“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert.” –J. Robert Oppenheimer
Experience being the best teacher when it comes to dealing with San Fran Nan, the Mafiosa Madame currently known as Pelosi, any time there is a gigantic bill of any sort passed in the House of Representatives, it’s a good idea to read the thing to find out what’s in it.
Not doing so gave us a piece of legislation we can’t get rid of known as “ObamaCare”.
We the People have learned our lesson and as the day has worn on, our Q Treepers have been busy cataloguing who gets funds…and who doesn’t.
So, boldly cherry picking relevant posts from Monday, December 21st’s daily, here’s what we know:
No aid to cities and states BUT New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it stands to receive $4 billion of aid from the economic stimulus agreement.
Government takes 20% plus of your income during your lifetime in taxes, fees and fines…and now wants our thanks for a lousy $600 bucks? PS Congress critters have been collecting their $174K salaries all through this plandemic while they shut down YOUR businesses & jobs pic.twitter.com/yKQwCmKdKy
— GrrrGraphics-Ben Garrison 🤠 Cartoons 🇺🇸 (@GrrrGraphics) December 21, 2020
seeing more tweets and headlines about this… another 14 million for the Kennedy Center 700 million to the Sudan 1.3 billion to Egypt for their military…
I didn’t know the American people desperately needed two new Smithsonian museums to get through this pandemic. https://t.co/GuawxqANTz
I think, over the recent past, that I’ve heard enough, maybe too much, of the events concerning the enormous voting fraud, and the sedition and treason involved. The seemingly endless details, sometimes conflicting, and their various interpretations; the admonitions of what the President should have done or should do; and the various predictions of the events of the future and their specific consequences have overflowed my retention capacity.
God has made it abundantly clear from His Word that He is in control of these matters, and that they will, ultimately, work out for the good of those that love Him. Ultimately . . . not necessarily what we may see or desire . . . but ultimately and all in accordance with His perfect plan.
I find it calming, comforting and reassuring to step back, up and out, of the morass of the details of the day and into some of the more basic concepts of God’s Word. So that’s what I’m going to do for today . . . just let God’s Word speak to us for a bit.
Ecclesiastes 1:12-18 I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be afflicted. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered. I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge.” And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs. The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Respect God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
Psalm 1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 100 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.
1 Thessolonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Philippians 4:4-6 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Revelation 22:18-20 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
NOTE: There is some confusion about this, and it’s MY fault for not explaining it well enough. Regardless of where you are, you should be out basically as soon as it gets fairly dark, and watch until Jupiter and Saturn set. There IS an instant of absolute closest approach between Jupiter and Saturn, but it matters so little I haven’t even bothered to look it up; for all I know it’s 3 AM my time and I won’t be able to see it. The important thing is for you to see Jupiter and Saturn before they set, and that will be at about the same time, LOCAL, anywhere, less than two hours after sunset.
(The reason I harped on 5 PM my time, which is conveniently the right time for me to start looking, is that the data I got from NASA is for that exact time (midnight UTC).)
You might remember this diagram from last week. It’s a diagram of our solar system on Monday, at 5 PM Mountain Time, minus Mars, Venus, Mercury and everything past Saturn, showing an apparent lineup of Jupiter and Saturn as seen from Earth.
In 3D the lineup is pretty good too, both Jupiter and Saturn are in fact slightly ‘inside’ your monitor and they will be 1/5 of the full moon’s width apart in the sky, or one tenth of a degree of arc.
Astronomers like to denote distances “up there” as seen from Earth as angles, because that way it doesn’t matter how far away something is. It’s easiest to measure those angles–that’s what we can directly observe. Distances are harder, sometimes much harder. I gave a link last time to the story of how the distance between the earth and sun were first measured using a Venus transit in the 1700s. Since we knew the ratios of the planets’ distances from the sun, expressing everything in AUs (astronomical units, where 1AU is the mean distance from the earth to the sun), that gave us the size of each planet’s orbit by simple multiplication. We could then use the “absolute” number giving the size of Earth’s orbit to measure the distance to the nearer stars, but that was extremely finicky measuring and didn’t get done until the mid 1800s. It’s as if measuring distances is a ladder; each method gives us results we can carry forward to measure the distances to things further and further away. (Of course doing this causes measurement errors to pile up, but they’re still far better than complete guesswork.)
Astronomers still use AUs routinely for talking about the sorts of distances you’d see within a star’s planetary system–even other stars’ planetary systems–because otherwise they’d be tossing around numbers with eight or nine zeros at the end of them.
OK, so, why is Earth at the top of the diagram? Was that some arbitrary choice I made?
Well, it’s arbitrary, but it’s not my choice. And it is handy having the diagram be taller than it is wide; if it hadn’t turned out that way when I plotted it from real position data, I’d have rotated the diagram.
The data from NASA, and therefore the diagram, are expressed in something called “Heliocentric Ecliptic Coordinates.” There are X, Y and Z values for Earth, Jupiter and Saturn, and I just plotted them. (It also gives velocity components in the X, Y, and Z directions.) This is a 3-D version of the “Cartesian” coordinates that, if/when you had algebra, was what you used to graph functions. Instead of squares on graph paper, imagine cubes.
The center of this big three-dimensional grid is the center of gravity of the Solar System (practically dead center in the Sun). But which way do the axes point? A choice had to be made. It didn’t cosmically matter which way we pointed the axes, but astronomers had to come up with a common convention. What’s fairly obvious and convenient is that the X-Y plane (where Z is zero) should be the plane of Earth’s orbit about the Sun, and the Z axis should probably run through the center of the sun with the positive end going out the Sun’s north pole (or close to it, just so it’s at a right angle to the XY plane). Those decisions come from the physical characteristics of Earth’s orbit around the sun. But we still haven’t defined which way the X and Y axes point, even if we know what plane they are in.
So here comes the arbitrary decision, made sometime centuries ago: The X axis runs in the direction in which, we on Earth, see the sun to be at the exact moment of the March equinox (which is “spring” for most people). So we are sighting through the sun to establish the X axis.
Which means that at that moment, Earth is at roughly X=-1.0 AU, the Sun of course is at X=0.0 AU, and it is Earth’s position at the beginning of (northern hemisphere) fall that is at X=+1.0 AU.
If you look at my diagram, at 3 o’clock on the diagram, on the circle of earth’s orbit, is where Earth is on the first day of autumn–straight to the right of the “origin” which is where x=1.0 ought to be on any self-respecting graph. At 12 o’clock is the winter solstice (+Y axis), at 9 o’clock is the spring equinox (-X), and at 6 o’clock is the summer solstice (-Y). You’ll notice I went around the “clock” counter-clockwise. That’s because almost everything in our solar system runs counter-clockwise. The planets rotate counter-clockwise, all of the major moons and planets orbit counter-clockwise, and so on, of course this is all as seen from over the north pole of the Sun, our viewpoint being somewhere along the +Z axis.
