fraud was unaddressed and of course some are complaining about that.

I guess we’ll be discussing that today.

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.)

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 !!!

DEAR KAG: 20210212 Know Your Villains

It’s Know Your Foes Friday. Welcome to Wolf’s Pub, and before we go any further:


CHINA JOE BIDEN DIDN’T WIN


Foreign and Domestic actors conspired in ways great and small to install Resident “Cha China!” Biden in the White House.

Chilling.


Speaking of chilling, this cold snap is heinous. Even down here in Texas we are looking at temps to drop to almost zero in some places.

Time for a Toddy. A Hot Toddy.

Yes, our drink special today is designed to ward off the chill and the chills. Now, the Hot Toddy has a murky history in the mists of time, involving India and the British Isles, particularly Scotland, where the Hot Toddy has a storied place of honor. According to Vinepair,


“The toddy as we know it started in British-controlled India. In the 1610s, dictionary.com notes, the Hindi word “taddy” meant “beverage made from fermented palm sap.” By 1786, taddy was officially written down and defined as “beverage made of alcoholic liquor with hot water, sugar, and spices.”


Not to leave the Irish out of the mix, there is also a story that the Hot Toddy began with an Irish doctor:


“The other origin story tells the tale of an Irish doctor named Robert Bentley Todd, who ordered his patients to drink hot brandy, cinnamon, and sugar water. Most likely, the truth is a combination of the two stories, where doctors heard about the hot toddies from India and started incorporating them into prescriptions.”


Whatever its origin, the Hot Toddy has been a staple in cold winter places for centuries. It was even prescribed for children who came down with winter colds. I daresay it may even help relieve (if temporarily) the symptoms of the covid, though it cannot be said to free us of the false and politicized science behind it!

There are many recipes, some including tea, exotic spices and so on. Here’s one to ward off the winter. Language alert, but the guy is fun. As you will see explained in the video, the original recipe for a Hot Toddy was basically some hot water, some scotch (or bourbon or rum) and sugar. Let’s just say, the version below sounds delicious and medicinal at the same time.

And for our teetotalers, this recipe sounds wonderful with some good tea in place of the booze. Please join us and help the bouncers keep us in line.


Now that we are all huddled around the fireplace cupping a Hot Toddy in our cold hands, we must remember to keep things polite and civil. In this, the Dark Winter of Our Discontent, we have to hold the line on what it means to maintain our dignity and integrity in these times.

For a review of the rules, go HERE. Head over to the UTree to slug it out HERE. Otherwise, let us hold a vigorous discourse together as we sip our Toddy and remember that the so-called elite bureaucracy that has determined they know what is better for us than we know ourselves, are nothing but low-down scumbags with inflated egos and brains the size of walnuts.

Speaking of elites, I happened to pick up (for $1.99 at the local Dirt Cheap) a memoir by none other than Arch Villain Sen. Mitch McConnell. Published in 2016, it is terribly revealing from our vantage point in 2021. In his memoir McConnell tells us he never wanted the presidency. From early on his ambition was the Senate. From the intro to “The Long Game” by McConnell:


“Over the three decades I have been a US senator, I’ve been the subject of many profiles. I usually play the villain, according to the standard good guy/bad guy accounts favored by most Washington reporters. The more positive ones tend to focus on my ability to broker deals with supposed adversaries, keep my head when others don’t, and win elections I’m not supposed to.”

He set out to be a politician from the time he ran for (and won) the position of school president in high school. He goes on:


“…the place I feel most at ease is the Senate, an institution that rewards patience and confounds those who lack it…But when the Senate is allowed to work the way it was designed to—meaning a place where nothing is decided without a good dose of deliberation and debate, as well as input from both the majority and minority parties—it arrives at a result that is acceptable to people all along the political spectrum.”

You can see his self-deception here. What results over the last decade have been “acceptable to people all along the political spectrum” I ask you? Of what results does he speak?

Watching the CIRCUS in the Senate yesterday gives the lie to McConnell’s smooth bluster. Is the great Sen. McConnell single-handedly going to save the republic by his moderation and compromise?

McConnell plays the great southern gentleman politician here. This is his starring role. He mentions a hero of his, Kentucky Senator Henry Clay, known as the Great Compromiser. He actually studied Clay for his honors thesis.


“Learning about Clay, seeing what he was able to accomplish from his place in the US Senate, was the first time I began to feel the stirrings of hope that I might, in my very wildest dreams, follow in Clay’s footsteps and serve as a US senator myself.”