Here’s the same diagram with the X and Y axes superimposed.
[By the way, how did we decide which direction would be “clockwise”? We did pick a direction, we could have picked the other direction for clocks to run in. Why didn’t we? Well this time there is a reason. In Europe, the shadow on a sundial moves in that direction. If our civilization had started in the southern hemisphere, long odds are that we’d draw our maps with south at the top, our globes would be mounted with south at the top, and our clocks would run counter-clockwise. And the people in the northern hemisphere would have to endure all those jokes about being upside down.]
Returning to our coordinate system, the Y axis goes through the spot where the earth is at (northern hemisphere) winter solstice. Which is pretty much where we will be this Monday. That’s why Earth is straight “up” from the Sun in my diagram.
Which way is Z? It’s straight up out of your screen, right at you. So when I said Jupiter and Saturn were slightly inside your screen, it’s because they have very small negative Z values.
One way to draw directions into an out of the monitor, or a blackboard, which is how I learned it many, many years ago, is to use ⨯ for into the monitor and ⋅ or even ⊙ for out of it. This is meant to suggest an arrow with four tail feathers and a conical head, the dot is the point of the arrow (facing you, out from the monitor or chalkboard)–circled just shows you the entire arrowhead looking at you straight on. The ⨯ suggests the four tail feathers when the arrow is pointing into the monitor (or chalkboard).
One more thing about coordinate systems (if you haven’t gotten bored yet), the issue of “right handed” versus “left handed.” If you use your right hand to point, like a kid making a gun with his fingers, along the X axis, and your other fingers bend towards the Y axis, and your thumb points along the Z axis, it’s a right handed system. If you can’t get this to work with some coordinate system, try your left hand. If that works, you are using a left handed system.
These ecliptic coordinates I got from NASA are right-handed.
And it’s cool that this diagram just happened to lay out well without having to be rotated. Those of you who remember your algebra and “graphing things” should find a lot of this familiar.
OK that’s enough of that rather abstract stuff. Now I’m going to try to explain why all of “great conjunctioning” is happening in the southwestern sky after sunset.
First, imagine yourself somewhere on the line between sun and Earth, and you are facing towards the earth, with the Sun shining on your back.
Or, imagine my first diagram tilting away from you as shown, and you being transported to the big white X in the upper left. Then continue tilting until you are edge-on.
What do you see? Well, because it’s the winter Solstice, this is what you see.
Globe simulating Earth seen from the sun at December Solstice
Well, OK you won’t see all the labels and so forth, and especially not the big metal thing on the south pole, but the thing to notice is that the south pole is visible and the north pole is not. The earth’s axis is tilted with respect to the ecliptic (the plane we’re standing on in our little mind-experiment). It stays pointing in the same direction (almost–it moves slowly, so slowly you’ll never notice). So as it moves around its orbit, from right to left in this diagram, there are times when the north pole points away from the sun (and us) and times when it points towards the sun. This coming Monday just happens to be the day when the north pole is pointed as much away from the sun as it ever is (that’s the definition of the December solstice).
In the upper right, not very visible, is North America. The earth rotates west to east, so North America is about to go onto the far side, the dark side–it’s late in the day there. Here are some annotations and a set of axes in the lower left. Notice Z is now up, because +Y points into the picture.
Now here’s a side view. Going back to the original diagram, it’s as if we tilted it this way, instead.
But if we’re going to imagine ourselves standing on the diagram, we need to make it horizontal, like this:
So, finally, here’s a “side” view of Earth from the right.
“Side” view.
From this vantage point, the earth is moving directly away from us in its orbit. On the first diagram, we’re somewhere to the right of earth, looking toward it.
Any horizontal line on this last picture, points at the sun. And if you can imagine some Deplorable in flyover country standing in Kansas, looking at the setting sun…well, it’s not to the west. It’s south of west. Because west is actually to the left and up in the diagram, not straight to the left, as shown below. And north is kind of tilted askew because the ground that deplorable is standing on is actually tilted away from us (imagine standing where the compass rose is).
This is why the Sun is setting to the south of west at this time of year (someone asked me about that a few days ago, I hope she’s reading this).
But what about Jupiter and Saturn? Well, let’s back up a bit. Here’s the diagram “tilting” again. Notice the diagonal dashed line (I don’t know why but my graphics software turned it into a dashed line); that’s the line to Jupiter and Saturn.
So, imagine it tilting all the way…and that diagonal line becomes a line running left from Earth to Jupiter and Saturn, but it also slopes up and out of the screen!
The horizon plane for our sunset-viewing Deplorable was tilted, some, away from us, but the sun is on that plane because it’s sunset. Jupiter and Saturn are above that plane, also in the southwest, at sunset.
Which, for our Deplorable in Kansas who’s watching the sunset, means they’re still up above the horizon.
If I have been doing my job as a writer, you’ve been following me and understand this, and you can see how in three dimensions it all hangs together now. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if many here are still confused. It’s tough to do this sort of thing even with diagrams.
But at least now you should know where to look on Monday evening!
And just to put the icing on the cake, here’s a photo I took just as it was getting dark on Wednesday, facing in the general direction of sunset. The two visible “dots” in the sky are Jupiter (brighter one) and Saturn (dimmer one, above and left of Jupiter). Even after it’s dark they will be noticeably brighter than any star, particularly in that part of the sky.
Justice Must Be done.
Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People...Our campaign represents a true existential threat, like they’ve never seen before.
Then-Candidate Donald J. Trump
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.)
The Mandatory Coin
Hopefully I’ll think of something before 10 PM my time on Friday. If not, you’ll find yourself reading this.
Standard Disclaimer: These are not my notes. In this particular case, though, I will admit to owning examples of all three of the notes that were issued.
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
Just two more things, my standard Public Service Announcements. We don’t want to forget them!!!
How Not To Find Yourself In Contention For The Darwin Award (Nothing to do with bearded dragons)
It has been pointed out that all of the rioting is nominally on account of criminals who resisted arrest in one form or another, and someone suggested schools ought to teach people not to resist arrest.
Granted an “ass kicking” isn’t the same as being shot, but both can result from the same stupid act. You may ultimately beat the rap, but you aren’t going to avoid the ride.
China is Lower than Whale Shit
To conclude: My standard Public Service Announcement. We don’t want to forget this!!!
Remember Hong Kong!!!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
Oh beautiful for spacious skies For amber waves of grain For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain
America, America! God shed His grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea
Oh beautiful for pilgrim feet Whose stern impassioned stress A thoroughfare of freedom beat Across the wilderness
America, America God mend thine every flaw Confirm thy soul in self-control Thy liberty in law
Oh beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife Who more than self their country loved And mercy more than life
America, America May God thy gold refine Till all success be nobleness And every gain divine
Oh beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears
America, America God shed His grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea
Oh beautiful for spacious skies For amber waves of grain For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain
America, America God shed His grace on thee Till souls wax fair as earth and air And music hearted sea
Oh beautiful for pilgrims feet Whose stem impassioned stress A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the wilderness
America, America God shed His grace on thee Till paths be wrought through wilds of thought By pilgrim foot and knee
Oh beautiful for glory tale Of liberating strife When once and twice for man’s avail Men lavished precious life
America, America God shed His grace on thee Till selfish gain no longer stain The banner of the free
Oh beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears
America, America God shed His grace on thee Till nobler men keep once again Thy whiter jubilee
How the battle will be won!
Mine eyes have seen the glory Of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage Where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning Of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on.
Chorus Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watchfires Of a hundred circling camps They have builded Him an altar In the evening dews and damps; I can read His righteous sentence By the dim and flaring lamps; His day is marching on.
Chorus Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet That shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men Before His judgement seat; Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him; Be jubilant, my feet; Our God is marching on.
Chorus Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in His bosom That transfigures you and me; As He died to make men holy, Let us die to make men free; While God is marching on.
Chorus Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
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.
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 WHAT TIME IS IT? TIME TO DRAIN THE SWAMP!!!
It’s time to replace a failed and CORRUPT political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People. ~ Candidate Donald J. Trump
Also remember Wheatie’s Rules:
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
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.”
JOSEPH
As Christmas approaches, once again the prominent parts of the Christmas story take front and center: the visit of the angel Gabriel, Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, the trip to Bethlehem, nowhere to stay, the manger, the host of angels, the shepherds and their visit to the manger, Simeon and Anna, the star, the wise men, the escape to Egypt, the return to Israel and then to Nazareth.
A part of the Christmas story I think could stand a closer examination is Joseph, who comes to prominence as the husband of Mary. I think his character and actions should be front and center as a role model for a host of Christians.
The Bible doesn’t have a lot to say about Joseph, but what it does say speaks volumes.
The first is that Joseph was a righteous man. By this I take it that Joseph did all that was required, and perhaps more, by the Jewish religious law of the time. That he was righteous, to me, means his actions were from his heart . . . not just actions to satisfy some religious requirement.
Joseph obeyed God. Through dreams, God told Joseph that he should 1. Take Mary as his wife. 2. Flee with Mary and Jesus to Egypt. 3. Return from Egypt. 4. Beware of Archelaus (so he went to Nazareth)
Joseph had no questions, didn’t ask for a sign, and didn’t object. He simply believed and obeyed – and that obedience involved traveling with Mary . . . to Bethlehem, to Egypt, back to Israel and then to Nazareth.
Other than those instances, Joseph worked, apparently quietly, as a carpenter, raising Jesus and his brothers and sisters and, also apparently, dying just 30 years or less later.
So, Joseph was a righteous man . . . that is a very big pole in the tent. That means Joseph was doing God’s will . . . doing what’s pleasing to God.
When we trust Jesus as our Savior, God sees our faith as righteousness.
2 Corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
1 Corinthians 1:30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
When God looks at us, He sees Christ’s righteousness . . . but that doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels. We are still called to “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) This is an impossible task for us, but it, nevertheless, with the help of the Holy Spirit, is our goal.
Joseph listened to God and then did what God said. God speaks primarily to us through His Word, and by reading God’s Word we are “listening” to Him. It is now up to us, with help from the Holy Spirit, to put what God tells us into action.
Joseph’s profession was that of a carpenter. And He, apparently, did his work in such a manner that it was pleasing to God. Our work, too, falls under God’s will.
As Bondservants in Christ, “whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. ” Colossians 3:23-24
1 Corinthians 4:10-11 But we urge you, brethren, that you increase [your love] more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your own hands . . .
Strive for righteousness, read God’s Word and act on it, lead a quiet life, mind your own affairs, and do your work as to the Lord. I would say that Joseph has given us quite a role model to follow.
We should keep Joseph well in mind as we get caught up in the “Be all you can be” and even the “Be Best” of the frenetic lifestyle that is pushed our way these days.
Perhaps “Be still and know that I am God” should be first in our minds these days . . . particularly in these days.
And, never ever forget that: 1. We are passing through a temporary kingdom on the way to an eternal kingdom. 2. GOD WINS ! ! !
Instead of politics, I’m going to talk about what’s about to happen on the 21st at about 5PM.
Jupiter and Saturn, which appear in the southwestern sky shortly after sunset, will appear in our sky only 6 arc minutes apart. When they come close to each other like this, it’s called a Great Conjunction, because it’s the rarest of all possible conjunctions involving planets visible with the naked eye.
Jupiter and Saturn in Sagittarius (you can see the “teapot” asterism) earlier this summer. The central black hole of the Milky Way Galaxy is somewhere in that direction also. (Photo by me.)
That is one fifth of the apparent width of the full moon.
It’s also about the width of six quarters, laid out side to side, at a hundred yards, or about a six inch wide object at that distance.
As of 5 PM Friday the 11th, Mountain Time, or 0000 Zulu on the 12th, they are 1.08 degrees apart in the sky, which is to say about 65 arc minutes. (60 arc minutes makes a degree).
I know this because I downloaded a bunch of sun-centered coordinates for Earth, Jupiter and Saturn from the NASA website, built a spreadsheet to do the calculations to center the coordinates on earth, then did a vector cross product of the normalized vectors and took the arcsine. (That either meant something to you…or it didn’t!) What you are about to see here in my diagrams, below, is the real stuff, with the real planetary positions, as best as I can draw it; it’s not some notional cartoon.
As of 5 PM on the 21st, Mountain Time, the separation is 0.105 degrees, which is 6.3 arc minutes.
If you look through a telescope at 5PM MST on the 21st, this is what you will see:
A view showing how the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction will appear in a telescope pointed toward the western horizon at 6 p.m. CST, Dec. 21, 2020. The image is adapted from graphics by open-source planetarium software Stellarium. (This work, “jupsat1,” is adapted from Stellarium by Patrick Hartigan, used under GPL-2.0, and provided under CC BY 4.0 courtesy of Patrick Hartigan)
Yes, you will see Jupiter and Saturn in the SAME field of view, without having to shift!
Now if you’ve been watching Jupiter and Saturn since this summer, when they were essentially right on top of the Summer Milky Way Galaxy, you noticed they were close. They don’t seem much closer today, but they’re going to get a lot closer, a lot faster now.