At least McConnell learned enough from Clay to not desire the presidency. Clay seemed to have run for the presidency an embarrassing amount of times, and never won. Clay was also a Whig, a reluctant slave owner (long after Washington and Jefferson), against the annexation of Texas, advocated for a national bank, and tried but failed to avert the Civil War through his ability to negotiate compromises.

You can’t make this stuff up.

McConnell also reveals that though he was a Barry Goldwater fan, he voted for Lyndon Baines Johnson because Goldwater had an ideological rigidity (he voted against the civil rights bill) that bothered him. Naturally, McConnell couches his decision back then in today’s politically correct terms of civil rights, and the Voting Rights Act and so on.

Apparently, this is to show his intellectual and socially-minded independence. He was right when the Right was Wrong, doncha know.

What is McConnell’s view of an elected representative’s responsibilities toward his constituents? McConnell mentions Edmund Burke.


“A British parliamentarian at the time of the American Revolution, Burke envisioned that people would elect representatives who would follow their own best judgment. This was, of course, well before the day of public-opinion polls, but many elected officials still felt compelled to pander to the popular view.”

Stunning.

He goes on to quote Burke:


“Your representative owes you not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”


IOW, ‘You stupid people, you elect me (who runs on the promise to implement your agenda) and then I do what I think is best.’

Folks, this is not representation.

It gets worse. McConnell talks about a former Kentucky senator (John Sherman Cooper) who he worked for early on in his career, one who practiced the kind of politics that McConnell is justifying.
Cooper was apparently unflappable when it came to standing up to his constituents. McConnell says,


“…it helped me to see that the best kind of representative—and a true leader—is one who doesn’t take a poll on every issue, or weigh the mail to determine how to vote. There are some matters of concern where constituents are right and others where the best representative does what he or she thinks ought to be done. If a constituent doesn’t agree with you, you can hope they at least like that you have conviction. If not, they can always vote you out.”

Except we can’t vote you OUT, Sen. McConnell. And now we know we can’t vote IN those we want, either.

You see the SYSTEM? It’s a Club and you aren’t in it. And the Club is hell bent on staying in power and depriving We the People of our power as enumerated in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Eventually, McConnell runs for Jefferson County judge (you see how important local elected positions are) as a springboard to running for national office.

And let me tell ya, McConnell runs like your garden variety politician. He’s going to clean up the county. He’s going to fix things. He’s going to get rid of the bureaucratic lock and get things moving. He’s a real hustler. He’s at industrial parks early in the morning shaking hands and promising to FIX THINGS.

He gets elected, beating the incumbent. Read what he says he does after being sworn in as county judge:


“After being sworn in as county judge, there were two things I did immediately: buy my first pair of Brooks Brothers shoes, just like the kind Senator Cooper had worn, and with no intention of hiding my statewide ambitions, begin to look for ways to become better known throughout Kentucky.”


McConnell runs for reelection in 1981 and wins. He writes:


“I immediately began to lay the groundwork for a run for the Senate.”


And then he gets divorced from the mother of his three children. It was amicable, though. So that’s good, eh?

Okay, that’s enough for today. I’m on Chapter Five. I know it is only going to get worse.

Senator Mitch McConnell, for all your talk of moderation, of compromise, of senatorial splendor, you are nothing but an ambitious, power hungry, double-dealing POS in Brooks Brothers shoes.
You don’t represent Kentucky. You don’t represent anyone or anything but your own sick ambitions.

You are a snake. You are exactly the opposite of what you represent yourself to be. You aren’t a conservative. You are whatever best serves your interests. You betrayed the American People and your President, Donald J. Trump. You represent nothing but the desire for power.

Three decades in the Senate and how have you improved government? Instead, ambition consumed you before you ever made a run for public office. Like some disgusting Gollum, you executed your machinations against the interests of those who entrusted to you their sacred vote. You and China Joe…birds of a feather…

You became fabulously wealthy “serving” as a senator in the United States Congress. You served us up and then served yourself.

Sen. McConnell embodies the Club.

Congress is filled with his ilk. The hysterical and frankly embarrassing Senate trial against our great President Trump (and he is our duly elected president) is helping to expose the deeply immoral state of our elected representatives and how they sell us down the river in service to moneyed interests, foreign powers, and a globalist agenda.