What’s going on?
Again, going back to my NASA data dump, I can create a picture, looking down from above the Sun’s north pole, of 5 PM on the 12th. The dots representing the planets and sun are actually much too large, but the distances are to scale.
My diagram, drawn from NASA supplied heliocentric ephemerides. (One thing I had to cheat on is the orbits, I drew them as perfect circles centered on the Sun, and they really aren’t, quite, but they’re close.)
The arrows correspond to how fast (and in what direction) the planets are moving around the Sun, and they’re even scaled…the length of the shaft of the arrow is how much it will move in ten days (ignore the head of the arrow, which is sized to be bigger than the shaft for Saturn’s arrow).
Earth is “up” from the Sun in this diagram because the way the coordinate system is defined, it’s on the X axis to the right of the sun at the beginning of fall (in the northern hemisphere). A quarter of a year later, Earth has moved almost ninety degrees around its orbit, so it will be near the Y axis, “above” the Sun.
You can see that the earth is moving one way (“left” on the diagram), and Jupiter and Saturn are moving the other way (right-ish), and furthermore that Jupiter is catching up to Saturn. (Since both Jupiter and Saturn are moving in nearly-circular orbits, and Jupiter is closer to the Sun, Jupiter moves faster than Saturn, and Earth moves faster still. See Kepler’s second and third laws.) With Jupiter to the left of the Earth-Saturn line, and moving rightwards towards that line, and Earth moving to the left, dragging one end of the Earth-Saturn line with it, Jupiter’s going to find itself on that line pretty doggone quickly.
My diagram, drawn from NASA supplied heliocentric ephemerides. (One thing I had to cheat on is the orbits, I drew them as perfect circles centered on the Sun, and they really aren’t, quite, but they’re close.)
Shazam, you now have the closest conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter (by definition as seen from Earth) in about 800 years!
But you might think, doesn’t this happen every time Jupiter “laps” Saturn? Jupiter, moving around the Sun once every 12 years, will lap Saturn, moving around the sun every 28 years, every 20 years or so. And indeed there is a great conjunction just about every 20 years, sometimes even multiples in that year if the timing is such that Earth zig-zags across the Saturn-Jupiter line.
But most great conjunctions aren’t really this close as seen from Earth. The reason that’s not plain here is that these pictures do not, and cannot, tell the whole story. They’re two dimensional and the full story is three dimensional.
Although the orbits almost lie in the same plane, they do not. And that difference is critical. The diagrams are set up so that they show the Earth’s orbital plane, also called the plane of the ecliptic. Jupiter’s is tilted by 1.31 degrees, and Saturn’s is tilted 2.48 degrees. So it turns out that right now, those planets would, in fact, be slightly inside your screen if it were a 3D display. If you take the Earth’s orbit’s radius (not diameter) as “1 Astronomical Unit” then Jupiter is almost exactly 5% or 1/20th of that distance inside your screen. Saturn is 7% of that distance into your screen. You can hopefully imagine the line from Earth descending at a shallow gradient into the screen, going through Jupiter, then continuing its descent and almost crossing through Saturn, which is just a bit deeper into the screen.
Different great conjunctions occur when Jupiter and Saturn are at different spots in their orbits, and in many cases one of them will be above the plane of your computer screen while the other one is below it. What you’d see here on Earth when that happens is one of them crossing considerably to the north of the other in the sky, rather than almost–almost–right on top of each other.
That’s why this great conjunction is so special. They’re not just lined up on my diagram (as they would be every 20 years or so), they’re damn close to being lined up in three dimensions, so from Earth, you will see Jupiter almost directly in front of Saturn, and that is rare! (Though it will happen again in sixty years–today’s young adults and children will have another shot at this–but after that, wait four centuries or so.)
It’s important to note that the planets never actually get close to each other. Jupiter and Saturn are further apart than the distance from the Earth to the Sun. It’s just that sometimes they are almost on the same line of sight as seen from here.
Star of Bethlehem?
This event is being hyped as the “Star of Bethlehem.” But whatever it was that happened then, it probably wasn’t a great conjunction. Trying to nail down just what the original Star of Bethlehem actually was (assuming it isn’t completely mythical) has been an occasional pastime for nearly two thousand years. We don’t know the year, and frankly, we don’t even know the season. (There’s no actual scriptural warrant for the nativity being in late December.) The nativity is described in two of the gospels, Matthew and Luke, with the Star of Bethlehem only appearing in Matthew’s account. The time indications in the two gospels are actually years apart (Herod’s reign ended in 4 BC, Quirinius didn’t become governor of Syria until 6 AD). Even if there’s a way to reconcile that through some new historical discovery, which year would the reconciliation point to?
People seeking an astronomical event that could have been the Star of Bethlehem therefore have to search over at least a ten year range. Well there was a Great Conjunction in 7 BC (in fact they got three of them because the Earth managed to zigzag across the Jupiter-Saturn line that year), but it wasn’t close enough to be very impressive, and 7 BC was almost certainly too early anyway.
But there was a very close conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in 2 BC, near Regulus, the brightest star in Leo, on June 17. It was certainly more visually striking, because Venus is far brighter than Saturn, and the conjunction was closer than any of the three great conjunctions in 7 BC, to boot. This could be a candidate.
2002 Triple Conjunction
There was a series of conjunctions, albeit not involving Jupiter, in 2002. I remember there was quite a clustering of planets in the evening sky that year. According to Wikipedia:
Venus, Mars and Saturn appeared close together in the evening sky in early May 2002, with a conjunction of Mars and Saturn occurring on 4 May. This was followed by a conjunction of Venus and Saturn on 7 May, and another of Venus and Mars on 10 May when their angular separation was only 18 arcminutes. A series of conjunctions between the Moon and, in order, Saturn, Mars and Venus took place on 14 May, although it was not possible to observe all these in darkness from any single location on the Earth.
Note that Venus and Mars got to within three times the distance Jupiter and Saturn will get on the 21st. If you happen to remember that, this is going to kick its ass.
Conjunctions Involving The Sun
Oftentimes a planet will have a conjunction with the Sun, and when that happens they will generally just say, for example, “Jupiter is in conjunction” without naming the Sun. It’s assumed.
The Sun will be passing in front of Jupiter and Saturn in a couple of months, as seen from Earth; just imagine in my diagrams Earth moving further around its orbit quite quickly while Jupiter and Saturn move much more slowly, and you’ll “see” it happening.
There won’t be much to see, of course, because to see the event, you have to do so when the Sun is above the horizon, and that, of course, is daytime.
Since Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are further out from the Sun than Earth is, when we see a conjunction involving those planets and the sun, the planet is always “behind” the sun.
But what about Mercury and Venus? They can have conjunctions where they are on the other side of the sun, or conjunctions where they are between us and the sun. The former are called superior conjunctions and the latter, inferior conjunctions.
Again, because their orbits are tilted with respect to ours, they don’t pass directly behind (or in front of) the Sun that often, usually looking like they are to the south or north of the Sun at closest approach.
But every once in a while one of these planets will pass in front of the sun (which is a big broad target compared to any other planet), and that’s called a transit. Venus in particular generally has pairs of conjunctions 8 years apart…but the pairs are separated by about a century. When this happens you can, with glasses of the type you’d use to look at the sun near an eclipse, actually see a little black dot on the face of the sun, even without a telescope. This last happened in 2004 and 2012, so if you missed it you are SOL, the next occurrence is in December 2117. (And yes, I was watching in 2012.)
Venus transits are of huge historical importance; they gave us our first good way of measuring the size of Earth’s orbit and (since we already knew the proportions) hence the size of just about everything in the Solar System. (Or, equivalently: It told us how big an “astronomical unit” was in more earthly measurements; since we already knew the size of everything in the Solar System in AUs, we could now give distances in furlongs, if we wanted to, by multiplying.)
Here’s a deep dive on Venus transits (including why they are important) that I wrote at the time, and a later article including pictures I took.
This is the position and velocity data I pulled off the NASA website. Sun is at (0, 0, 0). Distances are in AU (astronomical units), velocity is in AU/day. 1 AU by definition is 149,597,870,700 meters (92,955,807 miles, 1441 feet, 6.898- inches), it was originally defined as the semi-major axis of the Earth’s orbit, and a day is precisely 86,400 seconds (no matter how much the Earth slows down rotating). The diagrams were created at the scale of 100 pixels = 1AU, and they appear to have come across (into WordPress’s editor at least) at the proper size.
EARTH:
2459195.500000000 = A.D. 2020-Dec-12 00:00:00.0000 TDB
X = 1.622579957389862E-01 Y = 9.761221058229992E-01 Z = 5.373489375534890E-05
VX=-1.724242466206539E-02 VY= 2.883832025215380E-03 VZ= 6.987175827141265E-07
2459205.500000000 = A.D. 2020-Dec-22 00:00:00.0000 TDB
X =-1.188898588832658E-02 Y = 9.897218187033275E-01 Z = 6.029984014237024E-05
VX= 6.031051355304800E-03 VY= 4.767506691437359E-03 VZ=-1.546747270590170E-04
JUPITER:
2459195.500000000 = A.D. 2020-Dec-12 00:00:00.0000 TDB
X = 2.914228592894236E+00 Y =-4.177510430316559E+00 Z =-4.786920225992232E-02
VX= 6.095603857740477E-03 VY= 4.674926465555783E-03 VZ=-1.557747700228924E-04
2459205.500000000 = A.D. 2020-Dec-22 00:00:00.0000 TDB
X = 2.974861050901444E+00 Y =-4.130298866311659E+00 Z =-4.942153470106487E-02
VX= 6.031051355304800E-03 VY= 4.767506691437359E-03 VZ=-1.546747270590170E-04
SATURN:
2459195.500000000 = A.D. 2020-Dec-12 00:00:00.0000 TDB
X = 5.396386096136037E+00 Y =-8.396666010466467E+00 Z =-6.884059973895380E-02
VX= 4.382900563538985E-03 VY= 3.001959812133514E-03 VZ=-2.266077336665883E-04
459205.500000000 = A.D. 2020-Dec-22 00:00:00.0000 TDB
X = 5.440127588899244E+00 Y =-8.366514834723951E+00 Z =-7.110831635421563E-02
VX= 4.365303571900237E-03 VY= 3.027110022628067E-03 VZ=-2.263327688903255E-04
A Reminder Of Today’s Big Issue.
Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People...Our campaign represents a true existential threat, like they’ve never seen before.
Then-Candidate Donald J. Trump
Needs to happen, soon.
Lawyer Appeasement Section
OK now for the fine print.
Please note that our menu has changed, please listen to all of the options.
This is the WQTH Daily Thread. You know the drill. There’s no Political 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. The first rule of gun safety: Don’t let the government take your guns. 5. 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. Never point the gun at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 7. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire. 8. Be sure of your target and what is behind it. 9. Social Justice Warriors, ANTIFA pukes, BLM hypocrites, and other assorted varieties of Marxists can go copulate with themselves, or if insufficiently limber, may substitute a rusty wire brush suitable for cleaning the bore of a twelve or ten gauge.
(Hmm a few extras seem to have crept in.)
Coin of The Day
No coin today.
But I told Grandma In TX that’s she’d hit a 1000 today [Friday], and that triggered someone to talk about a grand grandma, and I remembered something.
In 1890, the US issued “Treasury Notes” or “Coin Notes” in many denominations. This and 1891 were the only years they issued paper money of this specific category, The specific use was to pay for purchasing silver bullion (which, of course, would then be made into coins). You could redeem these notes, just like silver or gold certificates, but the government could decide whether it’d be in silver or gold coin. Every denomination available today was covered, $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and there were also $500 and $1000 notes.
The ones issued in 1890 look very different from the 1891 notes, and are called “patternback” notes, for reasons you’ll soon understand. The $50 and $500 were not issued in 1890, so the patternback notes only exist for $1-$20, $100, and $1000 denominations.
This series features a lot of Civil War flag officers on it, many of them obscure to people who are not active Civil War buffs.
$1 Treasury or “Coin” Note of 1890, known as the “Patternback” Portrait is of Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War (i.e., the Army) during the Civil War.
Note there is a very elaborate repeating pattern inside the denomination on the reverse; that’s why it’s called a patternback. (In heraldry, sometimes there’s an elaborate repeating background pattern in a coat of arms…it’s actually, I am not making this up, called “diaper” but presumably not in front of the knight whose coat of arms it was.)
Moving along, here’s the $2, $5, $10, and $20
Portrait of Civil War General James McPhersonPortrait of Civil War General George H. ThomasCivil War General Phillip D. SheridanJohn Marshall, Secretary of State (1800-1801) then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1801-1835)
Now there is a thing to know about these old “large size” (the size of one of those old computer cards) notes. They get extremely rare in some cases. Notes tended to wear out quickly and rapidly get redeemed, even if only for a newer note. If someone actually set aside twenty dollars back then, trying to save the note…well, they had more money than they knew what to do with; remember that was very close to being a full ounce of gold!
That $20 in VF-20 (the number is on a scale of 1-70) will set you back at least six thousand dollars, and that’s actually relatively affordable for an old $20. A silver certificate from 1878 or 1880 is simply impossible in such a grade (my book doesn’t list anything higher than F-12), later series get down to about the same range as this patternback.