McConnell and his friends are our foes. He seeks glory as a compromising influence in the Senate. Yet our freedoms are bleeding out because of politicians like McConnell. Let us learn of them, and learn to defeat them. See The Precinct Project.

https://youtu.be/6TADnSeBXJA


This is not Right versus Left, Republican versus Democrat. This is an elite, globalist cabal against the rest of us, but you wonderful Qtreepers know that. I’m preaching to the choir.

The idea that a Congress, with an approval rating of less than 20% keeps getting reelected, is an indication that our election system is fraudulent.

Let this serve as your notice, Senator McConnell (and the rest of you asses in Congress):


CHINA JOE BIDEN DIDN’T WIN.

WE WILL NEVER BOW DOWN TO CHINA.

WE ARE NEVER GOING TO CONCEDE.

2-10-21 Midweek Musings

5 th Ordinary Sunday
February 7, 2021
“A Witness in Suffering”

Job 7:1…7
1 Corinthians 9:16…23
Mark 1:29-39

My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord –

Most people aren’t adults very long before they are confronted with some of the great hardships of life for themselves or for their loved ones. A life-altering accident, a serious disease like cancer, the untimely death of a parent or child, chronic pain, a disability, the loss of a business or income, estrangement from a family member – any of these things – can bring pain, anxiety, sleepless nights, and an overwhelming sense of hopelessness.

Some become depressed. Some will turn to alcohol or prescription drugs – especially if they live with chronic pain. Some will turn to others for support or therapy. And, sadly, some will even take their own life!

However, those who are able to cope best of all, are those who turn to God. Moreover, if and when they turn to God, they begin to understand that suffering is part of the “great panorama of life” – and this panorama always has elements of mystery within it!

Job, of the Old Testament reading, certainly understood suffering. He had lost all of his children, all of his great wealth, his physical health, and the sense of God’s presence. He also incurred the disdain of his wife and his friends. At one point, his wife even urged him “to curse God and die”!

So, today, Job states that all of life is a drudgery. We are like hired servants or even slaves! There is no escape – and even sleep will not come when the pain and the anxiety are incessant! However, Job did not curse God; but he questioned God, nevertheless. And God gave him no answers! Suffering is a mystery for the innocent victim. It can also be a test. Suffering, if accepted, can bring peace and hope for a future that would take place only with the coming of Jesus – and Job’s ultimate restoration symbolizes that!

In the Gospel of Mark, God reveals through Jesus that there is more to life than our experience here. There is more to pain and suffering than the death that our life here inevitably brings. Every cure that Jesus worked, every possession he eliminated – was a sign that the Reign of God had begun.

The Kingdom of God, in its heavenly fullness, awaited all those who accepted Jesus and his teaching, kept his commandments, and lived as faithful disciples during their time here.

In the great parable of the Book of Job, Job eventually recovered more than all he had lost. However, it was only in his own lifetime, because the scripture writer had no knowledge of a blessed and eternal afterlife.

Nevertheless, Jesus was no parable. He was the real thing! Furthermore, the fullness of life in the kingdom he promised was true. It was a reality that was proved when Jesus rose from the dead!

Other than those in ministry, most disciples preach the Gospel through the witness of their lives. However, today, St. Paul tells us that we can do this willingly or grudgingly.

Yet, there is no escape from the obligation that every Christian has to be an example of how to live the Gospel. We are to be a blessing for everyone whom we meet, as well as for those with whom we live and associate.

No one has an easy life. Even the extremely wealthy and those with robust health are not exempt from suffering and eventual death. Moreover, the greatest suffering in this life is to feel bereft of God. It is to have no belief in God or hope for an eternal life beyond our life here.

Consequently, in every case, we are to meet people where they are. We must relate to all people as Jesus did – and Paul, after him. Thus, we can bring compassion to those who suffer – We can bring forgiveness to those who have sinned – We can bring true mercy to those who are poor and deprived of material necessities – We can bring hope and emotional support to those who are in the throes of hopelessness and despair. And we can open up the possibility that there is something more for those who refuse to believe.

Brothers and Sisters, the life of a Christian disciple is a challenging one because it opens us to everyone in the world in a different way. It can be achieved only through prayer and the presence of God. Jesus, himself, had to draw apart to be alone with his Father at frequent intervals. And so, let us pray that we learn to make time alone with our Divine Father every day of our lives!

Amen.

February 7, 2021
Msgr. Russell G. Terra
Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church
2040 Walnut Avenue Redding CA
*http://www.stjosephredding.org/home.html