The true nosebleed territory starts with the $50 denomination. There are literally notes where there are no known survivors. Others are marked “Extremely Rare” and “One known” and the book doesn’t even try to give a price. But as there isn’t a patternback $50, we’ll move on to the stratosphere now.
The $100 Patternback, also known as the “Watermelon” Portrait is of Admiral David Farragut
The “big” denomination on this wasn’t spelled out like the others, and the pattern ended up resembling a watermelon on the two zeros, so this is known today as the watermelon note. And it will cost you a hundred…thousand…dollars in VF-20. The good news is, in EF-40 it “only” goes up to $170,000 instead of doubling or tripling like I’d usually expect. The book gives no price for higher grades.
Now I can at least see spending 6 or 8 grand on a collectible note…but a hundred thousand dollars? Thank you but no, I’d rather have a house!
Now on to the last note.
We skip over $500, since there was no patternback $500. (By the way, before we stopped printing $500 as federal reserve notes, they had McKinley on them. McKinley comes after Franklin. (And if you want to know: Grover Cleveland on the $1000, James Madison on the $5000, Salmon Chase on the $10,000 and Woodrow-be-damned Wilson on the $100,000.)
The Grand Watermelon Portrait is of General George Meade
The One Thousand Dollar Patternback keeps the “melon” look of the C-note, and is called the Grand Watermelon.
My book calls these “extremely rare.” One in AU (about uncirculated, the numerical grade would be in the 50s) is the very first US note to sell for over a million dollars. There’s another variant with a small red seal overprint on the front, instead of the big brown one you see here; two are known to exist.
When a note is this rare, you don’t care about the fact that someone scribbled their name and a date (presumably 1893) on it!
So in honor of the Grand Grandma, here’s a Grand Watermelon.
And it’s 9:58 Mountain Time. Just barely made the deadline!!!
Standard disclaimer: I never show pictures of my own coins. I may or may not own coins like the ones I show. Burglars will be interested to hear that gold and silver aren’t the only heavy metals I have, and I have quite a bit of one with a heavier nucleus than either. And I keep it around a lot more than the gold and silver.
And a note to the other authors. Wikipedia URLs do paste into posts (select media style of paragraph via the plus sign, and use the option to paste in a URL). That’s how I did this Grand Watermelon picture–I noticed the option only after I had uploaded all of the pictures, having downloaded them from Wikipoo, and decided to give the alternate route a try with the Grand Watermelon. (I guess I wasted Wolf’s space.)
Obligatory PSAs and Reminders
Just two more things, my standard Public Service Announcements. We don’t want to forget them!!!
How Not To Find Yourself In Contention For The Darwin Award (Nothing to do with bearded dragons)
It has been pointed out that all of the rioting is nominally on account of criminals who resisted arrest in one form or another, and someone suggested schools ought to teach people not to resist arrest.
Chris Rock on a similar vein, in 2007
Granted an “ass kicking” isn’t the same as being shot, but both can result from the same stupid act. You may ultimately beat the rap, but you aren’t going to avoid the ride.
China is Lower than Whale Shit
Remember Hong Kong!!! And remember the tens of millions who died under the “Great Helmsman” Chairman Mao.
I hope he’s doing OK!
中国是个混蛋 !!! Zhōngguò shì gè hùndàn !!! China is asshoe !!!
For my money the Great Helmsman is Hikaru Sulu (even if the actor is a dingbat).
The Wolf’s Head Pub is open for business. It’s Free-for-All Friday and your first well drink is on the house. Tonight’s special is the English classic, Gin and Tonic. If you want to get fancy, add a star anise to the bottom of the glass. It adds a hint of licorice and blends beautifully. And lime. Always lime and never lemon.
Here’s a Brief History of Gin. Let’s just say juniper is the Thing when it comes to gin. My favorite is good old Beefeaters Gin, although nowadays you can find some really delicious gins from boutique distillers.
Speaking of England, let’s take a trip to The Eagle and Child, also known as The Bird and Baby, a pub in Oxford, England that was frequented by Tolkien and Lewis of 20th century literary fame. It has been a pub since the 17th century.
Lewis, who was known to drink three pints of beer for breakfast, spent a great deal of time in the Rabbit Room there, reading from his manuscripts and critiquing the writings of his group of friends known as the Inklings.
The featured image above is the Rabbit Room. I can almost hear Lewis reading in his booming voice…
“In fighting those who serve devils one always has this on one’s side; their Masters hate them as much as they hate us. The moment we disable the human pawns enough to make them useless to Hell, their own Masters finish the work for us. They break their tools.” — That Hideous Strength
Do we not see this in action this very day?
The human tools of the NWO, globalists, communists, socialists (whatever you want to call them) are in the process of being disabled. Broken.
Before I get to the good news, civility is what keeps the Qtree a place of sanctuary and intellectual inspiration. Cutting completely loose belongs over at the UTree, not here at the QTree. Civility is king. Rules here if you need a refresher or are new. Thank you in advance for giving our burly bouncers nothing to do. Play nice and say a little breath prayer for our great President and his cabinet and family, and all patriots.
Okay, now to the good news. WE ARE WINNING.
* The State of Georgia’s feckless Gov. Kemp, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and their cronies are being absolutely crushed by public opinion and the unfolding truth of their involvement in election fraud. DISABLED.
* The States of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Georgia are in a tailspin ever since the State of Texas (and about 19 other states at last count) sued in the Supreme Court for relief from the unlawful changes in voting laws in the battleground states. Their responses have been limp.
“Trump broke every other news entity even before he took office in 2017. CNN, MSNBC, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the rest have always been left-wing, only with an illusory veneer of neutrality. Trump smashed the veneer, accurately calling them “fake news” amid their swirl of lies about him…”
* Zuckerberg is being sued by the DOJ! Couldn’t happen to a nicer robot. Can the other Tech Giants be far behind?
* Lin Wood is a pit bull in the best sense of the word. He will go down in history as one of the heroes of our Republic.
As one of We The People, I have standing to file suit against Sec. of State when election is conducted under rules not adopted by state legislature.
GA unlawfully diluted my in person vote & violated equal protection. Your votes too.
* Hunter Biden and his Laptop from Hell are back in the news (they never should have left).
* Nancy Pelosi, obviously in the Twilight of her intellectual capabilities, sputtered “Q” during yet another encounter with her propaganda team (aka the MSM). BROKEN.
* Eric “Bang Fang” Swalwell is watching his career being torched by his exposure as a China tool. BROKEN.
Security Concerns Raised As Eric Swalwell's Girlfriend Revealed To Be President Xi In A Wig https://t.co/GGaPw4RTff
* The ancient Diane Feinstein, who honest to God is beginning to look Chinese in a Skeletor sort of way, is being dragged back into the picture now that Chy-Nah! is being exposed in all its dragonish glory as a greedy, immoral, power hungry serpent with its claws in American politicians. DISABLED.
* The Fake News can now be officially labeled LAUGHABLE. Watching the crappy acting of creatures like Mika Brezinski just brings a smile. Here she is at the start of War Room Pandemic, Episode 576. Trust me, you will laugh. BROKEN.
* And lest you missed it, here’s an erudite Chinese professor giving the low down on the power structure in the USA to his communist audience. The CCP IS BEING OUTED EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE. DISABLED:
Here is Renmin University professor Di Dongsheng talking about how the US government really works https://t.co/oSDevtKjw2
* Our Greatest President Ever continues the juggernaut of PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. Just in time for the start of Hanukkah. Our President is a peacemaker!
Another HISTORIC breakthrough today! Our two GREAT friends Israel and the Kingdom of Morocco have agreed to full diplomatic relations – a massive breakthrough for peace in the Middle East!
* Here’s Rand Paul giving that Neocon dud Liz Cheney the what-for:
.@RandPaul is NAMING NAMES on the Senate floor as he absolutely torches the NDAA. This is legendary:
"@Liz_Cheney… said we shouldn't limit the president's powers in times of war –– and then she authors a limitation on the president removing troops from war! So which is it?" pic.twitter.com/ks1Xg6Tn7H
Get a load of her low-class response to Sen. Paul:
.@RandPaul is currently holding up passage of the #NDAA, blaming America, and delaying hazardous duty pay to hundreds of thousands of our service members and their families. Inexcusable.
Rand and I do have one thing in common, though. We’re both 5’2” tall. https://t.co/l0XebRLW3Q
We could go on and on and on. Hard times are ahead, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. THEY ARE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY WITH IT. WE ARE WINNING.
Remember the pub scene in Waking Ned Devine, when the evil witch meets her just end while everyone is celebrating in the pub? That’s how it feels just now. God bless us and keep us safe as we get ready to fight another day! Oh heck, the second round is on the house, too!
“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” – Isaiah 55:12
Chapter 55 of Isaiah is rightfully named “The Compassion of the Lord.” At this point in the book of Isaiah, God’s people have been completely disobedient, but God the Father is a God of grace and compassion, so he invites them into his lovingkindness. He is restoring them so they may glorify him once again and he is blessing his people.
Verse 12 specifically commands the people to go out in joy and be led forth in peace. Why does God ask this and how do we, as believers, do this?
Go Out in Joy
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18
As Christians, we are called to be joyful, which is not a natural thing for us to do as human beings. However, when we understand God’s love and his constant grace, joy becomes easier. When we truly understand God’s grace and seek him, we will find joy.
There are two reasons we are called to go out in joy in this passage: For our own sake and the world’s. When we choose to rejoice in our circumstances, our circumstances seem to change. Life is easier to tackle when you choose a positive and joyous perspective rooted in a trust for God and his promises.
“May the God of hope fill you all with joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” – Romans 15:13
Furthermore, going out in joy benefits others. The world should be able to recognize a Christian by how they love and by the joy they have. This is not to say that Christians should always act happy and pretend everything is okay – being joyful is different than being happy. Joy is trusting in what God is doing and recognizing that he has a plan. Being joyful means not letting your circumstances crush you. To choose joy is to choose hope.
The idea is that the world sees that our circumstances aren’t crushing us and asks us why. Then we can answer with the glorious news of how good our God is and the hope that we have. When we go out in joy, we allow our own souls to grow and shine the light of Christ simultaneously.
Be Led Forth in Peace
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
Christians, there is so much peace in truly knowing God. If you were to read the Bible cover to cover, you would walk away with quite a bit of peace and calmness in your heart. God created you (Genesis 1:27), he forgives you (Ephesians 4:32), he saved you (Ephesians 2:8), he promises to protect you (Isaiah 41:10), he has a plan for you (Jeremiah 29:11), he is coming back one day (John 14:3) and he loves you so dearly (1 John 4:9-10).
When we allow Christ to lead us and guide our steps and our hearts, we find peace. There is peace in obedience and relationship with God. This does not mean that anxiety or fear ceases to exist though. The world is still corrupt and the enemy still exists, but when we cling to God and obey him, we will find his peace (Isaiah 32:17).
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7
When we truly have the peace of God, we stop needing answers for everything, we stop having to worry about everything going on in the world and we can simply trust in him and what is to come. When we seek his heart, we find peace, an inexplicable peace that will guide us through this life and all the trials we face.
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.
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 WHAT TIME IS IT? TIME TO DRAIN THE SWAMP!!!
It’s time to replace a failed and CORRUPT political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People. ~ Candidate Donald J. Trump
Also remember Wheatie’s Rules:
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
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.”
Aahhhh! It’s Christmas season again. And we have the Christmas movies, carols and poems, letters to Santa, Santa himself, the North Pole, elves, the 8 reindeer and Rudolph, Frosty the snowman, the Grinch, the lights, our Christmas trees, the other activities associated with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and, in some parts of the country, the snow . . . the beautiful, white snow that covers all with is glistening blanket of white. But, (yes, there is a but) . . .
As wonderful as all of these things are, they tend to obscure the true meaning of Christmas . . . more to some people and less to others. The actual events leading to and surrounding the birth of Jesus, the prophecies, the visit of the angel Gabriel, Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, the trip to Bethlehem, nowhere to stay, the manger, the host of angels, the shepherds and their visit to the manger, the star, the wise men, the flight to Egypt, and other events. But, (yes, there is another but) . . .
As necessary as all these things are to understand the birth of Jesus, what I’d like to bring to mind are three aspects of the events of the birth of Jesus that may tend to be overlooked during the Christmas season.
The first aspect is that all the events of Jesus’ birth were of the Will of the Father, by the Power of the Father, and all, all of this, is because of the love of the Father for us and for His Son, Jesus. And it was important to Jesus that we knew that He was sent by His Father.
“I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me” (John 17:8).
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20–21).
“O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me” (John 17:25).
The second aspect is, as we get lost in the wonder of the night of Jesus’ birth, it comes as a shock that we remember the reason for His birth is so He can die a horrible death on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
The third aspect is that Jesus died on the cross resulting in the forgiving of sins for those who believe, all for the Glory of the Father,
“Father, the hour has come,” he prays. “Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:1-3).
Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Peter 4:11)
Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” (Isaiah 43:7)
And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:11)
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)
Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:11)
And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (Revelation 14:7)
That God, the Father is preeminent in the birth, life and death of Jesus, including His resurrection is no surprise. Neither is the fact that Jesus was born so that He could die (and be raised). Nor that all of this, and every good that ever was, is and will be is to the glory of God, the Father.
Let these aspects be three more reasons to express our joy during this Christmas season!
The Wolf’s Head Pub is open for business. It’s Friday and I don’t know about anyone else but I am ready for some camaraderie and shoulders to lean on. Thank our good God that the pub is full of fellow patriots who pick each other up off the floor, whether we’ve had too much of this dire situation afflicting our republic or too much madeira.
Madeira you say? I always wondered about this interesting drink. Turns out madeira is of Portuguese origin. Wine is subject to spoilage from heat, light and air (ask anyone who has tried to drink a week old bottle of opened wine).
Some time in the 1400s, the Portuguese discovered that fortifying fermenting wine with distilled spirits results in a wine that is safe from spoilage and extremely long-lasting. From Wikipedia:
“When added to wine before the fermentation process is complete, the alcohol in the distilled beverage kills the yeast and leaves residual sugar behind. The end result is a wine that is both sweeter and stronger, normally containing about 20% alcohol by volume (ABV)”
Madeira can be dry or sweet depending upon the distilled spirit used and the time of fermentation. Other fortified wines include marsala, sherry, port and vermouth. Incidentally, for those who make homemade bone broth, use a dry vermouth instead of wine or vinegar to help dissolve the calcium in the bones. The resulting taste is vastly superior.
How did our evil leaders know that pubs and taverns are ground zero for popular uprisings? Well, that was the case during our first Revolution…
Happening now in Staten Island: American Patriots protesting against @NYGovCuomo and @NYCMayor for arresting a bar owner for going into his own establishment.
Before we get too deep into our conversations, just a reminder that civility is what keeps the Qtree a place of sanctuary and intellectual inspiration. Cutting completely loose belongs over at the UTree, not here at the QTree. Civility reigns in this august public house. Rules here if you need a refresher or are new. Thank you in advance for giving our burly bouncers nothing to do.
Now, shall we fortify ourselves with a glass of madeira and get down to funny business?
Mayor Rudy Giuliani, attorney Jenna Ellis (was she was completely disrespected at the Michigan hearing Wednesday night, or what?), Lin Wood (viciously attacked by Breitbart shills for Cocaine Mitch) and Sidney Powell (holding up well under the immense pressure of The System bearing down) are the champions of this hour.
I was up until almost 3 a.m. the other night catching up on all the news happening. Find a listing at the end of this post of those videos and links that may have been missed, what with all the stuff happening.
Things are narrowing to a point now.
It is clear that the corrupt Republicans are being exposed. This has to happen. The trick, I think, is to expose the width and depth of their corruption without hurting our President as he fights to retain the White House and the Senate.
Georgia is RINO Ground Zero. The Breitbart attack on Lin Wood is showing the cracks in the UniParty Republican cadre. War Room Pandemic, episode 557, has a great discussion about the Georgia Republican Situation:
The feckless Republican senators who have betrayed the American worker highlights the quintessential tension between Wall Street and Main Street. It is things like this that causes patriot blood to boil:
“The Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act has been called the greatest corporate welfare program for Big Tech in recent memory. Lee has persistently sought to pass the corporate giveaway, with previous attempts to eliminate per-country-caps being blocked by Democrat Dick Durbin and Republican Rick Scott. Neither Senator objected to the unanimous passage of the modified S386 legislation on Wednesday afternoon.
Big Tech monopolies such as Apple, Google and Microsoft have fervently lobbied in favor of eliminating per-country caps, seeking to replace their American workforces with de facto indentured workers who accept lower wages and worse working conditions. The pervasive use of the H-1B visa in the American technology industry has displaced countless American workers from their careers.”
“Republican Senators Marco Rubio, John Cornyn, Susan Collins, and Thom Tillis will attend a Thursday “summit” meeting hosted by the “American Business Immigration Coalition,” a pro-amnesty group consisting of big business donors, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as the George Soros-funded United We Dream organization.”
Cozying up with Democrat amnesty advocates, these bought-off Republicans care nothing for the American worker, our sovereignty, and the safety of citizens. They are selling us out! They are like vultures, waiting for the death of the Trump presidency when they can fully undo all that President Trump has done on behalf of the Forgotten Men and Women of this great nation. It’s positively Potteresque:
The lovely and brilliant Candace Owens puts the Georgia situation in perspective:
The people of Georgia are literally able to watch, on video, how their 11/3 votes were stolen from them. Meanwhile, republicans are telling them they MUST vote again in the runoff to keep the senate. THEIR VOTES MEAN NOTHING IF YOU DO NOT FIGHT AGAINST THE OBVIOUS FRAUD OF 11/3. https://t.co/vb91qNrKFh
But evil, greedy politicians have underestimated us and President Trump. Our President will not allow China, Soros, and sold-out, seditious politicians to destroy our republic. As Gen. Flynn (#FightLikeFlynn) says, “The president has clear paths to victory.” Paths. Not path. Oh yes, indeed. Keeping the faith here with you all and millions of Americans. We will prevail.
And did I tell you that we’ve got a new dartboard at the back of the pub? Unlimited darts! Enjoy!
Georgia Senate Committee Hearing with Rudy (the now famous video evidence is introduced here and by the end of the hearing the state senators are falling all over themselves to get to the bottom of the steal.)
And here is the CDC with our Covid vaccination card:
Here’s the card you’ll get when you eventually get the Covid-19 vaccine.
Everyone will get a card "they can put in their wallet that will tell them what they had and when their next dose is due," says Dr. Kelly Moore of the Immunization Action Coalition. https://t.co/pLj8YnH02Tpic.twitter.com/66CIDc246T
Here is DNI John Ratcliffe revealing that our leaders are being blackmailed and bribed by Chy-Na:
DNI Ratcliffe tells @CBS_Herridge that China is using blackmail, bribery and covert influence to target members of Congress and make sure “only laws that are favorable to China are passed" pic.twitter.com/3hQ23hXvtF
Here’s the great Texan Louie Gohmert speaking plainly.
There’s widespread evidence of fraud because people haven’t done their jobs. Durham and Barr will deserve a big notation in history when it’s written about the rise and fall of the U.S. if they don’t clean up this mess. Clean up the fraud. DO YOUR JOBS & save this country. pic.twitter.com/RSRctcfQX2
And the Senate does not want to get rid of Section 230, a matter of national defense. President Trump says, VETO to the Defense Bill! He’s not playing around.
Very sadly for our Nation, it looks like Senator @JimInhofe will not be putting the Section 230 termination clause into the Defense Bill. So bad for our National Security and Election Integrity. Last chance to ever get it done. I will VETO!
